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 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.

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?  

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.)

Your smile(s) for the day

With my new schedule/routine, I'm able to spend way more time one on one with G than I have in the last, oh, 2 years.  Even though I've always said she is a nurturer, and a caregiver, and is SO loving and affectionate, this video just really personifies our little peanut and I'm so happy to be able to spend some more time with her!  This is from last week, but is too cute not to share.

Not to be outdone by cuteness, Mr. Reedster had some huge accomplishments this weekend that I posted about on FB.  He earned his yellow belt last week in karate, learned how to ride his bike on two wheels AND learned how to tie his sneakers.  I cannot believe how fast he is growing up.  Our next task is for him to learn how to tie his yellow belt!    Here is a quick video of him riding his bike up a steep hill at Mama and Papa's house this past weekend.

Mommy & Me...

NAILED IT!

An Ode to EMX (WHAT?)

In honor of my husband's 33rd birthday, I thought it would be nice to share some things that you may or may not know about him.  I was getting a little TOO personal trying to come up with 33 facts, so I figured I would narrow it down to 14, since that's the number of years we've been together.  Here goes nothing.

1. His favorite meal is anything "sink your teeth into."  Now, you may be asking yourself, what is that?  It's easier to define what it's NOT for me.  It's NOT quinoa anything.  It's NOT soup.  It's NOT most salads.  It MIGHT be meatloaf, or spaghetti bake, or salmon with bbq glaze.  It's definitely not couscous.
2. He is a horrible speller.  
1. He once left a note for his parents to let them know that he did something for them.  "I feeded the dog."
2. He once wrote a book report about an "Angle" in a closet.  The book, however, was about an "ANGEL" in a closet.
3. He may not be able to spell, but he IS super smart.  He can tell you all about his job (electrical engineering) or car stuff and I won't recognize most words.  I like to say he's like Chandler Bing.  No one really knows what he does. 
4. He can only cook 4 things. PB&J, Grilled Cheese, Spaghetti with jarred sauce and take out.
5. He may not be able to cook, but he CAN swap out an engine in a foreign car in a little one car garage in the dead of winter.
6. He has the BEST announcer voice.  Anyone want to hire him?
7. He can shake his eyes from side to side.  It's super creepy.  He still won my heart over though.
8. He's willing to try all of my experiments in the kitchen.  My first and worst experiment was Rachael Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta."  Guess what?  The way I made it?  I would have been single in about an hour if I hadn't made a back up meal.  You'll NEVER guess what it was..... Give up?  Bean and Hot Dog Casserole.  Now THAT is a sink your teeth into meal.  
9. His favorite band is TOOL and his all time favorite musical artist is Maynard James Keenan.    I never thought I'd be a fan, but I now find myself listening to TOOL in my car by myself!
10. He semi recently started running.  He clearly has inherited his dad's running gene because he rocks at running.  He's training for a marathon in 2014.
11. Ian will vacuum, do laundry and dishes any day of the week for me.  (Aren't I lucky?!?!?!)  He will also put away my stuff when I leave it out, only complaining after a few days of it.  
12. He's into photography.  Have you checked out his webpage lately?  
13. He is selfless.  In 2009, when we were deciding whether to build a new house, or buy an existing house, the difference in our monthly payment was almost equal to the payment on his S2000 sports car that we had purchased only a year and a half prior.  He decided to sell the 2 seat car in order for our family to get the best house possible in a brand new neighborhood.
14. He's an amazing dad.  From coaching soccer, to kissing boo-boos, to singing goodnight songs, to changing diapers and everything in between.  I love to watch him interact with our children.  I cannot imagine another person I'd rather parent with.
15. OK - one more for good luck. He the best husband, friend, and supporter I could ever ask for.  I cannot imagine my life without him and I love that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.  He truly is my best friend, the person I can tell anything, and the person I trust the most.  

I love you Ian!  Happy Birthday and thank you for everything you do for our family.

MG

Happy Halloween!

The boys are carving Reed's pumpkin while Giselle and I watch.   :)