As I drove up to the parking lot of Utopia for my first work out, I had a million thoughts running through my head. Will this work? Will I stick to this? And most importantly: Will I pass out?
Again, it just all sounded too–dare I say–simple? Eat meals that are made for me and work out two times a week. Drink water. Repeat.
The Food
The menu is created by Chef Mike Smith under the guidance of nutritionist Carol Ireton-Jones, a published registered dietician nutritionist. Each meal also contains only pure ingredients, no artificial preservatives, and no trans fats. Aside from three meals a day, participants also get to choose from a variety of desserts and snacks–you can have one sweet and one salty a day.
The meals are packaged and ready for you the days that you work out. After this week, I’ll be set up with the online portal and can log in to approve and change out future meals. Chef Mike comes up with new recipes weekly and rotates meals in and out. I’m sure I’ll find the foods I like and stick to those. If you want to pop in for a meal, you can! The refrigerated case of food is at the front and easy to browse.
Fitnesss director Stephanie Stephenson set my calorie amount based on my RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), previous diet and exercise history, and about 10 other factors found through research. She explained that my calorie count will go through three rotations. Next week the daily calorie count will decrease by 100 calories and again in the third week. The fourth week, I’ll be back to where I started, and we’ll do it all over again.
The Workout
The fitness portion of the regimen was researched and designed by Kirk Wilder. He’s been working in the fitness world for 32 years and co-designed the Biometrics One-on-One system, a weight loss program focusing on preserving lean muscle tissue during weight loss that was scientifically vetted, tested, and proven by UT Southwestern with results published by the American Dietetic Association Journal. This program, along with further research from Wilder, is the basis for this program. This is one of the reasons I was so drawn to Utopia. Not only do I want to lose a few pounds, but I want to come out strong and fit with lean muscle tone.
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Daily Journal, Week 1
Day 1: The small strip mall-like space is filled with 15-20 Nautilus machines. Stephanie was there to greet me, weigh me, and run through the first circuit with me. Each machine (I went through seven.) works a different major muscle. She set the weight at a challenging level and asked me to do as many reps as I could. She was there to guide me through each movement, remind me to keep my form (abs in, shoulders back, sit up straight, neck relaxed and forward) and helped me perform each rep. As my muscles started to feel weak, she pushed me through that last few reps until I literally couldn’t perform the movement due to my muscles shaking and giving out. This, they assure me, is the key to getting maximum results.
From start to finish, it took about 30 minutes. I know I’ll get in and out faster when I’m self-guiding through the machines.
On the menu today: a chicken enchilada bowl. You’re telling me I get to eat tex-mex? And rice? I’ve been brainwashed to believe that all carbs are bad. So, it’s a little unsettling for me to dig in, but I’m trusting in the system. And I had a chocolate muffin for dessert. It was all I needed to end the first day.
Day 2: Woke up feeling sore throughout my arms today. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in years. Feels good to know that I worked out my body and it’s burning fat while at rest. Still not totally convinced this is going to work, but I’m going to try to keep my head down and my water bottle filled.
My first real test: Tiff’s Treats and Whataburger smells are wafting to my desk from special deliveries to the office. Must. Drink. Water. I loved my breakfast (an egg white and turkey sausage breakfast burrito), but I wasn’t thrilled about my chicken and veggie lunch. It tasted more like “diet” food. Maybe it was the zucchini medley. Looking forward to a tastier dinner and a sweet treat.
My first real test: Tiff’s Treats and Whataburger smells are wafting to my desk from special deliveries to the office. Must. Drink. Water. I loved my breakfast (an egg white and turkey sausage breakfast burrito), but I wasn’t thrilled about my chicken and veggie lunch. It tasted more like “diet” food. Maybe it was the zucchini medley. Looking forward to a tastier dinner and a sweet treat.
Days 3 and 4: The weekend was hard. I was fine for breakfast and lunch, but when happy hour time rolled around, I was definitely yearning for a basket of chips and queso and a margarita, or a glass of wine and cheese plate. It does make me wonder how many weekends I’ll be able to stay the course. My husband and I look forward to a date night, so I don’t know that I’ll be able to last six weeks without it. Hopefully, I’ll have retrained my brain to eat smaller portions when I’m too stir-crazy to eat another prepackaged meal at home.
Day 5: I weighed in (I figured out that I have to do this every time I go.), answered a few questions to make sure I’m still on track, and a trainer on staff helped me through the machines. I’ll have to eventually do this on my own with the staff there to help, but I need to remember how to set the weights, seats, and the proper form for each machine. I have a handy clipboard that reminds me where to set each machine and tells me where to set the weight. They aim for a certain amount of reps for each machine, and as it gets easier, they increase the weight. After finishing in 20 minutes and barely breaking a sweat, I’m still questioning how this system works!
My next three days of food was packed, bagged, and ready for me as I walked out the door. The entire process took less than 25 minutes.
Day 6: It’s book club night with the girls and the lovely hostess is serving Chuy’s queso. And wine. I decline and heat up my turkey bolognese and slowly eat my banana pudding while pretending it’s a cupcake. I stayed up way past my bedtime, but because I didn’t imbibe, I actually don’t feel rundown the next morning. Maybe wine isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?
Day 7: Drinking 90 ounces of water (my prescribed water intake) a day isn’t as hard as I thought. I carry my Utopia bottle of water everywhere I go and make sure it’s full of ice cold water. Drinking water is another key component to success. I’ll see tomorrow if my first week on the plan has resulted in a few pounds lost. I’ve noticed that I’m not as hungry as the first few days on the program. I’m all not craving a handful of candy or a cookie at 3 p.m., and I’ve felt more energy in the afternoon.
Final thoughts: It hasn’t been terribly tough this first week. Sure, I’d prefer to eat a delicious dinner every night or go meet my girlfriends for drinks, but I can do that after I complete the program. I do not dread the workouts like I thought I might. They’re challenging enough to feel like you’re working muscles, but quick enough to make me feel like I have the time. I could still be running on a bit of beginner’s adrenaline but so far, so good.
Ryan Conner is associate editor of D Weddings and D Home.
