Monday will make 3 weeks…the full 21 days of 21 Day Fix. I still have 2 days to go, but as of today, Saturday, I have lost 3.6 pounds so far! I can’t even remember the last time I saw this weight on the scale…I’m at 134.4 right now. My goal is to get back down to 128 like I was before my shoulder surgery. Steve has lost about 8 pounds! He’s not even doing the workouts…just eating the same portions as me on the nutrition plan. Oh, to be a man! Weight loss is so much more challenging for women…especially at age 50!
Speaking of being age 50…I missed a cycle for the first time in probably 37 years! That really caught me off guard, especially since I’m still on birth control pills. So coupled with the night sweats and hot flashes I was having last summer and fall, I’m guessing I’ve officially entered perimenopause! That really does add another difficult challenge to losing weight, but I’m in this for the long haul. I already feel better. I’ve lost all that belly bloat I was experiencing, and even less than 3 weeks into the exercise program using lots of modifications and super light weights, I’m already feeling so much firmer pretty much everywhere. I can’t weight to take my measurements on Monday morning and see how many inches I’ve lost! That’s where you can really see the progress…not so much on the scale.
I took a picture of our dinner tonight so I could show you an example of what a meal would look like. This was delicious! The portions are pretty big…you definitely don’t go hungry. In fact, sometimes, we don’t even get all of our containers in, but we do our best to stick to the program as written. This salmon dinner tonight was 1 red container (1 protein serving), 1 yellow container (1 carb serving), and 1 green container (1 vegetable serving). It was a lot more food than I’d typically have in a meal on my own, but it does leave you feeling full and satisfied. Our evening snack will be a nonfat Greek yogurt. Yum! For me that will satisfy my late night craving for ice cream, and it’s so much better for me.
That was such a beautiful piece of fresh Atlantic salmon that it didn’t need a thing! And we had a garlic brown rice and quinoa blend and California blend steamed vegetables. What a beautiful meal!
Our adult son came home one night for the first time in 15 days after quarantining elsewhere after an exposure to COVID and turned out to test positive from a new exposure the next morning after all of that! So we were all exposed, too. Since Steve’s employer then required him to work from home the rest of the week, we were able to prepare meals throughout the day rather than my having to prep breakfast and lunch for the next day in advance so he could take them to work. That was so much easier for me! I like cooking as we go. We decided that he’s just going to help me do more of the prep work when he comes home from work so I’m not using up my evening making food in advance. His help cuts my prep time in half.
We all have to test on Sunday night or Monday morning after our waiting period is over, but we don’t have to quarantine from the world because we are all vaccinated and boosted here. Our son had not yet had his booster, and it had been a long time since his second shot, so he is isolating at his girlfriend’s house until he is all better. She just got over COVID and was the reason he was quarantining before. He’s actually sick since he hasn’t had his booster. Fortunately, it was only intense the first day for him. He just sounds really stuffy now, so I’m thankful for that. I actually plan to test a little earlier on Sunday morning just to make sure I’m not contagious before we go to church. CDC guidelines say we just have to be masked around others until we test on day 5 after exposure, but I’d like to be extra cautious for the sake of everyone at church since I had extended close contact with our son when he was home. If any of us has it, it will be me.
On Saturdays, I generally set up my 21 Day Fix meal plan for the week in my Pepperplate online planner and make my shopping list from that. Then on Sunday, we take two vehicles to church. I stop on the way home at Sam’s Club to pick up most of the fresh produce and chicken breasts that I need, and Steve and Holden head home to take our daughter to work shortly thereafter. Then when Steve drops her off, he heads across the street to Aldi and picks up the remaining items I can’t get at Sam’s with the shopping list that I send to him. That way, we’re both shopping at once, and that saves me time, too.
So far, this is all working out very nicely for us. And no doubt, we’re improving our cholesterol levels and overall health in the process and losing weight, too. It’s a win-win!
I have done 
