It’s been seven days since I started the Jamie Eason 12-Week LiveFit 12-week Trainer diet, and I’m not ashamed to say I am not enjoying it. Now, I knew I would not enjoy a change from the Christmas/New Year diet (ie, splurging at every opportunity), so this doesn’t really come as a surprise to me.

However the reasons I’m not enjoying it have surprised me. I thought I’d not enjoy it because of the removal of sugar. But while that’s a downer, there’s actually some very different reasons:

• Food prep takes WAY too long: I spent 2.5 hours on a Sunday afternoon prepping for five days of food. And I had to do more meal prep for breakfasts on Thursday night. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
• It doesn’t fit with my schedule: I’m a busy woman – I usually train or teach morning and night, and work full time in between. I also have PT clients, help run a business, and occasionally spend time with my husband, family and friends. So to fit in SIX meals a day is almost impossible, especially when you’re meant to have your final meal of the day ‘supper’ 2-3 hours after dinner. I usually get home from the gym of a night after 7.30pm, so by the time I finish dinner, it’s only about an hour until bed time. I find I’m forcing that last lot of egg whites down with a great degree of difficulty.
• Speaking of egg whites … I hate egg whites: I am so over egg whites. And it’s only week 1. Ten a day is just … well, it’s exactly what you’d expect it to be. I worked out pretty quickly that buying the cartons of egg whites was much easier and more efficient than cracking and separating twenty million eggs every time I do prep. But apart from the inefficiency, it’s also really boring having egg whites twice a day.
• There’s not a lot of variety: Staying on the boring note, let’s just say there’s not a lot of variety in this meal plan. Protein, salads, and starch make up most of the six meals. And there’s a restrictive list of what you can use for each of those foods.
• And then there’s the protein … issue: So with a diet so high in protein and so low in fibre, there’s a consequence. I don’t think I need to go into more detail, but let’s just say it’s uncomfortable.

 

I should point out that there is a workout plan that accompanies this food plan, however following that workout plan is impossible for me with my teaching schedule. Some of the comments I’ve seen on the Facebook forum lead me to believe these workout plans are a little onerous as well. One woman said it was taking her TWO HOURS to finish a cardio workout … and a bunch of other women agreed.

My conclusion at this point, based on those comments and my own experience, is that this is a plan that works for people who have TIME. Time to prep, time to eat six meals a day, and time to spend two hours at the gym for each workout.

But how many of us actually have that time? I fear that women will jump on this diet / exercise plan expecting to come out the other side looking like Jamie, but it’s actually an impossible feat – not only because we are all different so comparisons lead nowhere, but also because it’s not likely they’ll be able to keep up with the demands of the meal prep and exercise.

So week two is about to commence (after a cheat meal tonight!). Given I’m at an advanced instructor module all weekend for BodyStep, meal prep time is extremely limited. I envisage the beginning of this week will see a few modifications to the eating plan as a result! Stay tuned… in the meantime, here’s a quick recap of the week as per my Instastory: