Friday 15 July 2016

MY FITNESS & WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY UPDATE #3 + MY THOUGHTS ON THE EXANTE DIET



Over the years I have successfully lost 3st following the Slimming World plan, doing this got me down to a more comfortable weight and a number I tend to stick around. But I wanted to get fitter and tone up. Although I was happy with my weight, I wasn’t overly happy with how I looked.

At the start of March I joined a gym local to me, and my local I mean literally at the bottom of my road. It’s a gym which actually specialises in classes and there’s not a running machine in sight. I also started to eat more of a Paleo based diet which so far has been going pretty well, keeping with the 80/20 rule I have lost 9lbs since then. It’s been a steady loss but it’s also meant I’ve kept it off. I’m not overly strict with myself, If I don’t fancy the gym that night I won’t go, or if I want a pizza for dinner I will. It’s all about moderation and living a happy life which I’m certainly doing.

Back at the end of June with my holiday on the horizon I wanted to give myself and extra push and shift a few extra lbs so I gave Exante a go a week before I jetted off and here’s how I got on...


Now, I’m not usually one for restricted diets, I’m a believer in balance but something about this really caught my eye. It is a very low calorie diet, I’m talking 600 calories a day BUT you will get 100% of your recommended daily vitamins, minerals etc. so despite the low cals, you’re getting everything you need.

Breakfast

For my breakfast I had the shakes for 4 days, pancakes for 2 and the yogurt bar for 1.

The shakes were pretty good; I mixed mine up in my active-blend which made them thick and frothy. Despite the fact you only add water, these turned out to taste really creamy. I loved the chocolate one and added some coffee to a vanilla one to give it another flavour. These were great for my drive to work and by adding a bit of ice it made them really nice and chilled.

The pancakes were superb, I had these over the weekend and they were really nice. Very thick and tasted like the real deal. I had one maple syrup flavour and one plain.  Really filling too! I only had a couple of these strawberry jam yogurt bars and I wish I had more, out of all of the bars I had these were my favourite. I like how thick their products are, you certainly feel like you’re getting a lot.


Lunch

For lunches I had bars, the Wafers were the nicest of the bunch. I really struggled with the hot cross bun favoured bar, one bite and I couldn’t do anymore. The Double Chocolate Bar is very thick too, it left teeth marks. By the end of the bar it was a real struggle to finish it; it was just a bit too much. I didn’t like the Butterscotch Delight either, I don’t know if that’s because of the flavour or the consistency but I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t even bother to make up the chocolate one as the previous bar had put me off. Lunches were a bit of a miss to be honest.



Dinner

Dinner was better; I had 4 of the soups which were delicious, especially the Tomato & Mascarpone Soup and they were probably my favourite thing from the range. They were really flavoursome and very thick, I looked forward to having these in the evening and I’m looking forward to have them for my lunch next week.  I had one ready meal in the mix which was Cottage Pie; again this was another really nice meal that actually tasted like what it was meant too. A good portion size and again, quite filling.

One meal I really did struggle with was the Breakfast Eggs, which you can make scrambled or in to an omelette. I thought I needed to give it a go but it wasn’t enjoyable. I don’t know if I’m just instantly put off my packets and having to add water to them but knowing it wasn’t ‘real’ was a struggle. The portion size was tiny too; this one didn’t fill me up. 


So how did I get on? Well, for my week following Exante I lost 7lbs which I’m very happy with. It was the extra push I needed before my holiday and I felt really good. Unfortunately, in the madness of the night before holiday, I totally forgot to take my measurements... opps! But I know I had lost inches, I’m just not sure how many. I wouldn’t say the week was difficult, but it wasn’t easy either. I honestly don’t know how people do months on this and I certainly wouldn’t recommend doing that. It’s great for a quick weight loss but it’s not sustainable.


I ordered another week to start on Monday, I know I would have put some weight on over the holiday which is to be expected so it would be nice to shift that quickly and then get back to my Paleo lifestyle and my gym routine as usual. I’ll be documenting that over on my healthy Instagram if anyone is interested in following that. I feel like I have a better selection of meals which I know I like too so I’m hoping it’ll be a bit easier. Believe me when I say they have a huge selection of meals to pick from and even since I first looked in to it loads more have been added. The meals started off as more ‘packets’ which you added water too which in all honesty made me feel a bit queezy, never again. But the soups, ready meals and bars get a big thumbs up from me

Just a couple of things to mention before I finish, on the 2nd day I felt very hungry and I was tempted to pack it in. But I'm glad I didn't, the following day was much better and hunger subsided and I was fine. I had odd times of extreme hunger over the week but it wouldn’t last long, it certainly got better towards the end of the week. However my energy levels were low; I struggled with the gym despite Exante recommending you do 20 minutes of exercise a day. So keep this in mind if you plan on doing it. It's not reccomened you drink milk with drinks whilst on this, but I wasn't giving up my cups of tea and coffee for anyone! Make sure you drink plenty of water too.

Some of the meals on Exante can be expensive, however they often have deals. I managed to get 7 breakfasts, lunches and dinner for £30 but that was with a 40% discount so keep an eye out.

Overall I'm really happy and I'm looking forward to doing another week next week.
Have you tried Exante before? What are your thoughts?
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6 comments

  1. The soups look great! As do you! Should be really proud of what you have achieved.

    Jaynie Shannon *

    xx

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  2. You look incredible & I have been following your weight loss journey for a while now, you always inspire me to keep at it. I need to be more active and thats something I'm working on.
    I have tried a few of the Exante meals & I enjoyed the evening meals the most & - I wasn't keen on the bars but they're super easy to take with you on the go.
    http://www.letstalkbeauty.co.uk/

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  3. You have great willpower, I struggle to stick to anything like this - I tried slimfast and by day two I was so hungry I packed it in! I'm currently following Slimming World and am blogging my journey too, I like SW as I don't find it restrictive at all. Congrats - you look bloomin' fantastic!!

    Jen xx
    www.kitsch-n-sync.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Massive well done to you, I'm just not sure I could manage a full week my willpower is terrible! :( I admire your strength!

    http://www.thebutter.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wowsers! You look absolutely amazing! xx

    Beautylymin

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everyone has to start somewhere - so start where you are now! There really is no way you can achieve instant weight loss or an improved fitness level. If you get started now and each week increase your activity level just a little, Read review

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment XO

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