WATCH: We did a transformation programme for two months, results are in

This year The Citizen lifestyle team set out on a fitness and health journey at the beginning of the year.

As we are halfway through the year already, we tried a few fitness programmes to kickstart our journey, one of them being from popular online transformation coach and trainer Michaela “Mics” Mallett, popularly known for her page Better With Balance. 

The health influencers social media space and content is considered toxic, but contrary to the health and fitness realm on Instagram, the content is actually helpful.

Mallett is shredding away the diet fads and health challenges with her honesty and making her followers feel like it’s okay not to follow some of the outlandish health trends on social media. 

We joined one of her programmes to help ourselves feel good and lighter, and to develop healthier eating habits and workouts. Better With Balance doesnt demise bread, chocolate, pasta and other foods that are marked as big no-no’s in weight loss. Mallett’s approach is to rather still eat these foods, but with balance and less guilt. 

The Better with Balance programme gives participants options they can focus on, such as weight loss, and the programmes are designed for beginners to intermediate. 

Having previously suffered an eating disorder, Mallett said she developed a binge eating disorder at a young age and was stuck in the dieting cycle. She felt that many people could relate to this and this is why she started Better with Balance.

WATCH: Building a healthy relationship with food and exercise with Better with Balance

“I started this business online because I could help more people to get out of that [diet] cycle.”

As the founder of the company, running all the operations can be difficult. Working first as a home personal trainer, to moving solely online due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, she found that the digital space was still as beneficial. 

Mallett says she moves past the social media indoctrination by conveying messages that would be beneficial to her. It is important for the trainer to be outspoken and call out other fitness influencers and debunk foods labelled “healthy.”

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How Better with Balance worked for me

We started the eight-week programme in April. I chose the intermediate course, as I currently workout about five times a week and consider myself somewhat healthy.

My goal in this programme was to lose some weight, but more importantly to tone my muscles.

The Better with Balance programme has YouTube tutorials, chats and guidelines from Mallet to get you started.

There is also an app you need to download and put your health information on. Possibly one of the least favourite parts in the progress is the required weekly pictures. However, saying that they also give you the motivation to push harder.

The main programme, the Lean Queen, is designed to give people accountability, support and workouts they would enjoy. However, the trainer doesn’t like giving people meal plans. She says it’s likely that participants won’t enjoy them and sustain them.

“I think a lot of people join my programme as the last resort.  They have already done so many diets they know haven’t worked and they have now decided to do something to keep the weight off.”

There is also a WhatsApp group you can join once you have signed up, linking you to a large community of women sharing their progress, ups and downs and motivation messages to help people who are going through a rut.

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There is constant communication from Mallet through her Instagram live videos where she explains certain aspects of the programme, every Monday at 6pm, to members. She is also consistent in WhatsApp messaging with feedback reports which are done weekly.

The workouts were diverse, fun and organised in a way that it was hard to skip them or rearrange. They were challenging and I really noticed results from the 80s to 90s themed dance workouts, strength training, cardio and HIIT workouts.

Initially weighing 63kgs, the first month of weight loss wasn’t ground-breaking, as I struggled to stick to the suggested 1 700 calories a day, as part of my job as a food writer is to feast during restaurant reviews.

However, Mallet suggested I consume less, but not cut out completely which helped. Although some workouts were tough, my biggest problem was running. As much as I like cardio and HIIT workouts, I avoid running like the plague. It takes a lot out of you and your joints. But it increases your lung capacity and yes, you are likely to lose weight quicker.

Once I got in the groove of things, reaching the three litres of water intake a day was easier than the 8000 steps. My weight and tone of my body started to shift. In the end, I lost 3 kilograms which were good enough for me, as I wasn’t too uncomfortable with my weight and having a prior balanced lifestyle did help me.

Mallet says instant gratification doesn’t work and that losing a certain amount of kilograms in one week is highly unlikely, as people need to change their mindsets.

Changing daily habits

Transitioning lifestyle habits are easier than you think, such as incorporating walking, swopping fried foods for baked, and portion control on a number of favourite foods such as cheese, oil and dairy. “Focusing on small habits that you know you can implement sustainably daily, that is what will give you results,” she says. 

In the programme, there is an emphasis on reaching a goal of three litres of water daily and 8 000 steps. For Mallet, the habit list is for participants to hydrate themselves to help with their digestion. This has helped her female clientele, as they reported back better sleep quality.

The majority of Better With Balance clients are women. Mallet says having men participate isn’t necessarily her forte, however the women’s partners can sign up to support each other.

The step count is for people to realise how little they move, “especially people who sit at their desk the whole day. They don’t realise when they look at their [fit] watch they’ve only done 1 000 steps a day.” Mallet says the step target encourages people to take the longer route, taking the stairs and parking further away. “This increases the calories burnt per day,” she adds.

Currently all the workouts can be viewed on her YouTube channel or Instagram account. Mallet is hoping to add in-person training sessions later this year.

After completing the programme in two months, some habits have stayed with me, like drinking tons of water and more importantly, enjoying food and not depriving yourself.