Started the day early running errands for my daughter’s prom tomorrow. Had a million things to do, so had to grab lunch out. Then had to go straight to work as soon as I got home. Now it’s 9:00 pm and I’m starving and exhausted and have three hours of work left. My daughter is fixing my dinner. Taco Bell for lunch and pizza rolls for dinner – that’s all I’m gonna say about that! I’m not going to post my daily calorie intake today, 1. Because I haven’t entered the food in my food log yet and 2. Because I know it will be ugly. I can’t say for sure if tomorrow will be better since we are spending the day at my grandmother’s doing all the prom prep (hair, makeup, pics, etc.) so I may just have to chalk this weekend up to something that just couldn’t be avoided and get back where I belong on Sunday!
21-Day Fix
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 6
Today I really didn’t measure my foods, nor did I even log any of my meals or snacks until I sat down to write this post. I was hungry and I ate what sounded good. The result? I went over my calories for the fist time in five days, but only by 51 calories, and that was solely based on the Lose It! calorie budget, which means I am still way under the 21-Day Fix calorie budget. I feel like I made really good choices today, even if my portion sizes could have been smaller. But, to be honest, I was hungry and what I made was delicious! I will not feel guilty for food choices today.
Total calorie count: 1813
- Breakfast – 177 calories
- Lunch – 484 calories
- Dinner – 985 calories
- Snacks – 166 calories
BREAKFAST: Bagel Thin with Nutella
SNACK: Skipped
LUNCH: Tilapia, rice/quinoa mix (brown rice, quinoa, plain yogurt and hummus) and broccoli
SNACK: Strawberries
DINNER: Tilapia (small piece left over from lunch), chicken (small boneless skinless piece leftover), rice/quinoa mix, broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes
SNACK: Dark chocolate almonds
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 5
DOWN A POUND – CALORIES CHANGED TO 1762/DAY
Today was a most difficult day. It was all I could do to choke down the spinach in my salad – and I love my salads. Nothing tasted quite “right” today. I wanted nothing more than to go have some wings and beer…..or pizza. I miss them so much! I know it will be worth it and I know that there will come a day when I can have these things and it will be OK. But today is not that today.
I was told that every once in a while you can indulge…and you have to in order to stay sane, I realize this. But I know myself. If I go downstairs and make wings and have a beer today. Then tomorrow it will be even easier to convince myself that I can order pizza (cause my week is already ruined anyway, right). Then it will be Friday and who wants to cook on Friday. Then it will be Saturday and we are getting my daughter ready for Prom so I will be running around all day, grabbing something on the go. Then it will be Sunday, which is Easter. Then ….. well now you get the idea of how my mind works. So I CANNOT go downstairs and cheat even a little bit today. I mean it’s my first week. I can’t allow myself to indulge so soon. I won’t allow myself to indulge so soon. So, I ate my slimy spinach and I choked down my bland chicken and I ended the day 214 calories under budget. So, I call that a success!!
Total calorie count: 1548
- Breakfast – 202 calories
- Lunch – 348 calories
- Dinner – 522 calories
- Snacks – 477 calories
BREAKFAST: Bagel Thin, strawberries
SNACK: Skipped
LUNCH: Salad (spinach, grilled chicken, dried cherries, sliced almonds, feta cheese with raspberry vinaigrette dressing)
SNACK: Blue corn tortilla chips
DINNER: Taco (ground turkey, Face plain yogurt, brown rice, refried beans, white queso, spicy ranchero sauce in a spinach & herb tortilla)
SNACK: Utz cheese balls (only 1 serving)
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 4
Total calorie count: 1682
- Breakfast – 424 calories
- Lunch – 566 calories
- Dinner – 424 calories
- Snacks – 268 calories
BREAKFAST: 2 hard-boiled eggs, strawberries, Bagel Thin with Nutella
SNACK: Sliced kiwi
LUNCH: Taco (ground turkey, plain yogurt, white queso, Spicy Ranchero sauce, rice and refried beans in a Spinach & Herb tortilla)
SNACK: Sliced cucumber
DINNER: Chicken breast, green beans, brussel sprouts
SNACK: Banana with Nutella
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 3
Total calorie count: 1522
- Breakfast – 277 calories
- Lunch – 400 calories
- Dinner – 574 calories
- Snacks – 270 calories
BREAKFAST: 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, strawberries
SNACK: Skipped
LUNCH: Chicken sausage, roasted asparagus and quinoa
SNACK: 2 dark chocolate Hershey Kisses
DINNER: Taco (ground turkey, Face plain yogurt, brown rice, refried beans, white queso, spicy ranchero sauce in a spinach & herb tortilla)
SNACK: Tortilla chips and hummus
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 2
Total calorie count: 1248
- Lunch – 237
- Dinner – 672
- Snacks – 340
Today was much a better! I slept in so I decided to skip breakfast and just have my first snack. My daily breakdown is as follows:
- Breakfast: 1 Purple, 1 Red
- Snack: 1 Green
- Lunch: 2 Green, 1 Purple, 2 Red, 1 Yellow
- Snack: 1 Green
- Dinner: 2 Green, 1 Purple, 1 Yellow, 2 Red, 2 Yellow
- Snack: 1 Purple, 1 Yellow
- 6 teaspoons
BREAKFAST: Skipped
SNACK: Baby carrots
LUNCH: Brown rice/quinoa mix, sliced cucumbers
SNACK: Banana, Nutella
DINNER: Chicken burger with swiss cheese and Face plain yogurt on a Sandwich Thin, green beans almondine and mashed sweet potato
SNACK: Skipped.
21-Day Fix – Food Log Day 1
So, as I said in my last post, I am allowed 2300 calories divided up as follows:
- 6 Green (1 cup)
- 4 Purple (1 cup)
- 6 Red (3/4 cup)
- 4 Yellow (1/2 cup)
- 1 Blue (1/4 cup)
- 1 Orange (2 Tbsp)
- 6 teaspoons
My Lose It! app states that for me to reach my goal weight I only need 1786 calories, so that is my goal, but I guess I do have a little leeway if I am eating the right kinds of foods.
BREAKFAST: (1 purple and 2 red) – 3 slices of turkey bacon, 2 hard-boiled eggs and 1/2 grapefruit – 229 calories
And then my day went kind of downhill….so really I shouldn’t even call this day one. I ended up having to work, but I did get off early. My BFF came over, we started to head to Thunder over Louisville (kickoff to the Kentucky Derby festivities) because it was such an awesome day, but it was already late and traffic was going to be a nightmare. All the kids in the neighborhood were playing so we got some beer and wine and hung out in the backyard with the neighbors. I drank way more than the 4 ounces of wine I’m allowed to have and splurged a little on a burrito and some pizza rolls. So that is that. Tomorrow is another day.
21-Day Fix – Background Information
OK, here’s what I know so far about the 21-Day Fix that I am embarking on. It comes with cute little color-coded containers to measure out your food. The End. So, I will be learning along with you as you learn from me….ha ha. You get containers colored green, purple, red, yellow, blue and orange. Based on your weight (and their little formula) you calculate how many calories you can have per day and that calorie count tells you how many of each container you are permitted. So, according to the 21-Day Fix guidelines I am to have 2300 calories per day and those calories are to be divided up as follows:
- 6 Green (1 cup)
- 4 Purple (1 cup)
- 6 Red (3/4 cup)
- 4 Yellow (1/2 cup)
- 1 Blue (1/4 cup)
- 1 Orange (2 Tbsp)
- 6 teaspoons
The Green container is for vegetables (makes sense, right?). The foods I bought from this category are: Baby spinach, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, cucumbers and celery. There are simply the foods I chose that I currently like to eat. Purple is for Fruits. I chose blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit, cherries (dried), kiwi and bananas. Red is Protein. I chose boneless skinless chicken, ground turkey, tilapia, eggs, plain yogurt, Chobani yogurt (strawberry, blueberry and peach – this is a personal alteration), tuna and canned chicken. Yellow is your starches. I chose sweet potatoes, quinoa, black beans, refried beans, brown rice, corn, bagel (flat bagel thins) and tortillas (mine are spinach and herb). For Blue I have avocado, almonds, hummus (roasted red pepper), feta cheese, swiss cheese and shredded Parmesan cheese. Orange is basically your dressings. I am strictly using raspberry vinaigrette. This is my own personal alteration. Teaspoon items are your oils and butters. I am using coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and Nutella. During this 21-Day Fix, your containers are supposed to be divided among 3 meals and 3 snacks throughout the day (I think the idea is to eat something every 2 to 3 hours). You are only supposed to drink water. But you can exchange items in certain categories for other beverages or treats. I am going to do my absolute best to ONLY drink water, but I make no promises. As far as the treats I bought tortilla chips (blue ones) and dark chocolate Hershey kisses (cause in my mind they are just giant chocolate chips). Here goes nothing…………………..
21-Day Fix – My Version
I want need to lose weight. I have no real health problems to speak of. My heart is healthy (trust me I’ve had three full heart workups because if you are sick and fat, it MUST be your heart). My blood pressure is normal. My cholesterol is even good. I am just fat, overweight, obese – use whatever word you choose. They all are correct descriptions. Am I proud of this? Absolutely NOT! I have learned to love and accept myself just the way I am. My husband loves me. My children love me. My friends and family love me. That really is all that is important. But, I don’t like being the “fat mom” at all the school functions. I don’t like only having two stores I can shop and get cute clothes in. I don’t like walking up the 14 stairs to my office and being out of breath when I reach the top. I don’t like being embarrassed to have sex with my husband with the lights on. I don’t like being worried that I won’t fit in a movie theater seat/plane seat/stadium seat.
I have tried several times (some more valiantly than others) and have been semi-successful but something always happens to knock me back down and I go eat a cupcake. I mean I’ve already messed, so what’s the point, right?? WRONG! I really really want this time to be different. I want it so bad I am blogging about it. I want it so bad that I hope people will hold me accountable. I want people to email me, text me, post on Facebook whatever it takes to motivate and encourage. I do not, however, want someone like Jillian Michaels yelling in my face. I promise you, that will have the opposite effect and I’ll be curled up in bed with a book and a pan of brownies in no time. If that is what worked for you, great. But that is not what works for me. Positive encouragement and stories of amazing results is what encourages me.
A friend of mine did the 21-Day Fix a few weeks ago and lost 16 pounds. So, since she had all the books, containers, food lists and information, I decided to just borrow them and formulate my own plan. She did Shakeology with hers. I am skipping that part (mostly because it is expensive and out of my budget right now). So I sat down and calculated (based on their formula) how many calories I am allowed to have based on my weight. It said 2300. But I am also using the Lose It! app and when I enter my current weight and my goal weight, it tells me 1737. So that is my daily goal. I have a looooong way to go to reach my goal weight (estimated at almost two years according to Lose It!), but I have to do this one step at a time. Looking at that huge number of days is overwhelming.
This definitely has to be a lifestyle change for me, but this is a huge thing so I have to do it in baby steps or I will most definitely fail. I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle considering I work from home typing at a computer for 16+ hours a day at least six days a week. So this is my plan:
- First 21-day cycle will be strictly about the dietary changes. I will work on eating more of the right things, portion sizes and finding that things that work and don’t work, foods I like and don’t like and how to prepare them so I not only feel full but that I also enjoy them. Plus finding items that are on the required lists of foods but yet fulfill my cravings for things I love.
- Second 21-day cycle will incorporate light exercise (30 minutes a day – walking or bike riding).
- Third 21-day cycle will be where the real change begins. That is when I plan to start P90X. I bought the program two years ago and it is still sitting on a shelf gathering dust. That is going to change.
Based on today being Day 1 of the first cycle, May 3 will be the end of cycle one, May 24 will be the end of cycle two and June 14 will be the end of cycle 3. So for those you who don’t know, if I do this as planned, I will have completed all three cycles as well as P90X on MY BIRTHDAY!!! What a gift to myself, right?! There is a slight possibility of doing the 5K Foam Fest in Indianapolis on my birthday as well, but those details are still being worked out, not to mention I am trying to decide if my very first 5K should be a crazy one, or if it should just be a straight run/walk with no obstacles. We shall see. But I most definitely will be doing the Run With All Your Heart in August in Jamestown and this year I WILL be doing the 4 miles!
So, daily I am going to log my food (and exercise in cycle 2/3) to keep me accountable. All words of encouragement are more than appreciated. If you’re a texter and don’t have my cell phone, let me know. I appreciate all texts, emails, Twitter posts and Facebook comments.
I will be back tonight to log my food diary for the day. Thank you in advance for all your love!!
The Life of a Tattooed Mom of 3! 