My Twelve Week Challenge: Macronutrients and Reintroducing Foods

Now that I have finished the ten-day cleanse portion of my challenge, I have entered the “Metabolic Phase”, which is challenge days 11-28.

At the end of the cleanse, I met with my coach Derek Graham (CSO & co-founder of The12), who designed a nutrition plan for me that includes the macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, fat, sugar and sodium) ratios/totals that I should strive for on a daily basis, specific to my individual body type and challenge goals.

With the macronutrients established, I also was able to begin reintroducing foods that were not allowed during the cleanse period.

The first thing I reintroduced was coffee (of course), but not exactly the way I was drinking it before. First, I am now brewing a blend of 50% regular and 50% decaf. The “caffeine withdrawal” I experienced on the cleanse scared me a little bit, and I never want to be dependent upon a substance like that again. I am also limiting my coffee to one cup in the morning. If I want another after that, I brew some tea.

Second, I have changed what I add to my coffee. My favorite has always been the Vanilla Half and Half from Trader Joes, but I didn’t realize how many calories and sugar this adds to my diet every morning. I am now mixing my own creamer made with unsweetened Coconut milk, a drop of pure vanilla extract and a few drops of Stevia. I mix it in a container and pour it in my coffee. This one little switch done daily is a big improvement to my diet and has a big impact in the long run.

I track my food every day using the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and submit the daily totals at the end of the day to my coach Derek. What I send him daily looks like this –

Once Derek receives my information, he provides me with daily feedback on nutritional shifts that I can make specific to my body and goals at the end of the challenge. If he needs additional information or sees a bad pattern developing, I send him my entire log for the day that lists every item that I ate throughout the day.

If you are looking for accountability, that is it right there. People keep complimenting me on my willpower, but really it’s more of a case of “I don’t want my coach to see that I ate that.”

If left to my own devices, I do not think I would have the willpower and consistency to keep this going. There is something about this program – the clear directions, accountability, and results that make sticking to the program so much easier than trying to do it on my own.

Speaking of results, I want to share how I am doing so far. I stepped on the scale at The12 yesterday – which is no regular scale by the way. It is a state-of-the-art piece of equipment that measures not only your weight, but also the amount of your weight that is comprised of muscle, fat, water, etc. In addition, it measures the ratio of lean muscle to fat in every part of your body (leg, arm, and trunk).

After standing on the scale for a few minutes, you get a final reading that looks like this –

You can also look at reports of your progress (sorry the pics are blurry, there is no “screen shot” I can take to capture this info):

There is a lot of detail in the reports that I’m not super concerned about right now, but I’m guessing they will come into play later in the challenge, but the bottom line is…

I’m down 6.2 pounds and lowered by body fat percentage to 20.6%, which is almost 3% less than when I started! This is working! It’s really working!

I am so excited about all the changes taking place in my body. I can not wait to see what will happen in the weeks to come. Bring it on!