The Rack: Eight Week Check-In

I just ended my eighth week with The Rack workout and meal plan. I’m now over half way through the program. The second month has been extremely difficult. Phase 2 of the diet reduced calories by 400 a day (from 2400 to 2000), increased protein, and decreased carbs. My daily meal generally included oatmeal for breakfast, a protein shake, 5 egg whites, a chicken salad, an apple or other fruit, some peanut butter or cottage cheese, fish and veggies for dinner, and then another protein shake before bed. Multiply that by 5 five days and it got really old, really fast. The workout wasn’t much easier. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were 50 minute sessions built by combining a few of the workout programs together. The Wednesday and Friday sessions were so tough that I couldn’t even finish them at the beginning and barely finished them at the end. Tuesday and Thursday were either 20 or 30 minutes, Saturday was off, and Sunday was 45 – 60 minutes of cardio, my choice.

The first week was hard because I was being introduced to the Phase 2 meal and workout plans. The second week was harder because I was working a lot on top of it and the boys were sick so they weren’t sleeping well. I ended up having coffee every day that week, skipping part of my workout on the Friday, going off my meal plan on Saturday (I was kind of sick), and eating a Banana Split on Sunday before completely skipping my cardio. Ouch! The third week was similar as I struggled to keep up with the meal plan and the exercise plan and also knocked off my Sunday workout due to ice cream. The last week was a little better on the meal plan side (a little) but contained a good amount of coffee and marked the first time I completely skipped a Rack workout. I had a cold at the end of the week so I just did not have the energy for the workout the last few days. Month 2 was extremely difficult.

I am seeing changes – my arms and shoulders are more muscular, my chest is more defined, and my stomach is starting to hang over my pants less. There is still a long way to go but I think it is working. I think I’ll see more gains in weeks 9 – 12 than I did in 1 – 8 since I will have built up some base muscle to burn calories. The next month is even more treacherous than the last. The meal plan has more calories but fewer carbs. That translates into even more eggs and protein shakes (up to 7 a day), at which point the meal plan becomes completely unmanageable. I’ve never done more than 3 protein shakes in a day; there is no way I can do 7. I’m going to have to make some modifications there. The workout is similar to the end of the second month – 60 minute sessions three times a week with others sprinkled in between. The major difference is that my Saturday off becomes an “optional” cardio day. Woo hoo.

I’m close to the end here so I’d like to think that I can just buckle down for a month and get it done. That being said, I’m not going to have a hot beach body by October. Thought I’ve stuck to this routine more strictly than I ever have before I’m not sure if the meal plan is really making much of a difference. I’m hoping it is but I’m not seeing fat just melt away. It is so difficult to meet that I may have to replace it with something else; something healthier than what I was doing before but maybe something that allows a piece of bread and a granola bar every now and then. I can handle the workout; it’s the diet that is really killing me.

So once I hit the end of 12 weeks what’s next? More Rack. The workout is really good. The Fat Shredder workout definitely gets my heart rate going and the other workouts do build muscle. I’m going to have to do something about the meal plan but I will continue to do the Rack workouts. I might add a bit of weight lifting and pull-ups into the mix once a week but I will probably repeat the second or third month of the program a couple of times before mixing the workouts together myself. I still have a lot to lose and I know that I have to stick with it through next summer to get where I want. If I continue to stick with it truly and honestly and don’t get where I want by next April, I’ve got something wrong with me. That shouldn’t be the story.