TurboFire Results and Review

	Day 1	Day 90
Weight	136.6	129.6
Chest	35.5	34.75
Waist (at belly button)	32.5	31
Hips (at widest part)	37	36
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	21	20.5
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	21	20.5
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	10	9.75
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	10	9.75

Results

I lost 7lbs and 4.75 inches. Not as major a difference in numbers as in the past, but I've gotten to the point of being at the lower end of the spectrum for my weight based on my height. I wish I would have calculated body fat % lost because I know it was high. I can tell that I've gained definition in my arms, stomach, legs and hips and everything is more toned. I even have the top part of my abs poking through! I did the program through out the holidays as well - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years - with lots of travel and lots of temptations with food. So overall I think those numbers are pretty good!

Here is the transition of my biceps from before ChaLEAN Extreme to after TurboFire (120 days or 6 months).

oh and look -- abs!! (click the pic to make bigger -- I'm pale, so I can be hard to see :) )

Review

When someone asks me about TurboFire, my usual response is "it's like kickboxing on steroids." It has a lot of punching, kicking, and jumping sequences with a few dance-like movements. It has a lot of good music and I never got sick of it. Also, with so many workouts, I never got tired of them.

The calendar to the program I received is actual a 12 week program, not 90 days, but I did it for 90 days. I know they recently reformatted the program and I'm not sure how it's outlined. I stuck to the calendar schedule as much as possible, but when you are traveling during the holidays it does make it a little harder. Also, in January I decided to train for a 14k so I incorporated running into my workouts as well.

There are 3 phases, 4 weeks each. Phase 1 is one week of Intro into the popular moves, then the next 3 weeks are labeled as HIIT-1. Phase 2 is Cardio for 3 weeks and 1 week of Recovery. Phase 3 is  3 weeks of HIIT-2 and 1 week of Recovery. To make this 90 days, I repeated the last week of HIIT-2.

In the beginning, I felt so awkward with the moves and felt like I couldn't keep up. I knew this would pass if I kept doing it over and over and sure enough by week 3, I got into a groove. I liked that the DVDs had a "New to Class" option. When you played the DVD on this option, Chalene moves through the sequences slowly before actually doing them. It definitely helped during the first 4 weeks. After that it was pretty easy to follow along.

The Cardio phase did start to bore me a little only because I feel like I have a pretty good cardio base because of my running. This is when I started really incorporating my 14k training into the program.

I loved getting back to the HIIT classes in phase 3. I also ordered weighted gloves to boost my arm strength and get more of an arm workout.

There are so many workouts in this program so I'm not going to go through all of them individually, but generally speaking there are a few catagories HIIT, low-HIIT, cardio, stretch, strength, and abs. The HIIT workouts are short and intense. The cardio ones aren't as intense, but you'll get a pretty good sweat going! The strength and abs routines are similar to the ChaLEAN Extreme workouts and are short (10-25 minutes). And finally there are the short 10 minute stretch and a long yoga-like 40 minute stretch. The individual workouts range from 10 minutes to 55 minutes, but the scheduled workouts range from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

Who would I recommend TurboFire to?
If you like to get a good sweat going, love kickboxing workouts, and want an intense workout -- this is for you! I loved Chalene's workout style and overall personality in ChaLEAN Extreme and she does not disappoint in TurboFire. She is positive, challenging, and very real which really does make the workouts something you want to do. There are also hybrid calendars for TurboFire with ChaLEAN Extreme and with P90X. If you've found it hard to do P90X, doing a hybrid with TurboFire might be just want you need. It breaks up the P90X workouts making it easier to stay on track.

Who would I NOT recommend TurboFire to?
There is a warning at the beginning of each DVD that warns against doing TurboFire if you have spinal/back/neck injuries and I totally agree with that. There is a lot of fast twisting that could aggravate those injuries. Knee injuries are ok though. There is always a modifier showing you the low impact moves.

What's Next?

Currently the plan is to do RevAbs then follow up with P90X. This might change a bit due to my husband's deployment plans changing at last minute. I had planned on doing P90X with him so now it might be sooner and RevAbs might be condensed. I do feel like I'm finally ready to tackle P90X though thanks to Chalene! 

Want more info on TurboFire or another Beachbody program? Just send me a Facebook message, email or use the contact form and I'll get back to you!

6 Months of Beachbody

The last 6 months has truly changed my life. If you would have told me 6 months ago if I'd be where I am today, I wouldn't have believed you. I took it one day, one pound, one meal, one goal at a time. I could not have done it without the support of my coach, Sommer, and Team Beachbody and Team Courage.

But more importantly, I could not have done it if I didn't believe in myself. I told myself every day that I deserved it. I deserved to be happy with my body and I deserved to be healthier. I needed to put myself first for a while because I'd be a happier person, a happier mom, a happier wife.

I knew that what I saw in the mirror was not who I was. Looking at these before pictures when I first started back in late April was hard. I couldn't face who I'd become. That wasn't me. That wasn't what I saw when I looked in the mirror.

Now when I look at them, I can't even remember that person in the picture. I honestly did start to tear up making this collage. In my mind, that wasn't me. I know pictures don't lie though. I'm glad I took those pictures because it really does show how far I've come and it's something I can always look back to when I need motivation. Without them, I might have not seen the progress I had been making and now I wouldn't have been able to see what I had accomplished.

I hope my success will inspire others to get started on living a healthier life. You can't imagine how much happier you'll be when the outside finally matches the inside. :)

ChaLEAN Extreme Results & Review

	Day 1	Day 30	Day 60	Day 90
Weight	152	146	142.2	136.6
Chest	37	37	36.5	35.5
Waist (at belly button)	36	34.75	34.5	32.5
Hips (at widest part)	40	39	38.25	37
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	24	23.5	22	21
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	23.5	23.5	22	21
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11	10.5	10
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11	10.75	10

My Results

15.4 lbs and 15.5 inches lost total! 7.5 of those inches came from the last 30 days, which is dubbed the lean phase and for good reason!

My Review

As a whole, I loved this workout. It is mainly a strength training workout where you lift heavy and slow and for not many reps. The workouts average at about 45 minutes and if you are doing it correctly, you are always sore the next day - which I loved! The biggest thing I learned -- for women, lifting heavy does not mean you get big -- it means you get lean! 

Chalene was very motivating and the workouts did not get old or repetitive. The 3 phases which you rotate into every 30 days (Burn, Push, and Lean) all had 3 workouts which were all different. You did each of the workouts once a week and then added in the interval, cardio and abs workout. I did replace some of the cardio days with running for the same amount of time and I like that helped me not get tired of that specific workout.

Who would I recommend this program to?

Anyone who wants to get LEAN! The program is designed for any fitness level. All you have to change is the weight you are lifting and as you get stronger, you up the weights. I would also recommend it to someone who doesn't want to feel like they are doing a lot of cardio. You will get a cardio workout and the moves in the workouts have a cardio effect, but you won't be running around out of breath.

Who would I not recommend this program to?

I would advise those with lower back injuries to take it slow with CE. There are a lot of dead lifts and squats in the program and if you don't do them correctly (using your hamstrings instead of your back), you will hurt yourself. Form is so important in this program so if you don't think you have the hamstring strength, I'd build those muscles up with a program like Slim in 6 first. SI6 really helped me out with that (since I have a bad lower back from a skiing injury) and I would have hurt myself if I went straight into CE as my first program.

What's Next?

I announced a few weeks back that I would be starting TurboFire which is also a Chalene Johnson program. It is a cardio based program that is based on HIIT and contains a lot of kickboxing moves. I'm excited to change up the type of workout I'm doing and also pumped to get another 90 days with Chalene.

I'm also super excited to announce a new challenge that will start on Monday 11/12 - The Pre-New Years Challenge! Its a group of people supporting/motivation/inspiring each other through the holiday season cause we don't want to wait till 2013 to make a resolution! We are doing it NOW! There will be prizes and you don't need to spend a dime to join in! Comment or message me if you want more details!

ChaLEAN Extreme - Day 60

	Day 1	Day 30	Day 60	Day 90
Weight	152	146	142.2
Chest	37	37	36.5
Waist (at belly button)	36	34.75	34.5
Hips (at widest part)	40	39	38.25
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	24	23.5	22
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	23.5	23.5	22
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11	10.5
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11	10.75

Down another 3.8 lbs and 5.25 inches since day 30 (9.8 lbs and 8 inches total)! I'm pretty happy about those numbers. This month was very challenging because I went out of town to Reno for Tailhook and we celebrated Kevin's first birthday. I was very busy and not always able to get my workouts in and not always able to eat healthy when we were out of town and there were some indulgences because we were considering it a mini-vacation since Jeff and I were sans Kevin for the weekend.

I'm looking forward to the last month of CE, the Lean Phase, and am so close to my next goal weight of 140. That will mark my 30 pound weight loss with Beachbody and I'll be down 38 for the year total.

I've been trying to figure out which program I want to do next and I think I'm leaning toward TurboFire.

ChaLEAN Extreme - Day 30

I'm loving the ChaLEAN Extreme workouts and can't wait to start the next phase. After 30 days, here are my numbers!

	Day 1	Day 30	Day 60	Day 90
Weight	152	146
Chest	37	37
Waist (at belly button)	36	34.75
Hips (at widest part)	40	39
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	24	23.5
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	23.5	23.5
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11

I've lost 6lbs and 2.75 inches total. One of the biggest accomplishments actually came earlier this week when I noticed that my skinny jeans were no longer skinny! I went out to the mall and I have to say, it was an awesome feeling to pick out size 8 jeans and know they were going to fit!! :) I only bought 2 new pairs, cause I'm hoping that soon, size 6 will be in my near future. I can't ever remember, even from high school, wearing a size 6 and I have no idea when the last time it was that I weighed less than 150 (I'm sure it was high school though!).

60 more days of ChaLEAN! BRING IT!

Week 2 Blues

When you start a new workout program that you were really excited about, the first week is awesome! You have so much adrenaline and excitement because it's all new and it's unknown. After that first week though, your excitement starts to fade, you know what's coming that next week and you feel like you should be seeing results already -- I mean you've been so good on your eating and sticking with it for a week -- you want to know it's working or you are going to start looking for other options. Sound familiar?

I have dubbed this the 'Week 2 Blues' and I'll admit it, it is happening to me right now with ChaLEAN Extreme.

Now, maybe this doesn't happen to you during week 2, but it almost always happens to everyone within the first month of a new program. It has always happened to me. It happened to me when I started training for my last half-marathon and when I started Slim in 6. (I don't think it happened with BBL, because I honestly wasn't too excited about that program!)

And it has nothing to do with the program. I love ChaLEAN! It's challenging me in different ways that I'm loving. This is all mental and like I said, seems to happen to me every time I start a new program that I'm excited about.

Ignore those thoughts --  put those workout clothes on -- press play -- push through -- and know that it's part of the process!

Is there anything you do to push through the 'Week 2 Blues'? I'd love to hear it!

Brazil Butt Lift Results & Review

My Results

After I completed 6 weeks of Slim in 6, I continued doing the last cd and mixed in a few days of Brazil Butt Lift (BBL) for the next 2 weeks. Then I decided I was going to go all in and commit to 4 weeks of BBL.

So here are my results for the last 6 weeks

	Day 1	Day 42 (6 weeks)
Weight	162.6	152
Chest	37.75	37
Waist (at belly button)	37.5	36
Hips (at widest part)	42	40
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	25	24
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	24	23.5
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	11	11

Results: 10.6 lbs and 5.75 inches (with 2 of those being from just my hip measurement)

My Review

Let me start off by saying that the first time I did the BBL Bum Bum workout, I felt ridiculous! It made it very apparent to me that I have no rhythm for latin dance moves. It was really hard for me to get comfortable with it which is why I kept going back to the Slim in 6 workout. However, I really wanted to see it through from the beginning to end so I could really give an honest review. So I put away the Slim in 6, and added the BBL Classic schedule on my WOWY SuperGym calendar - no more excuses!

Now, to explain the program just a bit - there are 3 DVDs with 5 main workouts including Bum Bum, Cardio Axe, Sculpt, Tummy Tuck, and High & Tight. There are 2 more workouts, Bum Bum Rapido and Bum Bum Live, that I never did and I kinda felt were extras. So to really give a detailed review of the program, I'm going to explain what I loved/liked/hated about each workout.

Bum Bum
I loved this workout. More exercise movements than dancing and I could really feel it working my bum bum (had to through that in there!)

Cardio Axe
This was my nemesis. It was a cardio workout with all dance movements. I had a hard time making myself do it and I dreaded it. I also had a problem with doing the workout on carpet with tennis shoes. I ended up wearing just socks and it made it easier for me to stay in rhythm that way.

Sculpt
I liked this one. It's the longest of the workouts at 50 minutes, but I really felt like I was doing a strength training workout. There were a few moves in this one though that I didn't like, either because they were just too hard (the mermaid )or I didn't feel like the really worked the muscles they were suppose to be (laying down triceps press).

Tummy Tuck
Best ab workout yet. With the first move, I started feeling my ab muscles being worked.

High & Tight
This workout was by far my favorite. I would always be sore in my butt and hips the next day, without the booty band or ankle weights. The moves in were always challenging but doable. Love the clam move!


With all the workouts I had a few complaints too. There weren't any water breaks built-in so I had to pause when I needed one. And I know this one is minor, but the models bothered me. They were constantly smiling and never appeared to be sweating. Just not normal and it made it feel fake. Who smiles when they are doing biceps curls??

Who would I recommend this for? Definitely someone who loves to dance and wants their workouts to feel like they aren't really working out. In my opinion, I'd rather just do a squat and lunge without all the coordinating of dance movements.

Would I recommend it to someone looking to slim down or enhance their booty? Yes and no. Yes, the program targets all the muscles in the booty a lot more throughly than some of the other programs. However, no if it's not a program you'd stick to. There are other programs through Beachbody that can slim down the booty too.

Who would I not recommend this to? Someone with hip or lower back problems. I have an old lower back/hip injury from skiing and when I got pregnant (that's a whole other story!) and I felt like the workouts aggravated it because of all the hip movements that comes with latin dancing.

What's next?

ChaLEAN Extreme! I can't wait to start this workout. I had planned to start it after Slim in 6 but BBL was given to me and I knew I wanted to try it before ChaLEAN because I may not have done it after. This program is 90 days so I'll be posting my 30 and 60 day progress.

Baby Weight GONE!

Baby weight is GONE!! Whoo hoo!!

Way back at the beginning of February, I started paying attention to my weight again and focusing on losing the rest of my baby weight. I lost 18lbs of it by pretty much doing nothing, except giving birth, feeding the baby, and doing normal new mom stuff. I was at 178 and my pre-pregnancy weight was 160 so I needed to lose the second half -- 18lbs.

At the time, I was training for a half marathon. I also started to really watch what I was eating again; really paying attention to nutrition and portion sizes. 8lbs came off pretty easily.

However, by the beginning of April, I seemed to be at a plateau. Stuck at 170. Running wasn't enough anymore. That is when I started looking into Beachbody and decided to start Slim in 6, Shakeology and focusing even more about what I was eating.

If you are reading this, you probably know my Slim in 6 results so I won't go into all that here (Slim in 6 Results and Review). With this new combo of weight training, running and a good diet, the rest of the weight just seemed to come off even easier.

I found this nifty way of tracking weight loss from Pinterest when I started. It's a great visual and I put the containers right in my pantry so it's always staring me in the face to make good decisions! Every Monday, I would weigh myself and if I was down a pound, a marble got moved.

Now, for my next weight loss goal -- 10lbs, 150. I added 10 more marbles to the Pounds to go jar. If your wondering why I left the 18 still in the "Pounds Lost" it's because I earned those! I want a reminder of how far I've come when I finally reach my ultimate goal weight.

Do you use any kind of system like the jars when you are trying to lose weight?

Slim in 6 - Results & Review

Results

Over the last 2 weeks, I've really seen a big change in my body. I think even more so that the first 4 weeks. The Burn it Up! DVD is a really good workout and I tried to do the Slim & 6-pack workout as much as I could the last 2 weeks as well.

Numbers don't lie!

	Day 1	Day 30	Day 45
Weight	170.6	166.2	162.6
Chest	40.5	39	37.75
Waist (at belly button)	39	38.25	37.5
Hips (at widest part)	44	43	42
R Upper Thigh/Abductor	25.25	25	25
L Upper Thigh/Abductor	25	24.5	24
R Arm (7in from shoulder)	12.5	12	11
L Arm (7in from shoulder)	12.5	12	11

In 45 days (a little over 6 weeks), I've lost 8 lbs and 10.5 inches!

Review

I honestly think this program, along with proper nutrition guidelines, can work for anyone no matter your current fitness level. The first DVD, Start it Up!, starts you out slow and really focuses on cardio. Then when you are ready, moving on to Ramp it Up! it keeps up the cardio and adds in harder strength training moves. And then ending with Burn it Up! to really blast the calories by doing faster movements and combined with even harder strength training moves. The program might also take longer than 6 weeks to really complete. I would really recommend doing every DVD until it's not hard for you anymore. If you've got a good cardio background, the first DVD should only take you 3-5 days, but if not, you might need it for 1-2 weeks. I would also recommend doing Burn it Up! for at least 3 weeks and doing Slim in 6-pack for the last 2 weeks as much as possible to really see the best results from the program.

What's next?

Chalean Extreme in July! Contact me if you are interested in working through it with me! Two other coaches from Team Courage and myself are teaming up for a 60 and 90 day challenge so you wouldn't not only have me for support and motivation, you'll have 2 more coaches and their challengers too! Don't want to do Chalean? That's ok! When you contact me, I'll help you figure out the best program for you.