Report on the 21 Day Fix

Last week I finished the 21 Day Fix. My verdict, I'm sure that this workout and eating plan are very effective, but between work and the start of my hardest semester of school yet, I did not have enough energy to be totally committed. I missed several workouts. I ate too many carbs. (I discovered that when I am exhausted I crave carbs so hard!) I ate large quantities of chocolate because I was really stressed. I gave up my hopes of getting results in 21 days, and then I noticed that despite my half-hearted attempt I had still made progress. I continued to lose a little weight and get more toned, despite not being as dedicated as I expected myself to be. This was my first workout program that required weights and halfway through I had to buy a new set because it was too easy. Imagine how much progress I could make if I were more focused. I think I may give it another shot in the future.

The 21 Day Fix is a program with 7 different workouts (one for each day of the week) plus a 10 minute ab workout that you can throw in as you please. The workouts are designed to rotate and work different muscle groups so you are making progress without over-using any muscle groups. The program also comes with several colored containers to make weight-loss simple. (Green for veggies, purple for fruit, yellow for carbs, red for protein, orange for seeds and dressings, blue for cheese, nuts, avocados and hummus) How much you eat of each container depends on your personal caloric needs (The instruction book comes with a formula.) It takes some of the stress out of a meal plan, and if you do the workout and meal plan together, you will see changes in your body in 3 weeks.
There's a few problems with the plan. It is very heavy on the protein. I'm a vegetarian, and I track my protein so I know that I'm getting enough, but not according to the 21 Day Fix plan. I felt like it was a big change for me, and one that my stomach didn't always agree with. Another problem, food items I normally consider protein, like beans and quinoa are classified as carbs in the plan. I've seen charts like this one:

However, they just moved the high protein carbs to the protein category. This does not change the nature of those foods. If the plan classified those foods as carbohydrates, then counting them as proteins is going to be far less effective for toning muscles than eating cottage cheese, eggs and lean meat. And veggie patties are considered a protein? I find that highly suspect, depending on the patty, many of them are held together with bread crumbs. So if you're not a vegetarian, I'm sure this workout/plan would work better than for someone like me whose body (and natural flora) scream "We are not making enough enzymes to handle all of these animal-based proteins that you are throwing at us! This is not going to end well for you!!!" If you are the average meat-loving American doing this program in an effort to get a 6-pack, you'll probably be just fine. Yes, I realize their is tofu, but I really can handle only so much of that.  If you are a vegetarian or vegan, you will probably have to just do a little more planning and preparation to make this work. This plan also made me realize my normal diet is pretty carb heavy, even if they are healthy carbs. I eat lots of whole wheat tortillas (filled with veggies), sandwiches with high fiber bread, brown rice, various potatoes and LOTS of sweet potatoes. When you're only allowed 2 servings of carbs a day, it forces you to evaluate what you are eating. 

 I also have to say that I wasn't really in love with the workouts. Maybe because I didn't have a big motivator to drastically change my body in 3 weeks. No wedding, no high school reunion, no beach trip. And that is really the focus, put in a lot of effort for 3 weeks and you will change your body. I was just looking for a new workout to change things up. I do LOVE the 10 minute fix for abs. It's the perfect workout to do before a 12 hour shift at work. I feel like any workout with weights I have to be alert or I'm going to hurt myself. When I workout before work I am NOT alert. With the 10 minute ab fix I can lay on the floor half conscious, tired tears running down my face as I do 10 or so kinds of crunches and by the end I feel more awake and ready to hit the day. I also really enjoyed the pilates and yoga workouts on the active recovery days. Maybe I just don't like doing reps with weights because it's really repetitive. Ok, basically I enjoyed every workout except the 2 cardio workouts. I hated those. But you have to work if you want the results.

Here are a few of my Instagram collages of my  21 Day Fix workouts: (Another bonus is that my kids love to do these workouts with me too)

The Lower Fix

The Cardio Fix

The Dirty 30 Fix

The Upper Fix

The Yoga Fix

And here are my results at the end. It's not a huge change, but I lost another 2 pounds, and all of my clothes are looser, and my abs are definitely firmer. Progress, people. Progress