Baked Apple Oatmeal

I have been trying new and different recipes since my husband and I got married and starting having children. I love finding a recipe that is simple as well as nutritious!! Every mom wants the best for their kids am I right?? Including nutrition. So once I find something that I absolutely love, I just can't get enough. This oatmeal is so easy...and easy to modify by changing the spice mix and/or fruit. I eat this several mornings in the week, it's filling and so satisfying.

Ingredients

1 apple (or serving of desired fruit)
1/4 c steel cut oats
1 tsp Vanilla
Apple Pie Spice (or cinnamon or other spice mix)
3/4 c water
Cooking Spray

Spray bottom and sides of oven proof single serve dish with cooking spray. Place diced apple in a single layer on the bottom of dish and sprinkle with Apple Pie Spice. Cover with oats, water and vanilla. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes (longer if the apples are still a little too crunchy for your liking)

Where do I start?

Starting a new fitness program, especially an at home program, can be extremely daunting. But there is one thing that I've learned over the past few months. If you want something, anything bad enough you will work your tail off to get it. In this case, I have tried and failed...many times. But recently I have noticed that I have gotten back on track faster than before. The thing with exercise is that nutrition goes hand in hand with it. There is no getting around that! So here are my tips for starting out with you best foot forward....

1. Drink Shakeology! It comes with your challenge pack for a reason. It's the fastest of all fast foods...it packs just about all of the nutrients to maintain a healthy diet. Simply put, Shakeology is a protein shake that is loaded with an abundance of superfoods...and tastes like dessert!!! All you have to do is drink one shake a day in place of a meal or snack. 

2. Plan!! Plan everything, if it's written out in front of you, you will be more likely to do it. If you have a calendar in your phone or tablet than you can set timers and alerts. Be prepared, have your plan for each day and try and stick to it as closely as you can. Have your workout clothes laid out, water chilling in the fridge and meals ready to go. You can prepare most foods for the week. Cut up veggies, pre-cook meats and portion out most snacks such as almonds. I even go as far as preparing freezer meals so that I have several meals ready to go.

3. Set yourself up for success! Pick a time of day that you know you will workout. If you are not an early riser than choosing a 5 a.m. workout time is probably not going to be very successful. So really think about when would be a good time. For the longest time I would wait until my kids were in bed and than I'd pop in the DVD and workout. Some days I workout first thing and other days I do it as soon as I am in the door from work.

4. Stay positive! Sometimes changes don't "appear" right away. Trusting the program and the process is key! If you are putting in the effort, you will see results. Sometimes it takes tweaking and asking lots of questions. After all, we are works in progress. And the thing about our bodies is that we are constantly changing.

5. Stay hydrated! 
You need to consume enough water throughout the day to stay hydrated. Your muscles are changing and they need the fluid to help repair. Water is also important to help flush out toxins. A rule I like to follow is to drink at least half of my body weight in ounces each day, I love water so I tend to drink more than that. So once you have your Shakeology shaker cup, fill it and sip it throughout the day. You can add things like lemon slices or cucumbers or even mint to your water if you like a little twist, whatever it takes to get that H2O into you!! 

21 Day Fix

21 Day Fix 

It's SIMPLE!! 21 Day Fix is so easy to follow that my kids help plan everything with me. 

What is included in the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack?

30 minute workouts 
Workout Calendar
Nutrition Guide
Color Coded Containers
Nutrition Tracker Sheets
Bonus: Plyo Fix DVD
Shakeology (with the Challenge Pack)

The Workouts:

21 Day Fix Challenge Pack comes with 30 minute workouts, each one that targets something different for a total body workout. Workouts are everything from total body cardio to yoga...they are tough! I love that in each workout there is a modifier that makes it more attainable for the beginner, alternatively people who are more advanced can easily make the workout more challenging by following Autumn's suggestions. 

Nutrition:

This is what truly sets the 21 Day Fix apart from every other program. The program comes with colored containers that hold the corresponding food according to the nutrition guide. My sample meal plan looks like this:

This meal plan is a past meal plan and does not reflect my current level according to the nutrition guide, however, it does reflect how I plan out my week and helps make it easier to prepare in advance. This is one area...a HUGE area in which I desperately needed help. Before committing to the Fix I always planned our weekly meals however, they lacked ALL meals. Our weekly plan only consisted of dinners and that was it. Since starting this program, my eyes were opened as to how much I was missing in my daily nutrition. 

How does the 21 Day Fix work?

When I say this program is simple, I mean it is literally fool proof. Plug in your statistics according to the formula in the guide and voila..you have your nutritional needs laid out for you. The food groups are all color coded so that all you have to do is fill each container with foods from the corresponding food group and you have your meals!! There are four levels in the Calorie Chart, according to the formula I fall into the second level which is 1500-1799 calories/day. This is what I get to eat everyday:

Four Green (Veggies)

Three Purple (Fruit)

Four Red (Protein)

Three Yellow (Starches)

One Blue (Cheeses/nuts etc)

One Orange (seeds/dressings etc)

Four Teaspoons (fats/oils)

Breakfast: Purple Red Yellow

AM Snack: Red Purple

Lunch: Red Green x2

PM Snack: Purple Blue

Supper: Red Green Yellow

I use this as a general guide, it keeps on track as far as spreading my containers out throughout the day. I sometimes might skip a yellow if I feel satiated by the end of the day and some days I am starving so I will add a green and that usually does the trick. Another rule of thumb that I try to stick to is to drink a glass of water as soon as I am awake in the morning. Then I drink a glass with each meal including the snacks. Throughout the day I have my Shakeology shaker cup with me and it is always full of water. I drink at least two of these in addition to the water at meals/snacks. 

The 21 Day Fix comes with guide to help get you started. In the guide you will find your workout calendar including the doubles week which you have the option of doing during the third week. The program is simple to follow. Any program can be intimidating to start. Things can be overwhelming to try sort out and make sense of. But this program once you sit down and really dig in is not so bad. The first time you do your meal plan it will take a little longer but once you have that template it's easy to fit things in. Once you have started within the first week you will know what works and what doesn't as far as hunger. You might need to switch things around and it will become clear which proteins/complex carbs or fats/complex carbs. By the third week you will have become a pro and meal planning will fun...believe it or not! 

Why does the program work?

This program works if you put in the effort...simple as that!! If you put in half the effort you will get exactly half the results. Like I said, I am not new to this program but it remains one of my favorites. The first two rounds I got great results with over 11 pounds lost and over 11 inches gone! I followed the program closely and I felt AMAZING!! I've also done the program and didn't put in a full effort and got minimal results. It is truly a great program, you will learn how to eat so that you get great results WITHOUT starving. You can still eat things like cheese and peanut butter and even breads but you will know what is an appropriate amount and I can guarantee that by following your containers you will not be hungry and still see results. The workouts are only 30 minutes in length...who doesn't have time for that in the day? Even if it means you set the alarm 30 minutes earlier or skipping a t.v show in the evening. You can do this, I am the testimony to that. Sounds great right?? I was skeptical at first but something told me to do it...and I am so glad that I did!!