21 Day Fix Approved

So a lot of people has this misconception with diet and weight loss that you don't eat. Let me tell you with the 21 Day Fix this couldn't be further from the truth!! I've even had a few days that I didn't eat all of my approved servings. I wouldn't recommend this (shhhh....don't tell Autumn).

I was worried when I started about what I would eat too. I'm a junk food junky. My favorites being hot cheetos (gasp...yes I know they're horrible!), Reese's peanut butter cups (anything chocolate and peanut butter is a lethal combo for me!), and ice cream. I could actually list more. With my hectic busy schedule it was just easy to grab something and go. With the 21 Day Fix I have learned that a little bit a prep time can change everything.

I wanted to share some of my favorite (easy) recipes I've found since I've started.

I stumbled upon this little gem last night. I was looking for something sweet after I made the mistake of eating a salad with bitter lettuce (I'm not a fan!!). It was a late night getting home from the gym so time wasn't really on my side so I had to work with what I already had...that lead to this:
-1 cup frozen fruit (I used strawberries and bananas-my FAV)
-3/4 cup or red container greek yogurt (I used vanilla)
-drizzle of organic raw honey

Fix count: 1 red, 1 purple, 1tbsp.
I was so easy. I set the frozen fruit out while a prepped and ate my meal. Then added the yogurt and honey. It will definitely be a go to for the future!

This morning after hitting the Lower Body Fix hard I decided to change it up a bit with my Shakeology. I have been so impressed with my morning shakeo. I really think it has made a difference in my immunity and energy.

Today I made a Mint Chooclate Shakeo
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup almond milk
-1 scoop chocolate Shakeology
-mint extract
-1 tbsp. choc chips
-a bit of water

Fix count: 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 tbsp.
Put everything in the blender and mix it together. YUMMY! This is amazing and light and so good if you enjoy mint chocolate chip ice cream..sigh.

With the fix I've also learned to eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. I've always known this was a good thing but it seems easier now. So as a result I will have a mid-morning snack at work. Today I made a banana quesadilla.

Ingredients:

-1/2 banana

-1 tbsp nut butter (I used almond but peanut would be yummy too)

-1 whole wheat tortilla 

-chocolate chips *optional*

Warm a small skillet. Spread butter onto tortilla. Cut banana and place on butter, sprinkle on chocolate chips. Fold in half and place in skillet. Warm until both sides are toasted. Enjoy!

This was uh-MAZING!! Seriously, it felt like desert. 

Here is my lunch today:

Nothing too exciting. A salad with cherry tomatoes and chicken sausage (YUM!). Then my attempt at sweet potato fries from last night. They didn't turn into fries the way I like. Crispy and such. So I had heard from another fixer to add peanut butter to a sweet potato. I had almond butter for my apple for later so I decided to try it. Seriously it was heavenly!!

Again if you're thinking about a fix give it a try. You might just be surprised.

21 Day Fix in the Middle

Ok so my 21 Day Fix arrived Friday before last. I officially started on Monday of last week. I just wanted to post and update how it's going for me.

I'm in LOVE with the fix. It has done amazing for me. In just one week I have amazing energy, I feel better in my own body, plus I lost 2 pounds!! All of these combined don't sound like a lot but trust me when you're doing it the right way slow and steady wins the race. For just one week I feel like this is a HUGE accomplishment.

Not to mention I just feel amazing. I can't get over the way I feel. No diet or pill has ever given me this much energy. It's unreal!! If you're on the verge or looking for something to get you started I highly recommend the 21 Day Fix.

I won't sit here and tell you it isn't without it's obstacles, because it is. The first for me being that I'm super SUPER busy and finding the time for meal prep is a struggle. If I can make it work then anyone can!! Another struggle is good produce. I live in a smallish town with one grocery store. Unfortunately for me that store's produce choices are slim. But I haven't let those things get me down. I will succeed. I'm VERY determined ;)

One more small kink in my 21 day journey is my family is going on a mini vacation this Friday...Yikes! Again it won't get in my way. The thing I have learned is this program will work if you change your lifestyle. I can't change my plans because I'm working out more or eating differently, I have to make them fit the flow of my life. So I've been planning how to make this work.

Here are some things I've planned so far:
-the hotel has a fitness center!! This means I will take my resistance bands and the awesome cheat sheets I found via Pinterest to help me stick to my work out
-I will take my nutri-bullet so that I can have my Shakeology on the road. I might get some resistance from the hubs at first but he knows this is important so I know he will cave :) I'm also planning to measure out my shake mixes into ziplocs so I can add ice and water and blend. (butterfinger
 shako and YUMMO!!)-I'm also planning healthy snacks for on the road to keep me from travel temptation

I will try to post again as I pack and prep to let you know how it goes and of course when my 21 days is up. I know I will see amazing results!!

A Texas Girl Does the 21 Day Fix

Ok some may laugh at ^^that title, but I seriously feel like it's different for me then it is for others. Not just because I'm from Texas. I know there are several Texans who probably completed the program successfully without an issues.

Ok let me back up. I have recently started the 21 day fix work out/weight loss program from Beach body. It's designed to help you eat healthy and work out to get maximum results.

It seemed simple but I know myself. I am a meat and potato kind of girl (so is my husband). I'm also a junk food junkie who is too busy to make something so why not hit a drive thru?

Plus do you see those containers ^^ they're tiny!! How in the world was I ever going to get full?!?!

So what changed? Why am I doing it?

The answer: I don't really know. I guess I'm just tired of making excuses and tired of being tired. I was sick of being the "big" one in my group of friends. (bless their hearts they say I'm not but I am!!) I wanted to make a change for me and no one else. I've tried all kinds of diets and weight loss pills and gimmics and I can say I have learned one thing: all the people with serious good weight loss have changed they're eating habits. So the way I see it I have nothing to loose except weight :)

I'm only 3 days in but I feel awesome!! It has tested my will power but it's also just made me feel good!! I've learned that there are tons of recipes that have the clean food nutrition but also make you feel like you're cheating. Thank you pinterest!! I can't wait to see how it goes and I'm determined to make it my best 21 days ever!!

Dogs, Marriage and Cheer

It's been one of those days. It's probably just a woman thing or maybe I'm just really strange but my emotional state this week has been...um horrendous. Yes I said it the first step in having a problem is admitting you have one right?!

I mean seriously my poor husband. It's been such a roller coaster of tears and outbursts that even I have started to wonder about my sanity. I blame the majority of it on the stress of running my own business. I won't go to far I'll leave that to other posts but I'll just say I run a gym with about 60-100 (depending on the time of year) alone. I have help here and there but it's mostly on my shoulders.

Anyways back to my day, I'll keep it short and sweet...the good part will come in the end. It was just a humdinger, starting with a sore throat yet a desire to get my nails done. For background here I haven't had them done since before my wedding which was in September. I would love to say it's because I'm so low maintenance but really I just have no time!! It was definitely an "I want to be pampered and spoiled for half a second could you let me have that please real world?!?"

Answer? NO! Yes my husband so lovingly said go, here's the money. But in reality we had plans for the evening and still had to run to town. Now let's stop for a moment I must clarify "town" for probably the majority of you people who grew up in a town with more than two cops and more than 1 stop light. GASP yes those places exist. The ones with two cops I mean. I can smile when I say I grew up in one. More on that later....I know I know but I tend to ramble so I'm trying to stay slightly focused in each post. Ahem anyways, the town I live in now is far from where I grew up, but it still doesn't posses things such as chain grocery stores, aka HEB, Wal-Mart, and the mother ship Target *sigh*. Anywho we have to make weekly/bi-weekly trips there to save our sanity. So I being the planner that I am knew that if I had my mani/pedi as I planned to I would spend the rest of the day beating myself up for being selfish...yes I'm one of those.

Fast forward and we are sitting in the mall parking lot fighting. WHY? I'm not sure either of us really knows. I know really it was my fault. I was blaming him for me putting myself second. Again. Again. I'm really new to this whole marriage game but I'm learning that you really shouldn't do that. I will stop here to brag on my husband. He puts up with me really well. I can put on airs of being the perfect catch but sometimes I'm a mule. At least I know this. Now having said this he's not always the best comforter. Which in all honesty is what I needed. So how exactly does he make things better? He takes me inside and buys me a wedding ring.

Yes a wedding ring. We skipped that step. We had a kid (his not mine), got engaged, bought a house, had a wedding, and finally bought a ring.

I have not stopped staring at it and the picture doesn't even do it justice!!

I was kind of on cloud 9 for the rest of our trip, until we returned home to find our newly adopted lab Leo had escaped from the backyard.

Isn't he a cutie?? And a total sweetheart. Except for his unfortunate chewing habit which is what landed him outside. I'm hoping he will come home but I really think someone picked him up he's just too sweet.

To make matters worse or better depending on how you see them. our evening plans were to attend a marriage banquet. Now you can probably deduce from the a fore mentioned fight we need all the help we can get. Marriage is hard. Through in a divorce, a kid, in-laws, and a girl who's been doing her own thing for ten years...well yea you catch my drift.

This banquet was different. It was food and friends just talking and hanging out. The guest speaker was Kevin Leman. If you've ever heard him speak you know why it turned out to be such a fun night. If you haven't I highly recommend him.

You can check him out here http://www.drleman.com/store/index.php and it's not a plug he had really interesting things to say. Plus all of two people read my blog so why bother?! Ha!

I will say this he talked about birth order and relationships. First borns are driven perfectionists. Babies of the family are social, not very driven, but very loveable. The thought provoking thing for me is I'm the baby but I act like the first born. My husband is the first born yet acts like the baby. Yes I plan to study more to see what I can find out!

The were just some candy hearts on the table :)

A Year Ago Today

I know people always say if you had told me a year ago I'd be where I am today...well you know. My life has been a never ending series of twists and turns. Every now and then I get comfy and I think to myself "Ah this is where I belong." Then reality comes and dumps me out on my butt rear.

So where has that lovely queen of fate have me today?

Well let see...I'm a newlywed

*Que awe's here*

I'm a former teacher.

Just some of my favorite teacher humor.

Now this one would make any knowledgeable person teacher screech in horror "YOU'RE A FORMER TEACHER?!?" Why would they do this a normal person might ask? Because it's January. Stating that I'm a former teacher means I must have done the horrifying, unbelievable, speak not thus you be involved act of quitting mid-year. 

Yes I, Amanda Cooper, am a quitter. I'm even a special breed, I'm a teacher quitter. I'll go into greater detail later but if you're a teacher, married to a teacher or know a teacher really well you can probably sense the above mentioned never thought I'd be here comment might apply to this.

But wait there's more....

I became a (step)parent. I prefer bonus mom

I love it so much sometimes I think my heart will explode and then it infuriates me so much the next minute. More on that later and it doesn't infuriate me for the reasons you might think!!

(And I know I'm shameless with the wedding pics but what a better way to show them off)

there's still more....

I'm a competitive cheer coach and gym owner.

 This last one has sure been a doozy. I mean I think somewhere along my life growing up I kind of...maybe thought it might happen. But this time last year was when I put this crazy plan into motion. I can joke about it but it truly is one of my greatest accomplishments. It's my baby and my girls are my world. I will share more about this wild ride in the future because I promise if you've ever seen Cheer Perfection my gym has the same drama on Texas size steroids!!

So I'd love to say I'm one of those super confident people who says bring it on 2015...but after my 2014 and fate who is not always my friend I think I'll just say thank you God for the blessings and please let me survive the next year.