Adventures with the 21 Day Fix - Day 11 Update
Time for an update on my 21 Day Fix adventure! I'm on day 11 out of 21... more than halfway through the program. It's definitely been challenging, but I'm ready to do a preliminary review.
As I've gone through this process, I've gone through some interesting phases, mentally and physically.
The first few days, I felt unstoppable: this is easy, I can do this, no problem at all. Make no mistake: the planning and prep required to successfully complete the 21 Day Fix is extensive. I made three trips to the grocery store in my first week, mostly because I was still feeling my way through and figuring things out. The workouts are tough and get progressively harder as the week goes on, but they aren't impossible to do. The only one I found to be very difficult was the Pilates Fix; I don't feel it is a Beginner's workout. I found it too challenging to do the exercises properly, frequently lost my form, and got very frustrated. So frustrated, in fact, that for the second cycle during week 2, I skipped Pilates and did Total Body Cardio a second time. I plan to do the same for week 3.
Around day 6/7, I started to feel discouraged. Forcing myself to eat vegetables has not been easy, and I was dreading the food I needed to eat because it was bland. I was trying to be very cut and dry with the meal plan until I realized (with the help of Pinterest) that there are ways to do this creatively. Once I changed my mindset in that way, things started to become a lot easier. As restrictive as the plan feels at the outset, it really isn't once you start to think outside the box and get creative with recipes.
Around day 9, I started implementing the Shakeology component for breakfast each day. This was something I did not include at the start, but my awesome BeachBody coach Charlene gave me a deal on individual packets of the stuff, so I took advantage. While I don't feel that it has made a huge difference in terms of my hunger/cravings, it has taken some of the guesswork out of just one meal in the day. Since Shakeology has been my breakfast, it opens up some more food options for me throughout the day, meaning I can eat a snack at night, which has been my biggest challenge (and usually is my biggest challenge even when I'm not on a program like this one).
I don't want to leave out the fact that drinking water is a big part of the 21 Day Fix, too. The number of ounces you're supposed to drink each day varies depending on your weight. For me, my requirement is 64 oz of water, or two full Nalgene bottles. This part has not been a challenge, because drinking water has always been my go-to drink 95% of the time, anyway.
Also, you can still drink up to 16 oz of coffee per day, as long as you use milk instead of cream, and no sugar. This was non-negotiable for me anyway, so I'm glad to see that coffee is "allowed" as part of the 21 Day Fix regimen. .
Overall benefits thus far:
Overall drawbacks thus far:
As I've gone through this process, I've gone through some interesting phases, mentally and physically.
The first few days, I felt unstoppable: this is easy, I can do this, no problem at all. Make no mistake: the planning and prep required to successfully complete the 21 Day Fix is extensive. I made three trips to the grocery store in my first week, mostly because I was still feeling my way through and figuring things out. The workouts are tough and get progressively harder as the week goes on, but they aren't impossible to do. The only one I found to be very difficult was the Pilates Fix; I don't feel it is a Beginner's workout. I found it too challenging to do the exercises properly, frequently lost my form, and got very frustrated. So frustrated, in fact, that for the second cycle during week 2, I skipped Pilates and did Total Body Cardio a second time. I plan to do the same for week 3.
Around day 6/7, I started to feel discouraged. Forcing myself to eat vegetables has not been easy, and I was dreading the food I needed to eat because it was bland. I was trying to be very cut and dry with the meal plan until I realized (with the help of Pinterest) that there are ways to do this creatively. Once I changed my mindset in that way, things started to become a lot easier. As restrictive as the plan feels at the outset, it really isn't once you start to think outside the box and get creative with recipes.
Around day 9, I started implementing the Shakeology component for breakfast each day. This was something I did not include at the start, but my awesome BeachBody coach Charlene gave me a deal on individual packets of the stuff, so I took advantage. While I don't feel that it has made a huge difference in terms of my hunger/cravings, it has taken some of the guesswork out of just one meal in the day. Since Shakeology has been my breakfast, it opens up some more food options for me throughout the day, meaning I can eat a snack at night, which has been my biggest challenge (and usually is my biggest challenge even when I'm not on a program like this one).
I don't want to leave out the fact that drinking water is a big part of the 21 Day Fix, too. The number of ounces you're supposed to drink each day varies depending on your weight. For me, my requirement is 64 oz of water, or two full Nalgene bottles. This part has not been a challenge, because drinking water has always been my go-to drink 95% of the time, anyway.
Also, you can still drink up to 16 oz of coffee per day, as long as you use milk instead of cream, and no sugar. This was non-negotiable for me anyway, so I'm glad to see that coffee is "allowed" as part of the 21 Day Fix regimen. .
Overall benefits thus far:
- I feel stronger and more confident
- I feel more energy throughout the day
- I feel good about my food choices every day
- The amount of food you are allotted each day is often so much that I don't always eat every single thing I am allowed. This helps me to not feel deprived
Overall drawbacks thus far:
- My body is sore all the time, because there are no rest days during the Fix. The closet thing to a rest day is Day 7 Yoga Fix, which is an Active Rest day and still requires 30 minutes of movement. I'm finding that in week 2's exercises, I'm getting tired a little quicker than week 1, simply because my body in general is just tired from all the work it's been doing.
- Eating is a constant balancing act and requires a lot of thought and effort, something I am not used to. This might also be considered a benefit, though, because it has definitely made me more aware of what I do or do not put into my body, and how food is meant to nourish me.
- Night time challenge - I'm still playing around with what time I should eat dinner, because I find that if I eat a balanced meal at 6:30 PM, by 8:45 PM I am hungry again. I started saving some of my snacks so I can eat something at night and not feel deprived. This usually consists of just fruit (1 purple) and yogurt (1 red).
- I don't see any immediate or obvious changes to my body yet, and I would've expected to see something at the halfway point of the program.
The real test will be finishing strong, and when I measure myself again, seeing if I lost any pounds or inches. Here's hoping!
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