OUR GIFT TO YOU: THE 7 DAY CHALLENGE
WHAT TO EXPECT:
PRIOR TO STARTING THE 7 DAY CHALLENGE: SET YOUR GOALS!
The first thing to consider is what you actually want to achieve over these 7 days, aside from a shift on the scales. Learning more tips and tricks on how to fast? Enjoying quick results within a super-motivated hundreds-strong group? Zipping up your jeans easier by the end of the week? Our 7 DAY GUIDE will help you set your goals and is all part of the freebies this special week!
SUMMARY: get the guide and set your goals.
DAY #1. MAKE THOSE CALORIES COUNT
This is the big focus for Day #1 and the secret to fasting success. 500 calories can simply be a burger, right? We’ll be giving you extra ideas on how to get the most food for your calorie buck but here’s a big sciencey tip before you dive into that super-valuable info…
Go natural. Real, whole foods provide hydration, stretch the stomach and increase blood sugar – basically, these three things are responsible for what helps you to feel full or satisfied after a meal. Faux foods that contain refined carbohydrates and sugars provide calories and increase blood sugar, but often fail to hydrate the body and stretch the stomach, which can leave you feeling unsatisfied or snacky afterwards. Focusing on eating real, whole foods will ensure you get adequate nutrients and that you feel satisfied after each meal. So eat the healthy stuff. #natch
SUMMARY: TUNE INTO THE THE BIG CAL TIP SAVERS ON OUR FACEBOOK LIVE, GO FOR NATURAL AS A RULE OF THUMB… AND YEAH – FEEL GREAT!
DAY #2. TRY SOME SIMPLE SWAPS
You’ll have learnt by now that reducing your calorie intake doesn’t have to be hard. Just a few simple and savvy swaps can make a huge difference. Best of all, it often means you can have a ‘one cook fits all’ meal with your family or friends by just swapping one or two things out. Today we’ll be taking a look at the calorie differences between stacks of foods but here’s a few to give you some ideas:
1 cup spaghetti (221 calories) vs 1 cup zoodles (20 calories)
100g banana chips (520 calories) vs 100g fresh banana (89 calories)
1 glass orange juice (111 calories) vs 1 whole orange (45 calories)
2 protein balls (362 calories) vs 2 eggs (120 calories)
1 cup brown rice (218 calories) vs 1 cup cauliflower rice (25 calories)
Ice cream (350 calories) vs frozen pineapple (40 calories)
100g potato (77 calories) vs 100g pumpkin (26 calories)
30g lolly snakes (897 calories) vs 30g raisins (90 calories)
Note: don’t necessarily believe the marketing hype around a lot of so-called ‘healthy’ foods. When it comes to swaps for weight loss and health, most often, fresh, real, whole food is best.
SUMMARY: swapping is so easy.
DAY #3. DITCH THE EXTRA SUGAR
( Note: we’re not saying no sugar, just extra!)
Oh sugar, sugar, we love you so. But you’re oh-so-bad for us. Firstly, as well as adding calories to your diet, sugar can have a whole range of negative health effects on your body, including diabetes, acne, cardio issues and of course weight gain. Secondly, the maximum recommended sugar intake is less than six teaspoons per day. But most westerners consume around 40. Gasp. That translates to 160 grams of sugar per day!
So, another simple little challenge you can make on day 3 is to become more aware of what sugar is added to your diet by simply reading the labels on your favourite foods. If you’re not sure how many teaspoons, just divide the grams by four. You might be surprised how many ‘healthy’ foods (like bottled sauces, salad dressings and cereals) have sugar added.
Once you’re aware of what sugar you’re actually consuming, those calories will drop quicker than you can say ‘bring-on-the-skinny-jeans’. For instance, most low-fat products add sugar to make up for the flavour missing from fat, so our final tip is to opt for full fat rather than low-fat to quickly drop the amount of sugar in your diet.
SUMMARY: limit your sugar intake on fast days and lose weight even er… faster
DAY #4. TAKEAWAY IS OKAY – AND SO IS SOCIALISING
Whether you’re a foodie or a wine-lover or both, the BEST thing about part-time dieting is that you can enjoy non-fast times like dieting isn’t really a consideration! As long as you don’t go too crazy at the buffet aka Homer Simpson, what your friends are having is what you can be having too. Day #4 is a Friday and we’ll be exploring EVERYTHING SOCIAL! WOOHOO! Of course, this is a feast-fast diet, but why not enjoy a lower cal option if it’s just as yummy? Join us as we discuss the best take away options, food court, low cal cocktails and alcoholic drinks, what to reach for on the snacks tray, which cheese is best etc. All the good stuff. TGIF.
SUMMARY: eat, drink and be merry – it’s the weekend!
DAY #5. RE-HYDRATE AND GO THE H2O
Welcome to Saturday and yes, time to get up and reach for hydration but before you tuck into that coffee or juice, have a think about water. Drinking water is the fastest way to hydrate and will fill you up quickly if you’re feeling hungry – which is fasting gold! #quickaquafix. But there’s a whole stack more reasons we recommend carrying that water bottle around from now on – during weekend play and at the office too.
Your body is constantly losing water from sweating, skin evaporation, breathing and going to the, ahem, restroom. Therefore, these losses must be replaced daily for good health. In addition, drinking water will flush out the body of toxins and restore lost fluid. Herbal and fruit teas are another great way to ensure you stay hydrated, but not bored. And yep, less hungry.
SUMMARY: maybe you’re not really that hungry, you’re just thirsty? Make carrying water your newest habit.
DAY #6. DISCOVER INCIDENTAL EXERCISE
Hey – it’s Sunday! Time to um… move?
Whether this is a fast day or a feast day, try this little gem out for size: exercise doesn’t have to be deliberate. And it doesn’t have to be hard. It’s a super simple health change to up your incidental exercise and have fun while you’re doing it. A more active lifestyle can be as simple as wandering around the shops or playing with the dog in the yard. The great thing about incidental exercise is that you probably won’t even realise you’re doing it! Some of our favourite ways to exercise accidentally-on-purpose whether on the weekend or during the week are:
- paying a visit to the farmer’s market or to the mall (the average hour of slow walking burns about 250 calories!)
- playing frisbee or throwing around a ball (a vigorous game can burn around 450 calories in one hour)
- going for a bike ride (depending on how fast you cycle, you can burn off somewhere between 200-500 calories every 60 minutes) or y’know, just ring the bell and cruise
- doing some gardening (yard work like planting, raking and weeding burns between 200-350 calories per hour)
SUMMARY: find an activity you love and burn some calories without wearing spandex. Simple!
DAY #7. PLANNING FOR LONG TERM – UNDERSTANDING UNBREAKABLE
By the time you reach the last day of your 7 day challenge you are highly likely to be hugging the scales but if you did have some accidental fast-fails during the week we have some very, very good news for you: THAT’S OKAY.
Just in case you haven’t figured it out by now, the part-time diet isn’t only easier because you can spend a lot of your life eating and drinking and doing what you usually do, it is also a forgiving diet in that if you ‘break’ it, aka accidentally face-plant into a pizza on a fast day, you can simply chomp away and SWAP YOUR FAST TO TOMORROW.
This renders SuperFastDiet basically unbreakable. Yes, gone are the days when you’d think “oh well, I’ve messed up now. Time to gorge myself stupid for the rest of the week before starting all over again, sigh, sob”. This diet is really a way of life because there is no guilt and no failure, you just swap the fast to tomorrow. Soooo easy and simple it’s not funny.
SUMMARY: this diet is unbreakable and guilt-free. That’s a forever solution.
Come and join us on the 7 Day Challenge in our members’ only Facebook group and enjoy all the excitement PLUS… Download your 7 Day Challenge guide here.
Let’s make this week a-may-zing!