PIIT28 / 28 Day Reset Review

Before and after (4 weeks)

Recently, I completed a 28-day diet and exercise challenge hosted by my favorite fitness coach Cassey Ho over at Blogilates. The diet restrictions included no dairy, gluten, added sugar, or processed grains. The meal prep took about 2-3 hours every day - all the meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks in between) were listed for each day in the 28 Day Reset recipe e-book. Plus, I exercised for about an hour with the videos (warm-up, 28 minutes of PIIT - Pilates Intense Interval Training, and cool down) 6 days a week with one rest day. Meanwhile, as a doctor, I have 11 to 13 hour work days in the hospital. So it was intense to say the least. It was also difficult to stick with toward the end, mostly because the challenge took place during the holidays. Talk about fulfilling a New Year's Resolution!

People asked me why I decided to do this in the first place and I honestly did not intend to do it. That is, until I saw the program on sale during Cyber Monday. I figured why not challenge myself? Being in residency, I felt like I had every excuse not to do this, especially working such long hours on the floors. But I wanted to prove to myself and hopefully others like you that working out and eating right is just as important for you as it is for your patients. When I finished, well, as you can see above - I started to develop a shadow of a washboard ;) and I lost 3 lbs!



So now for the pros and cons part of my review:

Pros:

1. I was never hungry.
2. I learned how to eat clean and healthy.
3. Delicious new recipes with shopping lists for each week so you have everything you need.
4. Improved flexibility and strength.
5. The videos offer a variety of exercises from cardio to strength and target every part of your body. You can do them anywhere and you have unlimited access to them even after you're done the challenge.
6. Great results after only one month!
7. You get an awesome high-quality tank top just for completing the Instagram challenge associated with the program.
8. All you need is your mat and you can do the program anywhere, no need for a gym unless you want to go there.
9. Cassey is a blast to have as your trainer and there's great support online in the Popster community.
10. You can do it with friends! :)

Cons:

1. It could be isolating at times - I felt like I couldn't eat out with my friends since I had so much food at home and already prepped all my meals for the day.
2. No alcohol :( Not even wine. Although technically it is a fruit, right? (PSA: always drink in moderation)
3. It left little time for sleep. Or anything else. It was definitely time consuming and a big commitment.
4. I wish I had a hard copy version of the 28 Day Reset recipe book but you can always print it.
5. The food can be expensive if you don't budget properly so watch out for that.

As you can see, there are clearly more pros than cons.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this program to someone who is looking for a challenge or even for a pre-summer one-month workout. They have a version 2.0 and version 3.0 available as well once you complete the first month. I will say, it helps having a good support network. I can't thank my friends, family, and the Blogilates online community enough for encouraging me. Going forward, I've stuck with the Blogilates workouts, just not as often. In terms of the diet, of all the things I couldn't have, I missed ice cream the most. While I still try to eat healthy, I am now happily reunited with my two favorite men: Ben and Jerry.

Would I do it again?



Absolutely, especially the exercise videos. I would do the reset diet as well but with more flexibility in terms of the meal planning.

You can check out the program here if you're interested:

• Power-Pack (PIIT28 1.0 + 28 Day Reset) - for me it was $45 on sale (normally $89)
• PIIT28 1.0 (workout videos) - $39
• 28 Day Reset (meal plan and recipes e-book) - $69

Let me know if you have any questions!