Are you a FIXer who is curious about the new Beachbody Program 2B Mindset? Are you wondering if it’s for you? Read on to find out my honest opinion of this plan!
**For price and ordering info, please see the bottom of this post!
Looking for 2B Mindset Recipes? Check out this post!
Like you, I have heard about 2B Mindset a lot recently…and for the last few weeks my newsfeed has been full of ads for this new Nutrition-only program by Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist Ilana Muhlstein.
I saw posts like – Want to lose weight without workouts? Are you an emotional or stress eater?
And, my favorite, Want to drink wine, eat ice cream, and lose lots of weight?
Ummm…yes, yes, and totally yes.
So naturally I bought the program and spent several hours yesterday “researching” this new plan…reading through the documents, watching the videos, and trying to learn as much as I could for myself and also to share with all of you.
As someone who loves the 21 Day Fix and truly believes that the container system works, I expected to not like 2B Mindset…but that wasn’t the case at all. I found a lot that I did like, and there are actually a lot of similarities to both programs which I will discuss here.
First, though, I need to get something straight.
This is not a plan that incorporates all you can drink wine and and free cupcakes as part of the program. For anyone out there who is hoping for a nutritional free for all that will still result in weight loss, save your money. That unicorn of an idea doesn’t exist, ok? Ok.
And yes – there isn’t a workout that goes along with this program. Ilana recommends focusing on nutrition first IF you feel uncomfortable with workouts at the moment or don’t feel ready to tackle both nutrition and fitness at the same time. But she isn’t telling you not to make exercise a choice…she is simply making that a goal to work towards.
The 2B Mindset Nutrition plan might avoid “rules” but there are definite guidelines to this program. Similar to the FIX, there is a food list with 4 categories – Veggies, Proteins, Carbohydrates (called FFCs), and Accessories – aka fats and sweeteners – and also a recommended amount of each food group to eat daily.
Unlike the FIX, though, there isn’t an exact measurement for these foods. Ilana encourages you to eyeball the amount in a way that’s trackable for you. She also has a simple to follow Plate It system and shows you how to divide your plate at each meal – for example, the breakfast is 50% protein and 50% carbs – or FFCs (Fiber Filled Carbohydrates) as they are called on the plan. Veggies, she says, are extra credit for breakfasts, meaning you can add them (for free!) if you want to.
So unlike the FIX where you can manipulate your containers how you want to throughout the day, in 2B Mindset you will be eating certain types of food at each meal..similar to the way food is grouped for meals in the 80 Day Obsession. There are three meals per day and there is also an optional snack between lunch and dinner. And Ilana suggests you follow the rule “Dinner and Done” so no snacks or food, healthy or otherwise, after dinner.
There are also differences in the food lists. Fruit is a carb, and some of the higher starch veggies, like Butternut and Acorn squash, are also on the carb list. Oh – and hummus, too. As far as veggies – you will be eating a lot of these, as veggies most is one of Ilana’s mantras – they are the more water based veggies from the 21 Day Fix list. There is definitely less protein on this plan than the FIX, but the protein list includes similar choices to the FIX, as well as low fat cheese (mind blown).
There are no “teaspoons” or “fats” on 2B Mindset. What we think of as blues, oranges, and teaspoons on the FIX are called accessories on the Ilana’s plan and you can have 1-2 from the list at each meal to add flavor to your food. Again – there isn’t a specific measurement for these, but Ilana encourages starting small – like with a tablespoon and going from there.
If you are still hungry after a meal, Ilana also has a plan for that called More, Sure…and she will walk you through how to eat more at a meal, social event, or holiday while also staying on the plan.
And like the FIX, 2B Mindset allows for treats. But instead of having set treat swaps with parameters like on the 21 Day Fix, the 2B Mindset gives you the freedom to choose that glass of wine or that cupcake whenever and wherever, as long as you track it. These “silly” carbs as Ilana calls them, are ok on occasion…aka probably not more than the three times Autumn recommends. The idea behind not giving you a set amount, though, is it empowers YOU to make the rules instead of forcing them onto you. If you allow yourself some wine and you track it, you will be able to see how it affects your goals and change the behavior accordingly.
The big question, though, is whether that is easier said than done for some of us (looking at myself here).
While everything is printed in the program materials (which you get in hard copy AND printable, digital files), you get a series of videos with Ilana that you can watch via Beachbody On Demand. I spent most of my afternoon with these videos yesterday and, honestly, I could watch Illana all day. She is super likeable and brimming with awesome tips, tricks, and mantras for making this plan – or any healthy eating plan – work for you.
She also explains the reasons behind her choices for the plan, which is key. Instead of being annoyed with her for not including carbs with dinner, you understand the purpose behind this and hopefully there is more buy in because of that.
Another notable difference between this program and the FIX is instead of staying off the scale and trusting the process, you will be weighing yourself daily, as Ilana views the scale as accountability, which makes total sense for this plan. Because you are tracking every single bite of food that you eat each day including the amounts, the scale is going to dictate your good days and bad days.
So, yes, there are no “rules” but if you are choosing “silly” carbs or eyeballing a little too many carbs or accessories, you are going to see it on the scale and therefore you will have you make adjustments if you want to lose weight.
This is why most people in the test group lost less weight in the first month than they did in months 2, 3 and 4. There is a learning curve for this…a much different one that with the FIX. Instead of trying to figure out how to piece together your containers throughout the day, you will need to learn to choose the foods and amount of these foods that will lead to your own personal weight loss.
Whether or not the 2B Mindset plan is right for you, it might be worth investing in the program for the education alone. As I stated before, Ilana is a wealth of knowledge. I consider myself pretty savvy in the ways of healthy eating and nutrition label reading, but I found myself taking note after note while watching Ilana on the videos. And there is something nice about having all the videos there for you to refer to or refer back to – no searching required.
So if you are contemplating this program, here are some questions to ask yourself.
Are you willing to track every single bite of food that you eat and the amounts?
The Food Tracker is a key element of this program, so you need to have that with you at all times and track every bite of what you eat – especially at the beginning – so you can learn how to adjust your food for weight loss. Down the line there will be an app for this, but right now you will need to track pencil and paper. I would personally suck at this!
Are you comfortable eyeballing the amounts of food in a trackable way?
The FIX does the thinking for you – there is no guesswork. The 2B Mindset allows for more flexibility, but for those of you who need the structure, this might not be comfortable. And if you tend to overeat, not having the portions measured exactly for you, might lead to weight gain at first. But the good news is you should be able to use your tracker to help you make adjustments and have success.
Will you take advantage of the flexibility or use it to empower yourself?
The 2B Mindset program is meant to change your thinking, and therefore change your behavior to put YOU in charge of your weight loss through the choices you make. And since there aren’t hard and fast rules like in the 21 Day Fix, you have more flexibility…but this requires you to be honest about your choices and what is or is not working for you and own it. This might not come as easy as it sounds and will still require you to have willpower and commit to your goals, just like any other plan.
Are you ready for a change? Are you bored with the FIX or with whatever plan you are currently using for healthy eating and/or weight loss?
Sometimes you just need to switch things up…so maybe this plan will allow you to do that. All in all, it’s not that different than the FIX, but maybe it will be different enough. And like I mentioned before, Ilana will teach you things that you can incorporate into any healthy lifestyle.
At the moment, you can only get 2B Mindset through Beachbody. If you are interested in ordering, you can use my referral links below. Right now the program is discounted $20 – this price is good until June 3rd!
You can order it in a few different packages:
The 2B Mindset Base Kit comes with –
- 21 Learn the 2B Mindset Videos
- 5 Ask Ilana Videos
- 15 Recipe Videos
- Getting Started Guide
- My Go-To Guide
- My Tracker
- 2B Mindset Water Bottle
- Recipes
- Beachbody Nutrition+ App (Coming June 2018)
The 2B Mindset Challenge Pack comes with all of the above, plus a 30 day Supply of Shakeology, which llana recommends as one of your daily protein choices.
And the 2B Mindset Annual On Demand Challenge Pack with Shakeology comes with all of the above, a 30 Day Supply of Shakeology, and a yearly subscription to Beachbody On Demand with thousands of workout options to stream!
I hope this helps you make an informed decision about whether the 2B Mindset is right for you. If you have any questions that I didn’t answer for you, please just reach out!
Looking for more 2B Mindset Recipes? Check out my Ultimate Recipe Guide!
