I wanted to check in again now that I've officially completed one full week of the 21 Day Fix.  It might seem like that's all I'm posting about lately because it's honestly a big focus in my life right now.  I have spent way too much of my life being unhappy and unhealthy, so now is the time that I'm dedicating to making a better life for myself.

Hopefully my posts are helpful to you if you're thinking of starting a new fitness program, whether or not it's the 21 Day Fix.  My goal is to show you what someone can accomplish when they set their mind to it so that this can be an inspiration to anyone who doubts their abilities to change their life. 

Today I'd like to focus on the workouts for the program.  They are all 30 minutes long and you do a different one each day of the week.  The materials that come with the program explain that the exercises have been scheduled in a specific way so that they are the most effective in changing your body, so they urge you to follow the schedule instead of choosing randomly based on what you feel like doing each day.

Here is the schedule of workouts and their description:

• Monday - Full Body Cardio Fix (Keep your heart rate up and your metabolism revved high long after the workout is over) 
• Tuesday - Upper Fix (Targeted resistance training helps shape your chest, back, shoulders, arms, and abs)
• Wednesday - Lower Fix (Firm and tone your entire lower body while you blast fat and burn calories)
• Thursday - Pilates Fix (Strengthen your core, elongate your muscles, and firm your hips and thighs)
• Friday - Cardio Fix (Get your heart pumping and your body moving as you melt away the pounds)
• Saturday - Dirty 30 (4 rounds of fat-burning exercises help carve out a leaner, stronger physique)
• Sunday - Yoga Fix (Improve your balance, flexibility, and strength as you help relax your muscles)

You also get 10 Minute Fix for Abs that you can add on at any time.  This can also be used in the third week when you have the option to do double workouts in order to get even greater results.

All together the workouts are challenging, but not to the point where you can't get through them.  Most of them focus on 60 second intervals and as Autumn, the trainer, says, "you can do anything for 60 seconds!"  Personally, I'm so out of shape at the moment that I have to use the modifier on almost all the moves.  I like that they give this option so that the workouts truly are for all fitness levels.  

I made the mistake of not doing the workout on Friday because I had a busy day and didn't think I had time for it.  I also wanted a little break, but ultimately it backfired because then I had a rough weekend and didn't workout on Saturday or Sunday either.  For me, I always re-start on Mondays, so I knew I would be back at it today.  I wish I hadn't missed those three days, but I'm trying not to be too hard on myself and just remember in the future that a one day break could snowball into much more.

I hope this was a helpful glimpse of what workouts you can expect if you do start the 21 Day Fix.  If you're on the program, let me know in the comments which workout is your favorite one!

I'm officially more than halfway through my first week on the 21 Day Fix.  If you read my post on Tuesday, then you're already familiar with the basic idea of the program.  If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, go check it out so you know what I'm talking about in this post.

​When I weighed myself this morning I had already lost a little over 4 pounds since Tuesday.  I knew the program gave good results, but that's even better than I expected!  I won't plan on losing a pound every day, but at this rate I'm already well into the 10-15 pounds they say you can typically lose during the 21 days.  Needless to say, I'm definitely happy with my results so far!

Today I actually took a rest day from the workouts, even though the schedule said to do the cardio workout today.  I felt like I needed a break and decided that I would let myself off the hook without beating myself up about it.  I'll just get right back into it tomorrow and be back on track.

Also, I went to lunch today with some co-workers.  I think I did really well by ordering the tofu & vegetables with brown rice.  All I needed to do was choose items that were plan approved and deduct those items from the corresponding containers I had allotted for today.  Even with a big lunch, I still have plenty of food I am allowed for the rest of the day, which is one of the main reasons I really like the 21 Day Fix.  

One of the other great parts of this program is that I'm signed up for Shakeology, which is a superfood shake that can be used as a meal replacement.  The box says it's the "healthiest meal of the day".  Regardless of how healthy it is for you, I'm a huge fan of the taste.  I've had other shakes that taste chalky and gross, so I was a little worried about how these would taste.  

For my first month I signed up for the multi-pack with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.  The strawberry was just okay but I absolutely love the chocolate one.  I already switched my auto-shipment for next month to a be a 30-serving bag of the chocolate flavor.  It tastes amazing blended with half a frozen banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter!  I haven't noticed any health benefits from Shakeology yet, but I'll keep you posted on my results as I continue to drink them.

So, that's how I've been doing so far on the 21 Day Fix.  In my next update I'll be sharing what I eat in a typical day, so stay tuned for more if you're curious to see what the eating plan looks like.

As always, let me know in the comments below if you have any questions!

Like I mentioned in my post on Friday, I'm starting to focus on nutrition and fitness in order to improve my health and lose weight.  These days it seems like there are a million different weight loss programs to choose from, so it can be hard to decide which to follow.  

Personally, I have tried and failed at a few different programs, so I have an idea of what works for me and what doesn't.  Basically anything too complicated or too much work is going to go out the window almost as soon as I start it. So this time I tried to find something that would be simple and only take common sense to follow.  I didn't want to count calories or do any math to figure out how many points I have left in a day, so that ruled out some of my options.

I finally decided on following the 21 Day Fix.  I had heard about it from a friend and had also seen the infomercials on TV about it.  There are a lot of things I like about this program.  First and foremost, it's simple and straight forward.  There are workout DVD's that you follow every day for 30 minutes.  Also, the eating plan is very easy.  All you need to do is use the colored containers to track how much food you're allowed to eat in each food group (vegetables, protein, etc).  That's it!  

I placed my order last week and the package arrived on Friday.  Typically I would have wanted to start right away, but I knew that I'd be busy this past weekend and yesterday for my birthday, so I decided to start today.  In order to prepare I put together a spreadsheet of the foods I would be eating each day so that I knew which groceries to buy and what I'd be eating at each meal.  Once I bought my groceries I made sure to cut up all my fruit and vegetables right away and portion them out so I wouldn't have to measure later.  

So today was the first full day I followed the 21 Day Fix.  I used the workout schedule to do the upper body strength training workout.  I had already done most of the workouts last week by streaming them online (a feature you get when you buy the program), so I knew what to expect, which was kind of nice.  I've been eating my meals according to my meal plan all day, so that's been super easy too.  Because I prepped all my food ahead of time, it made things much easier today when I was making my salad for lunch.  I literally just threw a bunch of pre-measured stuff in a big bowl and was ready to go!

Overall my first impressions of the 21 Day Fix are really good.  It doesn't feel complicated or overwhelming like other plans I've been on.  It's also nice to know that it lasts for 21 days, so it's a reasonable amount of time to stick to something.  I'm hoping that I'll love my results so much that I'll decide to do more rounds of it and keep going until I'm at my goal weight.  That's the plan, anyway!

Please let me know if you have any questions I can answer for you about the program, whether it's the nutrition portion or the workouts.  I'd be happy to give more details on anything that I didn't explain in this post.  So comment below if there's anything I can help you with!

Every Monday I plan on posting some motivational quotes that have to do with a specific theme.  This week's quotes all have to do with fitness.  It seemed like a fitting topic since I am spending so much time and effort on getting in shape and becoming healthier.  

These are some of the quotes that have given me the most inspiration over the last couple of months as I've gone on this journey.  I like the one above because it reminds me that my body is a gift to be cherished.  I need to take care of it in a loving way instead of feeling like I'm working against something that I have hatred towards.  Loving your body the way it is will allow you to love and accept yourself, which I think is the first step towards any journey.

Keep reading and I'll explain below what the rest of the quotes mean to me and how they can hopefully help you as well.