The Perfection Program Presents...

The No-Excuses Jump-Start Plan

From my personal experience, starting a diet, exercise plan or lifestyle change of any sort is a big deal- its exciting, and empowering, and motivating. You go completely crazy, setting huge goals and plans. 

New schedule (5:00am: Jog; 6:00am: Yogilates; 7:00am: Bike to work; 5:30pm Zumba), new grocery lists (nothing white, nothing refined, no sugar, no carb, no fat), scary new ingredients (What the f#*k is okra?!), you get the idea.

So you make all these huge goals and your expectations are raised really high. Then, comes the week one weigh in:

Nothing.

Or worse, you gained weight. 

All of a sudden, any motivation is gone. You want to drown your sorrows in pasta and ice cream (or both. Together). The diet starts to slip. The workouts get shorter, less passionate. You start using your yoga mat as a shower mat. Trainers banished to the back of the closet. Vegetables sadly wilting in the crisper. All because of one weigh in.

This diet plan is designed to help you drop enough weight in the first week of so to get you started AND keep you motivated. 

A few notes about this diet:

• If you are already following a healthy eating plan, you won't lose as much weight as someone coming from a diet of crap. Just sayin'.

• This is considered a VLCD (very-low-calorie-diet), so I don't recommend any strenuous exercise. Seriously. Do some yoga, walking ten minutes a day, things like that. I'll talk more about this in the Workout Post.

• If your job or lifestyle required you to be more active than a basic retail job, then please add some extra healthy snacks. Even if you just double up on the ones I recommend.

• I am vegan, and as a result, my menus are also vegan. This is a personal choice for me, and I didn't feel comfortable making menus including animal products as I don't feel I have enough knowledge to properly recommend any. If you want to substitute something, feel free, however remember that this will change the calorie content and possibly your results.

• If you find you really like one meal and hate another, or you need have a packed lunch, or have allergies, go ahead and switch the meals around a bit. Nothing is set in stone, and each meal type (eg all breakfasts or all lunches) has similar calorie contents.

• THIS IS NOT PERFECT! Some days will have a ton of carbs. Or be missing a vitamin. Or not have enough.... fibre. Or whatever. What this is, is a meal plan for normal, every-day people, by a normal, every-day person. I want it to be easy, and quick, and fun.

This is how it is. 7 days, you, me, no excuses.

Stay happy!

Love, 

Me.

xo