The first workout program my wife and I did together was the 21 Day Fix with Autumn Calabrese. We were considering the 21 Day Fix Extreme since it was free but I’m glad we didn’t go with that one. I tried it a year or so later. With how well I did with the original I would have lost motivation and not finished the extreme version.
So we cleared a space in the living room and started up the first video. Autumn said her introductions and explained who to watch for different intensities. I figured I’d watch the guy since I had spent the previous 15 years of my life doing full body physical activity. And I had a job just a couple years before where I was lifting 200 pound computers on a regular basis. The workout started and I came to a realization.
I hadn’t done any of that in at least 2 years.
Kat Napolitano quickly became my best friend from that point on. Autumn would explain each workout and I’d wait for the camera to show Kat so I knew how to do the version I could actually keep up with. She’s the only reason I was able to survive the entire program.
It was a real eye opener for the concept of, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life. The cardio was and continues to be an issue for me. I’ve never been known for my strong lungs but when I first started this program it was like I’d never used them.
We did a workout every day when we both got home from work. The three weeks seemed to last for months as my body got used to working again. My wife and I also changed our diet which, as someone who mostly ate junk, made the time seem even longer. There were tons of groaning and complaining as we went through the program as we both did things our bodies weren’t used to.
Really the main thing that kept me motivated was the fact that I each had someone who was expecting me to work out with them every day. I’d get home and have no interest in working out but I’d make sure I was changed and ready for my wife because she would still want to.
But at the end of it all we survived. And we had put enough time into it to make a habit out of working out every day. That made it easy for us to make the transition into PiYo to start pushing ourselves even further. I didn’t really track any of my body changes during the first couple programs we did but a couple months after starting this program I was down about 20 or 30 pounds after accounting for the muscle I had gained.
All you need in order to do the workouts are some light weights and an optional mat. We got some yoga mats which did just fine. I think the weights we used were 3 pounds, and 5 pounds, though there were some times where the only weights we could handle were our empty hands.
Autumn talks about the meal plan for the program which we didn’t use so I don’t know how well it works. She also brings up the Shakeology, since the whole point of the program is to sell the shakes. My wife got them but I did not. I wouldn’t say the Shakeology is not worth the price, because I think it is. It’s a great way to get the things your body needs if you don’t have the time or ambition to do your own research.
For me, I don’t see health as a one size fits all kind of thing. Because of that, I opted to find my own post workout drink through trial and error after doing some research on what I needed specifically for my current health and goals. My wife stuck with Shakeology for a year then decided to take the same route I had taken.
Overall the 21 Day Fix is a great program, especially if you want something to help you get used to working out from doing nothing. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the program to anyone who wants to make a change in their life without needing to spend too much. I think other than the actual videos we only spent about $20 on some light weights and cheap yoga mats. It’s every day for 21 days but each workout is only about a half hour. Starting out it seems like forever while you’re doing it but it’s easier to find motivation to do a 30 minute workout at home compared to having to drive to a gym and hope the equipment you want is available so you can do your workout in an hour, maybe longer.
A Life, Ensnared 