21: Prep Days 1-3

As I posted in my last article, I am about to start up the 21 Day Fix Extreme Program. I have several reasons I want to do this and hope to be laying the ground work for a new chapter of life.

This week is the prep week. September 8th (next Tuesday) I will begin following the meal plan (using colored containers), using Shakeology to replace one meal a day and doing a 30 minute DVD workout. It will be clean eating, tons of cooking, and I hope totally fun!

Prep Day 1 was Monday and we introduced ourselves. Here was my share:

Hi, my name is Jessica Lynn Shuman.
I live in La Porte, TX.
I am the director of a christian preschool.
I am doing the 21 day fix extreme.
I will be drinking vanilla shakeology.
My goals for this month is to take off some of the baby weight that hasn't budged.
One interesting fact about me is....I am writing a book.

Prep Day 2 was yesterday, and we were to have some time of inner reflection and figure out our Deep Why.
As in, why are we really doing this, why are we committing 3 weeks of our lives to this program. My response:
There are three aspects to my deeper why:
One, I turn 30 in six weeks. Five days after turning 29 last year I gave birth to my second child, my son Stone. For about the past 4 years I have either been pregnant or nursing. Stone gets one year of nursing and then my body is mine. We are doing having biological children so I want to claim my body back. I created my own mantra, Thirty is Fine, Thirty is Mine! I have taken some steps here and there, but nothing clearly outlined as this program. I have a handful of people around me who have done the 21 day fix and seen amazing results with hard work and dedication. I have a plan and I am going to have a great decade in my 30's!
Two, my children. I had a very inactive childhood and I gained weight horribly in middle school. Balanced meals never happened. I want my children to grow up knowing balance, activity and having a zeal for life. So far so good! My 10 1/2 month old is a monkey, just last week he crawled onto the coffee table - he can't walk yet but he can climb! I have made baby food for my kids, I have nursed them, and my daughter is the most active child I have ever seen. I have given them a good foundation and want to build them up the rest
of the way with a life not filled with junk and couch potato activities.
Three - I favor my Nana. That is a good thing and a bad thing. My Nana was a stunner when she was younger. High cheek bones that would make Hollywood envious! Her black and white pictures are amazing! But life as a stay at home wife/mom, two daughters who were highly rebellious, a smoking habit and eating fried foods only peppered with fresh produce took a toll. She has fought cancer and a few years before that kicked the smoking habit. But I think if she had done things differently, she would have a better quality of life. I visited her earlier this year, and if you look at some pictures, I resemble a younger her. Well, I don't want to resemble the older her. I love her, but I want a better quality of life for myself when I am her age.

Prep Day 3, today. We watch a video and had to share about what chance we will bring into our lives while on this journey. This post is the beginning of mine.

"I have a blog, that is part of my ministry. Since this is to better myself I'm going to share a daily post of this entire journey to hopefully be an inspiration to my readers."

So from here on out I will share my experience with the 21 DFX! I will post my pictures, recipes I love, my progress, my struggles and all the glory.

I am doing this because I see it as a tool to inspire other mom's to take some time to do something for themselves. We need to love ourselves.