Help! My family wants Mexican food!

Starting with this picture is like reading the last chapter of a book first; it takes all the suspense away.  But I really was proud of the solution I found ,so it's okay.

It was Sunday night.  Earlier in the day I had filled the crock pot with chicken breasts and the best intentions before we left for church.  Seasoned with just a little garlic and dried onion, I had planned to come home to enough chicken for a nice Sunday dinner and extra to help me stay on track through the week.  Perfect plan right?  I had even cleaned the kitchen so it would be so easy to make a nice Sunday dinner for the family.

The problem was I had planned nothing other than chicken breasts.  I make sure when I shop to stock up on lots of fresh veggies, so I had a number of things I could steam or make a salad from.  But I had made a salad the night before, and I've been looking at lots of steamed veggies lately, so neither one of those had much appeal.  Combine this weak spot with the family asking "what's for dinner?".  Uh oh.  This is where your metal gets tested.

Like a bunch of baby birds chirping, I keep hearing "Mom, I'm hungry..." (insert whine as you read).  I had made a good start, but now it was showtime and I didn't have a good finish planned.  With 11 days left until the Beachbody Classic physique competition, this was no time to be hungry and without a plan.  I stalled to give myself time to think.  First I would take care of the noise-makers in the room.

Enchiladas are a quick go-to (I'll give my super easy microwave recipe in an upcoming post), but we didn't have enough corn or flour tortillas to make a whole pan.  It is more dangerous for me to keep uncooked, fresh tortillas in the fridge to tempt me, so I opted for quesadillas to use them up first.  I was thinking I might make myself a corn taco, but wondering how to handle the cheese situation (corn and cheese are both off limits until after the show).

I had to get creative, and fast.  I can honestly say I would not have come up with this if I had not had a rock solid "why" or goal in mind.  I came very close to just having one quesadilla.  What's the harm?  It's only one.  It won't ruin everything, can't be more than 200 calories, right?  But for me I know this is a slippery slope, and I have made a commitment to myself to say no to those things TEMPORARILY for a greater reason.  It was hard.  I'm not saying this lightly.  I'm making food I like for everyone else and still don't know what I will be eating, but desperately trying to figure it out before my resolve wanes.  But then I realized, not only do I want to do my best and be proud of my choices - especially when they are hard - but I will be in this exact same situation again.  And so will the good people I coach.  And I had a chance under pressure to make myself think to the next level and find a solution that worked, and that I could advocate as a substitute.

So there you have it.  You can see the results in my picture above.  I did serve my family refried beans along with their meal (PLEASE give your family some fiber if you are serving white flour tortillas!).  I topped them with a few sliced orange bell peppers for color and so I wouldn't miss the cheese as much.  In the heat they softened and were really very good.  And as I had mentioned, I was not in the mood for a salad again on this day, hence the steamed broccoli.  And my own personal solution to not having a quesadilla?  I shredded some of the chicken, mixed the enchilada sauce with it and topped with avocado.  Absolutely delicious.  In the end I did not feel ripped off at all.  In fact, I came out last with my plate and there were a few envious eyes.  My husband even said "I would have eaten that instead if I had known you were making it"!  The most delicious part though, was knowing I had kept my word to myself and as a payday I not only am closer to my goal, but I have a new recipe to look forward to on Mexican night

Bikini Body is in the Eye of the Beholder

Seven weeks ago I decided to accept a challenge made by a fitness professional I have immense respect for.  She said to set a new fitness goal for myself.  I have been teaching group exercise classes for 3 years, and have been a coach for a year and a half of that time, but still I did not have the body that I wanted.  Now right here I have to say that everyone has a different standard for their own body and different goals.  No one person's goals are better than anyone else's, and health should be the end goal for everyone.  That said, while I look pretty good in clothes, I still felt more comfortable wearing a little skirt cover-up to the pool.  Being in my kind of shape is success for many people and I applaud it.  But I knew that I wasn't pushing myself to the level of excellence possible for me, and when the opportunity came to enter the Beachbody Classic physique competition, I thought it would be the perfect chance to see how far I could come with focus on a goal.

In some ways it has been harder than I thought, but in some ways easier.  I am a huge fan of carbs, and in what feels like my old life by now, I used to grab toast and cold cereal at any random time of day when I was hungry.  My weight stayed pretty good, but that's where I was stuck; pretty good and not excellent.  After having four kids I wanted to claim my  body again and see just how good it is possible to look (naturally, no surgeries).  This means stretch marks and all, but it's who I am.  

The kick start to my getting into the best shape of my life was doing the 21 Day Fix program following a cruise I went on in March.  This is a Beachbody home workout program that I coach people through, and since it was just released early this year I wanted to experience it for myself, so I thought the timing was good.  Just 30 minute workouts, portion control meal containers, and replacing one meal per day with an advanced health shake called Shakeology (which is amazing, more on that another time).  I did the program with zero cheating for 21 days and lost 12.8 pounds, which shocked me for weight loss because I am a fitness professional already and it's hard to change your body very quickly when you are close to ideal weight.  Big lesson on how many and what kind of carbs my body responds to best!

I was very excited with the results, and two days after I finished the first round I started again with my second 21 days.  This time was harder to commit to and though I was faithful with workouts, I loosened up on the portion control diet containers and went more toward estimating portions as I had learned to do in the first round.  I have to admit to a cheat here and there, and it turned into more of a maintenance phase for me, but I was encouraged enough during this time to commit to entering the Classic.

So that's the back story.  I've been counting down the days (reminiscent of counting down to the end of a pregnancy!).  Nervous, but feeling confident when I still had six, five and even four weeks left.  However, at 20 days left, I went bikini shopping (as required by the competition) and felt completely demoralized.  Department store lighting is not kind to 42 year old thighs!  It was a real demoralizer, though I did find a cute suit which I will add some bling to myself.  I came home feeling like I could either throw in the towel and give up the whole thing, or push as hard as possible.  Only two choices.  Having come this far, and knowing that no matter the outcome, I will feel proud of myself for following through and at least get a photo shoot out of it (fun!), I am pushing.  

So here are a couple of fun pics I grabbed while realizing that I am not as "ready" as I would like to be for a bikini and a stage.  But I'd rather be going for my best and exploring new fitness areas I have never been a part of before, than staying stuck.  Sometimes you have to leap out of your comfort zone to progress to the next level, and that feels like a good summary of what I've done here.  

What's next for you?  As a fitness professional I challenge you to set your own new fitness goal.  What will push you just a little to improve your health?  Set a goal today, even if it's small, and I'd love to have your comments below on what you're doing.  If you need help with a plan please contact me- helping people is what I do and I can think of nothing better than for you to feel the challenge and then the pride that comes from mastering your fitness one step at a time.