Change is hard!
EEK! I’m doing it! I had been thinking about doing the Body Beast program from Beachbody for some time. I was intimidated by the fact that the program is 12 weeks long and seemed geared toward men. Look at the cover of the book and you’ll see what I mean!!! Imagine my head photoshopped onto Sagi’s body! lol
After some research I realized the program has a “lean” plan and since my goal was to build muscle, but not bulk, that the program was going to be a great fit. At nearly 47 years old, I know I need to work on more than nutrition and cardio. I like weight lifting and we had most of the necessary equipment in the basement already. I did realize I might need to add a dumbbell set, but that was no reason to put off getting started.
Plan to succeed!
I returned from the Punta Cana Beachbody Success Club trip and set about reading up on the program and planning meals and workouts. I was happy to find that the updated meal guide used the portion fix containers with which I was already familiar. I was SHOCKED to find that my yellow container allotment was going to go up from 2 to 9! After some more research, I decided to trust the process and plan for adding “good” carbs to my meal plan for the next 12 weeks.
Time flies!!!
No matter what we do with it, time still goes by, right?! It was so fast and now week 1 in the books! The main issue for me is the workouts are a little longer than I am used to, but they do really fly by too! And, since it’s a weight lifting program, there are mini breaks now and then for muscle recovery.
By Wednesday of week 1, I was pretty sore! I have done Hammer and Chisel and other Beachbody programs, so I was a little surprised at how sore I was! I definitely made use of the Performance Line products!!
- Energize to get going and maximize my workout efforts.
- Hydrate to keep hydrating during the workouts
- Recover after some of the heavier lifting workouts to aid and speed muscle recover.
- Recharge on some nights when I could really feel the soreness and wanted to get some relief to the areas in need.
How does Body Beast work?
The program is 12 weeks, divided into 3 phases, with 6 workout days and 1 rest day. There are 12 total workouts rotated so you avoid working the same muscles on consecutive days. One of the days is a cardio day, which I swapped out for Country Heat since I am teaching Country Heat LIVE! classes at the same time. I also worked in 10 minutes of yoga flows from the 3 Week Yoga Retreat periodically to keep stretched.
Body Beast Phases:
Phase 1: Build – 3 weeks
Phase 2: Bulk – 5 weeks
Phase 3: Beast – 4 weeks
The Equipment:
- various dumbbell weights, at least 3-4 different weights
- resistance bands
- weight bench – incline (or stability ball)
*Optional* - EZ Curl weight bar with weights
- Chin up bar
- Exercise mat
Check out the tricep dip!
What about Body Beast’s Nutrition Plan?
I did the Calorie Calculator to determine my Portion Fix containers – I actually did this about 6 times to make sure I was getting the right result! Here is how the containers work:
For Phases 1 & 2 (Build and Bulk) I worked it out to be in the 1800-1999 bracket. WHOA! For the past 2 years, I had been adhering to the 1200-1499 bracket. Cue the nerves! What would happen on the scale? Did that matter?
I also had to calculate my body fat, which I did with an online calculator. Not as accurate as an actual reading, but worked in a pinch. I was at 23%. You need these measurement so that later you can compare!!!
For Phase 3, I will recalculate after weighing in and redoing the body fact measurement, but for now it looks like I’d drop 200 calories and go down on the carbs. That makes sense since the final phase would be the “lean out” phase.
There is PLENTY of food! In fact, I’m having trouble eating it all!
My Body Beast Calculations
Phase 1 & 2
127*12 = 1524 + 400 = 1924
127*13 = 1651 + 400 = 2051
Phase 3
1524 + 100 = 1624 (^20% body fat)
1524 + 200 = 1724( <20% body fat)
Phase 1 & 2 Phase 3
(1924) (1624/1724)
3 G 3 G
3 P 3 P
9 Y 2 Y
3 R 6 R
1 B 1 B
1 O 1 O
3 tsp 2 tsp
Body Beast meal plan
Here’s the start of my meal plan for week 2
Ready for a challenge?
Join me in my upcoming challenge group! Fill out the application right here or scroll down. Do you have to do Body Beast? NO!!! There are so many choices, I can’t wait to help you find the RIGHT FIT FOR YOU!