Guys, I’ve done it…I have completed Cycle One of the 90 DaySSS Plan! It was tough and don’t get me wrong, I had quite a few days where I didn’t stick to it exactly but I am so glad I got through it. This means that this week I have started Cycle Two which introduces a new concept to my meals and, at long last, some weights at the gym.
Here’s my review of Cycle One:
Food
You may have seen some of my meals that I posted on Instagram, but this is what I thought of the ‘food’ part of Cycle One overall. With this cycle there were two menus of meals that you could choose from; Reduced-carb and Refuel meals. Throughout Cycle One the basic principle is, you ONLY have a Refuel meal immediately after you have been to the gym. Okay when I say immediately I don’t mean you have to eat it as you are driving home from the gym or anything crazy, but the meal that follows directly after your gym session must be a refuel and all the other meals you choose from the Reduced-carb menu. So for example if you are a morning person and go to the gym first thing (before you eat), then your breakfast meal would be from the Refuel menu, but if like me you prefer going to the gym after work or later in the afternoon, then your dinner would be from the Refuel menu. Make sense? This is because this cycle is all about shifting your excess fat and therefore your carb intake is very low, this all changes in Cycle Two though so don’t panic. Most mornings I would have either eggs or the granola from the plan, however the granola isn’t something you should have everyday so I only had this when I simple didn’t have time to make the eggs. The eggs were delicious, combining spring onions, spinach, feta and cherry tomatoes to make a delicious and easy breakfast. For ease I would measure out all my portions on Sunday’s ahead of the week and also chop all my spring onions…I am now a master at chopping spring onions by the way! The omelettes were also great for breakfast.
As I mentioned, I usually hit the gym in the evenings, this meant my lunch had to also be from the Reduced-carb menu. Again for ease, I would make a big batch of the Spicy Turkey Mince on a Sunday as you are able to freeze this meal. Every morning I would remove a portion of the Turkey Mince from the freezer to eat for my lunch, accompanied with some greens, avocado and sour cream. Now although this was delicious, I did get pretty bored after the 4 weeks so I would recommend mixing up your lunches if possible. Dinner was the best as this is where I was allowed some carbs. The meals were delicious too; Turkey Burger with Smoky Sweet Potato Wedges, Honey Chicken with Paprika Potatoes and even a massive Built-Up Bagel, to name a few of my favourites. They were relatively quick to make and like I said, absolutely delicious! What I did find though with this plan was that the portion sizes were HUGE! I once made the Honey Chicken dish for my mum and I, and she literally had half as much as me…unbelievable.
I did find though that although my plates were full, I ate it all…fatty I know, but I think this was because I hadn’t had carbs all day and the gym sessions are a killer. You are also allowed two snacks per day which can consist of fruit, nuts and a few recipes ideas that come in the plan like Turkey Muffins, which are amazing. The snacks are great and definitely get you through the rest days in which no Refuel meals are allowed.
Exercise
In the first month you must go to the gym 4-5 times a week which I found very do-able. All you do at the gym are HIIT sessions but I actually quite enjoyed them. Yes, they were a killer but it’s great that you can use any piece of equipment you want or just body weight exercises like Burpees or High Knees (which you can do at home). This made the sessions a lot easier as you could mix them up and do different things each day or even during one session. Each session is also only 25 minutes (plus a 5min warm-up and cool down) but it makes going to the gym easy to fit into your daily routine. The routine you do is 30 seconds of hard, high intensity work and 45 seconds of resting or low-intensity work. I did find though that in week 4 I was definitely ready to start lifting some weights again and my motivation was decreasing slightly but overall I really liked these sessions.
Water
Also with the cycle, it’s recommended you drink 2.5 litres of water a day to ensure you flush out any toxins from your body. At first this was a pain as I felt very bloated and also needed to use the loo ALL THE TIME, however after about a week or two, this feeling went and I found it was really easy to drink all this water.
Results
Throughout the 4 weeks I have lost 7.5inches overall, from my thighs, waist, hips and belly which I am over the moon with. I also took a photo when I started Cycle One and another one the day I started Cycle Two, and I was astounded with the results. I wouldn’t normally post photos but I want to show you that this plan really works. It’s true…you can eat more food, exercise less and still lose fat!
I would recommend this plan a lot, however it is a little expensive, coming in at £150 for the 3 months. It is definitely better than a fad diet and I am loving cycle two so much already I can't wait to see how the rest of the plan goes.
Enjoy your bank holiday weekend everyone!