Do you use a foam roller?

I never use to but ever since my race training and my half marathon this past September, I have had to use one on my right hamstring almost every time I exercise. 🙁

I absolutely love using it!! I just got a cheap Golds Gym brand Roller at Walmart and its so firm and sturdy!

I found this article last week online and wanted to share it with my readers… Great resource-enjoy!!

10 Ways to Use a Foam Roller

http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/10-ways-use-foam-roller

Started week 2 of P90x3 program this week! Wasn’t sure I would continue this program, but giving it another couple of weeks before I decide.

WEEK 1-3 P90x3 Classic workout schedule: 
Monday: Total Synergistics
Tuesday: Agility X
Wednesday: Yoga X3
Thursday: The Challenge
Friday: CVX
Saturday: The Warrior
Sunday: Rest day or Dynamix

Nutrition: 
I will be following the Plan B 1800 calories per day.

Breakfast: 2P, 3C, 1F
Am Snack: 2C, 2F
Lunch: 1P, 3C, 1F
PM Snack: 1P, 2C
Dinner: 2P, 2C, 2F
P=Protein servings per meal
C=Carb servings per meal
F=Far servings per meal

Week 1 recap is here:
http://crafts-n-fitness.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-week-1-recap-of-p90x3-journal.html

Monday January 13:
Did Total Synergistics today. I felt like it went alot better than last week. I’m trying something different this week. Instead of doing my P90x3 workouts in the evenings and my Baladea program in the mornings; I’m getting up at 5am to do both my workouts in the morning. So far so good!
Burned 315 calories in 50 minutes. Used my lebert equalizer bars and my 3 and 5 pound hand weights.

Nutrition went well today. Logged everything in my fitbook except dinner and pm  snack.

Tuesday January 14:
Today I did Agility x. Great cardio workout, and again felt like I did better than last week. Burned 276 calories in 36 minutes. Pleased with my progress so far. Feeling more positive about doing P90x3 than last week but still taking it a day at a time.

Had another good nutrition day and logged everything but dinner in my fitbook.

Wednesday January 15:
Took a rest day today and didn’t do any Yoga. I really dread Wednesday’s because Yoga is scheduled on my Baladea and P90x3 schedule.

Super stressful day at work, totally Pmsing and bad night with the kids after work. Didn’t write down any of my food today.

Thursday January 16:
Got up at 5am to do two workouts and determined to have a better day. Did The Challenge workout and burned 170 calories in 31 minutes. I love using my lebert bars and power push up stands. Making progress with doing more push ups and pull ups on my bars.

Only logged my breakfast and am snack today. Drank lots of water though!

Friday January 17:
Took a rest day today! started my period and really feeling tired and fatigued. Didnt log any food or water today. Such a bust this week! 🙁

Saturday January 18:
Got up at 630am just to make sure I got my two workouts down before the kids woke up. Did CVX from yesterday’s schedule-burned 272 calories in 35 minutes. I used my 4 pound medicine ball again during this workout. THIS IS MY FAVORITE P90x3 workout for sure!!! I just love that its cardio but with using a weight, I’m getting strength training done as well!! LOVE!!

Drank my CORE POWER protein drink after my two workouts and it was so delicious!! Totally didn’t log anything the rest of the day. It’s hard to remember to log my food when I’m at home, running errands and taking care of the kids all day. Hubby and I did work on our gym and putting things up on the wall so I’ll post pics soon with what it looks like! 🙂

Sunday January 19:
Rest Day!

Started Week 2 of Baladea this week!!!

What is the Baladea program? Here are my two other blog posts about it:
http://66.147.244.197/~empowfu5/2014/01/baladea-by-holly-perkins-exercise-program-starts-on-monday.html
http://66.147.244.197/~empowfu5/2013/12/baladea-exercise-program-for-women-by-holly-perkins.html

My week 1 recap is here:
http://crafts-n-fitness.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-week-1-recap-of-baladea-program-by.html

WEEK 2 Baladea LOOK workout schedule:
Monday: POWER (strength workout) 50 mins
Tuesday: SLIM (cardio workout) 40 mins
Wednesday: YOGA (yoga workout) 45 mins
Thursday: rest day
Friday: SLIM (cardio workout) 40 mins
Saturday: POWER (strength workout) 50 mins
Sunday: rest day

Monday January 13:
Today was the Power workout with the 8 pound resistance band. This is one of my favorite workouts. I’m excited to be doing it twice this week!! I was SUPER excited that I was actually able to do 4 or 5 side planks on both sides with my legs and arms extended-like the picture I posted below. It is such a hard move and I’m thrilled in just ONE week that I’m seeing progress!! woot woot!!
Burned 315 calories in 50 minutes according to my HRM.

Tuesday January 14:
Today was Slim cardio workout. This is always fun and gets my hear pumping! I’m glad my HRM is working again with new batteries.
Burned 277 calories in 40 minutes.

Wednesday January 15:
Was suppose to do Yoga today but I worked late and had a horrible time putting the kids to bed so I went to bed myself and didn’t do any workouts today.

Thursday January 16:
Rest Day!!

Friday January 17:
Rest Day… again!! 🙁 PMS-need I say more??!! UGH!!!

Saturday January 18:
Did Power today. I hate that I had 3 off days in a row with my Baladea workout so I made sure to get up early even though it was saturday! Had to take it easy but still an awesome workout. I LOVE the last session which is abs on the floor. I usually HATE ab work but I love that Holly uses a towel for her ab moves. Makes a ton of difference!
Burned 269 calories in 51 minutes according to my HRM.

Sunday January 19:
Rest Day!

Here are my pictures from the week:
Overall I was obviously disapointed with my week 2 but I have to take it easy for at least 2 or 3 days when I have my period, so I just do the best I can and move on.
Ready to start an awesome week 3!!

As part of my #sweatpink ambassador group, Vega One invited us to participate in their #onechange nutritional shake challenge this week.

Good nutrition can be complicated and hard to personally figure out! I know I have struggled to find a good balance for years. I am always very excited to find a good protein drink that is easy to mix up (especially on the go!) and is good. Lets face it-if the protein drink tastes nasty, are you really going to drink it??!

Alot of times when I’m in a hurry to get to work, I don’t have a proper breakfast and then the rest of my day I’m constantly hungry and snacking-thus usually over eating. I like to write down my food and log my calories, so numbers are very important to me.

So read on about the Vega #onechange challenge and how it helped me!

Whatever your dietary kryptonite, #OneChange is all it takes to start transforming old habits into super habits.

Doesn’t that sound exciting??!!

Are you a “breakfast skipper”, “number cruncher” “serial snacker” or “weekend splurger”??

I am definitely a Number Cruncher!!!

All calories are not created equal—make them count, nutritionally!

#OneChange

You don’t have to sacrifice nutrition to fit it all in.

I loved drinking my Chocolate Vega One shake in the mornings after my workout!  I especially love that its dairy free (lactose issues here!) and only 150 calories!! and when I mix it with water, spinach, banana and strawberries its still low in calories but high in protein and other vitamins!!! Win Win!!

The key is to find something that you can stick with and make a long term commitment to eliminate or change without it feeling like a sacrifice. Don’t commit to staying away from chocolate if you know you can ‘t give it up forever. Instead, commit to only having chocolate once per week or once per month. I’ve found that when people make goals and resolutions, if they aren’t attainable or practical-they won’t last long.

My one change this month is to have more green leafy vegetables every day-I tend to want to eat more fruit than veggies.    

Kickstart your health with Vega One. Made from natural, plant-based, whole food ingredients, Vega One is packed with the complete foundational nutrition your body needs to build your day on. Each scoop or packet contains:

·         50% daily intake of vitamins and minerals

·         15 g protein

·         6 g fiber

·         1.5 g Omega-3

·         3 servings of greens

·         Antioxidants

·         Probiotics

And all with less than 150 calories!

Vega One is dairy, gluten and soy free, and contains no added sugar, artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. Use as a delicious, nutrient-supplementing addition to your favorite smoothie recipe, or simply shake with water, juice or a non-dairy beverage of your choice.

What’s New with Vega One?

1. Superior nutritional profile
2. A one-scoop complete serving
3. Better digestibility
4. Improved taste and texture
5. Superior Nutritional Profile:

• 1000 ORAC Antioxidant Blend: we created an all-new super-fruit blend featuring maqui, acai, goji and other berries to give you a broader range of phytonutrients with over 2 times more antioxidants per scoop.
• Green Blend: we broadened the spectrum of greens by adding chlorophyll-rich, nutrient-dense superfoods such as kale, broccoli, spinach and alfalfa, along with chlorella, to boost the nutritional profile of Vega One with 20% more greens per scoop (for a total of three full servings of veggies per scoop!)

• Protein: we boosted our complete protein blend with SaviSeed protein, greatly increasing the tryptophan content (an essential amino acid). Vega One now boasts 15% more protein per scoop.
• Omega-3 (and Fiber!): we added white chia—renowned for its Omega-3 content—to bump our Omega-3s per scoop up by 20%. Chia is also one of the best-quality sources of fiber, rounding out the fiber profile of Vega One nicely.

• We did surveys, focus groups and collected ongoing consumer feedback; an overwhelming majority of you told us you only took half a serving of Health Optimizer—one scoop—a day. We formulated Vega One’s single-scoop serving to maximize the nutritional density of your one-a-day scoop, so it delivers all the antioxidants, probiotics and digestive enzymes you got from the full two scoop serving of Health Optimizer, plus more protein, greens and Omega-3 than the old single scoop.

• Higher Net-Gain Nutrition in Every Scoop: we doubled the amounts of digestive enzymes per scoop to help facilitate the breakdown of nutrients during digestion. This allows for better absorption which means higher net-gain nutrition—and we doubled the number of probiotics per scoop, too.

• Good-for-You Can Taste Good, Too: Beloved as it was for its nutritional profile, the number one complaint about Health Optimizer we heard loud and clear over the years was how (not so delicious) it tasted. Our research was resounding proof that the next generation of Health Optimizer needed a taste overhaul. Even some of our most loyal Vega fans admit to blending Health Optimizer into smoothies—just to make it palatable. Vega One offers premium nutrition AND great taste in the same scoop, but it can also be blended for those adventurous consumers
• Ingredients Impact Flavor: After tasting every ingredient in Health Optimizer individually, we discovered a few elements that stood out in all the worst (tasting) ways. We replaced some vitamins and minerals in our blend with more expensive, neutral-tasting sources.
• On-the-go Portability: Delivering exceptional nutritional value on-the-go has been one of the cornerstones of Vega formulation. Our research told us the taste of Health Optimizer was a barrier to the very portability it was designed for—Vega One is so delicious mixed with water alone, you’ll never have to sacrifice taste for travel again.

A couple months ago I did a Vega One Starter Kit review, you can view my previous post here:
http://crafts-n-fitness.blogspot.com/2013/10/vegaone-starter-kit-product-review.html

• Twitter @VegaTeam
• Instagram @vega_team
• Facebook: facebook.com/vegafanpan
• Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Myvega/ 
• Pinterest: pinterest.com/vegateam

———————————————————————————————————————