Metabolic Renewal Phase 1

Since I reached my goal weight in 2015 I seem to have hit a brick wall on my journey. From the gallbladder attacks to increased menstrual issues my body is fighting me all the way. The scale keeps going up and I can't seem to find a way to turn things around.

Metabolic Renewal appeared in my email from a couple of people so I checked it out.  This program is designed to help women get their hormones in check through diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes, some components I hadn't heard about before.

I'd seen of some programs that focus on exercising LESS rather than MORE. Metabolic Renewal has 3 HIIT workouts per week (~2 min warmup, ~15 min workout, & ~5 min burnout).  The other days are filled with your choice of light activity (i.e. walking, yoga, Pilates, swimming, etc.), anything that doesn't get your heart rate up.  Metabolic Renewal a rest based training program where you do the exercise until you can't and rest until you can, picking back up wherever they are on the video workout.

The biggest challenge for me on this program is the nutritional piece.  According to the hormones quiz I'm estrogen dominant.  Following the Metabolic Renewal Meal Plan this means I'm to only have carbs at dinner.  This is a big change for me as I normally have carbs all day long!  Also, like the keto and paleo diets, there is no dairy (although butter is allowed as a healthy fat), because of the hormones that can be introduced from milk.  I do allow myself a little dairy with my salad dressing since I haven't found any without milk/cheese that I enjoy.

Along with the physical measurements, Metabolic Renewal has you monitoring your sleep, hunger, mood, energy, and cravings (SHMEC).  My period came the second week and on top of that there have been issues with Austin and at work.  So all of that compounded into a heightened emotional state, screwing up the improvements I'd made.

It's been a tough mental challenge for me to make these kinds of changes in both what I eat and my workouts.  It's forcing me to eat veggies with every meal so I may need to introduce more of them into my diet before burning out on the ones I'm currently eating.  I've started eating eggs (for many years I couldn't even stand their smell) loaded with veggies and spices. 

Includes some of the foods I eat

So what do my breakfasts look like without carbs?

• Smoothie: protein powder (15-25g protein, less than 6g carbs, 2g dietary fiber), chia seeds, hemp seeds, low to moderate glycemic fruit, and a green veggie.
• 3 eggs with veggies, spices, and bee pollen.
• Some other protein with veggies (if chicken it's half a breast).

Benny doesn't like this program because of the number of containers that have to be loaded into the dishwasher packing 10 meals for work! LOL

Have you ever done a program like this before?