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! :)

2 SECRET WEAPONS to Healthy Eating

Secret Weapon #1:  Shakeology! I know, I know... You didn't see that one coming! ;) But seriously, drinking Shakeology daily makes a HUGE difference! Shakeology keeps my nutrition ON POINT. I know my body is getting all the vitamins and nutrients it needs plus it helps reduce cravings, increase energy, and keeps me feeling full longer.

Secret Weapon #2: There are lots of ways to eat healthy, but for me, it is the easiest when I plan ahead.  Knowing what I am going to eat and having it prepped ahead of time makes it much easier to stay on track.  I am going to share with you my easy way of meal planning for myself and my family of 4.  This means only one trip to the grocery store, 1-2 hours of food prep for the week and a the menu never gets boring! It's definitely not fancy, but it's PRACTICAL and this method has served me well!

I thought about typing it up and making it look nice. When I create meal plans to share with my customers I do that, but I wanted to share what it looks like day to day, in my house.  I do not take the time to make it look fancy.  I want something that is quick and easy. A routine that is simple to keep up. This system works well for my family.

The first thing I do is write down my menu plan.  I LOVE to plan, and with my family's busy schedule it is easiest for me to plan every meal and snack for the whole week.  Here is my meal plan for this week:

I printed off my Meal Planner and put it in a sheet protector.  I write out all my workouts, meals and snacks with a dry erase marker so I can easily change it next week.  I keep it on my fridge for easy access and for everyone (including the husband) to see.  The current version is what I have planned for myself and my husband to eat.  Next I will add to this in a different color what my kids will be eating for breakfast and lunch.  From this meal plan I create my grocery list.  One trip will last us all week!

**Fellow moms: I know you can appreciate only dragging the kids to the store once a week!

So how I do I decide what we are eating every week? It's easy! Behind the Meal Plan in the sheet protector hanging on my fridge, I printed a blank calendar that has a month's worth of meals I know my family loves already written down. 

From this calendar I choose what we will eat that week.  Sometimes I will look at the ad for our local grocery store and choose meals that have items on sale. Other times I am in a hurry and just pick whatever is easiest, but mostly I just choose whatever sounds the most delicious to me at the moment. I love trying new recipes so I usually include at least one new recipe each week (thank you Pinterest!)

"Ummm...Kayla? You keep saying you plan for the whole week but most of Friday, Saturday and Sunday are blank? What do you eat on the weekends?"

Great question! (This is one I get a lot!) I will fill in the weekend about midweek, because at my house even the best plans never go exactly as planned. So, by midweek I will know which dinners were bumped because we had too many leftovers, or which night we will go out to eat, etc, :)

I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment if you are going to try this at your house!

Have a Happy, Healthy Day!