Fiesta Ranch Turkey Burrito

Happy Mexican Monday, everyone! Do you know what you’re having for dinner tonight? If you haven’t thought that far ahead yet, this burrito is quick and simple to put together, and it packs a TON of flavor.

I’ve been on an Asian kick for the last few weeks, but as of Saturday, my taste buds have been all about that Mexican fare. Brace yourself for a slew of south-of-the-border recipes throughout the next couple of posts. (Teaser alert: I made Healthy Chicken Enchilada Bites for meal prep yesterday. Pending a positive review from my expert taste tester — AKA Ryan who has them packed in his trusty Six Pack lunchbox today — I’ll be posting the recipe soon!)

This dish came about as a result of me cooking too much ground turkey and buying too many Ezekiel tortillas. (Typical.) It’s pretty basic, easy to put together, and while it’s not the most creative thing I’ve ever made, the flavor combinations make this an unexpected favorite of mine.

Here’s a little-known fact about me: I cried a LOT as a baby, which was a huge pain in the rear for my parents — especially when they wanted to go out to dinner. Somehow, they figured out that dipping my pacifier in salsa and sticking it back in my mouth usually worked at shutting me up when we were at a Mexican restaurant. Moral of the story: I love Mexican food and salsa.

Clean Fiesta Ranch Turkey Burrito

Nutritional Overview

Calories: 420
Carbs: 33
Fat: 14
Protein: 39

Serves: 1
Cook time: 20min

• 4oz. 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/4 package of Kraft Fiesta Ranch seasoning
• 1 large Ezekiel tortilla
• 1 tbsp light sour cream (or plain Greek  yogurt)
• 1/4c chopped spinach
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp chopped red onion
• 1/4 sliced avocado
• 2 tbsp 2% Mexican shredded cheese
• Salsa, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine turkey with Fiesta Ranch seasoning and cook in a skillet over medium-high heat (6-7) until browned. I usually just combine 1 package of seasoning with 1 pound of meat and cook the whole thing at once. (You only need 4oz of meat for this burrito, so if you take this route, you can either save your leftover meat for a later meal or cook more than 1 burrito.)
2. Zap your tortilla in the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften
3. Top the tortilla with all ingredients. I usually start with the sour cream as my base, then I layer the meat, spinach, onions, cilantro, avocado, cheese, then salsa. (I’m strangely picky about the order of layering in my food.)
4. Microwave your loaded tortilla for another 20 seconds to melt the cheese
5. Roll it up and devour with napkins on-hand. (Ezekiel tortillas aren’t the most mess-free tortillas out there, so they might crack and your salsa might leak out a little bit.)

Weekend Recap: Body Fat Test Results

I don’t know about you guys, but I had a pretty great weekend. My big brother joined me on Saturday morning for the 9AM boot camp class and kicked some serious butt, and he was definitely feeling the soreness yesterday. :o) As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I got my body fat tested after boot camp on Saturday morning. THE RESULTS ARE IN.

Drum roll, please:

The picture above shows the progress that I’ve made since I finally took the plunge — literally and figuratively — and got hydrostatic body fat testing done. Prior to October, I wasn’t confident enough to face the tank and get a true reading. I didn’t want to strip down to a bikini and sit in front of some dude that I didn’t know because I was scared of being judged, and it took me a while (almost a year) to get past that. I also used to have a big, big problem with hiding from the truth. I wouldn’t take progress pictures and I absolutely dreaded the scale, all because I was trying to deny reality. I had a serious fear of seeing my weight and body fat percentage either written out on paper or captured in a picture because I didn’t want to have to acknowledge the fact that my health was in serious danger. To give you guys a better perspective of where I actually STARTED (since the October data was almost a year after I’d started working out regularly), I was at 216lbs and probably somewhere between 30-40% body fat in November 2012.

I had a HUGE decrease in weight the last time I did this. From October to December, I’d lost 11lbs of pure body fat and 2lbs of lean mass (AKA muscle). Considering that I have less to lose now than I did back then, I didn’t expect to see the same type of drop in overall weight. Since December, I’ve been eating and lifting significantly more than I was in October-November, so the fact that I GAINED muscle mass was really what I was going for this time around. Now that I’m down to a “healthy weight” in terms of total pounds, I’m focused on how much of that total number is muscle mass instead of the overall pounds. I can cross “weight loss” of my list of goals. All I’m aiming to see now is a decrease in body fat and an increase in lean muscle mass.

I want you guys to put yourselves in my shoes for a second. If you’d been busting your butt in the kitchen AND at the gym nonstop for 10 weeks and only lost 4 pounds, how would you feel? My guess is that 99% of people would feel pretty damn discouraged. We always want more for ourselves, and most people set VERY high (oftentimes completely unrealistic) expectations for themselves when trying to lose weight. So, sluggish progress gets us down in the dumps, and we start to question if any of it is worth the effort.

This is exactly how I used to think. I’d work hard, see no changes, then turn to food and alcohol when the lack of visible progress pissed me off. Key words here are USED TO.

When I got this round of results, I was thrilled. I immediately focused on the GOOD in the printout:

My body fat percentage is in the teens, and if you read the (misspelled) text at the top of the paper, I’m in the “Healty” — errm, “Healthy” body fat percentage range for my age. Why did I start focusing on regular exercise and a cleaner diet in the first place? To become healthy, because I certainly wasn’t a year ago. People, I’m there. I can’t tell you how good it feels to say that. Even back in October (after losing 30lbs), I was at 25% and still in the “unhealthy” range. Although the scale says that I’ve “only” lost 4 pounds, I’ve gotten to where I wanted to be when I first started all of this. THAT is something to be happy about.

Although the changes from December to today might seem minimal, what matters is that I’ve progressed in some way. That’s what I choose to focus on. Even if it’s only a slight difference, I’m still better off than I was 10 weeks ago no matter which way you slice it. Slow progress is WAY better than no progress. I know there are a few things that I can (and WILL) tweak about my eating habits to get me to my new set of goals, but I’m choosing to set realistic expectations and make small, incremental changes that I can stick to instead of trying to overhaul everything about the ways that I eat and exercise. This keeps me from feeling overwhelmed and/or deprived. I’m happy, healthy, and I don’t feel like I’m “on a diet.”

I stumbled across this quote on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, and it really sums up what I’ve been thinking since Saturday morning:Nothing against Toyota (they build great cars), but if I was given the option, I’d rather have a Rolls-Royce. Quality takes TIME and PATIENCE. No, you probably won’t have the perfect body in 6 weeks, but since when did anything that you’re 100% proud of come without any real work?

There’s much to be said about what you choose to acknowledge and focus on in any given situation. Pessimism versus optimism reveals a lot about a person’s character. Do you pick yourself apart for your shortcomings more than you recognize  your small achievements? If the answer is yes, you need to give yourself a break. Celebrate the small wins and congratulate yourself for saying no to that soda or not skipping your workout. The “minor” day-to-day choices are where true value and achievements are made, and if you view these little wins with complete positivity, you’ll be less likely to give up and in an overall BETTER mental state.

With all that said, it’s time for me to set some new fitness goals for myself. None of these are going to be centered around my weight since I’m no longer focused on decreasing that overall number. By my birthday (August 23, 6 months from yesterday), I want to:

1. Get to 14-15% body fat
2. Be able to do at least 3 unassisted pull-ups
3. Squat 200lbs

And that’s that! Here’s to a new week of striving toward new goals. Happy Monday, everyone!