Category: clean eating

Fix Friendly Morning Glory Muffins

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Here’s a quick little snack that I promise doesn’t taste like a pathetic version of the real thing!  In fact, we cut the natural sweetener in these babies, and agree it could be cut even more.  WIN!  Bonus: Baby H absolutely loved them.  DOUBLE WIN!

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Fix-Friendly Morning Glory Muffins
NOTE: I refer to these as “fix-friendly”.  If this is your first ever round of the 21 Day Fix, do your best to stick to the meal plan.  If you are having one of these, I would count it as a 3x weekly yellow treat swap.
If you are in “sustainable lifestyle” mode like me (aka – you have done a few rounds and are in this for the long-haul!) these make a great option for a snack or dessert.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (or honey) – or less!  It really doesn’t need much sweetener!
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup finely grated zucchini
  • 1 cup finely grated carrot
  • ½ cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in the center of the oven, and coat a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the coconut oil, maple syrup (or honey), egg, and vanilla extract.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together until just barely combined.
  5. Add the zucchini, carrot and raisins and stir gently until just distributed.
  6. Fill each cup in the mini muffin pan approximately ¾ full (I use a small cookie scoop slightly overfilled).
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

This recipe was adapted from the original mini muffin version found here at Cupcakes and Kale Chips

ENJOY!  Let me know how they turn out….modification ideas?  Comment below!

What’s the 21 Day Fix all about anyway?

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Ever since I started posting more about my post-partum health and fitness journey on Facebook, Instagram and on my blog, I’ve received all kinds of messages:

“What are you doing!?”

“Which program is this!?”

“I’m not coordinated and I’m so out of shape…is this super hard!?”

and…”you GO mama!” (or some other form of encouragement….thanks for that, friends)

So, I thought I would make it easy on myself and answer a few questions for you all!

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Question 1: OK, so what’s the 21 Day Fix all about?

21 Day Fix is a BeachBody program created by super trainer Autumn Calabrese.  The program includes:

  • 30 minute workouts (7 total) that are designed to be in-home friendly, or you can do these at the gym, too (streaming available!). Bonus Plyo workout when you order through an Independent Beachbody Coach (aka: ME!).  Light hand weights or a resistance band are required.
  • Nutrition plan with handy color-coded portion control containers (more on this in a minute) – it takes the guesswork out of what you should be fueling your body with every day.
  • On-line support via virtual “Challenge Groups” (run by me!) and the on-line BeachBody community
  • If you purchase what’s called a Challenge Pack (better value – only available through your coach…aka: ME!), it also includes a 30-day supply of Shakeology, which is a superfood filled shake.  Why do I love it?  I can pronounce all the ingredients, it comes in chocolate flavour, and it helps to curb my sugar and carb cravings!   Need I say more?

Question 2: “Why 21 days?”

The answer is simple: it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit.

This is especially crucial for those just starting their fitness journey, or picking things back up again after a long hiatus.  There are plenty of amazing 60- to 90- day programs out there, but I’d recommend leaving those until further down the line!  Give yourself the chance to commit and see success in this first short 3-week burst, and you’ll be HOOKED.  21 Day Fix truly helps you form good habits and lay a foundation for your nutrition and fitness.  The best part is that once you’ve made the initial investment, you can just keep going and complete multiple rounds!

Question 3: “But seriously though, I am so. out. of. shape.”

This program is designed for those at a beginner to intermediate fitness level.  Each and every workout offers modification options.  If you’re finding even the modification option challenging, ditch the weights and just use your body weight.  There’s a big range of options – the key is to just get up and keep moving.

Question 4: I find nutrition and meal planning extremely daunting.  Ain’t nobody got time for that.

In my opinion, nutrition is the HARDEST part of staying healthy.  Quick and convenient foods are far too often the worst ones for us (and they are often the cheapest…what’s that about!?).  Sugar is hiding in everything!  And don’t even get me started on eating out.

What I love about the 21 Day Fix Meal plan is that it’s really simple once you get comfortable with the color coding system.  Your starter kit includes these handy, fool-proof, color-coded portion containers for each nutrition family:

  • Green = veggies
  • Red = Protein
  • Purple = Fruit
  • Yellow = Carbs
  • Orange = nuts, dressings and seeds
  • Blue = Healthy fats (think avocado and cheese)

This is not about cutting everything out of your life – that’s NOT sustainable.  It’s about learning to make healthy choices as much as possible and educating yourself about what your body needs as fuel each day.

For example, when starting the program, I learned that the amount of oatmeal that I was consuming in the morning was the equivalent of about 3-4 of my daily carb servings (so basically ALL my carbs for the day!).  Now, I have a smaller portion of oatmeal and supplement it with eggs and fruit.  Still eating plenty of good food, just spreading the nutrition out a bit.

The slogan for the program is: Count colors not Calories!

PS – my favourite part?  The 21 Day Fix eating plan even shows you how you can incorporate your favourite foods like chocolate and wine (ahemwineformeplease).  Again, this is about a sustainable lifestyle change, not some crazy diet that you will never be able to continue!

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Question 5: But I’ve tried to work out at home in the past…I get about 3 days in and give up.

Guess what?  ME TOO.  I started one of Jillian Michael’s programs back in the summer, went gung-ho for a week, and then fell of the wagon.  Why?  Because it was just me. On my own. Every day.  All by myself.

I don’t know about you, but it’s really hard to motivate yourself every single day when you’re in it alone.  Well, today is your lucky day, because this is where I come in.  The reason I decided to become a BeachBody coach is to offer you the support and encouragement that I know is necessary to realize results.  I will text you, check in with you, and add you to my private on-line challenge groups.  Through these support links,  you’ll find daily posts and challenges, and the opportunity to celebrate successes (and failures!) with other challengers just like you.

Question 6: OK, Melissa…you’ve convinced me….now when can I start?

On-line, private challenge groups run every month!  My next one starts on Monday, April 11th, 2016.  You’ll need to order your Challenge Pack in advance (which costs less than a few months at a gym or a 10-class punch card!), so you’re ready to rock n’ roll, so if now is your time, take the first step and JOIN ME by completing this form

Let’s do this TOGETHER!

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Sunday Dinner: Hearty Beef & Butternut Squash Stew

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I’m not a chef.  Like, at all.  Even though I went to hospitality school for four years and worked in the restaurant industry, I just didn’t get pumped about cooking.  But then baby H came along, I was home a lot more often, Christian and I focused more on clean eating, and we started meal planning.

Oh, and we bought a new house with the BIGGEST kitchen island ever.  Seriously, my kitchen makes my heart happy.

So, here is my first ever recipe post – something that I thought I would NEVER do.  Ironically, my hubby cooked this tonight so I could go shopping and have some me time, so he gets the credit.  But who’s counting, right?

This is recipe is from the 21 Day Fix Extreme Eating Plan.  It just felt so appropriate for a Sunday night dinner on a cold day.

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

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Sorry for the crummy photo…we couldn’t wait to dive in LOL
Ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs raw lean beef stew meat, boneless (cut into 2-inch cubes)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup low-sodium organic beef broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (we did 1/2 cilantro and 1/2 parsley)

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add beef; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until beef is brown.
  3. Add onion and bell peppers; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
  4. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
  5. Add tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Bring to boil.  Reduce Heat to medium-low; cook, covered for 40 minutes.
  6. Add squash; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 12 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and beef is fork-tender **
  7. Remove bay leaf; serve topped with parsley.

**we found this wasn’t enough time to fully cook the squash, so would recommend either pre-steaming your squash, OR adding it in at least 15 minutes earlier than recommended above.

We added cilantro, and a bunch of Franks Red Hot Sauce (yep, we really do put that s**t on everything).
21 Day Fix Container servings (per serving):
1 x Green
1 x Red
This meal was delicious and I’m so pumped to enjoy it again tomorrow!  Why not give it a try this week?
Happy Spring and Happy Sunday everyone,
Melissa

Meal Planning changed my life.

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Yes, I’m putting it right here for all to see: meal planning has changed my life.  Seriously.

For those of you who checked out my recent post on my post-partum fitness journey, you already know that I have taken some big steps in the past few months when it comes to prioritizing myself and my fitness.  However, before I got there, it started in the kitchen.

And do you know what?  Living a healthy lifestyle is ALL ABOUT THE KITCHEN.

I know, I know.  I fought it too.  I would justify my actions, that second drink, that extra muffin (Or cookie. Or entire row box of cookies).  The “I’m too busy looking after everyone else to worry about what I’m eating” qualifying statement.  Shoving into my mouth whatever food I could quickly get my hands on in order to satisfy the hunger that I had been ignoring for the past two hours.  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

In the fall, Christian and I took a long hard look at our eating strategy, which we realized wasn’t a strategy at all.  We were grocery shopping multiple times a week, using our precious time ineffectively, and spending more money on food as a result.  We felt like we were eating fairly well, but often  found ourselves “running out” of food (I use air quotes because we had plenty of food, it just didn’t necessary add up into a meal).  Snacks were often forgotten, or the same thing on repeat every day.  And then came the 8pm evening munchies.  Oh yes.  That.

But let me be honest with you: the game changing meal planning didn’t just magically happen overnight.

No way.

First, we started with dinners Monday to Friday.  Every Sunday we would sit down together and figure out what was on our menu, and as each meal was prepped and consumed, we would keep track of those meals. The first few weeks, this took A LOT of time.  But week by week, it got so much easier.  After a month, we had a spreadsheet full of meal options to choose from – we just built on the progress little by little.

Getting dinner sorted then snowballed into other areas of our nutrition.  For example, lunches quickly followed, because we could simply prep extra for lunch the following day.  Even though I’m still at home during the day with Harrison, I too get a Tupperware packed lunch!  It’s sitting there waiting for me every day.  No excuses.

“Oh, I’ll just pick up a shawarma…there’s nothing ready in the fridge at home anyway.”

Let’s say it all together: NO MORE.

So, who’s with me!?  Wait…you are!?  Oh goody!  Today is your lucky day, ’cause here are:

Five Tips to help get your Meal Planning Started

1) Start Small.  If you’ve never truly meal planned before, it can all be really daunting.  21 meals and 14+ snacks is a lot to think about.  Choose the meal you struggle with the most and plan for 5 days: Monday to Friday.  Weekends sometimes can be wild cards, so I recommend starting with the even keel week-days.

2) Prioritize Planning and Prep Time. The biggest habit that Christian and  had to form was that we do not go to bed on Sunday night without our plan for a week and a grocery list set.  Typically, we aim to grocery shop on the weekend, but in a pinch, we go on Monday nights.  Regardless, we ensure the planning ahead is DONE and email ourselves the grocery list.  Whoever is going knows exactly what to get.

 

3) Shop Once.  If anyone hates inefficiency, it’s my darling husband.  In the past, we were shopping several times a week, throwing away food and wasting money.  Since prioritizing proper meal planning we spend less time grocery shopping, eat better and save money.  Need I say more?

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4) Make it Visual.  Find a way to post your meal plan in a visible and accessible spot. The best $3 I’ve ever spent was to purchase a magnetic weekly planning board from Dollarama.  Every Sunday we write our food plan for the week, which includes breakfasts and dinners (we use dinner leftovers as our lunch for the following day).  This takes the dreaded question “what’s for dinner?” out of our life completely, and it’s rather liberating.

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5) Have some fun.  Like to order in once in a while?  Build it in!  Have a Saturday morning breakfast ritual?  Plan ahead and try something new each week.  For us, Friday nights are a bit of a special night as we often reserve this for an at-home “date night”.  We like to make something fun and out-of-the-ordinary.  For example, this Sweet Potato Crust Pizza from PopSugar Fitness is one of my absolute favorite choices for a Friday night in.  Served with a simple green salad and a glass of vino, its comfort food without the….bloat.

And there you have it!  What are you waiting for?  Why not take some time this weekend at GET PLANNING.

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