Recently I have decided to really challenge myself, setting my fitness goals high and my weight goals low. My goal in 35 days was to drop 10 lbs below the weight that I was currently plateauing at.
I had spent several weeks getting my weight from 147 lbs down to 133 lbs. I had been feeling great about my accomplishment until I could not get past that 133 mark. I was eating keto healthy, I cut way back on my drinking, and I was working out 5 days a week for at least an hour at a day. But, after losing 14 lbs my body wasn’t cutting down any further.
I decided to take measures into my own experiment. I had been reading a lot on bodybuilding.com about different sources of proteins, amino acids, and other vitamins and supplements that can both aid in muscle growth and weight loss. This was exactly what I wanted to do- get stronger/fitter and lose fat. This is when I decided to build my weeks of 85% protein shakes and 15% keto friendly meals. What this means is I would build my week around 3-4 standard ketogenic meals and the rest of the time drink protein shakes and meal replacement shakes.
Products I used:
- 310 Meal Replacement Shakes
- 310 Juice
- 310 Tea
- Designer Whey Protien
- Scivation BCAAs
- CLA 3000
- Fit Miss Burn
- Fit Miss Tyte
- Scivation Quake
- Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Sugar Free Jello
- Multi-Vitamin
- Variety of Herbal Teas
- Monster Whey Isolate
- Muscle Milk
**I am not a huge fan of being brand specific. I think that once you commit to one specific brand you then cut out your options of getting the kinds of nutrients/benefits other products have to offer.**
On my shake days I would wake up at 4:30 am for my morning workout. Work out for about an hour and a half to two hours. Then between 7:30-8:30 am make a shake with one and a half cups of almond milk. I would then have a protein shake every 3 hours, consuming 5 shakes a day.
And as for the results:
Week One:
This week was an adjustment for sure. I did not notice myself being particularly hungry. I did however notice a huge improvement in my performance at the gym. I was reaching my strength goals and I was seeing viable gains in muscle. I was also noticing my fat loss all over my body. I lost 4 lbs this week, getting me down to 129 lbs.
Week Two:
I found myself extremely motivated after seeing my results in week one. I started my week feeling awesome and unstoppable. I continued to feel this way throughout the entire week seeing more gains in strength and more fat loss. I was feeling slightly fatigued at the end of the week so I added recovery yoga into my routine at night. I ended this week losing 3 more lbs, hitting 126 lbs.
Week Three:
This week I felt slightly fatigued, but I was still extremely motivated. My results kept me going. I was seeing a lot more definition in my body, and I was feeling very empowered after every work out. My shakes were still keeping me full and satisfied. I did not lose as much weight as I would have liked to this week, only getting down to 125 lbs at the end of the week. I was not entirely disappointed with this because I knew I was gaining muscle and I was expecting the fat loss to slow down and begin to plateau again at this point.
Week Four:
This week I really wanted to drop another 2 lbs. So I incorporated three 2-a-day work out this week. In this middle of this week I was sore, tired, and beginning to get hungry. I had my eyes on the prize and I wasn’t giving up despite how I felt. I was over compensating my fatigued body with sleep instead of giving into meals. This I had a feeling was not good for me, but for the sake of the self made challenge I continued on. I ended up disappointed at the end of this week only weighing in at 124 lbs, my goal was 123.
Week Five:
This week took the most motivation, surprisingly. I had been more fatigued than I felt was natural. I stopped doing the 2-a-day workouts and focused more one long intense workout. I added in a 4th light meal this week to help my body replenish anything it was missing. However, the hard work I put in this last week paid off when I had his my goal of 123 lbs. I had lost 10 lbs at 32 days into my experiment. I maintained this 10 lb weight loss for the remaining 3 days of this experiment.
All in all, I recommend this if you’re getting ready for a wedding, big life event, vacation. Or if you just really want to kick 10 lbs in a month and get in awesome shape. My main goal above weight loss was superior athletic performance. This I achieved day in and day out. I did not let myself slack on any of my workouts.
The last day of this challenge fell on the day before my birthday. On my birthday I allowed myself to eat and drink everything in sight. Surprisingly I only gained 6 lbs of water weight because all 6 of those lbs were gone after 48 hours back on my regular ketogenic diet and work out routine. With that said, this diet is not a diet that will make you lose 10 lbs and gain it all back in a day, or a week, or two weeks. This has been a maintained loss.
For more about fitness and designing kick ass workouts continue reading my blog!
Fit Life by Lauren 