Since the very end of October, when Marge and I went on a trip to the northeast, my workouts have been sub-par. While we were on the trip I picked up a pretty nasty cold that is just now making its final exit.
I worked out a bit each day, but mostly just stretching and moderate Kenpo X, nothing close to really bringing it in true P90X style.
In the three week period my weight didn't change too much - I gained about three pounds, which only made sense because I wasn't exercising much at all and ate more than usual. The good news is I didn't eat junk food, but because I tend to follow the "feed a cold" school of thought, I was consuming a lot of extra low fat yoghurt and peanut butter, both of which I include as part of my normal diet as protein sources. So I'm OK with gaining a few pounds - it makes perfect sense with less exercise and more food, even good food.
I am not happy, however, that my body fat, which for months has been 13-14% has gone up to 15%. So that will be my first goal, by increasing exercise and eating correctly, to get my weight where it's supposed to be (between 146 and 148 pounds, instead of this morning's 150.5 pounds) and definitely getting my body fat back down to 14% or lower.
Today was my first day feeling like I could really work out hard so I started with an hour of P90X Kenpo X. I also started on Day One of a program I've been meaning to try for a while.
I had heard about the Shakeology Cleanse before. It's not an official Beachbody program nor does the company recommend it, so let's start off with a disclaimer that I'm not medically qualified or a nutritionist. I'll just talk about my experience with this cleanse.
I've read of other coaches and trying this 3-day program and even found a graphic that describes it.
My intention is to stick with the 3-day Shakeology Cleanse today through Wednesday. I'll report here how it feels and report my daily results.
So today was the first day. I stuck with the diet exactly as it's outlined in the graphic.
One great thing about Shakeology is that because of its low glycemic index, I didn't feel hungry during the day. And because of the nutrients and superfoods, I had lots of energy - really it just felt normal for me, which means I expect to be high energy and notice it if I start to drag. Today I didn't drag.
I ordinarily like more variety in my meals, but since chocolate Shakeology, which is what I used, tastes like a yummy chocolate shake, even when mixed just with water, I have no objection. One note of slight change is that I mix a full scoop of Shakeology with 16 ounces of water, not 8 ounces and ice - otherwise I stuck with the cleanse just as described above.
It's evening now and I can certainly report I enjoyed my evening meal of greens, some onion, and cooked chicken, topped with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (my fav dressing) and a splash or two of hot sauce.
One thing I might mention in addition is that while I usually have 3-4 big cups of coffee a day, today I only had 2 cups of green tea and and didn't feel any energy drop - nor did I get a caffeine-withdrawal headache. So that's good data for me going forward. I probably won't become a strict tea drinker because I really like black coffee and coffee has helpful antioxidants, but now I know that I can do tea (with chocolate Shakeology anyway - chances are some of the ingredients like Maca, Chia, and some of the many superfood antioxidants in Shakeology take care of the energy need.
So, one day down, and all is good.
