I made it all the way through the 3 weeks of The Ultimate Reset. Yeah!
It wasn’t that hard, to be honest with you. This was something I really wanted to do, and that took a lot of the difficulty out of it, especially because I felt that I was doing something good for my body.
Let me make this clear. The Ultimate Reset was not only about dropping some fat pounds for me. Sure, it worked that way, but it was quite nice to clean out my body and challenge myself with a new way of eating.
I mean, let’s face it, I was eating lots of meat, lots of fat, only a few veggies, not too much fruit at all, and I just didn’t feel 100%. I felt good, but not as good as I thought I should feel for my level of overall fitness. I have mentioned before that my eyes burn a lot — that was a big driver for me. Burning eyes are really annoying and mood-altering. Actually, I don’t know if my moods changed because of the burning eyes, or if the burning eyes were caused by whatever made my mood change, but I didn’t like it.
That’s really why I went on The Ultimate Reset.
For the record, I had a couple days during The Ultimate Reset where my eyes were burning, but nothing like before. I am eager to see how I feel in the next few weeks.
Okay, I know you really just want to know the results, so I’ll skip the Week 3 food report, except to say the food was good, but pretty much the same as Week 2.
FINAL RESULTS
I’ll have blood work done sometime very soon, but here are the final results of the other stuff I measured.
- Weight: down 11.6 pounds
- Waist: down 2 inches
- Body Fat %: down 3.7 points
- Visceral Fat %: down 2 points
- Body Age: down 6 years
Body Age? What’s that? Honestly, I don’t know how it’s derived, but it’s one of the numbers on my Omron Scale. I dig that scale, which I’ve had for about 6 months, but didn’t start using until The Ultimate Reset, because it does give me those other numbers besides weight. (Well, not waist. I did that with a tape measure.)
How accurate is it? I don’t know, but I think it’s consistent, so if I weigh/measure myself at the same time of day, under the same conditions, I should get an consistent set of numbers to compare, and that is key. As for accuracy, I have a pinch test caliper, and the body fat percentage from that and the Omron are right on each other, so perhaps it is fairly accurate.
With consistency in mind, I stepped onto the Omron scale prior to The Ultimate Reset, and then at the end of each week of the Reset, about a half-hour after waking up, after having had a pint of water. Not, perhaps, the optimal time to check body fat percentage, because I’m still pretty dehydrated from overnight, but that was the best time to measure, i.e. when I would not forget.
What do I think of my results? Pretty good!
I am at a weight — 160 — that I have been trying to hit for years. In fact, when I first entered my information into the Beachbody website back in February 2010, I entered 165 as my goal weight. I have been struggling to reach that weight, stuck around 170-175, ever since. Now I am 5 pounds below that original goal, and, as it turns out, I still have a few pounds to lose. I can see them around my waist.
So, yeah, hitting that weight makes me happy, but what really makes me happy is my body fat percentage. I took 3.7 points off that number, and 2 points off my Visceral Fat number. What’s visceral fat? It’s the internal fat that surrounds your organs, bogging them down, making them work harder, so keeping that number low is good.
Even with all my hard work, however, my body fat is still higher than I want it to be. I’d like to dump another 2 or 3 points. How can I do that?
I already know that adding more exercise isn’t the way. Remember, you cannot out-exercise a bad diet, because it’s way too easy to eat more calories than you can possibly burn.
That’s not to say my diet is bad. It’s controlled. But I think it’s time for a change.
I feel so good on this vegan diet The Ultimate Reset put me on, that I’m going to switch my nutrition plan from meat-based primal eating to modified vegetarianism. That means my primary food sources will be plants, but I’ll also eat eggs, whey protein, and fish.
I am excited by this new direction! No, I won’t be adding sugar back into my eating plan. Sugar is poison, and I am glad my years of low-carb living have broken my sugar habit. I will, however, be eating a lot more fruit, which is naturally sweet, and I’ll have bread to eat again. And pasta. I hadn’t really missed those foods, but I do enjoy them, so it’ll be nice to have them back in the rotation.
And, yes, I’ll be eating only whole grains, no white flour. In addition, I am going to try to stay away from wheat, for a while, anyway, so I’ll be trying out pasta made with alternative grains. After a bit, I’ll add some wheat back in, see how that affects me.
All in all, The Ultimate Reset was a great experience. I lost pounds I had been struggling to lose. I learned about new foods. And I found a new way to eat.
I had not considered vegetarianism before The Ultimate Reset. Sure, I’d eaten like that for a few years back in the 80s, but that was just to break my fast food habit. (It worked, by the way.) I had not really thought I could eat like that again.
Why? Because I was not a fan of fruit or veggies. I eat them, but I don’t like them very much.
Oddly, during The Ultimate Reset, I learned to fully enjoy my fruit and vegetables. Not tolerate them, but enjoy them. So, here goes nothing.
I’ll give this modified vegetarianism a good year, so I can assess how it’s treating my body. That’ll give me a chance to do a lot of reading and research on the topic of plant-based nutrition. I am really looking forward to it, and I’ll keep you filled in every step of the way!
I REACHED ANOTHER GOAL
At the beginning of the year, I set what I thought was a modest goal of losing 10 pounds by June 30th. At the time I set the goal, I weighed 175, up a bit from my normal 170, so I really thought it would be a cakewalk — pardon the sugary metaphor — to get to 165. It wasn’t. The Ultimate Reset was my last hope of hitting that number, and here I am at 160. If I am still there on June 30th, I’m down 15 pounds! Pretty cool. Thanks, Ultimate Reset — Beachbody comes through for me again.
Beachbody came through for me again. Is it any wonder I don’t mind selling this stuff? These products are nothing short of great, well worth the premium you pay over others. Beachbody puts a good deal of time and effort into research and development, so their products stand out in the marketplace. They are literally lifechangers, at least they have been for me.