The 21 Day Fix Breakdown and Week 1 Recap

I survived the first week of the 21 Day Fix! Hooray! Although, at some points I though I wasn't going to make it.

I've said it time and time again, the hardest part of anything is getting started.

Well, I lied. The hardest part of eating better is learning to eat things that you usually do not enjoy eating in hopes of having it grow on you. It worked when I was younger. It's the reason I like salads and yogurt. I told myself that if I ever wanted to be healthy I had to eat these things and like them. Eventually I found flavors that worked for me and now I prefer Greek yogurt. I love salads, too.

I didn't love broccoli. I still might not like broccoli...I'll get back to you on that one next week. This week I ate a lot of broccoli for someone who doesn't know if they like it. Anyhow, here's how my week went down.

The 21 Day Fix Meal Plan

I downloaded the free 21 Day Fix app onto my phone the first day I began the fix. For the most part, they have all of the "clean" foods that are allowed during the 21 Day Fix listed under their respective containers that they can be fit into. Green is for veggies, purple is for fruits, red is for proteins, yellow is for carbs, blue is for healthy fats, orange is for seeds and dressings, and the teaspoon allotment is for oils and nut butters.

Obviously, it would be impossible to eat each and every food listed under each category. The lists are in order of most nutrient dense to least nutrient dense. A quick search on Google or Pinterest will show you exactly what is allowed per each container. Also, you can manually figure out how many containers you are allowed, or you can take the lazy way out (like I did) and enter your weight into the 21 Day Fix app and let it do the calculating for you. On Monday night, after the app showed me I didn't eat nearly enough vegetables, I headed to Costco to pick up a bulk amount of fruits and veggies. Shopping in bulk really cuts down on the amount of times I have to go to the grocery store (and walk through the pastry section before I can find my produce...sigh.)

What Helped Me During the 21 Day Fix

The thing that helped me most during the first week was planning out what I would be eating for the next few days or so. If you don't plan,  you're bound to run into issues with having too few containers left in one category and too many leftover in another. As will would have it, I hardly ever hit my vegetable container goal for the day because eating vegetables daily is a new thing for me (shocking, I know.) After I am done with the 21 Day Fix, I would like to have at least a salad per day, or have a green vegetable with dinner.

Make sure you load up on your favorite fruits and vegetables, and take precaution to make sure they aren't going to spoil before you make it to the grocery store again for fresh produce. Pick up a package of lean meat in bulk and cook out 2-3 days worth of food. Please do not make the same mistake I made trying to stretch the package of cooked turkey taco meat (the same kind I use on my healthier turkey nachos) to 5 or 6 days. It will not end well. #justsaying If you do decide to cook for the week, make sure you freeze the last few days worth of meals so you don't run into the same issue I had on Saturday/Sunday.

If working out is the part that gives you the most grief, schedule it into your day so that you don't feel tempted to skip it. It's only 30 minutes and you'll feel so much better after you're done.

What I'm Eating, In No Particular Order

• Oatmeal. Tons of oatmeal for breakfast, cooked with water in the microwave. I like to live life on the edge. Some days I sprinkle in cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. One day I cooked diced apples in a frying pan with cinnamon and put them on top of my oatmeal. Best. Idea. Ever.
• Apples. I bought a 12 pack of Gala apples at Costco. I really have no other choice here, but thankfully I do love Gala apples.
• Eggs. Scrambled. With a splash of ketchup. I don't know if ketchup is allowed on the 21 Day Fix, but I'm not one that likes their eggs with Tabasco. I'm of the party that likes their eggs with ketchup.
• Chicken. I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from Costco because it was 8 P.M. on a Monday night and was hungry. It was delicious and I carved the rest for a few meals throughout the week.
• Broccoli. I can't even be sure I'm cooking broccoli correctly, but it doesn't taste as bad as I remember it tasting when I was a kid. The same goes for fresh green beans and squash. I kind of like zucchini and squash but they're terribly out of season in the Northern Hemisphere currently so I think I'll wait awhile to have those. I have broccoli at least once a day.
• Ground turkey. Turkey taco salad was my jam for week 1. I used salsa instead of dressings so it would count as a vegetable. BOOM.
• Peanuts. Instead of having dressings, I opted for peanuts. Paired with the almonds, they make a quick sort of trail mix that I don't hate.
• Almonds. Yes, this category is the cheese category and I have almost exclusively used it for 12 whole almonds each day. I don't know about you, but ¼ cup of cheese per day just isn't enough. Therefore, I have no cheese. The first thing I eat once the fix is over will probably be a brick of cheese.
• Berries. We only had frozen berries, but I cooked them down in the same small frying pan I used for cooking apples to make a berry compote, which I then blended to turn into a berry sauce to top a homemade waffle with. I got a waffle iron for Christmas, and I'll be darned if that thing doesn't get some good use out of it. Berries are my favorite base for smoothies because I'm a self-proclaimed banana hater. One day I'll come around, I hope.
• Peanut butter teaspoons with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips. I love this and look forward to this part of the day--every day.
• Greek yogurt. I got this one day from Starbucks with the strawberry and granola as a parfait one morning. It was lovely. I also have a big container of Greek yogurt in the refrigerator waiting for me to bust it open.
• Quinoa. I cooked one big batch on Monday night and scooped with my yellow container every time I needed a serving of carbs.
• Protein powder. I've made shakes with just a scoop and water. I've also made protein pancakes but with less chocolate and more spices.
• Coffee with stevia and a splash of 1% milk. Like I really have to explain. Coffee/tea are free beverages on the 21 Day Fix, as long as you don't douse it with chemicals/high fat milk products. Thank goodness.

Easy omelettes, sometimes I would sautee veggies before I added in the eggs if I wasn't in a rush.

Protein pancakes, not unlike the chocolate chip protein pancakes I love. Minus the chocolate chips and + pumpkin pie spice.

Chicken and broccoli 4E. Turkey taco salads with salsa or taco sauce as the "dressings".

Oatmeal with a sauteed apple and cinnamon. YUM.

The 21 Day Fix Workouts

1. Total Body Cardio fix on Mondays (or your day 1. I just happened to start on a Monday.)
2. Upper Fix on Tuesdays. Pretty self-explanatory. The workouts target mainly your upper body.
3. Lower Fix on Wednesdays. Also self-explanatory. Be prepared for squats and muscles to hurt that you didn't know you had.
4. Pilates Fix on Thursdays. If you've never done a pilates video/class, this exercise focuses mainly on your core and breathing. I enjoyed this one as a "recovery" exercise.
5. Cardio Fix on Fridays. Cardio gets the job done.
6. Dirty 30 on Saturdays. To me, this seemed like a good combination of all body parts crammed into a 30 minute session (like all the videos are.)
7. Yoga Fix on Sundays. I've never been to a formal yoga class, but I have done P90X and a majority of these yoga poses have been used in that video as well. This was very relaxing after a week's worth of working muscles in ways I haven't in awhile.

Overall, at my current fitness level, I'd say that these exercises are manageable but are also challenging. I can see them getting repetitive or "easier" as time goes on. If I choose to do another round of the 21 Day Fix, I would consider pairing it with a more intense workout routine (but that's just me.) So far, I just enjoy the structure of a scheduled workout because it keeps me accountable.

Are you doing/considering the 21 Day Fix? If so, how's it going? Can you recommend any good recipes?

Check back next week to see my week 2 recap!