The diet and exercise portion of the morning routine was an important one. I find that exercise, particularly, is a habit that begins a windfall of other healthy activities. Charles Duhigg, in his book The Power of Habit, describes these types of habits as keystone habits.
I naturally begin to focus on what i'm putting into my body. I get better sleep. I simply live a healthier lifestyle.
In addition to the morning strength training sessions twice a week, i also used my 15 minute breaks at work to go to the company gym and do pullups and situps. Over the 21 days, i did 238 pullups -- probably more pullups than i've done in the past 3+ years combined.
In regard to overall health and wellness though, diet is the most important aspect. This is why meal prep is so important. I don't have the desire to come home after work and begin a meal from scratch. Cooking large batches twice per week and creatively using leftovers has been very helpful. So has keeping hard-boiled eggs around. I like to eat them plain, with a touch of salt, or blended into an egg salad.
Although, i've only lost 5 pounds in the last three weeks, this is just the beginning. Scale weight isn't the best statistic to measure, anyways. I should've used a tape measure or at least taken photos. I don't necessarily need the motivation though. This is something that is going to stick with me for the long haul. No excuses.
