Week One of PiYo--Complete!

I finished the round of 21 Day Fix with a bang over a week ago. As you may remember, down six pounds. Well, that was my lowest point weight-wise. The next day I went up a couple, and after that, a couple more. But it's not because I went off my nutrition--nope. I went into my second round right away. I had a "cheat meal" I'd planned for Monday with some frozen lasagna I'd set aside (bad idea, thought it had minimal cheese, cottage cheese, and sauce, it also had white noodles. I also learned that my body hates white noodles now), but I stuck with it pretty closely.

Nope, the reason I gained was because I hit mid-hormonal cycle. At that time, I gain four pounds. Then I lose some of that, then gain it back until the end of my cycle is over. So for me, especially when I'm gaining muscle, I really can't look at that scale. I'm focusing on increasing my strength until the balance tips and I have enough muscle that the scale will start going down. I'm at about 192 in the mornings right now, but I've been avoiding weighing. I also have lost more fat around my abdomen, but it's difficult to measure. 

Also, instead of doing the Fix workouts for this round, I started with the new Beachbody program I'd been waiting months for--PiYo. I'd done a couple live classes a year ago with a great instructor, and loved the huge changes I noticed in only two classes. They just came out with the home program, and I couldn't wait to start. 

(Again, I don't sell the products and am not affiliated with Beachbody in any way.) I love Chalene as an instructor. She is very clear in her directions and very precise. The first few workouts weren't really tough--until I learned the moves better and pushed myself harder. But that was something I planned, to take it easy for the first few days because my body needed a few days without anything strenuous. 

I've found continuing on with the 21 Day Fix nutrition very doable. I'm now on my second week of my second round, and am really loving all the variety. Thanks to my parents feeding us healthily when I was young, I've always loved healthy food, and this gives me the excuse I need to cook the things that no one else in our family likes except my daughter (though they do like lots of healthy stuff, but not squash or collards or mushrooms). Here's an example from today's lunch:

Tempeh with shredded cauliflower, collards, onions, peppers, and Mrs. Dash, with brown rice and cannellini beans flavored with onion and garlic powder, stewed tomatoes, and some enchilada sauce. (For those of you Fixing it was 2 1/2 green and 1 red for the stir fry, and 1 yellow for the rice and beans. There wasn't enough tomatoes or sauce in the rice and beans to count.) I like to cook things like collards and have them on hand to add to whatever I want, or eat them plain. I use a little veggie broth to flavor them.

Here's what I noticed from my first week of PiYo:

Pluses:

• I'm much stronger through my shoulders
• Planks are easier
• It stretches me as I work so I have less pain in my right hip
• My shorts got looser
• My abdomen has gotten softer and squishier and I can tell there's less of it, no matter what the measuring tape says
• I feel much stronger overall 
• My skin looks different. Softer and smoother, a bit more . . . glowy? Especially on my stomach and through my torso. It's weird, but kind of cool. I attribute that to the food I'm eating
• Thighs are getting really solid

Minuses:

• My pectoral muscle pull got aggravated, but it does that with anything I do now. I have to be conscious of it, so it's not the program's fault
• My wrists hurt. I've been trying to change my positioning a bit to take pressure off of them, but when nearly all the 43 pounds you have to lose are hanging around your middle, it's going to put pressure on the hands. I'm just being aware of them, and if I need to take a day or two off, I will. They'll get stronger.
• There's a muscle strain in the side of my forearm. I'm massaging that and I think it will be okay after a while. Most of this is because I'm 35. Getting fit felt easier when I was in my 20's. 

Way more pluses than minuses. Is it easy? No, but I love it and plan to keep going.

So, I've known for a long time how the scale doesn't always reflect what you're doing. Too many people use only the scale as a way to judge their lifestyle changes, then get discouraged and give up. If I don't notice any more changes after pictures at the end of this round, I'll do some re-evaluating. But until then, I'm going to trust the process. My body was pretty beaten up after years of not being taken care of, so it all won't happen overnight. Even though I am measuring pretty much the same, I can feel more muscle and less fat, so eventually the levels of each will tip the opposite direction. 

Is this easy? In some ways, yes, in some, no. But I'm sticking with it. Quitting is not an option.

Pumpkin Oat Pudding

I've been working on this for a while. See, I love oatmeal, but I have to be careful with how much I have at once since I have diabetes. I also love pumpkin pie, but I also love the crust too much. When I want the flavor of pumpkin pie, I eat this! Since there's more pumpkin than oatmeal, it's more of a pumpkin pudding thickened with oats. I love the texture the oats give to it. 

What you need (some not pictured): 

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup rolled oats (not quick oats) 
• Teensy pinch salt (optional, but it brings out flavor)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (make sure it's not filling--just plain, no other additives)
• Cinnamon (and ginger, cloves, nutmeg, if you like them--I do)
• Vanilla extract (Use the real stuff if you have it, and make sure your bottle is well-loved like mine obviously is)
• Sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, or agave (I use stevia drops) 

Presenting the main cast

Turn burner on to medium high. Add water and oats. Add teensy pinch of salt, if using. When it starts to bubble, stir, turn heat down to simmer, and cook for several minutes, stirring often. This is twice as much water as you need to cook the oats, but they will soak it up. It's a good ratio for the finished pudding, but you can play with your pumpkin/water amounts if you want.

When everything starts thickening, add coconut milk. Make sure to wipe the inside of the measuring container with your finger to get out every last drop. Note I didn't say it had to make it into the pot. Sorry about the messy stove. I already got pumpkin on it somehow.

Stir, and let cook a minute or two more. Then add the pumpkin.

Stir again. (I'm noticing a theme here.) 

Then add your spices. Some people are cinnamon people. I'm one of them. I use around a whole tsp in my pudding. If you're not a cinnamon purist, add nutmeg, ginger, cloves, mace, cumin--strike the cumin. Unless you are really weird. But that's okay, I'll still love you. ("Smells like cumin." A bajillionty points to whomever gets that vague reference.)

After your delicious spices are added and your mouth is watering like crazy, add a spash of vanilla, then stir in the sweetener of your choice. I like to use flavored stevia drops.

Warning: this makes a really big bowlful. I like really big bowlfuls of pudding, but if you don't, share with someone. I like being selfish. Also, if I have skipped my snack and worked out or something, or I just feel the need for a humongous breakfast, I can serve it with something else. Like this. Sauteed mushrooms and onions with eggs and Southwestern Mrs. Dash. It was very tasty. And yes, I did serve myself breakfast in bed. (Actually, it was the nicest surface to take the picture on at the time.) If you are vegan you can do scrambled water-packed tofu with the veggies, which would also be amazing.

21 Day Fix equivalents: Pudding--1 Yellow, 1 Blue, 1 Green 

                                    Eggs (or tofu if you do that instead) and Veggies--1 Green, 1 Red

Recipe: Fruit Soft-Serve

Sometimes you just want something sweet, ice cold, and creamy. Well, this is super easy. It comes out really smooth if you use a Vitamix.

For enough to halfway fill a quart Mason jar (my favorite size glass for shakes of any kind!), all you need is the following: 

2 cups frozen fruit. (I used 1 cup strawberries and 1 cup mango chunks.)

1/4 cup coconut milk (The kind in a can that has all the creamy stuff in it. This actually came out with a bit of an oily feel to me since I haven't been using oil. I've gotten less used to that mouth-feel. So next time I'd probably only use 2 tablespoons.)

Water to blend. I only go about halfway up the fruit, less if not using ice. 

Ice if you want it more icy and like a shake.

Then blend it all up! If you want it sweeter, use a little stevia, or a touch of raw honey or some agave. Or whatever floats your battleship. Your battleship in your war on unhealthy food! Bahahaha! Okay, forgive me. I'm listening to my four-year-old screaming in his bed about going to bed, and it's 10:40 pm. 

21 Day Fix counts: 2 Purple, 1 Blue

I know what you're thinking. Yes, it was tasty.