30 Day Fitness Challenge Wrap Up

(Note: This is day 28 in a 30 day series. If you like these posts, subscribe to the Mumbo Jumbo RSS feed at the top of the page!)

I realize this is a bit late in coming, but I wanted to put this together before I left the continent…

THE END!

Using a combination of intense workouts 3 - 4 times a week, keen dieting and even experimental fasting (which really isn’t that bad - in fact, I’m going to make it a weekly thing after I return from England), I wanted to see what I could accomplish in 30 days. Think of it as a reverse Super Size Me. If you haven’t seen that movie (why haven’t you seen it yet?!? Go rent it now!!), the director Morgan Spurlock saw how unhealthy he could get in 30 days by eating nothing but McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By the end of the movie, his nutritionist was literally fearing for his life and his body had changed so dramatically, it turned out to be a real PR nightmare for McDonald’s.

So that was the original inspiration for it all, but yes, instead of gorging myself until I was fit to burst, I wanted to see how in shape I could get if I focused real hard on my health.

I also wanted to accomplish this using only what I had at home, and information I could find online. And for the next 30 days, I wanted to see what would happen.

For the money conscious out there, it also turns out you could do this regimen with a minimal investment in some workout equipment.

In the beginning, my goal was to see if I could lose 10 pounds in 30 days. General knowledge I had told me that it’s only safe to lose up to 2 pounds a week. I figured if I could lose 2.5 I’d be pushing a bit harder, and I could take it. On the first day of the challenge, I weighed in at 178.2 lbs.

By the last day of the challenge, I was down to 169.4 for a grand total of 8.8 pounds lost.

If you think about that in real terms, that’s the size a small turkey.

Now I didn’t take any other measurements until the end of the workout, when I had a body fat scale at my disposal, so for your consideration, according to the scale (which has a little bit of variance in it) I was 14.2 percent body fat (which is now hovering around 13% today), 59.6% water, 9.9 lbs of bone, and 71.6 lbs of muscle.

Not only that, I saw huge gains in my strength. I could lift more, press more, move more, and do more! I was also looking and feeling the best I’ve felt in a long time.

Now, technically, I came in at only an 8.8 pound difference, but I wasn’t including muscle gains in that initial estimation, so I think it’s very safe to say I lost 10 pounds of fat or more in just 30 days. Granted, the program was unorthodox and very strict, but I loved every minute of it and the results were fantastic. It was a perfect shock to my system.

But it also turns out that I really don’t want to stop working out. Now this is going to be hard, because over the next week and a half I’m going to be in England, so I’ll have to figure out a weight-free plan or something to help maintain my fitness so that I don’t back-track… I’m particularly interested in the 100 Pushup Plan, but we’ll see what I can fit in.

Not only that, but I’ve been kind of lazy this past week. That’s okay, the thirty days was level one, with a week of rest in between, but now it’s time for level 2.

What I am saying, in fact, is that I’m not stopping the 30 day challenge. 30 days is the perfect amount of time to set and achieve a fitness goal. In fact, I’m going to be carrying this idea forward on it’s own blog. I’ve set it up at Tumblr.com, here is the link, but there is really nothing there yet. However, expect that to change quickly, so throw that feed into your RSS reader!

So not only will there be another 30 days of workouts, tips, and training, but there will be more authors as well. My brother, whom I envy immensely when it comes to being in shape, has set out on his own 50 Day Fitness Challenge and intends to detail that as well.

So yes, if you haven’t started this yet, now is the perfect time to join in. Grab a buddy, a sibling, a spouse, and get in shape! You’d be surprised what just one month can change, if you’re willing to spend the time. Throw both Mumbo Jumbo Blogs into your RSS reader or e-mail and get some of the best life-changing tips you can get, and join us on our fitness journey. And if you’ve had any success with this, or if you even have any tips for us, we’d love to hear from you!

Again, here is the link to the Mumbo Jumbo Fitness Blog.