I started my 21 Day Fix Challenge on September 9th, or a little over a month ago, so this follow-up post is a little late. Apologies. So how did it go? Let’s dive in and find out.
The Workouts
The workouts were tough, but I was able to stick to them without any trouble for the first two weeks. I started running into problem at the start of doubles (doing two exercises in a day) in the third week, though. I went into the weak with some back soreness that I tried to power through but by the third day I was really struggling and decided to scale back to singles just in case.
The Diet Plan
As usual, my diet was more of a mixed bag. Intermittent fasting was a complete fail, as most mornings my eating window was more like 10 hours instead of the less than 8 hours I was aiming for. By my calculations, I did manage to consume 800 less calories than I burned over the 3 weeks, but my goal was to cut at least that much each week, not over the course of all 3. At least it was a deficit and I didn’t go over. My macro-nutrient mix was just okay also. I averaged 162 grams of protein a day and 213 grams of carbs a day. It would’ve been really ideal to have cut that carb number in half, but I suppose I have something to aim for next round.
The Final Metrics
However, the real proof is in the pudding (which I of course never ate during the challenge). Unfortunately, the final metrics (relative to the starting metrics), were a little less than impressive:
- Weight: 182.0 (versus a starting weight of 184.6)
- Body Fat: 17.9 (versus a starting body fat of 18.1)
- Muscle Mass: 38.5 (versus a starting muscle mass of 39.2)
Losing two and a half pounds in 3 weeks doesn’t seem bad, but I was hoping for a bit of a bigger drop in body fat and was outright baffled by the drop in muscle mass. Maybe I hit the cardio a little too hard at the expense of weight lifting.
But perhaps the greatest point of comparison is the before and after pictures:
First, can we all take a moment to appreciate just how good of a job that I did mimicking my pose from the first photo? It’s uncanny. As for the before and after comparison itself: Honestly, it could’ve been a lot worse. At least I can convince myself that I look a little slimmer in my after photo.
What’s Next?
I’m going to give myself a week or two of lighter exercises to let my body (specifically my back) recover. Winter is coming, though, so I’ll need some new challenge to take up over the winter to prevent me from completely rolling back what little gains I’ve made. Anybody have any suggestions?
