Week 1 Diary Entry
I have thoroughly enjoyed starting Lean & Well last week! It was a real struggle to get my third workout in as I am incredibly time poor at the moment. However I am very keen to create a toned physique so know it is essential I get in at least 3 workouts to achieve this. I found it quite easy to stick to my calorie and protein targets because I chose foods I enjoyed eating and just repeated the same meals every day apart from dinner which was different every night. I did feel particularly hungry one day so made that my refeed day which means I ate my maintenance calories rather than being in a deficit for the day. I had cravings often after lunch or after dinner and found the things that helped were sugar free 0 calorie soda like Sunkist or lemonade, Avalanche sugar free hot chocolate (this is only 36 calories) and planning for a small portion controlled treat after dinner (a cookie).
I was really pleased with my results after the first week. I lost 1.1kg and a good amount off my leg measurements. I always find my biggest change occurs after the first week when doing a challenge because you lose a lot of fluid which has been stored with your excess carbs (glycogen stores). For every 1 gram of carbohydrates stored as a glycogen your body stores 2-3 grams of water. This is why most people notice their biggest weight loss initially when starting a diet.
I am actually now at my goal weight. Now I am aiming to reverse diet. This means I will increase my calories by 50 each week. The goal when reverse dieting is to maintain your weight while eating more food. This is known as increasing your metabolic capacity. I am also aiming to ‘recomp’. This means while my weight will stay the same I will change my body composition. I want to increase my muscle and decrease my body fat levels. This is what people actually mean when they say they want to look more toned. I think it is important people realise that if they don’t like how their physique looks at a certain weight the solution is not always to lose more weight. It could be to improve their body composition while staying at roughly the same weight like I am currently doing.
Progress Measurements & Photos
My Fitness Pal Food Diary For Next Week
The only change in my food diary from last week is that I changed the way I record hot drinks. Rather than recording them with the meal I eat them at I just record them all under the last meal title which I have called ‘Drinks’. I find this takes less time because if I feel like having a hot chocolate for example after lunch instead of after dinner I don’t need to change it in my food diary.
Here is my meal plan for the week. I do have different things for lunch and dinner each day but all my other meals stay pretty much the same.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Don’t forget Lean & Well has had its price reduced by 50% so if you have been thinking about purchasing a copy now is the perfect time!
Holly x