Lean Challenge Complete- The Result?

Hi guys, its the end of my Lean Challenge! I was meant to blog the results two days ago but didn't have the time. Just a recap, two weeks ago I put myself on a Lean Challenge and I wanted to see how much my body can change in that period with more intense workout and cleaner eating (cutting white carbs out). 

Below is a collage I made of my abs Picture on the left is Day 1, stomach is flat but not defined. Middle picture day 8,  the abs are showing a little and the last one was taken yesterday, day 14. Have I achieved my abs goal? Sort of, a little more fat could be lost on the sides. We girls are never satisfied lol. Yes, I like wearing yellow to workout lol.

Here's another collage of my arm. Picture on the left is Day 1 and the right picture is Day 14. Not much of a big difference but the deltoid (the shoulder muscle) is more defined.

Here's me flexing my arm lol. I got some muscles in my arms. Yay!

You know when you hear celebrities saying how they lost weight in as little as 2 weeks or 7 days it sounds almost impossible to shape up so quick. But after my challenge, I believe you can. I think I would have got even better results if I worked out every day and more cardio. It does take a lot of commitment.

What exactly did I do to get more lean?

• Warm lemon water every morning on empty stomach; Warm lemon water is known to help reduce belly fat and detox. After a couple of days drinking it, I felt cleaner and my skin got clearer too.

• Green smoothie every morning: Green smoothie is also good for cleansing your body and improve your digestive system. I used quite a lot of spinach and kale. One of my favourite green smoothie is:

- handful of spinach

- handful of kale

- 1 banana

- 1 cup of pineapple

- 1-2 tbp baobab powder

- 1 cup of milk (any type of milk) or water.

• NO white carbs: I replaced rice with quinoa, bulgar wheat and a mixture brown, wild and black rice, I had wholewheat pasta once but didn't like the texture. Quinoa and bulgar wheat are very good alternatives to rice and plus I've never really been a fan of rice.

• Increase protein intake: This does not mean have protein shake every day, you can if you want. I don't like all those artificial protein powder, I get natural ones like soya, hemp, pea protein powder. The ones the that only contain ingredients that you can pronounce and only has 1-3 ingredients. Other ways of increasing your protein intake are the food you eat. As mentioned I had quinoa and bulgar wheat more often, these are high in protein. I also had 2 eggs every other morning, that's pure protein. I added baobab powder to all my smoothies as they are a rich source of protein as well. Then there are also nuts, seeds, diary and tofu.

• Increase fiber intake: More green leaf vegetables. 

• Workout a least 5 times week- cardio PLUS weight training: I used to work out 3 times a week and only did 45 minutes of cardio once a week, the rest was just weight training. This time I went running in the park more often and I found that running on hard ground works your abs more than running on the treadmill. 

I definitely have lost some belly fat. A few weeks ago, when I sat down and sucked my stomach in I could feel the belly fold but now it doesn't fold. Lol.

Below is a selfie I took in Jane Norman. lol. I bought this dress as a birthday gift for myself. Ladies, don't be afraid of lifting weights. You won't bulk up, lifting weights actually help you burn fat. I mean, do I look bulky to you? I've been lifting weights for almost 2 years now.

It's the end of the challenge but doesn't mean I'm going to eat all white carbs again and work out less...because I still haven't achieved the body I want. I'm going to maintain this regime. I remember seeing this quote from the Facebook group called Fitness Divas, 'This is not a quick fix, it's a permanent change.' That's right!

Thanks for reading!

Have you ever put yourself on a similar challenge to mine? How was the result?