Autumn Calabrese answers nutrition questions about the 21 Day Fix plan. Eat at least three meals a day plus two snacks. Vegans can use beans and lentils but they'll shift your carb ratio. Quinoa counts as a carb, not protein, and skip the Quest bars for the first 21 days.
Hey, BOD members, we are answering fitness and nutrition questions today. Let's get to it. What do I do if I can't eat every couple of hours? Is it adaptable? And how do you recommend getting snacks in? Okay, yes, the 21 day fix is adaptable and no, it's not the end of the world if you can't eat every couple of hours. But I would suggest sticking to at least three meals a day. You, you really don't want to combine your containers into anything less than that because then you start to put too much food in your stomach at once. So if you can't do five or six small meals a day, at least still try to spread it out to three meals a day. But if you can spread it out to those three meals and two snacks, that is going to give you the best results possible. But like I said, yes, you can move it and make it into three meals. Make it a little bit smaller than that. Can vegans who don't eat soy substitute beans and lentils for the red container.
You can, but you're going to start to shift your macros a little bit on this one.
They're just still carb heavy. So it does change it a little bit. So make sure you're eating really clean so that you don't end up with a super high carb meal plan. So you can. I know it's a little bit harder for vegans and vegetarians, but just be aware that they are still higher in carbs than animal proteins. Any advice for eating paleo on this program? Yeah, you can just select paleo friendly options from the food list. So like kale, eggs and nuts. But here's the other great thing, you guys. My new cookbook Fix Aid is coming out and that has tons of options in there for everybody. So we have vegan recipes and paleo recipes and gluten free recipes literally cover the spectrum. So that will be an option as well. Should I increase my calorie bracket if I am doing two workouts? Not necessarily. What you need to do is use the formula on page 76 of your guidebook and calculate it for being active or for doing harder workouts and see what calorie bracket that puts you in. Sometimes that'll end up bumping you up to the next bracket, but not always. So just know that anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour is actually normal for a workout, so you don't necessarily have to just bump yourself up. I want you to really follow the guidebook and use the formula that is in the book. That's how you're going to get the best results. The second you start guessing and trying to change it to fit what you think is going to work, you're not really following the process program anymore. So make sure you're using that formula and that'll get you in the right calorie bracket. Tell me about quinoa. If it's a complete protein, can't it be considered a red container, especially for those following vegetarian and vegan diets? No. Bottom line is it really can't because it's just too high in carbs. So, yes, it is a good source of protein, but it has more carbs in it, so it needs to fall into the yellow. Otherwise you start shifting the macro. I love quest bars. Can I eat quest bars on this program? If so, what container would they fall into? Okay, here's what I have to say about quest bars. If this is your first round of 21 day fix, no, you may not have a quest bar. You need to follow the program to the T for the first 21 days, because here's what's going to happen. You start adding other little things in that aren't on the food list and that sort of thing, and then maybe you don't get the results you thought you were going to get and then you're going to blame me. So I don't want you to do that. Now, if you're what I call a fixer for life and you just turn this into your lifestyle and you are doing it continuously, you can fit a quest bar into the program. Let me go into depth a little bit further. A quest bar is technically a protein bar. So you're going to want to substitute it in as a red. Don't substitute it as a yellow. And here's why. Even though there aren't really carbs in the quest bar, I want you to think of it as a treat. This is not something that you should have all the time as a meal replacement or as a red replacement. It still has processed ingredients in it, so it's just not really the best choice. If you're grabbing it and on the go.
Think of it as a treat. I still want you to get your protein in though, so that would be my best substitute for it. All right, let's see. If I'm nursing, should I increase my calorie bracket? First of all, if you're nursing, you should always check with your healthcare professional first before doing 21 day fix or any other fitness and nutrition program. But that being said, yes, what you want to do is do your calorie calculation and then add 500 calories to that number. Whatever bracket that puts you in, that's where you will end up, and that's where you'll be okay. So that your milk supply stays up and you still have energy and you're still burning calories and all that sort of thing. So add 500 calories to your calculation if you're breastfeeding. Guys, thank you so much for the questions. They're awesome. I always love being able to get back to you, so I hope these helped. Keep them coming, and I'll see you guys soon. Bye.
