21 Day Fix - Day 1

I've been so excited to start this program, but have been putting it off for months.  Why you ask?  Because it involves change and dedication. Unfortunately those are not my strongest attributes.  By starting this program I would have to change the way I eat.  I'd have to be dedicated to working out consistently and I haven't been able to commit to that until now. The mind is incredibly powerful and it's taken 2 months of self-talk to work up the courage to do this program.  Hey, there's no time like the present.

Here's how it works: 

1. You figure out your calorie level.

2. Find the calorie chart that corresponds with your calorie level.

3. Look at the container food groups that correspond with each color. 

4. Spread your containers throughout the day.

5. Do your daily workout.

Oh, and did I mention it's only for 21 days?  As my dad says "You can do anything for X (<--insert # here) amount of days."  And funny enough, Autumn Calabrese (the trainer of this program) said something similar in my workout today "You can do anything for 60 seconds."  Nice to know my dad and personal trainer are on the same page.

Week 1 Meal Plan

Another reason I was avoiding this program like the plague is because you have to plan your meals.  Sounds easy right?  WRONG!  Meal planning and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love knowing what I'm going to cook for the week and going to the grocery store once, but I hate the amount of time it takes to figure out what I'm going to eat for the entire week, go shopping, and prep my food.  Today's a prime example: I spent 6-1/2 hours of my wonderful holiday, shopping, washing, cutting, chopping, cooking, and portioning out my food.  BUT, I don't have to do much the rest of the week except throw it all together.  

Here's my meal plan for the week:

I'm heading out of town on Thursday which makes things challenging, but I'm going to prep most of my food in advance and will try to make healthy choices when we go out.

Workout Today: Total Body Cardio Fix

I don't mean to brag (okay, maybe I do), but I've done Insanity.  Not once, but twice, and that workout program definitely lives up to its name!  Shaun T (the trainer) is a MACHINE and the workouts are intense.  Knowing this, I went into today's workout thinking I may break a sweat.  First of all, who's this Autumn chick and secondly, this workout is only 30 min.  How hard can it be?  Sweet baby Jesus, It kicked my ass!  I didn't realize I'd have to use weights for almost the entire workout and was breaking a sweat after the first set of moves.  I could barely walk afterward; you know, the feeling when your legs feel like noodles?  That was me.  Glad it was only 30 minutes because I'm not sure I would have made it much longer.

Post workout hair

Breakfast

Strawberry Shakeology with water and mixed fruit.  I was a little concerned using water with my Shakeo instead of juice or almond milk like I normally do, but it tasted great!  Score!

Filled the purple container with fruit

1 scoop of Shakeology equals one of my red container servings.  The purple container is a fruit serving and I love adding it to my Shakeo because I am terrible at eating fruit.  Quick, easy, and filling.

Having a simple breakfast worked out well since I needed to get to the store ASAP to buy my lunch and other groceries for the week.

Snack 1

It was supposed to be an apple, but I didn't get around to eating it because I was out shopping.  The good news, I can eat it later if I get hungry.

Lunch

I was pretty skeptical about how filling lunch would be when looking at the three containers side by side...

1 yellow, 1 red, & 1 green

but to my surprise it damn near filled my entire plate!

I was also worried about my choice in the yellow container; sweet potato. I've never been a fan of sweet potatoes unless they're in "fry" form, but that wasn't the case.  I've also never baked a sweet potato (pathetic, I know), but figured it had to be similar to cooking a regular potato which it was.  I washed and dried it, stabbed it to death with a fork, wrapped it in foil, and baked it for an hour at 375 degrees.  Once it was out of the oven and cooled off, I peeled the skin off and mashed it up.  Pretty easy.

3 containers & a pretty full plate

As for the green container, I filled it up a quarter of the way with chopped onion and filled the rest with bell peppers.  Then I sauteed them in 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Once the veggies were cooked, I set them to the side and cooked two very small pieces pork which ultimately filled up my red container.  Lastly, I sprinkled everything with the All-Purpose Seasoning recipe from the 21 Day Fix eating plan. Wait, I lied...I added some hot sauce to the pork/veggie mix for a little extra kick!

Snack 2

I ate lunch pretty late, so I ended up eating one hard boiled egg instead of two.  I know how to make the perfect hard boiled egg, but haven't mastered how to peel it without tearing half the egg white off.  I got better by egg 6, but there's room for improvement.

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

Here's how to make the perfect hard boiled egg:

• Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan.  Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by at least 1 inch.  
• Bring the water to a rapid boil over high heat.
• Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 15 min.
• Drain the hot water then fill with cold water and ice cubes.
• Once  the eggs have cooled, gently tap one on the countertop, then softly roll it.
• Carefully peel off the eggshell then rinse any small pieces off.

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

Dinner

By the time I got around to cooking dinner I wasn't even hungry.  Mostly due to the fact that I'd spent the last five hours cooking and prepping meals for the rest of the week.  Luckily, I had some leftover sweet potato from lunch so at least I didn't have to cook that.  I baked a large chicken breast and only needed about half of it to fill my red container.  Then I filled two green containers with yellow squash, mushrooms, and onion.  I sauteed the veggies in 1 teaspoon of EVOO.  Once the veggies were done I tossed them with the chicken.  Then I filled my orange container with green olives, sliced them, and threw them on top.  At that point, I was so ready to be done cooking I forgot my mozzarella cheese!  How is that even possible?  It crossed my mind to fill up my blue container with cheese and eat it straight up, but I resisted the urge.

Siracha on the side

And there you have it!  Day 1 of the 21 Day Fix.  My biggest regret is that I didn't do my grocery shopping and food prepping over the weekend.  Other than that, I'd say today was a success!

For those of you who've done the 21 Day Fix please feel free to share your favorite recipes!  

Fiesta Avocados w/ Eggs

If you like avocados you'll definitely want to read this post!  If you don't like avocados, skip this post and go to my "Healthy Recipes" tab to find something that strikes your fancy.  :-)  

I've seen similar recipes floating around on Pinterest and always wanted to try them, but for some unknown reason felt too intimidated to give them a shot...until today. I've been asking myself all morning "Why did you take so damn long to make these?!" It's a nice change from the same old breakfast sandwiches I eat almost every day. 

I'm slowly learning some of the best recipes are the simplest ones. This recipe has 4 main ingredients along with some spices and of course, hot sauce!  In my opinion you can't have eggs without hot sauce because they are two things that just go together.  It makes me think of that part in the movie Friday where Smokey gets all upset with Craig because he never has two things that match...daaaamn!  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about you can check it out here. I digress...

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 avocados
• 2 tablespoons shredded Italian cheese
• 4 tablespoons salsa
• 4 egg yolks
• Salt & pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• HOT SAUCE, I always use Cholula

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut avocados in half and remove the pits.  If the avocados tilt to the side too much you can cut a small sliver off the bottom to keep them upright.  Using a small spoon, scoop out a little more avocado and put in a small bowl.  Mash up the extra avocado and set aside.  Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper on to each avocado half.  Separate the egg yolk from the egg white and place yolk in the avocado.  Sprinkle each with half a tablespoon of cheese and pepper.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on how done you want the eggs.  Top each with a tablespoon of salsa, a small scoop of the reserved avocado, and hot sauce!

Note: My husband and I had no idea how to eat these and we learned by trial and error.  Take a large spoon and scoop around the edges of the skin until all of the inner deliciousness comes out.  It's much easier than trying to eat directly out of the avocado.

Simple to make and healthy. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Now that I've stepped outside my breakfast sandwich comfort zone, I want to know what YOU make for breakfast? Hook a sister up and give me some ideas!

{Taste Test Tuesday} Egg Frittata

It's about time I posted a breakfast recipe!  I eat the same thing for breakfast almost every single day, so I pushed myself outside my comfort zone to try something new.  My eyes locked on an Egg Frittata recipe I found in one of my workout nutritional guides.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 3 whole eggs
• 2 tablespoons skim milk
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1 tablespoon basil or oregano
• Pepper to taste

Directions

Whisk eggs with milk.  Add the spinach, basil or oregano, feta, & pepper.  Combine.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Coat an 8" by 8" casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour egg mixture into dish and bake for 20 minutes or until eggs are set.  (Top may remain moist)  Let stand for 5 minutes.

I love basil and the feta cheese really boosted the flavor in this, BUT it just didn't hit the spot for me.  It was too bland and needed something else to make it worth eating.  Perhaps some diced ham or turkey sausage?  Maybe even just some tomatoes and mushrooms.  I added Cholula to this thinking it would enhance the taste, but it had the opposite effect.  It competed with the feta cheese and I immediately regretted it.  As it is...I probably wouldn't make it again.  If I made some of the adjustments I listed above, I think it would be much better....maybe I will give it another try after all.  ☆☆