Monday, August 4, 2014

Finishing STRONG! 21 Day Fix

Last week had a few "bad" eating days.  I don't really agree with the concept that you should NEVER eat certain foods.  I'm all about things in moderation.  My problem is that once I start eating something that isn't the healthiest choice (ahem ice cream), I do NOT eat in moderation.  I'm telling you, sugar is addictive and I feel the effects immediately after eating it!

We were out of town for a funeral and then we came home and I had LASIK (AMAZING!  But a separate post.)  So Monday-Thursday last week, I wasn't able to work out.  (Though I totally did some push ups Wednesday night after having LASIK that morning.  Not being able to read or watch TV or be on the computer left me a little bored.  So we went for ice cream - oops.)

Friday I came back strong and decided that I would try to finish up this challenge by doing the 3 day quick fix.  Except I had 5 days left, haha.  So I decided 2 days of the quick fix, a regular day of eating (I had lunch plans with a friend) and then 2 days to finish up doing the quick fix.

The quick fix may seem extreme to some, but I can assure you that I ate more than I think I did the entire challenge and it really just followed paleo principles more closely, which I'm a huge fan of.

You have 6 smaller meals per day.  I made some substitutions because I would rather have 2 whole eggs than 8 egg whites, and the first day I didn't have any chicken to cook in the morning, so I ate 2 more eggs for my second meal.

So Friday looked like this:

7:00 
2 eggs
oatmeal with cinnamon and coconut oil mixed in (the guide says to use steel cut oats but I had gluten free quick oats so I used that and made enough for the days ahead)
black coffee

7:40 
cardio fix workout - 30 minutes
Dirty 30 workout - 30 minutes

10:00
2 eggs
steamed yam with cinnamon

12:30
sauteed fish with salad - lettuce/tomato/celery - coconut oil and coconut vinegar dressing

This dressing is just a homemade concoction - about 40% coconut oil and 60% coconut vinegar with some salt and pepper mixed in.  You could certainly use red wine vinegar, but I really like the light flavor of the coconut vinegar!  You could also add some dried or fresh herbs to spice it up!  

3:30
chicken (went to Wegmans, haha)
sliced cucumber with coconut vinegar and oil dressing

6:00
tilapia with steamed green beans

7:30
Ground turkey with peppers, onions, tomato, zucchini, carrots and green salsa
I added in some homemade chili seasoning to make it like a turkey chili goulash - minus the pasta

I knew that my ground turkey would be 4 servings, so to make it easy to portion out, I added 3 containers or green veggies and coconut oil.  These are the 4 veggies I had on hand decided would be delicious.

Tomatoes, orange bell peppers, zucchini, chopped onion and carrot with some salsa verde (just tomatillos and jalapeno)
I started by sauteing the veggies in some coconut oil and added in some chili seasoning I had - so easy to assemble and no preservatives, fillers or salt!  Then I added in the ground turkey to cook that through.

Once it was all cooked through, I tasted it to make sure it had enough seasoning, and then let it cool.  I portioned it out into 4 containers so I wouldn't have to guess how much a serving is when the time comes to eat it!

Each container is 1 red, 1 green and 1/2 tsp


Saturday was very similar, but I really wasn't craving anything extra so it really wasn't that difficult for some reason!

7:30 
2 eggs
oatmeal with cinnamon and coconut oil mixed in 
black coffee

9:15
chicken and yams

10:00 PiYo Live class - 60 minutes

11:45
Tilapia with steamed mixed veggies - seasoned with some of the all purpose seasoning from the fix guide
I kept this super simple and used Wegmans Organic mixed veggies and steamed them right in the bag in the microwave


2:30
chicken with tomato, cucumber, celery salad with that coconut vinegar and oil dressing

Yes this is a paper plate - food prep creates so many dishes that it's OK to use paper once in a while!
5:15
Salmon salad - pan seared salmon, lettuce, celery, cucumber with dressing



7:00
Run through PiYo Lesson 27 - 30 minutes
Yoga fix - 30 minutes

8:30
Turkey goulash

On Sunday morning, I stepped on the scale and was down 2 pounds!  It's VERY important to know though that in addition to this food listed here, I drank a FULL GALLON of water every day.  Do you know how much water that is?  It's 16-8oz glasses of water!  Because I love water so much, that wasn't too difficult for me and it definitely helps to keep you hydrated and feeling refreshed.

I'm ready to rock these last two days of the 21 day fix.  I don't want to post a summary yet, but I can tell you that I'm loving the workouts so much that I know that I'll continue them after the official challenge is over.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

21 Day Fix - Day 11

Friday!  Today was a weird day!  No food pics.  Can you believe that?  To make up for it, I'll include some pictures of super cute kids.  :)

7:15 Breakfast
2 eggs
apple

1:00 Lunch
Salad with steak, blue cheese, mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette
Cafe Au Lait with 1 pump of caramel syrup

6:00 Dinner
Burger / Hot Dog (really not fix approved, but it was a picnic!) - no bun
mac salad
mustard
salad

10:00 banana with almond butter
Pepperoni pizza slice - oops

I didn't manage to get a workout in today.  The kids and I went to my sister's house in the morning to help her set up for her garage sale this weekend.  Then my friend C drove up from Elmira to pick up some chairs from J and we headed out for a quick lunch before our play date in the afternoon.  When we did get home, our play date had to be cancelled due to napping, so the kids and I walked to visit Aunt L at least!

Hey G!  You have another 14 years.  Get out of my seat!
Last night we brought Reedster's friend P to church with us.  Reedster was so excited to show P around.

R showing P the way to our seats.
This week we learned that even though you are different, don't understand, do wrong, or scared, Jesus Loves YOU!  We had such a great time learning about Jesus' love and of course some weird animals.  I'm so happy to have found our church!  We love it there.

Poor Pastor Judi!  The bag didn't leak!
Look at these two kids!  So cute!

We made that sand castle!


21 Day Fix - day 10

Somehow the end of the week slipped past me!

Thursday was Day 10 and Mexican Fiesta night at Summer FX Family Week at church.  I LOVE all food Mexican.  Love it.  There are lots of ways to make it "healthy" which makes me like it even more!

8:30 Breakfast
2 eggs
1/2 container zucchini (leftover from dinner last night)
3/4 container of yams (also leftover from dinner last night)
coffee and water





11:15 Snack
Apple

12:00 Zumba Toning - 45 minutes

1:30 Lunch
Chicken
Celery/tomato/green salsa
romaine lettuce - 1/2 container
Sunflower seeds (not pictured)
water



6:00 Dinner
corn/beans - part of a tortilla shell
chicken and beef
cheese and avocado
tomato/lettuce
water

I didn't take a picture of my plate at dinner tonight, but I promise that it was all healthy!

I did take a picture of some cupcakes that I baked today.  I signed up at the last minute to bring cupcakes.  It was very hard to resist!  I will admit that I did lick the frosting spoon when I was done frosting these.  (Baby steps people!)



8:30 Snack
Almonds - too many (!)

9:30 Lower Fix Workout - 30 minutes

10:00 - oops - Paleo Zucchini Banana Brownie

Some slip ups today, but hopefully getting two workouts in will help!

Here is a summary of the day:


I posted this on IG and FB, but wanted to share here in case someone who isn't FB friends or an IG follower sees this.


The bottom left pic was a Time Hop app picture.  It shows you pictures or status from 1, 2, 3, 4, etc years ago.  The picture that showed up was from 2 years ago at a going away party for my BIL Ben.  G was only 3 months old, but I had managed to lose all of the baby weight thanks to tracking my food intake daily as soon as I was home from the hospital (I gave myself 2 days off from tracking, the day I gave birth and the day after, haha), breastfeeding, and some exercise mixed in.  My sister L was getting married in August, so it wasn't until after the wedding that I was able to step up my exercise into more of a routine instead of sporadic activity.  I was back to work, nursing in the evenings, pumping in the days, so leaving my newborn (and husband and son) was really difficult to do.

When I finally was able to get back into the saddle, I still wasn't able to get to Bounce as frequently as I had when I was pregnant.  (Yes I worked out while I was pregnant - with my doctor's approval of course - up until the NIGHT I went into labor.  I was literally at a Booty Bounce class, went home, showered and then my water broke.)  I loved all classes, Zumba, Bootcamp, Turbo, Yoga, Hip Hop, but my favorite was/is PiYo.  I felt like it gave me the most "bang for my buck" if you will.  I got a great strength workout, worked on my flexibility, with some cardio mixed in.  So basically, if I was working out, it was PiYo or my friend Sarah's Pilates Remix class.  After a few months of this, I started to notice that I was getting leaner.  I was weighing the same, more or less, but my pants were baggier and my arms looked thinner.

In Feb 2013, I did the 21 Day Sugar Detox which led me to more paleo/primal ways of eating, which helped as well.  In June 2013, I became certified to teach PiYo because I had completely fallen in love with the workout.

Why am I sharing?  Not because I like to take flexing pictures.  (I actually don't like to take selfie flexing pics - I'm more of a face selfie with friends kinda girl.)  I wanted to share because I want people to know that the scale only provides part of your "health" story.

In all of those pictures above, I weigh the same amount.  I was a little discouraged a few weeks ago because since being at home (and a few weeks/months prior) I had gained a little weight.  I had lost a few more pounds and was where I wanted to be, but had gone back up a total of 8.  It's really not that much, but it bothered me.  Once I saw that Time Hop picture, however, I started to really see that weight is just a number.  Yes, I weigh more than a few months ago, but looking at my body, I can see muscles.  No, they aren't big, but they are there.  I'm stronger, I have more energy, and I'm happier.

If you'd like to try PiYo LIVE, you'll be able to start taking it with ME Thursdays at 9 at Bounce, along with other days on the schedule.  If you aren't local, and want to try PiYo AT HOME, you are in luck.  The PiYo home workout is available!  And the challenge pack is ON SALE until the end of this month.  I'll be hosting a PiYo challenge group starting August 1.  If you are interested in joining, please contact me and we'll get  you added to the private accountability and encouragement group.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

21 Day Fix - Day 9

I'm completely uninspired today with food choices.  That's my warning ahead of time, haha.

8:00 Breakfast
2 eggs
strawberries and blueberries
coffee

9:15 Workout
Upper Fix - 30 minutes

I love this workout!  This was the first one that I was able to get EMX to do with me last week.  He said his arms and pecs hurt for 2 days.  You'll need a set of heavy weights and light weights, but that's it!  You can also substitute a resistance band for the weights.

12:00 Lunch
carrots and celery with zucchini hummus
apple with 2 tsp almond butter

I know it doesn't seem like a ton of food - it's not, but for some weird reason, I wasn't all that hungry today.  G woke up with a cold, so I wonder if I'm somehow infected, haha.

4:00 Snack
Coffee (cold) with vanilla shakeology and ice


So good!  Never thought I'd be a "shake person."

6:00 Dinner
EMX took Reedster to church tonight, so G and I were on our own.  I had some bacon in the fridge, and since I still needed two red containers, I decided eggs with bacon would be a great compromise.  Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?



2 eggs
2 slices of pork bacon *
cheese and avocado
smashed sweet potato
sauteed zucchini

This ended up being a lot of food!  I guess tomorrow I need to plan and divide a little better during the day.  I managed to pull through and eat it all (ha).

*I am not a fan of turkey bacon.  4 slices of turkey bacon is considered one red container.  I did some investigating on nutritional values and 2 slices of pork bacon is more or less equal to 4 slices of turkey bacon.

So at the end of the day, I had an orange container, a green and a yellow left.  That is seriously never a problem for me.  I had some leftover zucchini that was starting to turn, so what should I do?  Make zucchini muffins?  AND zucchini brownies?  Why not?!

I'm going to have to freeze some of this stuff!


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

21 Day Fix - Day 8 - when plans change

I was determined to get an A+ for today's meal.  I knew that I was bringing baked ziti to church tonight for dinner, so I planned my day to leave two yellow containers and one blue for my ziti.  I also left one green container for veggies thinking I'd have salad.  Unfortunately, plans changed... but I think I did OK in the end!

8:00 Breakfast
2 eggs
strawberries and blueberries
coffee


11:45 workout
Total Body Cardio Fix - 30 minutes
Pilates Fix - 30 minutes

Sweaty after the total body cardio, but I wanted to try the Pilates Fix!

1:25 Lunch
spinach / green salsa
chicken
carrots
sunflower seeds (not pictured)


Not so pretty.  But pretty tasty!
So for lunch, I was lazy, but inventive.  I didn't want regular dressing.  I thought maybe green salsa would be a good topping for a simple spinach and chicken salad, and low and behold, it's a perfect GREEN condiment.  It's all veggies, no sugar!  Love it.  This is what I had on hand.  It's really tasty and healthy!



















3:00 Snack
Apple with almond butter (1tsp)

6:00 Dinner
Spaghetti Squash
shredded mozzarella cheese
tomato sauce (1/2 purple container)
chicken

At the last minute (as the ziti was cooking), EMX and I decided that since Mama and Papa were going to be at church tonight, it might be better if we stayed home with G.  I would be able to get some more work done, G would be able to get to bed at her normal time, we'd have time for her bath, etc.  This threw a kink into my food plan for the day since I had already allotted two yellow and one blue for the ziti.  I couldn't very well take ziti out of the pan before we sent it to church, so again, we got creative with what we had in the house.  I didn't plan much for dinners at home this week since we would be at church every night and only really bought stuff that we'd be bringing, or that we could have for lunches.  I made some rigatoni for EMX and G, and I warmed up leftover spaghetti squash for myself.  Since we had all smelled the ziti cooking, we added sauce and leftover baked chicken to our "pasta" of choice and topped with cheese.


G ate 2 bowls of her rigatoni.  I don't know how she does it at such a young age, but she knows the difference between pasta and chicken and refused to eat most of her chicken tonight.  Little stinker.

8:00 Workout
Yoga Fix - 30 minutes

Again, unplanned.  If I had known that we would be home tonight, I wouldn't have done two workouts during the day.  But EMX actually liked (GASP) the other 21 Day Fix workout that we did, so it was easy to persuade him to try the yoga one, especially since he's really trying to amp up his training for the WineGlass Marathon coming this fall.  I had done this video previously and really enjoyed the variety of moves and ample stretching.

So, I never ever EVER thought I'd like doing a home workout, but I'm really enjoying these workouts!  I'm finding them different enough each day, and through each individual workout that I challenge myself and don't fall into the trap of taking the easy route.  I honestly never thought I'd be able to do this everyday, let alone multiple times in a day!

8:30 snack
4 oz pinot grigio

Hey - need to use up at least one of those yellows, right?

21 Day Fix - Day 7 - late posting

This week is Family Week at our church - think VBS but in the evening so the entire family can join in on the fun and learning!  I know that doing the 21 day fix while not being in complete control over what I'm eating is going to be difficult but I'm still trying to make it all work out the best I can!  To give myself a little wiggle room, I'm trying to add in a few extra workouts this week in case I'm over in one color container (or two, haha).

Day 7 was Monday for me.

7:00 Breakfast
Paleo cereal with almond milk, coffee and water

I decided along with my fellow group members that paleo cereal could substitute a yellow container a few times a week for me.  My paleo cereal is homemade.  I use a blue container to measure it out, but count it as a yellow container since the nutrients are very similar to other yellow container foods, like yams.

Paleo cereal - Michelle style
Any mixture of nuts you like - this batch is raw almonds, raw cashews
Any seeds you like - this batch has roasted sunflower seeds
shredded unsweetened coconut
dried cranberries

Place ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it resembles cereal/granola consistency.

Pour your favorite milk over it and eat it!  You can also add sliced banana for some added yummy-ness.

11:00 Lower Fix workout

LOVE this workout.  I feel sore almost instantly and walking up the stairs is a chore.  I really like to feel sore after a workout so I know that I pushed it hard enough.   The Lower Fix will provide soreness.  I promise.

1:00 Lunch
1 full container of lettuce
1 container with peppers, celery, more lettuce and zucchini hummus
chicken
dressing - olive oil and vinegar
apple with almond butter

OK - so after the smaller breakfast, a workout, and then a late lunch, I was STARVING when it came time for lunch.  I would have eaten earlier but the kids woke up late and subsequently had a later breakfast and weren't hungry when I was.  I didn't feel like prepping two separate lunches so I just waited until they were hungry.

A rendition of one of my favorite salads that I make, this one has banana peppers, celery, romaine and chicken.  My favorite salad right now is romaine, salami, tomatoes, celery, provolone and banana peppers with vinaigrette.  I improvised with what I had in the fridge.


4:00 snack
almonds - definitely more than what a blue container is.  oops

6:00 Dinner at church

Tonight's theme was BBQ!  There were a ton of different meats to choose from and lots of mac and cheese.  There was also an activity at each table including grapes and whipped cream with a cherry on top.  (Even when we feel like the cherry - alone, Jesus is WITH US!  Always.)

I shared a plate with G for ease of going through the food line.  I ate the pulled bbq pork (which was seriously amazing.  I really need to figure out who made that one) and a few bites of the mac and cheese.  G was a HUGE fan of the mac and cheese so I fed her that.  I also had a cup of grapes with the whipped cream and cherry on top.  YUM.

8:30 snack

I got home from church and got G to bed (she fell asleep on the way home after not taking a nap today).

Don't worry - took this pic in the garage.  How cute is she hugging her bear?

I still had to make baked ziti for dinner at church for Tuesday and was a little hungry still, so I opted for an easy snack to eat while I was cooking.  I figured I was probably not on track for the day so I decided on chips with green salsa.  Not a horrible choice, but I definitely ate more than one yellow container full.  More like 2 containers.

When I went to my notebook and actually went through the day, it actually doesn't look as bad as I would have thought.  I just need to make sure that I don't continue to not have enough reds - only 2 per day is definitely  not enough!


For those of you doing the fix with me:

How is everyone doing?  What is the hardest thing for you so far?  What is your favorite workout?

For those of you NOT doing the fix with me:

Are you interested in doing the 21 Day Fix?  

Saturday, July 19, 2014

21 Day Fix - Day 4 - with some slip ups

I admit it, I over-indulged on yellows today.  It happens.  It's okay though!  Because I didn't seem to get enough greens and purples yesterday, I'm going to eat one more container of green and purple and try not to do any yellows today to try and balance things out.

Yesterday afternoon I met up with my college girlfriends for an afternoon at the lake - something we've been doing for 14 years now.  Things are a lot different NOW compared to 14 years ago.  14 years ago we were wine tasting, playing flip cup and sleeping in tents next to the water.  This year there were 4 kids between the 3 of us girls there, less drinking, more baby snuggles and more talk about schedules, jobs and houses.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I love that in the last 14-15 years we've gotten to experience life changes with each other, even if we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like.  <3

G snuggling with Auntie C.  
Their moms used to jump off that dock!

I mean, really.  How cute are these two?
I had decided to bring hummus with veggies and a light dessert to our gathering.  My friend K has Celiac disease, so finding a paleo strawberry shortcake recipe seemed like a perfect fit!

I made THIS recipe, but brought ice cream instead of whipping up cream.  It was really good!  Reedster didn't care for it, but he's not a fan of coconut flour recipes usually so that didn't surprise me.

I also decided to bring some 21 day fix approved cookies.  I made oatmeal banana chocolate chip cookies, which were edible, but definitely not my favorite.  G approved, but Reedster was not a fan.

I wanted to bring a light hummus so I went to my standby zucchini hummus recipe that is light and would more than likely fit into a green container since it uses zucchini instead of garbanzo beans!

I use this recipe and normally tweak it a little bit adding a little more cumin and lots of ground black pepper.
I just realized that I didn't manage to get a picture of the newest kid on the block!  If someone posts a picture from yesterday of the new baby girl that was present, I'll add it here.  I was too busy snuggling to take a picture apparently!

So this is a snapshot of my day food-wise.  Definitely could have made some healthier choices (or just eaten less chips and cheese puffs - oops forgot to write those down), but I feel pretty good today and was only up .2 lbs (probably in all reality due to not drinking enough water).


Moral of the story?  It's ok to fall down!  Just get back up.  If you fall down again... get up again.  We are all on our own journey, we all make our own choices, and we do what works best for us, and that's OK - as long as we aren't hurting someone else in the process obvi, lol.

Friday, July 18, 2014

21 Day Fix - Day 3

The kids came home early - last night instead of tonight.  This will make things a little more interesting as I'm definitely prone to 1. taking bits of things that I give my kids as a "mommy tax," and 2. having to share what's on my plate with little fingers and mouths.

Breakfast and lunch were easy since the kids were at my in-laws house for the day so I could work from home.   (Well, they were sleeping during my breakfast, but not home during my lunch.)

6:30 

2 eggs "fried"
raspberries and grapes
black coffee and water

9:45 sunflower seeds for a snack - I was hungry and didn't want to eat veggies that early or use up my 2nd purple container so soon in the day.

11:45 WORKOUT - Yoga Fix - 30 minutes

OK - I will admit it.  The hardest part of being part of a challenge group like this is the working out at home.  I.JUST.DON'T.LIKE.IT.  Seeing as I am supposed to be a "leader," I decided that when I committed to doing this, I would do the 21 day fix workout EVERY day - even if I was going to Bounce for a class.

Welp - the first two days, I actually went to a daytime class AND an evening class at Bounce (actually last night I taught PiYo) so I decided that I really shouldn't do the home workouts because I probably wasn't going to put much effort into them.

Today I had a lot on my to do list, so I decided to stay home and just do the workout.  Apparently when I wrote down which workouts I was going to do each day in my calendar, I totally didn't follow what the little guide says, but seeing as I was sore from two strength workouts today, Yoga really was what I needed today.  

I really enjoyed the workout!  At first I was thinking that I probably should have chosen something with more intensity, but really, the intensity does come from what you put into the workout!  Even though we were holding poses (I say "we" like the people in the video were here with me), I tried to really push my body a little past it's comfort zone to get the most out of the 30 minutes I set aside to do it.  Afterwards I felt refreshed, stretched out and even a little sweaty!  Love it.  I may have to incorporate this after a lower body day or upper body day as it really stretched out my sore muscles nicely.

12:30 leftovers from last night are an easy lunch!

4 oz lean ground beef
cheddar cheese
leftover eggplant, zucchini and onion

I didn't take a picture of this because I literally just ate it out of the tupperware that I stored it in.  I was too lazy busy to even plate it.


3:30 
carrots
vanilla shakeology with coffee
splash of almond milk
unsweetened cocoa powder

My shake today was inspired by a frappe, but in all honesty,  I just wanted to be able to eat more food tonight and still have a shake so I didn't add banana or almond butter in.  It was really good!








5:30 
Chili and sweet potatoes - 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow




I made my normal chili recipe which is just lean ground beef with tons of peppers, onions, diced tomatoes and seasonings.  I will have to post the recipe later because our computer is making some weird noises so im on my tablet.   That's where my pictures are too! Womp womp....

8:30
Apple with almond butter
4oz pinot grigio

I thought about "saving" this yellow for tomorrow when I'm meeting some friends, but decided against it and relaxed with a small glass of wine after karate.  I also managed to sneak in 20 minutes morr exercise while I brought R to karate tonight.  I wss able to run through a few PiYo songs in the lobby. Yeah, that's me in the lobby with my mat, water,  music and notebook.  :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures and highlighting!  I miss the computer!

***edited to add pictures!  Yay!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

21 day fix - Day 2

Woot!  Day one is done and was successful.  I have to admit that I really missed snacking on almonds while working, however, this morning I was down 1.5 lbs (really probably from just not eating 3 donuts in a day as I did on vacation)!

This morning when I woke up, I tried to pre-plan out my day a little better than yesterday since I did feel a little frazzled not having many things to choose from until I went shopping.  If you are not a morning person, this can certainly be done the night before as I did for a LONG time before starting to work from home.  In fact, I still pack my husband's breakfast and lunch the night before.  Even though I'm up early, I'm not up THAT early - he leaves for work by 5:30.

6:00 am Breakfast

2 eggs
sunflower seeds
raspberries & grapes
black coffee
water (not pictured) 3 cups

I don't know why, but sunflower seeds sounded really good this morning, haha.












9:00 Workout - Total Strength - 60 minutes
water - 3 cups

11:30 Lunch
The prep.
Mid prep.

6 slices of ham
lettuce, tomato, carrots
tortilla chips
mustard









All nice and pretty.



1:00 snack

Yes, I realize that this was not much after lunch, but I was still hungry and the thought of having to wait at least 4 more hours until dinner was not making me happy.


carrots
1 tsp almond butter (in the orange container for convenience - not measuring!)
black coffee

More water - like my fancy water cup?  I holds 24 oz.  I like that because then I only have to fill it up 3 times per day to make sure I get enough water - even though I often drink more than that!




Dinner


4 oz lean ground beef
cheddar cheese
mustard (not pictured)
spaghetti squash - 3/4 container
zucchini, eggplant and onion roasted with coconut oil spray

I was originally planning on sweet potato "fries" with dinner but didn't realize that I had run out!  So I improved with spaghetti squash.  The sweet potato fries would have given the plate a little more color though!








7:45 PiYo LIVE class - 45 minutes - Taught the class.  :)

9:00 Evening Snack (AKA dessert!):
1 package of chocolate shakeology
1/2 frozen banana
1 tsp almond butter
4 oz almond milk - 1/4 container
4 oz water
ICE

Notes for today:

  • So again, I really planned on doing the Dirty 30 workout today which was on my calendar in addition to the Total Strength workout that I went to at Bounce.  But then I was asked to sub PiYo this evening and decided that I better not do the Dirty 30 workout before having to teach, haha.  
  • Something I missed yesterday while posting - WATER!  I drink MINIMUM 8 cups (a cup is 8 oz) of water a day.  most days, it's closer to 9-10 and when I'm really doing well it's closer to 12 cups.  I space it out through the day.  I know it can be really hard to drink water if you are a big fan of pop/soda.  I've never been a huge fan of it, so it was really easy for me to transition to water when I started really getting into healthy eating practices.  Now I really only ever drink 4 things - water, coffee, almond milk and wine.  :)
  • Even though I'm really looking forward to my kids coming home tomorrow, I'm a little nervous about how the fix is going to work for me since G prefers to eat MY food instead of hers - even though it's usually identical.
  • Am I the only one who likes to have three things to eat at every meal?  There are obviously times when I don't, but it feels like not enough food if there are only two things on my plate and too much if there are four.
Are you doing the 21 day fix right now?  What is your favorite meal that you've had so far?  

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

21 day fix - Day 1

So, this am I had plans of waking up early and going to the public market to load up on veggies and fruit and then hitting up Wegmans for everything else.  But guess what?  I fell back asleep after my alarm and with the kids in VT camping with my ILs, I had no one to wake me up.  Apparently I was tired after our 4 days camping.  So my pre-planned day wasn't really going to work today since I had limited food in the fridge!

8:00 am Breakfast

So, I made do with 2 eggs, an apple and 3/4 of a yellow container of sweet potatoes that were leftover in my fridge from the day before we left.  

Why the 3/4 yellow container, you ask?  Later today I plan on using 4 oz of almond milk to make shakeology.  You can substitute 16 oz of almond milk for one yellow container and since I don't really need 16 oz, I'm using 1/4 of a yellow container for my shakeology and 3/4 this morning. #MathIsFun

Not a face anymore.
I couldn't resist - looks like a face.  :)


2 eggs

black coffee

apple

Yam - 3/4 container





Looking at the apple whole I wasn't sure if it would fit into a purple container once cut up, but it did!  I was pretty excited about that because I would have been less than thrilled if I had to eat just part of an apple this
morning. 
It fits!
12:00 pm Workout = Zumba 45 minutes

2:00 Lunch

I stopped at Wegmans after Zumba to do a quick shopping trip to make sure we had some veggies and fruits to choose from.  I had some leftovers to eat up though in the fridge that I could make work for today so I decided to do that.  I didn't take a picture of my lunch because, well, it wasn't pretty, haha.  I made a chicken salad with avocado and tahini and the avocado was all brown and icky and though it still tasted great, it was ugly leftover so I spared you the picture of that.  Instead I took a picture of what containers I used for lunch.  :)


leftover chicken salad:
chicken
tahini (ground sesame seeds) 1/2 container
avocado
lettuce and tomato cut up and combined
dressing (21 day fix approved) 1/2 container






4:00 Snack 

Coffee with 1 tbsp coconut milk - I really wanted something sweet and this took the edge off. 

5:00 Dinner

So today was kind of weird for me.  Normally I need a morning snack before a noon workout, but today I felt ok.  But after lunch, I was still hungry.  So even though I would normally eat a later dinner after having lunch at 2:00, I really was hungry at 5 and since I was heading back to Bounce for another class at 6:30, I decided to have an early dinner and then have a snack later on.


Doesn't look like much?
Now it does!

chicken (leftover baked)

spaghetti squash with lemon

leftover roasted broccoli

carrot sticks (not pictured)





I would normally add a little butter and Parmesan cheese to the spaghetti squash, but it was really good with just some fresh lemon juice!

6:30 Workout = 60 minutes Red Warrior Class at Bounce

8:15 Snack

Ok listen.  I've never ever been a "shake" person.  Like, ever.  I just have never seen the appeal to drinking your food as opposed to eating your food.  I'm giving shakeology a try while doing this challenge for a couple of reasons.  1. It will help me bump up my 4th red container without having to eat 4 meals of chicken.  2. It tastes good - it's like a natural healthy dessert!  3. It's SUPER easy.

So we'll see how it goes!


1 package of chocolate shakeology
1/2 frozen banana
1 tsp almond butter
4 oz almond milk - 1/4 container
4 oz water
ICE





Some additional notes:

  • I plan on incorporating the 21 day fix workouts every day no matter if I get to Bounce that day or not, but since today was going to be the cardio workout and I went to Bounce twice, I decided to not do the fix workout in addition for today. 
  • I only did 1 tsp of oil/almond butter today because the leftover yams and broccoli had olive oil on them when I roasted them.  Since I really can't be sure how much there was in my serving, I decided to play it safe and only use 1 tsp of the almond butter instead of the normal 2 that I plan on having.  :)
Are you doing the fix right now?  How are you doing?  Please feel free to share any tips or comments below!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Really Fancy Post About Planning For the 21 Day Fix

As the title indicates, this is a super fancy post about my planning for the 21 day fix.  I'm talking, high tech, very difficult, labor intensive, beautifully designed planning.  The image below is so amazing and you totally cannot see my legs in the bottom of the picture.

I told you this was fancy.

So, while I'm all about typing things out usually, for some reason, this is what I'm finding to be the most useful way for me to start planning  for the 21 day fix.  Plus I get to use markers, lol.  Because I'm trying to keep mostly paleo/primal while doing the fix, there are certain foods that I'm probably not going to want to eat, but my family might want to eat, etc.  So what I did to start was go through the guide that comes with the fix and start by writing out which foods we are most likely to actually all eat (or most of us eat) in each category.  Then I'm going through and planning several days that will use similar foods.  One thing I seriously despise is having to buy a million ingredients for one week worth of meals (or 3 days worth of meals, ha).

Like I said, this is very technical, but also very preliminary.  I wanted to have a few days planned in advance so I can feel prepared, but also wanted to be able to have some options in case I don't feel in the mood for a certain meal on a particular day.  Because that tends to happen frequently, I'm attempting to keep the colors in a sort of pattern every day so I can swap dinner from one day to another if needed.

So, we'll see how this goes!  Do you want to join me?  You can get the 21 day fix with or without Shakeology which makes this a great option for everyone who is ready to work on portion control and exercise!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

21 day fix challenge - coming soon to a blog near you

Ok, I'll admit it.  Now that I'm working from home instead of at the office, my eating habits have gotten worse.  I knew that it was going to be an issue but I thought I'd be able to get over it after a week or two of indulging a little more. Confession: ICE CREAM IS SO DARN DELICIOUS!  The weather has been perfect "go and get ice cream" weather and I just.cannot.stop. I even reactivated my MFP account in the hopes that I would start food tracking again, but after 1/2 a day, I stopped, haha.  There was nothing to keep me accountable there so it was very easy to just not enter in the foods.

My friend C approached me a few weeks ago after we had a discussion about Beachbody and their programs and asked if I'd like to become a coach and help her lead a 21 day fix challenge at Bounce Aerobics (which is my happy place btw).  Let me tell you, I NEVER ever would have considered it in the past because our plate is usually overflowing with our to-do list.  BUT, given that things are starting to settle down a teeny tiny bit, I thought I would give it a try, if not for anything else but to make myself accountable for my food decisions and working out.  Plus I LOVE the BB workouts (especially PiYo which I teach at Bounce).

I've been a little better about getting to classes, but I'm still a horrible "workout at home" person.  SO...... drum roll.......... I'm going to do the 21 day fix program and (gasp) work out at home when I cannot get to Bounce for classes.  I'm going to (gasp again) work out every day for at least 30 minutes while making sure that my food portions are spot on and balanced.

What does that mean?  No ice cream for 3 weeks.  No glass of Pinot Grigio while relaxing on the couch for 3 whole weeks.  But, I'm actually looking forward to it.  21 days is long enough to start to form new patterns of behavior and enforce them so I'm excited about the fact that I can hopefully get out of this "too much food" rut and get back to healthy eating and exercise.  I'm also hoping that these 6 lbs that are sticking around will be GONE and not come back.

If you think you may want to join me for this challenge, you can purchase through me here.  You can purchase the 21 day fix with or without shakeology, which is awesome.  AND even though Bounce is leading the challenge, you don't have to go to their classes to be a part of the challenge with us because the 21 day fix program comes with workout DVDs!






Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Last day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday was Reedster's end of year performance to celebrate finishing up Kindergarten!  I cannot believe how fast this year went by.  

I mean, really, LOOK AT THIS KID!  So cute.
A doting big brother.
G requested to walk to Mama & Papa's house this morning instead of driving. Even though my legs felt like dead weight from Pilates on Sunday and then Strength and Zumba last night, I agreed and grabbed my coffee to go.  Having my ILs in our neighborhood is one of the best things ever.  They watch the kiddos for me while I'm working part time.  We are so blessed to have them so close by.  It doesn't hurt that occasionally (pretty often actually) my MIL even cooks us dinner on those days!  I love to cook, but anytime someone else offers, you know I'm taking them up on that offer.  


I mean, really, look at those faces.  
Being home has it's perks!  Little helpers are the best!
Walking back home this morning, I spent the quiet time thinking about how much has changed during this school year. Reedster's first day of school was right after my sister Jules got married - we were still coming down from the wedding "high" (or rather exhaustion) on his first day of Kindergarten.  Now we are done with weddings for a while and just spent an awesome weekend with family at Darien Lake.  


Not my best work - but it will have to do.
I thought about how grateful I am for our family and friends and the transition from full time work to part time work and full time mom. Even though I miss my family at ROL, I am so happy to be able to be with my two cuties more.  Just seeing Reedster get on and off the bus for the last 3 weeks has made me realize how precious and short childhood is.  It was an agonizing couple of months of thinking about what I should do leading up to the ultimate decision to leave full time work, but now more than ever I realize that this is what our family needed.  I am forever grateful for the friendships (and family) that I have at ROL and how supportive they were of my decision to leave. And I'm super grateful for the opportunity to work PT for my BIL's business. 


Can you see where EMX wrote "IAN WAS HERE" in the dust - 14 years ago when we worked at ROL over the summer.  (My work husband made an appearance in this photo.)