This summer I ate like a pig enjoyed myself. Ok, maybe I’m being hard on myself, but when faced with the opportunity to try Cafe du Monde beignets in New Orleans or an authentic philly cheesesteak in Philadelphia, I dove in headfirst. And then there was the Lobster Roll in Boston and the buckeyes in Ohio…..
Seriously, I ate some yummy food on our 5 week road trip this summer. And when we weren’t enjoying the local cuisine, our menu consisted of fast, easy, and low on nutritional value food. Needless to say, I came home feeling bloated, lazy, unhealthy with a few extra pounds on my backside.
I needed a kick-start. And I don’t think I’m the only one in this boat. Summer time meals relaxed mealtimes, lots of cold snacks, and over-indulging vacations. For the most part, we have all gotten a little lazy with our nutritional routines. And I am having a hard time picking it back up. So when the kids when back to school, I promised myself that I would go “Back to School” with my eating habits too.
Yeah right. I’ve tried that before. Worked for maybe a week and then I slipped back into my old habits again. I needed something to really stick. Something that I commit to – putting it out there online should be commitment enough, right? And that’s why I decided to do Snap Kitchen’s 21 Day Commit and document my progress online – to keep me accountable and see what results come of it.
Snap Kitchen 21 Day Commit
In years past, I have always had the motivation and fortitude to stick with healthy eating to achieve the weight loss I wanted. But when I passed the 40 mark, it all disappeared. I literally felt like I had no self-control when faced with a cookie. Take the time to prepared healthy snacks each week – whatever – I am way to busy for that. Why eat a salad when my whole family is enjoying pizza? And my favorite, I’m only traveling here once, I must try every macaron in the shop!
I suddenly had all these excuses as to why I couldn’t eat healthy and my weight, my energy and my motivation suffered.
Snap Kitchen offers a chance to kickstart your routine by helping make all the nutritional decisions for you. By preparing a menu and your meals, they take all the excuses I would find away. And so it’s up to me to find that self-control to stick to it.
Snap Kitchen develops a 21-day meal plan based on what you want to achieve – weight loss, healthy restart, etc. With 3 small meals and 2 snacks a day for 21 days, their goal is to provide you with healthy, nutritionally-dense foods that recharge & energize your body.
credit: Snap Kitchen
Snap Kitchen has a wide array of meals to choose from and you can easily follow a specific diet – paleo, sugar-free, vegetarian, etc. Pay for the foods as you go – pick up meals every 3 days – and depending on your plan, on average you can expect to lose 6 pounds. Snap Kitchen started in Austin and has spread to the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Chicago areas.
My 21 Day Commit Goal
Of course I am in this to lose weight. Ideally, I want to drop pounds on the scale but realistically, I know that is hard to do. Again, hitting that 40 mark really changed my body and despite what I do, it is very difficult for me to see a difference on the scale. So no matter what the goals I set, I have to understand that a change in weight may not occur as quickly as I would like. Instead, I need to focus on a difference in size.
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”650px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]21-Day Commit Goal: I want to go down 2 clothing sizes by December 2015. [/dropshadowbox]
I have done it before – I can do it again.
3 Days of Snap Kitchen Meals
21 Day Commit Tactics
I’m a list maker, so I created this list to remind me what I need to do each day to achieve this goal:
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]1. Follow the Snap Kitchen menu for 21 days [/dropshadowbox]
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]2. Cut out Diet Coke and drink water. [/dropshadowbox]
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]3. Exercise 5-6 times a week. [/dropshadowbox]
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]4. Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.[/dropshadowbox]
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]5. Allow myself a Free Day (meal) each week.[/dropshadowbox]
These aren’t unreasonable. I just need the self-control to commit to them. I have tried Snap Kitchen meals before and I think they are delicious. I never wanted more food, instead spending the majority of the day full. So I am heading into this plan knowing that I won’t get bored or tired of it.
Drinking water – easy. I like water, it’s possibly going to take a little detoxing and will-power to not reach for that Diet Coke, but I can do it. I work out 3 days a week with Camp Gladiator and run the other days – this is a habit that is strong and hasn’t changed in over 2 years. Because I get up at 4:30 am to get to CG by 5am, I need to be consciously aware of how I need to go to bed at a decent time to get my sleep. And lastly, Snap Kitchen builds in a Free Meal each week to allow you to have a little taste of what you want. It’s up to you to not go overboard.
Beyond the 21 Days
The old saying – it takes 21 days to change a habit. My hope is that I am so happy with the results of the 21 days – not only in body size changes, but energy wise as well – that I will want to continue to eat in the healthy lifestyle that Snap Kitchen’s 21 Day Commit teaches you.
After feeling like a slug all summer, I really need to make a change. As a busy mom of 3, I never take the time to do anything for myself – eating on the go, running from after school event to soccer to home and back. In this stage of our lives, we are busy. But to be the best mom I can be for my kids, I need to have energy, I need to feel physically better and I need to be happy. My hope, is that ultimately I see all 3 of these things when my 21 days are over.
Stick with me on this challenge! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter to see my day-to-day updates and status. And if you have any questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Disclosure: I was invited to participate in the 21 Day Commit program with Snap Kitchen. I was not compensated for this article. All opinions are my own.
