| The Body Coach | 90 Day SSS Plan | Week 1 Cycle 1 |

Hey Guys!

Hope you have all enjoyed the fabuuulous weather and had a ball this weekend.

Mine just flew by - I was super busy on Saturday. I got up extra early to do some fasted HIIT cardio just so I could have a big carby breakfast :) I then had to go and do another little food top-up shop and do all my food prep on Saturday evening. I usually do all my food prepping on a Sunday evening but I knew I was going to be out all day yesterday. We all headed down to my brothers beautiful pub in Whitstable for my mums 65th Birthday. Its situated right on the beach and I just love it down there. I used to live there when I was younger and spent some of the best days of my childhood in Whitstable. There's nothing like spending a fun day out with family & friends. (I may of had a sneaky few glasses of Pimm's too..but we were celebrating :P still mastering my willpower!)

So, instead of having to come back and face into 2 hours of food prep I got it all done the night before. Someone give me a medal LOL.

Anyways, as you know, on Monday I started my 90 Day SSS Plan with The Body Coach and I'm glad to report I'm getting on really well so far! I have stuck to the plan nearly 100% this week despite the bombshell I was hit with on Tuesday morning when I arrived to work. So before I start filling you all in on how I got on with the plan this week I said I'd fill you in on the shit-storm of a week I had work-wise (without going into great detail as I don't want to bore ye all!) My company went into administration on Tuesday morning and we were all sent home from work unsure as to what was going on and whether we had jobs to go back to. Turns out that the banks had suddenly pulled the plug on the company which had come as a total surprise to everyone and, as a result, we had all effectively lost our jobs. So as you can imagine my mind was eat up with worry. The last thing I needed was to be out of a job with no money coming in and the absolute effort of going out job hunting, agencies, interviews, updating Linkedin and C.V's was just something I could do without. Thankfully, on Wednesday evening I was informed that another company (which I have previously worked for in the past as an under-graduate Engineer) were coming on board to take over the project and were giving the option to all employees to be re-employed with them on the same project. Happy days, I still have a job. So the point of the story, considering the hectic week I have had not knowing whether I was coming or going, I stuck to the plan! Below I have gone into detail about the meal prepping, the food, my workouts and my overall progress so carry on reading if you want to hear more :)

Meal Planning

To prepare for my first week I prepped all my food on Sunday evening. Preparation is key in achieving any diet especially if you work long days and time is precious. The process of cooking and weighing/measuring food can be quite time consuming and tiresome so it's always a good idea to make some time on a Sunday to get it done.That way you’re freeing up lots of extra time during the week and the meals are ready to go whenever you fancy and you’re less inclined to pick. I cooked up my lunches for 5 days, all the very same. I only cooked up two dinners to do me two days as I wanted to try out some other meals from the plan during the week. 

Meal Options

So the plan is split up into two menus:

1.   Carbohydrate Refuel Menu 

2.   Reduced Carbohydrate Menu

I have to pick x2 meals from the reduced carb menu every day and x1 meal from the carb refuel menu which can only be consumed after I work out. On rest days when I don't workout I must have all 3 meals from the reduced carb menu. In addition to this, I can have x2 snacks from the plan and a protein shake after the gym. Apart from two days this week I worked out in the evening time so I had my recarb meal as the last meal of the day.

One thing I will say about this plan is that your never left hungry! The portions are huge. It’s hard to believe you could ever get lean eating so much food!

Breakfast/Meal 1

The plan recommends that you take 10 minutes every evening to prepare your breakfast for the following morning so all you have to do is reheat or grab and go. Below are breakfast meal options I had this week:

Reduced Carbohydrate Oatmeal

Reduced Carbohydrate Mushroom & Mozzarella Omelette

Refuel Carbohydrate Build Up Bagel

Reduced Carbohydrate Lime & Avocado Smoothie

Lunch/Meal 2

I prepped all my lunches on Sunday so I had the Lean Turkey Mince all week. This week I am trying out the Chicken Stir Fry.

Food Prep

Reduced Carbohydrate Lean Turkey Mince

Dinner/Meal 3 

Reduced Carbohydrate Chicken Stir-fry

Reduced Carbohydrate Guilt Free Fry Up

Reduced Carbohydrate Cheesy Piri Piri Meatballs

Carbohydrate Refuel Honey Spiced Chicken & Paprika Potatoes

Carbohydrate Refuel Thai Green Curry & Brown Rice

Snacks

So in addition to my three meals a day I can have 2 snacks from a list of options. To be honest, the choice isn't great and the amount of each is quite low. I can choose from the following:

• Mixed nuts
• Fruit: apples, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or blackberries (only 3 times a week)
• MyProtein Bites (only 3 times a week)
• Homemade Avocado dip & celery sticks
• Protein Shake (in addition to my post-workout shake)
• Homemade Turkey Muffins (haven't been able to get my hands on turkey rashers to make these!)
• Homemade Salmon Pate
• Homemade Cottage Cheese Mousse (haven't tried this yet)

 I just stuck to the protein shakes, nuts, protein bites and fruit. The good thing about this plan is that you can eat the food whenever you like as long as it's consumed in the same day and the recarb meal is had after a workout. So if you like, you can eat your snacks with meals i.e. berries with your oatmeal or a bag of protein bites after your dinner. Whichever. It's also ok to have a tea or a coffee if you like. It's not really recommended but if needs must then 1 day is fine. I love tae :) partial to a coffee too lol

But in addition to this, I must drink at least 2.5 litres of water a day. Easy.

Supplements

It is recommended on this plan to use supplements from MyProtein in addition to your food intake for both pre and post workout. They are not compulsory and do not contribute to burning more fat but they do enhance results by aiding with repair and recovery.

In the mornings with my first meal I take Alpha Men which is a multi-vitamin containing all the fabulous micro-nutrients. I also take one capsule of Omega 3 to add to my essential fat intake - I also have another with lunch and 2 before bed. For my pre-workout I have 5g of BCAA powder dissolved in water and another 5g post-workout - these are amino acids which are needed for muscle growth and repair. In addition to this I also have a Whey Protein Shake and 1 vitamin C tablet post-workout.

Post-Workout Refuel

Workouts

For cycle 1 of this plan there is no resistance training. All workouts are HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts and can be done at home or at the gym depending on your preference. In fact, the entire 3 cycles of the plan can be done without entering at gym at all! I actually like going to the gym plus I pay a membership at my local gym so I do all my workouts there. The body coach has a whole library of various HIIT workouts you can use but I just stuck with the recumbent bike.

I began each workout with a 5 minute warm up using a steady pace and moderate effort level. I then do 20 seconds pedaling as fast as I can at a high effort level and then bring the speed back down to a steady pace and moderate effort level for 40 seconds. I repeat this for 25 minutes and then cool down for a further 5 minutes.

25 minutes may not seem like a lot of time but believe me it is more than enough! You'll know what I mean when you try for yourself. The heart rate is elevated and the sweat is pumping! It's recommended to do your HIIT workout 4-5 times a week. This week I have done 5 workouts. I won't lie - I'm missing my weight lifting terribly :( Unfortunately for me weights are not introduced again until Cycle 2 of the plan so I'll have to wait another 3 weeks. However I am enjoying the extra free time I have in the evenings which is a plus :)

Week 1 Progress & Round-Up

So how am I getting on? Well let me tell you! I jumped on the scales on Saturday morning and I am down 5lbs already!!!! 5 lbs like. I am still in total shock. That was after just 5 days on the plan! I feel amazing in myself. I'm sleeping well, eating well, never hungry, have loads of energy and just totally loving the whole process.  I know it’s only been a week but I am already seeing changes in my body which I thought would never be possible after just 1 week. I think the carb-cycling and the high fat content in this plan is doing my body wonders. I have had absolutely no bloating which I have always suffered with really bad especially at night. I would go to bed looking 6 months preggers most nights! If these are the results of just one week I cannot wait to see what the next few weeks will bring. 

So in a nutshell, I’ve had a good week plan-wise. First week down and onto the next with just as much determination and motivation as I can muster. My food is all prepped and ready to go so I'm set up to have another smashing week. I hope you have all been enjoying the updates & if I missed anything don't be afraid to drop me a message on here or on my Facebook page.  I LOVE interacting with you guys on my social media.

Have a great week guys 

Big Love 

Aileen X

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