This is the 7 day Instagram challenge that I have created to SHRED 3-4 lbs in just a week. Make sure you follow me on Instagram @DoctorIanSmith and Twitter @DrIanSmith. Below you will find the first 3 days of the challenge.
7-DAY SHRED Challenge Guidelines
Don’t forget to weigh yourself in the morning before starting this week and record it. Don't weigh yourself throughout the week. Eat until you're no longer hungry, but don't eat until you’re full. If you need less than what's recommended, then great, go ahead and eat less, which is even better. Switching meals is permitted, but try to switch as infrequently as possible. For example, if you know that what's listed for meal 3 is easier to get than what's listed for meal 2, then go ahead and switch them. Looking at the day's meals in advance is important as it allows you to best prepare for what's ahead.
*NO BREAD
*NO ALCOHOL
*NO SODA
*NO FRIED FOOD
*NO WHITE PASTA (except in the case of chicken noodle soup)
*If you don't eat meat, make the substitutions appropriately with fish or vegetables.
*Soups can be consumed with 2 saltine crackers if desired.
*The liquid meals must be eaten with either 1 piece of fruit or 1 serving of vegetables.
*You must consume 1 cup of water before eating a meal; you must consume 1 cup of water during your meal. You can add lemon or lime to your water, and you can drink fizzy water if you desire.
*You are allowed to drink coffee, but only 1 small cup per day. Stay away from all of those fancy coffee preparations that have lots of calories. Your coffee should contain no more than 50 calories
*Don’t eat your first meal until 2 hours after you are awake.
*Do not eat the last meal within 2 hours of going to sleep. You can eat a 100-calorie snack before going to bed if desired.
*Be smart in your snack choices. Avoid chips and doughnuts and candy; you can have them some of the time, but don't eat them often. They must fall within the calorie limit as described in the daily meal plan if you decide to have them, but please note these are not smart snacks nor beneficial to your long-term goals. If you must have something like these items, make it only one of your snacks for the day and use healthier options for the other snacks.
*You don't have to eat all of the food on the day's menu if you don't want to, but no skipping meals, no doubling up on meals, and no exceeding the meal guidelines in size and volume.
*Condiments such as ketchup, mayo, and mustard are allowed, but no more than a teaspoon at each meal. The same goes for soy sauce.
*Spices are unlimited.
*While fresh fruit is always preferred, canned and frozen fruit are allowed. Just make sure they are water-based and there are no added sugars.
*Canned and frozen vegetables are allowed. Please be aware of the sodium content.
*As far as beverages are concerned, you are allowed as much water as you like per day. Here are some other beverage guidelines:
*Flavored waters allowed, but keep them under 60 calories
*1 bottle of sports drink allowed per day, but keep under 60 calories
7-DAY SHRED Challenge Meal Plan
DAY 1
MEAL 1
•l cup of lemon water. Pour 8 ounces of water, either hot or cold. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon directly into the water. Add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil. Mix well and drink.
•l piece of fruit. This can be 1 banana, 1 apple, I pear, etc. It can also be ½ cup of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or straw berries.
Choose one of the following:
•1 small bowl of oatmeal (l.5 cups cooked)
•2 egg whites or I egg-white omelet with diced veggies (made with 2 egg whites max)
•1 small bowl of sugar-free cereal with fat-free, skim, or I-percent fat milk
•½ cup of fresh juice not from concentrate (grapefruit, apple, orange juice, tomato, carrot, etc.)
•One 8-ounce yogurt parfait with berries and 1/3 cup granola
SNACK 1
•100 calories or less
MEAL 2
Choose one of the following:
•1 large green garden salad with 3 oz of chicken or fish if desired. (Only 3 tablespoons of fat free dressing, no bacon bits, no croutons. Keep it clean.)
•1.5 cups of soup (lentil, black bean, white bean, tomato, or cucumber)
SNACK 2
•150 calories or less
MEAL 3
Choose one of the following:
•One 6-oz piece of grilled or baked chicken or fish with two servings of veggies
•1.5 cups whole grain spaghetti with all, some, or none of the following (diced zucchini, squash, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli) in a marina or lemon-wine sauce)
•Portobello mushroom steaks (first marinade in spices and soy sauce or balsamic vinaigrette with a touch of olive oil to cook in and salt and pepper to taste)
SNACK 3
•100 calories or less
EXERCISE
•Amount of exercise today: Minimum 30 minutes. If you want to do more, all the better! Work as hard as you can!
Choose a combination of the items below to fulfill your exercise requirement. For those who don’t have access to a gym, there are non-gym exercises below.
Gym Exercises
DO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:
•15 minutes walking/running on treadmill
•15 minutes on elliptical machine
•15 minutes on stationary or mobile bicycle
•15 minutes swimming laps
•15 minutes on stair climber
•20 minutes treadmill intervals
•15 minutes of Zumba
•15 minutes of spinning
•15 minutes of any other high-intensity cardio
•15 minutes of rowing machine
Non Gym Exercises
DO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:
•Marching high knees (Stand in position, pump your arms by your side as you alternatively lift your knees up into the air til they just break parallel. Think about soldiers marching in place)—30 seconds continuous knee pumps followed by 40 seconds rest. This is the equivalent of one set. Do 10 sets in row.
•225 jump rope revolutions
•15 minutes jogging outside
•15 minutes speed walking outside
•Jog punches (Run in place and punch the air above your head with alternating punches) 30 seconds of exercise followed by 40 second of rest. This is the equivalent of one set. Do 10 sets in a row.
DAY 2
MEAL 1
Choose 1 of the following (must be 250 calories or less)
•1 fruit smoothie
•1 veggie smoothie (You can use any veggies you want.)
•1 protein shake
•1 cup steel-cut oats (optional: berries, bananas, cinnamon) with 2 slices of bacon optional
SNACK 1
Choose from the following:
30 grapes
1.5 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup sliced zucchini, season to taste
1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon guacamole
17 pecans
20 olives
1 Medium grapefruit sprinkled with ½ tsp sugar
1 can tuna (canned in water), season to taste
1.5 cups of diced watermelon
14 raw almonds
½ cucumber sliced with 2 tablespoons hummus,
8 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons hummus
1 celery stalk cut into slices with 2 tablespoons hummus
MEAL 2
Choose one of the following:
•3 servings of vegetables (Remember, a serving is about the size of the average person's fist.) One of the vegetables must be a dark-green leafy vegetable, such as spinach, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, collard greens, chicory, or Swiss chard. One must also be some type of legume (lentils, peas, chickpeas, soybeans, black beans, white beans, red beans, lima beans, mung beans, pinto beans, navy beans, black-eyed peas, etc)
•1 large green garden salad with ½ cup of legumes (no croutons, no bacon bits, 3 tablespoons of fat-free or low-fat dressing)
•I cup of brown rice or quinoa with½ cup of legumes
SNACK 2
•150 calories or less
MEAL 3
Choose one of the following.
•I large green garden salad with 5 oz chicken or fish if desired (no croutons, no bacon bits, 3 tablespoons of fat-free or low-fat dressing)
•Serve 6 ounces steamed shrimp or baked fish topped with 3 tbsp salsa and served with 1 small baked sweet and one serving of green veggie of your choice
SNACK 3
Choose one of the following:
30 grapes
1.5 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup sliced zucchini, season to taste
1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon guacamole
17 pecans
20 olives
1 Medium grapefruit sprinkled with ½ tsp sugar
1 can tuna (canned in water), season to taste
1.5 cups of diced watermelon
1 apple
1 pear
1.5 cups of air popped popcorn
10 cherries mixed with handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, or walnuts)
8 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus
Kale chips
1.5 cups veggie juice (not from concentrate)
EXERCISE
Gym Exercises
DO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:
•15 minutes walking/running on treadmill
•15 minutes on elliptical machine
•15 minutes on stationary or mobile bicycle
•15 minutes swimming laps
•15 minutes on stair climber
•20 minutes treadmill intervals
•15 minutes of Zumba
•15 minutes of spinning
•15 minutes of any other high-intensity cardio
•15 minutes of rowing machine
Non Gym Exercises
DO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING:
•Marching high knees (Stand in position, pump your arms by your side as you alternatively lift your knees up into the air til they just break parallel. Think about soldiers marching in place)—30 seconds continuous knee pumps followed by 40 seconds rest. This is the equivalent of one set. Do 10 sets in row.
•225 jump rope revolutions
•15 minutes jogging outside
•15 minutes speed walking outside
•Jog punches (Run in place and punch the air above your head with alternating punches) 30 seconds of exercise followed by 40 second of rest. This is the equivalent of one set. Do 10 sets in a row.
DAY 3
MEAL 1
•l cup of lemon water. Pour 8 ounces of water, either hot or cold. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon directly into the water. Add 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil. Mix well and drink. You can also put the flaxseed in your tea. The oil tends to be better for thin liquids while the ground flaxseed tends to be better for smoothies and shakes.
•1 piece of fruit. This can be 1 banana, l apple, 1 pear, etc. It can also be ½ cup of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or straw berries.
Choose one of the following. Your portion should be 1 cup cooked.
•1 small bowl of oatmeal
•1 small bowl of Cream of Wheat 1 small bowl of grits
•1 cup of fresh juice not from concentrate (grapefruit, apple, orange juice, tomato, carrot, etc.)
•8-oz yogurt parfait
•12-oz protein shake (350 calories or less)
SNACK 1
•Choose one of the following:
30 grapes
1.5 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup sliced zucchini, season to taste
1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon guacamole
17 pecans
20 olives
1 Medium grapefruit sprinkled with ½ tsp sugar
1 can tuna (canned in water), season to taste
1.5 cups of diced watermelon
Raw trail mix (l cup of raw nuts with sunflower or pumpkin seeds and dried fruit)
4 dates stuffed with almonds (take out the pit and replace with a few almonds)
½ cup raisins, raw walnuts, and pinch of sea salt (mix together)
2 tomato slices and fresh basil drizzled with olive oil
1h cucumber, sliced, sprinkled with pinch of sea salt and fat-free vinaigrette dressing
1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
10 cherries mixed with handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, or walnuts)
8 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus
Ants on a log (2 celery sticks dabbled with 1 tablespoon of raw nut butter and 1 tablespoon organic raisins)
1 piece of medium-size fruit Small beet salad
1 cup of beet juice
MEAL 2
Choose one of the following. Your choice must be 300 calories or less.
•l bowl of soup (no potatoes, no cream) with 1 serving of veggies. Good choices are chicken noodle, vegetable, lentil, chickpea, split pea, black bean, tomato bisque, etc. Be careful of sodium content.
•1 veggie and hummus sandwich on 100% whole-grain or whole-wheat bread
•burrito bowl—1.5 cups—brown rice, beans of your choice, tomato, avocado, onion, shredded lettuce
SNACK 2
•Choose one of the following:
30 grapes
1.5 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup sliced zucchini, season to taste
1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon guacamole
17 pecans
20 olives
1 Medium grapefruit sprinkled with ½ tsp sugar
1 can tuna (canned in water), season to taste
1.5 cups of diced watermelon
Raw trail mix (1/2 cup of raw nuts with sunflower or pumpkin seeds and dried fruit)
1 date stuffed with almonds (take out the pit and replace with a few almonds)
½ cup raisins, raw walnuts, and pinch of sea salt (mix: together) 3 tomato slices and fresh basil drizzled with olive oil
½ cucumber, sliced, sprinkled with pinch of sea salt and fat-free vinaigrette dressing
1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
10 cherries mixed with handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, or walnuts)
8 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus
Ants on a log (2 celery sticks dabbled with I tablespoon of raw nut butter and 1 tablespoon organic raisins)
1 piece of medium-size fruit Small beet salad
I cup of beet juice
MEAL 3
•Choose one of the following.
•6-ounce piece of chicken (no skin, no frying)
•6-ounce piece of fish (no frying)
•6-ounce piece of turkey (no skin, no frying)
•All of the above come with ½ cup of brown rice and 1 vegetable
•4 servings of vegetables
SNACK 3
•Choose one of the following:
30 grapes
1.5 cups sugar snap peas
1 cup sliced zucchini, season to taste
1 rice cake with 1 tablespoon guacamole
17 pecans
20 olives
1 Medium grapefruit sprinkled with ½ tsp sugar
1 can tuna (canned in water), season to taste
1.5 cups of diced watermelon
Raw trail mix (½ cup of raw nuts with sunflower or pumpkin seeds and dried fruit)
2 dates stuffed with almonds (take out the pit and replace with a few almonds)
½ cup raisins, raw walnuts, and pinch of sea salt (mix together) 3 tomato slices and fresh basil drizzled with olive oil
1/2 cucumber, sliced, sprinkled with pinch of sea salt and fat-free vinaigrette dressing
1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
10 cherries mixed with handful of nuts (cashe ws, almonds, or walnuts)
8 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus
Ants on a log (2 celery sticks dabbled with 1 tablespoon of raw nut butter and 1 tablespoon organic raisins)
1 piece of medium-size fruit Small beet salad
1 cup of beet juice
EXERCISE
•12,000 steps throughout the day. Use your wearable device or smart phone to keep track.
