October Fix Day 1

I'm back in it!  Last month didn't work well (see my previous post) but I'm still down 40 pounds overall!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  Today I'm not working out (I have a dentist appointment and i don't want my kiddos in childcare that long

Breakfast was a fried egg and 2 strips of turkey bacon (cut in half thats why it looks like 4)  and a grilled tomato.

I have a dental school appointment today so I've put dinner in the crock pot.  Its one onion, one carrot, 4 radishes, 5 garlic cloves, and some split peas with 2 bone in thighs (they're cheaper than breasts) I put it in the crock pot for about 8 hours on low.

 In the mean time lunch was a diced up tomato, a diced up pickle and greens tossed with a can of Tuna (and some pickle juice for dressing)

Here's dinner all cooked .  The chicken was a little dry (and the peas completely dissipated)  but for not having to cook with a couple of clingy babys after a dental appointment it was pretty darn good.  For measuring i just measured out one green container of the cooked veggies and all the drippings I wanted (i only added about half a cup of water to the crock pot), so all the liquid is from the chicken an veggies, so i count is as included in the calorie count :-) 

Dessert/post dinner snack was an apple with some peanut butter... i know its way more than I'm supposed to have on the plan, but I didn't use any blue containers and its natural, so i'm counting it as a "fat". I was raised seeing it as a protein and am having a hard time switching it in my mind.

I'm still kindof hungry so I may have a banana half or something later, but we'll see :-)

Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable

September Failure

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to updating this, I started doing the 21 Day fix last month, but I was tired of doing daily posts, so I tried doing just a weekly post... well you can see how well that worked.... About 10 days in i realized i hadn't posted at all and my motivation totally just plopped out.  I didn't start eating like i used to, but i wasn't trying very hard.  I would sneak fruit roll ups and i ate ALOT of peanut butter, with apples, but still way more than the teaspoon i'm supposed to have on the plan.  I was still working out, but my diet wasn't great.  I'm still making progress.  As of yesterday I'm officially down 40 Pounds!  Woo Hoo.  I'm back to it for real today. but I'm going to put that in a separate post

21 Day Faux - Instructions

So I've had a few people ask how I did my 21 Day faux.  Its very simple.  The first round I did, i just did the diet, then in the second round I added the exercise.  It made it easier for the transition for me.  Going from totally sedentary and eating whatever i wanted to a healthy diet and daily exercise.

This chart is how you figure out which meal plan you should be on.  If you're not going to start working out  skip the calorie burn additional calories and go from there.

 For example I started this at 190 so multiplied times 11 is 2090. 2090 minus 750 is 1340.  So, looking at the next chart I'm in the lowest diet group. 

 

Thats all it takes! 

After that its just filling up those containers through the day.  If you choose not to get the containers below is the list of the measurements for each color.  You simply have to find your way of keeping track. Some people write notes, some people use magnets. I use glass stones that i keep in a jar on my shelf, an switch them from one jar to the other as i use them for the day.

 

 I have one of these printed out and on my fridge as a quick reference guide. Its mostly correct.  The banana listed in fruit is not to be measured in the container, its 1/2 a banana as a serving, but otherwise i haven't really run into anything that breaks these rules.  I mean don't deep fry everything and expect to lose weigh, you've got to work for it, but you can do it!

 I believe in you! 

15 Delicious 21 Day Fix Recipes!

OK, I wanted to put together a list of my favorite 21 day fix recipes.  ALL are approved on the diet and are delicious.  I use all of these repeatedly for my family. Please re pin and share this with anyone who needs it.  These are all delicious even if you're not on a diet.

Breakfast

• Berry Oatmeal  (1 Yellow, 1 Purple)
• 1/4 cup quick oats and 1 cup of mixed berries cooked at the same time in the microwave, it makes the oatmeal taste very berry like
• Fried eggs and grilled veggies (1 Red, 1 Green)
• 2 fried eggs and 1 cup of hard veggies on the griddle (like carrots, onions, kale, tomatoes etc)

Entrees

• Spaghetti (1 Yellow, 1 Green, 1 Purple, Optional 1 Red)

• 1 yellow container of whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup onions sauteed, 1/2 cup tomato sauce simmered together, with one portion of beef optional topped with basil and parsley.  Served with a 1/2 cup small salad to bring up to 1 full green)
  
  
  
  
• Quesadilla (1 Blue, 1 Red, 1 Yellow)
  
• 1 red container of cooked chicken breast tossed with taco seasoning, 1 blue container of cheese, and cilantro in a whole wheat tortilla,  Grille on a griddle or skillet until toasted on the outside.  let sit for a couple minutes then cut in quarters, serve with salsa and diced greens (not included in count)
  
  
  
  
• Turkey wrap (1 Green, 1 Yellow, 1 Red)

• 1 Whole wheat tortilla, 4 slices of turkey, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup assorted veggies (spinach, onion, tomato, shredded carrot)  Optional additions - avocado, cheese, hummus, mustard
  
  
  
  
• Mexi rice (2 Yellow, 1 Green, 1 Blue)
  
• 1 Yellow container of cooked rice, with 1 green container of tomatoes, green chillis, onions.  1 Yellow container of mixed corn and beans, 1 Blue container of cheese. Taco Seasoning and cilantro. Good with beef or chicken added
  
  
  
• Fritatta (1 Red, 1 Green, 1 Yellow)
  
• 4 cups diced veggies (onion, carrot, kale, peas, etc) 2 cups diced potato, sautee in cast iron skillet then add 8 eggs cook until just starting to set, then put in the oven at 350 for about 20 mins.  makes 4 servings (kids really like it with ketchup)

Snack or Side dish

• Kale Chips (1 green, 1 spoon)
• Cut or rip Kale into slightly larger than bite size pieces (they shrink allot during cooking).  Use one tightly packed green container per serving.  Toss in 1 tsp of oil and add LOTS of onion and garlic powder, you should be able to see it very clearly on each piece.  and Bake on a parcment lined baking pan at 350 for about 10 mins (watch very carefully, it goes very quickly from toasted dark to black/burnt)
  
  
• Roasted carrots (1 green)
  
• In a hot skillet with protein (chicken, steak etc) place thinly sliced carrot circles and a few tablespoons of butter,  Place in the oven for about 20 mins until protein is properly cooked.  Carrots become soft and sweet.
  
  
  
  
• Apple an peanut butter
  
• Cut 1 apple into slices an drizzle with peanut butter (if you get all natural peanut butter it should drizzle, but if you have jif or equivalent, mix with about half a tsp of coconut oil and microwave to make it drizzle-able)
  
  
  
  
  
• Turkey cottage cheese rolls 
  
• Using 3 turkey rolls and about 1/3 cup of cottage cheese divided evenly, add a little pepper and roll
  
  
  
  
  
• Cheesy chips 
  
• Divide 1 blue container of shredded cheese into small piles on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for about 10-15 mins, watch carefully.  Cooking time really depends on the fat content of your cheese. They should be almost all the way brown throughout, very little of the actual cheese color left in the middle (these are colby jack)

Dessert

• Shakeology Mug Cake (1.5 Red, 1 Spoon)
  
  
• I used THIS recipe and its pretty good, next time I'd put the peanut butter on top instead of pushing it down in, but it was pretty darn tasty.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Fruit Sorbet (1 Purple)
  
  
• Assorted fruits (2 cups plus a banana) into the blended and make it smooth, then divide into 4 portions and freeze.  When you're ready to eat it set it on the counter for 15-20 minutes to soften a little.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Magic shell (1 Yellow swap, 1 Spoon)

• I love magic shell.  I used to sneak shots of it before I changed my life on this program.  Take 1 tsp of chocolate chips microwaved with 1 tsp of coconut oil drizzle over sorbet or ice cream and its very good, tastes like chocolate dipped fruit

Thanks for reading.  I'll keep adding more compilations as I come up with more recipes.  I plan on trying making my own whole wheat english muffins and breakfast sandwiches, so stay tuned for that.

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 21

Woo Hoo!  Round 2 is Done. This round I'm down 2 inches and 10 pounds. Which puts me at a total 21 day fix loss of 20 pounds and 8 inches I think.  (Also total weight lost from my heaviest-non pregnant weight is 37 pounds!) I feel so much stronger and healthier.  Apparently I've been living dehydrated.  I've never been a sweat-er before. Even when I was doing marching band and drum line in high school. But this past week especially I've been just dripping when I'm done working out. 

Today I went to the gym again.  I'm going to use it while I've got it.  I did a STRIKE class again.  Its really fun.  I tried using the weighted gloves today, and that was a bad idea. Had to take them off as soon as we started using the bar. It was just too much too soon.  I've got to start working on my cardio more. I got accepted for an audition at a theater that I never thought I'd have a shot at, but they're rehearsal schedule is CRAZY, so I've GOT to get my cardio working better, just in case. I doubt I'll get it, but you never know



I just realized I never changed the settings on the camera back after taking my head shots yesterday, so today's pictures are kind of blurry.

Breakfast was berry oatmeal

1 Yellow, 1 Purple

Lunch was an awesome chicken wrap, with Hummus, basil, spinnach and tomato with Kale Chips on the side.

1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Blue

1 Green, 1 Spoon

 Tonight was nacho night, but I don't get chips so I did a Taco salad-y thing.  with greens, sauteed onions and peppers, lean beef, tomatoes and cheesy chips  (literally just cheese baked into a chip they're AWESOME.

1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Blue

1 Blue container makes 5 Cheesey chips

Thank you for reading and keeping me accountable durring this journey. I know its not always fascinating, but accountability is part of the process. Over the next few days I plan on putting together some compilations of my favorite recipes. As well as a more detailed list of how I did the 21 Day Faux without having all the information.

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 20

I was a bad girl today, food wise at least.  We went back to the fair today (we had free tickets) so I got a lot more walking in, but I also ate some junk food. I also did the Full Body Cardio Fix workout video tonight.


Breakfast was half a banana with coffee, I made fruit oatmeal with some leftover fruit salad, and it was weird.  I don't know if the salad had some weird fruit in it before i got it as leftovers, but it tasted seedy.  Like big chunks of grit. So I had to toss it out and have a banana.


Lunch was good, my Aunt brought me some leftover chicken she wasn't going to eat (she doesn't eat dark meat) so I made a lovely wrap with some hummus, 1 Green container of spinnach and tomatoes, 1 Red of diced chicken and mustard.

1 Yellow, 1 Blue, 1 Green, 1 Red

Dinner was supposed to be soup, but the rice sucked up 4 times the moisture they were supposed to, so it wound up as an immeasurable casserole. Its rice, chicken stock and split peas which wound up entirely unmeasureable on plan because the 1 cup of rice sucked up 4 cups of broth... it should have only used half of that. oh well. I threw cheese on because I knew we were going to the fair and i needed to keep my energy up.

At the Fair I had 3 fried oreos and about 5 spoon fulls of Ice cream.  I've done worse, but its still not great.

Tomorrow morning at the gym where i have my trial membership is another one of my favorite classes so far, so I think I'm going to drag my kids there in the morning

Thanks for reading!

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 19

Well I reached one goal today, sort of.  I swam my goal distance today, not all in one go, but 500 meters.  Now I just gotta stop stopping between laps and lengths. I didn't do a fitness class or tape.  I had an opportunity come up where I needed a head-shot really quick, so I used my pre choir time to shoot some head-shots with Hubby. So it was either stay out in the garage to work out after I got home, cause its bedtime for the kids, or go to the gym after choir. So i went to the gym and walked for 5 mins on the treadmill, but i forgot my headphones at home, so that was really really dull. so i went and swam laps for almost half an hour.  I kept it varied enough so it worked multiple muscle groups.

Anyways onto food.

Breakfast was coffee and berry oatmeal.  when I cooked the oatmeal I put half of the fruit in it while it was cooking which gave the oats good flavor and then put the rest of the fruit on top, was quite delish.

1 Yellow, 1 Purple

 Lunch was a salad with turkey dressed with lemon juice.

1.5 Green and 1 Red

 Dinner was roasted chicken thighs and carrots.  I browned the top of the chicken in a skillet while i cut the carrots into circles.  Then i layed the carrots in the pan around the chicken after turning, and put the whole pan in the oven for about 20 mins.  They tasted sweet and awesome.

After my work out I had a bowl of cottage cheese. I didn't take a picture, You've seen my cottage cheese before, I put lots of pepper on it, otherwise its just a bowl of cottage cheese.

Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable.

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 18

 I'm starting to get sore from all this exercising, but I TOUGHED it out. I went and did LifeBarre... which I won't do again. I mean it was fine, and my shoulders are super sore tonight, but it wasn't as fun as yesterdays.  I'm not sure if i'll be able to go tomorrow. I've got choir tomorrow night and there weren't many classes during the day, but I'll check the schedule again.


I did really well with my food today.  Breakfast was half a banana and coffee as usual.

I worked out in the morning, so lunch was my recovery meal.  It was a Tuna Salad.  1 Green container of spinach, tomatoes, and carrots.  Topped with the leftover tuna steak from last week.  Dressing was a little sesame oil, mustard and lemon juice with a small sprinkle of stevia.

1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Orange

 I was hungry after lunch for something a little savory, so I had some sunflower seeds

1 Orange

Dinner was a Kick But quesadilla.  I used a whole wheat tortilla, One blue container of Cheese and 1 Red container of Chicken breast seasoned with home made taco seasoning. with Cilantro too. Toasted on my griddle.

I also had a chocolate Shakeology with the rest of my banana in it, I forgot to take a picture.

Thank you for Reading and keeping me accountable!

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 17

 I now understand how people can become addicted to exercise. I'm having so much fun and getting healthier.  I went to the gym with a free trial again and did Strike! It was awesome.  Battle based. It was punching and kicking and using a weighted quarter staff (well actually a little shorter, but thats the feel). I swam a couple laps and sat in the hot tub for cool down, because there wasn't really much of a cool down in this class.  I'm loving the gym, but I'm not sure if I love it enough to pay that much for it. I've got a lead on a cheaper gym with child care, but I'm going to use out this trial membership, because I LOVE free stuff!

I didn't eat super great again today.  I ran some errands with my mom and she took me and the minions out for lunch (this was the first restaurant lunch were i didn't have to physically chase them around the restaurant so it was good!)  I got a Pick 2 luch with the Tai shrimp salad with the dressing on the side and the chicken tortilla soup.  i used the smallest drizzle of dressing and picked all the salsa off the top of the soup (it had jalapenos in it) and Then I had to put some sour cream in the soup because it was just too spicy.

1 Yellow, 1 Green, 1 orange, 1 spoon

Dinner was spaghetti (at Monkey's request)  I used 1 green container of diced and crushed tomatoes and 1/2 a green container of sauteed mushrooms, onion, bell peppers and carrots.  I also had a 1/2 green container spinach salad with lemon

1.5 Green, 1 Yellow

1/2 Green

After working out I had some yogurt with fruit. I took 1 purple container of blueberries and strawberries and heated them on the stove until they were soft enough to mash. Then added half a banana and mashed it all up.  I poured all of that over one red container of low fat yogurt and stirred it in. It was a BIG portion, but tasted yummy :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Red, 2 Purple

 Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable!

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 16

I learned something new today.  Apparently I've been doing the "Triangle" pose in Yoga wrong.  I've always looked like the picture (even the little wii fit lady) But I went to my first real yoga class today (I have a free membership at Lifetime Fitness until the 1st, and I'm using it for classes, because I can).  I highly recommend going to a real yoga class if nothing else, to correct your form on things, I still can't figure out how they do that scoop thing from down dog into up dog, without going all wonky weird, but whatevs.  I did a full hour of yoga (in a STUPID hot room,  why WHY is it so freaking hot)  then I swam a few laps and sat in a hot tub for a bit, so I didn't do the 21 Day fix video today (and probably won't for a while. I'm going to try some different classes, while they're free :-) )


Breakfast this morning was my typical half banana and coffee. I even managed to skip on the doughnuts at church today which is a real victory for me.

Monkey had his first day of big boy Sunday School so he got to have his favorite meal for lunch (the chicken bite box at rallys).  The best thing I could find on the menu for me was their 5 Piece classic wings.  Its white meat and hot sauce... They might be fried, but they're not super greasy so who knows.  I did it the big bucket of ranch dressing (because I can't have that much hot sauce without ranch, and I am all out of avocados)  but I only ate 4 French fry pieces (and those Sweet Pea was stuffing into my face going "ahhhhhh" :-) I couldn't say no)  So I counted the ranch and both dressing servings and included my daily oil allowance too.

1 Red, 2 Orange, 2 Spoons

 Healthy snack before going to work out was cottage cheese.  Probably not a great idea to do dairy before exercise, but it worked and it got me through.  though I realized now as I'm going through my day, I didn't eat a single veggie today... whoops

1 Red

Anyways.  Post workout recovery meal was a Blueberry Muffin Shakeology.  No, that's not a flavor.  Its 1 scoop of Vanilla Shakeology. 1/2 a Purple of Blueberries and 1/4 of a banana with 1 C almond milk, a few ice cubes and some cinnamon.  It REALLY tastes like a blueberry muffin, but it was almost pudding texture, needed more ice probably, and is way better cold than room temperature (the ice was a late addition). Its really good, but a little strange.  I was just glad to find a way to eat the vanilla Shakeology, I'm not a huge vanilla person. I like chocolate or fruit or flavor... vanilla always seemed ... bleh.

1 Red, 1 Purple, 1 Yellow (almond milk swap)

Anywho. Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable.

21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Day 15

I feel like my whole outlook on life has gotten more positive in the past few weeks.  I don't know if its the eating better, or the exercise. But all in all I feel a little more hopeful.  Even though our finances are in the toilet. I feel like it will all be ok eventually.  We'll get it figured out.

Today I did the Pilates Fix and I can tell I'm getting much stronger. Its amazing how much improvement thee has been in just 15 days.  My mom has been discussing getting a gym membership for me for my birthday (since my neighborhood pool closes on labor day and I enjoy lap swimming) So I've got a free trial to Lifetime fitness and I'll probably do some of the classes there instead of the workout tapes at home.  I mean its Free and its something different :-) always good to change things up.

I've pulled out our good camera so my food pictures will probably be getting better (hopefully at least). But I'm still not going to take a picture when its just fruit. Like for breakfast I had half a banana and a cup of coffee... no need for a picture of that, you know what it looks like

Lunch was a turkey wrap. 1 Tortilla, 3 large slices of turkey, 1 Green container of veggies and some mustard

Isn't it pretty!  1 Yellow, 1 Red, 1 Green

For a snack before I went touring some Gyms I had an apple... I didn't take a picture.  Everyone knows what an apple looks like.  If your curious it was a Fuji apple.


 Fate smiled on me at the grocery store this week when I found a Tuna Steak on Manager special.  Tuna steak is one of my most favorite foods in the world (cooked rare or even "black and blue" of course)  Since it was a little on the aged side (hence the managers special discount) I did wind up throwing it back in the pan for a couple more mins to take some of the "lake" flavor out of it.

The side dish was 1 Green container of diced mushrooms, beet greens and onion mixed with some leftover brown rice from last week.  I seasoned the Tuna with ginger and pepper, and it could have used more ginger, but i didn't want to risk over gingering.  It wasn't as good as the Benihanna one (which I'm going to get later this month in celebration of my birthday :-) ) but it was WAY better than Canned tuna

1.5 Red, 1 yellow, 1 Green

Post workout snack was awesome.  I made a Shakeology Mug Cake Recipe Here.  It has a couple things not on the ingredients list, and it was a little spongey-er than I would normally like (and I'd put the peanut butter on top, not pressed down under the surface)  It could have used frosting, but make an excellent dessert, that I almost couldn't finish myself.

 

 

 

1.5 Red 1 Spoon

Anyways.  Thanks for reading and keeping me accountable!

21 Day Fix- Round 2 - Day 14

 I'm feeling so much stronger now its really incredible.  I don't miss soda, which is kind of a big deal for me.   I don't eat crap anymore. I haven't even cheated on a cookie recently.  I feel better. I feel stronger. I feel great.

Tonight I did the lower body fix again.  Its pretty awesome.  Its amazing how Autumn seems to know right when you're drooping on form or getting close to exhaustion and addresses that even though this video was recorded who knows how long ago.

Food today was great

Breakfast was a cappuccino and an apple sliced with peanut butter melted with coconut oil and drizzled over the top, it was pretty good but next time I will use less coconut oil, but it was still good

Lunch was sauteed veggies with rice leftover from last night and 2 eggs that were sunny side up, but popped as I was pulling them out of the pan, but it was still delicious

1 Red, 1.5 Green, 1 Yellow

 Dinner was roasted potato wedges and roasted Chicken legs (i know legs aren't on the plan specifically but they're so cheap so I ate it anyway.  I used mustard instead of ketchup for my wedges, it was pretty good.

1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Green

 My friend Patti (who gave me the 21 Day kit free) stopped by with a Shakeology cup and some Shakeology samples until I get listed as a coach and can get some people buying their Shakeology through me.  If you're interested PLEASE let me know I can get you signed up for 21 Day Fix or Any beachbody program.  You can also sign up as a "discount member" where you get your shakeology cheaper if you agree to be a coach, you don't have to actually coach anyone to get the discount (which I believe is $30 off your Shakeology)

1 Red

Thank you for reading and keeping me accountable!