Brazil Butt Lift - Week 3 Complete!

Another week done! Sorry that this post is slightly delayed, it's been a crazy few days around here. I'll be sharing some BIG NEWS in a separate post either later today or tomorrow... you won't want to miss it! :)

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Week 3 Calendar - Combination Workout
Monday: Sculpt
Tuesday: Cardio Axe; Bum Bum
Wednesday: Sculpt
Thursday: Bum Bum; High & Tight
Friday: Sculpt
Saturday: Bum Bum; Tummy Tuck
Sunday: Rest

Sculpt three times in one week... my shoulders were most definitely a little sore! Waking up on Friday when I knew I had to do it again... I didn't want to! I was not only tired from waking up early every morning to workout before my daughter woke up, but it was raining, and my shoulders were sore.

I actually did the wrong exercises on Thursday morning (see what happens when I workout before I have my coffee?!) so had to mix up my Friday and Saturday exercises to make sure I touched on all of the workouts as the calendar noted. On Sunday, we got in a great walk at the local park since the weather was awesome. It was probably about 75 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze, minimal humidity. My husband and I took turns pushing our daughter in her stroller and I noticed I burned calories at a much slower rate when I wasn't pushing (so of course I didn't mind pushing!)

This week, I started to push myself harder during Cardio Axe. Since I already know the moves for this dance workout, I would start doing each move the way it ultimately is to be performed, rather than the step by step instructions Leandro gives. This helped me to burn a good 20-25 additional calories in just that 30 minute workout, which was awesome to see (I love breaking the 200 calories marker in such a short workout). If you're going to try BBL, I would encourage that you do this too --- it will help keep you from getting bored and keep your heart rate up so you continue to burn the calories faster.

I can't believe Week 4 is already here. I feel like I just started! I'm going to keep on going with this one while I decide what workout to take on next. Stay tuned for the Week 4 wrap-up post next week... I'll be sharing with you how many inches I've lost doing this awesome toning workout! :)

~ Aly

Friday Food Frenzy 11

From time to time, we all struggle when we're out and about to eat right. It's not always easy to make healthy decisions, and sometimes it doesn't even seem like there are healthy options for us to eat. The mall food court can be evil. You've got all kinds of bad but super yummy foods staring you down. I'm relieved that the pizza place and Five Guys is located all the way in the back section of the food court at my mall so I'm less likely to let it bother me. Sure, I'd love a burger and fries and might allow myself a burger or fries at some point in the future. But right now, I need to stick to my plan.

Fortunately, there's a Chick-fil-A right near the food court entrance. I frequented Chick-fil-A before my wedding for their Grilled Chicken and Fruit Salad, which shortly thereafter, the mall locations stopped selling. I was devastated!! It was a great salad loaded with fruit --- before adding the dressing, it was only 230 calories (and the light berry balsamic dressing they had added 110 calories if you used the whole packet). It was such a great salad. I'm so sad they don't have this salad anymore.

If you follow Chick-fil-A at all, you may have heard they recently changed their salads. I was devastated to hear this news, however, before venturing to the mall yesterday, I checked out their new salads online to see what their new offerings were. After scoping them out, I was actually kind of excited to try them. Without further a due...

Chick-fil-A new salads:
- Grilled Market Salad: 180 calories before dressing and condiments (nuts and granola) are added; loaded with apples, blueberries, and strawberries
- Asian Salad: 330 calories before dressing and condiments (Chinese wontons and almonds)
- Cobb Salad: 430 calories before dressing
- Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap: 330 calories before dressing (to dip wrap into)

I wanted to try the Asian Salad. My mall location doesn't sell it, of course! So I picked the Grilled Market Salad. I loved all the fruit that was in it, and preferred the grilled chicken (the Asian and Cobb salads are actually made with their chicken nuggets, which probably plays a part in the higher calorie counts). I didn't add any of the nuts or granola. The zesty apple cider vinaigrette was suggested for this salad, which I honestly didn't love, but it was ok. I only used half the packet of dressing (the entire packed would have been 230 calories --- yikes!!) My only gripe about this salad was the blue cheese. I personally am not a huge blue cheese fan. I picked around the big chunks of it the best I could. Since Chick-fil-A has their salads made daily, I don't know that I could even order it without blue cheese but I will certainly ask next time. Overall, I really did enjoy this salad tremendously. I definitely still want to try the wrap and Asian salad!

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We've all heard about Green Tea. It's potential health benefits to help fight cancer and heart disease. Lower cholesterol. Burn fat. Prevent diabetes and strokes. And possibly even helping to prevent the onset of dementia. However, I've never really been a fan of it. I'm not really a tea person in general (unless it's iced tea). When I was picking up my K-Cups one day in Target, the tea section caught my eye.

There was a whole section of Lipton flavored Green Teas. And a lot of them contained the "Superfruits" that seem to be dominating the market these days. Purple Acai. Red Goji. Mangosteen. Pomegranate. The list goes on. Anyway, I noticed specifically that one of them was decaf!! I didn't know they even made decaf green tea! I've become a decaf coffee drinker at night which I'm trying to change, so decided to try the Decaf  Blackberry and Pomegranate Green Tea. I LOVE IT! It's so yummy! It's slightly sweet but not too overpowering. I also picked up the Red Goji and Raspberry (caffeinated) green tea to try since I love raspberries, but to me, it tasted a bit too artificial. There are so many flavors I want to try! Passionfruit and Coconut. White Mangosteen and Peach. Black Currant and Vanilla. I don't think any of these would ever make me quit my morning "Cup of Joe", but they certainly could be good to have midday before the caffeine would keep me up at night. Interested in trying green tea? Check out their full selection!

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I hope you enjoyed this week's Friday Food Frenzy. New recipes coming next week! :) Have a wonderful weekend!

~ Aly

Burn, Baby, Burn... with a Heart Rate Monitor

By now, you know I love the My Fitness Pal (MFP) app on my iPhone. I have it on my iPad too, and on occasion  I will log into the website directly. This app helped me lose my first 20(ish) pounds by tracking my calories consumed and burned daily. I thought that since it had my basic information saved (age, weight, etc) that it would accurately calculate the calories I burned working out. Then I hit a plateau. It was hard for me to be sure that it was accurately calculating these calories for my workouts, so I decided it was time to invest in a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM)... perhaps this would help me break through my plateau.

And it did! I noticed quite a variance (in both directions). No wonder I was stuck! And the biggest problem was with my Wii Zumba Fitness Core. If you're not familiar with this workout, it will give you up to 5 stars per workout based on how accurately the system believes you followed the routine. And it also calculates the calories it believes you burned. I decided to try a quick 20 minute class to see what my HRM shows I burned vs. MFP and the Wii system. I knew there was always a variance between Wii and MFP. Results:

Wii: 259 calories burned 

MFP: 173 calories burned

Actual with HRM: 134 calories burned

HUGE DIFFERENCE! And I was logging the 259, so I was logging over 100 calories burned more than I actually had burned. Well no wonder I was stuck!!

I wanted to try out two of my Jillian Michaels workouts too because I never really knew what to log these workouts as.

Jillian's Kickbox FastFix is a collection of 3 workouts (each 20 minutes long) that seemed to be a cross between circuit training and kickboxing. I'd googled it online and saw most people were logging this as kickboxing, so that's what I did. So I tried the first two workout with my HRM and checked it in MFP against the calories for Circuit Training and Kickboxing. Results:
MFP Circuit Training: 175
MFP Kickboxing: 222
Actual with HRM for Workout 1 (arms): 129

Actual with HRM for Workout 2 (legs): 163

Considering I was logging these workouts as kickboxing, I was logging 444 calories when I completed the first two workouts together when in actuality, I was burning somewhere around 300 calories... Big difference again!!

Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30. 30 minutes of circuit training using her 3-2-1 method (this is what she's best known for with her DVDs). I left off on Week 3 of 4 when I switched to Brazil Butt Lift so that's what I wanted to check the calories burned on the HRM vs. MFP. Results:
MFP Circuit Training: 263
Actual with HRM: 213

Still a 50 calories difference. With each workout, I'm more astounded by how many more calories I was logging as burned that I didn't actually burn.

Jazzercise Jazz Cardio Strength Stretch. I love dance workouts. This DVD was purchased from the Jazzercise website as I believe it's the only way they can be purchased. I went to the live classes for about a year when I was living in DC and loved every moment of it. This particular DVD has 3 half-hour classes so I like having the opportunity to squeeze in one quick workout or doing multiple one right after another. These workouts are really only 27 minutes long... I thought for sure MFP was underestimating the calories burned for this because I usually work up a good sweat. I tested it with my HRM on the first workout on the DVD... Boy was I wrong! Results:

MFP Slimnastics/Jazzercise: 178

Actual with HRM: 128

What's funny though is that the variance seems to works both ways. I love to go walking in the park with my daughter on nice days. She usually falls asleep for an hour or so in her stroller, and I know that I'm burning extra calories pushing her, but it seems that tid theory of logging incorrect numbers works both ways... I have the EB Walk! app on my iPhone that I had been using to keep track of how many miles I was walking and to monitor my pace so I knew I was logging the correct speed I was walking at in MFP. I realize these calories burned below don't take the stroller pushing into account so these numbers might be slightly off but here's what I found from walking. Results:
110 minutes of walking at the park (up and down hills) 3.0mph (it was a very muggy day --- 3.5mph or faster just wasn't happening)
EB Walk! App: 482 calories burned
MFP: 399 calories burned
Actual with HRM: 600 calories burned

However, I also tested the EB Walk! app walking on flat ground to see how it held up and was pleasantly surprised by its accuracy when compared to the actual calories burned using my HRM. Even MFP was pretty close to being accurate. Results:

106 minutes of walking on flat ground at roughly 3.5mph...

EB Walk! App: 459.9 calories burned

MFP: 441

Actual with HRM: 463

So if you're a walker on fairly flat surfaces, I definitely would suggest using the EB Walk! App to track your calories, distance and time walking.

Ultimately, the moral of all of this is if you can invest in a good Heart Rate Monitor, it's the best way to ensure you are accurately accounting for all your calories daily. I love my Polar FT4!! I tried a New Balance one from Target first and I ended up returning it because it didn't seem to be accurate for me. Everyone I knew with a HRM had a Polar and loved it. Good luck, and enjoy your workout! 

~ Aly

Brazil Butt Lift - Week 2 Complete!

Well, the scale went down 0.3lbs which I am super excited about considering I had a less than stellar weekend food wise. But I came back ready to go at it, full speed ahead, so here I go... 0.1lbs to my initial goal weight still. Such a tease, right?!

Next Monday starts the 30 Day Get Moving Challenge that I'll be participating in with Sarah White at Mama's Got It Together. If you're interested in joining her challenge with me, the more, the merrier! For more information or to join via Facebook, click here! Her challenge is awesome because it offers a workout calendar that is easy to follow and you can modify it as you'd like. But more importantly, it's going to be a great support system, so if you're trying to get yourself motivated and moving but need a little nudge, this group is here! I've taken part in a couple groups that are similar this year and it's been a tremendous help for me, so I keep joining new ones as the old ones come to a close so I don't lose my motivation.

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I wrapped up week 2 of BBL's Combination calendar. I'm still digging this workout but looking forward to getting past the first 4 weeks so I can mix the calendar up a bit more. Here's what this week looked like:

Monday: Cardio Axe; Sculpt

Tuesday: Tummy Tuck; High & Tight

Wednesday: Bum Bum; Sculpt

Thursday: Tummy Tuck; High & Tight

Friday: Cardio Axe; Sculpt

Saturday: Tummy Tuck; High & Tight

Sunday: Rest

I don't love having to do Sculpt plus another workout in the same day since Sculpt is 50 minutes long. I did try doing Bum Bum Rapido this week which is a 10 minute quick workout performing many of the same exercises from the Bum Bum workout. Not too bad for a short workout, I felt the burn, that's for sure.

In case you're starting to wonder what the calories burned look like for these workouts, I will share what I've been burning roughly for each workout... Mind you I'm 30 years old, 5'3", 145.1lbs (blah to that 0.1), and in reasonable physical shape... 

Bum Bum (35 minutes): 210

Bum Bum Rapido (10 minutes): 65

Cardio Axe (30 minutes): 190

Tummy Tuck (20 minutes): 45

High & Tight (35 minutes): 80

Sculpt (50 minutes): 170

If you're looking to burn a lot of calories, BBL might not be ideal. If I burn less than 300 a day through BBL, I try to get some other kind of exercise in. It's not all about calorie burning though because BBL does a ton of toning so you will likely lose more inches over pounds. It doesn't look like Tummy Tuck or High & Tight would be difficult based on the calories burned, but I assure you that I am actually most sore doing these particular workouts. I started using the resistance band for High & Tight this week (I'm still not using ankle weights... I need to buy them but the moves are still plenty difficult without them). 

Week 3 is underway. Getting anxious to take my measurements at the end of week 4 to see how this has been working for me! And I'm already thinking ahead as to what my next BeachBody workout will be.... Hmmmm any guesses? There are a couple I've been eyeing up, including a new one from Shaun T that I've been informed is being released at the end of June... 

~ Aly

Friday Food Frenzy 10

I must confess, I've been holding out on you. I have a recipe from one of my Weight Watchers Cookbooks that I love!! It's from the PointsPlus Cookbook they released in 2010 from which I've shared a few other recipes with you. It's for Buttermilk-Banana Bread with Toasted Pecans. However, I make this without the pecans and I actually make them as muffins. Initially, I just didn't have a loaf pan and since the recipe said it served 18, I figured muffins would help ensure portion control so I'm properly logging the calories. So I'll stop being selfish and share the recipe. :)

Buttermilk-Banana MUFFINS with Toasted Pecans

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
5 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or insert muffin liners (if you prefer to use a 5x9-inch loaf pan, go for it --- I'll provide the baking instructions).

2. Whisk together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

3. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar and (softened) butter in medium bowl until light and fluffy  (the recipe says about 3 minutes, it only took me about 1 minute). Beat in eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; beat flour mixture into banana mixture until just combined. Stir in all but 2 TBSP pecans (if using).

4. Pour batter into prepared pan(s), top with remaining pecans (if using) and bake as follows:
For 18 muffins: Dark pans for 14-15 minutes; Light pans for 17-18 minutes
For 5-9 inch loaf: 50-55 minutes (insert toothpick into center of loaf and ensure it comes out clean)
Allow muffins to cool before removing from pan OR remove loaf from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack.

Using the original recipe (with pecans), nutritional information for 1/18th of loaf OR 1 muffin:
58g, 142 calories, 6 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 33mg cholesterol, 238mg sodium, 21 grams total carbs, 9 grams total sugar, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams protein, 33mg calcium.

If you omit the pecans and use 1/2 cup Egg Beaters in lieu of 2 large eggs, it would be 122 calories per muffin. See my yummy finished products below! :)

I posted about BelVita Breakfast Biscuits previously when I received a free sample in my Influenster VoxBox. I had sampled the product as a breakfast option, and decided when I started my new workout routine that this might be a great early morning breakfast when I wake up before my daughter to try to get in a good, early workout. And I was right! I was able to eat the 4 biscuits and workout about 15 minutes later without feeling hungry or sluggish. I initially received a sample of the Cinnamon Brown Sugar (they were good) but bought Apple Cinnamon, which I absolutely love! I bought more to keep on hand for my early workouts. 

If you're like me and browse the magazines as you're in line at the grocery store, you might see what I found this past week: Cooking Light published an All-Time Top Rated Recipes special magazine with 176 greatest hits and tips. It was $11.99 but as I browse through it, I think it's going to be worth every penny (after all, most cookbooks out there cost much more than this). Perhaps I will share some of these yummy recipes with you in the upcoming weeks.

I hope you've enjoyed is edition of Friday Food Frenzy. Have a wonderful weekend, and if you're in the heatwave in the northeast like me, stay cool.

~ Aly

Slim by the Summer Grand Finale

I can't believe Slim by the Summer is over. This is the final post with some of my favorite bloggers. It's been quite a journey. I've made some wonderful blogger friends through this, not to mention, I've shed a couple of pounds (though my scale wasn't my friend this morning as it didn't budge from last week... 3 glasses of wine last night could have been the reason why, even though I took those glasses into account for my calorie intake yesterday). I was hoping to wrap up the grand finale with my goal reached but I know it's coming... 0.4lbs to go! Since I officially weighed in for the first time with this group on January 18, I've lost 20.6 lbs. I can't believe it!!

This group has been amazing in helping to get and keep me on track on my weight loss journey. I started the new year knowing this was my chance to get back in shape post-baby and planned on really focusing and dedicating myself to living a healthy lifestyle. Not just exercising but also eating right. Having these ladies as my support system for advice and tips has been beyond helpful. Extra encouragement is always accepted and appreciated.

A special thank you to some of the most amazing bloggers who I met through this challenge... I'm so glad we've connected and I feel like I've made some friends for life all over the country from it --- you might want to connect with some of these ladies too! Without further ado...
Lanaya @ Raising Reagan
Sarah @ Mama's Got It Together
Kristina @ Racing and Saving Mama
April @ 100lb Countdown
Leslie @ Violet Imperfection
Amy @ Consider Me Inspired
Koren @ My Full Time Fit Life
Paulina @ Discovering Simply Me
Janine @ Janine's Confessions of a Mommyaholic
Misty @ Monkeys and Tutus
Cinella @ Gaining and Losing
Diana @ Nanny to Mommy
Jen @ Squishy Cheeks and Cupcakes
Sarah @ The Momisodes

We'll see where things go from here, I'm just so proud of my progress to date. Stay tuned for some special posts I'm working on posting in the next couple weeks, and of course, don't forget to come back for my Food Frenzy Friday!

~ Aly

Brazil Butt Lift - Week 1 Complete!

I noticed I was getting a lot of questions about the new Brazil Butt Lift workout I just started. So I figured a special post about it would help you to better understand the workout... in case you were looking for a new routine! As the Beachbody website states:

"Shape, lift, and firm your behind with Leandro Carvalho's Brazil Butt Lift Workout. The world's top supermodels work out with Leandro, the "Brazilian Butt Master," and you can too with his in-home DVD fitness program."

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Leandro has worked with world renowned supermodels. So yes, I absolutely trust him to get me into shape. When I received my package via FedEx (I was SUPER excited), I noticed it came with a tape measure with instructions to measure myself before I started so I can measure after four weeks to see the inches I've lost --- and I can't wait! I read through the booklet about the workout and the first thing that really made me smile: The Pencil Test. Basically, when you start, it is assumed that your butt is not "lifted" so you should be able to essentially hold a pencil between your butt and glutes. But by the end of four weeks, your butt should be lifted so unable to hold a pencil. I was able to hold with the left cheek but not the right... Guess only my right cheek is in shape. :) There's also a resistance band to help with additional toning for one of the workouts (it's not suggested you start using it until after the first week so I haven't used it yet --- I got a great workout with it though). 

There are a few different calendars that are suggested to follow, depending on the shape of your butt. The options: Lift & Shape (the flat solution for flat butts); Slim & Shape (the pear solution for those pear shaped); Slim & Lift (the too big solution for the butt that is too big); and if you don't fit into any of these categories specifically, there's the Combination (the classic solution). I am following the Combination calendar since I want to tone my butt and thighs and waist. Hoping it will help with cellulite too. :)

Week 1 Schedule 

Monday: Bum Bum and Tummy Tuck --- about 50 minutes total (30 cardio and 20 of pure abs --- ouch!!)

Tuesday: Cardio Axe and High & Tight (no equipment) --- about 70 minutes total (30 cardio and 40 toning... Serious toning)

Wednesday: Scupt (with weights) --- about 50 minutes of serious toning all over 

Thursday: Cardio Axe and High & Tight (no equipment)

Friday: Bum Bum and Tummy Tuck

Saturday: Cardio Axe and High & Tight (no equipment)
Sunday: Rest (though I will work in some sort of workout anyway)

The calendar each week moves the workouts around so it's not the same routine every week which will help keep me from getting bored too quickly.

Let me preface my thoughts so far by saying that I have been working out nearly every single day since January 1. I'm not as sore as I expected to be given how intense the Beachbody workouts are known to be (after all, they sell Insanity and P90X). If I started this workout in January, I have no doubt I would have trouble walking after most of these workouts, laughing after Tummy Tuck, and lifting my 25lb daughter after Sculpt. Brazil Butt Lift definitely means business. Don't get me wrong, I feel the burn. One second, I will say to myself, "this isn't so bad", and then less than a minute later, I feel like I have been pushed well beyond my limits, but not to the point that I can't go about my day. So yes, I think this is a fantastic workout!

If you are worried about learning the moves, there's a 15 minute basics workout you can go through to learn the basics in advance, and this will help you get a feel for the workouts ahead of you. I found that the moves helped me prepare for some of the more challenging moves in the Bum Bum workout but that was about it. I also received a bonus DVD called "Leandro's Secret Weapon Workout" --- the case states that it's a "precision 20-minute toning routine" that "takes aim at your trouble zones and helps you transform them". I will let you know how this is when I give it a try as I haven't worked that into my routine just yet.

Overall, I am loving this workout so far. It's not primarily cardio based like some of the other workouts so I'm not burning as many calories as I would hope to be, but I have no doubt I am going to see results by the end of my first four weeks on this program. 

If you have questions about the workout, I would be more than happy to answer what I can for you! I will keep everyone up to date on how everything is going as time progresses.