Challenge Your Way to a Healthier Lifestyle

I want to get fit again. I want to have energy. I want my skin to look good. I want to feel comfortable shopping for clothes. I want to look in the mirror and feel pretty. I want to run. I want my back to stop hurting so much.

Notice I didn’t say anything about a number on the scale. Nothing about inches on a tape measure. Yes, I want those thing too, but they are not the most important. Everything else are my goals. Keeping reading if you want those things too and want to know how I’m doing it.

A year ago, I came across an article about carb-cycling. We’ve all heard about keto and low carb, but carb cycling is different. It’s a cycle of low-carb and high-carb days. The article referenced a book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life” by Chris Powell. I was interested so I got the book and started reading. I tried to follow the plan as it was described in the book, but it only lasted a couple of weeks. Not because the plan wasn’t a good one, but because I didn’t know how to properly plan and execute this type of plan.

Fast forward to this past summer. I heard Chris Powell and his wife, Heidi Powell, on an Ed Mylett podcast (watch the YouTube version here) and they said one thing that renewed my interest in their program. Integrity. I don’t have integrity. Well, I have it for everyone else. I show up for everyone else. I keep my word to everyone else. But not to myself. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I went back to their website and joined their Facebook group. I read through all of the information on their site and lots of posts for several days. I saw some incredible results people were getting by following their app. I saw Heidi Powell popping in to respond to people’s posts. I saw posts and videos by coaches. And then I saw it. A 28-day challenge! Of course I can try something for 28 days, I love a good challenge and I was recovered enough from a broken foot to start working out again. I was ready to go all in. I was ready to show myself some integrity, so I signed up for the August challenge. I even ordered their chocolate meal replacement shakes (which is actually delicious) and started figuring out how to meal plan.

THE TRANSFORM APP

Just FYI, this app is not free. I’m honestly not sure how much the monthly cost is because I signed up with a special buy one month, get one free. That being said, you choose the type of workout you want and the carb-cycle plan you want to follow and the app formulates workout plans and meal plans for you. Easy peasy. If you don’t want to figure out what to eat each day, the app offers you a meal plan. Oh, and there’s a reset day every week with higher macros so you have a chance to partake of some foods you may have been denying yourself or go out to a restaurant. It’s not a diet and it’s set up for you to succeed. You certainly won’t go hungry. In fact, you actually eat a lot more food than you’re probably used to!

the august challenge

I stuck to the plan as best as I could for the entire month. I wasn’t perfect, but I tried. Some days I tried harder than others, but I tried every day. Did I lose a ton of weight or inches? No. I didn’t expect to though. My foot injury prevented me from doing all of the workouts, mainly the cardio. Drinking my body weight in water is tough! It’s a lot of protein and I struggled eating enough of it without some type of protein shake, which I didn’t want to do.

So what the plan a fail? Not at all! Here’s what I gain from it.

1. I stuck with it. Some days I really wanted a big milkshake. Some days I did not want to work out. I managed to steer myself away from the milkshakes and I did the workouts as best as I could.
2. I started getting up early to work out. This is something I had been trying to do for a long time. I would get up with a neighbor to go walk or run, but I wouldn’t get up for myself. As the workouts got longer, I would get up even earlier to complete them.
3. I meal planned and did my best to stick with it. The app has you counting macros and I don’t like constantly thinking about what I can eat next. I plan my grocery list and order on Sundays so I started planning my entire week of meals then too. It took many hours at first, but now that I have a good system in place, it doesn’t take as long.
4. I remembered that weight training isn’t that bad and I actually like some of it.

So how did it end?

Some people lost lots of pounds and inches. I only lost a couple of pounds and inches. I stayed positive and counted the benefits that came out of it more than the weight lost. All in all, it was a success for me. I admit I floundered a bit in September, but I kept off what I lost in August and made more progress. Now I’m ready for the next challenge.

Yes, there is an October challenge! You can go to the Transform website to find out more information. It starts October 7th. (If you are reading this article at a later date, no worries. They do challenges all the time.)

i can’t afford it

Don’t let that stop you! You can still join their Facebook group and get more information. Google macros calculator for carb-cycling to come with with your macros. What are macros? That’s your protein, carb, fat, and calorie intake. I will create another post to show you how I track my macros and meal plan. Yes, I use the app, but I create my own meal plan and use a spreadsheet to plan all of my meals. Take pictures of yourself from the front, back, and side. Measure your chest, waist, hips, upper thigh, and upper arm. Make a training plan with some cario and weight training or HIIT training. Start with short sessions and build up. Check out Pinterest for different plans.

Last 90 days challenge

If you, like me, love Rachel Hollis, then you have probably heard of her Last 90 Days challenge. It is simply five things that you do for the last 90 days of the year to start the new year strong instead of feeling crappy from the holiday over-indulgence. Most of it ties into what I am already trying to do.Here at the five things and how I plan to work on them.

1. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. I am really trying on this one. To get better, I’m going to start setting my alarm to go off every fifteen minutes to remind myself to drink.
2. Move your body for 30 minutes every day. While I am working out most days, I still have a day or two where I am a total slug. I move just enough to get from the couch to the kitchen and the bathroom. I am committing to at least stretching and working on my rehab exercises on those days.
3. Give up one food group that you don’t need. In this case, I’m giving up a certain food. Rice Krispie Treats. I started eating them because they are a Transform treat so I started eating them and started binging. So no more Rice Krispie Treats for me.
4. Get up an hour earlier. I am already doing this most weekdays. Thursday is my Slump Day. Zero energy. So it has become my rest day so I don’t get up. No more. I am going to start getting up and doing something. I can stretch, do a short Pilates workout or get some reading or writing in.
5. Write down five things you are grateful for every day. This is a new one for me. I listen to enough podcasts to know about listing the things you’re grateful for, but I brushed it off. Rachel Hollis made a little more sense with it. You don’t list the big, obvious things like, “I’m grateful for my family”. It’s the little things like “I”m grateful for my husband washing out the crockpot instead of leaving it in the sink to soak”. That ‘s a real thing, by the way. I’m going to start small and work my way up with this one. I’m going to start with at least one thing. If I have more, great!

If you want to join me in this challenge, awesome! You can find more information here. There is a Facebook group and emails you will receive, and Facebook Live morning shows that you can tune in to. By the way, this is all free. Join me in posting your grateful list in my Facebook group and updates on the rest of the challenge.

I love to hear from you! Email me or catch up with me on social media and let me know how you’re doing with your challenges.