21 Day Fix On the Cheap

So if you read my previous post about my workout obsession, you can understand that exercise alone doesn't change your body. 

 Real change, real health starts in the kitchen!  

One weekend I was channel surfing and came across the 21 Day Fix infomercial.  It sounded easy enough, but the price nearly killed me!  I thought for sure there had to be an easy cheat...and there was.

The basis of the 21 Day Fix are color coded containers.  Each holds a certain portion of food and you can have so many of those portions based on your calorie range. It's all about portion control and eating the right combinations of fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.  It breaks down like this:

Green = veggies = 1 cup

Purple = fruit = 1 cup

Red = lean protein = 3/4 cup

Yellow = carbs = 1/2 cup

Blue = healthy fats = 1/3 cup

Orange = 2 Tbs. = dressings and seeds/nuts

You can figure out how many of each container you will eat for a day by figuring up your caloric need.  For me, I need to be between 1800-2000 calories a day so I get:

5 Green

3 Purple

5 Red

4 Yellow

1 Blue

1 Orange

Every couple of days, I portion out prepared meals into containers so that way I'm all set.  No guess work or frantically trying to find something to eat come meal time.  There are also workout DVDs included with the program.  Since I go to the gym daily, I feel like I'm covered there.  Then there's the water.  This programs has you drinking LOTS of water...my quota per day, 16 cups!  I've yet to drink that much, but I'm trying!

Now don't think you can just fill your carb container with ice cream and call it a day.  This program also gives you a food list for each container.  You learn to eat whole foods in their proper portions.  I'm on week two and it's really sinking in!  I'm already portioning out my food without the use of measuring cups.  I know how much, and of what, I should be eating and it's becoming automatic.  I'm also down 3 pounds after the first week.

Here's a sample of what I took to work this weekend:

Breakfast:  Greek yogurt with berries

Morning Snack:  Carrots with hummus

Lunch:  Shrimp salad with avocado

Afternoon snack:  Cucumbers and sweet bell peppers with dressing

For dinner that night, we had salmon and kale salad

and I saved the apple for my evening snack.

I have never felt hungry on this plan, as a matter of fact, I have trouble getting in all my containers for the day!  I'm actually craving whole, healthy foods instead of the processed crap.

There are tons of meal plans, tips and tricks, and just good old basics of how the program works on YouTube and Pinterest.  Just type in "21 Day Fix" into the search engine.  Or you can follow my 21 Day Fix board on Pinterest HERE.

I'll post an update at the end of my 21 days,

so check back!