Day Thirteen of the 21 Day Fix Extreme - Polar Pop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!  I don't know why Tuesdays make me tired.  It's not like I've had a long week (yet) and Mondays aren't always as long as yesterday was.  But they do.

Sometimes, you have to have something that will set the day off right.  Today started out with 5AM Dirty Thirty - my favorite of the 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts.  This workout is 30 minutes of solid THE GOOD HURT and I love it!  But, I knew by breakfast it was going to be a Polar Pop day. Speaking of breakfast - Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach.  Consistent YUMMO.  One red and one green.

I can't drink coffee.  It's tragic and ridiculous and all of those things but, alas, it destroys my sensitive stomach, so no coffee for me.  I drink "southern coffee."  Meaning, when I need some caffeine in the morning, it's Diet Coke/Coke Zero/ Diet Pepsi time.  Nothing fits the bill like a big 'ole Polar Pop from the gas station around the corner from my office.  67 cents for 64 ounces of yes, please!

I know that diet soda is full of chemicals that will dissolve battery acid deposits and blah blah blah. We've talked about this.  I know, and I like it regardless.  I can't have coffee.  Gotta give me something!

I have to say, this beverage altered the course of my day.  I don't think I could have managed 8 hours of productivity without.

Morning snack - fruit.  I took my gym bag today but had a bunch of stuff I needed to catch up on at lunch time, so I altered my food accordingly for one workout and not two today.  Strawberries and blueberries at my desk.  One purple.

Today was throwback lunch day.  I ate this lunch most every day before I started the Fix and haven't been eating it because it uses up my one blue (healthy fat) and also contains renegade Ranch dressing.  I know, I know, such a REBEL!!

I love this lunch though.  It's good and filling and pretty to look at.  It consisted of chicken (left over from the beer can chicken Heath made on Sunday), red pepper, tomatoes and baby carrots.

Doesn't it look delish?  It was!  The hummus is one blue, I measured it this AM.  The Ranch is about two tablespoons worth.  I counted it as my orange plus two teaspoons.  And one red, one green and one purple.  You may be wondering how someone who is lactose-intolerant can eat Ranch.  Or maybe you aren't, but I'll tell you anyway that regular Ranch dressing in small quantities is ok for me. Homemade Ranch, like at a restaurant, is not.  It's too "real," has non-preservative laden ingredients. This works for me though, because I like a little Ranch with my tomatoes.

I didn't have an afternoon snack.  Didn't need it.  Plus, I was super busy at work and didn't have time to be hungry!

Dinner was leftovers from last night.  I forgot to take a pic but it's basically this same dinner minus the potato.  One red and one green.

After dinner, I took advantage of the 30 minutes I had before taking my son to MMA and walked Lucy around the block.  I was still hungry after dinner and thought I'd give myself a chance to see if I was really hungry or not.  Once around the block (about 1/2 mile) is all Lucy can do, she's only 3 1/2 but has Canine Muscular Myopathy, which is doggie Muscular Dystrophy.  She looks and acts like a normal Lab, she just doesn't have much energy.  She LOVES going around the block, such a happy girl...

Still hungry post-walk and pre-MMA, I decided to have dessert.  I had a lot of containers left, so I had my new favorite - Greek yogurt, granola and raisins.  One red, one yellow and one purple.  And a Cherry Coke Zero :)

Overall a good day!  I ended today with one green, two yellows and two teaspoons.  Tomorrow is Day 14, two-thirds of the way through my 21 Days.  Here's hoping the scale is friendly this week!

Day Twelve of the 21 Day Fix - Prepared!!

When I as looking at the week yesterday and what the schedule looked like, I was ready for it to be Friday afternoon.  Lots going on this week! Since it's seemingly not going to magically become Friday afternoon, I had to do some planning.

This is the key for me to be successful - I have to plan ahead.  I have to look at the day(s) coming up and put the dots close enough together that I won't mess it up.  This includes my meals, my workouts, kids' schedules and alarms in my phone for EVERYTHING!  I am THAT mother, the one who has set an alarm in my phone so I remember to pick up a child at a certain place at a certain time.  Hey, it happens!

This pic gives you an idea of what I haul to work and home on a daily basis.

The bag on the left has my food for the day.  Granted, the big jug of protein powder is for a friend who is not a CostCo member (I cannot imaging not being a CostCo member!) but the rest of it is my snacks and lunch, already measured and portioned out.

The bag on the right is my gym bag.  I take it every day.  Workout clothes, shoes, towel, hair dryer, all of it.  Today I had capri pants and shorts, so I could do yoga if I wanted or run outside if I wanted. (Yoga in shorts = poor life choice).  I ended up doing a 2 mile treadmill run followed by yoga outside, go figure!  But, I was PREPARED!  You following me??

I prep and pack as much of this as possible the night before.  Again, dots close together.  I have to make it as easy for myself as possible so I don't forget/get sidetracked/say forget it I'm not doing that today when things get crazy and busy around my house in the mornings.  It just works better for me that way.

Now, I am fortunate to work for a company that provides an onsite gym with a trainer and scheduled classes.  SO THANKFUL FOR THIS!!!  It makes it so easy for me to workout on my lunch hour, shower and get back to my desk on time.  (I'm also pretty low maintenance, which helps!!).

Back to the Fix!  This morning's workout was Cardio Extreme Fix.  Again, liked this one more the second time around.  Great combination of weighted moves and cardio intervals without weights. Makes for a great Monday morning workout when I MAY have slipped up a tiny bit (yes, we've talked about the wine already...) and need a good whooping to start the week.  This workout fits the bill!

Breakfast - you will be shocked - was Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach.  Love love love this combo.  One red and one green.

Morning snack - yogurt, granola and raisins at about 10.  I had decided to run a bit even if I also did yoga class so I wanted to have something to keep me full.  This combo is becoming a favorite of mine!

One red, one yellow's worth of granola and about 1/4 full purple, which I count as a purple since it's dried fruit.

Lunch was leftover buffalo chicken lettuce wraps and the were GOOD!  Sometimes you just want a warm lunch and this really hit the spot.  I had my wraps with some strawberries and blueberries for dessert at about 1:15.

I counted this as 1/2 green, 1 red and one purple.  I will make this again for a good made-ahead lunch.  Chicken and wing sauce.  Doesn't get much easier than that!

Afternoon snack is my new afternoon at work staple - it's just too easy and good not to repeat most every day.

I have a shaker that I keep at work, mix water and I'm good to go.  This is one red and one teaspoon.

I've noticed that, on many days, I go over my reds by one.  I get four.  Technically, Shakeology is one and a half scoops = red.  I count a serving as a red and go with it.  Same with the Orgain powder. The way I see it, these are both plant-based proteins so I'm not going to worry about going over by a red. It's not like I'm eating containers of bacon....yuuummmmmmmmmm bacon...  Ok, focus.

Dinner awesome because my awesome husband had it on the table when I got home.  I have a 45 min turn around time between when I get home and when we have to leave for my daughter's soccer game, so Heath had dinner planned and done.  

This was a good as it looks.  I ate about 2/3 of the potato.  This is 1 red, 1 1/2 green and two yellows. Technically, the greek yogurt on the potato is about 1/3 red.  Used a little butter, so I counted 2 teaspoons too.  

I end the day with 1 green, 1 purple and my blue and orange.  Not bad!  Now to watch some soccer - so thankful it's not snowing!  Or raining!  Or 30 degrees!!!  :)

Day Eleven of the 21 Day Fix - Halfway!!

It's Day 11 - I'm half way through my 21 Day Fix.  I got on the scale this morning and am up a pound from yesterday.  This is not a shock - I had wine Friday and Saturday and too many yellows on Saturday.  I'm down 2 pounds from where I started.  I'm not impressed by this number, but can say that I feel some difference in my jeans.  I have to keep telling myself that the scale is not always the best indicator.

Today I am back on track!  I did NOT like adding all those extra yellow checks yesterday!  And, true story, I can feel that I ate stuff I shouldn't yesterday.  It's all good, though.  If I didn't screw up, I wouldn't have the opportunity to realize that I really do feel different when I cheat on the nutrition. This doesn't mean I'm going to eat perfectly forever - I probably won't eat perfectly for the next 10 days!  But, a good reminder all the same.

This morning was Lower Fix Extreme and 10 Min Hardcore.  I've learned that, with this workout, I use 10's on the squats and 8's on the lunges.  I do the jump portion on the squats, but not the jump lunges.  For some reason, jump lunges hurt my knees.  So I don't do them.  I do low pulse lunges instead.  My legs were dying by the end, so it seems effective!  10 Min Hardcore.  That last move gets me every time.  The one where you are in high plank and extending one arm out perpendicular to your body and then reaching under to the other side.  If I can get to where I can do this move for the whole minute, I will feel 21 Day Fix ACCOMPLISHED!!

Breakfast post workout - Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach.  One red and one green.

I kind of combined morning snack and lunch - it just worked out that way.  Had errands to run and wasn't going to the grocery store hungry.  Made eggs again, scrambled this time.  This is one of my all time favorite meals and so very easy.  Heath and I made a pan and split it.  This is eggs, some grilled chicken, onion, red pepper and spinach.  One green, one red, one teaspoon.

This held me until about 2:00.  I made goulash (recipe on Day 3) so I'd be prepped for the week.  It's a crazy week, with three soccer games, two days of MMA for my son and Heath and I taking a shooting class on Thursday night.  (Yes, I said shooting.  As in concealed carry, this is an intermediate class.)  I don't want to get caught without good food options, making goulash will provide dinner in a pinch if needed.  I also made chocolate chip pancakes for my daughter.  Two batches.  I wrap them individually in press and seal and freeze them.  Pop them in the microwave and she's got breakfast during the week.  Way more cost-effective than Eggos!

I had yogurt, granola and raisins for my afternoon snack.  Love this stuff.   One red, one yellow, one purple.

Basketball is on again this afternoon and evening, but I'm on track and my dinner is planned.  We are having "beer can" chicken and salad.  And the SUN is out (hooray after yesterday's SNOW). Watching the game with friends on their patio.  That's a great Sunday afternoon!!


I made salad to have with our chicken.  While I was making the salad, I had a snack of blueberries and strawberries.  One purple.

Here's what it looked like in a standard cereal bowl...

Here's dinner - salad with the chicken and a little bit of pasta salad.  Two greens, one purple, one red, one orange and one yellow.

Gorgeous evening.  Was hoping for a Gonzaga upset, but oh well.  I end the day today with one yellow, one blue and two teaspoons remaining.  Overall, a good day.  Happy to be back on track!!

Day Ten of the 21 Day Fix Extreme - Basketball Saturday

It snowed on Saturday.  In Memphis.  On March the 28th.  I would like to say that I am SO OVER winter this year and it can please move on and stay gone.  We had some fantastic days...then it snowed.  As my son put it - can we please have a week where all four seasons are not represented??

Saturday was not my best day nutrition wise.  It's the first day I've really fallen off and not stayed in my portion ranges.  In a nutshell, Saturday was a yellow fest!

Started out good - Pilates in the morning followed by Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach. Good workout, one red and one green at about 7:30AM.

By about 9AM, I was hungry.  Like really hungry. I'm home, so I made one of my favorites - eggs and sauteed veggies.  I used up the spinach in my shake, so I had eggs, onions and red pepper...

I wanted toast with it.  Like a lot.  But I didn't have any, and I'm glad I did, given that my yellow fest was to happen later in the day!  This is one red, one green and one teaspoon.

I spent some time in the afternoon getting my seedlings ready for growing season.  I'll put my Tower Gardens up in about three weeks and so it's time for seedlings.  I've not done indoor growing, but decided to use the grow lights I have to make a seedling starter station in my garage.  These grow lights are on a timer and emulate the sun.  This way I can get them going and not worry about the weather conditions outside, which is good since it SNOWED!!  The grow lights are designed to attach to the Tower Garden, but I rigged them up like this.

My trays of seedlings will sit on the shelf below the lights.  Boom!  Redneck ingenuity!!

So what am I growing this year?  All kids of stuff.  I made these laminated labels at work, because I always think I will remember what's what and then it becomes a surprise when things start producing..

I'll transfer these babies to the Tower Garden when they are about 3-4 weeks old and be eating home-grown yumminess by mid-May!  :)

Lunch was planned to be a wrap with hummus and artichokes.  I ended up eating some of it, it just wasn't doing it for me.  Sometimes it works out that way.  By the afternoon, basketball was on and that was  better idea than this wrap.  It's one yellow, one blue and 1/2 green.  But I ate less than half.

I was craving buffalo chicken dip in the worst way.  Buffalo chicken dip is not on the 21 Day Meal Plan.  So, I made buffalo chicken lettuce wraps.  We had some friends over to watch the games and these are actually a crowd pleaser.  And super easy.  Just take chicken ( I used the canned from CostCo) and wing sauce in a pot and heat up.  Served on romaine lettuce - we had blue cheese crumbles and ranch dressing too.  What's here is 1/2 green and one red.

And it was all good until I had another serving of the chicken with two handfuls of Tostitos!  And a glass of wine.  Ok, two glasses of wine.  Hence the yellows.  Little bit out of control with the yellows on the day!!  At the end of Saturday - I had remaining (I think)...two greens, three purples, one orange.  BUT I went over my yellows by three.  Whoops. Good thing tomorrow is a new day!!

Day 9 of the 21 Day Fix - Here Comes the Hybrid!

Yay Friday!  It's Day 9 of my 21 Day Fix Extreme experience and I have to say that, while overall it has not been as hard as I thought it would be, today I am struggling a bit.  Not starving, but just hungry pretty much all day.  I haven't changed my routine or foods today, I'm wondering if it's from 4 consecutive double workout days??  Maybe? I feel like I'm getting plenty of food/calories.  I do find myself hungry on strength days versus cardio days.  Maybe that's it??

This morning was Upper Fix Extreme and 10 Minute Hardcore (abs).  I was thankful for Upper Fix - I needed to give my legs a break!  Again, I liked this workout more the second time around.  I knew what weights work for me (8's and 5's again) and what to expect.  Plus, between all the workouts this week and Hardcore this morning, I can feel my abs and obliques.  A lot.  Loving it  and shrinking that muffin top!

Breakfast was my usual Vegan Chocolate Shakeology and Spinach.  One red and one green.

Morning snack - same as yesterday - yogurt, granola and raisins.  I had this at about 9AM because I was hungry.  Not quite hangry, but not wanting to get there.

I didn't work out at lunch today.  I feel like I need a break after 4 days of two workouts a day.  Heath came and had lunch with me - we went to Zaxby's and to Lowe's for seeds for my Tower Garden.  It's time to plant my seedlings and get to growing.  Tower Garden is an aeroponic growing system made and sold by The Juice Plus Company, where I work.  More on what I'm growing later, but here's the info for those who may be curious - www.towergarden.com.

Lunch was a cobb Zalad, since I was at Zaxby's it's a zalad, no cheese and none of the fried onions.  It was good. I wanted the bread but didn't eat it.  Actually, I wanted Heath's fries but didn't eat those either. Improvement from the french fry incident of last weekend!

I had honey mustard dressing.  I meant to bring my dressing from work and forgot and I hate their vinegarette.  I counted this as two greens, one red and one orange.

Had my typical afternoon snack of a shake.  Feeling hungry and a little over thinking about food, so I looked for some inspiration - found a few good ones - 

That made me laugh, since chocolate chips would have been good in my granola!

Spoiler Alert - If you are looking to read the blog of someone who followed the plan to the letter, stop reading!  If you are looking to read the experience of a real person, keep reading!  Because, as I was driving home, I was lamenting that I really want a steak for dinner.  And a glass of wine.  And I thought, why can't I?  After all, is this whole experience not about making sustainable lifestyle changes that will make me a healthier, fitter me?  Lifestyle change, NOT diet.  Diets are all about deprivation and ugh.  I don't live in a space of ugh.  

I know, I know.  I'm a spin doctor.  But are you with me?  I have yellows.  On the regular Fix, I can trade a yellow for a glass of wine.  On the Extreme, I can't.  BUT...

1.  I am not training for a bikini competition.

2.  I am not delusional enough to think I will wear a bikini, even after completing the 21 Day Fix Extreme and any other subsequent program.

3.  I read a headline (not the article, the headline was enough!) that said a glass of red wine is healthy, and the equivalent of an hour at the gym.

Now, I don't believe that a glass of red wine is the equivalent of an hour at the gym.  But, I do know that it's REALLY REALLY GOOD ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!  

SOOOOOOOOO - I traded my yellow and it was MAGNIFICENT :)

Malbec.  At the perfect temperature.  Opened to breathe prior to my arrival from work (thanks, Heath!).  Just awesome!

I feel a tiny bit bad about it.  But I can get over that pretty quickly.  Really.  And, if we are friends, you are with me :)

So, dinner.  I did not fall off the wagon and eat something like loaded cheese fries.  I did have steak, filet and sauteed spinach.  And it was amazing.  One red, one green.  

Happy Friday to you!!

Day Eight of the 21 Day Fix - Breakfast for Dinner

Day 8!  Day 1 of Week 2!  It's funny, because after lamenting the number on the scale yesterday, I weighed this morning and was 2 pounds less than yesterday - 3 pounds less than my starting weight. This is why I shouldn't get fixated on the scale, right?  Yeah, I'll still weigh every day.  Just how I am.

So I've done all of the workouts once and today started round two.  Plyo Fix Extreme.  The one what whooped me last week.  And it whooped me again, just not quite the whooping I got before.  First of all, I knew what to expect.  Not only with this workout but for the workouts to follow.  Having learned my lesson with Plyo last week, I stuck with my 8's and 5's for heavy/light weights and took out the plyo on some of the moves that I know made me hurt so much before.  Like the jump lunges. It's a repeat workout, so you do each move twice.  First time, jump lunges.  Second time, regular lunges focused on depth and form.  I'm good and sore, but my quads won't be sobbing for three days!

I actually really like Plyo Fix Extreme - it's a great workout and reminds me a lot of Insanity. Meaning that during you are dying and after you are accomplished.  Not a bad way to start the day :)

Breakfast...you guessed it, Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach.  I'm still going to give it some more time before I give my full-on review of Shakeology, but I'm really loving this stuff.  It's expensive, but so are high-quality ingredients.  It's tasty and filling and last night I would have made a shake for dessert because it like it so much.  But I decided it was a craving and not hunger so I passed.  If you had told me a month ago I'd be craving vegan chocolate protein powder, I probably would have laughed in your face!  But, anyway, breakfast - one red and one green.

Morning snack today  - Greek yogurt, granola and raisins.  Thursdays are yoga at 12:30 days so I wanted a more filling snack to last me until after class.  Filling and one red, one yellow and one purple.

Post -workout lunch was what may become a new favorite.  I made a wrap with turkey (2 slices Boar's Head Ovengold), red pepper, artichoke hearts and hummus.  It was super tasty.  Like could have eaten two but only had one tasty.  Had a side of carrots and grapes.  This masterpiece is one yellow, 1/2 red, one green, one purple and 1/2 blue.

I wasn't super hungry for my afternoon snack, but I know better than to walk into a house where Doritos live hungry at 5:30.  So I had my usual afternoon shake.

Plus, this has the glutamine to help my legs recover from Plyo.  And it's chocolate and peanut butter. Hellloooooo yummy snack!  Shake is one red, one teaspoon.

We all have those days where there's more stuff to do than time.  Today is one of those days, with orthodontist appointments, soccer practice, MMA (mixed martial arts) and high school registration. HIGH SCHOOL REGISTRATION.  Holy Crap my son was registered for HIGH SCHOOL today. Deep breath...

So, these kinds of afternoons/evening make me 1.  thankful that Heath and I can divide and conquer all these things/places to be that all happen about the same time  2.  thankful that the kids like breakfast for dinner and 3.  want a beer (mainly the high school part).  AND basketball is on tonight, which also makes me want a beer.  BUT NO BEER FOR ME!  Nope.  I'll have a Coke Zero and pretend it's something stronger, LOL.

Dinner - no bacon was ingested in the preparation of this dinner.  Let me clarify that bacon was prepared for this dinner for people other than myself, and I didn't eat any.  Let's dwell for one moment on the fact that I prepared and didn't consume bacon and registered my baby for HIGH SCHOOL and didn't have a beer on the same night.  I think I should win a prize...I know, I know, the prize is that my jeans will fit.

My dinner - egg, spinach, onions, red pepper.  SO MUCH YUM HERE.

The veggies were sauteed in olive oil - so this is 1/2 red, one green and two teaspoons.  Here's what it looked like on a plate for portion reference...

Now I ate this and was still hungry.  I considered making more.  I decided to wait and let my brain and body sync and see if I'm still hungry later.  If I am, I'll have a small snack from what containers I have left.

As of now (8PM) on Day 8, I have 1 purple, 1 yellow, 1/2 blue and one orange left.  I'll let you know tomorrow if I snacked and what it was.

Here's something to think about going into Friday and the weekend, when temptation abounds! Giddy Up Day 9!!

Day Seven of the 21 Day Fix - You are AWESOME because...

It's Day Seven!!  One week of three is done!  I wish the scale shared my joy, but that's ok (ish), I'm sure the number will improve over the next two weeks.  It better!  Yeah, it's about how clothes fit and how I feel and all that...but it sure would be nice to see the number go down more than the ONE pound I feel is actual weight loss and can claim.

Anyway, before I entertain you with this morning's Yoga workout, let's talk about being AWESOME.

Do you have someone who inspires and encourages you?  I hope so!  I am fortunate to have a friend who does both for me and allows me to do the same for her.  She is on her own fitness and nutrition improvement journey (and doing a great job!) and we are at-work accountability buds.

A couple of months back, this friend gave me this book (and she has one too).

This is a whole (little) book of fill in the blank's of why you are AWESOME.  Here's an example of one page...

We leave these on each other's desks from time to time to remind each other how AWESOME we are!  It's such a pick me up on a bad day!  Or a funny on a good day.  Or when we are thankful to have a bud and accountability partner.  Here's one that she left under my keyboard...

Indentify someone you work with or see on a regular basis and be their source of AWESOME :)

So Yoga.  I really like Yoga a lot more than I used to, which translates into I will now do Yoga.  I don't like it because I'm not good at it.  I am the least flexible person I know (aside from Heath) and Yoga is typically a mix of "what pose?" and "yeah, right" for me.  But, the cool kids do Yoga and I want to be a cool kid!  I've been doing Yoga at the gym at work and, while I'm really NOT good at it, I can feel it's benefits.

So Yoga Fix Extreme - challenging but doable.  Not my best workout because I spent too much time trying to see the poses (hard to see the TV when you are facing the floor) and then gaping at the extreme modifier.  There were several options in this workout.  You can follow Autumn, who is doing the routine with some additional intensity on certain poses.  I followed the modifier, who did more basic versions.  And then there's the extreme modifier.  This guy, I kid you not, is the grown man version of Gumby.  He's like a human rubber band.  With big muscles. And, frankly, not difficult to look at either! I think at one point he balanced on his index finger...but I digress. Based on my limited Yoga experience, this is a good workout.  I recognized most of the poses from the previous videos I've done over the years (all of which I did exactly once) and could do some of them.  I could really feel my legs and glutes, but that's more likely from previous workouts.

Post workout breakfast was Chocolate Vegan Shakeology with spinach. Yummo as always.  One red and one green.

Morning snack was an apple at about 9:30.  No carbs because Wednesday is lunch out day.  I go to the gym at 4 on Wednesdays because my AWESOME employer lets us work out one day a week on company time.  One of my favorite perks.  So, a smaller morning snack because I knew I was having a bigger lunch.  One purple.

Lunch was a salad at Panera.  My favorite salad there is the Chicken Cobb with Avocado.  No cheese. So much goodness happening here.  Now, I forgot to bring my containers to work, so I couldn't measure my portions.  But, I'm getting pretty good at estimating them (which is the whole point, right?) and so I estimated my salad to be two greens, one red, one blue and one orange.  I forgot to ask for dressing on the side, so I may have had too much dressing.  Two eggs is one red, so one egg and the chicken together would be about a red.

I also counted one teaspoon, because this salad has some bacon in it :)  Bacon is pretty much my favorite food group and it did not disappoint today!  Bacon is probably not a teaspoon, since it's off the chart, but I had to count it as something.  So a teaspoon it is.  And, no, I didn't eat the bread that comes with!

No afternoon snack today, didn't need one after that fantastic salad.  Went the gym at 4 and, because it was another gorgeous day, ran outside.  I went 2 1/2 miles and the whole time I was thinking I have Plyo Extreme in the morning and it's going to hurt!  It's the good hurt!!

By the time dinner time came around, I was feeling a smidge guilty about my fantastic lunch salad.  I decided to really portion dinner and skip any carbs on the day.  Now, this may gross some people out, but I can make a salad out of most any protein.  So, I used leftover fish from last night and put it on my dinner salad.  Heath thinks it"s strange, so it's ok for you to think so too!!  Here's my dinner, portioned out as 2 greens, one red and a splash of dressing since I used my orange at lunch.  I counted the dressing as the rest of my teaspoons.

And here it is on a dinner plate...

More than enough food.  I actually didn't eat it all, didn't need to.

What I have left today is three yellows and one purple.  Technically, I had 5 greens and counted one as a purple.  But, like I say, nobody got fat eating lettuce :)

7 Days down!  14 to go!!

Day Six of the 21 Day Fix - Dirty 30!

I got up this morning ready for Yoga.  I really thought it was Yoga day and was mentally prepared for Yoga.  Nope.  Something called the Dirty 30.  And, guess what?  FAVORITE workout so far.  This workout is moves that use multiple muscle groups at the same time and with weights.  Again, light and heavy weights.  I picked 5's and 8's again - I have learned my lesson!  The weight was enough and it was a great workout!  Now I can look forward to Yoga tomorrow!!

I had my typical breakfast - Chocolate Vegan Shakeology and spinach - one red and one green.  It occurred to me that people may be interested in know how much spinach is one green worth in a shake, so here you go!

It looks like a lot in the NutriBullet cup, but I'm telling you that bad boy pulverizes this fabulously - no chunks, no grit.  It goes in stems and all!

I got my NutriBullet for Christmas and love it - I use it every day.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm getting kickbacks or something.  Although, that would be great.  Anyone from NutriBullet reading this, I could really use another big cup!  Thanks!!

Actually, most of my meals today are a repeat of yesterday.  Just easier that way when I'm bringing my food to work.  I did take a pic of my morning snack today since I got so excited I ate it prior to picture yesterday.  Here it is - tortilla with hummus and grapes.

That amount of hummus is half a blue.  I'm saving my other half of blue for avocado with dinner.  (LOVE avocado, more on that later).  This snack is one yellow, one half blue and one purple.  Yes, I know it's not a corn tortilla, but I like these better - two corn tortillas = one yellow so I figure one flour tortilla can equal the same.

Today's lunch workout was a FitStar workout called Strata 26.2.  If you don't have FitStar, I highly recommend it.  It's a great (FREE) app that has tons of workouts ranging in time and type that you can do almost anywhere.  Again, not getting kickbacks from FitStar, but would sure like some! Anyway, I have the paid version (Black Friday Deal) but the free version has tons of stuff too.  My Tuesday workout is this Strata 26.2, which is a strength routine that is designed for runners.  Hence the 26.2.  And it's 26.2 minutes long.  How clever of them :)

Post lunch time workout I had my afternoon shake.  I'm finding this is working - having my shake at lunch and having my lunch at 3:00.  I think it's due to getting up so early and doing double workouts. I've increased the size of the morning snack, so I'm not as hungry post lunch workout.  At any rate, it's working so I'm sticking with it.  So lunch was this:

One red, one teaspoon.  So yummy and I'm good to go till 3!  Actually, today, I wasn't that hungry, but I ate at 3:00 because I knew if I skipped it I would be starving when I got home at 5:30.  And that leads to bad choices, namely Doritos.  NO DORITOS FOR YOU!  (Who remembers the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld??)  So, at 3:00 I had the rest of the "goulash" that I made over the weekend...

One red, one green and one purple.  And a Coke Zero in the cutest aluminum bottle.

A friend brought this for me today because she "saw it and knew I'd just love it". How nice is that?  It was awesome with my "goulash"  and made for a nice afternoon pick-me-up!

Dinner is tilapia.  I grew up in Florida, where I went to the fish market and bought what came off the boat that morning.  Here in Tennessee, I buy tilapia at CostCo, which is tragic.  But we must make do.

This dinner actually turned out to be pretty epic.  I measured the portions and I was shocked by what went on my plate.  I had tilapia (there was more for Heath and the kids, this one didn't have any "extras" on it...and leftovers for a future meal are a bonus.

Cooked in a little olive oil, seasoned with pepper and Tony's.  I had this with brown rice, black beans, tomatoes and avocado.  I did measure the the black beans, but didn't photograph it because I had measured the rice too.  My family is only so patient!

I didn't realize until after dinner that I had used 1/2 of my blue earlier today and only should have used 1/2 tonight.  Whoopsie.  I don't know that I could have eaten half the avocado anyway...it's a favorite and, like the hummus, I wanted to cry when I saw it was a blue.  There are a lot of my favorite things that are blue...I'm beginning to think this is part of my problem in not losing weight? Maybe! Anyway, all of these portions came together to form this ABSOLUTELY TREMENDOUS DINNER!!

It was so good.  And filling.  And really felt like a LOT of food - it was a LOT of food.  This meal was two yellows, one red, one blue, one purple and one teaspoon (the fish did have some olive oil on it for cooking).  So, I end the day with two greens (that's a first!), my orange and two teaspoons.

Tomorrow is Day Seven!  That makes one week down!  Tomorrow will be AWESOME and I'll be talking about some little things that make life and experiences just that much more AWESOME!