Remember that fitness diary I announced a while back? (Here it is, if you don’t.) After a few failed attempts to finish a program (I called it), here it is. It’s a little different than anticipated, namely because I decided to start with 21 Day Fix Real Time. I’m hoping to gradually build myself up and ease into a more difficult fitness program over time.
With that, here’s my first-ever fitness diary, ala 21 Day Fix RT.
Fitness Diary
Week 1: Starting 10/26
Day 1 
Day 2 
Day 3 
Day 4 
Day 5
Goals
This week, my primary goal is to be consistent, press play, and get it done. Every day, do it. (Bare minimum, lol.) And to track my meals using the MyFitnessPal app.
Monday
Today I pressed play on Day 1, Total Body Cardio Fix.
It took until 8 p.m., but the main takeaway is that I completed the entire workout from start to finish. It was tough after a recent lack of cardio, but felt great to push through. My shoulder did have a twinge, but some mid-workout Advil alleviated the pain.
Tuesday
With a little soreness, I went through with Day 2, Lower Fix.
Leg day is notoriously my least favorite day. I’ve been known to stop programs because I put off leg day, then everything else was derailed. I’m glad this is on the second day, when I still have some momentum on my side.
During the workout, it felt difficult, but not impossible. There were a few times I felt a little angry at myself for not sticking with this program one of the five times I tried prior, because starting over just makes me feel bad about myself. BUT I’m trying instead to give myself a little grace, patience, and understanding, the same way I’d talk to anyone else. Life is hard, and I’m doing my best. Day 2, at least, is done.
Note: meals have been going pretty good. Today I had coffee, non-dairy yogurt with granola, salad, a protein shake, and roasted sweet potatoes.
Wednesday
Whew. It took a lot of hyping myself up, but I finished Day 3. Today had two workouts (much to my chagrin): Upper Fix and 10 Minute Abs. I also took Wally for a 20-minute walk, so it was kind of a 3-workout day.
Upper Fix was a nice change of pace, since my legs feel like heavy bags of sand. Pushups are hard, and leave me with lots of room for improvement. Abs was extremely difficult (especially feeling tired), namely because it went into each exercise immediately after the last with zero rest. Yikes. So much room to improve here. Lol.
When it came to 10 Minute Abs, it was another struggle. I tried to keep up with the pace of the video, but didn’t. I’m not sure if I even did all the 20 reps of each move. I was delirious at this point.
Yeah, I split a bottle of wine with Chad after this.
Thursday
The word of the day is “sore.” The morning was especially slow-going. My legs were killing me, in the best way possible. By the time I worked out around 7:15 p.m., the soreness was replaced by a general fatigue.
But, I did it! Not very well. But I did make Pilates more difficult by adding ankle weights. Not sure if I’d do that again, because I struggled completing all of the reps for all the moves. My abs have some work to do, but I’m happy and thankful for this “active rest day.”
Friday
Ooooof, happy Friday! As soon as Chad mentioned pizza for dinner, I knew I wanted to work my booty off to feel good about it. (Just because I know cheese doesn’t really jive with me, less about the whole diet culture thing. I don’t subscribe to the idea that you have to “earn” your food.) I also requested an ice cream treat, so there’s the double the dairy trouble. YOLO!
Enter: Day 5, Cardio Fix. Ohhhhemgee, this one was hard! For me! I really struggled making it through the minute of each rep. I was sweaty, and my heart was beating fast. Burpees surprisingly weren’t the worst move of the day. For me, it was instead mountain climbers. But hey! I know that if I keep going, I’ll see progress for next week.
There was also a bonus today of 10 Minute Abs. I was exhausted, but I did it anyway (a huge win!). In the two days since the first time doing it, I improved noticeably! I for sure did all 20 reps of each move, and was much faster. I still took breaks, but I somehow felt much stronger.
Go me.
In Conclusion
Goals: mostly met!
I made it through the five days, which I personally think is the hardest. You know what they say about routine and habit building, and that it takes a while to form. Well, I’m on my way and I’m feeling proud.
Soreness is typically my top excuse to skip a day, followed by a hectic schedule. I’m pleased that I made it work, though I’m nervous about the upcoming craziness. Holidays, weekend, general feelings of fatigue.
However, it’s all about taking one day at a time.
Burpees are the worst, and will always be the worst. It’s like I told the woman who teaches my exercise class, I liked them when I was a lot younger, a lot smaller, a lot more nimble and they were called squat-thrusts. LOL
Lol! I feel like the term “burpees” suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and it just added to the overall frustration of the move. Dumb name, dumb cardio. Lol.