Author Archives: TheGingerbreadMum

I finished The Body Confidence Program two weeks ago, just in time to celebrate my birthday looking slimmer and feeling more confident about myself!

The 8-week program went much faster than I had initially thought and in the end the protein-rich meal plans were easy to follow and kept me full.

When you start the program you submit your ‘before’ photos and measurements online then at the end of every week you update your measurements. You’re allowed to weigh yourself at the start, but then you focus on the inches you’re reducing and not how much weight you’re losing. It’s very motivating, especially at the start when the inches reduce more quickly, to see your numbers getting smaller!

There are weekly conference calls with Ru-Tee, the founder of the program, where you discuss your progress and any issues you’ve faced with the other people doing it. Unfortunately the 30 minutes allocated wasn’t always enough for everyone to say what they wanted.

Initially, the recipes are limited, but as you complete each week, more recipes become available and give you more choice. Most of them are quick to make and give you leftovers you can adapt into a yummy lunch the next day. Most are also family friendly so you don’t need to make other meals for the rest of your family.

I followed the first week’s meal plan exactly but then adapted the others to fit in more with my tastes and my family’s. I also started making recipes in bulk to freeze so I didn’t have to cook so much. People who aren’t used to cooking every day may find this aspect of the program challenging.

Having one cheat day a week where you can eat whatever you want is a big positive of the program. Some weeks I really needed it, particularly if going out, but as the weeks passed I didn’t feel so much of a need to cheat.

The focus of the program is getting your diet right first and then getting your exercise right. Ru-Tee says the focus should be 80% on diet and only 20% on exercise and doesn’t believe in exercising every day, which was perfect for me! You get a good number of exercise ideas which are added to as the weeks progress or you can decide yourself what exercise to do. Every week there are also new articles to read which helps make sense of what you’re doing as well as educating you about staying healthy.

The biggest disappointment for me doing the program was that for the price (£450 for the eight weeks and then £29.99 per month for the maintenance program), I was expecting more personal support and feedback, for example a one-to-one weekly support call or longer more individual feedback after submitting my updated measurements. While I enjoyed the support from others doing the program via the private Facebook group, I wanted more expert individual support.

Having said that, the program works! I reduced by more than what is guaranteed. Ru-Tee says you’ll reduce by two jean sizes, which is 16 inches over your whole body and I achieved slightly more than that by the end of week 4; I reduced by a bit more than 22 inches by the end of the 8 weeks.

After finishing the program I’ve continued cooking many of the recipes and will continue to do so.

If you want to drop a jeans size or two and are interested in doing The Body Confidence Program you can use the code ‘FRIENDS1402’ to get £50 off.

Disclosure: I was very lucky to do The Body Confidence Program for free in exchange for documenting my progress. My opinions are honest and my own.

Read my update halfway through the program here.

Woohoo! I’ve completed 4 weeks of The Body Confidence Program!

It’s actually gone really quickly and so far (I have another 4 weeks to go) it’s been a very positive experience.

The Body Confidence Program is all about living a healthier and more confident lifestyle. The aim of the 8-week program is to help you kick-start your way to achieving this while giving you more body confidence.

Ru-tee Block, a former Adidas model, designed The Body Confidence Program and leads you through the 8 weeks. She has combined her knowledge being in the health and fitness industry for 25 years with her experience as a personal trainer and nutrition coach together with years of study of the human body. She’s spent the last few years perfecting her program.

What initially attracted me to the program was the guarantee of losing 2 jean sizes. As I recently confided, over the last year my weight has steadily increased. Stress has made me turn to food and this comfort eating has not only piled on the kilos but has left me feeling lethargic and not good about myself, which has made me stressed and the cycle continued. I knew I had to do something, but needed an extra external push.

Ru-Tee’s program gives you weekly menus to follow (the recipes are very easy and also usually quick to prepare) which change so you don’t get bored, there’s a weekly support call and a closed Facebook group where you can share how you’re going with others doing the program. There are also regularly updated articles, tips and exercises to keep you motivated while understanding the change you’re making to your lifestyle.

Of course, changing your lifestyle isn’t a walk in the park. It’s common to be very grumpy and irritable the first week as you go without carbs, gluten, dairy, sugar and caffeine. The first few weeks have reminded me of the Dukan diet – loads of protein with some vegetables and very little fruit. It’s a good way to start reducing your body fat but it can also leave your body craving the not so healthy food we often fill it with! The second morning of the program I woke up with a massive headache that felt like the worst hangover I’d had in a long time; thankfully that was the worst I felt for the first week.

I missed sugar the most during the first few weeks. Surprisingly, being a coffee snob, I can live without it. The only other thing I struggled with (and continue to) is having a protein-heavy breakfast.

I never feel able to eat anything but a light breakfast, so not only having to eat bacon and eggs or spinach frittata but also having to cook them first thing has been a struggle!

The biggest positive for me is being able to have one cheat day a week. Yes, once a week you can eat whatever you want! It’s perfect if you’re going out or have a special occasion and it seems like most people doing the program make the absolute most of their cheat day, especially during the first weeks!

I really like having all my meals planned out for the week. I know what I need to buy and usually the extra cooked protein from a dinner will be made into something else very quickly for the next day’s lunch. Each week more recipes are added so you have more variety. I’ve enjoyed most of the recipes – they’re tasty, definitely not boring and fill you up. There are also many family-friendly recipes so you don’t need to cook different meals for other family members. I’ll definitely keep using many of them in the future.

BUT the biggest positive of the program for me is that it works. Losing 2 jean sizes over the 8 weeks is equivalent to losing a total of 16 inches from your body. After 4 weeks my body has already reduced by 17.5 inches! I’m getting back into my old slimmer clothes and feeling so much more confident about myself. It’s gotten easier every week and I can’t wait to see how good I feel in another 4 weeks!

Disclosure: I’m very lucky to be doing The Body Confidence Program for free in exchange for documenting my progress. My opinions are honest and my own.