21 Day Fix

I know I did a full on blog post on maturing and changing in my 20s but I definitely forgot to mention – how significantly your metabolism slows down. 
-____- I used to eat pizza and French fries almost every day when I first started college and didn’t gain an ounce… Now I can smell McDonald's French fries and feel my arms jiggle some more :-O

No matter how hard I've tried to keep on top of the healthy lifestyle I wanted I always found take out on our dinner table the easiest option after long workdays.  Over the last few months I’ve kept my eyes and ears open to so many different workout regimen names that I couldn't even recall names now.  A good friend of mine recently started the 21 day fix - noticed drastic results and instantaneously became a Beach-body coach.  Hesitant at first I would consistently read her blog/Facebook posts on how she was positively changing her life. I reached out to her and the next thing I knew I was ordering my 21 Day Fix Package.  It just arrived last week and I couldn't wait to get started.  I've been talking about starting this since I've purchased it and almost everyone wants to know how it goes... Which is why I've decided to dedicate the next three weeks of my life and this blog to this journey I'm about to take to a healthier me ...

A little disclosure before you begin:   This post is not sponsored by anyone in any way and I am not a beach-body coach. I am just looking to get back into shape and a healthy lifestyle.  

The program is a bit pricey, especially if you include the Shakeology (meal replacement type protein shakes) with your program –  I did not.  I purchased the 21 Day Fix which included the containers, meal plan booklet, and exercise DVDs for about $70.  Shakeology are meal replacement shakes which I find drinks/shakes don’t work so well for me – as I find myself looking for a warm meal regardless of how filling they are.

 When I first opened my package I was really overwhelmed with how hard this diet was going to be looking at the size of the containers… But after day one I have learned that the amount of food I’m allowed to eat with this meal plan is way more than I normally eat.  The problem is I have been eating all the wrong things.  Depending on your weight you get assigned a diet plan that allows you to consume a certain amount of calories/containers.  I’m allowed to have 3 veggie servings, 2 fruit servings, 4 protein servings, 2 carb servings, and 1 healthy fat serving.  {Let me know if you have specific questions in regards to the breakdown of the meal plan} I am definitely struggling to meet the 4 protein servings. 

Purple : Fruit ; Green : Veggies ; Red : Protein ; Yellow : Carbs ; Blue : Healthy Fats ; Orange : Seeds & Dressings

The program encourages you to take pictures and your measurements on Day One of your Twenty One Days and then again on the twenty-first day. I found a cheat sheet to help me keep track of all changes my body takes throughout these three weeks.  As well as a this printable to help track my container intake. 

I've added a checklist to my daily planner to constantly remind myself to monitor what I'm consuming.

The exercises DVDs that come as a part of your 21 day fix program kick your BUTT.  I haven’t been to the gym in over 6 months – I do walk a lot to and from work in the city but obviously this is a whole new level of being active.  I am extremely sore!!

When you sign up for the 21 day fix you’re assigned a beach body coach – who happens to be a great friend of mine.  She has a great accountability group on Facebook where we all post our daily food intake and workouts.  The group really helps with getting up off that couch and doing the workouts… everyone else is seeing results and I want them too!  Watching the other girls make such great progress really helps keep your focus and is a great way to find new meal ideas.  In our accountability group we have a daily goal – 100 squats & 100 ounces of water.  I’m slowly building my way up to both.  All this water intake makes for too many bathroom breaks at work  J

My New Victoria Secret Tumbler - This measures 24 Oz - trying to drink about 4 of these a day. The wings never hurt ;)

Meal Planning

Before I started I had to tackle one of my biggest battles – meal planning.  I skimmed through the recommended meal plans and decided to keep it simple the first week with room for little temptation.  I knew I’d need to cook in bulk so my first thought was – Costco.  Luckily this month they had a special sale for all organic items.  I purchased: organic quinoa, organic veggie patties (they are delish) tons of fruit and vegetables.   From our local butcher I purchased 2 pounds of cold cuts and 3 pounds of boneless chicken breast.  All day Saturday – I spent washing, cutting, and marinating the chicken.  I washed and measured out my fruits and veggies as well.  At the end of the night my dad grilled the entire 3 pounds of marinated chicken for me. Next I made quinoa – not paying attention to how much I actually needed.  I think have enough to last all 21 days! I didn’t want to waste any so I measured out just how much I’d need for week 1 and froze the rest to use for next week.

Smoky Southwestern :: Mediterranean :: Adobo

I marinated the chicken with three different sets of spices [ recipes provided by the 21 day fix meal plan]

I made quinoa two ways.

1.  Just boiled with a couple cloves of garlic.

2.  Simmered in taco seasoning with 1 can of  black beans and 1 can of corn.

Final Product.  [[ Dusts of shoulders ]

Stay Tuned for an update on Day 7 as well as more meal plans through out my 21 day journey. Did you follow my snaps while I was meal planning? [ @thenewmrs4 ]

xo || Happiness Never Goes Out of Style || xo

:: It's a Boy Baby Shower ::

I sit wrapped in a blanket on an extremely warm gloomy summer night ... with the Game of Thrones music bustling so loudly in the background - Something I cannot seem to fathom.

If you've been keeping up with my social media you'll know I was in Houston last weekend for my best friends baby shower.  I planned this day with the mommy's sister and with much help from the new daddy!

We designed, printed, and sent out invitations 3 months prior to the event. (Outside of the 4-6 weeks etiquette)  Most of mommy's family is based outside of Houston and we wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan their Memorial Day Weekends.

(I've cropped out the address and RSVP contact information but don't forget to add those!)

Cake Table - Inspired by Pinterest

Find Similar Decor Here

Cake, Cupcakes, and Cookies Courtesy of : Daisy's Cakes
Check out this talented Houston Based Baker 

Photobooth for the guests to use fun props 

 It's a Boy Mints

PhotoFrame

Game Table : Included Measure Mommy's Tummy, Bingo, Guess the number of candies in the baby bottle, and small cards for all guests to fill out with Wishes for the baby.

Party Favors included : Mini Mason Jars filled with Baby Blue Candied Almonds with Personalized Labels

Posing with the parents to bee <3

Frame made with love from baby's grandma <3 

 { Of course my camera had died by the time food was served } but the food menu was decided by the parents to be. They kept a traditional Pakistan food menu.

Main Course: 

Chicken Biryani
Chicken Korma

Fried Fish and Chips

Dessert:

Shahi Tukra

Planning an entire shower from halfway across the country may not have been easy.  One of the hardest battles was deciding on a theme.  We ended up going with a casual baby blue theme so we could take the shower in any direction depending on the decor we found.  After that decision- we were smooth sailing ...We divided the responsibilities and used a checklist and constantly kept checking in with each other. Thank you Apple for Facetime!

When planning anything - half way across the world or in your own home. Always remember things will work out regardless of how many uphill battles you may face - stay calm, leave plenty of time prior to event for any last minute preparations, and stay organized!

xo | Happiness Never Goes Out Of Style | xo

So Many Things ... Thursday

It's been a while since I've been able to write a blog post but what better way to come back than a three things Thursday post ... Except with all the time that's passed there's so much more I should be sharing...

Count your blessings and then count them again!

I honestly believe I'm truly blessed with everything and much more {Thank you, God} but recent events put life into perspective and made me realize how lucky I really am to wake up next to the love of my life from out of my bed every morning. Two weekends ago we had every intention to just celebrate life .. Earlier in the day I went and got my hair and nails done... Later that evening my husband and I got dressed up to go out. It was a rainy gloomy night .. we were going 60 MPH and from the opposite direction a big black heavy object came flying into our windshield on the passengers side ... Luckily we walked out of the car with a few small scratches but at that moment in time I couldn't stop thinking about we walked away from death. I am so thankful for every blessing and life being the biggest one. 

MDW

We all walk around saying Happy Memorial Day but do we really know what it means?  My heart goes out to all of those brave men and women defending our country every day to keep us safe.  

But I cannot deny that almost every year I eagerly wait the unofficial start of summer and a little more so this year.  My closest friends are having a baby!! I'm going to be an Aunty!! I flew out to Houston Friday night to help host their baby shower on Saturday.  I had planned and planned everything to the T ... But nature always has other plans... There was a terrible storm in Houston Friday evening causing a 4 hour back up at the George Bush International Airport.  My flight landed at 11PM but we didn't get home till 3:30 because we were stuck sitting on the plane waiting for a gate to disembark the plane... I forgot my airborne/vitamin c and ended up with a terrible cold all weekend! {UGH nasty recycled plane air} We all slept at 6AM every night / morning and were waking up a few hours later.  Despite all the craziness ... I had a lovely time but I did miss my husband and it was a great feeling to come home to him <3  

Baby Boom?

I cannot count the number of baby showers I've recently attended.  But my favorite being the one I planned for this past weekend all the way in Houston.  I must say I had low expectations of how everything would turn out due to all the planning taking place here, so far away! Thankfully everything turned out beautiful and the parents to be loved it! I'm in the midst of writing up a full post on it and how to plan / host an event half way across the country :) 

Xo |  Happiness never goes out of style  | xo

Wanderlust Wednesdays

I have a secret obsession I need to admit to.. I am a Wanderlust-er... ( is that a word?)  I find myself spending hours on my computer planning trips and yelping all kinds of new foods to try in all kinds of new destinations.. and then doing it all over again with a new location.  Often times I think about how many pounds I'd gain from all the delish food in Italy. How long is too long to spend out in private-over-the-water bungalow in Bora Bora?
I thought I was crazy but I recently read a great article on the every girl (here) and I do the same thing.  

I'll wanderlust all week and then spend the weekend doing things inspired by that weeks "destination".  My husband and I will find a new dish and put it to test - we love trying new cuisines.  We'll even lounge around on a lazy morning and watch hours of YouTube travel vlogs.  But is there really a substitute to just going there?

My husband and I went to a beautiful resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico two years ago for our honeymoon.  It was the best vacation we've ever had. The resort was amazing, the service was phenomenal and the food was just incredible.  My husband usually gets home sick shortly after he arrives on vacation but this place left us both dragging our feet when we had to return home.  We had then decided to make traveling a priority but life always passes you by and sometimes too fast too soon. We were initially so overwhelmed with work and family life that we found no time to travel but eventually started to get cabin fever. We needed to get away!

January 2015 we took a long weekend trip to celebrate the hubbys birthday in DC.

Later that year in March we spend our anniversary weekend exploring NYC.

Memorial Day Weekend we took a road trip to Montreal.

Earlier this year, in January we took a trip to San Diego for my husband's birthday. ( Retiring on the west coast should have been part of my #goaldigger blog post!) 

Where will we go next? Leave me some suggestions in the comments!

Stay Tuned for my #WanderlustWednesdays posts.

Wedding Diaries

Wedding Season is here! Desi weddings are famous for lasting for literally ever. Its been a hectic weekend and a crazy case of the Mondays... here's my outfit and accessories from the first pre-wedding event of the season ! 

Follow me on Snapchat @thenewmrs4 and on Instagram @chroniclesofanewmrs.

Thank you to Kiran's Kreations for the beautifully done outfit! 
Check her out at @KiransKreations on Facebook and @Kiranchadda on Instagram for the latest desi fashion!

Xo | Happiness never goes out of style | oX

Three Things Thursday

There are so many times when I have so many random little things I’d like to share with you all but don’t necessarily call for an entire blog post. I came across Nisha’s blog @lovelaughmirch and absolutely fell in love with the idea.  Love Laugh Mirch, Pink Chai Living, and The Write Balance have started a tag where they share three random thoughts every Thursday.  

http://i2.wp.com/www.lovelaughmirch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/3-Things-Thursday-Badge.png

{ O N E }

My Planner décor 

Can you tell I’m obsessed with lipsticks this week: 

{ TW O }

Speaking of lip colors – here’s a swatch of my new favorite lip stain and lip liner. I recently went splurging on lipsticks at Sephora – my package should be here in the next day or so [whoohoo] 

 

http://www.sephora.com/tarteist-lip-paint-P403800?skuId=1777267&icid2=search_search_p403800_image

http://www.sephora.com/tarteist-lip-crayon-P403815?skuId=1777432&icid2=search_search_p403815_image

 { T W O  and a half? }

Has anyone had any luck trying on or picking up any of the colors from the new Anastasia Beverly Hills lip stains? I’ve been to 4 different Sephora’s and Macys with no luck. I’m dying to try on Crush and Kathryn.

{ T H R E E }
I like to use Sundays to meal plan and prep for the rest of the week. Lunch and dinner, and sometimes breakfast included because my work hours can be rather demanding some days.  I was so busy last weekend and completely exhausted by the time Sunday night rolled around that I wasn’t able to prep anything at all.  I came home last night and was pretty much out of ideas and needed to spice things up…. Check out my Asian Tuna Burger topped with an avocado tomato salad and a side of a loaded sweet potato | Yum! | ( I may want this again for dinner tonight) 

 

Leave me a comment if you’d like to see the recipe for my latest creation in the kitchen.  

My husband and I chose to eat healthy with occasional splurges on date nights but we won’t settle for boring food either. There are a million and one things on this planet and I love to sit down to dinner with a new creative plate every night.

Xo|  Happiness never goes out of style  | xo

#GoalDigger

As you age you find who you truly are … or who / what / where you want to be.  I’ve felt a sudden change (a burst of maturity I guess) over the last two years but at 28 a lot of reality has set it. 

The older you get the more you realize how important it is to have a positive outlook on life and I strongly believe that the people you surround yourselves with reflect on our perspectives of life.  I was raised by two of the happiest and strongest people I may ever know and I owe it to them for always maintaining that positive atmosphere regardless of the struggles or the hard times… 

I do however think it’s ridiculously important to come across negativity in your life in order to know what you definitely DON’T want. (But hey if you like that – props to you for dealing with it!) I’m just not about that life anymore.

With my 28th birthday passing I’ve decided to make some promises to myself so that when 29 comes around I embrace my last twenty –something year with open arms. 

Here are 1o resolutions I'm making this year:

1.   Start creating more art.  I am a creative, very DIY person. I've made over 7 scrapbooks that I've dedicated to some friend or family member.  I think the last one I made was over 6 years ago! I need to go back to this! It's a great outlet.

2.  I love absolutely love reading. (Yes - I'm a nerd :) ) I want to start my own book club! Any suggestions? Comment down below! I may start with this. Join me?

3.  I saw this a couple weeks ago and was so inspired.  I hope to be hosting these dinners soon -  I may not be a great cook but I am obsessed with decor and presentation of meals - even when we just have brinner some nights. 

4.  For the past two years I've wanted to start my own business, be my own boss.  Things are finally in the works for that and will start tomorrow! I'll share more deets on this later!

5.  If you know me you'll know how much I love to shop.  A girl's gotta have materialistic goals too :) Goal #1 Goal #2

6.  Consistently write this blog :) Please share your thoughts, requests, feedback at all times!

7.  My biggest goal this year is to focus on me. Focus on my life - my health. I must find a hobby that makes me stay in shape.

8. “Pay close attention to people who don’t clap when you win.”

I don’t mean this in a negative way at all – I took this to heart and focused on what was right for me because no one else will ever think about you!

9. “Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care.  They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.”

I’ve heard this a hundred and one times in my life and I will follow this forever.  This is why I have chosen to surround myself with all of my loved ones who will only lift me higher. Those of you who also come from desi families or have a large circle of friends know how emotionally draining some relationships are. In our culture it’s rather hard to escape that without offending 78,000 people.  I hope to find my happy place without offending anyone.

10.  With all this said... It's time to build on those special relationships.  With my husband, family, and close friends included. The most valuable thing you can give someone is your time.

xo Happiness Never Goes Out Of Style xo