21 Day Fix Review

What intrigued me most about this program is the focus on nutrition.  It's 21 days focusing on eating not only healthy food, but the right portion size.  Along with 30 minute workouts to follow each day.  Autumn Calbrese is the creator of this program.  I started the program mainly for the nutrition aspect of it.  I love the simplified eating plan.  It tells me what I can eat and exactly how much.  Even though I completed Focus T25 and started P90X3, my weight loss has been at a standstill.  It didn't take long into starting this program that I realized how far off my nutrition has been.  I am a little upset with myself for spending a year of doing hard workouts while feeding my body the wrong foods.  I feel like I wasted so much time getting to my goal.  The previous programs came with a meal plan that I pretty much read over and forget about.  This program forced me to really focus on what I was eating.  Here is what you are allowed to eat:

My weight calculation allowed me 4 red, 3 green, 2 purple, 2 yellow, 1 blue and 1 orange.  NO CALORIE COUNTING!  When I first opened the box and saw the containers I had a minor freak out.  "I can't fit enough food in these containers to satisfy me all day!"  I thought no way was I going to be satisfied eating out of such little containers.  As I planned my first day and laid out all the food, I thought just the opposite.  "This is way too much food to eat"

Normally I skip breakfast all together.  I eat a pretty big lunch and dinner with no snacks in between.  So laying out all the food looked like way to much.  It also took me a long time to get everything laid out and ready to go.  Trying to figure out what I can have in each container and how I could mix them was not easy.  I was determined though and stuck to the plan.  After a couple days I realized that the food was more than enough.  I wasn't starving once I learned how to space out my foods.  One night I saved my two yellow containers (carbs) for my late dinner after a closing shift.  By 6:00 pm I was running low on fuel and getting very hungry!  Since then I learned to eat at least one of my yellow containers with my lunch.  When you are eating healthy non-processed food you don't need as much to fill you up.  I am not very adventurous when it comes to food so I ate mostly the same things.  Here is what a typical day for me looked like:

Breakfast       Shakeology (1 RED)

SNACK         2 Hard Boiled Eggs (1 RED)

LUNCH        Chicken (1 Red)

                      Whole Grain Tortilla (1 Yellow)

                      Green beans (1 Green)

SNACK        Apple (1 Purple)

DINNER       Chicken (1 Red)

                      Brown Rice (1 Yellow)

                      Green Beans (1 Green)

Here are a few pictures of some of my meals.  I will link recipes to them soon.

BREAKFAST SANDWICHES

 BUFFALO CHICKEN WRAP

CHICKEN, BROWN RICE & PEPPERS

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA W/ TOMATO SAUCE

WHOLE WHEAT TORTILLA PIZZA

The first few days of planning and preparing were time consuming.  Trying to plan the meals and make sure I was getting all my containers in took some time.  After a few days it got easier and it was worth it!

I initially got the program for the nutrition aspect, but really ended up loving the workouts.  You do each move for 1 minute and then have a 20 second rest.  They way the exercises are broken down into one minute at a time, the workouts fly by!  It's also easy to focus for that one minute and push myself to work harder.  Autumn says, "You can do anything for one minute!"  It is so true!  You feel the pain the next day!

I ended up losing 9 pounds.   This is really a great program for anyone wanting to lose weight or just better their nutrition.  I am sticking with this eating plan until I lose my last 10 pounds and get down to my ultimate weight.  If you are struggling with losing weight, I suggest you look into this program.  You may think you are eating healthy or the right amount, but this program will truly show you what to eat and how much to eat.  The workouts have a modifier to follow along with for any moves that you can't do.  The only equipment needed is weights or resistance bands.  

You can work out all you want but if you don't eat right you won't see the results.  I learned that the hard way!  So take it from me, if you want to lose weight, START in the KITCHEN!  Eat whole processed foods and the correct portions.  If you need help with that try this program.  I would love to help you get started on your health and fitness journey.  Message me for more information!