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!

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.

Week 4: RESET Transform Phase

Monday: Going on the scale both excited & nervous at the same time... lost another 300g, that is a total of 2.4kgs in 3 weeks! I am very happy with my consistent & safe weight loss! I had too much on for the day, so that was my excuse for not working out! Shocking I know...

Tuesday: Felt very energised and went jogging for 40 mins and finished the day with over 13,000 steps counted on my pedometer.

Wednesday: Another excuse for not enough time to workout! I am feeling guilty, but can’t help it!

Thursday: Felt so guilty for missing out 2 days exercise this week, that I challenged myself to run for longer today. Success: 15,163 steps or 2.86 mile and burnt 361 kcal.

Friday: Had a bad start with my 4-year-old Saskia not wanting to listen and making us late for the school run. I felt so angry & stressed that I couldn’t relax and breathe properly during my job: only managed to do about 3,000 steps... went back home instead and did 20 minutes yoga to calm me down: Yoga for Beginners Stress Relief with Suzanne Deason (LivingYoga)

Saturday is my day off workout, I am too busy taking my girls from Gymnastics, Trampoline & Ballet Classes. Today, there is also a birthday party to drive Saskia too!

Sunday: we had heavy snow overnight...no chance to jog outside. Only managed to do some toning exercises while watching TV in the evening: it was quite fun, the girls did join in and we obliged dad to do 20 press-ups (it was quite funny to watch!)

I am a bit nervuous for tomorrow morning weigh in, because I feel I didn't do as much exercise as I should have...

Week 3: RESET Transform Phase

I am already thinking about what fitness program I would like to follow after I finish this 5-week-plan with USANA. Of course, I will not stop Reset or USANA completely...I will continue with my HealthPak daily supplements and keep some of the low glycemic snack at hand. I will have some of the shakes with higher protein content instead of the normal one to match a more physical workout program.

I have decided to get Belinda Benn ‘Get Lean Program’ which I will start in about 3 weeks! Who dares to join me?!

From next week, I will weigh in on Mondays instead of Saturdays.

 

Monday: It looks like this cold is taking a bit long to shift away from me, I don’t seem to be able to wake up naturally before the alarm...never mind I am motivated enough & it’s no longer an excuse to miss my daily workout!

Today, I did 20 mins ‘Body Shaping Intensive Yoga’, 15 mins ‘DanniSexy Legs Now’ by Danni Levy and ’Belly Blitz’ by Suzanne Baven for 12 mins. I love the last 12 minutes!!

Tuesday: Still only woke up at the alarm, but I am saving 1/2h because my friend is doing the school run this morning, so I have time to do ‘Inch Loss Pilates’ by Lucy Knight for Fitforlife... not too difficult but effective on the core muscle side.

Wednesday, I really enjoyed doing this workout with Elise Lindsey called ‘Resistance for Women’ from Body In Balance TV recording.

Thursday, I went jogging for about ½ hour after I dropped my children at my friend’s house...refreshing!!

Friday, I wanted variety! I did 3 different workouts:

-          Exhale Core Fusion Bootcamp with Fred De Vito for 15 mins (really good & challenging)

-          The Skinny Girl workout with Bethenny Frankel  for 25 mins

-          Belly Blitz with Suzanne Bowen (my favourite abs workout so far)

Saturday was again my day off and we had people over, so I wasn’t 100% with my healthy eating habits!

Sunday was my best day, jogging at the beginning with Tamzin (8-year-old daughter) and by myself at the end: altogether 40 mins ... that is more than 7,000 steps done before 10 am!!!

Tomorrow will be weigh in and the start of week 4!!! Bring it on!

Week 2: RESET Transform Phase

I need to watch out...I have a nasty cold try eating my energy away. Not a problem, I will take it slow but continue to be consistent. I will replace some of the shakes (which I prefer cold) with nutritious hot soups!!

Monday workout was an easy way to start the week: I did 30 mins ‘Pulse Yoga’ and 30 mins ‘Fabulous Fitness at 40’

Tuesday morning I manage to get up at 5.30 am and got energised with 30 min “Shiva AM Energy” and another 30 mins with “The Firm 500 Calorie Burn“ by Kelsie Daniels...both excellent workouts!

Wednesday I did not manage to wake up before the alarm, but made sure I exercised for about 1 hour as soon as I came back from the school run: “Trudie Styler Warrior Yoga” & “Ultra Fit Body Workout Day 2” by Audrey Kaipio.

Thursday, I did ‘Ultra Fit Body Workout Day 3’ with Audrey Kaipio and X-tend Ballet Barre with Andrea Rogers...over all maybe about 40 minutes. My upper body is ‘killing’ me though!

Friday, I did not feel great at all, so instead did about 45 mins of Yoga on the Edge – Sunrise with Sara Ivanhoe...it was a great workout, I am saving the recording for another time.

Saturday is weigh-in day: 67.8 kg... I have lost another 600g! This is the right way to lose weight, slow & consistent: from now on I expect to lose between ½ and 1 kg every week. Saturday is quite hectic with the family activities, so it is my day off in terms of “me” workout.

Sunday was an experiment. My 8-year-old has started competitive swimming for a month now and she needs to build stamina, so I bought her a proper pair of running shoes. She is starting a first jog! It was a bit strange to start with because the 4-year-old was adamant that she also was going to jog with us. The 4-year-old lasted 5 minutes and got back inside. My 8-year-old only managed to run for 10 minutes because she had a ‘stitch’...we continued power walking for another 15 minutes & I took her home. I felt so energised that I went back all by myself for another 15 minutes proper jog.

What is the Reset Transform Phase

What is the RESET Transform Phase:

Once you have done the 5-day-RESET as a natural detox to lose those unhealthy cravings, you can continue the program in order to reach your ideal weight:

You continue to replace 2 out of 3 meals with a Nutrimeal shake and the 3^rd meal needs to be low-glycemic.

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

Increase your workout program to a moderate level, going from 3,000 to 10,000 steps daily. Continue to drink a lot of still water and take USANA Essential or HealthPak supplements.

Reset Day 1:

As many of us, I have over indulged over the Christmas holidays and was not as active as I should have been. I weigh myself this morning: 69.9kg...but that’s ok, I know what to do: start with a natural detox and get back slowly into good habits and routines.
 Today I am starting a 5 Day Jump Start Carb Cleanse – it will kick off my metabolism and eliminate cravings for sugar and refined carbs. The average weight loss is 4-5 lbs.
My original plan was to get up ½ hour earlier and start with a 30 min Pilates workout DVD that I got myself for Christmas to replace my gym membership! But as she often does, my 4-year-old got into our bed during the night...therefore I didn’t get a good enough sleep and I needed that ½ hour sleep instead.
Instead of tea or coffee (it’s a detox remember!), I started the day with an organic herbal tea: nettle, fennel & peppermint...not bad at all!

And this is my low glycemic feed that I planned for today:

My breakfast will be a tasty Cappucino (taste like but is not!) Nutrimeal Shake with an added scoop of Fibergy (even more fiber: I need it!) with my morning USANA healthpack supplements pouch.
My lunch will & my dinner will be another tasty Nutrimeal shake, not sure which flavour I will choose yet and 2 healthy nutrition bars to make it a total of 5 small meals during the day.
I keep my 1.5L still mineral bottle with me at all times that I will drink throughout and hopefully will need to top up too!
All I need now is to find the time to do my Pilates sessions...and I have lots of excuses for not finding the time: housework, work, kids, preparing food from scratch for the family tonight!

I am updated this now it's 8 pm. It was an exhausting day, not sure if because I had a lot on or the lack of calories or my body fighting the cravings! I managed the detox well, I didn't feel starved at all and I even managed to drink 2 litres of water... the only thing was I didn't do my 30 minutes Pilates: something to get right tomorrow!

Hoping for a good night sleep tonight, but proud of myself on my first day!


Would you like to join me? Contact Me

USANA RESET Week 2012: Stories of Success

What is RESET?

What is the 5-day-RESET:

Where to get RESET from

Where to get RESET from

All the food you need for those 5 days comes in this lovely box. You will replace your meals with delicious Nutrimeal shakes (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) and your snacks with nutritious low glycemic bars (Oatmeal Raisin or Peanut Butter Crunch). The box also includes daily USANA nutritionals to supplement your intake.

Where to get it

Where to ask to get it

All you now need to do is go through the box, drink at least 64-80 oz. of still water and walk for 20 to 30 mins daily. If you need to, you may eat 1 fruit & 1 vegetable servings on the top of the Nutrimeal shakes & bars.