Week 3 Update/RESULTS - 21 Day Fix Progress and Meal Plan

Wow, week 3 came and went. for this week and I am officially a 21 day fix grad! I have been on vacation for week 3 and let me tell you, this week, I stayed on track with a few cheats but overall, I feel amazing. Because I am away, I cannot weigh myself and see how many pounds I am down until Tuesday morning. But it is not always about the scale. its about those non-scale victories. I am pleased to say, I am so happy with my results. I have been eating healthier, I feel amazing, I am stronger, and I believe after these 21 days, I can achieve anything I put my mind to. Last week (day 1 of vacation) I posted a picture of my start of week 3 accountability! 

Things I learned this week:

1. Double Fix workouts are tough
2. I really didn't drink enough water because I didn't have an amazing water bottle (like I do when I am home)
3. While on vacation, you can choose to stay on track or you can fall off the wagon...happy to report that I stayed on track! 
4. Even thou the fix is over for me, I will continue with the meal planning and prepping that I have done over the past 3 weeks. 
5. it is amazing to see the love and support my family gives me with this lifestyle that I have chosen to better myself.
6. I really do love a healthy, hearty breakfast. and I love having my shakeology shake for lunch!
7. I stay on track more when I print out my weekly meal plan and have it on hand. this week while on vacation, I struggled with staying on track and remembering to eat. NOTE TO SELF-print out meal plan before going on vacation!

Healthy Snack While on Vacation!

Its easy while on vacation and away from a routine to get off track and say hey I am on vacation, I can eat that or I don't have to workout! For me, vacation is no excuse! It has taken me a lot to get where I am today and I do not want to ruin all the progress! I had a Happy and Healthy Vacation! 

Meal Plan for Week 3

The RESULTS ARE IN....DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Where I am going from here.....now I have to refocus and regroup on where I am going next in my fitness and health. Instead of jumping into another program, for the next 6 weeks, I am going to focus on my training for my half marathon. I am doing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington, DC at the end of April and its crunch time! I will be following the 21 day fix meal plan as I have been and may have to increase certain things. I read the book Run Less Run Faster and I learned much about training. What I need to do to succeed. I will be adding in some fix workouts to my running and cycling days but I think after I finish the half marathon..this calls for a new program! Decisions, Decisions!

If you are interested in learning more about the 21 day fix and seeing amazing results like I have and want to join my upcoming challenge group, I would love to talk to you more about it! please feel free to email me at nkeating24@comcast.net or personal message me at www.facebook.com/nicole.lauren.124

As always, Have a Happy and Healthy Day

Week 2 Update - 21 Day Fix Progress and Meal Plan

Week 2 is officially completed and I have to say that I have never felt better about my food intake and workouts. This week, I have to be honest, I did cheat a little, but it was in moderation. It was really guilt free and I enjoyed every minute of it! I was very nervous about stepping on the scale this morning. This week I was down 3 pounds which makes a total of 6 pounds down. :) oh happy dance!

What I have learned this week:

1. I really need to stay on track for drinking water. this week I definitely slacked off. for me it is really tough to drink enough water when I work and travel. I work in a different state which makes it difficult for when I stay with family friends, I tend to not drink enough water. and as a nurse, all my nurses out there know, we don't have time to be constantly running to the bathroom. 
2.  Its so easy to prepare everything and pack it in the fridge and then you just grab and go....ITS A LIFESAVER
3. this week, I can see myself getting stronger! I increased my weights for some of the workouts and really starting to see my little nugget (bicep) coming through. 
4. I had a cheat meal and I was totally guilt free because I was on track the rest of the week.

This week, this was my favorite fix approved breakfast! Fuels my body and sets me up for a great day of healthy eating!

Yoga Fix has become one of my favorite recovery workouts! I love the way I can get stretched out and really refocusing on me!

Take a look at my meal plan from week 2, it has a lot of similar foods that I had from the previous week but they are all things that I like! It's simple! all you have to do is make the time to sit down and create your plan of attack on food for the week! 

Plan of attack for week 3! This week, I am away on vacation. Its no excuse to not stay on track! already have my meal plan planned out and I am ready to make sure that this week, I don't lose focus. I plan on getting my double workouts in, and add in some long runs too.  Cannot wait to keep you all posted on my results at the end of week 3!

Have a Happy and Healthy Week!

Week 1 Update- 21 Day Fix Progress and Meal Plan

Week 1 is officially in the bag. Let me just talk for a quick second about how amazing this program it. it is so simple. simple foods. simple workout. simply the best! I started off on Sunday Feb. 16th. I took my before pictures and did my weigh in. and let me just say, I cannot wait to see the results for the next 21 days because I am not happy where I am at! But there is always room to grow and room to improve!

The top things I learned in my first week. 

1. When there is bad food in the house (which there always is) I tend to crave it and want it. but I have to say that I stayed mostly on track
2. when I work (as a nurse) it is tough to stay on track because we have such crazy busy days and no time for eating, so when you do eat, it is quick.
3. when I prep/plan my meals I am so much more successful at staying on track than I am when I don't plan/prep
4. my water intake this week was the best it has been in a while
5. when I printed my meal plan out and had it right in the kitchen on the counter, I ended up reaching for that instead of reaching for the cookies! 
6. 30 minutes of working out is actually enough. This upcoming week, I probably wont be doing P90X3. 
7. The containers surprisingly fit a lot of food. I was nervous I was going to be starving. BOOM just the opposite, I was FULL, FULL, FULL!
8. a week goes by really fast :)

The week started off great, the workouts are really simple yet really effective. I felt that as the week went on, I was more sore but at the same time I was stronger. I felt less bloated. I ate all my meals as planned. As the week went on, I found that there were certain things I loved. On my days off I would make 2 eggs over easy (RED) with 4 pieces of bacon (RED) and a piece of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread. This is by far an away my favorite breakfast choice, aside from my shakeology. I felt like with this breakfast, I was enjoying the food and really wasn't hungry!

For my favorite snack, has to be this one in the picture below. I love me some fresh fruit, greek yogurt, and granola cereal. All this deliciousness in one snack! SIGN ME UP!

I found a new shakeology recipe that was AMAZEBALLS! It killed two birds with one stone. combined my two favorite things. COFFEE & SHAKEOLOGY! This recipe came right from the 21 Day Fix Eating Plan Guide! combine 8oz cooled coffee, 1 scoop of vanilla shakeology, 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract, and 8oz of ice. Mix it up and you got Vanilla Mocha Shakeology! YUM. YUM. YUM. 

Take a look at my meal plan. I kept it pretty simple and a lot of repetition. It is easier that way and I eat the things that I enjoy! There is nothing on this meal plan that I can honestly say I don't love. I am a firm believer of moderation and having what you want. But what this program has really taught me a lot about is portion size! I really thought I was doing a good job before this program of eating cleaner and healthy but I guess I might have been overdoing it! You do not realize that you can overeat on healthy foods. 

 FIT TIP:  So if you are doing the fix for the very first time lets chat!  #1 change is hard, #2 its not going to happen over night.  #3 it takes work and sacrifice.  The one thing you can't expect from this plan is to continue to eat the way you were before.  Lets face it, you are here in this place right now because what you were doing ISN'T working! If you want something different then you have to be willing to make a change, to embrace something new and to go with it.  I completely understand that it's hard, that it takes time and that it's exhausting to get rid of old habits and temptations.  But the smell of victory is so sweet. 
Remember that you want to change more than you want to stay the same.  You want to wake up every day and feel happy, healthy, alive and confident.  If you are worried about having to give up all the things you love like pizza, cookies and cake, then yes it will be hard. But it's not impossible.  You just work those things into your plan.  They can still happen it's just on a smaller scale. 
Remember results don't happen over night, but they happen in the moments where it would be easy to quit. Results happen not on day 1 or day 5 but on day 15 and 20 when you really have a good system in place.  It happens when you are consistent every day, when you don't make excuses, skip a workout or have an extra cheat meal.  Results happen when you have will power, you pass the cake, you drink the water, you say no to the added sauces, you ask for your food prepared differently and you tell yourself that no matter what you will finish this challenge.  You will be a success story and no little bump in the road is going to stop you!

Weight loss is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one.  For many of us it's a lifetime of bad decisions.  Of coming from the old traditional ways of cooking, butter, heavy cream, ranch dressing, iceberg lettuce and corn as a veggie!  It doesn't have to be that way and you will be amazed at just how good your body is designed to feel!  You just have to embrace that change and be open to the possibility that healthy food is tasty food too! 

So no matter where you are in life, know that you can make a change if YOU want to!  The key is that your will power has to be stronger than you WANT power!!!!!

Happy week 2 for me! cant wait to see what this week brings!