Ten weeks is a short amount of time to commit to a program that I figure will only do good things for my fitness and health.
The program provides daily menus, recipes that you can switch up and shopping lists for the week after you've selected your preferred meals.
There is a section on fitness that you can manage at your own pace that includes circuits, tabata, incidental cardio and strength and spinning. The mentor for this part of the program is Luke Hines. He was a finalist on MKR and is a Fitness and Personal Trainer in Bondi, is author of the book 'Clean Living' and is a presenter on Weekend Sunrise. He has a number of qualifications including Master Trainer (AIF), FISAF International Trainer and Les Mills Body Combat Instructor.
The exercises for the first week look pretty manageable (even for me). He provides short videos to show how to do each exercise. It's a 30 minute workout that includes stretching, warm ups and things like squats, thrusts and jogging on the spot.
Another section of the program is Life Coaching with Trevor Hendy. In his past life, he has won several World and Australian Ironman Championships and is now a Wholistic Personal Trainer and Life Coach as well as running Corporate Team Building sessions and seminars. He focuses on positive reinforcement and helping people create positive change in their lives.
There is a Naturopath and Nutritionist, Helen Padarin, who can help monitor people with chronic health conditions and is available in her office or for phone or skype interviews. She has six qualifications including Bachelor of Science (Naturopathy) and Diploma of Nutrition.
Then, and this one is my favourite, we have Nora Gedgaudus, who wrote (among others) 'Primal Body, Primal Mind'. She is a Board-Certified Nutritional Consultant and a Board-Certified Clinical Neurofeedback Specialist (neurofeedback is about improving brain function and deals with conditions such as anxiety, depression, behaviour disorders, sleep disorders, seizures, autism and cerebral palsy).
Nora has all the information about the food we eat, how it has changed over the generations, why it is affecting our health now, what our bodies need to thrive and why chronic disease is so prevalent now, including autoimmune diseases, heart disease and cancer.
This program is not just about changing the way we eat and getting active. It is an ongoing education about how our bodies work, how we can use food more efficiently to improve our health, working on our minds, relaxation techniques, what to expect from our body during such a massive (for some) change and monitoring all the participants to see how the changes improve their health and well being.
I'm both excited and hesitant about doing this because it means giving up my morning coffee (for at least the next 10 weeks anyway) and no alcohol for the same period, but the exercise part will be the most interesting! Riding my trike and walking along the beach are my forte and even though the exercise program looks pretty manageable, it's still out of my comfort zone .. but I guess when you compare my situation to most of the other people participating, the changes I have to make, are pretty minimal in comparison.
My pantry and fridge are already full of the ingredients that I need, so the initial expense for me is much lower than for most others. The only things I have to give up are coffee, alcohol, potatoes and rice, where most others will be removing gluten, sugar, coffee, alcohol, carbs and processed foods .. so the road ahead for them will be much tougher, but no doubt they will notice much bigger changes in their body and their health than I will.
There are few things that I want out of this program. One, is a reasonable level of fitness. I haven't worked on my fitness for a few years, and I was once VERY fit and strong. I know, at my age, that I won't ever be at that level again, but I would like to improve that aspect of my life.
The second is that I'm having annoying issues with my hormones and I'm certainly hoping that the changes that I make will improve my health in that area. I've read a lot of stories from women who have seen huge improvements in their hormonal health from making these changes.
Thirdly, I'd like to lose about 5 kgs and then maintain that loss. I feel that the hormone imbalance is making me retain fluid, so once I get that sorted, the weight will change. A 5 kg loss will put me at my comfortable weight.
Lastly, I hope to gain knowledge that will help me with my studies. With so much information about health and nutrition, it should go a long way towards some of the required knowledge in the course. In fact, today is the first day of the program and I've already learnt something that will contribute to my essay assignment.
So, that's the deal.
Now that I've put it out into the universe, I've officially committed myself to the program and now you will hold me accountable and I will keep you up to date with my progress.
It's only 10 weeks. How hard can it be?
May the Force Be With Me!
Nite all.
PS We had a bit of a storm tonight ...
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