Until the month of April rolled around, I had spent the past 7 months rendezvousing with Shaun T through my journey of weightloss and muscle definition. Hearing terms such as "dig deep," "I'm looking at you now," and "when you feel like you can't do one more, give me 3" became like second nature and I even caught myself saying them to others! ha
I completed Focus T25 TWICE and then moved on to Insanity MAX 30. After finishing both of these "T" programs, I wanted to continue on with another extreme workout, but was really anxious to commit to another trainer.
Commitment to a celebrity trainer may sound silly to you, but when you get use to the same person's style/voice every day, it becomes another expectation or routine in life!
I had heard great things about Autumn Calabrese and specifically her new 21 Day Fix Extreme program.. I decided to WING IT and placed my order! Beginning the day after Easter, I started my first round!!!
Take a peek at this video and tell me this program doesn't seem AWESOME!
This program is SO successful in 3 short weeks, yes I said 21 DAYS, because of how much it focuses on nutrition. We've all heard before that abs are made in the kitchen, but don't really take that to heart.. if we did, more people would have abs!
Re-learning how to eat was a mental struggle at first. One of the beauties of this program is how STRAIGHTFORWARD the meal plan and food guide is.
You eat whole and everything else is a no go :) Plain and simple.
I even developed this chart to help make my grocery lists during the 3 weeks!
The keys to this nutrition plan were portion control, food categories, when to eat them and how often! Once you got over the initial cravings for processed foods, it was basically a "battle" of telling your brain that it wasn't hungry all the time, but was rather trying to consume food out of boredom or routine! Now to address a concern you're probably thinking about: hunger.
I never felt starving during this program. What was my secret weapon?? Shakeology! ShakeO fits PERFECTLY into this program as a protein option, but also helped with timing my meals, eliminating caffeine and kicking the sweet cravings to the curb.
In regards to the workouts, while they are all intense, there is ALWAYS the option to follow the modifier. I enjoyed how the workouts were structured providing short opportunities for rest after working the muscles to failure. And the 30 minute duration you just CAN'T beat.. there is NO reason that these workouts can't be squeezed in before breakfast, during lunch break, before dinner or while the kids are in the bath at night. The workouts incorporate resistance bands and light/medium/heavy dumbell weights, which really contributes to muscle definition! I appreciated how the week's exercises were laid out and how each day focused on something new: Plyo (jumping exercises), Lower Fix, Pilates, Upper Fix, Cardio, Dirty 30 & Yoga! I'm excited to share that when my mom, who is 50, and my youngest sister, who is 15, came to visit this month, we were all able to do these workouts together!
In 3 weeks, my body felt like a LEAN MACHINE. Goodness, even my insides seemed thrilled because of the cleanse it had just experienced of all processed foods. Overall, I lost 3+ pounds and nearly 4 inches; most importantly to me, I GAINED muscle definition!
I'm so glad I added this program to my collection! I may not always want to start a full 21 day cycle with the strict 7 day workout schedule and regimented meal plan, but I will do them each on their own and maybe even try combining the meal plan with my next fitness program.
If you'd like to chat about whether or not this program may be right for you, please email me at lindseykollar@yahoo.com or find me on Facebook at www.fb.com/LindseyKollarGhoens and send a message :)
Turn your excuses into results.. I'll be there every step of the way!
~linz
