30 day challenge wrap up

So the last week of the challenge was an absolute blur. I know I drank shakes, went to the gym, drank water and continued to have no caffeine, sugar or alcohol. I think I started to realize by the last week that it wasn't about the 30 days, it was about after!

The challenge ended quietly with no fan fare or finish line or prizes or trophy. Just a month of learning about myself and my body and moving FORWARD. 

Day 31 came and it was no different than day 30. I had some shakes left over (the only perk to a 30-day supply and having four cleanse days!) so I kept up with shakes for breakfast and lunch to finish out the week. I had also set up some products on auto-ship and they arrived just as the challenge ended. Now I'm prepared for breakfast for at least a few weeks. I've really learned to love and appreciate the nutrition and convenience of them for breakfast and when I have an on-the-go lunch. 

I'm still going to the gym and drinking water and paying attention to the eating habits I developed during the challenge. More fruits, veggies and lean protein. 

I plan to keep doing the workout plan from my challenge for about the next month. Then I'll consult my coaches and see if I'm ready for something new. I already have a great at-home workout plan for when life gets crazy and I don't have access to the gym. Next blog I'll talk about the things I accomplished and the things that were unintended results of the challenge. 

But I completed the challenge! I didn't do every workout, I skipped a cleanse day, had one coffee the last week and even a slice of pizza. The real kind. But the challenge wasn't a points system of checking boxes and making red X's where I fell short. It was about creating healthy habits, making time for myself and changing the way I think about food. 

Day 30

It's here! The last day of the challenge! Sort of. 

This is the last day of the program I paid for. The last day of prescheduled workouts, measured protein, snacks in portions. The app that measures my progress. The coaching calls. The 30 day routine. 

Tomorrow starts a new challenge. Moving forward on my own. Planning meals and scheduling workouts with no one to check in on me. No reminders. Just what my gut tells me and what I've learned. 

Tomorrow I'll talk about the things I've learned, tonight I celebrate my success with Netflix all to myself! 

Finishing strong!

Day 22

Last full week of the challenge! Man it has flown by.

You would think after logging and blogging for 21 days I would have these workouts down in my head. Nope! It's kind of a surprise every day when I log into Trainerize and see what my workout is today. Even though they haven't changed throughout the challenge.

Today for some reason I just didn't feel as strong in the gym. I'm not sure why, but I didn't. I was also SUPER frustrated when I went to the gym so I think I pushed harder but I still didn't feel successful. A few hours later my sore muscles reminded me that I did push myself (maybe a little too much?) and my hungry belly reminded me that my metabolism has sped up in the past few weeks. I think I may have the actual world's slowest metabolism but I can feel it working better since I've started this challenge. These are things the scale can't show me.

I talked to a few friends about my program today, after I shared the pics of my trainer that she posted online. She looks amazing, post-baby and is a super supportive helpful woman. I realized a long time ago that surrounding yourself with supportive, positive people can make all the difference in the world. I think that changed a big part of my life's outlook when I removed so many negative people from my world. We don't all have to agree, we certainly don't have to have the same goals, but positivity is not only healthy...it's contagious! I'm glad I've figured that out and reinforced that over the past few weeks.

I'm excited to do meal prep next week when half of the week is back to "real life" and not shakes for breakfast and lunch. There's some meals I love but that my family doesn't so I can prepare those for my lunches for the whole week! Truth: I kind of miss chewing my lunch. Breakfast isn't so bad, but this girl loves to eat and drinking two meals a day has been a challenge for me. I did set up my order for shakes to still mail to me once a month so I can have them at the ready for breakfast on the go or lunch on a busy day. I'm kind of pumped for this week and my workouts and finishing strong!

Days 17-21: A lot of the same, with something new thrown in!

Gym. Shakes. Water. Repeat.

Although I did have real live, regular pizza this weekend. In the words of my favorite author and her new book, I REGRET NOTHING. This challenge, to me, is all about learning how to balance the better choices with being part of a family that still likes to do fun stuff. Can I make pizza that's better for us than what we can buy? Absolutely. Am I going to do that every time someone wants it? Absolutely not. I have this great recipe for these mini pizzas that I cannot wait to try. Pineapple, chicken, bbq sauce and veggies on a sandwich thin? Sign me up! But some days, your family wants pizza on the way home from the water park and you just say "Yes". It's about real life and enjoying my life, not feeling like I'm limited to what's on a meal plan or recipe book. It's enjoying life in moderation. I regret nothing.

Also.

On Sunday we went to the water park again and for the first time since 2007 I wore a real live two piece bikini. Not because I'm so fit that everyone needs to be impressed, but because I am finally becoming comfortable with my body in a way that I haven't been since before I got pregnant with Hayden. I have stretch marks, I am carrying around more weight than I'm happy about and I'm nowhere near the goal of health and fitness I have in my head. But I'm working on it, and I don't care. If your biggest problem with the water park is me in a bikini, let me introduce you to the sub-par lifeguards working in the kiddie pool. My point is that I wanted to wear one, I could actually WEAR one from 2007 and my stomach needed some sun. I feel like my post-challenge reward to myself will be a bikini I actually feel good in, not that I can just fit in. BUT STILL. Big fear conquered. To my knowledge, no one reported an out-of-shape woman in a bikini at the kiddie pool. But for the record, Lila (queen of the tankini) was SHOCKED that I was leaving the house wearing something that shows my belly. In our house that kind of thing isn't frowned upon, but she's chosen her own bathing suits and none of them show her belly. I want to set an example for my daughter that she needs to be comfortable in her own skin, wearing what she wants (that mom and dad deem appropriate, you're still under my roof young lady) and feeling good about herself. If I had Lila's tan alone I'd feel pretty good about my body, no matter what it looked like.

Day 16: Halfway there, what?

I somehow did not even realize I was halfway through the challenge. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

It sounds silly, but it is fun to do something for me. To make these little changes and have them add up over the course of two weeks. I'm learning more about myself and the process and again, that terrible relationship I have with food.

My solution to my "being a day off/cleanse" issue ended up being: skip the cleanse day this week! So I'm working out Tuesday-Friday, taking my rest day at Saturday (we always have a ton to do so I'm moving it from Sunday to Saturday) and then carrying on with my regular schedule. I'll add in my cleanse day to the final week which isn't really a full week. It's my least favorite thing about this program, so it will be a challenge that I'm determined to complete!

The workouts are getting easier, I'm more comfortable and using more weight. Focusing on reps vs. weight is always a battle, but I'm doing enough weight to make sure the last couple of reps in each set are hard. Some days I feel like the Hulk, other days I'm SO glad no one else can see the puny weights I'm using via my app that records all this stuff. Again, it's all about keeping in competition with MYSELF. She who is the toughest critic is enough to be in a fight with, I don't need other people weighing in.

Day 15: Tuesday, or, the new Monday

I have a feeling I will spend the whole week not knowing what day it is. It's SO hard to go back to work after a long weekend!

I was pretty excited to start my day with an Isagenix shake Tuesday morning. I needed that feeling of a plan, to know what I'm eating, to be back on track and the shake is a great way to start. So I filled up my water cup, shook up my shake, packed my bags and got out the door.

I could tell a little difference in my energy level because of the easy weekend I'd had. I have a good routine down for shakes/water/snack during my work day and loved getting back to that. It was a little harder to get all my water in, since I was used to limiting my intake in the interest of making it home in a decent time. I noticed I was a little hungrier (presumably after some snacking this weekend my body wasn't used to) but still kept up my regular pace and routine.

I was ITCHING to get back into the gym. Once I start working out, I love it. It's just the starting that's hard, which is why I did this 30 day challenge in the first place. Helping my body remember how I feel when I'm exercising was the hardest and easiest thing to do. Doing workouts I never thought of or exercises I'd never tried has been really fun, but it's more fun to know what I'm doing. It's also fun to compete with MYSELF. I have an app as part of this challenge that I log my workouts in as I'm doing them. So that way I can see how many reps and with what weight I have done each exercise. This is important for me because it's a more realistic way to track my progress than the scale or even measurements. It gives me a baseline for improvement without having to remember, "What did I bench last time? Which dumbbells did I use?" and gives me a challenge to myself to try harder each day than I did the day before.

I still hate the cardio sprints but I worked harder on those this time than I did the previous two weeks; faster and for longer. Not by much, but going from 25 to 30 seconds at a full sprint seems like a lifetime!

Ab day is getting both easier and harder, which makes me see and feel my progress. I have a lot of old baby weight hanging around to get rid of before I "see" the progress and I'm a LONG way (perhaps light years) from visible abdominal muscles. But I'm getting there!

Dinner was a quick, leftover affair which was AWESOME to get all that stuff out of my fridge. It was also awesome to have several options of lean protein, of complex carbs, from which to choose. Our stop at the grocery store yielded a few perishable staples for my family (juice, milk) but also a cart nearly half full of fresh fruits and veggies. THESE are the changes I wanted to be making.

Also, the scale continues to be a liar, worthless, and on its last days in my bathroom!

Day 14: Monday, also known as, day in the car

So I'm all out of sorts over Monday. I had a plan for two weeks where every day was basically the same. This Monday was a mess. Not a literal mess, it just wasn't the same as the past two Mondays. I could have had a shake for breakfast, but I had eggs (no regrets). I hadn't had a breakfast I could chew in 13 days and eggs are the jam. No toast, no actual jam, just some eggs.

We got on the road and drove a pretty good bit before we stopped for lunch. I had a choice, and really wrestled with food vs. shake. In the end, I chose food. I like this challenge for many reasons, but I also know when it's over, I won't drink my breakfast and lunch every day. Instead, I got a wrap from Chick Fil A (no dressing) and fruit cup (thank you, CFA, for not having a melon in sight in your fruit bowl; berries and apples, a few mandarins and it's perfection. Fibrous fruits that are light on the sugar and in great portions. thank you.) My family doesn't eat fast food very often but when we do, I need to have the presence of mind to choose the stuff that's not awful. The wrap was actually pretty delicious and I didn't feel like I normally do when I go for a fried chicken sandwich and fries.

I had to dial back my water consumption a bit in order to keep from stopping every 30 minutes on a 7-hour drive. I still REALLY want a coffee but I'm not dying yet so I'm holding strong.

We got home and I really thought about a shake for dinner but again, life without shakes exists and I need to make good choices. So I had some leftover salmon (because I had controlled my portion earlier in the week!) and veggies and did not repeat DID NOT have the bowl of cereal I wanted at 8pm. That's the HARDEST DAMN THING y'all. I have had a bowl of cereal post-dinner almost every night since 2008. Weird that I've gained weight, right? I like old people cereal; low sugar, high fiber, tastes like grains. I just do. Sure, an occasional Golden Graham here and there, but I'm a Special K/Raisin Bran/plain Cheerios/corn flakes kinda gal. But it's still unnecessary refined sugar, carbs and not much nutritional value, even the protein ones. I let myself believe it was "better than dessert" for a long time but the truth is, it's kind of the same. So I hope to continue giving it up after this challenge, but I'm also not going to throw myself in the pit of despair if I do it once or twice.

The other hard part of Monday is that there just wasn't time and energy to do my Monday workout, nor the tools I needed because I work out at my gym at work and don't have those things at home. I contemplated switching out my Saturday workout (steady state cardio + tabata finisher) since I *can* do that at home. But I was just plain exhausted from the weekend, driving, light sleep and being in the car with three people for half of the weekend. My challenge now is to fit my 7-day week into 6 without being ridiculous. I hate a cleanse day but I really want to complete the whole challenge. I *can* workout on a cleanse day but I'll have to figure out a good way to do that, or skip the cleanse day, or skip a workout day. Friday is usually an "optional" workout day but I LOVE that workout. Maybe I could add half of that workout to Sunday's rest day (the part I can do at home, bootie blast) and do half a workout on my cleanse day? Or skip the cleanse day altogether? Goodness. This is why I have a coach for this challenge! I'll see what she thinks. It probably shouldn't be all that serious, but I am a planner and hate things out of order!