Round 1 of the fix reboot went well, I went to the doctor for my weigh-in last Friday, May 1st and her scale showed I lost 12 pounds in 4 weeks so that's awesome! I'm feeling great, still getting sore from the workouts and sometimes I notice a slight change in the way my clothes fit or the way I look. Nothing dramatic though.
We're wrapping up softball & baseball season so it's been pretty flipping busy around here. I'm trying to cram so much in to such a short amount of time. The one time that I've found peace and stability is during my workouts which is something I never thought I'd hear myself say.
One of the things that I've struggled with since starting the 21 Day Fix in February 2014 is meal planning. Oddly enough, meal planning is the major key to success when it comes to weight loss. I have stayed pretty much the same over the past 15 months as far as what I eat and I'm finally getting tired of it and needing a change. I started trying to use recipes that sounded good and making ingredient swaps if something wasn't fix approved or if there was a healthier option available. It works out great if you know what a serving size is and how many servings is in the recipe, if not it's difficult, especially when you're math impaired like I am.
I seriously have to message a friend of mine to get her to check after me when I'm doing my calculations and making sure that I have the right containers in the container count and it's just a mess to put it bluntly.
Anyway, I'm trying to work on that and thank goodness I have an awesome coach and support system that doesn't mind when I badger them with questions constantly. Just today I've learned that the only way to make sure your container counts are accurate for a recipe is to measure them as you're adding them into your pot, crockpot, skillet, etc. For instance, I have a recipe for Steak Fajitas that I wanted to try and I was trying to figure out the container count for the recipe & for each serving. The recipe calls for 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak...how in the hell am I suppose to know how many red containers 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak is? Duh Ashley, you have to measure it in the red containers as you're putting it into the crockpot because well...that's just the easiest way to do it. So, we guesstimated that 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak will be roughly 6 reds but we won't know for sure until we're actually cooking the fajitas and I'm able to measure it out. You also have to remember (which I didn't) that there's a difference in 16 oz and 16 fl oz...they're not the same! Yep, I definitely tried the whole 1 cup = 8 ounces (a red container is 1 cup/8 ounces), 2 cups = 16 ounces, 16 ounces = 1 pound, 1.5 pounds = 24 ounces....I'm not the brightest crayon in the box!
Instead of explaining it (which I'm obviously terrible at) let me just share the ingredients and show you how we broke it down.
Steak Fajitas
-1.5 lbs flank steak
-1.5 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
-1 jalapeno
-2 garlic cloves
-4 to 5 bell peppers
-1 onion
Flank steak = red container because it's protein
Chili powder = FREE (see comments below about free foods)
Cumin = FREE
Coriander = FREE
Salt = NOT FIX APPROVED...OMIT
Pepper = FREE
Low-Sodium Soy Sauce = Not sure if this is fix approved & not sure what purpose such a small amount would serve so we're going to OMIT
Jalapeno = green container (vegetable)
Garlic cloves = FREE
Bell peppers = green container (vegetable)
Onion = green container (vegetable)
Here's the deal, every onion is different right? Size, shape, etc...so we can't really say every onion is going to fill 1 green container because they're all different and also because what I consider a "medium" onion might be what you consider a "large" onion and vice versa. The same goes for jalapenos and bell peppers as well as the steak (each one is cut differently, just because they look the same size doesn't mean they're the same weigh, etc). The only way to accurately know how many green containers are going into this recipe is to measure them as you cook. So, in this recipe it calls for 1 onion, 1 jalapeno, and 4 or 5 bell peppers as the veggies as I'm dicing the onion & cutting the other peppers I'm going to put them into green containers. Lets say I dice the onion and put it into a green container and it fills the container all the way to the top, that's 1 green container, I seed & chop the jalapeno and put it into the green container, it only fills it half-way full. So far, that's 1-1/2 green containers in this recipe, 1 from the onion & the 1/2 from the jalapeno. I chop the bell peppers & between 4-5 bell peppers they fill 2-1/2 green containers, that brings the green container count in the recipe up to 4 green (1 from the onion, 1/2 from the jalapeno, & 2-1/2 from the bell peppers). We guesstimated and said that 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak would be around 6 red containers.
We also know that the author of the recipe states that this recipe will serve between 5 & 6 people, to make math a little easier we'll round up and say 6. If the whole recipe has 6 red containers & 4 green containers & the recipe contains 6 servings, divide 6 by 6 and that gives you 1. Divide 4 by 6 and that gives you .67 (rounding up) so when we put that in fraction format we'll just be super safe and say it's roughly 3/4 of a green container. This tells us that in each serving (if you divide the recipe into 6 containers evenly) there will be 1 red container & 3/4 of a green container.
In addition to that, if you eat the fajitas on tortillas (I typically don't, I just eat the meat and veggies) of course you'll have to account for the tortilla which, depending on brand and number of tortillas you use, would probably be a yellow container. One topping that I do like on my fajitas is sour cream. Unfortunately for me, sour cream is not 21 Day Fix approved...booooo....have no fear, there's a substitute! I've learned to use plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream. It has a different consistency and a tangier taste but once you put it with your meat and veggies it is disguised. It is definitely yummy! If I wanted to use the greek yogurt, I could use less meat in my particular portion of fajitas, say 3/4 of a red container instead of a whole red container, and use 1/4 of the red for the yogurt.
I'm terrible at explaining stuff but I'm trying my best. This is such a learning process.
Read On >>>
We're wrapping up softball & baseball season so it's been pretty flipping busy around here. I'm trying to cram so much in to such a short amount of time. The one time that I've found peace and stability is during my workouts which is something I never thought I'd hear myself say.
One of the things that I've struggled with since starting the 21 Day Fix in February 2014 is meal planning. Oddly enough, meal planning is the major key to success when it comes to weight loss. I have stayed pretty much the same over the past 15 months as far as what I eat and I'm finally getting tired of it and needing a change. I started trying to use recipes that sounded good and making ingredient swaps if something wasn't fix approved or if there was a healthier option available. It works out great if you know what a serving size is and how many servings is in the recipe, if not it's difficult, especially when you're math impaired like I am.
I seriously have to message a friend of mine to get her to check after me when I'm doing my calculations and making sure that I have the right containers in the container count and it's just a mess to put it bluntly.
Anyway, I'm trying to work on that and thank goodness I have an awesome coach and support system that doesn't mind when I badger them with questions constantly. Just today I've learned that the only way to make sure your container counts are accurate for a recipe is to measure them as you're adding them into your pot, crockpot, skillet, etc. For instance, I have a recipe for Steak Fajitas that I wanted to try and I was trying to figure out the container count for the recipe & for each serving. The recipe calls for 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak...how in the hell am I suppose to know how many red containers 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak is? Duh Ashley, you have to measure it in the red containers as you're putting it into the crockpot because well...that's just the easiest way to do it. So, we guesstimated that 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak will be roughly 6 reds but we won't know for sure until we're actually cooking the fajitas and I'm able to measure it out. You also have to remember (which I didn't) that there's a difference in 16 oz and 16 fl oz...they're not the same! Yep, I definitely tried the whole 1 cup = 8 ounces (a red container is 1 cup/8 ounces), 2 cups = 16 ounces, 16 ounces = 1 pound, 1.5 pounds = 24 ounces....I'm not the brightest crayon in the box!
Instead of explaining it (which I'm obviously terrible at) let me just share the ingredients and show you how we broke it down.
Steak Fajitas
-1.5 lbs flank steak
-1.5 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp coriander
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
-1 jalapeno
-2 garlic cloves
-4 to 5 bell peppers
-1 onion
Flank steak = red container because it's protein
Chili powder = FREE (see comments below about free foods)
Cumin = FREE
Coriander = FREE
Salt = NOT FIX APPROVED...OMIT
Pepper = FREE
Low-Sodium Soy Sauce = Not sure if this is fix approved & not sure what purpose such a small amount would serve so we're going to OMIT
Jalapeno = green container (vegetable)
Garlic cloves = FREE
Bell peppers = green container (vegetable)
Onion = green container (vegetable)
Here's the deal, every onion is different right? Size, shape, etc...so we can't really say every onion is going to fill 1 green container because they're all different and also because what I consider a "medium" onion might be what you consider a "large" onion and vice versa. The same goes for jalapenos and bell peppers as well as the steak (each one is cut differently, just because they look the same size doesn't mean they're the same weigh, etc). The only way to accurately know how many green containers are going into this recipe is to measure them as you cook. So, in this recipe it calls for 1 onion, 1 jalapeno, and 4 or 5 bell peppers as the veggies as I'm dicing the onion & cutting the other peppers I'm going to put them into green containers. Lets say I dice the onion and put it into a green container and it fills the container all the way to the top, that's 1 green container, I seed & chop the jalapeno and put it into the green container, it only fills it half-way full. So far, that's 1-1/2 green containers in this recipe, 1 from the onion & the 1/2 from the jalapeno. I chop the bell peppers & between 4-5 bell peppers they fill 2-1/2 green containers, that brings the green container count in the recipe up to 4 green (1 from the onion, 1/2 from the jalapeno, & 2-1/2 from the bell peppers). We guesstimated and said that 1-1/2 pounds of flank steak would be around 6 red containers.
We also know that the author of the recipe states that this recipe will serve between 5 & 6 people, to make math a little easier we'll round up and say 6. If the whole recipe has 6 red containers & 4 green containers & the recipe contains 6 servings, divide 6 by 6 and that gives you 1. Divide 4 by 6 and that gives you .67 (rounding up) so when we put that in fraction format we'll just be super safe and say it's roughly 3/4 of a green container. This tells us that in each serving (if you divide the recipe into 6 containers evenly) there will be 1 red container & 3/4 of a green container.
In addition to that, if you eat the fajitas on tortillas (I typically don't, I just eat the meat and veggies) of course you'll have to account for the tortilla which, depending on brand and number of tortillas you use, would probably be a yellow container. One topping that I do like on my fajitas is sour cream. Unfortunately for me, sour cream is not 21 Day Fix approved...booooo....have no fear, there's a substitute! I've learned to use plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream. It has a different consistency and a tangier taste but once you put it with your meat and veggies it is disguised. It is definitely yummy! If I wanted to use the greek yogurt, I could use less meat in my particular portion of fajitas, say 3/4 of a red container instead of a whole red container, and use 1/4 of the red for the yogurt.
I'm terrible at explaining stuff but I'm trying my best. This is such a learning process.
