Fitness Challenge: The rewards and challenges of eating protocols and an intense exercise regime

Follow along as Haddins Fitness leads 24 staff from The National on a two-month challenge to get fit, lose weight and live healthier lifestyles. In week 3, the Primal Transformation group hits fitness head-on, and there are more than a few groans and grumbles.

April Robinson, The National’s deputy art director, participates in a feel-good workout that’s part of the Primal Transformation challenge. Christopher Pike / The National

Exercise. The word alone sends a sense of dread through my ­being when I hear it. To say I'm not a fan of physical exercise is an understatement – unless you include dancing. I do like working with others, however. I'm a team player, so joining my colleagues in the Haddins Fitness Primal Transformation for The National's eight-week Fitness Challenge was the best way for me to get moving again. Misery loves company, as they say.

The Primal Transformation begins with an assessment, which is a workout itself if you haven’t so much as run across the room in the past year. There were plenty of moans and groans by the end of the warm-up, which had us doing squats, sit-ups, push-ups, rowing and more. I was never so happy to stretch in my life, because that meant we were finished.

Our programme started with a week of detoxing and light exercises – light being relative to one’s perspective. The second week we began the Paleo diet and preparatory workout sessions for the first week of Primal exercises.

This week, from January 17, we joined the four-week Primal programme, which will be followed by two weeks of WOD (Workout of the Day) sessions at the gym. Hopefully, I will still be able to walk – uh, I mean run.

During the first week, we were introduced to the detox regimen we were to follow for the next four days, it consisted of two shakes: Good Green Stuff, which we’re to have within 30 minutes of rising, every day until the end of the programme, and Clean Lean Protein, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or if you were desperate – I’ll raise my hand here – you could substitute a palm-full of white fish instead of the shake for dinner. And you could have as much broccoli, cucumbers and spinach as you liked – let me tell you that gets old real quick.

The protein shake comes in three flavours: chocolate, vanilla and cappuccino. I asked one of the instructors which tastes the best. She said nothing will make it taste good, but vanilla was the best in her opinion. I’m a fan of vanilla, which made the shakes bearable in the beginning, but by day four when the last shake was done, I found myself in the kitchen trying to find a place to hide it. I was delighted a week later to give it to one of my colleagues who had just started the detox programme – what are friends for?

The detox is designed to strip all the carbohydrates and sugars from your system, so, of course, the side effects are headaches and lower energy levels – and grumpiness. Fortunately, I was off work that week, but I heard that some of the mildest people in the group were a bit snappy.

Not everyone stuck with the detox. One person started it twice, but didn’t get through it either time. Another refused to do it altogether, opting to focus on the exercise.

I asked Michael Haddin, the managing director of Haddins Fitness, how many people cheat during the detox phase. He smiled and admitted it happens and it was quite difficult to get through.

During the detox period, we had a series of exercises to ­complete. For example, on January 6, day three of the detox, we had to complete 20 minutes of cardio and three rounds of 10 sit-ups, a 30-second plank, 20 bicycle crunches, and 20 Russian twists. I’ll be honest that I had to check the internet to find out how to do a couple of the exercises, such as skip, which I like to call jump rope. I haven’t skipped since I was a child – surely hopping around from one foot to the other isn’t what they had in mind.

“Everything has ached for two weeks now, but I’m hoping that is positive. The exercises are very challenging, but I definitely feel stronger already,” says Juman Jarallah, online editor – news. “Despite the pain, I would be inclined to do this again. I ­haven’t been keeping to the diet, but I have changed the way I eat for the better and cut out sugar ­(almost) entirely.”

Post detox, we were allowed to eat food again – but only if it once had a heartbeat or grew in a garden. The meal plans are about fuelling the body for performance and avoiding sugary, processed foods. We were given a Primal booklet and new eating protocols, which included eating for only eight hours a day and fasting the other 16 hours for the next seven weeks.

As I exercise in the mornings, I eat between noon and 8pm. We were given a list of foods we could have in unlimited quantities and a small list of foods that we could have a cup of each day. No fruit, grains, rice, pasta or sugar. Only one cup of black coffee a day, and at least four cups of green tea.

“I love the diet. I’m eating ­better than I ever have because I finally have food around the house. I go to the Ripe Market and fill up a big box every week,” says news designer Regan ­McTarsney. “I was nervous to start the Primal workouts, because I know when I exercise at home, I’m not pushing myself. In the gym, there’s nowhere to hide.”

We are at the end of our first week of real exercise, and it is ­intense, but because everyone has differing levels of fitness, you can go at your own pace and still feel a part of the group. Despite the pain, I’m looking forward to the final results – now if only I had a genie in a bottle.