Learning to be LEAN

You may have noticed that last week I decided to stop eating all the junk and get healthy, well more specifically LEAN. Some of you may have heard of The Body Coach who is known for giving people huge transformations and getting super lean bodies that most people can only dream of. His 90 DaySSS plan is what has gained a lot of the attention but he has also released a recipe book called “Lean in 15” which gives you great meal and snack ideas. The book has a simple concept, “Eat More, Exercise Less” which I know sounds quite bizarre at first. On the food side, you eat a refuel carb meal after working out, and your other meals should be from his low-carb section. Along with the three meals, you are allowed two snacks each day which you can have at any point in the day, I usually have one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon. So the Eat More bit is pretty true, as he also recommends protein shakes immediately after exercise too. I’m sure for some people this may not be less food, but it shows you that skipping meals is not the way to lose weight. So now on to the ‘Exercise Less’ bit, similar to the food, I believe that some people starting this plan may not exercise at all, which means they will be doing more exercise than they are used too but his concept is that you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to shift the weight. The Body Coach believes that HIIT training is the way to go and his sessions are under 30 minutes. HIIT training stands for High Intensity Interval Training and it’s where you do a small segment of really high intense exercise and then rest for a short period, and repeat for 15-30 minutes. The Body Coach recommends performing HIIT 4-5 times a week which gives you two full rest days, and as they only take a short amount of time there is no excuse.

The book is only £7.49 on Amazon, so I definitely recommend buying it.

After taking the dreaded 'before' photo and reading up on the plan, I decided to give it ago so I stocked up the fridge and cupboards with super lean, healthy food and planned my meals for the week. Monday morning came and I performed my first HIIT workout which was a killer. I did 20 seconds of work and 40 seconds of rest, and rotated between high knees, mountain climbers and burpees for 15 minutes. This workout is even harder to do when you have a crazy puppy jumping all over you, but it did make it pretty funny. After my workout, I immediately had a protein shake while I got myself ready for work. Then it was time for breakfast and I made the “Build-Up-Bagel” from the ‘re-fuel’ section which is a bagel loaded with chicken slices, tomato, spinach leaves and BBQ sauce, all topped with a poached egg. As a first meal on my new plan, I was pretty happy and sold on this new plan. However, my lunch was couscous made from raw cauliflower with chicken, sundried tomatoes, jarred red peppers and some herbs, and I was not a fan of this. Unfortunately, I had made two portions so I had to have it for my lunch the next day also, and it’s something I probably won’t make again. Don’t worry, I won’t go through everything I ate as that will end up getting pretty boring but I will tell you a few of my favourites. The best low-carb meal that I have made so far was my Poached Salmon and Bacon breakfast, which is one you may have seen on my Instagram account.

It’s a tough one for my favourite re-fuel meal as it’s a toss-up between the super stacked Turkey Burger or the Build-Up-Bagel which I mentioned earlier. Both are delicious and are perfect after a good HIIT session. I didn’t make many of the snacks yet as the Tuna & Courgette Fritters I made lasted for a few days so I didn’t need to make much more. For my other snacks I had fruit or nuts.

Along with started this new eating plan, I have decided to cut out all junk food for a month even though I don’t usually agree with going completely cold turkey on things but I needed to have a break from it. After a month, I will keep it as minimal as possible but allow myself some treats every now and again.

A friend of mine at work, has actually signed up to The Body Coach’s 90 DaySSS plan which is a three-month plan which focuses on three different things. Cycle 1 aka month 1 is all about shifting the weight, so this is where HIIT sessions are full on and you will notice most weight loss. Cycle 2 is about shaping your body and then cycle 3 is about sustaining your new lean figure. This plan is quite expensive with it costing £150 for the entire plan or £50 for each month. My friend has shared her cycle 1 plan with me so I will be giving it a go in the next couple weeks.

Keep a look out for my review of the 90 DaySSS plan (cycle 1).

Peace out for now!