Total Lean Challenge: Week 1

Tweet

Hey Challengers! Welcome to your first week of the Total Lean Challenge. The focus for this first phase (four weeks) is building a solid foundation for a lifestyle change; we’re talking about habits here.

It takes 21 days to form a habit. Rather than focusing on eliminating bad habits, focus on forming new habits for these next seven days.  In addition to following the meal and exercise plans this week, pick one of the following habits as your focus for this week:

- Eat six small meals each day

- Prepare your breakfast and lunch for the entire week ahead of time

- Drink plenty of water; general rule of thumb is to drink ½ of your body weight in ounces of water, daily

- Rest & recover; get to bed early

Tweet or Facebook us using #RespectYourself to let us know which habit you’re implementing this week.

Your first week of meals will include two Lean Shake 25 meals each day. It is structured this way for several reasons: it’s convenient, portable, scientifically formulated, tasty, and helps you feel full.  View this plan.

How to customize your meal plan

Your calorie intake each day is set at ~1,500 calories with this plan. You can reduce your calorie intake to ~1,300 calories each day by removing meal 1, 2, 4, or 6. 

If you don’t like one of the meal suggestions, choose the same meal suggestion from another day and substitute it (ex. Replace meal 3 from Monday with meal 3 from Wednesday). 

If you enjoy variety and change, this meal plan is for you. However, if you’re concerned about time and effort in the kitchen, do yourself a favor and whip up several servings of these meals at one time.  The Breakfast Casserole dish yields enough servings to last for six days of breakfast.  View these tasty Week 1 recipes. 

In this first week of workouts you’ll be performing circuit training. It is structured this way to accommodate home workouts and maximize workout efforts while minimizing time; in short, this is a very efficient way to work out smarter rather than longer.  Circuit training also combines the benefits of resistance or weight training with cardio so it’s a win/win. View the Week 1 workout plan and Saturday's surprise workout via FitFluential ambassador Alfonso Moretti. 

Boredom won’t be a problem here because workouts are not repeated - each day is new.  The “Extra Mile” in your workouts is just that; extra.  It’s not required but highly suggested.  Start at your own pace and work your way up to the “Extra Mile” as your body adjusts. 

In the event that you are unfamiliar with how to perform a movement, watch the video instruction from Steve Pfiester below; he's one of our favorite FitFluential ambassadors. 

Lastly, don’t forget to check in with us on Twitter and Facebook! Follow @GNCLiveWell on Twitter and tweet using #RespectYourself on Sundays to be entered to win the weekly prize! Free never tasted so good!

Good luck and don’t forget that @GNC_Kelly and @GNC_Dan are here to help you through your amazing transformation. 

Just in case you missed Challenge details you can check out our FAQ page and Total Lean Challenge welcome post. 

Thanks & Good Luck! 

 

Psssst, if you have some suggestions or feedback on this week's meal plan or workout, leave a comment below. We would love to hear what works and what doesn't so we can keep improving throughout the program.