Its been two years since I did my last round of the Ultimate Reset. For some reason we skipped 2018 after making it a regular thing we do to start off the New Year before heading to Cancun at the end of January.
I knew I had to do it this year. 2018 was lackluster for me. Didn’t play softball. Didn’t really do that much that kept me motivated to workout. Throw in a finished basement project (where my workout area was) that took seven months instead of two to complete and I am way off.
Energy is down. Fitness is down. And a solid ten pounds jumped onto me. I signed up for a softball league in 2019 and our workout area in the basement is done. Its time to get back at it.
So we bought the Ultimate Reset Dual Kit after getting back from Cancun in early February. All that’s changed since our last round is they updated the Power Greens formula and provided a “Reset In A Crunch” where you pick three meals you like from that week and eat only those. I’m not going to go in depth on prices and things like that here. For that I recommend you check out my original Ultimate Reset review.
But for this round I wanted to go against the rules of The Ultimate Reset and workout.
If you have never done the The Ultimate Reset it encourages you to scale back on working out and give your body a chance to relax and heal through the 21 days. Walking, Yoga, and light workouts are ok but nothing like Insanity, P90X, or Body Beast. In all of my previous rounds I didn’t workout and still lost 10+ pounds each time.
But I’m a solid 15 pounds heavier than where I want to be. And softball starts in early April. I don’t want to go out there way out of shape especially after missing a year.
I figured since I was carrying 15 beautiful pounds with me that my body could snack on those pounds with me eating less following the meal plan. In theory this sounded ok to me. Especially since I know those meals kept me quite full.
What workout should I do?
I had done two weeks of Insanity prior to starting and I plan on continuing but not limiting myself to it. I need to start running again even with it being butt cold here in Michigan. Plus, I like to swim once a week and I picked up a spin bike on Craigslist. Might do some Body Beast Legs and Yoga workouts from Beachbody On Demand on certain days. From time to time do the Primal Blueprint workout (2 sets of push ups, pull ups, squats, planks) as a warmup too.
If I’m feeling gassed I’ll take the day off. And if I need a few more calories I’ll make the portions a little larger or add something to the snacks I’m allowed to eat. But no coffee and no alcohol per the rules.
Prediction: I lose the same 10 pounds I normally do and don’t notice that much difference in my before and after photos.
To keep track I will log in and journal what I did each day with a picture of my Apple Series 3 Watch activity tracker at the end. Gotta close those three rings!
Day 1 – Body Beast Bulk Legs. Insanity Cardio Recovery. 24 minutes spin bike. (107 exercise minutes)
Day 2 – Warmup. Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance. 50 minutes spin bike. (103 exercise minutes).
Day 3 – Day off. Feeling a bit tired from the previous two days. And my legs are still sore.
Day 4 – Insanity Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs. 34 minutes spin bike.
Day 5 – Day off.
Day 6 – 40 minutes spin bike. Insanity Fit Test. Primal Blueprint workout.
Day 7 – Day Off
Day 8 – Day Off (Start of week two and the Detox packets).
Day 9 – 1 mile swim. 2 mile run. 45 minutes spin bike.
Day 10 – 2 mile run. 50 minutes spin bike.
Day 11 – 2 mile run.
Day 12 – 2 mile run.
Day 13 – 2 mile run.
Day 14 – 1 mile swim.
**Days 11 – 14 I felt more tired than usual. The Detox hit me and energy was low. Fell asleep much earlier those nights.
Day 15 – Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit. 45 minutes spin bike.
Day 16 – Body Beast Bulk Legs. 50 minutes spin bike.
Day 17 – 2.25 mile run.
Day 18 – Insanity Pure Cardio.
Day 19 – 2.5 mile run.
Day 20 – 50 minutes spin bike.
Day 21 – 1 mile swim.
Starting Weight: 204.2
Ending Weight: 192.2
Total Weight Lost: 12 pounds on the dot. Two pounds more than predicted.
Closed all three rings on my Apple 3 Watch activity tracker 11 times (so close to 13) while closing the Exercise ring 16 times.
On Day 22 I ran 2.5 miles, swam one mile, and ate the Day 21 foods again. Stepped on the scale the next morning and it read 189.5. Lost 3 pounds over night. So almost 15 pounds in 23 days. Its been awhile since I’ve seen anything in the 180s on the scale. I’m sure you want to see some before and after photos.
Does it look like I just woke up? Its because I did. We’re lucky I put on pants as it was 7am on Day 22 and I asked Andrea to take my photo in the bathroom after stepping on the scale.
A lot of bloat is gone. Love handles shrunk in half. I look how I want to look at 38 years old. In the right light I could see some abs for the first time in two years.
Energy was up. Slept great. Basically, all the things you experience doing the Ultimate Reset happened again.
I did feel pretty tired on what would have been days 23 and 24. All I could do was run on those days. And I was hungry. While I was eating more of the food on the Ultimate Reset Meal Plan I was feaning for a cheat meal on what would have been Day 25. We had Pizza. It was delicious.
Final Thoughts
Working out while doing the Ultimate Reset is ok if your a bit overweight and in decent shape. There were days where I was burning more calories than I was eating but my body just sucked on some fat. I don’t feel stronger but it was noticeable how much easier it was to move around being 12 pounds lighter. It gave me a jumpstart for the Spring.
Why don’t I eat like this all the time? I feel great every time I do a round. Maybe not full Vegan but 95% of the time would be ideal. Or two weeks of the three week plan a month.
I don’t need a lot of food if I am eating good food. Its interesting how the part of the brain that tells you to eat shuts off after one plate of good food.
I should keep tabs on certain foods. It might be best for me to cut back on dairy and grains. Have a feeling my 38 year old self could do better with a bit less of those.
I do well with a plan. After getting comfortable with the food prep and grocery shopping it occurred to me that a plan telling me what to eat and how to make it works best for me. It takes the “what do you want to eat?” out of every meal. If anything, the plan probably saves me time. Weekly grocery shopping lists like what the Ultimate Reset has should be a requirement for every meal plan.
I should do two rounds a year. I just should. I can feel the inflammation start to disappear in the second week. Doing a tune up in July wouldn’t hurt.
That’s about it. I don’t know what sort of testing I’ll be able to do with the Ultimate Reset again as working out was the only no-no left for me to try.
What continues to be true is that the Ultimate Reset works and doing a round of it every year will be in my best interest.
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