21 Day Fix - workouts

The more I do the 21 Day Fix workouts the more I LOVE them!

I've found it so easy to devote 30 minutes a day to my are super achievable. I mean you do each exercise for 60 seconds and just need to have the mindset that you can do anything for 30 seconds.

 

In the first week I had to modify I number of exercises but I've found in the second and third week that I'm getting stronger and able to work harder! I even think that on a few exercises that I'm going to up my weights to push even more... once I'm back from this work trip that is.

AND speaking of work trips... I've been on international travel for 10 days now and I've worked out EVERY SINGLE MORNING... Thanks to my work out partner Stephanie for all the motivation! It has been so easy to follow the program from my zoom (like an iPad). I've really felt great this trip with zero Jet lag... I'm giving all the credit to the fact that I'm working out and making healthier decisions

With the 21 Day Fix program you focus on a different area every day of the week:

DAY ONE: Total Body Cardio
DAY TWO: Upper Body Fix
DAY THREE: Lower Body Fix
DAY FOUR: Palates - An Active recovery day but I felt challenged
DAY FIVE: Cardio
DAY SIX: Dirty 30
DAY SEVEN: Yoga - Active recovery

There is also a 10 minute abs program... which is pretty hard core... you give it your all for 10 minutes and NO breaks... I only did the 10 minute abs on my yoga day and one of the other days when we were on the airplane for over 12 hours.

Each day I'm looking forward to working out and seeing how much more I can push myself. I haven't set foot on a scale in the last 10 days but I've found that some of the NEW clothes that I bought for this trip are a little big in the waist area!

Please know that all of these thoughts are truly my own... I'm not a beachbody coach and I'm not getting any type of kick back from the company... if you are interested in learning more though I would be happy to connect you with my bestie Holly who introduced me to the program.

Healthy Eating: Burgers & Beets

I'm going to share my new GO TO Burger recipe!

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb Beef (93%)
• 1 Egg
• Handful of Spinach, roughly chopped
• 4 Mini bell peppers, Diced
• Salt
• Pepper

 



DIRECTIONS:

First, in a large mixing bowl add the beef and eggs

Chop Spinach roughly

Chop Peppers

 

Add all ingredients to the bowl

 

Mix and form the meat into patties 

 

Grill 8 minutes each side

 

I also made some roasted beets & garlic sautéed beet greens to accompany my burgers

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch of medium beets
• Avocado Oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2t herbs de provence

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

Cut tops from beets, peel and thinly slice

 

 

Put sliced beets into a bowl and toss with 1T avocado Oil, salt and herbs de provence. Place on sheet pan and roast at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

 

While beets are roasting wash the beet greens

 

cut and separate the red stem and greens

 

Roughly chop the greens

 

Cut stem into 1" pieces add to a sauté pan over med-high heat with avocado oil and 1 clove of garlic Minced. Cook until softened.

 

Add greens and cook 2-3 minutes until lightly wilted.

 

 

Such a GREAT easy and healthy meal. I added some yummy sweet potatoes to the mix. My family ate their burgers with buns but I held off on the additional and unnecessary carbs. The meal was so filling and as we are heading into the summer months the burger will be added to a regular rotation! 

21 Day Fix: Week 1 UPDATE

So Monday marked my first full week with 21 Day Fix!!!

 

I'm happy to report that there was only one day that I failed to do my daily exercises. That is huge progress for this exercise hating mama! The first few days were difficult but now I've started to see an increase in energy and am actually looking forward to my thirty minutes of activity each day!

On the flip side I haven't seen too much of a change on the scale or my measurements. But again I'm happy with the program so far. I'm happiest actually with the decisions that I'm making when it comes to food. DUDE I was a horrible snacker! The clean eating and portion control hasn't been hard for my main meals but I'm seeing just how frequently I was making bad decisions and grabbing unhealthy foods just because they were around and easily accessible... I mean WTF do we really need cookies and doughnuts in the office almost every day... holey temptation! I am happy to report that I remained strong though and only deviated from the plan when we had people over & when we had dinner at a friends and indulged in a slice of pie!

Now the real test begins as I'm embarking on a 10 day work trip... Let's see how I deal when I'm on the road and in various countries/time zones.... In fact, as I'm typing this now there is a HUGE basket of super unhealthy but yummy snacks in front of me... Time to grab my go-to afternoon snack of Almond butter and an apple... and repeat over and over again that I will NOT each the chocolate chip cookies and fruit snacks... I WILL NOT!!!

I'll be back later today with a GREAT burger recipe!

21 Day BeachBody Fix... THE START

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to start taking working out seriously... well let's be honest... I ran two days in a row and after that weeks of NOTHING!!

Then an angel whispered in my ear... Well actually my bestie Holly... but they are pretty much the same thing!!!

She has been raving about the whole 21 Day Fix through BeachBody Program and I figured that it was worth giving it a try.

The abbreviated concept is that for 21 days you eat clean healthy/natural foods in proper portions and you work out for 30 minutes a day EVERYDAY! After all they say that it takes 21 days to make a habit of something! MAJOR selling point with this program is that you can also substitute, occasionally, one of your containers for a glass of red wine!

I ordered my package through Holly, she is now my coach, and they sent me everything that I needed to be a success.

I carry this freaking eating plan around with me all the time!

 And I use these portions control containers to keep me on track and not over eat.

They also provided me with DVDs of the workouts and I am able to stream them on my computer for when I travel for work!

I'm really looking forward to the program and starting the habit of eating healthier. I'm not specifically trying to loose weight I'm just trying to be HEALTHY and make smart decisions!

PLUS the healthiest foods are really the yummiest! I mean look at some of the meals that I've already made while one the program.

 

This is my go to breakfast!

 

I also found this great website with some worksheets to make all of the tracking a little easier!

VIA

 

So who else wants to take this crazy 21 day challenge with me? If you are interested let me know and I would be happy to put you in contact with Holly and you can join our facebook group where we all keep each other accountable!

 

While I'm on the challenge I plan to have a weekly post devoted to my progress, thoughts on the program, and I will be sharing YUMMY recipes that I've tried out... ALSO I will be out of town for 10 days out of the 21 for work and I will share how easy/hard it is to stick with the program while on the road.

Weekend update

Dude we ROCKED this weekend! We are just knocking off items on my list of goals for the month of May!

FRIDAY-

• Moved our old living room chairs over to my dear friend Virginia's house! She also received our old sofa, earlier in the week. Have to pay her back someway for all of the AMAZING photos that she takes of my family! ** If you live in Northern Virginia please check her out! House of Maps Photography

SATURDAY-

• Woke up SUPER early to drive, an hour, to Warrenton for Emma's soccer game. Just the two of us went and it was great talking to her during the trip.
  
• Cleaned out my Van... Matt feels that I do not appreciate my car and that it is always a disaster... He has cleaned it out multiple times and it always just goes back to its former junky glory... SOOOO he said that I needed to full detail it myself so that I would fully appreciate the effort that it takes to clean the car... Three hours later... after a lot of internal cursing... the car is immaculate...
• Made this yummy dinner from veggies that I bought at the Farmers Market last week... Sooo good. Just some avocado oil, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes and salt/pepper to taste.
  
• My little guy learned to stand up on his own. He is up to 4 steps now... YAY! 

• After getting the boys to bed Emma and I went to see the new Pitch Perfect movie.

SUNDAY-

• I successfully donated my 2000th item and fully completed my Declutter 2000 GOAL!!! WAHOOOO. I plan to keep my momentum going though and getting fully organized with the help of THIS book.
• We are ALMOST done with the closet in the boys room AND I made a bed skirt! Bed skirt update tomorrow.
• I took my measurements to start the 21 Day fix workout regimen from Beachbody. I did my first workout this morning... 20 days to go :-) My goal is to really just tone and start the habit of leading a healthier life. Cannot believe that I'm sharing this but here is a before.
  

BEST EVER Guacamole

So I am a HUGE fan of some guacamole and wanted to share my recipe with everyone today! It is so easy that it is laughable!

• 3 Ripe Avocados
• 1 medium Vine Ripened Tomato, Diced
• 1/2 medium WHITE onion, Diced (Can also use red if that is all you have)
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, rinsed, stems removed & Chopped
• 3 drops hot sauce
• Sea Salt to taste

I think that the most important thing is that there are actual CHUCKS of Avocado in the final product. So I do NOT smash the avocado before mixing the ingredients together!

In a mixing bowl I place Avocado halves, tomatoes & onions in a bowl and mix gently almost cutting the avocado into chunks with the spoon as I'm mixing.

Next I add the cilantro and hot sauce, and salt. Mix again. and my favorite part is tasting and adding additional salt as needed!

ENJOY! Promised that it was EASY!

If you are making the guacamole in advance I would recommend placing plastic wrap OVER the bowl and pushing down so that the plastic is actually TOUCHING the Guac and push down lightly to remove all air bubbles.

Cinco de mayo: Fish Tacos & Guac

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

I cannot wait to try out these yummy fish tacos via ambitious kitchen

I plan to make them with some rockfish that my Dad caught just last week! I've started trying to eat healthier though and will substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream that the recipe calls for.

AND of course we will be eating guacamole!

I'll be sure to take photos of the process and FINALLY share the recipe on here tomorrow!!! It is award winning after all!

Hope that everyone has a GREAT Cinco de Mayo and drive safe after consumption of margaritas.