21 day challenge!

I could start this post by explaining my multiple-month-hiatus.  I could tell you about the various ways I have tried to stay healthy while working.  I could tell you about the siren call of Tex-Mex and queso.  I could tell you how I started working out at Koko Fit Club about 6 weeks ago (badly injured myself, quit working out, and then started again).  But instead, I will simply tell you this.

Today, I had my consult at My Fit Foods (not sponsoring this post or endeavor by the way - unfortunately...) about starting their 21 day challenge.

For 21 days (starting Wednesday), I will eat only their prepared meals which my nutritionist has chosen for me.  I will give up alcohol (gasp!) and coffee (GASP!!).  Alcohol because it's empty calories (and with my mug glass-of-wine-a-day after school habit I've noticed my weight creeping up), and coffee because...  well, because they told me to.

And they told me if I follow their plan I can lose 15 pounds in 21 days.  Seems like a fair trade... for now.

(They actually have an explanation about coffee because caffeine increases cortisol which, when combined with high blood sugar - which we know I have a problem with - causes your body to slow it's metabolism and store fat instead of burn calories.)

They promised I could add coffee back in at the end of this challenge.  In the meantime, I can have green tea, as much as I like.  I've already prepped my coffee tea mug tomorrow morning with two green tea bags, I'll need as much punch as I can get in the morning.

I will also be drinking a detox of unsweetened cranberry juice, apple cider vinegar, lemon, and liquid B-12 (more energy!) every morning to help detox my liver, help with hydration, and help burn fat.  We'll see how it tastes, but if it burns fat, I'm all in!

The MFF meals are really quite good.  They're fresh, meaning I'll be picking up my food at their store twice a week because they use no preservatives (which is good, because I think I'm allergic to common preservatives used).  They use the glycemic index to plan meals, and stress the importance of multiple small meals throughout the day, instead of fewer but larger meals.

What impressed me the most though, was the store's willingness to work with my meager budget to do this.  Instead of purchasing 3 meals plus 2 snacks from the store for each day, I will be purchasing 3 meals from them.  I will be getting the small meal sizes (with 3 oz of protein) because they are the cheapest.  I am going to be supplementing their meals with 2-3 snacks a day; chobani greek yogurt, trail mix (that I made and measured out; 2oz of a almond, cashew, and dried cranberry mix), and apples with peanut butter.  I actually got both peanut and honey-almond butter (Justin's) at the store today and tried both with my granny smith apples.  It wasn't the dessert I was used to, but I think the sweet treat at the end of the day with the healthy fats will help me feel like it's actually a treat.  I'm going to save trail mix for the morning when I'm teaching (it will be quick and easy to eat on the go) and then I'm freezing chobani so that it thaws by the end of the day when I can eat another snack.

I'm very optimistic about this endeavor; I plan to follow their plan exactly, and I am trusting in my nutritionist (who will be calling me and checking in) to help me out.

Even though I'm eating the MFF meals now (I bought some this weekend instead of grocery shopping), I will be officially starting the 21 day challenge on Wednesday (though I will be following all the guidelines/meals tomorrow as well).  I'll post Wednesday with an official start weight, and keep everybody updated on how I'm doing!