For the past 3 weeks, along with 4 ladies, I did the 21 Day Fix challenge. Another challenge, you said?!? Well, yeah! I love challenges! Because they make life interesting, keep me focus, and give me goals to look forward to. I believe in any fitness program, there should be a goal. Otherwise, you aimlessly going through the routine and pretty soon you get burnt out. A goal directs your attention towards something specific and provides you with measurements and gauge for your progress.
Ok. What it is about and why people could benefit from doing it. First, a quick video on the program itself.
The WHAT is, it is about PORTION CONTROL. In the challenge, you workout 30 minutes a day using the videos provided, while eating within the calorie range as measured by the colorful containers provided. Each color represent a food group - carb, protein, healthy fat, oil, seeds, vegetables, fruits. There is a simple calculation to determine how much calories you need, which then translated into how many of each color container you need a day.
The WHY is because we tend to either over shoot our calories intake by too much or too little. While the science is not precise, this program still leaves you in the ball park of calorie intake your body needs. The beauty of the program is, it is not that strict and a bit more forgiving. "As long as you can fit it in the container, you can eat it."
Like any other challenges I had done, I approached this one with caution. I workout a lot. And I need to have enough fuel to energize my workouts. No time for starvation diet.
I read the guide book. Twice. Then once again. Seemed confusing at first. I needed to visualize the amount of food I am allowed to eat in a day. So I cooked all of my food for the day, measured them by color containers and put them all in front of me. I was surprisingly satisfied with what I saw :) Enough food. Great. This challenge won't starve me. The portions make sense.
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| The amount of food I need to eat in a day. Nice :) |
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| Divide the food into meals. |
Be advised that if you eat cleaner and better than me during the challenge, your result would have been better, meaning you'd lose more pounds (if your body still need to lose weight) and more fat and inches. You also need to adhere to the calorie and food guide. Don't try to skip a YELLOW just because you think carb is "bad" for weight loss. On the contrary, you need ALL of them. Part of the challenge is to eat a BALANCE diet.
The RESULT.
See this photo? This is Wanda, REAL PERSON, REAL RESULT and REAL FRIEND of mine. She personifies "discipline". She did it by the book and she reaped an amazing result.She didn't skip any meals and hit all the colors in a day. She even brought the containers when she went eating out!
My transformation is less shocking, but more defining. I immediately saw a drop in body weight after the first week. After the second week passed, I drop more pounds. After week 2, body fat has gone back to below 20%. *whew* :) I am most happy with the inches lost, especially around my hip and thighs. Those Fighter Girls Combat shorts will now fit more comfortable and not as snug :)
My result from the 21 Day Fix Challenge:
| Before | After | |
| Weight | 112 lbs | 107 lbs |
| Body Fat | 21.2% | 19.4% |
| Waist | 26" | 25" |
| Hips | 34.75" | 34" |
| Thighs | 21" | 20.25" |
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| Less bulgy, sharper definition. Hello~ abs and hello~ thighs :) |
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| Flatter lower abs. Leaner in general. No, I wasn't holding my breath -__- |
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| More confident showing the side views :) |
Every month I am hosting a new Challenge Group on Facebook. It is an accountability group within the same program. To join my Challenge Group*, get a program here: http://tinyurl.com/fitpantry-21daychallenge
*Find me on Facebook.com/FitFunBeyond and send a message or post a comment.
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