DAY OFF— Active Recovery or complete day of rest.
MENU PLAN
Take supplements: 1 to 2 grams omega-3s, multivitamin, and 1,000 IU vitamin D
Plus 1 serving of Greens+
* * *
Breakfast
Omelet Cup
1 cup fresh fruit
Snack
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
½ cup diced melon or pineapple
Lunch
Beet Salad
1 banana
Snack
Post-Workout Shake
Dinner
4 ounces roasted or grilled pork tenderloin
1 small baked sweet potato
2 cups cooked asparagus
Day 54
TODAY'S FOCUS
ACTION: Push yourself today.
Today you will do your Phase Two, Strength 2 program one last time. By now you know the exercises. Really push yourself to lift more weight, do all of the sets, and finish strong! You have permission to chill out this upcoming weekend. Give yourself some time to truly decompress, do something indulgent for yourself, and celebrate how far you have come. Take a deep breath and enjoy!
WORKOUT
PHASE 2: STRENGTH 2
MENU PLAN
Take supplements: 1 to 2 grams omega-3s, multivitamin, and 1,000 IU vitamin D
Plus 1 serving of Greens+
* * *
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal
¾ cup 2% milk
½ banana, sliced
Snack
Kashi Granola Bar
Lunch
3 ounces canned salmon mixed with ½ cup chopped celery, 1 tablespoon olive oil mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard to taste
3 cups mixed greens
1 orange
Snack
Post-Workout Shake
Dinner
Chicken Burrito
Day 55
TODAY'S FOCUS
Checkpoint: De-Stress Check
Have you been taking 10 minutes each day to de-stress? If not, start back up again today. Taking the time to de-stress is an important part of the program and part of your lifetime road map to success. Don’t skip it!
WORKOUT
PHASE 2: COMPLEX METABOLIC
MENU PLAN
Take supplements: 1 to 2 grams omega-3s, multivitamin, and 1,000 IU vitamin D
Plus 1 serving of Greens+
* * *
Breakfast
1 whole grain waffle (Van’s brand recommended) topped with 2 tablespoons almond butter, ½ cup sliced strawberries, and a drizzle of honey
Snack
1 Lara Bar
Lunch
Rice Bowl
Snack
Post-Workout Shake
Dinner
6 ounces wild-caught salmon (skin removed), roasted*
2 cups broccoli roasted with 2 teaspoons olive oil
*Brush with mustard and roast at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Day 56
TODAY'S FOCUS
ACTION: Plan the next 24 hours.
Get focused for the following week—and the final leg of the plan. Plan your meals and workout times for the next 24 hours and through the next week.
WORKOUT
DAY OFF— Active Recovery or complete day of rest.
MENU PLAN
Take supplements: 1 to 2 grams omega-3s, multivitamin, and 1,000 IU vitamin D
Plus 1 serving of Greens+
* * *
Breakfast
Omelet Cup
1 cup fresh fruit
Snack
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup diced melon or pineapple
Lunch
Grilled Tilapia Salad: 3 cups mixed greens, 1 cup mixed vegetables (such as cucumber, bell pepper, and tomato), 5 ounces grilled tilapia, and 2 tablespoons Homememade Vinaigrette
Snack
Post-Workout Shake
Dinner
Chicken Burrito
The Power of Goals
ROXANE GRAY > dropped three sizes
I really wanted to enter my thirties in the best shape of my life. My first goal was to complete a half-marathon. But even with all the running, my body didn’t transform the way I hoped it would. After the first 4 weeks on the Drop Two Sizes plan, my abs and torso got leaner than from any other workout. I decided to give up running to focus on transforming my body.
I started fitting into clothes that I hadn’t seen in 2 years. I got so many compliments when I worked out with my friend and then later at the pool. It’s fun to find things to wear again and it’s a relief to have that stress gone.
I started training for my first powerlifting competition and became more and more confident in my clothes and in the weight room. I resisted TONS of temptation— and I earned a medal at the competition! I was hooked on my goals! I went to Hawaii and loved being able to wear a bathing suit and not hide from the camera. I thought I had a butt before, but whoa mama, the workouts really lifted my booty.
I decided to train for a bikini competition and I totally rocked it! I feel so empowered that I made the decision to transform myself. I achieved my original goal and then some!
"With Drop Two Sizes , even with the workout schedule, I never felt tired or weak. I never felt hungry or craved my favorites (cola and sugar). Planning helped!”
-SHERYL FARLAND, DROPPED TWO SIZES IN 2 WEEKS
You’ve come a long way, baby! You’ve completed 8 weeks of a challenging program, and you may already fit into your jeans or favorite clothes with ease. Continue sticking to the plan—it’s working!
PHASE 3: Road Maps
Read through the following weekly road maps before you get started, and then go through them again each week as you follow the plan. Commit to following the next 30 days of this plan as closely as possible. Get yourself hooked on feeling fit, rather than focusing on trying to reach a number on the scale by the end of the second month.
WEEK 9 (Days 57-63)
WEEK 10 (Days 64-70)
WEEK 11 (Days 71-77)
WEEK 12 (Days 78-84)
PHASE 3: Menu Plan
In this final phase, you want to dial in on real results through your diet as well as your workouts. Using the following menus, you’ll up your veggie intake to shoot for 10 servings a day and limit certain fruits, with a focus on eating more berries and more green veggies. You’ll also no longer eat starchy carbohydrates at dinner during this phase—but you can eat your starches earlier in the day.
By now, your metabolism is revved up and ready to go, and these small tweaks will turbocharge your results!
GOALS OF PHASE 3:
Consume 10 servings of vegetables a day.
Swap out more of your fruits for berries, which are super high in fiber, low in calories, and provide tons of nutrients compared to other fruits.
Eliminate starchy carbohydrates from your very last meal of the day.
PHASE 3: Workouts
The following is your plan for the next 4 weeks. It’s laid out here to make sure you can plan ahead and make time for all the workouts, to achieve the best possible results. Do not add anything, change anything, or skip anything. All you need to do is commit to taking it one day at a time!
PHASE 3:
Workouts at a Glance
RAMP
Strength Workout 1
Strength Workout 2
Complex Metabolic Workout
PHASE 3:
RAMP
Perform one set of each of the following warmup exercises before you start each workout.
1 Foam Roller/Self-Myofascial Release Full Body
2 Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch with Rotation and Rear Foot Elevated (Hold for 30 seconds on each side)
3 Hip/Thigh Extension (8 reps on each side, hold for 1 second at the top of each rep)
4 Elevated Plank Hip External Rotation Knee Raise (5 reps on each side with a 2-second hold)
5 Open Half-Kneeling with
Thoracic Reach (5 reps on each side)
6 Squat to Stand 2 (10 reps)
7 Inchworm (10 reps)
8 Open Half-Kneeling with Ankle Mobilization (5 reps on each side)
9 Forward/Back Hop (10 reps on each side)
10 Forward/Back Leg Swing (8 reps on each side)
11 Lateral Hop (10 reps on each side)
12 Cross-in-Front Lunge (6 reps on each side)
13 Cross-Body Knee Hug to a Lunge (15 reps on each side)
RAMP 1: Foam Roller/Self-Myofascial Release
Hopefully you purchased a foam roller for your home (or a lacrosse ball, which can be used as a massage ball). These tools work great to massage your muscle without having to fork over big bucks for a professional masseuse.
As you go through the RAMP stretches and movements on the following pages, notice where you feel tight—you can use the foam roller or ball to massage that area. Eventually you can work through your entire body. In addition, you can roll out your tensor fascia latae (TFL) and iliotibial (IT) band by lying on your side and rolling the outside of your leg from your hip to your knee. This tends to be a pretty sore spot, but you'll be glad you did it!
Your muscles will probably be tender the first time you roll them out, so don't push through any pain if it becomes excruciating. If it is so painful that you're tensing up, the exercise won't work as designed. Each time you use the foam roller it should feel less uncomfortable. Ideally, you'll want to use the foam roller a few minutes each day.
Use it regularly to avoid injury and feel great after your workouts! Focus on rolling out 3 to 5 areas that feel tight.
Calves
POSITION: Place your left calf on the roller and support yourself, putting as much weight on the calf as you can. Turn your left leg in and roll so you are massaging the inside of your left calf. Then turn your toe straight up and roll and finish with your toe turned out. Repeat on the opposite leg.
Hamstrings
POSITION: With your leg straight out and your hands behind you with your weight back on your arms, roll from the top of your leg where your hamstring goes into your hip right down to your knee. Put your weight on one leg and roll up and down, and then massage the other leg.
Quads
POSITION: Roll right over so the roller is on the tops of the fronts of your legs and lean to one side. Roll up and down and then switch to the other side.
Hips
POSITION: Sit on the foam roller, cross your left leg over your right, and lean toward your left hip, putting your weight on your left hand. Roll on your glute and stop if you feel a spot that feels like a knot. Switch sides.
Lats
POSITION: Lie on the roller so that it is under your armpit, and roll from your armpit to your hip along your lat with your bottom arm extended or bent behind your head.
Thoracic Mobilization
POSITION: With the foam roller across your upper back, place your hands behind your head to support your neck. With your elbows up and out, roll slowly up and down your upper back as you extend and relax back onto the roller.
RAMP 2: Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch with Rotation and Rear Foot Elevated
See full instructions .
RAMP 3: Hip/Thigh Extension
START: Lie on your back on the floor, bend your left leg at a 90-degree angle, and straighten your right leg. Your hands should be palms up and your arms 45 degrees away from your body. Lift your entire body up 1 inch by pushing off your left foot.
MOVEMENT: Continue to lift until your entire body is in a straight line and your thighs are parallel to each other. The only parts of your body that are in contact with the floor are your arms, upper back, and left foot. Lower to 1 inch off the floor, pause, and repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions. Be sure to keep your hips in a straight line. Repeat with the other side. The extended leg can be bent, weighted with an ankle weight, or tucked.
RAMP 4: Elevated Plank Hip External Rotation Knee Raise
This is an excellent exercise to wake up your core and the external rotators of the hip.
START: Get into the plank position from Phase One, but this time elevate your feet onto a small box or step, ideally putting your feet at the same height as your hips. Bend your right leg, touching your right foot to your left knee in a dancer’s “passé” position, with the knee pointing toward the floor.
MOVEMENT: Keeping a stable plank position, rotate from your right hip, raising your right knee to the side while maintaining contact with the right foot and left knee, similar to the external hip rotation movement of the Side Lying Clam Shell you did in Phase One, or the Quadruped Hydrant in Phase Two. Lift the knee up, hold it in the top position for 1 second, and then lower back down and repeat. While you are doing this, be sure to keep your entire upper body and lower back completely still. Don’t start to twist or get tension up in your neck and shoulders. Once you complete all of the reps on one side, switch sides.
RAMP 5: Open Half-Kneeling with Thoracic Reach
START: Kneel on your left knee with your right foot flat on the floor and turned out from your body, forming a 90-degree angle with your left leg. Place your left hand just in front of your left leg and reach your right arm toward the ceiling.
MOVEMENT: Bring your right arm down and through your left arm and left leg and then reach back up toward the ceiling. Repeat.
RAMP 6: Squat to Stand 2
START: You’ll feel your entire body waking up doing this movement! Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with your arms reaching overhead as high as you can.
MOVEMENT: Keeping both arms reaching overhead, bend over at your waist to touch your toes, keeping your legs straight and stretching out your hamstrings. Keeping your hands on your toes, drop your hips down into a squat position with your knees on the outside of your arms. Staying in a full squat position, reach both arms overhead, then stand up to return to the start position and repeat.
RAMP 7: Inchworm
START: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
MOVEMENT: Bend at your hips and touch your hands to the floor as close to your feet as possible, feeling a stretch in your hamstrings. Walk your hands one at a time away from your feet and continue walking until you’re in a pushup position. From there, continue walking your hands even farther, until you’ve walked out as far as you can while keeping your back flat. The goal is to eventually get your hands well past your head so you are completely stretched out. From here, walk your feet in toward your hands like an inchworm and repeat. Be sure to keep your feet pointing straight ahead for the entire set.
RAMP 8: Open Half-Kneeling with Ankle Mobilization
START: Kneel on your left knee with your right foot flat on the floor and turned out from your body, forming a 90-degree angle with your left leg. Your body should be upright with good posture and your hips under your shoulders.
MOVEMENT: Lunge to the right, driving your right knee over your right toe while keeping your heel down. You’ll feel a stretch in your ankle and your inner thigh.
RAMP 9: Forward/Back Hop
START: Stand on your left leg.
MOVEMENT: Imagine there’s a line drawn horizontally on the floor in front of you. Hop over the line with your left leg and land on your left foot. Then hop backward over the line to the start position. Keep the hops small and pretend the floor is hot. Perform 10 on your left leg and 10 on your right leg. Again, you’re waking up your nervous system!
RAMP 10: Forward/Back Leg Swing
START: Stand alongside a wall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place one hand on the wall for support and place your other hand on your hip. Shift your weight to inside leg and lift the outside leg, starting to let it swing from front to back.
MOVEMENT: Keeping your upper body perfectly still, start to swing the leg a little higher to the front and a little higher to the back as you start to work the range of motion and get your hip loose and warmed up while also engaging your core and keeping it perfectly still
. Complete your reps and then switch sides.
RAMP 11: Lateral Hop
START: Stand on your left leg.
MOVEMENT: Imagine there’s a line drawn on the floor to your left. Hop over the line with your left leg, land on your left foot, and then hop back over, still landing on the same foot. Keep the hops small and, again, pretend the floor is hot. Perform 10 on your left leg, then 10 on your right leg (starting with the imaginary line at your right side).
RAMP 12: Cross-in-Front Lunge
START: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides.
MOVEMENT: Cross your right foot over your left and step about 2 feet forward and to the left of your left foot. Bend both knees, in a movement very similar to a curtsy. Keep your hips facing forward. You should feel a stretch across your right hip as you lunge. Return to the start position and repeat on the other side.
RAMP 13: Cross-Body Knee Hug to a Lunge
START: Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
MOVEMENT: Shift your weight to one leg as you lift the knee of the other leg, grabbing it with your opposite hand and pulling it across your body. As you pull your knee across, feel a stretch in that hip and lift your chest up even higher while keeping your core tight and reaching the opposite arm away from your body. Hold for 1 second and then lower your leg and alternate legs.
PHASE 3:
Strength
Drop Two Sizes Page 16