And... I lied a little

Well, it's Monday again.  I feel totally not prepared to be back at work today, like I really could have used an extra day off this weekend.  Then again, there's no guarantee that would have done the trick either.  So really, it just comes down to increasing my coffee intake so that I can be a decent human being.

Anyway, as of yesterday, I finished 12 full weeks on the Revolt Now! fitness program.  It felt like it went really, really fast, these last 12 weeks.  So many things changed in my life over the last 12 weeks, and it has been quite the challenge to give this program my full commitment.  However, I really have seen a lot of triumph as a result of this program as well.  I know I promised bikini pictures, and I really meant to have Ammon take some, but it just didn't happen.  And really, I'm okay with that, because I am far more impressed these days with my non-scale victories.

These comparison photos are from weeks 0-6.  I thought I would reprise them just to give you an idea of the kind of physical transformation that I saw.

Other victories:

~ My favorite dress slacks from Ann Taylor are on the verge of being too loose in the waist.  I owned these pants for well over a year before I was able to fit into them.

~ I can do 12 push-ups on my toes.  At the start of week 1, I could do 2... kind of.

~ I ran a 10k on Saturday.  As in, I ran the entire 6.2 miles, no walk breaks!  It is the furthest I have now run in my entire life without having to take a walking break, and I did it in 1 hour, 11 minutes.

~ I did not hurt myself.  Last year when I did a 12 week challenge, I hurt myself pretty badly.  In fact, with a lot of exercise programs I end up having to really back off, because I have hurt myself.  Not this time!  Love that the exercises are same, and that modifications are encouraged.

~ I lost weight and gained muscle the right way.  Yes, it was flipping hard, but it was really effective, and I have never seen these kinds of results from any other program.  I have the problem of being the rare girl who really does "bulk up" when she lifts, but I think now that this phenomenon has more to do with poor diet than anything else.

I would be remiss if I did not talk about my personal hardships with this program.  I want you to understand what made it really tough for me, and be able to make an honest decision about if this is a program that could work in your everyday life.  Not every program is for everyone!

~ Eating 5-6 times a day.  I just can't do this.  I really HATE snacking in general, but then when you mix in how hectic my office is, it just isn't practical.  There are days when it would take me 3 hours to eat a garden salad, because there was so much going on.

~ NO BEER.  Well, except for your one cheat day a week.  And I understand that alcohol adds a lot of calories, and that beer can cause belly bloat.  I get all of that.  But telling me that I can only have beer/wine 1 day a week is not necessarily sustainable.  Before starting this diet, there were a lot of weeks where I wouldn't drink at all... I just think I dislike knowing that I'm not "supposed" to have it.

~ Calorie/macro breakdowns are not disclosed:  Nichole, the founder of Revolt, is always recommending that if you are losing too much weight, or if you want to go into maintenance, that you add approx 100 calories to your daily intake.  Well, that's all well and good, but I don't even know what I'm taking in to begin with!  I'm sure that plenty of people plug their intake into a food journal, and that's fab, but since I'm following the plan as written, I have never seen the need.  It would be really nice to see the caloric breakdown of the meal plans, as well as the breakdown of fats/carbs/protein.  This way, when I go into a maintenance diet, or I decide to substitute a different meal, I can try to approximate my total calories and macronutrient distribution.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this program.  Like I said, it has really helped me increase my fitness level by leaps and bounds, and I haven't gotten injured in the process.  I will definitely be continuing on, but I am changing up some of the food options moving forward, and giving myself fewer rules and restrictions pertaining to alcohol.  I want to integrate these kinds of workouts into my lifestyle, because they are short, yet effective, and the diet plan really makes planning, purchasing, and preparing food easy.  I would also recommend this plan to anyone who is interested in making a change in their life, and feel like they need a lot of structure.  Everything is taken care of with this plan, you just have to commit to following it.  If you do, I promise that you will see results too.

*Disclaimer:  Revolt Fitness offered me a free membership in exchange for a review of their services.  All testimony and opinions are my own.