Out with Bad Habits!

Howdy friends!

So its the start of a new month.  I am in the middle of the Push Phase for Chalean Extreme - 2 more weeks of push before I move into the Lean Phase. I am also going to start Insanity on September 10th, so for  5 weeks I am going to be doing both programs.  So NEW GOALS! actually this month I am not going to work towards a goal per se, I am going to reverse it.  I am going to work to break some of my bad habits.  Here are my bad habits that I will break:

1.  When I see that the number on the scale is coming down, and people around tell me I am looking good, for some reason I tend to think "YAY" in my mind that gives me a green light to eat bigger portions, or have more way dessert than what I intended. That stops now, otherwise I will take me a long time to see 130lbs.

2.  When I have an opportunity to go for a quick walk at my lunch hour, I tend to stay sitting down at my desk, I should take advantage of those moments when I can go for a quick walk.

3.  Stop munching when I am not really hungry, just because I am enjoying the "flavor"

With my group fitness - I am doing great! I am meeting my goals :) I am going to be teaching Turbo kick 4x a week pretty soon!  on September 18th I start teaching TK in Newark and Union City, so thats pretty exciting to me!  I am also looking for a zumba class! and best of all I signed up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace university, now that has nothing to do with my fitness journey, but its exciting to take active steps into getting my finances/spending habits in order, all in all things are falling into place very nicely!  

Here are some of my zumba videos, so you guys can get a feel for my "style"

Fitness Update - Camp Do More plus More!

Hi Friends!

There is lots to report! first, I went to Anaheim for Camp Do More and it was...AWESOME! the experience really is different, and exciting.   It helped me get out there, and see the possibilities.   Camp is about fitness and personal development all wrapped up in a fun party and clean atmosphere.  I was part of the Denver Broncos, so my colors were blue and orange!the competition part of the team experience...I wasn't expecting it, and to be honest I can't believe I did it! it was nerve wracking as you can see from the video :) In my mind I kept picturing me falling of the stage! LOL and I WORE A TUTU! go figure!My Camp do More experience was awesome and I will (God willing) repeat again next year!

On another note, the last...6-8 weeks I've been wearing tanks and halter tops when working out, and I am just letting my arms hang out!  That is a major mental obstacle that I surpassed! In the past I would not imagine myself wearing a tank top and showing my arms.  I tended to wear long or mid-long sleeves on my tops, the more hidden my arms were better for me, because you know, they are fat.   They used to be a lot bigger..there still big and flabby, but not as they were before, AND I realized I am working hard.  Doing the workouts are not hard anymore.  I strive and crave them.  I normally have to stop myself from overdoing it, I LOVE the fitness part of my journey.  I actually love exercising now!  I am working hard, why not celebrate my body, and realize how far I've come! so despite not having the arms that I visualize YET, I am not hiding them anymore, I am celebrating my body, I am celebrating my arms, but that doesn't mean I will stop doing my Tank Top exercise routine ;)

Arms are "okay"

Arms do not look bad from this angle!

Arm NOT flattering, but guess what? thats who I am, I've come a long way, and I am celebrating my body!!

Burn Circuit Round Complete! ... well almost

Howdy fitness friends!

how have you guys been?  let me tell you I have been busy -- in a good way.  I am practically done with the 1st phase of Chalean Extreme which is Burn.  Tonight, or probably tomorrow in the AM I will tackle Burn Circuit 3, and Voila! Phase 1 complete!  Next phase is the PUSH phase, where you really up the weights, as you need to reach fatigue by the 8-to 10th rep.  Now since next week I leave for Camp Do More  (On Thursday - YAY!) I won't start the push phase, I'll just do some Les Mills Pump on Monday and Wednesday.   I'll start on the Push phase next week.  Not Monday, as I think I am going to let my body recover from workouts at Camp do More :) I'll start it on Wednesday the 18th.

Besides my beachbody workouts, for cardio is still zumba and turbo kick...I am in love with those 2! I am starting to slowly add PiYo...mind you I've only  "dabble" in it.  My zumba mentor is certified in PiYo and she teaches from time to time, but I would love to gain the strenght and flexibility - I need it especially if I want to prevent injury.  I am also seriously considering incorporating Tai-Cheng into my routine, the last thing I want is to injure myself, especially since my knees have always been weak.


My eating hasn't been spot on to be perfectly honest.  Too many camping trips, and too many date nights, but I am pleasantly surprised that I am still at 136lbs!! YAY! I think I can manage loosing 1 pound by Thursday! My goal was to reach 135 by when I traveled to Camp Do More, and I am on track!  So I am really  paying attention to what I am eating this week.






Saturday's  have been come my signature zumba days at home! tomorrow is going to be a fun filled day with zumba! I am attending a Zumba Jam, which is a 3 hours of dance, dance dance! you learne new choreographies! After that I head down to San Leandro and participate in a Zumba Fundraiser! HOW FUN IS THA?! I've never done in, so it will be fun! I am going to do 5 songs - and I am extremely excited! I am thinking nerves should kick in right before the event! :)


Hope you are having a great journey getting lean and fit! I am here to help and support, so please feel free to reach out to me!

New Round of Chalean Extreme

Howdy!

I am finished with Les Mills Pump program! I actually debated of doing a 2nd round but at the end I decided against it.  Its all about keeping the body guessing, right? so I could have decide to join Angel on P90X, but to be honest with my schedule I just can't commit to 75-90min 6x a week.  So I decided fall back to one of my favorite! Chalean Extreme (CXE) Its been a year since my last round.  Last night was week 2, and I did Burn Circuit 1.  This time around I am taking P90X recovery formula, I wasn't taking that supplement last year.  I am excited for the next 90 days! Going get even leaner and tighter!   CXE truly is pure weights.  Heavy weights...and when I say heavy I mean heavy (at least in my books ;)   Last night, for squats I was doing 20lbs (2x)  (I am sure I'll bring that to 25lbs like I was last year) for posterior fly's I was doing 12lbs..for bench press and chest fly I did 20lbs.  Chest is SORE! :) Is it crazy that I love the soreness? I keep thinking No Pain, No Gain.

I've also started using the bodybugg again, to get real with my numbers and tracking every thing that I eat.  I love to see how much I burn after a Turbo Kick or Zumba session.  I've noticed that I burn about the same, but you know what I've never done, is do a HiiT workout only for the day and see if the after burn is clearly visible...I am going to do that I think.  Next week, I'll do the Turbo's for TK44, TK48, TK50 3x each that should be a 15-18min HiiT workout.  I do need to schedule it as in my head the best time to do a HiiT is in the AM so that I take advantage of the after burn while I am sitting down at work.

Week 2 here I come!

What are your thoughts on lifting heavy for a girl?

Did not gain pounds while camping!

Howdy Friends!

I am super excited.  I weighed myself today.  To be honest I really thought I had gained weight this memorial weekend.  The family went camping...and man did we eat!  Especially on Saturday!  When we woke up that morning, we were surprised with snow!

It was a pretty cold morning! we made a fire, and even after the snow melted, it was still a pretty cold day.  So we stayed around the fire ring, and all we did all day was keep warm, eat, talk, eat, talk, eat, talk! So today I got on the scale I just KNEW I would be at 140lbs! nope! still at my 136lbs! I have that bad habit of assuming stuff, I really should stop ;) anyway I was happy.

But I can't stay comfortable, have to keep pushing myself! I am so close to my 135lb goal! you know what that means? zebra print workout capri! YAY!                                                                                                                                                            
                  Yep! I will be rocking some zebra print pretty soon ;)


This week, I have been thinking about overeating, thats what happened while I was camping.  I ate way too much food, not because I was really  hungry but because we were cold and needed to pass the time!  Then on Tuesday it was my son's 19th birthday and we took him out to one of his favorite restaurants.  We only eat this type of food 1x a year... on his birthday to be precise, as Angel is not a fan of Sushi or Chineese food.  This year, Will choose to go the Sushi Buffet in Hayward.  It was a bit pricey, and when we go to any Buffet style restaurants, I always hear my mom's voice: "You guys have to eat! you need to eat more than 1 plate to make this expense worthwhile" so I always ate way too much.  It happened again.  At the restaurant, I had my 1st plate.  Conservative, I didn't over pack my plate.  At the end I was satisfied! BUT that voice, which sounds so much like my mom's! Everytime she took us to the Hometown Buffet she would say: "EAT! I didn't spend this money just so you guys nibble food and don't eat"  SO I got up and got a 2nd plate...Boy! I really didn't need to! granted no real harm was done on the scale, but it was just unnecessary!   it wasn't necessarily healthy food, and it wasn't like my body was still hungry, so why? yep, is that little guilty voice...just bad habits that we need to break.   I thought I had broken this bad habit...sure it was just a slip and I am not hitting my head over it.  Its done, and I am moving on with my healthy path.  Just thought I would share, maybe you guys can identify with it.  How  many of us didn't hear this "Eat everything, do you know how many kids don't have food to eat? its a sin to throw out your food!" well guess what? we don't have to throw out our food! we just need to serve ourselves smaller portions ;)

What are some of the ways that have helped you not to overeat?  Post below your opinions :)                  

Re-Establishing my Priorities

Howdy fitness friends!

These last 2 weeks have been a blast! I am fully embracing zumba! I've noticed that Zumba family, is very similar to Beachbody.   Both want people to get healthy and fully engaged with life!  Its just awesome that both worlds are exactly how I want to live my life!

I've been attending several zumba events.  Love the jam sessions, especially the master classes.  Last Saturday, I attended a master class.   I got to hang out with my zumba mentor, as well as the other instructors, and zumba participants, and it was just...well lack for a better word, nice.   However, I didn't get home until midnight.  I was freaked out about it.  Don't get me wrong, while I was out, I was totally engaged and having good clean healthy fun! I just wasn't sure how my husband, my very MEXICAN husband was going to react :) I've never done that before.  The only time I went off on my own was last summer for the Beachbody summit.  4 days! Man! Angel was not happy! there was some very tangible tension between us right before I left.   When I came back, I won't lie, I was super nervous! The summit was an invaluable experience to me, that helped me become a better coach, but I knew he didn't like it.  To my surprise, I was welcomed back with open arms! we had a very deep conversation.  He finally understood why it was important for me to go.   But you have to understand, we do EVERYTHING together. We go grocery shopping together, if he goes to Home Depot, he asks me to tag along.  I am sure my bold decision of going to summit came as a shock.  Now, I am engaging in another realm! I am entering the group fitness instructor world, where its important to attend events to be that instructor who is motivating and inspiring to her students. But I digress, as I was saying Angel was okay with me going to the master class. He was okay with me hanging out for dinner afterwards as well.  But still I had that guilty feeling that I was gone all afternoon and evening.  I got home, he was asleep, I gently shook him and told him I was here.  He kissed me, and turned back right to sleep! can you imagine my shock! I was extremely grateful for his understanding.  Next day he was fine! we took the kids to theater (which if you haven't already go watch the Avengers!), then spend a nice afternoon with Angel just one-on-one.

So this week I am thinking that I didn't like that guilty feeling I had on Saturday night.  If Angel was okay with it, and the next day I re-engaged not only with him, but with my kids, there is no reason to feel guilty! So I pulled my Push Book out and re-read the chapter of  Priorities!  and I recreated my priority statement.  I thought I would share!

My number one priority are my kids and husband. I will nurture and support them.  Along with my husband I will provide financially for them.  I will fortify my relationship with them by being fully engaged and an active participant of their daily lives.   I will foster self-confidence, decisiveness, and drive in my kids.  I will have date nights with my husband.  I will attend fitness events to help me find my Zen as well as learn from other instructors to improve my craft.  I will continuously be learning to becoming a leader, a motivator, and inspire others to be their personal best.  I will create a financial plan that will help me accomplish my goals. I Will actively build my beachbody business.

Below please comments and share your ideas as to how you balance your life :)

Fitness Progress Update

Hello Fitness Friends!!

WELL --- today I am super happy!!! last time I mentioned that I believed I was starting to break the plateau and today it is official! The scale this morning said I was at 137.2.  Last week I weighed myself and I was like at 138.6.  I didn't want to mention anything because I wasn't sure if it was just a fluke.  So I kept doing what I was doing and today I caved in and weighed myself.


All last year, I was between 139-140..couldn't get pass that number.  I would notice difference in my body, inches, and all that, but that number would just not budge!  and let me tell you it can be very demoralizing.  But as as soon as the head games would start going up in my head, I would stop myself and say "nope! you have to keep going because you can!" I heard so many times from certain family members that 140 was just my "normal"" weight, that I should listen to my body that was going to be my weight.    I just couldn't resign myself. I want to be comfortable with my body, and I am not at that stage yet.  A friend told me last week that I should start flexing my arms in the mirror, and I did ... just once.  My arms are not near where I want them to be, but they are a lot closer to where they aught to be compared to last year! :)

So to break the plateau I decided to move my workout from morning to evening.  I must say that my body responds better to me working out at 10:30pm than 5:30am.  Not sure why.  All last year my workout schedule was in the  morning.  Last month I switched up to working in the evenings, because I wanted to "buddy" up again with Angel.  While I am doing Les Mills Pump, Turbo, or Zumba he is doing P90X .  Around 9:30 I am feeling tired and ready to go to bed, but I take about 1/2 a scoop of Energy and Endurance, and that perks me back up to go push play! and its low enough dose, that when I am done with my workout I don't feel like I can still keep going.  I fall asleep pretty easily and I am actually sleeping a lot better! Another game changer is switching up my cardio...although I am Turbo girl, adding zumba to the mix is different, so it helps with the muscle memory confusion.

So listen to your body, try different schedules for you to work and determine which one works better for you, but don't fall into the "listen to your body you can't reach your goal" mentality.  Our bodies gets used to what we are doing, so that only means find something new to add to your routines.

Eating plan!

Howdy Fitness Friends,

So in my Friday post I mentioned that I am breaking a plateau! inches are coming off! YAY! the other aspect is my eating.  To tell you the truth I am not 100% obsessed with my eating.  Reasons why:

1.  There are certain foods that I LOVE.
2.  I want to enjoy my life and my food
3.  Enjoying food with the family, well that is just plain ol' fun!

Okay, so with that said, what I am working on is eating food more in their natural state, the term clean eating comes to mind.   I've tried to avoid as much as possible the processed foods, and that is tough! I am reading the labels, and if it has more than 10 ingredients, I skip it.   Also I am person of habit.  I tend to eat the same things everyday.  A month ago I switched from having my shakeology as a snack to my breakfast.  I did that at the beginning, and then I decided to switch it as a snack...so what I did to break the plateau was switch it back for breakfast!  My typical day of eating looks like this:

6:30 - Shakeology - If chocolate: Water, shakeology, 1/2 a banana ice and PB if Tropical: Coconut Milk; 1/2 a banana, some frozen strawberries

10:00 - Yogurt with berries (chopped strawberries and blueberries) and flax seed, or instead of yogurt, plain oatmeal with the berries

12:30 - "MY BIG SALAD" which consists of 2 cups of mixed greens, celery, cherry tomato, mushrooms, broccoli, red bell pepper, cucumber, a hard boiled egg, and 2 or 3oz of grilled chicken breast, with about a tablespoon of balsamic vinaigrette --- if that fails I have a Turkey Sandwich on an orowheat thin bread, with hummus, if I have some I'll add some avocado, for my side, I do brocolli, red bell pepper sticks, celery sticks, and sometimes cucumber sticks (no dip, I don't need it) and then as my dessert I'll have an apple, sometimes a pear, sometimes an orange, depends on what I have at home.

4:00pm this varies, if I didn't have oatmeal, then I'll have plain oatmeal, or if I had the sandwich not the salad, I'll have some tuna with a hard boiled egg.   If I had oatmeal in the AM then I will have plain yogurt...or a handful of almonds and orange...I change it up :)

DINNER 9:00pm YIKES! I have dinner that late? normally yes, and funny enough I've found that it doesn't hinder my weightloss..however, my dinner portion is small.   Its almost always the same:

Mondays My healthy quesadilla;
Tuesday mushroom tacos (sautee mushroom with a bit of olive oil, add onions, tomatoes, fresh jalapenos) and then just filled the tortilla..its simple, but my favorite! I love mushrooms! now  I use corn tortillas for my tacos, and I only have 2  corn tortillas, if I find that I am still hungry I grab some romaine leafs and use that as a tortilla;
Wednesday: FISH! either tilapia or salmon..I am not a fan of Cod for some reason.
Thursday: Day off, brother in law cooks so its usually a surprise...however I have found a pattern between Tuna and homemade chicken soup :)
Friday I go out with Angel as a date night.  I always try to order food with no sauce or sauce on the side, and I always ask for a doggie bag, right away, so I only eat half.
Saturday's: Its lean Ground Turkey day, it can be made as homemade turkey burger, or picadillo, or some albondigas (turkey meat ball soup homemade)
Sunday's well thats the day we do something different, but we do it at home.

I also had this salad in my rotation ...I may have to bring it back!  It was a favorite of the kids :)

Breaking a Plateau!

Hi Fitness Friends!

Well FINALLY I am once again seeing changes in my body!   During the last months I was getting too lax with my eating.  I am not the food police, and although I do try to eat healthy as I possibly can while still having fun with the family I was going a little bit overboard in the food department.  Although the scale was not increasing, it wasn't diminishing either, and inches were still the same.  Which in a good way, that is good to know that I can maintain myself...you know without doing the yo- yo dance YAY!

However, I am still far and away from goal.  I guess I am not that concern about the number on the scale, so much as to how my body is looking.  My arms are my biggest problem area...and if you followed me here or on facebook you probably know that my arms are my greatest pet peeve, they are huge! the first thing I always see is great changes in my lower body, and thats all good but man I wish my arms would keep up.  There are periods where my lower body is totally slimmed down, and my arms are still huge, and I look like a football player.  BUT I am finally seeing some shrinkage in my arms!  I am very happy about that...and you know you can't target a specific area of your body to shed the fat, so I am working on overall body toning.  My program of choice is still Les Mills Pump  I just cant say enough good things about the home version of Body Pump.  My legs are so much stronger! and know that I am adding the Pump Revolution and Pump Extreme into my routines, it is now when I am noticing that my arms are slimming down! Plus the energy of the trainers is just AMAZING! I can't believe I am getting that type of energy and motivation from a DVD program.

Also I am still doing my Turbo Kick but Zumba is getting a lot more attention know as I am trying to get down my first playlist down.  I am checking out AWESOME zumba classes locally, and all I can say, oh that song is off the hook! oh man that choreo is booming! (all this in my head, I really don't say booming or off the hook out loud, I think people would look at me funny :)   I also went to a Zumba Jam...when Meli (The Zumba Jammer) said you are going to be dancing 3 hours straight, she wasn't kidding!! we got a few 2min breaks...and like 1 5min break...and like 10min where we sat in a circle and getting tips on how to give our students the best zumba experience but other than that it was go, go, go! It was totally awesome! I am going again to another zumba jam in April....I just loved it!

I have more to say in my Turbo Kick...I am going to teach round 48 in my next session which starts April 2nd! I am also going to demo 48 here locally!! (Wohooo thanks to Maria Charito) if you are local make sure to check out her zumba class.  You can follow them on facebook at M&M Fitness   and I may do another demo locally.  It would be very awesome to teach Turbo Kick closer to home :)

So for now, I am feeling good, I am back on track with my eating...next blog post I'll talk more about my eating since now I rambled on and keeping you up to date to what I am doing :)

Set yourself up for success

Good afternoon!

Well today I did something that I haven't done in along time! I went over to Chalene's Johnson like page on facebook to see what was going.  I haven't been visiting for awhile. For some reason Chalene just doesn't pop up in my normal news feed as it used to.  Chalene is a pusher, you can tell by her posts, she wants to make sure you are doing what you need to do to achieve your own personal goals.  So its not like she is pushing to do things that are not aligning with yourself...which I like, her motivational push is to make sure you set up yourself to achieve the success that you are looking for.  So with that said, she posted this question:

"Set yourself up for a successful tomorrow! What can you do this evening to MAKE SURE you set it off tomorrow?"

It got me thinking in several things. 

1.  I should set up my alarm to be a Turbo Drill...you know the sirens, and the music starts...well, this is not my idea, but I saw it in a funny video on youtube about being a Turbo addict, and it made me laugh, and said to myself, HEY! that can actually help push myself to get up at 5am as I always say I will, but very rarely do!   I thought that cute, and in all seriousness the siren before the turbo always gets me excited! so I am thinking it will be hard to ignore

2.   When I got to bed each night, I bring the ipad, and always read, but I am always reading historical romance novels or sci-fi book...bet you didn't know that about me huh?  yeah, I know...its just a time to unwind and not really think about any issues that might rest heavily in my mind...and its good, but I have some major goals I want to accomplish, which if I do can give so many other things, as well as free time to read my historical and sci-fi books, SOOO a new habit I want to set up for myself, is instead of reading fun but really non-sense books I should focus on  personal development books.  I mean I already read them about 10 pages in the morning...but it will not hurt if I read in the evening.  And yes, we all need time to unwind, and not be so structured, BUT I KNOW! I KNOW for a fact that in order to achieve what you want you need to do more...so reading extra personal development at night is going to help me so that I am in the right frame of mind in the morning :)

3.  I should also prepare lunches...but I probably won't do this.  Tomorrow I am planning on Turkey Sandwich, and I don't want my bread to get soggy from the hummus....so...even though I could prepare the lunches, I won't :) but that is a conscious choice on my part, and since I will be waking up at 5am tomorrow it won't matter time wise!

So what about you?  What you can do this evening to start tomorrow on the right foot?

Les Mills, Turbo Kick and ZUMBA!

Hello Friends!

Oh man, I haven't blogged in a while! There is sooooo much to tell!

The month of February has been like a "wild ride" LOL - so many things, at work, at home, and I've developed a flair for the dramatic!  and I really do need to tone my self down, mostly this dramatic side of me has been at home. But I have not let all the happenings and going at home and work affected my workout schedule, and that's a plus for me!

Okay, where to start?

I am continuing with Les Mills! Last night I did my first ever 55min workout with Les Mills doing Pump Revolution, LOVED IT! it was the 1st workout that I do that has biceps and triceps tracks! My arms are super sore today.  I made this video of my 2 favorite moments of the pump & shred! What I am loving of Les Mills Pump is that my lower body is getting AWESOME results! as well as my chest muscles, I am looking forward to start seeing changes in my arms!  I do need to say that if you have been in the fence of ordering Les Mills Pump, let me give you a little push ;) the introductory price is going up, so now would be the time to go for it! If your ready click here

Now for the Turbo Report! I finished learning Round 48 of Turbo Kick, and I feel like am doing something totally brand new! in fact I am going to change up my routine of a combination of TK 38 and TK 44 for my Monday class, and introduce them to TK 48! My students are going to LOVE IT!   My favorite part of TK 48 is the Finale!!

I did receive Round 49 this week, and I've learned the punches section, so far so good! I'll post about TK 49 later ;)

NOW FOR THE BIG DRUM ROLL!! I got certified in ZUMBA!!! YAY BABY! I am super excited about this new certification.   I loved zumba back in the day...I had Beto's very first DVD's in Spanish! so this is a big deal, although I haven't zumba in a while, I though that it would be a nice addition to my cardio.  So far I've learned the choreography for 4 songs! I still need to practice them more so that if feels more fluid before I tackle my 5th song.

That has been my Fitness for February!

OH, I also started a challenge group with 5 of my friends, we are doing the Brazilian Butt Lift  this is our 3rd day, and we are all very excited!!  If you would like to learn more about the challenge groups I am creating make sure to friend me on facebook and ask for deets!


Here is my workout schedule for the month of March!

Until next time!

Les Mill Pump It and Zumba!

Hello Hello my fitness friends!

Man have I been busy! but no worries, I've been doing the Les Mill Pump guide, and as I had mentioned I did do Week 3 twice.  This week is my Week 4 and the workouts are:

Tuesday: Pump & Shred
Wednesday: Hard Core Abs
Thursday: Pump & Shred
Friday: Flow
Saturday Pump & Shred

Of course to this I am adding Turbo Kick, Hip Hustle and Zumba practice!  For Turbo Kick, I need to master the Recovery and the Finale and I will have round 48 in the bag!  for hip Hop Hustle, I have Block 1 and Block 2 already mastered, but I have been ignoring The Show...I have the choreagraphy down, I just need to practice more so its more fluid, and work on some of the shoulder/body rolls.  Now Zumba! thats my lastest certification - can you give me a "Woot Woot" :)  Last week I've been reviewing my basic steps.  But this week I am going to start practicing the choreography in the mash up DVD/CD. The goal this week is to master the 1st song, which is a Merengue called Tigre.  So my practice goals are:

1.  Full round of  turbo kick 48
2.  Master the Show for Hip Hop Hustle 17 - I will have the full Hustle in my pocket by the end of the week.
3.  Have the 1st song of my zumba choreography - a merenge called Tigre

It looks like its going to be a full Cardio week...you know what that means? I can have a bit of granola this week! :)

Les Mill Pump It! 3rd Week!

Hey Fitness friends!

I am trying to juggle Les Mill Pump and Turbo.  So my 1st report, here is my Les Mill Pump udate! tonight I have Pump and Burn ;)

NOW, this week was my FIRST EVER TURBO KICK as an Instructor! wohoo! I learned a lot...things that I will change this coming Monday, but overall it can be rolled into AWESOME!



I still have to rave about Energy and Endurance!   this morning I did 34min of TK 48 -- and normally for that time I burn about 400 calories, I decided to plug my bodybugg and downloand the date, I burned 805!!! again double! its FREAKIN' AWESOME!  In case you didn't see my initial review of E&E, check it out!

Okay I need to another word than Awesome -- suggestions? ;)

Les Mill Pump It - Day 11, 12 & 13

Howdy fitness friends!

Here is my Les Mills update.   Saturday was day 11, and it was supposed to be "FLOW" however, I didn't do it :/ I know, I know! I am mad at myself for skipping the FLOW..my muscles needed that stretch! especially, that on Saturday at Fit Club, we did a bootcamp style work out, as we had technical difficulties.   Following that I headed over to 24hr fitness to do a live Turbo Kick class....and basically I was beat!  I took Sunday as my rest day, and this morning I did Pump and burn (which is day 12 of Les Mills) I can totally tell, that my muscles need that stretch! so tomorrow is my rest day, but I will add the FLOW workout.

Also, I need to start practicing my full TK Round 44 workout, as on Monday I start my own class! wohoo! super excited about that!  So I need to really commit at a 5am wake up call, for my practice!

After I got half a cupcake from the kitchen today, I decided to write down my meal plans for the week...I do better when I plan the full week, than going day by day, so here it is:

Monday 1/16/12
Meal 1 -   Shakeology w/ banana and PB2
Snack  -   Shakeology w/ Ice and PB2
Meal 2 -   Light sodium Progresso Soup - Chicken Gumbo, Orange, and half a chocolate cup cake
Snack  -   Light danon yogurt
Meal 3  -  Broiled cat fish, steamed brocolli and a bit of brown rice

Total Calories 1998

Tuesday 1/17/12

Meal 1 -   Shakeology w/ banana and PB2
Snack  -   Shakeology w/ Ice and PB2
Meal 2 -   Turkey Sandwich, carrots,
Snack  -   Fage Yogurt
Meal 3  -  Turkey meat balls and whole wheat spaghetti


Wednesday 1/18/12

Meal 1 -   Poached egg on a whole wheat orowheat thin and salsa verde, mixed berries
Snack  -   Shakeology w/ Ice and PB2
Meal 2 -  Egg white veggie scramble
Snack  -   Fage Yogurt
Meal 3  -  BBQ Chicken Sandwiches


Thursday 1/19/12

Meal 1 -   1 whole egg scrambled w/ veggies and steamed spinach
Snack  -   Shakeology w/ Ice and PB2

Meal 2 -  Turkey Sandwich, carrots,
Snack  -   Fage Yogurt
Meal 3  - Chicken Stir Fry


Friday 1/20/12

Meal 1 -   Oatmeal with berries
Snack  -   Shakeology w/ Ice and PB2
Meal 2 -  Turkey Veggie Wrap
Snack  -   Fage Yogurt
Meal 3  - Homemade Pizza (Veggie delight!)



Please make a plan for yourself too! :)

Les Mill Pump It - Day 9 & 10

Good Afternoon!

Well yesterday was Day 9 of Les Mills Pump  and per the schedule I was only supposed to walk 45....I did plan to do my walk at lunch, but I had to skip it, as I was busy with a reconciliation at work...anywho, I did do Turbo for 25minutes.

Today, is day 10, and I tackled both workout this morning! I did the Pump Challenge, and the Hard Core Abs...all good all good.  I maintained the same...15lbs for squats, and 10lbs for all other exercises.  I also did Block 1 of Hustle 17! (What is Hustle?) check me out here :) - actually that is block 2 of hustle 17, I didn't record myself this morning :)


Tomorrow I have Flow...but I will also add Turbo, plus I have the Fit Club in the morning, SOOO on Sunday I taking that as my rest day , and will have day 12 of Les Mills Pump on Monday! which is Pump and Burn!

This week, I did very good with my eating.   I stuck to my eating plan! which was between 1600-1800 a day! I did have a close call on Wednesday (or Tuesday?) but I was close to giving into some food urges and going to Chipotle's for lunch, but I totally conquered that urged, and stuck to my salad! YAY! all in all, I felt good with my fitness and my nutrition plan this week.  I will grade myself a B...not an A, because I do want to work in more Turbo during the week but in order to that I need to answer the 5am morning call! that will be my goal for next week ;)

KIA HAHA  - BE STRONG!!

LES Mill Pump It - Day 7 & 8!

Howdy Peeps!

So, technically I didn't get a Day 7in my Pump round, since I took 2 day rests this past weekend, so this morning was Day 8, which Pump and Burn!  Now, the Pump Challenge is mostly how to use the barbell and proper technique, and its 20min long, and although you do "feel it" now I see that it really is just an introductory...

WOWSA! Pump and Burn is a short 30min workout, where you basically put into practice what you learn in the Pump Challenge...but in a whole different level.  You do feel the Rep Effect with this one.  I started off light with 5lbs for the warm up.   Then I put 10lbs for squats, but I really wanted to do 15lbs.  However, since this was a new workout that I hadn't done before, I decided to go light with the 10lbs.  I stuck with those for the remainder of the workout.   During the squats the first minute, I was like...you know I should of done 15lbs...but towards that 4th minute, I was like...huh..10lbs is not bad! LOL  The track that really got me pushing was the chest one...I had to take a break in minute 2.   My ultimate favorite was the ab track!  and Let me tell you, there is something about doing your crunches slow, that really dig deep in there.  My abs are SUPER sore!  anytime I move, or sneeze, it hurts real good.   Les Mill trainers really do like the Hover exercises (which are basically planks with movement), and man, being in a plank position for 2 minutes, its a challenge for me but I'll get there!

Tomorrow is a walking day per the Les Mill Pump schedule, so I will schedule my walk during lunch, but I will Turbo in the AM!

In another exciting news, Tropical Shakeology is FINALLY going to be released on Feb 14!  I am super excited! I was told that its even better than what I had a taste of it at Summit...and YES it is VEGAN! wohoo!  What I was "told" and I can't say 1st hand, but I will confirm as soon as I get my shipment, is that Tropical with banana tastes JUST like Strawberry Banana yogurt - my favorite! If you want a sample of the tropical, and if I am not your free coach already, then sign up (its free ;) and send me a message  letting me know you would like a sample!

Les Mill Pump It - Day 5 & 6!

Howdy partners!

Well Day 5 and Day 6 were not Saturday and Sunday....I got a bit of a stomach issue this weekend.  I blame the popcorn I had on Friday night while Angel and I went out to see the movie The Devil Inside.   I won't get into the movie...all I can say it would have been better if I would have watched it with no teenagers around...they had their cell screen on, and there was lots of laughter...so I didn't get the scary thrill I was looking for, but I digress..

Monday was Day 5 which Body Pump Challenge workout.  I ended up doing in the evening - around 9pm or so.  I did add my 15lbs weights on each side of the barbell for the squats...I def felt the burn which was good.  I did all other exercises with 10lbs.

Today, is Day 6 which is Hard Core Abs, which I did this morning.  I loved that workout! its only about 15min, and the slow ab routine, is a real killer.  I felt the burn, well after I was done...in fact although I don't have any burn, I am sore!  usually it takes 24hours for my abs to get sore after an ab workout, so I am thinking this is new!

Also, today I decided to order one of beachbody's newest supplement called the E&E (short for Energy and Endurance)   I can't wait to report on this, and how it can help! When I workout, I want to make sure I give it more than my 100% to really reap the benefits so I am excited!

Tomorrow is day 7 of Les Mill Pump, technically it should be a rest day for me, but since I did have 2 days rest this weekend, I am going ahead and jump to day 8 which will be Pump and Burn! I didn't do any weight lifting today, so that would be good! So stay tuned!

If you are ready to order please click Les Mill Pump or ready to give E&E a go along with me ;)

KIA KAHA - BE STRONG!

Les Mill Pump It - Day 4!

So today is Day 4 of Les Mills Pump! and it was the "FLOW" workout.   And basically it was yoga postures.  I am not a big fan of yoga or stretching workouts...I mean I do KNOW that it is an essential part of my fitness regimen, to help my muscles stretch, rebuild, oxygenate and all that, but I get frustrated because I am not a very flexible person.  I know flexibility is something I need to work on to improve.  So one of my 2012 resolutions is to put more emphasis in that area of my fitness journey.  So I must say that I really enjoyed the FLOW workout.  It was not crazy postures, it was short at only 20min, and when I was done, I felt soooo good!

I was re-reading the Fitness Guide of the program in more detail....and its a really cool culture.  Les Mills is based on the indigenous Maori culture of New Zealand and use traditional Maori markings and sayings, which I think is really cool.  One of Les Mills Bodypump symbols is the Mangopare (hammerhead sharks) is the traditional symbol for Strength and Power and let me say, that if I ever get a  tattoo this is definitely going to be one of them!

As I was reading, Les Mills philosophy is to remind us that we're all part of the same tribe - empowering ourselves and others and changing lives!   I keep seeing this quote through out the guide "We are warriors in the battle against a sedentary lifestyle"  and while it can be very comfortable sitting on the couch watching TV, or sitting on my beach towel while my kids are playing in the beach, or sitting on the bench while my  kids are playing in the playground...I know I will have more fun actually engaging and playing with them, and living life, rather than sitting and watching it go by before my eyes.  So come on! Join me --- what are you waiting for?

Les Mill Pump It! - Day 2 & Day 3

Hello, Hello!

Well yesterday, was day 2 of Les Mills Pump, and it was rest day.  However, I am used to working out 6x a week, so I decided to do some Turbo.  I did, the warm up, the punches, and then moved onto mastering the Kick section, which I did ;)   I went through it 4x (on both sides) and I learned it.  That was good, and I finally get that after a while, learning the Turbo sections becomes easier and easier.

So now, for today!  Today was the Pump Challenge workout again...which I LOVE, its short and sweet, but I do feel it!   its only 20minutes so I am really liking that!  Today I decided to use 10lbs on each side of my barbell for all workouts, it worked out good, except, that I am going to up it to 15lbs on the very 1st exercise which is the squats.  I felt it more than 1st day (which I only did 5lbs) but I know I can go to 15lbs, so thats what I will do on Saturday when I have that workout again.

For tomorrow, I have the Flow workout which I see from the description guide its basically stretch/yoga exercises, as you  know I am not a big fan...I mean, I know the benefits of stretching, but I am just not that flexible, and I know it something I need to work on so even though I complain, I will do it if it comes up in the schedule, and I WILL BECOME FLEXIBLE this 2012! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow :)

For information on how to order your own program of Les Mills Pump you can e-mail me or if you are ready to order please visit my website store - if you do, I am automatically assigned as your coach!  then you'll have almost everything to succeed! ;)

Time to PUMP IT! - Day 1

Howdy Fitness Friends!

Well during the last 2 weeks of December I enjoyed my Holiday vacation!  I only worked out about 5x during this 2 week off period, but I am so ready to get back in the game!

This month I gave myself a couple of presents.  I bought myself P90X2!   I opened up my package!  Here is a video of me opening up my package and going through the contents , but honestly I haven't tried it out yet.

I also got my Les Mills Body Pump! this is the newest addition to the Beachbody repertoire!  I had to get that too! and I decided that for the 1st 90 days of 2012 this will be my program to start and finish!  Today was my 1st day and I did the Pump Challenge workout, which is 20 minutes of learning the proper form of using the Barbell.  We learned how to squat....and next time I am going 15lbs one each side, at 5lbs on each side it was just too light.  We also did a deadlift, bench press, clean and press (which is a great move! I did it with 5lbs, I want to see if I can handle10lbs) kickback, and bicep curls.    The music was pretty good!  its high energy which I like.   Before I started I watched Pump Basics (which is 10minutes) and basically it shows you how to assemble your barbell, adjust weights, proper grip and stance, and they also taught about the different Tempos that they use on each exercise.  

So what is different about Les Mills? (from what I can tell compared to Chalean Extreme) is that it turns the thinking of lifting heavy between 8-12 reps by doing LOTS of repition with light to moderate weights and changing the tempo/speed of the movement, muscle fatigue will still happen (I felt it!)  So I personally didn't count, but the guide books states that one will perform 70-100 repetitions per body parts, for a total of 800 repetitions in a workout.   The Les Mill trainer Susan Renata said that because of the Rep Effect I will have more meaningful fat loss AND muscle fatigue to build strength without bulding bulk, but giving your muscles that long lean athletic look (which I want ;)

What I liked about my first workout, is the barbell...I've never worked out using one before, and its pretty awesome.  It makes me feel strong and powerful when I am lifting the barbell and then rolling my shoulders back.   As most of beachbody programs, the round consist of 90 days broken down into 3 phases.  This 1st phase is called the Te Wero * The Challenge.  This first weeks is easy, it consists of 3 Pump Challenges this week and the "Flow" DVD and the Hard Core Abs DVDs, it also throws in some additional cardio, they recommend walking on Day 3 and day 6.  Tomorrow is Day 2 for me and its a Rest Day! but guess what I am doing?  You guessed it! TURBO!.  

To learn more about Les Mills Pump contact me or  if you are ready to order you can go to my store