Naomi
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Hi Tracy- I completely understand, that is quite expensive! I would recommend exchanging the mahi-mahi for another lean protein on the exchange list 😉
Marlo- I wouldn’t worry about sodium but definitely make sure you are 30g or below of surgar per day. The lower your sugars are, in general the better your results will be although this may vary from person to person.
Sarah- it looks like the chickn you are using is higher in protein per serving than what the meal plan portion is so you’ll need to adjust your portion size. So as of right now you are about 30g over per day on protein. Just look at your meals and see where you’d like to cut out 30g of protein. It doesn’t have to all be from one meal or one food source. You can cut out 10-15 grams in one spot, then 10-15g from somewhere else just by reducing the portion size. Make sure when you do this, however, that you aren’t decreasing too many carbs or fats from somewhere as well. I hope this makes sense, but let me know if you have any other questions or need more clarification! 🙂
Hi Michelle- I would check with your OB to see what yur OB recommends is safe to use while nursing. I can’t think of any ingredients generally found in any protein powder than could be harful in any way to your baby. But every individual is different and different doctors have different schools of thought, so to be on the safe side please run this question, and any other questions you may have about the nutrition portion of this challenge while nursing, by your OB 😉
Hi Nadine- the most important thing is to meet all your macros for the day, so if you end up having the shake and the meal right around the same time, it’s better to do that than to skip the shake or a meal.
Hi Sarah- I have actually never hear that one before, but there are so many different myths and schools of thought in the fitness industry on what you should/shouldn’t do. I personally have eaten a significant amount fat pre-workout and it didn not negatively affect my workout. I don’t think you have anything to worry about keeping things as-is 😉
Hi Nathalie- while sticking to the program as it is outlined is best, modifying the squats by using a squat rack is perfectly fine if you’d like to do that 🙂
Hi Jill- if you do end up using the reduced fat Kerry Gold that is perfctly fine, but make sure you add in fat somewhere else in order to make up for the fat you are taking out. The full fat butter is on the Meal Plan as a source of healthy fats! 😉
Hi Heather- there is both 93% lean gound turkey (on the meal plan) and 99% extra lean ground turkey (on the exchange list). You should be eating as the Meal Plan suggests (93%). The exchange list is simply for exchanging a lean protein. So if instead of egg whites you wanted turkey muffins or a turkey burger, you would use extra lean 99% ground turkey since it is more interchangeable with egg whites due to the low fat content. I hope this makes sense and I’m not confusing you further! 😉
Just keep doing what you’re doing, you are doing it correctly! 😀
Hi Jennifer- everyone’s body is going to respond somewhat differently to both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this program. Different factors include metabolism, current fitness level (exercise endurance), intenisty of workouts and how closely you are following all aspects of the program: strength training, cardio and nutrition.
Phase 1 is designed for muscle building which is a “gaining” process. If you are lifting heavy and your nutrition is on target, weight gain (the good kind) is not unusual.
Hi Carissa- safety first, absolutely, so what I would recommend is you just go as deep as your body will allow you to and don’t try to go any deeper than what you are ready for or comfortable with. There could be a few factors affecting your range of motion with squats:
1. leg strength – as you get stronger, you can safely go deeper into the squat
2. core strength – being able to stabalize while squatting comes from keeping your core tight and solid first, then leg stability/strength is secondary. While conducting a squat, you need to keep your chest up while leaning slightly forward as you go down and the hips go back while you sink into your heels. If your core isn’t very strong, your chest will cave in, shoulders will round forward and core will collapse, all of which will prevent you from properly conducting a squat.
3. flexibility – you need to have a certain degree of flexibility in your hips, hip flexors and lower back in order to break parallel. If you are tight in any of these areas it could affect your range of motion and may eventually lead to injury
3. practice – as you mentioned, some of it may just be practicing to get your form right. Just make sure you are practicing with proper form lol! 😉In my opinion, it is perfectly fine if you don’t break parallel in a squat until you are physically capable of going that low. So keep doing squats to the best of your ability and avoid doing anything your body is not yet ready for. You’ll get there!! Hopefully you have access to a second pair of eyes who can help you make sure you are doing squats correcty. If you are a member of Nicole’s website, check out this Fix Your Form video segment, which covers proper squat form 😉
Hi Jennifer- I would suggest sticking to the foods on the food exchange list. Anything on the food exchange list that is an equivalent to what you want to swap out for is absolutely fine as long as your calories and macros add up at the end of the day.
Of course I encourage you to stick as close to the plan as it is written, but if you’d like to swap out chicken for tilapia for example, that is perfectly fine. Just make sure the portion sizes match up with regard to the totals. In other words, 4oz of chicken is not the same as 4oz of tilapia with regard to calories, fat and protein. Depending on the brand you use, you’ll most likely need to have a larger portion size of tilapia to equal the equivalent calories and protein as the 4oz of chicken. I hope this makes sense! 🙂
Hi Krista- Nicole wears a size small in the CLASSIC Series with the thicker wristguard. It is much more comfortable than the newer ones or even the ones made for women 😉
Hi Samantha- absolutely you can do the At-Home Body Weight Calorie Burner 3xs per week for cardio! Good luck, and do the best you can without access to a gym for a week. Hopefully they are doing some great renovations/additions (??) and it will be well worth it! 🙂
Please let us know on the forums if you have any questions about alternative exercises (especially the back workout portion) for doing some of these workouts at home! 😀
Hi Denise- if your body isn’t use to this much protein than yes! It is completely normal to have these issues. Give yourself some more time to allow your body to adjust to these new intake levels. In the meantime, drink plenty of water to help better move things through your digestive system, and although you said you are following the plan exactly as is (great job, by the way!!) make sure you are getting in about 25g of fiber. If you need to, add some Metamucil or other source of additional fiber 😉
Hi Valerie- we will take your suggestion into consideration for future challenges, thank you for your input!! 😀
Hi Deana- that is completely normal, so no need to worry! The first few weeks on this program you will be increasing both your strength and your cardiorespiratory endurance. When you are lifting weights, there is also a cardio element to it — especially on leg day because legs take up half your body so it’s more taxing on the entire body and your cardiorespiratory output.
There is that old saying “You’re only as strong as your weakest link” and for many people, their cardio respiratory endurance might just be their “weakest link” preventing them from going all out with workouts. Give your body time to adjust to the intensity level of these workouts and keep pushing to give it all you’ve got! Your heart rate and lung capacity will catch up soon 😉
Hi Jennifer- I would still contact your doctor to explain what you are doing with this Challenge in as much detail as possible, and describe what you are feeling and your lack of strength in your abs/core with which particular exercises. Your doctor knows what muscles were affected by your procedures and I really feel that it would be unprofessional and negligent on my part to suggest any exercises that could cause an issue to re-surface. I do understand you feel you may have exaggerated in your wording, however all of us here on the Nicole Wilkins Training Team feel safety is number one. Even with standing exercises, I would need to know more about what muscular areas were impacted by your procedures and the severity of the impact. I would then need to watch you conduct various ab/core exercises so that I could watch your body language while conducting these exercises, somewhat of an ab test to assess how weak your abs/core are. Then I would be able to recommend ab exercise alternatives. I am sorry I couldn’t be of more help, but please reach back out to me after a more in-depth conversation with your doctor or your doctor’s nurse practitioner. You can never be too safe or too careful when it comes to these kinds of issues 😉
Hi Valerie- Rachel’s suggestion is a great alternative, and I’d like to also suggest simply doing weighted standing calf raises as well! 🙂
Hi Jennifer- the more you are able to stick with the plan as it is written and organized, the better your chances are of success. I am not exactly following how you are wanting to restucture the workout days, so tell me if I have this right:
So far his week you have already completed Days 1 & 2, then as much of Day 3 (legs) as you could but felt your leg workout wasn’t as good as it could be if you went to the other gym (not Planet Fitness) and you don’t want to continue to short-change yourself on leg day. You did Day 4 (chest) yesterday and are going to do Day 5 (arms) today, then you want to do Day 3 again this weekend and start Monday on Day 4?
I feel the best thing for you to do is what Maureen said, stick with the plan as-is for this week and finish out Day 5 today, then take your full rest days on Saturday and Sunday. For the next three weeks, the rest of Phase 1, if you want/need to get a better leg workout, this is what I suggest:
Day 1 – shoulders/abs
Day 2 – back
Day 3 – chest/abs
Day 4 – arms
Day 5 – full rest/recvery
Day 6 – full rest/recovery
Day 7 – legs/calves (on the weekend, so you can have more time for legs)* the only issue I see with the revised schedule is that you are doing 4 days back-to-back of upper body, which may cause you to be sore in your upper body, which will make it more dificult to get the most out of your upper body workout with sore muscles.
So your options are to either continue as he plan is orgaized and just not get as much volume/intensity out of your leg workout, or rearrange as suggested above and risk the possibility of major upper body soreness and fatigue, thus not getting as much volume/intensity out of your upper body workouts. Does this make sense?
I hope this helps! Good luck 🙂
Hi Jennifer- it is recommended to stick with the program as it is laid out for best results. Everyone has different preferences, but what is mentioned in the progam is what Nicole recommends.
Hi Laura- I would count your snowboarding sessions toward your cardio as long as you’re gettting your heart rate up the equivalent of a cardio session. Have fun!
Hi Jennifer – if you are having serious pain in your abdomen/core area, it would be best to call your doctor and find out what ab exercises, if any, are safe for you to do given your history and the pain you experience when doing ab exercises. Without knowing what issues may be going on I really can’t recommend any core exercises as alternatives in the event they may exacerbate an underlying issue.
