If you are like I am and sometimes up at 3:00 in the morning because you can’t sleep, you have probably seen the infomercial for the 21 Day Fix. I am not normally drawn to buying things off of infomercials, but this program piqued my interest. Plus my sister just completed her first round and lost 6 pounds. After hearing that I was hooked and ordered the set!
I just finished my first round, so I thought I would post my honest review of what worked for me and what didn’t and if I’d recommend you trying it.
Weekly synopsis
I ordered my set sometime mid-January from Ebay with the idea of starting on February 1. Ordering on Ebay was a little cheaper than ordering through the BeachBody website, plus I got everything in the set. The package came really fast, so I had plenty of time to read all of the paperwork and plan out my food and workout schedule and still start on February 1.
The first week was a little tough. Not only for the food plan, I had a non-stop headache for several days, but also for the workout schedule. The plan requires you workout every day. I have never worked out 7 days a week, so I knew that would be tough. Drinking 8 glasses of water was also a challenge, which I never fully won.
Week two got a little easier. I had finally mastered the eating plan, I wasn’t eating 8 egg whites at 8pm, and had gotten into a rhythm with the workout routines. I actually worked out 12 days in a row before I had to take a break because of my back. That was pretty impressive!
Week three was even easier, and I was really starting to see some changes in my body and energy level. I was also sleeping better. The food plan was getting a little old, but it was still doable. I did start to crave the Girl Scout cookies that were in pantry, but held out and finished without raiding the pantry!
What worked for me
The workout DVDs worked the best for me. After three weeks I am happy to have trained myself to workout on a daily basis. While I am not going to continue to work out 7 days a week, I am tweaking the workouts a bit for 5 days a week, which is still a huge improvement from working out once a week. My workout plan is going to be:
Monday: Total Body Cardio
Tuesday: Upper Fix
Wednesday: Lower Fix
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Pilates Fix
Saturday: Cardio Fix/Dirty 30 (alternate every other week)
Sunday: Rest
While so many enjoy Sunday’s Yoga Fix, it killed my back. I had two back to back accidents a few years ago that did a number on my lower back. What I’ve learned is Pilates is great for my back, but Yoga is not. So, I am keeping Pilates and ditching Yoga. Plus, I absolutely love Pilates. I guess it is just a preference. I also really love the Upper Fix. Thanks to the workouts I am now ready to move onto my 8 pound weights. Score!
For me, the biggest change occurred because of the workouts. I can not tell you how I wish I had measured my arms and thighs, because they have seriously been cut in half. My arms especially. They no longer have that jiggly stuff that appears after the age of 35. 🙂 I am thrilled by how great my arms look. And for the first time in years I am looking forward to wearing tank tops!
What didn’t work for me
The meal plan wasn’t the huge change that I thought it would be, but I have a theory as to why that is. I have been clean eating for a couple of years now, which is really what this program is all about. Well, that and portion control. Since I had already been eating clean the food plan didn’t jolt my system like it did for others. So, I only lost a little over 3 pounds in 3 weeks. That isn’t even a third of the weight I wanted to lose, my goal is 15 pounds. Not the outcome I had hoped for.
I also felt like I was lacking veggies (the green container) for 3 weeks. I could have easily switched a red (protein) for a green container. Four red containers was rough. I also did not order the Shakeology, so this could have been a problem too. But, to me, Shakeology isn’t clean eating, so I didn’t want to use it. I followed the lowest calorie count, so I only got 3 green containers a day. That really wasn’t enough for me. The good news is to maintain until I go through the routine again I can add a green container. Yay! That made me very happy.
Suggestions
My first suggestion for you is to plan, plan, plan. If you don’t figure out what you are going to eat for the day and week it is going to be very tough to stick to the eating plan, especially if you work a full time job like most of us do. There are a lot of plans and helpful information on Pinterest. I started a 21 Day Fix board too. You can find it, here.
Second suggestion is be sure to measure all of your body parts, not just your waist. I did lose an inch off of my waist, but really lost it in my upper body and thighs. If I had measured my arms I know I would be shocked at the improvement.
Overall opinion
The thing I was most disappointed by was my weight loss or lack of weight loss. We hear all of the time not to be concerned with the scale, but to be honest that is what we are all working toward. Getting that number down to where we want it. But, getting healthy and working out on a regular basis is also key, so that made my low weight loss a little easier to swallow.
Having said all of this, I would definitely recommend you give this a try, especially if you want to get into healthy eating and portion control. It really is very easy once you get the hang of it. And the workout routines, while some are pretty tough, give you variety of exercises that work out so many different areas.
I’ll be taking a few weeks off, which is required, before staring my second round in April. I might bump up to 21 Day Fix Extreme too. Maybe I’ll lose a little more weight with that.
Did I persuade you to give the 21 Day Fix a try? Have you already tried it and are on your second or third round? How did it work for you? I’d love to hear what worked and didn’t work for you.
ok, i have no idea if my comment went through earlier. if so, please ignore. 🙂
this is Dot, and please dont pay attention to the pounds if the physical evidence says differnt. the first time i ever did a challenge where i weighed in at the beginning i only lost a pound or two. but (because i did a dunk tank that measured fat loss) i realized that even though i lody only 3 pound, i lost 9 pounds of fat, and gained 5 pounds of muscle. which is awesome
so dont meaure by the scale 🙂
Hi Dot! Thanks so much for the comment. I was pretty bummed about the non existent weight loss, but I really do look and feel better. I think you are right about putting on muscle too. My upper body is really toned. My lower body is trying to play catch up. 🙂