Fitness review: Can Lucy Mecklenburgh help you get fit this new year?

Diet season is fast approaching as we wave goodbye to Christmas and all of the delicious treats it brought with us. As the year kicks off, people in their droves will be heading towards gyms in a bid to build strength and slim down. However, gym memberships can be expensive, and it isn’t always within the January budget. Luckily, there are more ways than ever to increase your fitness levels from home thanks to technology and a rise in celebrities revealing how they manage to stay in shape.

The app

The first step of Results with Lucy is to download the app, available for iOS and Android on a £19.99 a month subscription.

The app itself is branded with multiple images of Lucy looking extremely slender and happy, alongside her friends and personal trainers.

It is fairly easy to use and each of the app’s sections are self-explanatory.

Users can start with “My Journey”, a tab which includes a welcome video and a section to put your body measurements which can be updated throughout your journey.

I particularly liked this feature, as someone who is sceptical of measuring health and fitness based on weight, I liked the idea of taking body measurements instead.

This way, if you are gaining muscle, it can be tracked a lot more easily.

Other sections included in the app were the workouts, recipes, informative blogs and vlogs, meal plan guided, a community section bringing users together and a section coaching users on self-love and confidence.

Though at times I felt a little oversaturated with information that didn’t always contribute towards my workouts or fitness, I did think that the community section was a nice touch, particularly for users who may struggle to motivate themselves.

Furthermore, it was nice to see such an emphasis placed on positive mental attitude and self-love.

The food

I’m not a massive advocate of restrictive diets, and it was a pleasant surprise to find the vast recipe bank that comes with the app.

While there is no set “diet” plan, Results with Lucy offers a whole range of healthy, wholesome recipes based on natural, whole foods.

It was nice to see a health plan than really did focus on healthy eating, rather than limiting intake to a minimum.

As a vegetarian I was wary there wouldn’t be a lot on offer for me, but the app’s functionality allows users to search for keywords and subsequently presents meals that fit the description which meant I wasn’t short of options.

Some of my favourite recipes included Shakshuka baked eggs, the vegan energy bars and the spiced tofu salad.

Users are able to choose from meal plan guides such as “guilt-free Christmas”, “beach body” and “takeaway guide”, as well as plans that coincide with their exercise counterparts.

Alternatively, you can pick and choose between meals and eat intuitively as you train.

One perk is that there are even desert and “cocktail” recipes, so you are never short of a treat.

However, due to the app’s massive food bank – some 600 recipes – I did find this section of the app was slow to load when not on wifi.

The results

At the end of my two weeks trial with Results with Lucy, I didn’t largely notice much of a change in my measurements, however, I did pick up a range of new exercises which I will continue to incorporate into my gym routine.

As someone who exercises frequently, I don’t have a lot of weight to lose, which is possibly why I didn’t notice massive results.

For people who have maybe fallen out of one with fitness, or who are looking to kick start their fitness regime, it could be a really great way to ease into it.

Furthermore, as I only did a two-week trial, this likely hindered my results.

Lucy does recommend following the plan for a full 12 weeks, which will give more noticeable results.

For me personally, I felt that the video format made it hard for me to do the full workouts at my gym, and think if there had been animations or instructions with images this would make the app a lot more versatile.

With that said, for people who are intimidated by public fitness classes or the gym, Lucy’s workouts from home could be a nice way to increase your fitness from the comfort of your own home.

As the app offers workouts, a food plan and community support, it could be a decent investment for someone looking to start their fitness journey from home.

However, with a price point of £19.99 it is not that much cheaper than an actual gym membership.

Overall I thought Results With Lucy was a fun way to work out and is a great example of body positivity and promoting a healthy lifestyle. I’ll definitely be taking some exercises away from this and using them in the future.

source: express.co.uk