When George Gershwin wrote "Summertime, and the livin' is easy...", he didn't have four children running around him.  What a crazy, busy summer!  It has been so long since my last post.  I believe the last time I posted was my Turbo Fire success with the Inferno Plan.  Since then, we had a "stay-cation" with family visiting, I took a professional development class, caught a nasty summer cold and had a weekend getaway with my husband.  I looked at my super gym calendar and have managed to average 4 workouts a week this month.  I stepped on the scale earlier this week, expecting to see that I had gained all the weight back that I had worked so hard to lose, but was surprised to see that I was up only 2 pounds.  Gotta get back on track.  It has been so incredibly hot here that my motivation seems to have melted. (I HATE hot weather!  Guess it's the Scandinavian genes in me, but I would much prefer a cool, crisp day over 100 degrees.)

My husband just reminded me that my birthday is tomorrow.  I guess I'll get back on track after my pity party which will inevitably include something chocolate :)  I will admit, though, that even when I feel like I'm not as intentional about my eating and calorie counting, since making a life change including working out and eating healthy, I don't crave the naughty stuff as much as I did before.  And, when I do indulge, portion control is much easier.  The guilt is way less and the treat tastes better!  A benefit of eating healthy that I didn't expect. :)

Day 5 of Turbo Fire Inferno Plan and drum roll, please....

6 POUNDS!  There's 6 less pounds of me to love :)  Honestly, I think the key to my success wasn't just the work-outs, but taking the time to write down and estimate every single calorie I put in my mouth.  I kept it between 1100 and 1300 calories this week.  The scale hasn't shown me numbers like that since before child #2 was born.  This was the boost through that plateau that I desperately needed.  I'm just hoping that I can continue the loss.  I'm being totally realistic here, too, knowing that I need to ease up a bit on the work-outs (the Inferno Plan recommends not doing it more than 5 days because it is so intense with a pretty low-calorie intake).  I would be happy with a 1-2 pound loss each week.  Next week I'll start following one of the Turbo Fire schedules that includes toning, sculpting and ab work.

Tomorrow I'm headed to a local Team Beachbody meeting to learn more about some exciting new products and promotions.  I know they just released new Chocolate Vegan Shakeology, as well as a free trial on challenge packs.  I'll update when I learn more.

Nap time for my littlest Little, which means it's time for my Fire 55 class :)

Here's my plan for this week:  The 5-Day Inferno Plan by Turbo Fire.  I need a kick in the pants to get me back into my routines, and this looks like a great way to jump-start my motivation and metabolism.

Today's workout:  55 min Turbo Fire; total calories:  1300.  I also made sure I got at least 8 cups of water today.  I made a huge pitcher of water with cucumber, lemon, mint leaves and grated ginger.  I have a hard time drinking plain water, and this got me hydrated.  Time to flush some toxins outta here!  Time for bed before I feel the urge to snack!

One full week into summer vacation!  Since the beginning of June, unfortunately, I feel like my eating habits have derailed.  End of the school year stress and craziness, birthdays (my baby turned 2!) and a big family cook-out have allowed bad eating habits and more processed foods into the house.  I thought I would have the week to figure out a plan and map out meals, but I found myself playing outside with my kids instead of sitting down and planning out meals or cooking.  I had a couple days that I didn't have my Shakeology and wow, did I feel sluggish and yucky.  This weekend I have to come up with a meal plan and get myself back to Whole Foods (without the kids).  No excuses.  

Ugh.  What a week it has been.  I have been doing Turbo Fire and it has been perfect to release the stress that I'm under right now.  End of the school year:  "I hate it, but I love it."-Tony Horton.  I'm not done with the school year until Tuesday the 12th.  Technically, my teaching partner works the first half of the week, but we think it's important for us both to be there the last day. Report cards, cleaning and packing the classroom, projects, paperwork, student issues, and the devastating news that our school didn't pass "No Child Left Behind" requirements has made for a tough week.

I admit, I'm addicted to Chalene and her work-outs.  I did great with eating last week.  I really watched calories and did well with reducing intake to around 1200.  I had pieced together a plan based off one of the 5-day plans in the Turbo Fire kit.  The scale didn't move much, but, another pair of capris that I haven't worn in years fit very comfortably now.  I really think I need to steer clear of that scale.  It just brings me down.

Now, this past week...not so great.  Still doing the Turbo Fire work-outs...alternating between the 45 and 55 minute ones right now.  I need something predictable with a good sweat.  I'm such a stress -induced eater, though.  Last weekend was filled with some really not-so-smart choices, but as the week progressed, I got back on track.

So, next week I'll be taking a look at the bigger picture Turbo Fire and getting a schedule put together to follow.  I'll also be spending a little more time establishing the coaching side of Team Beachbody.  If anyone would like to join me for a super fun summer Turbo Fire challenge, let me know.  You can click on the upper left link, Team Beachbody Fitness, on my blog page for more info.

I cheated on Tony this week.  Tony Horton and P90X, that is.

I got a taste of Chalene with Turbo Fire.  I LOVE it!  This week I did the Fire Starter video Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  The fastest 37 minutes ever! I still loosely maintained my P90X schedule, doing Plyo and partial strength-training work-outs.  Friday I did some yoga with my students to help calm them down (it's that time of year!) and ran a mile with them at our 22nd Annual Fun Run.  This morning I'm heading out to do a 5K with my friend of nearly 32 years.

Cardio is what I have been missing.  I stepped on the scale today...2 pounds down from last weekend!!

I switched up some meals this week, too.  I made a quinoa tabouleh that made for an easy dinner side and lunch at work.  Thai lettuce wraps one night, (thank you for the great recipe, Jill...it was YUM!). Friday nights have become burger night here.  We used to do carry-out from various places on Friday nights, but since making the commitment to lose this weight in Januar, I've been making our own burgers.  I figured I have more control over the fat content and quality of the meat by splurging on lean ground sirloin from Whole Foods.  This week, though,  I opted for an organic marinated portobello mushroom burger on a whole wheat (lightly toasted/grilled) english muffin while the rest of the fam ate their burgers.  While the kids ate their baked fries, I had more tabouleh.  Mmmmmm!

Happy Memorial Day!

So, is it still considered stress eating when you grab and gnaw on celery sticks?  4:30-5:30 is the time of day when all craziness breaks out in my house.  Yesterday was one of those days.  Trying to fix dinner while my 2nd-grader was egging on and chasing my irrational 3-year-old who was throwing the most massive fit, toys and punches.  In the meantime, my soon-to-be 2-year-old was crying, attached to my leg while I'm trying to throw dinner together to feed my little crazies.  Thank goodness I had a bag of celery sticks on the counter instead a bag of Cheetos or Tootsie Rolls.  Instinctively, I grabbed at that bag and began chomping the celery down like a rabid rabbit.  

This week I'll admit I am pulling back a little bit on the P90X.  I did the Turbo Fire intro video on Monday and loved it!  It's the same/similar moves from the class I took at the gym for a couple years, so I was able to jump in and keep up with the intro video.  I've also spent the past 2 days setting up our first veggie garden, so I felt I had gotten quite a back work-out by digging up and leveling the soil before assembling our raised garden beds.  Oh, and hauling 10 bags of soil, I'm feeling the work-out.  I threw in a couple sets of push-ups to work the chest.  

Yesterday was Plyo.  My 3-year-old helped me out.  He's doing "jumping the river" with me.  

(This is pre-tantrum)