21 Day Fix Plateau

Anyone who knows me knows I love the 21 Day Fix program.  First of all, the workouts are amazing. 30 minutes a day and every day is different.  LOVE it.  And it also comes with the amazing portion control container system, where you track your food by food groups.  It really teaches you the right way to eat clean and how to manage your portions to see results.  After a couple of rounds on the program, I noticed that I was not seeing the same results as I had in the beginning and had hit a plateau in my weight loss.  I decided to take a couple weeks where I used the My Fitness Pal app in addition to using the 21 Day Fix containers.  I wanted to see how the choices I was making were adding up - in My Fitness Pal you can see all sorts of numbers including sodium intake, sugar, carbs, fat grams, etc.  I noticed that I was eating well and staying within a recommended calorie intake, but I was taking in more fat grams than I should just about every day.  I did some research and found that the items on the top of the container list are the best choices and it goes down from there (ex: on the yellow container page #31 in the booklet a sweet potato would be among the most healthy choices for this container and the corn tortillas among the less healthy - note all choices are still healthy!).  I realized that it helped me to check in on my other numbers for a bit and make some adjustments.  I am already seeing the benefits of doing this check in and totally recommend it if you feel you have hit a plateau on the 21 Day Fix or any other plan.

Taco Casserole - Great for Meal Prep - 21 Day Fix

Super easy taco casserole - great for meal prep. I made two of these on Sunday, it's 4 servings per casserole - yes, you get to eat 1/4 of that pan!  We had it for dinner, saved the rest in containers for lunches and plan to freeze enough for one dinner next week. Directions for one pan:

1 c. Quinoa, cook according to package

1 lb. lean ground turkey, or beef

1/2 green container total of chopped pepper (I used a mix of yellow and red) and a little chopped onion

1 package low sodium taco seasoning (or use your favorite Mexican spices)

2 8oz. cans tomato sauce, low sodium

4 blue containers of shredded cheese

Preheat to 350. While you cook the quinoa, brown the meat and drain if needed. Prep the meat as you would for making tacos, either by following the package instructions or using your own spices, then add the veggies and tomato sauce. Bring to low boil then simmer for a few minutes to let flavors mix. Add cooked quinoa and 3 of the cheese containers, mix and spread in a 9x13 pan. Top with remaining container of cheese, cover with foil and cook for 20 min, then remove foil and cook another 10 min. Let cool in pan for several min. before serving. 4 large servings! Divide the pan in 1/4 - for the 21 Day Fix each serving is 1 yellow, 1 red, 1/2 green and 1 blue. Add hot sauce or a dollop of Greek yogurt and enjoy!

#mealplanning, #21dayfix, #planahead #workingmom