Category Archives: health

Turbofire Week 2 Review – I Think I Got a Booty Call

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I’m back with another update on my TurboFire progress and a quick review of the program!

Check out Week 1′s review here if you’re interested.

I’m still really enjoying getting my booty handed to me by Chalene.  :)

Although I’ve done the same workouts for the first two weeks, they haven’t become boring yet.  However, I’ve been choosing the “music fired up” option on the DVDs that I’ve done a few times, which basically raises the volume of the music and lowers the volume of Chalene’s voice, so you are listening to mostly music instead of her cues.

So far, I’ve completed the following:

  • FireStarter Workout – the intro workout for TurboFire, which teaches you the basic moves (about 40 minutes)
  • Fire 45 EZ Class – a longer cardio class without the HIIT intervals (45 minutes)
  • Low HIIT 20 Class – low-impact, high intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions, with 1 minute of HIIT sessions followed by 1 minute of rest / review.  This is the DVD with the “Booty Call” song on it, hence my blog title (20 minutes)
  • Abs 10 Class – ab workouts!!  (10 minutes)
  • Stretch 10 Class – a simple stretch routine to complete each day’s workout (10 minutes)

I’m slightly tempted to try other DVD’s in the pack ahead of time, only because I’m curious to see what’s different about them, but I’m forcing myself to stay on track with the suggested schedule.

The good news is that by the end of week 2, I didn’t feel like I was going.to.die at the end of each workout.  I can tell that my cardio is already improving!

Love this!

Love this!

My progress after week 2 is 1 pound lost.  As I mentioned before, I’ll post (eek!) progress pics and measurements after the first month.

What are your favorite workouts this week?

My Current Meal Plan: On the Calorie-Counting Train

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I’ve really fought counting calories for a long time.  I’m a bit of, ahem, a Type-A personality, and I worry that I’ll go overboard with obsessing over every calorie.

On the other hand, some of my fitness faves, including Jillian Michaels and Chalene Johnson, talk a lot about how important it is to stay within a specified calorie range.  It makes sense – be aware of what you’re taking in, and burn more than that to lose weight.  I also like the idea of working a little harder the day after a splurge to keep yourself in balance – it’s OK to have extra calories from time to time, but just take note of it and burn those suckers off!

So, as I do my TurboFire workouts, I’ve decided that I’ll also count calories.  Not super strictly or obsessively, but just so that I am realistic about how much I’m actually consuming.  I use My Fitness Pal both on my computer and iPhone, and I love it!!  I also created a basic meal plan for my breakfast, lunch, and snacks during the week to make it easy.  I made sure to pick foods that I won’t get sick of and won’t mind eating every weekday.

Here is an example of a typical day on my current plan (totals courtesy of My Fitness Pal):

Breakfast is my green smoothie plus some coffee with Truvia:

Breakfast

Lunch is my favorite Greek Salad recipe and a square of chocolate because I always crave something sweet after lunch:

Lunch

(In case you’re curious, the Greek Salad has: 2 cups of arugula or spring mix salad, 1/2 cup of chickpeas, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup reduced-fat feta, 8 olives (which is the reason for the high sodium content, but I don’t care, I’m addicted), a handful of pepperoncinis, 1/2 cup of chopped cucumbers, a squeeze of lemon and a tiny drizzle of olive oil. LOVE it.)

I usually have two snacks per day; one in the mid-morning and one in the late afternoon.  I have the apple and cheese as my first snack, and the grapes and goldfish crackers as my second snack:

Snacks

Finally, dinner varies depending on the day. Below is an example of a typical dinner for us, but we may have chicken or pasta or leftovers. We also usually eat out at least once per week for dinner.

Dinner

My totals for the day:
1314 calories
172 grams of carbs
44 grams of fat
80 grams of protein

I hope that gives you a little inspiration if you are looking for a meal plan in the range of 1300 calories!  

Do you track your calories or do you rebel against it like I have?  Do you use an app or an online program?  What works best for you?

Turbofire Week 1 Review – Nothing EZ About It

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turbo-fire

Hey friends!  I mentioned recently that I purchased TurboFire and thought it would be fun to share my initial impressions of the program.

The program comes with a series of DVDs, a nutrition guide, some resistance bands, and a schedule to follow.  I hung the schedule inside of the closet in my basement where I’m doing the workouts, and I love being able to check them off as the days are completed.

You work out 6 days per week with the TurboFire schedule, and each session ends with a 10-minute stretch session.  I really like that, because I’m not always good about stretching, and this forces me to slow down and include stretching in my daily routine.  The schedule suggests Wednesday as your “rest day,” but I’ve switched it to Friday, as that works better with my schedule.

turbofire

Although I’m technically doing the beginner DVDs in the pack, I gotta tell you, it is TOUGH!  Wow, it’s a great cardiovascular workout.  So far, I’ve only done a few of the workouts, including the 20 minute low impact HIIT, the 10 minute abs, the “FireStarter” session, and the 45 minute “EZ” class.  Yeah, right – EZ my ass!  I was a red-faced, sweaty mess when I finished that one!  I love that it’s so challenging.

I read a lot of reviews that said the choreography is tough to pick up on, and that it’s difficult to follow Chalene’s cues.  I totally disagree – maybe it’s because I have a dance background, but I think the choreography is explained in a way that’s easy to pick up on.  There’s also a “new to class” option if you want to take the choreography a little slower to learn the moves.

And seriously, Chalene is amazing.  She’s cheering you on the whole time, and you really feel like you’re in the class with her!  I just love her energy – she is awesome.

So – I plan on posting measurements and progress photos after the end of the first month, but I’ll go ahead and share my progress after the first week:  After doing TurboFire Monday through Thursday of last week, I was down 1.5 pounds by Friday morning.  Aaaand then I gained it back over the weekend, ugh!  I’m glad that I noticed that, because it showed me that I need to stay on track over the weekend in order to continue to progress towards my goals.

Check out my Week 2 review here.

Have you every tried TurboFire?  What did you think and / or what were your results?

Green Super Smoothie

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green smoothie(source)

Although I am traditionally not the kind of girl that likes to eat the same meals day in and day out, I’ve really been on a smoothie kick lately for breakfast.  Green smoothies are nothing new to the blogosphere, but I thought it would be fun to share my favorite mix:

Green Super Smoothie:

I like to blend the spinach and water together first, and then add all the other ingredients and blend again.  I think it mixes better that way.  I really like the ingredients in both the Perfect Fit Protein and the Green Vibrance powder, but neither of them are that palatable on their own…this smoothie masks the taste and keeps me full all morning!

Let me know if you try this recipe!