Hey
guys!
First
off, apologies it has taken so long to get this follow up post up on the blog!
I have been absolutely up the walls since getting back from Poland a few weeks
back so I’ve only just got around to writing it now. (Read my full Krakow blogpost here). But better late than never as
they say!
In
this post I’ve detailed all the information you need to know about my meals and
my workouts, how I got on and my results at the end. This is follow on post
from cycle 1 so anything I miss out on here should all be detailed in my Cycle 1 blogpost which you can read here and my results here. Any other questions you have after
feel free to drop me a message.
Meals
I
was so excited to start cycle 2 for a number of reasons. This is the muscle
building phase of the plan which therefore meant I would be eating a lot more
food and in particular, a lot more carbs. And who doesn’t love more carbs! The
reason for this increase in food/carbs was due to the increase in the workout
intensity with the introduction of weight training into the workouts combined
with HIIT training (which I will go into more detail about later) but I had
really missed my weight training during cycle 1 so this was another reason why
I was really looking forward to this cycle.
Similar
to cycle 1, I was allowed 3 main meals
+ 2 snacks a day. The choice of
meals was split up into two menus:
1. Training Day Menu
1. Training Day Menu
2. Rest
Day Menu
So
on training days I would select all 3 of my main meals from the training day
menu. I could also have a protein shake post workout in addition to my main
meals and snacks. On training day’s I was eating meals high in carbohydrates,
lower in fat and high in protein. Likewise,
on rest days I would select all 3 of my main meals from the rest day menu. On
rest days I was eating meals much lower in carbohydrates, high in healthy fats and
high in protein. Unlike cycle 1, I was only given a handful of recipes I could
use. A new introduction to this cycle was the ‘pick n mix principle’ which meant I had to construct my own meals
using a list of ingredients provided in the plan. I was delighted with this new
aspect of the plan as I had become bored of eating the same meals on cycle 1 so
I was looking forward to getting creative and having a lot more flexibility
with my meal planning.
To
construct a meal I had to choose one of each of the following from a list of
ingredients provided:
- · 1 portion of Meat or Fish;
- · Spice or Seasoning of your choice;
- · 2 portions of vegetables;
- · 1 carb source i.e. rice, bread, pasta, potato etc.;
- · 1 side sauce i.e. sweet chilli sauce, 0% fat Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, soy sauce etc.;
- · On rest days an additional fat source i.e. avocado, cheese, nuts etc.;
- · A large portion of green veggies to be eaten with every meal i.e. broccoli, kale, spinach, mange tout;
- · And a portion of cooking oil i.e. coconut oil, olive oil, butter
In
the beginning I really loved creating my own meals as well as using some of the
recipes provided in the plan especially the sweet potato cottage pie which was
divine! I could have eaten the cottage pie 3 times a day but I was only allowed
to eat mince beef once a day L It also made eating out a lot easier as I wasn't tied down to specific recipes. The
amount of food I had to eat was also humongous compared to cycle 1. For
breakfast on training days I would have a massive bowl of oats with a side of
0% Greek yoghurt and blueberries as well as a protein shake! It would literally
take me a full hour to eat it all ha-ha. I found rest days quite hard without
any carbs at all especially when I was used to loading up on them on training
days therefore I found I was quite hungry on rest days. For my snacks i stuck with having my protein shakes and cashew nuts. I also had a Quest protein bar 2-3 times a week and saved them for training days or as treats at the weekend. Supplementation was
also the same on this cycle as it had been on cycle 1 which again you can read
here.
After
a couple of weeks into the cycle I found myself not being as creative as I
thought I’d be and the freedom I was given with my food choices did make me
slip up a few times. By the end of the cycle I couldn’t wait to cut out the
carbs again as I had been so bloated throughout it. Carbs just don’t suit me no
matter how much I love them. Or else I haven’t quite determined which ones suit
me and which ones don’t.
Sample
Training Day Meals:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Sample Rest Day Meals
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Breakfast
Snacks
Workouts
So
as I said earlier I was really excited to start the new training program. I
have been weight training for years now so heading to gym and lifting
absolutely no weights at all was so weird for me. The only thing I had enjoyed
about this was the time saving lol but I did feel that I had lost a lot of my
muscle tone and strength during cycle 1. So needless to say I was looking
forward to getting back to it. In this cycle the method of training used was
called VRHT i.e. Volume Resistance HIIT Training. This method of training
involves using lower weights which allow you to do a large amount of sets but
with lower repetitions i.e. 10 sets of 10reps. This method or type of training
is meant to build your muscles and strength very quickly.
The
structure of the VHRT workouts were split into 4 parts kind of like a circuit.
- START with x1 round of HIIT
- x1 round of VR training
- x1 round of HIIT
- FINISH with x1 VR workout
Each
training day is then split up into 4 options:
- Arms (Biceps & Triceps)
- Chest & Back
- Legs & Bum
- Shoulders
Sample
Training Day
5
minute warm up on the stationary bike
1. x10
mins of HIIT on the Stationary Bike (30sec fast, 45sec steady)
2. Squats 10 x 10 (45sec rest between sets)
2. Squats 10 x 10 (45sec rest between sets)
3. x10 mins HIIT on the Stationary Bike (30sec fast, 45sec steady)
4. Lunges 10 x 10 each leg (45 rest between sets)
I
really loved the training on this cycle, except for leg day. That was tough. 10
sets of lunges with 10 reps on EACH
leg is not fun let me tell you ha-ha. That’s 200 lunges FYI. It actually took me a
whole week to recover after training legs and then it would be leg
day again ha-ha. But hey no pain no gain, Besides that I really did
enjoy it. Each workout only took roughly 45 minutes to complete (except for leg day
which was a little longer) so the time saving in the evenings was a major bonus
for me.
My Results
I
wasn’t expecting to lose any weight during this cycle so I wasn’t surprised
when I didn’t and I also wasn’t surprised that I gained weight either. I was
told by my support hero before beginning this cycle not to expect to see massive
drops on the scales as I would be gaining lean muscle mass at the same time as
losing body fat so not to dwell on the numbers and trust the mirror. My weight
and my measurements all increased after this cycle and I was absolutely gutted
until I seen my progress pictures. Although I didn’t see all that much of a
difference I think I look leaner even if the scales don’t reflect that. TMI* (It
was also lady time which would have affected the results as well!)
So
that’s it guys!
As
always, if you have any more questions about Cycle 2
or anything else, I’m always
happy to help.
Talk
you all soon
Big
Love
Aileen
