F45 challenge, Week 1: No one warned me about the headaches

The F45 challenge combines a detailed meal plan and fitness classes to help shed kilos and tone up over the course of eight weeks. Photo / F45 Training Facebook

Meet Stacey Hunt. She loves wine, hates protein powder and has zero willpower. How hard could sticking to a gruelling eight-week fitness challenge be?

Stacey's first week of the popular F45 eight-week challenge featured headaches, bad moods, a hefty grocery bill and paying to learn exactly how much fat she's carrying.

After completing her first seven days of hell here's what Stacey has to share about the F45 diet, should you be considering taking it on in 2019 ...

Chances are you've heard of F45, the Aussie-born circuit workout currently sweeping the fitness industry, but does it live up to the hype?

F45 claims to be "the most effective workout method for burning fat and building lean muscle", so I thought I'd put it to the test with their eight-week challenge.

"Functional 45" uses circuit and high intensity interval training techniques in 45 minute resistance and cardio sessions to burn fat and build muscle. The eight-week challenge combines these classes with a carefully designed eating plan.

I've dipped in and out of the classes for the past year but hadn't found the courage to suck it up and commit to a challenge until last October.

Eight weeks leading into summer sounded like the perfect time for me to drop a few kilos and establish a better eating routine.

How does it work?

The eight week challenge encourages you to attend as many classes as you can fit in while following a strict food plan.

You download an app which lays out all your meals for the week and provides a handy shopping list. It's also full of information and suggestions to help you through the journey.

The team at F45 Grey Lynn were also legends and helped make things as easy as possible by organising meat packs with the local butcher and getting protein powder packs delivered to the gym.

During the eight weeks alcohol is supposed to be a no-go and for the first two weeks caffeine is also out. This was a daunting mission for me. I start work between 5am and 7am - you try that without coffee.

As you progress through the weeks the diet changes. While the first two weeks are designed to alkalise and detox the body, the four in the middle focus on building lean muscle, and the final two weeks are the fat stripping phase, meaning low carbohydrate and high fat meals.

I love a wine, or two, chocolate and carbohydrates. Plus I have absolutely no willpower. So really, how hard could it be?

Finding out how much of my body is actually fat

Before the challenge kicks off you have the option to undergo a full body scan. It costs extra but is a great way to measure your results at the end.

While your average bathroom scales only measure your total bodyweight, the InBody 570 measures "an individual's body composition in terms of water, fat, protein, muscle, bone mineral and much more".

Although rather alarming seeing your body fat percentages laid out in black and white it is a major motivator.

One of the main aims for me on this challenge was to improve my body fat mass. With my measurement of 19.6kg/31.1 per cent body fat being slightly above normal, I was keen to see if I could bring that down in eight weeks.

Week one: Spring Training

The first phase of the challenge is all about detoxing, removing fluid retention, cleansing the blood and liver of toxins, improving energy levels and enhancing sleeping patterns.

Alcohol is gone, caffeine and sugar are out and the diet consists mainly of lean white meat, eggs and heaps of greens.

Here's what I could eat this week:

The green dream breakfast bowl, which my manager made a rather disgusting comment about while I ate it at work. Photo / Supplied

Breakfast: Green dream bowl
Snack: Zesty avocado celery boats
Lunch: Chicken and cauliflower tabouli
Snack: Maca, flaxseed protein shake
Dinner: Salmon poke bowl

The challenge takes a reasonable amount of planning and preparation. The shopping list for the first week was a bit of a killer for me: it probably cost a few hundred dollars to get set up. Unsweetened almond milk, activated buckwheat, greens powder, maca powder and flaxseed meal aren't exactly staples in my pantry.

Those types of ingredients and the protein powder, fresh vegetables, meat, nuts and seeds on top meant it wasn't cheap but I was hopeful that going forward it would be more affordable now that my pantry was stocked like a health food store.

By day two, I wanted to throw in the towel

The start of the first week was rather awful for me (and no doubt my poor colleagues and flatmates who had to put up with my mood). I had major headaches from the coffee withdrawl, was hungry, grumpy, found the food boring and hard to eat and rediscovered my hate of protein powder. I was pretty miserable and wanted to throw the towel in by day two.

All I wanted to do was drink coffee, eat carbs and sugar and essentially break all the rules. I knew these feelings would pass once my body adjusted though so I was pretty determined to stick it out.

I did have one night where I slipped slightly off the wagon. I was already booked into corporate seats at a sports event where free food and alcohol was waved in front of my face and I mean, really, who says no to that?

I knew I would never be one of those people who could stick to it like the letter of the law so I decided to allowed myself breaks from the diet here and there to enjoy life. I had no doubt this would impact the end result but it was also crucial to my sanity.

The workouts are genuinely awesome

The exercise part of the challenge was great. As a form of exercise I can't recommend F45 enough. It's varied which means there's no chance of getting bored and no way you can slack off. As soon as you set foot in the door you're guaranteed an intense 45 minute workout.

The cardio classes kick your butt. I'm talking sweat dripping off you, fire-engine-red-face type kick your butt. While the resistance classes don't always have as much impact as the cardio sessions, they push you to your limits and at times leave me wanting to vomit.

Did I make it to day seven?

By the end of the week I was feeling better about things and had found more of a rhythm with the food.

As it turned out, the start of the week was less about healthy eating and more starvation because I really wasn't a fan of some of the food (a three bean salad when you don't like beans isn't ideal).

Additionally, my issues with protein powder were causing problems for me, so I made a few adaptations. For a few days, instead of the protein shake as a snack I had more celery. Instead of taking boiled eggs and spinach to work for breakfast I made an egg and spinach muffin in a tin at home the night before.

I know, my trainers will probably read this and cringe, but I had to make it work for me if I was going to have any chance of sticking it out.

I did manage to withdraw myself from the coffee rounds at work and turned down offers of chocolate and lollies. At the end of week one I'd dropped 2kgs (if my scales at home are accurate), so I felt like I wasn't off to a too bad of a start!

One week down, seven to go. Too easy, right?