Have you had a goal to lose weight, tone up, or start an exercise routine but don't even put thought into the nutrition aspect of it? Did you know 80% of your success comes directly from what you put into your mouth! The quote "abs are made in the kitchen" couldn't be more accurate. One thing I love about the 21 day fix meal plan is it not only keeps my portion sizes in check, but it has become second nature to me now knowing how many of each food group I should be consuming each day! Even when i'm not necessarily following the plan & workouts, I still find myself basing my decisions off of the guidelines of the containers. Here are a few tips for the 21 Day Fix I adapted from another blog (I saved it and have no idea where from!) to help you succeed with your program!
1. Space out your containers/meals appropriately
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In the beginning, I was so worried I would be
hungry by the end of the day that I made the mistake of trying to save my
containers for later. By late afternoon,
I was starving and miserable.
Appropriately spacing out my meals, completely remedied this.
2. Eat one of your carbs for breakfast or lunch.
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This goes along with the above tip, but I found
that if I ate one of my carbs for lunch instead of trying to save them both for
dinner, I was much more satiated and content in the hours leading up to dinner.
I I love making overnight oats with greek yogurt on Sundays for breakfast throughout the week. They're easy, you can make many different versions, and they keep me satisfied for hours!
3. Eat a salad everyday (always have salad stuff on hand)
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The salad was a lifesaver for me. It felt like a full meal, and it didn’t need
a carb or blue container (cheese/avocado) to make it delicious. I used most of my veggie containers on a
salad nearly everyday. I especially
enjoyed my salad for lunch each day because it was light enough to not make me feel weighted down, but enough to fill me up quickly! Once again, mason jar salads are great to make at the beginning of the week and have for quick lunches!
4. Make enough so that you can have lunch and dinner for the
next day.
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Leftovers in the refrigerator READY to go was
invaluable during these 21 days. When food is ready, you are less likely to turn to fast food meals!
5. Find a few meals
you LOVE and will look forward to eating and stick with those!
Don’t feel pressure to get creative and try
something new everyday. I'm a creature of habit so there are a handful of recipes I love and make every week!
6. Weigh yourself weekly or bi-weekly, not daily.
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Daily weigh-ins could potentially discourage you
and sabotage your progress if you aren’t seeing the scale results you
want. Limit your weigh-ins to weekly,
and possibly wait until the 21 days are over! Women especially can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in a day due to purely water weight. If you eat more sodium than usual for dinner one night, you will absolutely weigh more the next morning. I prefer weighing myself every two weeks or so, but I take progress pictures each week.
7. Don’t think about it as a diet, but as a lifestyle
change.
As soon as the term "diet" appears in the back of our mind, we immediately think we CAN'T have certain foods, leading to restrictions, and the urge to REBEL. Keeping your mind focused on long term and not small mess up's will help you stay on track and actually enjoy the changes you are making each day. Eventually, you will find yourself choosing brown rice over white rice, a side of vegetables over a side of fries, and grilled chicken versus fried chicken. Once you begin eating clean, you develop a palate for healthy foods and begin craving foods in their NATURAL state.
8. Develop your own routine for how and when you eat
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You have to figure out what works for you. When do you notice you are getting
hungry? When are you most prone to
temptation? When are you most frustrated
by the limitations of the containers?
Do a self-evaluation and then learn to make
the adjustments. For me, like I
mentioned above, I needed to get a carb in around lunch. Also, instead of eating dinner around 6 PM, I
found that if I ate one small meal between 4 and 5, and another small meal
between 7:30 and 8:30, I felt so much better.
Figure out what works for you, and make the adjustments.
You shouldn’t be hungry, so if you are, you
need to rearrange your eating schedule.
9. Once you find your schedule, stick to it as best as
possible.
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You will have more success if you stick to a
schedule and routine. Your body will
learn what to expect and when to expect it.
So once you find a schedule that works for you, plan and prepare to
stand by your schedule.
10. Drink your shake without a fruit because then you have
an extra fruit to enjoy during another part of your day.
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When I first started, I loved making all these new shake creations until I realized I was waiting so many containers I could be using at other times in the day. Some day I still add a fruit to my shake, but try and keep it to half a serving so I still have the other half serving to add to yogurt or a late night snack. If you want to switch up your flavors, try using extracts {vanilla, coconut, almond, caramel, etc.), spices {cinnamon, pumpkin pie, nutmeg, etc.}, or combining half a scoop of two different flavors.
