Day 1        Day 31        Difference
Weight:   75.1kg         72.8kg       -2.3kg
Thighs:    65cm           63cm         -2cm
Hips:      112cm         108cm         -4cm
Waist:      95cm           86cm         -9cm
Chest:       93cm           91cm         -2cm

So, there it is.  All the numbers going down in the right direction.  I reckon my dress size has gone down from a 16 to a 14 and I’m very happy with that.  I think one reason I’ve had so much success with this program is that I did manage to lose a lot of weight 2 years ago and only put it on over the last 7 months.  I’m now about the same weight as I was this time last year.   This program gave me the kickstart I needed to get back into a good exercise and nutrition routine.

Here are my answers to Tim’s question.

What have you sacrificed in order to achieve these results:
How long a list do you want?  Here goes:

• coffee
• bread
• high fiber cereals – I’ve been constipated most of the program
• pasta (actually didn’t miss it that much, it’s more the ease of preparing it)
• not able to eat our stable take-outs – pizza, felafel
• junk food – sweets, pastries, etc. (actually didn’t miss this that much either)
• using up almost all my evenings for exercise.  My husband didn’t like this part.
• not being able to drive my daughter to school when I exercised in the morning (the main reason why I ended up exercising in the evenings).

Actually, most of the nutrition rules came down to the fact that I ended up cooking much more at home and even preparing different meals for different members of the family.   Unfortunately, my kids only like kids’ food, e.g.., schnitzels, pasta, frankfurts, etc.
What have you got out of the program:

• a lower dress size!!!
• was finally able to kick the coffee habit
• stronger and leaner – I can feel my waist hollowing out
• more energy
• better nutrition habits – more fruit & veges, no refined grains, etc.
• short and to the point workouts

What would you do differently next time:
I think some of the nutrition rules were too harsh, especially the no drinks except water rule.  I actually kept drinking herbal teas and started drinking green juice towards the end of the program.  Also, the no starchy veges rule needs to be refined – why not just say – “no starchy veges for dinner”.

Would you do this all again, or recommend to your closest friend
that they do this program?
I would definitely recommend this program to all my friends.  I’m still not sure whether I would do it all again.  It depends whether I can continue on my own, or whether I need the daily emails / blogging to keep it up.  I’ll decide in April whether I want to join the May group.  I don’t think I’ll learn anything new by doing it again unless the program is changed.

Water: Didn’t measure – between 2.5L & 3L

Exercise routine: Warmup & workout 2 (10:30), Cardio (21:30)
Energizer done: Yes, between warmup & workout 2

Comments on today:
We were snowed in today (at least by Jerusalem standards), so no school and everyone was at home. I managed to fit in the warmup & workout while my husband was building a snowman with the kids outside. I like watching the snow from my window, not slipping around outside in the slush (which is what it is here). Looks like more of the same for tomorrow.

Can you all believe we finally made it to the end of the month. On the one hand, I’d like to go out on Friday and pig out on all the food we haven’t been allowed to eat. On the other hand, I don’t really feel like junk food – maybe a really nice slice of fresh bread – mmmmmmmm and a good coffee.

Has your aches and pains in your joints reduced?
No, never really had a problem in this area.

Have you had better concentration?
Yes. I’m not sure if the water is what helped here, or just the improved diet (less refined grains, no coffee, etc.)

Have you noticed when you have not been drinking enough water?
Yes, I’ve noticed several times that I feel thirsty, even when I had been drinking a lot.

Have you found that your body’s “elimination” of waste improved?
A big no here. All the nutrition rules in this program have caused me to be constipated for the whole program, even with Tim’s suggestion of lots of water and fruit. I believe that my bowel muscles are very weak and relied on the caffeine in coffee to do the work.
The green juice seemed to help though. However, it takes a lot of work to make it.

Water: 3L

Exercise routine: Pilates
Energizer done: No

Comments on today:
I was planning to do workout 2 in the evening but my ear and throat really hurt. I hope I can nip this cold in the bud before it gets worse.
I decided to make the dhal that a few of the others have been eating. I like it but everyone else in the house doesn’t. I guess I’ll be eating a lot of dhal this week On the other hand, I’m not sure what a good portion size is.  I think I had too much for lunch.

Weight: 73.5kg (-1.6kg)
Thighs: 63cm (-2cm)
Hips: 107cm (-5cm)
Waist: 85cm (-10cm)
Chest: 91cm (-2cm)

This is better than I expected this week as I haven’t been exercising as much as usual. Looks like it’s almost clothes shopping time

Breakfast (A) : water with juice from 1 lemon, pear, 1/2c oatmeal, 3/4c soy milk, peanut butter
Morning snack (A) : 10 almonds, yoghurt, kiwi fruit
Lunch (A) : left-over steak salad, left-over couscous, cooked veges, 1 cup green juice
Afternoon snack (A,B) : canned salmon, cooked veges, canned peas – giving it a B as two of the items came from cans
Dinner (A) : omelette from 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites with mushrooms, onions and a tbsp of parmesan cheese, salad with red pepper & cucumber
Evening snack (A) : 1/2 apple (instead of the cookies and wine at the book club)

Water: 3L

Exercise routine: Cardio intervals on my elliptical – definitely getting stronger
Energizer done: No – want to give my knee another day of rest

Comments on today:
I had a bit of heartburn in the afternoon and evening which is unusual for me.  My guess is it’s due to the steak salad I had last night and finished off for lunch.  Otherwise, my energy level is pretty good.
It looks like it will start snowing here tomorrow night and snow for a couple of days, so the kids may have no school from Wednesday for the rest of the week.  On the one hand, I won’t be able to work either, but it might be fun to have a forced vacation.

Only 3 days to go.
Karen

Water: 3.3L – Go me!!!!

Exercise routine: nothing

Comments on today:
Hubby didn’t go swimming tonight so we went out to eat instead.   That meant that I also didn’t get my exercising in.   Another reason that I wasn’t too keen on exercising today is that I’ve done something to my left knee and I want to give it a chance to repair itself.
The green juice seems to be working its magic. Here’s hoping that it continues.
I wonder how the steak I ate for dinner will affect my measurements tomorrow.  Actually, I’m not wondering that much.  I think I know the answer

Breakfast (A) : oatmeal, yoghurt, chopped walnuted, dried apricots (soaked overnight), cut-up pear – mix it together and place in fridge for 10 minutes – tasted great
Early lunch (A,B) : beef, barley, bean, potato & sweet potato stew, couscous, salad, 1 slice bread
Afternoon snack (A) : handful of almonds, walnuts & pumpkin seeds, pomela
Dinner (A) : minestrone soup – just veges & potato – with a bit of parmesan cheese on top, canned salmon
Post-workout snack (A-) : yoghurt with a bit of cornflakes, pear

Water: didn’t measure – my guess is 2.5L

Exercise routine: Warm-up & workout 2 with some progressions (9:30pm)
Energizer done: No

Comments on today:
We had a quiet day at home today.  It was raining and cold outside.  Considering it’s a weekend, I think I did ok on the food.  I started exercising later than I wanted to, so I didn’t do the energizer.  I did the following progressions:   overhead squats, planks (I got up to 40sec), dynamic lunges with 2kg weights (I do the static lunges at body shaping), 1 hand DB lift.  I tried the flutters with my 2kg dumbbells, but that was definitely too heavy.  I don’t have 1 kg dumbbells – I guess I could use cans.

Day 25 – Friday – Another rest day

Breakfast (A) : oatmeal, soy milk, peanut butter, pear
Morning snack (A-)  : yoghurt with granola, apple
Lunch (A) : couscous, sole with Italian vege/tomato sauce, salad, 1 cup green juice
Afternoon snack (A) : almonds, 1 cup green juice
Dinner (B,C) : 3 very small slices of home-made rye bread (very yummy), cabbage salad, minestrone soup, schnitzel, rice noodles, steamed greens, cake & home-made candied nuts

Exercise: None
Energizer done: No

Comments on today:
I felt really blah all day – my guess is it’s hormonal, but I’m not 100% sure.  So, I didn’t do any exercise.  We were invited out for Friday night dinner – hence the bad choices.  At least I brought the minestrone soup. Our host makes her own small challot (Jewish braided bread) and it was so yummy.

Ok, off to bed for me… Hope everyone’s still hanging in there – only a few days to go now.

I didn’t keep a proper record of water or food but here’s a rough estimate.

Breakfast (A) : 1/2c oatmeal, 1/2 soy milk, 1 tbsp peanut butter
Morning snack (A) : yoghurt, apple
Lunch (A) : chicken steak, potatoes, carrots, salad plate
Afternoon snack (A) : pear
Dinner (A-) : sole in vege/tomato sauce, fried rice, salad

Water: 2 – 2.5L

Exercise routine: Body shaping (9pm)
Energizer done: No

Water: 3L

Exercise routine: Warmup, energizer & cardio intervals (9pm)
Energizer done: Yes

Comments on today:
My headache and shortness of breath is a bit better today. I did 7 intervals. The first 3 were at a higher resistance than I usually use but I chickened out after 30sec at the 3rd interval.
I kept nibbling through the afternoon and probably had too many nuts. Maybe I should have a proper (but small) meal when I get back from work. I get home around 3pm.

Thoughts for after the challenge:
I don’t think I can keep up this intense frequency of workouts. I’m working on setting up a plan with my 2 body shaping classes, 1 private Pilates lesson, 2-3 cardio interval sessions and then 1 extra weights workout per week. If I miss a body shaping class, then I’ll do 2 weights workouts. Here’s my plan so far:
Sun: Rest or Pilates
Mon: Cardio, Body shaping
Tue: Pilates or Weights
Wed: Cardio
Thu: Body shaping
Fri: Cardio
Sat: Rest or Weights

On the other hand, this frequency is more or less what we’ve been doing this month. However, the intensity is a bit less. I’ll try it out and see if I can come up with something that I can keep to.

Also, sometime soon after January ends (probably the Sunday), I’m going to do a fruit & vege cleanse. The nutrition rules for this challenge have really stuffed up my digestive system. So, I’ll cleanse it out and then try to find the right diet for me.

I’ve also been thinking about which nutrition rules I’ll keep & which I’ll throw. I will keep coffee drinking to a minimum – probably only socially or 1-2 a week (rather than 2 a day). I’ll keep C foods to a minimum. The vote is still out on bread & pasta – maybe also to a minimum. I will go back to high-fibre cereals as I think that will help the constipation.

Water: 2.7L

Exercise routine: Pilates (8am)
Energizer done: No

Comments on today:
I’ve had a splitting headache and shortness of breath for a couple of days which isn’t letting up. The Pilates lesson in the morning was harder than usual. I think my body was just telling me to take a break. I did Tim’s workout 2 on Sunday, bodyshaping class on Monday and then Pilates on Tuesday – too much. So, today is sort of a rest day.