Over the past few months, I had come to the realization that something had to change in my lifestyle, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. By mid-afternoon most days, I would find myself completely exhausted, to where I really just wanted to curl up somewhere and take a nap. In addition to being exhausted, I found that even though I was running 3-4 miles every other day or doing a various exercise DVD, there was a roll of skin hanging over my jeans that wasn’t there in the past. Each day I would think “ok I guess I need to exercise more, eat less…” logically I knew that I needed to expend more calories than I was consuming. But I honestly felt like I wouldn’t be able to function on anything less than what I was eating. I began to wonder if this was just what being over 40 meant. It was kind of disheartening and frustrating.
But as luck would have it I made a new friend, who is slightly older than me but who has a body that resembles Linda Hamilton from Terminator 2. We got to talking about health and fitness one day and she mentioned that she was a Beachbody coach. (Now I know some of you don’t know me personally so let me state this now – that I am in no way in cohorts with her to promote Beachbody or provided anything by her or the company). I told her how frustrated I had become with trying to get into shape and struggling with exhaustion at times. So we discussed a few things that lead me towards deciding on the 21 day fix program.
1) I told her about my one wonky knee. How some days I can run miles with no issues and other times it would throb for a day or so after. So something that required high-impact on a daily basis would not work for me.
2) We talked about my eating habits and she felt that maybe I wasn’t eating enough or that I was eating foods that would have my blood sugar spiking and then crashing which could lead to why I was so tired.
3) I told her I get really bored with exercise programs. I need variety to keep me engaged.
Based on all of those, we mutually decided that the 21 day fix would probably be the best option for me. So I placed my order online for Autumn Calabrese’s 21 Day Fix – Essential Package
Here’s exactly what’s included in my box:
The Workouts:
There are seven workouts. Each is only 30-minutes long. This is one of the main reasons I chose this program. I figured I could always find 30 minutes in my day to do a workout. Unlike the mental preparation it may take me to convince myself to do a 45min or hour long workout. For some reason 30 seemed doable. The workouts are as follows:
- Total Body Cardio Fix
- Upper Fix
- Lower Fix
- Pilates Fix
- Cardio Fix
- Yoga Fix
- Dirty 30
- 2 Bonus 10 minute fix for Abs
You will need a set of light weights and a set of heavier weights for some of these workouts.
The Portion Control System:
These are dishwasher-safe, BPA-free containers that are color coded based on a specific food group:
- One Green—Vegetables
- One Purple—Fruit
- One Red—Protein
- One Yellow—Carbohydrates
- One Blue—Healthy Fats and Cheese
- 2 Orange—Seeds and Oils
(Note: This is just the number of containers in the box not the amount you could consume. For instance for my caloric intake needs I would use 4 red containers (protein) daily.)
Shakeology Shaker Cup & Mix
- Container for Shakes/drinks
- Shakeology shake mix (I chose chocolate but there is also strawberry and vanilla flavor options)
- Recipes for shake variations – I add PB2 to mine and it reminds me of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. YUMMY!
21 Day Fix Eating Plan
- An easy-to-follow portion-control eating plan based on your individual caloric needs
- Details about what goes in each color coded food container
- Some simple to make recipes
- Restaurant and favorite recipe food guide
Over the next couple weeks I will be sharing my experience with this program and in the end hopefully sharing a before and after photo that we can all see a difference in 😉
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