What is the 21 Day Fix? It's a program by Beachbody - workouts and a meal plan that focuses on clean eating and portion sizes. The workouts are all about 30 minutes - which is a huge plus. The meal plan is real food - another huge plus. If you are the person who wants the official info, it's on teambeachbody.com/cararichardson. For the unofficial info, keep reading.
So - first impression when I opened the box....Oh My Gosh those containers are small. Like super small. Like it will hold three bites small. But, ok, let's stay positive here and read the get started guide.
Step One: Calculate your calorie zone. I had a guess, let's see if I'm right. This program has
zones of calorie consumption. They are: 1200-1499, 1500-1799, 1800-2099, 2100-2299, 2300-2499 and 2500-2800.
Weight multiplied by 12, for Moderate Lifestyle (I do have a desk job, although I work out every day on my lunch break. No kidding, I work for an awesome company and we have a gym!!). Then add 450. I was really psyched with the number until I got to the final step. Now subtract 750. Ummmm, now I know why the containers are so small! Based on these numbers, I'm in the lowest zone (approx 1368 calories/day). I've decided to bump myself up to the next zone, which is 1500-1799. I am, after all, adding the program workouts to my normal workout routine. Surely I can bump my activity level up even though I have a desk job, right?? Plus I use a stability ball as a chair. Boom!
zones of calorie consumption. They are: 1200-1499, 1500-1799, 1800-2099, 2100-2299, 2300-2499 and 2500-2800.
Weight multiplied by 12, for Moderate Lifestyle (I do have a desk job, although I work out every day on my lunch break. No kidding, I work for an awesome company and we have a gym!!). Then add 450. I was really psyched with the number until I got to the final step. Now subtract 750. Ummmm, now I know why the containers are so small! Based on these numbers, I'm in the lowest zone (approx 1368 calories/day). I've decided to bump myself up to the next zone, which is 1500-1799. I am, after all, adding the program workouts to my normal workout routine. Surely I can bump my activity level up even though I have a desk job, right?? Plus I use a stability ball as a chair. Boom!
Back to the containers. There are 6 different containers, all color coded. Here's what they are and how many I get based on my calorie needs - which I've determined I know better than Beachbody, because I've been a Coach for about 5 minutes and clearly know more than a team of fitness and nutrition professionals...
Green - Veggies - 4 per day
Purple - Fruit - 3 per day (I see myself using 2 and adding another veggie for the fruit)
Red - Proteins - 4 per day
Yellow - Carbs - 3 per day
Blue - Healthy Fats - one per day
Orange - Dressings/Nuts - one per day
Then you get so many teaspoons of nut butters and Olive Oil - I get 4 of these
You can eat whatever you can fit into the containers and your designated number of containers every day. Sounds easy enough. Granted, you have to be reasonable about what fits. The programs also includes Shakeology, which is a meal replacement/recovery/tons of healthy stuff in a powder. I am a fan of the Chocolate Vegan myself. But, it's not required for the program and, if you have a shake that you love, it will probably work too. More on Shakeology down the road, once I've been using it a while and can give my gloves-off opinion.
I have to say that, for me, this kind of program requires planning. I have to put the dots close enough together that I don't lose my focus. Of course, that's also one reason I'm sharing my experience, to help me stay on track. There are tons of resources on Pinterest - meal ideas, what foods are in what category, really great color coded meal plans (I just love things that are color coded and on a spreadsheet!!). Just search 21 Day Fix and you will see what I mean. I'll be posting what I eat daily, with pics whenever possible. Side note - I have some food intolerances - namely lactose and citrus. So, my meals won't contain either. It's just better that way, trust me. I typically meal plan and shop for the week on Sundays and forsee some multiple meal nights - one for me, one like mine plus a little more food for Heath (who, by the way, is training for an Ironman in September, so he's on board with the clean eating), and one for the kids. It's all good, they will all be pretty similar, which means the kids will eat what we eat plus mac and cheese. Stop judging. Kids love mac and cheese!
Speaking of workouts, here they are. I'm doing the Extreme version, so from what I understand the workouts are more advanced. As in not for beginners. It cannot be harder than Insanity (right??), so I'm optimistic. And they are about 30 minutes, so easy to work into the schedule. Here's a graphic showing the difference between the 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme (stolen from Pinterest)
So here's the workouts:
Plyo Fix Extreme
Upper Fix Extreme
Pilates Fix Extreme
Lower Fix Extreme
Cardio Fix Extreme
Dirty 30 Extreme
Yoga Fix Extreme
There's also 10 Min Hardcore, which is abs. You add this twice a week to Upper and Lower Fix Extreme. I'll be doing the workouts at 5AM. It's tragic, but the only time I can consistently do them during the week. The weekend workouts will NOT be at 5AM!
I'm pretty jazzed for the workouts. If I can look like Autumn, who designed the program, (or, let's be honest, find an ab or two!) in 30 minutes a day they workouts must be good. I'm a fan! Bring it on!
I hope this is enough info. I don't want to be too talky! I'll detail the workouts as I do them and, like I said, detail my meals as well.
21 Days. No Wine. Embracing the Containers. Tough Workouts. I'm ready!!!!!
You can eat whatever you can fit into the containers and your designated number of containers every day. Sounds easy enough. Granted, you have to be reasonable about what fits. The programs also includes Shakeology, which is a meal replacement/recovery/tons of healthy stuff in a powder. I am a fan of the Chocolate Vegan myself. But, it's not required for the program and, if you have a shake that you love, it will probably work too. More on Shakeology down the road, once I've been using it a while and can give my gloves-off opinion.
I have to say that, for me, this kind of program requires planning. I have to put the dots close enough together that I don't lose my focus. Of course, that's also one reason I'm sharing my experience, to help me stay on track. There are tons of resources on Pinterest - meal ideas, what foods are in what category, really great color coded meal plans (I just love things that are color coded and on a spreadsheet!!). Just search 21 Day Fix and you will see what I mean. I'll be posting what I eat daily, with pics whenever possible. Side note - I have some food intolerances - namely lactose and citrus. So, my meals won't contain either. It's just better that way, trust me. I typically meal plan and shop for the week on Sundays and forsee some multiple meal nights - one for me, one like mine plus a little more food for Heath (who, by the way, is training for an Ironman in September, so he's on board with the clean eating), and one for the kids. It's all good, they will all be pretty similar, which means the kids will eat what we eat plus mac and cheese. Stop judging. Kids love mac and cheese!
Speaking of workouts, here they are. I'm doing the Extreme version, so from what I understand the workouts are more advanced. As in not for beginners. It cannot be harder than Insanity (right??), so I'm optimistic. And they are about 30 minutes, so easy to work into the schedule. Here's a graphic showing the difference between the 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme (stolen from Pinterest)
So here's the workouts:
Plyo Fix Extreme
Upper Fix Extreme
Pilates Fix Extreme
Lower Fix Extreme
Cardio Fix Extreme
Dirty 30 Extreme
Yoga Fix Extreme
There's also 10 Min Hardcore, which is abs. You add this twice a week to Upper and Lower Fix Extreme. I'll be doing the workouts at 5AM. It's tragic, but the only time I can consistently do them during the week. The weekend workouts will NOT be at 5AM!
I'm pretty jazzed for the workouts. If I can look like Autumn, who designed the program, (or, let's be honest, find an ab or two!) in 30 minutes a day they workouts must be good. I'm a fan! Bring it on!
I hope this is enough info. I don't want to be too talky! I'll detail the workouts as I do them and, like I said, detail my meals as well.
21 Days. No Wine. Embracing the Containers. Tough Workouts. I'm ready!!!!!
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