21 Day Fix – Day 5

Friday!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!
The Beginning Of Day 5!

(Well assuming you started on Monday like me :o) It is FINALLY the end of this long week. AND (!) it means that we’ve made it the whole entire week (well, 4 full days so far) eating awesome, committed to our daily physical activity, and on track for a better us!

Check in time. How’d yesterday go for you? It was another crazy damn day in the house (it’d be nice if life happened in moderation instead of in waves, don’t ya think?).

Besides, tonight is date night! Not with Hubby and I (’cause our plans fell through this weekend) but with my very best girlfriend. So, after work (all we gotta do is make it through the next 9 hours!), we are going to meet for a movie and some treat food. There are so many options at a theatre, I have found myself thinking in advance about what I want lol. I’m thinking poutine (fries and cheese and gravy – that’s gotta be like 2 yellows, 2 blues and a whole helluva lotta substitute for something not be thought of too hard) and veggie spring rolls (think there’ll be enough ‘veggie’ in there to get me a green? Lol).

But seriously though, I’ve earned this. I have worked hard at reaching my goals every day. I have resisted mad temptation (remember those cravings from the other night?). And it’s perfectly alright for me to allow myself the occasional indulgence.

Keeping It Spicy

In the past, when I have attempted various diet plans, one of the biggest contributors to my failure (aside from the dreaded plateau), has been the lack of variety or flavour in the foods I was eating. I spent 4 months once eating dry chicken breast + 2 cup broccoli every night. Looking back, make no damn wonder I gave up, even though I’d lost 60lbs. It just was not sustainable. So, I started introducing a little more variety, and on came the weight. I got discouraged, and then one ‘treat day’ became 4. More weight.

So, how can I make this one different? How can we make this a truly sustainable life change? I mean, in a house where the concept of a salad is not a daily thing… It’s more like a once-or-twice-a-year thing (Hubby doesn’t dig salads).

Yes it is important to get in the right types of foods, and yes, it is equally as important to properly combine your daily foods for portion counts. But, in my humble opinion, it is even more important to find delicious ways to do that. Otherwise, you can work your tookus off for a few weeks, eating salad and boiled chicken, feel good, and now want to die just thinking about continuing on.

 

I watched a program once that spoke about why the diet industry is so huge and growing every year. The theory, according to this program, is that the typical diet plan is designed to create yo-yo dieters. Now, why on earth would they do that? Well, if each one of their clients lost weight and KEPT IT OFF, well, then there’s no repeat business.

In addition, some of the larger corporations own multiple diet brands, and so if you try one, and it doesn’t work, and you decide to go to the next, they are still taking your money… As a second-time client! They just use a different hook.

The other one they highlight is Weight Watchers. Now, I’m sure all of us know someone who’s done this diet plan, and have made it a long term success. But here’s the issue with the way their points system was structured (at least a few years ago when I was looking at it)… They were giving you point count for McDonald’s Big Macs! Ok, wait – I can try to lead a healthy life but eat Big Macs? Like, as often as I want?! Whaaaat?!?! It was once explained to me that, based on the caloric count of, say 1200 calories per day, you could eat whatever you liked – so long as it was under 1200 calories. SO – you could eat 1200 calories of Big Macs each day! (Believe it or not, it was a nurse who told me this – in a group of other people who you could just see were re-routing their drive home to swing by Mickey-D’s.)

Sure, you might lose weight… But you will also lose muscle mass, bone density, enamel for your teeth and nails, lack essential nutrients, not to mention the junk preservatives and ingredients (we’ve all seen the 2 year old cheeseburger that never dies!) or how your heart will fair, or your insulin will spike. I ask you – WHO SAYS SOMETHING SO IRRESPONSIBLE AS THIS?

Ok – rant over. Lol

 

We Need To Find Something Sustainable…

Something that works long term, and something that is good for you on the inside AND the out.

So, back to the spice… One of the awesome-est things about the kitchen in our new house is my spice cabinet. We added a skinny extension to the fridge box to house spices. I went to the dollar store and bought tiny jars and printed off some clear labels. And then – OCD kicking in – alphabetized them! Lol. I LOVE this cabinet. Dedicating more than a cabinet that buries things for your spices will help you become familiar with them. And every time you find a recipe that calls for one that you don’t have yet, just add another jar.

Then, use the damn things! If you aren’t sure about a particular spice or how it is used, or you’re curious, take a minute and visit old man Google… He’ll tell you all about a spice’s flavour and what it used for. If you like the sound of it, give it a try! A little at a time, until you find your happy balance.

And Don’t Forget The Salt And Pepper!

With the recipes that we have been doing this week, you will find that our spices are generally limited to the main ones: sea salt, cracked black pepper, garlic & onion powder, and Montreal Steak Spice (well, for hubby at least). It’s simply amazing what you can do by just adding a little salt and pepper!

You have to be careful not to overdo it, and select a good salt, like Hymilayan Sea Salt, or one that has not been iodized. And if you have a salt addict in the house, now’s the time to switch them over. A few years back, a doctor warned my husband that if he didn’t cut down on his salt, that he would be in trouble (only because he accompanies his salt with food each meal, rather than the other way around!). So we switched his table salt to No Salt (a salt substitute). I never use it for cooking because it is all potassium and I don’t like the flavour, but he says it tastes just like salt for him.

And if you’re a real keener, try downloading a book about spices… They are fantastic!

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Refer to the 21 Day Fix Meal Plan for a complete outline of today’s food!