21-Day Fix, An Intro to My Weight-Loss Story

As I hinted at in my last post, I’m in the middle of the 21-Day Fix, the three week diet and workout program that combines portion control with a 30-minute workout each day.

One of my running buddies, Leah, is a team Beachbody coach. I’ve heard her rave about it for months, and figured I’d give it a try when the program + Shakeology went on sale. Plus, it was perfect timing. I had exactly three weeks between the conclusion of my spring short-distance training program and the start of my fall marathon training program.

Why does that matter? I don’t run well or workout well on a calorie deficit. I just can’t workout as hard, which is made very clear by my ride performance data from FlyWheel. When I last maintained a sustained calorie deficit (a few months ago in an effort to ditch the weight I gained while injured), my total ride output fell by about 25 percent!

Anyway, before I dive into my experience with the 21-day Fix, I decided I should start with a little bit of background on my weight-loss story and what I’m looking to achieve.

I started making serious changes after a rather scarring experience with a body fat percentage scale at the Disney Marathon weekend expo. That scale put me at 29% body fat! That is very far from the 14-20% that is typical for athletes and 21-24% typical of “fitness.”

I was in total denial at the time, but when I was honest with myself, I accepted it was probably accurate. I hadn’t been running for about six weeks at the time (and wasn’t cross training, either) and the holiday season wasn’t kind to my waistline.

Back at home, I bought a FitBit Aria scale. I had already pre-ordered the FitBit Charge HR, so I thought it would be the perfect compliment. My first weigh in had me at 126 lbs and 26% body fat.

I also started reading Matt Fitzgerald’s book Racing Weight, and decided if I want to continue to get faster, I need to pay more attention to my nutrition. I’ve been improving pretty consistently over the past few years with regular PRs, but as I ran longer, I also ate more…and not necessarily more of what I should be eating. Sure, I didn’t gain a ton of weight, but I definitely gained some and I’m sure my insides didn’t really appreciate some of the less-than-healthy fuel I shoveling in.

A more conscious effort to eat well (and to bring my lunch to work), helped me chip that down to 123 lbs and 25% by early March, when I could resume running again. (Without running, losing weight was really hard because my base metabolic rate already meant my daily calorie burn was pretty low.)

As of the end of June, I was down to 119 lb and 20% body fat after a lot of ups and downs, which included a pretty marked increase in weight through late March and early April as I regained my atrophied muscles.

To make my final push to my goal weight (about 115-116 lbs and – more importantly – 17% body fat), I decided to embrace the 21-Day Fix.

Stay tuned for an update on the first week!