Max:30 Round 2, with a slice of humble pie.

Month 2 of Max:30

Well, we have finished the first week of month 2 of Max:30. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I wasn’t *slightly* dreading re-entering month 2. I knew it would be tough; it was still fresh enough in my mind from the last round. I knew those dreaded Iron Legs were waiting for me. And all those switch kicks. Good Lord, the switch kicks.

Just as I expected, it was hard. Like, way hard. A and I talk on the regular and are fitness soul sisters, as you’ve probably gathered by now, and we both agree last week was really tough for us. We both felt like our legs weighed 1,000 lbs and lacked the energy needed to get through each workout. I know I felt weak and I had to modify a lot last week.  Every workout kicked my ass.  Did it get harder?  I mean, dang!  I think I was expecting that going into this for a second time would be easier.  I’m more mentally prepared and I’m stronger now.  Right?  Well, last week served me a giant slice of humble pie.  It was not easier by any means.  But I survived and you will too!   If you’re familiar with Max:30 or have read our reviews, you know that Friday Fight Round 2 is what we consider the hardest workout in the series. I maxed out really early on that workout, basically right after the warm-up during Iron Legs. Ugh–IRON LEGS–I love to hate you! That set the tone for the rest of the workout. I maxed out a lot last Friday. I made it through and worked as hard as I could, but my energy was lagging. We all have days (weeks) like that and at the end of the day, I pushed play and tried my best.

So why did we both struggle last week? I’m speaking for both of us, but I think it’s mostly food related. We are both coming off a vacation and getting back into our healthy habits. It’s been really hard for me personally, because we have been so busy with family and friend get-togethers. There has been so many dinners and/or parties lately that involve all the delicious things. You know, like cake, fried foods, and alcohol. Personally, I think it’s ok to have a few treats here and there and I don’t want to be miserable going out with friends and eating a dry salad. I mean, I’d go CRAZY if I ate 100% clean all the time.  85/15 baby!  

Yup.
I do have a confession.  Last week I was feeling a little blah and was craving chocolate.  I broke off a piece of a Hershey bar and dipped it in peanut butter.  Then, I ate 3 bites of a glazed donut.  It was so delicious.  I normally don’t have chocolate or donuts in our house, but last week I did.  I wanted sugar and sugar I had.  I wanted to motorboat all those donuts and make them mine.  Luckily, I only had a few bites.  You know, it happens.  Mindless snacking is/was my forte and I know it’s not what I need.  I’m human and I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  I’m sharing this with you because you’re human too!  It’s ok to have a down day.  We all have them and the most important thing is to recognize it and move on.  I just need to reset and make sure I plan out healthy meals and dial it in on the diet.  Self control.  It’s a b!tch, isn’t it?

21 Day Fix Extreme

I wanted to also share that I recently bought the 21 Day Fix Extreme.  I wanted to incorporate some weight training and another food plan into my last month of Max:30.  The Max workouts will come first, and then I will plan on doing the 21 workouts if I have the energy or time.  Really, I was more interested in the food plan/containers. 21 Day’s food plan is exactly the same as the Max:30 plan, so that was a nice surprise.  What wasn’t a nice surprise is how freaking TINY the food containers are!  I literally laughed out loud when I got them out.  They are like the little baby stackable cup toy.   For reals…this is no exaggeration.  Then I cried a little when I saw the size of the carb container.  And I cried some more when I realized that my portion sizes have been too big!  Dudes, I thought for real, that I was eating small portions the past few months.  This has shown me that I’ve basically been doubling my portions.  What?!  Time to get to work on my food portions!

Here is a pic of the red container, which is the protein container, next to my nail polish for sizing purposes.

 

As you can see, it’s not very big.  It really puts things into perspective.  I’d say about 4 ounces of chicken breast will fit into that red container.  The veggie and fruit containers are a little bigger; however, I could fit only 5 strawberries into the fruit container, but could get a fair amount of grapes in there.  Again, puts things into perspective.  The containers are color coded for each food, which is handy.  Here are a couple pics of the color-coded containers and food items that are approved.  Remember, this food plan is the same as Max:30–4 proteins, 3 veggies, 2 fruits, 2 carbs, and 1 healthy fat.

 

I’ll review the 21 Day Extreme workouts this week, so stay tuned on my thoughts on them.  Also, stay tuned on how I do with the food containers.  I’ll post pics of my food so you can get an idea of food sizing.

Good luck to you all this week.  Make it a good one and never give up!  🙂

Pura Vida!
K