2B or not 2B? That is the Question! I tried the 2B Mindset for a month and a half and here’s what happened…
When it comes to my nutrition, I tend to take a well-rounded approach toward having a changed relationship with food:
👉 No more deprivation or thinking in terms that the LESS I eat is MORE helpful to my well-being.
👉 Going beyond the mindset that any of this is for WEIGHT purposes. I want to view all these steps for HEALTH purposes, and weight is just one indicator of that.
👉 Eating MORE of the good, nutrient-rich stuff and gaining more knowledge about what bodily systems I’m supporting with each food.
It’s become so commonplace for the easy-to-grab snacks, pre-made meals, breakfast options, and nearly all restaurant options to be OVERLOADED with carbohydrates. I certainly do not think carbs are the enemy — why would they be, they give our bodies energy — but I do think it’s important to know our carbs and to keep them in balance with the other macronutrients in our diets. Not all carbs are created equal!
Once we can stop thinking about it in terms of weight and look at food as one of the most ENORMOUS mechanisms to support our health, it all changes.
I chose to begin the 2B Mindset a month and a half ago for a second try, and here’s why:
- The other nutrition program I was following was taking a little more time to meal plan than I would like
- I was feeling stagnant, puffy, and bloated more often than normal for me, despite eating a great diet and working out 5-6 days a week
- I needed a system to help me drink more water — I am one of those people who could go all day without a sip of water!
- I was about halfway through the 13 week fitness program I’ve been working my way through and looking for a way to dial it in, change it up, and to implement some new mantras and concepts when it came to nutrition.
Enter the 2B Mindset!
2B Mindset is a revolutionary weight-loss program that will change your mindset about food, your body, and losing weight. Instead of diets that focus on what you can’t eat, this simple and easy approach will have you focused on what you can eat so you feel full, satisfied, and in control without ever counting calories or points or measuring food.
With 2B Mindset, we have access to a series of short videos to learn all of the basic principles of the program created by Ilana Muhlstein, a Registered Dietitian. These videos include Ilana’s story, education on food groups, what to eat and when, plus real-life strategies for every eating situation (e.g., eating at restaurants, at parties, while on a trip, for vegans/vegetarians, and much more!), videos to overcome common weight loss struggles, and recipe videos, just to name some!
It comes with a 90-day tracking workbook which I try to look at as essentially a food journal! It’s got space to set goals, reflect, track water intake, daily weight, regularity, and food intake. This tracking can also easily be done via our total-solution app — Beachbody on Demand — for the digital lovers out there.
There are a few very basic mantras to remember that help with water and veggie intake, tracking, and kitchen/pantry stocking, but also the program teaches the Plate It! method. This offers a visual component to making balanced meals and defines the optimal food group plating ratios. Plate It! is a thoughtful approach to meal planning that maximizes the body’s use of these macronutrients across a typical day, as well as pairs macros together in such a way to keep us better satiated and energetic so we do not ever feel deprived.
My 2B Mindset Results
I want to make a note that this window of time has overlapped both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I definitely indulged in cookies and sweets but I’ve already had some great outcomes regardless! Here are my personal results and “A-ha!” moments I’ve had throughout just one and a half months of following this simple-to-follow program.
While my weight has fluctuated around the same place for a few months now, I am more comfortable with it and my “new normal” because, as opposed to like two months ago, I FEEL better, leaner, and stronger! That also has something to do with the fitness program I’ve been doing for 13 weeks 😉
Read more about that in the above post as part of my postpartum workout recommendations!
For the record though, exercise is not required for the 2B Mindset nutrition program; rather, it’s extra credit!
Because of the food journal and daily tracking, I now have a better idea of what types of things cause me to have a weight gain day. HELLO alcohol and night time sweets! When you can visualize it, you can add it to the toolbox of motivation to make more conscious healthy choices on the whole. This has allowed me to *finally* be able to see the scale as a tool and not more of a total indicator. A great mindset shift for me! WIN ✅
Because of tracking, I even made a discovery: I think I have a walnut intolerance. Who knew?! There are plenty of pros to keeping a food journal! Again, not about weight or obsession with anything unhealthy. But it’s a great tool to get better in tune with your body, which is exactly what I was hoping to get from this. WIN ✅
Having the know-how for what types of foods to eat according to the Plate It method allowed me to make some better choices throughout the holidays although the cookies were a’plenty. I maintained my weight through this time of year which is progress for me considering I used to put ten on every single winter!
Not even exaggerating. TEN. Every year.
But not this year! WIN ✅
I’ve had a LOT less bloating, my clothes fit better, and I’ve been able to cut back on meal planning time. WINS ✅
Positive Side Effects I wasn’t Expecting
Even I, the veggie queen, have been trying new vegetables out and I can feel really good about eating all the colors of the rainbow. This is equal to a spectrum of nutrients! 🙌 WIN ✅
Another biggie for me is water intake. I have ALWAYS been a terrible water drinker! I finally decided to set a water goal and commit to it and it’s been such a wonderful thing. In addition to flushing out your system in many ways (like digestive, urinary, and vascular), increased water intake helps to normalize blood pressure, carry nutrients and oxygen to cells, and to cushion the joints and organs. I’ve been mostly consistent in hitting my water goals thus far using the principles of this program — a WHOLE new thing for me! WIN ✅
The plating method used in 2B Mindset outlines ratios to aim for to easily balance the food groups at each meal, but they vary by meal too. This is because of the way the different macros are used in the body and it takes into account the timing of the typical person’s day. For instance, carbs are recommended for breakfast, lunch, and snack so that our bodies can use the energy we get from carbohydrate metabolism at the appropriate time of day. Dinners therefore are a ratio of protein and veggies, with the option to include “accessories” which are foods like healthy fats and additional veggies to boost the flavor. But there are no carbs with dinner because at that time of the evening, we should be eating to wind down and looking to avoid the energy boost we’d get from a more carby meal.
As a result of this, I’ve been sleeping well more often too. WIN ✅
I have also found some amazing resources for 2B Mindset-specific recipes and am building an epic collection of REALLY good dishes! These will have you craving your veggies and adopting a new love for foods in no time. Several times my husband and I have looked at each other and said, “okay, THIS is incredible!”
Veggietastic meals that we all love? WIN ✅
I think you can see where I stand on the 2B or not 2B question! I love both of our nutrition programs deeply, and I love to share them with others. But I’ll be sticking with this one for a while — it fits my life right now and has brought me a lot of successes that I never even saw coming!
What Results Have Others Seen with the 2B Mindset?
Watch this quick one-minute video: you’ll be amazed at these incredible results!
In addition to these and many, many others, several of my girls are seeing results with this program too! Weight loss, better control, more healthy choices, less snacks and eating foods that don’t actually do anything beneficial for our bodies, and several wins just like mine.
Who is 2B Mindset for?
People who:
- Want to lose weight but dislike exercise. Know how they say, “abs are made in the kitchen”? Exercise is extra credit with 2B Mindset!
- Exercise but struggle with nutrition. Many people feel they’re doing good work by exercising, but can’t figure out why they’re still unable to reach their weight-loss goals. The 2B Mindset is the perfect solution, teaching
what you need to eat to reach your goals! - Cannot exercise due to injury or illness. For people who cannot exercise at all, a major way to stay healthy and manage weight is through the food they eat. The 2B Mindset methodology is designed to help anyone achieve these goals without exercise.
- Love food, love to eat big portions, and want to feel full. Ilana, the developer of the 2B Mindset, loves to eat big portions, too! If you’ve seen her on social media, I assume you know this already 😉 Her system is specifically designed to allow people to eat a large volume of food so they can always feel full and satisfied. This is how the program helps people lose weight “happily.”
- Want an easy-to-follow way to lose weight without strict rules. The 2B Mindset is perfect for this person, because the system is so simple to follow (no containers, no counting calories, no cutting out whole food groups). Plus you learn what works specifically for YOUR BODY, rather than following some rigid system that treats everyone the same.
- Want to be free from emotional eating, obsessing about food, and feeling overwhelmed by food choices. Ilana wants people to feel FREE! She addresses how to deal with emotional eating. She breaks down exactly how to lose weight while continuing to eat foods you love. And she provides delicious and nutritious recipes that are simple to implement. That’s how we turn “obsessing” into “satisfaction”!
Favorite 2B Mindset Recipes
I grab 2B Mindset recipes from wherever I can find them, particularly the Beachbody Blog and Pinterest, but the biggest contributor so far? 2B Mindset on BODi. This is part of our upper-tier Beachbody on Demand membership that, in addition to live classes of every type directly with our Super Trainers and chances to be working out on screen with them, also gets us continuous premium nutrition content. This is where we can do a deeper dive on a plethora of topics, attend office hours weekly directly with the nutrition program creators, AND there are full meal plans, shopping lists and exclusive recipes for each plan.
This is where I have found most of my favorites so far! Plus all of these recipes come with helpful tips, what to look for on labels, substitutions, guidelines, etc. that really help expand nutritional knowledge along the way.
Breakfast
All-in One Pan Breakfast Burrito
I love the versatility and simplicity in this one!
Biscuits and Gravy Breakfast
Ilana has worked her magic to even come up with a a healthy gravy option! No skimping on flavor with this one, either!
Breakfast Brownies
While I love these too, I can also feel good about serving them to my kiddos! Chocolate for breakfast? When it looks like this, why not?
Lunch
Chopped Chicken, Egg and Broccoli Apple Slaw
So many delicious flavors here!
Big Mac Salad
Obviously this one is on the list. 🤤
Dinner
Chaffle Tacos with Pickled Radishes and Peppers
I started seeing chaffles pop up as “a thing” when the keto diet was kind of rising in popularity because these are low carb taco options, but also higher in fat from the cheese. Chaffles are cheese waffles that require very few ingredients and in this recipe, Ilana even throws in a hidden vegetable for substance! I mean, it is totally undetectable, and they are delicious! Any guesses?
Coffee-Rubbed Steaks with Roasted Veggies
This was one of those that my husband and I locked eyes over such a tender and tasty piece of steak and I knew it would be on the list forever!
Caulifredo Zoodles with Juicy Chicken
I love a good hidden veggie recipe (necessary as a parent of a toddler!) and this lemony caulifredo sauce is just so good!
Pros and Cons to the 2B Mindset
PROS
In comparison to the Portion Fix, I have a complicated relationship in letting go of those containers, but I also love that it’s less brainpower for me to create a meal plan now because I have less boxes to check off. I save time and have tried some really delicious things.
I also much enjoy that I can more easily REALLY be a flexitarian, or someone who loves plant-based meals but also doesn’t say no to a steak sometimes. I feel that the way the 2B Mindset food lists are created are more conducive to this type of eating because the proteins include beans and other plant proteins.
You truly do have the freedom to eat what you want, as long as you track it. Nothing is off-limits! You WILL start to see patterns over time (or sometimes pretty quickly) in how consuming unhealthy foods will play out with your weight and the way you feel. This further leads to visualization and learned behaviors: if I do x, then y will happen. This works for both weight loss and weight gain days and I like how we can use it to our advantage in making better decisions next time.
These concepts are simple to implement anywhere! And, they WORK.
Trust the process!
CONS
The daily tracking of ALL THE THINGS is tough for me! This is honestly my only con, but I’m trying to work with it by using strictly 2B Mindset recipes that are already calculated in the portions needed for each meal so I can know that just by following my meal plan, I’m getting the right foods in. I’m working on my consistency too — nobody here is perfect!
At first I did not like the daily relationship it forced me to have with the scale, but really, once you change your mindset to use the scale as a tool in the journey toward getting really in tune with yourself, that all changed for the better.
Dive Into the 2B Mindset With Me!
While you can start your journey any time, I do have a group beginning on January 10th, 2022 where I plan to offer 30 days of hands-on support as we learn this program! We will outline the videos, have simple homework and takeaways, and go through the program together to implement healthier nutrition into our daily lives.
Apply right here to join us and change the way you view food for the better ❤️
If you’d like to take a look at our Nutrition Program Quiz to decide if 2B Mindset or the Portion Fix is a better fit for you, click the button below to find out in two minutes or less!
2B Mindset in Summary
This program has been an incredible change-up for me, and my friends, and countless others who have adopted this approach! The mindset shifts have been priceless, the results I’m seeing have helped me reach some of my goals plus many other positives that I never saw coming. There have been a lot of great changes in my body and in my life in part due to this program and I feel really confident about my continued success with it. It’s simple to learn, easy to implement, and comes with a plethora of valued resources to help us thrive. I’m loving the way my body feels and my energy levels with the spectrum of foods and nutrients I consciously reach for now, and I’d love to share it with you, too!
If you have any questions, please reach out!
