My Insane 30 Day Challenge – Halftime Report

As I promised, here is the halfway update on my insane 30 day challenge.

As expected some of these things were easier than others and I in no way believed that I would complete all of them but the whole point of this was to shock me into making some big changes in my life.

Normally I would only choose 1 or 2 of these for a 30 day challenge but I chose to go nuts just for the hell of it.

Here are my thoughts on the different challenges I took on.

1. No alcohol

This one I failed on, but if failure means a few glasses of red wine and one social beer then that’s pretty good.

I’m bored of hangovers and spending a load of money on a night out so apart from the above, I haven’t even thought about alcohol, let alone getting drunk. I’m getting a bit too old for all that now.

2. No bread or grain

It was surprisingly easy to keep up with this one. I miss eating chicken rolls, pizzas, wraps etc but I don’t miss the bloat I feel afterwards. I will eat grains again, but only in social situations and the odd treat. This challenge has given me what will hopefully become a lifelong habit.

As you will see in a minute, the lack of grains has reduced my water retention levels and improved my physique. I also have more energy and I don’t think that is a coincidence.

The foods I am allowing myself are;

Potatoes
Baked Beans
Broccoli
Carrots
Eggs
Tuna
Ham
Chicken

(The main picture is a lovely meal of 3 eggs, tin of tuna, 5 slices of ham mixed with full fat mayo and some ketchup)

3. No junk food (chocolate, crisps, biscuits, baked goods etc)

This is a very tough challenge but so far I have managed to stay clear of all forms of junk food. I almost broke about 5 days ago when I was being eyed up by a sexy Kit Kat Chunky.

I managed to turn her down though, with a promise that I will take her out eventually…

As you can see from the comparison photo – I have started to see improvements in definition, especially in the upper abs area and around the outer pecs/armpit area.

My waist size has decreased from 35.25 inches to 34 inches. I didn’t see much in the way of a decrease during the first 5 days or so but then it slowly starting to kick in. More so in the last few days as the fat burning really begins.

My weight went down from 84kg to 81kg in this 2 week period but I attribute a lot of that to water weight rather than actual fat loss – probably in the ratio of 3/1.

My body fat percentage started at 16.4% and it now sits at roughly 15.2%.

By the way I am 5ft 11.

My goals at the end of the 30 days are;

33 inch waist

78kg weight

14% body fat

At the end of those 30 days I will probably change to a zero carb ketosis diet that should see me drop a further inch in around 10 days. (Going by previous attempts).

Then I’ll be beach ready!

4. 3 hours of guitar practice every day

Fail! I am ashamed to say that I couldn’t make this happen. Not without trying, mind – it’s just I have so much going on that I just didn’t have time.

Unfortunately my degree is taking up a lot of my spare time, especially the fact I have 2 assignments due this month. This is taking up the time I would have spent on my guitar practice.

At least I’m not being lazy for the sake of it.

5. 2 hours of German study every day

See above.

6. Some form of exercise every day

This one is going well even if it means feeling tired a lot of the time.

I manage this by having ‘rest’ days whenever I feel lethargic and not in the mood for the gym. I don’t slack off though, on these rest days I will go for a long walk, usually taking at least an hour.

It’s an easy way to burn 500 calories without stressing my body.

7. No TV

Another big fail, and it started so well.

Actually I lied. On the first day there was a football match on TV and I really wanted to see it…

My TV viewing is down though, that’s something at least.

8. Write something every day

This is a success or a fail depending on how you look at it.

I have been doing SOME writing every day, but I haven’t been creatively writing every day, which was the point of this challenge.

I write a lot more than usual, and on the days I am not writing a blog post or a guest post, I am researching articles, taking notes and writing for my assignments.

So I give this a 7/10.

9. Actively try to avoid seeing or hearing any news

I am 100% on this one.

Given that aside from living in a cave, I will always be in contact with news in some way. People say things, you read statuses on Facebook, the TV in the gym has a news channel and you catch some headlines.

It’s almost impossible to remove yourself completely from what is happening in the world but I haven’t actually read any news websites or seen the news on TV.

I really have no idea what is going on in the world.

Something about Nelson Mandela being ill?

Something about a Tornado?

That’s literally it, and even then, it was a headline that I caught so I don’t know any details.

I will admit this feels pretty good and I think it has made me feel less pessimistic about life.

10. Wake up at 630 am

I tried it, but I felt so awful I had to lie back down…

And I fell asleep.

The trouble is I am so busy, staying up late to work, studying and training hard. If I woke up at 6.30 every day then I would only be getting about 5 hours sleep.

BUT I do wake up a little earlier these days. Before this challenge I barely rose before 9 and now I’m always up by 8. That’s an extra hour to do stuff so it’s not a total fail.

I will give an in depth report at the end of the 30 days, detailing exactly what changes I have made in my body and mind as a result of these challenges.

Keep your eyes peeled around the first few days of July for this, or if you haven’t done so, you can enter your email in the red box at the bottom of this post for free updates as to when I publish new articles.