TGIF

So G woke up at 5:00 am this morning.  She requested (ahem, demanded) to go downstairs and I knew she was up for the day.  Normally I would try to get her back to sleep for a bit, but I figured I might be able to get some work done if I could get her to fall back asleep on the couch.  Silly mommy.

She asked for milk, which I happily gave her, but apparently, the amount I put in the cup wasn't satisfactory for Princess G.  Cut to throwing of her cup, throwing of herself on the ground and lots of yelling and time out.

If you follow me on Facebook, you've already seen these pictures:

But mom, I want more milk in my cup!!!!!!! That's not enough!

#WorstMomEver

After we got Reedster on the bus, I made myself some shakeology and sat down to do my daily reading.  G was playing with cotton balls pretending to take off her nail polish.  (Hey, whatever makes her happy.)  I walked away to grab a little more coffee and when I walked back into the living room, G had knocked my chocolate shakeology onto the floor.

I don't know how she did it folks.  But somehow she got the shakeology in a straight line from the ottoman to the wall.  And there was still some left in the cup.

That's oxy-clean on the stain.... and G putting chapstick on.  More on that in a bit.

Thankfully, I have great ILs who happen to have a steam cleaner.  G and I went to work and got  most of the stain out.  It took a while, but it's much better.

All morning, I had been waiting for a phone call.  I kept my phone handy while I was cleaning the carpet so I wouldn't miss the call.  When I did take the call, G rediscovered the chapstick.... and decided to see what happened when she put it on the window...

Don't get me wrong, that's a fantastic smiley face for a 2 year old!

I should have known a few days ago when I caught G putting lotion (aka butt paste) on her face that this girl cannot be left unsupervised for even a second.

Why so serious?

To make it up to me, G came up to me while I was getting my make up on and said, (I can't make this stuff up), "I love you mommy.  You're the best mommy ever!"

TGIF.  If I didn't have an eye appointment this afternoon, I'd be having a glass of wine with my lunch.

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.

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.

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!

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?