21 Day Fix - Day 14

Hook, line and sinker. I am a fan.

The changes that I am experiencing are amazing. I feel so good! This program allows you to still enjoy life and friends without completely derailing yourself. 

When I met the trainer and creactor of the 21 day fix, Autumn Calabrase, this summer and listened to how she came up with this program it just made sense. You can over eat with healthy food too. Ididn't  actually think that we fit into that mold but we sure did. It's surprising. It's mindless things that you eat and don't even think about that get you. You eat them because you can, it's a healthy choice. So we don't pay attention. But, it adds up!! This woman sure knows what she is talking about and has developed an amazing system that can truly help anyone if they are willing to apply them self.

                      (Autumn and I, August 2014)

Tonight we got home late and I hadn't planned dinner in advance. This is the perfect storm for me. This is when I go for convenience and make BAD choices. I was so proud of myself tonight. I went out on a limb and threw some things together. It was an absolute success!!!! 21 day fix friendly and delicious!!!!

Here is my take on a healthy quiche. 

Ingredients:

1 Tbl of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large onion, diced

3 cups cauliflower florets, cut into 1-inch pieces

5 large eggs

1 1/4 cup Almond Milk

1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese (can substitute any grated cheese).

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup of brown rice flour, or whole wheat flour (I actually used oat bran tonight and it was amazing!)

Optional: Paprika to taste

Directions:

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick olive oil cooking spray. Set pan aside.

Step 2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened (about 3 minutes). 

Step 3. Add broccoli and cook about 5 min. or until just tender. Transfer vegetables to prepared 9" square pan.

Step 4. In a large bowl beat together eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper.

Step 5. Whisk flour/oat bran into mixture and then evenly pour over prepared vegetables.

Step 6. Place baking dish in the oven and bake for about 45 min, or until top turns golden brown and egg solidifies (my pan was actually an 8" square so I ended up baking it for 50 minutes.) 

Step 7. Cool quiche for 10 minutes. Then serve!

21 Day Fix - Day 13

I had big plans for today, but both of my littles are not feeling well. So we are laying low and resting. I managed to get a few things done around the house in between all the cuddles.

It's safe to say that I probably won't be able to share our dinner pictures with you later.

Instead I will just share some excitement!

I am now down 8 pounds.

Jeff is now down 12 pounds.

My challengers are on day 6. I have heard from one lady that she is down 5 pounds and is feeling amazing!!

I am pumped. There are so many positve changes happening. The best thing is that all of these Mama's are feeling good about themselves. What could possibly be better then that!!

21 Day Fix - Day 12

LIf you had told me 2 weeks ago that I would be drinking my coffee black in the morning I would have burst out loud laughing. I LOVE my morning coffee. I have just one a day and I LOVE it with hazelnut creamer!

Now, I committed to stepping it up this month. I needed to feel good again and get back in shape. I need the energy and confidence that comes with it. So I am following the plan and using the containers. I have given up my chemically charged, much loved coffee creamer. Coffee black, with honey. Guess what? It actually tastes good! I am on day 12! 12 days of black coffee! It bothers me more mentally, then the taste, to drink it black. Isn't that saying something?!?!

While I have given up my creamer I am still allowed wine. Yep, that's a compromise that works for me! Lol here we are, it's Friday again. One of my dearest friends is coming for the weekend and I am looking forward to some girl chats and wine!!!

Friday night for us is almost always family date night. We usually have pizza. Tonight we opted for soft tacos. Super easy, delicious and 21 day fix friendly!!! We made our own from here using our containers!

1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green!

21 Day Fix - Day 11

Eleven days done and 7 pounds lost. I am waiting until day 21 to take my measurements, but clothes that haven't fit since before my pregnancy are now in my sight!!

My muscles are SORE! Hahaha, good sore, but sore. Mostly my legs. When I go upstairs at home they scream at me a little. I consider it a victory. It means change is happening. It means I am making time for me. It means I can be a Mom, and still make time for me.

My challenge group has the most amazing ladies in it. They inspire me daily! So focused, so driven, so committed. We are supporting each other and doing this. I am just bursting with pride!

Dinner tonight was Balsamic Pork Tenderloin in the slow cooker. Easy and delicious and yet again, kid approved!! 

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• small onion, chopped
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin

Directions:

1. Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a bowl.  Rub pork tenderloin in dry seasoning mixture.
2. In a large saute pan, heat oil, garlic and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar until hot.
3. Add pork and sear, browning meat on all sides.
4. Transfer the pork to the crock pot.
5. Pour remaining 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar into saute pan and stir a few min to de-glaze the pan.
6. Pour juices over top of tenderloin in crock pot.  Cook on high for 3 hours.
7. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes and then slice.

21 Day Fix - Day 10

Hold the phone!! My mom belly is starting to retract! The end of my maternity Jean wearing days may soon be in site!!!! Woot woot!!

Needless to say, I'm feeling good. The desire to snack out of boredom is starting to disappear.

I have sore muscles from the workouts. Good sore, not bad sore. It's good to feel the strength building. I am ok with the moves that I need to modify. I know it's a matter of time before I don't need too anymore, but for now, I'm at least working on it!

Dinner tonight was so good. Sautéed steak, onions, garlic, ginger, green beans and carrots on a bed of quinoa.

One red, two greens, one yellow!

21 Day Fix - Day 9

I am happy to happy to say that I am finding my groove. It's getting almost easy to look at food and quickly see how to put the colours together. There are some amazing ideas coming from my challengers too. I have so many different meals to try now. It's awesome!!!

Here is an added bonus that I never in a million years expected. I suffer from adult acne. I have tried just about everything to clear it up and short of being pregnant, nothing works! Imagine my shock, that here I am on day nine and my skin is clearing up!!!!! AMAZE BALLS, I AM NOT KIDDING!!!!! I was already enjoying the results of this and I am amazed that my mom belly is quickly disappearing, but this.....this is remarkable.

Remember how I made three lunches last night? Well, I spent today at school with my five year old in her kindergarten class. I had my perfectly planned snacks and lunch. It was fabulous and so fun to eat with the kids. I even got to join in for gym class. Loved running around with them.

Tonight we had baked chicken (1 red for me, 2 reds for Jeff), steamed cauliflower topped with shredded cheddar cheese (1 green, 1 blue). Jeff had another green left so her also got a full green of grilled zucchini, I just had a little to top up my green.

His:

Hers: 

Lunch prep tonight was also so much easier. It's starting to feel like a normal event. I am excited about that! This is the salad that I made for Jeff's lunch tomorrow.

One red, three greens, one orange.

21 Day Fix - Day 7

It's now been a week. I am feeling good. The first two days were a little hard as I worked to give up my boredom eating (which, by the way, I wasn't even aware I was doing!!!). That says something, don't you think?

Today started out crazy. This has nothing to do with the fix, but I will share it anyways. I am fighting a head cold so Jeff intended to let me sleep in this morning. He was up with the girls and I was sound asleep. I woke up abruptly to an extremely large bang, that shock our house. We were having a pretty substantial wind storm and out neighbours car shelter took flight and literally slammed into the side of our house. It hit hard enough to do some damage too. Bam. Good morning. Not a way that I want to wake up again.

The rest of the day was fairly routine balancing out the colour containers throughout the day. We did discover a new way to make breakfast. We always have a shakeology for breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day. Today we added a full green of spinach into the blender and made the shake. It was delicious! You couldn't taste it at all. In fact it tasted just like a milk shake. Only crazy, and I mean crazy healthy!

The wind and rain continued and I wanted soup. So I chopped celery, carrots and onions and threw it into the crock pot with homemade turkey broth and some left over turkey that I had frozen. I added 1 red on brown rice and walked away.

It was a delicious dinner, 1 red, 1 yellow, 2 green.

The best part is that I am going to freeze the left overs and the next time that I don't feel like making dinner or run out of time, I have a save! Mom score:-)

Oh and so far I have lost 5 pounds and Jeff has lost 10! I'm excited for the week ahead:-)

I am starting another round of this on February 9th and already have some amazing ladies that have committed to joining me. The support is amazing.

21 Day Fix - Day 6

I was super curious about the wine that I drank last night. I kind of figured that it would have put a pound back on me, or just plateaued me a little. So this morning, I decided to do a weigh in. Down a total of 5 pounds! What a great way to start the day.

I am seeing my energy increase now too. It's very encouraging!

I am finding it easier every day to figure out the colours and portions. I can look at a plate and see it in containers now. It's super funny....and helpful! Lol

Most of all I love that this is not a restrictive diet. I am eating real food. I AM NOT getting results by following some unrealistic plan that will sees my results disappear the second I start eating real food again. I do not believe in those diets. I don't even like the word diet.

Dinner tonight was simple. 1 red of shrimp, 1 orange of oil and balsamic dressing and 2 greens of lettuce and mixed raw veggies.

One of the amazing ladies in my challenge group shared a soup recipe with me today that I can't wait to try!!! It might even be tomorrow!

21 Day Fix - Day 4

Today was a bit of a struggle. Nothing major, just a bad Mom day. The baby was up a couple times last night. My five year old was up four times with bad dreams and just to not feel left out, our dog even got me up once!

Fast forward to this morning and I was feeling.....ROUGH! 

All I wanted was a comfort coffee. Morning coffee with.....gunk! Sigh. Settled for honey In My coffee instead and was pleasantly surprised with the taste. Ok, I CAN do this. First hurdle dodged.

I wasn't done there. We ended up running errands unexpectedly and I found myself quite a distance from home, starving and unprepared. As I stared at McDonalds, and even went inside to change the babies diaper I realized the best solution was to go into the grocery store. 

One large banana, one Greek yogurt and a water = 2 purple and 1 red. Golden!

The baby is five months old. She had an off day today;-( dinner was going to be a challenge. I could just tell. So I decided to pull out the slow cooker and see what I could manage to throw in there. 

All I had was a beef tenderloin. I wouldn't use a beef roast next time while doing the fix BUT when you have a crabby baby you do the best you can with what you have.

I threw onions, celery, sweet potatoes and garlic in the button of the slow cooker. Lightly seasoned the roast, seared it to lock in the flavors. Added it to the crock pot (frozen!) and added some water for moisture. At dinner I topped it with onions, cut up some fresh raw peppers and boom, one red, one green, one yellow. Not bad for a hard day.

I am proud that even when things are out of my hands, as today was, I now know that I can still make this work. It's a lifestyle and it's completely doable!!

21 Day Fix - Day 3

The hardest part of this challenge has been giving up my one bad food item. I absolutly love the international coffee creamer.  I know, I know. Can we say chemical s&@t storm!? But it tastes so good and I enjoy one cup of coffee each morning with this "creamer" that we affectionately call gunk. We have given it up for this as clearly it is one of the few items that is listed on the absolutly not list!

I am learning to appreciate coffee with a splash of almond milk. It's honestly not too bad.

Other then my coffee, the rest of the day was great!

Especially dinner. Buffalo style stuffed yam. I thought it was a super bizarre combination of ingredients. I'm not usually overly creative but I am really enjoying playing around with the different food combinations.

It was delicious! Jeff loved it and M ate it too, minues the hot sauce!

1.5 red, 1 yellow, 1 spoon serving and 1 green! I'm getting the hang of this container system!

(Baked chicken, baked yam, plain Greek yogurt and hot sauce with a side of grilled zucchini).