E and I were recently introduced to the 21 Day Fix while watching TV at our gym. I originally thought, "what a scam..," you know the normal thought most people have when they see things being sold on TV. But I started hearing more and more about it through friends and started researching. I found out that many people have really great success on this program, so after talking with E, we decided that we would "try it out." So we decided that we would start with a 14 Day Fix first. After all, 2 weeks doesn't seem that bad. Sure, you're probably thinking "what's one more week?," and your question is valid but we wanted to just dip our feet in the water before completely cannon-balling into something that we may hate. Want to join us? We will be starting this "fix" on Sunday, June 14!
So, for those that are interested, I wanted to divulge all the details to you! Let's get started. I'll take you step-by-step so you can easily follow along and understand the whole program to the best of your ability.
Before I begin, let me just explain the whole 21 Day Fix program. Basically, it is a program designed to help you lose up to 15 pounds in 21 days through simple fitness and simple eating - through its portion control eating system and seven day, 30-minute workouts each week. Pretty simple right? *please note that not everyone will lose 15 pounds, this is just an estimate. you may be able to lose more or you may not lose but 1 pound*
Now that we have the definition down, let's talk about how much you
should be eating. First step, click
here. That link will take you to a website where you can calculate the amount of calories you should be taking for a healthy weight loss. Once you are done calculating, take a look at this chart here and find your "Target Calorie."
Next, take a look at the container colors. From your column with the container #, write these down. For example, if your "Target Calorie" is 1550 then you would need (4) green, (3) purple, (4) red, (3) yellow, (1) blue, (1) orange, and (5) teaspoons. Below, you will find the measurements for each of this containers.
Now you need to plan! Figure out what you would like to eat during the day by using this menu.
Got your list of fav items? Alright, time to plan it out!!! Here is a sample below. The best way to do this would be to use an Excel sheet but you can always use pen and paper.
Let's start with the "meals" column. Yes, you will eat Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner but you will also need to eat three snacks throughout the day with the last snack being "dessert." Next column is the "menu," this is where you would type/write what you want to eat. The easiest way to do this is to use your menu and figure out what you would like to eat for each meal. It may help if as you plan the "menu," you also plan your "container count." You'll notice in the example that the person wrote "eggs (2)" for breakfast and marked (1) "x" in the red contain count, this is an exception as (2) eggs (egg-white portion only) are equivalent to 3/4 cup. Look further down at the lunch. Notice again that the person writes the menu for that meal and then plans it accordingly by marking the containers used with an "x." Make sure that you are paying attention to how many containers you should be getting. Revert to the first photo to find out how many containers you would get per your "target calorie." Again, it's really important that you are not forgetting to mark your "x's" so you are aware of what you are using throughout the day to know that you are not going over.
Final step, the workout plan! If you order the 21 Day Fix program, it comes with a DVD but I am not a DVD girl, and E isn't either, so I came up with a workout plan that will mirror the DVD's plan but allows me to enjoy the gym. Here is the plan that I will be following:
Mondays - Cardio
Tuesdays - Upper Body Strength
Wednesdays - Zumba (cardio)
Thursdays - Yoga
Fridays - Lower Body Strength
Saturdays - Cycling (another cardio)
Sundays - Full Body Strength (Upper & Lower)
Keep in mind that the point of the Cardio workouts is to raise your heart rate, make you sweat! The point of the Upper/Lower Body Strength days is to tone and tighten. You should only be working out for 30-minutes a day, so make it count! Please remember to push yourself but also be mindful of your bodies signals that you need to rest.
Most important,
DRINK WATER! Water is soooo very important regardless of trying to lose weight or not, but it is especially important if you are working out because of how quickly you can dehydrate yourself. Try to drink at least (1) gallon of water a day and see if you can increase it to (2) gallons a day. Most body-builders and die-hard fitness people drink up to (3) or (4) gallons! I don't know if I could do that since that would require at least 50-100 bathroom breaks.
Lastly, take progress pictures daily! I know you probably hate the way you look in clothes and just the thought of taking daily photos in nothing but your underwear is terrifying, but, you need to see your progress. Too many times people get discouraged because they don't think they see results, until they start taking daily photos and see the results slowly starting to show. You don't need to show them to anyone, you don't even have to keep them forever but it's good to see yourself and see how much progress you're making. E and I will be taking the progress photos daily and will make a collage at the end of the 14 days. I will, of course, post mine (not E's), in the hopes that it will encourage those of you reading to take part and join us!!!
We will be trying to do a live event on the YouTube channel for those interested in finding out how to meal prep, where to begin and what to expect. Live Event will be posted at our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MeganErikRichards
Good luck and let's get fit together! WE CAN DO THIS!!!
*I am not affiliated with 21 Day Fitness or BeachBody in anyway. Just another person looking to improve my lifestyle, get fit, and get healthy!*
