[Naomi]

Absolutely, if you look in the beverages section of the grocery list, Nicole lists coffee and tea. I would stay away from fat-free milk. While it is fat-free, it does contain sugar and dairy which adds carbs and calories. I would stick to black or you can add a few packets of stevia if you’d like 🙂

[Naomi]

shelleylush wrote:

can you substitute proteins and carbs for meal choice for instance can I eat rice vs quinoa?

Elvia wrote:

Hi! My weight usually is 106-107 lbs, I am 5’0” can I go one meal plan, I don’t really want to keep losing weight or muscle! I didn’t know about this challenge is a deficit after I signed up!

Hi Shelley and Elvia- for bot of these questions there is one answer: Nicole recommends that challenge participants to stick to the meal plan (meal choices and recipes) as closely as she has it laid out. Anything you choose to do outside of what is written in the meal plan is up to you.

Shelley, if you feel comfortable with your ability to swap out foods based on calories, macros and food type then you can swap out foods you feel are comparable, or close to the same callers, macros and food quality.

Elvia- if you feel you know your body and how it responds to a certain number of calories and macros, and you personally don’t want to be in a deficit, then you can choose the meal plan (Meal Plan 1, 2 or 3) that you feel would give you the best results you’d like to have from this challenge.

I hope this helps, ladies! Good luck with the challenge 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- you can continue using a Smith Machine for the bench press, or you can just use a lighter weight with a barbell bench press until you feel more comfortable going heavier 😉

I hope this helps! Good luck with the challenge!

[Naomi]

Hey there- that should be fine, although the cardio for this program only calls for 30 min of cardio. You can do your two spin classes plus a 3rd cardio session for 30 min for a total of 3 cardio sessions per week 🙂

Good luck with the challenge!

[Naomi]

Hey there- I would not do extra cardio in addition to your runs. I’m not sure if you mean you run every morning as in 7 days a week, or 5 days a week, but let’s say you run 5 days a week. That’s still 2 more times than the 3 cardio sessions called for in the program. If you run 5 times per week and then did the 3x cardio sessions in the challenge, that would be 8 cardio sessions per week instead of 3. So definitely just do your runs in the morning and no additional cardio above that 😉

Does this make sense? Good luck with the challenge!

[Naomi]

Yep, that is correct! 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- if your doctor advised you to stay off any exercises that include biceps, I would avoid the back workouts and biceps workouts completely for sure (there are no alternative exercises to these where you aren’t using your biceps), and be very carful with any of the shoulders, chest and triceps exercises. Just do your best, and listen to your body. If you feel any pain at all, just don’t do the exercise. It’s not worth it, and as soon as you are recovered and cleared by your doctor to resume regular exercise, you are safe to resume all of the exercises.

I hope you recover soon, be safe when working out and good luck! 🙂

[Naomi]

salt728 wrote:

How many ounces or grams is equivalent to 3 egg whites? I would rather use liquid egg whites because of convenience. Thanks!

3 egg whites should be about 46g but it should tell you on the carton of the liquid egg whites how many grams will equal an egg white. The serving size may vary slightly from brand to brand 😉

[Naomi]

Catie Carey wrote:

Hi Team,

I was reviewing Phase 2…and for the at home workouts, it looks like there are some training day cards missing as well as some days that have been duplicated. Can you update? Thanks!

Catie- this should be fixed now 🙂

[Naomi]

Hi Catie- I’m checking on this now and will get back to you ASAP! Thank you for catching that 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- you can just use regular butter. Gee is clarified butter, so it is basically the same thing 🙂

[Naomi]

Hi Michelle- you do not need Twizzlers. It is just a meal option. If you prefer to not eat Twizzlers, you can choose another meal. It is just an option, not a necessity for this challenge. Also, I believe you need to avoid excess sugar, and Nicole incorporated Twizzlers as a meal option to show that you can have this type of food item (and sugar in general) in moderation and in small portions as part of a fitness lifestyle. In other words, you don’t need to banish something like Twizzlers or Gummy Bears if you have them in moderation, in small portion sizes, and as part of an intense weight-lifting program. It’s more about learning how to incorporate this type of food item responsibly as part of your fitness lifestyle, rather than avoiding these types of foods all together, if you choose to have these types of foods.

Does this make sense?

[Naomi]

Hi Sabrina! You are not alone in being an early morning gym-goer and not sure how to tackle the first meal before your workout.

I have heard some people eating half of Meal 1 about 30-45 min before their workout, then have their post-workout meal 30-45 min after their workout, then the other half of Meal 1 about 2-3 hours after their post workout meal.

I hope this helps! Good luck with the challenge 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- the high carb days and low carb days are correct 🙂 Nicole likes to change things up a bit from past challenges to show people there are multiple ways of executing fitness programs that can work just as good as another way. There’s a million different ways of approaching body fat loss and muscle gain 😉

Good luck with the challenge!

[Naomi]

Hey there- this is a shred program, and Nicole created the meal plans and workouts for optimal body composition changes in 45 days.

Using your example, if someone is 5″2 and weighs 150lbs, they would choose Meal Plan 1 so that they could have the best opportunity to build lean muscle and loose body fat. If they chose a higher calorie meal plan, they might not lose the body fat or build muscle ideal for a 45 day shredding transformation challenge.

With the workouts and the meal plans created by Nicole for this challenge, someone of your height and weight will see results in 45 days (if following the program to a “T”), as will someone who is 5″2 and weighs 40 more pounds than you.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck with the challenge!

[Naomi]

Awesome, good luck with the challenge everyone!

[Naomi]

Correct! If you can’t get a workout in and it’s suppose to be a high carb day, just stick to the meal plan as-is. The low-carb and high-carb days are spread out the way they are so that your body can respond to the cycle of how many days they are spread apart. If you start rearrange the low-carb and high-carb days, it will affect how close or far apart the cycle is between days, does that make sense?

Also, if you can’t get both cardio and weights in on the same day when you work, you can do cardio on a rest day if that is your only option. I would definitely try as much as possible to get at least one full rest day in where you aren’t doing any weights or cardio. Your mind and body may need it 😉

[Naomi]

Try to lighten the weight of the leg that is kicking back so that you can squeeze your glute better at the top of the movement. If your weight is too heavy, your grounding leg will be working more to try and stabilize the heavier weight. You will get a better workout in the targeted muscle (glute of your working leg) if you choose a slightly lighter weight.

I generally only use about 5-7lbs because any heavier and I feel my stabilizing leg start to kick in too much. Keep in mind that you WILL feel a burn, or your muscle working, in your stabilizing leg too, but it shouldn’t overpower feeling it in the glute of your working leg 😉

I hope this helps! Give it a try and let me know if you feel a difference 😀

[Naomi]

Hey there- this is fixed now, so please look at Phase 1, Day 5 workout again for the ab exercises. Sorry about that, and good luck with the challenge 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- if you click on the video demo of each exercise, there are alternate exercises for each exercise listed underneath each video: https://nicolewilkins.com/exercise-demo-leg-press-wide-stance/

I believe you’re referring to the Day 6 workout: Glutes/Hamstrings/Calves and all of the At-Home Workout PDFs are underneath the gym workouts. Here is the at-home gym workout for Day 6: https://176p3x1o5f5d19fpdxw83g5v-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/images/2019/02/AtHomeWks1357Day6.jpg

I hope all of this helps! Good luck with the challenge 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey there- thank you for pointing that out! It is fixed now, so please check the Phase 1, Day 5 workout again for the ab exercises 😉

Good luck!

[Naomi]

Hey there! First of all, a huge kudos to you for doing this challenge while juggling such a crazy schedule. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be!!

Secondly, you’re in luck because you won’t have to worry about trying to rearrange the high carb/low carb days. Even if you have to rearrange the workout schedule/rest days, just keep the high carb/low carb days as Nicole has it laid out on the calendar 😉

GOOD LUCK!! And please keep us posted on your progress! 🙂

[Naomi]

Hey Krystle- I will check on this and get back with you asap! 🙂

[Naomi]

zanneleitao wrote:

Hi there,

I’m just not sure about the meal plan? I’m 5’37 and over 150lbs what meal plan should I follow? Follow Meal Plan 1.

I’m planning on training 5days continuous and rest on Saturday and Sunday, so will I keep my carb day’s the same (high, low, low, high, low and low on weekends?) Yes, keep your low-carb/high-carb days the same as on the calendar, even if you switch your rest days.

Also in South Africa we don’t have the same foods, so where it refers to Ezekiel bread, may I have a brown unsalted rice cake instead? I’m gluten intolerant. That should be fine, yes.

Or ground turkey, may I replace it with ground chicken, as well as ground beef, may I replace it with ground venison, to keep it lean? Also will 100% pure whey be ok as isolated is very expensive? As long as the meat you replace it with is 99% fat free, you should be fine. Whey is not the same as isolate, and Nicole recommends isolate for this program so I am not sure how to answer your question. Isolate would be best, but if you need to just get regular whey, than just get regular whey though it is not recommended for best results. The calories and macro profile may be different.

Are the meals as follows meal 1 = breakfast, meal 2 = snack, meal 3= lunch, meal 4 = afternoon snack and meal 5= supper/dinner? And what I understand is, that you can use any meal on the plan for breakfast to snack or dinner? Correct.

As for supplements, I use to take cla and Carnitine lean, will this still be allowed, or should I rather avoid it for the challenge. I’m ok with whey protein, multivitamin and bcaa. The supplements Nicole recommends for the challenge are listed in the supplement section of the challenge. The other supplements you mentioned should be fine but for best results I would stick with what Nicole recommends 😉

I hope this helps! Good luck with the challenge 😀

Kind Regards

Zanné

[Naomi]

Correct, aim for a gallon of water a day.

[Author]

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