I’m going to give the plan an A-.

As far as “self-help” or diet plans go I think this one really delivers.  It is exactly what David Kirsch writes in the beginning – a challenging plan that gets results.  He never promises anything will be easy but does assure the reader that they can rise to the challenge despite any set backs or excuses.  He addresses these each day of the plan.  Tired? No excuse.  Ice cream in the house? Don’t eat it.  Hungover?  Why are you drinking in the first place?

The exercises are laid out twice in the book, first in a large format with instructions then again in a mini-format that I pulled out and took with me to the gym. (I think copying would have been a better option as the book is now falling apart)

The meal plan is also carefully explained and then broken down into day-to-day menus.  If I were to do this again I would follow the menus more closely for variety and because I think there were days I just didn’t eat enough because I didn’t have plan friendly foods on hand.

A little bonus to the book, for me, were the success stories.   Each day of the plan offered a “real life” success story.  These people were actually working out with David and having his food delivered to them but they still had to do the workout and stay away from the chips to get the results they did. It culminated with a story from Heidi Klum which actually was the least interesting of them all because she didn’t really follow the plan since she’d just given birth.  I suppose the thought was, celebrity sells but he didn’t really need it because the other success stories were more interesting and relatable.

So I recommend this book to anyone who wants to workout hard and see results fast. It also might get you hooked on strength training.  I like cardio and anything I can do lying down so this workout was a challenge for me in many ways but I came to really enjoy it because of its challenge.  I will keep this up for sure.  Spending so much time at the gym these last two weeks I noticed a lot of interesting classes that seem to follow David’s philosophy of cardio sculpting and I’m definitely going to check those out.

As for the eating plan.  I’m still doing the protein shakes – they really are a great post workout meal.  I’m staying away from alcohol and sugar but I am incorporating dairy – in the form of yogurt – and bread back in to my diet.   Instead of tuna salad I had a tuna sandwich on whole grain bread yesterday.   After two weeks that was really the only thing I was craving – a sandwich.

The reason I gave the book an A minus instead of an A is that I really think you need to belong to a gym or have a lot of room and an elliptical machine at your house.  He does offer a Book/DVD version of the plan that would probably help someone doing this solely at home and you can also sign up for the plan on David Kirsch’s website for a monthly fee.

So whether you want a jump-start to making exercise a habit or to take off  some winter weight it is definitely worth buying this book and challenging yourself with this program.

Woke up this morning and had the official weigh in.  The good news is I’ve lost a total of 9 pounds and  8.5  inches total.  (see stats for where the inches came off)  The bad news is that I really expected more so I was disappointed at first.  I don’t know what number would not have disappointed me – if it had been much more I would have assumed that the minute I touched a piece of whole wheat bread I’d gain everything back so maybe I couldn’t win.

I don’t know one woman who isn’t affected in some way by the number on the scale.  Not one. When my mother went to the emergency room last year  because she couldn’t breathe,  they weighed her and she argued that the scale couldn’t possibly be right.  When I called her a few days later to see how she was feeling she told me she lost 11 pounds.  This was in the midst of a serious health scare.

My sister will report her weight ups and downs in almost every conversation and I have more than one friend who weighs herself every day and makes adjustments according to what’s on the scale.  These are all happy, successful, non-anorexic, non-obese women.

So why do they care?  Why do I care?  I’m healthy, I can work out for 2 hours straight and still have energy to go about my day, my husband won’t love me less or more if the number on the scale changes.  All of this makes sense in my head.  It’s this other smaller part of myself that says I’ll be prettier, happier, more likable if the numbers are lower.  This is same part of myself that looks at a photo in a magazine and thinks, “That’s a pretty dress,” and also thinks, “But she’s so thin it probably wouldn’t look like that on me.”

I don’t live my life according to that voice but it is there just the same.  So this morning I really was happy to have completed the Ultimate New York Body Plan and to have lost 9 lbs.  But then the voice suggested it would have been nice if it had been 10… if  I had lost more inches off my thighs… and my upper arms could certainly be smaller.  Because of the voice I stepped on the scale not once but 4 times.

But again, I’m not that voice so I got off the scale, finally, and got ready to run.  By the time I finished the first mile I was feeling better and by the last mile I’d forgotten about the number and started thinking about what book to tackle next.

I know it might seem disingenuous to go on an extreme diet plan and then go on and on about being a slave to the scale. But the truth is I still want to lose more weight so I can be the healthiest I can be, so I can fit in to all the clothes that have gotten tight as of late and so I can be a better athlete.  I still want to get to that perfect number and I also know there is no such thing.

How do I feel about the last day?  I’m anxious to weigh in tomorrow and do my measurements.  I’d like to see more results.  I’m pleased that I followed through and stuck with the  eating plan (with one little slip and an outright cheat) and I’m so glad I kept on the exercise plan.   Tomorrow I’ll give a full review of the book along with my new stats.

Today I made the most delicious turkey meatballs for lunch.  I used Italian style ground turkey which has the same nutritional info as regular ground turkey.  I added garlic and onion powder, a little salt and pepper, some oregano, a pinch of cayenne and 1 egg white.  Mixed it all  together, formed the meatballs and then I baked them at 400 degrees for 25 minutes .  They were a nice change and I will definitely make them again.

I had them with a big salad and some edamame which I saved for a snack.  the meatballs would be really good with spaghetti squash and marinara sauce.

For dinner I had baked chicken with Arugula and baked mushrooms.  I also had a few spears of asparagus.  I ♥ Arugula!  I think it compliments any protein and adds a nice spice to a salad.

I didn’t eat the skin of the chicken but not because of the plan I just never do.

I’ll be back in the morning with the results and final review of  The Ultimate New York Body Plan.

But I got my workout in any way!  I think that’s one real benefit of following a plan. At least while trying to establish a routine.  I love how I feel after I exercise, I want to be fit and healthy but sometimes that’s still not enough motivation for me.  So being on a plan works for me.  Making a commitment to something outside myself even if it is a book, is helping me stay on course.

So I stressed about the crisis, muttered under my breath while getting dressed, almost had a meltdown when my ipod wasn’t working (my sweet, scared husband let me use his) and then went for a run.  I hate to admit it, but by the time I’d run for 45 minutes I felt better, less stressed and had I had the time I would have run longer.

I came back to the house and did a modified version of the ab workout.  Still 15 minutes just not with all the equipment.  Had my protein shake and showered and went off to work with a much better attitude.

Why is it things that are good for us, that make us feel good aren’t always our automatic choice?   If  I wasn’t committed to finishing this plan I most likely would have hung around the house stressing and drinking too much coffee and finally gone off to work in a panic.  Then I would have used that as an excuse to have a treat of some kind – candy bar, croissant, or a glass or two of wine when I came home.  As it turned out I even had time to pack up more vegetables and hummus for a snack and I was going to pick up a healthy lunch when I was out and about.

It didn’t work out because I was so busy I didn’t get a chance to get out until about 4 pm when I found myself wandering through CVS looking for balloons (don’t ask) and a plan friendly snack.

CVS – not really the mecca for healthy snacks.  I was tempted by the Snicker’s with Almonds and almost justified it but then I saw snack packs of mixed nuts and went with one of those. Same price, fewer calories than the candy bar and a lot more protein.  I wasn’t extremely hungry so I won’t say ” oh yes the delicious little snack pack filled me up” but it did distract me and keep the hunger at bay until I got home.

G made the turkey chili from the NYBP book.  David says it’s a club favorite.  It was good but I’m not sure it was chili.  It had more of a Sloppy  Joe consistency. Nonetheless I ate it all along with a small salad.

I’m off to do the last of the cardio sculpting routine and another spin class for my cardio.  I’ll check back in later with lunch and dinner and be sure to check back tomorrow for the final results!

I ate all of this and then had some almonds before I headed off to the gym for an evening workout.  I don’t like working out at night but I’m so close to the end of the plan that I just couldn’t see skipping a day.  I felt ok doing the cardio but the sculpting plan felt extremely difficult.  I think it was just overall fatigue.

After the gym I had a very “clean” meal of baked swordfish and sautéed spinach with garlic.

Followed that with a quick shower and now I’m off to bed hoping to make up for last night’s late night and fitful sleep.

I did what David says to do and I wasn’t at the party for 20 minutes before I had a martini in my hand. Now it was a small martini in a great 1920′s martini glass and I know other low carb diets say if you’re going to drink,  vodka is the way to go.  So I rationalized and I ate a lot of vegetables. When dinner was served I had the beef tenderloin and a smidgen of the mac and cheese.  Looking back now it really was inevitable so next time I’ll offer to bring a salad instead. I didn’t have the mashed potatoes or the brioche rolls so I call that a win.  I did have a glass of chardonnay with dinner though so that makes it a wash.  And I had about 6 Mild Duds, and 8 Junior Mints (Movie theater candy for dessert – it was a great idea).  FYI – Milk Duds take forever to eat so it seemed like a lot more candy.

Here’s the thing, I’m really not about deprivation or being a food cop so I don’t want to say I’ve cheated or was bad.  But I do find it interesting that for the last 10 days it never crossed my mind to have a cocktail or candy – a piece of bread that’s another story – and yet because I was at a party it seemed the natural thing to do.  Also, because I’m on an eating plan it does seem like a “cheat” where as if I wasn’t on the plan it might just be moderation.   Is this why diets don’t work?  I know I’ll never get to the point, nor do I want to, where I see food just as fuel but I’d like to get to a point where I can adapt a neutrality policy like Switzerland. But they have all that cheese and chocolate so maybe not.

I didn’t get to post my food for yesterday.  The lack of structure on the weekend makes it hard to stay on the 3 meals and 2 snacks plan and hard for me to post. After I had my shake I mostly snacked on vegetables and 3 pieces of turkey bacon.   But for dinner I splurged.  I had steak!  Yay!  I love steak and of course the last 10 days I’ve had my fill of turkey and tuna so it was really nice change of pace.

I broiled the steak and put it on a bed of arugula that I dressed with just a little olive oil, lemon juice and salt and served it with sautéed mushrooms. One of my favorite combinations of food. I ate all of the arugula and mushrooms and only about 1/2 the steak.  It was really good.

I started with my shake today and I’ll probably have some eggs and turkey bacon for a snack but after that we’re going to an Oscar party so I’m not sure what’s in store. I’ve been asked to bring Macaroni and Cheese (I make a mean mac and cheese) which could be trouble but I also volunteered to bring a big crudite platter so at least I know I’ll have something to snack on. I’ve been shying away from social events because of the plan so today will be the first time I’ll be challenged in that way.  I’ll let you all know how it goes.

I got up and took two baby aspirin (we didn’t have any Advil) Of course that alerted the cats who thought they might be getting an early breakfast and it took awhile for everyone to settle down.

I probably fell back to sleep an hour later and woke up at 7 to go to the gym.

I split the cardio sculpting routine in two today because I wanted to take a spinning class.  It worked out well because the first part of the routine was really difficult.  In the spin class I think I got the lactic acid out of my legs and the last part of the sculpting routine went a lot better.

Came home and guess what?  I had a protein shake.  It’s like Groundhog day with whey protein.  I’ll check in later with lunch and dinner and I just might surprise you.

Note to self: Take Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks off the ipod.  It’s a great album but whenever it comes on all I want to do is sit in a dark room and drink Irish Whiskey which would seem to be counterproductive to running.

After the run we headed to the famed Santa Monica Stairs and did a pretty quick set. They are fairly steep and I think there are about 88 stairs so it’s a good workout and close to my house.  The only problem with the Stairs are the very serious people who climb them.  Now unless you’re a scientist about to cure cancer and you get your best ideas climbing stairs in the sea air,  I think you should lighten up.  It’s stair climbing!  And really,  it’s stair climbing to nowhere so we’re no better than gerbils on a wheel. Relax people.

Sorry, I digress.  After the stairs we jogged over to the palisades and did a series of jogging and walking lunges. We did that about 4 times and I was cooked.  Now I know it’s not the plan from the book but surely David would let me count it as a leg workout.

Speaking of the book, in quite a few of the real life success stories the participants said that although the protein shakes took some getting used to, eventually they started looking forward to them.  I didn’t really buy it when I was reading it but I’m here to tell you it’s true.  Walking home I really started craving one.  I wasn’t thinking about oatmeal or a bagel I just really wanted the shake.  Maybe the plan is working…

In my defense, the turkey burgers are really good.