Work Out Like a Girl!

Getting my abs after 3 kids!

We are keeping up with the Paleo Life now, but I am also trying to keep my workouts fun, fresh and effective. So, what am I up to?

When I work, I am doing beachbody's T25. It is only 25 minutes and is a mix of strength and cardio. I may be really, really tired after working and barely sleeping, but I can do 25 minutes, right? Most days I try to pull it off. I like it as something added to my workout bag, but I would not be able to do just T25 I don't think. It is about the mix for me.

Next up, Hasfit.com. This is FREE! Yes, entirely free!!! Coach Kozak has 2 workouts that I like among many to chose from, his 90 day High Intensity or his 90 day warrior. The warrior was the first one I did, and he just added the high intensity one. The warrior workout plan is strength and cardio and high intensity interval training in one. They are short workouts for the most part with a 30 minute one thrown in there occasionally. The Intensity one I have not done in its entirety. I started and got side tracked (it has only been available a short time). I have done many of the workouts included in the plan already, though. The workouts may be longer as some days it is suggested to put in 60 minutes of cardio. With that said, I do 60 minutes total of whatever I am doing every day with the exception of my rest days and days where I worked and am too wiped out (which become my rest days).

And then there is Bodyrock.tv. I have been following them for a while. I go in spurts, doing their workouts for a while or through a challenge, then going back to Hasfit for strength. They are different but I find many of their moves are similar. Bodyrock does seem to need more equipment, but I get by with my weights and equalizer (well worth the investment I may add, although I got mine on Amazon.). They are now doing a 30 day challenge and I am loving it. The workouts are longer, but she jump ropes. I love jump roping. It is such a great workout! I worked out so hard last weekend I broke my beloved jump rope, so I am shopping for a speed rope so I can do double unders some day. :)

I also throw in Beachbody's Turbo Fire, but I do more of this during the winter.  This is more cardio for me.

My cardio rounds include any of the above (bodyrock jump ropes between workouts, so that's great cardio!), running (my route is almost 5 miles and I run 2-3 times a week, usually 2 now adays), biking (Chris got me into speed biking. I like biking, do it and get it done. I use different muscles for good cross training)), and jump roping. I often times bike or run, come home and jump rope until I crash (maybe a song!). I really love jump roping if you can not tell. Addison now wants a speed rope so she can jump fast with me. :)

As I mentioned, we are still mostly eating Paleo. I had not heard through my ongoing research that once you cut out sugar, you suffer horrible headaches when you do eat it. I made cookies, eating dough of course, and had to go to bed afterwards (it was 9 at night anyway, but still) because of the headache. I also had my beloved tea which is artificially sweetened and had a headache unlike any other AND my lips and the area around my lips became all swollen! I will no longer drink the tea, which makes Addison happy as she will drink the rest of my supply. Chris has had similar response to the sugar. We have both had dairy and have been okay. OMG, cheese never tastes so good! Now...back to moderation and mostly eating Paleo.

There you have it, work it 60 minutes 6 days a week, rest one (but keep it an active rest with a family activity that day at least), and eat clean. We have never felt better.

What do you to work it?

Got Abs there somewhere!

Fitness in 2013

Happy New Year! As with every year, fitness is a continued goal in our house. Last year we completed a second round of Insanity, biked, ran, I started Turbo Fire and body rock TV, zumba, swimming, etc, etc. We are always trying to try new ways to stay fit. As I found, it I stick to one thing (Running), my body adjusts to it and I stop seeing results. That is no fun.

Motivation. What is my motivation? I want to stay fit. Staying fit keeps one younger, looking and feeling stronger, and feeling better about yourself, right? Right. No antidepressant needed...working out it my drug. :)

I try to stick to an hour every day with 1-2 days off a week. Really, I work out daily unless I am working...then I do not work after I work the first night at least. In 2013, I will continue with what I am doing now, turbo fire and Bodyrock.tv aka the dailyhitt as well as running when the weather permits. I am sure we will come up with something new, different and fun to try in the new year, too.

The dailyhiit (Body rock) has undergone some changes. Their website is new and updated, now called the daily hitt, and I am having problems following all of their changes. However, I am going to TRY to step in up with 5 workouts a week of bodyrock. Seriously, it is 15 minutes of challenging bodyrock high intensity interval training. I'm in love. Will show updates or results as I see any.

So, what are your fitness goals? Anything you want to share?

The Daily Grind

Another day, another season, another work out, right?

Well, my workouts continue to be running (Now on Tuesdays, Thursdays while Asher is in school and on Saturdays and Sundays. So, I am down to running 3-4 days a week now), turbo fire average of 6 days a week and now bodyrock workouts whenever I can work one in.

First, my run continues to be the 4-4 1/2 miles I have been running for a while. It is seriously boring. If I had time, I would edit the run a bit. Humm, perhaps I will do that tomorrow before Saturdays run. I run it one way, then do it the opposite way the next time I run. I sold my dreadmill (aka the treadmill) because I hated it. Seriously, if the weather is bad, I will do a Turbo workout plus a body rock work out and just skip my run. Usually, however, unless it is too snowy, too windy or just too damn cold...I RUN OUTSIDE! There are hills, sights and things to look at to keep me going. Running on the dreadmill staring at the wall (or the mess I need to clean or hearing the kids get up and want breakfast, or...you get it) is just not worth my time. Oh, and I love my new space in the basement where the dreadmill sat. Good riddance! ANYWAY...that is my run. I thought about running a 1/2 or full marathon in Florida while Chris was there in February, but I decided against it. I mean, I would cruise through a Florida marathon with there NO HILLS and all. But, with the uncertainty of our life at the moment, I could not be sure Chris would even be there to cheer me on. So, I am sitting it out.

TurboFire. I am still loving it. Mondays and Fridays I do the turbo 55 (55 minutes of fun), Wednesday I do the Turbo 60 (meaning 60 minutes of fun!), Tuesdays I do Turbo 30 plus my run, Thursday I do a hiit workout plus my run, weekends I run plus do a Hiit workout generally (either 20 or 25 minutes high intensity interval training). On the days I skip my run because I have other plans (like today) or the weather is blustery and cold, I throw in the Fire 45 plus a 20 minute hiit workout. Love these workouts. After six months of doing them nearly daily, I have yet to get sick of them. Try Turbo Fire and you will not be disappointed.

Body Rock TV. I just started doing these workouts occasionally over the summer. I like to do them on weekends after my runs. I did it this afternoon since I did the Turbo Fire 45 minute workout and then ran out of time. The Body Rock work outs are short but INTENSE! I can feel my muscles BURNING! I am familiar with all the moves (burpees, side push ups, around the world, etc) and I love their ab workouts. They are amazing. I wish I could do them every day. But, you know, there is life and the fact that I tire easily lately (don't ask as I have no idea the answer). I would recommend trying a body rock workout once. You won't be disappointed.

So, that is my daily grind for the moment. My knee injury heeled quickly by dropping my mileage down running. I continued Turbo through most of it. At least I have not broken any bones this year (KNOCK ON WOOD!!).

Have a fun work out you would recommend? Okay, a good one? (Insanity is good but I am not saying you will have fun).

Turbo Fire, The Fire Continues

I started Turbo Fire in May with the 5 day Inferno. I have continued to do some sort of Turbo exercise nearly daily ever since that time.

I now run 4 days a week and do a high intensity turbo workout after my 40 minute run outside. I try to run every other day. On my off running days, I do a turbo fire workout to make it at least a hour long, so Fire 55, 60, 45 plus a hiit, etc. I am still not bored, and I am not tired (Chalene always says, "You are not tired!).

I love the longer workouts, the HIIT workouts and the ab workout. I have to be careful with the ab workout as I have pulled my neck bad once and had a minor strain another time. So, I try to only do the ab workout 1-2 times a week.

As far as nutrition, I continue to watch what I eat, but I do eat what I want in smaller quantities. I learned things from the 5 day inferno nutrition plan that I use even now, but I could not survive without chocolate or ice cream or on so few of calories.

So, after a few months, I do see a major difference in my body. My abs and arms are tones. I see a big difference in my upper body as I was pretty weak before. I like the high impact workouts. Having done Insanity, I find Turbo Fire to be higher impact. I wear a pediameter daily, and sometimes I can get up to 7000 steps in one Turbo Tire workout. That is almost as many steps as I get running (and I run about 4 1/2 miles!).

As far as injuries, I have had a couple. I strained my neck twice, as I mentioned. Now, I have a knee injury. Since I run, too, I am not certain the knee injury is from the Turbo Fire or from running, but I happened to notice it during Turbo Fire. I now walk/run with a limp, and I am really favoring it during my Turbo Fire workouts. With that said, it is nothing like the broken foot I got while doing Insanity.

Results:
Weight: Maintained (which was the goal).

So get ready and go for it! This is the most fun I have had working out!!

Turbo Fire Workout Review

As I have written, I started Turbo Fire on Chris' first trip out of town since I could not go on my daily 5am runs. I started with the 5 Day Inferno, and I fell in love with it.
The first of June, I dropped the YMCA. Cold Turkey. I loved Zumba. But, I found it fun to go to and a great way to burn extra calories, but I did not see that it sculpted my body at all.
Since the first of the year, I have done several things to get and stay in shape. Chris and I started the year off doing Insanity a second time (he is now doing it a third time). It is a killer workout, and I thought I could do anything while and after doing it. I did see some results, too, but I found myself dreading the workouts. I also felt like I still needed to run along with the workouts, at least for the first 5 weeks. So, it was a huge time commitment, one that I was no longer willing to put in. Keep in mind, some days I was running, doing Insanity, and then going to Zumba. Gees! That is just, well, insane!
We completed Insanity in March and Chris hopped on his career roller coaster in the end of March, still taking us on daily fun rides. Our plans to go on and do the Asylum were put on hold until we could do the workout in its entirety. Considering he is gone for 2 weeks every few weeks, the workout just was not going to happen.
Chris gave me Turbo Fire for Mother's Day. I believe I started it the next day with the Inferno. Since completing the 5 day Inferno, I have gone to running every other day and doing a piece of Turbo Fire every day (taking off the 1-2 times a month that I work an overnight shift. I just want to sleep, for some reason, after staying up all night working. Crazy, right?!).
I have not been following the Turbo Fire Schedule (again, Chalene, the innovator, keeps saying, "follow the schedule." And, I just chose to do it my own way. Bad, I know. I may go through the official schedule come winter, only time will tell).
I get up every at 5:40 and either run then turbo or just go downstairs, fan blasting, and do Turbo Fire. My schedule looks something like this:
Monday Fire 60 (which is a turbo fire workout for 60 minutes. The length of the workout is in the title, which is nice), Tuesday, Fire 45, Hiit 15, Wednesday: 55ez, Thursday Fire 30, Hiit 20, Friday Fire 55ez. Now Chris returned from his trip so I could start working in my running.
Saturday, Run, Core 20 (work 12 hour overnight), Sunday Hiit (high intensity interval training) 30), Monday, Memorial Day, Run 40, Hiit 25, Tuesday, Run, Hiit 20, Wednesday, Fire 55ez, Thursday Hiit 30 Core 20 Friday Fire 45, Saturday 45, Hiit 20, Sunday Run, abs 10; Monday Fire 60, Tuesday Run 40, hiit 20, Wednesday Fire 45, hiit 15, Thursday Run 40, hiit 20, Friday Hiit 30 Turbo 30, Abs 10...
...you get the point. Run with a small hiit or short Turbo and then the next day do a longer Turbo workout. I always workout 1hr total, or at least close to that. My runs are 40 minutes long, approximately, and just under 5 miles (really, I am usually done at 36-37 minutes, but I round up and call it close enough).
I did get somewhat of an injury this week following the ab workout, which is only 10 minutes, and I try to do this 3 times a week. It is a great workout, but it clearly was straining my neck. Chris was doing this portion with me (he does no other turbo with me) when I pulled the right side of my neck. I was practically immobilized on the floor.Chris helped me to my feet and I got through the day with 800mg Motrin every 8 hours. I still have the pain in my neck, but it was not back enough from keeping me from working out today, 2 mornings after the injury. Whew!

I love Turbo Fire and would recommend it to anyone. It is a mix of body combat, Insanity, running, zumba (a little), sculpting your body with the movements, all to music. I am not sick of the workouts and look forward to doing them. I actually am now dreading my morning runs, mostly because I have to contend with the elements (the heat!) and have to find something appropriate to wear outside. I typically wear my sports bra and shorts to do Turbo Fire. Now I am finding I can only wear that to run or I am too hot.

As for nutrition, I have been trying really hard to eat healthier in order to build more muscle and tone up. This is really difficult for me to do! I am back to oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast, almonds at AM stack, generally, lunch with tuna salad or greek yogurt and fruit and veges, dinner with salmon, turkey wrap (my new addiction!) or the rare chicken breast. I am really trying to increase the protein, but since I was a vegetarian for so long...this is really difficult to do. The taste is coming...slowly. But, I will not give up M&Ms, but I am eating plain frozen ones, at the moment. I can not give up chocolate!

I am seeing results, too! I am seeing my arms toned and, do I say, defined. I am seeing my upper ab muscles (those lower ones have to be there somewhere, right?!). My weight has maintained, but that is what the goal is. With that said, I had a friend ask how much weight I had lost...so I am clearly looking leaner. But, I am a pound or 2 away from where I always am. So far, I am happy with the results, the high impact intensity of the workouts and how fun the workouts are.

Here is a video I found of someone doing a short section of the Fire 45 Class (one that I like doing alone with the Hiit 20). It is a fun one, but I find all of them to be fun. And, I am starting to see results. Now...watch and want to work out!
Turbo Fire Video Example

I know, in this outfit again. It was clean and ready to go to my parents house (where this was taken).

Abdominal view: After having pizza for dinner (and take note that I am STILL wearing my pedometer!).

I have arm muscles somewhere.

Turbo Fire 5 Day Inferno

As part of my Mother's Day present, Chris gave me Turbo Fire, another beachbody high intensity interval training program from Chalene Johnson. You see, I can not run outside while Chris is gone, obviously. Last time I treadmilled it (YUCK!), and went to the YMCA for nearly all the zumba classes. This time, I did not want to treadmill it, and I had decided to restart Insanity until Turbo Fire.

Turbo Fire has a 90 day program set, but it also included a 5 day Inferno Plan. Sounds crazy, right? Really, it was a lot of fun! I started on Monday and finished this morning, trying to follow the meal plans, kind of. For me, that was huge! I eat randomly and love to snack.

The meals consisted of a rounded diet of fruits, veges and protein for good sources (chicken, fish, peanut butter, cottage cheese, etc). The fruits and veges were no problem as that is typically about all I eat. Now, the protein, that was a different story. 

Day 1: Turbo 55, stretch 10
I started the work out at 6am. I ran out of time for the stretch. Thought the work out was fun. It so helped me to have gone to a body combat class before as well as zumba. The music and workout is fun, but a workout. Both good things!
I had egg beaters for breakfast. I bought the southwestern version accidentally, but they turned out to be no so bad. I do not find egg beaters lasting through the day. Good thing there is a morning snack! For lunch I had a tuna salad. I have not eaten tuna since I was maybe 10 years old. Funny, I loved it. I had no idea tuna was such a good source of protein. Smells horrible, but it tastes pretty good mixed into the salad with lo cal dressing. For dinner is when I added in the cottage cheese. I liked that, too, not eating it since I was prego. I had a headache come bedtime, probably because my body wanted chocolate and a diet coke. :)

Day 2 Fire 45/Hiit 20/stretch 10

So ran out of time today! I got up earlier (5:40 AM) and Addison was already awake! Seriously, go back to bed! I was tired this AM, but the work out was still fun. I love the moves. I see Insanity and Zumba a little (but not much). I look forward to the next day's workout. With Insanity, I dreaded the next day's workout, but I looked forward to the results. Insanity works after all. I really like the fast pace of the Hiit classes, with the 1 minute "drill" with a 1 minute rest, continue. So far so good.

I had egg beaters again for breakfast. I bought a snack mix with cranberries, almonds, raisins and dark chocolate. YUMMY!! So recommend this mix!! (Walmart: Ann's House antioxidant blend). It is SO GOOD! Okay, it is not on the plan, but seriously, I can not give up all chocolate for a week. That is just crazy, or maybe I would just go crazy. Anyway, lunch was turkey on a wheat with flax seed tortilla with a ton of mixed greens and a splash of Italian. Again, I would have never eaten this is the plan did not call for it. But, it was so good!! Asher even ate it! For dinner we had the salmon marinated in teriyaki sauce cooked on the George Forman Grill (which I rarely, if ever, use!). Wow...Salmon is so good! 

Day 3 Fire 55ez/stretch 10
I was so tired this morning. I can't seem to get to bed at night, then I can't sleep alone, and then I have to get up so dang early to do this. I always get up early to run, but I sleep earlier at night. Ugh...sleepy. I got through it. It was a touch long work out. I find the stretch to be a waste of time.
Breakfast, more eggs. I am not following the breakfast plan...just eating eggs. I am adjusting, but I SO MISS MY OATMEAL. Would putting eggs in oatmeal be weird?! :) Sounds gross...so I don't do it. I eat more greek yogurt than I care to eat during the day due to lack of time to fix anything. Dinner was a mcdonalds chicken wrap, clearly not on the plan. I did not think the chicken snacker was that bad, but it is McDs. Oh well, it had protein in it, right? Too bad McDs did not agree with my stomach...or was it all these EGGS?

Day 4 Thursday 45 class, hiit 20, stretch 10
Starting to get the choreography some (yes, you need to know that!). My arms are burning as I am a weakling on the upper body. I wish I would have taken a before picture because I swear my arms are more defined already. Is it the upper cuts? :) Still love those Hiit classes. Those are fun, sweaty, stuff.
More eggs (getting used to them), followed by more protein in wraps. Love the wraps now. Who knew? Chris would die if he saw I was eating actual meat. This NEVER happens.

Day 5 Fire 55/stretch 10
Today felt good. I am getting it and getting good at it. I still look forward to turboing in the mornings. Turbo may be my new drug. :) It was fun to do the first 5 days. Today I knew it was the end of the inferno, so just finish this last day!

I was planning on cancelling my YMCA membership for a month now (as I refuse to stick my 3 kids in Ycare while I work out...although I may regret this if Chris leaves again), but I cancelled today. Asher and I went to Zumba on Monday (yes, after doing Turbo Fire) and he cried when I took him to YCare. They did not seem to notice or care that he was upset. I stayed for 15 minutes until he got better. He was having fun when I picked him up, but I can tell he really hates it. That was the last straw. Funny, when I cancelled, the lady at the desk said nothing to me. Just, "fill this out," asking me to complete the cancel me form. Anyway, my zumba teacher is 8 months pregnant and due to move away any day now. My time was up, although I was still sad as I cancelled and drove away. I liked going. I met a lot of new people in my zumba class. I will miss them.

More Eggs, now a habit. I'm still looking forward to my oatmeal. I had another tuna salad today to finish up what I had left. Mixed greens sure do not last long. That stinks! I had more greek yogurt (something I will never get used to), my lovely snack mix that may also be a new addiction (could this replace my almond m&ms? um...maybe). For dinner the kids made their own pizza while I had a silly wrap. I love the wrap, but would have preferred pizza. It is a Friday tradition afterall. Next week...

My weight stayed essentially the same (although I can say I gained muscle and lost fat, right? Also, I added calories to the plan as I did not want to lose weight). I can eat a ton or nothing and I always weigh the same. I gained weight with Insanity as I gained muscle mass...but it was soon gone (bc I lost the muscle I would assume). I feel I look different, at least in the upper body, even after 5 days. If you google the Inferno plan, the before and afters just do not seem possible after 5 days. I mean really...this is not the Biggest Loser workout or something. Anyway, I just feel more toned all over. That is really what I was striving for anyway. So, no matter what the scale says, I feel better. That is all that is important.

All in all, so far so good. I would recommend the first 5 days. The meal plan is a good one, but I had to add calories because 1100-1200 was not enough (although I DO NOT count calories and typically never look at that because I find it takes all the fun out of eating anything). I probably eat 1100 calories in almond m&ms a day! :) 

The plan, I will continue turbo fire come Monday. Shoot, I may even continue after Chris comes home, until he is ready for the next extreme Shawn T workout. This weekend I am going to try out a couple of the other ones just to get familiar with them before I am scheduled to do them. This workout is so fun, I can't wait to get going with it!

As for the nutrition guide, I will try and follow her nutrition guide, just not the 5 day menu and I will eat what I want. It is not a diet, but a substitution plan, so they say. I am to trade unhealthy foods that I eat now with choices higher up on the tiered ladder. I AM going back to my oatmeal maybe every other day. I love it and it lasts me all morning. Egg beaters made my hungry! I would have to eat the whole box to get full, I think. Anyway, I see oatmeal is listed on her tier 2 (whatever that means), which is the happy tier. Yes, oatmeal makes me happy! And, it says to try to stick to tiers 1,2...so that works! Yeah!! Happy Dance.

I guess I better save my energy so I can go all Turbo Fire tomorrow!

For more Turbo fire posts...see here:
1. Turbo Fire Review
2. Turbo Fire, The Fire Continues