Quick Vacation Slim Down

I get asked by a lot of people, "I'm going on vacation in 2 weeks and have totally neglected my workouts. Is there anything I can do?"

Great question (and a common one at that). The first thing I'd tell you is start working out. Don't go killing yourself, or working out five times a day..that's stupid and you are just going to end up injuring or exhausting yourself. If you exhaust your body you are more prone to sickness, and no one wants to be sick on vacation. Instead, start working out like you would if you didn't have a deadline. Do you have a Beachbody video? Start popping them in every day and get on a routine (and those can come with you on vaca!)  Maybe go for a jog every morning, or start taking walks.  I would also recommend 2 sets of 10 push ups, 2 sets of 10 dips, and some ab work..but again, nothing extreme.  This will give you some muscle tone in your arms, and begin to firm up your abs. Now, you are not going to have Cameron Diaz arms or some crazy six pack BUT you will have more than what you started with.

The second thing I would tell you is to watch what you eat. DO NOT CRASH DIET. Don't go eating an apple, or skipping lunch, or eating a Saltine cracker for dinner. Again..that's being stupid AND slowing down your metabolism. Just make some quick switches:

No more carbonated beverages. None. This makes your stomach look "puffy"

No more salt...also makes ya bloat and retain water so go for low sodium options

Drink your Shakeology

Limit gassy foods: Mexican, beans, broccoli, etc.

DRINK MORE WATER

No beer, no alcohol

Goodbye, dairy!

Nothing white (sugar, bread, etc)

Eat more fiber

Slow down your eating

Go tropical with your fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya)

Making these few simple changes can help you to look a lot less bloated while you are in your bikini or trunks. I'm not promising you are going to lose weight (if you wanted to do that you probably should have started earlier than a week or two before your vacation), but this will help you out.

Happy vacationing, everyone!

Insanity: Recovery Week

Woo! I made it! I have been staring at this week on my Insanity wall calendar as if it were a finish line...but really all it is, is the starting line for the next month.

The first month of Insanity was, by far, more mental for me than physical. The workouts always left me breathless feeling like I got in an AMAZING workout, but the mental aspect of the whole thing was the most difficult. Around week 4 I just got really tired. I'm not sure if that was my body CRAVING the recovery week at that point or what, but I was BEAT. I did not want to get out of bed, I did not want to do my workouts, but I still did them. As always, after the the first round of the warm up I was pumped and ready to go, but man getting to that point was rough.

Recovery week is a nice break, for sure. You are still working out 6 days in a row, but the workouts are at a much lower intensity. The first workout I did, I felt very tired afterward (which is exactly how you AREN'T supposed to feel), so I toned it down the next two times I did it and lowered the intensity a bit. I feel much better now. I feel as though I still got a great workout in, but that I didn't kill myself like I do with a typical Insanity workout.

The Cardio Core and Balance DVD focuses on minute intervals for the majority of the exercises, which are nothing that you haven't really done, but you focus more on posture, core, and control than speed and reps. Control is a big part of all the movements.  The first half is cardio-based, so you are doing your suicides, your hit the floors, vertical jumps, switch kicks, etc; however, sometimes these exercises are paired with an 8:8 ratio (Example: 8 switch kicks, 8 power jacks...something like that).

At the end its about balance as you work on your obliques and hip flexers. I can feel my core engaged this entire workout.  Your core is supposed to be engaged during a regular workout, but sometimes everything is going so fast you are lucky if you remember to breathe. With Cardio Core and Balance, you can really feel the focus on the core.

So there you have it! If you have made it this far, congratulations! We are half way there! If you haven't yet, then there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep pushing on, stay strong, and dig deeper!