An Average Joe in San Antonio

This is the final article in a four part series about my experience in the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge.  Be sure to read about the Consultation for the 21 Day Challenge, the Recap from Week One and the Recap from Week Two.

The My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge is over and went by in a blink of an eye.  While it started out as test of endurance to not eat out, it ended with me in a solid routine of eating healthy that I look to carry forward.  This article will be a little different than the previous ones as I want to provide a summary of my experience and why I did it.

My main goal of embarking on the 21 Day Challenge was to break my habit of eating out.  While I am a food blogger and need to go eat out in order to have content to write about, the majority of the time that I ate out was either at a fast food restaurant or at a place in close proximity to work for lunch.  Trust me, these meals were not contributing to the content on the blog.

I have more or less eaten out a minimum of one meal a day since I was a sophomore in high school.  That was the year that I got to experience off campus lunch, and the temptress known as a Cardiac Corner (a strip of 19^th street just east of University Avenue in Lubbock, TX that is chocked full of fast food restaurants) called to me every day.

The gumbo was quite tasty! I just wish it came in a larger size.

While I don’t want to get all Jamie Oliver on you, I do believe that junior high and high school are the formative years for what you will eat, and how you will eat, as you grow up.  Allowing middle school students the choice to eat pizza and candy in the cafeteria and giving high school students the freedom to go off campus to consume triple cheeseburgers with 32 ounce sodas every day is not conducive to developing good habits.

For half of my life I have been eating out a minimum of five meals a week, and I knew that this would be a difficult habit to break.  I view the 21 Day Challenge as a way to develop new habits.  Because I was not allowed to eat out for three weeks (other than the one cheat meal a week), I learned that I can survive without a constant stream of cheese enchiladas or hamburgers.

My Fit Foods makes healthy meals that are both tasty and as accessible as picking up a carryout pizza. There is now no excuse for me to eat fast food in excess because I can get a healthy option just as easy.

Picnic Time was one of my favorite snacks from My Fit Foods that could easily be replicated on your own if you have the time.

If you are looking at going on the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge, here are some things that you may want to know.

• There was an interesting article about My Fit Foods by registered dietitian Claudia Zepata that advises against getting the 30 Day Nutritional Survival Kit which she says is “chock-full of unnecessary supplements and more of the silly health claims.”  Claudia was, however, complementary of their food and said that “My Fit Foods does a great job of providing healthy food in a hurry.”

• If you are looking to do the challenge but want to save a little bit of money, don’t have them package your food for you.  Instead, drop by the store and look for clearance items (the labels are highlighted with yellow) to save half off the price of the meal.  Additionally, you can purchase your Fage yogurt at HEB and save a dollar over the price at My Fit Foods.

• I could not imagine going through the challenge by myself and was fortunate to have my girlfriend participate in the challenge with me.  Additionally, one of my good buddies from work who always ate out with me brought a My Fit Foods lunch so we could eat in the break room.

• You will not go hungry while participating in the 21 Day Challenge.  The food is filling and spaced out every three hours from when you eat breakfast.  I found myself incredibly satisfied throughout the program.

• The cheat meals are salvation.  While My Fit Foods does make tasty meals, life is too short to not eat chipotle enchiladas.

Miguel's tacos were a spicy lunch that I enjoyed during the last week.

• You will have more Tupperwaresque trays than you will know what to do with.  I would love to see My Fit Foods start a recycling program to help reuse these trays.

• If you participate in the 21 Day Challenge, My Fit Foods will give you a three week complimentary pass to exercise in any of the Spectrum gyms. While I didn’t use this, my girlfriend did enjoy getting to go work out and the yoga classes without being hounded to purchase a full time membership.

• I noticed that I lost the most weight on the first week of participating in the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge.

• The My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge cost for a 6’1” guy ended up being $708, the cost for a 5’0” girl ended up being $599.

• How much weight can you lose on the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge? Results may vary, but a 6’1” guy starting at 195.4 pounds lost 6.6 pounds and a 5’0” girl starting at 120.2 pounds and lost 3.6 pounds (though she did start eating a lot of the My Fit Foods a week prior and lost 2.8 pounds) with moderate exercise.

The 21 Day Challenge was instrumental in helping me break some of my poor eating habits and I look forward to trying to lead a more balanced lifestyle.  I plan on continuing to purchase meals from My Fit Foods along with attempting to prepare some of their dishes on my own.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I hear a chicken fried steak smothered in cream gravy calling my name.

Stats
Exercise: Thursday ran 3 miles, Saturday ran 3 miles and walked a mile
Caloric Intake: Not taking into consideration of the cheat day, averaged about 1,800 calories a day for a 6’ 1” guy
Weight: 188.8 (lost 2.2 pounds from last weigh in of 191.0 and a total of 6.6 pounds)

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This is the third article in a four part series about my experience in the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge.  Be sure to read about the Consultation for the 21 Day Challenge, the Recap from Week One and the Recap from Week Three.

I completed my second week of the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge this past Saturday.  I was extremely excited about my first week of results and looked forward to tackling the second week in the challenge.

This past week was interesting because I started getting into a groove.  My cravings had diminished and I found myself not pining for non-healthy food as much (I would be lying, however, if I told you the cravings went away completely).  A key reason for this is the support system that I have been fortunate to have both in and out of work.

The breakfast tacos were much better this week and helped me avoid the taco line at work.

If you are going to do the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge, it is imperative that you have folks who are cheering you on.  I love the communal aspect of food; getting to eat and converse with friends and family is what makes dining (and in particular dining out) so much fun.

I eat most of my lunches during the work week with my buddy Frank who has been bringing his lunch as well throughout this challenge.  It is key to visit with someone over lunch because I need that break from the daily tasks, deadlines and meetings.  Moving forward, I plan on bringing my lunches four days a week and I am glad that I have a friend who I can count on to keep me honest.

Outside of work, I have been fortunate to have my girlfriend (who is also participating in the challenge) cheer me on.  When I do have those cravings to stop the challenge and snag a pizza, she is the one who helps reel me in.  I look forward to getting to take her out for meals once or twice a week in the future, however, I realize that I don’t have to go out for every meal.

As previously mentioned, one of my goals has been to break my habit of eating out every lunch.  In the past, I would sporadically make a sack lunch which I would eat 30% of the time (there was a 40% chance that I would go out to eat anyway, a 20% chance that I would forget it on my kitchen table and a 10% chance that I would shark around the break rooms for pizza or something more appealing).

Spicy, savory and good, the Turkey Loaf is a meal that I won't forget at home.

In addition to the spoiled lunches that I forgot as I went to work, I wasted countless loaves of bread, deli meat and fruit because I wouldn’t pack my lunch.  In short, I didn’t care if I left my lunch because I could always go out.

This past week, I was cruising down the road towards I-10 when it hit me.  I left my lunch at home.

In the past, I would have said, “Forget about it!” and marched into Lula’s to get a plate of chipotle enchiladas.  Unfortunately, this was not an option and I did a U-Turn to go back to my house to pick up the food.  Every morning I go through a routine of looking for my wallet, badge to get into work, keys, and phone.  Now my lunch has become part of this ritual which is a huge accomplishment and hopefully a precursor for future success.

There have been a couple of negatives, however, that I have noticed on week two.  For one, while I am happy most of the time, there has been a day or two where I was a little grouchy.  I don’t know if this was due to the fact that I felt that I was confined and could not go out to eat or if it was because I was hungry.  All I know is that I was irritable a couple of days.

Additionally, I have notice that at night I really get tired around 10:30PM.  I think that this is a function of the fact that all my calories for the day have been consumed by 6:30PM and my body is shutting down.  This has been difficult for me to adjust to because I do have some entrepreneurial activities that I work on late into the night.  I will note, however, that it is probably good that I am getting tired at that time because I am more likely to get a full night sleep.

The Mix & Mash is a great way to start your day. However, it is odd that you eat both the Chicken and the Egg in this meal.

In case you were wondering, the cheat meal this week was at my friend Amy’s house where she made an amazing spread of Mexican food from Cooking Light for a bunch of folks.  I was able to cut back my portions from what I would normally eat and had a fish taco, a steak taco, some black beans, Mexican rice, and a small dessert.  Here’s to going strong on the final week!

Stats
Exercise: Sunday ran 3 miles, Monday ran 3 miles, Thursday refereed an outdoor dodgeball tournament for 6 hours
Caloric Intake: Not taking into consideration of the cheat day, averaged about 1,780 calories a day for a 6’ 1” guy (it was weird because some days my total was in the low 1700s and others it was in the 2000s so I didn’t feel that this week was balanced; the average is also low because I did miss a lunch one day because I woke up late on the weekend)
Weight: 191.0 (lost 1.4 pounds from last weigh in of 192.4 and a total of 4.4 pounds; have to admit I was a little disappointed that my second week’s loss was half of the first week)

Foods I Loved
One of my favorite meals was the Turkey Loaf which is basically several slices of turkey meat loaf that is really spicy.  While nothing like Mama Lee’s meatloaf, this is a pretty solid healthy alternative.  It’s a bonus that you get to have it served over the delicious mashed sweet potatoes.

The Breakfast Tacos redeemed themselves! This week they were not overburdened with cumin and I really liked them.  San Antonians know their breakfast tacos and I would be curious to see what you think so be sure to leave a comment.  I also am a fan of the Mix & Mash breakfast which is cubes of chicken mixed with eggs and rice topped with tomatoes.  The only thing that would make it better is if they diced up a jalapeño with it.

Foods That I Thought Were Good
The black beans were really good and I decided to kick them up a bit with some extra hot red chile powder from New Mexico.  My only beef with them is that they are on my meal plan for a morning snack.  I don’t know about you but I don’t really think of black beans as a morning snack.  I had a hard time getting this out of my head as I ate them.

I liked the Tenderloin and Veggies because the mixed vegetables were a welcome replacement to the peppery spinach from the Ninja Tenderloin.  I will say, however, that I am not a huge fan of the seasoning of the tenderloin.

Foods That I Did Not Like
The big item that I did not like this week is coincidentally one of the best sellers at My Fit Foods, the Lemon Turkey.  If you recall, I had this item on the first day at a gas station while driving back to San Antonio.  I wasn’t a fan of it then either, however, I thought this was due to the fact that I was salivating for the fried chicken that surrounded me.  It turns out that I just flat out don’t like it.  The Lemon Turkey is too salty and not filling for me.

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This is the second article in a four part series about my experience in the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge.  Be sure to read about the Consultation for the 21 Day Challenge, the Recap from Week Two and the Recap from Week Three.

I have completed my first week of the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge and it has been quite interesting.  There is not a week in recent memory where I have ate more vegetables and drank less caffeine or alcohol.  To top it off, I only went out to eat once (each week you get a cheat meal) which is definitely difficult for a person who keeps up with a food blog.

At the conclusion of the week, I will walk through some of the difficult and positive moments prior to discussing some of the food that I ate.

The Hawaiian Chicken was so good that I almost demolished it before taking a picture! Check out the end of the article for reviews of the food.

Last Sunday, my girlfriend and I left my parents’ house.  We took our My Fit Foods meals in a cooler and ended up stopping at a gas station in Bronte, TX to heat up Lemon Turkey entrée for lunch.  This was probably one of the harder moments for me because I was surrounded by all these foods that I was not allowed to eat.  It was like they were sitting there mocking me as I struggled to choke down some spicy turkey and rice with a twist of lemon.  Not fun at all.

That night we got back to San Antonio and throughout the drive I was reminded how much food advertising there is in our society.  Billboards, gas stations, radio, TV, and internet, it is constantly around us.  The advertising was so blatant; I think I was shocked because I was acutely aware of what I was not allowed to eat.

In the past, I have given up sodas, sweets, or alcohol for the Lenten season prior to Easter.  I thought that this would prepare me, but what I forgot is that giving up one item still allowed me to find shelters in other items.  Can’t eat a cupcake, ok, I’ll burry myself in pizza. No beer? OK, I eat a tray full of cookies.  You can’t do that with the 21 Day Challenge.

The second day was the hardest.  The My Fit Foods cocktail made of cranberry juice, lemon, apple cider vinegar and B12 was incredibly bitter and set my day off bad (I have gotten used to the taste and now actually enjoy it; funny how taste buds work).  I woke up and ate the My Fit Foods Breakfast Tacos but I was pining for Leticia’s breakfast tacos served in the lobby at work.  My coworkers were slinging back coffee and I was drinking green tea.  I was in a bad mood.

While I don’t normally drink a lot of liquids, I was supposed to consume 80+ ounces of water a day.  I started drinking water early in the morning and felt like I was going to explode every 30 minutes.  It was like the water passed right through me as soon as it hit my stomach.  I was very uncomfortable.

The Turkey Pasta was spicy and had a flavorful tomato sauce.

I felt withdraws from eating out.  My skin was crawling just thinking about the next three weeks.  But it was strange, I never once felt hungry while being on the My Fit Foods program.  It was then that I realized my desires were not born of hunger but rather an addiction to unhealthy foods.  This helped me get through the second day.

On Tuesday I found out that Wynne, the lady who did the consultation, was no longer with the company.  I had a couple of temporary nutritionists that I had to route all my questions through.  This was a minor blow because I felt I had a good rapport with Wynne and haven’t met either of these new people.  I also wasn’t getting a Large sized partition dinner, instead getting a Medium and Small; this was aggravating to me because I don’t know if the two smaller sizes add up exactly to the larger meal and have since froze the smaller dinners.

(Oddly enough, my new nutritionist Kasi called me up while I was putting the finishing touches on this blog article!  That makes me feel good that they are checking up on me!)

The most difficult thing for me is how social food and drinking is for a young professional.  At work, I hang out with my friends over lunch.  On Thursdays, I play volleyball and meet up with my team afterwards for a meal and drinks.  I went to the Austin City Limits festival this weekend and my girlfriend had to put a lot of thought into how we could eat only the My Fit Foods throughout the day of concerts.  We had to skip out on the late night meal with friends afterwards and couldn’t go to breakfast in the morning.

This is something you should be cognoscente of if you embark on this program.  I hate being that guy that says, “I can’t go out to eat because I am on a diet.”  While I believe that after the program there will be a time and place to go out and eat in moderation, during these 21 days I am going to be a stickler.  This would be a very difficult part of the program for anyone.

Was not a fan of the Ginger Chicken because all the water that was in the tray got my bag wet.

As the week progressed, eating the meals became easier.  The strength of the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge is that it is all planned out; you don’t have to think of anything.  This is also a bit of a frustration for me because I like to be spontaneous about where and what I eat.

I have also enjoyed not having to go to the grocery store to figure out what I am going to eat.  I am one of those impulse shopper who goes to the store with all sorts of good intentions (throw in the red bell peppers, zucchini, and spinach to the shopping cart!) but then get sucked in to buying things I shouldn’t eat on a regular basis (you know I deserve some ice cream and supreme pizza…).

Additionally, having the meals already prepped for me allows me to have more time back to myself.  I don’t have to decide, drive and wait nor do I have to shop, cook and clean.  This has given me time to devote further energies to having fun or my entrepreneurial activities.

Another bonus is that I have slept better.  I don’t know how to quantify it, but it is easier to fall asleep and wake up.  However if I do stay up late I feel it the next morning and drag a little bit.  I don’t know if this is a side effect of not consuming as many calories and pushing me later than I should.

I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that the cheat meal was salvation.  I cried as I ate a Freddy’s patty melt.  It was so good.  This too fits into my goals; I want to get back where eating out was a treat instead of an everyday occurrence.  I think this will be possible because as we all know absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I’ll be interested to see where I am at the conclusion of week two.

Stats
Exercise: Monday walk 0.8 miles in the morning, 1.5 miles in the evening, Tuesday run 1.5 miles; while not official, Friday was Austin City Limits and I walked all over!  I look to exercise more this week.
Caloric Intake: Not taking into consideration of the cheat day, averaged about 1,800 calories a day for a 6’ 1” guy.
Weight: 192.4 (lost 3 pounds from last weigh in of 195.4)

Foods I Loved
I absolutely loved Cynthia’s BBQ Chicken, in fact, I would eat that on a regular basis.  The sauce was pretty good and I really liked the potatoes.  The Turkey Pasta was nice and spicy with a good tomato sauce.

The Hummus Bowl snack is tasty with celery, carrots, tomatoes, and grilled chicken with Hummus to dip it in.  The cream of the crop is the Hawaiian Chicken which is tender chicken with mandarin oranges, pineapple, and pine nuts over a bed of parboiled rice. This is delicious and quite filling.

The Hummus Bowl is one of my favorite snacks and similar to the one you would get at Starbucks.

Foods That I Thought Were Good
While my girlfriend raves about the Breakfast Tacos, I think that they are just all right.  They have a little too much cumin for me I would gladly trade that spice for a bowl of freshly made pico de gallo.

The Ninja Tenderloin was great but the spinach was too peppery; I talked with the nutritionist and she said she would sub in roasted veggies instead.  The wrap was tasty but not too filling, although it had a great function of getting snuck into Austin City Limits.

Foods That I Did Not Like
I was not a fan of the Ginger Chicken Delight and it was namely because there was so much water at the bottom of the trey.  In fact, it got all over my bag when I tipped it to the side.  The meal was just messy and not worth the trouble.

I had to choke down the Gimme More Chicken Salad, but this lies more in my preferences than the meal itself.  My girlfriend thought it was every bit as good as typical chicken salad, so if you are a fan I’m sure you’ll like it.  Finally, I did not like the Fit Cottage Cheese snack, but again, it is primarily because I do not like cottage cheese.

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This is the first article in a four part series about my experience in the My Fit Foods 21 Day Challenge.  Be sure to read about the Recap from Week One, the Recap from Week Two and the Recap from Week Three.

You may have noticed a lot of folks in your office microwaving lunches in small black containers with clear lids.  You’ve probably observed that the food always looks fresh, is never frozen, and smells delicious.  This happened to me, and after noticing coworkers eating these tasty looking meals I discovered that they bought them at My Fit Foods.

Mario Mendias, a former Marine and personal trainer, started My Fit Foods in Houston, TX because he believed that  80% of health and fitness results are directly correlated to the fuel that you place in your body.  Mendias noticed that many of his clients would not listen to him because they did not have the time to prepare a healthy meal or the ability to consistently do so.

To solve this problem Mendias began making meals in his apartment.  My Fit Foods was born.

The My Fit Foods storefront at the Alamo Quarry

All the meals that My Fit Foods create are made with “active foods” that include all natural/non-processed ingredients, lean meats, “good” carbohydrates, heart healthy fats, variety of fruits and vegetables, no preservatives and healthy sodium ranges.

Having enjoyed a few meals from My Fit Foods, my girlfriend and I decided to try their 21 Day Challenge which we began on Sunday, September 11^th.  I have decided to write a series of unbiased articles about my experience to give you an idea of what it will be like.

I think I should be clear about my goals and why I am doing the challenge.  First, I wanted to break my habit of constantly eating out.  While I don’t think that eating out is necessarily bad, it morphed from a fun, occasional treat to a gluttonous every day, multiple times a day occurrence.

With breakfast tacos in the morning, burgers at lunch, and a nice dinner out at night, I would sometimes go weeks without eating a vegetable that wasn’t covered with cheese.  Seriously.   I knew that My Fit Foods would get me in the habit of taking my breakfast and lunch to work and I hope that I can carry this habit forward.

Second, I wanted to train my body to eat a little healthier.  Right now, healthy foods are not even appealing to me.  I mean, I like chicken, fish, and vegetables, but they are not even on my radar; I am too busy ordering something with cheese or gravy to take notice to the other options on the menu.  I am hoping that this experience will let me realize that healthy food tastes good too.

While Chachos King Kong Nachos are delicious, they are probably not the healthiest thing for me..

Before you get started with the 21 Day Challenge, you meet up with an advisor who gives you information about the program.  We met Wynne the Wednesday before we started our challenge because my girlfriend and I were going out of town and wanted to eat whatever we wanted at the baseball game (on a side note, the garlic fries are amazing at the Ballpark in Arlington).

Wynne was extremely friendly and walked us through the 21 Day program which is divided into five different sections: Fuel, Cleanse, Protect, Strength, and Rejuvenate.

She spent the most time on the Fuel section as this is what My Fit Foods really tries to address.  While My Fit Foods does not have a restriction on carbs, one of the core tenets of the 21 Day Challenge is to eat foods that are low on the Glycemic Index (GI).  This means that you are eating “good” carbs that break down slowly and release glucose gradually into your bloodstream so that you don’t spike.

High GI foods include potatoes, doughnuts and white bread, all those things that I love to eat.  For the next 21 days I will eat foods like corn tortillas, sweet potatoes, parboiled rice, quinoa, spinach, and tomatoes.  Can’t say I’m too thrilled at this point in time.

Additionally, the program stresses that you eat three meals and two snacks a day that span three hours between each feeding.  Wynne said that this is an attempt to train your body to know when it is going to eat so that you are less hungry and quickly processing those smaller meals instead of storing them.

On the 21 Day Challenge, they ask that you don’t drink regular or artificially sweetened sodas (yikes), alcohol (ouch!) or coffee (NO!) and instead substitute with water and green tea (this was the only caffeine allowed).  To be honest, this was probably the toughest part of the challenge for me.  While giving up sodas isn’t a problem, a lot of my social interactions occur over drinks and I like to do my entrepreneurial things out of a coffee shop.  At any rate, I plan on sticking to it.

Wynne also told us that we are given one “cheat” meal a week where we can go eat anything we want.  There were a couple of caveats: (1) you still can’t drink alcohol or caffeine and (2) it should be a reasonable sized portion.  There goes my plan to knock out an order of King Kong Nachos.

The Cleanse portion of the talk revolved around talking about your liver and the importance of drinking a lot of water.  This was something else that is going to be difficult because I very rarely drink fluids (unless they are made from tequila or hops).  I am supposed to drink 80+ ounces of water a day which will be a challenge in itself.

Additionally, they suggest this My Fit Foods cocktail made of cranberry juice, lemons, B12, and apple cider vinegar.  I’m a little skeptical of these types of things, but since it is more or less normal ingredients I plan on trying it.

I was not looking forward to the Protect section because I saw a list of supplements. I think that supplements are the number one thing that turns me off from diet programs, GNC stores, and personal trainers.  I don’t know, it just has never seemed right to me to take all these crazy things.

The My Fit Foods supplements, however, seem to be names that you recognize like: lemon juice, B12, fiber, fish oil, cinnamon, green tea, vitamin C.  There were only a few that were weird, and Wynne didn’t try to push them on me so I was happy.

The enchilada meal at My Fit Foods

The Strength and Rejuvenate sections can basically be summed up by the following: Exercise 30 minutes a day, three days a week and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.  Fairly standard stuff.

Wynne then asked my girlfriend and I all about our likes and dislikes on food.  I shied away from a couple of things including hard boiled eggs (I can’t stand them) and fish (if you are not aware, microwaving fish in the office microwave is NOT COOL).  My girlfriend ended up getting the smaller sizes of food and I decided on getting medium portions for breakfast and lunch along with a large portion for dinner.

Over all I had a great experience and was looking forward to starting the 21 Day Challenge on Sunday September 11^th.  I look forward to giving a recap after each week where I update you on what I liked and disliked along with my weight (I am starting at 195.4 pounds) and how much I lose.  If you come across me and I am in a bad mood, just remember I haven’t had a cup of coffee in quite a while.

My girlfriend and I were both so excited after talking with Wynne that we promptly headed over to Pericos to celebrate with Tex Mex and margaritas.

Wait a minute. No Pericos and margaritas for 21 days?

Man, this is going to be tough…

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