The Book. The Bible.

This one is a tad long so be prepared! So I finished the book and it was a nice quick read with interesting facts and justifications as to why Bob is having you do different things. Let's back up though...

The book is Called Jumpstart to Skinny by Bob Harper. I LOVE Bob Harper!!

You may also know and love Bob Harper. He is (according to me) famous for being one of the trainers on the Biggest Loser and a real cutie. Just love him, in case you didn't already get that. He has helped morbidly obese people gain their lives back through diet and exercise. I trust him on this topic. Jumpstart to Skinny is a specifically designed diet for you to lose weight quick for a special event, whether it be a reunion, a week at the beach, your wedding or if you just want to get skinny. This diet is not to continue past the 21 days it is set for. Some of the information is questionable at first (you want me to survive on 800 calories a day?!) but Bob supports everything and backs it up with scientific research. He continuously says in the book "you want to lose weight right? that's why you're here right?" Yes Bob, it is! 

My "Bible" for the next three weeks will be this book. I will eat, breathe and sleep this ideologies prophesied in this book. Ok, that's getting a little extreme but I will be following the direction that the book gives down to the T to get the full experience. 

The book itself is broken up into four different parts. Part 1: The Jumpstart Rules. Part 2: The Jumpstart Day by Day Regimen Part 3: The Jumpstart Moves. Part 4: The Jumpstart Recipes.

The Rules. There are 13 of them. Easy enough right?

Rule 1: Take Control with Proper Proportion – 40/40/20

Rule 2: Cut Back on Calories, Then Cut Back Again

Rule 3: Eat No Complex Carbs After Breakfast

Rule 4: Get Rid of Water Weight by Drinking More Water

Rule 5: Get your electrolytes

Rule 6: Do 45 minutes a Day of Low-Intensity Cardio, Preferably Before Breakfast

Rule 7: Five Times a Week, at Any Time of Day, Do 15 to 20 Minutes of My Jumpstart Moves

Rule 8: Cut the Salt

Rule 9: Take Advantage of the Restorative Power of Daily Fish Oil

Rule 10: Fall Back on Veggies

Rule 11: No Fruit During Week 3

Rule 12: Lay Off All Booze

Rule 13: An Espresso A Day…or Two or Three  

Basically, the rules are already common knowledge for anyone that has ever looked into losing weight or starting a new fitness regimen. Lots of water. Check! Bye Bye Salt. Check! Cut back on calories. Check! Drink tons of espresso. Wait..what?! All hail Bob Harper! With an almost one year old, I can't cut caffeine. It is not in the cards!

Part 2: The Jumpstart Day to Day Regimen is AWESOME! This book takes the guess work out of trying to do/stick with a diet. It lays out what you should do, when you should do it, what to eat, how much, your water consumption, vitamin consumption. Everything! It's great. 

Part 3: The Jumpstart Moves. Pictures of Bob doing the exercise moves. Be still my heart. Honestly though, nothing makes me more frustrated than not knowing what a certain exercise is or how to do it. Pictures and explanations. THANK YOU!

Part 4: The Jumpstart Recipes. This was the only part of the book that made me nervous. I will have to shop for the foods week by week to ensure that I do this the right way. It may be a little pricey for our young family. BUT, it's only 3 weeks. That will be my motto when times get tough -- IT'S ONLY 3 WEEKS. But again, everything is put out there for you: different things to make at the beginning of the week to add to your recipes throughout the week. I have already started working on my menus for week 1 a little bit & substituting the meals here and there for ones that I am not particularly fond of. According to the book, that is not a problem at all so don't worry if you repeat meals. 

So what's next? I have to finish my menu plan, get my shopping list together and do the shopping. (grocery shopping. ugh!) I am also going to enjoy a few glasses of wine this weekend because for the next 20 days (remember I'm gearing up for a wedding on the 20th! I am going to celebrate our friends' marriage & my diet almost being over with a few cocktails) there will be no booze at all. The start of my journey is quickly approaching. Stay tuned!

The Long and Short Of It

What led me to try this diet & workout you may ask? Why try it now? Why would I write a blog about it? All good questions! 

Let's start by why I am doing the Jumpstart to Skinny diet & workout. I had my first child in August 2012 and man, did I enjoy being pregnant! I got to eat donuts, McDonald's & Burger King, lay around when I was tired and really take advantage of growing that beautiful baby. It was great. Until I realized that I was packing on some serious weight. 50 pounds to be exact. I don’t know if that is a lot to anyone else but it was a lot to me and I had done it to myself! I had eaten 5 donuts in the car while driving home from Dunkin Donuts one time. IT WAS A 5 MINUTE CAR RIDE!

So, I was weighing in at 195 lbs the day my son was born. That was a hard pill to swallow since I had always been on the thinner side during high school and college. Now, almost 11 months later, I weigh 153 lbs. (Is a woman really divulging her secret weight!?) Yes I am because that is the point to this blog: to see the results that come from doing this diet. I have not yet lost all of the baby weight if you do the math. I've lost it and gained it and lost it and gained it. It’s not fun.

Starting on July 1, 2013 I am putting my best foot forward and starting the diet. It is a 21 day diet and engineered to jump start you to skinny. (hello!) 

It is ideal if you have a class reunion, a wedding or a week at the beach. I have two reasons. 1.) My husband and I have a wedding to go to on July 20^th; day 20 of the diet and I want to feel comfortable in a summer dress and not worried if my baby pouch is showing, if my stretch marks look grotesque or if my arms are jiggling. 2.) We are heading to the beach mid August and I don’t want to be in a bathing suit with my body the way it is right now. Not to mention, my sister in law is skinny and sitting on a beach with her would be torture. (Sorry Em, love ya!)

As for this blog, there are probably a million blogs following people as they do this same exact diet, what makes me special or different? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Seriously! Nothing! One of my best girlfriends writes a blog about her experience after winning a raffle where she won 52 gift cards valued at $50 each. (www.52firstmeals.blogspot.com)  Now THAT is special! As soon as I found out she was writing a blog I said to her “I want to write a blog! It seems like its so much fun!” Well today I went to her and said, “I found my blog inspiration!” and then second guessed myself because let’s be serious, who wants to read about a diet? Being the great friend that she is she told me it is a good idea and that it may be interesting to people who want to try the diet or people dieting in general. Not only that, it will hold me accountable for following through with the diet. The latter seemed like the best answer to me

So there you have it. I have 5 days left to mentally prepare for this diet & finish reading the book so that I am ready to go come Monday! Wish me luck!!....