Every Day I’m Strugglin’…Ok, Not Every Day

A friend of mine sent this to me a while back and while it’s funny, it is SO the truth, especially these last several weeks.

I’ve spent some time this week deciding what angle I was going to take when sharing our second round (plus some) results for 21 Day Fix Extreme. However a wise man, with a slightly shorter and more groomed beard, said “Why does their have to be an angle? Just tell em’!” So, like a good wifey, that’s exactly what I will do. 😉

I won’t spend time recapping our first round, but you can read about it here. Our second round of 21DFX began on Monday, April 20 and officially ended on Sunday, May 10. We stuck to our nutrition and workouts again this round, with one exception. We did have a small cheat that final weekend as it was Mother’s Day. The cheat consisted of two vodka waters with lime (least caloric impact for alcohol in my opinion) and a lunch out, however we tried to compensate with extra water intake to flush it out, as well as modified our dinner that evening. Our results are below.

March 23: 162.0 lbs              April 20: 157.4 lbs                May 11: 152.6 lbs             

            Total Weight Lost: 9.4 lbs                     Total Inches Lost: 7.75  

               *The Beard has lost 9.4 lbs as well and a total of 9.25 inches  

I have been extremely pleased with my results from doing this program the full 67 days we have been using it. What I continue to be impressed by is not just weight loss, but that I’m getting stronger, more toned and most specifically my hips, thighs and butt are FINALLY slimming (see photos). We are currently in our second week of round three (we won’t finish the third as we leave for Jamaica at the end of next week) and as of this morning, I was down to 150.0 lbs!

This is my first goal weight and I have met it! I don’t remember the last time I weighed this.

I am so very excited to see what more the 21DFX can do for us. While we won’t exactly be eating on plan while in Jamaica, we will still pay attention to our portion sizes. When we return from our trip we will get right back to our nutrition plan and workout regime. We fully intend for this to be a lifestyle change for us, not a diet.  We feel so much better, have more energy and I certainly feel as though I’m in a lot more control over my eating than ever before!

I will continue to recommend these Beach Body programs: 21 Day Fix Extreme or 21 Day Fix to anyone and everyone, men included. I truly believe if you are struggling with your eating habits and don’t have time to get to a gym, this is the next best thing! If you don’t just believe me, check out the results of others.

Connie M.  – This past round I got my 66 year mom to try out 21DFX. She ended up losing 5.8 lbs and 8 total inches. She is now in her second week of round two and still making progress. She says she “feels better, is having less aches and pains and her strength is increasing.”

Ryan & Cameo R. -These friends of mine choose to do the regular 21 Day Fix program. Here are their results from round one. “Cameo – lost 10.4 pounds and feels awesome. Ryan – lost 19 pounds and is so eager to keep going! We started round two today. The containers make it very visual to see what you should eat. As for how we feel, we both have more energy throughout the day and feel much healthier. Cravings are gone, which is nice. We are extremely happy with the program. My neighbor started a week after we did, my other neighbor just bought the program and will start soon, and my sister/ her fiancé were supposed to start today. Thank you for being a great motivation!”

Graciela B. – I’m really happy with my results from the first round. I lost 8 pounds! For me, the containers where a fast easy way to watch and make me think about what I was eating. I plan to start another round May 18 and two of my sisters are doing it with me. One of my co-workers decided to buy the plan as well after seeing my results. So I’m happy and committed to sticking with it and seeing how far I can go.

Again, this has been one of the best nutrition and workout programs that we have ever tried, as it has been fairly easy to adapt to our lifestyle. We are really looking forward to seeing ourselves continue to improve in this journey of a healthy way of life.

If you think you would be interested in trying out one of these programs, please contact me! I would love to help you develop a plan to move you in the direction of your goals. 🙂

~ Ashley ~

Beach Body Coach Website: https://www.beachbodycoach.com/ashleydeweese

P.S.  In case you didn’t get the above reference to Jesse Spano…here ya go! 

You Have Two Choices

Every morning for the last 21 days I have been awoken by my alarm at 4:15. My actual roll out of bed time is wavering but regardless, I was downstairs and starting my workout by 4:45. Sometimes I was excited. Occasionally I was in a cloud of fog and barely awake. A few times I was extremely grumpy. And sometimes, I just was. Nevertheless, EVERY morning (sometimes afternoon) my feet hit the floor and I pushed play. Every. Day.

Each Saturday and Sunday for the past 21 days we have spent time making grocery lists, shopping, prepping food and assembling meals. There were definitely moments where I wished I was doing something else but I chose to remind myself of what I was trying to accomplish and the need to stay the course. We have eaten pretty much the exact same meals and snacks for the last three weeks, unwavering. We have not gone out to eat since March 22 and have not had a sip of alcohol in the last 23 days. That in itself is an accomplishment because we tend to use food and drink as some of our “entertainment” for the weekend, so we have had to find alternatives.

We have remained consistent, determined to stay the course and trust the process.

As we finished out our final day of the 21 Day Fix Extreme, I grew very anxious for this morning’s results. Once again the alarm sounded at 4:15, only this time I was not getting up to work out but instead to measure the results of our efforts. And I say “our” because it truly was a team effort. The Beard and I have truly been in each others corner for this and it has made the experience much, much easier. 

Starting Weight: 162.0 lbs           Final Weight: 157.4 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 4.4 lbs            Total Inches Lost: 4.5

So, if I’m being honest, when The Beard called out my measurements and as I looked at the scale, I was somewhat disappointed. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself and always hope for huge changes at the end of each “phase” of whatever plan I’ve been carrying out. So when I saw these numbers they were a littler lower than what I had been dreaming of. But then The Beard reminded me, as he always does…

…it’s progress my dear and it’s not just about the numbers.

As I look over my before and after photos, it is here where I can really tell that the program worked. I have slimmed in several places, especially the troubling areas of my hips and thighs and overall I am much leaner and more toned than I ever was before. I have other photos (that only The Beard is privy too) where I can see great improvement in my glutes. I have hated my backside for as long as I can remember and am so happy that I can FINALLY say it’s getting better!

I could go on and on with my analyzing, because that’s what some of us do, we analyze EVERYTHING in order to work at our goals. But I won’t. In the end what I want for you to know is that the 21 Day Fix Extreme worked and so did I. So the last thing I’d like to share are the top 5 things I learned during round 1.

1. Nutrition is 70-80% of your success. I already knew this was the case, but this program really reinforced the validity of that point.

2. Planning and preparation is key. I have NEVER in my life been so organized when it came to meals and it made a huge impact. Not only did it help us keep our nutrition on point, but it also took meals off of the “one more thing I have to figure out for today” list. It was glorious!

3. Establishing a routine helps with consistency. If you want results you need to schedule for them. Sometimes I can be very willy nilly about WHEN I’m going to exercise. However, for the last 21 days I was a schedule (during the week) and I did not deviate from that if it could be helped. You know what? I never had to. Which makes me think, how many times do we simply convince ourselves that “it just won’t work with my schedule” before we’ve even tried it out? Take it from me when I say…

mentality is often reality. Truth.

      

4. You need to commit and trust the process. This has always been a struggle for me. If I didn’t think I was getting results with a plan, I would get discouraged and want to jump ship before it was over. Sometimes after only a short period of time. That my friends, is just ludicrous. The most healthy ways of losing weight or improving fitness are going to take time. Time for your body to adjust to what’s going on and figure out what it it needs to do before it actually does it. So the next time you want to try a program, commit to it for a set period of time (21-30 days) and then evaluate whether or not to continue.

5. Support your partner. I can’t say enough how much easier something is when you’re not doing it alone. I’m lucky to have The Beard who supports me unconditionally and it definitely made this last 21 days not seem so difficult. In addition, it gave the two of us something specific that we were both working toward. No matter which role you’re in, the one who is trying to get healthy or the one who already is (or isn’t for that matter) jump on board. It will mean the world to your significant other, help them be more likely to accomplish their goal and let’s be honest, a little exercise and good eating never hurt anyone!

So now what?

This week we will continue eating and working out 21 Day Fix Extreme style, but on Saturday…

…we shall CHEAT! We will eat, drink and be merry!

Then we will ease back in on Sunday and begin round 2 of the 21 Day Fix Extreme on Monday, April 20 and once again we will have two choices. Let’s see just how much more we can push ourselves.

Then lookout Jamaica, here we come!

~ Ashley ~

 

He Didn’t Marry Me For My Cooking: Recipe Share #5

As I have definitely established at this point, I am not a great cook. Anything too complex and as The Beard likes to say “that pretty little brain of yours gets overwhelmed.” In fact, it is so true that when I discovered this book on Amazon today, I got a little excited.

It is seriously a real book and I swear it must have been written for me. She actually rates the difficulty level of the recipes using the following labels: Platinum Blonde, Natural Highlights and Golden Blonde! 

Ok, so maybe I’m not THAT challenged in the kitchen (most days), but my point here is that when I look for ways of eating healthier, I HAVE to have simple recipes. In addition, it has to be normal. There’s nothing that annoys me more than weight loss programs that give you recipes for fancy schmancy eating. 

I’m like look, I’m just an average citizen here and if I even knew what this high class titled meal WAS, then that would mean that I’m probably wealthy and in that case I wouldn’t need the recipe because I could hire someone to cook it for me!

Seriously. Keep. It. Simple.

Therefore, I have so far been pleased with the simpleness of the 21 Day Fix Extreme eating plan. I have lists of foods to choose from (protein, fruit, vegetables, etc.) and a series of recipes that are normal. In addition, I can easily find other dishes that can be used and/or modified to fit this plan as well!

Tonight I will be sharing one of our lunch dishes with you:

Turkey Lettuce Wraps.

Note: I’m a complete imbecile when it comes to eating lettuce wraps, so I prefer to do it bowl style.

There are four awesome things about this dish:

1. The recipe is so simple. Truth. I haven’t it screwed it up yet!

2. It literally takes me about 20 minutes to make from start to finish.

3. I normally don’t like ground turkey but with this particular combo of spices, it doesn’t taste like ground turkey to me but instead like taco meat.

4. We like it so much, we eat it for multiple meals. Seriously, we have eaten this for lunch 10 out of the last 14 days and will be eating it for 5 more days this week! People this is a breakthrough because this beauty RARELY eats leftovers AND easily TIRES of the same meals.

So without further adieu, here is how you construct the 21 Day Fix Extreme’s Turkey Lettuce Wraps!

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add turkey; cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes, or until no long pink.

2. Add garlic powder, cumin, salt, chili powder, paprika, and oregano; mix well. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

3. Add water and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cook, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes.

 

4. Dish it up in your lettuce wrap or place in a bowl with lettuce pieces. 

Serving Size: 6               1 serving = approximately 3/4-1 cup.

I really hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we do!

Happy Healthy Eating!

~ Ashley ~