A Jamba A Day

Two weeks ago I got an email from Jamba Juice...I LOVE Jamba Juice. They were offering buy 1 smoothie get a 16oz smoothie for $1. So for the last two weeks I have been drinking Jamba Juice for lunch.

I know you are thinking, how could you drink smoothies for lunch for 10 days? Easy, Jamba has so many different options I used it as an opportunity to try ones I hadn't tried before along with my favorites.

Drinking Jamba Juice every day for lunch had to be expensive? Not at all. I spent $5 a day, $25 a week. That's the same amount I would have spent on lunch anyway.

Sadly the promotion has ended. But I did discover some new favorites and Jamba Juice is perfect as a meal replacement.

Winter Workout Update

I finally cancelled my gym membership. It doesn't actually expire until October 31st so I have programmed in to my calendar the classes I like to take. I'm going to try and go to the gym as much as possible for the next month and a half and then I'm going on a winter hiatus. I still have my Wii Fit for a home yoga workout. And I think I'm going to buy a couple more fitness games but come November 1...I'm going in to hibernation.

Winter Workout

I'll be honest, I didn't workout that much this summer. I seriously think I'm going to cancel my gym membership.

My job will reimburse for 50% of a 6 month gym membership. I could use the money I get back to keep the gym membership going OR to enroll in dance classes. I used to take dance classes through Broadway Dance Center and then my job stopped reiumbursing for dance classes. I could also take dance classes at Alvin Ailey. They have non-professional classes.

Working out at the gym has it's positives and negatives. The biggest positive was I noticed the muscle tone change in my body. But the negative was the physical/health problems working out exposed. I didn't have knee and hip flexor problems to this extent until I started working out regularly. Not being a member of Crunch, I would miss the anti-gravity yoga classes and teh urban rebounding classes. Those are my favorites.

What's your winter workout plans?

Diet Shakes

Working out has not given me the results I wanted. I've gained instead of loss although everyone tells me my body is looking tighter. But I haven't achieved the 6 pack abs I wanted nor can I fit in to the jeans I was trying to wear (my legs are even bigger now). So I'm trying something different.

On the free table at work someone left 2 packs of Slim Fast. Slim Fast by itself is disgusting to me. I just can't stand the taste. BUT when I blend it with fruit in to a shake it's not so bad. From 1 can of Slim Fast I can get about 2 - 8 ounce shakes when I mix it with fruit. So I'm trying to drink a shake for breakfast, eat a normal lunch and dinner is always a crap shoot. Only because I don't know if dinner will be something I have cooked or something I have bought out. I have enough Slim Fast do try this for about 2 weeks and this is already week 2 so we'll see what results I'll get.

Anyone else on a fitness/diet/nutrition plan? What's working for you?

All That I Can't Have

I completely understand why people don't stick to their diets. Now when I think about food all I think about it is all that I can't (or shouldn't) have.

I've never been the type to eat a lot of crap. You won't find me with my hand in the cookie jar or eating lots of sweets and treats. But apparently the foods I like, for me, are also bad for me.

I LOVE potatoes. Trainer says I can't have it because it has too much starch.

I get salt cravings. Trainers says no sodium. So I can't even have Chex Mix which is a lot healthier than the Lays potato chips I used to devour.

I could eat pasta every day because it is inexpensive and easy to cook. Trainer says I have to cut the pasta from my diet.

I used to not eat breakfast regularly. I started eating 2 pieces of raisin bread and a smoothie that I would blend every morning. Trainer says no more raisin bread and I need to curb my intake of fruit (fructose sugar) and yogurt (dairy).

Every day I drink 8-16 ounces of Naked Juice. Trainer says I should only be drinking 4 ounces because of the fructose.

One of my favorite snacks is to take a graham cracker and put a piece of cheese and pepperoni on top. Trainer says no graham crackers and american cheese is the worse kind of cheese to eat.

I make a kick ass shrimp and corn chowder. Trainer says I shouldn't be eating corn.

It's just hard to discern when you are taught that fruit is good for you but if you eat too much fruit then you are having too much sugar. Yogurt is supposed to be good for you but it's bad because it's dairy.

So I don't get it. What am I supposed to eat? If these are all the things I can't eat what the hell can I eat? No wonder I'm hungry all the damn time. All the things I want to eat I've been told I shouldn't eat. I am so frustrated. Some days I just want to say fuck it, I'm not going to eat anything...but wait, can't do that because if I fall below 1200 calories my body will be in starvation mode. It's just too much to think about. What happened to the logic that you could eat what you wanted in moderation if you balanced it with working out? I can deal with the pain and soreness my body is experiencing from working out. But I draw the line when it comes to my food.

Workout Diary

Yesterday my friend Kee asked what am I doing everyday to burn 1700 calories. Your body will burn calories if you just lie down on the couch, unmoving, for 24 hours. But I'm at the gym 4 to 5 days a week. So here's what a typical workout week is like.

Sunday
Get to the gym by 9:45am to get in line for the list for the Anti-Gravity Yoga class. The list comes out at 10am for the 11am class. When I get on the list I workout for about 45 minutes, a mix of running on the treadmill and lifting weights. 10:45 I head in to the yoga studio and get my hammock ready for class. The Anti-Gravity Yoga class is 90 minutes long.

Monday
I rush from work to get on the list for the 6pm Anti-Gravity Yoga class. If I don't get in to the class I take Absolution. Both classes are an hour long. Before I take either class I run on the treadmill.

Tuesday
Take a cardio sculpt class during lunch with one of my co-workers as a guest at her gym. Sometimes I schedule to meet with my trainer.

Wednesday
Workout with my trainer for an hour or take the Hip Hop class. If I take the Hip Hop class I do cardio and weights for about 30 minutes before the class starts.

Thursday
Have to get to the gym by 6pm to get on the list for 7pm Urban Rebounding class. Once I get on the list I run on the treadmill and lift weights for about 30 minutes. Run back to the main desk to get on the list for the 7:45 Anti-Gravity Yoga class. Get on the list and run to the group fitness class and grab a rebounder. Urban Rebounding class is 45 minutes long but I usually leave 5 minutes early to have time to put my rebounder away and run over to the yoga studio for my next class to get my hammock adjusted. Anti-Gravity class is 60 minutes long. This by far is my longest and most stressful gym day. Stressful because I have to mindful of time to make sure I get on the list for the classes that I want to take.

Friday
I usually try to take Fridays off. If I'm being ambitious I'll take the Caribbean Rhythms class or schedule a workout with my trainer. Or I might workout on my Wii for 30 minutes.

Saturday
Normally a day off from working out. I might workout on my Wii Fit for 30 minutes.

So I think, based on my workout schedule, that is very possible for me to burn 1700 calories, if not more, a day. And I consider a workout a good workout if I'm sweating when it's done. You would think Yoga is not a class where you would sweat but Anti-Gravity Yoga is on a whole other level and I love it...clearly I love it, I take it 2 or 3 times a week.

What's your workout regimen?

Calorie Counting

I am soooo not the type that counts calories. Anyone who knows me knows that I just eat and I eat what I like and I don't care what the calories are. That was until I started working out at the gym and with a trainer.

Instead of losing the 9 lbs I was trying to lose I gained 5 lbs. How? Why? Because now I'm always SOOOO hungry. Mind you I had a pretty big appetite before but I can't even describe the level of hunger I deal with ALL DAY LONG.

So as a part of my membership and personal training I was setup on a website called DotFit.com to keep track of my calorie intake. Basically I have to eat 1500 calories a day to burn 1700 calories (and thus lose weight). To curb the hunger I carry Special K breakfast bars and before and after I workout I eat Special K Protein bars. Why Special K? Because they are cheaper than Luna bars, Power bars and all those other bars. Special K breakfast bars were on sale 2 for $5 this week and the protein bars were 2 for $9. That's a hell of a lot less than the other brands.

Y'all that know me know that I love food, I love to eat and up until recently I used to wonder where did it all go. Now I think about food all the time. I'm always hungry and I'm trying to find the happy balance between working out and eating.

Kanye's Workout

I think I need to try Kanye's Workout plan because mine is not working. I've been going to the gym about 4-5 days a week and working with a personal trainer for a month. It was time for my assessment and it was just as I thought...well almost. I gained 5 lbs but I lost 1% of my body fat.

I told my trainer I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm hungry all the time. Now mind you, I have ALWAYS been able to eat and amaze people with my food consumption skills. "Where does it go?" But I cannot describe the level of hunger I have now. You would think that I work out more so of course I eat more but I'm working it off. WRONG!!!

So now I'm one of those people who is counting calories. I told my trainer I've never been able to do a spending diary what makes her think I can do a food diary. But with my training comes an online supplemental program so I'm using that and I'm going to TRY and record what I have eaten that day, at night before I go to bed.

The goal is 1700 calories a day. Day one of calorie counting I had 1500 calories and I was still SOOO hungry. My trainer has recommended protein bars for the constant munchies and protein shakes before and after working out. But why is nutritional stuff so expensive? Now I'm trying to find some reasonably priced Luna Bars and Sport Recovery Smoothies.

Do you workout? What works for you? What do you recommend? And can someone please explain how my weight could go up but my BMI go down 1%?