Beach body program

In January, I joined a food and fitness program that one of Brandon's friends' moms was coaching.  She had support groups on Facebook that checked up on each day.  There as a strict container led food program that accompanied the workouts with certain foods that I was allowed to eat.  I started the diet weighing in at one of my heaviest in my entire adult life.  I felt less energy and was lethargic. I knew I needed a life change.  The diet piece of the program follows a make sense type of diet approach including lots of veggies, some fruit, high in protein, and low in carbs, sweets, and fat.  It meant that I had to give up the wine I enjoyed drinking each night and beer.  The first few days were very rough, my stomach had stretched and I felt quite hungry.  I drank tons of water to keep my hunger pains down.  I had to often times eat my own dinner or modify them to follow the strictness of the diet.  I loaded up on healthy non-processed foods and was pleased to find most of them affordable at Trader's Joes.  There was also daily shakes through their program called Shakelogy that we got to mix with fresh and frozen fruit.

Looking back I see how plump my arms and face is

Trader joes healthy shopping cart!

Typical lunches are homemade salads

Monday and Friday 3 mile runs near the YMCA (replaced my stair mill workouts)

Another typical lunch salad

The fitness program was quite hard even though I was in pretty good shape.  I followed the 21 day Fix program which was a set work out each day for 21 days.  The workouts were about 30 minutes and followed by the healthy eating were supposed to yield a significant result in 21 days.  The first week I was really sore as there was weight lifting that I was not accustomed to.  I started the program on January 4th and was so encouraged by the progress I made in just 4 weeks.  I was able to work out 27 out of the 28 days and stuck to my shake everyday that month.  At the end of January I was already down 8.5 pounds.  I was happy but felt like I still had progress to go!

Sean did some workouts with me

More trail running February-it was cold!

Progress shot in February after 30 days

Bigger progress in end of February

Arms getting more defined at the end of February

Typical dinner-we switched to Sun Basket which is a healthier home delivery service

Super healthy and yummy chicken tortilla soup

In February I continued to work hard and to implement my new lifestyle changes.  I continued keeping track of my food containers each day and working out to the workout videos each day.  I continued to get stronger and was able to do many of the exercises that were hard all the way through.  I saw the most dramatic change in my stomach muscles which shrieked up quite well (a lot of my fat goes to my belly).  By the end of February I was down another 3 pounds.  I revved up my program in March because we were going to Puerto Vallarta and I really wanted to look good in a bikini.  I started the 21 Day Fix Extreme which is a more calorie intense program.  It was hard on my body but with my combo of my chiropractor and massage therapist I was able to get through the program.  I also ran every Monday and Friday after my 60 minute pilates classes for 3 miles.  Right before I left for Mexico I had managed to lose another 2 pounds for a total of 13.5 pounds and felt the healthiest I had felt in a long time.  At that time, I started to stop doing the containers but still kept track of my food in my head and implemented the beach body eating habits I had learned-high veggies and fruit, medium in protein, and low in fats, sugars, and carbs.  I was able to maintain my weight and even lost a pound even though I indulged some at the all inclusive resort we were at. I felt so awesome in Mexico and worked out 5 of the 7 days we were there in the mornings before breakfast.

Really seeing progress by beginning of March

Abs of steel just before going to Mexico

Me and my sweet Brandon at the mother-son dance

Mexico!

I happily wore a bikini the whole trip 

I continued the healthy Beach body lifestyle in April and May doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts.  While my body did not change as drastically, I was able to get quite a bit more body definition all around and did feel higher energy.  I was able to lose another 3-4 pounds (depending on the day) making my total weight loss a whopping 18.5 pounds.  I went down a whole pant size to a size 26 or 27 and my underwear were feeling saggy!  I am hopeful to keep the weight off while I indulge in more fun activities and trips this summer.