We Made It! The First Day Is Done!!
Are You Still With Me, There?
I didn’t lose you to overnight starvation or excessive amounts of potty breaks, did I? Lol
Seriously, though. How’d you do? Now’s a good time to check in with yourself. Did you follow your plan to a ‘T’? If so, good for you!!! Did you fall off the bandwagon just a little in a unanticipated mid-morning fit of I-gotta-have-a-latte-STAT-or-someone-is-going-to-die-NOW? If so, GOOD FOR YOU for CONFESSING! (Now’s also a good time to then follow through and think of a way to avoid that today.)
Well, I’m very happy to say that I stuck with it all day. Even right down to that last forced glass of water right before bed (note to self – try not to leave so much water for the end of the day… makes for mid-night interruptions and early morning potty breaks!).
One thing that really surprised me is how content I was with the amount of food I was eating. Well, lunch I thought was huge. Gosh. But breakfast and dinner were just right. I even thought (secretly to myself) as I was serving up dinner for Hubby and I, that we could’ve done with twice as much meat (which would be normal for us)… but we’re working on portions here, people! Ha!
But it was good. And just enough. We weren’t stuffed, and it helped that we had our snack that afternoon, but it felt good at the end of the day knowing that we made it. And the food was quite full of flavour. It’s gotta taste good or I’m gonna lose interest real fast. Like, lightening.
Day 2 – What’s Today Lookin’ Like?
Well, so far so good, actually. I woke up (early… too much water right before bed), and took a moment to look at myself in the mirror (remember, I work from home, so mirrors often get neglected unless required). And, one of my goals? Pay attention to me. So, I got dressed (like actual dressed, not just clean jammies), and did my hair (braids today, not just a bun). Took a moment to pat some anti-puff cream under my eyes, and started off to face the day.
Got a load of laundry in. Packed away the sleeping bags from last weekend’s camping trip. Posted a new recipe to my blog. Productive!
Then it was off for my 30 minute walk with The Poops (that’d be Duchess Pepper… aka Storm Pooper, aka Monkey, aka No Barking!). Another goal of mine for this three weeks, and it was great. I mean, it took convincing to actually go (I couldn’t tell you that I didn’t go on my second day!). All kinds of excuses were making themselves known: the floors need vacuuming (when you can SEE the dust, yeah – it’s time), there are dishes in the sink that didn’t fit the dishwasher last night, it’s gonna be a busy day at work, I’m hungry and need food first… Blah blah blah.
Nope… One step at a time. Grabbed the harness and some sandals and headed off. I took the road in a different direction today and found two beautiful little neighbourhood ponds that I didn’t even know existed. And by the time I got home, I had been gone 32 minutes (and no, I can’t bank those extra two minutes against tomorrow’s walk… But the fact that I thought of that is brilliant, right? Lol)
Today’s Tip
For every ‘diet’ program out there, there are tons of resources on how to eat, or work out… But I find that the tools to making it a success – something you can stick to – are often not as readily discussed.
I’d like to share some of the tips I think that can help make this a sustainable way of life… And the first things that comes to mind is meal prep.
Just because I work from home does not mean that it doesn’t get insanely busy. My office at home is exactly like an office anywhere else… You have projects, deadlines, needy clients… And some days those things can pile up. True, I have the blessing of being able to avoid traffic and not get dressed if I don’t want to (which I am extremely grateful for!)… But other than that, it’s pretty much the same.
A few years ago, when I stopped to really take stock of the foods that we were putting into our bodies, I noticed a trend. I would skip breakfast and go to work early (a negative side effect from working at home… you can find yourself starting at 5am if you’re not careful). I would work until 5 after 12, and have no idea what was happening for lunch, so it was Wendy’s or (back then) KFC. Gosh, we ate so poorly. Back to work until 5, and then no idea what to do for dinner. Like, na-da. So, order take out and have leftovers for lunch the next day. It was a vicious roller coaster.
If there was going to be a change, it had to start with me thinking ahead. It would eliminate desperate meal solutions, help cut down on costs at the grocery store (’cause you’re not buying junk you don’t need), and you would overall, improve your health.
Ok… Then what…
My whole kitchen life is focused around recipes that are EASY! I like foods that I can freeze and thaw, or foods that are easy to prepare. And yes, some may take a little longer than others, but it doesn’t mean they’re tough to do. But… in the beginning, freeze and thaw was the go to. I was, after all, trying to fit real food into our lives without slaving in the kitchen until 6:30-7. That, and at the time, I didn’t really enjoy cooking. At all.
That’s where the slow cooker came in. Easy stuff, like pasta sauce, chicken noodle soup, chili, chicken pot pie, chicken teriyaki… All fantastic meals that require little to no effort… Stick them in freezer containers and you’re done. We were eating real food and it would take little to no time to dish up!
Next, we moved on to more involved things to make that we could stick in the freezer. Don’t have a dedicated day to food prep? No problem… Just start making extras of everything that be frozen… And voila! You’ve got extras! Things like lasagna, quesadillas, garlic potatoes, mac and cheese, beef burger patties, tomato soup, clam chowder…
The next thing you knew, we had to buy a second freezer for all of our frozen food items. When we had time during lunch or later in the day, I’d make the foods that required a little thought… And when I didn’t, we had a delicious, home cooked meal just waiting for us – and they were far healthier than the crap we were eating!
Planning ahead for the 21 Day Fix
For the 21 Day Fix, I want to work on some of my favourite recipes and calculate the container values. That way, we can still eat the foods we love, just not overdo it. My meal plan guide will include a variety of make-ahead meals that you can easily use to stock your freezer with!
It’s gonna be good!
Refer to the 21 Day Fix Meal Plan for a complete outline of today’s food!
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