Summer Prep: Ep. 2 Arm Workout

Fitness and Food challenge: August

The fitness and food challenge for August is to not eat any dairy products during the entire month. And of course workout at least 5 to 6 times a week. 

Good luck! Let me know how it's going for you,

     Ashley

Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.

June's Fitness and Food Challenge

    New section in the blog, YAY! I am starting up monthly challenges for anyone to participate in with me. So even though we are a week into June, I have decided to go ahead and post my challenge.

For the next three weeks I am going to only drink water. Anyone can join me in this at any time even if June is almost over when you are reading this. The only exceptions to this are milk and tea. Milk is fine if it is almond or soy milk. I like it in my protein shakes or with cereal. Tea is fine but only if it is unsweetened.
July's challenges will be posted the last week of June, so look out for it!

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you're in!
You can find all the challenges here

P90X: My 30 Day review

     I Have thought about doing a Beach Body program for quite some time now. More specifically I have attempted P90X and Insanity. I just could never motivate myself to follow video after video and then repeat the same thing the next week. I finally got motivated enough to do it after spending too much time on Youtube seeing other's results. I am now in my second phase, so the second month of P90X and I have seen results but I want to push harder and take it further. After 30 days I have some likes about the program, but I also have some dislikes.

     So first off, I do think it is a good program. The workouts are challenging and you will feel sore the next day. BUT after a couple of weeks I felt like I had to add more weight to everything and I wasn't feeling as sore. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, I didn't feel like I was working my muscles hard enough. I basically felt like the program was lacking in it's variety of workouts.

     Not only did I get bored and it was hard to stay motivated but I felt as if my muscles got used to the program and I needed to switch it up more week to week.

     Today I started the first day of the second phase which is "Chest, Shoulders and Triceps" And I am so glad I  was finally able to do a new video. It was definitely hard and my arms were dying! Today I realized that I definitely see my muscles growing and I KNOW I am getting stronger. Sometimes I just need a reminder that it's not always how I think I look, I need to also measure my fitness by how much more I can do.

     I think that for anyone out there who may want to work out at home, who doesn't feel comfortable in a gym or who don't have time/are limited as far as leaving the house, this program is great. I do think It's a good idea for beginners or anyone new to working out to stick to the program and schedule. While I will finish this program I won't always stick with the exact schedule. I plan on adding my own cardio daily (about 30 to 40 mins.) I am going to push harder this round and sometimes I may just do my own workout and stray a little (for my sanity and for the sake of not being bored.) If you have been working out for awhile and know how to put workouts together, than I say go ahead and substitute your own workouts on the days you are bored of P90X. Just make sure you are still challenging yourself and pushing hard.

*Leave me a comment :) Let me know If you are interested in doing P90X or any other Beach Body program. Tell if you have started one or if you have completed a program!

Whey protein!

   So yesterday I finally got my whey protein powder. I was out for about 5 days and my new supply finally came in the mail. I thought I would share with you the protein I just bought and why I bought it. I actually hadn't tried this protein before and I bought it after I researched quite a bit to find a protein powder that was low sugar, low calorie, tasted good and easy to mix. The protein I bought is the Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey. It's in the flavor mocha cappuccino. It does contain whey protein isolates and concentrate.  It has 24g of protein per serving (1 scoop) and I purchased the 2lb container which has 28 servings and cost me about 26 dollars. So far drinking it twice, I like it. The taste is good, though I think I enjoy chocolate more. It mixes very well, I always used a blender so I normally didn't have too much of a problem blending my protein but it is nice to be able to just mix with a spoon if I am in a hurry. The flavor is delicious and I like how this brand has so many flavors to choose from. If you want to read reviews and or purchase this protein, you can check it out at  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/whey.html or http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrition-Standard-Double-Chocolate/dp/B000QSNYGI

I will continue to try out this protein and update you guys on what I think about it. Also I will see if I notice any increased results in my weightloss and muscle gain that seem correlated with this product.

***Update: I REALLY like this whey. I have seen excellent results! This whey is low carb, low sugar and low fat. It has helped me lose fat and lean out while still building great muscle.  

***I'm not sponsored, this is 100% my own opinion.