It's been a successful week! I feel like I have learned a great deal about myself and gained a slightly different perspective for the experience of our clients. Thank you for your support.
Key things about the week:
The overfeeds are harder than the strict underfeed days. I've had to make extreme efforts to eat enough on those days. It seems counter intuitive to eat more when you are trying to shed fat, even when I know how well this pattern works for me.
The feeling of my gut rolling over my belt, brings back memories of the times in my life that being overweight influenced my life in a significantly negative way. I HATE that feeling. It feels great to know that I have the tools and the commitment to not have to ever live like that again.
Nothing feels better than really being in great shape. NOTHING that I have ever eaten can compare with the feeling of having flat defined abs..... and I LOVE FOOD! When you hear the cliche "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" it's flat out true.
There are parts of training that I really don't like..... my cardiovascular fitness level sucks, so I have avoided that type of training for far too long. I had gravitated toward exercises that I liked and avoided the ones that would produce the most change. Doing what it takes to get the results I want is far different that doing what I like or what is fun. I too, have to "suck it up" and do it!
Accountability is even more important than I have ever given it credit for. I have a very strong will and commitment, but without making myself accountable to all of you I don't know that I wouldn't have thrown in the towel on this program already. If you're the only one that has to buy into your excuses, you don't even need to put in the effort to make up really good ones.
My energy expenditure work on the strict days has been far too low. I've been letting myself off too easy, the purpose takes work, it has to be intense even though it sucks. I'll do better next week.
My first few strict days were slightly too high in calories. I had been switching between protein powders which vary slightly in calorie content. Actually not all that slight.... one is about 110 kcal per serving and the other about 160. When you add up the difference over 4-6 shakes it makes as much as a 300 kcal difference. Over the course of this month 300 calories a day difference could be responsible for retaining almost 3 pounds of fat. PAY ATTENTION! In a strict / quick program like this the little things can make all the difference.
I have been a little more reliant on the protein shakes than I would like. Next week I will add in a little more whole food on the strict days. With any luck, that will make the overfeed days a little easier.
I'd love to say that the fat is melting off already, but that's simply not the case. All of this work and I can't really see any difference!!! My pants are still tight (I'm actually wearing baggy shorts today, just to ease the pain) and my "personal" body fat indicator only shows a slight decrease. I'll have someone measure me and keep the results from me until the end, at this point I don't want to know. I'm better off to make the changes that I recognize I need to make and sticking with the plan.
It's been a good week.... I'm proud of my ability to adhere to my commitment and appreciative of the people around me that all help me remain accountable to the program.
Stay tuned.... It'll get better.
****Disclaimer**** The way I have laid out this program is specifically designed for me. I don't recommend that you try to follow this program. I have purposely left out important details of the program to discourage inappropriate use of this program. If you'd like to learn more about a custom designed program for yourself, please contact me directly. I have designed a nutrition program that is appropriate for most individuals and is available as an ebook at Stop Dieting.net
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