Eat More, Weigh Less

So in my last post I had been saying how I was super excited to start a new program called the 21 Day Fix.... I started on Monday and am Loving it!!!!  Not only does the program include 7 different workouts plus 2 bonus ab workouts not to mention a free bonus workout DVD. It also comes ready to rock your nutrition! You get 7 coloured containers, to portion control your eating and let me tell you, you can get a lot of those suckers!  To make sure I am eating the right container I have planned my meals out for a week.  This is the first time I ever have stuck closely to an meal plan that I have actually planned out myself.  It's actually the first time I've ever sat down and pre planned my meals!  The only other meal plan I have used was a reference guide magnet I got for eating Low Glycemic foods.  I just stuck to what was on the list but never really used portion control.

So for this meal plan it is recommended to eat 5-6 times a day.  Why is this you may ask? Eating frequent meals throughout the day helps to control your appetite, prevent overeating at meal times and has been said to keep your metabolism firing throughout the day. So you are eating roughly every three hours. An ideal day of eating should include breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack and dinner. I myself skip the mid morning snack and usually go for a small after dinner snack. I know they also say not to eat after 7pm (which when I work late is impossible) but I also usually workout out after 7 and you need to fuel your body after a workout.

It came with a booklet to figure out your approximate calorie intake. I was in the first category so I checked the break down to see how many coloured containers I get to use through out the day. Then I sat down and planned out all my meals for the week.  Keeping in mind that each container represents a different food group listed on the photo below. So I got to pick what I was going to eat, when I was going to eat it and as long as it fits in my container (with the lid on) I am set!




Here is a Breakdown of my Meals for the first week:

Monday:
Meal #1 Strawberry Shakeology made with frozen mango and water
Meal #2 Salad topped with peppers and cucumbers with Balsamic dressing,
3 fat free ham slices, Greek vanilla yogurt with blueberries and raspberries
Meal #3  Grapes, Shakeology Ball (Find recipe here)
Meal #4 Pork Tenderloin, roasted new potatoes, steamed mixed veggies
Meal #5 Roasted Almonds

Tuesday
Meal #1 Chocolate Shakeology made with 1 tsp. almond butter and water
Meal #2 Hummus (roasted garlic) with carrots, red peppers, cucumbers
and Pita crackers to dip, Tangerine
Meal #3 Grapes, Greek Yogurt
Meal#4 Seasoned grilled chicken breast, brown rice, steamed mixed veggies
Meal #5 Two fat free ham slices

Wednesday
Meal #1 Vanilla Shakeology made with 1 tsp. almond butter and vanilla almond milk
Meal #2 Salad topped with peppers and cucumbers with Balsamic dressing,
3 fat free ham slices, Greek vanilla yogurt with blueberries and raspberries
Meal #3  Grapes, Shakeology Ball
Meal#4 Zucchini Noodles* with Turkey meatballs and Pesto
Meal #5 Almonds
(*Here are Two Ideas for Zucchini Noodles: Recipe & Method)


Zucchini Noodles

Thursday
Meal #1 Strawberry Shakeology made with frozen banana and waterMeal #2 One slice wholegrain bread, 2 slices fat free ham, (made half a sandwich)
carrots, red peppers, Greek vanilla yogurt with blueberries and raspberries
Meal #3 Grapes, Shakeology Ball
Meal#4 Salad topped with peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese, pecans with Balsamic dressing, 3 fat free Chicken slices
Meal #5 no snack

My 21 Day Fix Salad

Friday
Meal #1 Chocolate Shakeology made with 1/2 frozen banana, almond butter and water
Meal #2 Salad topped with peppers and cucumbers with Balsamic dressing,
3 fat free chicken slices, Greek vanilla yogurt, Tangerine
Meal #3 Grapes, Shakeology Ball
Meal#4 New Potato & Turkey Skillet Supper
Meal #5 no snack

Saturday
Meal #1 Vanilla Shakeology made with frozen mixed berries
Meal#2 Salad topped with peppers and cucumbers with Balsamic dressing,
3 fat free chicken slices,  One slice wholegrain bread with Almond butter
Meal #3 Tangerine and Almonds
Meal #4 Turkey Meatballs, with brown rice, and steamed mixed veggies
Meal #5 Vanilla Greek yogurt sprinkled with cinnamon

Sunday
Meal #1 Steel cut Oatmeal topped with raspberries and blueberries, Turkey Bacon
Meal #2 Hummus (roasted garlic) with carrots, red peppers, cucumbers
Meal #3 Strawberry Shakeology made with frozen mango and water
Meal #4 Steak and Veggie Stir fry with brown rice
Meal #5 Vanilla Greek yogurt sprinkled with cinnamon


Sunday Breakfast

The first couple of days I was kinda hungry, ok Monday I didn't know how I was going to make it lol.  It has gotten better, I think I was going threw Carb withdrawl. I never quite realized how many carbs I ate or how much processed food I consumed. Don't get me wrong I still eat some, I try to make those choices organic if possible.  However I mean I loved granola bars and crackers! By making my Shakeology balls and eating almonds I realize that it is far better and way more tasty! Now having said that my Shakeology balls are super tasty and I love them but they are counted as a treat. So for my second week I won't be including them as often, everything in moderation.

I also have surprisingly totally liked knowing ahead what I'm eating. It makes packing lunches way easier! Plus I am enjoying finding and trying out new food alternatives like the zucchini noodles. I am about to sit down and plan out my second week of meals, I already know that I will be cooking up a batch of quinoa this week. I have a ton of fresh veggies and fruit plus I will be making up a big batch of the steak and veggie stir fry from Sunday night and portioning it out to freeze for left overs.  I already did that with mashed sweet potatoes! I can't wait to see the results I get with this program so stay tuned! My Favorite words of trainer Autumn Calabrese...

 

In Sickness & In Health

 

Tired, achy, stuffed up... Not my ideal weekend but I guess getting a cold was inevitable this winter. I used to not listen to my body and just keep going making myself even more run down and sick. So this time I took the opportunity to relax and rest.
 

Sleeping in, watching tv and napping are things I don't generally have much time to do so it was nice to indulge. I also now it's important to stay hydrated so I drank lots of water and tea and may have let my Dad make me a Hot Toddy or two hehe (I did sleep lovely). Though I wasn't overly hungry and didn't always feel like eating I knew it was important to fuel up. There is nothing better then hot chicken noodle soup when you are sick. The stuff is like magic. I remembered how tasty my Spinach, Chicken & Tortellini soup (click here for recipe) was and happen to have the ingredients to make it, so I did! Its like the grown-up version of the classic soup.

 

Not working out is killing me! I had planned to start a new program the 21 Day Fix and am super excited about it. I don't want to make myself even worse by pushing to hard so I am not working out. Trust me getting up and going to work is workout enough! How do you take care of yourself when your sick? 

 

 

I know injuries have side lined me in the past. In fact I had mentioned in my Secret Weapon post that I have had knee surgery. I do think that this did play a part in my weight gain, as I thought I couldn't do anything.  Strangely enough going through my physio the physiotherapist told me she wanted to bottle up my enthusiasm and sell as I recovered very quickly (I was in grade 9 and being in a wheelchair in high school not so fun).  This past fall I suffered a foot injury, I probably should have seen a doctor as I'm pretty sure I actually broke part of my foot. I didn't but I rested it lots and exercised only occasionally.

 

Taking a mutli-vitamin, eating right and exercising are a good start. Stretching before and after I have learned is sooo important in muscle healing. One workout without stretching had me so sore for a week!  Speaking of stretching I should/could try to incorporate yoga or pilates into my routine (I will get a chance with the 21 Day Fix!). Also I know a few people who use foam rollers to loosen muscles and stretch out, I looked into this but for me it was a bit pricey but I guess no pain is worth the price! I do know every once in awhile it's nice to treat myself to a massage! What do you use to prevent injuries & sickness?

Life's Soundtrack

So lately I haven't been much in a writing kind of mood. So I took the chance and went back and read some of my previous posts. I realized from my The Right Stuff that I forgot to mention one very important essential.... Music! Whether you hear it in a workout class, on an iPod, or through your cell phone it plays an important part in fitness. Personally when I started out I used my cell phone, I didn't have a lot of songs and I hated my headphones so I'm pretty sure when I went for a walk down the road all the neighbors heard lol.

Luckily for them I received an iPod shuffle for Christmas a few years back and have absolutely loved it since!  It's great because it's tiny and has a clip to attach it to your clothes. I can navigate it without look at it and has enough storage to suit me fine.  I LOVE making different playlists for different activities.  I have one for walking, one for running, on for working out, I even have one for sleeping! I find you need to have different play list for different activities too, I mean I don't think I can run to a song that would put you to sleep. For running I tend to go for dancey high energy songs... Pitbull is a favorite lol. A good fast song can add extra motivation to go a little faster or continue on until it's over. My walking playlist is a whole variety of different music Rock, Country, Pop, even some of my favorite Zumba songs. I go for music that is upbeat and makes me smile :) and yes I do have a playlist for sleeping. Sometimes when you can't turn your brain off I find listening to music helps.

 

 I try not to go for really popular songs that get a whole lot of radio time unless I truly do love it. Trust me after awhile you just get sick of the same song over and over and over.  I explore my iTunes and listen to songs whose names attract me to them.  Sometime they end up being popular too... the Sara Bareilles song Brave for instants I had it way before it grew in popularity. My newest favorite none popular song has been Famous by Kelleigh Bannen. A few others I enjoy are Fix You by Vita Chambers, Alive by Krewella and Live Your Life by Mika. I find however the biggest challenge to listening to music is to not sing along to it or at least not to loudly ;)