Challenge Results: WHOOP!

Well, my first official Beachbody Challenge is complete, and I'm really happy with the results!

Here were my goals, as posted on 6/22:

• Replace breakfast with Shakeo every day for 60 days. 
• Follow the work out schedule (Supreme Warrior) listed in my Fitness Guide. 
• Lose 15 pounds
• Lose a cumulative 10 inches 

Negative bit first: The only slight disappointment, for me, is that I didn't lose any weight. None. Nada. I realize this is because I was working out HARD, but it's a disappointment, nonetheless. 

I have had Shakeology for breakfast every morning since late June. I love-love-love it.

I didn't miss a single workout from my Supreme Warrior schedule. Not a SINGLE one. I have worked out 6 days a week since 7/1. I'm taking a couple days off now, but will probably start back up tomorrow with 5 workouts a week.

And, most impressive:

Over the span of 60 days, I lost 11.1 inches. ELEVEN POINT ONE. I've replaced 11.1 inches of fat with muscle by working out, eating pretty clean, and keeping my long term goals in mind.

My waist is thinner, my legs are more toned, my arms are thinner, my shoulders are more defined - I'll take that, with no weight lost, over the quick drop in pounds I experienced in the past because I was eating processed, packaged stuff that was likely devoid of much that could be considered healthy any day. This is loss I can maintain simply by continuing my relatively newly acquired healthy habits.

I'm going to keep up Shakeology - it's the best, healthiest breakfast I've ever had in my life, and the benefits of my regularly ingesting so many Superfoods are all over the place. I'm actually satisfied after I have my shake. Beyond that, I have more energy, my body feels more balanced, and I'll go so far as to credit the vitamins and nutrients in Shakeo for the fact that, last month, I could feel a cold sore coming on and my body was able to fight it off without any medicine. Please and thank you!

As for the workouts - for September, I'm going to continue Combat, but I'm going to follow a schedule of my own making, made up of my favorite workouts - Shock Plyo, Combat 30, and Combat 45, possibly with Power HIIT thrown in. Then, in October, I plan to do T25 (ShaunT is a BEAST!) which will last 15 weeks, so it will get me through the holidays. Then, depending on where I am in the new year, I may consider Insanity, though I am already planning to revisit Combat in the Spring sometime.

For now: I was able to easily put on pants I haven't worn in at least 8 years last night. In my goal size.

Thanks to Beachbody's programs and my love of Shakeology, I'm the healthiest I've ever been, weight be damned. Yes, weight loss is an eventual goal, but for now, making the complete transition to clean eating is where my focus is.

So, in short: this whole experience was pretty awesome.

Til next time,
Ang

A Beachbody Update, Clean Eating, Books, Joss Whedon, and Bella B.

Hey-o.

Well, we're 9 days away from my first official "measure in," and I haven't lost any weight. I won't lie, that's really disappointing, but I did take some preemptive measurements last week in an attempt assuage said disappointment, and inches are gone from my waist, arms, and legs, so obviously, my body is changing. I just wonder what this is going to mean, weight-wise. I'm eating within a calorie allotment and replacing a meal every day with Shakeology, but still not seeing loss. Yes, there have been a few moderate cheats - like last night, I had Torchy's Tacos for dinner (and it was deeee-lish), but I am still more mindful of what I'm eating now than I have probably ever been before.

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So anyway, it's upsetting (to a degree), but I have tone in my arms and legs where there was none before, and my shoulders and upper body are also changing - so much that a girl in my apartment office said something about me being "pretty cut" through my shoulders, so I'm trying to focus on that. She also said that, in her experience, the first month of her Insanity workout, she only lost 4 pounds, and then she dropped the weight during month two, so I'm hoping I see a similar trend. The goal for me has never been to be skinny, per say, but to the fit and strong. I'm on my way.

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It's a goal of mine to have my household move to clean eating by year end. It's hard, especially in this
day and age of GMOs. God only knows what other science projects are offered to people in the grocery store, but it's a goal, and I hope we can do it, expensive or not. It's probably going to be a step-by-step process for us - move meats, then veg, etc etc, but I think it's a worthwhile goal for a million reasons. Though it was a bit of an unwieldy and overly verbose read for me, I'm glad to have read THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA, because it really did enhance my perspective on food and where it comes from. For now, we try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. We'll see how this goes.

In other book news, I've been reading THE INTERESTINGS for the last week and I'm having a sort of difficult time with it, not because it isn't...well, interesting, but because the narrative itself seems overly dense in all the wrong places. I'd rather sparse but intentional writing (like what's used throughout THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, which I adored) than needless blathering, and I really feel like this book goes on and on about some of the most inane things. But: I will finish it. I have about 150 pages left, I think. We'll also see how this goes.

Obligatory Interjection: I'm currently enjoying the first cup of coffee I've had in about 3 weeks. It is rather divine.

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While I've been sipping on this Cup of Deliciousness, I finished watching Serenity this morning, the 2005 Joss Whedon film, and I'm (as usual) kicking myself for not watching it sooner. Buffy was fabulous, and so was Angel, but my real point here is that I love that Whedon isn't afraid to make brave, bold, kick ass female characters, and for this, Serenity did not disappoint. Also, Nathan Fillion, shirtless and sporting bedhead isn't so terrible on the eyes. I also really want to see his version of
Much Ado About Nothing because I am a Shakespeare girl at heart - have been since I was about 17 and begged for a leatherbound, embossed copy of his complete works. I'm sure it will blow my mind.

And speaking of strong female leads, my wee one will be 5 on Thursday, and she's becoming quite the kick butt girl herself. Thursday will be spent doing whatever she wants.

Til next time,
Ang