April Challenge Brings May... Flowers?

There are officially no words that rhyme with challenge, and I can't think of another word I want to use. April regime brings May... dreams? Sun beams? New jeans!

Anyway.

The April Challenge is this:

30 Days of:
30-Day Shred with Jillian Michaels
30 days without wheat
30 days without sugar
30 days without starchy vegetables
30 days without going under 1600 calories
30 days to glowing skin 

The food plan will basically consist of following the maintenance phase of the HCG drop diet. 1600-1700 calories a day of lean proteins (I don't eat red meat or much poultry even, so I'm going to attempt to do this on mostly fish, eggs, nuts, protein powder and some soy products), low-starch fruits and veg, avocado, oils, Greek yogurt, etc. Keeping my calories up equals keeping my metabolism up, keeping my proteins up equals keeping my appetite down, and keeping my fats up equals keeping my skin glowing.

I'm 34 (and a quarter, almost!) and I am suddenly obsessed with internal skincare. What can I eat to make my skin glow? I don't have any skin problems in the first place, other than being hyper-sensitive to the sun, but I'm looking forward to watching it improve even more by ingesting the right food. Sweat, of course, regenerates the skin as well, so the work-outs will help too.

I am doing this in order to get ready for summer (I have put on over 10lbs since losing 40 on the drops last year) but also to cut back on the things that my body gets hooked on--namely carbs, sugar, and alcohol, my three little devils. I have been drinking way too much beer these days. I'm going to post a calendar of the one day per week that I'm going to relax a little on the plans so I don't go crazy (everything in moderation! Even moderating!) but I don't get to opt out on the exercise.

Okay, I have to go prepare appetizers for my family's Easter dinner now, speaking of carbs (heirloom tomato tarts, clam linguine, cherries jubilee... oh my)!

I will try to check in a couple of times a week while on the challenge, and I think I will record my measurements as well so I don't make it so weight centric.

Let the games begin!