Insanity 60- Day Total Body Conditioning Program + Food Plan Week 1

When's a better time to start working on your fitness than during the holidays?  Typically, people use this time of year to pig out and over indulge on foods and sweets.  I plan to bring in the new year toning and sculpting my body with matching healthier eating habits.  I choose INSANITY® 60-Day Total Body Conditioning Program  to reach my goals.  My sister Caress has successfully done this program and with consistency and determination she has lost 68lbs and looks amazing!


 I will be recording weekly updates and VLOGs on my youtube channel (subscribe here).  Also I will be blogging my meals and sharing my progress on social media with hashtag #BetterMe30.  So let's get started with a food plan and workout schedule.

 Week 1

Monday: Fit Test

Tuesday: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Wednesday: Cardio Power & Resistance

Thursday: Cardio Recovery

Friday: Pure Cardio

Saturday: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Sunday: REST! I'm so looking forward to this day already lol

To get everything you need to be successful for the #BetterMe30 journey is available at your local health store of you can shop it conveniently here.

Proteins 60-90 grams daily:

-fresh salmon

-canned tuna

-baked chicken wings

-eggs

Snacks:

-almonds

-sugar-free popsicles

-greek yogurt

-watermelon

-grapefruit

Vegetables: 

-cucumber

-kale

-spinach

-tomato

Must Have drinks:

-ballerina tea (available here)

-almond milk

-homemade protein shakes (shakes I buy here )

-coconut water

-cucumber + lemon water 64oz. daily

1,200 calories daily, 60 grams of fat or less daily, no bread, pasta, refined sugar

*tips: TAKE PLENTY OF PICTURES!  Pictures will show your progress as well as keep you motivated.  The mirror is not always your friend so pictures will help, also try not to weigh yourself more than once per week.  Your weight fluctuates many times during the day and week so its ideal to check your weight the same time of day weekly.  Lastly, TAKE MEASUREMENTS because again, the mirror and scale can sometimes not tell the whole picture during your weightless journey.

Below are all of my social media handles where my journey for the next 60 days will be shared:

Snapchat | Instagram | Fitness Pal: CrissyTheDoll

Top 5 Foods To Help Lose Weight

To be successful at losing weight and more importantly keeping it off one must commit to changing their diet.  Everyone knows pizza and ice cream does not make sense in a healthy lifestyle, but do you know the healthier foods can still taste pretty good and satisfying?  I wanted to share my top five foods I enjoy most which also aid in maintaining my weight-loss.  

Oats

photo cred: Vegan Ricana

Easy to prepare if you're a person on the go plus very versatile.  Oats are full of fiber which will help in keeping you satisfied and not hungry.  Its a plus the fiber will keep you regular so if you struggle with constipation this is a great food to add in your daily food intake.  Boring??  Not at all!  Try adding different fruits, powders like protein shakes, PB2 flavor (peanut butter powder), natural unsweetened cocoa powder or honey to make it interesting. One of my favorite oat dishes includes making overnight oats because its light prep work, and easy to grab and go in the morning.  Check out my home girl Yvonne here.  She has the best gluten free and guilt free recipes and I adore her discipline and love so much!  I use her weekly as a resource and look forward to her new blog and youtube videos.  These oats picture are taken from the Vegan Diva herself @VeganRicana.

photo cred: Rican Vegana

Grapefruit

Growing up I could not stand grapefruit because of the bitter taste.  As an adult I've learned to love this fruit for its juicy goodness and great health benefits.  Grapefruit helps burn fat and curb your appetite. I love when it's chilled cold and sometimes as a treat, I sprinkle stevia over it. If you don't like the bitter taste, try to only eat the pulp and not the white membrane layer of the fruit.

Salmon & Tuna

My absolute favorite protein during the summer is fish.  Tuna and salmon are at the top of my list because it can be cooked and enjoyed in a number of ways.  Tuna can help reduce stroke and heart disease and is filled with omega-3 fats.  I enjoy it over my salads, with crackers or in my sushi.  Salmon is an all star dish for me and I love it cooked with garlic, lemon pepper or just a bit of honey and ginger. This is a good fatty fish that speeds up metabolism and is full of protein.

Almonds & Nuts

These are high calorie snacks but they make snacking healthy and enjoyable. I enjoy them plain or sprinkled with honey or cocoa powder. It's better to flavor them yourself to avoid too much sugar or salt intake. These help my cravings for something salty, crunchy, or sweet.  I eat almonds or cashews instead of eating potato chips.  This food also has "good" fats and can help lower cholesterol   

Cucumber

source

I can eat them plain, in a salad or added in a pitcher of water.  Cucumbers are so refreshing and hydrating.  They are full of water plus helps reduce stomach bloating. I've been thinking of ways to incorporate apple cider vinegar into my diet because of its great health properties and I recommend to try cucumbers with vinegar for a light tangy snack.

What are some of your favorite health snacks or foods you've incorporated in your healthy diet?  For more health videos check out my blog channel and subscribe here.

Get It Right, Get It Tight: Snacks To The Rescue

80% of weightloss success is from the food you eat... 20% from working out.  

That is the fact that shocked me to the core.  For years I've been focused on going to the gym, or jumping around my living room to work out with videos,  and even invested in personal trainers to lose weight.  During this time I had no clue that eating once or twice a day, skipping breakfast, or not getting enough water was doing more damage to my weightloss goals than the exercising did to help.

By visiting a nutritionist and also by doing research online I've learned it is imperative to increase your metabolism by eating more food. Crazy I know!  Eating more helps you lose weight..who would of thought it??  Getting healthy is a big part of my vision for 2014 so I've decided to share a few tips here and there with you Dolls because we need to be fabulous and fit!  This series: Get It Right, Get It Tight will be 5 segments of videos and posts talking about what I'm doing to get fit.

By eating small meals every couple of hours during my day I am able to speed up my metabolism and stay fueled throughout my day.    It's a good idea to preplan your meals so you can grab pack your food on the go.  By pre-packing food, its less likely you will make poor food choices during the day.  Try ziplock bags or visit your local dollar store for inexpensive tupperware. To help me remember to eat I've set alarms on my iPhone.  I do not starve myself and I find it less likely to pig out on a meal because I am no longer famished by end of the day.

My favorite snacks of the moment:

1. Apples and Peanut Butter

2. White chicken salad and crackers

3. Avocado, turkey slices, and cheese roll ups

4. Fage cherry greek yogurt

5. GNC Lean Shake Chocolate

*all photos are from Pintrest

I Got The JUICE

There seems to be a huge push right now in the "Get Fit" movement.  Now, more than ever before, celebrities like Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Khloe Kardashian and Ravin Symone to name a few have been leading the way with shedding the pounds and living healthier lifestyles.  Social media like Instagram, Facebook and different blogs showcase "normal" people dropping weight.  Morbid obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or above.  To find out your BMI click here.  As a clinical defined morbid obese African-American woman, I am a horrible statistic.  According to the U.S. Office of Minority Health, four in five African-American woman are obese or overweight!  The extra weight and extra abdominal fat causes severe risks such as death from heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

Now of course the idea of me being slimmer and more comfortable with my body image is at the top of my wish list, but living longer with less health complications seems much more important.  The bottom line is I must do different things to have different results.  I am learning I cannot continue to yoyo diet or try impractical temporary solutions to a long term want.  I want permanent results so I must make permanent changes. 

One of the permanent changes I made to my personal diet came about after watching a documentary on Netflix called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.  I've heard of juicing but dismissed the idea of drinking celery, beet, or carrot juice but after watching the movie my opinion changed.  The documentary was amazing and motivating.  I bought a $35 Black & Decker juicer from WalMart and filled my buggy full of fruits and veggies.  With little research and much ambition I started a 15 day juice fast.  I juiced random combinations of 50% vegetables like kale or spinach and 50% fruit like kiwi, apples, or pineapples.  I drank three large glasses of juice each day as meal replacements and plenty of water between meals.  Surprisingly, I had enough energy to even workout 30 minutes twice during the fast.

After six days I ended my 15 day fast.  For all those that wonder if I lost any weight, yes I dropped 13 pounds (which may have just been water weight).   I did not feel 100% confident I was doing the fast correctly and decided to research more to mentally prepare before starting the next fast.  My objective is to find different drink combinations, workouts, and supplements like fiber or flax seeds to aid with my fast.  I learned there are best practices like cleaning my food in baking soda and vinegar before juicing or buying organic food.  A better understanding of juicing is needed instead of winging it day by day.  My main goal for fasting is detoxing my body and boosting my vegetable and fruit intake. I know only better eating habits and normal exercise can get me in better shape.

I realize I cannot only juice for the rest of my life so I decided I will detox the five days of every month and continue to juice once a day as a tasty treat for my body's nourishment.

This is my first permanent step to life long changes and it feels good!  Care to join me?

Miami Love On CC Birthday Sweet 27