Get Lean Program: 2nd round, Month 1

Second round of Get Lean 12-week-program: Month 1 completed!

When I started the Get Lean Program a few months ago, my weight loss goal was to get down to 60kg by the end of June 2012: today is 1^st July 2012 and I am 60.5kg... so yes I have succeeded!

I am 43-year-old and probably fitter & healthier than at the same weight when I was 25! So, it is never too late and if you make the decision you also can do it! If I can do it...anyone can do it too!

I will shortly upload some pictures to demonstrate my progress, but for now I can share these figures with you:

15 Jan 2012: Waist 33”, chest 36”, hips 39”, Thighs 24” right & 23.5” left, bicep 13”

1^st Jul 2012: Waist 31.5”, chest 34”, hips 36”, Thighs 22” right & 22.5” left, bicep 11”

10 Oct 2010: BMI (Body Mass Index) 26.3 overweight, body fat 30.4% marginally overfat

1^st Jul 2012: BMI (Body Mass Index) 23 normal, body fat 26.2% normal

Thanks to specific exercises & good nutrition, my cellulite is practically gone. On the other hand, I have some loose skin that will need about 1 year for its elasticity of recover from the ‘rapid’ fat loss. This is only temporary and will improve by taking care of my skin with the following routine: body brushing, exfoliating and moisturizing. It will also resolve itself by continuing toning & building muscle mass.

Now it’s time to take it to the next level: further reduce body fat % and gaining a more toned & lean body shape!

Belinda has given me a new training workout schedule to achieve these new goals!

I am so glad I came across Belinda‘s Get LeanProgram!

Until my next update in a month’s time, look at these testimonials:

Get Lean Program 12-week program completed!

This last month of my Get Lean Program, I have lost another 1.4kg that gives me a total loss of 4.5kg over the 12-week period.

I have started more challenging workouts at Intermediate Level and added more weights for resistance exercises. I am becoming leaner & fitter.

I am now 63.5kg, but I still need to work harder to get smaller improvements & eventually get down to 60kg. I also have to train extra, because at the end of June 2012 I have this challenge where I want to be able to do more full push-ups than my husband!

I managed to overcome my ‘plateau’ and as recommended by Belinda, I now need to have a short break before starting the program again.

I am taking an ‘active break’ for 2 weeks:
 - Exercise: Yoga & Pilates, and leisure walking/cycling/swimming with my family
- Nutrition: Eating more raw food including a 7-day detox with Renee from Raw Chi Food

I can’t wait to start Get Lean Program again, there is still a lot more from it I can get out of and I want to move to the Advanced Level workout program before the end of the summer.

I get one-2-one coaching from Belinda electronically, she is fantastic: although she is in Panama & I am in the UK, she always responds promptly to my questions. The Get Lean Forum is also a great community of like-minded people supporting & communicating with each other!

I finally found a nutrition & exercise program that works: The Get Lean Program.

Check my next post where I will give you my raw food detox experience!

Do follow me on Twitter @valeriemyburgh to see my progress and hopefully get inspiration from my journey!

Get Lean Program Acceleration Phase: 2nd Month completed!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write this update... you probably thought that like the majority of people I’d already gone off my ‘diet’ plan & gave everything up?!

But not at all! I really love the Get Lean Program and the impact it is having on my life, my health and the positive side effect it is having on the rest of my family’s diet!  

It has been a strange & busy month so it was tough to stay focussed, I had to prioritise and writing is not that easy for me... I had a few wobbly days there & then, I didn’t lose as much in weight as I would have hoped, but the shape of my body has clearly improved. I have lost 3.1 kg within the 2 months I have followed the Get Lean Program. You might not be impressed by this weight loss progress, so I am taking all the courage I have to show you the differences in these pictures:

         22 Aug 2010          15 Jan 2012                        22 April 2012

Now, I know I don't look like a top model & the pictures are not the best quality (some of them were even taken by my 4-year-old daughter!), but I just had the guts to show you my transformation so far & what I look like...it gives me even more motivation to work hard & have better pictures to show next time!

As I told you last month, Belinda Benn has re-launched her site & upgraded her program to workout video downloads & more personal coaching access... so I jumped over to the new improved program. The workout seemed more challenging to me, so I followed the Beginner level half-way through to familiarise myself and improve my technique.

Just started month 3 that is Peak Phase and I am moving to the Intermediate level workout. Because I am now at the weight where I usually ‘plateau’, Belinda suggested a specific weekly workout plan for me to follow & try overcome this ‘plateau’! I am doing well so far and bought some heavier weights to be able to work harder and with ‘proper tools’.

I am sure I will be proud to post so more improved pictures of myself at the end of the month (22 May 2012 will be 3 months worth of the Get Lean Program) to show you that the Get Lean Program does work and I hope that it will inspire you to give it a try too...

At the end of the program and as suggested by Belinda, I will take 1/2-week-break from the workout plan and re-do the 12-week-plan again. The nutrition plan is fantastic, my husband & children find the meals delicious...so for us it will be just continuing to eat a normally healthy & nutritious diet. My fitness will have dramatically improved, so I will eventually move from the Intermediate to Advanced workouts... exciting!!

Do follow me on Twitter @valeriemyburgh to see my progress and hopefully get inspiration from my journey!

Get Lean Program Momentum Phase: 1st Month completed!

This first month was the Momentum Phase and it has been amazing! My motivation did not fell me and I only had 3 days where I didn’t workout: 1 day was my birthday, 2^nd day was Mother’s day & the 3^rd day was during a crazy weekend!

I can see some definition on my arms & legs. I am starting to see a glimpse of my abs too! I made sure I regain good night sleep and have now more energy than before...

The nutrition plan has not only been good for me but also for the rest of my family: my husband & children love Belinda’s recipes and found them really tasty. Following the nutrition plan has helped me to be more organised in the kitchen and overall improved my time management!! 

	Start	Now	Difference
Weight	68kg	65.8kg	-2.2kg
Full press-ups	3	7	+4
Knee press-ups	34	42	+ 8
Tricep bench dips	33	27	-6
Plank (seconds)	30s	51s	21s

I have exciting news about the Get Lean Program: Belinda has now re-launched her site and upgrade the E-book version of Get Lean Program into one that includes workout video downloads with Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced levels: this will help a lot, particularly for those who are not confident exercising by themselves. I bought the upgrade yesterday and I am so excited as I will be sure to improve my technique & challenge myself to higher level of fitness!

Month 2 is Acceleration Phase and I should see more weight loss thanks to a more efficient metabolism. I need to make sure sleep is a key priority, as I have now started to have my daily workout between 5 & 6 am!

Overall I am confident I am on track to achieve my end goals...

Do follow me on Twitter @valeriemyburgh to see my progress and hopefully get inspiration from my journey!

My New Challenge: The Get Lean Program by Belinda Benn

I bought Belinda Benn’s Get Lean Program in January while I was doing my 5-week-detox challenge with USANA programme RESET. I felt inspired by Belinda’s story and felt it was the right workout program for me.

I took a few weeks to study and plan how I was going to complete this new challenge. RESET for 5 weeks gave me an excellent base to lose weight and now I am ready not just to lose weight but to also to shape the body I want.

Get Lean Program takes 12 weeks, Belinda says it takes 21 days to stick to a new habit and she recommends 110% effort and full commitment particularly for the first 3 weeks. So for me it made sense to have a break between RESET and Get Lean Program during the school February half-term.

When I came back from my holiday, although I had a great time...I indulged too much & didn’t do much exercise: the result I picked up some weight!! This is something I need to deal with and not beat myself up for it...each time I will go on holiday and unless it is one of my favourite Thalassotherapy Holidays I am bound to come back with a few kilos as extra luggage! It actually makes me more determined to re-focus.

My weight goal is still to be down to 60 kg by the end of June 2012. Although this new challenge is no longer just about losing weight, I am using 60 kg because that’s what I weighed when I was 25, fit & healthy. It is symbolic for me because I was not really living a healthy lifestyle at that time except working out 2 hours a day, but what strike me is that it is the only time in my life I didn’t care if someone took a picture of me! If I manage to regain this attitude, I will have achieved my overall goal that is feeling good about myself inside and outside... 

I am feeling very confident because in fact I only need to lose approximately 1.5 kg each month which is not a lot, but my fitness & physical goals are the most challenging & exciting!! I have 4 specific goals: dramatically improve the shape of my triceps and abdominals, reduce the appearance of cellulite. Finally, I want to be able to do more (FULL) press-ups than my husband... considering I am currently able to do only 2 or 3 full press-ups before collapsing!!

Today is Sunday and I am on Day 5 of this 12-week program and it should take me until the middle of May 2012.  Today’s workout tested my ability to do tricep bench dips and push-ups...perfect for my goals:

68kg (I am 2 kg behind, I need to be approximately 64.5kg by the end of March 2012)

Measurements: Waist 33”, chest 36”, hips 39”, Thighs 24” right & 23.5” left, bicep 13”

2/3 full press-ups maximum and a total of 34 knee press-ups within 3 sets

33 tricep bench dips

30 second lasting plank

For my abdominal goal, I am combining the normal 6 weeks Get Lean Workout Program with Belinda’s free bonus Breakthrough Abs 12-week-program.

After starting Belinda’s Get Lean Program for now a few 5 days, these would be my recommendations:

1.       1. Get organised and make sure you nutrition program is manageable, so you can easily have your food weekly shopping ready the day you start (my food weekly shopping and deliveries fall on a Tuesday, hence why I decided to start Get Lean Program on a Wednesday)

2.       2. I made lots of mistake at first on the correct portion of the recipes... I sometimes forgot to divide between 4 & 6: as a result I probably eat too much... no wonder why I didn’t feel hungry at all: now I make sure that I note the portion for 1 person on each recipe.

3.       3. I have tried many diet plans before that failed because I had to cook 2 different meals in the evening and at the weekend and it was too much for me to stick with. I have tested some of the evening meals on my husband & kids and I had fantastic feedback: they all said the meals were tasty which is great for me, easier to cook for all!! So from now on, all family meals are from Belinda’s Benn Get Lean Nutrition Program. I just make sure my portions are the right ones. So, if you also have to cook for others do test the reactions: at the end of the day, you will help others to eat a more balanced and nutritious (low glycemic) diet!

4.      4. I have exercised before at a gym and in specific exercise workout sessions, so it is easy for me to follow the instructions of the Get Lean Workout Program e-books. If you haven’t, it is worth investing joining a gym for the first month at least or paying a few personal training sessions with someone who can go through the exercises and make sure you are doing them correctly.

What is the RESET Maintain Phase:

Well done if you have finally reached you ideal weight. If you are like me and would rather not having to do it all again, the Maintain Phase is for you:

You continue to replace 1 out of 3 meals with a Nutrimeal shake and the 2 other meals need to be low-glycemic ones.

Continue to replace 1 snack with a USANA nutrition bar and the 2^nd snack needs to be low-glycemic to.

Continue your workout program to a moderate level. Continue to drink a lot of still water and take USANA Essential or HealthPak supplements.

Transform Phase Week 5

Monday morning is weigh in: lost another 600grs... I was nervous as I thought I didn't do enough exercise during the week, but it was ok because I stuck with my healthy diet!

We are still snowed it today, so I am varying my workout: 40 minutes clearing the snow out of my drive!

Tuesday: It was still icy and too dangerous to jog outside, so reverted to the living and did 45 mins of Super Circuits by Winston Squire. This is perfect for beginners!

Wednesday: Again, no jogging possible today... I miss it a lot, I enjoyed working out outside! Back in my living room and did 45 minutes of ‘Danni- Sexy Legs Now’ by Danni Levy. Quite enjoyed it (but was not prepared you need a Swiss ball –which I did have- but could do similar exercise on the floor on the sofa)