21 Day Fix- Week 1 Review

I completed Week 1 of the 21 Day Fix and wanted to provide a list of pros and cons for anyone considering the program.  This program is designed to help participants lose 15 pounds in 21 days.  Of course, there are cases where people have lost more in 3 weeks, but 15 pounds is pretty darn great in my opinion.  It trains you to eat proper portion sizes of the right foods.

Pros:

• The program is 21 days.  I have already completed Week 1, so it goes really quickly.
• The color containers are great at training us to think of food choices in terms of colors.  It helps give a good picture of a well balanced diet, and I always relate well to colors, so I think this will help me eat more balanced long-term.
• My main goal in this is not to lose weight (for new readers, I am 26 weeks pregnant, so weight loss is not a good idea for me).  My goal for this program is to reset my appetite, portions, and food choices after a week long cruise.  Within a few days of starting this program, my goal was already met.
• The workouts are only 30 minutes long.  They are challenging but have a modifier to follow as needed.
• The workouts are a bit different from any others I've done.  They have some interesting moves and each day is very different.
• There is an eating out guide, which give you ideas and how to count food choices when you are eating out.
• There are sample meal plans and recipes that bring it all together.
• The price is good and if you choose the challenge pack option (with a 30 day supply of Shakeology), it saves over $110.

Cons:

• The program is a bit confusing at first.  It takes  a couple of days of constantly reading the food plan to feel like you understand, but once you've got it, you are good to go.
• The workouts are designed to do them for 21 days straight.  I have no problem with working out and usually work out 5-6 days per week, but 21 days in a row is a lot.  This will take a bit of commitment with my work schedule.
• Like any other program, in order to see changes, you do have to commit.  21 days isn't very long, so it's easy to commit to 21 days vs. a 90 challenge if you are new to Beach body programs.

Best meal combo so far- Veggie burger (red container) with hummus (blue) and greens (green), on a whole wheat bun (yellow), salad and asian dressing (green and orange) cottage cheese (red), and strawberries (purple).  I was really, really surprised at how great this meal was! It was on the larger portion size because I missed a snack, but you could easily have the cottage cheese and strawberries as a snack a couple of hours later.   I'm not a huge meat eater, so I have been trying to find some red container options that aren't meat based.  The Morningstar veggie burgers are great for vegetarians or those who want to minimize meat consumption.












If you are interested in joining a challenge group for the 21 Day Fix, or have questions, contact me! KelliLKorn@gmail.com

21 Day Fix Day 1 Review and Meal Plan

Today is Day 1 of the 21  Day Fix for me.  It's a little bit overwhelming when you first read all of the info, the meal plan, and try to get started.  I wanted to share the meal plan for my day to give you some ideas to get started.  I know as I learn the program a bit better, it will be easier to put recipes together instead of seeing a meal just by the individual colored containers.


I am only halfway through the day, and I have to say I have not been hungry!  Even with a stomach that has been used to eating constantly on the cruise, I haven't had a hunger pang or craving.  I did make sure to eat right after waking up, as I have found if I wait at all, I tend to give into my morning sweet cravings and eat things like chocolate chip pancakes.

I have myself on the highest calorie limit of the weight loss portion due to being pregnant and my starting body weight. I am not intending to lose weight, but I felt like I needed to be on the weight loss program, rather than maintenance just to get back on track and prevent myself from gaining too much pregnancy weight.  I may go to the maintenance amount in a week or two, depending on how hungry I feel.  So my alotted servings by container are: green-6, purple-4, red-6, yellow-4, blue-1, orange-1, and 6 tsp.

Breakfast: -yellow container of oatmeal with 1 tsp coconut oil stevia and cinnamon (approx 1/4 cup
                   oats cooked with 1/2 c water),
                   -purple container of fresh pineapple, mint tea with stevia

Snack: -Shakeology (counts for red container) with yellow container of almond milk, 1/4 c water, and 1 tsp almond butter
            - purple container (1/2 banana)

Lunch: -green smoothie with 2 green containers of greens, 1 red container of frozen raspberries, 
               splash of apple juice and 1/2 c. water
             - green container of broccoli, steamed
            - yellow container of quinoa with salt, pepper, and 1 tsp EVOO
            - 1 red container of chicken breast, cooked with lemon pepper and chicken broth

Snack: - green container of carrots, blue container of hummus
             - red container of greek yogurt and 1 tsp coconut oil
            - orange container of walnuts

Dinner: - 2 red containers of mahi mahi, cooked in chicken broth and spices
              - green container of asparagus, green container of greens, wilted with mahi
              - yellow container of quinoa with salt and pepper, and 1 tsp EVOO
              - dessert- 1 purple container of strawberries

Evening Snack: -red container (2 hard boiled eggs), or greek yogurt

Workout- Today was Total Body Cardio- 30 minutes.  It was pretty intense for me, as it combines weights and cardio.  There is a person to follow for modifications, which I chose to use in some form (either less impact or less weight, I didn't follow the modifier completely, as I felt like that was a bit too easy after doing T25).  A great workout that isn't just cardio.  I did use the BOSU for the ab portion, as I am not supposed to lay flat on the floor.

21 Day Fix- Prep

It's been awhile since my last post.  I just got back from a Caribbean cruise with my husband and daughter.  While it was so nice to be away and not have to cook, I fear the scale shows that I had a good time.  Today, my doctor commented on my jump in weight since last appointment.  Now, I am 25 weeks pregnant and with my first pregnancy, that's when I had a slight jump as well, but I'm sure the melting chocolate cake on the cruise every night didn't help.  (I don't feel like I went overboard except for with desserts, which is always my weakness.)

So, to get back on track, I figured I would give the 21 Day Fix a try.  21 Day Fix is Beachbody's newest program to lose weight and reprogram your eating habits in 21 days.  For me, I can't go for weight loss, but I do need to get back to normal portion sizes to keep my weight gain on track (which I was doing so well with pre-cruise thanks to Shakeology and Focus T25.)

The basic idea behind the Fix is that you use the color containers to retrain yourself on portion sizes and which foods to eat more of in 5 small meals.  By using the containers, you take the guess work out and it is actually a lot of food because you are taking out all of the foods with no nutritional value (potato chips, ice cream, etc.)   There is a calorie calculator guide in the book that helps you figure out how many calories you should have to lose weight.  For me, I need to be eating to feed the baby, so my calories needs are calculated for 25 weeks pregnant.  The hard part will be getting over the chocolate cravings that I so willingly gave into on vacation.

Today I did my prep for the Fix- reading the info and eating plan, making a grocery list and planning my meals.  There are endless options of choices in the guide, as well as a coffee/ tea bar, water bar, and spice blend recipes.  I am really impressed with the amount of detail and thought that was put into the guide.  In the past, I have been given a lot of "what to eat" guides, but not a lot of ideas on how to make it tasty and satisfying.  So, my review of this program so far is two thumbs up.

So, with my meal planning, I intended to do a weekly plan. To be honest, I am still in vacation state of mind and although meal planning for a week is the best way to go to be successful at weight loss, I am just going day by day for at least the rest of this week to let my brain come back to reality.

So, here's what's on the plan for tomorrow:

Meal 1: Oatmeal with cinnamon and stevia, pineapple
Meal 2: Shakeology (I like just the chocolate and I use skim milk to help meet baby's needs, but I would recommend unsweetened almond milk for weight loss.)
Meal 3:Grilled chicken with EVOO, quinoa, and salad
Meal 4: Raw almonds and watermelon, greek yogurt
Meal 5:Grilled mahi burger and broccoli

Sounds easy, right?  We shall see!  Along with the meal plan (which is 80% responsible for your body composition), there is a workout plan included with DVDs that are about 30 minutes each.  Tomorrow will be the Total Body Cardio Fix.

I will be reviewing periodically, and of course, there is a maintenance phase after 21 days.

If you are interested in joining a challenge group for the 21 Day Fix, or have questions, contact me! KelliLKorn@gmail.com

Blueberry Oat Veggie Muffins

Blueberry Oat Veggie Muffins

I recently found some great muffins at Costco that are similar, but I wanted to see if I could boost the vegetable content and reduce the sugar content a bit.  After searching for some recipe ideas, I put them together and came up with this.  These are a super quick breakfast, and for a meal where I rarely get veggies in, I'm thrilled to start the day with a couple of servings of vegetables that taste so good.  Beware that if you use spinach or other dark greens, it will be difficult to hide the fact that these have vegetables in them from your kids, but my intention was to make these more for myself, so I wasn't worried about their color as much.  They are
actually really pretty with the purple blueberries.

Makes 24 muffins

 

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour, which is white, but not enriched and bleached)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup brown sugar (maple sugar would be a good clean eating replacement, but I didn't have any)
2 -3 tablespoons honey
1 egg
3 cups vegetables, pureed (I steamed baby spinach, carrots, and zucchini until soft and pureed in a food processor)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 pints blueberries
1/2 cup whole oats
 

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F.  

-Spray muffin pans or line with muffin papers.
- Mix ingredients (except blueberries and oats) with electric mixer until well blended (I didn't take the time to do wet and dry separately.)

- Fold in blueberries and oats.
-Fill muffins 2/3 full with batter.  I like to use an ice cream scoop as it help to  fill the cups consistently and easily.
-Bake 25 minutes until or toothpick comes out clean. 

-Cool partially in the pan then remove to wire rack.

-Store half in an air tight container.
-Freeze the other half in an airtight container or freezer bag.   Microwave on 1/2 power to defrost.


*If you are using your own steamed vegetables, you may need to add some fruit juice to thin it out to the consistency of applesauce. (I had a little bit of water left from steaming, so I just used that when I pureed the vegetables.)

*If you don't have 3 cups of vegetables, make up the difference with unsweetened apple sauce or mashed bananas.