21 Day Fix- nutrition

I wanted to take a little time to give you my thoughts on the nutrition part of the 21 Day fix program.

First, let me tell you how much I love this program- "I LOVE this program!"
I really do, it has changed the way I look at food, it has drastically changed my portions of the foods I was eating too much of, it has led me to try (and like) new foods, it has helped me and my family already!
But with that being said, let me tell you that it's not always easy.  

The whole premise of these little portion boxes is to show you just how much a portion really is, and to get you to eat the right foods throughout the day.  If you're like me and love  LOVE carbs then get ready for a rude awakening on how many carbs you'll be eating on this program.  I already knew I was eating too many carbs, they were the majority of my diet- I would eat them for each meal of the day as well as snacks in between.  So I'm thankful for the program, that it's helped me to get away from eating so many.  I'm still eating carbs- they're not off limits, but my portions are greatly reduced.

How about a little overview on this box system:
In your package you get 7 colored boxes of different sizes.

The purple box is for fruits, pretty much any fruit you can think of can go in here.  You just fill the fruit to the top (make sure you can close the lid) and voila! there's your portion.  Depending on what calorie category you're in, you get 2-4 of these each day.  2 if you're in the 1200-1499 calorie category, up to 4 if you're in the 2100-2300 category.

The green box holds the most veggies.   You get 3-6 of these each day, again depending on your calorie category.

The red box is for the proteins (meats, eggs, tuna, cottage cheese, shakeology and protein powders, etc).  You get 4-6 of these each day.

The yellow box is for carbs like oatmeal, breads, tortillas, sweet potatoes, rice, corn on the cob, pastas, pancakes, beans, etc.)  You get 2-4 of these.  I'm in the category where I get 2, and oh how I wish it was four, but it okay.

The blue container is for things like avocado, raw nuts, hummus, cheese, coconut milk, etc. You get just one of these a day.

You get two little orange containers that hold chopped raw nuts, raw seeds, olives, coconut, and 21 Day fix dressings.  You also get one of these a day.

And lastly there are "teaspoons" (you just use your own teaspoon for these measurements).  These are for EVOO, coconut oil and other healthy oils, nut and seed butters.  Depending on your calorie category, you get 2-6 of these each day.

So, like I said this has helped me so much limit the food I was eating too much of (carbs), but it also helped me eat more of the foods I wasn't getting enough of in my diet (veggies).   

My diet on the 21 Day fix is balanced now.

Can I also say that not every food you may be used to eating should you continue eating.  For example Doritos aren't considered a whole/real food (and that's what you ought to be eating is the whole and real foods).  So you won't be filling up your yellow container with Doritos (sorry).  

The following list helped me to buy the right kind of foods at the store:

You may have questions like, what about coffee? with my favorite creamer? or what about treats? what happens when I go out for dinner? how do I cook in this new way?
I had these same questions, plus more.  This is why I researched this program before I bought it, I wanted as few surprises as possible- I wanted to fully know and accept what I was getting into.  
You should do the same thing.

And keep in mind that everyone is different, so everyone will have different goals, and everyone will do things a little different.  That's okay!

For me, it wasn't necessarily about losing weight.  
I wanted to take part in something that:
         *helped my family eat healthier for the long run, 
         *I wanted to get my tummy toned, 
         *and I wanted to just feel better.
Already, after only a week I feel better, I'm eating healthier, and my tummy is on its way to get toned.

Having said that I will also tell you that I'm not perfect in this new endeavor.  Whether you call it cheating or not, there are things I allow in my new diet that others may not allow, but remember that I don't have a lot of weight to lose either.  If my main concern was losing weight then I would probably limit my "cheats", but for me I want to do this the way I will continue to do it for the long haul- which for me means drinking my coffee in the morning with my creamer.  I will tell you however, that my coffee consumption has gone way down.  I now drink about 1 1/2 cups of coffee in the morning, and sometimes a cup in the afternoon.  Whereas  we used to have our coffee pot going all day long- seriously.  I'm trying to decrease the amount of creamer I add to my coffee, slowly, and we'll see how that goes.
The other thing that I've done a few days this past week is allow myself one extra carb a day.  Instead of 2 yellow boxes, I've had 3.  To me, it's not the end of the world because before this program I would have triple, or even quadruple the amount of carbs I eat now- so I've decreased it by a lot.  And again, it's because I'm not doing this for the weight loss, if I was then I would stick with the 2 boxes a day like they suggest.

This is really why I like this program so much, they've given these guidelines for you to follow, but you know what you can take and what you shouldn't.  I've drastically changed my diet, and this program has helped!  Let me also say that if you're doing this for weight loss, then once you've reached your weight loss goal you will then go to a maintenance calorie category, which may up your box portions.  
This program is really a life-changer, because it's truly changed my life.  But the nutrition portion goes hand in hand with the exercise portion, and that's why this works so well.  

If you have any questions about the 21 day fix then please feel free to ask!  
Next time I'll show you some of the things that have helped me in this endeavor, so check back soon!

Travel adventures

This is a completely new topic for me to write about, because up until 2014 I hadn't done any air travel for about 12 years.
Then in 2014 to early 2015 I traveled to Fiji, Florida, California, and Hawaii.
I still can't believe I went to all those places even as I'm typing it.

In July 2014 I (along with a group of teens and adults from church) went on a missions trip to Fiji- it was awesome, it was amazing, it was inspiring, and it was unforgettable!
In October of 2014 I went to Florida (I live in Washington) to visit family.  It was a last-minute trip, and a long day of traveling with 3 connecting flights across the United States.
In November of 2014 I flew to California with 5 others to visit a Christian College.  In November in the State of Washington we had snow, in November in the State of California we had sun!  It was awesome!
And finally in April of 2015 my family (husband, myself, and 5 kids) flew to Hawaii for a Spring Break vacation.  I still can't believe we went to Hawaii, and had the opportunity as a family to live in paradise for a week!

I write this all to tell you that even though I went 12 years without flying anywhere, in this past year I learned so much about what to do and what not to do as far as traveling goes.  I learned a ton about packing- what you need and what you really don't need at all.  And now I want to share what I learned with you, so if you're like me and need some information on traveling do's and don'ts, then please bookmark this blog.  I'll be posting about each trip, and what I specifically learned about foreign travel, short trips, long trips, etc.
I had a blast traveling and can't wait to do it again!

I'm going to start with my trip to Florida first.  Even though my trip to Fiji came before my trip to Florida, that trip will take a bit longer to write about so I'll save it for next time.

Florida (that's how I'll refer to each trip- by the state name) came about at the last minute.  
My Aunt and Uncle had lived in Florida for 3 years, and in those 3 years my uncle's health deteriorated quite a bit.  I was very close to my aunt and uncle, and actually lived with them for part of a summer back in 1995.  I got a message from my cousin that my uncle wasn't doing well (she went to stay with them to help out), I talked to her about what was going on and she told me she didn't think he had too long to live.  I wasn't sure if this meant he had months, weeks, or days left.  We waited a couple days for more information, and during this waiting time I felt the need to go and visit them.  The day after I made this decision I talked to my cousin again and I told her I wanted to come out to visit, I asked if she thought I could wait a week and she thought I probably could.  But when I spoke to my aunt later that night, my aunt seemed to think his time was close.  When I asked if I should come out sooner than a week, she said I probably should.  
So that night I booked my flight for 2 days later.  

Here's my first travel tip:  if it's last minute, prepare to pay the big bucks!  
Don't be surprised if you can't find a flight for less than $700 (if you're flying across the country like I was).
The sticker shock hit me like a ton of bricks, but my dear husband didn't bat an eye- knowing how much my aunt and uncle meant to me. He told me not to worry about the money and just GO!
I booked my flight on one of those travel websites, and because I wanted to try and save as much as I could I didn't get a non-stop flight.  I got a flight that had the first stop in Colorado, the second in Miami, and the last flew me to Gainesville.

Here's my second travel tip:  if you're not getting a non-stop, then at least make sure all your flights are with the same airline.
You don't have to do this, but can I tell you it makes a world of difference!  When you get off one flight, then your connecting flights/gates are usually all located in the same area.  I didn't go from United, to Southwest, to American, etc.  I made sure all my flights were with the same airline, this is especially important if you're checking baggage.  
Now, don't get me wrong- if you use different airlines it doesn't mean there will be problems- your trip could go off without a hitch.  But for me it took some of the stress out of it.  
But on the other hand, just because you're sticking with the same airline on all connecting flights doesn't mean you won't have any obstacles.  Here's my example:  Coming home from Florida I flew from Gainesville, to Miami, and up to Washington DC.  The Dulles airport (at least the portion I went to) was under construction and I had to walk (at times at a pretty fast pace) for about 45 minutes (no joke!) to get to my next gate!  I'm not sure if this was just how the Dulles airport was laid out, but even though I was using the same airline my two gates were VERY far apart.  I had just over an hour layover, and thank goodness there were no delays in my flight to DC because once I got to the gate I had just about 15 minutes left to go to the bathroom and get a pretzel before my next flight was called.  I was one big sweaty mess!

Here's my next tip:  Be prepared before hand with snacks and water if your airline doesn't provide these.  

On my trip TO Florida, my connecting flights were just a few hours apart and the layovers gave me enough time to get a bite to eat at the airports.  But on my way back to Washington, because of the mad rush to my last gate in Dulles, and trying to stuff a pretzel down my throat as fast as I could (only ate about half of it), I didn't really get prepared for the long flight back.  
It was non-stop from Dulles to Portland (about 7 hours), and I was starving by the end.  I did get water and a tiny little bag of peanuts on the flight, but that was it.  So be prepared to get snacks before hand, or buy a meal on the plane.

And here's my last tip:  Don't get too stressed, just go with the flow, and enjoy it.  
I have to admit that before I left for Florida I was nervous to travel across the country by myself.  Yes, I was 38 at the time, but I was still a bit nervous.  I hadn't flown on my own for years, I had 3 connecting flights, and I was just plain nervous of air travel anyway.  But I kept reminding myself that I was adult and I could handle it (that sounds silly I know), and I told myself to just enjoy this experience.

Like I said, I'm not a seasoned air-flyer, but I think these tips will come in handy for a lot of you.

I want to talk about packing for this particular trip, and share things I did as far as packing, and what I would change next time.  But that will be in my next post.  So please bookmark this and check back soon!