Merry Christmas and Gluten Free Goodies for All!

Many of my handful of followers know why I've been away. An explanation and big change is coming! I just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas! :)

Hunting and Gathering and Killer Abs

Happy Weekend Healthy People!

I am fever free and very appreciative for my health today.  I am very grateful to my body and for all the work it's done healing.  Fortunately, I only had a fever for less than 24 hours and a mild sore throat on Friday. It could have been so much worse.  I skipped working out on Friday, but did walk quite a bit to get some fresh air.

So, now that the healing is over, it's time to get back to the routine! My hubby and I drooled over our cookbooks this morning and planned out our meals for the week ahead and then headed down to the Farmer's Market.  We try to get as much of our list from the market as possible- we also have a weekly CSA share so have plenty of local veggies on hand.  My hubby got some pumpkin coffee so it definitely feels like fall! :)  LOVE IT.

We did pretty awesome!

My son enjoyed a snack and did some people watching.

We went home, put our goods away and then went out and got the rest of our needed groceries from the grocery store. Again, I try to avoid the grocery store as much as possible- but we needed some staple items so it was to the grocery store we went.

Whew!  It feels good to be prepared for the week!  Now tomorrow can truly be another day of rest!

I value weight training more than cardio and since I missed two days of weight lifting I decided to do a Les Mills pump workout today since they are full body.  I also got my pre-order from amazon so I did this:

I pre-ordered this MONTHS ago when Jillian was in Women's Health promoting it and totally forgot about it, so it was a nice surprise to get in the mailbox today.   Since I already worked out I thought I would take it 'easy' with Level 1.

Okay- no this wasn't that easy.  There are some phase 3 body revolution moves in this workout plus a lot of moves that require quite a bit of balance.

Balance moves:

• Sumo Squat with a side crunch- you are in a sumo and you reach down and crunch toward your ankles
• Warrior Crunch- warrior pose with a 'crunch'
• Lunge with torso rotation- sounds like a BR move, but for the Torso rotation you have your arms fully extended
• Dancing Crab- Again, sounds like a BR, but you actually get on your back, come up into dancing crab- then go back to your back.

Random moves I remember:

• Inchworm- nope not the BR inchworm.  You start standing walk out with your hands to plank, walk your feet up to your hands, then jump back to plank and start over again.
• Plank Jacks, to plank mogul, to plank jacks
• Jump Rope Sequence-  I think it was regular jump rope for 4 counts, switch to kicking out for 4 counts then back.

The cardio intervals were shorter, more frequent, and repeated.  This was truly a full on ab workout though.  The workout was a little over 31 minutes with warm up and cool down.  We'll see how my abs feel in the morning.

All in all, I liked it.  My only complaint is that she re-used names for moves that she has used before.  When she said 'inchworm' or 'dancing crab' I thought 'oh, I know what this is'.  But no, they were new moves old names.  Plus she gave the military march in the warm up a funky name. Everyone knows that move as military march.  A little less CREATIVITY and MORE CONSISTENCY please and thank you.

Off to watch Damages!  Have a great rest of your Saturday.

Well, bugger

I was really starting to feel awesome yesterday. This morning I took my son for a walk and started to feel "off" my heart rate started climbing into the 150's just WALKING. I got home and was freezing and shaking. I took my temp and there you have it- 102! I am definitely skipping the workout today. There are excuses and then there is plain stupidity and I am not going to be stupid!!! I really hope I don't have hand, foot, mouth but all signs are pointing to it. If I have it I'll be drinking water and kombucha and praying for a quick recovery. I'll restart again once I 100%.

Day 3!! :)

My Internet is down and no one can come out to fix it until 09/12, so I am going to do some quick updates from my phone.

Today I did Cardio 1 xs 2. I am actually a little sore today + my son has hand, foot, mouth and isn't sleeping so I am super proud of myself for getting it done.

I saw this and it made me laugh so hard today, this is so me. I do care about politics, but fb this time in the elections is hilarious and I have to laugh at it.

I am just going to put up a photo explosion of my food today, but must comment on the snack. Avocado-strawberry ice cream- genius. Just take an avocado and blend it with a bag of frozen strawberries- makes a few filling servings. Healthy fat, no added sugar and feels like a treat.

I have no clue how this will look on the computer, so my apologies in advance if it's hard to read. Have a great night! :)

Round 2- Day 2! :)

Good morning!

Yesterday was day 2- round 2!  I found workout 2 to be pretty easy the second time around- there aren't any crazy moves in this one (or push ups- whoot!). The workout is longer than workout 1- it pushes 37 minutes and the calorie burn isn't that high because there is a lot of floor work- I burned about 245 calories in the 37 minutes and that was really pushing it with the cardio intervals.  The moves I remember are lunges with torso rotation, table, pelvic thrusts, good mornings, straight crunches, and step ups with weights.  Cardio 1 was pretty breezy as well.

My i-phone camera wasn't working half the day, so I barely got any pictures of my food. My i-phone 3 is on it's last legs, but I have heard the 5 will be out later this month, so I am holding out.

I am running on about 4 hours of interrupted sleep thanks to a sick toddler, so today should be interesting- it is double cardio and yoga day.

Food yesterday-

Steel cut oats topped with mixed berries and 1 egg
Leftover chicken with no cream spinach and broccoli
Banana and almond butter
Enchiladas and cauliflower mexican 'rice'

Have a great day!!

Jill's Big Shocker and Revolution Recap Day 1

I admit it, I spent an hour at home this morning so I could check out Jill's big announcement on the today show.  As soon as  I saw how nervous she looked I could tell she was returning to Biggest Loser.  Oy.... I am very surprised considering how much she has talked about what an awful time in her life that was.  Hopefully it works out better for her though I am not sure about teens on the show.

Yesterday was the big day!  Day 1 of Body Revolution Round 2.   I pulled on my vibrams and got down to business.  I have to admit, I really thought workout 1 would be super easy- no problem.  And it was no problem, but it was harder than expected.  The first time around I did this, I was probably dogging it... but not this time.  I did all the advanced moves- did the jump for all the various squats with the weights and all the other various advanced options she provides.  I was surprised at how difficult push ups were.  Do these ever get easy (or easier)?  I did them from my toes this time around, but seriously, I feel I should be better at these by now.

I also did cardio 1 since I am kickstarting it.  This was great.  I remember how tough I thought cardio 1 was the first time around but it was soooo much easier this time around.  Kickouts with arm circles still totally suck, but running man is nothing now- yay!  I didn't have my heart rate monitor until sometime in phase 2 the first time around, but my calorie burns were pretty good for the early workouts and I haven't even adjusted it to my higher weight yet (we'll get to that).   Keep in mind, I really pushed it today and was dripping sweat ( I barely broke a sweat with these workouts the first round).

Food today was okay.  Good in terms of quality, maybe too much food- but it was a holiday and I am training my taste buds to crave only real food again (not chocolate pb cups and wine).

BF- Scrambled eggs and bacon (Jill suggests canadian bacon- but we had the good stuff we got direct from the farmer so that's what I had).
Lunch- Roasted chicken, roasted veggies (beets, carrots, potato), mashed butternut squash, and salad
Snack- baked apple slices (this was actually dessert so no real 'snack' today)
Dinner- Lemon caper tilapia, leftover roasted veggies, broccoli, and a little gazpacho

Hopefully everyone is bored by now and stopped reading because I am kind of embarrassed to admit my stats, but hey it happens and I will always be honest in my blog. That's the reason I am back I need to be accountable!

Starting weight- 141.5- AGAIN, how did this happen?!?!
Waist-30 inches
Chest- 32 inches
Hips-40 inches
Left Thigh- 19.5 inches
Right Thigh- 18.5 inches
Left bicep-9.1/4 inches
Right Bicep- 9.5 ish inches

Sorry about the bad behind picture, hard to take of yourself.  I will weigh in on Mondays.  There you have it, have a great day. :)

A Tearful Goodbye

I said a tearful goodbye to my vices yesterday and had two chocolate peanut butter cups and a glass of wine....it is sad really- there are so many peanut butter cups left.  I may indulge in one here and there, but not this week.... I have goals.

Last time, I did Body Revolution, I didn't really have an in shape date to shoot for, so I just kind of went with the flow and the weight slowly came off.  I have a goal now that will keep me away from the pb cups this week.

The goal isn't even noble-like to keep up with my kid or have energy for this or that.  Nope- besides the fact that my abs aren't looking super-fly like they were a month ago, I just want to look good for family pictures so when people get my Christmas Card they won't be wondering whether or not I have an announcement to make.

I am exaggerating, kind of.  Really my weight goes to my butt and when you have a kid there is always the kid looking over the shoulder shot.

Today was day 1 of BR- I will talk about it tomorrow as well as give you my starting stats.  Here's hoping for a good butt shot this year, I have 8 weeks left!

XOXO

Introduction.....

I haven't blogged in sooo long, I am not going to pretend I have regular followers or that anyone knows who I am anymore!   I am introducing myself in case there is anyone out there who would like to read about my journey.

So here is a little about me:

- My name is Meghan (you may or may not have guessed that)

- I am 35 years young (yikes, what.... how did that happend?!?!)  (oh, and you never would have guessed that if you met me in person.... kidding!)

- I am a wife to a handsome younger man who will be a whopping 28 years old in October!  Soon I will be only 7 years older than him, not 8)

- I am momma to a almost 21 month old son (again.... YIKES!  What how did that happen)

- I used to be a 'Senior' Business Analyst , but am currently a stay at home mom

- I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and am gluten intolerant and slightly dairy intolerant

- I like to geek out on documentaries and books related to nutrition

- I dream of being a registered dietician when I grow up and helping people improve their lives through eating real food.

A little about my weight loss journey:

- I did Jillian Michaels Body Revolution from February- May 2012 and lost 10 lbs.

- I did Les Mills Pump from May- August 2012 and lost 0 lbs.

- I have sat on my butt and drank wine and had lots of desserts and partied it up the last few weeks  taken a little bit of a rest and have put on alot of the weight I lost, maybe five lbs-ish.  Kids this is not new muscle.... not at all.

- I was going to do Chalean Extreme and turned off the DVD 2 minutes into it, not for me

- I decided to do Body Revolution again 2 weeks ago and 2 of my DVDs were destroyed by my son, so I just couldn't

-My DVDs were kindly replaced so I am pretty much out of excuses and am starting over tomorrow.... sigh!  

 - I am 5'11 and at my health assessment the nurse said I should weigh around 115.  I don't weigh that and personally think I would look like a teenage boy at that weight

So if you want to read about someone doing Body Revolution for the second time, follow along.  Or if you are just into gastronomical voyeurism, that is cool too!

Have a great rest of the weekend!  Body Revolution ROUND 2 begins tomorrow!

Blogging about Not Blogging?!?!

We interrupt this streak of not blogging to share:

  the best thing that has ever been created in my kitchen

AND

  my thoughts on not blogging lately

So, 1.  OMG, OMG!  We are swimming in eggplant from our CSA and I stumbled upon an egg plant pizza crust recipe.  The cauliflower pizza crust was a huge fail, but this was just AMAZING.  Topped with tomato, prosciutto, arugula, and oregano.  It's like a thick herbed cracker topped with yummy goodness- not a traditional pizza.

Here is the recipe and a picture of the deliciousness:

http://beta.primal-palate.com/recipe/prosciutto-and-arugula-pizza/

So I went on vacation and then had a week to recover from vacation (toddler on a 3 hour flight- anyone?) and finally read blogs today.  I was on my phone so I didn't comment- sorry everyone.  CT's blog asking why people aren't blogging much anymore made me do some introspection and I think I have an answer.

I MISS blogging, but I am just not inspired anymore.  I started this blog for Jillian's body revolution when working out was still kind of shiny and new. It really consumed a lot of my thoughts-eating, calories, workouts, etc.

I still workout (and eat!), but it's just become something I do everyday.... I don't believe anymore that there is a magic program-I just need to workout and eat right.  So blogging about it is kind of like blogging about brushing my teeth, feel me?

So I am going to start blogging on a regular basis again, but it may not strictly be workout related or food related all the time.  I may start talking about other things that are interesting to me at the moment....all wellness related, but not necessarily 'here's what I ate'  ....  'this was my workout' type of thing.

Food is consuming more of my thoughts as I think that is the key to not only losing weight, but some healing of my autoimmune condition I need to do, stress reduction techniques I am studying, de-toxifying my beauty and household cleaning routine, books I am reading..... those types of things.

We'll see where this goes.  If you like what you see... follow along.  I'll definitely still keep updating on my workouts and food.... it just won't ALWAYS be the focus.

So I need a new blog name  AND Go!

Oh....hi!

Well..... hello!  It has been FOREVER since I have blogged last.  I am not going to make any excuses about being too busy, I know many of you are busier than I am and still find time to blog.  I have zero sh!@ togetherness, but I am working on it.  Seriously, I need to.  Here is an innocent victim of my lack of sh!@ togetherness-

This is my loyal, loving dog.  I feed, water , walk him and shower him with love on a daily basis.  For some reason I HATE taking him to get his haircut.  I kept procrastinating, he kept getting shaggier.  Then I became embarased about how long his hair was... resulting in more procrastinating.  FINALLY, I did what any normal person would do.  I took the money for his haircut and bought a dog clipping kit.  I watched a 15 minute DVD and fancied myself a dog groomer!  Well... hours and hours later he looked BETTER, but not great.

Anyway... I am still going strong with Les Mills Pump!  Today is day 39, I am almost HALFWAY through!  The bad news is that I have maybe lost 2 lbs, some days 1... hard to tell lately.  This is not the fault of Les Mills- There is new muscle under that little layer of fat!  I can feel it.  Since mother's day I just haven't had the dedication I had when I was doing BR.  There's always been an exception of some sort- Mother's Day, my son's 1.5 birthday, Father's Day, etc.

Recently, it was my brother and his wife visiting so LOTS of eating out.  I didn't eat too much or anything, but I did fill up on things like Asian Pizza (seriously sounds weird, but so good) rather than making sure I got my veggies in.  I did like Jillian's meal plan quite a bit and used it as a guide- the Les Mills meal plan is not good (frozen waffles, shakeology, etc).   So all that rambling means I need to REFOCUS on food.

Les Mills workouts are full body workouts, so some weeks you do the same workout 3 times.  This week my main workout is Pump and Shred. This workout is crazy and is about 45 minutes in length.  Each body part is broken up into tracks (the length of a song).

- Start with a five minute warm up
- Squats- a little over 5 minutes.  I am currently squatting about 30 lbs plus the weight of the bar.  5 minutes of squats didn't seem like that long to me, but it wipes my legs out every time.  The squats are varied- by speed and range of motion.
-Chest- again about 5 minutes.  I am using 20 lbs plus the weight of the bar.  This is the hardest for me. 4 minutes of this are chest press.  Sounds boring- right?  No!  You are constantly switching it up.  Down and pulse, singles, down and hold.  After this you do a minute of push ups.  After 4 minutes of chest press I am lucky if I get 30 seconds of push ups on my toes, I have to come to my knees- my arms are TAPPED!
- Back, Glutes, Hamstrings- Classic moves- dead rows and a lot of clean and presses.
- F-ing Lunges- Okay this is my least favorite track because it is murder on your legs.  Slow lunges suck !  I am so grateful when they speedup the lunges.  So you do about 2 minutes of lunging on one leg, break it up with squats for less than a minute, then do 2 minutes on the other leg, then squat again.
- Shoulders- Here you go Bar-Less!  More push-ups then you go into moves with just the plates- side raise, mac raise, overhead press.

One thing I should mention is that with each 'track' is a new trainer.  So if you don't like someone, you only have them for 5 minutes.  The shoulder girl is EVIL.  She is drop-dead freaking gorgeous, she is very soft spoken with a sweet little voice, but her words do NOT match her demeanor:

EVIL.

-Abs- We do various moves in a 'hover' (forearm plank), then do some traditional crunches, and some twists on crunches to work the obliques.
-Cool Down
WHEW!

So,  I try not to become wrapped up in all the Beachbody Hoopla, but I am intriqued by the Ultimate Reset.  It is freaking expensive, but I am friends with my 'coach' on facebook and she keeps posting meals and they look fantastic!  She gave me the recipe for one of the salad dressings and I made it and it got rave reviews.  I seriously want the reset for the recipe book alone.

I don't think I can justify this one, but I keep thinking about it.  Even these cheesy videos are starting to convince me.  Talk me down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfobGC_gAZY&list=UUCRLav5uZ3PdcNhxaMpoXOQ&feature=plcp

Good Night Friends.  I need to read about your happenings tomorrow.  It's gonna be another scorcher so I'll be inside!!

And we're moving again!... The wrong way.

Just a quick little blog today- because I want to put this out there.  Yesterday I weighed in at 134- YAY me, low 130's-go.... go!!  This morning I weighed in at 138- I haven't seen a number that high in awhile.

Yesterday wasn't a 'bad' (why do we use these words) day foodwise either and I got a good workout in.   I certainly didn't consume 14,000 calories.

This happens sometimes!  Last time it happened I freaked out and thought ZOMG, I am doing something wrong, I need to work harder.  That wasn't the case at all and in fact doing that caused me to hang onto the extra few pounds.

I don't know why I weigh so much more today.  Maybe TOM is coming, maybe I had too much sodium yesterday, maybe my muscles are swollen from upping my weights yesterday.   Who knows?

I just know some people are struggling because the scale has gone up and I just wanted to put it out there that it happens to me too!

Have a great weekend all and celebrate those awesome fathers in your life!

And we're moving!

I've been avoiding blogging because for some reason I can't find the words to write my review of Les Mills.  I want it to be perfect because I don't want anyone spending money on something and hating it because of my review! I know you guys will forgive me for not doing it yet, but I hate it that I said I would and still haven't.  One of my favorite quotes I kept on my desk at work was 'Integrity- Do what you say you're going to do'.  So- I am sorry!!

I did have to share my news though. The scale is finally moving again.

One more pound and I am in the LOW 130's!  Whoot.  The once a week sweet thing is working for me as usual!  Who knew that diet mattered more than exercise?  Just about every expert out there- oh, that's right.  Should have listened!

So Les Mills has got very intense and my butt and abs have been constantly sore.  I turned on Insanity a couple weeks ago and during the warm up it just didn't feel good.  Very jarring on my body.  My younger, but wiser husband said 'Maybe there are walk days for a reason'.  I have backed off the Insanity hybrid for awhile because it was just insanity.

I am still following Les Mills schedule and on walk days I may walk, I may bike or just do a workout of my choosing.  I was surprised that today I chose:

I really like this one!  Every time I think about unloading P90X, I think twice because of plyo. I thought it would be hard since I haven't done any hardcore jumping for a few weeks, but I felt really strong and more in control than normal.   Les Mills is doing wonders for my legs, butt and core strength.

Other than that- life is great!  This morning was such a treat.  My husband said that when blueberries were ready for picking he would take a couple of hours off and we would go picking.  It was a perfect cool morning and it was so nice to have the extra family time out in the open air today instead of the usual rushed morning start.

We didn't get that many berries and some we picked are a little too ripe, but we had a blast this morning.  I have a new appreciation for why these are so expensive at the store!

I hope everyone has a fabulous day!!  :)  Oh, and if you have any light read book recs that aren't 50 Shades of Porn- please let me know.  I haven't read anything 'for fun' since the Hunger Games.

Sugar Momma Check In

Not Sugar Momma in the usual sense, just a momma who is trying to avoid sugar.  It seems like a lot of us BR bloggers are struggling with this lately and for some reason I thought if we needed a support group 'Sugar Momma' would be a great name for our group.

I could NOT commit to no sugar until after today.  Today my little one turned 18 months! And I know it isn't an official birthday, but it just seemed like a much bigger deal than a one year old birthday.  He has matured so much in the past couple of months and I am just bursting with pride at his cheerful, inquisitive nature.  We just had to celebrate.  We didn't have a fancy party with a lot of people, but we did go to one of those kiddie pizza joints with rides, arcade games and go carts.  We then went to the Farmer's Market listened to a band, then came home for birthday cake.

So that's it, I'm done- no sugar for awhile.  At least a week to get me back on track.  That just means no obvious sugar.  I'm not going militant on a gram here and there or natural fruit sugars.

That being said, even though I haven't lost any weight-I am feeling pretty good about the old body these days. I am definitely tighter than when I finished body revolution.  My abs have a lot more definition.  Here I am today after Hard Core Abs:

Really, the only thing I'd like to refine is the pooch in my lower abs.  I really don't want to get any thinner in the arms or the upper ab area.  Why oh why can't we spot reduce where we want to?  I really hate how I drop weight top- down, but I guess that is typical.

Exciting Food News:

First CSA deliver- yay!

I roasted the Kohlrabi today with garlic scapes for a snack.  It was okay, but I wouldn't go out and buy one.

I've always been intrigued by coconut water smoothies, but I don't care for coconut water out of the bottle. I bought a young coconut and got the water out for a smoothie today and it was soooo much better.

Then I made an AMAZING smoothie.  CSA spinach, coconut water, cherries, a scoop of vanilla protein powder.

Soooo good.  My son grabbed it and drank at LEAST half.  That's okay, it's his birthday!

See my cup is Starbucks. They are opening a juice bars now in response to the healthy 'trend'.  I am calling it now-  I think this is going to be a big miss.  The target demographic are people who pride themselves in NOT going to Starbucks.  Raw foodies are out because they aren't going to dig the pasteurization.  And if the produce isn't organic, I think people are going to stick to whipping up their local produce in their Vitamixes and skipping Starbucks.  I could be wrong though, it has happened before.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/us-starbucks-juice-idUSBRE82I05Y20120320

Have a great night!  Gonna catch up on blogs tomorrow.

Food...

I mentioned in my last post that I haven't lost any weight post body revolution.  Not for lack of working hard, but it has been a slippery slope for me food wise.

It all started innocently enough.  I was listening to Jillian's podcast and she was talking about how she allots a certain number of calories a day to 'treat' foods.  In particular she talked about a brand of chocolate named Green and Blacks.   The next day I was perusing the Health Market and I saw that Green and Blacks were on sale as well as my trusty favorite brand Newman's Own.  So I picked up a little chocolate for the snack cabinet.

Now these chocolate bars have a TON of calories if you were to eat the whole thing, but that was A-OKAY in my mind.  I pictured myself breaking off a piece and then neatly wrapping the remainder of the bar back up, putting it in the snack cabinet to be enjoyed another day.

Well, let's just say that isn't exactly how it went down- our girl Jill has really good taste in chocolate!  So, if I didn't wholeheartedly believe that I am responsible for all of my experiences- I'd blame Jillian!  BUT,  I can't sugar responsibly- no more unplanned treats for me.  Back to once a week, that's what works for me.  It was a good thought though.

I have been doing really good the last couple of days though. I have tried some really good new recipes.  Some recent faves:

Dr Oz Fat Burning Chili- I don't like Chili, but I had to make this when I saw it. There are a lot of ingredients, but we froze this- have had it twice and probably have 3 to 4 more meals left.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/fat-melting-vegetarian-chili

If you don't like spicy food, skip this!  If you do like spicy food- TONE it down.

Unsweetened Coconut crusted chicken:

Asparagus Soup and Tomato Cucumber Salad:

So yeah, back on the wagon and feeling good!  

Other great news- I finished body revolution without doing a single wheel push up, I just held the wheel.  Today I tried after my Pump and Burn workout and I did TEN wheel push ups.  Les Mills must be doing something for my arm strength!  Whoot!

Have a great night everyone! :)

"Success without satisfaction is the ultimate failure." Tony Robbins

Authentic intuition is your best friend-- seriously.  I am so happy that I quit P90X- I had a little bit of guilt about it because so many people LOVE it.  This workout will change your life... blah, blah, blah.  My gut was telling me I would be miserable doing it, so I changed course and moved on.  When your gut is telling you something is not right in your life- listen, it is often right.  TRUST yourself! Sorry for the soap box, it is very unlike me . I just hate seeing people miserable yet they do nothing to change the situation because they feel they are doing what they SHOULD.

I don't normally use the word 'love' to describe non living things, but I LOVE my new workout schedule. I am doing a hybrid of Les Mills Pump and Insanity.  Last week was strictly Les Mills Pump, this week the hybrid began.

Les Mills started off pretty slow last week.  The main workout was pump challenge which is a full body 25 minute-ish workout.  It was basically just getting you familiar with the equipment, form and how to adjust the movements to the tempo.  I liked it, but it was just fine.  I feel like this week the fun really began.  If you aren't familiar with Les Mills the workouts are high reps timed to awesome music.  So we may be doing a squat 'circuit' and you will be doing some squats super slow (down for 4 counts), pick up the tempo to a medium (down and up for two counts), pick up the tempo again for singles, and then finally bottom halves (PAIN- squat down, come up about half way, down, up half way, then up fully, then down again).  My butt has been on FIRE all week.  LOVE IT.

I did Les Mills Flow this week as well which is a super energized yoga DVD that is only 20 minutes long.  I felt so fantastic when it was over.  The instructors in Les Mills are amazing.  I don't even need to look at the TV, their audio cues are enough so that I know exactly what I need to do.

Les Mills Hard Core Abs- 15 minutes of AH-Mazing.  All do-able moves that will leave you sore the next day.  The instructors are from all over- UK, New Zealand, etc.  They switch on and off for the different circuits and their accents are super motivating.

So I am doing Insanity on non Les Mills Days (Les Mills is 3 days a week for strength, then you do ABS 2 times a week and flow once).  Les Mills suggests you walk 3 days a week, but I am doing Insanity.

Tuesday was the fit test, so today was my first actual Insanity Workout.  It was Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  OMG!  Uh, yeah- the warm up was more intense then many workouts I have done.  The moves are pretty straight forward and Shaun T is super motivating and not bad on the eyes.  There were suicide drills, fast feet, push ups, skier jumps, plank moguls, standing mountain climbers, regular mountain climbers.  By the end, I had to take frequent breaks.  My HRM clocked the workout at 452 calories for 42 minutes even with the breaks.  I was sweating like crazy.

So I am HAPPY, HAPPY with my workouts.  I have held steady with my weight and that is because of my eating.  In short it has been crappy food in abundance and we all know that food is 100 % of the battle.  Tomorrow is a new month, a renewed commitment.

Hope everyone is well.  Congrats to all the recent finishers (Catherine and Peach that I know of for sure).  AMAZING results and I am loving your post BR updates.

Floundering

Still here, still working out.  Haven't checked blogs for a couple days, but I am checking up on everyone tomorrow and hope to see good news as some of you are nearing the end. I have had crazy set up to do for my new gig which is super exciting.  As a technology super duper part time consultant I rarely get good subject matter, but this is fun!

So, this week I have started Les Mills pump and it's good. This is a program based on body pump classes and uses a barbell.  It's really FUN and doesn't feel like a chore at all. I think this is really going to be a great program for strength training.  I have definitely been sore in the butt which is where I need it the most.  The program does have yoga and core DVDs as well (both short:)).  I haven't done them yet, but will report when I do. The music is great and there is a strategy around the music chosen.  The reps are timed to the beats of the music- so you do slow reps and fast reps and the beats and reps are synchronized.  The music is very motivating.  My husband has never been interested in my workouts, but he did a workout last night.

So why am I floundering?!?!  The program is weak on cardio.  On cardio days they just say to do a 45 minute walk.  Well I do this pretty much every day anyway with my husband and son.  Cardio is my weakspot and I definitely want to train my weaknesses as well as my strengths.  So I think I am going to develop my own hybrid plan and hybrid Les Mills with Insanity.  There isn't an official hybrid out there, but I have read about people doing this with fantastic results.

I had lunch with a friend the other day and she was talking about Insanity and how she couldn't do it, but really wanted to try another program.  She was talking about P90x and I gave her my feedback.  Hopefully I didn't talk her out of it, but she doesn't think it's for her given her time constraints.  So, we are meeting up again tomorrow and doing an Insanity for Body Revolution swap.  I am so excited for her and want her to succeed.  I made her some of the blueberry/banana muffins to get her going!  Maybe I can convince her to blog?  Once I get my fingers on Insanity I'll develop my own customized plan!  I am hoping this will live up to Body Revolution.  What a fantastic program, we really were spoiled.

I think this new plan is going to work great for me.  I am pretty happy with my tone these days and am feeling pretty solid.  My problem areas are butt and lower abs so I think some Insanity style cardio and good old fashioned eating right will help get me where I want to be.

My friend sent me this picture of us berry picking earlier today and I was shocked at my post body revolution 'guns'.  It just isn't what I see in the mirror (I am the one in the jean skirt and painfully pale legs).

Have a great night everyone!

P90x Day 7 of 7

Instead of focusing on how much you can accomplish, focus on how much you can absolutely love what you’re doing 
~ Leo Babauta


I am using this quote to justify my P90X fail.  I am going to be a quitter.  But, I only committed to a test run- so technically it isn't a fail.

I can say with absolute certainty that I do not love P90x.  I have a greater respect for those who have completed the program after experiencing this week.  These workouts are grueling! I really looked forward to the Body Revolution workouts, but with P90x I just kept putting them off and putting them off.  They are too long and boring. 

Since my last blog I have experienced Legs and Back and Kenpo X.  I found Legs and Back to be one of the more challenging workouts in phase 1.  Each circuit consists of a variation of a squat, lunge and pull up.  There is a 90 second wall squat where you get down lower and lower every 15 seconds or so.  By the end my legs were SHAKING, then as you are coming out of the squat Tony casually says "Don't be a hero, if your legs start shaking- come on out".  Thanks Dude- it's over.  While we are hanging out in squat Tony uses this time to plug the recovery drink AGAIN.  Am I the only one who finds this constant commercial off-putting?  I definitely felt this workout the next day. 

Kenpo X was pretty light weight.  This is an hour of punching and kicking.  Rarely are you using your upper body and lower body at the same time. I burned less calories in this hour than I did in my 33 minutes of cardio 3.

Plyometrics definitely gets my vote as the superstar of this series.  I wasn't staring at the countdown ticker the whole time, worked up a sweat, burned some calories and had a little fun.  

Tomorrow starts a new adventure!  I am looking forward to it!  I hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

New Adventure Day 4 of ???

This evening after I left my guest bedroom I spotted my son.  OMG- he looks taller, he's running- WHAT?  When did that happen?  Have I been sleeping for days, on a vacation I forgot about?  Oh, no wait- I was just doing Yoga X.  Folks- this is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.  And why?  I don't get it.  The first 45 minutes of moving poses was the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.  Then another 45 minutes of static poses.  Oh and I've clocked a little over a 200 calorie burn for an hour and a half?  Isn't that what I would have burned just standing up?

I have heard good things about this workout and I'm just going to come right out and be negative, but I think it sucks.  The instruction is horrible.  Unless you know yoga, you wouldn't know what to do unless you are watching the tv the whole time which is mighty difficult from down dog and plank without hurting your neck.  Did I miss some sort of instructional DVD that ran through the poses while simultaneously trying to sell me a shake that costs more than your typical car payment?  

This video alone makes me want to chuck P90X in the garage sale pile.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Food- ugh, I have been so off track since mother's day.  I really need to sit down and form a plan.  Today was crazy.  

I picked up a paleo cookbook at the suggestion of my doctor.  I have to be gluten free, my son needs to be  dairy free- apparently paleo fits both these special needs.  For the record- I don't believe in fad diets, I haven't read about paleo so I don't know if it qualifies as a fad or not.  But of course, I gravitated to the sweetest breakfast in the book.  A coconut flour waffle.

I was ravenous when we got home from our morning outing, so I threw together the quickest lunch I could and scarfed it down.  I don't normally eat like I am 5 years old, but I had an almond butter and raspberry preserve sandwich on millet bread.

Then I was lazy and had a almond milk protein shake with chia seeds for snack.

I had a dinner to be proud of though!  A salad topped with roasted veggies (sweet potato, onion, green beans), tomato, a few walnuts and a yogurt based dressing.  So good!!

So there you have it, what NOT to do post body revolution.

Have a great night! :)

I may not be perfect, but parts of me are pretty awesome.

I saw someone wearing a shirt with the saying above and it made me smile. I should focus on what is awesome instead of thinking about my muffin top or lower ab flab all the time. I have awesome shoulders, my triceps are popping and under a small layer of flab are some ripped up abs.

Today I got to work on one of my favorite parts since it was shoulders and arms day. This workout is very "traditional" as far as strength training goes. Each circuit has one shoulder, bicep, then tricep move. Each circuit is repeated twice. The moves are basic variations of shoulder presses, different curls and tricep kickbacks and chair dips. You must be disciplined enough to use a challenging weight. This was a good change of pace for me. The compound moves in BR were great, but it's good to slow it down and really focus too! Sadly, another less than awesome performance of Ab Ripper x.

I wasn't really that sore from plyo yesterday. I was surprised that I was still sore in the chest, back and abs from Mondays workout. I did go to my yoga class tonight and it was tough. Ugh, I really like yoga class...but the doubling up is hard.

No food pics tonight. My husband had a work emergency so I am blogging from the ipad. I tried some new things today and not one of them turned out. If anyone tells you the cauliflower pizza crust doesn't taste like cauliflower-Don't believe them.

Have a great night!!

Day 2 of ??? PLYOMETRICS

I need to correct myself - in yesterday's post I said I did Back and Biceps, it was actually Chest and Back and boy do I feel it in all the right places today!!  I have soreness in my lower abs as well.  Whoot- I haven't been sore for along time.

Today I faced my biggest fear in the P90X workout series- Plyometrics.  I have read reviews about this workout and have heard it can make big, athletic men weep in pain.  At the beginning Tony talks up how tough it is and even suggests that you sub in Cardio X until you can work your way up to Plyo.

I may be singing a different tune tomorrow, but I didn't think it was THAT bad.  In my humble opinion, if you can do Cardio 3- you can do Plyo.  80% of these moves show up in either a cardio video or a cardio interval in Body Revolution with a different name.  We've got jumping lunges, squat jacks, up over over back (called hot feet), rock star jumps, 180 hops, towel runs and on and on.  There are some really fun new moves as well such as monster tire runs and a move where you leap across the room like you are jumping from rock to rock on a creek.  I took it pretty easy today based on advice I have read from other xers and I still burned 607 calories in 59 minutes.  I liked that there was a warm up and you didn't just go straight into jumping.

Food today was pretty on point:

Breakfast- YES, I am in a rut.  Steel cut oats again!  This time with kiwi and raspberry.

Lunch- OMG, YUM.  Sliced apple, provolone, and spinach grilled in a gluten free wrap.

Snack- my son and I went out for Mean Green Juice- kale, cucumber, celery, apple and lemon.  He looks cuter drinking it- so he is pictured.

I NEED the smell of wheatgrass in my home.  It smells so fresh and sweet and I feel healthier just breathing it in.

Dinner- Brown rice, chicken, and green olive dish my hubby made while I was working up a sweat.

So many people are getting close to the end of their revolution journeys!  I hope to see pictures and hear plans about what's next very soon.

Have a great night! :)

New Adventure, Day 1 of ???

So, I said I was waffling on which program I would do today.  Based on the time on my heart rate monitor do you have a guess? This should be easy.

That's right, I did day 1 of P90x.  The day 1 of ??? means I am testing out the program.  I am going to give it a week and see how it goes.  I have a new client, so things are a little busier than normal.  I am fortunate enough to work extremely part time from home-- but this also means no childcare.  So this means I need to fit in work and working out in the am, during nap time or when my hubby is home.  So we decided we would try me working out while my husband makes dinner.  Did you just gasp out loud?  I am home all day and my husband makes dinner- yep.  It worked out great.  I worked up an appetite and came down for dinner.

So, I chose p90x because all though I am extremely proud and happy with my results from BR, I still have a way to go before I am at my goal. I think P90X is going to get me there and then Les Mills will be great for maintenance. Things are only going to get busier for me- I plan on going back to school part time in the fall for a new career. So if I am going to do P90X the time is NOW!  But, I reserve the right to change my mind after the test week!

Today was back and biceps- this is a little over 50 minutes of mostly push ups and pull ups.  When they pulled out the free weights for a few exercises I was giddy with relief.  I can currently do about 3 pull ups unassisted- then I throw my foot in the chin up max (best invention EVER) and I bust out the rest of the pull ups assisted.

I was feeling pretty good at the end of workout one.  It breezed by despite the length of the dvd.  Then I did Ab Ripper X.  This would be 15 minutes of pure torture. Where are my trusty planks. Each move is done for 25 reps and by rep 7 of some of them I had to take a break.  Bugger. I am sure I will get better.

All in all- not bad.  I didn't hard core sweat like I did in body revolution, but there weren't any cardio intervals and there were breaks.

Food today was less than stellar, I'll get back on track tomorrow.

Breakfast- Steel cut oats with raspberries and tsp maple syrup:

Lunch- We were going to go out for dinner last night for mother's day.  However, my son fell asleep in the car yesterday afternoon then decided it would be a good idea to forgo his afternoon nap.  By dinner time he was MELTING down.  We decided to skip dinner out, it would have been a disaster for everyone.  So today we met my hubby for lunch.  I had an avocado turkey burger sans bun and asparagus.

Not bad, but I also had a yummy sugary strawberry tea.

Snack- more sugar!  My husband made me an awesome gluten free coconut flour cake for mother's day and I indulged in a slice.

Then for dinner we had a savory breakfast.  Tortilla topped with a little bit of chorizo, avocado, tomato, eggs and tortilla.

THANK YOU everyone for your kind words regarding my BR results.  I am still following your blogs closely and am hoping for awesome results.

Have a great night!