21-Day Fix, Weel 1 Review: Muffins and Muffin Tops

One week down, and while its easy to be discouraged when you still have a muffin top, (and dang, a muffin sounds delicious), I am so glad I am doing this program! Let’s take a look at the good and bad of my first 7 days:

THE GOOD

1. ZERO Acid Reflux: I’ve struggled on and off with acid reflux. Before I started 21-Day Fix, I was taking Tums at least 3 times per week. No acid reflux at all in the past week! This has to be due to eating clean, real ingredients and eliminating processed, artificial foods
2. No Soda, No Problem: I’ve gone from drinking a 32oz fountain drink a day to no soda in over a week. And I surprisingly haven’t missed it. My water intake has gone from maybe 5 ounces a day to probably 100 or so (5 refills of my 20oz water bottle). I thought I would miss the caffeine from the coke, but the water has refreshed my body and given me more energy than any coke would.
3. Improved Relationship: The fact that my husband and I are doing this together has given us a new way to connect, support, and encourage each other. I feel like in one week, our lives have gone from parallel to intersecting- We have done a better job managing our time and have had some really great conversations. I’m so blessed to have such an amazing, dedicated husband and am so thankful we can share this journey together!

THE BAD

1. I’ve Got the Blues: So, the blue container is a daily battle. I get ONE blue container per day and it’s arguably the best container of them all- I have to choose between cheese, avocado, hummus, and nuts like almonds and pecans. And did I mention this was a pretty small container too? And one blue container is only ¼ an avocado anyway…and I only get that if I completely forgo cheese. Sad Mel :(
2. Burnt Pans: As I mentioned several times this past week, I think cooking in with less than 2 teaspoons of EVOO a day is not very practical (no butter or cooking spray either). I was so worried about going over the allocated EVOO amount that I burned my sautéed zucchini in my favorite $70 Rachael Ray pan. While I understand not drowning stuff in oil, you have to use enough not to burn your pans and food. I’m trying to research everything to get this burnt residue off my pan.

NEUTRAL

1. Yellow Container: Yellows are grains, of which I get 2 servings per day. This is manageable except beans (black, pinto, garbanzo, edamame) are in this category- I’ve always thought these were proteins? Also sweet potatoes are considered yellow. I’m super confused about this. I know regular potatoes are a starch, but aren’t sweet potatoes supposed to be a super food vegetable- why aren’t they green? Because of sugar? Sigh.
2. Coffee Drama: Obviously international delight or another non-dairy creamer is a major no-no. I can’t do black coffee. Coffee with skim milk tastes like watered down coffee. Fat free half and half isn’t milk or cream, its corn syrup and artificial crap with long words I can’t pronounce. And going without coffee altogether is just not an option. After having a near meltdown in front of the dairy case at Publix (just ask Josh about my panicked phone call to him), I decided to purchase organic half and half. This is not fix-approved according to the book. But, a main premise of the book is removing all artificial ingredients and eating only clean, real foods. With that line of thinking, the only coffee creamer option that doesn’t have strange ingredients is organic half-and-half. Its just organic milk and organic cream. Its only 40 calories in 2 tablespoons and I’m using about a teaspoon in my coffee, so I think the 10 calories of pure dairy a day to make my survival to life possible is justifiable.

OTHER THOUGHTS

I really would like the following items:

·         Buffalo Wings

·         Clemson Burger from BGR

·         Funfetti cupcake

·         Chipotle Burrito Bowl

·         Chips & Salsa

·         Butter & Jelly

But you know what I want more than that? I want to achieve my goals!

A friend asked me and Josh in Sunday what our first meal is going to be when this program ends, and to be honest, we haven’t even begun to consider that. We are so focused on what we are working towards. Yes, at some point I’m going to order a pepperoni pizza, but I don’t think we will ever fully go back to the way we used to eat and the way we used to live. We’ve worked too hard to undo everything we’ve already done to this point!

Finally, I got some great perspective last night. I was watching the Dancing with the Stars season premiere and this woman danced with prosthetic legs. She can snowboard too by the way. She was given a 2% chance to live when diagnosed at age 19 with bacterial meningitis. And now to see what she can do- wow! What an inspiration! Its evident that can’t is not in her vocabulary. She has every reason in the world to make excuses, but she doesn’t. She’s better than her excuses. If she can do that, I can get my butt up and bust it at this 21-Day Fix! Less than 2 weeks to go!