21 Day Fix: Final Thoughts and Results

So, I went through my first 21 Day Fix.

Here's how my weeks went:

Week 1: I planned out every day's meals and snacks. I went grocery shopping the day before and stocked up on all the healthy foods I would need. I stuck to the plan almost perfectly. I worked out every day but one. You can read more about my 1st week here.

Week 2:  I only planned out dinner and lunch this week. We ate out a couple of times this week and I've learned that even when you think you're eating healthy, eating out costs you a lot of calories. I still did fairly good this week. I worked out every day but one again.

Week 3: I didn't do so good this week following the 21 Day Fix. I didn't plan at all. I still did good staying under my calories, though. I only worked out Sunday and Monday this week. I blame it on the fact that I started a job Tuesday-Friday and I had a cold. When I got home from work, I was too tired and didn't feel well enough to do much of anything! I also didn't eat as many fruits and vegetables because we didn't have any at home. Where I live, you have to drive about 25 minutes to go to a grocery store so it's difficult to go every week to get that produce. My Memaw also bought my family petit fours which are SO good! I couldn't resist, but I did limit myself to only one a day. I also had pizza one day for dinner. I'm okay with all of this, though, because I need a lifestyle change not a diet. I want to eat healthy a majority of the time, so it's okay if I want to eat an occasional treat. The key word being OCCASIONAL. My old lifestyle involved eating treats every day.

I do feel like I've made some positive changes. The first week, I was hungry most of the time and I was craving chocolate and junk constantly. As the days went on, this stopped happening. By week 3, I stayed fuller. I hardly think about junk food. I also used to be a big after dinner snacker. The first week, that was the hardest time of day for me. Now, it's no big deal. I don't even really think about snacking after dinner.

Going forward, I want to continue to count my calories using MyFitnessPal. I want to be intentional about eating more fruits and vegetables. I want to watch my portions using the 21 Day Fix containers. I want to limit my carbs and healthy fats using the 21 Day Fix rules. I also want to make healthier choices, such as grilled over fried. The biggest thing will be limiting snacks and the types of snacks.

The results:
After 21 days, I've lost 12.1 pounds and 16 inches! With 5.75 of those inches being in my waist. I feel like I could have done more if I'd stuck to the 21 Day Fix better and I'm not opposed to doing another fix in a few weeks and hopefully doing better.

{Sorry I have no pictures to accompany this post.}

21 Day Fix: Week 1

Well...I survived week one of my 21 Day Fix. The week was not perfect, but I'm proud of myself.

Food:
When I first received the containers, I thought they were SO small! But honestly, more fits in there than you think. I think my biggest challenge with this program is that I'm such a picky eater, so there are so few things I like in the vegetable and fruit category. I feel like I'm eating the same thing over and over and over. I tried to cook dinner as normally as possible-just healthier-since I'm also cooking for my husband, daughter, mom, and dad.

The hardest part of the day for me is after dinner. That's usually a major snacking time for me. I get very hungry and it's tough not to snack. There was one day- I think it was day 2 or 3- that I was craving chocolate really bad. It was so tough not to eat some! My family are big junk food eaters so there's plenty around to tempt me.

My worst day was Day 6. We were out and about and my husband insisted on having lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Chips and queso is my weakness and I definitely ate too much. I ate less than I normally eat, so I guess that's a small victory. 

I did break the rules a couple of times. I feel okay about it, though. Along with doing the 21 Day Fix, I'm also tracking my calories on MyFitnessPal app. Both "rule breaks" still kept me under my calorie goal for the day. I know that if I deprive myself completely, there's a greater chance of me failing. I ate healthy 95% of the week. One day, I had air popped popcorn and another day I ate one mini Reese's cup. The mere fact that I only ate one Reese's cup is amazing.

I took pictures of my food the first day. It's nothing amazing, but I'll share.

For breakfast, I had turkey bacon (which tasted better than I thought it would), eggs, and a banana.

For lunch, I had lettuce and carrots with ranch and pizzas made from an English muffin.

Confession: I can't afford Shakeology, but I did buy a protein powder. I made a peanut butter and chocolate shake for a snack. At first, I liked it. The longer I drank it, however, the more it kind of made me feel sick. So, I haven't had a shake since the first day.

A snack of mixed nuts...

I was almost done with dinner by the time I remembered to take a picture. My dinner was baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and mashed potatoes.

Workout:
The first day's workout about killed me. It was the hardest one and it was the very first day. My legs and especially my knees hurt for days. I could barely walk. I have bad knees; so I know when I do that workout again, I will have to modify some of the moves.

 I was beat after the first day's workout.

I did skip the "Lower Fix" this week because of how bad my knees were hurting. I did my workouts every other day.

Other than the first day, the workouts were doable. I had to modify some of the moves-usually the ones that involved upper body strength.

 

 Baby Girl joined me in my workout one day-bad idea! She sat on my head while I was on the floor doing chest presses. You can't tell from the picture, but she was dancing to the music.

Feeling okay at the end of week 1. I'm proud of how closely I've followed the program and how I haven't snacked, which is my biggest weakness. 

Hoping for a good week 2 and 3 and some results!!

In week 1, I lost 4.4 lbs! 

I'm Starting 21 Day Fix

I know it's super cliche to kick off a fitness goal at the beginning of the year. I also know I've said every year that I'm going to get healthier. But this year I HAVE got to make a change and I've been inspired by many friends/acquaintances that I've seen with amazing before and after photos. 

I didn't gain a freshman 15. I actually was the skinniest I've ever been during my freshman year of college. I maintained a decent weight throughout college, but something just happened after I got married. My best guess is that I increased my snacking and decreased my activity. I've set out to get healthier many times before and I would be successful for a while, but nothing has ever been long term. I laugh now thinking about how I actually was REALLY motivated about 2 years ago. I wrote a blog post and everything and then I literally took a pregnancy test that same day, found out we were expecting, and all that fitness stuff went out the window.

Before becoming pregnant, I was already at my highest weight. While pregnant, my weight gain was average. Now, I look back at pictures from after Baby K was born and I looked better then than I do now-thanks breastfeeding! Once I stopped pumping, I steadily gained weight.

**I have some confessions. I still wear some of my maternity clothes. 98% of the time I wear leggings or yoga pants. I can't fit into the majority of my clothes. I refuse to buy pants in the size I would need because I can't believe I'm that size. I stepped on a scale the other day and was shocked. I have to do something!**

Enter-the 21 Day Fix. I had been considering Weight Watchers. It worked for my mom and I'd followed the program on my own and it worked for me as well. I also just considered counting calories which is also something that has worked for me in the past. A couple of problems with Weight Watchers for me was that it would involve a monthly payment and while you are encouraged to eat healthier and watch your portions, processed foods are an acceptable part of this program. I knew I'd have to be very self motivated to just count calories on my own. 

image from Beach Body

I heard about the 21 Day Fix and really liked the simplicity of the containers. With counting calories, there's always some guess work about how many calories you're taking in and if you're eating the right portion. I also liked that the program came with workouts. This program encourages real food which is the way I'd prefer to eat.  I'm hoping that after losing the weight I'd like to lose, I'll have created healthier eating habits and made them part of my lifestyle.

I went shopping yesterday and I barely ventured into the inner grocery aisles. My cart was colorful and full of healthy foods. One of the reasons I wanted to go back to blogging was to share about my journey with 21 Day Fix (and what I hope will be a lifestyle and physical transformation). I hope it will help keep me accountable. Along with posting occasionally on here, I'll probably post more often on my instagram. I hope you'll follow along and if you're on a weight loss journey as well, I'd love to know about it!!

Getting Fit With My Fitbit

Well.... getting healthy is always such a battle. My biggest struggle is that I don't want to just "diet" or "lose weight," I want to change my lifestyle. Last year, I actually was on the way to doing this. I was working towards more of a real food diet. I kept at those steps for a while, but slowly went back to many of my bad habits. One habit that we have kept is that I buy better meat (grass fed and no added hormones), but the rest of them I no longer do.

This year I set a goal to lose weight and change my lifestyle to be healthier. I actually started the year off really well. I worked out consistently and I counted my calories. I lost 5 pounds in about 2 weeks.

Then, life got CRAZY. We moved to a new apartment. Several of my coworkers were out for a week at a time with family emergencies or sickness. We had 8 snow days that threw off our routine. Plus, some other stuff that I'm not ready to share about yet. I got lazy with my health. I stopped working out and I started eating whatever I felt like. I gained back all my weight, but luckily no extra.

I'm tracked out for a few weeks and I'm DETERMINED to get back on track with healthier eating, counting calories, and working out. Of course, I want to lose weight, but more than that I want to be healthier. I want a healthier lifestyle.

{I'm ready for this to be the "before" picture in a before/after collage.}

I'm wanting to share more about this journey on my blog so that I'm more accountable to it. I'd love to do a weekly or bi-weekly healthy lifestyle update. Plus, I'm currently reading Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst. I plan to share more thoughts about that book this week and in the coming weeks until I finish it.

Getting healthy starts today. A few weeks ago, my husband got a Fitbit for himself and last week he got me one. It counts your steps, miles walked, calories burned, and active minutes. It will also track your sleep. You can use the app to set goals and you can put in the food you eat so that it can help you count calories. I'm going to use my Fitbit, the Fitbit app, and the My Fitness Pal app to help me with my goals.

  
How do you motivate yourself to be healthy? Do you use any gadgets, apps, etc. to help you with your goals?

What's in my lunch box?

Whoops! I wasn't able to post this last Friday. Last week was SO busy at work! I barely had time to do anything, but work and sleep.

For now, this will be the last post in my What's on/in my _____________? series. I'm considering doing video posts on Friday to try something new. 

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better by seeing some things around my home. In case you missed anything, I also shared what's on my fridge, what's on my shelves, what's in my purse, and what's in my movie bins.

For the most part my lunch consists of one of three things: leftovers, soup, or salad/wrap of some type. Lately, I've been trying to eat salads and wraps more than sandwiches.

On this particular day, I had some pita bread left over, so I used them instead of a tortilla shell. I also accidentally left my lunch box at work the day before, so I had to carry this lunch to work in plastic bags.

 Of course, I'm going to share with you the lunch I took that was healthy.

I had 2 pita breads, leafy green lettuce (none of that light stuff for me!), kale, a little Parmesan cheese, and a little bit of croutons.

Then, I had baked Ruffles (which are so addictive!) and an apple.

You know what I love about eating healthier food? You can eat a lot more food because it contains less calories. So, you feel full longer.

Do you take a lunch to work? If so, what does your lunch usually consist of? 

**Ornaments for Adoption is only just beginning, but it's the last day to enter the giveaway to help me spread the word.**

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I Pinned It, I Did It: Homemade Taco Seasoning

I'm not really a creative person in the sense of coming up with my own ideas. I do better to come up with ideas with another person or to take another person's idea and go with it. This is probably the reason I love Pinterest so much. I use ideas I find on there all the time.

Since I do things I find on Pinterest a lot, I figured I should post about my experiences from time to time. Some ideas from Pinterest work great while others don't work out as planned. I know that other people post about trying out Pinterest ideas, and I find them helpful. So, I'm going to do some of my own.

Several months ago, I discussed on the blog how I was beginning a journey towards eating more real food. This journey has had its ups and downs, but I've not given up. I'm trying to get back on the path to eating less processed food. So, this pin I recently tried out came from my Real Food Recipes board. The source of the pin and the place where you can find the recipe is Rachel Cooks.

What is it? 
Homemade Taco Seasoning

Why I pinned it: 
We eat tacos and similar Mexican food a lot. I want to work on eating less processed food and this seemed like something easy to put together. 

Why I did it:
I wanted something simple to cook this past weekend and we had limited ingredients at our house. I figured I could cook tacos. I went to my small spice drawer and remembered that we had no taco seasoning. I purposely didn't buy any the last time I went shopping for groceries because I wanted to make my own. Luckily, I had all the ingredients I needed to make my own.

The process:
I followed the directions from Rachel Cook's blog except I accidentally put 1/2 tablespoon of paprika instead of 1/2 teaspoon-oops! In the end, it didn't make a difference. So, a good thing about this recipe seems to be that the measurements don't have to be exact. This blog has even been updated to include a recipe for a larger batch of taco seasoning so you don't have to do a lot of math and figure it out for yourself.

The verdict:
Tacos tasted fine to me. I couldn't tell a difference between seasoning the meat this way and seasoning it with the store bought packet. The recipe basically makes enough for one pound of meat (you might could get two out of it). So, you can either make it as needed or make a larger batch. This took me less than 5 minutes to do between finding my ingredients, measuring them out, and stirring them together. So, it's really no more difficult than opening a store bought packet. I will definitely do this again.

The finished product:

Yummy quesadilla!

What's something you make yourself rather than buying the premade version?

My Real Food Journey: First Update

At the beginning of the month, I wrote about how I wanted to change my diet and eat more real food. Today, I want to share with you how things are going.  

As a reminder, I don't think I will ever eat 100% real food. I would like to work towards 75-80% real food.

Below you will find my list of action steps for my first phase towards eating real food. I don't plan on moving on to a new phase until this phase comes naturally. I want this to become a lifestyle change, not just a diet or fad. Along with my actions steps, you will find my updates in red. 

1. Buy grass fed meat. 

I found a farm nearby where I want us to go visit and eventually begin buying our meat from there. That way, we see and know where our meat is coming from. However, we haven't had time to go visit yet. We did find grass fed meat at Target and that's what we've been eating so far. This is an EASY step to take. Again, I know that local is better and that's what I want to work towards next.

2. Eat fruits and vegetables every day.

I've done pretty well with this considering that I don't like that many fruits and vegetables. I've been trying to eat the ones I do like more often and I've been making myself eat others so that I can learn to like them. I've also taken salad for lunch a couple of days a week and if you knew me better-you'd know what a big deal this is. I even had one lunch that was only fruits and vegetables.

3. Switch to whole grain.

I haven't had time to go by the bakery that I found, but I did buy the best whole wheat bread I could find at the grocery store. I also bought some whole wheat lasagna noodles and did a 50/50 mix when we had lasagna the other night.

4. Limit snacks.

I've done much better with this. When I do snack, my processed snacks are limited to pretzels and popcorn (occasionally with M&Ms in them). Other than that, I've tried to snack on fruit or nuts. I also made this recipe that I found on Pinterest and it was pretty good.

5. Eat out less.

Um...we still aren't doing great with this. I blame my husband. When he doesn't like what I plan to cook, he says "let's just go out (or order food)" and I'm usually exhausted from work so I don't need a lot of convincing. On a positive note, I do think we've ate out less in the last few weeks than we were doing in the last few months.

6. Begin reading ingredients labels.
I have been doing this a lot more and I'm more conscious of what's in the food and ingredients that I'm buying. 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Next week will hold a recap of the NC Blogger Meet-up, my 13 in '13 update, my favorite things from April, and my April book reviews. 

Can you believe April is almost over?!?

 

 

Homemade Chips Experiment

Last week, I shared how I wanted to change my diet to include more real food and less processed food. So, I decided to play around with making my own chips.

I kept it simple this time and just made chips out of potatoes, but this is something that can be done with a variety of vegetables.

I researched online and basically found the same directions on every site. So, what I'm sharing with you isn't anything revolutionary or new. But...here's what I did.

1. I bought 3 fairly large potatoes. I didn't buy too many because I didn't want to waste them if this experiment went wrong. Next time, I'm buying smaller potatoes.

2. I scrubbed and washed the potatoes. Next, I had to slice them by hand, but I've added a mandoline slicer to my wish list. I cut them up as thin as I could manage.

3. Then per many tips I saw online,  I soaked them in water for 10 minutes. That water was cloudy and gross after 10 minutes.

4. I put them out on a paper towel and patted them dry.

5. I preheated my oven to 400 degrees and placed the slices single layer on a cookie sheet. Then, I covered them in extra virgin olive oil.

6. I baked them for 20-25 minutes. I like things to be crispy.  So, I kept them in as long as possible without burning them. After they came out of the oven, I sprinkled them with salt. The thin, extra crispy ones were my favorite.

I look forward to experimenting with different veggies and different seasonings.

For now, I know that I can successfully make homemade chips.

Now, my problem is figuring out the best way to store them and what their shelf life is. Any suggestions or tips?

Cleaning Out My Diet

So,  I'm a little nervous to write about this topic because I know I am going to fail. But, I want to share my journey with you.

Before I get started, I just want to say that on my blog I never want you to feel like I'm saying that my way of thinking is the "best way" or even the "right way." I believe each person has to come to decisions on their own. However, my blog is a place for me to share my thoughts and my journey through life. 

I shared at the beginning of the month how I read the book 7: an experimental mutiny against excess. I also shared how this book really changed my perspective about a lot of things. Well, one of those things was how I eat. 

On page 36 of the book, Jen Hatmaker quotes a study from EurekAlert stating some disturbing facts. 

U.S. life expectancy was projected to rise indefinitely, but a new study suggests that this trend is going to reverse itself due to the rapid rise in obesity. Our kids are the first generation in the history of America that has a shorter life span than their parents.

I also heard this fact when I watched the documentary Food, Inc. 

via

via

Our Western Diet basically includes:

• highly processed food
• chemicals used to raise plants and animals
• massive consumptions of fast food
• absence of fruits and vegetables
• a tiny handful of crops, such as wheat, corn, and soy

(Seriously, watch Food, Inc. and all of this will make sense.)

So, I felt convicted. I don't feel like this is the way God intended for us to eat. 

Genesis 2:16: "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.'"

God gave man plants for food.

After Adam and Eve sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, God cursed them.

 Genesis 3 starting at the end of verse 17 and going to the beginning of verse 19: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food."

An interesting thought was given to me by someone else. In the same way, there is now some ways around some of women's curse of pain during childbearing, men also do not toil in the field for our food. We don't have to work and sweat just to have food to eat. We go to the grocery store and pick it up. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to give up meat and only eat plant based foods. I don't know if I could do that. I just know that God gave us food by nature. I believe that is the food we're intended to eat. 

I also feel that changing my diet will help me to be an overall healthier person which I would hope would prevent me from dealing with certain diseases and illnesses as I age. I also would hope to pass along good habits to my future children to help them be in good health as well. 

I don't want to spend this whole post listing my reasons for wanting to change my diet. If you're interested in reading more reasons to cut out processed food, 100 Days of Real Food has a great list here. 

Along with having reasons to cut out processed foods, I also have plenty of reasons not to. My number one reason is convenience. It's SO much easier to just eat whatever. My second reasons is taste and the fact that I am a very picky eater. 

So, please know that this is going to be hard for me. I love food. It's quite obvious in the weight I've gained in the last few years. However, I know that my health and future is more important than all of that. I feel like if I take it slow and make it a lifestyle change rather than a quick "fad," I can succeed. 

I don't think I can ever be 100% real food. I think I'd be happy with 75-80%. 

Here is my plan for the first phase towards better eating:

1. Buy grass fed meat. 

I have found a couple of places where I can buy this and we also have deer meat during part of the year. 

2. Eat fruits and vegetables every day.

The number of fruits and veggies I like is very limited. I'm going to have to branch out and learn to like new things. I'm also going to have to learn to cook new things.

3. Switch to whole grain.

I found a bakery nearby that sells bread made from whole grain. When it comes to pasta, I think I'm going to have to start with a 50/50 mix. Lee is not on board with the whole grain thing. 

4. Limit snacks.

I want to have a very small handful of processed items that I snack on. Most of my snacks need to be things I've made from natural ingredients. 

5. Eat out less.

For us, it is sometimes necessary to eat out. I don't know if we can ever truly cut it out completely. I want to work on only eating out when necessary and making wiser food choices when we do have to eat at a restaurant. 

6. Begin reading ingredients labels.

I want to begin to try and buy things with less ingredients. I also want to try and cut out as much high fructose corn syrup as possible. 

I know this may seem like a lot, but I'm already doing several of these things. I also don't plan on switching to a new phase until these things are coming pretty naturally. 

If you're interested in knowing more about eating real food, 100 Days of Real Food is a great website to get you started. There are also several documentaries out there including the one I mentioned earlier. I also started a Real Food Pinterest board and a Real Food Recipe Pinterest board. 

 I know I've seen several bloggers recently posting on this topic. I'd love to know your tips or where you get information or recipes from. Do you have any book, documentary, or website suggestions?

Petition Kraft Foods

WELL..... I had planned on writing a post soon about my convictions and thoughts about eating "real" food. I wanted to explain my reasoning and let you know my plan of action. Then, I wanted to use my blog to share with you what I was learning, how I was doing, and tips and recipes I found. 

I still plan on doing all that, but today I want to share something with you that I've learned in my research. 

One of the first sites I found about real food was 100 Days of Real Food. I love this site! It has so much useful information. It's realistic and user friendly.

They recently posted about their petition to Kraft to remove harmful additives that are removed and sometimes banned from their products in other countries.

via 

Maybe you're like I was and are thinking I don't care.

I'll give you a couple of quick reasons why I do care now:

-This isn't the way God intended us to eat. 

-Processed food has only come around in the last 50 or so years. In recent years, people (particularly children) have more and more disorders and sicknesses than ever before. Could there be a relationship between the two? I think so. 

I look forward to sharing more of my thought with you soon, but until then I'd encourage you to check out the original post on 100 Days of Real Food and consider signing the petition. You can also read about Kraft's (unimpressive) acknowledgement of this petition.