Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Chocolate Shakeology Review

I haven't been very good about posting lately. :-( I'm working on setting up a consistent schedule to keep myself accountable.

A quick update on what has been going on. I am on week 4 of the Alpha cycle in T25. I will post a review and share my results (and maybe my husband's too, if he lets me) once I complete the 5 week program. For now, I will share my experience trying shakeology this month.

There are so many reviews out there trying to "sell" shakeology to people, and this is NOT one of those. I am not a Beachbody coach or fitness expert or health professional. I am merely sharing my own experience replacing weekday breakfasts with chocolate shakeology. I purchased shakeology with my OWN money.

I was skeptical at first regarding this "miracle" shake. First, I ordered the single servings of all flavors to see if they even taste good.
  • Chocolate: yum (especially with peanut butter!)
  • Vegan chocolate: gritty gritty
  • Tropical strawberry: gritty and bitter
  • Greenberry: yum with fruity shakes
  • Vanilla: VERY bitter, couldn't even finish the shake, yuck!
Once I decided the chocolate was good, I ordered the 30 day pack. The 30 day pack comes in a resealable bag and a scoop. You follow the recipe and use one scoop per serving. You can also choose the 24 day single serving pack for your convenience. I make it in the blender but you can also shake the ingredients in a bottle.

I make shakeology in the morning as my and my husband's breakfast. Once I finish it, I feel full IMMEDIATELY, and the effect lasts about 2 hours (which is way better than having cereal for breakfast). There's plenty of recipes online and I am still trying different shakes. My favorite is the peanut butter cup recipe that comes in the T25 nutrition guide. So far I like the shake because it tastes good and takes the thinking and planning out of having a "healthy" breakfast. The price is a bit of a concern. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue using it as two of us are drinking the shake.

What do you think about shakeology?

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Focus T25 Overview

In order to meet my fitness goals, I purchased a workout program called Focus T25 by Shaun T (yes, the same guy that created Insanity). I chose this program because it only requires 25 minutes Monday - Thursday, and 50 minutes on Friday. This really takes away any excuse that I'm too "tired" or "busy" to workout.

Here's the overview for the program...

Package came with:
  • T25 Alpha and Beta workout DVDs (11 total)
  • T25 workout calendar
  • Quick start guide
  • 5 day fast track
  • Get it done nutrition
  • Ads for Beachbody and Shakeology
  • Resistance band
T25 is made up of two phases, Alph and Beta. You can purchase Gamma, the most advanced one, separately.  Alpha and Beta each consists of 5 workouts, which is great for someone who gets bored easily like me! The program comes with a calendar, so it's very straightforward to follow. 

It comes with a quick start guide that explains the program to you. You take your measurements and pictures to keep track of your progress every week. After each workout, you check "nailed it" or "barely made it" on your T25 calendar. Hopefully it'll improve with time. 

There's also a 5 day fast track. This includes recipes for the first 5 days to jump start your weight loss. Each day you can ONLY eat 1100 calories! Yikes! I opted to try to follow the nutrition guide instead. You take a short quiz in the guide to determine how many calories you should be consuming everyday. I will try to follow the recipes in the guide for my 1600 calories a day...at least for my first week of T25.

Shakeology is widely advertised as a meal replacement, mostly for breakfast or snack. I have not tried it yet.

Reviews and updates will come as I embark on my T25 journey! Wish me luck :-)

Monday, January 27, 2014

Welcome to my journey...

Hello! My name is Emily (aka Em). I am 25 years old living in the sunny Southern California with my husband and two very cute cats. I started this blog to keep track of my fitness journey. I have tried and failed many, many, many times to lose and/or maintain weight and be healthy. I love food. I have a great appreciation for them. Yes, I do eat a little extra when I'm sad/happy/mad/any emotion at all (girls, you hear me?). My weakness is POPCORN! On top of that, I'm always finding excuses to NOT exercise. In truth, it is hard to manage working a full time job, maintaining a household, eating well, AND exercising.

My hope is that I will succeed in this journey and continue to live a healthy lifestyle with my husband, Nick. He will be making guest appearances here and there :-)

I want this blog to keep me accountable for my actions, whether is what's I eat and what I do (exercise!). Perhaps this will even inspire others...we shall see :-)