Review: Amy Dixon's Breathless Body 2: The Edge

I'm not even going to verify how long it's been since my last post; let's just agree that it's been too long and move on, shall we?

Inspiration for posts has obviously been lacking, but I'm happy to say that that changed over the weekend, thanks to a new DVD workout.

This workout acts as a sequel to Breathless Body: The Ultimate Calorie Burn, which I haven't tried yet, but fully intend to (at the time I ordered The Edge, Ultimate Calorie Burn was out of stock).

What's so beautiful about The Edge? Quite a few things, my friends, quite a few things.

NO EQUIPMENT! Yep, that's right. All you need is a bit of space and a good attitude.

Dudes welcome. I'll spare my rant on the importance of gender neutrality in the fitness industry for another day and simply say this: Guys, don't let the image of a gal in pink put you off; you'll benefit from fast-paced body-weight cardio routines too! In fact, there's even a guy present in the video, performing the advanced moves, making the workout more inclusive.

Great for ALL fitness levels! Many of the DVDs I use tend to be for those who are already at an intermediate-to-advanced fitness level. But The Edge provides modifications for all three levels of fitness, so beginners can definitely join in on the fun.

The workout itself works in rounds. For each round, you perform three moves. Each move is performed for 30 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of recovery; you then repeat the sequence two more times for a total of three sets per round.

Before each round, Amy gives you a quick explanation of which moves will be performed, including the beginner, intermediate and advanced versions. There's a different exerciser performing each modification, making it easy to follow along to your preferred fitness level. What I love about multi-level modifications is that I could try the advanced moves when I wanted to push myself or mix in the beginner/intermediate moves when I needed a bit of recovery, without coming to a complete stop.

Most of the moves are plyometric in nature, but remember, if high intensity jumping isn't your thing, refer to the beginner and intermediate modifiers for safer alternatives. Think tuck jumps, squat thrusts, single-leg hops, split lunges and variations on jumping jacks. Twelve different moves may not sound like much, but the goal is to push yourself during each of those 30 second intervals; once you start repeating the sets, the recovery time seems shorter and shorter!

There are four rounds plus an extra round called "The Finisher". During the finishing round, you perform ALL of the previously completed moves, 30 seconds each, WITHOUT any breaks in between. It makes for a tough six minutes, but finishing strong is always the way to go.

Including warm-up and cool-down, the entire workout is just shy of 55 minutes, but trust me- the time flies by thanks to the interval format.

I'm always hesitant when trying a new DVD for the first time because I wonder if I'll fall behind trying to keep up with complicated choreography and poor cues. NOT the case with The Edge. Amy's instruction and cuing is some of the best I've seen so far! None of the moves are too complicated, so you can count on getting an intense, sweaty workout the first time through.

The Edge has quickly become my new favorite cardio workout; I'm looking forward to taking a break from the treadmill! It's simple to follow, provides different modifications to keep you moving (and motivated!), goes by fast, and leaves you with a rush of endorphins (and puddles of sweat) to make you feel just plain awesome when it's over. I'm officially an Amy Dixon fan now and look forward to trying her other releases.

Hows and Whats: No S and BodyPump at home!

Well, if you've read this blog with any sort of consistency, you've probably gathered that I have a bit of diet and exercise ADD. I can't let it bother me too much though, because I'm still in the ongoing phase of figuring out what works best for me, with regards to eating, working out and managing my weight. That said, let's see what I've been up to this month, shall we?

How I'm currently eating:

The No S Diet. I know, sounds like a fad, right? Those were my thoughts initially, until I scrolled through the website and saw how unbelievably simple it was: No Snacks, No Seconds and No Sweets, except on days that start with S. Three meals a day, five days a week. You can also make exception days as needed, for holidays and special occasions, so no need to ever feel guilty. And "No Sweets" is not to be confused with "No Sugar." It's not quite that strict, it's just a way of keeping consumption of Twinkies and the like down to a minimum.

I actually tried No S a while back, sometime in February/March and initially had good results. But once the numbers on the scale stopped moving, I panicked, stopped watching my diet altogether (this was around the same time we bought our house and moved), and eventually went back to what was familiar (calorie counting).

As you'll probably remember from my last post, I jumped on the SparkPeople wagon as part of returning to calorie counting. Well, once again, the numbers started to make me anxious, I would overeat, then overexercise and/or skip meals to try and keep my calories balanced. This was not fun, at all.

So far, No-S has made the most sense and has required the least amount of work and stress. I don't do well with Intuitive Eating; it sounds great on paper, but once I put it into practice, I find myself snacking more, thinking about food constantly and justifying not-so-healthy foods more often than I normally would. With No S, I have just the right amount of discipline and don't have to stress as much about indulging on the weekends, which is when I tend to crave treats anyway. It allows me to work with my desire to indulge, instead of constantly working against it.

I re-started No S at the beginning of this month, and so far, I'm doing well. And to prevent a relapse like last time, I'm reminding myself to have much more patience. The weight will come off slower than it would otherwise with excessive precise restriction, but I'll be more likely to keep the loss off.

It's been quite a relief; this is the closest I've felt to being a "normal" eater. I'm still eating healthy, balanced meals during the week and with each "free" weekend, I'm enjoying treats, but noticing I can be satisfied with less and less, as each weekend goes by. Some things just aren't as appealing as they once were, which leaves more room for better quality meals and desserts. But if I happen to cave into a slice of grocery-store birthday cake, it's still no big whoop.

I know it probably just sounds like another one of my phases, but I'm continuing to give it a genuine effort, as I'd like to finally settle into a way of eating that helps me achieve weight-loss (without hating myself) and can be maintained for the rest of my life.

I'm still using SparkPeople for support and to track my days of sticking with No-S. There's even a No-S Spark Team for additional discussion and encouragement.

If it's something you think you might be interested in, just reading the information on the website should be enough. I borrowed the book from the library and while it was a good read, it just went into more detail about the developing history of the snack industry (how we got fatter as they got richer), the effects of excessive sugar on the body (which, we can agree isn't good for anyone), and how seconds jack up our portion control and mess with our hunger/fullness cues. There's also a discussion board on the website, should you have any additional questions.

SO. That's where I'm at with eating. And it feels pretty damn good. But what makes me feel even better?

What I'm Currently Loving:

Les Mills Pump at-home workout system. Oh. My. God. In a word, obsessed. I tried a BodyPump class in-person ages ago and loved it, but the class schedule never worked for me, so it remained unrequited love... Until now!

When I heard there would be a BodyPump at-home system, I was skeptical. Will it be as challenging as the class? How broke will it make me? Will I get sick of it?

So far, YES, it is as challenging as the class! And as with any weight-training workout, you just need to continue to add weight to your bar to increase your fitness level. Great instructors with near-perfect cueing and the beat-driven music makes it easier to keep your reps consistent. Most challenging tracks for me so far? During the Pump & Shred disc, the lunges are pretty rough, as is the chest track. After doing what feels like a million chest presses, Joel makes you jump to the floor and bust out push-ups; ultimate muscle burnout!

Next, the cost. Always an area of concern, especially when considering big packaged deals from Beachbody. Luckily, you can try it for a trial period at a discounted price. Since I already own the smaller type of barbell that's used in the workouts, I just needed the DVDs, so off to eBay I went. I would definitely look into eBay as an option first and do some comparison shopping for the barbell; you might be able to save quite a bit of cash. It ended up being more than I usually spend on workout DVDs (I think my eBay deal came out to about $20/disc), but I was in a fitness rut and desperate to try something new that I could actually grow to love. And I definitely love it something fierce!

I've been doing 3-4 of the DVDs for about 3 weeks now and haven't gotten sick of it at all. I just love the pace and the challenge so much that I have to force myself to take rest or cross-training days! So far, my favorite disc is Pump & Shred. It's 45 minutes and leaves my muscles shaking and dripping with sweat every time. Pump & Burn is my next favorite, as it's about 30 minutes long and perfect for mornings where I'm short on time, but still want a challenge.

Results so far? I'm down almost 3% body fat! And I was able to increase my weight load this morning, so I know I'm getting stronger, which is awesome. My upper body is finally making progress! I can't say enough about how great I think this system is; to find something that gives awesome results AND is actually kinda fun is, well, pretty damn rare for me.

I'd like to do more of a detailed review, but a) I haven't tried all of the discs yet and b) Fit Bottomed Girls already did a pretty good job of hashing out the details.

All in all, I can say that July is shaping up to be one of the better months I've experienced in a while, in terms of eating habits and exercise. I'm much more at ease with food, thanks to No S and my body is loving the Pump workouts. Feeling both lean and strong at the same time is the ultimate confidence boost.

I plan to check in again within the next few weeks to follow up on my progress, both with No S and Pump. I also have the Insanity Workout System on order (thanks again, eBay!), so I'm looking forward to sharing that experience as well.

Hope everyone's summer is going well!

Hows and Whats.

Haven't done one of these posts in a while, so here it goes!

How I'm Currently Sweating:

I checked this DVD out from the library over the weekend, and I must say, bravo Jillian! Although I'm quite the JM devotee, I haven't necessarily been buying her recent DVDs right away because some of them just haven't been a good fit for me. Luckily, the library has been pretty awesome about keeping their selection up-to-date, so I've been able to preview releases and save some money.

But this disc? Yeah, definitely buying it. There are three 20-minute workouts, each with its own focus (upper-body, lower-body, and abs). Each one gets my heart-rate up pretty fast, so I'm able to break a good sweat in a short amount of time. And since each workout is shorter, I've been doing two of them back-to-back because I friggin' love kickboxing and can say it's one of the few workouts I genuinely enjoy. On a day that I have more time, I'll try to do all three workouts at once.

The DVD is best suited for intermediate-to-advanced fitness levels. There is a separate tutorial though, so beginners looking for a challenge may find this useful. I say "may" because while it's helpful to learn some of the basic moves, the workouts are still pretty high-impact with very few modifications.

All three workouts include a fast-paced mix of punches and kicks. The upper-body segment uses dumbbells to perform moves like rows and shoulder presses. In the lower-body workout, lunges and squats are added. For abs, Jillian mixes in sit-ups, bicycle crunches and cardio moves like burpees and mountain climbers, which also work the stomach.

Even with the tutorial, the choreography is still tricky and fast-paced, with Jillian providing little-to-no time for you to learn each circuit, some of them more complicated than others. I think in general, kickboxing workouts are always a bit frustrating the first time through, for these reasons. But I know the more I do the DVD, the easier the choreography will become. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't keep moving, so that encouraged me to give it more than one try.

What I'm Currently Loving:

Oh, SparkPeople. Before I blab on and on about why I'm loving this site, I should probably provide some background info...

First of all, yes, I'm back to calorie-counting. Despite my best (and let's be frank, shitty) efforts to lose some regained weight, tracking the details of my intake is really the only tried-and-true method I've found to be successful.

That said, I wasn't always on the SparkPeople bandwagon. When I first started Weight Watchers all those years ago, I was simultaneously tracking calories as well on The Daily Plate (now known as Livestrong's MyPlate). I always preferred the Daily Plate because their tracker was just so much more simple to use and I always found myself feeling overwhelmed with the features on SparkPeople.

Well, now that I'm re-committing to weight-loss and because the popularity of SP has since grown, I decided it was time to give it another shot and fully embrace all of the site's features, beyond simply calorie-counting.

You see, when I lost those 90 pounds originally, I was a lot more engaged in a few online communities for extra support. I don't think it's a coincidence that when I chose to stop participating in those supportive communities, the weight started to come back on and I struggled to take it off again. So, off to SP I went. Right away, I started browsing the message boards, member blogs and available SparkTeams. Within my first week, I was contributing to discussions, signing up for team challenges and even added a few friends to help encourage each other and offer support during tough times.

I get it now. I get why this site is so successful and why so many people have joined. Yes, I have great friends, family, Doug and my dog Randal, but not everyone I know is willing to hear me blab about weight and food and exercise for 1-2 hours every day (ok, well maybe the dog will listen, but you know what I mean). That's just the truth. And it's not a bad thing, it just needs to be pointed out that being successful in weight-loss sometimes requires a special kind of support that only those trying to achieve the same goals can relate to. I'm sure this is "duh" information for some of you, but it's an aspect of progress I've been ignoring for far too long.

Anywho, the outcome from all of this? I'm down 5 pounds so far, I've reduced my weekend overeating significantly, I've participated in some good discussions and most of all, I haven't felt like I'm struggling because I'm reminded every time I log in to SP, I'm not alone. It's okay to admit you need cheerleaders along the way and it's equally gratifying to cheer on others as well. I was feeling like an absolute failure for gaining back some of the weight (a hard pill to swallow, lemme tell you), but instead of wallowing in my own despair and losing/gaining the same 10 pounds over and over again, I've found it much more productive to, as Bob Harper says, "trust the process," and open myself up to connect with others with similar goals and backgrounds.

And that, dear readers, is all I have to say about that. Here's to hoping my renewed commitment will translate into more blog updates! Hope everyone is having a great week.

Bob Harper: Ultimate Cardio Body

Time for another DVD review! Although it was released earlier this year, I just now got around to snagging a copy of this ass-kicker:

I find it kind of twisted that I did this DVD twice in the first week I got it and am looking forward to doing it again this weekend. Yes, it's tough. However, Bob pushes you *just* enough to where you're burning and droppin' f-bombs, but still able to finish the interval (barely, in my case).

I found that this particular DVD is like a hybrid of his Pure Burn Super Strength and Body Rev Cardio Conditioning workouts. I personally liked this, because while I love (and hate) both of those DVDs, I find it hard to motivate myself to take them on separately since they're both a little over an hour.

With Ultimate Cardio Body, Bob does get you sweating with standard cardio moves (jumping jacks, high-knees, skaters, mountain climbers and the like), but what really pushes you closer to OMG-I'm-Gonna-Die territory is his use of weighted strength moves performed at a moderate-to-fast pace with basically no breaks in between. I'm noticing that more "cardio" workouts are doing this these days and I absolutely love it. I think using light/medium weights in circuit-style workouts is a fantastic alternative to separate cardio and lifting workouts. Burning fat and building muscle in the same session? Oh, hell yes.

Some examples of those moves: Squat jumps and split lunges (a.k.a. jumping lunges) WITH dumbbells in each hand. I've probably done thousands of squat jumps in my life, but adding extra weight makes that move incredibly challenging. And it doesn't end there; with both of these plyometric moves, Bob makes you do isometric holds in between (don't ever let his smile and good looks fool you- the man is clearly a sadist).

While the workout is heavy on lower-body training, Bob also incorporates some basic upper-body work as well with push-ups, planks, shoulder presses, bicep curls and lateral raises. While standard moves, Bob increases the intensity and makes you perform more isometric holds to push your muscles almost to the point of failure. Going from push-ups to plank to mountain climbers (all back-to-back with no break, mind you) made my arms and shoulders weep.

Toward the end of the session, Bob pushes you to finish strong by performing more agility-type moves like single-leg hops, jumps (as if you were shooting a basketball) and sprint-runs in place.

U.C.B. also includes a separate Glutes workout, but honestly, I haven't bothered trying it because there seems to be a lot of glute work in the main workout alone. If anyone's tried that, please share your thoughts in the comments!

Overall, this is a top-choice workout for me. Bob really does challenge all of your major muscle groups and the pace of the workout makes that hour fly by. And during the cool down stretch, when you're thinking about how beaten down you are, Bob makes some funny comments about his knee-high black socks. I must say, I appreciated a good chuckle at the end of a workout like that.

Definitely for intermediate/advanced levels only. There are a few modifications here and there, but not to the point where I would advise a beginner to give it a try. Another plus is that the only equipment you need is a couple sets of dumbbells. I used 5's and 8's on my first try.

Bottom line: This is one of the best total-body workouts I've ever done. Bob mastered the balance between cardio and strength training with this routine, so whether you're looking for a new cross-training option or something to break your plateau, U.C.B. has got you covered!

Boot camp, baby!

It's been a while since I've blabbed about a fitness DVD, but I couldn't seem to go another day without praising my new favorite: Jeanette Jenkins' Bikini Boot Camp!



I first learned about Jeanette through the Nike Training Club App after unlocking her bonus ab workout. After that, I got curious and started to browse her DVD releases. After reading some reviews, I decided to give Bikini Boot Camp a try.

First, I'll cut to the chase and say: This workout is NOT for beginners! In fact, I think even intermediate and advanced exercisers will find this one tough to keep up with.

The basic format of the workout is a warm-up, a cardio camp (about 27 minutes), a strength/toning camp (about 25 minutes), an ab camp (about 10 minutes) and finally, stretching & cool down. You can do each camp individually or all together.

Don't let the girlishness of the word "bikini" fool you- the cardio camp is no joke! It's very athlete-driven, starting with some basic moves (jumping jacks, high knees, etc.), but then quickly transitions ("quickly" being a key word here) to kick boxing, plyometrics and sport drills one might do in volleyball, basketball and football (shuffling, overhead spikes, mixed jump rope routines, etc.)

While the cardio camp is under 30 minutes, Jeanette does not let up for a single second; there are 5 circuits, all of them repeated about 2-3 times with no breaks. While her cuing and pace are both steady, she doesn't really pause to show you how to perform the move, so it's up to the viewer to really pay attention and keep up. None of the moves are terribly complicated, but if you're expecting a lot of explanation beforehand, it simply isn't there.

The strength/toning camp moves at a slightly slower pace with a couple of breaks, but because most of the moves are compound exercises (working more than one muscle group at the same time), your heart rate will stay up and you'll definitely start to feel the burn all over.

This routine starts off with push-ups and plank exercises and then moves on to using dumbbells with lots of variations on lunges, squats, arm curls and extensions. One move that was new to me was plie squats performed while standing on the tips of the toes- hello calf muscles! Many of the moves also involve balancing on one leg, which I found really challenged my core muscles.

Finally, there's the ab camp. Nothing particularly spectacular here; just a lot of crunches (with the added weight from a dumbbell), bicyles and leg raises that will set your stomach on fire for almost 10 minutes. Y'know, the usual.

I've done this DVD twice now and I think I may be addicted, despite how incredibly tough it is. The first time, I did the entire DVD, all of the camps in order. This morning, I skipped the ab camp and changed up the order, doing the strength camp first, then the cardio camp. I'm sure it depends on the person, but I found doing the strength camp first was a little bit easier to get through. The cardio is just so tough that trying to get through resistance training immediately afterward was a little too much of an ass-kicker for me. Plus, I think my form was better in the strength camp since my muscles were still fresh and not completely spent from all of the plyometric work in cardio camp.

This DVD was a little pricier than what I usually spend on fitness DVDs (Collage Video actually has the cheaper price; Amazon wants almost $40- yeah right!), but so far, it's proven to be worth every penny. It's provided the type of muscle confusion I've needed lately and goes by pretty fast. Plus, the only equipment you need is some dumbbells (I used a set of 5's and a set of 8's). If you're looking for a great total body workout, Bikini Boot Camp delivers a solid challenge that will leave you soaked and sore (in a good way, of course). You've got a new fan, Jeanette!

Plyo Challenge Update.

So, I stayed true to my word and busted out the Plyo Challenge Workout I posted about last week.

Verdict? GREAT workout!

It was definitely an ass-kicker, but not so hard that I couldn't finish. I actually thought it was really fun! Maybe I was just in a good mood that morning, but I genuinely enjoyed that routine. I think I was starting to get bored with my usual cardio and this combination of exercises woke my body UP!

Including a 5 minute warm-up, I finished the whole workout in about 50 minutes and burned a little over 450 cals! Considering there were quite a few body-resistance moves mixed in throughout, I think that's a pretty good burn for that amount of time. Speaking of time, it went by fast! That definitely motivated me to keep going until the end.

There's still some lingering soreness in my upper body, but nothing debilitating. As for equipment, the main things I didn't use were the barbell, bosu ball and stability ball. I tried to do the stability ball move in the last round, but my core couldn't hack it, haha. It was kind of pathetic. Oh well. Something to work toward!

Completing this workout really reminded me how important variety is when sticking to a regular fitness routine. I'm prone to being a creature of habit, so I'm going to make it a point to try a new workout each week, be it a new DVD, online video or a custom routine of my own.

How do you keep your fitness routine fresh and challenging? What types of resources to you use? Do you often find yourself getting stuck in a workout rut?

While I'm enjoying new workouts, my love for running is currently on a downswing. Kind of regret signing up for the 5K next month, but I'll stick it out, I suppose.

Other than that, I've just been trying to tone up and lose some of last year's regained weight (currently down 8 out of 20 pounds!) and studying for the ACE exam. Moving through the first couple of chapters pretty smoothly, but probably won't schedule my exam for a another few weeks.

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

Hows and Whats.

Hello, dear readers! Time for another rendition of my current Hows and Whats.

How I'm Sweating:

I canceled my gym membership last month to save some money. I thought I might regret the decision, but it's actually been a blessing in disguise because it's forced me to change up my routines week-to-week. I've been reconnecting with my old Tae-Bo roots by busting out some of the advanced VHS tapes. I don't care much for most of the recent Tae-Bo DVDs because the routines are too complicated with inconsistent levels of intensity. The old tapes (the first Advanced tape in the series and the advanced 'Get Ripped' tapes) are loaded with the basic kicks and punches I first fell in love with all of those years ago. Great cardio option, obviously.

But I haven't been stuck in the 90s this whole time; I've also fallen in love with this little gem:

Cathe Friedrich's STS Shock Cardio: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
My feedback on this DVD is a little premature because it has 3 different workouts (30/30, 40/20 and Double Wave Pyramid) and so far I've only tried one (the 30/30 routine; 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest). But oh my goodness, tough, touGH, TOUGH!. Definitely for intermediate/advanced users. There really isn't anything 'beginner' about this DVD. Each routine is around 30 minutes, including the warm-up and cool down.

From what I've gathered on the Amazon reviews, two of the workouts use The Step and The High Step. Only one of the routines is equipment-free. I own both of these types of steps, but if you don't, this is obviously a big downfall. For the moves that do use a step, Cathe doesn't provide any non-step modifications. That's not to suggest that you couldn't try making up your own, but I would imagine it would be a bit tricky and might not be as intense.

LOTS of plyometrics involved. Plyo-jacks, squat thrust jumps (think burpees) and high-knees. There are also some kicking/punching moves and 180 squat jumps using the step. There is little-to-no instruction on the moves, so having prior knowledge of them (by way of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism DVDs, for example) and being a quick learner is a great help.

My only prior experience with HIIT routines was primarily at the gym, doing sprint intervals on the treadmill, elliptical or stair master. Relying on your own body (and occasionally, The Step) is a different beast entirely. I start sweating instantly, my heart rate is super high (but not omg-I'm-having-a-heart-attack-and-might-die high), I'm out of breath and my nose even starts running. Kinda lame that I have to have some tissues nearby when I do this workout, but that's just the way it is, haha. Although this DVD is ridiculously challenging to get through, I feel incredible afterward. Probably one of the best endorphin rushes I've experienced in my history of exercising!

This is my first Cathe Friedrich video, but it certainly won't be the last. She's motivating, straightforward and experienced, all of which make for a great instructor. Plus, she has a wide selection of DVDs that use The Step, so her workouts will be a nice change from my Jari Love routines (which I still love, by the way).

What I'm Currently Listening To:

I don't always have my finger on the pulse of who's "the next big thing" in music, be it Top 40 or indie, but in any case, Cloud Nothings is one of a few bands rocking my world this month.



How I'm Shopping for Fitness DVDs:

I may be behind the times on this one, but one of my new favorite sites is Collage Video. This is pretty much the best site ever when looking for new fitness DVDs. You can filter results by trainer, level (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and even type of equipment used. It's so, so beautiful, especially now that I'm gym-free and will be working out at home more.

The big selling point for me was being able to search by level of intensity. I was able to see how some of the DVDs I already own are rated, in terms of being beginner, advanced, etc., so picking new challenging DVDs is much easier than just winging it on Amazon. The prices on Collage on higher though, so I simply use their site to search and then buy new choices for much less on Amazon. I love the Internet.

I'm skipping the "What I'm Currently Eating" section today because there's not anything terribly exciting I'm eating everyday. But, I have some pretty cool food-related experiments coming up in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for some new recipes! Hope everyone's week is going well!

Hows and Whats.

I have a lot of stuff I want to talk about today and thought it would be fun to combine the topics into one post, my current Hows and Whats.


HOW I'm currently sweating:



Personal Training With Jackie: Xtreme Timesaver Training
It's been far too long since Ms. Warner has put out a new DVD and her Power Circuit Training DVD left me anxiously waiting for more. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment.

I must admit- I had this DVD sitting in my living room for about 5 days before I actually tried it. Jackie Warner + "Xtreme" = apprehension. But this morning, I put on my big girl pants and finally gave it a try. The verdict? Love it.

Back-to-back circuits of compound exercises quickly raise your heart rate and constantly challenge your muscles. (Check out this great Amazon review for a detailed list of all the moves!)

Since the pace of the Power Circuit DVD was so fast, I was worried that that was going to be the case with Xtreme. Not so much. While there is a general steady pace to the workout, Jackie seems to be more focused performing the moves properly and with full range of motion. This causes you to work harder because you're recruiting more muscles not only for strength, but for balance as well. The pacing of the reps and the compound moves create a unique cardio effect, without having to do typical cardio moves like jumping jacks or running in place. And of course, you get a good strength training workout as well; some of the moves were so new and challenging for me that I had to brush the dust off of my 3 lb. set!

In short, love this workout (you can't beat 30 minutes), love Jackie and loved how I felt afterward!



WHAT I'm currently reading:



LL Cool J's Platinum 360 Diet and Lifestyle: A Full-Circle Guide to Developing Your Mind, Body, and Soul.

I checked this book out at the library mostly for kicks, but also just out of plain curiosity. LL obviously knows a thing or two about maintaining a great physique, so I wanted to learn a bit more about his approach.

The first part of the book is really just about taking some time to clear your mind and learn to love yourself before picking up a dumbbell or chopping a tomato. LL wants you to cultivate the mental strength necessary for building a better body. He explains why you're worth the effort and how to create more positive vibes within yourself and the people around you. I was caught off guard by how honest and solid his advice was. Some of what he had to say may have been a bit simplified or maybe even a bit preachy, but overall, it made sense and I appreciated what he had to say.

The second part of the book is all about working out. I have to say, I really didn't pay much attention to this part of the book because the majority of the exercises are restricted to machines at the gym. Not a bad thing if you have a gym membership of course, but I was hoping there would have been more at-home routines and there simply weren't any. For what it's worth, this section did emphasize the importance of weight training and proper form. The workout plan also includes cardio, both high-intensity and lower-intensity. For cardio, LL suggests using the treadmill, bike or elliptical. Pretty standard advice, but effective nonetheless.

The final section is about nutrition. LL's diet plan is essentially a carb-cycling plan, something I'm familiar with and have tried in the past. If your ultimate goal is to lose weight within a specific time frame (in the case of the book, 8 weeks), this may be a plan to consider. After looking through his sample meals and recipes, there's nothing dangerous or strange about what he advises you to eat... Lots of lean protein, healthy fat (from nuts, avocado and olive oil), unlimited vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy, beans and whole grains. He also wants you to stick with 3 meals and 3 snacks (mid morning, afternoon and a pre-bedtime protein snack so you don't go to bed hungry), each day.

The idea behind LL's carb-cycling plan is that you gradually reduce the amount of carbs you eat throughout the week and then replenish with a "cheat" meal (yeah, I kinda hate using that word) Saturday night and have a carb "refuel" day on Sunday. One aspect of his plan that I respected is that even on "low carb" days, you still can eat carbs like oatmeal or brown rice. The main goal, as with most successful nutrition plans, is to eliminate processed foods and refined sugars. I can dig it.

Personally, I haven't followed his plan as it's written because I simply have no interest. However, the recipes and sample meal/snack ideas are right up my alley and that brings me to...


WHAT I'm currently eating:
Protein Pancakes. I can't get enough of them. Perfect breakfast. I got the idea from LL's breakfast recipes. This is the version I've been using:

• 3 egg whites (or 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites)
• 1 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• dash of salt
• Splenda to taste (or sweetener of choice)
• cinnamon

That's the basic mix. Whisk together a cook in a pan as you would a pancake. (I like to pour all the mix into the pan at once so I end up with a giant plate-sized pancake.) I've added different mix-ins like blueberries, pumpkin and bananas & walnuts. I think the banana-walnut combo is my favorite so far. Serve with syrup and enjoy! Definitely packed with protein and relatively low in calories, depending on your choice of protein powder and mix-ins.

That's all for today- hope you enjoyed this edition of Hows and Whats!

Bob Harper- Pure Burn, Super Strength.

Alright folks, time for another DVD review from Bob Harper's Inside Out Method. After taking a stab at his intense Cardio Conditioning workout, I must admit, I was a little hesitant to try the full-hour strength workout.

My verdict? Another intense, muscle-challenging session! Because this is a weight and resistance-based workout, it seems to move at a somewhat more manageable pace than the cardio conditioning DVD, but that's not to suggest that it won't get your heart rate up, burn out your muscles and leave you panting. Below are some of the moves ("some" is the keyword here, people):

• weighted squats
• wide rows
• deadlifts
• push-ups
• bicep curls/shoulder press
• shoulder combo (front raise, lateral raise, "pinky-up" raise)
• down and outs w/ weights (squat thrusts performed with dumbbells in hands, some with push-ups in between, then an added jump at the top)
• plank rows
• single arm flies in a squat position
• lunges (single side, alternating sides w/ dumbbell in both hands, jumping alternating sides w/ dumbbell)
• matrix lunges
• tricep work (extensions and skull crushers)
• ab work (crunches)
• T-stance (in plank with dumbbells, alternate raising each arm while working into a "T" position)
• T-stance with push-up in between arm raises
• plank with knees to elbows, alternating sides (bring knee up toward elbow of same side, then return to plank, repeating move on other side. eventually increase speed.)

For a more complete list, I'd highly recommend checking out this Amazon review; she does a better job than me of listing all of the moves in order, both for the full hour workout and the shorter beginner's workout.

Probably the two most memorable moves for me were the down & outs and the T-stances, particularly when Bob instructs you to add push-ups in between. Definitely dropped some F-bombs during those intervals. He's also a fan of making you do isometric holds of different moves, usually while in squat position or holding up your dumbbells. Sadist.

Another tricky move that I had never tried before was going into a lunge and passing my dumbbell back and forth between both hands, reaching underneath my front leg. Bob said the point of this move was to ensure proper form and he's right. You pretty much have to perfect your lunge, otherwise the passing of the dumbbell will get messy.

It seemed like Bob provided better instruction throughout this video, compared to the cardio one. Probably because using weights demands proper form. He has different assistants this time, but still has two girls and one guy. Helen, who does not have the typical body of someone who has had four kids, performs all of the advanced moves. The woman is a machine. And my new hero. As with the last DVD, everyone is sweating, panting, groaning and not always smiling. Even the other girl who performs the easier/modified moves looks like she wants to cry or scream from time to time. I must be just as much of a sadist as Bob, because I kind of found joy in seeing that, haha.

Deciding how much weight to use was a little tricky for me... I've gotten spoiled with my Jari Love workouts, where each person's weight amount is usually displayed during each interval. Bob mentions using up to 12 lb. dumbbells, but kind of leaves it at that. It's also assumed that Bob and his assistants use the same weight amount during the whole workout, but that wasn't going to fly for me. I found myself bouncing back and forth between 5 lb. weights and my slightly-more-than-8 lb. metal dumbbells. During the shoulder raise combo, I stuck to my 5 lbs. because the isometric holds were murder. I think even 3 lb. weights would be challenging during that segment.

So, overall, another good DVD. I think I'll always prefer Jari Love for my strength training, but I appreciated the variety of moves Bob offered in this workout. It got my heart rate up a lot higher than I expected, made me sweat tons and provided a lot of moves that challenged my upper body, a current area of weakness for me.

After trying 2 of the 4 DVDs so far, I can say that if you're looking for a "fun" workout, this set probably isn't for you. I've found myself having to get motivated to do these workouts because there's nothing happy and cheerful about them. These workouts are strictly about building and maintaining a high level of fitness. If you're looking for a no-nonsense, let's-get-down-to-business kind of workout, you can't go wrong with Bob and this series. Out of all the fitness DVDs I own (and there are quite a few, trust me), this set has felt most like what I'd imagine a workout with a personal trainer would be like, simply because of the function and variety of moves presented.

And because Bob has both males and females working alongside him, it becomes clear that his workouts aren't about "getting that bikini bod" or "bulking up;" they're simply about getting a fit, healthy, strong body. He recognizes that you have to work hard to get in good shape; no gimmicks, no short cuts and no "10 minute workouts." (He even says at some point that a 10 minute work out is a warm-up, which made me laugh because he's pretty much right.)

Although Bob makes me cuss in frustration and sweat to the point where my sweat band can't absorb another drop, I feel like a bit of a warrior when that cool down rolls around. I'm definitely feeling stronger and more capable of physical challenges. Any serious fitness DVD collection isn't complete without the Inside Out Method.

Balls out with Bob.

Probably not the best title for this post, but that's really the only thing coming to mind right now. I finally ordered the complete collection of Bob Harper's Inside Out Method. I had been eying this set for a long time and decided I couldn't wait any longer to try it.

First, let me say, even if you're NOT a fan of "The Biggest Loser," please still consider trying these workouts. The level of intensity blew me away this morning. Literally.

The first DVD I wanted to try was:



Body Rev Cardio Conditioning

This disc has two options: The full, one-hour workout or a condensed 25 minute workout, which is recommended for beginners. I put on my big-girl pants and decided to go for the full hour. I must admit, after watching some of the trailers, I was a little nervous. And looking back, I had every right to be, because this. Was. HARD.

It started out innocently enough, with some dynamic stretching and some basic punching moves. Then, you're instructed to pick up a dumbbell (I grabbed one that's slightly more than 8 lbs) and start moving into deadlifts with rows. Wait, time out! Strength training? I thought this was a cardio workout? Well, be patient. The deadlift rows transition into squats with arm swings, which I later learned is a common move that you come back to as an active recovery between the crazier moves. So what are some of those crazy moves, exactly?

• Squat Jumps (still holding the dumbbell, plus some isometric holds)
• Walk-outs (walking down into a push-up and back)
• Mountain Climbers (instead of taking a break in between sets, he makes you do push-ups AND hold in plank position!)
• Jumping Jacks (both with and without dumbbells)
• Jump Rope (with dumbbells)
• More squats (both at regular and pulsing paces)
• Fast Feet (these eventually lead into jump twists a.k.a. 180-jumps)
• More Walk-outs with an added jump
• Scorpion Push-Ups (this was definitely a "WTF?" moment for me... From a push-up position, you lift one leg up high, shift it toward the opposite side and then do a push-up. Um. Yeah.)
• Squats with Knee Raises
• Speed Skaters
• Tuck Jumps
• Various standing ab moves

That's not even a complete list, people. You just keep going. And going. And going some more. As I mentioned before, you regularly come back to the strength moves introduced in the beginning and those are pretty much the closest things you'll get to a break. Technically, there is a "water break," but it doesn't come until the last third of the workout and lasts for only a few seconds. Then, you're back to the grind. You get to see a sadistic side of Bob in this workout, clearly.

As far as the instruction goes, I think Bob could've done a slightly better job in describing form. Although, this workout pretty much dives in at an intermediate-to-advanced level, so if you're still learning proper form on things like squats, deadlifts and push-ups, you may want to train in those areas a little bit more beforehand. Also, it would've been nice to see Bob doing more of the workout himself, instead of just instructing/watching his 3 assistants (two girls, one guy).

I also found myself kind of irritated with how the assistants were regularly out of sync, even with Bob's cues, but then Bob straight up tells you not to focus on their pace and to just pay attention to your own performance. I agree, but it would still be nice to look up and see some consistency.

One thing I loved was seeing the assistants drip with sweat, run out of breath and sometimes, flat out stop because they're just plain tired. It was refereshing to see the people on the screen struggling to get through an interval just as much as me! I get discouraged sometimes when I'm doing a DVD, sweating my ass off and trying to catch my breath, only to see some chick smiling back at me with her make-up still in place. The people in this DVD are definitely working hard and not always smiling and I personally appreciated that.

Overall, I was seriously impressed by this workout. It definitely lived up to my expectations, as far as delivering a high-intensity challenge. In all honesty, I could not keep up for all 60 minutes and really struggled to put forth 100% effort. But I view that as a positive because now I know I not only got my money's worth, but I also have a new level of fitness to work toward. Not that it needs to be said, but I was absolutely drenched after it was over, as if I had just ran 5 or 6 miles. Ridiculous (in a good way).

And that was just one DVD. I still have 3 others to try, haha. Bob hasn't scared me off quite yet, but he has made me a bit anxious. I read some of the reviews on Amazon for this workout and couldn't believe some people had the nerve to say this DVD was "long and boring." Um, seriously? First of all, it says right on the DVD that the first workout is an hour, so there shouldn't be any surprises there. Secondly, I don't know what workout they were doing, but I didn't have time to get bored! Bob keeps you going non-stop, so my heart rate stayed elevated. I dunno about you, but I don't sweat buckets and drop the F-bomb multiple times when I'm bored.

As you can tell, I'm officially a fan and have no qualms telling you to go out and buy this already! The individual DVDs are trickling into Amazon for pre-order, but the best value (if you want all 4 DVDs like I did) is to order the full package available from Bob's store. Plus, you won't have to wait until October!

+/-

Quick recap of some pluses and minuses:

Plus: I made my first batch of almond butter this weekend! Vanilla-Honey flavored. I must say, I'm hooked. The process was so simple. Just roasted the almonds in the oven for about 10 minutes and threw them in the food processor for about another 10-12 minutes, adding a little bit of oil, vanilla extract and honey. Now I'm excited to mix up different flavors of peanut, pecan and walnut butters. After trying some of the almond butter, our housemate said he wanted his own jar for Christmas, so now I have a great gift idea!

Minus: I really, really don't like running right now. I know I bitched about it in my last post, but this morning's run didn't change my attitude. It just sucks because if I stop and take a break for a while, my performance won't improve, so when I am in the mood to run in the future, it'll just feel like a struggle all over again. Buh. I'm torn. I miss hitting the Runner's High every week, but I can't seem don't want to focus and push myself to get there. I dunno. Maybe I just need to get the bitching out of my system and move on. Two miles on Wednesday, four-miler on Saturday. It always sounds good in my head, but then I actually do it and everything (my attitude, mostly) goes to crap. Maybe I just need to start watching "the wall" scene from Run Fat Boy, Run every night before a morning run, for motivation.

Plus: BodyPump is being offered on the weekends now! Wheeeee! Saturdays at 8 am and Sundays at 9 am. Perfect. I'm so excited. I haven't been since that first preview class back in June because the schedule sucked. But now, I can get back in the game!

Plus: My new Jari Love Ripped to the Core DVD is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Seriously, this woman can do no wrong in my eyes. I was worried this workout would be similar to some of the other ones I've done, but I was wrong. The theme of this DVD is compound exercises, so you're working multiple muscle groups simultaneously (i.e., side squats with lateral raises, wide squats with upright rows, bent-leg deadlifts with bicep curls, etc.). Each interval is about 5 minutes and the entire workout is just over an hour, so I got worked over pretty damn hard. New move that killed me? Superman Planks. This was during the ab section toward the end. I've done plank and I've done supermans on my stomach, but combining the two? Tough stuff. You get into plank and lift opposing legs and arms at the same time. Maybe I'm a wuss, but I found it to be a challenge. And as a "hardcore" option, the dude in the back was doing the move while elevating his feet on the aerobic step, so he was at an angle, challenging his upper body strength even more. Crazy.

I may be in a running funk, but I'm definitely not in a strength training funk, thanks to Jari. Between my collection of Jari DVDs (I'm up to 6 now!) and the upcoming BodyPump classes, I just can't seem to stop being stoked about lifting. It's hands-down the hardest training I've ever done, but I love it and look forward to it just about every day. Coming from the same gal who used to avoid strength training like the plague, I think that's quite an accomplishment, heh.

Luckily, I can't think of any more minuses, so I suppose that's all for today. Later, kids!

Is it Fall yet?

Apparently, it's August already. Yeesh. This summer has flown by, but with the heat lately, that's totally fine by me. I'm over it.

New reads

Although time seems to be passing quickly these days, I still managed to read a new book this week:



My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World, by Jeff Garlin.
I'm a big Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, but what really drew me to this book was the fact that Garlin opened up about his eating disorder. I know eating disorders are also prevalent in men, not just women, but I had yet to really read a man's account of what it's like to struggle with a food addiction. And really, after reading this book, the struggle is still the same, regardless of gender.

It wasn't the best written book, but it still tugged at my heart strings occasionally and of course, because he's a comedian, I definitely had my share of chuckles. I also learned a bit about going green too, because the other main theme of book is Garlin's decision to lower his carbon footprint while also tackling his food issues.

It's kind of grueling to read about his binges, lack of support, well-intentioned but misguided "new starts" and seeing the cycle repeat itself. There were so many times I just wanted to hug him, shake him and give him advice because his experience was similar to mine in a lot of ways.

The ending, which I won't give away, was unexpected, but still really inspiring. Because the final message was so full of realism, it really resonated with me. I got my copy from the library and finished in a about a day, so if you're looking for a quick read, you might want to check it out.

10K Training

I'm still plugging along with my training schedule. Just finished week 2 this morning. Running is hard. Since I've started this program, I must admit, I've yet to have a good run. I've got a lot of mental blocks that keep coming up and it's having an effect on my progress. Essentially, I'm comparing my current running self to my old, much faster running self. I keep getting caught up in my speed and think "Shit, I'm going so slow! I was so much faster before! Why can't I go faster?" So instead of just focusing on running and finishing my distance, I'm getting distracted by these types of thoughts. I've wanted to throw in the towel on this training program about 3 or 4 times already, but I need to stick it out. Hopefully once I get into weeks 4 and 5, things will get better.

My days of comparing myself to other people are long gone, but comparing myself to, well, myself is just as bad, if not worse. I need to work on that. It took me a long time to build up my speed last year, so I can't expect to get back to that level in a matter of days. I can be quite impatient at times.

Other than that, life is pretty bitchin'. I've been slacking on food pics again, but hopefully I'll find some inspiration this week. I also got yet another Jari Love DVD which I plan on trying tomorrow, so a review of that will follow as well. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

BODYPUMP!

This morning, I got pumped...



...For BODYPUMP!
I'm a dork, I know this. Am I in love? Totally. Am I already sore and busted less than 2 hours later? Sigh. Unbelievably so. Tomorrow is gonna suck, haha. My arms and shoulders seem to be suffering the most, but I can also feel it in my back, calves and butt as well. Mission accomplished!

So, it's 60 minutes long and the basic breakdown goes like this:

• Warm-up
• Legs/Squats
• Chest
• Back/Gluteals/Hamstrings
• Triceps and Biceps
• Legs/Lunges
• Shoulders/Arms
• Abs
• Cooldown/stretch

Each track is about 5 minutes long and you take regular breaks in between to stretch and change out your weights. My favorites were the squat, back/gluteal/hamstring and bicep tracks. The back track is where we got to do deadlifts, rows and a clean & press. I kinda knew what a clean & press was via Jari Love DVDs, but it's a bit different with a barbell and it took me several tries before I could get the hang of it. Once I did though, it was a pretty fun move.

Triceps weren't my favorite, but they never are because my elbows always flare like a mo' fo'. In fact, there were a bunch of personal trainers walking around to check everyone's form and of course, dude came up to me and told me to bring my elbows in. I said, "Yeah, I know; my elbows flare like crazy." He agreed and said that was one of the hardest muscles to train.

Hands-down toughest track? Lunges. Holy burnout, Batman. I wanted to push hard and not stop (especially since a body-builder chick came by and started praising me on my form), but I had to flat out stop and just stand up straight a few times. I couldn't tell if it was the extra weight from the barbell, the high number of reps or the half-lunge pulsing moves that did me in... I'm gonna guess it was all of the above. The backs of my legs, my quads and butt cheeks were on fire.

The abs track wasn't too bad since it was mostly various crunches, but there was some plank work that I ended up doing on my knees a few times.

I of course was sweating like crazy, but felt pretty bad-ass when it was over. I officially need to start improving my upper body strength and my core. Those were the areas I struggled the most.

So that was BodyPump. The only downside? It's not (as of yet) going to be offered on the weekends. I guess this was just a "preview" session. So, so bummed. And according to the schedule, they're not bringing it back until after July 5th and the only night I'll be able to go is Thursdays at 6:30pm, after the 5:30pm Zumba class I usually go to. BUH! I'm definitely not doing both back-to-back and I loathe the idea of waiting that late in the evening to workout, but that may be my only option if I want to stick with it. I'm sure they'll add more classes later, but in the meantime, it's going to be pretty limited. Oh well. I'm just glad I finally got to experience it and see what all the hype was about. I'm officially a fan!

If you have a chance to check out a class near you, please do! It's pretty much the ultimate strength workout and I can't wait until I start seeing the results. Might just have to look into investing in a small barbell so I can get my fix at home, in between classes, heh.

Ten Steps to a Bigger and Thinner Life.

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to try Michelle Hastie's Ten Steps to a Bigger (and Thinner) Life weight-loss program. I first came across Michelle in an article she wrote for Divine Caroline called, "Tackle Your Food Fears," which piqued my interest, as I was just starting to learn the ropes of intuitive/mindful eating. I also started following her blog, and quickly learned that she's a personal trainer and weight-loss coach who discourages typical forms of dieting, self-hatred and extreme exercise and encourages self-love, balanced eating and appreciating your body's ability to move.

The program I reviewed is an extended version of this Ten Steps post on her blog, complete with audio/video files and homework sheets that provided an opportunity to apply what I learned in each step to my own issues with food and weight.

As for my criticisms of the format of the program, my only suggestion would be to include additional notes (either on the slides or on separate sheets) of the information provided in the audio track. There's a lot of great information that Michelle says that doesn't necessarily make it to the list of key points on the slides. If I heard something I felt was critical, I would pause the presentation and write it down, but it may be more helpful for others to have such information in a more accessible format. Other than that, I enjoyed listening to the step components in detail.

Let me just say, Michelle's program is like therapy in a box! Over the years, I've read my share of diet/weight-loss books, articles and magazines. Very few, if any, have dedicated a decent amount of time on trying to get you to sort out your personal issues and be happy with yourself first, before even trying to take on the task of losing weight. And that's exactly what Michelle's Ten Steps forced me to do. By taking notes on the information presented in the step slides and truthfully answering the questions she asked in the homework sheets, I found there were several issues and realities that I had refused to deal with, in the past and into this month. Because I allowed so many of my negative behaviors to persist and flourish, my issues with food and extra weight continued for years and into the present day.

I've read some self-help guides in the past and usually ignored the author when they assigned homework activities at the end of each chapter. Obviously, I didn't do myself any favors in ignoring those assignments. Why? Because I thought I had myself all figured out and that there wasn't any uncharted territory to discover, in terms of my emotions or self-knowledge. Well, if I had myself so figured out, why was I reading a self-help book in the first place?

Since Michelle's program isn't your typical rule book ("eat x calories/day, only eat foods off of this list, do x types of exercise for x minutes, most days of the week," etc.), I knew I needed to buckle down, focus and dig deep to answer the questions in the homework sheets. The information Michelle provided in the slides set me up (in a good way) to really think about all of the Why's in my life: Why did I gain weight? Why do I sometimes eat so fast? Why do I think negative things about myself when I look in the mirror?

Forming honest answers to these types of questions wasn't easy, but doing so was incredibly rewarding. In terms of food, activity and self-respect, life has seemed a lot more balanced this week than it has in a long time. There are still some issues I'm working on (self-criticism) and others I've happily kicked to the curb (recycling my role as "the victim," not taking the time to breathe, letting food/health/diet/exercise information overshadow other hobbies).

When it comes to food and exercise, Michelle keeps things simple: eat foods that fuel your body and make it (and you!) feel good; learn to appreciate movement by exploring activities you enjoy and won't dread when performed on a regular basis. The past couple of weeks, I've been successful in reminding myself that no food is off limits and any food I ever want will always exist (for the most part). By doing so, my out-of-control cravings have subsided and my urges to overeat have decreased. I've managed to make room in my life for chocolate and Napoleon Cake this week, without going overboard on guilt and extra servings. I also re-discovered my love for spinning and zumba and look forward to challenging myself at BodyPump this weekend. Not because of the calories getting burned, but just because they're fun and I love the way my body feels when it's active. Instead of saying to myself, "I have to workout today," I've been trying to change my tune and instead ask, "How do I want to move around today?" Makes a difference in my attitude and performance.

While the overall goal of the Ten Steps program is to help you to lose weight, there are also several emotional, psychological and physical milestones Michelle wants you to accomplish to ensure that your weight-loss journey is done without the typical tortures of strict dieting, mindless exercise, stress, exhaustion and self-defeating thoughts.

If you've found yourself trapped in the same cycle of fear, stress, self-bashing and guilt when trying to lose weight, I would definitely recommend Ten Steps to help you break down the underlying issues causing such emotions and gain a gentle, healthier perspective on weight-loss (and life!). Many thanks and kudos to Michelle for developing such a fresh and unique program!

Toned for Tuesday.

This week, I've finally had a chance to try out a new DVD:




Exhale: Core Fusion Lean & Toned.

I had this on my Amazon Wish List for a while after hearing some buzz about it through the blog world, but thanks to Missy at Missy Maintains, I had the luck of winning a copy through her contest. (Thanks again!)

The workout itself is based on a series of Core Fusion classes offered at Exhale spas. The DVD has 5 workouts (all under 10 minutes) and closes with a cool down stretch (about 7 minutes). I must admit, I kinda groaned at the thought of doing all 5 segments, but to my surprise, the entire thing went be really fast! To me, it felt more like 30 minutes. You'll need some hand weights, a mat, a chair and a nearby wall for support.

The warm-up is included with the arms segment and is mostly a mix of knee-ups that incorporate your arms. Then, you quickly move into various types of push-ups and arm exercises using hand weights (tricep kickbacks, shoulder presses, bicep curls, etc.)

There's also segments that focus the lower body as well, including thighs and glutes. Lots of squats and leg lifts (included some pulsing lifts that are killer!).

Right now, my least favorite segment is the Flat/Round Back Tone & Stretch. You're basically leaning up against a wall and doing all sorts of movements with your legs. It's hard to describe, so my apologies, but it's just a difficult circuit to follow (for me, anyway). That said, the moves really require a lot back and ab strength, so I can tell I'll reap the benefits if I just keep trying.

I also enjoyed the Pretzel Core Toner segment, where the focus is on abs. Here, you rely on your abs (both front and obliques) to hold certain positions in place, followed by some pulsing movements. Definitely a good challenge, but it didn't necessarily burn my abs out completely, which I appreciated.

My biggest complaint overall with this DVD (and really, it's not even that big) is how many of the moves require you to rely on a wall for support. Sorry, but I don't like rubbin' my [somewhat sweaty] body all over my white walls. And I don't have a big stand-alone wall in the middle of my living room, so it can be kind of a hassle to follow along visually while simultaneously getting your form in place. I don't know. It just seemed awkward at times. During the gluteal segment, I did try using the floor as an alternative during some of the moves, but couldn't make it work for all of them. Oh well.

This workout definitely seems to combine yoga and pilates moves with lots of stretching. In fact, I think the stretching is probably the most appealing part of this workout. Because you move through the segments so quickly, it's not nearly as intense as other strength/yoga workouts, but the extra stretching in between helped me feel a bit more flexible and stronger.

The instructors do a fantastic job of explaining the moves, which I found impressive since each segment goes by so fast. In fact, that was probably one of the (if not THE) first workout DVDs I've tried where I wasn't lost on how to perform any of the moves on the first try.

All in all, I'm quite happy to have this unique workout in my collection. While I don't think I'll rely on it for my usual strength training (it's simply not intense enough), I'll definitely work it into my weekly routine to improve my core strength and flexibility. I'll also rely on it as a great total body stretch routine, especially in between more intense workouts. I always tend to rush over my cool down stretches (something I'm always working on), so the segments in this DVD will ensure that my muscles and joints get the special treatment they deserve.

Last Chance Workout.

Fuh-Fuh-Fuh-Friday!

This week flew by for me. And for that, I am grateful. Before I get into my DVD review, let me quickly express how F-ING STOKED I am that my gym is offering BodyPump classes next week! I've been reading about these classes on other blogs for a while now and may/may not have squealed when I saw the BP logo on the 24 Hour Fitness class schedule. Looks like it's replacing 24 S.E.T. and is gonna be offered Sat./Sun, mornings. So, so perfect. I've heard that you're completely sore and busted after the first class, but being the sadist that I am, I still can not wait!

Alright, alright. On to review schtuff. I know it's been out for a while, but this week, I finally got around to trying out:




The Biggest Loser: Last Chance Workout.

I'll cut to the chase... Keeper? Yes! Time for the breakdown:

Warm-up:
Starts with a general warm-up, complete with Jillian's mix of dynamic stretching and light cardio. The case says 5 minutes, but it's actually closer to 8.

Last Chance Workout:
This is a 25-minute session that acts as the bulk of the DVD. Basically, you alternate between high-intensity cardio moves and strength training moves, each move lasting around 30 seconds.

Some of the moves I recognized from various other DVDs I've done in the past (including Jillian's), but there was still some new stuff like Scissor Jumping Jacks and Staggering Push-ups. Buh. Regular jumping jacks are not my favorite, so having to cross my legs in the middle just about killed me. The Staggering Push-ups involved constantly alternating the position of each hand. Again, buh. I'm a push-up wuss though, so these were tough for me.

Also in the mix were some mountain climbers, in-and-outs (a.k.a. plank or squat thrusts), plank jacks, dumbbell rows, flys, tricep kickbacks and extensions, lunges with weights, side and front kicks, hooks/jabs/uppercuts, side squats with weights, deadlifts, bicep curls, jump rope (including one-legged jump rope, which of course killed me) and lateral raises. Those certainly weren't listed in order and I'm sure I left out a handful of others, but those are the majority of the moves.

I did ok my first time through. Definitely broke out a sweat and had some lingering soreness over the following couple of days. Since it is a shorter workout and because each move is performed for around 30 seconds, increase your weight during the strength moves and go for full-intensity during the cardio sets. I did a pretty good job of changing out my weights, but I probably could've pushed a bit harder during cardio.

I gotta say, Jillian flat out annoyed me during this workout. Too much yelling, talking down to/making fun of the contestants and not enough instruction. There were a lot of moves where she would just say "Ok, time for X," and wouldn't describe the move or what kind of form to have until the interval was nearly over, if she described it all, so I really had to stop and look at what people were doing and follow along the best I could. Following along is tricky too, because most of the contestants aren't in sync at all. I tried to follow along with Tara or Sione, but even with them, my timing got off. Not a huge deal, but pretty annoying during the first try.

Upper Body Sculpt:

This is a 10 minute workout. Pretty standard; rows, shoulder presses, push-ups, etc. Again, keep the weight up and you'll feel a damn good burn. New-ish move that killed me? Plank Renegades/Rows. Now, if you've done level 3 of 30 Day Shred or one of Jackie Warner's workouts, you'll recognize this move. But the twist? No alternating arms; you stay on the same side for each rep. Maybe it was just me, but not being able to alternate sides destroyed me. I actually got kind of upset with myself because I couldn't stay off of my knees the whole time. Tough stuff!

Another killer? Plank Flys Yep, get into plank on your weights and raise one arm out to the side. And as with the plank rows, you had to stay on the same side; no alternating arms. Owie. There were also some bicep curls and tricep dips thrown into the mix, so I was pleased with the variety of moves, given the amount of time.

Lower Body Tone:

This workout is also 10 minutes and quite effective. Though it's a standard mix of lunges and squats, the use of added weights and steady pace kept me sweatin' & burnin'.

Move that made me whimper? Jump squats WITH overhead presses! This is a balls-out move that Jillian closes with. Jump squats are one thing, but when you have to push weight up over your head while you're in the air? Well, hot damn.

Jillian's instruction during the upper and lower body segments is MUCH better, as is the pace of the contestants. Everything seemed much more focused and Jillian's teaching style seemed to mirror that of her own non-BL workout DVDs.

Cool Down:

Nice 5 minute cool down. I liked that the format of the BL workouts kinda "forced" Jillian into taking more time with cooling down and stretching; the cool down segments in her own DVDs always seems too short and a bit rushed to me.


I did the 25 minute workout only on the first day. On the second day, I ran a warm-up mile and did the two 10-minute workouts. Honestly, I don't think I could hang if I did all three workouts back-to-back... Since the 25 minute session has a lot of strength moves built in, my muscles would fatigue and burn out pretty quick into the upper/lower body segments. I might give it a shot some day, but for now, I'm digging the idea of breaking them up into quick, effective workouts for when I'm short on time, but still want to feel like a tough bad-ass.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Part of this complete breakfast.

I've been trying to mix up my breakfasts this week and am also on an egg kick again. That said, this was today's morning fuel:



Diced up half of a leftover baked sweet potato, threw in the pan with some fresh salsa, sprinkled with a bit of shredded cheddar and topped with a fried egg.



One of the best breakfasts I've had in a while! It was hard to eat this one slowly. The textures. The spice. The subtle sweetness from the potato... Mmm! Need to pick up a few more taters so I can repeat this. I wanted to serve some grilled corn tortillas on the side, but totally spaced it, hence needing to make it again.

Even though this was a great meal, I was still a little hungry afterward, so I finished up the last of some honeydew and topped it with some thawed strawberries:



Crisp, cool and sweet. Love.

In fitness news, I did some strength training this morning, á la Jari Love. Despite my disappointment with her Body Rock DVD, I still had yet to try the weight & abs portion of the workout, so I decided to give it a shot. This portion really is the better half of the DVD. It's only about 30 minutes too, which I appreciated.

This certainly isn't the best of Jari's strength/resistance workouts, but I still felt like my muscles got worked over pretty good. I liked how she reverted back to some isometric moves, typical of some of her older DVDs, but also included some new [killer] shoulder exercises that I had never done before.

She also had a great deadlift circuit, so I quickly swapped out my weights for heavier ones so I could get more of a challenge. If I had to make a list of my favorite exercises, deadlifts would be pretty high up. It's the perfect move for working your arms, back, abs and hamstrings, all at once.

There were also plenty of weighted squats, bicep curls and chest presses. The abs portion was basically a mix of different crunches, including the bicycle variety. It was pretty much all upper-ab work though; not too much focus on lower abs. Fine with me though; my upper abs need all the help they can get these days.

Glad I gave the rest of this DVD another shot! Gotta love variety. I felt like my overall calorie burn was still lacking though, so I did a one mile run before hitting the shower.

I think tomorrow will be another gym day with a new treadmill program. I also have a workout from Fitness magazine that I saved a month or so ago and still haven't tried yet. Looks like a good strength routine. Might save that for Saturday.

Three-day weekend is almost here! No travel plans, so I'm looking forward to lounging like nobody's business. This week's been tough at times.

French Women Don't Get Fat.

Ok boys and gals, the time has finally arrived for my feedback on:



French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano.
Since this book has been out for a while, I'm not going to do a tradtional review, but rather, list some points that I highlighted and follow with some of my own thoughts. Before we get to that though, I guess I just want to point out the grand theme, which is to genuinely enjoy good (and good quality) food. Guiliano frequently points out the many ways French and Americans differ when it comes to food consumption and appreciation. There's a certain degree of snobbery that remains consistent throughout the book, but once I took on a mature and objective outlook, I was able to truly understand and appreciate what Guiliano was saying.

Now, on to the bullets:

• "...be the master of both your willpower and your pleasures."
This spoke to me instantly because I'm constantly going back and forth on being "free" to eat whatever I want, feeling guilty about exercising said freedom and trying to find redemption through restriction and/or too much exercise. The thing, for me, is: I CAN enjoy all types of food. But if I want to maintain my current weight and not go back to 248 pounds, let's be realistic: I need to take responsibility for my decisions and be mindful of what my healthiest/least self-defeating choices are. I'm an adult and I'm in charge of my body. Yeah, technically I can eat cake for breakfast everyday. But I obviously know the long term effects of such behavior and know that I can regularly nourish myself with better options and still have the cake when it's really friggin' good and the time feels right. 

• "It is one thing to identify your offenders, quite another thing to manage them."
While I'm still moving away from food labels ("good, "bad," "sinful," etc.), I do get what she's saying here. Peanut butter is a food that I could easily identify as an "offender" because it's something that I've abused in the past. But since I've allowed myself small servings of it almost everyday this week, I feel safer having it in the house and no longer feel like it has some stupid power over me. It's a jar of peanut butter, for fuck's sake. 

• "Any program that your mind interprets as punishment is one your mind is bound to rebel against."
Nothing too complicated about this concept. Yet fad diets continue to flourish. 

• Regarding food as a 'reward':"...it's okay as long as the food is rewarding: no junk, good quality and respectfully savored."
This is something I've been really trying to live by this week. I like sweets, but there's a lot of sweet crap out there that's just not worth my time. I've bought some good (well, good by my standards; certainly not anything by Hershey's) chocolate over the past week and have managed to make it last by really zeroing in on the smell, texture and taste. And I have indeed savored each bite, hence not feeling like I have to eat it all at once. 

• "What is relatively easy for you may be hard for someone else, and vice versa."
Guiliano points this out early in the book and I'm glad she did; this reminded me to read with caution and not assume that I would be able to live by every single topic in the book and have it completely change my life. I've spent a lot of [wasted] time over the years trying to model the various eating habits of others and often found myself discouraged because what worked for them didn't work for me. Well, duh, that's because they are not me. And I am not them. But that doesn't mean I won't ever find what works for me. It's just gonna take time, practice and patience. 

• Three meals a day, three-course dinners; "Our courses are greater in number, but smaller in size."
Obviously I'm no stay-at-home chef, so I can't go too crazy with multiple courses, but I have tried breaking my meals up into different sections and just focused on enjoying the different components on their own. Doing so has increased my appreciation for certain foods, where as before, they all kind of got lost when the focus was to have "one great meal." 

• "Snacking, which results from not having three proper meals, is generally an unhelpful expedient that confuses us, body and mind."
Now, I know I just said that I need to find what works for me and not mindlessly copy the actions of others, but for the sake of this book and for the sake of what Guiliano is trying to achieve AND for the sake of me finding my own food balance, I've been practicing this and can't say that I've missed snacks. Obviously snacking works well for a lot of people. It may have worked for me a bit, back in my dieting days, but I've noticed that by skipping snacks in between meals, I enjoy my next meal much more and am satisfied with less because I was able to "work up" a genuine hunger. This is not to be interpreted as me starving myself. I'm simply getting more satisfaction from my main meals and just haven't been distracted by the thought of snacking. But if you adore your snacks, take this section with a grain of salt. 

• "Wine can also enhance your health if absorbed in small daily doses and always, always with food."
Truth time: Prior to reading this book, I pretty much ALWAYS drank alcohol around a meal, rarely during. And of course, drinking in such a manner allowed alcohol to get the better of me and led me to make poor food choices. So this week, I have tried having a glass of wine with dinner. Doing so has increased my appreciation not only for the wine, but for the food as well. I finish feeling like I had more of a true dining experience, even at home. I know that sounds cheesy as hell, but it's true. 

• "...being ready for the pleasure of food is essential to contentment with proper proportion."
Because I've been making an effort to eat what I feel will please me the most at that moment, I have been feeling satisfied with less. I don't make hideously large portions of food to begin with, but I often find myself finishing a plate just because "it's a serving" and it's there. I'm making an effort to pause and breathe more in between bites. I feel like I have a better idea of different fullness levels and have a much better judgment on when to stop without feeling deprived. 

• Regarding chocolate (of the dark, rich, high-quality variety, of course): "...it is better enjoyed after lighter meals than after fat-laden holiday feasts, or by itself as a pick-me-up."
A piece or two of chocolate after a lighter meal definitely rounds it out and of course adds a pleasing, sweet touch. Such satisfaction has kept me from going back for more. And I haven't been limiting myself to just pieces of chocolate; whatever source of sweetness I feel like, I just go for it, but downsize and savor, of course.

• "Mindless exercise is almost as bad as mindless eating."
Just something to keep in mind. I try not to zone out during workouts, but sometimes it happens, especially on machines at the gym. I just highlighted this as a reminder to make sure I'm always mentally present and getting the most out of my exercise. 

• "Self-punishment is never our path to well-being. The only purpose of withholding some pleasure is so we can more fully enjoy everything else for having it in proper balance."
I know, I can't help but sometimes roll my eyes and/or groan when weight maintenance "experts" go on and on and on about "balance" and "moderation" because they often seem like generic practices that are easier said than done, but still overused. Well, I stopped rolling my eyes this week and just decided that if I expect to be sane about food for the rest of my life, I do need to make more of an effort to find that "gray area" or "middle-ground" or whatever term you want to apply to it. I'm just tired of living in extremes and am at a point where I'm ready to welcome both pleasure and nourishment from food without going overboard and/or freaking out in the process. So far, I've been doing just that pretty well. But as always, mother-frickin' baby steps. 

• "...when that balance slips, each must devise her own plan of correction, based on personal preferences."
I like how she says "plan of correction." Soooo much better than "get back on the wagon" and the like. And she doesn't imply that you need to starve yourself the next day or workout for hours either. Just go with the flow, with a healthy-minded foot forward. At least that's how I interpreted it. 

• "Attitude shifts take much longer, but when they take, they tend to take for good."
I just liked how she acknowledge that a) it is indeed about attitude, b) yes, it can be changed and c) yes, it will take time. 

• Regarding the 50 Percent Solution: "...ask myself if I can live with half the amount being offered; indeed, will I be just as happy eating half as much?" and "...if you continue eating only half of what's on your plate each time, you will never eat the whole thing."
At first, I was a little thrown off that she mentioned this practice as an afterthought at the very end of the book, but when I think about it, I suppose it makes the most sense. Guiliano wanted you to first get comfortable with the idea of just enjoying your food without guilt, then progressing to portion control from there. As I mentioned before, I'm mindful of serving sizes when making my meals, but I don't always need as much as I think I do. And being completely satisfied with half of some of my meals the past few days has acted as proof. How? Savoring each and every bite, son! And again, pausing in between bites and just really paying attention to what I'm ingesting. 

• "Eat the smallest bite that lets you register taste. Then have another."
Another point I wanted to highlight, just to reinforce the concept of food appreciation.

So there ya have it. There are some parts I admittedly breezed through (sometimes Guiliano talks at length about her upbringing and picking fruits in the summer at her aunt's house and blah, blah, blah) and I didn't get much from her, with regard to fitness. She clearly despises the gym and thinks we should all walk and bike everywhere. Perhaps when I'm retired in Paris, I'll do just that, but otherwise, simply walking isn't a practical means of exercise for me. I'm at a point now where I need to sweat because it really does make me feel good and I like the way my body feels when I make regular efforts to keep it in shape. She does suggest some strength training and yoga though, which I appreciated. She also wants you to eat nothing but leek soup for a couple of days before beginning her "program," but obviously I skipped over that nonsense.

Lastly, THE RECIPES! You can check out some that have been posted on the book website. I've yet to try any, but some are so simple that I'm excited to make one or two over the next few days.

Although some of Guiliano's concepts weren't new to me, I ended up getting much more from this book than I expected to and can say that I genuinely enjoyed it. French Women... is a relatively quick read and flows more like a novel and less like a typical Here's-How-I'm-Gonna-Help-You-Shed-Pounds diet manual. I don't think I'll be turning into a Francophile anytime soon, but I have no qualms about having a French attitude toward food because it makes the most sense. Not to be hatin' on Team USA, but the typical American approach to food is pretty scary at times and our means of consumption can be quite destructive; and I know it's true, based on my experience alone.

There are a ton of other highlighted notes that I made but didn't share because if your interest is at all piqued by now, you really should just get a copy and read it already.