My 21DSD Experience: Week 3 (The FINAL Week!)

The final week is here! Yay! I'm so proud of myself for following through with my commitment to the 21DSD and it turns out this was a very educational experience for me -- and hubs, too! Let's take a look!

Day 15 - Monday, February 3rd

Weight: + .8 lbs.

Physical: Ugh. Mondays, am I right? The day started out slowly but I eventually got moving and was able to knock out a fair share of housework today. I just KNOW I would be so much more successful and feel even better if I could add workouts to my clean eating!

Mental: Bummed about another gain, but I'm looking at the big picture, not that dumb number on the scale. I like that I'm learning how I have to be true to myself. Accountable to myself. No one will necessarily know if I sneak that Snickers bar in the car while running errands, but that's cheating and I want no part of it. I have to answer to myself here, and I'm learning I actually CAN be strong-willed and not allow myself to get away with such shenanigans. Who knew I could be so tough? :)

Day 16 - Tuesday, February 4th

Weight: - .3 lbs.

Physical:  So today's the dreaded day that I straight fell off the wagon head-first. Somehow I found myself eating a Pop-Tart for breakfast and 2 slices of frozen pizza for dinner. It was a bad, bad day.

Mental:  I'm not sure what caused my major flop today. Maybe the 2+ weeks of a restricted diet finally caught up to me and I wanted to eat "normal" for a day? I dunno. Regardless, it was just a slip and not me falling back into the old ways. I vow to make it to 21 days! And I'm proud of myself for learning that just because I slip up doesn't mean I have to completely give up and settle for an unhealthy lifestyle. One bad choice is just that -- one bad choice. It doesn't have to impact the rest of the choices I make. It's okay to start fresh and stay committed.

Day 17 - Wednesday, February 5th

Weight: + .1 lbs.

Physical: Tired today, which isn't super surprising considering my food choices yesterday. Perhaps the guilt overcame me because... hold onto your hats, folks! I FINALLY hit the gym!!! It's literally in a room right next to the living room where I spend most of my day -- haha! And I haven't been able to make it back upstairs since! I decided the quit the excuses and find something -- anything! -- that could be used as my exercise regimen. And I did! I found this beginner body weight workout from NerdFitness (an EXCELLENT website, I must say!) and it seriously rocked my world! I could barely get myself through the circuit once, let alone THREE TIMES, but I really pushed myself and made it happen. It's a super simple workout that anyone can do:

20 body weight squats

10 push ups

20 walking lunges

10 dumbbell rows (using a gallon milk jug)

15 second plank

30 Jumping Jacks

Repeat entire set 3x with a brief rest/water break in between each set.

Mental: So proud of myself for the exercising! Not so impressed with myself for eating almost an entire jar of dill pickles over the course of the day, but I guess it could've been something worse, right?

Day 18 - Thursday, February 6th

Weight: + 1.1 lbs.

Physical: So so so so so so so so so very sore from yesterday's beginner workout!!! It's crazy how much my legs hurt! It's obvious I put muscles to work that haven't seen the tiniest bit of exercise in YEARS. Wow. It hurts so good! I didn't want to let the excuse of physical pain prevent me from continuing with my exercise journey, so I found an interval training routine from NerdFitness to keep me moving. I definitely didn't give it 100% but at this early stage of the game, I'm counting every attempt at movement as a WIN.

Mental: A gain of 1.1 lbs.!? Not cool and slightly depressing following my first workout in literally years. But ultimately I told myself it was a gain of MUSCLE WEIGHT (lol.) and that helped me press on. Haha!

Day 19 - Friday, February 7th

Weight: + 2 lbs.

Physical: Well, I'm still feeling quite SORE from my Wednesday body weight workout, but I forced myself to push through and even hit the workout again today as scheduled! What a surprise! It was TOUGH, though. I couldn't bring myself to get through the 3rd set of 20 lunges and subbed it out with step ups onto my weight bench instead.

Mental: Another huge gain!? What the heck? Ugh. I wasn't happy to see that, but I know deep down that eating right and exercising are THE ONLY keys to getting and staying fit, so I'm refusing to let myself get discouraged and am doing my best to pump myself up! I truly am proud of myself for sticking to an exercise routine, even though it's only been 3 days! LOL!

Day 20 - Saturday, February 8th

Weight: - .6 lbs.

Physical: I stuck with the program and did the interval training today, including some additional upper arm work. It was a great workout and I'm so glad I did it! Of course, I'm also looking forward to tomorrow (Sunday) because it's my day off from workouts.

Mental: Finally! A tiny weight loss! That made me feel so much better. Nothing huge, but at least going in the right direction. My food choices have stayed on par with the 21DSD and I'm very happy that I've been so successful. And I must give MAJOR PROPS to hubs today. He popped open a soda that had been our fridge for weeks, which totally shocked me, only to see him stand at the sink and pour it down the drain!!! I was so terribly proud of him! We still have a little stash of Coke 12-packs in the garage that we'll be donating to our Sunday School class at church next week. :)

Day 21 - Sunday, February 9th

Weight: - 2.7 lbs.

Physical: Feeling great! It's the LAST DAY of my 21DSD and I've learned so much! I've lost a total of 7.4 lbs. over 21 days, which I consider to be a HUGE accomplishment. I was hoping for a bit more weight loss but since I didn't begin with the exercise effort in on Day 1, I'm not terribly surprised. I feel like I have more energy, though, and it seems I'm able to accomplish much more throughout the day than I had before. I'm very encouraged and hopeful that the weight will start to melt off with the combination of clean eating and daily exercise.

Mental: Whew! That was HARD. I honestly didn't think I had it in me to make it through 21 days of this! Seriously, people, think about it: no cookies, no soda, no cereal, no bread, no chips, no crackers, no sweetened drinks, no fruit (except green apples, bananas and grapefruit)... the list goes on and on and I SURVIVED!!! I'm so proud of myself and hubs for doing so great!

I'm seriously thinking about doing another 21DSD along with my exercise new regimen to see what kind of progress I can make! To be honest I think I'm enjoying this massive life distraction because it's keeping me from focusing too much on Chase's heart surgery in May. There's just too much going on there to get into it now, so let's just say that if I had to distract myself with something, getting healthier seems like a good way to go!

Thanks to those of you who followed along on my 21DSD journey!

My 21DSD Experience: Week 2

Okay, folks, week 2 of my 21DSD is complete and I've managed to stay (mostly) on track! I'm looking forward to making it to the end of the detox... I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to enjoy strawberries, grapes and Gala apples again! Haha!

Day 8 - Monday, January 27th

Weight: - .5 lbs.

Physical: I didn't have a hard time getting up this morning and was able to accomplish a lot around the house in my first couple of hours of the day. I haven't had a nap since I started the 21DSD except for Sunday afternoon when EVERYONE in my house was asleep. It was nice to recharge a bit before the busy week!

Mental: I'm still in a good place, which totally surprises me. I can see myself getting through the entire 21 days continuing to do what I've been doing. This is great! I've been changing up the kids' meals a bit as well with the hope to move them away from all processed food. I stopped sending a little "dessert" in their lunch every day and we're not eating desserts at home, so maybe their palate is changing at least a tiny bit (with the exception of LO's school who keeps using Skittles and Oreos for math lessons and the church who doses out chocolate pudding cupS (i.e. TWO!) or FOUR cookies for a morning snack!). Oh well. Ya win some, ya lose some, right? ;)

Day 9 - Tuesday, January 28th

Weight: 0 lbs.

Physical: I'm not sure whether it was me, hubs, or the kids who was shocked the most to see me up this morning BEFORE the rest of the house! Lots of prep last night meant breakfast was a quick fix and lunches were already packed. I was up to greet the day BEFORE 7am, which is completely unheard of. My energy level was great and stayed with me throughout most of the day. I woke very refreshed from a great night of sleep. I've always slept well but last night seemed extra good!

Mental: I'd be lying if I said I don't get excited to jump on the scale every morning for a quick peek at (one form of) my progress, but honestly I wasn't too concerned to see no change today. I'm just feeling too good to care, I guess! I'm hopeful I'll continue to see some weight loss, but it isn't my #1 priority of the 21DSD. I'm happy that I've basically eliminated sugary snacks/treats for the kids at home and in their school lunches. I'm happy that I've lost 6.5 lbs. I'm happy that I'm feeling better and sleeping better. And I'm super psyched to get my new 21DSD Cookbook tomorrow! I will add that by the end of the night, I did find myself eating a banana even though I know I wasn't feeling the slightest bit hungry. I can definitely see how food is a mental game and not just physical. I tried to talk myself out of the banana, but ultimately my craving/desire won out. Gotta work on this!

Day 10 - Wednesday, January 29th

Weight: - 1 lb.

Physical: Overall I've felt well but still want to get my lazy, oversized butt into our gym! Geez!

Mental: This is definitely a mental game and anyone that says otherwise is crazy!!! I made the choice this morning that I was NOT going to "cheat" with any of my little cheats today (i.e. more than one banana or apple in a day or a tiny square of 85% chocolate). I had to keep making that choice throughout the entire day, over and over again. As a reward for my good behavior (again, rewarding behavior is a mental thing... I still need to work on this!), I made doughnuts from the 21DSD Cookbook. Win!!! They were amazing and the perfect non sweet treat to make me feel like a cheater!!!

Day 11 - Thursday, January 30th

Weight: - .8 lbs.

Physical: It's been pretty lazy around the house with 2 snow days, 3 kids and both hubs and I all home since Tuesday afternoon. I hadn't so much as ventured out of the house until dinner tonight at a local Mexican restaurant. And just FYI... I did great! I made some paleo tortilla chips to bring along, which were awesome with salsa and helped me not feel like I was missing out on anything, and ordered some amazing steak and chicken fajitas (minus the tortillas, rice and sour cream). I did allow some cheese and beans tonight, which are essentially cheats, but it was still way better than my old usual!

Mental: I guess this is kind of the half-way point of the 21DSD, right? I'm proud of myself for making it this far, but honestly I haven't put a lot of thought into what I'm doing. It's becoming like second nature to me to make the food choices I'm making. I don't feel restricted by this lifestyle and certainly haven't been counting down the days 'til the end, which I think is a great thing!

Day 12 - Friday, January 31st

Weight: - 0 lbs.

Physical: I know it's getting old, but I'm still waiting for that burst of energy to get me onto the treadmill in our gym. I'm so lame!!!

Mental: Still feel great overall and overall very encouraged with my progress!

Day 13 - Saturday, February 1st

Weight: + .8 lbs.

Physical: A little gain today but that can totally be explained my the mini concrete mixer (chocolate peanut butter cup w/ M&Ms) I had Friday night from Culver's. It was a very calculated cheat rather than a spur of the moment kind, which is definitely considered progress in my book! I was having a rough day and hubs was feeling it too and we decided together to "reward" ourselves and It. Was. Awesome. I was surprised how much I tasted all of the flavors of my treat and, most notably, the fake chocolate flavor!! I was so surprised! It was so good and the only problem was that my body DIDN'T fight me on it. I was hoping for an upset stomach or something but my body embraced that frozen custard like it was its job! Guess I'll still need to be careful after the 21DSD!

Mental: See above. ;)

Day 14 - Sunday, February 2nd

Weight: - .3 lbs.

Physical: I might've ate a bit too much tonight with the exciting Super Bowl menu I created, but it was all 21DSD approved! The Pulled Pork Barbecue Waffle Sliders had to be my fave! And those waffles are savory and will be the perfect match for a bacon and egg sandwich tomorrow morning!

Mental: I've lost 7.8 lbs. in 14 days so how can I feel anything other than excited and proud of my accomplishments? And I've REALLY stuck with the 21DSD do much better than I ever dreamed! I consider the 0.1% of "cheats" completely negligible!

One more week to go!!!

9 Months!!!

My precious little baby is 9 months old! I just can't believe how quickly these months have passed. And to think we're less than 3 months away from the big O-N-E? I could just cry! But I won't. At least not right now. Instead I'll share a few pics of my little cutie.