Shape Your Weigh

Phase 1 - Week 2 - Day 2 (Shoulders/Hamstrings/Calves)

Today was HIIT cardio for 30 minutes and Shoulders/Hamstrings/Calves weight training.  I did the HIIT workout this morning before work and decided to do a full bodyweight circuit vs getting on any cardio equipment.  I can't given specifics of the workout but it was basically 6 exercises repeated for 45 seconds each, with a 15 second rest period in between, repeated 5 rounds for a total of 30 minutes.  Think jumping jacks, rest, squats, rest, toe taps, rest. etc.  I worked up a great sweat and it was a lot better than sitting on the bike or running the treadmill for a change.  I'll definitely be doing this again just to keep mixing things up!

The weight session after work was tough but not as painful as it was last week.  The inchworm push ups are getting better and I can rep them out better than I could at the start of Buns n Guns.  Strength improvements are being made every day.  It's getting to the point when I see my reflection in the mirror I think "Holy shoulders.  Are those really mine?"  I definitely have some upper body muscle going on.  Now I just need the lower half to shed a bit!

I blogged last night about craving a cookie and not caving into temptation because this is a challenge.  Then I realized restricting myself tends to lead to binge eating behavior when the challenge is over.  I decided to have 2 cookies and didn't beat myself up over it.  In fact, I think they contributed to the great energy I had for the workout this morning.  Now don't take this as "Kimmy says it's okay to go eat cookies all the time."  But I believe, from my own experience, that the more power we give to foods and labeling things as "Can't, shouldn't, won't have this" the more power they hold over us.  Once I had those 2 cookies I was satisfied and didn't think about them again.  All foods in moderation.  It's called Life!  EAT THE DAMN COOKIE!  

Until tomorrow!

 

Week 2 - Phase 1 - Day 1

Monday after a busy weekend has me feeling tired but the workout is done.  Back/Triceps/Abs.  This Mom is TIRED!  I thought of many reasons why I could skip but in the end decided "Nope, you have to blog about it so go and do it!"  The blog helps keep me accountable so I'm glad I'm sticking to it.  Plus Michelle texted me to say she was getting her workout done so of course I had to do it too!  Peer pressure and all lol.

Food wise I'm starting to feel hungry on the food plan.  Not starving but definitely craving some sweets.  Nicole was up front saying this would happen.  The program is called Shred for a reason.  I'm eyeing up the chocolate chip cookies like "Hmm would 1 really hurt?"  I know myself well enough to know that 1 would lead to 3 or 4...hell possibly the entire bag so yeah it would hurt!  For any Lucifer fans out there it's like "Tell me Kimberly, what is it that you truly desire?"  "CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WHICH ARE CALORIE FREE"  LOL.  If you don't watch the show then the reference will be lost but that's okay.  Those who get it will appreciate it. :)

I found this healthy recipe for Protein cookies.  It's not on plan but I may have to give them a try.  If and when I do, I'll post a review. :)  The macros look good though and it might be enough to get over the cravings!

Anyhow that's all for now.  Until tomorrow!

A Busy Weekend - Week 1 - Phase 1 - Day 5

This weekend was a busy but productive weekend. The cat woke me up around 6am on Saturday so I decided to get up early and start my day. I completed Week 1 - Day 5 workout Chest/Biceps/Abs and then spent the rest of the day tidying up the yard with Roy. We had our roof done last year and the bricks from our old chimney are just hiding in a corner of the yard. I decided to take a few of them to paint and use to make little flower beds. It’s a lot of work but I’m happy with how things are turning out so far :)  Still lots of work to do but it was a workout itself lugging those bricks, painting them, setting them etc.  I woke up today aching all over!  I ran out of red cedar mulch so need to pick up some more to finish things.  There's still a big section under the bedroom window to do as well.  Hopefully Mother Nature continues to give us nice weather so I can get lots done on the weekends.

In bigger news, today our baby girl moved into her own apartment with two of her friends. COVID-19 interrupted so many plans she had like going to Spain, going to university on campus, etc. I’m glad Allison finally gets to do something that she wants. My heart is aching because I miss having my baby girl at home but she’s literally just up the road in a new apartment with great friends. For a first time move I couldn’t ask for anything better. She’s not off island and we can still see each other a lot. I'm trying to keep myself busy doing things until I adjust to the new normal.  I'm sure it will just take time.

After we finished helping Allison move and getting groceries I came back to the house and did some food prep for the week ahead.  I have more spaghetti squash chicken tetrazzini baked and ready for suppers, along with some protein peanut butter balls.  I have extra lean ground turkey, hamburger, potato, rice and whole wheat English muffins as well.  Here's to Week 2!

Anyhow that's the update for now.  Back to work tomorrow!

 

Daryl's Bars - Protein Bar Review - Double Chocolate Brownie

Workout today was 30 minutes of HIIT cardio.  I'm taking a rest day from weights and will do the Friday Chest/Biceps/Abs workout tomorrow morning. :)  I prefer to do my weight training on the weekend and I still hurt from Wednesday and Thursday so resting today makes sense!

I did a blog post the other day about the Daryl's Bars - S'mores protein bar and how presently surprised I was with the taste and texture.  While I was at Sobeys I decided to pick up the Double Chocolate Brownie to give it a try as well.  You know...for a blog post and all LOL.  First impression, it's not nearly as sweet as the S'mores but still good.  I would buy it again but it would be my second pick.  I think I'll have to make another trip to Sobeys and pick up a couple more flavours so I can give a full review of all available options. ;) 

Happy Friday everyone!

Nutritional Information

• Calories: 236
• Fat: 8g
• Saturated: 2g
• Sodium: 50mg
• Carbs: 18g
• Fibre: 4g
• Sugar: 4g
• Protein: 22g

Phase 1 - Day 4 - Cardio and Legs/Calves

I woke up early this morning so I could get the 45 minute cardio workout done early and leave the weight training session for after work. I knew if I left it all for the end of the day I wouldn't be able to finish.  I’m SO glad I did because there’s no way I could have done nearly an hour of cardio after an hour of training legs!

 

I have a love hate relationship with cardio. I dread doing it indoors. I didn’t want to stare at the wall for 45 minutes just putting in time so I did a 45 minute spin bike session through Apple Fitness. It was exactly what I needed to get the long cardio session done and resulted in a great burn. Goal achieved!

 

The leg session after work was tough but nothing like the ab session yesterday. Give me leg training any day over abs!

 

Anyhow that’s the update for today. Going to take it easy with the family for the rest of the night. :)

 

 

 

Phase 1 - Day 3 - Giant Sets and a Protein Bar Review

I woke up early this morning to get the workout done.  I work from home 8-4 so I figured starting at 6:45 I'd have plenty of time to complete it.  Nope, not even close!  I got half the workout done lol.  Today was Total Body Abs with the first giant set consisting of a lot of squats, swings, rows and burpees (gross lol!).  I decided to complete the second giant set at lunch time but could only do 2 rounds instead of 4.  Abs are my weak area and the workout was just too much for me.  I did the best I could and next week I will push for 3 rounds or the full 4!  It's about progress, not perfection!  

Now for the yummy part - a protein bar review!  I was shopping at Sobeys and came across a Daryl's Bar in the cooler section where I find my almond milk.  I picked it up to review the macros then realized "Covid - you touched it so now you have to buy it!"  LOL.  The macros looked good so I felt it was worth a shot.  I decided to have it for one of my snacks and was shocked at just how good it is!  There's no chalky texture like you get with other protein bars and the flavor is sweet like a bar.  These will definitely hit the spot for summer camping trips.  If I remember correctly the price was $2.99 (I'll double check on this) so not bad considering it's a meal replacement.  If you give it a try, let me know what you think. :)

 

Nutritional Information

• Calories: 226
• Fat: 8g
• Saturated: 2g
• Sodium: 68mg
• Carbs: 20g
• Fibre: 4g
• Sugar: 4g
• Protein: 20g

Phase 1 - Day 2

I woke up yesterday morning and could feel the workout from Sunday in my triceps. A sure sign of a good session the day before. Lol. 

I thought Day 2 workout might be a bit easier. Shoulders and legs and it didn't look too bad on paper. Lots of supersets so it was done faster. My shoulders were burning so bad with the first superset. Barbbell shoulder presses superset with 30 second band shoulder presses. I went as heavy as I could with the barbbell weight without sacrificing form. The goal is to push yourself to the point where an extra rep or two would be impossible. So I did a weight I could get 15 reps out with the barbbell and immediately followed it with the band. The band definitely takes you to failure. I had to pause a couple of times because the burn was intense. I could definitely feel the pump. I guess this is why Nicole Wilkins has such amazing shoulders!

 

After the workout I did my 30 minutes of HIIT on the spin bike. I honestly hated it. I’m not one for indoor cardio but made the best of it with a good playlist. It wasn’t terrible but just felt long. As always, I felt amazing and proud after it was done. 

I got my Covid vaccine this morning so today I’ll be taking a rest. I’ll be back at it tomorrow. :)

 

Phase 1 - Day 1

The Summer Shred program workout schedule is Monday-Friday with the weekend off but I love getting my workouts done on the weekend so I did Phase 1 - Week 1 - Workout 1 on Sunday, May 23rd.  As the summer progresses I'll probably stick more to the Monday to Friday so I can enjoy my time at the campground.  Having said that, the schedule is totally flexible to make it work for you so I'm going with that!  

I went into this workout knowing what to expect from the last challenge.  It was tougher than it looks on paper though.  I did the Gym version of the workout because I have a great setup at home but had to sub a couple of things.  I didn't have the upper body strength to perform the assisted pullups and the weighted band I have wasn't enough to counter my own weight to help.  I subbed that out for wide grip lat pulldowns for my back.  The band assisted pull ups were supposed to be 3 sets of 10-15 so I did the pulldowns 3 sets of 15 instead.  The next set of exercises involved a SuperSet of more wide grip lat pulldowns and hanging twisting knee raises so my arms were jelly after this lol.  I can't give away the entire workout but it involved some back rows, planks, crunches, cable pulldowns and the finisher was a GIANT set.  Now I know why Nicole has such amazing arms.  For those that don't know what a Giant set is, it involves taking a group of exercises and going through them 1 after the other without any rest.  So perform 1 set of 15 reps, immediately move on to the next exercise and do another set of 15, then another exercise with a set of 15, etc.  I keep a record of my weights, reps and notes in a scribbler and actually wrote down "F*^K" for this one then immediately scribbled it out LOL.  It was definitely effective though!

Kimmy

 

Nicole Wilkins - Summer Shred 2021

It's been a very long time since I've done a blog post but I'm looking to get back at it!

Working from home the past year and a half has had some ups and downs.  I developed some bad habits of eating at my desk, snacking, watching WAY too much tv and not exercising  at all.  Working from home it's easy to walk to the fridge whenever the urge hits.  Before at work if I didn't pack it I didn't have it to eat LOL.  Anyhow, back in March  I signed up for my first Nicole Wilkins - Buns and Guns Challenge to help get back on track.  I saw the transformation pictures from her "60 Day Commit to Fit" which started in January and kicked myself for not signing up for that challenge.  The Buns and Guns challenge was a huge wake up call for how little I've been doing the past year.  The first workout was hard.  My legs hurt for 3 days LOL.  Some of the exercises I just couldn't do to the full reps and sets so I just did the best I could.  Week by Week I got stronger and what was hard became easier.  I went from bodyweight squats to adding the barbell with weights.   I didn't win the prize money but I can honestly say it helped get me back into a routine of clean eating and exercising.  I'm hooked now and signed up for the Summer Shred!

Tomorrow (May 24th) is the last day to sign up for the challenge.  The program runs for 40 days and provides workouts, nutrition, some recipes and mobility exercises.  You can do the program without submitting pictures but if you want a chance at winning a prize ($3k for first place!) you need to submit before photos (front, side and back pose).  They will give you a hashtag that you have to write down on a piece of paper with your Before "front" photo.  The side and back photos can be taken without the hashtag.  

The supplements aren't required to do the program.  They aren't available in Canada anyhow so I just signed up for the bronze package and continue to use my own favorite protein powder. 

The workouts take time.  The weight training is anywhere from 40-60 minutes (a bit over the hour getting started when figuring out some of the exercises).  Cardio is 4 days a week and varies from 30-45 minutes.  I know that's a lot but honestly I just do what I can to make it work.  For the last challenge I would do cardio first thing in the morning or during my lunch break.  I missed a solid week and a half of the last challenge due to a bad chest cold and had to take it very slow when I got back at it.  At the end of the day I don't care about the prize money, I'm just competing against myself to feel better and stronger.

The program is $99 for bronze (American funds).  There are 3 options for workouts - 1) You have full access to a gym.  2) You have a home gym with a pretty good setup (barbells, dumbbells, bench, etc.) or 3) You have a few dumbbells or bands at home.  The program gives you all 3 options when you buy it.  I legit saw some amazing transformations in the group from people who only had a couple of pairs of dumbbells and worked out in their garage or spare bedroom!  The program comes in ebook PDF format which you get to keep for life.  If there's something on the meal plan you don't like there's an exchange list to swap it for something else.  

I'm going to be blogging about my experience this time around.  I just did the odd Facebook last time and regret that I didn't write about it more.  This time around I'll make an effort. :)  If anyone else decides to sign up let me know!

Day 80 of 99 - Looking for Soup Suggestions

Now that the cold weather is here I find myself craving nice warm soups.  Roy makes an amazing beef stew, similar to how my Mom always made it, as well as a really nice chicken stew but I'm looking for something different.  I have a craving for a nice cream of broccoli soup.  While I'm not keto, I do follow many Keto people and subscribe to different newsletters.  An e-mail came through tonight from Ruled.me

for various winter soup recipes and this Bacon Cheeseburger soup caught my attention.  From a calorie monitoring perspective, it's pretty high per serving but it looks and sounds yummy.  Has anyone ever tried it?  If so, what did you think? 

What are some of your favorite healthy soup recipes for the winter season?  I would love to hear/try them. :)

Thanks!
Kimmy