The big bang of week one!!

I asked Heather to give me an overview on successes and barriers in her first week on the 30-Day Body Transformation. It can be a "shock" to the system, but we keep in mind that the intensity is for a short period of time, and it is in hopes to create healthy habits that will last after the program is complete.  

Here is where Heather's body is starting from:

Weight: 166.2

Height: 5'2"

Body Fat: 35.4%

Lean Body Mass: 107.3 lbs.

Body Fat Mass: 58.8 lbs.

In week one Heather and I meet 3 times for a personal training strength session. The training is a short 30-minute workout, but the goal is to be intense. The  video below is one of our workouts, I call it "The Tower". It is a series of 4 exercises using moderate to heavy weight, for 5 to 10 reps. The exercise series is repeated until 4 minutes is complete. And, then we do it again... Two more times! 

In addition to our strength days Heather has cardio homework her task is to complete 30-minutes of interval cardio 6 times per week. She's on a roll!!

HEATHER'S JOURNAL OF SUCCESSES AND BARRIERS:

Preparing to Start the Program:

Challenge #1:  Meal planning and Nutrition Tracking can be a very overwhelming task.  There is a lot of information out there on what is healthy and how you should fuel your body while losing weight.  In the past, I would set off on diets of my own creation, sometimes getting fast results that wouldn’t last and sometimes failing a few days in because I was second guessing the plan or I was starving my body of nutrients. 

Solution:  Professional, customized guidance.  With the transformation, Meche presented me with a new approach: a strict meal plan for the week leading up to day one.  This gave me a chance to gauge how much effort the meal planning would be and Identify issues.  Also, I had the chance to tell Meche what I enjoyed eating, and what foods I had to force down because I disliked them so much.  She took the time to make sure that the nutrients added up to a good balance of fat, protein, and carbs.

Useful Tools:  An app: MyFitnessPal – is great to use on phone and online and crucial to helping Meche see how you can better take care of your body with food.

Week One of the Program:

Challenge #2:  Food Prep is a lot of Work– I cannot state enough what a huge amount of work this was.  I also cannot express enough how good it felt to prepare a home cooked meals (a skill I have never considered myself to have.) 

Solution:  Set aside time and have some fun in the Kitchen!  Between the prep week meal plan and the week 1 meal plan Meche designed for me, I created a grocery list.  From there I did grocery shopping at Whole Foods, Natural Grocer’s, Costco, and King Soopers.  I would highly recommend an entire weekend to prep your food in advance.  I had given myself only one afternoon and it wasn’t enough.  I am finding that the more I can prepare and schedule in advance, the less unnecessary struggle I have to have.    

Useful Tools: A friend to shop and cook with you, a kitchen scale, food storage containers, sandwich bags, and some GOOD music.

EXHIBIT A: This is what it looks like to have a food party
in your kitchen. Embrace Chaos!

Now in theory the Weekend Prep Solution is good, but that brings us to challenge #3

Challenge #3 – Life Happens:  Literally, life happens…. Babies get born on their own schedule.  My niece was brought into this world on 12/9.  My husband and I were so excited about this event that we jumped in the car and spent the entire day on 12/8 waiting for her arrival at the hospital.  Haha!  We obviously don’t have a realistic grasp of baby having.  We ended up just watching the Broncos Game with the mommy and daddy to be and driving home to prepare for the work week.  We were away from home for about 10 hours on Day 3 of my challenge, and I had a meal plan to keep.

Solution: Like a boyscout: Be Prepared!  - Because I take longer to get ready, my husband cooked chicken and green beans for me and also tossed together some almond milk, protein powder and frozen blueberries into a blender.  So with 2 meals packaged up in a lunch bag and some prepackaged nutrition bar, I was able to head out the door with a defense against temptation.  The family went out to lunch while we were in Denver, and I was able to sip tea and pick at a side of vegetables and most importantly: Stick to my plan.

Following is a sample of Heather's diet. We have created a flexible, yet clean diet. It will get more strict in week 2.