Julia Buckley’s Fat Loss Fitness Programme – Week 4 and Phase I done!

Julia’s programme is split into three phases which are each 4 weeks long. The exercises in each phase are slightly different to keep the body guessing and to maximise fat burn. Last week was my fourth week on the programme and the final week in Phase I. We were encouraged to lift the maximum weights that we could and give it our absolute all in all of the sessions.

This week saw me outgrow my beginners weight set and need to use additional weights and weight lifting gloves! I now own 42kg of cast iron, not that I can lift that much yet, and am developing a nice collection of equipment in one corner of the bedroom.

I really did go for it as much as possible in all the sessions this week, surprising myself once again at how much I am actually capable of lifting.

Diet wise I feel like I’ve settled into this way of eating quite well now. Most days my food is pretty much in line with Julia’s guidelines, even this week when I had either lunch or dinner out pretty much every day. I’m far more comfortable with choosing from a menu and asking for things to be switched or left off my plate altogether. That said, I had a few more glasses of wine this week than I would do usually but tried to make up for that at the weekend by having a dry Saturday night, something practically unheard of for me!

And the reason why I’m finding it easier to make these changes is that I can see and feel that it’s working. My body looks firmer and smaller and I feel stronger. The pair of jeans that I am using as a marker of my progress now *just about* do up. I couldn’t and wouldn’t wear them out of the house yet but just 4 weeks ago there was no way I could have got them done up.

Monday is my weighing/measuring day and I was excited to get up this morning and see the results of Phase I. I was absolutely delighted to find that in just 4 weeks I’ve lost a total of 9cm from my body. That’s 4cm from my tummy, 3.5cm from my waist, 1cm from my chest and 0.5cm from my arm. My thigh has increased by 0.5cm but I can see that it looks firmer and more toned so I’m not too concerned by that.

The scales say that I’ve lost 2.5lbs of weight and far more importantly 2.6% of my body fat.

I am thrilled with the results from Phase I. In terms of measurable results and noticeable fitness gains it’s been the most effective 4 weeks of exercise I’ve ever done. The results have given me a massive boost to launch myself into Phase II of the programme. Julia is cranking up the intensity so I think I’ve got some tough workouts to look forward to this week!