I’m a little behind in posting… my 21st day of the challenge was actually Sunday, but it has been a BUSY week!  It is the week before Spring Break so lots of ‘cramming’ going on at school and we are trying to prepare for our family vacation next week.  Fun, fun!!!  

If you’re just tuning in, here are some links to the first two phases;

Click HERE to see DAY ONE and my Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss Journey.

Click HERE to see phase two.

21 Day Challenge – overall results & personal thoughts —> 

Successes!  Reasons maybe YOU should try a fitness jump start…

• You will lose weight.  I lost 5.5 pounds total during the 21 day challenge.  After 14 months, I AM FINALLY DOWN TO MY PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT!  That in and of itself is enough to justify the time, money and sacrifices I made!
• You will lose inches. Mine ~ Chest = 2.5 inches, Hips = 1 inch, Waist = 1 inch.
• You will learn to eat cleaner. I now try to grab more veggies, fruit and protein when I’m feeling the need to snack (previously I used to grab anything carb or crunch related!)  “Go-to snacks” included carrots, hardboiled eggs, bite of peanut butter.   Learned to eat protein at each meal.  Learned I can order a one-pump Starbucks (instead of the FOUR they put in a grande!) latte.  I don’t like the ‘skinny’ artificially flavored one, I like the real deal, so one pump saves a lot of sugar!
• You will become more focused on your FITness goals.  Having the support of others in the group, knowing you paid money, tracking your diet & exercise… these reasons all help to motivate you to eat healthy, exercise, drink lots of water, get more sleep and DE-STRESS!

Challenges:  Things to be aware of…

• You may get headaches (in the beginning).  This was common among several group members, your body is essentially going through withdrawal from sugar & caffeine!
• You may be a bit tired (and if you’re like me, cranky!) during the detox.  This is lessened if you can get a good night’s sleep, at least 7-8 hours.
• You may feel weak during long cardio workouts.  I found it difficult to not eat carbs during half marathon training and I think some of my runs suffered.  Up your (low GI) carbs, especially in the AM, if you are training for a distance race.  These include veggies, especially squash, and sweet potatoes.  I even added in some oats or Ezekial bread before my long Saturday runs.
• For me personally, working full time and having a 14 month old has its challenges when trying to find mommy/workout time!  The pic below was taken while trying to capture my ‘AFTER’ photos… you can see for yourself!

 During the ‘after’ photo shoot – happy, but clingy!

I’m not really into putting selfies of myself in a sports tank all over the internet.  No judgements to people who can/do, I just choose not to because #1, I work with high school students and #2,  I’m not quite where I want to be!  I hope to take a family photo on vaca this week and post to my ‘weight loss journey‘, since I’m finally down to my pre-preggo weight.  Overall I am extremely happy with the results and I am excited that I met my goal.

If you are debating signing up for your own ‘Kick Start’ challenge of any sort (Whitney’s, Advocare, etc) and want to see my results, email me and I’d be happy to share!

 

 Rewards:

My promise to myself after meeting my goal was to buy one cute/work outfit and one running outfit.

 

Reward outfit #1 [for work]

Dress, Old Navy & Scarf, Francesca’s… only $25 total!

 

My running outfit will be a lululemon splurge.

Speaking of which, more exciting news on lulu coming soon!  Stay tuned! 

 

I may have splurged on a chocolate dessert… who can resist Cadbury mini eggs?  Everything in moderation 🙂

 

 Have you done a fitness jump start?  What was the outcome?  

Find your BEST YOU ~ start TODAY!!!

 

 

Photo credit (of scale) to; espressoandcream.com