{"id":20323,"title":"Hels Bells Accountability Winners","description":"Winners of the summer challenge Mel and Rich!","content":"

Leading up to the Summer holiday several Hels Bells Club members took part in an Accountability challenge.<\/strong><\/p>

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The purpose of the challenge is to support club members to work towards and achieve an agreed set of individual goals over a period of 6 weeks. We focus not just on making physical changes but more importantly developing long term sustainable habits that can be maintained beyond the challenge itself. Key to the challenge is consistency and practice.<\/p>

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20 club members signed up to take part and all of them, who completed the challenge, achieved success and made progress. Quantifying progress is hugely subjective, however individuals reported loss of inches and weight, improved sleep, a change in shape, improved skin tone, greater energy, improved strength and a better understanding of nutrition. Along with developing habits to support them to move forwards independently.<\/p>

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Rich and Mel were just two of the club members who committed to the challenge and achieved success! A huge congratulations to them on all they achieved, they reduced their over all inches by 16, and Rich had a total body fat reduction of 22% with Mel reducing her body fat by 14%.<\/p>

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Here\u2019s what they had to say\u2026<\/strong><\/p>

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Describe the challenge in your own words.<\/strong><\/p>

The challenge for us was about being accountable to ourselves, and to each other, for intake of calories, getting enough protein, level of exercise, water, mindfulness and sleep. It was a chance to reset and reinstate better habits.<\/p>

We both wanted to lose body fat and both had a good motivator for doing so \u2013 Mel a wedding dress fitting and I wanted to get back to better body shape too for the summer, and prior to buying my wedding suit.<\/p>

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How did you find the challenge?<\/strong><\/p>

In the main we found the challenge OK. We knew at the start that we had several weekends where we would be drinking too much alcohol to stay within our calories, we accepted this and planned around it. We started very motivated but both of us had a lull in motivation around 3-4 weeks into the 6 weeks.<\/p>

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The first week or so I felt quite lethargic, as I was adjusting to less overall calories and a different mix of macronutrients, but I knew from previous experience this would pass, and it did. Mel didn\u2019t experience the same lethargy.<\/p>

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During weekdays we found sticking within our calories relatively easy, some days we would only have a 2-meal day and found that relatively easy and sustainable. We\u2019d tend to look at our calories over a 3-4 day period rather than an individual day basis. Mel and I rarely went above these limits outside of the social occasions during the 6 weeks.<\/p>

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What went well for you?<\/strong><\/p>

We planned our main meal of the day planned a week in advance \u2013 so what went well for me, was Mel as Mel did the planning! We wouldn\u2019t over plan lunchtime meals but would usually have meat, eggs and salad available. We would often programme in MyFitnnessPal the day before, which helps to check the level of protein and total calories in advance, giving a chance to modify the plan before the day even starts.<\/p>

The level of steps and other exercise went really well too, we went to kettlebells 2-3 times a week, I would also spin 1-2 times a week, we both did the occasional kettlebell session in our garage, and Mel would always get 10,000+ steps in every day.<\/p>

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Were there any challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them?<\/strong><\/p>

Some of our social events produced a challenge for staying within calories or getting enough protein. Despite this we\u2019d still make some sensible choices on those days, for instance getting some good exercise in before the occasion started, or chose to drink gin and slimline tonic instead of beer. For instance on the first Saturday we had already planned in a date-day; cinema followed by dinner and drinks. So we walked to the Curzon in Clevedon that day, 22,000 steps. After a \u2018red\u2019 day or days we\u2019d make sure we jumped straight back onto the challenge and put it behind us.<\/p>

I also struggled with tiredness within the first 1-2 weeks but knew from experience that would pass and it did.<\/p>

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What was your biggest learning point from the challenge?<\/strong><\/p>

That one or two bad days won\u2019t undo ongoing sensible choices, there\u2019s no point in beating yourself up the next day, the best thing is to just continue instilling the new habits; it\u2019s a long-term project especially if it is to be sustained. So change habits for the long-term, for most days, most weeks, but enjoy a treat.\u2026.<\/p>

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Also fail to plan (meals and food shopping), plan to fail\u2026..<\/p>

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What habits have you developed that you will continue to practice in the coming months?<\/strong><\/p>

We are now using protein powder on occasion to increase our protein intake, usually within a smoothie.<\/p>

We tend to only eat when we\u2019re hungry, and don\u2019t bother when we\u2019re not. We often manage a two-meal only day, but that always includes breakfast.<\/p>

We (well Mel) continues to meal plan on a weekly basis, we continue to focus on the level of protein, and we are sometimes continuing to use MyFittnessPal for a few days a week to ensure a couple of \u2018green\u2019 days. I am being more conscientious about drinking enough water every day \u2013 Mel already did before the challenge.<\/p>

We continue to try and exercise 4-6 days a week and I am getting many more steps in than I ever did previously.<\/p>

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What advice would you offer to others who would like to take part in a similar challenge?<\/strong><\/p>

Don\u2019t fear MyFitnessPal, and don\u2019t obsess about logging all ingredients perfectly. Recipes from places such as BBC Good Food Guide are great as they tell you how many calories and you can scan the whole recipe\u2019s ingredients into MFP.<\/p>

Meal plan \u2013 load into MFP all meals\/snacks the day before, you can then modify your plan if protein is too low. Sandwich meat or chicken is a good snack when wanting to pick.<\/p>

Stick with it if tired after a week or so, and stick with it when motivation lulls after around 4 weeks. After 6 weeks the new habits are formed. Continue to have some treat days\/nights, but try and make some sensible choices too.<\/p>

We also definitely benefited from both doing the challenge together, if you have a partner you really need them to buddy up with you and get on board with the challenge and support you with it.<\/p>

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Can you describe a typical day throughout the challenge?<\/strong><\/p>

For Mel typically a smoothie for breakfast, meat or fish and salad for lunch, or an omelette, then our dinners varied but would often be high levels of vegetables, and chicken or fish, very low levels of carbs (swaps like cauliflower rice instead of rice). Mel plans very different meals each day and week to keep it interesting.<\/p>

I would typically have an omelette, smoothie or fruit and 0% Greek yoghurt for breakfast, we tend to delay breakfast until we\u2019re hungry \u2013 2-3 hours after waking up. For lunch I would limit the amount of sandwich\u2019s to reduce high calorie and carb bread intake, but still did have sandwich\u2019s a couple of times a week. I sought out low calorie breads, we also found lighter than light mayo, which is much nicer than half-fat mayo which I\u2019ve always disliked. For dinner see above. A few days a week we would skip lunch and eat our main meal around 16:00, especially on a day when we are going to kettlebells.<\/p>

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How did you plan your exercise\/steps throughout the challenge?<\/strong><\/p>

We\u2019d start with planning kettlebell classes for the week, aiming to go to three, but often ending up two. Mel goes for a walk every morning, I occasionally join Mel - we both walk to kettlebells and back, around 7,000 steps. We walk anywhere\/everywhere within Portishead now.<\/p>

On non-kettlebell days I did some spinning on our bike at home \u2013 I recorded progress and managed 9 rides in 4 weeks, only 6 hours in total but 150 miles. We both did the occasional kettlebell session in the garage, I played quite a bit of golf too. We\u2019d have a rest day around every 4-6 days. Sometimes rest would be planned in to a likely hangover day!<\/p>

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How many \u2018green\u2019 days did you have?<\/strong><\/p>

We estimate that Mel had 30-35 green days and I had 25-30 green days over the course of the 6 weeks.<\/p>

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If you had a perceived \u2018bad\u2019 day how did you get back on track?<\/strong><\/p>

Even the \u2018bad\u2019 days were planned in, and so getting back on track was easy, it was already planned in. We would put the bad day behind us and just get back to it.<\/p>

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What would be your three tops tips to share with others:<\/strong><\/p>

1. Plan plan plan<\/p>

2. Find ways to get steps in \u2013 and exercise hard and sleep well<\/p>

3. Everybody needs a Mel!<\/p>

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Any other thoughts that you would like to share\u2026<\/strong><\/p>

The results provide a great motivator. We are having more \u201cbad\u201d days now that the challenge is over, but, most days are now \u2018green\u2019 on an ongoing basis. The challenge has instilled new, healthier habits for us, thanks for running it Helen!<\/span><\/p>

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Interested in finding out more about these club challenges why not drop me a message.<\/span><\/p>

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