[Last updated 26th June 2020]
Around September 2016 I decided to take up a 90 day challenge to change my dietary habits. It was gruelling, and I almost DIED. Actually that?s a wild exaggeration but more about that later. Most of my friends probably thought I went insane because I?m not an overweight person and so whenever someone found out I was on a diet the biggest question was always?
The biggest reason was because I wanted to fix my health. I was getting sick more often and I sometimes had dizzy spells. On top of that, I had energy dips through the day and felt sluggish. Something was not quite right and I suspected my lazy diet consisting of take away dinners and fast food was the main cause since I was already exercising regularly.
Of course, I also wanted to get rid of unwanted ?fat areas?. Having a protruding belly is really yucky especially for skinny guys like me!
What Is The Wildfit Challenge?
Wildfit a methodology created by serial entrepreneur, author and speaker ? Eric Edmeades. The basic idea is that every living thing has a specific natural diet. Unfortunately, over time as a society we have introduced many artificially created substances like sugar into our diet. These substances are often unnecessary and sometimes even harmful to us.
Over 90 days you are brought through an incremental fasting period with the intention to build healthy eating habits. This is done using a combination of education, psychological ?tricks? and support groups.
What was attractive to me about this program was that it claimed you would have MORE energy, LOSE weight, without starving yourself or rigorous exercise. Usually I?d dismiss these kinds of thing as hype but my CEO tried it and his results were nothing short of amazing. There were others in the company that tried it with tremendous success as well.
What Was The Experience Like?
It started off relatively easy. In the beginning, it was all about getting enough water and nutrition. We were taught about the six different types of hunger: water, nutritional, empty stomach, emotional, low blood sugar and variety. In fact, some people call this phase ?stuffing your face? because you?re supposed maintain your regular diet and top it off with extra vegetables. I think it?s clever way of weakening some of the positive associations you have with food that you love that are not necessarily healthy for you.
The only hard part was getting used to the alkagizer drink which was a smoothie consisting of celery (eww!), cucumber, apples, spinach and avocado. We had to start drinking that every morning to load up our body with nutrition. (Small confession, I actually took half the required amount because the ingredients were expensive and I didn?t like the taste.)
While starting was easy, things ramped up pretty quickly. Very soon we started taking out some of things out of our diet. First was processed sugar ? soft drinks, maple syrups, artificial sweeteners, certain sauces, etc. I didn?t realise how much sugar crept into my diet till I had to do this!
What really sent me into near depression was taking out carbs and dairy from our diet. As a true and true Asian, the hardest thing for me was to give up rice. Rice is like my first love (noodles would be second). Literally every single one of my meals had either one. Not being able to take carbs for weeks on end was pure torture for me and I had thoughts of quitting many times. I?ll be honest, there were times that I failed.
We weren?t done yet though. We also removed food additives, processed food, alcohol, caffeine. Alcohol and caffeine was no big deal for me since I didn?t take it. What was more of a challenge was the preparation of Wildfit compliant meals. Eating out was near impossible because almost everything either contained processed ingredients or sugar. Most of my meals had to be prepared at home and so I quickly learned that eating healthy was not only a hassle, it was costly. My monthly food cost went up by 50%.
On the flip side, the program DID force me to make healthy choices in terms of food. I don?t think I?ve ever eaten so much vegetables and fruits in a day before. One of the things that really helped me to keep to the program was community support. I did the challenge along with a couple of my colleagues at work so that made food choices at lunch time a bit easier (we were all in the same boat). I also made it a point to tell my friends about the challenge and so they would repeatedly give me grief about it (in a good, loving way of course). I think without them, I would have dropped out.
The final nail in the coffin was removing fruits, sweet vegetables, beans and honey, etc. At this stage, I was thinking if anything else is taken out there really isn?t much left to eat! Even our Alkagizer was modified to be without fruits. Fortunately, here on out is supposed to be where the change in your body is supposed to start.
So? Did It Work?
Yes, it did! After some frustration with the slow start I was having, one morning my eyes just snapped open before my alarm. For then on, it became a regular occurrence to wake up before my alarm at 6:30 in the morning. It felt amazing to wake up and not have the urge to snooze for another half an hour. It was easy to go through the day without needing a nap in the afternoons. In fact, I found that I could go with slightly less (about half an hour) sleep at night.
That alone would have made enduring the challenge worth while but that wasn?t all! I also dropped a couple of kilograms in the process. More importantly, my body measurements changed and my waistline shrunk a few centimetres. Not much by way of measurements, but it made a big difference on a guy with a small frame like mine.
What I Didn?t Like About The Wildfit Challenge?
Honestly, as a program there are not many downsides to it. Positioned as a premium course, it delivers results. That said, some might think twice about paying $895 for it (when it first came out, it was $1000 though).
Update (26/06/2020): Great news! The latest version now has a payment plan option provided. Do note that this version is without the Facebook group and personal coaching calls. You can check it out here (affiliate link). At the time of writing, the checkout page states that Wildfit also comes with a guarantee that if you?ve completed 80% of the program and are not happy with the results, you can request a full refund.
Another thing to note if you?re considering Wildfit is that it uses a ?one size fits all? kind of approach. If you?re looking for something that is tailored to your body or blood type for example, this program won?t fit the bill.
More Than A Month Later (Dec 2016)
Since ending the challenge, I?ve gone back to taking things like dairy, sugar and carbs but at less quantities than before. While I don?t follow the Wildfit diet strictly, I still take the alkagizer smoothie regularly to make sure I get enough vegetables in my diet. Anything more than that is simply unsustainable for me.
I also found that my weight continued to drop a little and my muscle recovery after sports seemed to be slower than before. I?m no doctor but I think during the challenge I may have been under nourished near the end. My body could have been burning up more fat than I replenished but I didn?t realise it because I felt great at the time. That?s just a guess but whatever the case, I?ve had to eat more to gain back some of my mass.
More Than Three Years Later (June 2020)
Does Wildfit still work today? Certainly it hasn?t slowed down, that?s for sure! What has made a lasting impact on me from following the Wildfit program hasn?t been the food restrictions or requirements. Since then I?ve moved on to muscle gain, strength training and other diets. But what I?m really grateful for is how this journey grew my awareness and curiosity about fitness and nutrition. It?s one thing to follow a diet plan, it?s another to take ownership of your own health.
Final Words
I?d give Wildfit a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a way to kickstart a healthy lifestyle. The content, support and coaching is top notch and it has high success rates among its students.
If you?re willing to invest the money, time and effort required to make it work then try it out. There is an upcoming challenge which you can sign up for here ? the Wildfit Program (full disclosure: I do receive a small commission when you buy through my link).
If Wildfit is not your thing BUT you?re still not satisfied with your current health then I have just the thing for you 🙂 I?ve created a 7 day challenge about setting you up for success in achieving your health goals. So far, we?ve had over 1000 participants and counting! Come and join us for free here ? 7 Day Diet Success Challenge. I look forward to seeing you on the other side!
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. I?ll try my best to answer them!
