21 Day Fix…A Revival in 2022!

I have done 21 Day Fix nutrition and exercise program from Beachbody many times over the years, and it always does the trick for getting me back in shape and on track with healthy eating.  It’s one of the few things that makes any difference at all in my hereditary high cholesterol, and when I’m not doing it full-time, my cholesterol is always high. 

I’ve been off the program for almost a year due to my 2nd shoulder surgery in 2021.  I was cleared to start back slowly in June, but I was honestly afraid to exercise because of the risk of inflaming my shoulder again, which had been a problem for the last 3 years.  3 years of therapy, 2 surgeries, many meds and treatments later, I think I’m finally ready to get back to my normal self.  I have put on 10 lbs. during this hiatus from exercise, and I really need to get it off and get myself back in shape.  So I was resolved that after the holidays and our subsequent string of birthdays were over, I was going to start fresh.

So here I am!  This was my first week back on the program.  I started Monday, January 10th.  As of this morning, I’ve lost 2.2 lbs. since Monday.  That’s actually really good for a woman!  According to the government, the average weight loss for a woman is 1.1 pounds per week, so I’m pretty happy with double that…plus, it’s only been 5 days!  The first week isn’t even over yet.  My husband is doing the nutrition part of the plan with me but not the exercise plan.  He’s losing weight, too.  We eat 6 times per day…3 meals and 3 snacks.  That way, we’re never hungry for long, and we’re always digesting something, which burns more calories.  I’m also drinking at least 64 oz. of water every day.  I measure it out in a container in the morning, squirt a little flavoring in it, and pour my refills out of that container in the fridge all day long until it’s gone.

Already, I feel so much better!  I’m more regular, and my bloated belly has really gone down significantly.  I’m eating 3 cups of veggies, 2 cups of fruit, 3 cups of protein, 1 cup of carbs, 1/3 cup healthy fats, and 1/4 cup seeds/nuts/dressings every day.  That’s plenty of food…larger portions than I would normally eat, for sure…and of the right things.  So I can feel good about what is going into my body.  And I’m working out every single day.  I’ve been sore, so I know I’m out of shape, but I feel stronger every day.  Hooray!

My physical therapist told me to start back slow, doing half the reps and no weights to light weights with modifications to start back, so I’m taking it a little easier than I normally would with the weights.  I’m trying to pay close attention to my form and posture, rolling my shoulders back and down and being careful to maintain that form so that I’m using my shoulder muscles properly and not compensating with my neck muscles.  It’s tough with how weak that shoulder has become, but I’m working through it!

I’ll update my progress as I go, but I can usually lose 10 pounds in a couple of months.  We shall see.  128 is my goal! 

Here’s my pre-program photo.  Hopefully, I’ll be a little less curvy in the weeks to come!

Birthdays Abound

My youngest son, Holden, turned 14 on December 28th.  That kicked off our winter season of birthdays…3 of them in 2 weeks, in fact!  He requested a cherry pineapple dump cake, so that’s what he got.

Then on January 1st, I turned the big 50!  That’s right…I’m officially over the hill.  This is the time of year when Steve and I get to be the same age for a whole 6 days.  We celebrated by going to a fancy dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse downtown on New Year’s Eve, where the restaurant surprised me with a fabulous bread pudding with bourbon whiskey custard sauce on top.  It was delicious, and I ate every bite!  Little did they know that bread pudding is my absolute favorite dessert.

Then we went to a Fort Worth Symphony POPS concert called “Swing Is the Thing” at Bass Performance Hall.  It featured jazz and swing music from the 40’s and 50’s, a jazz singer, and four world-renowned swing dancers.  It was great!  Then on my birthday the next day, I got to have my favorite birthday cake…chocolate with chocolate whipped frosting, strawberries, and chocolate curls…yum!

Then on January 7th, Steve turned 51!  We had barely finished my cake by then. Steve wanted his usual carrot cake, so we got a small one since not everyone will eat that, and we knew we were starting a nutrition plan 3 days later and didn’t want to have leftover cake lying around!  I also made him some chocolate dipped strawberries, which everybody enjoyed.

 

And although that ended our string of winter birthdays, Holden had delayed having his friends over to celebrate with him since some were out of town for the holidays.  So today, January 8th, he had a couple of friends over to hang out and celebrate with him.  I spent 6 hours the day before making homemade cake pops, hand-dipped in chocolate, sprinkled, wrapped, and tied up for the occasion.  I made about 75 of them, and by the end of the day, there were only 4 left!  I know that sounds crazy, but they really are just so good, and his friends took some home to share with their families.

And so our stretch of holidays and birthdays finally comes to an end.  It’s exhausting going from one to the next to the next, but it’s also lots of fun.  I think we all feel super happy this year, and that’s a nice feeling.

Here’s to 2022!  May it be a great year of good things for all!

eMeals New Year’s Sale…Try a Subscription for 2022!!!

For anyone who has ever thought about trying a subscription to eMeals, now is the time!  It's currently 70% off all meal plans with code BIGGEST22 and makes it $18/yr for just dinner, $27 for breakfast and dinner, $30 for lunch/dinner, or $39 for breakfast/lunch/dinner.  Cheapest I've ever seen it!  EXPIRES TOMORROW, 01/02/2022!

Here’s my referral link.  I used this service several years ago, and it's a great time-saver.  There are 15 different meal plans, and you can download all 15 every week if you choose!  That's what I did.  That's a lot of recipes.  The dinner plan gives you 7 recipes in each menu plan every week.  Breakfast and lunch plans give you 5 recipes each per week.  When you sign up, you can choose plans for 1-2 people or 3-6 people.  The 15 menu plans to choose from are:

• 30-Minute Meals
• Budget Friendly
• Clean Eating
• Diabetic
• Gluten Free
• Heart Healthy
• Keto
• Kid Friendly
• Low Calorie
• Low Carb
• Mediterranean
• Paleo
• Plant Based
• Quick and Healthy
• Slow Cooker

There’s something for everyone!  When you select the recipes you've chosen for the week, it generates a shopping list for you (which you can edit in case you already have things or want to omit something) and allows you to either print the shopping list or send it to a participating grocer to order for pick-up or delivery!  I used to send mine to Walmart for free pickup.  So easy!  Give it a try and save time in the New Year!

Again, this offer is only good through tomorrow, 01-02-2022, so don't delay!  The dinner menus were the ones I really used, and you can't beat a dinner subscription for what equates to $1.50/month!  I’m about to do a nutrition and exercise plan for a couple of months, but I think I’m going to subscribe anyway while this sale is still good, just download and save my recipes in the interim, and then resume active use of the full service thereafter.  This is a great price!  Just enter the coupon code BIGGEST22 in the coupon box on the checkout page.

Here’s to a simpler life in 2022!

Merry, Merry Christmas 2021!

This week, I finished two Christmas paint-by-numbers that turned out pretty well.  It was relaxing to have some time to paint again.

Steve took a vacation day from work on Thursday so that we could spend the whole day together.  We headed out in the late morning and did some fun bargain shopping at Crazy Cazboys…his first visit.  Then we stopped for a yummy drink and snack at Royal Tea in Arlington.  Then we headed off to Six Flags Over Texas!  We used to be quite the coaster junkies before we had kids, but we haven’t gotten to go like that without the kids is so very long.  We had a fabulous time, and the weather was 74 and breezy…perfect park weather!  We rode 4 rides, 2 of which were new to both of us, and had a great time.  After it got dark and we realized they weren’t serving any yummy hot beverages or making any bonfires for Christmas, we decided to cut it short.  We shared some chicken fajita soup before leaving the park and then decided on a whim to go see a movie before heading home.  We stopped at the Eastchase AMC and saw Nightmare Alley.  It was 2.5 hours long, but it had such a great ending that we laughed.  We got home at about 11 PM…a long and crazy fun day!  So relaxing, and no stress at all…just how we like it!

On Christmas Eve, Haylee went to see the downtown Christmas tree and lights with her boyfriend.  They ran into his aunt there, who took this cute photo of them.

On Christmas Day, I got to have all of my kids at home until mid-afternoon for Christmas this year, so that was just lovely.  I even grabbed a sneaky shot of each of them opening gifts.

Then we enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner together, and I even made tiramisu for dessert from scratch…a first for me!  It was actually pretty easy to make but was rather expensive for the ingredients.  It was yummy, though!  And I also made dinner rolls from scratch, which turned out really well (unlike Thanksgiving) because I bought a fresh sack of flour.

After dinner, Hayden headed out to see his girlfriend and her family, so we stopped for a family photo in front of the Christmas tree before he left.  Nice picture!

We did a bunch of cleaning up around the house and some cleaning out and rearranging in the kids’ bedrooms, and then Haylee and I popped up some popcorn and went driving around town looking at neighborhood Christmas lights.  We found a couple of unique displays that were written about in the paper this year, including this one at Luther Lake that reflected off the water.  That was a fun way to end the night.

Merry Christmas from the Burgesses!

Mariah Carey’s 12 Days of Christmas Food Freebies at McDonald’s

Get Free Daily Deals, Only in the App*

Kick off the holidays on a high note with Mariah Carey. Get a free McDonald’s favorite every day from December 13th-24th with $1 minimum purchase, only in the app.

Deals in the Wendy’s App in December

If you use the Wendy’s app this month, you’ll find special offers available each week of December, each for one time use during the applicable time period.

• December 6-12: Buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) Spicy Chicken Sandwich
  December 6-12: Free any-size fry order with any purchase
  
• December 13-19: BOGO Dave's Single
  December 13-19: Free any-size fry order with any purchase
  
• December 20-26: Free small Chili with any purchase
  December 20-26: Free Baconator Fries with a purchase
  
• December 27-January 2: Free six-piece order of nuggets with a purchase
  December 27-January 2: Free Baconator Fries with a purchase

If you’re out doing your holiday shopping and find yourself hungry, feel free to swing by and take advantage of these app deals at Wendy’s.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Baking Recipes

Now that December is here, I wanted to share a few of my favorite holiday baking recipes with you.

First, give these wonderful Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles a try!  They are perfect to take to a holiday cookie exchange.  I like to make sure they don’t overbake so they stay nice and soft in the middle.  Yum!  The recipe and photo are courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction.

 

Second, try these wonderful Simple Pecan Pie Bars.  The recipe and photo originally came from Taste of Home, but it appears the recipe is no longer there, so I’ll share it with you here.

 

Third, splurge on some of these delicious Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies.  I just made a batch of these recently, and they are always a hit.  They are also great right after the holidays when you can buy up bags of Christmas red and green Hershey’s Kisses for half price when all the holiday baking supplies get marked down.  This recipe was taken from the Everyday Cooking cookbook, and the photo is of my own platter of finished cookies.

 

I hope you have time to enjoy some of these fabulous holiday treats.  They are all very easy to make and require pretty basic ingredients.

Enjoy!