Maybe you're sitting there asking yourself, "to fix or not to fix?" … and looking for a REAL honest review of the program and the meal plan… well you came to the right page ;-)
When I first got my package, I practically tore it open… I had been looking forward to the containers and meal planning for so long because as much as I try to be on top of my health and fitness, meal planning and prep are not my forte. At all.
So needless to say, I was stoked to have some REAL accountability WITHOUT counting calories and guessing how much I can have of each food group per day. I had a basic understanding but no REAL guideline.
Low and behold, the 21 Day Fix came riding in like a white knight ;-)
The Workouts: 30 min. workouts 21 days straight.
Whether your a fitness pro or a newbie, these workout DVDs can work for anyone at any level and honestly hit just about every major muscle group with a few select workouts to target some smaller ares. What I LOVE about the workouts, they're only 30 minutes and you're done. However, you're working out for 21 days straight, but honestly, only doing 30 mins a day of these workouts is MORE than doable. If you want to build a habit, it takes 21 days right?
My favorite DVDs are plyo fix, cardio fix, and pilates…. I have never done a traditional pilates class but I REALLY enjoyed the video and how it works on resistance and lengthening the muscles. Ladies, if you're looking to tone the booty, hips and core, this workout video is the ISH for it!
You will need a light and heavy set of weights, I would suggest anywhere from 5 lbs to 15 (if you're feeling good) -- but remember it takes to build up.
In most of the videos you are doing a set of exercises either once or twice through and doing 5-6 different rounds. There's also a good amount of lunges, squats, burpees and some lateral cardio work. So be prepared to sweat, and don't worry--if you're not quite in the physical condition you want, you can always modify with Cathy--who I LOVE in the videos. Because if I'm dying or something doesn't feel comfortable, I follow my girl CATHY! ;-)
As far as YOGA goes-- I'm a bit of a yoga snob, so if it's not heated and in a class, I'm not a big fan but this is a great introduction of how you can really stretch your muscles so you're not wound up tight.
The Containers:
When I first saw these two words popped into my head, "FUN SIZE" HA! If you're struggling with portion control, the STRUGGLE JUST GOT REAL. HOWEVER I will say, after putting my food in the containers then dumping them on my plate, I was actually very pleased with the amount of food I did get.
So it works like this, you get 1 of each color container: red, blue, green, purple, blue, yellow and two orange (the only that you get two of)
And as you can tell on the left each container has a specific purpose.
You calculate your body weight and do some fun math (you'll see in your booklet) and then you calculate your caloric level .. and then based on your range of calories you're allowed to have you will be assigned a bracket of containers you are allowed daily.
So for example, if I was consuming 1800 calories a day, I would be allowed to have: 4 green, 3 purple, 3 yellow, 4 red, 1 blue and 1 orange.
Then I would take those colored containers and start to space them through out my day like the picture posted below.
And although it doesn't SOUND or maybe LOOK like a lot, it's surprisingly IS. I've had quite a few customers and coaches say that they felt they had MORE than enough food and were totally fine not having all the containers. But on the other hand, I've also had many of us still be a bit hungry.
It's called PORTION control for a REASON--- doing the same thing and expecting different results is called INSANITY.. if you want to find your sanity you have to switch it up.
And if you want results, you have to do what works and what's healthy and safe for your body. Overeating is not safe and does NOT work. (ahem, I know about that)
The Trainer:
Oh Autumn. She's so cute, young and refreshing. It was about time we got another female fitness trainer who we could look up to. I will always love Chalene Johnson because how could you not? She's Wonder Woman, but I'm sure it was even nice for her to see another female trainer on the Beachbody team. The great thing about Autumn is she reminds you that " IF YOU'RE SICK OF STARTING OVER, STOP QUITNG" and "DONT WISH FOR IT, WORK FOR IT" She's full of little inspirational quotes to keep her peeps going. I do like her, and I love the concept of her workouts. It can't be easy to hit all the right spots and muscles in 30 mins in 7 DVDs but she manages well!
I don't know if she's Canadian but she does ask "yeah?!" a lot… "alright we're going to do ___ for 30 seconds, yeah?!"
The Meal Plan:
The great thing about the meal plan is you can do whatever you want without in the selected foods for each container… and it's pretty flexible if you want to have pizza or a glass of wine. BUT you have to SUB THINGS OUT if you plan on having a little cheat treat here and there--if you want wine, you have to take 3 yellows out for the week… if you want pizza, you can have 1/4 of a 12" pie.
I'm not going to sugar coat it, when I feel restricted, I tend to rebel. So while I KNOW the meal plan has my best interests at heart, any type of plan that says, "no you can't have this" is a big fat NO for me. And while the FIX lets you have little things here and there, since it's only 21 days the point is to focus on eating clean the whole time. My boyfriend did an excellent job with it…. I however struggled. But I see it like this, I plan on using the fix meal plan and portioned containers from here on out, so it's a learning curve. I would give myself a B when it came the meal plan. The only thing I want once a week is a cheat meal. I need balance. But that's just me.
You can come up with some pretty great meal plans, I would suggest for your first round to make it easy and to really cement the habit.
Be prepared to prep food ahead of time and portion it off, while it may take more time and diligence, thats how you BUILD a good habit, through CONSCIOUS consistent effort!
My boyfriend and I both experience an increase in energy, alertness and clarity. Our workouts weren't as draining and we felt energized after. So think of food as fuel!
My personal meal plan:
Overall review:
So in recent months my overall goal has been to reach a body close to that of our fellow fitness bikini comp models-- I want the nice sculpted obliques that lead to a nice round booty, long muscular legs (can't make my legs grow or get longer, but I can lunge the crap out of them to look longer), tight toned abs, sculpted shoulders and biceps, you know the whole 9 yards.
I've been working out for almost 4 years with dedicated effort. You're probably wondering how this ties in with the Fix. Hang tight. I've been so ready to see REAL changes in my body, but I knew that my meal planning and prep was sucking. Royally.
Well, did you know that Autumn specialized in training not only celebs in LA, but working on her own bikini fitness comp body? She knows that to get the bodies we want -- whether it be a fitness bikini comp bod or something we want to feel comfortable in -- and it all comes down to the one workout that matters most. Fork to mouth baby.
What we eat matters. Big time. You can't out exercise a bad diet and Autumn knows that, so having a trainer who emphasizes and follows through with a strategic easy to follow meal plan, is THE key! Having something people can actually physically hold, and understand and use as a tool has been revolutionizing how we lose weight. I don't know why this didn't come out sooner.
I know between my own personal workouts, The 21 day fix workouts, containers, and meal plan, I will get that body I want.
And I'm SO CLOSE.
The other great thing about the FIX, is that the workouts use some of my FAVORITE and most suggested moves to really sculpt the body. Plank dips, lots of plank work, sumo burpees, hip raises. So many over looked body parts are going to get WORKED. So enjoy it!
I hope you enjoyed this review! I'm VERY VERY pleased with this workout, trainer, and meal plan. I would def give it 5 out of 5 stars for its easy to follow concepts, short and effective workouts and awesome trainer.
If you have any questions, comments or reviews of your own, post them below, I would love to hear form my followers what they think!
P.S. Stay tuned for my results, I will be posting them this week! =)
