December 9, 2013

This week I am slowly getting back into a routine. I was going through a lot of halls so a lot of additional sugar. I am still drinking shakeology as a snack not a meal replacement. I haven't measured or weighed myself this week. My stomach is getting flatter than before. I mixed in a couple of alpha workouts this week as Gamma is intense.

Today I will write about the pyramid workout. This workout is a nightmare you do every move building up to an 8 count. Well I didn't make it to 8 on many of the moves. This is not a beginner workout so if you are thinking about skipping alpha and beta and going straight to gamma I would advise against it. The only reason I even stuck it through to the end of the dvd was because of the mindset alpha and beta gave me. If Shaun T looks like this at the end of the workout imagine what I looked like.

I bought  a salad of spinach, kale, and baby greens. I sauteed an onion, some mushrooms, a tomato, added the greens. Then blended in the magic bullet. I then put it on a pizza crust with some feta cheese. I also ate some as soup think it made a nice soup.

December 1, 2013

This week I have been sick with a bad cold and didn't do as much as I usually do. I am continuing to drink shakeology but I did miss a few days. I tried the gamma speed 3.0 workout I didn't do all the moves because I couldn't keep up plus being sick I was more motivated to keep my ass on the couch. Even so I think I sweated some of my cold out with the workout. It's one of those workouts that I will need to do a few times but eventually it's going to become one of my favourite's. As usual it pushes me to my maximum abilities this workout doesn't have any modifiers I am impressed with how far I have come since before I started T25. I went from not being able to do a burpee to attempting to keep up with Shaun T in gamma.

I have not tried any of the other gamma workouts yet. I hope to get back into it by monday and hope to review the rest of the workouts next post.

Today I tried the vegan tropical strawberry shakeology. I wish I had ordered more than one package of this. So far it is the best tasting of the ones I have tried. I only added water today and it was almost equivalent to a smoothie I liked it. I drank it for breakfast and didn't eat anything else until 4pm. I also didn't do anything active unless coughing counts as a workout.

November 24, 2013

I received shakeology and started drinking it on tuesday. I started with trying to stick it in a water bottle as I was at work and hungry. That was a fail it really needed a blender. So new plan I will drink it as soon as I get home from work before I workout mixed in the magic bullet. I have only drank it 3 times so far and so far I still don't know if its worth it. I find I get hungry just after I drink it but the next day I feel full. Drinking it in the evening and then eating dinner I am not hungry until around 11am just before lunch. I am not using it as a meal replacement I am only replacing garden of life powder with shakeology for thirty days to see if it works. Taste wise I find the vanilla flavour is good but it has a strange aftertaste too it. I have vegan chocolate as the other flavour and I like it but I still need a blender and need to add some nut butter and milk to it. I made the shakeology bites below and really liked them. I ate two for breakfast on wednesday and it kept me full. I do find kind of uncomfortable it tends to bloat me when I drink it but goes away fast.  I am not having the cleansing effect other people have written about. This may be because garden of life as some similar ingredients and I have been drinking it for a while. So far I am undecided on if I like it or not. I feel tired when I drink it, I do feel more focused, the taste is good if mixed with other things, it does prevent cravings. I will continue the trial and see what happens.

This week my workout has been gold's gym personal trainer on the wii a lot of the moves are the same as in T25 which is interesting. I am burning around 200 calories in about 30 minutes and they are fun. My scores are better if I drink shakeology vs if I don't.  I only started this because a friend and I traded workouts she took T25 and gave me insanity. I watched a couple of the insanity videos and thought I am not doing that. The workouts are an hour long and doesn't have the music T25 has.  I prefer more distractions in my workouts T25 has music and more choreography plus its only 25 minutes. I did decide it is time for me to get T25 Gamma. Although I have done Alpha and Beta phases and loved them, I am kind of scared of Gamma but I know if I am going to do any hard workout this is the one that will make me continue until I succeed. Tomorrow I will start Gamma pure strength which will be a mix of Gamma and Beta.

What I have noticed lately is although I have had results people keep saying things to me that are negative. Like if it doesn't work you should just give up. First its not going to work if it sits in the box. Just because results aren't super quick and dramatic doesn't mean I haven't had results and I understand there are things I need to work on. I know these people are just not comfortable in the fact that they are not doing anything and they are not going to find an excuse in me. I have had physical and emotional results. I want people to realize that not giving up is part of the process, if it was easy it wouldn't work. I want to state that currently I am not a beachbody coach and I am not trying to sell anything. Beachbody has provided me with the tools I needed to make changes in my life so I am a huge fan but that's it. I am not saying I will never become a coach but for now I want to be unbiased while I test things out.  My hope is that if I share my story other people will think if you can do it I can do it too.

Shakeology bites

melt one tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
add 3/4 cups oats
stir oats until toasted
add 1 tbsp nut butter ( I used hazelnut)
add one serving of shakeology ( I used vegan chocolate)

November 17, 2013

Since I haven't really been on track lately I decided it is time I get some new tools to help me. I finally got a deal on shakeology I am going to be able to try it out for 30 days without being committed to it. I have been using garden of life protein powder for around a year now and I really want to see if the 3 times the cost is worth it for shakeology. I also ordered the next stage for T25 gamma. I should have these things by next week and I really can't wait to try them out. I have now decided that my workout time for the winter will be as soon as I get home. I am hoping that once I get gamma I will be able to stick with a 30 day program which will be perfect timing to be prepared for the holidays.

Eggplant fries I had these in Vegas and wanted to re-create a similar dish to see if I like it as much without it being deep fried. This isn't the healthiest recipe my plan was to see if I like the fattening version and then work on making it healthier. I compared pan frying vs baking and both are really good. The pan fried got more of a smoky flavour to them and I did prefer it. I think for a healthier easier dish I would stick with eggplant pizza or eggplant baked pizza just as good and less work.

Eggplant Fries

flour, egg, breadcrumbs

baked

pan fried

1 eggplant cut into even slices

In 3 seperate containers put 

1. flour

2. 1 egg and 1 tbsp buttermilk

3. 1 cup breadcrumbs (the ones I used were seasoned) , and 3/4 cups parmesan cheese

dip eggplant in flour, then egg, then crumbs be sure to keep dry ingredients dry

repeat  until all the eggplant is coated

bake: 375 for 25 minutes turn once at 15 minutes

pan fry: heat 1tbsp olive oil in pan be sure not to crowd may have to do two batches

lay eggplant flat approximately 5 minutes on each side

November 11

The past couple of weeks I feel like I have been off track a bit. I am not really into a regular program right now. I am still doing ten minute trainer or T25 workouts at least 5 days a week but I just choose when and what time of day I do it. I feel I am more dedicated when I am working towards something and crossing off things on the calendar. I already received my T25 T-shirt so I feel I have accomplished something. Right now I am in the process of figuring out what program I should do and when the best time of day to do it is. I find its too cold in the morning to workout now and I don't have a lot of time at the end of the day which makes it really to miss a workout. Ten minute trainor has been great for that I can get 10 minutes in anytime and its a tough workout.

Diet wise I got off track with a weekend of indulgence and haven't quit gotten back on it yet. I do find the more I stray the harder it is to get back into the routine. The good thing that I have noticed is last year starbcucks christmas drinks were at least a three times a week occurance. This year I haven't liked the ones I have tried and only drank each of them once. I will still try the other flavours but maybe one a week.

These eggplants looked so good. They sat around for a few days while I tried to decide what to with them. Finally decided on Eggplant Pizza and hopefully eggplant fries to come. I have a giant jar of salsa I am trying to eat up and I have a new magic bullet with a cheese shaker attachment. Perfect to try out my new gadget and use the salsa as the sauce.

Eggplant pizza

add spices

Eggplant Pizza

Cut eggplants in half lay on baking sheet and add olive oil and spices of your choice.  Bake for 30 minutes at 375 turn once during cooking process. Add cheese and sauce and bake for 5 minutes. Broil for 2 mins.

add sauce and cheese

Eggplant Pizza

One Year update

I just read some past posts and realized its been a year since I started this blog. What's changed? I am no longer looking at pounds and looking at inches instead. I no longer put on weight when I travel. I have been drinking garden of life protein powder 5 days a week for at least 6 months. I still have work to do on my diet. I am committed to working out daily. I have stopped going to the gym. I feel great and healthy. To my followers thank you for all your support.

What are my goals for this upcoming year?

1. Complete T25 gamma
2. reduce my sugar intake
3. reduce processed foods in my diet
4. Lose more inches
5. go down a dress size
6. Get more tonned
7. ultimate goal be able to see my abs

October 26, 2013

I made some really tasty healthy no bake desserts a few weeks ago but have forgotten the recipes now. Just made the no bake pumpkin loaf thought I better post while its still cooling. I will try to recreate the other ones at some point the date fudge was amazing.

No Bake Pumpkin Loaf

I love pumpkin spice type things oh Starbucks but I haven't had any real pumpkin since elementary school. I remember loving pumpkin seeds back then I am not really sure why I haven't used pumpkin since. I have seen so many recipes using canned pumpkin lately I just had to buy a can. Definitely will be buying again. I still have half a can left so will have to make something else.

I used a half teaspoon of butter to toast the oats feel free to omit or use coconut oil instead

toast half a cup oats in a pan
in a blender mix 10 dates, 10 walnuts, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 tbsp of water, cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, 1tsp of maple syrup or honey (i used vanilla infused maple syrup)
and mixture to pan with half a cup of canned 100% pumpkin and
2 tbsp of cocoa
cook while stirring 2-3 minutes
Let cool

I just formed it into a log shape and poked a face in it. Its really forgiving you can form any shape or creature you want.

a little halloween fun

October 7, 2013

Week 1 of round 2 done. I switched up the workouts a little between phase 1 and phase 2. I actually find part 1 harder than part 2 but I am still getting a good workout in. I did decent on the diet except for one eating out day where I didn't have a choice in what was ordered.

To satisfy my sweet tooth I have been making easy no -bake healthy treats

The tasty oatmeal raisin bites got me through the week

One cup of quick cooking oats
half a cup of nuts (I used almonds because that's what I had)
half a cup of raisins
2 tbsp of peanut or other nut butter (all natural of course)
1 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp water

I discovered the magic binder is actually water works really well.
Toast oats in a pan
grind nuts in a blender
add remaining ingredients to pan
shape into balls and press into cookie shape
let set in the fridge for a few hours

September 29, 2013

I finished my first round of T25 (alpha and beta) I am going to do another round before I consider getting Gamma. I lost 1 pound, 4.5 inches from my chest, 0.5 inches from my waist, 1 inches from my arms, and 4 inches form my thighs.  A total of 10 inches. I am starting my next round tomorrow and this time I will focus more on the diet this time. Pics below.

after 10 weeks

Before

September 24

Its my last week of T25. So for my last week I am trying to stick to a healthy eating plan this week. So far I am happy with my results and will be doing the program again. If you haven't read my previous posts it is a 10 week program 25 minute workouts. It's my tenth week and I have only missed 2 workouts and one stretch in the past ten weeks.

 I haven't lost any weight but I have lost inches I want to see if the diet actually makes a difference. So far I am 3 days in and have been pretty good. My goal is not to eat any processed foods this week with the exception of two planned eating out with friends and I will try to make good choices. My friend who does insanity and has been off track lately I told that she needed to keep me on track this week and said she would. So first thing she does is bring me homemade cookies apparently it wasn't a test of my willpower but I couldn't resist. Other than that the only sweet thing I have eaten other than fruit is my own oat,peanut butter, honey bars. I am still working on the recipe so will be in the future. Menu planning is a really important tool to stay on track.

Here are some healthy recipes for the week

Margherita Spaghetti Squash

My dad gave me spaghetti squash, basil, and tomatoes from the garden. This is a fantastic use of all 3 ingredients.

Cut spaghetti squash in half scoop out seeds brush with olive olive oil and italian spices bake at 375 for about 25 minutes longer if your squash isn't fresh from the garden. 

Sauce

I pureed the tomatoes and basil and a bit of salt in the magic bullet.  Originally I thought it was too runny but after being in the fridge for about half an hour it really thickened up. Since my tomatoes were from the garden I used a variety had yellow cherry tomatoes, Campari, and some I am not sure what variety they were. After the spaghetti squash is baked spread the tomato sauce over it and add boccocini 

 cheese. I used the mini cheese balls and added 5 per side. Bake for another 10 minutes then broil for 1.

If you prefer a vegan dish once the spaghetti squash is baked use a fork to make it like spaghetti and add the sauce. This also tastes great. 

Baked Tofu

one block firm tofu (I like to wash mine)

veggies of your choice

seasoning of your choice

baked at 350 for about 40 minutes

in mine I used mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, lime. Next time I would add onions and some heat I find it a little bland but a little hot sauce solves that problem.

September 3, 2013

oops sorry didn't realize a month has passed already. I am still sticking with T25 I am on week 2 of beta which means I am in my 7th week. I am doing the workouts in the morning its a lot harder to find excuses to skip the workouts if they are done first thing plus I enjoy them.

I finished Alpha which was 5 weeks then I went to Vegas for a week. Then I started Beta this workout is no joke. I just finished my first week and did mostly the modified moves for the whole week but I still have results. I feel like I just got rid of the Vegas weight. Unfortunately what you eat in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas.

T25 Beta workouts

I'll just talk about them in general as they are still a blur. My calendar was barely made it all week. I do like that two of the workouts have resistance bands or weights. Everyone in the workouts is dying by the end of them so its not just me. Alpha was the foundation for this. I really want to go back to alpha but I am going to push myself to get through beta and then do another full round. Did I get results? Yes. I do feel I need to improve on my diet getting back into after the vacation was tough on my body. Can I get through it? Yes. Will I improve?  Yes. So that's why I am moving forward and doing it. I am still doing a lot of the modified moves but that's what they are there for.

Can you find the differences? Which is before and After?

 

Red nail polish - first week of Alpha

Blue nail polish - End of Alpha (5 weeks of 25 minute workouts). I never followed the diet.


Recipe of the Week

Yam chips

These are so good. They only seem to get crispy if I use parchment paper to line the tray.

1 yam

use a potato peeler to slice really thin

add 1 tsp olive oil

seasonings of your choice

bake in oven or in my case toaster oven at 400 for 35 minutes stir every 10 minutes

August 5, 2013

Last weekend I took a mini vacation during the weekend. I did manage to get the weekend workouts in but I found I was exhausted during the week. I slept in a few times and missed my morning workouts I made them up in the evening except for one. I was very disappointed in myself for missing a workout but I did make it up later in the week.

I have lost another inch of pretty much everywhere except the waist where I have put on. I have lost no pounds. This is what happens when you workout and don't follow the diet. I am hoping to get back on track this week because I am really off with the diet part.

Here is one of my attempts to eat healthy. I tried cooking Freekeh for the first time. Its green wheat. High in protein low in calories. If your not gluten sensitive this is a great replacement for rice or quinoa.  I know its something that is used in different home east indian cooking recipes.

My dad gave me a few things from the garden so I made a sauce to go with it.

I am having trouble loading my picture today so I will post the pictures later. 

After Week 1 of T25

One of the greatest thing about this program is even though I feel its a 7 day a week program I have not missed a day. Well I haven't done today's stretching yet but I am going to do it right after this post. Technically its a rest day but there is a stretching workout to be done today.

On Saturday I was really happy I left the second workout from friday for Saturday. If I didn't do that I was feeling like I missing something. That workout was cardio which was the same workout I wrote about in previous post. It was different this time, when you actually focus and do what Shaun T tells you like suck in your stomach and tighten your gluts when you squat its an intense workout. Its also a fantastic workout one that you know you just keep pushing yourself but its doable.

Yesterday was stat day I have not weighted myself as I am waiting to go to the gym. I have lost inches already pretty much at least half an inch everywhere. That's only after a week. I could play find the differences with my before and after week 1 picture.

So this week
monday - cardio - nailed it

tuesday - speed 1.0  - nailed it (i really like this one as you would go really fast for a minute and then do a yoga pose or stretch for a minute)

total body circuit (barely made it) - I kind of blocked this one out I know it was tough i think a lot of planks, pushups etc, but its one that I can work on and I know I will become better

Thurday - Ab intervals (barely made it) - I hated this one, I was like what happened wasn't Shaun T the inventor of abs without getting on the floor. This is mostly floor work like scissors. I find this is really hard on my back. I did like supermans which is good for strengthening your back. I think I am going to replace this one with one of the dvd's from my other shuan t programs. Its seems to only be the double workout for the next two weeks so maybe ill do a longer hip hop abs workout that day.

Friday - Lower Focus - Nailed it - there is a lot of doing things while standing on one leg very difficult exercises but you know they work.

Saturday - Cardio - nailed it I already talked about this one.

My favorite Shaun T quote of the week, you are moving your lower body and sweat is pouring out of your head that's how you know your working.

Sweat has been pouring out of my head all week but it feels great.  I did take a break today and pretty much binged all day hopefully take a day off from working out and eating right doesn't throw my results off track.

I am looking forward to another week of this.  I better go do that stretching.

July 15 -T25

The program I have been waiting months for is finally here.

So far I have only seen reviews of people that have done insanity. So here is a review from someone who has no desire to do insane workouts and I am not a coach. I am a huge beachbody fan though. The idea of this program is its 25 minutes a day 5 days a week. Well that's how it was marketed. In reality its 25 minutes + a 3 minute cool down. Friday is 2 workouts but you can choose to do the 2 second workout on saturday and sunday is a stretching workout. So essentially in my case its a 7 day a week workout.

Part 1 is alpha its 5 weeks getting your body ready for part 2. Part 2 is beta and as far as I can tell its more strength training that's when the resistance band or weights come out. For the first 5 weeks the only equipment is a mat.

I really like that they have this on 11 dvd's with the diet book, and calendar all nicely package in smaller than book size packages. They really want you to take this with you everywhere and not miss a day.

I actually like the diet as there are a lot of vegan options this time. Usually I find I can't follow diets because of the lack of vegetarian consideration. I am not into diets.  This one is all about clean eating which I am a fan of. Its all about making things quick you have to have your quinoa, lentils, and brown rice pre-cooked then there are recipes to use those ingredients with. I am not following the diet as I am set in my eating. Chocolate is now on the list of super-foods so my addiction is justified. I will try some of the recipes though future blog posts to come.

They have included the workout calendar with boxes of if you nailed the workout or barely made it each day. It was nice to check off nailed it this morning. They also have STATurday on the calendear so you can keep track of your progress each week. We will see if there are any results at the end of the week. Its only day 1 but if it stays like this I can do this. I enjoyed it I kind of thought it was like zumba without any dancing its mostly the boring gym moves but its Shaun T flair so I didn't get bored.  Day 1 is cardio. The only thing I found that I didn't like is there is no warm-up and a lot of jumping at some points I had to do the modified workouts because of this. Other than that I actually found rockin' body harder. You are only doing each move for about a minute so I didn't feel I got worn out or tired and if I did there was the modified moves for almost everything. I really enjoyed day 1 thought it was fun. I was actually scared I wasn't going to be able to do this one but it was no problem. I am looking forward to day 2 have a feeling it is going to get harder, kind of like the first day of school.

July 7, 2013

I did manage to wake up at 5 and do a workout a couple times in the last week. The days I didn't I still worked out except for one day. I thought it should be a rest day but it actually threw me off. I was more lazy than the days I did work out. So I guess I will stick with it. I am still waiting for T25 to arrive but I will start doing that as soon as it comes. i am really excited about this one.

Its summer my apartment is always hot. I leave the windows open in the winter. July is always the worst. This year we had a heat wave I found I was drinking a lot of juices and drinking a lot of calories.  I always seem to have left over cucumber at this time of year and limes are 4 for $1. I was wondering what I should do with them.

I made this cucumber lime drink. I thought I would mix it first then add sugar or something else to it. To my surprise its really good on its own. I actually crave this drink now and its so easy. I stocked up on cucumbers today. Very cooling and refreshing.

Cucumber Lime Drink

half a cucumber (I did peel mine you can keep it on if you like)
juice of 1 lime
Mix in magic bullet

optional:
add in some seltzer water
add in some sweet fruit
add in some fruit juice
or sweetner

I did try adding some fruit juice to it I didn't like it. I liked it better on its own. I might try adding ginger and mint to it one day.

Happy Canada Day I return

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I did go off track while not writing. I was sent away for work stayed in a hotel room with no kitchen for a month. I actually did pretty well with losing a few pounds even with eating out every day. I did have my workout videos with me but usually I would just take naps. Getting enough sleep is really important. The problem has been being back home I just can't back into my routine. Definitely no time for naps man I miss having my meals made for me and housekeeping, and walking to work.

I started to feel some of the health issues I experienced prior to discovering beachbody workouts and trying to eat right. The workout videos were still in my suitcase prior to this weekend. I did go to the gym a few times and I do walk outside a lot. It wasn't enough especially the way I feel after those workouts they are fun and a great stress relief. I do still drink garden of life protein shake but I am only drinking a scoop once or twice a week right now. Sometimes if I am too lazy to make dinner I'll just drink that.

So the workout I have been waiting for months now finally came out. Shaun T's - T25. For those of you that know me you know that I am in love with mr. abs. Although I have only done hip hop abs and rockin' body. I don't think I will ever do insanity but I have inspired others to do it. T25 is the workout for me 25 minutes 5 days a week. I hate long workouts I just want to go fast and get  it done I don't like taking breaks cause its hard for me to start up again. This seems like the perfect workout for me. I just ordered it and have to wait another week for it to be shipped.

So this week and I started 3 days ago I am committed to doing one 25 minute workout each day. Rockin' body has a 25 minute party express which I did twice but then my muscles hurt. I then did two ten minute trainor workouts (2 ten minute workouts plus 5 minutes warm-up/cool down). I am hoping tomorrow I can be one of those people that wakes up at  5 am and gets the workout done. This is not me I am a night person but I would love to stay committed to working out in the morning we will see how it goes.

Its the middle of a heat wave and I am in an apartment that is always super hot in July. I am going to need morning showers regardless of working out so hopefully I can get it done.

I have a lot of food posts to catch up on and I will try. Most of the summer I just eat simple salads or eggs so there won't be too much on the food part. A hot apartment doesn't mix with a hot stove. For now here are a few canada day things I prepared while being super lazy. Pictures to come.

Watermelon and Feta salad

Strawberries for freezing

strawberry and lime smoothie

April 8, 2013

If you have been following this blog you know my original intention was to lose 20 pounds go to vegas
Put ten back on. I lost ten pounds and went to Vegas anyways because someone pointed out to me life is short and death is much longer. I ate only expensive food in vegas and didn't really put on any weight this time so I am happy. This is new for me as I normally put on weight when visiting the us

March 10, 2013

This week not much change since last week maybe lost a pound but as I haven't been to my regular gym with the digital scale this week its hard to tell. My diet hasn't been that great but I have eaten more veggies than last week.  I tried a new class at the gym body pump I found it too difficult but the instructor kept promising that it takes 3 classes to enjoy it. My free trial will be up before I get the chance to try it again. I have kept with Zumba though and find that it is a great workout.  I wish my gym would offer it.  I have kept with one ten minute trainor workout per day and next week will be the end of the 30 days. I think I will have to do another 30 with 2 workouts a day next.

I wanted to blog about my sunday treat breakfast before I forget. I only managed to eat half of it. I don't usually like pancakes but there was this recipe in chatelaine magazine and the pancakes looked so good I got a craving. As I don't have baking supplies in my house I got some of Safeway's eating right pancake mix and adapted the instructions.

Sunday pancakes

1.mix  1 cup of wholewheat pancake mix
with a half cup of buttermilk and a quarter cup of water.

heat  a pan with a 1tsp of butter or oil
add a chopped up apple
warm
add cinamon

3. Mix all ingredients I used my mixer

4. Cook as pancakes

5. Topping this is just based on ingredients I have but it was good.

mix one tablespoon peanut butter, 1 hershey's mini chocolate square, and 1tsp honey microwave for 30 seconds

I enjoyed it as you can see I ate some before taking the picture.

March 3, 2013

Let me start of with the most interesting part of my day I saw someone I haven't seen for around 2 months in the grocery store. She noticed I lost weight and then she went around yelling in the store to her family that I lost weight. It was embarrassing yet gratifying considering I was wearing my winter coat zipped up that the weight loss is that noticeable.

The last weigh in was on Tuesday and I didn't lose anything. That is due to not staying on track on the diet. I ate too much chocolate and didn't cook other than smoothies and eggs. I really didn't eat many vegetables during the week.

Today is day 17 for ten minute trainor. The first time I didn't get a workout in daily was three days ago I wasn't feeling well. Then I was mad at myself for missing one so I did two the next day. There really is no excuse to miss these workouts they are ten minutes and over before you know it.

This week I started a group buy voucher for Goodlife fitness. Although I have a gym already goodlife offers dance based classes that my gym doesn't offer. I started zumba on Saturday it was fun and I burned a million calories - okay not that many but i definitely left sweaty. I kind of felt out of shape even though I workout daily I just never do that much cardio. I really wish my gym offered these classes as I know this is something I would stick to and get results with. I have two weeks with the voucher there are 4 more classes that I will be taking which ads more variety to my fitness routine.

Today I drank my last sample of shakeology and I still don't know if I like it or not. I feel the increased energy and its great for getting all those veggies in. I have the chocolate flavour today i mixed it with my remaining buttermilk, yogurt, and peanut butter. It tastes like a malt. The first time I tried it I found it too sweet even though I love sweet things I had mixed it with a banana and soy milk. The second time I mixed it with soy milk, banana, and nut butter and it wasn't sweet.

The problem I have you can't just buy it in stores you have to have a beach body coach or become one for the cheaper price. Its $120 for 30 days. Reading the reviews people think its too expensive but looking at the ingredients $4 for a meal replacement that is so nutritious for me isn't that bad. Keep in mind I used to spend over $5 on daily starbucks. The problem I have is I was hungry after there is no way this is a meal replacement for me. I had to eat a meal an hour later. Granted after that I was fine went grocery shopping and made better decisions than usual my grocery bill was less. I am guessing this is part of the detox process and after 7 days or so this won't happen anymore. Its really hard to tell from the reviews as the coaches are trying to sell this.

The second problem i have is I have never taken supplements or meal replacements. The only reason I was willing to give shakeology a try is the ingredients in it are all things ideally I would have in my daily diet. I don't think I could commit to drinking the same thing daily for the rest of my life. I am interested in maybe doing a 30 day just to see what happens but I will wait for a sale or something before giving that a try.

This weeks goal is to not miss a TMT workout and eat more veggies.

February 24, 2013

Sorry for being away so long someone pointed out to me that its been a month since my last update. I enjoyed a nice trip to cuba and found that although I ate bread, pasta, yogurt, and ice cream every day in addition to lots of fresh fruit and steamed veggies. I only put on 1 pound. I didn't have any of the stomach issues I have here in North America. My meal times were control and at 3pm I would go to the coffee bar and eat whatever pastry they had that day. The freshness of the food seemed to make a big difference with not putting on weight.

I did aquafit in the beach twice and this is something I would have never done prior to last year. It was fun and helped to keep me staying fit.

I am in the middle of a new workout program which is making a huge difference. It is another beachbody program. Ten minute trainor by Tony Horton. I am on day 10 and have not missed a day yet. I am only doing one workout a day right now as it is a very effective 10 minutes. Its great that even if I feel like doing nothing else I know that I can get up and do this for 10 minutes.

With the program I lost the 1 pound I put on in Cuba and another pound. I am hoping to lose another 8 pounds in the next 5 weeks and I think it is doable. I love the way my body looks now I am starting to get some muscle. People are noticing the weight loss.

I haven't been cooking much lately most of my meals are vegetarian sandwiches or smart ones frozen entrees. I still stick to the smoothie for breakfast and a yogurt for a snack.

I am now in a buttermilk phase I love how much protein it has as a well as it makes everything taste like it has cream in it. Today I felt like ice cream so I put some frozen fruit, some buttermilk, and some yogurt in the blender and it was a very tasty desert.

Last week I was craving mac and cheese i used buttermilk and cheese for the sauce with quinoa pasta and it was very good.

My ten minute trainor package came with a card and tape measurer to keep track of inches and the loss of inchees at the end of the program. I didn't take my measurements until yesterday but it will be interesting to see the difference in inches. 

January 20, 2013

I will try to do a few extra posts this week to make up for the weeks I missed. I was stuck nothing changing no weight gain no weight loss so I have been experimenting. I'll start with the workouts.

Biggest Loser Workout

I borrowed this from the library. Thought it looked good as all the workouts were 10 minutes. Its incredibly boring the moves are hard but standard gym moves. Its not motivating for me to watch people that are less fit than I am. It took me a few days after doing workout one to get motivated again to try another one. I tried 5 which was the last one it was much better than workout one. I cannot motivate myself to try this again.

I think this dvd is more geared towards people that are not moderately active but its not for me. The trainer does give some nutritional and motivation advice. I did agree with the nutrition aspect but the motivation part for me felt like a bad after school special. What this dvd did do is make me realize the quality of beach body dvd's.

Shaun T Hip Hop Abs

Although I have been doing 5 minute abs and some of the rockin body workouts regularly. I rediscovered some of the harder workouts that required weights and before I thought were too hard. I can get through them now Shaun T is very motivating and these are pretty intense workouts. Unfortuantely I don't think I will motivate myself to do them daily as they are 30min-45min workouts. I will use these for those days when I want something more challenging.

10 minute trainer

I have wanted this for a while. I like the idea of 10 minute workouts that can be combined to create longer workouts. I  find that sometimes my intension is to only do 10 minutes of a 30 minute workout but I can't stop. I never look at a 30 min-1hr workout and think I want to do that everyday.. I was waiting for a sale and got one with beach body's anniversary sale.

Although Shaun T's workouts are beach body i have never purchased from beach body directly. This time I did and got some bonus shakeology samples, the cardio belt, an online workout while waiting for shipping, 30 day trial membership for team beach body.

I tried the online abs workout it was intense. Shipping only took a week and I have had the package for 2 days. I can only get through 2 of the 10 minute workouts at a time. These are intense workouts I am pretty sure if I stick to them I will see results. Reading the reviews most people are seeing results within 2 weeks. I am attempting to do the 30 day plan its laid out so you can do 1 10 minute workout, 2 10 minute workouts for faster results, or 3 10 minute workers per day for the most effective results. I will switch the cardio workouts to Shaun T videos as I prefer them for cardio. 10 minute trainor is effective for resistance.

Gym

Although I still go 2 times a week. I find the gym is like a warm up now. I usually come home and pop in one of the dvd's after. January is not very motivating at the gym its full of people you know won't be there in February.