Mulligan! I need a Do-Over!

Half way through last week, I decided that I needed a do-over. I just couldn't finish 21 Day Fix Extreme knowing that I didn't give it my best shot.  The first week was not great. I was trying to find my footing with the eating plan and figuring out what works for me, then I cheated WAY to much and gave in to my bad habit of stress eating.  Normally, I wouldn't beat myself up over it.  It was only one week. No big deal.  Except this program is only 3 weeks! That's it! So one week is a big deal.  So, I decided that I wanted a Do-Over! I am counting Week 1 as practice, and treating this week as my final week! Things have gone MUCH better since I have figured out how to make this eating plan work for me, so I am excited to see how one more week will effect my results!

The eating plan is not easy, by any means.  It's easy to plan, but not necessarily easy to carry out.  I miss half and half.  I drink my coffee with a tsp of organic half and half.  After a few weeks of drinking it black or blended with a tsp of coconut oil instead, I miss my coffee.  I look forward to the Extreme days because I can have fruit! Yay! On my last Extreme day I had a half a banana with almond butter and a some of a peach.  It was delicious!

That being said, I am still eating very yummy food! The biggest thing for me is finding ways to prepare food that I can eat on the Countdown to Competition Plan and that my family can eat as well.  I am not the kind of mom that cooks a different meal for everyone. No way! I feed my kids what I eat.  We all eat the same foods for dinner, but sometimes their food has a different spin. 

Exhibit A:

These turkey meatballs are FANTASTIC! I used the recipe straight out of the 21 Day Fix Extreme recipe book. Delicious! My husband even came out of our back room and asked what I was making because it smelled so good.  Everyone (except me) had seconds!  They were super easy to make, so next time  I will make a triple batch so I can freeze the rest and have them on hand for a quick dinner.  I ate my meatballs over zucchini noodles with garlic, pepper and tsp of olive oil.  I made quinoa pasta for my kids, mixed some zucchini noodles in with the regular noodles and topped it with spaghetti sauces and meatballs.  The kids and my husband have all asked me to make it again! :)

Exhibit B:

The Countdown to Competition Plan includes a lot of fish.  We like fish in our house.  My kids will eat grilled fish no problem, but we have had it a lot since I started this plan.  I knew I needed to change it up for the family so they wouldn't tire of it.  Tonight I grilled the fish, seasoned it a little differently to appease my own taste buds, and served it with a salad.  However, for my kids I put all the same stuff in a tortilla, added cheese and a special sauce (Greek yogurt mixes with a salsa) and served them tacos! It was a huge hit! My 4 year old ate 2 whole tacos! Then they finished their dinner with strawberries. 

This healthy eating thing, is a journey, not a one time gig.  It's important to me to teach my kids how to eat healthy and to enjoy eating healthy foods at a young age.  That is why I am declaring Week 1 a Mulligan! I may have had a few too many cheats the first week and it took me a few days to figure out when and what to eat to make this plan work for me, but I am not giving up! I am seeing this through!

21 Day Fix Extreme-Week 2 Menu

21 Day Fix Extreme Week 2 is going well! Week 1 was a little difficult because in addition to adjusting to a new eating plan, I also had a lot of stressful events happen mid week.  Needless to say my willpower was not at it's best and I definitely did some cheating.  Thankfully, I am not really in a competition, so it's NOT THAT SERIOUS! I am not beating myself up over it.  BUT I am back on track!

Week 1 was definitely an adjustment.  I followed the Countdown to Competition plan to a T for several days, but it was hard because I was SO FULL! I was eating when I wasn't hungry, and in fact, I still felt full from my last meal.  It definitely wasn't working for me to eat when I wasn't hungry, and this was reflecting on the scale.  I am not giving up, but I don't want to continue with a plan when it's not working, so I made some adjustments for Week 2. :)  I am very happy with these changes!

First, I still planned out the 6 proteins a day I was supposed to be eating, but if I wasn't hungry I decided I was not going to make myself eat them just because I was supposed to.  Instead, I decided to skip one of my snacks if I wasn't hungry.  If I skipped a protein, I added another veggie.  This has worked beautifully! I haven't been hungry or stuffing myself and I feel great!

Second, I have been drinking LOTS more water, especially on the Countdown to Competition days.  Normally I drink around 70-80 ounces a day, but I have upped my intake to at least 100 ounces. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not too bad and it definitely has helped.  My plan of attack to drink all this water was to fill my 32 oz Camelbak twice and I take it with me everywhere! I take it to meetings, when I'm driving to drop/off pick up kids, and even going room to room in my house.  It's easy to keep up my water intake when I always have water with me. I also keep a cup of water with lemon in the fridge that is 20 oz.  I refill this cup 3-4 times.  I love to pull out this cold lemon water to sip on while I'm cooking.  This has worked really well for me! The extra water has really helped!

Lastly, I have switched to tea.  I made iced tea to drink in the afternoon and had hot tea several times in the morning.  I have been drinking black coffee, but I really LOVE coffee and black coffee just is not the same and my usual coffee with a TBSP of half and half.  It just made me miss it more to drink it black, so I decided to just switch to tea for the next 2 weeks until I finish this challenge.

Here are some pics of the yummy food I have been eating this week! Eating healthy should not make you feel deprived! This week has been delicious!

I am really excited for the last week of 21 Day Fix Extreme! I have another delicious menu prepared! I love trying new healthy recipes! :)

Transformation Tuesday-Just For Mom's Challenge Group Results!

One year ago, in March 2014 I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach.

 I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no idea I just found my passion. 

When I signed up I was unhappy, inside and out and I wanted to change. I signed up for a discount and the accountability.  I knew if I told my friends and family what I was doing, I would be more likely to actually do it.  I wanted to lose weight.  I wanted to be happy in my own skin.  I wanted to be healthy. 

I gained so much more than I ever thought possible! Not only did I regain my happiness with my body, but I also got healthy.  I have made my whole family healthier.  Although you can see my physical changes and results, the bigger change is the one you cannot see.  The change that was made inside.  The joy and passion I have found through being a Coach.  The best part is that I get to help others, outside my immediate family get their smiles and confidence back too! One pound at a time!

My Challenge Group last month was Just For Mom's.  It was a 30 day group focused on helping other moms, just like me, get healthy. In just 30 days these amazing ladies were able to juggle their schedules, babies, husbands, jobs and busy lives AND lose 53 pounds! I am so amazingly proud of all the hard work these ladies put in.  It's not easy to make new habits, to change your lifestyle, but they did it!

This is why I LOVE being a Beachbody Coach! I offer Challenge Groups, like Just For Mom's, every month, and every month I am seeing lives changed for the better, and people getting healthy.  I LOVE what I do because there is nothing more empowering than helping someone achieve their goals! 

If you are interested in joining a Challenge Group or joining my team, then let's chat! Find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kayla.gossett.1) or send me an email. I would love to share my passion with you! 

Garlic Lime Cilantro Shrimp! (Or Chicken for non-seafood fans)

What started as boring grilled shrimp on my menu plan turned into a mouth watering, can't get enough feast!

I had my shrimp ready to grill and I was trying to decide, "how do I want to season it." I bought a lot so I would have leftovers to eat throughout the week on my 21 Day Fix Extreme meal plan, therefore it had to be delicious or I would be regretting it all week. Haha! Did I want southwestern? Smoky? Spicy? Nothing was sounding like what I was looking for. So I opened my 21 Day Fix Eating plan book and started looking over the lists of freebies! (items you can add to anything, in any amount and it doesn't count as a container! Yippee!). The freebie list consists of mainly seasonings (minus salt), vinegars, and fresh herbs. That's when I saw it: LIME! I always have cilantro on hand and who doesn't love garlic?

Why didn't I think of this before?!?!? This is one of my favorite flavor combinations but I had never tried on shrimp before. I decided to give it a whirl! 

Ingredients: 

2 lbs shrimp (1 lb would be enough for my family of 4, but I wanted extra to eat the rest of the week)

2 limes

2 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped (or more if desired)

garlic powder, pepper, and sea salt; to taste

This recipe is so simple and fast! It's a great dinner to throw together when you are short on time, but it's delicious, so even if you have all day I would still choose to make this recipe!

Simply spray the grill with olive oil, cook shrimp over medium/high heat until pink. In a bowl whisk together the juice of the limes, cilantro, and seasonings. Add the shrimp to the bowl and toss! Voila!

Garlic Lime Cilantro Shrimp could easily be substituted with chicken or scallops. Yum! It can be served in tacos, on a salad, or over quinoa or rice. This recipe is also delicious with avocado! Enjoy!

This shrimp was so tasty, flavorful and versatile! How will you serve Garlic Lime Cilantro Shrimp?

Day 1: Soo Much Food!

The Countdown to Competition Plan (CTC) for 21 Day Fix Extreme is the same plan that trainer and 21 Day Fix creator, Autumn Calabrese, uses before her bikini competitions.  CTC is a very different eating plan from what I have ever done before.  It includes A LOT of lean protein and veggies. After following the CTC plan for 2 days you follow one day of the 21 Day Fix Extreme  (21 DFX) eating plan. 21 DFX eating plan includes all the of the food groups in balanced portions. The CTC plan is not meant to be a permanent eating plan, but rather one that you use before a big event, such as a wedding, vacation or competition. I will be blogging about my 21 Day journey with this eating plan and workouts! I love the excitement before starting a new program!

Day 1 of the 21 Day Fix Extreme started with a delicious breakfast of eggs and asparagus I was even looking forward to getting up on Monday morning because I knew it was going to be tasty.  I was feeling great and I even managed to drink my coffee black since half and half is a no-no on the Countdown to Competition Plan.  I am NOT doing a competition, but I want to challenge myself and see how my body will respond to this plan.  If it works well, then I know what I will be doing before my next vacation! :)

 

Coffee in a cute mug ALWAYS tastes better!

The CTC plan urges you to eat many small meals throughout the day. Here is some of the other foods I ate on Day 1:

 

 

 

 

It was so much food! I was so full all day long! At no point was I even remotely hungry and I only ate my next small meal because I knew if I didn't eat every 2-3 hours I would not be able to eat all my containers for the day. 

 

At the end of the day I can honestly say it was a WIN! I was never hungry, I followed the plan to a T, and ALL the food was delicious, especially the Garlic Lime Cilantro Shrimp! (Look for a recipe post on this one coming soon!)

 

I am very excited for this challenge! I can't wait to see what other creative, healthy meals I can make! :)

 

 

My name is Kayla and I am a Stress Eater.

Normally on my blog I share about fitness, meal planning, recipes, positive tips and how it can help get, and keep a smile on your face and build self-confidence.

But not today.

Today, I am going to get more personal. Today I want to share something different.

Last night my Aunt passed away. This news has really hit my family hard. We are all mourning her loss and it is tearing me apart that I cannot be there for my mom and cousins in person. All I want is to hug them and hold them close, but phone calls and texts are as close as I can get.  It's been a difficult day, with lots of tears and memories. Today is not about meal plans, or workouts or losing weight. Today is about praying for my family that is grieving.

So, why can't I stop thinking about food!?!?!?!?

I am a stress eater! As soon as my brain registers stress, I immediately start craving food. Comfort food. Chocolate. Cake. Chocolate Cake. Homemade foods that my mom always made. Pasta. Brownies. Coffee drowned in syrup and whip cream.

None of these food are going to bring back my Aunt.  None of these foods are going to make me feel better. In fact, if I were to eat any of these, the first thing I would feel was guilt. These carb filled foods I am craving will only make me feel more weighed down and probably bloated.  I am already sad, with a puffy face and eyes, I do not need a puffy gut too.

I am doing my best to resist these cravings, but it's hard. These habits run deep. This is what I do when I am stressed. I eat.  And eat. And eat.  My wonderful husband offered late last night to go to the store and get me a delicious treat. At first I said yes! Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting please!  But I took it back. Eating my feelings would not heal the hurt.

I have been craving food all day and I resisted the chocolate chip banana bread sitting on my counter, and the omelet with cheese and sausage and more cheese that I wanted. Instead I stuck with what I had on my meal plan (thank goodness for meal prep because it would have been harder to make the healthy choice if  it wasn't right there in my fridge, ready for me).  I made scrambled eggs with mushrooms and onions.  It was delicious!

Then I made coffee. I LOVE coffee! On the 21 Day Fix Extreme meal plan sugar and cream are no-no's, so coffee is allowed but it has to be black.  So far, this hasn't bothered me. Today I poured my cup and almost spit it out it was so terrible.  Not sure what happened, but I made the worst cup of coffee I have ever made. Ever. And I have had a lot of practice. So, I made the rash decision to drive the 2 minutes to my favorite local coffee shop (with a drive thru so I didn't have to get my daughter out of the car) and order an iced caramel mocha. "Would you like a regular or a large?" I got the regular, surely that would help my guilt, right? Wrong. I got about a 1/4 of the way through my drink and had to stop. I put it in the fridge. The guilt was too much.  This wasn't helping me, it was making me feel worse.

I decided to change gears and try to get my mind off food. I read books with my daughter, we colored pictures, we cuddled, and loaded the dishwasher (can you believe that even when you are sad, the dishes and laundry still pile up?). I was starting to feel a little better, but I knew what would really help my guilt and focus, exercise. Ugh! I hate it. I don't even like working out. I do it, but I don't love it. But it's science that when you exercise and have all those happy endorphins floating around you feel better. So I decided to get my workout done early. Even my daughter seemed excited about joining me. I did Lower Fix from 21 Day Fix Extreme and threw in 10 minute abs to ease my guilt about breaking my meal plan. As much as I hate to admit it...it worked. I felt much better after working out. It didn't take away the sadness or the tears sitting just behind my eyes waiting to make their next appearance, but it did relieve some guilt. Even typing this post while cuddling with my dog is a bigger stress reliever than stress eating will ever be. Sabotaging myself is not going to bring my Aunt back.

The focus today should not be on food, the focus should be on my Aunt and all the wonderful memories I have of her. The focus today should be supporting my family, even from afar, as we move through this difficult time.

To my Aunt: You will be very dearly missed. We love you!

Meal Prep for Week 1 of 21 Day Fix Extreme

You know how every time you watch the Food Network you get hungry?

You're looking at food, thinking about food, "tasting" the food as they describe it.  How could you not get hungry? I know I do! Yet, we do this to ourselves everyday when we don't have a meal plan.  We spend our days thinking about what our next meal is going to be. Do I have the ingredients? Do I have to stop at the store? Maybe I'll just pick something up? This opens the door to making food decisions when you are hungry. In my case, that NEVER ends well.  I LOVE meal planning because it takes the thinking out of my meals. I do not have to wonder what I am eating for dinner, or my snack, because all I have to do is check my meal plan.

I am a planner, list maker, and organizer extraordinaire!

I also know, that there are not many other people that love making meal plans. Haha! So, I want to share with you what I planned for this week and how I prepped. :)

First, some background.  I chose to do 21 Day Fix Extreme for several reasons:

1. This program was just released, so I HAD to try it!
2. 21 Day Fix (the original) will always hold a special place in my heart because this is where I started. This was my first program that I actually followed the way it was supposed to be followed, and it was the first program that I EVER completed. EVER.  How could I not give the Extreme version my best shot?
3. I just finished Insanity Max:30 and I am ready for a new challenge!

21 Day Fix Extreme comes with a specific eating plan that focuses on balance, portion control and clean eating.  The original 21 Day Fix comes with portion control containers, and lists of foods "allowed" for each container. The Extreme version is the same, only it "cleans" up the food lists a bit, and eliminates the treats.  21 Day Fix Extreme also comes with the Countdown to Competition Plan that Autumn Calabrese uses when she is preparing for a competition. I am going to try to follow her Countdown to Competition plan.  It's a lot of protein, but I want to prove to myself that I can do it! Using the lists of foods provided and the number of each container you are allotted, you make your meal plan. Some people can just wing it and keep tallys throughout the day of each container they have eaten.  I cannot do that. I must plan. I must know that I will not only have green (vegetable) containers at the end of the day.  Plus, I LOVE food. Making a meal plan allows me to sit down, plan out my week of meals, including the grocery and prep list, and then I don't have to think about food any more. 

**I will be sharing my complete meal plan after I have tested the menu this week!**

Meal Prep takes this to a whole new level! The best part of meal prep is not only do you not have to worry about what you are eating for your next meal, you don't even have to make it! It's already done for you, ready to heat and eat!

Do you have any idea how much time you could save if you meal planned and prepped? A LOT!!!! I spent 3 hours on Sunday prepping my food for the week. 

I made:
*double batch of turkey chili
*double batch of hearty beef and butternut squash soup
*hard boiled eggs
*asparagus
*washed/sliced 3 packages of strawberries
*sauteed mushrooms and onions for omelets and steak
*sliced peppers and onions for Chicken Fajitas

This means only one round of dishes. One round of chopping. One round of clean up. Everything is portioned and prepped, so all I have to do now is check my meal plan and pull out what I am eating. So simple.  It makes it so much easier to eat healthy because it's already done and ready! Plus, it saves me SO much time during the week.

Have I sold you making a meal plan yet? ;)

Insanity Max:30 --> In Review--> What I learned!

Do you know how you can tell a great fitness program from one that is mediocre?

If you come out of it, not only physically changed, but mentally and emotionally better! The best fitness programs are the ones that not only tone the body, but improve the whole person.

Max:30 definitely did this for me! 

I learned so much about:

myself, 

my will power,

my strength,

my courage, 

my "want-to", 

my determination,

my ambition 

and desire to better myself. 

I want to be someone that my kids look up to. I want to be someone that doesn't give up in the face of opposition.  I want to be someone that stands up to a challenge. I want to be someone who inspires others to want these things for themselves, because you CAN!

I chose to do this program because I loved Shaun T's other programs and I wanted a challenge. I wanted to prove to myself that I can do hard things! When Max:30 was released I was so excited because this was exactly what I was looking for: a challenge wrapped in a cute, little 30 minute window! Let's be real, we are all busy and an effective workout in only 30 minutes is amazing!

These workouts are TOUGH! Every. Single. Workout. is HARD! BUT, it is made to be that way. If it was easy, it wouldn't be Extreme and it wouldn't deliver awesome results.  The first workout for me was almost embarrassing.  I only made it to 7:36 before Maxing Out.  Me, pushing as hard as I could, and I could only make it 7 minutes.  I didn't let it discourage me, instead I saw it as a challenge.  I am pretty competitive, especially with myself, so the next week I challenged myself to not only make it past 7:36, but to make it at least 2 minutes longer.  I not only met my goal, but I exceeded it! The second time I did Cardio Challenge I made it 11:20 before Maxing Out. Almost a 4 minute improvement in only one week!!!

These are the "sweaty selfies" that I (shamelessly) took and shared with my Challenge Group after my workout. I was amazed at my progress after only a week, but after 3 weeks I was seeing major improvements in my stamina, endurance and strength! I felt great! I wasn't the only one! All the participants in my Insanity Max:30 Test Group also saw great improvements and had amazing results!

I loved writing down my Max Out time during each workout. It was so motivating and inspiring to see how far I could go and push myself each time.  I wasn't comparing my body to others, I wasn't staring at the scale every morning, I was challenging myself to improve my strength and endurance.  Unlike basing progress on the scale, basing your progress on your performance during your workout translates into EVERYDAY LIFE! Challenging myself to improve each and every day, also applies to being a mom, being a wife, time management, etc.  Pushing yourself to improve your Max Out time is a mental challenge, far more than it is a physical one.  Yes, it is VERY physically challenging, but mentally you can overcome the physical.  So when my arms wanted to give up and drop me on the floor during tricep push-ups, it was my mental strength that came into play and pushed me to hold on for 10 more seconds, or 3 more push ups.  It is my mental strength that improved the most!  

Do you know how amazing it feels to know that you won the mental battle and pushed yourself further than you thought you could go? That when your body wanted to give up, you challenged yourself to keep going and your mental strength had the endurance to do it?

That feeling is what made me push play every day.  

That feeling is what made me feel like a million bucks after every workout.

That feeling is what made me feel like I could conquer any challenge set before me, each and every day!

I can't wait to repeat this program again soon! I loved it! :)