Tag: 21dayfix

What’s the 21 Day Fix all about anyway?

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Ever since I started posting more about my post-partum health and fitness journey on Facebook, Instagram and on my blog, I’ve received all kinds of messages:

“What are you doing!?”

“Which program is this!?”

“I’m not coordinated and I’m so out of shape…is this super hard!?”

and…”you GO mama!” (or some other form of encouragement….thanks for that, friends)

So, I thought I would make it easy on myself and answer a few questions for you all!

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Question 1: OK, so what’s the 21 Day Fix all about?

21 Day Fix is a BeachBody program created by super trainer Autumn Calabrese.  The program includes:

  • 30 minute workouts (7 total) that are designed to be in-home friendly, or you can do these at the gym, too (streaming available!). Bonus Plyo workout when you order through an Independent Beachbody Coach (aka: ME!).  Light hand weights or a resistance band are required.
  • Nutrition plan with handy color-coded portion control containers (more on this in a minute) – it takes the guesswork out of what you should be fueling your body with every day.
  • On-line support via virtual “Challenge Groups” (run by me!) and the on-line BeachBody community
  • If you purchase what’s called a Challenge Pack (better value – only available through your coach…aka: ME!), it also includes a 30-day supply of Shakeology, which is a superfood filled shake.  Why do I love it?  I can pronounce all the ingredients, it comes in chocolate flavour, and it helps to curb my sugar and carb cravings!   Need I say more?

Question 2: “Why 21 days?”

The answer is simple: it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit.

This is especially crucial for those just starting their fitness journey, or picking things back up again after a long hiatus.  There are plenty of amazing 60- to 90- day programs out there, but I’d recommend leaving those until further down the line!  Give yourself the chance to commit and see success in this first short 3-week burst, and you’ll be HOOKED.  21 Day Fix truly helps you form good habits and lay a foundation for your nutrition and fitness.  The best part is that once you’ve made the initial investment, you can just keep going and complete multiple rounds!

Question 3: “But seriously though, I am so. out. of. shape.”

This program is designed for those at a beginner to intermediate fitness level.  Each and every workout offers modification options.  If you’re finding even the modification option challenging, ditch the weights and just use your body weight.  There’s a big range of options – the key is to just get up and keep moving.

Question 4: I find nutrition and meal planning extremely daunting.  Ain’t nobody got time for that.

In my opinion, nutrition is the HARDEST part of staying healthy.  Quick and convenient foods are far too often the worst ones for us (and they are often the cheapest…what’s that about!?).  Sugar is hiding in everything!  And don’t even get me started on eating out.

What I love about the 21 Day Fix Meal plan is that it’s really simple once you get comfortable with the color coding system.  Your starter kit includes these handy, fool-proof, color-coded portion containers for each nutrition family:

  • Green = veggies
  • Red = Protein
  • Purple = Fruit
  • Yellow = Carbs
  • Orange = nuts, dressings and seeds
  • Blue = Healthy fats (think avocado and cheese)

This is not about cutting everything out of your life – that’s NOT sustainable.  It’s about learning to make healthy choices as much as possible and educating yourself about what your body needs as fuel each day.

For example, when starting the program, I learned that the amount of oatmeal that I was consuming in the morning was the equivalent of about 3-4 of my daily carb servings (so basically ALL my carbs for the day!).  Now, I have a smaller portion of oatmeal and supplement it with eggs and fruit.  Still eating plenty of good food, just spreading the nutrition out a bit.

The slogan for the program is: Count colors not Calories!

PS – my favourite part?  The 21 Day Fix eating plan even shows you how you can incorporate your favourite foods like chocolate and wine (ahemwineformeplease).  Again, this is about a sustainable lifestyle change, not some crazy diet that you will never be able to continue!

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Question 5: But I’ve tried to work out at home in the past…I get about 3 days in and give up.

Guess what?  ME TOO.  I started one of Jillian Michael’s programs back in the summer, went gung-ho for a week, and then fell of the wagon.  Why?  Because it was just me. On my own. Every day.  All by myself.

I don’t know about you, but it’s really hard to motivate yourself every single day when you’re in it alone.  Well, today is your lucky day, because this is where I come in.  The reason I decided to become a BeachBody coach is to offer you the support and encouragement that I know is necessary to realize results.  I will text you, check in with you, and add you to my private on-line challenge groups.  Through these support links,  you’ll find daily posts and challenges, and the opportunity to celebrate successes (and failures!) with other challengers just like you.

Question 6: OK, Melissa…you’ve convinced me….now when can I start?

On-line, private challenge groups run every month!  My next one starts on Monday, April 11th, 2016.  You’ll need to order your Challenge Pack in advance (which costs less than a few months at a gym or a 10-class punch card!), so you’re ready to rock n’ roll, so if now is your time, take the first step and JOIN ME by completing this form

Let’s do this TOGETHER!

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Sunday Dinner: Hearty Beef & Butternut Squash Stew

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I’m not a chef.  Like, at all.  Even though I went to hospitality school for four years and worked in the restaurant industry, I just didn’t get pumped about cooking.  But then baby H came along, I was home a lot more often, Christian and I focused more on clean eating, and we started meal planning.

Oh, and we bought a new house with the BIGGEST kitchen island ever.  Seriously, my kitchen makes my heart happy.

So, here is my first ever recipe post – something that I thought I would NEVER do.  Ironically, my hubby cooked this tonight so I could go shopping and have some me time, so he gets the credit.  But who’s counting, right?

This is recipe is from the 21 Day Fix Extreme Eating Plan.  It just felt so appropriate for a Sunday night dinner on a cold day.

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

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Sorry for the crummy photo…we couldn’t wait to dive in LOL
Ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs raw lean beef stew meat, boneless (cut into 2-inch cubes)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup low-sodium organic beef broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (we did 1/2 cilantro and 1/2 parsley)

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add beef; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until beef is brown.
  3. Add onion and bell peppers; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
  4. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
  5. Add tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Bring to boil.  Reduce Heat to medium-low; cook, covered for 40 minutes.
  6. Add squash; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 12 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and beef is fork-tender **
  7. Remove bay leaf; serve topped with parsley.

**we found this wasn’t enough time to fully cook the squash, so would recommend either pre-steaming your squash, OR adding it in at least 15 minutes earlier than recommended above.

We added cilantro, and a bunch of Franks Red Hot Sauce (yep, we really do put that s**t on everything).
21 Day Fix Container servings (per serving):
1 x Green
1 x Red
This meal was delicious and I’m so pumped to enjoy it again tomorrow!  Why not give it a try this week?
Happy Spring and Happy Sunday everyone,
Melissa

My Post-Partum Fitness Journey.

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Yesterday marked day 21 of the 21 Day Fix challenge that I began on Feb 8th.  21 Day Fix is a workout and nutrition plan that was created by my latest girl crush, Autumn Calabrese.  It’s part of the Beach Body Fitness programs (you might have heard of P90x or Insanity?  Same company!).

Reflecting upon the past three weeks allowed me to realize that I have done something solely for ME every single day for the past 21 days.  Forget the program. Forget the results.  As a relatively new mom, now THAT’S something to celebrate!

But let’s back up for a few minutes, because I wasn’t ready for this a few months ago.  It took me some time to get here.

Fitness has pretty much always been a part of my life.  I started working out at the gym in high school, when a handsome neighbor from my graduating class suggested we lift weights together at the gym.  He seemed to have it all figured out, somehow managing to simultaneously rock both football and musical theatre like a character straight out of Glee.  I immediately enjoyed feeling strong and started learning my way around a gym.  Fast-forward to my university days when I became a varsity cheerleader.  Being part of a competitive team allowed me to see fitness in a different light.  I further developed my weight-lifting knowledge, competed in national competitions, rode in the back of an ambulance with an injured teammate, and threw-up after the dreaded “hill runs” during practice.  I loved every minute of it.

After university my fitness journey continued:  Body Pump classes at Goodlife, completing my first 10K running race and two half-marathons, and beginning personalized work-out plans created by my now husband, Christian.  Boot camps, ballet based dance classes, spinning, cross-fit, hot yoga…you name it, I was up for trying it all.  On my wedding day, my shoulders and triceps looked pretty darned awesome, if I do say so myself.

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Once married life settled down and the home renovations took over our lives, fitness started to drop down the priority list.  My husband and I slowly started adding on a pound here and there….we just couldn’t seem to bump fitness and health back up to the top of the priority list.

The year before I got pregnant, I knew I wasn’t feeling (or looking) my best, but just wasn’t motivated enough to make serious changes.  I mean, what was the point if I was just going to “undo” all my hard work during pregnancy anyway?

By the time my due-date approached, I had gained nearly 50 pounds.  I didn’t beat myself up about it — let’s be honest: I grew a human!  In fact, it was kind of liberating!

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Fortunately, Baby H took to breast feeding (which happens to be an excellent calorie burn). Between that and walking walking walking and walking some more the pounds started to fall off.  Slow and steady.

In the late summer, Christian decided that he was going to break the “dad-bod” stereotype and do the aforementioned P90x.  I resented him for it.  Fall was by far my hardest stretch post-partum and I resented the fact that he had the drive, energy, will-power, physical ability and desire to commit to this program.  I just wasn’t there, and I took it out on him.  Big time.

By late fall, I was starting to crave fitness for myself again.  I joined a mommy-baby Ironcore class and a spin studio.  I enjoyed feeling the sweat and burn, but my post-partum body was completely different than the one I had been working out with for 30 years prior.  Balancing baby and home and a part-time return to work, it was hard to make it to class more than once or twice a week.  The number on the scale told a “great” story but the mirror told me otherwise; I seriously missed my muscles and my abs were a distant memory.  I told myself that I “looked great for a new mom” but I knew that I wanted more.  If I truly prioritized it, I could look AND feel great. Period. No “for a new mom” qualifiers needed.

And then fate stepped in.  At a January get-together among friends, I caught up with Heidi.  She had been running some clean eating and fitness challenge groups on Facebook and I had read about her own fitness journey a few months prior.  The program is simple: regular 30 minute workouts that you do at home, alongside a balanced nutrition plan.

With a young baby and a nap schedule to work with, I knew that in-home workouts would be the best way for me to prioritize fitness for real this time.  I signed up for the 21 Day Fix program as a part of Heidi’s challenge group the very next day.

So here we are, 21 days later.  I feel like my fitness journey has just re-ignited again and I am so thrilled.  In three weeks I have lost 5 lbs and 5 inches….but most importantly, I feel amazing.  I have so. much. energy.

The best part is that I’m just getting going.  Through this experience, I have learned two key things:

  1. Becoming a mom does not have to push you to the bottom of the priority list.  Prioritize yourself.  I am a better mother and wife because of this.
  2. I am extremely motivated when I am motivating and encouraging others.  For this reason, I have become a Beach Body Coach, which means I want to help YOU reach YOUR fitness goals.  Yep, I surprised myself when I signed up, but here we are.

My next 21 day fitness challenge begins on March 14th, 2016.

Will you join me!?  Drop me your info and let’s do this together.