Round 2 is over!

I did it! I finished the 21 Day Fix for the 2nd time! I made the decision to commit to clean eating, exercising for 30 minutes everyday, and to have a positive mental attitude for 21 days while I took control of my life. Here are my results :D

I am down an additional 6 pounds! That is huge for me! This means that I am down a total of 11 lbs. since starting the 21 Day Fix, and a grand total of 15 lbs. from my highest weight ever. I actually lost 4 lbs. in the 5 days that I was waiting for the 21 day fix to come in the mail, ha! I was eating clean(er) than before, cutting out about 1/2 of my after-the-kids-go-to-bed snacks, and increasing my water intake. I also added Shakeology into my diet at that time. Go figure! Proof that diet is more beneficial for weight loss than exercise.

I lost a total of 2 inches after this round. 1/2 inch in my chest, 1/2 inch in my waist, and 1 inch in my hips. I am down a grand total of 11.5 inches since my first measurements were taken on the first day of Round 1. 

Today I woke up and did my Cardio Fix. One reason I did it is because it is one of my favorite workouts (I am a cardio junkie) and the other reason is because I have made a choice to change my lifestyle now. I am not going to stop eating well and working out just because those 21 days are over! I might not tally my containers today, and I do know that we are planning on going out for ice cream later :D But I fully intend to keep my results, and in order to do that I have to keep at it every day. 

I have a few ideas that I keep in my head, and they help me to keep my perspective of this as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. One rule for me is to not call them "cheats" but to call them "treats." I have no problem enjoying a treat every once in a while. A treat is something special and typically (for me anyways) something delicious. It is not a ritual or a habit or a regular meal. Having ice cream on occasion is a treat for me. I'll admit, I went through a phase of my life where I used to have ice cream almost every night! But now I view it as a treat. I do NOT view it as a cheat. That gives my delicious bowl of ice cream a negative connotation, like it is something I should not be doing. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a bowl of ice cream!! I refuse to call it a cheat and make myself feel bad about enjoying it. I will call it a treat and remind myself that I don't need too much in order to enjoy it, and I definitely do not need to have it on a regular basis. 

Another thing I like to ask myself, especially when we are eating at a restaurant (and I learned this from my Beachbody coach Vanessa) is "Am I eating this food for Fuel or for Celebration?" Just like you regularly put gasoline into your car, you eat regular meals to fuel your body. It is what gets you through the day, regulates your energy levels, your blood sugar, etc. A celebration, however, is more of a social event that is often centered around food, and is rarely centered around clean choices of food. That is ok! We don't typically have celebrations on a regular basis. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a meal that you wouldn't typically have made for yourself at home. There is nothing wrong with occasionally ordering that not-so-clean meal at a restaurant IF you are not eating to fuel yourself and if it is not a regular choice. If I go out to eat with my family on a Wednesday night because we don't feel like cooking or doing the dishes, I will absolutely look on the menu for the cleanest items or the things that are most like what I would typically choose to fuel my body. But if I am going to a restaurant to celebrate my 9th wedding anniversary with my husband (which is coming up next month!!) then you'd better believe I am having a glass of wine, something creamy and delicious (in a reasonable portion size!) and the chocolate mud pie or raspberry cheesecake for dessert :D 

Now everyone is different. Some people cannot just have a treat once and call it good. Sometimes you are at a point in your Journey where it is not worth the risk. One bowl of ice cream might set you up for failure. That is ok too. Everyone has a different Journey, and if yours includes saying no to ice cream indefinitely (or soda or cheetos or whatever) then good for you for recognizing your abilities and your needs! I personally have not touched soda for the last 6 weeks because that one can cause me to slip up too easily. You do whatever works best for you- attack whatever challenges are the most difficult for you, and I promise you will see results. 

I will leave you with some pics of me after my Cardio Fix, and also some pics of me my beautiful children enjoying breakfast this morning. 

Sweaty Selfie- ready to go take a shower!!

 After my shower, drinking my Shakeology before breakfast

My sweet baby girl, eating her breakfast of strawberries, eggs and toast

My sweet baby boy, eating his breakfast of the same thing, plus oatmeal (which he used to HATE, and now he asks for it every single morning!)

My breakfast this morning. On my plate I have 1 red, 1 yellow, and 1/2 purple. I also have my Shakeology blended with coffee and 1/2 banana (my favorite way to drink it!!) 

This is typical for me after Cardio days- I was so excited to drink my Shake after my intense workout, and I ended up being way too full after having both together. Tomorrow I will remind myself to either eat breakfast later or save my Shake for later!! 

21 Day Fix- Round 2, Day 20

Aaaaahhh! How did I let the last 9 days go by without an update?? 

Ok, well here it is! Tomorrow is the last day of Round 2. I have been getting some pretty good momentum going here on the second round! The best part of where I am at right now is the fact that I have been working towards the same goals (eating cleaner and exercising daily) for almost 6 weeks total. So because of that, my habits have ACTUALLY changed. It feels normal for me to choose the salad bar and only half of a hamburger, rather than a whole cheeseburger and french fries when we go to a restaurant (I admit though I do steal a handful of fries from my son and/or husband!) It feels normal for me to put about half as much dressing on my salads as I used to. It feels normal to only really get my daily sugar from fruits and occasional treats, rather than in 80% of the foods I was eating on a regular basis! This is the time where it feels realistic to me, the time where I realize there was nothing to be afraid of to begin with. Everyone is so scared of anything that is different. But once it is no longer different, it feels normal and therefore less scary! 

Before I begin, I wanted to show you this picture. 

This is me doing a forearm plank. It was a daily challenge from my Accountability Group to do a plank (picture was optional!) and post the time for how long you could hold it. Most people got anywhere from 1 minute to 2 minutes. My time was 51 seconds. At first I was disappointed in myself. And then I remembered that when I first started this Journey, I could only hold this move for about 15 seconds. Maybe 30 on a really good day. So 51 seconds may not be a lot, but it was better than yesterday. Small improvements like these are what keep me going in my Journey towards better health. 

So, I was thinking that for this post instead of giving you an update on every meal, today I would just share a few ideas with you that I discovered over the last week or so. 

Yesterday I had a major sweet tooth after lunch. I find that sometimes when I am more than halfway through the day and I have either A.) not had enough water to drink or B.) not eaten very much fruit or grains/starches, then I get a crazy sweet tooth. Shakeology has helped A LOT when it comes to my insatiable sweet tooth. But the other day I had already had my Shakeo in the morning, so I decided to try something different. I put 1 purple container of frozen mango into my blender with 1/2c. nonfat greek yogurt and 2 Tbsp. of milk. I blended it up and added a bit of water until it was the right consistency. BOOM frozen yogurt/milkshake. It was delicious and totally satisfied my sweet tooth. I can imagine this would work well with any type of frozen fruit too. I have some frozen blackberries that I plan on trying this on next time I am in the mood for something sweet. 

An alternative to salad dressing: 2 Tbsp. Salsa (I use Pace Picante Sauce) with 2 tsp. nonfat greek yogurt. I am never sure what to count this as (I think it's like 1/8 of a purple container and 1/8 of a red container LOL) so I haven't been adding it to my tally. But it is delicious for using up leftover taco or fajita meat on a salad! 

Hard boiled eggs have been a lifesaver for me. The last few morning have been a little rushed to get out of the house. So it has been nice to quickly peel these, add a dash of salt and pepper, and get out the door! Sometimes I will also grab a few slices of bell pepper or celery to snack on. BOOM 1 red container and 1 green container knocked out for the day!! Those ones are the hardest for me to get in because I get 5 of those servings a day. I typically eat about 5 meals a day so if I don't have one at each meal then I am trying to figure out where to squeeze them in! 

Tomorrow is my last day of Round 2. I am thinking of starting a Challenge Group for my Round 3. That means I will be looking for 5-10 people who want to change their nutrition and exercise habits for good. It's 21 days of habit-breaking, hard work that will be so incredibly worth it when you are done. And if you find that after 21 days that you hate it, you can simply go back to doing whatever it was that you were doing before the challenge. 

The challenge group will include: 

• A nutrition guide and meal plans to help you get started
• An accountability group on Facebook to keep you on track
• 30 minute workouts so you can press play and then move on with your day
• One-on-One Coaching throughout the entire 21 days
• Results!! Whatever your goals are, it is my job to help you achieve them. Weight loss, toning, strength, increased energy levels, to stop eating junk, or whatever. If you put in the effort, I promise you won't be disappointed!! 

If this is something you would be interested in, you may contact me here (or if we are FB friends you can also message me there!) and I promise to contact you directly. 

I'll close with my new favorite quote of the day. 

"You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face." 

Hard work: it pays off in the end :) 

21 Day Fix- Round 2, Day 11

I have NOT forgotten about my blog. For some reason my computer and my phone are not communicating with each other, and I cannot transfer my pictures from my phone onto my computer. I have also been having trouble using the blogger app on my phone. So today I decided to update you all WITHOUT PICTURES :gasp:

Today was Day 11 out of 21, so I am officially more than halfway through the program. Yesterday was Mother's Day and my loving husband got home from his 3 day job just in time to bring me flowers and some wine. We drank a bottle and a half between the two of us. That means I had way more than the 4oz. I can technically have on the program! But this is my Journey, not a diet. It is a lifestyle change, and Mother's Day with my husband won't happen again for another year. I have also been very disciplined in my meal plans for at least 90% of the last 11 days. So I figured it was no big deal. BUT, I also promised myself it would not keep me from doing my exercise the next morning (and Monday's Total Body Cardio Fix is probably the hardest of them all!)

So when my alarm went off at 5:30am I got out of bed and did it! I drank lots of water before bed and before my workout, I also had 2 full bottles ready for me to drink during the routine. 

After my workout, I took a quick shower and then made my Shakeology. I heard somewhere the other day that the first hour after your workout is when your body does the most repair and refueling to your muscles, so it is the best time to drink your Shakeology. Not sure if there is any truth to that, but I am always starving after my workout so I will go with it for now!

I made breakfast for my family, but I was not hungry after drinking my Shake so I put my breakfast in a to-go container. I usually snack around 10:30 and we were supposed to be meeting friends at the zoo around that time, so I knew eating my breakfast on the way would be the best choice. 

I've decided that my previous posts were hard to follow if you were just looking at meal ideas. So I am going to list them out in this post and see if I like the layout better. 

5:30am- Exercise (Total Body Cardio Fix)

6:30am- Shakeology mixed with 1/2 Banana and 12oz. coffee (1 red, 1 purple)

10am- Oatmeal with apples, cinnamon, and a splash of milk. Also snacked on carrots and celery in the car.  (1 yellow, 1/2 purple, 1 green)

11am- 2 hard boiled eggs and 1/2 peanut butter sandwich (1 red, 1 yellow, 2 tsp.)

12:30pm- Mixed Salad with steak and Italian dressing (2 greens, 1 red, 1/2 orange)

3pm- 1/2 peanut butter sandwich; Carrots and Celery; Greek yogurt with pineapple. (1 green, 1/2 red, 1/2 purple, 1 yellow and 2 tsp.)

6pm- Mixed Salad with baked coconut crusted chicken and Ranch dressing (2 greens, 1.5 red, 1/2 orange)

8pm- Apple with peanut butter (1 purple, 2 tsp.)

Total Tally for the Day: 

Green (veggies)- 5 

Purple (fruit)- 2

Red (protein)- 5

Yellow (grains and starches)- 3

Blue (fats and nuts)- 0

Orange (dressings and seeds)- 1

Teaspoons (oils and nut butters)- 4

I am happy with these numbers because the only containers I am short on is yellow and blue, and those are the containers I am most likely to go over on. I got in all of my reds and greens which are the hardest for me to get in. 

I am not going to bother updating the last few days that I missed. But I do hope to post again soon with a few more recipe and meals ideas! 

21 Day Fix: Round 2, Day 8

Ok, Ok, I fold. I am not going to try any longer to catch up on my previous 5 days that I didn't write about. I started some drafts, I uploaded some pictures.... But my "mommy brain" just can't write that detailed about anything that happened 5 days ago!! So I apologize- you get Day 1, Day 2, Day 8 and (hopefully) every day from here going forward! 

I have to give you a little background on my life right now, real quick. I have recently accepted the position of co-president of MOMS Club in my chapter area, and I have really been throwing myself into the club the last few weeks. I have been attending most of the scheduled events. One reason is because my 5 year old drives me crazy at home! Another reason is that I need the energy I get from interacting with other people (especially moms!) in order to keep me going strong in my crazy life. My husband currently works out of town for 3 days at a time, and he never knows when he will work or be home from work! So I have found myself searching for activities that I can do with my kids so that I can make friends, keep my energy levels up and my momentum going, and get us out of the house. 

So that is part of the reason I have been back-logged on my blog. I think about it daily, and I take lots of pictures of my meals. I hope people can see these meals and snacks and think, " I could do that!" or "That doesn't look like diet food!" or "That's food that I already eat!" I want people to know that I have been working on the health aspects of myself and that it is really not rocket science and that anyone can do it- You just need to set goals, be motivated, and have support. I have all three of those things right now, which is why (in spite of my lack of documentation) I am still going to strong in my new Journey! 

Alright, now onto today :) Fridays are Cardio Days for exercise. I set my alarm last night but I must have somehow turned the volume down, because I woke up about 45 minutes after my alarm normally goes off and I didn't remember turning it off. Luckily my baby was still asleep and my son is pretty good about letting me get my 30 minutes of exercise in, even if he is already up. I am actually pretty proud of him because he made himself a bowl of cereal all by himself while I was doing my exercise :) I really had to get myself amped up for this workout- it is really challenging and gets my heart rate up pretty quickly. But I always feel really great afterwards- I might be sore and a little tired, but when I am eating clean and drinking Shakeology those things don't bother me nearly as much as they used to. It was the most difficult for the first 7-10 days of exercising. Then after that, it became much more doable as the habit became part of my routine. My body isn't in as much shock as it was before! 

So after getting all sorts of sweaty and out of breath, I had to get on with my day. Normally I would go right into making breakfast. But my husband got his call to go back to work and he needed helping getting his 3 days worth of food put together, laundry rotated so he could pack it, etc. Once he left though, I made my chocolate Shakeology with half of a banana (and some ice and water) and I also made myself 1 frozen waffle with 2 tsp. of peanut butter. So far I am at 1 red, 1 purple, 1 yellow and 2 tsp. 

After getting my kids fed and all situated, it was time to shower and get going- we had a playdate scheduled for 9:30! Most days I am awake around 5:30, and I will exercise and shower before my daughter is out of bed. On days like today though, I have to still try to do my "self -care" routine (which we all know is so difficult to justify as a busy stay at home mom, we put ourselves on the back burner so quickly!) First I made it a goal to exercise everyday. Then I made a goal to shower everyday after my exercise. So I am sticking to those goals! I wanted to post this picture to show you what I do on days like today where I need to shower and doing it while baby is napping is not an option. 

What you don't see in this particular picture is the trash can, toilet brush, and plunger are all up on the sink counter. I also put some heavy toys in front of the sink cabinet. And then I just pop my head out of the shower every minute or two to check on her. She hasn't figured out how to lift the toilet seat yet, but when she does I will probably get a toilet lock so I don't have to sacrifice my showers when I am home alone for 3 days! 

Right before we left the house, I peeled 2 hard-boiled eggs and I cut up some bell pepper and celery (1 red and 1 green) to eat in the car. I knew that if our friends had food it would probably not be the kind of food I would want to eat today (often times muffins are served at playdates, and while I love muffins I didn't want to have any of those today!) We went to our playdate and ended up staying later than I had anticipated- we got home at 12:30 and I was pretty hungry! I did snack on a little bit of grapes and banana bread, so I called it 1/2 a purple and 1 yellow. At home I made myself a lunch of 2 greens (mixed green salad) 1 red (leftover taco meat) and 1/2 orange (creamy dressing). 

So far my daily tally is 3 greens, 1.5 purples, 3 reds, 2 yellows, 0 blues, 0.5 orange, and 2 tsp. Sometimes when I am not following a meal plan (ok, most times!) I do a simple tally like this: 

FYI this particular tally sheet was not from today which is why the numbers do not match. The numbers on the left show how many I am allotted per day. The tally marks on the right are what I make as I go along. Part of the 21 Day Fix is doing a formula based on your weight and necessary caloric intake to determine how many of each container you get each day. 

That afternoon I played Disney Infinity on the xbox with my son and just enjoyed his presence. Sometimes I have a hard time slowing down to play with him because my to-do list is always so long. But today I actually wrote "Play Disney Infinity with Sean" on my to-do list so I would remember that it was a priority today! 

That evening I was slacking and totally forgot to prep for dinner. We eat dinner on the early side (5/5:30) because my kids go to bed on the early side (7/7:30). I have to try to remember to get started on dinner before my daughter gets cranky in the evening, otherwise she just follows me around the kitchen crying for 30 minutes! I wasn't in the mood to deal with that tonight, so I made the executive decision as "Single Mom" that night to take the kids to Round Table Pizza. They have a play area there and a salad bar, and they are less than a mile from my house. Winning!

I had my salad bar greens, and a piece of pizza (which is not encouraged but we all know that life happens, so there is a special section in the 21 Day Fix "bible," as I like to call it, that discusses how to calculate those types of foods) I counted it as 2 yellows and a blue, and I put my dressing into a side cup so I could portion my other 1/2 orange container for dressing. 

At the end of the day today, I was lacking in proteins. I know that is not a great thing and I wish I had thought about that at dinner, but honestly they didn't have much for great protein choices at this particular restaurant. I guess I could have had some hard boiled egg or cottage cheese from the salad bar, but that was about it! I also could have used more fruit today. I will tell you a secret- I have a horrible sweet tooth that kicks in immediately after the kids go to bed. Today when I acknowledged that persistent sweet tooth around 8pm, I thought about the fact that I was 1.5 containers short of fruit and 2 containers short of protein and thought about making a snack. But I had to also acknowledge that neither of those sounded all that appealing to me, which probably meant I was't all that hungry!  I am trying really hard to accept and acknowledge my sweet cravings (just like my anxiety) and let them come and go as they will. Occasionally I will have sweets after the kids go to bed. But most nights if I find something to do I notice that I am doing just fine without satisfying the sweet tooth. And I remind myself that currently my goals are to create good nutrition habits and to lose some weight. Eating sweets at 8pm is not helping me to accomplish that goal! 

I'll leave you with this quote today. It's thoughts like these that have been helping me tremendously as I work through my new Journey in life. 

21 Day Fix- Round 2, Day 2

Day 2 was tough! I had already planned to be attending a MOMS Club workshop at the Spaghetti Factory before I began the 21 Day Fix. I knew it was coming and I knew I would want to stuff my face with pasta. But first let me start with the beginning of the day ;)

I did my workout at 6am! Saturday is the "Dirty 30" workout. Basically it is a full body cardio program with weights, similar to most of the other days in the program. I don't mind this one too much. Today I decided to try the resistance band. I could not get the hang of that thing! I definitely tried the whole time but my workout today was not nearly as intense as usually due to me constantly trying to figure that thing out! 

I had another one of my favorite breakfasts:

1 yellow container of oatmeal with a splash of milk and some cinnamon, 1/2 purple container of mixed berries, 1 green container of mixed veggies (broccoli, kale, tomatoes and zucchini) scrambled into 2 eggs (equivalent to 1 red container). 

I apologize that I only have one picture for you today. It was a crazy day and I forgot to take pictures of my food after breakfast! 

I made my chocolate Shakeology that morning with 1 scoop into 12 oz. of coffee and a tray of ice cubes. It's almost as good as a Frappuccino :D Actually I honestly like the Shakeology better, only because it helps me recover from my workouts easier and helps me from overeating on junk food! Frappuccinos just make me feel bloated. I brought my Shakeology with me as I headed out the door. 

So, I spent 11am-3pm at the Spaghetti Factory. It was the kind of event where you paid a set amount and told them what kind of food you preferred, and they just brought it to you while the workshop was going on. I had bottomless (unsweetened!) ice tea coming to me the whole time, and a plate full of lemons to squeeze into it so I wouldn't be tempted to add a bunch of sugar. Those of you who know me know that I HATE artificial sweeteners, and you are not recommended to have a bunch of them on this program anyway. 

I got a salad and counted it as 2 greens and an orange, and then they served me fettuccine alfredo. I forgot to bring my containers with me, but generally if you are eating out it is recommended to bring your green container and use that as a guide for portion size (approximately 1 cup). Then you would think about what makes up the meal and try to pick your container colors accordingly. For the fettuccine I split it out on my plate into what I thought was probably about 1 cup, and I boxed up the rest to bring home to my husband. I called it 2 yellows and 1 blue for my meal plan, being that it was mostly grain (yellow container) with butter and cheese which is fats (blue container). I am not sure if that is correct, but I was going to eat it anyway so I figured I should try to work it into my plan for the day! 

The nice thing was that after finishing the 1 cup portion I was just fine. I could have eaten more (because it tasted delicious!) but I didn't need to. I was totally satiated and no loner hungry. It is times like these that I am glad to be taking this 21 day challenge. It has been really eye opening to me, to see where I have previously been eating just because food is delicious and I love food! Unfortunately, I have been overweight for too long now, and I need to get my health in order. So, splitting my pasta bowl in half was a great start in that area for me! 

I did eat the ice cream that came at the end of the meal. At first I had planned to skip it. Then I planned on only eating half of it. But I freakin' love ice cream and I went ahead and ate the whole thing. The portion size they gave for the ice cream was not outrageous, and I have been really diligent about treats other than that, so I forgave myself and I didn't dwell on it. One bowl of ice cream will NOT sabotage my results. Allowing that one bowl to make me feel defeated so that I would go home and eat a whole carton of Ben and Jerry's WILL sabotage my results. See the difference? So I enjoyed my ice cream and continued on my journey towards health. 

For snack on the way home I ate veggies dipped in cottage cheese "Ranch" dressing. For dinner I came home and ate a big salad with leftover chicken. I also cut up some mango. I was actually not very hungry so I only ate half of what I served myself. I am glad I did that. 

My total tally for the day was 5 greens, 2 purples, 4 reds, 4 yellows, 1 blue, 1 orange. And a bowl of ice cream. Not too shabby for a day like that, where I was out of my routine and out of my comfort zone! 

21 Day Fix- Round 2, Day 1

OK I am a little late in posting this, but I am going to try and catch up! My parents were visiting, starting on day one this round, so while I was pretty good at staying on track, I wasn't really spending much time on the computer, hence my skipping the first post! 

I started the morning with my exercise DVD. I did it around 5:30am. Yes, I get up waaaay too early! But my kids are usually up between 6-7am and I like to have my exercise and shower out of the way before they are up so I can be done with that part of my day and move on! I needed to make my exercise and shower time (self care!) more of a priority in my life, and I have found that getting up early is the easiest way for me to do that.  

On Fridays I usually do the Cardio Fix. 30 minutes of straight up cardio. No weights or mats necessary! I have a love-hate relationship with this program, but I did it anyway! 

I usually eat breakfast with the kids sometime between 7:30-8am. Here is what I ate for breakfast. 

1 green container of mixed veggies (today I had broccoli, kale, asparagus, and zucchini) mixed into 2 scrambled eggs (equal to one red container), a purple container of mixed berries, a slice of toast (equal to one yellow container) and a tsp. of coconut oil. I also had a cup of coffee with 1 Tbsp. of milk. Yes, you can have coffee with milk in it on this meal plan. Woohoo! 

I almost always have snack around 10:30am. Usually I would make Shakeology (especially on Cardio day!!) but on this day I think I was still waiting for my shipment to arrive. I made the mistake of ordering my new bag too late and I let myself run out! So instead I had this.

One red container of nonfat plain greek yogurt with one purple container of fresh pineapple! Typically I use canned pineapple but I got this one on sale, and I LOVE fresh pineapple!!

One of the things about the 21 day fix is that you get to eat a lot of veggies, but you are only allotted one orange container per day for salad dressing. You can have unlimited lemon and lime juice, seasonings and spices, among other delicious things. You can also have 1/2 of an orange container at a time (so sometimes I split it between lunch and dinner if I plan on having salads for both). But for me, it doesn't leave me a lot of room for extra dressing to dip carrots and celery in, for example. Then I came across this recipe for "ranch" dressing which is actually made from cottage cheese, so it counts as a red container (protein) instead of an orange container like most dressings. I decided to make it today! 

It was super easy to make. And I had to use the whole container of cottage cheese, so of course that means I had extra! I put it in the fridge, we will see how long it lasts ;) 

I usually try to have lunch around 12:30 or 1pm. If I wait much longer than that I tend to get cranky :(   I think today it was earlier though- more like 11:30/12. Here is my lunch today. 

I had a 2 green containers filled with garden salad (lettuce, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, celery and green onion), 2 Tbsp. of my cottage cheese "ranch," and 1 red container of taco seasoned ground turkey (leftovers from dinner earlier in the week).

I had a snack around 2pm. Normally it would be more like 3/3:30pm but since I had an early lunch, it meant I needed an early snack! 

My afternoon snack was a green container of celery, a piece of bread (equivalent to one yellow container) and 2 tsp. of peanut butter. 

My parents came in from Oregon to visit this weekend. They showed up around 3:30pm that day. We decided to go out for dinner, and my husband wanted to check out a local Italian restaurant. I wasn't extremely hungry so I just ordered soup and salad. I also ate the bread that they give you to much on while you are waiting. I tried really hard to only have 1 serving size of bread so that I could still have an extra yellow container. On the 21 day fix, you can exchange 1 yellow container for a "treat" 3 times per week. I got a glass of wine with dinner! My family also ordered dessert. I thought about not having any, since I had already had a glass of wine, but I decided to go ahead and have some, I just didn't have too much ;) 

Sorry I didn't get a picture of my dinner! It was a garden salad (1 green container) with balsamic dressing (1 orange container), 1 cup of tomato soup (1 purple container), bread (1 yellow container) and a glass of wine (1 yellow container). 

After I got the kids to bed, I realized I didn't have any protein with dinner like I usually do, and I was hungry! So I found some leftover fajita chicken I had made the night before and portioned it into a red container. I also measured out a blue container of avocado. My mom made the comment of how small the containers looked, but once I measured and transferred it to a plate she saw how much it really was! Sometimes our perception of how much food we should have can be so warped!

So here was my final tally for the day- 5 greens, 3 purples, 3.5 reds, 4 yellows, 1 blue, 1 orange, and 4 tsp. I fell short on reds (I am allotted 5 per day) and 1 tsp. (I am also allotted 5 per day, which I am sure I made up for with the restaurant dinner food!) Overall it was a great day for nutrition, especially considering we went to a restaurant. It just goes to show you that you don't have to say, "screw it!" to your program if you want to go out to eat. I am all about making this a lifestyle change and not calling it a diet! It's a habit breaker. It's an eye opener. I am learning how to balance my food groups, because I was not doing it as well as I thought I was before!! 

My New Journey- Starting with the 21 Day Fix!

Hey all!! I'm ready for a big change. And I wanted to document my experience along the way. If you look back through my old posts, you will see that I used to blog weekly! I enjoyed keeping a blog to show my progress in my first pregnancy, and also after my son was born to show his growth. I am planning to do the same thing here, but this time for myself! 

I have been struggling with my diet and exercise habits since before my son was born, back in 2010. I have been yo-yo'ing with my weight ever since, and I am ready for a permanent lifestyle change! 

My Journey begins here. I met some ladies in the MOMS club of South Hill/Puyallup when I first moved here a few months ago. Several of them were "beach body coaches" and I had no idea what that meant. I knew it had something to do with most of the infomercials I have seen for exercise videos, but that was about it. Then I saw how healthy many of these women really were. When I say healthy, I mean balanced in all areas of their lives.  I noticed that exercise was a priority for them, but they also ate both clean and balanced meals, while still enjoying treats while we went out and about for playdates and such. Then I heard them influencing other moms who were trying a program called The 21 Day Fix. At first I blew it off because I heard that you had to drink protein shakes, and I am not a fan of replacing delicious food with boring old shakes. I figured if I wanted to feel full then I would eat, and if I wanted a milkshake I would get a real milkshake! LOL But after seeing a few friends in the club talk about how they were feeling, and comparing it to my current state of health (both mental and physical!) I told myself I would try, and I knew I could do anything for 21 days! And even if I hated it, then at the end of the program, at least I could say I had done something instead of nothing.

You see, after my daughter was born last summer, I began to feel random but extreme bouts of anxiety, quickly followed by depression. This was a new experience for me, so I decided to start seeing a therapist. After 12 weeks of group therapy sessions, I realized so many things about myself (one of them being that I had been experiencing anxiety for most of my life, the difference was that I was able to let it roll off my shoulders before, and previously I was not allowing it to affect my values and commitments.) I left my therapy sessions feeling like I needed to do more self care in order to keep myself sane and happy. I knew that my current eating habits and lack of activity was not doing me any good. I had a huge list of excuses- wanna hear them? 

• My daughter was still very little, so sometimes I was getting poor sleep at night. 
• My abdominals were shot after carrying her for 9 months in my belly. 
• I hated being on a "diet" when I was pregnant (and diagnosed with gestational diabetes) and so I vowed to never deal with that kind of restriction on food again. 
• I was too stressed out to think about what kind of food I was or wasn't eating, and I didn't have time for meal plans or diets.
• I didn't have the time or the energy to exercise. 
• I couldn't afford a gym membership. 
• I hated to do DVD workouts at home. 
• My husband has an unpredictable schedule, so I couldn't depend on him for consistent child watching so that I could get out of the house to exercise. 
• I didn't want to spend twice as much money on groceries for the husband and kids, and also have to buy "diet" food for myself. 
• I didn't want to fail again. 

You want to know something? I wasn't do myself any favors by making these excuses. I wasn't doing myself any good. I needed to find a REASON to change my behavior, rather than looking for an EXCUSE to not change my behavior. My reasons for changing my current state of health are because I want to feel good again. I want to feel sexy. I want to have energy. I want to grow older and be the kind of 60 year old woman that can go for a jog. I want to be healthy as I age, and avoid going to the doctor for a permanent diagnosis such as heart disease or diabetes. 

Most importantly, I want to set a healthy body image for my kids. I want to show then what it looks like to eat healthy and exercise regularly. I don't want to teach them to obsess over foods or worry about how they look. But I do want to them to know that some foods are eaten for pleasure while others are eaten to fuel your body. Exercise is intended to rejuvenate you and keep you feeling young. I want those things for myself and I want them for my family too. 

So today I am going to take you on my Journey with me. I have already completed 1 round of the 21 Day Fix. In that 3 week period I lost 5 pounds and a total of 9.5 inches. In that period of time my ability to handle my anxiety and depression has gotten so much stronger. I don't think I will ever "kick" that condition. But I can learn how to go with the flow, and let those thoughts and physical sensations from anxiety and depression not get the best of me. I can accept them as part of my experience and move on to the things in my life that really matter. 

Everyday, I get up in the morning and I exercise. Afterwards I am sore, but I feel like I am on top of the world. I make my bed and put my dishes away and I feel like I have accomplished something important. In reality, I am just doing my everyday, nothing special. But I like feeling like my everyday can potentially be amazing for me. And I feel amazing, so why not? I am starting my second round of the 21 Day Fix today, and I plan on working harder than I did yesterday, and maybe even a little bit more. 

Stay tuned. I am really and truly going to try and post everyday. Heck, I am even making it a goal to take a picture of my meals everyday so I can put them into my posts. My goal is to have something I can reflect on at the end of this round of 21 days. 

Another goal of mine is to be inspiring to others to make the same kind of changes in their own lives. As Autumn says, "If you are tired of starting over, then stop giving up!" I am making a commitment to stop giving up, and if you find yourself in a similar situation I hope you will too.