So, my first day on my new plan went pretty well. I was very worried about the volume of water I'd be required to drink, I've always struggled to drink water if I'm not thirsty. Even then, I have to use our soda stream to make fizzy water as I really just don't like water. I know that's weird to a lot of people but I just don't like the non-taste of it. The fizzy water tastes different due to the fizz and I love it! Bizarre but hey, it works for me. Anyway, there are no specific notes about the water having to be still so I'm sticking with what I like despite the fact I will be full of bubbles! I'd REALLY struggle to force down 3.25 litres of still water every day! I've to try to limit my fizzy water to 50% of my intake though, I manage to have the still water during work outs but I need to work on forcing it down the rest of the time!
I found it easier than I thought to drink it all though. Baring in mind that it's in addition to my protein shakes, I managed to have over a litre before I left for work on Monday! I had my 275 mls when I woke, then my peach & mango BCAA shake with 300mls water, then 500mls water during my HIIT workout, then BCAA with 200mls (seriously - that stuff is disgusting so I reduced the recommended by Joe volume to the minimum it said on the packet and washed it down with more water - I've been recommended to try the berry blast instead) then my 300ml protein shake (this one was actually quite nice - I got the blueberry flavour) and another glass of water before I left. I then managed to finish my 1L bottle of water at work by lunchtime and started my next one which I finished with dinner.
Obviously as a result of all that liquid, my kidneys are getting a good workout too and I've been constantly popping to the loo!
I didn't expect to be hungry on the plan given the large portions of protein but I was, particularly in the afternoon. On my first day I got up early at 6am to drink my water and BCAA, did my measurements and work out, drank everything else and had my Build Up Bagel for breakfast. That was yummy! I tried to find out if there was something I could substitute for the Walden's Farm BBQ sauce (low or no calorie I think) as I'm not really a fan of BBQ flavour but couldn't find any info on the website or google. I ended up using mustard which I figured wouldn't be too bad and would be yummy, which it was! I have ordered the Walden's farm sauce as it's used in a couple of other recipes (i.e. with mince) so I figured I should at least try it in case it's not too smoky and I like it. (Update: it arrived yesterday and I hate it - too smoky for me. If anybody wants mine, let me know!)
The rest of my day's menu was:
Breakfast - Bagel
Snack 1 - Salmon pate & 2 rice cakes
Lunch - Chicken stir fry
Snack 2 - Melon
Dinner - Chicken cashew curry with broccoli
I managed my 3.25L water and protein shakes and various other supplements too. And yet I was still hungry after lunch! The melon helped briefly but I might try the more eggy options or a protein shake next time and see if they fill me up more.
I've enjoyed all of the food so far (if you don't count the BCAA shake - reminded me of Movicol when I had to get a colonoscopy a couple of years ago!) and hope I adjust to the new menu soon so I don't feel hungry. That's one reason why I've never dieted - I get HANGRY! I can't cope if I'm hungry. That's what attracted me to this plan, so many people saying they struggled to eat everything. Hmmm, not me apparently!
I've since been recommended to try the berry blast flavour of BCAA or some of the flavours from a different website (not the one Joe recommends) so I'll give them a go. SO far I've been making them with as little volume as possible, pinching my nose and downing them in one and quickly rinsing down with fizzy water!
On day 2 my menu was as follows:
Water, BCAA shake, HIIT workout, BCAA shake, Impact Whey shake, more water and Vit C.
Breakfast - I was going to make protein pancakes but after my sweet Blueberry protein shake I didn't fancy sweet pancakes so made another build up bagel with mustard. Yum!
Snack - Avocado dip with celery
Lunch - Chicken Stir Fry
Snack - Boiled egg
Dinner - Spicy Turkey Mince with avocado & spinach. (I never quite anticipated just how much spinach 175g is! A serious mountain of it - I had to have it in a separate bowl and might stick to the other greens next time although it did help cool my mouth with the very hot mince!)
I managed my full water in take again.
The work outs are hard (of course or what's the point!?) as I am so unfit at the moment. I'm not hating them though but I do struggle to do the whole thing the whole time. I am definitely having to take more rest time between each exercise! Hopefully this will improve quickly.
Today I have had my protein based breakfast as I knew I wouldn't manage a workout this morning (it's always crazy busy on the day I have to get everything ready for the childminder and get the house tidy for the cleaner coming! I usually do as much as possible the night before for the kids and cleaner but that plus getting their lunch packed and sorting myself out takes too long in the morning on my own when we need to be out of the house before 8am! I've discovered that sorting my shakes, workout and breakfast takes a good 1-1.5 hours even with food prep done in advance and the workout itself being about 30 mins including warm up and cool down.
This morning I had these delicious scrambled eggs with feta and spinach. I didn't get enough of the house tidy yesterday and was knackered so ended up being in a massive rush this morning (thank goodness the twins slept til 8!) and had to shove my breakfast in a big box to take to work (I start at 8.30!) and wolfed it down when I got there with 3 mins to spare!!
I found it easier than I thought to drink it all though. Baring in mind that it's in addition to my protein shakes, I managed to have over a litre before I left for work on Monday! I had my 275 mls when I woke, then my peach & mango BCAA shake with 300mls water, then 500mls water during my HIIT workout, then BCAA with 200mls (seriously - that stuff is disgusting so I reduced the recommended by Joe volume to the minimum it said on the packet and washed it down with more water - I've been recommended to try the berry blast instead) then my 300ml protein shake (this one was actually quite nice - I got the blueberry flavour) and another glass of water before I left. I then managed to finish my 1L bottle of water at work by lunchtime and started my next one which I finished with dinner.
Obviously as a result of all that liquid, my kidneys are getting a good workout too and I've been constantly popping to the loo!
I didn't expect to be hungry on the plan given the large portions of protein but I was, particularly in the afternoon. On my first day I got up early at 6am to drink my water and BCAA, did my measurements and work out, drank everything else and had my Build Up Bagel for breakfast. That was yummy! I tried to find out if there was something I could substitute for the Walden's Farm BBQ sauce (low or no calorie I think) as I'm not really a fan of BBQ flavour but couldn't find any info on the website or google. I ended up using mustard which I figured wouldn't be too bad and would be yummy, which it was! I have ordered the Walden's farm sauce as it's used in a couple of other recipes (i.e. with mince) so I figured I should at least try it in case it's not too smoky and I like it. (Update: it arrived yesterday and I hate it - too smoky for me. If anybody wants mine, let me know!)
Breakfast - Bagel
Snack 1 - Salmon pate & 2 rice cakes
Lunch - Chicken stir fry
Snack 2 - Melon
Dinner - Chicken cashew curry with broccoli
I managed my 3.25L water and protein shakes and various other supplements too. And yet I was still hungry after lunch! The melon helped briefly but I might try the more eggy options or a protein shake next time and see if they fill me up more.
I've enjoyed all of the food so far (if you don't count the BCAA shake - reminded me of Movicol when I had to get a colonoscopy a couple of years ago!) and hope I adjust to the new menu soon so I don't feel hungry. That's one reason why I've never dieted - I get HANGRY! I can't cope if I'm hungry. That's what attracted me to this plan, so many people saying they struggled to eat everything. Hmmm, not me apparently!
I've since been recommended to try the berry blast flavour of BCAA or some of the flavours from a different website (not the one Joe recommends) so I'll give them a go. SO far I've been making them with as little volume as possible, pinching my nose and downing them in one and quickly rinsing down with fizzy water!
On day 2 my menu was as follows:
Water, BCAA shake, HIIT workout, BCAA shake, Impact Whey shake, more water and Vit C.
Breakfast - I was going to make protein pancakes but after my sweet Blueberry protein shake I didn't fancy sweet pancakes so made another build up bagel with mustard. Yum!
Snack - Avocado dip with celery
Lunch - Chicken Stir Fry
Snack - Boiled egg
Dinner - Spicy Turkey Mince with avocado & spinach. (I never quite anticipated just how much spinach 175g is! A serious mountain of it - I had to have it in a separate bowl and might stick to the other greens next time although it did help cool my mouth with the very hot mince!)
I managed my full water in take again.
The work outs are hard (of course or what's the point!?) as I am so unfit at the moment. I'm not hating them though but I do struggle to do the whole thing the whole time. I am definitely having to take more rest time between each exercise! Hopefully this will improve quickly.
Today I have had my protein based breakfast as I knew I wouldn't manage a workout this morning (it's always crazy busy on the day I have to get everything ready for the childminder and get the house tidy for the cleaner coming! I usually do as much as possible the night before for the kids and cleaner but that plus getting their lunch packed and sorting myself out takes too long in the morning on my own when we need to be out of the house before 8am! I've discovered that sorting my shakes, workout and breakfast takes a good 1-1.5 hours even with food prep done in advance and the workout itself being about 30 mins including warm up and cool down.
I planned to do a workout this evening before dinner but Nik is on call and will likely be home late so I'm going to have a rest day today and stick to the protein based meals all day.
As for my starting point, I'm not sharing the before (bikini and workout wear) shots until I have some after shots for comparison as they're just horrendous! My starting weight is 202lbs (91.6kg, 14.4 stones!) and my measurements are below:
| Starting | End of Cycle One | End of Cycle Two | End of Cycle Three | |
| Weight | 91.5 | |||
| Chest | 41 | |||
| Hips | 48 | |||
| Waist | 38 | |||
| Bicep - Left | 14.5 | |||
| Bicep - Right | 14 | |||
| Thigh - Left | 28 | |||
| Thigh - Right | 27.5 |
As you can see, I'm not in good shape at all at the moment and still carrying a lot of excess fat around my middle and thighs. Fingers crossed this plan works to get me back to a fit & healthy me again!
2 comments:
Gosh I don't like the sound of the shakes! I think I'd struggle to drink that amount of water too. I'm very impressed that you manage to fit in all the workouts while getting the twins ready. On the days I work I struggle to get everything done on my own and I only have one baby! Looking forward to reading about your progress. X
Hi Bex,
Good luck on the plan, it's intense! I found week one so hard; struggling to eat everything, prepping every night and well the exercise almost killed me! But, soon enough I got use to it and the plan is working for me. I lost 3.5kg in C1, and others quickly noticed. Like yourself, I have a toddler and work full time so it's really difficult to get a balance. Luckily my husband's being really supportive. If you're not already a member of the unofficial support group on Facebook, I recommend joining. There are some great tips and inspiring stories. I also highly recommend taking the reduced oatmeal recipe and turning it into muffins (switching chia seeds for ground almonds), and adding an egg snack allowance.
I'm halfway through C2 and finding this hard since the time exercising has upped, but holding onto the feeling of achievement I felt when finishing C1. I also have more energy and fit into some smaller sizes!
Wishing you the best of luck x
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