Well, we are almost thirty pounds lighter at our house! We have shredded most of our bad eating habits! We have shredded our thinking about how and when we eat. This "diet" is completely detailed in the book: Shred: The Revolutionary Diet: 6 Weeks, 4 inches, 2 sizes . We think this book will be a great reference and resource for us going forward with recipes, snacks, and even ways to continue to meal plan.
Why The SHRED Diet?
I saw Ian Smith (the author) push his book on numerous talk shows over the late fall and into early January, from "Dr. Oz" to "Rachael Ray" to "Good Morning, Texas" (WFAA's own morning talk show). The diet philosophy he shared really appealed to me in that it wasn't a fad, it used real, accessible food, it didn't eliminate any nutritious food groups, it was very defined in that it lasted six weeks, and that each week had a different feel. From our discussions at home, my husband (and I) wanted to lose some serious weight, wanted to get serious about healthy eating, and lifestyle change. This approach seemed like it would work, as we could "do anything for seven days."
We purchased the book from Wal-Mart due to a random gift card and then started 6 weeks ago. I will say that we haven't been perfect in following this plan, but we have seen serious results despite some infrequent "cheats"! My husband has lost seventeen pounds on the "diet" and 19 total since Christmas. His pants and belt are big, he is wearing shirts he had deemed too small a few months ago, he is running faster, and overall is feeling better. I have lost eight pounds, the rest of my baby weight and then some. My pre-baby jeans haven't been attempted yet, but my current good jeans fit really well and my first post baby jeans are super big, to the point of almost being able to pull them off without undoing the button. I would say we have been successful!
Summary of the diet plan:
- spread your daily calories over 4 meals and 3 or 4 snacks evenly spread throughout the day
- diet confusion: mixing up when your body gets various types of calories day to day and week to week, helping break your body's habits and expectation of certain calories
- cardio exercise 5 of 7 days a week
The weeks:
- Prime (We both lost the most weight this week!): Almost felt like too much to eat at some meals, just a totally different approach than we had had.
- Challenge: More challenging calorie wise than Prime, but still felt like we had a lot to eat.
- Transformation: The hardest week! Most restrictive calorie intake, lots of liquid meals!
- Ascend: Felt like we came back to life, we were definitely less grouchy this week!
- Cleanse: An eating cleanse, restrictive choices, but not impossible. We have fallen in love with Flax Seed Oil that was introduced during this week!
- Explode: We made adjustments to his plan this week to help ourselves get ready for life on the other side of the diet.
The challenges to this plan:
- our grocery bill went up a lot! Like I went over budget a good $50 to $75 a week from my average spending. This may or may not happen to you based on your shopping habits. The extra dollars went to TONS of fresh and frozen produce, the various juices (not from concentrate) and types of milk (almond, soy, low fat) that we needed or wanted to follow the diet plan. We off set this some by not eating out virtually at all during the diet as it was too difficult to stick to the plan at restaurants.
- food prep: we both felt like we were prepping food all the time. Most of this was at night for meals the next day.
- meal planning/recipe research: again, this took tons of time, I did get a little faster as we went, but with each week having differences it still required time and research.
- exercise: My husband got a stationary bike for Christmas at the beginning of week 2, so that with his running class and various other strength training helped him develop his own exercise plan. I didn't really start doing anything until the end of week 2 when I purchased a Mom's Into Fitness Post Natal Boot Camp DVD that I've really fallen in love with. I feel totally ridiculous doing the routines in the living room for my audience (the little lady and Farley), but I'm feeling so much better, stronger, and wanting to get in my best shape by 30. I will say that the book includes exercise recommendations for each day that exercise is required. However, his schedule and activities didn't necessarily work for our interests, weather, or daily schedule.
Bottom Line:
The diet has accomplished what we desired it to do. It jump started the health process for us. It helped introduce my husband and I to new vegetables and ways of eating (vegetarian meals anyone?!). It quickly showed results for both of us with our different weight loss needs. It does work and you don't feel completely deprived!! Bonus for us, we are eating at the table as a family for most dinners during the week and meals on the weekend! Which is something I've wanted for a long time!
So now what?
We asked ourselves that question many times as the six weeks drew to a close. This week in our post SHRED world we are still eating 4 meals a day, snacks at even intervals, and planning on continuing to do so long term. We are eating fruits or veggies at every meal! We are loving that we feel better and generally are in better moods! We are expecting to see some continued weight loss at a slower pace as we are diligent to continue making good food choices and exercising several times weekly.
I want to instill in Annelisa good eating habits from the start and being conscientiousness now about how and when we eat will only help in this process!
