Four weeks ago, the J.J. Experiment (week 2, 3) began. J.J. Valdivia, a personal trainer in Miami, is guiding ten people as they take a 30-Day Leap into a healthy lifestyle. Let’s find out how they’re doing…
Dear MDA,
We have rounded 3rd base and are being waved into home plate! There is less than one week left in the challenge and my Leapers and I have not taken our eyes off the prize. After an exciting Week 3, one would think that there would be some kind of momentum loss. I can assure you that we have plenty of steam left in our engines and are still “going hard”. I welcomed Chuck back from his travels on Friday and he had a fantastic Tabata workout with Thor on the stationary bikes. They warmed up for a couple of minutes and then performed two Tabata intervals with 2 minutes of rest in between. The workout took less than 15 minutes.
I was then joined for lunch by Lourdes, Sandra, and our unofficial “Eleventh Leaper”, Lyssett. I enjoyed my “Big Ass Salad” and I even got to try Lourdes’ delicious sqaghetti squash with homemade pork bolognaise sauce.
We had a group meeting on Monday and we went over Week 4 of the Primal Leap Guidebook.
I instructed my Leapers to take a 3-day rest period as well as increase their calories to their individual maintenance zones. This would act to fine tune their insulin sensitivity and ramp up the fat burning once we dropped the calories again. Ironic as it may be, many of my Leapers complained that it was difficult to reach their maintenance zone calorie levels eating Primally. All in all, we are having a blast. I hope that those of you out there who are participating in this challenge are having as much fun as we are. I look forward to updating you all next week on our final post.
Grok on,
J.J.
As of today I have officially been Primal 23 days!! Woohoo!!
This week has been light, so today under Tropical Storm Nicole I met J.J at the gym for my Lift Heavy Things work out. I was tired but proud of myself.
This challenge went by soo fast!! Who knew that eating healthy would be so easy? Being part of a Cuban family and living in Miami has been a recipe for failure all of my life. Who can say NO to Cuban bread and croquettes?? The truth is, I probably knew all along where I was going wrong and refused to pay attention.
I needed to get control of myself!! When J.J approached me for this challenge I happily accepted. Reading the Primal Blueprint made it click. If I keep doing what I’m doing, chances are I will keep getting what I’m getting. With his help, and with the support of our team, to date I’ve lost 7 lbs and several inches.
J.J – You will never know what your faith in the Primal Blueprint and your dedication to life has done to change mine. I am sure I can speak on behalf of all of the Leapers when I say that what you have done with this challenge is unforgettable and your efforts should be shared with the world!!
Mark – Thank you for providing us with the tools we need to continue our quest towards a healthy lifestyle. Come back for a Frisbee challenge anytime!!
Leapers – Here’s to continued success!!
As this challenge comes to an end…
Grok on ladies and gentlemen… GROK ON!!!
Sandra
Hi J.J.
I am back from a week of fast paced traveling and want to tell you that I had some challenges staying on track. I was in Boston for 4 days and that was great – easy to stay on Primal diet when there is plenty of seafood around: lobster, clams, oysters, and great fresh fish – Primal all the way.
However, I also had to travel to Madrid, Spain and didn’t realize the challenges I would have. I left on a Sunday, 6 PM flight out of Miami, ate lunch at 1 PM and figured I would have dinner on the plane. The dinner came alright but I was in the last row in coach and they ran out of chicken and only had lasagna left !!!! Grrrrrr, I was losing it and didn’t eat the lasagna but asked the flight attendant to get me some protein from 1st class – any protein.
They didn’t have anything so I drink a ton of water and went to sleep and waited for breakfast – 6 AM (Spain time) breakfast comes and it is a croissant and a cup of OJ – Grrrrr. I am starving but no go, I didn’t eat, now I have gone almost 14 hrs without food and I get to hotel and immediately order a cheeseburger and fries. I am feeling terrible by now and don’t care, but I didn’t eat the bun LOL! After that I got back on track and ate right and walked all over Madrid for 2 days.
The flight to Spain has educated me now on how to better prepare for a long flight which I have coming up next week to China which is 14 hours long – beef jerky and nuts all the way!!! I won’t get caught short this time.
Chuck
Sep. 27
I am finally feeling better… My sinus infection is almost gone… Below… is a picture of my Breakfast Omelette.. I have not lost any additional lbs but have lost inches… I can now wear clothes I have been able to wear for years… I feel so much better… have much more energy. I have lost a total of 10 lbs. I will send you my food logs soon.
Sep. 30
Wow.. I have lost another 1lb…. so I have lost a total of 11 lbs. so far… I can’t believe that I am never hungry… and have a lot of energy… Our department is going through some major changes and I have weathered the changes without going on an eating frenzy… What a change from the past… I am trying to increase my veggie selection and amount… I am not a salad eater… so I have to find ways to increase.
Elaine
Keep up the great work, Leapers! The 30-Day Leap and Challenge are winding down but it’s no time to rest on your laurels or start falling back into old habits. Take what you’ve learned over the last 4 weeks, apply it in your life and I can say that without a doubt you will see continued success. Grok on!
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