My Eating Clean Journey

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Beachbody’s 21 Day Fix Program

Tomorrow is a new year and a new day.  With that comes a slew of New Year’s Resolutions.  How many of us will state a resolution without setting goals for achieving them.  Make sure you have a specific goal and a road map for achieving it.  For me, I’ll be continuing my path of healthy eating and this year I’ll be working to achieve a more active lifestyle.  I started in December with the 21 Day Fix Program from Beachbody.  I love that the program teaches you how to eat a balanced meal, in controlled portions and adds in 30 minutes of exercise each day.  

21_day_fix-

 

What is 21 Day Fix?
21 Day Fix is a nutrition and fitness program that makes losing weight so simple,
anyone can do it. Easy-to-follow portion control and 30-minute workouts take
the guesswork out of losing weight to help you see results fast—up to 15 pounds
in just 21 days!
Whether you want to lose a few pounds before your next vacation or jump-start a
bigger weight-loss goal, 21 Day Fix is the program for you. It’s simple, it’s fast, and
it works. If you’re ready to get serious, 21 Day Fix can help you lose the weight.
Why is 21 Day Fix effective?
Because it’s so simple! You don’t have to count calories, points, or log your food
into diet software. With 21 Day Fix, everything is laid out for you. All you have to
do is use the specially designed portion-control containers and do one 30-minute
workout per day. Commit to it for 21 days, and you’re going to love your results.

21DayFix_containers
What makes 21 Day Fix unique?
It’s the only fitness and nutrition program that combines portion-control
containers and world-class workouts. By placing equal emphasis on fitness and
healthy portion control, 21 Day Fix can help anyone lose weight—and keep it
off—in a way that’s simple and sustainable. Whether you want to lose 10 pounds
or 100 pounds, you can do it with this program.
How does 21 Day Fix work?
With the 21 Day Fix container system, you’ll learn how to create healthy portions simply and intuitively. It shows you how to eat whatever you want, in the right amounts, so you can reach your goals fast.  No guesswork, and no calorie counting!  The 21 Day Fix workouts are designed to burn a lot of calories in only 30 minutes.  Any fitness level can do them. If you’re a beginner, follow the on-screen modifier.  And if you’re an advanced exerciser looking
to shed those last few pounds, dial up the intensity and challenge yourself to push harder.

21 day containers

Each container represents a food “group” that you can eat on the program.  For instance, the purple cup is for fruit and the red is for proteins.  Depending on how much you currently weigh, you’ll be allotted a certain number of containers each day.

21 day fix tracking sheet

Track your container usage each day with this handy chart that is included in your booklet.  I also have an assortment of trackers available for download in my Facebook group.  As well as meal plans and grocery lists.

So….what’s included in the Beachbody 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack?  Lots of goodies.

21 day fix challenge

 

 An Eating Plan:  Forget about counting calories, points or ounces.  Use these seven color-coded containers to serve yourself the correct portions of a well-balanced diet.  Using the chart within your challenge pack, you’ll know exactly how many of each container you can enjoy each day.

A Work-Out Plan:  Eight easy to follow work-outs that are only 30 minutes each.  No matter what your current exercise level is, you’ll love how you feel while doing these.  Autumn encourages you through each exercise and shows you low-impact techniques or ones to help challenge you more.

  • Total Body Cardio Fix
  • Upper Fix
  • Lower Fix
  • Cardio Fix
  • Pilates Fix
  • Yoga Fix
  • Dirty 30
  • 10 Minute Abs

and a Bonus PIYO if you order the challenge pack through me.

A 21 Day Fix Start Here Plan:  A quick start guide to get you seeing results right away.

A 21 Day Fix Program Eating Plan:  This is your step-by-step guide on how to use the program.  It’ll explain the containers, how many to use each day and provide you with charts and much more.

A 3 Day Fix Booklet:  Use this plan if you need to get in shape quickly for a special occasion:  Wedding, Beach Day, etc.  It’s also great to follow at the end of the 21 Day Fix for your “after” photos.

A 30 Day Supply of Shakeology – Your Healthiest Meal of the Day:  Simplify your nutrition with the convenient and delicious daily superfood protein shake that helps give you energy for your workouts, reduces junk food cravings, and may help you reach your fitness goals faster. A nutrient-dense combination of antioxidants, phytonutrients, adaptogens, and many other rare ingredients gives your body superfoods you can’t get from a normal diet. 100% vegan option now available.

A Shakeology Shaker Cup:  To mix and enjoy your Shakeology in.

A FREE 30-day trial membership in the Team Beachbody® Club, where you’ll find all the support you’ll need to complete your Challenge.

and A Coach (me!) to help you along your journey.  To help motivate you, answer your questions, help with meal planning, recipes and more.

For the Month of January, this Challenge Pack is only $140 (normally $160, which was a big savings at that price)!

Down 27.2 pounds in 33 Days and My Cholesterol Results

When you wish upon a star, your dreams may come true.  Right now I feel like I’m living in a dream.  I stepped on the scale today and I’m down 27.2 pounds in 33 days.  Plus, I had my blood drawn yesterday at my doctor’s to run a few numbers and my cholesterol is down to 117.  What an amazing number to see.  A healthy number.  All my hard work and clean eating is really paying off.  I wish I would have listened to my friend a year ago when I first heard about Omnitrition and their Omni-Drops.

I wanted to share a portion of the book, Pounds and Inches from Dr. Simeons.   At the very beginning of his book he talked about Obesity as a disorder and says this:
As a basis for our discussion we postulate that obesity in all its many forms is due to an abnormal functioning of some part of the body and that every ounce of abnormally accumulated fat is always the result of the same disorder of certain regulatory mechanisms. Persons suffering from this particular disorder will get fat regardless of whether they eat excessively, normally or less than normal. A person who is free of the disorder will never get fat, even if he frequently overeats.
 
Those in whom the disorder is severe will accumulate fat very rapidly, those in whom it is moderate will gradually increase in weight and those in whom it is mild may be able to keep their excess weight stationary for long periods. In all these cases a loss of weight brought about by dieting, treatments with thyroid, appetite-reducing drugs, laxatives, violent exercise, massage, baths, etc., is only temporary and will be rapidly regained as soon as the reducing regimen is relaxed. The reason is simply that none of these measures corrects the basic disorder.
 
I am this person that Dr. Simeon describes in his book.  I have been moving towards an eating  clean lifestyle for the past three years but didn’t have much success in the weight loss category.   Although I was feeling better and knew I was feeding my body the nutrients that it needed to remain healthy, the weight was still an issue.  Thanks to his research and trials with his patients 
in Italy, I feel he has unlocked the secret to losing weight – for me.  I have been on almost every diet out there and have never had much success.  There is an Omni support group on facebook for customers of the products.  Someone was mentioning the other day that they were disappointed that they had only lost 3 pounds in two days.  My response to her was that we put way too much emphasis on what the number of the scale is.  We need to know that by eating a good diet full of whole foods, we are feeding our body with vitamins and minerals.  Imagine if we just ate what we wanted and didn’t care if it was processed and full of ingredients we couldn’t even pronounce. I remember when I was following the Weight Watchers plan and celebrated a 1 pound loss each week.  So what this one person on Omni-Drops lost in two days and was disappointed in, I would be celebrating at the three week mark on Weight Watchers.
 
If anyone would like information on Omnitrition and the Omni-Drops, please feel free to email me at cleaneating@comcast.net or leave a comment here on my blog (which I love receiving by the way).

Eating Clean and Feeling Great – A Week of Dinners

If you’ve been reading my blog, then you know I started a new diet at the beginning of January, on the 2nd to be exact.  I am feeling great.  The thought that my body hasn’t had sugar, oil or processed food is wonderful.  It’s the journey I have been longing for and it’s even effecting the scale.  I’ve lost a total of 17.8 pounds.

One thing that I’ve noticed over my 30 years of trying to lose weight, is how much attention we give to the number that’s on the scale.  If it’s not moving downwards then we get discouraged and give up.  I’ve been a victim of that.  I once exercised for 5 months straight, 5 times a week for one hour and didn’t see any difference in the number on the scale.  I decided it wasn’t worth the effort and gave up.  When the scale isn’t budging, it’s important to look at the other positive things that are happening within you.  For me, although the scale is going down, I do celebrate my “non-scale” victories.  For example, I have so much more energy then I had before I started eating clean.  Also, last weekend my sister and I went to visit my parents in upstate New York.  They live near a casino and we had plans of going to bingo a few times during our stay.  We stayed on plan the whole time, no cheating from the two of us.  We met my parents at bingo and my mom packed us each a salad with grilled chicken.  We both packed some “approved” foods from our eating plan so we were prepared.  I brought in my homemade Honey Mustard Dressing and BBQ Sauce to put on our salads.  For dinner we went to the restaurant and asked what vegetables they had as a side, none of them were what we could eat.  My sister asked if they had access to any asparagus and the waitress replied that the neighboring restaurant had some.  She ran next door and picked us up two side orders to go with the 8oz sirloin steak that we split.  Unfortunately the asparagus wasn’t very much but my sister had packed a cucumber with her and I had packed my food scale.  We weighed out the asparagus and supplemented with the cucumber.  It felt so good to be successful by being prepared.

So, two tips for today:  Celebrate the Non-Scale Victories and Be Prepared.

Here’s what I ate this week:

 
Chicken Curry
 
4oz chicken sliced thinly (easy to do if it’s semi-frozen)
2oz onion, big slices
2oz celery, bite size pieces
curry powder, to your liking
chicken broth
 
In a medium sized pan, add in your onions and celery and saute with a splash of chicken broth for about 2 minutes.  Toss your chicken pieces in the curry powder and add them to the pan.  Add additional chicken broth to help cook the vegetables and keep the chicken from sticking to the pan.  Cook until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked throughout, about 10 minutes.
 
Curried Beef and Spinach
 
4oz ground beef
4oz spinach
curry powder
 
Cook the hamburg in a pot with a splash of beef broth.  Cook until cooked through.  Add 1/2 cup of additional beef broth and add in the spinach and curry powder (to taste).  Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the spinach is wilted.
 
Curried Chicken and Cabbage 
(see a theme going here this week)
 
4oz chicken
4oz cabbage
curry powder
 
Cook chicken in a pot with a splash of water or chicken broth.  When no longer pink, add in your cabbage and a little more broth to help cook the cabbage down.  Toss in the curry powder and mix well.  Add sea salt and pepper and serve.
 
Here’s the meal we got from the restaurant at the casino.  We took it to go so we could eat it during our bingo session.
 
 
Roasted Radishes
 
4oz radishes
sea salt and pepper
braggs aminos in a spray bottle
 
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper,  place the radishes on the baking sheet and spray with the Braggs Aminos.  Dust with salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them and check for doneness.
Italian Grilled Chicken with Radishes and Spinach
 
 
Which one is your favorite from my menu this week?

Healthy Thanksgiving Tips from The Doctors

HEALTHY THANKSGIVING TIPS
It’s that time of year again! The holiday season is fast approaching and days are becoming filled with holiday planning, shopping and preparation. This time of year gives you the opportunity to gather with friends and family, cook festive meals and give thanks for your many blessings. But this jolly time of year can also have extreme implications on your health. THE DOCTORS shares the following tips to ensure a happy and healthy holiday season:
Three Quick Tips to Avoid Overeating on Thanksgiving:
·         Eat Walnuts: Eat a handful before your meal. They will help fill you up, and the antioxidants can improve your artery function and reduce inflammation.
·         Limit yourself to two alcoholic drinks: Alcohol removes your inhibitions, so if you drink before you eat, you’re going to overeat.
·         Sit down and chew your food: You will enjoy your food more if you chew it slowly.
Healthy Holiday Snacking Tips:
•        Beware of foods loaded with butter and cheese: Steamed broccoli is healthy and low in fat, but when smothered in cheese and butter, it can pack an additional 215 calories and 16 grams of fat in just one cup!
•        Watch out for salads: Leafy greens and salads seem like a healthy choice, but when loaded with high-fat, high-cholesterol cheeses and dressing, such as a Cobb salad, these verdant concoctions contain more than 1,000 calories and 71 grams of fat! 
•        Avoid saturated fats and fried foods: These are guaranteed to heavily increase the calorie count. Opt for baked options, rather than fried and reach for lean meats such as white turkey. 
Beat-the-Bloat Tricks for Feeling Less Full:
·         Wear a watch: Keeping track of time and eating slower will help you notice when you’re getting full. Wait a couple minutes before returning for seconds – this will give your body the chance to digest food intake.
·         Drink Water: This may seem like a no-brainer, but drinking a glass of water before a meal can help you eat 20% few calories. If you feel bloated, have a glass of peppermint tea instead, which helps prevent the feeling of being extremely full.
·         Incorporate papaya and pineapple: These super foods have digestive enzymes that assist with digestion and help you feel less full after a large meal.

Tune in to THE DOCTORS (check your local listings) for more tips for a healthy holiday season.

Hiding Carrots within your Soup

Did you know that you could hide some vegetables within your soup or pasta sauce and your kids wouldn’t know?  Juice some carrots and add it in place of your chicken, beef or vegetable broth.  You can replace it 100% or only do 50/50 (50% carrot juice and 50% broth).
Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net