Success!! We Finished the Beachbody Ultimate Reset

What a great feeling of accomplishment! Yesterday was the last day of the 21 day Beachbody Ultimate Reset program for Marge and I and today we took our 'after' photos and measurements.

I did reach several of my goals, though the greatest gains for me were the new foods, recipes, and ways to cook (and eat!) that we learned and practiced during the Reset.

I lost 4 pounds and 1% body fat. My original goal was to get down to 135, but that clearly would have been too extreme (losing 8 pounds in 3 weeks). I'm very happy to be at a consistent 139 (over the last few days) and also I did get to my 12% body fat goal.

It seemed like my weight was shifting during the Reset and the measurements bore that out. After the Reset I measured 1/2 inch less around neck, 1 inch off my waist, and a surprising 2 inches off my hips. Everything else is about the same.

I hoped to increase my sleeping duration, but there was no change there, my average for the 21 days prior to the Reset was 7 hours a night and during the Reset it was 6.95 hours, so no significant difference.

We were wondering if the Reset would be challenging. Everyone else we know who's done before it reported that they weren't hungry and if they finished they were happy they got through and felt energetic and happy. Most people also said they found the middle week, which is the detox week, challenging, with a variety of physical and emotional symptoms. I'm happy to report that not only were we satisfied by and happy with the meals and our results, but also we had no discomfort or emotional drama during the detox week - so that's a win.

We did find that, like other people before us, we spent more time preparing meals and shopping for fresh ingredients than we were used to. We also realize you can never have enough refrigerator containers, so that goes on the list.

So we feel good, we're both very happy to be able to get back (gradually) to our exercise programs. We have agreed that we have irrevocably changed our eating habits and going forward we're going to incorporate several of the recipes, new foods, cooking methods, spices, and even our eating behaviors because of what we learned during the Reset. And that's something we have in common with everyone we know who has done the Reset - everyone raves about the food and most even don't want to stop eating following the Reset menus and programs.

So yay! We're done. But yay!, we're not stopping or forgetting what we learned. Thank you, Beachbody.

My Next Challenge - the Beachbody Ultimate Reset

Stay tuned as I'm embarking on a new challenge starting today, the 21 Day Beachbody Ultimate Reset.

The photo on this post was my original Challenge in 2011 when I started having Shakeology for Lunch for 100 days and then added P90X for another 90 Days. In that time period I started at 181.5 pounds and 25% body fat and ended up at 146 pounds and 13% body fat - oh, and along the way my doctor took me off cholesterol medicine I'd been on for 11 years. My weight hasn't fluctuated too much in the last 14 months (this morning I was 143 pounds and 13% body fat), but I still have some goals.

I'm going to re-weigh myself and take some new pics in the morning but here are my goals for the 21-day program: I'd like to get back to my high school weight of 135 pounds (very healthy for my 5'8" height and I'd also like to get my body fat down to 11 or 12%). I also have some trouble spots I'd like to reduce, namely some stubborn belly fat and back fat (what people usually call 'love handles').

Since my system will be detoxing along the way in the 21 day process while I also learn to eat a whole lot of new foods (it's not a starvation diet by any means, lol), I'm also hoping to maybe sleep better. I'm the original I-don't-need-much-sleep guy, have been since college and in all those years I had averaged 4-6 hours per night. Now I'm realizing if I want to get stronger and healthier, and this last year I've been working at getting my sleep time up to 6-8 hours but it isn't always easy - I'm hoping by the end of the Reset I'll be sleeping like a baby for a full 7-8 hours every night.

I don't intend to keep a running commentary here about my experiences and progress (we have a Challenge group of 6 for that plus we're part of a group of 2,400+ around the country doing the Beachbody Ultimate Reset at the same time in a Challenge called Lean and Clean by Halloween). I will report back at the end, however, with before and after photos and data on weight and body fat changes, body composition alterations, and how the sleep thing goes.

I Was Dogging It - Part 4 - Summary of My Experience and Results with the 3-Day Shakeology Cleanse

So I made it through the 3-Days of the Shakeology Cleanse. Good timing to finish it the day before Thanksgiving, but even though it seemed a lot for us, we didn't really stuff ourselves in the 'traditional' Thanksgiving manner.  Sure was good.

So after the 3-Day cleanse my weight dropped 3.5 pounds and, interestingly, my blood pressure readings were significantly lower. I'm wondering if the latter was due to drinking green tea rather than coffee? Could be  because today (the day after Thanksgiving and after being off the cleanse for a day and drinking coffee again, I measured my usual stuff and my weight is still the same but my blood pressure up a bit - still healthy, but not as low as when I was on the cleanse and drinking green tea. As much as I love coffee, I may want to reconsider, I'm going to monitor this for a few several day cycles while back on my normal diet and will report.

I felt strong throughout the 3-day Shakeology Cleanse and had plenty of energy. I was able to exercise and laugh and get lots of work done. I did get a little hungry a few times but it was really just from habit and in my mind, I think. That I only lost a moderate amount of weight, given the lower number of calories, is a testament to the nutritional quality of Shakeology.

I also did a 5K run walk yesterday, and I'm not a runner (though I do walk a lot). I did it in 41:50 which isn't all that hot of course, but still ok for a non runner and note that all I had before the run (meaning since finishing the 3-Day Shakeology Cleanse) was a couple cups of coffee, and that part was fine, meaning I felt strong and had energy and good mood - what kept my time low was cardio conditioning and legs not used to running.

I also did several series of pull-ups and chin-ups, including some where I was holding my self up in a chin-up taking photos with the self-timer on my camera. That was fun.

So now I'm done with the 3-Day Shakeology Cleanse and can report that, for me it was healthy, easy to get through, certainly super simple in terms of diet planning, and it even gave me a nice extra lowering of blood pressure. A nice reset after recovering from a cold and it put me back in my 'good' weight and body fat range.

I Was Dogging It - Part 3 - Still Going Strong

On the third day of the 3-day Shakeology Cleanse I'm happy to report all is well and I'm still going strong.

This morning I weighed 148.0 pounds and my body fat measured 14%, so I've lost 2.5 pounds in 2 days and gotten back to my "happy-range" (for now anyway) of 13-14% body fat and 146-148 pounds. Did the P90X X Stretch today as my legs and arms were really feeling it from the past two days hard workouts after a three week stint of taking it much easier.

During Day One I remarked that I didn't mind drinking green tea instead of my usual black coffee, but I'm really ready to get back to coffee tomorrow. I also feel a little hungry at times but then I'm ready for another shake or more fruit or it's time for the green salad and chicken dinner. Last night I had dinner much later than usual for me (8:30PM) because I spent much of the day at networking events and then led a 90 minute clinic on Sports Performance Mental Edge Training at TrySports in Wilmington, so I had a HUGE plate of greens with sliced red onion and cooked chicken breast, drizzled with EVOO.

So I'll finish the third day today and report tomorrow about the final numbers and how it worked out. I was looking for a diet reset after eating huge amounts of yoghurt and crunchy peanut butter in addition to my normal diet while getting over my cold (now thankfully gone), and the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse has definitely helped.

I Was Dogging It - Part 2 - Now I'm Back!!

OK, I'm back and going strong!!

Today I worked out hard for the second day in a row from my 3-week slow down caused by travel and a lingering cold.Earlier this morning I did the P90X Chest & Back DVD and it felt great! It was hard, of course, it's supposed to be hard, but I really enjoyed the feeling of getting fully back in the groove.

I didn't totally stop exercising during the 3-week period but I just don't get a kick out of getting out of breath and pushing full out when I'm congested and coughing (not a pretty picture). So I stretched and went through the motions of some movement and flexibility exercises, but no where near my usual level.

I also didn't  let my diet slide to the gutter either - I didn't start drinking soda or gloming  on cookies or desserts. I did  however add probably a 1,000 extra calories a day in the form of low or no-fat yoghurt and  peanut butter - both healthy foods, but I was eating a LOT extra.

In addition to getting back in the exercise groove with P90X, I'm also now on my second day of the Shakeology Cleanse. Just for the record, I dropped a pound and a half and 1% body fat from yesterday (now 149 pounds and 14% body fat); and of course you and I both know that daily fluctuations don't mean much, but since I weigh myself and measure body  fat under the same conditions every morning the numbers are somewhat meaningful and of course the truth will show as the trend continues.

A couple people have asked me about the Shakeology Cleanse. Basically, this is what I have three times a day:

What  you're  looking at above is 16 ounces of water shaken (not stirred) with a full scoop of  Shakeology. Not only does  it taste really good, but it's loaded with

• vitamins and minerals (more than I really need for the day) 
• Phytonutrient Super-Greens such a Spirulina, Blue green algae, Oat and wheat grass and several others
• an unmatched blend of Antioxidant Super-Fruits including Acai, Camu-Camu, Pomegranate, Bilberry, Blueberry, Goji, and a bunch more
• Adaptogen herbs such as Maca, Astralagus, Ashwagandha, and still more
• Pribiotoics and Prebiotics including Yacon, Flax, Chia, and Quinoa
• Digestive enzymes 
• And a whole raft of other digestive and healthy nutrients
• With all that it also has 18 grams of protein and only 150 calories. And that's per serving!

In addition I'm have a couple of servings of fruit in the morning, two cups of green tea, and then for dinner a huge green salad with other vegetables, 4 ounces of cooked chicken, and 2 ounces of my favorite Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I'm not a careful calories counter because I keep my focus on just eating good foods. A rough estimate of my total caloric intake per day while I'm on this 3-day cleanse  is probably somewhere between 900 and 1,200 calories. That's not enough for long term, my normal caloric intake with my height and weight should be about 1900 or, with heavy workouts, maybe 2400-2500. So it's likely that three days of sticking to this cleanse diet will result in dropping about one to 1.5 pounds (3500 calories to the pound). However, the toxin-clearing benefits of the pri- and prebiotics and digestive enzymes have a good chance of getting my system reset after my lull and in great shape for resuming my normal healthy diet and heavy workout routine.

So that's a lot of detail, and I know most people wouldn't read this far or care about it if they did, but for those who really wonder why I'm doing it and what I'm putting into my body, that's it.

With my normal, healthy diet, of course, I have a serving of Shakeology for lunch or breakfast every day, though I usually blend it with skim milk, fruit, and chunky peanut butter.

This cleanse is gluten free, almost diary free (the protein in Shakeology is whey-based, but in a form that even many lactose intolerant people can enjoy it because of the careful separation of ingredients and inclusion of lactase, which breaks down the lactose similar to over the counter products for that purpose). It's not vegan, neither Shakeology nor the rest of my diet on this cleanse (which includes chicken), but overall this is about as healthy and strict a (safe) diet as I've ever been on.

Oh yeah, and I FEEL  GREAT!

(More tomorrow as I get into the third day of the Shakeology Cleanse and then the next day when I  report on the final numbers and my final impressions). Coincidentally that day happens to be Thanksgiving so I'll be eating more than usual, but you can still be sure I'll have Shakeology for one meal.)

I Was Dogging It - Part 1

OK, so I have a confession to make. I've been slacking for the past couple of weeks, three really.

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.