Little Black Dress Challenge - Day 1

One thing I like about the Beachbody coaches is the fact that they offer so many group challenges.  It does help motivate you and stay accountable, and they are short enough in duration that they don't seem overwhelming. You don't have to actively order anything from them to keep that relationship up...and when you see a challenge that interests you, why not jump on it?  Well, this one is a bit harder...I anticipate it.  But, I also know that I need it!

The LBD Challenge encompasses:

• 90 days
• Follow a Beachbody workout
• Report food choices
• Drink Shakeology daily
• Watch your stats online
• Report via the private facebook group

I signed up!  Made my shakeology order (chocolate the first month, tropical the next month and so forth).  Yesterday, I asked when it started...and the answer: TODAY!  I feel a little behind actually...I swear I don't even know where my DVDs are yet! So, thats my task for tonight....and the working out part.  Joe is trying to join in...he'll do shakeology on occassion, plus he wants motivation to exercise and try to keep up with me :)

There is a "point" system to win the challenge...not exactly sure what the winner receives though.  One point each for:

• work out of the day, what day you are on and how you feel
• picture of a meal, yourself during/after a workout or a recipe
• food intake for the day
• motivational quote/video/picture

My workout of choice? P90X2.  While there are suggested recovery weeks every 3 weeks, the program encourages you to do a recovery week whenever needed. So, you can either whip through this program in 9 weeks (3 weeks for each phase and utilize no recovery weeks), or you can take more time and finish in 20 weeks:

Foundation: 3 weeks
Recovery: 1 week
Foundation: 3 weeks
Recovery: 1 week
Strength: 3 weeks
Recovery: 1 week
Strength: 3 weeks
Recovery: 1 week
Performance: 3 weeks

This program clearly has a lot more flexibility to it.  You can easily build it around travel schedules or busy holiday weeks..these are simply your recovery weeks. Now, of course, you are still exercising during a recovery week....but this focuses on using the foam roller, stretching and yoga. Whats also nice about the recovery week's agenda is that I can imagine that you can easily break these into groups, eg 30 minutes in the morning and 30 in the evening, more readily than any other part of the program. So, flexibility is inherent in the program, which makes it more attainable to me.

My diet goals?  Just as there are three "blocks" in the training, there are also three phases to the nutrition plan. Most important to the plans is the macronutrient content, rather than specific food choices. One needs to find foods that fit into the macronutrient ratios that one loves to eat, rather than have a specific diet dictated.  That being said, I'm just going to focus on two of the "blocks," so my plan will start with Fat Shredder and end with Energy Booster:

Fat Shredder is a higher-protein diet that jump-starts your fat loss as you begin building muscle. Meals in this first 4 weeks should proportionally be: 50% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 20% fat.  Now, just by reading this, for me personally, the first phase will be the hardest. This is basically an atkins/south beach diet as carbs are severely restricted. The biggest concern I have with this is how to keep up my energy for this phase. While I know restricting carbs will seriously get me in ketosis so I utilize my fat stores for energy rather than my glycogen-muscle-carb stores, it does drain you. I just need to remind myself that its only for a month.

Energy Booster gives your body the energy it needs with a balanced mix of carbs and protein. Now, the Energy Booster is very balanced clean eating with lower levels of fat and extra carbs for extra energy during those Plyometrics workouts. Simple to follow.  Meals in this phase are 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fat. Eat three servings of complex carbohydrates daily (e.g. whole wheat bread, pasta or oatmeal as well as one piece of low glycemic index fruit daily). Protein remains high so as to aid in muscle recovery.

I'll be using MyFitnessPal to ensure that I have the 50% protein/30% carb/20% fat breakdown.  Thats hard to track without technology!