21 Day Fix, Day 21: RESULTS ARE IN!

Don’t expect to change overnight. Focus on one day at a time, making one small change at a time. Overtime, every day, every small change will add up to big transformation. Don’t give up!

DAY 21 WORKOUT & FOOD

Today I ate oatmeal for breakfast, a turkey wrap for lunch, an apple for a snack, and a salad with tuna for dinner. I, of course, did my yoga fix workout too. But I’m sure y’all don’t care much about today’s details, because its time for the results!!!

PROGRAM RESULTS

Let me just say I cannot believe how much the last three weeks have changed my life. Prior to doing 21-Day Fix, I made one excuse after another to avoid changing my lifestyle habits. “Oh I want to wait until after I finish having kids to get the body I want”… “I don’t have the money to buy a program/shakeology”… “Oh YOLO, so I’m going to eat whatever the heck I want”… But there comes a day when you wake up and say enough is enough with the excuses and commit to making a change. And don’t look back. The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come…

Weight Lost: 13 pounds

Seriously, if someone would have told me I could lose 13 pounds in 3 weeks, I would have jumped on that opportunity right away! And Josh lost 12 pounds! The program is designed for you to lose 10-15 pounds in 3 weeks- I wasn’t sure it was possible heading into it, but we both are proof that it is!

Overall Inches Lost: 11 inches

That includes 4 inches in my waist! Josh lost 11 inches too. We lost inches in every area of our body!

WHAT’S NEXT

This program has shown me that it’s practical to live and eat this way in everyday life. I had this perception that diets get easily broken because life gets in the way. Maybe that’s true with diets, but this isn’t a diet, this is a health program, a lifestyle modification. Life happens. Life goes on. In the past 3 weeks, I’ve gone to parties, gone out-of-town, gone out to dinner, gotten take-out, etc., and haven’t missed a beat with the plan.

Now, I know my future eating won't be perfect- you have to treat yourself every now and then, and you can't beat yourself up for that either, but I truly believe that consistently eating clean and portion control makes a difference- not only yielding "quick fix" results, but helping you maintain a healthy life in the long run.

I hope that by blogging through my journey, someone will be inspired to conquer their personal goals- don't let your excuses or circumstances keep you from experiencing the joy life has to offer. You are stronger than you think- you can do it!

Best wishes to everyone on their journey to health and happiness!

It always seems impossible until it’s done

–Nelson Mandela

21 Day Fix: Day 20, One More Day!

There is only one way to succeed at anything, and that is to give it everything.

DAY 20 WORKOUT: DIRTY 30

Three weeks ago when I did this workout for the first time, I couldn’t lift my body up to a side plank. Today, I not only lifted up to side plank, but did leg raises with it, and held it for 30 seconds each side… This whole process over the past 20 days has been about progress. Each day I can recognize something that encourages me to see how far I’ve come in such little time!

DAY 20 FOOD

Usual breakfast again: spinach, egg whites, ½ blue container feta, and ½ whole wheat English muffin… I just love that breakfast! I was talking to a girl today who had never tried feta cheese (I know!) so I told her about my breakfast- it’s a winner for sure!

Well, my shakeology is gone. We got a 30-day supply with the 21 Day Fix program, and Josh and I were able to share that for just about 20 days (so we got 40 servings out of a 30 serving bag). Beachbody enrolls you in monthly auto-ship for Shakeology when you buy a program, but I cancelled the auto-ship a few weeks ago because I wanted to switch my flavor to vanilla. Little did I know, I could have just called and changed my flavor instead of cancelling my auto-ship, running out, and subsequently having to place a new order (which I set-up on auto-ship for the future so I don’t run out. That’s the best way to go too because you cut your shipping costs from $14 to $2)… Anyways, I’m now anxiously waiting on my vanilla shakeology to arrive in the mail- I’m excited to try a different flavor… Hope it comes soon. It made me sad not having shakeology today.

To cheer me up from missing shakeology, I made a greek wrap like what I made the other night for dinner- I just used low sodium, low fat deli turkey instead of chicken- yummy yummy!

For dinner, we grilled out. Finally warm enough and feeling like Spring! We made grilled Cajun chicken and shrimp with grilled sweet peppers. I made homemade Cajun seasoning (because my prepackaged stuff is loaded with salt) for the chicken, and for the shrimp I made this marinade sauce I found on pinterest. I sautéed finely chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic, then added 1 cup of tomato juice, a splash of lemon juice, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I poured this over the raw shrimp and wrapped that in a little foil pouch and Josh cooked that on the grill. It was so good- loved the kick from the cayenne and the rich, bold flavor of the tomato.

For dessert, we had some fruit salad because I haven’t had any fruit today. It was perfect!

OTHER THOUGHTS

You could say that I see the world through color-coded containers now. I really haven’t had to use my awesome chart I made in week 1 at all this week because its just become second nature to me  I am conscious of my portions and what I’m putting into my body. I read ingredient labels at the grocery store like its my job, and have to admit that I have become one of those #cleaneating people lol.

One more day people! Look for both a Week 3 Review and a Results posting tomorrow!!!

21 Day Fix, Day 19: Burger Night and Sharing Shakeology

Difficult doesn’t mean impossible, It simply means you have to work hard.

DAY 19 WORKOUT: TOTAL BODY CARDIO

It was difficult. Every part of my body was hurting and I was completely out-of-breath. I know I’m in better shape than I was 19 days ago when I started this process, but this workout still kills me- but, its not impossible. Its 30 minutes of hard work and its worth it.

Today I had an extra challenge because my dog kept interrupting me. Usually I put her outside when I do my workouts, but its pouring rain so that wasn’t an option. When we did the side sashes (sorry dance term, like skippy things) into squats, my dog tried to participate too, thinking I was playing with her. Then when I laid on the floor to go frog crunches and closed my eyes, she kept licking my face to make sure I was still alive…Sweet puppy, but it made things interesting to say the least.

DAY 19 FOOD

I took Anniston to storytime at the library this morning, so I actually split my breakfast into 2 meals. Before we headed out, I had some mini-wheats (yay cereal!)… I planned to have coffee too, but my half-and-half smelled awful and was starting to curdle, so I poured that spoiled junk down the drain. After the library, I got an iced coffee with a little bit of nonfat milk and 2 raw sugars from Starbucks. I can have 2 raw sugars a day, and usually 2 raw sugars are perfect for a grande or venti, but I ordered a tall, so 2 raw sugars made my drink sweeter than I’m used to. Still a-ok with my Fix plan, but its remarkable how 2 packs of raw sugar can taste so sweet when you have become accustomed to hardly any sweetener in your everyday diet. Anyways, I made a couple fried eggs when I got home to go with my coffee and finish my breakfast…even though that was like at 1pm.

Got Anniston down for a late nap and did my workout. Then had my shakeology late-afternoon. I added banana today- simple and delicious.

Super pumped about dinner. Burger night! I made Rachael Ray’s Southwest Turkey Burgers. Anything Rachael Ray makes is nothing short of amazing, and I was thrilled that I could make these still following my Fix plan. And burgers are perfect for a Friday night! Inside the burgers I put grated onion and garlic, diced jalapeno, poblano, and sweet red peppers, thyme, parsley, cumin, Tabasco, and pepper. I have found the best way to cook burgers is in a cast-iron skillet. Learned that tip from Bobby Flay when he was on Rachael Ray Show- yes better than the grill, which worked great tonight given the rain outside. Anyways, I topped the burgers with turkey bacon, sautéed mushrooms and onions, tomatoes, and reduced fat swiss cheese. We ate them without buns and had roasted butternut squash on the side (it was pretty close to sweet potato fries, but remember, sweet potatoes count as yellow, so butternut squash was the next best thing!). These were so amazing!

OTHER THOUGHTS

Anniston was begging me for my shake (shakeology) today, so I let her try some… She loved it! I’m telling you, shakeology is so awesome!

2 days left guys!!!

21 Day Fix, Day 18: Pinterest Fail and Home Run

When you cheat, you only cheat yourself.

I probably had to remind myself of that at least a dozen times today. Today was my toughest day yet… There was this little voice inside me that kept saying “you’ve done enough… you can have butter on your English muffin…you can put international delight in your coffee…you can take a nap instead of working out…go ahead and throw in the towel and eat what you want”… But there is a bigger voice inside me shouting “NO. You’ve made it 18 days…You have 3 days left… Why give in now? Why cheat now? Do you want to prove you can do this 100% without cheating?”… And thankfully that voice silenced the temptations today, despite the volume of the temptations’ voice…

DAY 18 WORKOUT: PILATES FIX

I had zero motivation today heading into this workout. Along with the conflicting voices in my head, I still am fighting whatever virus/cold crap I got sick with last week…I feel better, but not 100%...still dragging, dealing with sinus congestion, and I lost my voice 3 days ago and its yet to return. Anyways, as it always seems to happen, once I get into the workout I rediscover my sense of motivation and push through it. Today I once again held an elbow plank for 60 seconds and completed the 10 second plank hold intervals…I’m still really struggling with the plank side twists where you hold yourself in an elbow plank and twist and drop your hip to either side- I can only do a couple before falling, lol… always something more to work for.

DAY 18 FOOD

Back to spinach, egg whites, and feta this morning. I only had half a whole wheat English muffin. Really wanted butter, but just ate the English muffin plain and spooned some of my egg whites onto it like an open-faced breakfast sandwich. While I usually eat a whole English muffin, peanut butter, honey, and banana as a breakfast accompaniment, I was saving it for my shakeology and snacks later today

For shakeology, I did chocolate banana. I like how adding the banana not only enriches the flavor of the shake, but also adds more substance. Granted I can only add half a banana to count as 1 purple serving.

For snack, I made this cookie dough greek yogurt I’ve been dying to try. I love cookie dough- I think I like the dough more than baked cookies themselves, so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I reorganized my daily meal plan to accommodate this treat (looks good in the picture, right?). I used plain, nonfat greek yogurt (1 red), 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon chocolate chips (1 yellow substitute). Epic pinterest fail. I was so disappointed. I don’t know what kind of cookie dough the person who made this pin eats, but this tasted nothing like the cookie dough I make. I tasted like peanut butter sour cream with this awkward tang and gaggy sweetness. I scooped out the chocolate chips, dumped those in the trash, and gave the rest to my dog, who seemed to enjoy it much more than I did. Oh well, guess I have extra protein and a carb left for dinner…

Dinner turned into another scramble (today is just not my day). I totally forgot in my meal planning to account for Josh having church band practice tonight and not getting home until like 9 or 10. I don’t know why I forgot to account for this- its not like he doesn’t have band practice every single Thursday night. But anyways, I planned to make a big dinner for us, but he was just going to have shakeology for dinner, so I had to fend for myself. Because of the kind of day today was, my mind immediately went toward what I could go buy at a restaurant for dinner, but instead, I made a better choice and searched for Pinterest recipes. Yes, giving Pinterest another chance after it really left me down with the disgusting yogurt debacle earlier- I was hoping it would redeem itself. And it did!

 

I actually combined 2 Pinterest recipes to make a Greek chicken wrap. I poached some chicken and tossed that in homemade Greek dressing (Pinterest recipe 1: EVOO, red wine vinegar, oregano, basil, garlic and onion powder, and Dijon mustard). I spread the remaining orange container of Greek dressing on a whole wheat tortilla, then added the chicken. Next, I made what is called a Tabbouleh (Pinterest recipe 2). Basically I threw a bunch of vegetables into the food processor (tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, cucumber, zucchini) with some garlic cloves, parsley, and lime juice. It looked almost like a relish in the end. I spread that on top of the chicken and topped with a little feta cheese (I didn’t fill my blue container full of feta this morning with my eggs because I had reach the end of the cheese carton and didn’t want to open a new one this morning- but I surely opened a new one tonight and used up my remaining blue serving). Rolled it all up and I devoured it. It was sooooo good. Probably one of my favorite things I’ve had yet on 21 Day Fix. So, so good!

OTHER THOUGHTS

Well today was tough (until dinner), but whether it’s a good day or bad day, it’s a day to be thankful for—and another day closer to my goal! See you tomorrow… only 3 more days!

21 Day Fix, Day 17: Quesadillas for Dinner!

Instead of looking for 100 reasons to quit, look for 1000 reasons not to give up

DAY 17 WORKOUT: LOWER FIX

So Josh prefers to workout in the basement while I like working out upstairs in the living room. No big deal, except every day we have to transport weights up and down the stairs. This morning I brought up 30 pounds of weights and a yoga mat in one trip- I think that should count as a bonus or something. That “warm-up” set me up well for my lower body fix, which was all good until hours later when my legs were so sore I could hardly walk up or down the stairs carrying nothing.

DAY 17 FOOD

I had a high protein breakfast this morning because I’m saving my carbs for tonight’s dinner. I made 2 fried eggs and 4 slices of turkey bacon (this is 2 red servings). It was a lot of food! I also had some strawberries on the side and coffee of course. I made the eggs and bacon on the big griddle and it reminded me of pancakes…and I love pancakes, so I was slightly depressed that I couldn’t have those for breakfast. I did find a recipe for banana pancakes on Pinterest that are made with banana and oatmeal so I’m going to have to try that out sometime.

For lunch, I made chocolate shakeology with peanut butter and ½ a banana. I think this is one of my favorite combos. Its like eating a Reese’s…well, close enough…

I’ve been looking forward to making this dinner for awhile, especially after last night’s bland soup, if we can call it that. I put pork loin in the crockpot this morning with water, vinegar, chipotle seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little bit of honey. Anniston helped put everything in the CrockPot—she’s such a cute little helper in the kitchen! I let that cook for about 7-8 hours until it falls apart. Then I used 1 red container of the meat, 2 whole grain tortillas (2 yellows), and 1 blue container of cheddar cheese to make quesadillas. I usually add some Taco Bell hot sauce but with that not being fix-approved, I substituted it with Cholula Mexican hot sauce. I also made some fresh pico to go alongside it (1 green). These were fabulous! Tip: I always make my quesadillas in the broiler/oven instead of using a skillet. Its super easy. I build the quesadillas on a pizza pan, set the oven broiler to high, and cook on each side for a few minutes. The tortillas crisp perfectly and the cheese melts evenly.

OTHER THOUGHTS

Well for the second week in a row, the grocery store is out of mint leaves. I didn’t realize this was such a high demand item, but anyways, I’ve had to mix up my daily infused water regimen. I’ve now been putting 2 frozen strawberries and 1 lemon wedge in my water bottle in the morning and refilling it throughout the day. Surprisingly, the lemon has not gotten bitter like it does sometimes if you leave it too long in iced tea. Also, after I started making this water concoction, I saw on pinterest that strawberry-lemon water helps improve your digestion and can also work to clear your complexion. That’s a win, win for me!

Also I really want a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese from Einsteins. Doesn't that sound delicious!I had to find a picture of it on google...

Until tomorrow...

21 Day Fix, Day 16: Pumpkin Coffee & Extra Energy

If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done

DAY 16 WORKOUT: UPPER BODY FIX

I think this is becoming my favorite workout. I love feeling my muscles quivering when I am challenging myself to push more than ever before. I’ve made so much progress in this workout alone in the past 3 weeks. In Week 1, I did this without any weights. In Week 2, I used 5 pound weights. And today, in Week 3, I used 10 pound weights! So encouraging!

DAY 16 FOOD

Same spinach/feta/egg white breakfast with a whole wheat English muffin that I had yesterday. I could get used to eating that everyday- tastes great and I love how it starts my body off right. I also bought some pumpkin spice k-cups from Dunkin Donuts. Yes, I know its March. But they were on sale for $5.99 (presumably because they have to get rid of the stock leftover from October), and it was a delicious way to jazz up my morning coffee without adding calories or more creamer/sweetener. Also, I drank this Dunkin Donuts coffee in a Starbucks mug...I'm so rebellious.

For lunch I had shakeology with a combination of strawberries, banana, and blackberries for something different. It actually had a really nice flavor! I didn't have my shakeology until like 3pm today- just wasn't hungry. Guess my body has finally adjusted to eating less calories.

For dinner, I made homemade vegetable soup because its cold and cloudy and gray here in Charlotte today… Well, it was until dinner time, when it was actually time to eat the soup and the sun came out... Anyways, I usually put lots of boxed chicken or vegetable stock in my soups, but that clearly is loaded with sodium, so instead, I used a combination between san marzano tomatoes that I mashed and about 3 cups water. For the vegetables, I planned to add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables- easy peasy. But wait, the mixed vegetables were primarily peas, corn, and lima beans. Unfortunately, these are considered a yellow serving for whatever reason and not green. I was out of yellows for the day (breakfast English muffin took them all up) so I had to use fresh vegetables that actually were counted as green. This was more prep than expected- chopping and sautéing vegetables until they were soft and tender, but its ok...I threw in some seasonings and fresh herbs and let it all warm through in the CrockPot until dinner time. While it tasted very fresh, it reminded me of the pasta sauce I made last week for spaghetti, except more watery. And it was just bland. I guess I never realized how much salt goes into something like soup to give it the flavor it needs. Anniston ate a bowl for dinner and seemed to really like it... For me it was just blah- not my favorite meal of the program.

OTHER THOUGHTS

For some reason, I feel like I’ve been more productive since I’ve been on this program.

Maybe its just coincidence, but then again, maybe there’s something more to it. I definitely have more energy than I ever have. I didn’t expect that because thought I was pretty dependent on coke and/or tea to sustain me in the afternoon and evening. Now I just have 1 cup of coffee in the morning and have energy all day long. I really think this is a result of exercising, eating healthy whole foods, and shakeology. This extra energy has helped me tackle more chores around the house during the day and I’ve also seemed to be more engaged and energetic in playing with Anniston. When I started this program I had hoped that making this change would help me be a better wife and mom, and I think that’s coming to fruition!

21 Day Fix, Day 15: Bras & Breakfast Bonus

Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.

I saw this quote on Instagram this morning. So motivational- its Monday, and it’s the start of Week 3! Here we go!

DAY 15 WORKOUT: CARDIO FIX

Today’s workout was one where I collapsed on the floor and loudly rejoiced “THANK THE LORD” when it was done. This workout was a killer—non-stop activity and I’m drenched in sweat. In the moment, I wanted to give up…but I had to choose between what I wanted now (temporary relief) and what I wanted most (to accomplish my goals and improve my health/body), so I pushed through it—pain is temporary, the regret of quitting lasts much longer.

DAY 15 FOOD

For breakfast, I had egg whites, spinach, and feta- again, so much better with the feta than without (like last Thursday). I also had a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter, honey, and slice banana. Almost gave in and put butter on my English muffin, but that would only cheat myself, so I stuck to what I am supposed to eat to fuel my body and have a healthy breakfast.

Now for a breakfast bonus: Because Josh works, he doesn’t obviously have the luxury to make a deluxe breakfast at home like I do. Last week, he had hard-boiled eggs everyday for breakfast, but let’s be real, you can only eat so many hard boiled eggs. He needed something different for breakfast this week. I was trying to think of a way he could get protein, vegetables, and grains so he would have energy to focus on his tasks at work. I discovered this recipe on Pinterest for egg white muffins. It was so easy! Fill muffin trays with vegetables of your choice (I used spinach and red and yellow bell peppers). Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Then pour egg whites over, filling each tray just about to the top. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. You can eat them by themselves, or put them in a whole wheat mini-bagel or English muffin- who doesn’t like a breakfast sandwich? Josh sent me a text this morning saying they were AMAZING. Super easy to make- anyone can seriously make these and they are tasty, healthy, and filling!

Ok back to me now, lol. For lunch, I had shakeology with strawberries. Publix has pints of strawberries 4 for $5 this week… I bought 8 pints- I think the cashier thought I was crazy, but you can’t beat that price! Seriously $1.25 for fresh, ripe strawberries! Same price as a McDouble, but soooo much better for you!

For snack I had cucumber slices and creamy herb dip. Yes, I tried yet another version of the creamy herb dip- I am bound and determined to make this dip work. I tried really hard to mimic ranch dressing, adding fresh dill, chive, and parsley. Something still is missing, but its better than the last two attempts…

For dinner, I made chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta, tomatoes, garlic, and spinach. How did I make it to week 3 without knowing that ricotta (a cheese mind you) counts as a red and not a blue (all other cheeses are blue)?!? Taking full advantage of that tonight to double up my protein. I used part skin ricotta to make it even healthier. I planned to serve it with some sautéed vegetables, but apparently I can’t count and I’ve already had my 3 green servings today (breakfast, snack, and the spinach/tomatoes inside the chicken), so I had to settle for just the chicken. It was still good though!

OTHER THOUGHTS

I went to buy a new bra tonight because after pregnancy, breastfeeding, and now losing weight, my bras were not fitting me at all! Anyways, this was the first time ever I was comfortable with the girl in the dressing room and didn’t feel embarrassed about my stomach/mid-section. It’s the little things people…

Also, get your “fix” of more good and bad in my Week 2 Review post here!

21 Day Fix, Day 12-14: Weekend Update

You can make time or make excuses.

This was one of those non-stop weekends where it would have been easy to make an excuse to break the eating plan and skip workouts. But despite the whirlwind of activities, we chose to make time to exercise and to make healthy eating choices fitting within our Fix plan. Here are some highlights from this weekend:

FRIDAY, DAY 12

We were out-of-town for the day, so both Josh and I had to get in our Total Body Cardio Fix before we left. And let me tell you, its not easy to do the total body cardio fix by itself, much less when you simultaneously are supervising/entertaining your child.  But we did it, despite the weird looks coming our way from Anniston.

Friday night, the 21-day fix went out to dinner. We went to Bonefish Grill. I ordered the wood-fire grilled salmon with asparagus and their vegetable of the day (chickpeas with spinach and tomatoes- which I’m not sure if chickpeas is a green, yellow, or blue- because, although our waitress called them a vegetable, I’m don’t think it counts as green… beans and peas are yellow, but hummus is blue. So yeah, I have no idea). Anyways, our waitress was so sweet to make sure they cooked our food without adding butter and salt. And we said NO to Bang Bang Shrimp, crabcakes, and that amazing fresh bread with pesto olive oil. Didn’t help that they sat us at the table right next to the kitchen where we had to see at least two dozen loaves of fresh bread being carried past our table as we gazed longingly at it. Nonetheless, we stuck to our guns and enjoyed a delicious, healthy, fix-approved dinner. 

SATURDAY, DAY 13

If I thought the loaves of bread were a tough temptation to exist, I put myself in an even more tempting situation the next day. I was coordinating a brunch event for all the women at our church. Bad time to be on 21-Day Fix, right? Well, yes and no. Of course I had to pass on the donuts, cinnamon roll cake, and other assorted yummy pastries, but one of the women made ham and cheese quiche without salt! Shout out to Liz for saving brunch for me! The quiche only had ham, eggs, cheese, and milk (so 2 reds, 1 blue, and 1 yellow substitute). I didn’t eat the crust since it was white flour, but the quiche filling was delicious. I also had strawberries, grapes, and some nonfat plain greek yogurt. I tried a mimosa with 100% orange juice and champagne (another yellow substitute) and I only took 1 sip because it tasted too sweet to me- what is happening to my life?!?!

I did my “Dirty 30” workout mid-afternoon. This workout is probably the most challenging because it works everything that is already sore from the rest of the week. But, this was the first time I’ve switched to 10lb weights instead of 5lbs on some exercises, so I felt encouraged that I’m getting stronger and continuing to push myself.

Then my dog broke off her leash and decided to wade in the retention pond next to our house. She came back absolutely covered in muddy grossness. So I pretty much had another workout bathing her- lets call it a different version of Dirty 30 lol, I’ll show myself out now…

After running errands that night, I made a giant salad with grilled chicken breast and Djion vinaigrette (from the fix book). Tasted great!

SUNDAY, DAY 14

Well, since I learned my lesson about not eating breakfast from last Sunday’s debacle, I made sure to take something with me to eat on the way to church this morning. I made a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter, honey, and banana. It was awesome. Although, I really really miss eating an English muffin with butter and jelly (polaner all-fruit, so technically its better than jelly). Seriously, I think I crave that more than a cookies.

When we got home from church, we were all so exhausted from running everywhere and not getting home until 2:30am Friday night that all 3 of us took a 3 hour nap. When we woke up, it was pretty much dinner time so I started making that.

I made stuffed peppers- filled with ground turkey, mushrooms, peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cheese, cumin, Italian seasoning, and fresh parsley. I had to adapt my usual recipe by eliminating breadcrumbs and reducing the amount of cheese.. It got a little watery at the bottom of the peppers- I think we didn’t have any breadcrumbs to absorb the moisture of the vegetables. Nonetheless, it was a very filling dinner that checked off a lot of my portions- 1 red, 1 blue, and 3 green.

We capped off the night with our Yoga Fix and shakeology for dessert: chocolate-strawberry! Mmm, mmm…

OTHER THOUGHTS

I’m going to try to go back to daily posts now that the crazy weekend is over. I will probably put together a quick Week 2 Review sometime as well. 

We are headed into our third and final week friends! Its gone by so fast!

21 Day Fix, Day 11- Dreams and Motivation

You can do so much more than you think you can

DAY 11 WORKOUT: PILATES FIX

In today’s workout, I held an elbow plank for a full 60 seconds. That’s double what I could hold the other day, and, in last week’s Pilates workout, I struggled to hold plank for 10 seconds. If you would have told me a week ago, I could hold a plank for 1 minute, I would have laughed. But today, I proved to myself that I am capable of so much more than I thought. Don’t doubt yourself- just push through it!

DAY 11 FOOD

For breakfast, I made egg whites with spinach and feta…but wait, we were out of feta cheese! So, that turned in to egg whites with spinach, and, to be honest, its not so good without the feta. The feta has this magical power to marry all the flavors together and give you a punch of taste… today I just felt like I was eating wilted spinach and unseasoned egg whites- oh wait, I was. Next time, I’ll buy more feta… If anything, at least I still have my blue serving left for later on. Silver lining.

Oh, I also had some cantaloupe (1 purple) and about a dozen mini-wheats (1 yellow). I put just a teaspoon of unsweetened almond milk on the mini-wheats to trick my mind into thinking I was devouring a giant bowl of cereal and it pretty much the best thing ever and it totally made up for my egg white/spinach debacle.

I haven’t had coffee in a few days because with this sore throat, all I’ve wanted is hot tea. But, I made a chai tea this morning (because I was still thinking about that amazing cinnamon chai tea I had last night) and I think it must have been expired because it tasted like soap, not chai, soap. Another reason I need to go find this new cinnamon chai tea at Fresh Market.

For my shakeology, I had chocolate with strawberries and I added a little splash of vanilla extract. Honestly couldn’t taste the vanilla at all, but it was still good.

Anniston and I ran errands and had a playdate to fill the remainder of our day. Josh had church band practice tonight after work, so our paths happened to cross around dinnertime. We shared a few slices of whole wheat margherita pizza from Brixx. Not gonna lie, we are totally eating the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow. I’m confused how to tally this pizza though because I thought it would be 1 yellow (crust), 1 blue (cheese), 1 green (tomatoes), and some olive oil (because the pizza didn’t have red sauce, was just brushed with olive oil). However, according to the Fix book, if you eat ¼ of a 12-inch cheese pizza its 1 yellow and 1 orange. If you eat a cheese and veggie pizza, it’s 2 yellow, 1 orange, 1 green. I don’t quite understand the math there. How does the blue disappear? Where does the orange come from (usually seeds, peanuts, dressings)? I’m thinking ours was closest to cheese pizza because I probably only had 2 slices of tomato. Either way, my portions are where they need to be, I just don’t like feeling confused about it.

OTHER THOUGHTS

Every single night I have at least one dream about the 21 Day Fix. I will wake up and be like “seriously did I just dream about color-coordinated containers again?”

Someone on Instragram today put up this picture of bacon coated in brown sugar and dipped in beer. And I’m like “is this real life?”… I’ll stick to my shakeology and water…

Speaking of water, the flavored water I drink everyday is strawberry-mint water. I used to make it in a pitcher, but now that I have my fancy Camelbak water bottle, I just put 2 frozen strawberries and one mint leaf in the bottom of the bottle in the morning and then refill with plain water throughout the day. Its perfect.

Also, I finished my motivation wall! Love it- so inspiring.

And finally (I know, lots of extra thoughts today), I probably wont get a post up tomorrow- I have a super crazy day and will be out very late…so look forward to a double-feature on Saturday (hopefully)!

21 Day Fix, Day 10: My Jeans Are Falling Off!

Be better than you were yesterday

I found this quote particularly relevant to my journey today. As you may recall, I was miserably sick yesterday, slept most of the day, and toughed out my workout around 10pm. This morning, I felt better, still a sore throat, major sinus pressure, and overall icky feeling, but comparably better than yesterday. So I’m better than I was yesterday, physically speaking, in more ways than one.

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DAY 10 WORKOUT: LOWER FIX

Last week, I did this workout with resistances bands, and today I used weights. I felt like I got much more out of it with weights- I could really feel my muscles shaking and burning. This is a tough workout but I’m so optimistic about how it’s helping recuperate my decade-long struggle with quad/knee issues… and for that I love this workout, despite the sweat and pain.

DAY 10 FOOD

I started off with a simple bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and maple syrup. Because Anniston likes to eat everything I’m eating, and because I didn’t want her to eat out of my bowl today and get my sicky germs, I made her a bowl of oatmeal too. So we sat side-by-side on the couch watching Nick Jr. eating oatmeal. Not sure why I thought allowing my one year old to eat oatmeal on the couch was a good idea. I have oats everywhere- on the couch, on the carpet, on my clothes, in my hair... But hey, at least we both had a healthy breakfast!

I ate 1 hard boiled egg before my workout just for a little extra protein (2 eggs counts as 1 red serving, so this was ½ a red). It gave me the little extra boost of energy I needed.

I finished my workout right around noon, so it was time for shakeology. Today I chose to go all out and make a banana split shakeology. I used ½ purple container strawberries, ½ purple container pineapple, and ½ banana. It was pretty good- great mid-day treat!

I still had ½ a red serving hanging around (since I only ate 1 hard boiled egg earlier in the day). I ate 3 deli ham slices (6 slices count as 1 red)- kept me going until dinner.

Ever since I saw an olive garden ad on my facebook page the other day, I have really wanted some pasta. I decided to make spaghetti tonight with whole grain noodles and homemade marinara. I’ve always done a hybrid of homemade and jarred sauce, but I went full out homemade tonight with san marzano tomatoes and everything. I put a green container’s worth of celery, onions, and carrots in the sauce as well. I also added some lean ground turkey for protein (1 red container’s worth). I portioned out the pasta in a yellow container. Then, because I still had a blue left, I topped it with shredded Italian cheese. This was great. The homemade sauce was a success, and despite me thinking that the yellow portion of noodles “looked” small, it was more than enough and I felt very satisfied with dinner.  

I have discovered that some whole grain pastas are better than others. Some have a very grainy texture and pronounced flavor, whereas others you can’t tell the difference between the whole grain version and the starchy original. My favorite brand I have found so far is the Fit & Active 100% Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti. You can buy this at Aldi for less than $1. Sometimes healthier food is more expensive, but this is the same price as regular noodles so it’s an ideal swap.

At our church community group tonight, I had a cup of hot cinnamon chai tea. It was delicious. Didn’t even need a drop of sweetener. It’s apparently available at Fresh Market, so I may be making a trip there in the near future.

OTHER THOUGHTS

MAJOR HEADLINE NEWS. This is the first time in years that I’ve put on a pair of jeans and NOT had a muffin top! Oh my gosh. Y’all don’t even know the number of times I’ve had to change my shirt in an effort to conceal my muffin top.  It was so freeing to be able to put on any shirt I wanted today and not worry about it!

And…wait for it…wait for it… I can take my skinny jeans off without undoing the button or zipper! Seriously???!!! We are not allowed to weigh or measure ourselves until the end of the program, but this has to indicate some progress!

21 Day Fix, Day 9: Sick and Still Striving

Give everything you’ve got…and then a little bit more

And today I had nothing, literally nothing. I started getting a sore throat last night and I tried to nip it in the bud by going to bed earlier and taking some NyQuil. I was up all throughout the night with sore throat, ear and sinus pressure, fever, aches, chills, all that fun stuff, which unfortunately continued throughout the day. I spent the majority of today in bed or cuddled on the couch with Anniston watching the same episode of Bubble Guppies three times in a row. Being sick is miserable to begin with and I’m extra irritated because I’ve been working so hard on this program, I don’t need something like this to set me back.

I did my best to hang in there and follow my eating and exercise plan, although I honestly didn’t feel like eating or doing anything.

DAY 9 FOOD

I hate when you’re sick because nothing tastes good and my throat feels like a knife when I try to swallow. But, hey, I didn’t have to worry about food cravings today.  

I had some whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana for breakfast. Then I took a 3-hour nap with Anniston, then got up and drank Shakeology. Just plain shakeology today because it’s not like I can taste anything anyway.

Later, I put Anniston to bed around 7pm, and then laid down myself, just to rest for a few seconds…and I ended up falling asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up, I was starving, Josh and I made dinner together. We made chicken bacon paninis, minus the bread. In other words, I cooked a chicken breast on the Foreman, brushed maple-mustard on it (grainy mustard mixed with maple syrup), then topped with turkey bacon, tomato, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and melted provolone cheese. Served with a side of zucchini. I could actually taste this tonight and it was very good- hit the spot. It was so filling, I couldn’t even finish all of it and it fueled me to do my late night workout.

WORKOUT: UPPER FIX

I finally found some strength to put in my DVD around 10pm. I approached the workout with the mindset that I was just going to give it a try- it would have been so easy just to skip today’s workout, and I have an extremely legit excuse. But, remember what I said last week about being better than my excuses? I was determined to try this workout today despite the odds stacked against me. A few minutes into the workout, I began to feel better. As the oxygen got to my muscles, it was the best I had felt in the past 24 hours. I was surprisingly able to finish the entire workout and not cheat anything- I even held an elbow plank for 30 seconds- new personal best! While it did help that the last 13 minutes was laying on my back doing lifts and crunches, I truly gave it everything I had and a little bit more!

OTHER THOUGHTS

Despite the fact that I’ve slept all day, I’m still sick and exhausted, so I’m off to bed. See y’all tomorrow!

21 Day Fix, Day 8: Green Eggs and...

If you feel like quitting, think about why you started.

My beachbody coach said that today would be the hardest day. I can see why. I’ve pushed myself beyond my limits over the course of the past week, yet when I look in the mirror, the body that I want still isn’t looking back at me. While it’s easy to be discouraged, I have to remind myself that this is a 3 week program, not a 1 week program. And while the changes my not be completely visible yet, my body is improving. So when I feel like quitting, I have to remind myself of why I started this is the first place.

 DAY 8 WORKOUT: CARDIO FIX

Since I transposed Cardio Fix and Total Cardio Fix last week, I figured I would just continue with those being reversed since I didn’t want to interrupt the cycle of exercises. I totally forgot how hard this workout was. Although I was sweating and fighting to breathe, I did notice an improvement in my stamina, strength, and ability to do more reps of the exercises. And, no getting sick this week afterward!

Also, an aside, I don’t think this particular workout is ever going to be a cakewalk no matter how much I improve (aaahhh why did I have to mention cake?!?). Consider the workout models/fix graduates in the video, who I assume were chosen based on their stellar stamina and program success- they were still grimacing in pain and completely out of breath. So, we can be encouraged by this. Cardio is supposed to get your blood pumping!

DAY 8 FOOD REVIEW

It’s St. Patrick’s Day folks. And since green beer is not Fix-approved, I had to make something celebratory of the day. So I made “green” eggs, well, sort of. Egg whites with spinach and feta and a side of cantaloupe. Yummy breakfast!

I needed my shakeology immediately after that cardio workout. I combined the shakeology with 1 cup of black tea and pumpkin pie spice, in an attempt to create a chocolate chai latte frappucino or something. The flavor wasn’t as pronounced as I anticipated, but I loved the texture the brewed tea added to the shake- it was very smooth and easy to drink.

I was really hungry this afternoon. Maybe it was the fact that I was prepping stuff for dinner or the fact that my net calories to this point was about 100. Thinking I had a red container remaining, Anniston and I shared some nonfat, plain greek yogurt with cinnamon. As most moms can relate, you never really get to eat your own food. Anniston had a solid grip on the spoon so I was lucky to get her to share a bite with me of my own snack. This actually worked out better though because I didn’t realize I had made a double portion of egg whites this morning (3/4 cup) which counts as 2 reds, not one! This is the first time in the program I’ve made a mistake with counting portions. I hope it will be ok- reds are lean proteins and like I said, Anniston ate most of it, so I’m trying to be positive that it won’t adversely affect my progress here.

Nothing says St. Patrick’s Day like fish tacos! But, I had been looking forward to these all day- I marinated tilapia in lime juice, cumin, and garlic, then cooked until flaky and portioned in 1 red container. For the toppings, I made a corn and black bean salsa and cilantro-lime cream. The corn and black bean salsa is a modified Guy Fieri recipe with tomatoes, Serrano pepper, cumin, garlic, red onion, corn, black beans, lime juice, and agave. Because corn and black beans are in the yellow category, I counted this as a yellow portion. The cilantro lime cream is another altered Guy Fieri recipe. His uses salt and sour cream. I made mine more in line with the Fix Dressings and Dips- greek yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and garlic in a food processor. This was an orange container. I put it all together on corn tortillas (another yellow). I’ve never had corn tortillas, but according to the book you can have two 6-inch corn tortillas or one 6-inch whole wheat tortilla to count as 1 yellow serving. In my mind 2 is better than 1, so I went with the corn tortillas. I topped it all with Choula Mexican hot sauce (a free food!). Everything was great. Not used to the texture of the corn tortillas, but all of the flavors were phenomenal and the tacos were so stuffed, I had to get a fork to eat what fell out.

OTHER THOUGHTS

Both Josh's dress shirt and coat that he wore to work were TOO BIG on him today! Yay, so proud of him and I know he is encouraged by this!

Also, I'm still working on my Week 1 Recap… Hopefully I can get that up soon!

21 Day Fix, Day 7: Bird Dogs

If you’re tired of starting over, stop quitting.

We’ve made it a week! This is the longest I’ve succeeded at any diet/weight loss program in my lifetime- quitting is not an option!

DAY 7 WORKOUT: YOGA FIX

Today’s workout is what they call “active recovery” so you get to stretch all those muscles that you’ve been pushing all week long. As much as I thought it would be nice to have a day with no workout, a workout like today was critical to my restoring my body.

The first 10 minutes is an intense yoga series very similar to the routine on p90x yoga, but for 10 minutes versus 90, so much better.

The next 10 minutes is a balance series which I really liked. The “superman” pose is fun- and I bet all my money in the world that this will be Josh’s favorite pose. He’s a life-long Superman enthusiast, so I can only imagine him pretending he is flying through the air to rescue the world from General Zod.

Then we moved onto a pose called the bird dog. Now, for those of us who have lived in South Carolina, you are familiar with a food item called the bird dog. I used to go to this place called JC’s in Anderson, SC (the town that neighbors Clemson), and they have probably the best bird dog in the world. What’s a bird dog you might ask? It’s a large fried chicken tender, bacon, and cheese, covered in honey mustard, and stuffed into a hot dog bun- like heaven on earth basically. So, the whole time I was doing the bird dog pose, I was wishfully reminiscing about the food that I used to eat- and the food that probably brought me to the point where I needed to do the 21-Day Fix in the first place. But, if you even have the opportunity to try a bird dog (the food not the pose), it will be amazing. Double a day’s amount of calories, but amazing nonetheless.

Moving on, the last 10 minutes were very familiar to me- all the stretches I did for 20 years in baton twirling. It’s been about 4 years since I’ve been able to sit in a straddle stretch and put my head flat on my knee and reach my toes on both my right and left leg- and I did it today! I contemplated attempting a split on my own, but I think I’ve done enough damage to my legs already this week, so decided not to push it, lol… but maybe next week ;)

One of the poses at the end is called the “corpse pose” where you lay flat on your back like your dead. In fact, my dog came to check on me to make sure I wasn’t ;)… but yeah, pretty much the best yoga pose ever.

 DAY 7 FOOD REVIEW

Well, today was a church day, and it was my Sunday morning to serve in the nursery. Sunday mornings are tough because not only to I have to wake up early and get myself ready, but I also have to get my child dressed and fed before we leave. I’m usually running late because of this *minor* problem I have with my snooze button, accompanied by my underestimation of how long it takes me and my kid to get ready in the morning. And so, I always skip breakfast on Sundays. Today, I was running late but figured I should grab something to eat. I quickly portioned out one yellow container of mini-wheats (you can have whole grain, low sugar cereal, dry) and was on my way. Now, I don’t know why in the world I thought 10 mini-wheats could sustain me for 4 hours when my body is used to me making a substantial breakfast for the past 6 mornings. I felt very motion-sick on the drive home (which happens to me in the car if I don’t have anything on my stomach), so as soon as I got home, I headed straight to the kitchen for food!

At this point, I probably should have opted for a meal that didn’t take so long to prepare. I made omelets because I was thinking this would be a great way for me to restore the substance my body needed and load up on proteins and green nutrients prior to my workout. But, the chopping and measuring, in addition to the cooking, took me about 30 more minutes- ugh. The omelets turned out great, but I can’t go through another morning like this again. I’m already making mental plans for what I need to do differently next Sunday morning to avoid a repeat of this.

I had my shakeology later today and only made half a scoop because I ate so much around 1pm and wasn’t hungry at all around 2:30 when I finished yoga… I just made half a shake around 4:00pm and stuck with plain chocolate this time.

For dinner, I made pecan crusted chicken strips. I took a chicken breast and cut it into 6 strips (3 for me, 3 for josh). Dipped each strip in homemade honey mustard (i.e. yellow mustard mixed with a teaspoon honey), then rolled in a breading mixture of 1 blue container crushed pecans and 1 slice of wheat bread (toasted then crumbled into breadcrumbs). Baked at 400 for 30 minutes and served with zucchini (1 green). Turned out really good. Still miss the flavor you get from salting the chicken before cooking- it just brings out its natural flavor more…and I really wanted to dip my chicken strips in a sauce. Not that they weren’t fine plain (the breading was actually really good), I’m just accustomed to dipping chicken strips. Normally I would find a leftover packet of sauce from Chickfila, but that’s not Fix-approved, so I had to make my own. I had 1 orange container/serving remaining, which was perfect because a dressing/dip is an orange container serving! First, thinking how much I would love some ranch dressing, I tried to remake the creamy herb dip I didn’t like earlier this week using different herbs this time… but didn’t like the way it came out either. So I scratched that and made the asian ginger dressing from the Fix book. Though thinner in consistency, it made a nice glaze over the zucchini and chicken, and especially complimented the flavor of the pecan crust.

OTHER THOUGHTS

I’m mad because I burned my favorite Rachael Ray sauté pan tonight trying to cook zucchini in 1 teaspoon of olive oil- ugh. I’m praying that soaking it in vinegar and baking soda overnight will bring me a miracle. I burnt rice once in another Rachael ray pot (I can cook nearly anything but apparently I can’t follow instructions on the bag of brown rice), and it left this same residue on the bottom and I was able to finally clean it with baking soda and vinegar. Fingers crossed!

On a more positive note, I’m happy because I finally caught up on prepping! Our meal plan and charts are mapped out for the week and I spent the entire night in the kitchen chopping and portioning fruits and vegetables into Ziplocs. I feel so much more relaxed heading into week 2 than I felt in week 1, knowing that I won’t be cutting and sorting produce til midnight every night!

Week 2 starts tomorrow- third of the way done! I’m planning to write a Week 1 Review of some thoughts I’ve collected throughout the first 7 days and update y’all on my progress so far. I expect to post that sometime within the next day or so, so stay tuned!