I'm still here

Hello World. I'm still here.  Life has been incredibly busy over the past week:

1. I've been working three jobs non-stop (oftentimes 2 per day) in an effort to SAVE SAVE SAVE for summer vacay.
2. I started my second master's program.
3. We're preparing our angels for standardized tests.

So, I know I have a lot to update but I simply don't have the time.  I will say that honey and I are doing 5:30 AM workouts this week because of my crazy work schedule and trust and believe that I haven't forgotten to update you about my frozen meal challenge - blah, yuck yuck.  ANY QUESTIONS?  I will go into detail as soon as this crazy week is over. 

I will share the best news - my grad program comes equipped with a MacBook Pro. 

I'm in iLove!  Of course I'm at work at the moment so stay tuned and if you're INSANE, keep pushing play!

Frozen meal challenge - fish

Today's meal was 290 calories of awkwardness. Microwaved fish is just gross. If this wasn't an incentive to drop the seafood from my diet I don't know what is. The pasta portion was okay but I'm so over pasta. Here's the thing, when the majority of your diet has a veggie base, pasta is the bulk of what you'll find when you buy mainstream (i.e. Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc.) If I can stomach frozen meals after this, I may have to branch out into Amy's and other healthier lines. I won't go into detail, so here's the link to the Lean Cuisine site: Parmesan Crusted Fish Final judgment: I will not buy again.I tried the fish and thought that by mixing it up with the pasta it would unleash the deliciousness of it all - NOT!
What you see on the iTouch is a free Starz series I downloaded last night. It's free this week, folks. Check it out! I love the freebies on iTunes. Sometimes you wind up with cool music, videos, etc. Oh, don't ask me about the show. My sistafriend swung by the media center and we gabbed during my entire lunch break.

Moving on, and it's weird that I'm logging my meals randomly, but I seem to be thinking as such today, so here's breakfast. I awoke craving cheesy eggs. Okay, actually, I came home from work last night craving cheese and eggs. So this morning I scrambled up two eggs, a la microwave, added a slice of cheese and slapped it between two slicees of Arnold Sandwich Thins. Please buy these 100 calorie treats. The bread is soft, tasty and works with anything - veggie burgers, eggs and honey even slaps his sandwich meat between these little slices of heaven. It shocked me a bit because he requested that I buy it again when I went grocery shopping this past Sunday. Can you hear the Scooby Doo "uh!?" I added a side of grapes and I was a happy camper.
Let's tackle dinner. I borrowed this recipe from Healthy Tipping Point. Caitlin has blogged about these enough times to get me to try it. It's an artichoke/sun dried tomato/grilled cheese sandwich. I love everything except for the tomatoes. You win some, you lose some. But big ups to Caitlin for expanding my repertoire. I think I ate too much bread today. I've yet to blast my calories limit but I cannot remember the last time I had bread at every meal. Time will tell. Honey will be home soon and then it will be time to go insane.

KEEP PUSHING PLAY!

Supplements

I know some people are firm believers in eating healthy, organic foods when it comes to getting all of their vitamins. I think differently. I am a firm believer in supplements. In addition to my daily vitamins, I drink shakes to fuel and recover. The thing about just eating the right foods is that a lot of foods loose nutrients during the cooking process. Add that to pesticides, because I don't buy 100% all organic foods and just other bad things in the atmosphere, I feel a need to help my body get all the good stuff it can use.

Let's start with the PowerBar Recovery formula. This is the newest powder in my arsenal of drinks. Of course the folks at Beachbody sell the heck out of Shakeology. I'm not opposed to the drink, I just like to buy stuff when I need it. I'm a last minute person folks and waiting for my drinks in the mail will cause me to fall of course. Anyhoo, I debated between the PowerBar and the Clif recovery formula. Based on getting more bang for my buck and suggestions from the folks at Performance Bicycle I went with PowerBar. However, I may try the Clif drink one day because the products I've tasted thus far are yummy. I also feel a difference after drinking this shake following Insanity. My pains have minimized substantially and I'm powered up and ready to go the next day.

Spiru-Tein is my FAVORITE powder. A lot of folks don't care for it but it's an Annie moment for me. It's thick like a malt and in addition to being a protein packed shake, it's a great meal replacement. Now, I'm not one for skipping meals, but I'd rather drink this before working out then eating a huge meal. I consider it more of a snack. Finally, it's a natural energy boost. Take a look at my favorite Spiru-Tein combination below:Thanks to the tips at MegaNerdRuns I froze my bananas and the shake tastes even better. When I want chocolate I'll add a dash of International Delight creamer. Yeah, not perfectly healthy, but perfectly good.

The Dessert shake is new to my drink collection because I wanted something that will add in the production of lean muscle. It's okay, not great but I will finish the container. I may buy something fruity next time. I use it for recovery after weight-lifting days at the gym (Rush Fitness). So far so good.

The last two powders belong to honey. He and I both see a marked improvement in the muscle definition of his arms. He likes the taste so if he's happy, I'm happy.

Last night involved Pure Cardio and I made it through the "warm up" non-stop. Take that, Shaun T!

Healthy Mistake

Before I go into the details of day two of my frozen food challenge let's recap my return to Insanity.

• Last night signaled the return of the 40 minute heart attack.
• Honey cussed out Shaun T and his wretched ways. He swore the 30 second break was actually 15.
• I jumped higher and harder than ever before and I truly thought I was going to die.
• Having two weeks off is not smart. I need to work out some part of my body at least 4-5 days a week to not shock my body. I swear, a third arm emerged from my body and smacked me silly.

It was Power Cardio and Resistance and in truth, it's the devil. Give me Pure Cardio anytime.

My healthy mistake involved eating Healthy Choice (HC) Tomato Basil Penne - yuck yuck yuck. I'm sorry, HC, but this particular dish needs to be removed from the line. Yes, vegetarians are happy to have a dish that clearly screams, "There ain't no meat in me!" but can you make it taste good? Allow me to present before:

And after:

I swear, I ate more than I should but I was hungry. First off, can HC at least make the disk look like the box? The red sauce wasn't in there. There was more clumped up cheese and basil (which I generally love) than anything else. I should have known not to give this dish a second chance. I tried it several months ago and I wasn't thrilled. But seriously, how can anyone go wrong with pasta and marinara sauce? The biggest surprise is that I usually bring one frozen meal a week and HC usually delivers. To put it plainly, don't buy it. HC can take their 280 calories and shove it! In my desperation to not go to the school cafeteria (that's an entirely different blog. If you haven't, read: Fed Up With Lunch) I succumbed to delving into the snacks I keep on hand for after school meetings. I ate two chocolate chip cookies. You know, those cookies didn't seem as satisfying as they did a few months ago. Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that my taste buds are evolving to a clean eating lifestyle.

Samples at Sam's

So, I walk into Sam's and there are "eat this" booths all over the store. I should have know better to go in Sam's on a Saturday but I was in the neighborhood and we all know the appeal. My intent was to get a new bag of bribery, uh, candy for my students and pick up some produce. I don't know why the produce at Wal-mart sucks but it's so on point at Sam's - Go figure. Anyhoo, I picked up the most amazing grapes, the sweetest strawberries (which are so big they would make the employees at Church's Chicken go "hmm..."), and 8 bananas which I feel stole for the price. As I'm winding my way through prepared foods I notice a woman giving samples of hummus. O-M-G, I've been meaning to try this particular hummus FOR-EVAH! Folks, when I tell you it's ridiculous, I mean it. This stuff is the truth. The hummus came with Stacy's all natural pita chips - yum! PLEASE GO BUY WHAT YOU SEE IN THE PHOTO. You will not be dissappointed. Personally, I think the serving size is a bit munch because it's all so filling but I feel I can get one heck of a snack/meal for a minimal amount of calories.

By the way, my back is pretty much okay. There's minor pain when I move a certain way but I'm going to jump back on Insanity - week 2 tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Out for the count

There's nothing like a backache to let me know that I'm knocking on 35 y/o next week. This backache has led me to taking it super it easy today. Due to no exercise I've had to monitor my caloric intake big time.

I hope to return tomorrow.

Junk no more

It took several weeks for me to realize that Insanity will not work if I fill my tummy with junk. Of course I know that I feel better when I eat clean but sometimes a cupcake just calls my name. It was a harsh weekend food wise and when I tried Insanity I failed. Miserably. Basically folks, follow the eating plan. If you cannot follow it to the letter, please eat clean.

This weekend has been a bad one. My back is going through the aches that seem to come with my special lady time for about a year. It's not pretty and I think I may need to take a week off because it hurts to simply type this entry.

I want to share a few recipes a found and made. The recipes come from: http://meganerdruns.com/ This young lady makes incredible dishes and thus far they are super delicious and very healthy.

The first is my breakfast and it will probably be my breakfast for the remainder of the week: STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE OATMEAL. The name has your mouth watering, right? Well, i won't read off the ingredients because I encourage you to visit the website. I'm sure you'll find something yummy to make for your breakfast or lunch: http://meganerdruns.com/2009/06/29/strawberry-shortcake-oatmeal/

The second is a summer salad. I made it for my coworker and she said she spent her lunch dissecting the salad so she can make it on her own. The only difference is that I used spinach because it's yummy and I didn't add chicken. I only eat seafood. I just might try it with shrimp next time.

Oh, I tried Power Cardio and Resistance tonight but I was that chubby girl in the back of the Fit TV program doing the modified version. Hey, I still burned 415 calories so all was not lost. Plus, I felt a little better while I did it until now. Geesh, a woman's body is a curious thing.

Until later...

Kicking booty!

All day long - honey, honey, honey, when are we going to do Insanity?

Boy: as soon as i finish cleaning

me: hmm, okay.

boy: if you want to do it without me, go ahead.

me: no (because i know he won't do it), i have no problems waiting on you.

boy: okay, but can we order pizza first?

This was a true conversation and talk about boy paying for those four slices. I don't get why honey doesn't get the calorie thing. I've decided to to let him do his thing food wise and hope that he'll watch the pounds/inches fall off me and finally get it.

On to the blog - I KICKED INSANITY ASS today! We did pure cardio and it was amazing. I didn't stop once during the "warm up" x 3. I even went faster when Shuan asked me to.

Stay tuned for tasty recipes for my lunch and dinner for the upcoming week.

Keep pressing play!

Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery Pt 2

Just a little update during my Insanity part duex - I feel like I'm getting better, faster and stronger. I'm burning mad calories, more focused on my eating plan and I'm actually enjoying working out with honey.

Most of my new updates until I get back to week three will be meals and such so please stay tuned, keep reading and if you're a Beach Body devotee, KEEP PRESSING PLAY!

What is love?

Love is restarting Insanity to support your honey. Yes, I actually did that but I gotta tell you that I feel better for it. I feel supported by Chris. He can no longer tell me to push because he's trying to gasp for air himself (tee hee). Okay, it feels good knowing that this former track/baseball star is struggling as much as I but just having him there makes me want to show out a little more and prove that I can keep up with the boys. However, Chris seems to get extra encouragement from Shaun because there's ALWAYS one of the two Chris's in the videos. Oh yeah, Chris is on vacation this week so he feels the need to not only do Insanity but jog it out at the track. What the heezy!?

I found a GREAT new restaurant in my hometown: http://www.zoeskitchen.com/ YUM YUM YUM and the food is straight up healthy. The menu is based on the Mediterranean diet. Try the shrimp kabobs. Yum-o! Any guess on what I ate for dinner tonight?

After the track, Chris and I went to GNC to get our monthly supply and club discount of protein shakes. I'm going to try BSN Lean Dessert Protein Shake. I'm a faithful Oxygen reader and the ads have finally broken me down to try out. I'll report more tomorrow after my workout. I've been using Spuri-teen for over a year now but it's really been nothing more than a recovery shake/meal replacement. I need something at this point that's going to help me build lean muscle mass and help define by physique.

Day 1: Watched Chris do the fit test. HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! Do we all look like birds flying when we try it for the first time? I recorded Chris's results and he did okay. But the boy has zero rhythm. Bless his poor little multi-racial soul. No offensive people without rhythm but you know what I'm talking about.

Day 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit: I burned 614 calories. Yea me!

Dig deeper!

I'm baaack!

Spring break was a BLAST and so was my diet. Maybe I should say it was a bust. If the food was fried, or baked, or had cream cheese on top and yummy brownie on the bottom - I ATE IT! My friends and I went to Myrtle Beach and Insanity didn't figure into the program. With that being said, I'm restarting Week three and I'm beginning on a Monday this time. This is great because now I get a rest on Sunday. My plan is to go outside and play with honey on rest days.

Because I'm resuming my program you'll find a few of my Insane meals in the photos . The top photos is whole wheat pasta salad, grape tomatoes, spinach all mixed with vinaigrette. The second photo is "chicken" fruit salad. I said "chicken" because the only meat I eat is seafood so I used Boca chicken patties. You'll find the actual recipe on my Beach Body coach's website: http://fitonawhim.squarespace.com/.

Stay tuned.

Insanity Day 17: Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs

I have a blog follower!!!! Yay! Thank you, diva.

So, I'm beginning to see crazy definition in my legs. Yes, you heard that right - definition in Rocky Mountains of my legs. When I went to bed last night I could barely walk. When I woke up this morning walking was difficult. I'm building muscles I never knew existed. There are several people at my workplace doing Insanity and one sistafriend said the same thing about the lower part of her arms. But the definition in my legs is driving me crazy in a good way. So crazy that I went out and tried on short and tight minis that I would have never considered in the past. It's on hold so I still have until 1 tomorrow to buy it. I'll keep you updated.

Today was Pure Cardio which has been described as the devil. I've changed my mind and now believe that Plyo cardio circuit is the devil. I screwed up with my Mio watch and accidentally pressed stop during the warm up. I ended with 498 calories for the cardio and 158 for cardio abs. If I had to guess, I'd add 75-100 calories to that number.

I'm feeling good, proud of what I'm seeing and looking forward to tomorrow more than anyone, well, anyone not doing Insanity can imagine. Cardio Recovery is my friend.

Insanity Day 15: Fit Test

My 5:30 workouts never get easier. Today was my second fit test. Here are my results:

1. Switch kicks: 64-70
2. Power jacks: 32-36
3. Power knees: 70-80
4. Power jumps: 20-20
5. Globe jumps: 8-7
6. Suicide jumps: 8-10
7. Push up jacks: 10-19
8. Low plank oblique: 29-33

Those damn globe jumps. They are not fun at all. However, I'm proud of what I accomplished otherwise.

FYI: Day 14 was a rest day. I didn't do much other than monitor my food intake. We're testing students at school so there was a lot of walking/monitoring the students.

Here's the best news: Shaun T friended ME on Facebook. How awesome is that?

Update: 337 calories burned.

Insanity Day 13: Pure Cardio AND Cardio Abs

I already feel like I'm going to die when it's Pure Cardio day but today was brutal because I had to add Cardio Abs. Shaun T kept saying - no crunches, no push ups but it was so much worse. Here's the upside:

Pure Cardio - 578 calories/Cardio Abs: 170 calories = 748 calories total.

748 FREAKIN' CALORIES! Who'd thunk? Well, it's pretty awesome but I know my abs are going to jump from beneath the fat and smack me silly tomorrow. It's no wonder the 40 y/o mother of twins and the fitness instructor from the infomercial have killer abs.

My high school friend Sandie has lost 25 pounds and she's only half way through Insanity. She's doing extra gym work but wow wow wow!

So, it's almost 11pm and my legs are killing me so I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow is a rest day. Oh how I love rest day. I take my second fitness test Wednesday along with another weigh in. I hope I have good things to report.

TTFN!

Insanity Day 12: Cardio Power and Resistance

What is wrong with me? Why am I wimping out? I am not pushing harder despite feeling like I am and it's driving me up the freakin' wall. Is it lack of sleep? Just being a wimp? I don't know. I know I can do more. I just know that I can. I'm so disappinted in my results:

38 minutes - 511 calories

That's about 40 calories less then lass time. Okay, I know it's not all about the calories. Numbers just make me feel good. I need to step up my game and hopefully the next time you see Cardio Power and Resistance you'll see a happier Urbansoulsista.

Day 5: Pure Cardio

I don't understand why I don't look like Naomi Campbell right now. Pure Cardio is the most intense workout I've ever done. Five buckets of sweat must have poured off my body. All I remember thinking was - it's only 38 minutes. I can do anything for 38 minutes, right? It's hard and breaks were taken but I got through it. Here are today's results:

38 minutes - 551 calories

Dig deeper!

Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery

Have you ever taken a long hard look between your thighs? If you have thunder thighs I must tell you that it's not pretty, people. It's like looking across the Rocky Mountains. If Insanity does anything I certainly hope my thighs get smooth and strong.

Cardio Recovery is the best thing ever. It's truly a recovery day in which you'll do a lot of stretching and looking between your thighs. The workout was still extremely effective in that I was sweating like a pig. The great thing about this program is despite the aches, which has been minimal is the energy I feel. I'm pretty sure it has a lot with eating better but I've never felt this good during my special lady week. I usually feel like the women in the Midol commercial but I'm hopping around like the ding dongs on the Tampax Sport commercial.

Here are my results:
35 minutes - 322 calories

I didn't burn as many calories but more than I thought I would. Overall, recovery day is still an effective workout and calorie burner.

Insanity Day 3: Cardio Power & Resistance

I feel like Florida Evans: Damn, Damn, Damn that was tough. Meal one consisted of my banana soy shake and I was rolling by 5:30ish. Here are my results:

39:41:63 seconds - 514 calories burned

I love my Mio watch!

Insanity Day 2 - Plyometic cardio circuit

Oddly enough I woke up excited. I couldn't sleep most of the night and kept dreaming that I slept through by 5:30 alarm. I work up on my own around 4 but forced myself to stay in bed until 5. I woke up earlier because it's honey's birthday and I want to cook breakfast for him. Anyway, here are my results:

32:01:31 seconds - 460 calories burned

I'm 6'2" but I was never an a hard core athlete. I cheered but our workouts pale in comparison to Insanity. This was the hardest workout I've ever experienced but early on I realized that I have to work at my own pace. I'll catch up with the folks on the video one day, but for now I have to work up to such a feat.

Digging deeper!

Insanity Day 1 - Fit Test

The Fit Test is supposed to be done every two weeks to gauge progress. I must warn you, if you decide to do Insanity, you will find out that the calendar follows a Monday start date. I wanted to begin immediately and couldn't see myself waiting until Monday. Waiting until Monday would only cause me to pig out and not take care of myself. Here are my results for day 1.

1. Switch kicks: 64
2. Power jacks: 32
3. Power knees: 70 (kicking left knee)
4. Power jumps: 20
5. Globe jumps: 8
6. Suicide jumps: 8
7. Push-up jacks: 10
8. Low plank oblique: 29

According to my Mio heart rate monitor watch I burned 206 calories in 27:16 minutes. The fit test includes a warm up, the 8 exercises above done as many times as possible within 1 minutes and a cool down. I think 206 calories is pretty darn good. I can't wait to see what my Mio tells me after tomorrow's workout.

Tonight is the last night that I will do Insanity at night. Here's my plan:

• Wake up around 5:30, have a protein shake and go INSANE
  
• Get ready for work
• Breakfast
  
• Proceed with my day as usual
• Treadmill/abs evenings
  

Like I said, it's a plan. Let's see if I can really get it done. :)

Measurements (in inches):

• Chest: 42
• Waist: 38
• Hips: 47.1 Hey, I'm a black girl with a big ba-donk-ka-donk
  
• Thighs: 27
• Calf: 15.6
• Upper arm: 14

Power through!