21 Day Fix Shopping List

Here you go! The long awaited shopping list. Since so much of 21DF is clean eating, I didn't want to send you to the store too early knowing that things will spoil before you get a chance to eat them. So shop wisely! I've categorized the list as best I could. You will notice that I'm a huge Trader Joe's fan. If there's one by you, I highly recommend going. Not only because of prices (which are FAB), but because the food is fresh and most of it is organic. When buying organic at the regular grocery, you will find a HUGE increase over non-organic stuff. Sadly this is one reason why people keep eating non organic food and claim it just costs too much to eat healthy. I find that's one big giant (lame) excuse, but I'll save that post for another day. Since you're all here to make changes, here's your first step. Shopping.

RULE #1: Don't go to the grocery store hungry. Suddenly the ice cream aisle will be the only thing you think about. Eat, then shop.

Staples 
These items should ALWAYS be in the house. If you run out before your next food shopping date, it'll be worth stopping quickly mid-week to restock. These are must haves to keep the convenience level of this meal plan in check. Should you run out of these quick snacks and grab-and-go items, the temptation to eat ALL OF THE CEREAL IN THE HOUSE DIRECTLY FROM THE BOX will be way too easy. Don't let that happen. Remember, YOU are in control of your success.

Unsweetened Almond Milk (30 calories)
1-doz organic eggs (hard boil 6 of them for easy grab-and-go)
Organic Hummus (try to get plain. Don't get crazy with flavors)
Plain organic greek yogurt (if you absolutely cannot deal with plain, vanilla is okay. No fruit. It's not real fruit!)
Natural Peanut Butter (unsalted is ideal, but gross. You won't die using salted. My favorite is Trader Joes Creamy Valencia)
Organic leafy greens (whichever you prefer - spinach, 50/50 blend, romaine, whatever. This will spoil quickly if you get the bagged kind so be sure to check dates to make sure you can get at least 3 days worth)
ORGANIC Green Apples (please don't even buy non-organic apples)
Fresh lemons
Coconut oil
Organic dark chocolate chips (TraderJoe's are awesome!)
Raw honey (if you can get raw LOCAL honey, bonus.)

Weekly Items
I'll be presenting a few different meal plans and you can go through and pick what you'll be eating. This is not EVERYTHING that's allowed on the plan, so be sure to read your meal plan book when you get it. You won't need everything on this list for week one, but pick enough of it and buy it so you have it to fix your meals for the week. This is where the planning comes in. Depending on the meals you choose for Week 1, you will need:

Meats (Red container):
Boneless, skinless (organic), chicken or turkey breasts
Ground turkey*
Frozen shrimp
White fish
Grass fed ground beef (I recommend staying off red meat for the first 21-days, but if you absolutely MUST have it, be sure it's grass fed and at least 95% lean)
Ham slices
Turkey slices
Canned Tuna
*Trader Joes has frozen burgers - turkey, veggie, chicken - these taste great and heat up quickly. They're a great quick meal that you won't have to think about. Highly recommend!

Veggies (Green container):
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Brussels Sprouts
Beets
Asparagas
Tomatoes
Peppers

Fruits (Purple container):
Frozen berry medley (this is perfect to mix with your Shakeology!)
Cherries
Grapes
Banana
Melon
Strawberries

Carbs (Yellow container):
Quick-cooking oatmeal (in a canister) I have a great hack for this that I'll share in the group this week.
Sweet Potato
Quinoa**
Brown Rice**
Beans
Corn Tortillas 6" (2 of these equal one yellow)
Whole wheat pita
Whole grain bread (1 slice is one yellow)
*Trader Joe's has pre-cooked frozen quinoa and brown rice. There are four packets in each box and 1 packet equals 2 yellows.

Healthy Fats (Blue container)
Avocado
Almonds
Hummus
Feta or Goat cheese
Shredded low moisture mozzarella

Seeds (Orange container)
Pumpkin seeds (raw)
Sunflower seeds (raw)
Sesame seeds (raw)

Seeds are great toppings on salads. You can substitute one orange for one blue so if you prefer to skip the seeds, that's no big deal.

Over the weekend I'll be posting meal ideas for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and snacks - all 21DF approved. You can us this to plan what you'll be eating this coming week! Any questions, you know how to find me!

Getting Selfish: The WHY

There's a lot of negativity surrounding the word "selfish". Many things can be construed as "selfish" and the interpretation is very subjective. Some people will say that investing in your health and fitness is selfish. Some people will say that spending time at the gym takes away from time with your family. And in turn, that's selfish. I have a hard time with this on a daily basis. Besides the regular Mom guilt, I'm also a practicing Catholic and THAT comes with a whole array of guilt built right in. Because Jesus was a self-less man and we as Christians are to follow Him and His teachings, once we divert from that ever so slightly, we feel selfish and guilty about it. Overcoming this is a daily battle.

It has to change. I have to change the way I think about my ME time. Getting healthy is more than about how my clothes fit and how toned my arms look. For me, this has been about getting off of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication for the first time in 5-years. It has been about letting my husband (a very talented photographer) take photos of me in my daily life and letting him post them without me freaking out that I look fat. It has been about the skin on the backs of my arms clearing up for the first time since, well, ever. It's been about my confidence level. My ability to stand up straight and carry myself into business meetings like I matter instead of hiding in layers of clothes and long scarves. THIS is more than just weight loss and muscle mass. This makes me feel like I can be a better mother, a better wife, a better person overall. THAT is why.

I want you to think about your WHY and I want you to dig deeper than "For my kids" and "For my family" and "So I can live longer". I want you to, well, if we must use the word, then I want you to Get Selfish! Are there a pair of pants in your closet that you wore years ago and you felt HOT in them? And what you wouldn't give to get back in them and have that feeling again. That confident, untouchable, catcalling, wolf-whistling feeling? THAT's what I want to hear about. We are ALL doing this to change bad habits, to be able to chase our kids around the back yard, to live a longer life, BLAH BLAH. I've heard all that. I KNOW all that. Those are my reasons too - you know, the ones that DON'T make me feel so selfish. Dig deeper.

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

When I decided to finally drop the wall (the wall of excuses, the wall of blame, the wall that basically had me standing on top of it with my fingers in my ears and my eyes screwed shut screaming LA LA LA LA LA at the top of my lungs) a sudden clarity appeared. A clarity about ownership and control. A clarity that came with personal strength and will power. Something that made me see the door open and the light appear.

Eating right has been beaten into my head from a very young age. There was never junk food in my house, but in the 1980's, what we knew about "junk food" was limited. It was basically candy and potato chips. No candy. No potato chips. We've evolved only slightly since to realize that among other things available to me then, Fruit Roll-ups aren't exactly health food and canned cheese, while super fun and entertaining to squirt onto crackers, doesn't contain anything remotely even close to resembling cheese. Still, at that time, these processed foods were balanced out by the fact that more people sat down to dinner every night as a family. My Mom or my Grandmother cooked every night. I remember roast chicken with broccoli and rice, spaghetti and meatballs with a huge salad, burgers with ripe tomatoes (that we grew in the back yard!) on top, and plenty of other meals. I remember my grandma slicing green peppers and shooing me away from the counter because I kept stealing the raw slices and running away. Because of this (and the fact that I never stayed still), I never had issues with my weight as a child or young adult.

Today in 2015, it's just too easy to fail at making good food choices. And to think, we're better off now than we were at the turn of the millennium! The organic, natural food movement has taken a slight hold, but not enough of one. Even fast food restaurants offer low calorie options. But we as a society are busier than ever. We schedule ourselves to the brink of exhaustion, work multiple jobs, enroll the kids in multiple activities, drive here, shlepp there, etc. etc. It's easy to hit the drive-thru between stopping at Target and picking up the kid at school. And I don't know about you, but I will pass over 10 fast-food restaurants while driving from Target to my house. Temptation right there in a red and yellow sign. And! As a bonus! You can probably get something that will hold you over until dinner with the change that's scattered on the floor and in the cup holders of your car.

Discovering Beachbody through my Pilates teacher (See? I was even going to the gym regularly and STILL battling the number on the scale!) and doing just one round of 21-Day Fix changed my life. I have control over food that I've never had before. I no longer suffer from stomach pain and guilt after eating a huge meal. I know how to order in restaurants. I know how to prepare my food at home. I know what I have to bring with me to get through the day. My workouts take on a new meeting. I workout to actually sculpt and change my body -- not to undo whatever the hell I ate. I opened my eyes. I saw how to make the change. Things became clear.

I want to share this with all of you. Over the course of the next 21-Days, I'll be sharing with brutal honesty what my life was like before and after 21 Day Fix. I'll be stressing out with all of you when it comes to not having enough hours in the day. I'll be moaning and groaning about having to fit a workout in. Because it's not easy. If it were easy, the world would be a size 4 and bikini body ripped. But it's possible. With such a small commitment from you - 21 Days - you can change how you relate to food. You can DO THIS. Because if I can do it, YOU CAN.

21 Day Fix Challege Group: Memorial Day 2015

Challenge Group 1

Beachbody Programs:
21 Day Fix
21 Day Fix Extreme
Brazil Butt Lift
Shakeology

Start Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Participants:
Coach: Allyson
Challengers: TBD

Meal Plan:
21 Day Fix