21 day fix: 13 days in

before you say, "you don't need to lose weight!".....just listen.  i know i don't need to lose weight, and i decided to do this for many other reasons.  first, i wanted to somewhat detox my body of all the crappy food i eat.  i lovvvvvve food and my mindset was always, "life is too short to only eat super healthy foods".  plus, when i think of healthy, i always imagine plain chicken breast, brown rice and steamed veggies.  i wanted to do this program to force myself to think outside the "healthy" box and come up with delicious recipes that are good for you as well.  also, i've been terrible about exercise since i had kids.  i've kinda let myself go in the toning and working out department.  i was ready to work hard to see some more definition, and simply build up my endurance.  i always joke that i'm an obese person in a normal girl's body.

let me also say, i'm 13 days in and i still crave certain things like sugar and junk.  literally all i want right now is a big handful of gummi bears.  but i'm not the kind of person who would cheat and have some.  when i put my mind to something i stick with it.  and its only 21 days.....right?

i'll spare you the sports bra and short shorts "before" pictures for now.  if the results are impressive enough at the end, i'll do some strategic editing (to hide my awful mummy tummy) and post them.  having DR has made some of the exercises difficult, like pilates, but luckily i have learned enough through MuTu to know which ones i should avoid or alter a bit.

for those of you who don't know what the 21 day fix is, its a diet and exercise program that focuses a lot on portion sizes.  since i'm still nursing (not much, but hey, i get to use it as an excuse!) i got to be bumped up a category, meaning i get a little more food than someone else who is my weight.  so i get 4 proteins, 4 veggies, 3 carbs, 3 fruits, one dairy/fat, one dressing/seeds and 4 tsps (things like olive oil, peanut butter, etc).  i am also supposed to drink half of my body weight in ounces of water daily.
you get little containers that are color coded to signify which type of food is which.  reds=protein, green=veggies, etc.  the program also comes with a dvd that has 7 different workout routines, all only 30 minutes each.  they are awesome! hard enough to make you sweat a ton, but also not ridiculously challenging where you just feel like quitting.

for the first 2 days it was really tough.  i realize i eat SO much food.  but honestly after 3-4 days i learned how to spread my portions out throughout the day so i wasn't hungry afterwards.  i still get moments where i wanna just open the snack pantry and grab something.....but 30 years of eating that way won't change in 2 weeks.  I just decide what i can have to satisfy my hunger in that moment that is actually healthy.

all this to say, i've seen amazing results so far.  i'm feeling great and i'm sleeping soundly. i admit, i'll be happy when its over but i have learned SO much from this experience.  little ways to swap out fatty food for something healthy.  for example, plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream, ground turkey instead of ground beef, or humus and bell pepper as a snack instead of chips.  even something as small as buying whole wheat tortillas instead of white ones. 

this healthy food skeptic is here to say, with some creativity, eating healthy can be done and still be delicious!  i'm excited to do this fix a few times a year! but don't get me wrong, i am looking forward to a cold beer as a reward at the end haha!

here are some of the meals and snacks i've eaten over the last 13 days.