It’s common knowledge now, that high carb diets is the reason behind obesity epidemic and paleo tries to fix it.

You’d think losing weight would be a cinch, but it’s so not. I gained 17 lbs with the second child and I was overweight to begin with. I never really tried to lose weight while I was working.

Sure, (most days) I have plenty of time to exercise and make really great meals, but I didn’t have the motivation for weight loss at all. So, I sought other mom’s out there who have problems with motivation and dieting.

And one of the moms recommended this 21 day fix diet to me.

The simplicity and unique approach to control eating pattern by making use of color coded containers, attract a lot of super busy people who want to get in shape and lose weight.

21 day fix, also seems to be hit with those dieters who are already following a diet like paleo. They make use of 21 day fix, by combining with their already existing diet strategy.

For example, this post by Becka Robinson, tells you how to go paleo with 21 day fix.

There seem to be a good number of positive reviews, for BeachBody’s 21 day fix on Amazon.com

Most of these positive reviews come either from experienced dieters who are already following through on a diet plan, or busy people who like the concept of portion control, and some first time dieters who seem to be excited about trying a unique diet plan, and good looking food containers.

Results for first time dieters, on 21 day fix, are still quite unpredictable and not reported in the same proportion as the positive reviews.

Also I had a bit of food addiction. Although I didn’t worry about addiction right now. Just focused on each food choice I make with the though that “Each good choice you make will make the next one easier.

I found it helps with things that I crave to set a limit on them.

Somedays I just want frappes all the time, but if I had them I’d never lose weight.

I thought that the concept of having exclusive containers in the 21 day diet would help.

“Each one is color-coded for a different kind of food, and pre-measured for the precise portion. You’ll never have to “eyeball” your measurements again—if it fits in the container, you can eat it!”

I hoped this would be an encouragement, and once I actually started to see weight dropping off, it will give me a boost in motivation too, because I will want it to continue.

So, I ordered the diet.

What’s Included with Your 21 Day Fix Workout Program:

When your program arrives in the mail, the package is surprisingly compact. You will wonder how come so relatively compact everything is – at least I was. You’ll soon see that the Fix is not a starvation-based diet.

Yes, the containers look small but you will be amazed at the amount of food that hits your plate. In fact, one of the most common concerns I hear are those wondering what to do when they can’t finish all their food for the day. This is what happens when you start eating healthy.

Paleo is a strict diet but it works. But, for most people, it’s too difficult to follow.

However, there are less strict versions of paleo like Diane’s 21 day sugar detox , and I recommend it over 21 days fix. If you are disciplined enough to try a more strict version of paleo, I would recommend Mark’s 21 day Primal total body transformation.

For most people, any diet that is closest to paleo, is a better option, as they are little less strict and you get some room to include some foods not allowed in strict paleo version.

The best approach to these diets is one which allows some room for occasional cheating on a diet. Go paleo-ish. Not strict paleo.

The 21 Day Fix program contains six simple workouts on DVD as they are made to do and they actually kick your behind. Easy exercise, straightforward portion control that is ground-breaking, and only 30 minutes of your day for the time scale of 3 weeks.

Yes — in the event that you order through my link the Plyo Fix work out is going to be within the program.

The 21 Day Fix eating plan attempts to be as straight forward as possible so you know just how to proceed. And in the event you are interested 21 Day and the 21 Day Fix Fix Extreme Eating Plan are extremely similar in how they’re structured. Subsequent to the 21 Day Repair work outs that are entire, you’ll now not have that feeling of being frightened of the shore, attempting to conceal yourself, and not attempting to reveal off! The 21 Day Repair has a 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, it means that in the event that you can not get the effects that are desirable after 21 days you’ll have time to return back it for a complete refund.

The very best thing that’s been documented from your 21 Day Fix reviews is the fact that individuals could actually keep losing weight with all the 21 Day Fix. The 21 day fix has SKYROCKETED to my all time favourite program due mainly to those convenient colour and it is straightforward yet powerful nutrition strategy coded containers. They do need to generate money I guess, and also the advertising is entirely deceptive, although the entire 21 days to form a custom myth was debunked years past!

The 21 days when you are finished, you will have a fairly fundamental comprehension of that which you need to be eating – in the event things shift up, as an example, than needed from the dietary plan, you get more bulk without substantially more calories in the event that you add more fruits and veg. It might be boring to pick and choose from precisely the same food groups daily, while using the 21 day fix containers. The truth is, I do believe it helped within my increase of 5 lb. So that is the reason why I attempted the 21 day fix.

Here’s exactly what’s included:

The Workouts: The seven workouts are all around 30 minutes long, which really fit well into your schedule no matter how busy you are. No excuses! They are:

• Total Body Cardio Fix
• Upper Fix
• Lower Fix
• Pilates Fix
• Cardio Fix
• Yoga Fix
• Dirty 30 – Bonus workout

The Portion Control System: This is the series of some really great, dishwasher-safe, BPA-free containers that are color coded for a foolproof diet plan. Whatever fits into the container from the specific food group the food is intended for is what you’re allowed to eat.

Here’s the breakdown of containers you’ll receive and what they’re for:-

• One Green—Vegetables
• One Purple—Fruit
• One Red—Protein
• One Yellow—Carbohydrates
• One Blue—Healthy Fats and Cheese
• 2 Orange—Seeds and Oils
• Shakeology Shaker Cup—Shakes/drinks

21 Day Fix Eating Plan: An easy-to-follow, portion-control diet plan with plain and simple recipes. Think make-your-own spices to put on top of chicken breast.

3 Day Quick Fix: To get you jump-started on your weight loss, this is a three day diet plan designed to maximize fat loss and get you well on your way to a leaner, sexier you.

24/7 Online Support: This is something useful that comes with any Beachbody product you purchase. It’s great for whenever you’re looking for support and/or motivation to keep you going when things get tough.

Sample 21 Day Fix Meal Plan for the Week

Here is a sample of how I planned my meals on the 21 Day Fix diet. I doubled up on the yellow container on weekday dinners. This sample reflects the 1,200 calorie target, but can easily by adjusted by just adding more servings.

My Final Thoughts About the 21 Day Fix

Overall, the 21 Day Fix is a good at-home workout program that will definitely get you in the habit of eating healthier and recognizing how much food you really should be eating at one sitting.

However, it’s not the most exciting workout I’ve personally ever done!!

Besides, there are some bad points that come with any weight loss program, that I discuss below. Keep reading!

If you’re getting ready for an upcoming event or getting on the right track to reaching your greater weight loss goal through a lifestyle change, the 21 Day Fix might be a program to consider.

The eating plan is also very family-friendly. So much so that there is now the FIXATE cookbook: 101 of Autumn’s favorite, family-friendly recipes that are even color-coded for easy tracking of containers while you’re on the program!

However, over this journey of 21 days, this is what I learnt:-

1. Now I know that I just don’t like super restrictive diets, but sometimes they are helpful as a jumping off point. Low carb/ high fat can be really helpful if you just can’t seem to regulate. To be honest, being on this diet fell like hell, although I somewhat managed to stick to it.

2. I followed this program through,. I bought the cook book and everything. Overall I think this wasn’t worth buying because I only lost 5 lbs. My starting weight was 159 lbs and I’m 5’4 so you would think a complete diet change and workout program would make a bigger difference than 5 lbs in 21 days.

3. Almost no diet out there is talking about how to make it easier to eat less.

They try and convince you that eating less is hard, scary, bad for you, and that it’s just not appropriate… and they leave out the fact that it’s the only sustainable solution to permanent weight control.

Diets don’t work… for one very simple reason…

When you are told to skip entire food groups. When you are forced to limit the amount of calories you eat. Your only option is to use discipline to stick to the plan.

But truth is we all only have a fixed amount of discipline. And when you run out… well, you know what happens right?…

And the reason you need discipline to follow a diet is because diets are NOT NATURAL.

4. After completing the diet, this was me :- “I have been doing good past week or so, but I am still craving junk food. This sucks. I really want to win this time. Why am I still craving after eating a full healthy meal? I want to go to McDonalds right now.”

I kept wondering why the 21 day fix didn’t “fix” my cravings for junk food even after 21 days.

And why not allow yourself to have a cheat day every so often? Not like going overboard type cheat day but allow yourself a cheat day once a week?

I know this diet helped me have a 5lb. weight loss atleast and it broke stalls when I had them but I didn’t have one cheat day.

I was always of the opinion, you can’t gain weight in one day. Having a planned cheat day can help you feel not deprived and not guilty afterwards.

5. Here is the saddest part! After 21 days, when I stopped the diet, I lacked guidance on how to carry through after this. And sadly, I gained all my weight back in less than a month. 🙁 .

This really really sucks!

It means, all those efforts of going through the hell of dieting don’t amount to long term results. They just provide short term results.

Did the diet fail or what..? My search for a friendly weight loss program

I searched for other user reviews about the diet, and sadly, other people have experienced bad results with this diet too. Many users complained the results are not permanent!

What have I tried so far? I’ve made a number of attempts in the past to lose weight, as well, but it wasn’t until I made a lifestyle change that I started seeing significant progress.

I’ve tried other diets too before attempting the 21 day fix, but what I’ve always found that results, if any don’t last. And all those diets made dieting a herculean task.

But I didn’t lose hope and kept on searching for a more friendly dieting program.

My husband goes to the gym where his trainer told him about “If It Fits Your Macros.”

I found out that this diet has been getting very popular among the bodybuilders who wanted a shredded, ripped look.

This diet approach is flexible enough about eating junk food while dieting or pounding Pop Tarts or some such thing after a gym session.

But is that all If It Fits Your Macros really is? An excuse to eat fast food and ice cream every day?

Is it just another fad that will come and go?

Well, let’s find out…
What the Hell is a “Macro?”

“Macro” is a contraction of “macronutrient,” which is defined as follows:

A macronutrient is any of the nutritional components of the diet that are required in relatively large amounts: protein, carbohydrate, fat, and minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, and phosphorous.

Simple enough. Moving along.

What is the “If It Fits Your Macros” Diet?

If It Fits Your Macros, or IIFYM as the “cool crowd” calls it, is relatively new as a meme, but the dietary principles have actually been around for quite some time in the bodybuilding world, just under another name (flexible dieting).

IIFYM, or flexible dieting, is a method of dieting that revolves around meeting daily macronutritional intake targets, and not on what you eat to get there.

One diet that I came across this concept of “IIFYM”, or “flexible dieting” is the 3 week diet.

This is a very interesting diet with a more sensible approach and Brian also gives tips to keep the weight off for good, after losing it while on the diet.

Unlike those “one-size-fits-all” diets, The 3 Week Diet Manual will show you how to calculate your lean body mass vs. fat percentage, and will then provide you with a specifically tailored rapid weight loss plan to suit your body type.

According to the website, Brian says:-

You’ll know exactly what to eat every day, how much to eat and when to eat it. You’ll never be guessing—just follow the outline and you WILL lose weight.

“The Diet Manual is my ultimate, super-simple plan for keeping the weight you’ve lost OFF forever, while still being able to enjoy your favorite foods. This allows you to live a “normal” life without worrying about the weight coming back.

The workouts were specifically designed for those who don’t have time to go to the gym every day—but it also includes a gym workout for those who do. And even if you don’t like to work out, I’ve developed an exercise program that provides “no excuses” because they take just 20 minutes a day, 3-4 days per week.”

What is the 3 Week Diet program?

The 3 Week Diet is basically a short term weight loss program that focuses on losing a lot of weight fast, 21 days to be precise. ??

The reason that most people fail when dieting is because it takes so long to see results so Brian (the created of the 3WD) decided to create a system to burn fat as fast as possible, yet flexible enough so people don’t find it hard to stick to it.

The cool thing about the 3WD is that it also tells you what to do after 21 days to keep the weight off and improve your overall health. And the diet is specifically tailored to your particular body type.

Also you can do the 3WD system more than once to keep on losing weight.

First off there is the diet program which is made up of 4 different phases.

Phase 1 is the hardest. It lasts 7 days and this is where I lost the most weight.
Phase 2 only lasts 1 day but it was so effective that I actually lost more than a pound in one day.
Phase 3 lasts from day 9-11 and is unlike any other diet I have tried before.

To be honest the phase 3 diet sounded quite odd and I almost skipped it.

Phase 4 lasts from day 12-21 and in this section Brian teaches you a powerful way to continue losing weight for the last 9 days.

In Phase 4 you pretty much become a fat burning furnace

The alternative paleo diets and workout program focuses on full body resistance training every other day.

The reason the 3WD focuses on resistance training which comprises of exercises such as push ups and squats etc and not cardio exercise 3 week diet(running on treadmill) is because resistance workouts actually burn twice as many calories as cardio workouts.

I think some women are a bit scared to do resistance training because they think it’s only for men and they don’t want to look like a body builder but this is a huge misconception.

If you are a woman, and lifting weights, you will need to increase your calorie intake dramatically to bulk up like a man. That ain’t gonna happen. So don’t be scared of the weights girls!

To complete the workouts you will either need a gym membership or a set of dumbbells & a workout bench.

You can get a set up dumbbells very cheap these days especially on eBay.

Here’s my pair..

I would also suggest to download the My Fitness Pal App and start there, work out how many calories you eat normally without eating potato burgers or whatever they are.

The best part is I have not gained the weight back, because my body’s defense systems didn’t bounce back like they did when after completing the super-restrictive 21 day fix diet.

What are alternatives versions of paleo diet vs 21 day fix?

The gist of all alternatives versions of paleo diet is usually the same. Eliminate the most commonly problematic foods for a full 30 days, then you can experiment by adding some things back in to see what works for you.

Primal diet is generally less strict than Paleo. They tend to allow dairy and take a softer stance on legumes. Primal, however, will not allow wheat or other grains, soy, or crappy vegetable and seed oils. Paleo foods are a subset of Primal foods. There is nothing that is Paleo that is not also Primal, but not all Primal foods are considered Paleo.

However, you can do occasional cheating and try to indulge in your favorite carbs. Cheating on a diet isn’t that bad. And Mark’s Primal diet and Diane’s 21 day sugar detox gives you comprehensive guidelines, and helps you throughout your journey. So, you change your lifestyle easily for good, not just for those 21 days.

Whole30 is like going super strict Paleo for 30 days. Almost like a detox, although I hate that word because it sets off bullshit detectors. Many of the big Paleo people have their version of “Whole30”.

I felt like quitting a few times because sometimes I was simply too exhausted to get up and do my workout.

But I didn’t give up. The long term prospect of feeling and looking good is much more rewarding than a quick stop to McDonalds.

I will follow the diet once again after some time. A lot of hard work and sweat went into losing those pounds and I can’t wait until I reach my final goal of being a size 6. The best feeling was when I tried on some pre pregnancy clothes and most of them fit again!!!!!

Anybody can lose weight. It’s just mind over matter!

The fact that you recognize where you went wrong is what matters. This journey is never perfect and we learn so much about ourselves throughout it. It’s about learning.

Learning about your body, how it responds to food, your relationship with food on top of learning new habits. Losing weight, exercising, and eating at a deficit did not come natural to me.

You just make better choices everyday and they add up to bigger and better choices which lead to results. Just keep trying and if you feel you may have a food addiction, seek help. Good luck!!