PiYo Journey: Days 16-18 and a Little Refresh

I'm just going to say that Chalene Johnson is no longer playing around with this PiYo schedule.  Holy moly, she is really turning up the heat now that we're hitting week 4, so in response I must turn it up as well.  It's time for me to push myself to do more standard pushups as opposed to modified.  Time for me to take it up a notch on my least favorite move, burpees, and really start giving it my all in these workouts.  I have seen some great results with this program, but I know I can do better with each day as well as with my eating. 

Saturday I did the Sweat workout again and again it kicked my butt.  Seriously, some parts of it are getting easier, but overall it is still an intense workout.  It is also one of the longest workouts in the entire program and that always throws me off for some reason.  I've been thinking perhaps I need to start doing extra cardio in addition so that I can build up my endurance.  I spent a lot of time before focusing on weights so it might do me some good to get on the treadmill and elliptical machine every now and then.

 

And speaking of cardio, Sunday was a new workout thrown into the mix called Strength Intervals.  I was fortunate to get to do this workout at the last Super Saturday so I already had kind of a general idea as to what to expect.  This workout is about 21 minutes long and it is pretty much nonstop the whole time.  Alternating between fast moves like jump lunges and again, my favorite burpees, while also doing some pushups and "beast" moves.  She also has you hold some of the moves to help build up the muscles more.  Your legs are definitely happy when the end comes.  I wore my shoes for this one just like Chalene and her crew do, and it definitely helped with stability.  The only time it felt a little weird was when you do the PiYo roll move that is also in the Define: Upper Body workout.  I just kept getting a little caught up on the carpet but once I found my groove I was fine.

Today is Sweat again.  Looking at the calendar, this whole next week should be pretty action packed with the workouts with a couple of new ones joining in on the fun.  I slept in this morning because I tossed and turned most of the night, plus I started my 3-Day Refresh today and wasn't sure if I could do Sweat on an empty stomach since I usually need a little something before a morning workout.  When I got home, I was pretty worn out from my first day of this cleanse and decided to not workout.  I was going to try to do the workout using the modifier, but I would rather give it my all so I'm going to wait. I'll either do a few doubles to catch up or just pick up where I left off.  Either way, it'll get done.

3-Day Refresh Kit

As I mentioned, today I started my 3-Day Refresh, Beachbody's new 3 day detox and cleanse.  Unlike juice cleanses and fasts, you actually get to eat some real food in addition to the shakes on this cleanse as well as do some light to moderate exercise.  It went pretty well I think for my first day.  I still started the day off with Shakeology and later had some green tea, but it was weird not "eating" like I normally do.  The Vanilla Fresh protein shake is actually quite filling and tasty, similar to other protein shakes I used to consume, but not all of the other artificial crap that goes in them.  I was most worried about the Fiber Sweep drink after reading so many comments about how the texture made it so hard to swallow, but it wasn't bad at all.  I just chased it with some water and I was good to go.  The water consumption wasn't a problem as I pretty much drink that amount on a regular basis and any cleanse that lets me have avocado and fruit is ace in my book! Your meals you do have basically consist of veggies and a healthy fat and you can have fruit either separately or mixed into your shakes.  They also have a few dinner recipes listed in the guide like a cucumber salad and stir fry veggies for you to choose from.  I had the stir-fry veggies tonight along with my shake and my allowed cup of vegetable broth and I don't feel deprived at all.  I accidentally added balsamic vinegar to my stir fry thinking it was a free food option, but I got it confused with another recipe.  Oh well.  Now I have a great new recipe for stir fry for in the future.  I would say my energy level is about how it usually is for a Monday, especially one where I didn't work out in the morning, so we'll see if I notice a change over the next couple of days.  I have been fluctuating between gaining and losing the same 4-5 pounds for the last 2 weeks and not getting back to the number I hit on the 4th of July so I am hoping I can hit that again with this refresh and just stay focused up until my trip.  I know August is going to be crazy so I need to make every day and every meal count.  I will keep you posted for sure!

Day 1 of 3-Day Refresh Lunch

Meals for the Day:

Upon Waking Up: 10 oz filtered water

Breakfast: Tropical Strawberry Shakeology with ice, filtered water and half of a banana.  This is one of the vegan flavors and with the 3-Day Refresh, it is recommended to use the vegan shakes because the body can help break down the proteins easier.

Upon Arriving to Work:  Green tea, plain

Mid-Morning: Fiber Sweep shake

Lunch: Vanilla Fresh protein shake, hummus, red peppers and blueberries.  I actually felt pretty full afterwards. 

Mid-Afternoon Snack: Spinach/Tomato/Avocado salad topped with lemon juice and red wine vinaigrette

Dinner: Vanilla Fresh Protein shake, veggie stir-fry, 1 cup of organic vegetable broth

Before Bed: Chamomile tea

Day 1 Dinner