Insanity Max 30 – Week 3 Review

Week 3 was a true test of how committed to the program I was. Staying on track during the holiday was tricky. I ended up surprising myself though. I did much better than I would have guessed.

I can happily report that the workouts were on track every single day except I did take off Christmas Day. I was itching to workout but all the traveling and visiting just didn’t permit it that day. I made up for it that Saturday. I took Sunday off and will pick back up tomorrow to kick off week 4. I cannot believe that I will be half way thru the program already.

The workouts were tricky to get done while we traveled because I had to do them in spaces that were smaller than I was used to. 

Did this workout in my moms breezeway area! Talk about a tricky space for this! 

Also had to do them on carpet and I prefer a hard surface to that but I made it work anyways. My “max out” times are getting better each week and I am starting to be able to endure all 10 minutes of the ab workouts. I am also starting to get stronger abs each week. Slowly melting away the momma belly. My upper abs were good, but those low abs are tricky to tone up. They seem to be the last thing to change.

Nutrition was off last week. Between hosting the holiday party, attending the parties and staying away I was not as focused as I could have been. Some of it was lack of packing and planning but quite honestly I just felt like taking some time off from being so strict. I skipped out on holiday sweets and splurged on a slice of chocolate cake at Olive Garden. I was better at avoiding sweets than I was salty foods. I will pick that over sweets any day. My mom makes homemade Chex Mix for the holidays and I had WAY too much of it. Trying to flush my system with lots of water now from all of those snacks and ham from Christmas. I need to buckle down this coming month because I know that this program will only work if I commit 100% and that means staying on track with my nutrition and getting the workouts in.

Breakfast while home visiting relatives. Can't go wrong with eggs or apples.

"Stronger each day."

Christmas brought with it some fun new fitness gifts! My family members are so supportive of my new lifestyle and got me lots of workout outfits and fitness accessories. My favorite is my new heart rate monitor! I had wanted one for ages! I swear getting new workout gear makes you want to workout even more!

I do have some bad news this week.  My husband had completely fallen off the wagon AGAIN! You would think that it would be easy to keep him on track but out of all my challengers he is my biggest struggle. He says he is starting over again on Monday but only time will tell. I will keep you posted on that one!

New Year - New You! Time To Make A Change

Starting 2015 Off Right

Guess what time of year it is? Yep you’re right – time to make some New Years Resolutions if your one of those people who make them. Or maybe you set goals for the New Year for yourself? Or maybe you’re just ready for a change after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Let me guess, your thinking about joining a gym?  Before you make that decision I think you should consider this opportunity first.

You see I have been there. I thought that joining a gym would whip me right into shape and everything would magically fall into place. It was fun for a little while but then I fell off the wagon. I later learned that I needed more than just a gym membership to learn to live a healthy lifestyle; I needed a coach. I needed someone to teach me exactly what it would take to live differently and I needed to be surrounded by people who were going thru the same thing. You see a healthy lifestyle is 80/20. 80% of this is nutrition and 20% is exercise. What I needed was someone to tell me what to do and hold me accountable when I felt like quitting. Starting a new fitness routine is fun but then the excitement wears off and that’s when you really need someone to push you.

That is what I am offering to you. I am offering to push you even when you don’t feel like it. I am willing to teach you how to live differently and I am willing to support you for as long as it takes. You see this lifestyle I am going to show you takes practice and lots of support. Let me be that person for you.

If you are looking for someone to be your biggest fan and help you to start the New Year off on a different foot please fill out the application below. I will be in touch within 24 hours. We start on Monday January 12, 2014. The ball is in your court, what are you going to do to make healthy living a priority in 2015?

Fill out my online form.

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Blackberry Pom Margaritas

Blackberry Pomegranate Margarita

What can I say; I am a margarita girl when it comes to picking a special drink. If I am going for a cocktail I will usually always swing for that option. This holiday season I decided I wanted to make my own, but I wanted mine to be a little healthier than the ones you can get in a restaurant or bar. Most of those margaritas are made with lots of premade mixes, which have oodles of sugar and calories in them. We made these to go with one of our holiday dinners. The color is perfect for Christmas! Cheers to a fabulous drink! Enjoy!

Recipe makes 1 serving

Ingredients

·       2 shots gold tequila

·       2 shots 100% pomegranate juice

·       1/2 shot triple sec

·       Juice of one lime

·       Ice

·       Pomegranate seeds -a tablespoon or so per cocktail

·       4 blackberries muddled

·       Sugar for rim – I used organic but it really does not matter

·       Lime wedge, to garnish

Instructions

1.    Using a lime wedge, moisten the lip of your glass.

2.    Pour some sugar out onto a small plate and dip the rim of your glass into the sugar. This should sugar your rim. Add a few ice cubes to your glass and set aside.

3.    In a shaker filled with ice, add in your tequila, pomegranate juice, triple sec, lime juice and blackberries. Shake vigorously.

4.    Pour your drink into your glass with the sugared rim.

5.    Add in your pomegranate seeds and stir.

6.    Garnish with a lime wedge and serve.

If mixture is too strong for your liking add in more pomegranate juice.

May Your Days Be Merry & Bright

From the bottom of my heart I wanted to take the time to wish each and everyone one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I cannot thank all of you enough for supporting me on my health and fitness journey as well as joining me to start your own journey. I have been fortunate enough to create so many new friendships with my challengers and fellow coaches. I have loved being able to be a part of your lives! The positivity that comes along with being a health and fitness coach is indescribable.

My wish for you this holiday season is that you take a minute to step back from all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and remember why we celebrate. I want to encourage you to take time to pull your phones from your hands and replace them with the hands of a loved one. BE FULLY present this holiday season. Make memories. Share love and laughter with all of those around you!

As you finish up your shopping and wrapping, know that the best gift you can give someone is your time and your love.

May your next few days pass by slowly and you enjoy every minute of the holidays!

Here’s to another year of health and happiness!

Insanity Max 30 - Week 2 In Review

Insanity Max 30- Week 2 In Review

Well week 2 is in the books and I am starting to love the program even more than I had anticipated. My reason being is that it is challenging but in a fun way, like I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I am finding that my max out times are getting better and better. Aside from building more endurance I have also lost 4 lbs. I am not doing this program to lose any weight because I am happy with what I already weigh, but the weight seems to be melting off. I was 120 lbs when we started and am at 116 right now. Its funny how weight can look different. I look back and look at pictures of myself right before I got pregnant with Carter and I weighted 105 lbs right when I got pregnant. I look at those pictures and I do look thin but not really any different than I do now. Maybe a flatter stomach but that’s really it.  I have always been naturally thin thanks to genetics. I ate whatever I wanted and aside from being a swimmer in high school I didn’t really workout. Now I look at how hard I am working and my weight and I realize that I am a “fit” weight. I have so much more muscle than I did back then and don’t think that weighting what I used to weight is a reasonable goal. I eat too much and exercise to hard to get down to that weight, nor do I even want to. Being skinny is not my goal; being fit is.

I have also started to notice a difference in my upper and middle abs. They are starting to feel stronger and I am enjoying doing the extra 10 -minute ab attack that comes with the program. My upper abs have already been strong thanks to the other programs. My lower abs are still a different story. However, I think that is going to change after a few more weeks with Insanity Max 30. There is SO much lower ab focus and I love it!

I found that I did a great job with my nutrition last week but struggled with the workouts. I am a morning exerciser but my husband is an evening exerciser. I have mostly agreed to compromise and workout with him in the evenings but last week we seemed to be on separate pages. I also found myself two days behind because of sleeping in or falling asleep before I got my workout in for the evening. I hate being off on my dates that the workout calendar has scheduled for me, so I put time in this past weekend and made up for the days that I had missed earlier this week so that I could be back on track today. 

The key to my nutrition success last week was my planning and preparation that I had done in advance. It helped keep me on track. We enjoyed some fabulous dinners last week, but my favorite was the steak with brown rice and I roasted cauliflower. DELICIOUS! I also came up with a new snack idea. I was craving carbs like crazy last week so I enjoyed a whole grain English Muffin with cashew butter and a few chocolate chips. Really hit the spot!

Last week I also hit the E&E pretty hard. E&E is a pre- workout formula that you can drink before or during your workouts. It gives you a little bit of extra umph to get thru your workouts and wake you up! I swear by it and I am using it every day now for the workouts. Ended up finishing up a tub of it last week. (Not all in one week though ;) Thank goodness for the delivery of a new tub on Friday!

With the chaos of finishing Christmas shopping, hosting a family gathering on Sunday and preparing for being away for the holidays, I didn’t officially “meal plan” for this week. I did however plan out my dinners for the first few days of the week while I am home. I will also be packing with me for the visit lots of healthy snacks and things that travel well.

Excited to start week three! Time sure flies when you are having fun!! Happy Holidays to all of you!

Creamy Herb Dressing

Creamy Herb Dressing

Well when I started into Insanity Max 30,  I knew that the ranch yogurt dressing I was currently using had to go. It was better than some ranch dressings but did have a few ingredients I would rather do without. Part of the Insanity Max nutrition plan as well as the 21 day fix nutrition requires you to make your own dressings. This one seemed to be the closest to my ranch dressing so I decided to whip it up. Tastes great and is a close second to what I was currently eating. Simple to make and much better for you! 

1 serving is 2 tablespoons 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium avocado
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat plain Greek Yogurt
• 4 Tbsp finely chopped herbs (I used fresh parsley and thyme)
• 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 dash ground pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Place avocado, yogurt, herbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in blender until smooth.
2. Continue blending avocado mixture, slowly adding oil until well blended.
3. Store in fridge, tightly covered, until ready for use.

Insanity Max 30 - Week 1 In Review

Insanity Max 30 – Week 1 In Review

I will be the first to admit that when Insanity Max 30 launched on December 2^nd I pretty much had my mind made up that I was going to pass on trying this program. You see right after I had my son my husband bought Insanity off the infomercial. We had good intentions but the truth is, we never were able to stick with the program. The workouts were killer hard and were also very long. Needless to say it put a bad taste in my mouth and has kept me away from crazy cardio workouts.

Fast forward to now. When the program launched I did not buy it for the first few days. Then my husband somehow heard about it and was like we are doing this. You are in so much better shape now and plus its important that as a coach you try all of the new programs. I decided he was right and liked the idea that we were going to do it together. I was surprised how excited I was while waiting on the package to arrive at our doorstep.

Like all Beachbody challenge packs, it did no disappoint, particularly the nutrition guide. What got me even more excited was that I realized that the eating plan with the exact same concept and plan as the 21 day fix. This is the program that I started with last February and absolutely loved. In fact, 10 months later I am still eating according to the fix just not as strict as I had been when I did that program. 

Last week since the program arrived on a Monday we jumped right in without meal planning for last week. I would say my nutrition would receive a solid B for a grade. I was very cautious, but I did have some cheat meals, particularly Papa Johns pizza for dinner Friday night. I had to get the last hurrah in before we buckled down and got serious. I meal planned this weekend and we are prepared to kick butt this week and stay focused. Below you will see a copy of our meal plan we are going to follow this week.

Insanity Max 30 Week 2 Meal Plan

Sarah Griffith

www.sarahgriffith27.blogspot.com

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology
Apple w/ natural PB	Egg Omlet ½ peppers ½ onions with motz cheese ½	Egg Omlet ½ peppers ½ onions with motz cheese ½	Cheerios	Egg Omlet ½ peppers ½ onions with motz. cheese ½
Fajata Chicken Brown Rice/ Black Beans Greek Yogurt Parfait with mixed berries and Pecans	Turkey Bagel Sandwich Spinach Salad Strawberries 8 pecans	Steak Salad Lettuce Peppers/Cucumbers Creamy Herb Dressing Apple w/ natural PB	Hummus Chicken Lettuce Peppers/Cucumbers Creamy Herb Dressing Apple w/ natural PB and greek yogurt	Tomato Basil Pasta w/ grilled chicken   Pomegranate seeds Peanuts
Red Pepper Slices	Mixed Berries	Air Popped Popcorn	Pomegranate seeds	Apple w/ natural PB
Grilled Chicken Salad ½ Peppers/ ½ Cucumbers 8 Triscuit Crackers Creamy Herb Dressing	Steak Green Beans Brown Rice Black Olives	½ Blue Hummus Chicken Baked Potato Mixed Fruit	Tomato Basil Pasta w/ grilled chicken	Lean Burgers Broccoli Bun ½ motz. cheese

The program is a Monday – Friday one with Saturday and Sunday off for rest or an optional stretching workout.  I have decided that the workouts are a mind over matter thing. I had to keep talking myself into not quitting because quite frankly they are hard. The point is that you go until you have to “max out” then you take a quick break and jump right back in. Crazy right? I know! Lets just say I was torching calories and sweating like crazy! Having my husband there to compete with did make it a little easier though. I was pumped with I “maxed out” after he did our first day! Its been fun to show him how conditioned I am now from all of the other programs I have done.  Friday Fight was the hardest day of the week for me because of the duration before a quick water break. I also thought that the tabata workouts were challenging particularly the triceps portion. My arms are weak and it really showed during those moves. Anxious to do the 10-minute ab attack as often as I can fit it in, this ab workout is KILLER but it really works on the lower abs; which is an area I am hoping to improve.