21-Day Fix??? Ish??? Vegetarian Running with Piyo does that count???

So, something has gotta give and end of July begins Fall Half Marathon Training.  2 Half Marathons & a 4 miler are on schedule for the fall and I think 2 HMs are already booked for the first few months of 2016. Time to get a wiggle on.

In the weeks since RnR Nashville (my first half) I have realized I need much  more flexibility and strength, so I purchased PiYo from Liz, my girlfriend who kicked off my running journey.  In my free time, I have been watching the DVDs to see if it was what I needed and I think I guessed correctly.

I then turned my attention to nutrition.  I need to lose weight.  This isn't a vanity need this is a health and life need.  I am on Metformin for Insulin Resistance and PCOS.  I am a born and raised Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.  I am married to a Chemical Engineer in the food processing industry.

Yeah - I have complications in the Nutrition World.

So, I determined that I will follow a PiYo PLUS Half Marathon Plan I found at Weigh to Maintain.  I start this on Monday and plan to continue it until my Fleet Feet training begins at the end of July.

I then decided that going it alone and attempting to figure out a Vegetarian Meal Plan for exercising and losing weight was just not working for me.  I have attempted for at least 20 years and am still trying.  I think it is time for a change, don't  you???

So, I looked at the 21 Day Fix plan through my girlfriend, Kristine.     As I read and messaged Kristine, I realized that while I eat healthy foods and I weigh them and log them in MFP, it just isn't working for me.  Color coding and sizes are my next attempt.

I figure I never transitioned to being a digital planner gal, so maybe attempting another way of learning healthy limits (besides counting and weighting) might be for me.

BUT - I really didn't want to do Shakeology.  There are a few reasons:  1.  the price.  I just can't sustain that long term.  2.  the carbs - due to the Insulin Resistance I have I need to keep my carbs in certain ranges per my Endocrinologist.  I don't want to use 17+ carbs per shake wasn't where I wanted to spend my carbs.

So, this first 21 days I am going to use shakes from 310 Shakes.  I haven't tasted them but the low carbs and the price were why I went with them.  I was introduced to the 310 Shakes from The Diet Shake Reviews website.

I already use plain whey protein isolate for a shake each morning so I am excited for flavors (I ordered Chocolate and Vanilla) and for the chance to taste something different.

After settling on a shake plan and knowing I wanted to use the format for 21 Day Fix, I googled a calculator for calories on the 21 Day Fix and used this one to determine I am Level 4 or 2100-2300 calories.  This is important so you can plan everything needed for eating each day.   Here is a screenshot for my calculation.  I am allocated more calories than 2300 but for the purposes of 21 Day Fix, you round down to 2300.

This means we get 6 Green, 4 Purple, 6 Red, 4 Yellow, 1 Blue, 1 Orange and 6 teaspoons.  I headed over to Amazon and picked up these Beach Body Containers.  

I also got a set of these Divided Food Containers to pack lunches in.

Now for the plan.  My plan is Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian and this week relies heavily on recipes from the Potentially Lovely Blog.  Here is what we have for our first week:

 I say "we" because for the first time since we have been married my hubby has agreed to join me in a meal plan.  I offered to pack his lunches since he has new hours at work.  Hopefully this will be a plan which will fill him up and not leave him starving.

As I said before, I am a Paper Planner Type, so I have a composition Book I have been cutting and pasting in and writing in with markers and taping up with Washi.  I feel very prepared and ready to embark on the first week of the next 3.

And there it is!

Exercise is Piyo/Half Marathon Training
Learned what the plan allows and doesn't allow
Lacto Ovo Meal Plan Week #1 is created
Ordered BeachBody containers and divided containers
Ordered shakes
Tomorrow I finish up grocery shopping and will prep everything.

Since price was something I had concern about in just using the Shakeology 21 Day Fix program, here is a breakdown of my costs so far.