I Joined the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan — Here's What It's Like
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Kathryna Hancock
If you're even remotely interested in health and fitness, you've probably heard of the Tone It Up girls by now. They've been around quite a while (they even had a reality show, Toned Up, on Bravo in 2014), but their visibility has boomed lately, especially since the release of their products in Target.
Tone It Up is essentially a fitness community, and there are many facets to what its founders, Katrina Scott and Karena Dawn, offer to their followers. For one thing, they have an app called Studio Tone It Up, which offers live workout classes you can stream online. For another, they do an annual Tone It Up tour, which is essentially a fitness festival that travels to all the major US cities. They also have workout DVDs (you can buy the actual DVDs or stream the videos online) and fitness equipment. But the most expensive product on offer is membership to the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan (it offers regular, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and pescatarian plans), which is $170, a one-time fee.
I joined the TIU Nutrition Plan and have been following it on and off since completing my keto diet experiment a few months ago. Here's what you need to know before signing up.
What You Get With the Plan
When you sign up for this expensive membership, you actually get quite a lot in return. I received a Lifestyle Kit in the mail, which contained a hardcover edition of the standard Nutrition Plan, as well as access to all of the challenges.
The TIU ladies release "challenges" — essentially, complete meal plans with corresponding workouts, all in line with their Nutrition Plan guidelines — every few months or so. These are all complete meal plans in ebook form, and you get access to more than 10 of them. Each challenge is extremely in-depth, with colorful coordinated pages that tell you what to eat each day, what workout moves to do, and tips and tricks for meal prepping and staying motivated.
With membership, you also get access to the general Nutrition Plan, which explains the framework and reasoning/rules behind the meal plans. The Nutrition Plan reveals TIU's "secret sauce" for its nutrition guidelines. Essentially, you eat three small meals and two snacks per day, and the TIU girls tell you at which meals you should have carb-heavy foods, where to add in healthy fats, and what ingredients to avoid completely.
Oh, and arguably the best part of the nutrition plan membership is the recipes. I haven't actually counted, but with all the ebooks you get access to, you probably get more than 200 recipes. And they are GOOD.
A Week in the Life
So, what does it actually look like to follow the Nutrition Plan for a week? I've tried a lot of different eating styles, and I have to say, TIU is probably the most reasonable, balanced eating plan I've ever tried.
Morning Workout: The TIU ladies recommend a morning workout first thing to get your metabolism revved up. I haven't purchased the Studio Tone It Up app membership, but I did the free Toning Moves that are posted every day on the Tone It Up website. Supposedly, these free moves take into account which muscle groups you're working each day, so you theoretically don't need to take a rest day. The daily moves were a lot tougher than they looked and definitely got my heart pumping!
Breakfast: Each day, I cooked myself a healthy breakfast after doing the Toning Moves fasted. Usually this meant a protein pancake made with Tone It Up protein powder or an egg scramble with veggies.
Image Source: Maggie McCracken
Snack: My first snack of the day was usually fruit, a protein smoothie, or the Tone It Up Blueberry Muffins.
Image Source: Maggie McCracken
Lunch: Lunch was either a wrap, a salad, or a stir-fry with rice and veggies.
Image Source: Maggie McCracken
Snack: At this point, the TIU girls recommend limited carbs, so I usually reached for a lean meat Epic bar for my afternoon snack. I especially love the chicken ones!
Image Source: Maggie McCracken
Dinner: The TIU ladies tell you to keep it lean, clean, and green for dinner, which usually means lean meat plus veggies on the side drizzled with healthy fats (hello, olive oil!).
Image Source: Maggie McCracken
The TIU Community
One of the coolest things about joining the TIU Nutrition Plan is the amazing community of people who you can connect with. There are Tone It Up member groups for nearly every large metro area. I live in Chicago, and after joining the plan just two months ago, I've already met up with tons of cool health-focused ladies. Everyone inspires each other and shares ideas about health and wellness, and the community's language is always inclusive and body-positive.
Would I Pay For It Again?
So, would I recommend shelling out the $170 for the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan? I'd say yes — if you're sure you'll commit! But even if you don't, it's not like you lose access to all these meal plans and recipes. Getting access to so many gorgeously designed, uplifting, and fun ebooks complete with meal plans, recipes, workout ideas, and other fitness ideas is totally worth it if you want something fun and interesting to keep you motivated in your fitness goals.
