Day 6

Sam: Yesterday was the day I realised this 6 meals a day plan can be mighty inconvenient for anyone without total freedom in their day (re: most people). Due to a very late night after Sunday's barbecue party, I ended up waking up around 11.30am and it simply was not possible to fit 6 small meals as I was thereafter stuck at a reception desk all day (with no breaks and no food allowed). Even without the exercising, there just wasn't time to eat every few hours!

Today was a bit better, though I had a long audition in the morning which meant I spent my lunch hour on the tube.

Arivind: Why was the run tough today? I don't know. I blame wind resistance. Also, for Twitterers do start following us on @riptjoint, even FHM UK is now!

Sam

Breakfast (8.30am):

1 cup of hot green tea

2 Chinese style sunny-side up eggs (with a bit of olive oil, soy sauce and white pepper)

Snack (1pm):

1 pear

Handful almonds and salted peanuts

Lunch (2pm):

1 glass pink grapefruit juice*
1/2 a mango

1 cup hot green tea

Tea (5pm):
Handful bistro salad leaves(with shredded beetroot)
Few tablespoons leftover chana masala (chickpea curry)
Few tablespoons petit pois
1 baby avocado

Few shreds smoked salmon
1 cup hot green tea

Dinner (7.15pm):

3 thin slices chicken breast

Small bit chopped peanut and chilli vinegar dip

10pm:

1 cup hot green tea

Arivind
Breakfast ( 7.30am):
Cornflakes with 1% milk
Small glass of orange juice*
Iced Green Tea

Snack (11.00am):
Bowl of pistachios
Small glass of white grape juice*

Lunch (12.20pm):
2 small slices of rye bread
Slivers of smoked salmon
Slivers of roast chicken breast, skinless
Tabasco sauce & peanut dressing
Small glass tropical juice*

Snack (4.45pm):
1 egg
2 slivers roast chicken breast, skinless
Reggae Reggae Sauce

Dinner (6.45pm):
Chargrilled salmon steak
Tabasco/Soy Sauce/Peanut Dressing
Slivers of roast chicken breast, skinless
Green beans

9pm:
Iced Green Tea

*All juices are 100% not-from-concentrate, no sugar added.

Note On Day Counting

Hi all,

Arivind here. Just wanted to give some clarity as to how we're counting the days on the blog, simply because Sam & I discovered we were both doing it differently.

Every time you see a post, it will be labelled "Day #Insert Number". Sam has been counting the off days as well, hence there being posts for Day 1, 2 & 4 but no 3 since that was a day off.

I however was under the impression that we were counting just the "on days" and not the "off days" hence you might have noticed that momentarily our Day 4 post changed to Day 3 then back to Day 4.

That was all me.

Anyways, today was meant to be an "on" day but due to the late night we just had, it will be an "off" day instead. Tuesday & Wednesday will now be Day 6 & Day 7 respectively, thus bringing week 1 to an end.

We are also sticking to the meal plan on our off days and would like to know if you'd like to read what we're eating on those off days, so do let us know via your comments or tweets.

Day 4- An Exercise in Self Control

Sam: Today I baked brownies for a barbecue party we were having tonight. Usually I exercise chef privileges to eat the edges and scrapings of the pan, but today... no. Also made the mistake of watching Jamie Oliver on the Good Food channel preparing a decadent chocolate tiramisu, a ridiculously indulgent multi-tiered chocolate sundae and delicious looking little hazelnut praline truffles.

Grrrr.

To top it all off, as I sit on a Swiss ball typing this our very inconsiderate flatmate and guest are deliberately enjoying lots of booze, fabulous rose syrup & cream soda beverages, Doritos, my brownies and nougat as we watch. SOME PEOPLE!

Oh well. 4 days down, 38 to go. Sigh.

Arivind: Funnily enough not being tempted at all! I can still eat meat since protein is good for me right? Also, digging ice green tea loads which is doing well in substituting my occasional cravings for a pale ale like Sierra Nevada.

Might be a late night tonight, so day 5 may have to kick off in the late afternoon/evening of tomorrow. Maybe.

Today during the run I let Sam wear the stopwatch and count out the reps instead. We discovered she preferred having the watch (she is a control freak after all) and I preferred the freedom of just running (I am the spontaneous one in this relationship).

Just realised you guys will have to read us blogging the same crap every day for the next few weeks. I will try to make it interesting with some of my classic humour, or clumour as I like to call it. (Sam: *makes L sign on her forehead*)

Seared turkey chunks in Thai red curry marinade and kaffir lime leaves

(with brown rice and chickpea curry)

Sam

Breakfast (11.15am):

1/2 mango

1 cup hot green tea

Snack (1.30pm):

1 apple

Lunch (3pm):

1 small helping brown basmati rice

1 heaped scoop chana masala (chickpea curry)

4 chunks seared turkey breast (marinated in Thai red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves)

1 nectarine

Snack (6pm):

1 banana

1 glass pink grapefruit juice*

Dinner (8-9pm)-Barbecue Party:

1/4 pineapple

2 turkey sausages (101 calories each)

5 pieces barbecued chicken, skinless

1 thin slice beef

1 mini corn-on-the-cob

1 glass pink grapefruit juice

10.30pm- 2 cups hot green tea

Arivind

Breakfast (7.45am):

1 bowl cornflakes with 1% milk

1 glass red grape juice*

Snack (11.15am):

1/2 mango

Snack (2pm):

1 banana

Lunch (3pm):

2 pcs Weetabix with 1 % milk

1 heaped scoop chana masala (chickpea curry)

4 chunks seared turkey breast (marinated in Thai red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves)

1 glass iced green tea

Dinner (8-9pm)-Barbecue Party:

1/4 pineapple

3 turkey sausages (101 calories each)

5 pieces barbecued chicken, skinless

3 thin slices beef

1 mini corn-on-the-cob

1 glass iced green tea

Day 2

Arivind here and I'm blogging today which, according to Sam means it won't be as eloquent or pleasing to the reader. (Sam upon reading this: Haha... we'll let the readers decide!)

Now, we both woke up today really feeling it. Our abs hurt when we laughed or sneezed, and Sam spent most of the day complaining she was in pain all over. (Sam: exacerbated by an audition I had in the morning where I had to freestyle with lots of jumps and bendy acrobatic tricks. Ugh.)

Weirdly enough, the run proved to be easier and more invigorating today. We finished it feeling good and were dreading the ab routines more than anything else.

For me, all of it was fine save for the leg lifts which still prove a challenge. Managed 2 sets of 12 reps on the wheel, so getting there. (Sam: took ages to force my unhappy body to do the first sit-up, but it eventually managed to finish all the required reps despite protesting throughout. Am also feeling quite pleased with myself as I managed to roll further forward on the wheel than yesterday and successfully did 1 set of 8 and 1 set of 10!:) )

Tomorrow is our first day off and we'll be back in business come Sunday!

Today's Menu

Arivind:

Breakfast (7.45pm)

1 bowl fruit & nut granola with 1% milk

1 medium glass white grape juice*

Snack (10.15am)

1 glass iced green tea

Handful of pistachios

Lunch (1.30pm)

3 Chicken Adobo drumsticks, skinless

1 large rice bowl brown basmati rice

1 glass iced green tea

Dinner (7.20pm)
Bowl of brown rice & homemade chana masala (chickpea curry)- made without coconut milk
1 glass iced green tea

Sam:

Breakfast (8.30am)

2 scrambled eggs with splash of soy sauce (with cayenne pepper, 1% milk and a bit of olive oil)

1 small glass mixed fruit juice (pink grapefruit and tropical)*

Snack (11am-12pm)

60g Pret dried mango slices (no sugar added)

Lunch (1.45pm)

2 Chicken Adobo drumsticks, skinless

1 small rice bowl brown basmati rice

Sip of pink grapefruit juice*

1 cup hot green tea

Snack (5pm)

1 banana

Dinner (8pm)

9 thick and 12 thin slices salmon sashimi (with pickled ginger and soy sauce)

Very Late Snack (1am)- I know I shouldn't eat at this hour but I came home after a 16-hour day cold, hungry and tired! (plus I wanted to try what I had cooked earlier)

Few spoonfuls chana masala

Sip of pink grapefruit juice*

*All juices are 100% not-from-concentrate, no sugar added.

Day 1- It Hurts to Laugh

That's right, our abs are in so much pain that laughing, coughing and sneezing are agony. Going into Day 1 all excited and ready to start, we are both feeling productive and pleased with our efforts but stunned at the amount of muscle fatigue going on right now (Sam: or at least I am. I think I have a chronic muscle fatigue disorder).

First off, our flabby flawed bits all bared in our "Before" pictures as promised, not Photoshopped or airbrushed in any way (be warned, Arivind's nickname is Hairy for a reason):

And now our thoughts and feelings on the workout:

The "20 Secs On, 10 Secs Off" Cardio

Arivind: Funnily enough the run was not as bad as I anticipated and I managed to complete it, though my sprint got progressively "less sprinty" as I hit the 7th & 8th cycles. A lot more intense than a normal 10 minute jog at a steady pace.

Sam: I f****** hate running, but I loved that this wasn't tedious, managed to quickly get my heart pounding and core working (I twist my waist a lot) and was over before I knew it. "Less sprinty" is putting it mildly I think- by my 5th cycle my sprints were jogs and my jogs were draggy walks with a desperate forced bounce.

The "Step 6" Ab Exercises

Sam: Nice and effective. Did a good long stretch afterwards- 4 x 12 reps x 3 types= 144 crunches/sit-ups in total so a stretch was definitely in order!

Arivind: Did not have fun with the bicycle crunches, and the leg lifts whilst on the floor are NOT EVEN FUNNY. Instead of 4 sets of 12 reps I ended up separating them into 12 sets of 4 reps! My hamstrings are crap!

The Exercise Wheel: The Wheel of Death

Sam: Woah, this was a revelation- not only did it reveal why it's been given the nickname above (re: it's VERY VERY hard), but it also exposed just how shitty my arm strength is. I can't believe how easy the guy on YouTube made it look! I found it utterly impossible to manage even one proper rep... am I exceptionally weak or is this thing meant just for men?? Managed a few girly halfway attempts (rolled out as far as I could and pulled back) and could already feel it killing my arms and core.

Arivind: Not too bad going. Whacked on some knee pads and managed to get 12 beginner reps (on the knees) done, though I can't roll out as flat as the guy in the video does yet. This is going to be the one that's going to demand the best of me.

The Food

Our Lunch of Chargrilled Marinated Turkey Breast- just to show healthy can still be yummy:)

Had a movie in the evening hence the late dinner-no hunger and no cravings, but (and we never thought we'd say this) it's actually difficult to eat so often! 6 meals a day means eating pretty much every 2 hours- hard to do when you're out and about. Guess we'll need to get into the habit of carrying fruit or high-protein snacks around.

Sam's Food Diary

Breakfast (10am)

2 scrambled eggs (with black pepper, cayenne, bit of 1 % milk and touch of olive oil)

1 cup hot green tea

Lunch (1.45 pm)

Chargrilled marinated turkey breast* with broccoli and petit pois

1 small glass apple juice**

1 glass warm green tea

Snack (4pm)

1 banana

Snack (6.30pm)

1 glass pink grapefruit juice**

Handful of grapes

Handful of almonds

Dinner (9pm)

1 small grilled salmon fillet with light soy, sesame oil, garlic & ginger

1 small avocado

Large plate bistro salad (tender leaves with shredded beetroot)

1 nectarine

1 cup decaf green tea

Arivind's Food Diary

Breakfast (6.30am)

1 small bowl half Shredded Wheat half crunchy granola with 1% milk

1 medium glass orange juice**

Snack (10am)

1 glass iced green tea

Large handful roasted salted pistachios

Lunch (1.45 pm)

Chargrilled marinated turkey breast* with broccoli and petit pois

1 glass iced green tea

Snack (4pm)

1 banana

1 glass iced green tea

Dinner (9pm)

1 slice rye bread with smoked salmon, Tabasco and chopped peanut & chilli dressing

1 glass ice decaf green tea

*Marinated in a homemade Wagamama dressing (light soy, vinegar, garlic, ginger, onion and ketchup) and Tabasco sauce. Chargrilled using a bit of olive oil

**All juices are 100% not-from-concentrate, no sugar added.

Off to bed to recover now, goodnight!

Hello and Welcome! :)

Before anything else, a little explanation:

What's The Deal

6 STEPS + 6 WEEKS = 6 PACK!" claims "The Ultimate Abs Plan" article by Mike Tench in the Sept '09 issue of FHM Bionic.

Yeah, right. Right?

What the Heck, Let's Test It!

We expect to be much fitter by the end of the 6 weeks, but we highly doubt we'll end up looking like the chiselled dude in the picture. Which is what the magazine wants you to think.

To make our testing as accurate and fair as possible, we're going to follow all the steps outlined in the article as much as closely as two regular people can.

Who We Are

Arivind Abraham: 26, average guy, moderately fit. Works from home and tries to jog/cycle 3-4 times a week. Lamenting loss of muscle tone after quitting the gym due to THE ECONOMY.

Samantha Tan: 24, female, professional dancer and former gymnast so quite fit. Typically body-conscious woman but also HUGE foodie and therefore in a perpetual dilemma.

The Article

Step 1- "20 seconds on, 10 seconds off"... a timer is in order then. We bought a cheap Casio to use as a stopwatch (£8.87 on Amazon), and will be using our local park as a running track. No expensive gym needed here.

The article has given us no indication as to how many days we should do this- the average person is advised to exercise 3 days a week whilst world-class athletes train almost daily, so the reasonable happy medium we've decided on is 5 days a week.

Step 2- Got it. Will do as told.

Lucky for us we love salmon sashimi :) We'll be recording everything we eat in a daily food diary for the whole of the 6 weeks, and we promise to be honest.

Had NO clue what this weird thingamajig was supposed to do until we watched this:

Looks like a bitch to use but we ordered the exact one shown in the article anyway (£6.99 on Amazon). Pain for pleasure ;P

£36 to cheat?! We're poor and can stomach green tea, so we'll have 3-4 cups daily like step 2 advises to do rather than popping pills.

Step 6- Again no indication of frequency was given, so like the running we'll be doing these 5 times a week. Purchased a 65cm Swiss Ball with pump (£15.94 including postage from eBay), and the only change we'll be making since we don't own a Captain's Chair is to perform Exercise 2 like this:

In addition, Arivind will be doing weight training for his arms and chest which may result in him burning a few more calories, but shouldn't dramatically impact his abs per se.

Samantha won't be doing anything extra with weights lest she ends up looking like this:

We'll be blogging daily once we kick off (which is when the equipment we've ordered arrives), rounded up by a video blog at the end of each week. If you Twitter, follow us on @riptjoint.

Thanks for reading and wish us luck as we embark on our little fitness experiment! :)