Freeletics Nutrition Coach Review

I’ve been flirting for ages with the Freeletics nutrition coach. It’s been sitting there on my phone, and those weekly Freeletics emails keep prompting me to subscribe. But something has been holding me back. 
The recipes I could see for free didn’t grab me. They seemed a bit worthy. They didn’t use ingredients I usually cook with (even when I’m eating healthily). I kind of knew that if I tried the coach, I wouldn’t stick to it, because the recipes hadn’t grabbed me.

And I love my food. I want it to taste good. I want to be able to batch cook. These recipes didn’t seem to work like that.

But even though I’ve been working out regularly, I still have a bit of fat I’d like to lose. So today I finally succumbed to the marketing and bought a subscription.

And it’s fair to say I am pretty unimpressed. So unimpressed that I’ve requested a refund from Apple.

I don’t see it as sustainable. It’s so carb light that I know I wouldn’t stick to it. One dinner was 2 carrots, some orange, cashews, raisins, olives. One dinner was just hummus and green pepper. FOR DINNER. And when the recipes aren’t overly simple/minimal, they’re complex and overthought. 

It seems so geared towards losing weight that it’s not about shifting a dietary attitude, it can only be a short term thing. 

As I’ve written about before, my friends and boyfriend are doing Slimming World, and I’ve read Joe Wicks’ books. Both have a much more sensible approach to nutrition. Balance, not denying yourself too much but make sure you’re not overdoing the carbs, alcohol and sugar.  

So, I’m afraid it’s a no from me. I’ll be making some more simple adjustments to nutrition and be using Joe Wicks’ approach. Sorry guys.

Mind games over a pint of beer.

 

This is a quick post to say that I very nearly fell at the first hurdle today. It’s so easy to make all these promises about what you’re going to do in the week on a Sunday. And then on Monday, a colleague said casually, “My meeting has been cancelled, so if anyone fancies a pint in the sun after work, I’m game”. It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes. I’d submitted a big proposal, had a productive day and the sun was shining.

But then I played a mental game with myself. I fast-forwarded to later in the evening. I’d arrrive home a bit tipsy after drinking on an empty stomach (one pint would no doubt turn into 2 or 3). I’d eat a big bowl of pasta (because it’s quick and easy).

Then I fast-forwarded to tomorrow morning, when I’d wake up a bit groggy and not want to exercise. So I’d miss another day. And then I fast-forwarded to the end of the week. I wouldn’t have been able to tick off my ‘no alcohol’ and ‘Freeletics’ goals on Coach.me.

Did I want to set that train in motion, or did I want to come home, exercise and then cook a healthy dinner? Early night, up early tomorrow morning for another Freeletics session?

I knew that the high of a cold beer in the sun wasn’t worth as much as the feeling of accomplishment if I stuck to my plan.

So I stuck to the plan. And now I’m sat at home, having had a delicious low-fat, high protein stir-fry after Freeletics, feeling pretty. damn. smug.

I have one thing to say about my work out today. Can anyone actually do Jackknives like the guy in the photo/video? I mean really? I can barely lift my shoulders off the floor. When does that get easier? I feel so ungraceful when I do them.

And that, my friends, is Monday. Over and out.

And suddenly that milestone is right in front of you…

 

Oh blimey, how has it been over a month since I posted. Sheesh.

So. What’s been happening? Well, last time I posted I was in the middle of a great week. I ran twice, swam every day and did my first Freeletics Gym session. More on that shortly. Since then, I’ve been a bit slack. I slipped out of the routine. And even worse, I could feel the belly that I’ve been working so hard to get rid of coming back again. I needed to take action.

Added to this, I realised that my mental milestone/goal is right in front of me. It’s my birthday this week, and it’s also Pride. On the same day. It wasn’t an official goal or anything, but I was kind of working towards being in peak shape for this day. And I’m not quite where I want to be. Maybe I was about a month ago when I was away. But since then, things have slipped.

Last week started off badly. I was at a wine tasting on Monday evening (no excuse, I know, I could have exercised in the morning). And on Tuesday we had some big work news first thing, and then I got drunk in the evening as a result of said work news. I’d almost written another week off, but on Wednesday I got back on track. I worked out every day for the rest of the week.

So, yeah. That Freeletics Gym session. I was in a hotel gym alone. I thought, why the hell not? So I did the first workout that Coach has set for me. It was: Upper Body I and Upper Body II.

10 Bench Press and 10 Bent Rows and then 10 Push Press and 10 Upright Rows. 3 sets of each. I had a max weight of 20kg, but to be honest I got quite confused about how to work out the weight. Don’t ask me why. I found it quite easy. It was pretty basic. I did enjoy the stretches at the end though.

BUT, I’m not about to join a gym again. I can’t stand working out around people, especially not in the weights area. It’s too posey. So I’m not likely to do any more Freeletics Gym workouts soon. I get enough exercise through bodyweight and running.

I won’t go through last week’s exercises in detail. That would be boring, but I am finding the new Coach great. I enjoy the shorter workouts and I feel easily as tired and satisfied as I did when they were longer.

Also I notice that they’ve introduced a whole bunch of new exercises. Which is great. Because sometimes it gets a little boring doing the same thing over and over again.

Yesterday I did my second Freeletics Running session. It was Maat. 200m then 30 seconds for 10 reps. I ran around the park near my boyfriend’s house. And made the mistake of running up a very steep hill halfway through the session. Nearly vomitted when I got to the top and it kind of knackered me out for the rest of the run. But I enjoyed it. 2k in 10 minutes. I can get on board with that.

I’m trying to up my frequency of working out again, so for a bit I’m going to try 5 Freeletics and 1 running per week. Could do a Bodyweight and a run on the same day to get 2 rest days, or could just have one rest day.

I’m also trying to get back on track with the nutrition. Cutting out beer pretty much completely and trying to reduce my reliance on carbs. Yeah yeah, I can hear you saying, you’ve said all this before. But if I write it down it gives me extra motivation.

It’s Sunday night right now. We’re going out for drinks on Friday night and Saturday is Pride. So I need to get all my exercise and good eating in before then. I’ve ordered a new vest to wear on Saturday, so it’s a bit of added motivation to work hard this week.

Have a great week. And sorry I’ve been a bit quiet. Would love to hear from you guys how your Freeletics journey is going. Tell me what you find challenging or difficult or share any tips you have in the comments below.

Have a great week!