Body makeover: Week 3 on Joe Wicks’ plan our blogger has lost four kilos but is having a tough time

Body Makeover Challenge blogger Hannah Thompson shares the ups – and the MANY downs – of her first three weeks on the Shift, Shape and Sustain (SSS) plan from personal trainer Joe Wicks

WEEK 1

It’s been tough, not gonna lie.

Multiple times this week I’ve thought, this cannot go on. I cannot keep this up. I’ve felt weak, tired, hungry, bored, annoyed, frustrated – and most importantly, had one heck of a headache.

Which has been a shock, since this isn’t exactly the first diet I’ve been on, and I generally eat quite healthily (give or take a few bad days). I thought it would be fine, especially since I get to eat carbs after my workouts, when usually I avoid them most of the time.

On Joe’s plan, even when I’ve been hungry enough to contemplate nibbling the wall, I haven’t technically been allowed to even eat an apple.

HOWEVER, most diets I’ve done, such as Slimming World, allow you to eat unlimited amounts of certain things, such as fruit and vegetables, which mean you can always reach for a piece of fruit or carrot sticks when you’re feeling peckish or bored. On Joe’s plan, even when I’ve been hungry enough to contemplate nibbling the wall, I haven’t technically been allowed to even eat an apple.

Instead, I’ve focused on what I CAN eat, and drunk lots of water and tea. It hasn’t been easy.

I’ve found myself going through spinach and low-fat yoghurt waaay quicker than I thought I would, requiring extra trips to the supermarket and more worrying about my spiralling-out-of-control food budget – for the record, about £50-60 for this week, hopefully less next week as leftovers start to build up a bit.

I’ve also gone “off plan” several times, thanks largely to a work event about burgers – which saw me eating about ten halves of tiny hamburger “sliders” cooked by some of the best chefs in London (yes, did I mention my job involves food?!). I know I didn’t HAVE to eat that stuff, but it would almost – genuinely – have been rude not to. Plus, isn’t life for living? Argh. I struggle with that balance between wanting to be slim and healthy, and enjoying food so much.

MORE: Hannah’s opening blog

I’m not complaining at all (well, not much), and I know people say changing your diet is a ‘lifestyle change’, but I’m pretty sure Joe Wicks hasn’t ever said: ‘be on plan when you can…and then when you can’t, fall off it spectacularly into a plate of burgers’. Pretty sure…

I also went for a picnic with friends, which included some celebratory Prosecco and a fair few Doritos.

And yet.

I’ve carried on. Yes, I had some Prosecco and Doritos, but I also brought along a load of healthy, on-plan stuff to the picnic, including my protein shake, bagel, and fruit. I also didn’t cave into temptation and have a big 99 Flake ice cream, like I would have done normally, just to ‘treat myself’. That’s a move in the right direction, surely?

Yes, I’ve gotten royally annoyed with having to wash and dry Tupperware every single day, but I’ve done it anyway (cue lots of photos of a VERY organised fridge!). And it’s been tough cooking dinner from scratch every night – what with the weighing out of EVERY SINGLE THING to the nth degree ‒ but I’ve done it, and discovered some delicious dishes too.

And I’ve realised that the key to this thing is planning.

I’ve realised that the key to this thing is planning.

I kind of knew that already, as in – write down what you’re going to eat in advance, and then eat it (duh). But I mean, when you REALLY plan, as in not just writing it down, but making it in advance, too, and fridging/freezing as much as possible, it makes a world of difference. When you want it, it’s just a case of five minutes in the microwave, rather than over an hour of cooking.

I don’t really know how I’m doing progress-wise – Joe says not to focus on what the scales say (he calls them the ‘sad step’) – and I feel more headachy and tired than thin, to be honest.

I feel more headachy and tired than thin, to be honest

BUT. Despite all of that, this morning the scales DID say I’d lost 4 pounds. That seems A LOT for just one week, and the negative monster in my head is saying it’s just water weight, or just an inflated result due to it being my first week ‒  but maybe, just maybe, this plan might be working…

WEEK 2

Another mixed bag, to be honest.

This week I’ve also fallen off the wagon, namely in the shape of three Quality Streets from a tin in the office, a pizza out with a friend, and some pate – which turned out to be a disaster.  I think that’s what gave me food poisoning on Thursday night.  Cue two days of feeling rubbish and not even wanting to contemplate healthy cooking or eating (one day of feeling horrible, followed by lots of white bread toast, a bit of frozen pizza, and a big brownie to make up for feeling rubbish).

This week I’ve also fallen off the wagon, namely in the shape of three Quality Streets, a pizza out with a friend, and some pate

This isn’t supposed to be a confessional – I’m not listing my ‘sins’ for penance. Nor do I think it’s particularly great – or terrible – that I’ve ‘cheated’.  I’ve done enough diets to know that you get absolutely nowhere by beating yourself up about eating the ‘wrong things’.

You draw a line, and get back on the wagon. It’s not like I ate badly for a couple of days, and then carried on to eat badly for a week. When I have been at work, going about my day as usual, not feeling ill, I’ve been on-plan. It’s not a disaster.

I really, really struggle to combine healthy eating with my job, having a good social life, and feeling emotionally strong.

But, as expected, this programme is striking the heart of all the reasons why other plans I’ve done haven’t properly worked – I really, really struggle to combine healthy eating with my job, having a good social life, and feeling emotionally strong.

I know, logically, that eating well and working out will make me feel better in the long term. I know that eating comfort food, giving in to pizza, having a few drinks, is a bad solution to feeling down and that in the long run I feel far worse. But in the short-term, it works, and it’s been my go-to for just about everything. Even though I’m conscious of it.

I really, really struggle to combine healthy eating with my job, having a good social life, and feeling emotionally strong.

I know I use food as a shield against feeling bored or sad or tired, and I know I use it as a means to celebrate and enjoy life. Good food is so integral to my personality and identity, so I really struggle to unite that with an eating plan. I guess, when all is said and eaten, it’s about balance.

I’m not trying to make excuses, but sometimes it really seems that life (not to mention the biscuit tin in the office) gets in the way. But then I guess it’s all about manoeuvring around it, without letting it completely send you spiralling back into old habits.

I know I use food as a shield against feeling bored or sad or tired

So far though, preparing food in advance has been my saving grace, because when I’ve been at my most tired and lazy, there are the meals, all ready to go in the fridge. That’s saved me today, anyway. Also, I properly discovered chocolate-flavoured protein shakes (JOY!), which I can have as a snack AND as an extra post-workout drink on top, and I also joined a Facebook group, which may be helpful for support as the weeks go on.

Other on-plan things I’ve discovered which are excellent: dried beef biltong (a snack, and DELICIOUS), Joe’s chicken cashew curry, also fantastic, and the plan’s overnight protein porridge, which, with my chocolate-flavoured protein powder, is really quite scrumptious for breakfast (as is the build-up bagel, which is basically a bagel with LOADS of protein-rich filling, such as ham and beef!).

MORE: 3 healthy recipes from star trainer Joe Wicks

Next week, I’m going away with work for three days, and what I have to eat there will be anyone’s guess. I’ll have little control over what’s around and won’t be able to stick to plan.

I’ll need to remember what my motivation is, and why I’m doing this is the first place – to look better, to do the best I can in it, and get healthier – and eat as healthily as possible, as well as finding time to work out. The last bit should be okay – I can do HIIT in my hotel room (as long as I don’t jump about TOO much), but as for the food, well…

…this might really be where life meets willpower meets plan. Eeek.

WEEK 3

Long story short – I’m writing off this week, and have decided to add on another week to this first cycle of the plan (so at the end it will have been five weeks since I started, rather than the usual four). A lot of people on the Facebook group seem to have done this with success, so I’ll do it too.

This is down to three simple reasons.

One, I went away with work for three days in the middle of the week, so didn’t really cook and eat properly at the beginning of the week (although I did eat mainly from the plan, but cheated a bit, stupidly), because I felt like there was no point because…

Two, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep even remotely on plan during my trip, thanks to having no choice about what I ate, to being taken out for lunch and dinner, to having to grab the best of what was available, as and when I could. I had some wonderful food when I was away (tapas, sushi…), but it wasn’t at all on plan.

And three, I was also out at the weekend singing at a gig with my choir (which was awesome) but again, there was a bit of drinking and eating non-plan things at a street food market, and then today, Sunday, I’ve had some lovely sourdough bread and a lot of creamy chocolate because why not, it’s a sunny Sunday, and this week’s been a write-off as it is.

Might as well draw a line under it, and start again tomorrow. And I mean, properly.

Might as well draw a line under it, and start again tomorrow. And I mean, properly.

I’m just about to draw up my plan, and intend to stick to it at least 99 per cent. Yes, yes I know – I should say 100 per cent, but despite this terrible diet week (a fabulous week for pretty much everything else, I might add!).  I also know that setting yourself up to be PERFECT is a recipe for disaster. If I set myself a target of 100 per cent, and I have one lapse, then that’s a failure. If I tell myself 99 per cent, and I try my best to be as on-plan as I can, then that’s enough.

You Are Not Your Diet. Even if you mess up, screw up, fall off the wagon, you’re still a good person, worthy of self-respect, and compassion.

And this week has underlined one key bit of wisdom that everyone who struggles with their weight/appearance/healthy eating would do well to remember: You Are Not Your Diet. Even if you mess up, screw up, fall off the wagon, you’re still a good person, worthy of self-respect, and compassion.

It’s really, really, difficult to remember sometimes, but it’s true. Beating myself up about falling off-plan is the quickest way I can think of to feeling totally awful about myself, and then feeling so powerless and apathetic that I jump straight back into the biscuit tin. I might as well focus on what I’ve done well – such as keeping up my HIIT and yoga – than what I haven’t.

So. As I said. Long story short. I’m starting afresh. Remembering that I’m doing this plan not because I hate myself, but because I want to be as healthy and well-functioning as I can, and get results. Yes, despite what it might seem like, I *do* want to get results!

 Eating off plan has made me feel more tired and lethargic.

And, eating off plan has made me feel more tired and lethargic, it has to be said.

So I’m about to make a realistic meal plan, incorporate as many great dishes from the diet as I can, cook ahead of time, and go on from there. This week isn’t set to be as busy as the last few, so I should be more in control of my food. And that’s all I can do. See you next week.

If you want to see quick results by doing easy daily workouts, try Healthista’s 30 Day Challenges. 

Read Hannah’s first week

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