This is the next article I submitted to the Hive Health Media network wherein I chronicle my currently successful weight loss on the EET Fitness Plan. I write about how I gradually scheduled EET into my life and what did and didn't work for me. Below is the complete text but you can go here for the original article.
In the last article I made, I offered the weekly schedule, or forecast, that I use to lose weight on the EET Fitness Plan. It looks like this:
In the last article I made, I offered the weekly schedule, or forecast, that I use to lose weight on the EET Fitness Plan. It looks like this:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
9:30 AM - Interval training on the exercise bike and heavy bag, totaling 30 minutes
10:30 AM - Treat Meal (usually consisting of something like fried chicken, mixed vegetables, root beer, a cup of ice cream, and a bowl of Cheetos)
2:30 PM - 2 small sandwiches, 1 tuna and 1 chicken breast, both with vegetables and mustard
5:30 PM - Egg white omelet with hummus and a plate of vegetables
8:00 PM - 15 minutes of stretching
8:30 PM - 1/2 can of Salmon (about 110g) and decaf green tea
Tuesday and Thursday
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM - Grad school
12:00 PM - Treat Meal during lunch break (usually consisting of something like pork chops, mixed vegetables, skim milk, and a plate of cookies)
4:30 PM - Circuit weight training and Tabata intervals, totaling to around 20 minutes
5:30 PM - Treat Meal (same as 12:00 PM meal)
9:00 PM - 15 minutes of stretching
9:30 PM - Decaf green tea
Jon tells me that this forecast is very ideal, but I didn't automatically start with it.
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
12:00 PM - Treat Meal
4:30 PM - Exercise
5:30 PM - Treat Meal
9:30 PM - Decaf green tea
I told Jon that I was usually busy in the mornings so would prefer if my exercises were scheduled in the afternoon. The exercises would, of course, be the ones I discussed in "How to EET anything you want and be fit for life part 6", but alternated. So, I'd do the Swedish Intervals on Mondays, The Strength Circuits with Tabatas on Tuesday, Swedish Intervals again on Wednesday, and so on.
The forecast was also very similar to to the schedule I was already following, so I was very comfortable with it since I didn't have to make too many changes. Specifically, I made four changes to the typical schedule I was following before:
1. I gradually developed the habit of drinking green tea at the appropriate times
2. I had to adapt my current exercise routine (which was power lifting - based at the time) to the ones recommended by EET.
3. I allowed myself treats (usually a dessert of some kind) at the scheduled meals instead of forcing them away from me.
4. I had to start skipping breakfast
Except for the first one, all of those presented some problems for me during these first two weeks on the plan, especially the last one. I will highlight these problems and discuss them in detail in a future article.
The primary problem with this forecast was, ironically, the reason I liked it so much: it was already so close to the one I was already following. Jon explains that this is no good since the forecast needs to send a message to the body to adapt for the better. The plan I had at the time was responsible for the body I had, and that certainly hit a nerve for me.
It was true that I had become particularly fat over the years despite exercising pretty much every day, so Jon pretty much just said "stop doing what you're doing because it clearly isn't working". I admitted to myself that I wasn't embracing EET in its entirety simply because I was too lazy to adapt my entire schedule.
2-A-DAYS
So we developed a second weekly forecast for myself, which I used during the next 2 or so weeks (October 31 - November 16). It looked like this:
Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
9:30 AM - Interval training on the heavy bag
10:30 AM - Treat Meal
4:30 PM - Circuit weight training and Tabata intervals, totaling to around 20 minutes
5:30 PM - Treat Meal
9:30 PM - Decaf green tea
Tuesday and Thursday
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM - Grad school
12:00 PM - Treat Meal during lunch break
4:30 PM - Circuit weight training and Tabata intervals
5:30 PM - Treat Meal
9:30 PM - Decaf green tea
Wednesdays
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
9:30 AM - Interval training on the heavy bag
10:30 AM - Treat Meal
2:30 PM - 2 small sandwiches, 1 tuna and 1 chicken breast, both with vegetables and mustard
5:30 PM - Egg white omelet with hummus and a plate of vegetables
8:30 PM - 1/2 can of Salmon and decaf green tea
I called this plan my "2-a-day" forecast, since I worked out twice a day most of the week. The reason this was done was because:
1. The change from the old schedule to the new one should be gradual, so a lot of my old habits still remained, such as working out in the afternoon while having two treat meals, but with new ones added in to initiate the changes needed for my body.
2. The workouts in the morning were added more frequently on top of my afternoon workouts because Jon said the Swedish Intervals, which were best done in the mornings, would be better for my fat loss at this stage of the game.
I also didn't work out twice a day every day, so it's not like I was burning out. I actually felt very comfortable with this schedule after just the first week of being on it.
Jon also later revealed to me that this is his "vacation forecast", where a long weekend with decadent eating somewhere exotic is planned, but all within the guidelines of the Metabolic Window.
THE PERFECT FORECAST
Jon and I arrived at my "perfect forecast" when he said that the Wednesday forecast:
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
9:30 AM - Interval training on the heavy bag
10:30 AM - Treat Meal
2:30 PM - 2 small sandwiches, 1 tuna and 1 chicken breast, both with vegetables and mustard
5:30 PM - Egg white omelet with hummus and a plate of vegetables
8:30 PM - 1/2 can of Salmon and decaf green tea
Was like a perfect day of EETing for me already. So, I suggested that we create a new forecast with this schedule in place for most of the week, which is the one I'm using now (November 17 - present):
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
9:30 AM - Interval training on the exercise bike and heavy bag, totaling 30 minutes
10:30 AM - Treat Meal (usually consisting of something like fried chicken, mixed vegetables, root beer, a cup of ice cream, and a bowl of Cheetos)
2:30 PM - 2 small sandwiches, 1 tuna and 1 chicken breast, both with vegetables and mustard
5:30 PM - Egg white omelet with hummus and a plate of vegetables
8:00 PM - 15 minutes of stretching
8:30 PM - 1/2 can of Salmon (about 110g) and decaf green tea
Tuesday and Thursday
7:30 AM - Wake up; Green tea
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM - Grad school
12:00 PM - Treat Meal during lunch break (usually consisting of something like pork chops, mixed vegetables, skim milk, and a plate of cookies)
4:30 PM - Circuit weight training and Tabata intervals, totaling to around 20 minutes
5:30 PM - Treat Meal (same as 12:00 PM meal)
9:00 PM - 15 minutes of stretching
9:30 PM - Decaf green tea
WHY THE DELAY?
The reason I wasn't given this forecast immediately after the first one was because EET doesn't force forecasts on its participants. The changes made have to be gradual. Jon figured that I was happy with working out in the afternoon and eating two treat meals a day and I was. Like I mentioned, I liked the first schedule very much because it closely resembled the one I was already following. Using that as a base forecast, EET carefully eased me into one that would be considered more ideal, which is basically how it's done.
EET looks at the current schedule you follow and eases you into a new one you that will promote simultaneous fat loss and muscle mass increase while allowing treats every day. That final factor is really the hook here and it's what EET is really all about. No, not the junk food, really, but a plan you can be completely comfortable with and maintain literally the rest of your life.
Am I there yet? I personally don't think so since I'm still really early into the plan, but I gotta say, after realizing that the first 4 weeks on the plan were really less than ideal, it makes my 10 pound weight loss all the more satisfying.
NOT ALL EETERS ARE BUILT ALIKE
I have to reiterate that EET's ideal forecasts are built from the ground up and carefully individualized for each person. This means that every person following EET has his or her own unique forecast, and that these forecasts are completely different from mine. They eat different things at different times of the day, and have a different selection of exercises, especially the diabetics and people over 50 who also follow the plan. Nevertheless, many of these people have also had very similar successes to mine, which clearly means that there is no single, magic forecast on EET. Again, EET has guidelines, but no rules.
MORE PROBLEMS AHEAD
As mentioned, though, there were other rocky starts to my path on EET aside from just the forecasting. Terrible headaches in the morning, overeating, and overtraining were things I had to also contend with, all of which I'll discuss in detail in future articles. Stay tuned!
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