Consume diverse vegetables & fruits along with enough protein to sustain lean mass.
Limit Sugars, starches and fats.
Develop sustainable habits for life.
Eat to live longer.
Search for better, not perfect.
Be held accountable regularly.
This was the easiest and most difficult program I have ever been a part of. It was easy because the plans were all laid out for you; eat right, and train hard. It was difficult because it required me to keep up my performance to make sure my next week is better than my last week.
The hardest part was changing what I eat and finding the veggies that I liked. I ended up speaking to my coach and found out that I absolutely love broccoli and asparagus. I guess that’s what my coach is there for, to make sure I can still succeed when I feel like there is nothing I can do.
“Personal Training sessions are my favorite part of the process. The 30 minute sessions twice a week are intense and kicked my butt like I would never do on my own…I gained a lot of strength which I love, I improved a lot of different skills like Push Ups, Heavy squats, Pull-ups and Rope climbs.
It was extremely empowering and a deep learning process on discovering how much my mind was limiting me in telling me that “I couldn’t do that” or “I wasn’t strong enough to do that” and Dan being a great coach could recognize that and helped me through it, literally breaking those barriers in order to move forward. Pretty amazing stuff!
The nutrition program opened my eyes to the portions I was eating ( way too big ), and that my fat intake was still way too high even though it was good fat. It made me clean up my (very clean diet or so I thought ) diet. I had to let go of my pasta, pizza, red wine cheat days. There were way too many cheat meals or cheat days for me to lose weight.
Learning how to measure out the right portions between the protein, carbohydrates and fats was a huge eye opener. Reporting my food intake on a daily basis was hard & time consuming but made a huge difference since it held me accountable on a daily basis.”
“The hardest part was that I am a foodie! Absolutely love eating, my meals were a big highlight of my day. The focus had to change to ‘what’s the mission here’? …To have a good meal, or to get into shape and shed off the excess fat and feel good about myself?
I had to make a conscious choice of what I wanted my end result to be and make a decision that I was going to make it happen. A lot of times we do things out of habit or because that’s what we know.
You only realize what you really want once you identify your goals and sometimes what you have been doing is not really what makes you the happiest but is just the way you roll and that can be changed!
I could say that prepping my food for the week was the hardest-taking time out of every Sundays to shop and stock up on what’s needed was not what I used to do on my Sundays but once you change your perception, you automatically create the environment that’s needed to succeed. Instead of it feeling hard , it becomes exciting to start another week all prepared and ready to go! The easiest part was-always made sure to put food on the table for my family that was healthy, meals prepared from tons of vegetables and lean protein. We were never a fast food, fried food, processed food type of house hold, so eating clean and lean was the easy part.
What have you tried before? Did it work?
Well, it’s really amazing that I have been consistent in starting my day at A1A five to six times a week for almost two years now. And if I don’t makeit in the morning, I will be there in the evening. Before that I did it all from normal gym memberships to yoga, Pilates,spinning…and everything got boring for me. I did not stick to anything more then a few months. I truly love CrossFit. I love that I know every day will be challenging and completely different, which prevents me from getting bored. I feel I still have so much more to learn and accomplish in regards to my technique and strength . I feel so grateful to have come to a box that has amazing coaches that are knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. And to top it off, I have made great friendships and adore the community we have. What else could I ask for???
I will also share that I tried so many diets, none of which gave me good results. I always went up and down on the scale but never accomplished changes like I did with this nutrition plan. I lost 25 pounds!! I’m only 5′ 3″ so on my body that’s huge! My body fat is at 18%! Who would of believed that my Body Fat is in the Athlete category!! That’s insane. I’m so happy, I feel good and the goal is to maintain and continue to just get better and stronger!”
You lost over 8% body fat which is phenomenal! What did you try before this? What worked, what didn’t?
I’ve tried so many different things, juice cleanses, weight watchers, cutting out gluten, eating mostly all the not allowed veggies
…Dan’s plan is my new favorite and the one I’ve been the most successful on. Although I’ve had success with Tracy Anderson method after my first child, I couldn’t find the motivation and energy to push myself through it again after my second or third. With this Dan was there all along answering my questions and checking in with me, and I really think that because I had that accountability, it got me through this successfully.
What’s the hardest part about changing your nutrition?
I struggled with getting so much water in- especially that first bottle in the morning. Also weekends are hard. We usually spend Saturdays with family/friends and there’s always a lot of food. That continues to be a challenge for me. For the first 6 weeks I tried my best to stick to it even thru the weekends, now that I’m a little farther along in the program it’s definitely getting more challenging!
Also, before doing this plan I didn’t eat breakfast. So finding the time to squeeze that in was challenging.
What’s the easiest part?
What was the hardest part about losing weight?
Honestly, I think the hardest part is making the commitment that you really want to lose weight. I had to make some major changes in my diet and get back into an exercise routine, but once I decided that this was what I really wanted to do and that I had to make these adjustments to see results everything started falling into place. You really have to want it and then it is just a matter of following the program.
What was the easiest part?
The program has some amazing recipes and I was never hungry. I followed it by the book and wrote down everything I ate but there are so many options that it actually is fun and you realize that you can lose weight eating yummy food.
You did the program while traveling to Brazil, tell me about that.
That was my first trip while on the program and my second biggest challenge (The first, was quitting drinking, which I had done a month before starting the program and realized that alcohol really slows down weight loss, but we can get into that another time). Going to Brazil meant that I was going to be around drinking and a lot of fatty foods that were not part of my current diet. The surprise was that I managed 10 days in Brazil and did not drink or eat anything that was off the charts from the program and I did not suffer over it or feel that I was missing out. There were enough healthy foods that made me satisfied and again I learned that you can adapt your diet and enjoy vacations, it is all about making choices. I think I lost 1lb while I was there when in the past I always gained at least 3 when I was in Brazil.
You’re continuing on with the program, what’s your ultimate goal?
My ultimate goal is to find balance on the long run and continue with this new and healthier lifestyle. I need the accountability and this program gives great support (Dan is awesome!) to make me accountable. Next step is to really get the exercise going stronger and to lose more fat and gain muscle. You can be healthy and still have fun, with the bonus of looking and feeling great!!!!
Thank you Dan and A1A!
