Recipe Binder Revamp

I know I’ve mentioned here and there that I have been trying to cook/eat healthier and lose weight. I tried making healthier foods. I tried working out every day. No weight loss! I was so frustrated and disappointed that my efforts were just not giving me any results. About a year ago, I decided to try The 21 Day Fix through Beachbody. It was honestly the best thing I’ve done for my health in a long time. And no, I’m not trying to sell you anything! I just want to share WHY it worked for me.

Although I had been eating healthier, I wasn’t eating well. And by that I mean that I was not being mindful of my portion sizes, and I was still eating way too many carbs and dairy products. I felt silly using these little colored cups to measure out my food, but it worked! I am such a visual person, and using this color-coded system was right up my alley. I also started drinking Shakeology every day. It really helped me in several ways: it curbed my sweet tooth, it gave me a boost in the afternoon (so I could cut out my Dr. Pepper habit), and it was filling enough to prevent me from snacking before dinner!

The workouts were great, although I didn’t always do them. I don’t like working out. Period. But I liked the trainer, Autumn, and I liked that the workouts were only 30 minutes. And I lost weight even without working out religiously. I had read so many times that losing weight is 80% nutrition and only 20% exercise, and it proved to be true! Just being more conscious of what I was eating, how much I was eating, and choosing to eat healthy foods was a game changer for me.

Like I said, this was not a sales pitch! I wrote all of that leading up to this: my recipe binder has changed tremendously since I last regularly posted recipes on here! I want to start sharing some of my new favorite meals, because eating healthy can still be very yummy. I will slowly be deleting recipes from here that I just never make anymore and adding ones that have become some of my new favorites. Many of them are “21 Day Fix approved,” meaning that they are compatible with the program that I did, but I’ll be adding other ones that are fairly healthy too.

Not to leave you hanging, I will share one of my new favorite side dishes: Honey Garlic Green Beans. And here’s a little secret: I make mine with frozen green beans! My husband couldn’t even tell that they were frozen. I just rinsed them with some warm water in a colander before tossing them in the pan with the olive oil. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s healthy!

I will share the recipes for the homemade chicken nuggets and the macaroni and cheese from the photo soon, but this mama needs to get to bed. I blog in the wee hours now…