Life Abundant Blog

living life abundantly in spite of PCOS

My 21-Day Fix Results {Round 3} + 21-Day Fix Extreme {Round 1} Coming Right Up!

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My 21-Day Fix Results {Round 3!}

I have more 21-Day Fix results to share with you! I have officially completed three consecutive rounds on the Fix! You can read about my Round 1 & 2 results as well as shopping and meal ideas here: Living with PCOS: 21-Day Fix/Shakeology

9 weeks of eating better.

63 days of feeling healthier.

Maaaany days of exercising.

I’m pleased with my results so far. I feel like I am losing pounds and inches at a healthy rate and not a dangerous rate. The momentum on pounds has slowed down a bit, which means it’s time to step up those workouts again (ugh), but I feel fantastic. My inch loss is still going strong! I lost more inches on round 3 than I did on round 2. I feel so much better than I did on New Years Day, when I was ringing in the New Year wondering if 2016 would be my year for pregnancy. I felt heavy, bloated, ugly… just not myself.

Here are my 21-Day Fix results for Round 3:

21-Day Fix Results

Pounds Lost

  • Round 1: 5 lbs
  • Round 2: 6 lbs
  • Round 3: 3 lbs
  • TOTAL POUNDS LOST: 14!

Inches Lost

  • Round 1: 15″
  • Round 2: 5.5″
  • Round 3: 8.5″
  • TOTAL INCHES LOST: 29!

My arms FINALLY budged! It seems like adding the resistance bands helped make a difference this round. They’re still not anywhere near where I want them to be so I need to keep working on them. My victory? In 9 weeks I have lost 6 inches off my waist and 5 inches off my hips.

And guess what? I’M STILL GOING.

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21-Day Fix Meal Plan: Round 3, Week 9

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Today I want to share with you my 21-Day Fix meal plan for week #9. Yes, I am officially wrapping up my 3rd consecutive round on the Fix and I am excited to weigh in and measure up on Monday. I’ll share those results next week!

If you are looking for my other 21-Day Fix meal plans and results, you can check them out here: Living with PCOS: 21-Day Fix/Shakeology

I’m just going to dive right into it. Here is my 21-Day Fix meal plan for week #9!

21-Day Fix Meal Plan week 9 IG

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An Anniversary I Can’t Celebrate {4 Years TTC}

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4 years of TTC

I know I’ve been a bit quiet lately, other than talking about the 21-Day Fix and how it’s going for me. It’s not completely intentional… life is just happening, and moving faster than I can keep up with it. I’m currently in the life stage that says “Ah, I see now… so God, this is why I’m not pregnant yet?”

Doesn’t mean I like it. But I see it. It’s been hard and weird lately in many ways. As spring approaches, I am looking forward to leaving winter behind. It seems like winter brought one thing after another towards our family, and there is more than I care to share here today.

On to the real subject at hand.

March is an emotional month for me in many ways, and now comes with an anniversary that I can’t celebrate.

  • I reflect on being pregnant with Zoey, and in the hospital on bedrest. I was admitted in winter, and didn’t walk out until Spring.
  • I remember the week of Zoey’s birth, and how I probably cried more that week than I had the entire 5 weeks on bedrest. The preterm labor, the constant fear on the nurses faces (terrible poker faces, I tell you), the harsh reality that Zoey needed to be born early, knowing her lungs were under-developed. I remember.
  • Zoey was born on March 24, 5 weeks early, after my 5 weeks on bedrest. It was one of the happiest, and also scariest days of my life. It was the day I became a mother to a baby outside of my womb. It was also the day I only saw her for 5 minutes before she was whisked away to NICU, and I didn’t know I wouldn’t get to see her or hold her until a couple of days later.
  • I reflect on Zoey’s birthdays each year, and how I am always emotional about the fact that she is here and calls me “mom”.
  • When Zoey turned 2, we felt comfortable trying for another baby, knowing the odds were stacked against us due to my PCOS. Then Zoey turned 3… no pregnancy. Then she turned 4… no pregnancy. Then she turned 5… and now going on 6. No pregnancy.

This March marks exactly 4 years of trying for a second baby. It’s been “nearly 4 years” for months now, and I kept thinking “Surely not… surely we won’t hit the 4-year mark. That’s just ridiculous.”

And yet, here we are.

Ridiculous, but very real.

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Shopping at Aldi for the 21-Day Fix, Part 2! {Plus: My Round 3, Week #7 Meal Plan!}

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This post contains affiliate links.

Aldi 21-Day Fix part 2

Two things to note before you get started!

I wanted to share what I found at Aldi last weekend (along with pricing) for the start of Round 3 of the 21-Day Fix! I can’t believe I am officially finishing my 7th week on this program. I really thought I’d be lucky to even finish the first 21 days… now here I am, day 46, and pushing to make it to day 63 so I can officially say I have finished 3 rounds on the Fix. It is taking a lot of dedication and focus… and ignoring the Girl Scout Cookies sitting in my pantry.

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My 21-Day Fix Results {Round 2!}

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My 21-Day Fix Results {Round 2!}

Right after I completed my first 21-Day Fix (while also going through Follistim), I immediately continued into a 2nd round of the Fix. I had great results on my first round with 5 lbs and 15 inches lost, but I knew it could be better. At first, I wasn’t sure how far I’d go with this thing, but I went ahead and completed a second round!

After my 4th Follistim cycle failed, I knew I needed to recover before attempting to get into that level of infertility treatment again. I also knew that since I wouldn’t be on treatment, my results would be stronger. This time, I wasn’t as irritable, uncomfortable, bruised, and fatigued. I also wasn’t as bloated from the extra hormones.

So, after 6 weeks of eating better, drinking Shakeology, and exercising nearly every single day, here are my 21-Day Fix results for round 2:

21-Day Fix Round 2 Results

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How I’m Doing, Two Weeks Later

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How I Am Doing - Failed Infertility Treatment

It has been two weeks since I received the news that my 4th Follistim cycle was ending without a baby. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been all over the place emotionally. Obviously the day I received the news was very difficult, but I usually bounce back pretty quickly. A few days after receiving the news, a new cycle started, and I was able to praise that I made it to 15dpo thanks to the booster trigger shot. So, that’s the good news in this story. Obviously I have to have two trigger shots, no matter what. Good to know.

So, how do I feel now?

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21-Day Fix Round 2: Weeks #5 and #6 Meal Plan

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I hope you enjoy my 21-Day Fix meal plan post today! It feels good to be back to blogging after taking last week off. I really needed to take a moment of silence to process everything, and to decide how to move forward on the blog for the months of February & March while I rest before starting Follistim back up again. Thanks for hanging in there with me through my good times and my bad.

Right after I finished my first 21-Day Fix, I rolled right into a second round. I was originally going to slow down after my husband’s birthday, but I felt too good to stop, especially since I had lost 15 inches! When my Follistim cycle failed, I was glad I had continued on the Fix because it meant I had a distraction and something else to work towards. Plus, when you’re frustrated and upset, cardio is a great outlet to release that negative energy.

Oh, and I’m getting too skinny for my skinny jeans, which pretty much rocks.

In all seriousness though, this isn’t just about losing the weight so much as it is getting stronger and healthier for fertility. I’m slightly hoping I’ll be able to be one of those success stories of “I got pregnant while drinking Shakeology!” Not really counting on it, just bein’ real… but I’m still a little bit hopeful, even if it’s only a pin drop of hope.

So, all that to say, here is what I ate last week on the Fix, and what I am eating this week!

21-Day Fix Meal Plan {Round 2}

21-Day Fix Round 2 Meal Plan

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My 21-Day Fix Results + How it Has Changed Me and Tips if You Want to Try it

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My 21-Day Fix Results

Sunday was my last day on the 21-Day Fix and I’m thrilled with my results. Due to the fact that I was doing Follistim while on most of the Fix, it really threw a wrench in things in terms of bloating, fluid retention, and so many other things. The fatigue, the irritability, the lack of motivation to eat anything that wasn’t covered in chocolate… I had a lot stacked up against me to fail.

I’m so proud to say that while I’ve only lost 5 lbs, I have lost 15 inches!

15 INCHES!

21-Day Fix Results

To me, 15 inches is a BIG DEAL! Just three weeks, eating better, exercising daily, and I lost 15 inches. I am so proud! I have kept going this week and intend to keep going until Glenn’s birthday (2/8), and will check again at that time, but I feel so good and am very pleased with how well the 21-Day Fix went for me. I haven’t had cheat meals, the only real cheat I had was Saturday night at my sister-in-law’s birthday, and I had the tiniest piece of cake, which I later regretted because it was too sweet after not having much sugar for 3 weeks. Otherwise, I have hung in there strong!

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Shopping at Aldi for the 21-Day Fix {Plus: My Week #2 Meal Plan!}

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This post contains affiliate links.

This post is a follow-up to this one: Grocery Shopping for PCOS: How to Shop at Aldi, so please be sure to check it out first if you are wondering about Aldi, how to shop there, and why I love it. This post isn’t sponsored, endorsed, or anything else like that. I just really like Aldi and love to share how it helps me eat healthier for less!

Be sure to check out my other posts related to the 21-Day Fix, including meal planning and my results: Living with PCOS: 21-Day Fix/Shakeology.

Part 2 here: Shopping at Aldi for the 21-Day Fix, Part 2! {Plus: My Round 3, Week #7 Meal Plan!}

Aldi 21-Day Fix

Today, I want to share specifically how I shop at Aldi for the 21-Day Fix, and some of the prices I have found at my local store. I’ll also share my meal plan for Monday-Friday.

Today starts Week 2 of the Fix, and I can’t believe I’m already here. The first week was intense, and dare I say INSANE. By day 3, I was wobbling around the office at work like a pathetic sloth, but a day or so afterward I felt like a whole new person. It’s been a while since I did this much exercise… I’ll be the first to admit that. But now, I feel much more energized and like I can conquer anything!

My Aldi Finds for the 21-Day Fix

So it’s no surprise that I love Aldi, but I love it even more now that they are making a bigger effort to sell more organic and healthy foods. I think most people associate Aldi with packaged junk and cheap food, but it’s greatly misunderstood. Just like any grocery store, they do have a selection of junk, but I’m seeing an even bigger selection of healthy options these days. I always start at Aldi for my shopping, and what I can’t get there, I get elsewhere. When it comes to the 21-Day Fix, Aldi makes it really easy!

Here are some of my Aldi finds over the weekend that are 21-Day Fix friendly:

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CD 12: Infertility Drama + Day 5 of the 21-Day Fix

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CD12 Day 5 of 21-day fix

Cycle Update

  • CD 2: Started 125 IU Follistim
  • CD 5: E2 = 163; USN = 3mm lining, 31mm cyst, two follicles (23mm, 21mm); HSG exam; lowered Follistim to 100 IU
  • CD 8: E2 = 136; USN = 6mm lining, cyst collapsing, maybe 1-2 leading follicles; increased Follistim to 150 IU, started 21-Day Fix & Shakeology
  • CD 11: E2 = 77; USN = 5.7mm lining, cyst GONE, 1 follicle (13mm); increased Follistim to 200 IU
  • CD 15 {MONDAY}: E2 & USN pending…

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