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You’ve ordered and received your 21 Day Fix….and now what? Here are some tips to help set you up for success with the 21 Day Fix.

1) Read through the book.

It seems like that should be a no-brainer. I’m the type of person who typically skims through the instructions on any manual, get the big points, and figure it out as I go. This is NOT one of those manuals. The nutrition guide is filled with all of the information you will need to be successful on the plan. It helps you to calculate your calorie goal, tells you how to use the containers, suggestions on what to each for each container, and recipes. A lot of questions that I frequently see are addressed in this book, so take the time to read through it and help familiarize yourself with how the plan works.

2) Determine your calorie range/food goals

Calculate your calorie range with the given guide. This is going to be important, because that range is going to determine how many containers you will get throughout the day. It will be easier to plan out your food once you have an idea of how many servings you get.

3) Make a plan for your first week, and set a start date

Give yourself a definite start date. While you may be so excited to get started right away, allow yourself a few days to prepare to get started. For the workout plans, I do the workouts based on the day of the week, not by the day I started. Yoga Fix is always on a Sunday, etc. This way I don’t have to worry about remembering what workout I did the day before.

4) Speaking of plans…make a meal plan!

As for meal planning, that’s where it gets a bit complicated. You want to spread out your containers throughout the day (dinner is NOT the time to eat whatever containers you skipped throughout the day! I learned this the hard way). For me, I typically have a red and a green for each meal, purples as snacks (except for the one in my Shakeology), etc. Find a way to make your eating work around your schedule. If you have a job working 12 hour shifts, then it would make sense to pack snacks that are convenient to carry and eat. If you shop on a budget, plan your meals around what is on sale in the grocery stores.

Meals & Planning Resources

FitFunTina’s Index of 21 Day Fix Recipes

Simple Clean Fix – Ebook filled with 39 Easily Printable Recipes

21 Day Fix Meal Plan – Crockpots and Salads

21 Day Fix Meal Plans (sorted by calorie brackets)

 

4) Create a binder to track your documents.

I typically love storing stuff on my phone, but sometimes nothing beats having everything together on paper. There are lots of printable documents you can fill your binder with:

Measurement tracker

Container Tracker

Food Lists

Meal Planning Printable

5) Grocery shopping

After you have an idea of what you’ll be eating throughout the week, now you can make a list to buy whatever you will need. You can use this list HERE  to write out what you will need. Keep in mind that the first shopping trip will likely be the most expensive trip, as you may be buying staples that you don’t already have.

6) Meals and snack prep

Set aside a time when you can prep some of your snacks throughout the week. A great thing about doing your prep all at the same time is that you can make multiple servings of items that are pre-measured and ready to go. These Bento boxes are a great way to portion out several meals at once, and you can grab it and go! This will save a lot of time and stress. Walmart and Target both sell colored sandwich bags. As an alternative, you can use a sharpie to write the color of the food on the baggies. If you are prepping meals, you can also write on the plastic containers what color(s) is within the container.

7) Workout prep

For the workouts, you will need some equipment to get started:

• Two sets of weights (I recommend 5 and 10 pound weights for those just starting out) OR a resistance band (Amazon). I recommend getting separate weights (as opposed to the adjustable weights), because there are many times that you switch back and forth between exercises.
• Yoga mat

8) Take measurements

Before you start the 21 Day Fix, you should take measurements. The scale is not always an accurate representation of your progress, because as you build lean muscle through the workout program, your measurements may tell you a different story from the scale. Remember 1 pound of muscles takes up less mass than 1 pound of fat, so if you lose 1 pound of fat and gain 1 pound of muscle, the scale will show no change, but your measurements will.

9) Join a Challenge Group!

If you decide to use Shakeology and purchase a challenge pack, then I would seek out an active Beachbody Coach to join one of their challenge groups! Challenge groups are a great way to have people starting their journeys together with coach support. In general, the use of Shakeology is required for most of these groups. However, if you’d like to join a FREE support group, then come find me on Facebook! I’ve got a group for moms doing the 21 Day Fix.

10) Ask your coach

If you still have questions, please don’t be afraid to ask your coach! If you don’t have a coach, or if you just want answers to your questions, feel free to join one of the facebook groups above (see #9). We’re all friendly people!

11) Be sure to check out the rest of my resources available, including TONS of recipes (with container counts) to make this new lifestyle a lot easier!

FitFunTina’s Index of 21 Day Fix Recipes