Lo + Bee: Slim Down

A little while back I had gotten into the bad habit of eating really junky. It was back to the quick college style meals with pizza rolls, oreos, and cookie dough ice cream. I was majorly stressed at work, worn down, and not exercising like normal. All of these factors combined lead to a grouchy Bee.

Low and behold one of my best girl's, Christina, was having the same struggle. She suggested we try the Tone It Up 7 Day Slim Down (which we have both tried and failed at once before). I wouldn't exactly call it a cleanse as much as a super duper clean eating regimen with lots of exercise. I teamed up with Christina as my support system from way over yonder in Cali. I loathe diet fads, so this was more of a re-focus to get back into our groove thang.

The plan is obviously seven days long as told in the title. Each day is comprised of five small meals with two workouts a day. Tough stuff! Christina and I would keep each other in check by sending an e-mail to one another at the end of the day with what we ate and how we worked out. It's nice having someone to hold you accountable. Did I mention that if we cheated, the punishment was five minutes of burpees (aka the most dreadful exercise on the planet). Needless to say neither of us ever cheated.

Let me summarize as best I can so that you may feel my pain to skinny britches.

Meal 1: Protein pancake or an egg white scramble with spinach

Meal 2: Apple, pear, or grapefruit

Meal 3: Lean protein (chicky, turkey, egg), a green veggie, and piece of fruit.

Meal 4: The Tone It Up Slim Down Smoothie (tastes dreadful)

Meal 5: Lean protein and a cup of green veggies. Seasoning is limited to olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt...my taste buds were less than thrilled.

Don't forget lots and lots and lots of H20!

On top of these slim pickins' we were supposed to walk, jog, or run for 30 min in the morn before eating. The second workout at the end of the day comprised of a 30 min cardio sesh with some sort of toning. Three of the days were full body toning and the other four were focused on the six pack.

The working out twice a day was misery. Exercising in the morning is fine and normal for me, but adding an additional session in after a long day at work was pretty trying.

The eating clean part wasn't quite as hard as I expected. For the both of us it put some things into perspective. Number one we don't actually need that much food to feel full. Second when you drink a ton of water throughout the day and have small meals every two to three hours you would be surprised at how satisfied you really are.

Don't get me wrong, I am not going to eat this clean ALL the time, but I am able to portion control a whole lot better now. Instead of eating that whole cookie I only eat half ;) But really the Slim Down helped to get me back on track plus I lost 6.5 INCHES combined from my waist, legs, arms, etc.

Now I am eating healthier and running and yoga-ing six days a week.