Warning upfront: this is not one of those 21 Day Fix/Beachbody posts that show before and after pictures of how I lost 50 pounds. I’m not going to give you a total breakdown of the program or all the foods I ate. I’m not including recipes that are 21 Day Fix compliant. I also am not a Beachbody coach, so I won’t be providing you with a link where you can buy the shakes. Or ask you to buy the shakes. That is your own business.
What this post IS about is MY experience with the 21 Day Fix and my overall thoughts.
Are we all good?
Okay, let’s get into it!
What is the 21 Day Fix?
The 21 Day Fix is a workout and eating program by Autumn Calabrese, with the idea in mind that a habit is formed in 21 days. For the entirety of the program, you are supposed to do one of their 30 minute DVD workouts each day. The DVD has options that range from light weight lifting workouts, some cardio, and even a yoga option for a light day to stretch it all out.
You are also supposed to follow a food plan that uses portion control containers and provides you with a list of foods you should eat. It is also recommended that you use their Beachbody shakes for one shake a day to provide you with ‘the healthiest meal of the day’ in shake form.
Why did I do it?
Reason One: A good friend of mine became a Beachbody coach and I was intrigued by her attitude and her results. Her passion for the program really made me want to commit and try it out. You can find her Facebook page here: LaFit Lifestyle.
Reason Two: I tend to go from eating super healthy to eating like crap, with no in between. I’ve never really been a ‘lunch’ person and I was at a loss on how to choose a lunch for myself that wasn’t purchased from McDonalds or a sushi bar. I am not a ‘salad is a meal’ kind of girl.
Reason Three: Some extra weight creeped back on me and I don’t like it. I ran all summer to prepare for an October race, but with cooler weather coming I knew I’d be couch-bound all winter.
Reason Four: Another friend did the program, lost a significant amount of weight and looks amazing. Also, all those before and after pictures online sucked me in. I want to be an ‘after’ too!!
What I did.
I started my first round of 21 Day Fix on October 19, 2015. I did a Beachbody shake for breakfast (I like the chocolate shake and blend it with water, frozen strawberries and a scoop of peanut butter), coffee, morning snack, healthy lunch, afternoon snack and then tried to make a healthy dinner the three of us could eat together. In the first 21 days I had a few cheat meals and a couple workout skips, but basically followed the program well and lost a few pounds.
Once that program ended, I kind of halfway followed the diet part for breakfast and lunch choices throughout the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I worked out maybe 3 days a week tops, but did really well overall. I kept the weight off and lost a couple more pounds.
I did another round of the 21 Day Fix after the holidays with LeeAnne’s group (co-hosted by Whitney). This one was a little more hard-core in that they asked for daily proof of our commitment and encouraged participation in the Facebook group to keep everyone on track.
This was a GREAT FIT for me. To be ‘forced’ to do daily proof in a quick picture means that I was less likely to be lazy and not do my workout. Here’s my proof with a bunch of sweaty, make-up free selfies:
This time the program was a little harder for me to follow and I wasn’t as strict with the diet. I also ended up getting a stomach bug one weekend, which means I was out of commission for 3 or 4 days. However, as of the beginning of March I’m still down about 6 pounds from where I started in October.
Now, 6 pounds doesn’t sound like much. But keep in mind that it was through the holidays. Usually, I gain a few pounds and instead I lost weight. I also gave up my Starbucks drinks cold turkey back in October and now only have them as a treat maybe 2 – 3 times a month. That in itself has saved me over $200(?!) and a ton of calories!
Also, it’s not all about the pounds. I also lost 6 1/2 inches so far — 1 from my chest, 2 from my waist, 1 1/2 from my hips and 1 from each thigh.
What do I like about the 21 Day Fix program?
I like that even though it is packaged as a short term workout/diet program, it’s more about helping you into an actual lifestyle change. And yes, I get how corny that sounds… but I NEEDED a change.
For me the program was less about dropping 10 – 20 pounds really quick than it was for me to learn new eating habits. Over the course of the program – not just the 21 days, but the 4+ months that I’ve been following it off and on – I learned that by taking a little extra time to prepare my food the night before, I didn’t end up buying a lunch out. Not that there is anything wrong with going out to lunch, but usually I didn’t even enjoy it because I ended up just getting something fast and unhealthy that I didn’t even want in the first place. I realized that I could find time in my day to do a 30 minute workout. Sure, it didn’t always happen… but it’s happening a lot more now than it did before.
I really like the support from my coach and also all the other people who doing the Fix with me in the Facebook group. I found the workouts do-able and liked that I had a half-dozen to chose from.
What don’t I like about the program?
Frankly, to follow the diet and exercise program for 21 days PERFECTLY is really hard and I got way too ‘in my head’ and crazy about it when I first tried. I’m not perfect. I slip up frequently and shove a marshmallow in my mouth or opt out of exercising because I’m actually having a good hair day and I don’t want to spit in the face of the good-hair gods. However, for me seeing the 21 Day Fix as a guideline instead of a competition makes all the difference in my success.
Would I do it again?
Yup. In fact, I just started another round of the 21 Day Fix with LeeAnne on Monday. Which brings me to this thought – and I’m not trying to bash anyone at all, just being honest – if you decide that you want to do this program pick your coach wisely. I got really lucky, but there are a ton of coaches out there to choose from that have various levels of experience and various styles of coaching.
Depending on your personality, it may work great for you to do a program with someone you know in real life as a coach. However, for others that may be total hell. I love LeeAnne in real life and I love her coaching style (and no she’s not bribing me to say this) so if you are interested in trying it out I highly recommend her as a Beachbody coach.
So now the fun part… do you have any questions that I can answer for you? Have you tried the 21 Day Fix? If so, what did you think about it? Are you dying to know my favorite easy Fix-approved meals?
Disclosure: This post was not sponsored and I get nothing by recommending LeeAnne as a Beachbody coach.
Meal prepping on Sunday is the only way I am able to stick with the 21DF eating plan during the week. And I usually stuck with the basics…would season some chicken breasts and bake or broil them, and then pair that with veggies each day. It gets boring, though, but I don’t think the food lists are very limiting (especially compared to something like Whole30), and I found that if you are eating the number of containers you are supposed to each day, it was actually MORE food than what I usually ate. I didn’t always use all of my allotted containers each day. I’m not a shake person, but got some samples from my coach and am trying them out. I also like the Shaklee life shakes and am wondering if I can use them interchangeably. Would love to see some recipes you love! Did you use the Fixate cookbook? And, apologies to Autumn, but I curse her name a lot during the workouts. 😉
I started doing meal prep, but it’s really hard for me to stick with it. So now — because I’m lazy — I usually have a note in my phone to make lunch for the next day while I’m waiting for each night’s dinner to cook. I can easily throw a sweet potato in the microwave, add in a 1/2 can of green beans and put some lunch meat in a container while still juggling dinner. As for the shakes, for me it made a huge taste difference to add in a little peanut butter. The texture covered any graininess from the shakes. I haven’t used the Fixate cookbook yet and typically make a Hello Fresh meal for dinner (I’ve reviewed them on the blog before).
This post literally couldn’t have been better timing because I just emailed my friend today who is a BeachBody coach asking about the 21 day fix. I’ve been wanting to try it out. I’m just a little nervous the workouts will make me too sore to be able to run, which is my main workout/hobby 🙂
I’m so glad it was helpful! You will definitely feel it after you do a workout, but within a few weeks of doing them you weren’t hobbling around or anything. I actually really like the yoga workout for the day after I do an outside run to help get me loose again!
I like your sweaty, makeup-free selfies.
This sums me up: “I tend to go from eating super healthy to eating like crap, with no in between.”
I’m glad you like the 21DF! I was in a group with LeeAnne a month or so ago and I liked her style, too. So happy you introduced us! 🙂
Meal prep is the bee’s knees. It helps SO MUCH. Not saying I don’t also sometimes eat a bag of marshmallows or something equally as “bad” for me, but I make more healthy choices when they’re more convenient to make.
I’d love to see easy, approved recipes. It can sometimes get tricky for me to be healthy AND creative. I’m trying, and I would appreciate some ideas from a real human (you) that are healthy and actually taste good.
I’m not super great at 100% Fix approved recipes, but I’ll look through my stack and maybe share a few easy/healthy dinners on heavy rotation here. =)