Two Brave Women Take On A 21-Day Nutrition Challenge

Being first to try something new is risky business. Even those “lucky girls” who never seem to have a bad hair day (so life’s obviously super easy) know being first might mean the risk of embarrassment, hard work, or finding out that the task at hand is actually impossible to complete, like sneezing with your eyes open. As much as you try, it just can’t be done!

When word got around that Girls With Gun’s new nutrition plan, Pump Up Yo’ Jam, encourages OVEReating while promising to help reset and boost the metabolism, reduce and prevent obesity, improve skin, sleep, and gain muscles, most girls took two steps back. If these claims are true, then the plan would essentially make anyone who tries it younger! Whispers began to circulate as imaginations ran wild about what the plan would entail. Rumours circulated about fridges stuffed full of celery sticks and extreme sugar highs that often come with juice detoxes. 

Delicious salmon and salad - an easy and delicious meal on the plan’s menu.

But when Catherine, one of the girls who participated in the 4-week challenge shared with us afterwards, “I was never hungry but still lost weight,” we proudly nodded and humbly smiled. “I lost 3kg and centimeters all over. Also my skin looks better and I have more energy too!” 

So what’s the magic in this plan and if it’s so good, why isn’t everyone doing it?

PUMP UP YO’ JAM is said to be a 4-week food journey. It is a supplementary program to the GWG Fitness Bootcamps, meaning it’s for people who are already in action-mode of making lifestyle changes and exercising regularly. We all know that exercising is beneficial for a myriad of reasons, but if the intended results are not happening with it alone, rethinking how, when, what is being eaten may be necessary to take things to the next level. Pump Up Yo’ Jam lays this out in a way that helps make long-lasting shifts to routine thought patterns and eating habits with a menu designed for ultra-high nutrient density, and tasty, meals.

The creators of Pump Up Yo’ Jam, GWG Founder Sarah Hodgens & GWG Trainer Aj Miller, know that making changes and trying new things isn’t easy. “We’ve been told what and how to eat our whole lives without letting ourselves to learn to listen to our own instincts when it comes to eating well. The truth is, there is no ‘one-size fits all’ plan for what we should eat. Diet and nutrition is individually specific, so finding out what the best foods are and combining them in a way that meets micronutrient needs is a task of self-exploration, a labor of self-love, and essential for optimal gene expression and health. Stepping out and experimenting alone can create a lot of insecurity about doing it right as foods interact together in ways that science is still working to explain! That’s why we’ve created Pump Up Yo’ Jam as a guide and to assist with motivation.” 

On Day 01, Catherine & Nha were the two brave girls who stepped up to the challenge. They were the first to get to see what was on the nutrition plan’s menu. Nha had been a GWG member since its beginning, rarely missing a workout. She was excited to be sharing the experience with her friend who had joined GWG a few months previously so they could compare and discuss their progress together. They met one evening at a café in Thao Dien with Aj, who would guide them step-by-step through the next four weeks’ journey. Over the next two hours they set intentions, learned how the plan worked, and how to best prepare for it. They discussed the differences between nourishment and nutrients, and what to do about managing some relentless habits like sleep, alcohol, & stress. It might sound like a lot, but the entire first week is then dedicated to mentally preparing and making sure the kitchen is in order for what comes next.

After the first week’s kitchen make-over, shopping, and prepping, the two girls began the 21-day nutrition challenge – AKA the “eating part” — of the challenge. With a focus on consuming a wide diversity of nutrient dense foods, the meal menus offer guidelines and basic cooking instructions. Further advice is provided on what to do if the girls didn’t like a particular food or were still hungry afterwards as the plan is specifically designed to make sure the participants don’t suffer from not feeling satiated.

 “It’s really changed my whole outlook on food,” Catherine told us. “I used to lose weight by counting calories and was always hungry but now I am confident to eat loads of great food and lose or maintain weight that way.” 

Super Salads are a staple of Pump Up Yo’ Jam, allowing for individual customisation for food items of preference.

After completing the 21-day challenge, both Catherine and Nha continue to make the Pump Up Yo’ Jam Smoothie for breakfast in the morning. They also love the Super Salad. 

“I am so much more aware of the better choices now, especially for snacks!” Catherine shared. 

For Nha, she entered the challenge without expecting to see any changes. “I had good energy throughout. I was never hungry, and I didn’t have any withdrawal symptoms like headaches. At the end, I didn’t actually feel any different physically.” The numbers showed otherwise though! She had also lost centimetres all over, and the girls both lost the most, 3-5cm, around their stomachs. 

Centimeters are easy to talk about though as they are most easily seen, and a big focus in many magazines. One of things that makes Pump Up Yo’ Jam unique is the approach taken to analyse it’s participants success in a wider arena. The program goes so far as to encourage its participants to actually keep off the scale for four weeks.

“Weighing yourself before and after is fine,” Sarah shares, “but we aim to get a better understanding of overall health and look beyond size changes. We do this by measuring blood sugar levels and fat-to-muscle ratios to consider how our livers are functioning, our long-term health, and muscle gain.”

The final, and one of the most important emphasis of the program is to not take it too seriously. “If you’re stressing out the whole time and not enjoying the process and slip-ups, then you’re not living your life!” Aj said. “In fact, the slip-ups are an essential part of the plan through a practice we call ‘Zero Resistance’! If you’re 100% perfect on following the plan, we’re going to try to help you listen to yourself better and lighten up!”

And it’s true – food does affect every aspect of existence, so figuring out what to eat to optimise the experience doesn’t sound like the worst idea! At Pump Up Yo’ Jams’ completion, both girls felt great knowing they’d completed the challenge. They’d gotten to experiment with new ways of eating, felt energised, and had enjoyed a space to explore their relationship with food and their own inner universes. In the end, they found themselves both with a few centimetres less, but most importantly they now have a new tool in their nutrition toolbox that they’ll be able to return to at any time in their lives.

Pump Up Yo’ Jam runs supplementary to the GWG Fitness Programs. Click here for more details about the next upcoming program.