Forever Fit 21 Day Challenge

In May, I wholeheartedly agreed to participate in another one of my friend and coach Erika's fitness challenges.  We began the Forever Fit Challenge on May 11th.  Since I had great results with 21 Day Fix, I decided that for this  challenge I would use 21 Day Fix Extreme for the three weeks.  This was one challenge that I truly felt motivated each day.  We had daily check-ins on Facebook where we would let the group know our progress with the Fit 5 (Workout, Nutrition, Water Consumption, if you had your Shakeology, and Hours Slept).  Each morning Coach Erika would post a motivational message and mini challenge for the day.  I am by nature a very competitive person, so the mini challenges were a must for me.  For example, one day the challenge was to do squats each time after you went to the bathroom.  Another one was to take a picture of yourself doing a plank in an unusual setting.  Here I am outside a local restaurant near the road doing my plank.

  
Erika and the women in the challenge were all very motivational.  Even though I am considered pretty fit, I still work to maintain my balance.  I see exercise and nutrition a vital part of my daily life.  Erika was always positive and reminded us that we rise by lifting others.  Each day she told us that we are amazing and can do it!

Since this was my second challenge to complete, I don't think that I felt quite the pressure to stick to the meal plan 100% as I did in the first challenge the previous month, but I did give it my all.  I kept to my beliefs of eating sensibly and sticking with an 80/20 healthy habits plan.  I made sure that I posted my progress daily.

Once I might have felt like doing workouts such as 21 Day Fix Extreme might have been too over the top for me now that I am in my forties, Erika reminded me that "Yes, I could do it!"  In the end, I did succeed!  I felt great about how I looked and felt.  At the end of this Challenge I had lost 7.25 inches and 3 pounds.  Oh, and guess what... I was the winner of this Challenge!  It felt awesome to know that all of my hard work paid off regardless of winning or not.  The 21 Day Challenge was a blast! I was actually feeling a bit off when it was over since I didn't have to complete my daily check-in with the group any longer.  Many thanks go out to Erika, Jenni and all of the other awesome women that participated in the Forever Fit Challenge!

Working out during the Challenge

Here's a motivating quote that Erika had posted for us that is so true!