April Showers 21 Day Fix - The Results

Well, I was up .4 lbs again.  Kind of frustrating but not surprising.  TOM when I started the 21 Day Fix and TOM when I finished it.  Stupid mother nature LOL.  I did lose a few inches but not as much as I thought.  But this could again be because of TOM.  Should I have Benny measure me again next week or just wait until the end of next month?

Measurements

WAIST:  34.5 to 34

HIPS:  42.5 to 42.25

CHEST:  36.5 to 36

R ARM:  stayed at 13

L ARM:  12.5 to 12.75

R THIGH:  22.5 to 21.5

L THIGH:  21.5 to 21

TOTAL LOSS:  2.5 inches

 



I really did struggle with the food so I think that was the real reason why I didn't see the bigger losses most others had.  For me the 21 Day Fix eating plan was too restrictive...kind of why I never dieted before.  I prefer the flexibility of the Weight Watchers Points Plus system where you eat whatever you want as long as it's within your allotted daily and weekly points.  I lost over 75 lbs this way so I think it's best to stick with it for  now.

I'm willing to try the 21 Day Fix again later, just like I did with the Shakeology.  I'll study what others posted that they're eating and see which new recipes I can do.  During the summer the smoothies would probably be more fun than they are now because they'd cool me off from the heat rather than just make me chilly LOL.

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Taco Salad - 21 Day Fix Friendly Recipe

As you well know I struggled to get in all my containers during the 21 Day Fix.  This taco salad that I came up with was big but satisfying.  It's very flexible so you can modify just about everything to suit your tastes.

Ingredients

1 cup spinach (can do lettuce too or a mix...whatever you prefer)

2 small heads broccoli

5-6 carrots

1/2-1 bell pepper

1/2-1 onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

Spice mix to taste (i.e. oregano, basil, parsley, paprika, allspice, etc.)

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups instant brown rice

1-2 lb ground beef

Taco seasoning (packet or self-made)

1 cup water

1/4 cup feta

4 slices turkey bacon

I'd like to note that Benny won't buy the healthier ground beef (only 73/27) because of the price so I just use less of it in my meals.  He doesn't seem to mind that he's not eating so much meat LOL

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Cut up all your veggies (except the spinach) and place into a bowl with the garlic.  Add your preferred spice mix and the olive oil.  Toss well.  Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and place in the oven.
2. Meanwhile brown the ground beef and add salt & pepper to taste.  Drain and add the taco seasoning and water.  Stir well.  Heat to boiling and reduce to simmer.  Most of the liquid will be absorbed.
3. While the beef is browning cook the rice according to the package instructions.
4. When everything is almost done, cook the bacon in the microwave.
5. Remove the veggies from the oven and let cool a few minutes.
6. Place the spinach in a large bowl.  Add 2 cups of the veggies.  Add 2/3 cup of the rice (save the rest for leftovers or serve to members of your family).  Add up to 3/4 cup of the ground beef mixture.  Top with the feta and bacon.
7. Enjoy!

The amounts mentioned above wouldn't be an every day meal.  It's more for when you've had a crazy busy day and didn't much.  As I said before it's very flexible so you can adjust it to whatever you're needing for that meal.

April Showers 21 Day Fix - The Home Stretch

Well, both scales are in agreement....I had a little gain this week but I'm not really sure why.  I think inches have been lost though as those 10 cargo pants I just bought are a little loose!

I went to the Gynecologist yesterday and had an ultrasound to check on my fibroids since I've been spotting almost the whole time since the beginning of the year.  (I thought maybe it was Perimenopause but the doctor didn't agree.)  Looking at the preliminary report my fibroids are gone!  So now the doctor is clueless as to what's going on with me.  Just another thing to add to the long line of "I don't know what your body is doing" that I hear from every doctor.

 

Something he did notice was that I have a ton of nabothian cysts on my cervix.  I asked him if that was a good or bad thing.  He said that it was neither good nor bad.  These cysts are normal occurrences so there's nothing to worry about.  The doctor just personally has never seen so many.  I did a quick search this morning looking at others' ultrasounds and don't see any others with so many empty spaces representing the cysts.

I finally got someone at Anthem to acknowledge the fact that, based on the estimated facility charges the hospital provided, the cost of Benny's surgery would be higher than the out of pocket maximum.  It's just too much of an expense to take on right now (with paying for our dental work) so he's opted to not have the surgery.  Now, I don't know if it's an actual problem or it's his subconscious over-reacting, but this morning he said that he was swollen and his tongue hurt by the salivary ducts.

Nothing new on the workouts and eating fronts.  I'm still struggling to get all the fruits and veggies in.  With not having the weight loss but possibly inches lost I'm not sure if it's a result of the nutritional change or this particular workout series.  Maybe it's just my body refusing to conform to the norm, just like with everything else.

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April Showers 21 Day Fix - 10 Days In

The home scale only reflects a .4 lb loss while my official weigh in was 1.6 lbs down.  Should I even bother continuing to monitor and take a picture of the scale for my weekly posts?  What would you rather see instead - a picture of the printout/sticker from weigh in, a screenshot of the chart or table view from Weight Watchers, or something else to display my weight?

Saturday we made a trip to Goodwill.  I picked up

• Size 10 jean (Yes, I'm in 10's now!)
• Size 12 jean
• Size 10 cargo pants
• Size M wrap skirt
• 2 size L shirts
• 2 belts (I think they both say 38")

Benny managed to find this huge Lee Reynolds painting for $50.  We tried to hang it up but can't get the picture wire to reach the nail.  Austin and Benny picked out a couple of board games also.

I'm currently frustrated with my health insurance.  Obamacare (I refuse to call it the true name) has come down hard on what my employer can offer us.  Our deductible has quadrupled and all other costs have increased (even a deductible for prescriptions now!).  Benny was supposed to have that surgery to remove the stones from his salivary gland/duct before the end of March but that was cancelled because he drank milk that morning.  We had rescheduled it for tomorrow but now we had to cancel.  I got the average facility cost from the hospital but Anthem flat out refuses to give us any kind of idea what our final cost will be.  Will the final bill be just the deductible or will we have to pay some co-insurance also?  Benny calls this a scam for them refusing to tell a consumer how much a service will be.  He refuses to have the surgery until we know costing information so we can figure out how to pay for it all.  Has anyone had this happened before?

Workouts

Day 4: Pilates Fix Lower Fix
I woke up and it was like a miracle had happened overnight!  Only a slight twinge periodically in my thighs but otherwise I was pain free.  So it was definitely the right decision to switch days 3 & 4 workouts.  Leg day wasn't as bad as I'd expected.  I see everyone posting about how they hate leg day on just about every workout program.  I'd almost say I LOVE leg day if they were all like this!

Day 5:  Cardio Fix
I alternated between the regular and modified movements throughout the workout so I wouldn't overdo it.  That worked out really well; I had the best burn of all 7 workouts...right about where I like to be.

Day 6:  Dirty 30
I didn't understand what made this workout "dirty"...

Day 7: Yoga Fix
I tried this workout before officially starting so I had an idea what I was doing.  Did that make doing yoga easier?  Perhaps.  It sure felt a little easier but I just don't do that swooping thing when you go into up dog.  It's either my lack of coordination or I'm too slow LOL

Day 8: Total Body Cardio Fix
Back to surrendering again. UGH!  I took it very slowly and pushed through without pain.  Next week I'll go a little faster and hope to not have a repeat of day 1.

Day 9:  Upper Fix
Attempted to do some of the moves with my Slim in 6 resistance band instead of the weights.  Yeah, that didn't work out so well.  I just couldn't stretch the band out with it wrapped around my feet.  It's possible that this band is just too short to do these workouts.  I do want to pick up some heavier weights though.  I'm only working with 3 lb weights so maybe just 5 lb ones next.

Day 10:  Lower Fix
Leg day again!  It only hurts doing the leg lifts on the floor.  It wouldn't be so bad if it were less than a minute.  But at least it doesn't last beyond the moves.

Nutrition

I really need a better blender and more big cups if I'm going to keep up with eating all these fruits and veggies!   Some days I even struggle getting the protein in.  I've always called myself the meat and potatoes kid so it doesn't make sense that I can't eat more meat LOL.  It does seem easier when I do the smoothies as dessert as opposed to breakfast or a morning snack.  Benny hates cleaning out the blender but doesn't like how I wash dishes so he's stuck with it.

 

My salads are a little weird since the only raw veggies I'll eat are the leafy ones; everything else has to be cooked.  So I'll have just lettuce and spinach with some turkey.  Now, one day I tried to make a vinaigrette with my rice vinegar.  For some reason I had a headache from the first bite.  The flavor was good but the headache kind of scared me.  Have you experienced this before?  The rest of the time I've eaten a salad I've just used my fat free ranch but don't know if it's 21 Day Fix friendly.

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April Showers 21 Day Fix - 3 Days In

The scales keep flip flopping!  My official weigh in I was up .4 lbs but at home this morning I was down 2 lbs.

Workouts

Day 1:  Total Body Cardio Fix
I did the first move after the warm up during Jillian Michaels Body Revolution but it was later in the workout so my legs were ready to go.  Autumn says she put this move first because you have the most energy at the beginning of the workout.  Well, I'd have to agree with Jillian's placement over Autumn's....It's not good to SURRENDER at the beginning of a workout!

1. Holding a pair of light dumbbells, raise your arms straight above your head, keeping your elbows loose but straight.  Your arms will remain in this position throughout the move.
2. Drop down on your right knee, keeping your left leg at a 90 degree angle.
3. Lower your left knee to the floor; both knees are on the floor as if you're surrendering.
4. Raise your right leg so that it's at a 90 degree angle with your foot on the floor.
5. Straighten your left leg and stand up.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for 1 minute.
7. Complete the other moves in the circuit.
8. Repeat steps 2-6 starting on your left knee.

OMG My thighs were KILLING me after doing this!  I haven't been able to move properly since the workout.  It's difficult to stand up and sit down as well as pretty much anything else that involves bending my legs.  Benny has been laughing at me not being able to walk.

Day 2:  Upper Fix
A lot of weights and ab work involved with this workout.  There were a few moves where your leg was supposed to be bent but I couldn't put my legs in the proper position.

Day 3: Lower Fix Pilates Fix
My thighs are still hurting this morning so I went with Pilates Fix instead of Lower Fix (AKA leg day).  Only a few moves I felt the pain so I think it was a good choice to switch.  I'm hoping to be recovered enough do the Lower Fix tomorrow.

Nutrition Plan

The first thing you have to do is determine your calorie level (based on your weight).  I'm at the 1500-1799 calorie range.  From there, you'll know how many of each container food group you're to eat each day.  I created handy dandy graphics to help people know what goes into each container and how much you're eating.  Check out my 21 Day Fix board for the details.

Follow Cassandra Schmigotzki's board 21 Day Fix on Pinterest.

Just from these three days I've determined (besides the fruits & veggies issue) that I'm heavy on the carbs and light on the protein.  It's a major adjustment for me on all fronts!  Just remind me to never again use raw carrots in a smoothie! BLEH  It has overpowered today's smoothie but I still drank it all.

 

 

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75 lbs Officially Gone

Scales are definitely weird creatures!  This time my home scale shows a .6 lb gain.  I weighed in last night at Weight Watchers down 2.4 lbs, making me weigh only about 2 lbs more than Benny.  They gave me my 75 lb charm as well as the Live Life Active running man charm (same one as last year).

My March Shakeology Challenge is complete.  I tried to make a different recipe every day but ran out of ideas.  Either I didn't have the other ingredients or I wouldn't eat them.  I absolutely loved all the recipes using peanut butter.  Austin enjoyed the Reese's knock off recipe with me.  Benny didn't want to partake in any of it.  When I did the sampler pack this fall I didn't like the flavor but felt full.  This time I liked the flavor but was still so hungry.  I think drinking the almond milk instead of skim milk has adjusted my taste buds because that's what the Chocolate Shakeology flavor reminded me of this time.  I'm still interested in trying the new Strawberry flavor so I've booked it to receive a bag late May to do another challenge in June.  Would anyone care to join me?

 

I continued working out with Jillian Michaels through Friday.  Since Saturday I've been doing a beginner's belly dancing DVD.  Is there any way to loosen up my hips so my moves will be more fluid?  On the DVD there was a move called the Egyptian Walk.  I guess that I expected it to be something like what you do to Walk Like an Egyptian but it wasn't anything like that!

 

Next week begins my 21 Day Fix.  I read through the eating plan yesterday and do have some concerns about my eating.  As you well know, I don't like many fruits and veggies.  It's a struggle for me to get in 1-2 per day total.  On the 21 Day Fix for my calorie range I need 4 veggies & 3 fruits (or maybe the other way around).  How in the world is a picky eater like me going to survive these 3 weeks?  There is a food list for each container but still my selection is very limited.  Yes, I know I'm only limiting myself but I don't want to waste the food either.

 

I am still looking for stories of people on Weight Watchers who've tried the 21 Day Fix.  Please direct anyone interested to complete the form so that I can share their experience.

 

Benny's surgery Friday was cancelled.  He ignored the rules and drank milk when he got up.  Not because he was hungry but because he was thirsty.  They finally called yesterday to reschedule it for the 17th...at 7:30 AM!  Oh, that is too early when we have to be there at 6 AM! LOL  I told Benny that when we got home we'd both take a nap and I'd do my workout when I woke up.

 

All year I've been spotting pretty much all month long.  I'm thinking it's either my fibroid or perimenopause.  The gynecologist is leaning towards the fibroid and wants me to have another ultrasound (I had one back when I first saw him).  So I'm going to try to schedule it during Benny's surgery so I'll have something to do.

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