21 Day Fix Journey
It’s amazing how my journey with health and nutrition has evolved.
6 years ago, I thought I was doing well, feeling way ahead of my friends by cooking meals at home. Anything from Ortega tacos out of a box to Hamburger Helper and frozen chicken stir fry. All of my friends seemed to eat out all the time, so to me, this was being ahead of the game. I had zero clue what it meant to eat healthy food. I thought that if your plate was balanced with a protein, starch, and vegetable, you were all set. Growing up, many of my home-cooked dinners were beef, potato, and tossed salad.
So when I think about where I am now and how far I’ve come… I’m blown away.
6 years ago, I didn’t know that the source of my food mattered. That the ingredients mattered. That the portions mattered.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
And while I could tell you how I went from point A to point B, there’s not much point. As you may know, I’m now a Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. I own a fitness studio where I work with clients daily. Almost every day, I have a conversation with a client who claims they eat healthy, and then they proceed to tell me what foods that entails. I can’t help but think to myself, “They don’t know what they don’t know.”
So how do I help people understand that food source, ingredients, and portions matter?
First, through creating awareness.
Posts like these, and photos of my own meals posted to my social media, inspires people to wonder about their own consumption and food choices. Over time, they start to question, often times asking me for advice and a place to start.
It is at this point that we discuss the 21 Day Fix.
21 Day Fix is a Game-Changer
The ultimate game-changer in understanding food.
And let me start by saying that most people have the wrong idea about the 21 Day Fix. They think you’re restricted to eating miniature amounts of food, similar to a deprivation diet, and that you count calories and foods similar to Weight Watchers. This is NOT the case. Rather, you start with a calculated caloric intake based on your goals and current weight and activity level, and the program identifies for you your allotted containers (by color) for each day.
In my case, I am allotted 5 Green containers (green veggies), 3 Purples (fruits), 5 Reds (proteins), 4 Yellows (carbs), 1 Blue (healthy fats), 1 Orange (salad dressings/nuts), and 5 teaspoons (oils/nut butters).
Trust me, that’s quite a bit of food. So much so that a typical day for me looks like so:
Breakfast: Ezekiel English muffin, 2 slices turkey bacon, and a Purple container of fruit.
Mid-Morning Snack: Shakeology with coconut milk
Lunch: Large spinach salad (3 Greens) topped with 2 Reds of chicken, and 1 Orange of nuts/dressing along with 1 Purple container of fruit.
Mid-Afternoon Snack: Apple with 3 tsp. all-natural peanut butter
Dinner: 2 Reds of lean meat, 2 Greens of veggies, and 2 Yellows (quinoa or brown rice, for example)
You Won’t Be Hungry on the 21 Day Fix
So it goes without proof to share that most of my customers participating in our 21 Day Fix accountability groups actually tend to share that it’s difficult to eat that much food in one day. Never have I heard someone say that they’re not eating as much as they’d like.
As a Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, I can also say that there is good scientific reason behind this. Your body craves nutritional satisfaction. If I handed you a banana and asked you to eat it, fine. What if I handed you a second? And a third? Most likely, your hunger for that banana would disappear and your body would be satiated by the nutrients provided. This differs from, say, French fries, which we often find addicting in nature. Why? Because French fries does not nutritionally satisfy our bodies… just our mental cravings.
What I Have Learned From the 21 Day Fix
What the 21 Day Fix has taught me and so many of our Challengers about food is that if you’re eating enough of the RIGHT food, you’re fueling your body for optimal function. It’s like fueling your car with Premium fuel. But perhaps the #1 thing it has taught me about food is this:
Even if you’re eating the RIGHT foods, from the RIGHT sources, with the RIGHT ingredients, but aren’t eating them in the right portions and proportions, you likely won’t see results.
I could drop the mic right there.
That salad at lunch, full of veggies and house-made dressing and everything you think is good? If it’s not balanced in nature (carbs, proteins, fats) or if it has too much dressing, you’re likely doing yourself a disservice. Our society has fallen into the bad habit of not measuring our foods and knowing how much we’re putting into our body. Utilizing the 21 Day Fix and the containers and you’re setting yourself up for success in your weight loss as well as a future lifestyle of eating right.
All of this to say that if you’re new to healthy eating, I’ve been where you are. I share this as a resource that’s simple to use that will teach you everything you need to know about cultivating this lifestyle for yourself minus all of the years I spent guessing. Don’t guess. Don’t assume that eating fruits and veggies is enough. You may not be eating enough, or you may be eating too much. Between the knowledge and accountability factor our Coaches provide, as well as this proven program combined with Shakeology, you’re in it to win it with your overall health. 21 Day Fix, FTW!
Yours in Health & Fitness,
Jenny Swisher, Founder of Body Electric
To learn more about how the 21 Day Fix has changed the lives of our customers-turned-Coaches, watch this video!
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