6 Week Health Challenge Results!

Exactly 6 weeks ago the Harbourside Fitness Challenge started. The restrictions were many, but so was the potential upside. I'm 30 years old now and despite having adopted a healthy lifestyle the odds of me doing a diet are going to be slim in the future (no pun intended). I decided to give this diet a real fighting chance to one see what I was capable of and two see how much of a difference it would make in my life.

The Rewards:

1. I feel good. I feel happy. I'm really proud of my results.
2. The results: lost 7.5lbs or 16.8lbs which is over a kilo a week. Lost 4.5cm in the waist. Reduced my body fat % from 27% to 16.5%. My run time during the test improved by 2min or ~20-25%+.
3. My clothes fit nicer and my confidence has improved
4. I cut out most of the processed foods from my diet and I think that over the long run I will benefit from this in ways I don't know of today.

The Challenges along the way:

1. I really missed my sugar. I love desserts. I love eating something sweet after each meal, as Jaime can attest to during my regular routine after dinner.
2. I really disliked the 'protein only' days. At times I thought about converting to a vegetarian lifestyle and abandoning the diet
3. The time hasn't changed in Sydney yet so it has been really dark in the morning and it was getting harder and harder getting up at 5:40am to get to these sessions 3-5 times a week.
4. I really missed dairy and fruits in the morning. And those who know me well, know I like cheese. Cutting those items out was really tough
5. Socially it is difficult to not drink or be able to pick meals in restaurants.
6. On a week to week basis the meals had to be planned well in order to prevent lazy "lets just eat out tonight" nights from occurring. 

Would I recommend this to someone, yes and no, there are elements that I highly recommend, and other things that I wouldn't. Some things are sustainable over the long run and some things aren't, it all depends on your level of discipline and lifestyle.

Being of East Indian descent, I am starting to think that a diet of lentils and rotla's might be better suited to our body types than a protein heavy diet. I am thinking about experimenting with this in the future. Again everything in moderation is likely the key.

Priyesh