TurboFitLife

Day 4! SOLID FOOD! breakfast was a ginger mango shake that was of course amazing- i mean what’s not to love about ginger and mango?? morning snack was more ginger mango shake. Lunch was a salad! sweet sweet salad. spinach and mustard greens all mushed up with avocado. topped with sauerkraut & capers! and corn. i got frozen corn since there was no fresh but after sitting all day out of the freezer it was fine. afternoon shake was strawberry mint that was pretty stellar. dinner was raw vegan cheesecake. yep. i caved from healthy food. i went out for halloween and drank some red wine and knew i’d need a solid meal. and somehow chocolate cheesecake sounded like a meal??? so i googled it and found this recipe.

day 5 & 6 are being skipped for the super spartan race- then back to raw! at least mostly… we’ll see.

Ginger Mango Shake

1 C frozen mango
1/4 C almonds soaked overnight
1/4 T coconut oil
1 pitted date
1 C water

Easy Being Green Sald

2 C spinach
1 C mustard greens
1/2 avocado
1/2 C sauerkraut
1 t capers
2 T corn kernels
* Massage avocado into spinach and greens. top with sauerkraut, capers, & corn

Strawberry Mint Shake

1 C frozen strawberries
1/2 C kale
1/4 avocado
2 T fresh mint
1 pitted date
1 C water 

(Source: mave-myvi-90daychallenge)

Ani Phyo’s 15 day fat blast: DAY 3

Day 3 felt great to start knowing it was the last day of the all liquid diet. definitely was ready for solid food again. kicked off the day with a pina colada shake- SO stinking good. morning snack was a pear power shake, which was pear and kale and when it first came out of the blender i wasn’t much of a fan. but after it sat for awhile in the fridge (i make everything in the morning and bring it to work) it was delicious!! lunch was spicy avocado soup, which… i mean… how could you go wrong? avocado soup! dinner scared me a bit- curry coconut soup… i love curry but don’t love coconut. or tomato. so that scared me. but it was pretty delish! i should mention that all the ingredients in the soups and shakes just throw in a blender and go go go! easy to make with my vitamix! i wish it was easier to rinse out though- it’s too tall for my faucet so it’s not easy to get under there to fill with water. easiest thing ever to clean- just fill with warm water and a squirt of soap and blend!

Pina Colada

1 C frozen pineapple
1/4 C almonds soaked overnight
1/2 T coconut oil
1 T vanilla
1 C water

Pear Power Shake

1 pear seeded & quartered
1 C kale
1 T vanilla
1 C water

Spicy Avocado Soup

1 avocado
1 T miso
1/2 lime juiced
1/8 t rosemary
pinch chipotle
1 C water

Curry Coconut Soup

1 avocado
1 tomato
1/4 lemon juiced
1/4 T coconut oil
1 T cilantro
1/4 t curry powder
1 t miso
1 C water
1/4 t minced garlic 

Did a super spartan!! that’s right… 8+ miles of what “they” call “hell on earth”. it wasn’t quite that dramatic but it was definitely challenging! it started off easy enough with some trail running through dirt roads. once we got wet though everything changed. climbing out of the first river was hard and got us soaked in mud. and then your shoes and socks are drenched for the next few hours. we did obstacles and just random challenges like scaling a mud wall with a rope, climbing over what felt like millions of walls, doing a net climb thing, dragging a super heavy weight around, carrying a sandbag, crawling under barbed wire a few times, going through tunnels, flipping truck tires, pulling up this weight on a pully thing, jumping over fire, and traversing logs over water. we skipped a few too- one was a straight up rope climb that was just impossible looking over water and caked in mud. one was this log jump thing where you had to hop from log to log without falling in the water. the other was another log thing where you had to jump from these width-wise logs that were just far enough apart to seem impossible- i think i saw only two people actually do it? the last one we skipped was the monkey bars. i saw only one dude do that one- they were so slippery at that point. 

i really loved the spirit of the whole race! people were jogging, running, walking, whatever and nobody was rude about passing you up. people also hung back to help lend a hand when scaling a muddy wall or climbing over high walls. it was truly amazing to see everyone being so helpful! i would definitely recommend doing a spartan race if you get a chance!! very well organized and super fun!

fitvillains:

ADVANCED: Single Arm Burpees

“I’m bored and unchallenged by regular burpees ” - said no one ever.

Well, that’s not ENTIRELY true. I get bored with burpees. A basic or compensation burpee isn’t “hard” for me anymore, and I work on different ways to make them more challenging (yes, doing MORE and doing them FASTER is WAY hard. But I get bored, lol. I’m a SUCKER for novelty).

This is a modification I’m still working on, but I love it. I try my best to get a mini-single arm pushup in there, but most people will find this unnecessary (plus it’s insanely tough).

Tips

• Keep hands & feet wide. Helps with stability and protects your shoulder joints. Take hand just A LITTLE wide of your shoulder line if it helps, and kick legs back and forward in a wide squat, instead of narrow.
• Eyes forward. It’s easy to throw your balance off if you’re looking at your feet with this move.
• Slow and steady at first. Add the jump back only after you’ve figured out your balance THEN add speed.
• Work to keep your hips facing the floor & butt down (butt usually stays down when eyes are forward, but will automatically pike if you look at your feet).

How To Do It

A. Place one hand behind your back, top of the hand connecting with your lower back. Other arm is loose & ready. Squat down into a wide squat, bringing your free hand to the floor. Butt down, eyes forward, chest up.

B. Use your core to shoot your legs back into a wide 3 point plank. Feet are wider than hips width apart.

C. OPTIONAL: Single arm pushup. No need to go LOW, these are tough. Just a mini up & down is fine.

D. Return to the one arm plank & hop your feet back to the wide squat. Keep your butt down and use your core.

E. Jump up in the air, reaching your free hand to the ceiling. Opposite hand stays behind your back the whole time.

Modifiers

TONS! Go single arm for some parts of the move, and double arm for others if it’s tough. You can step back instead of the hop, take the jump out, omit the pushup etc.

You can also, ALWAYS, just do regular burpees, half burpees or anything else that floats your boat.

ADVANCED/PSYCHOS: Need MORE? Add THIS move instead of the single arm pushup.  http://fitvillains.tumblr.com/post/22317842392/try-it-one-arm-lift-lay-on-your-belly-with-your

BAD ASSES: I’ve never tried these with anyone else before, would love your feedback. :) Anyone want to try it and let me know how you did?

Ani Phyo’s 15 day fat blast: DAY 2

I started day 2 knowing what i was getting myself into! started off with a delicious strawberry shake. from past cleanses i knew i liked the strawberry cashew combo so i was excited for that one. morning snack was an apple green mar-tea-ni, which was apple and green tea, and romaine. i hate green tea (coconut… tomatoes… green tea… this cleanse is all about things i don’t like!) but loved this drink! somehow the apple or romaine covered it up? SO good. lunch was really similar to day 1 but was a called “ginger soup” aka had spinach instead of bok choy? tasted AMAZING though. drank it out of a mug so maybe that’s why it was so good?? afternoon snack was more simple strawberry shake & dinner was leftover soup from lunch (it didn’t all fit in my to-go mug). Made myself a little dessert as well- blended up strawberries, a banana, and some water. and a splash of agave. delicious!!! had a concert that night so knew i’d need an extra something to keep me from getting anything at the show. 

Simple Strawberry Shake

1 C frozen strawberries
1/4 C cashews soaked overnight
1/4 T coconut oil (supposed to be 1 T but i learned my lesson!)
1 T vanilla
1 T agave
1 C filtered water

Apple Green Mar-tea-ni

1 apple seeded & diced
1 C kale
1 T vanilla
1 C water

Ginger Soup

1 C spinach
1 cucumber
1/2 avocado
1/4 lemon juiced
1 T miso
1 t ginger
1 C water

read ani phyo’s 15 day fat blast book and decided to try it! it’s all raw and the first four days are liquid- soups and shakes. the first day kicks off with a blueberry blast shake, which taught me that i don’t like raw coconut oil. the morning snack was my first ever green shake- really good!! i was shocked how much the sweet fruit balanced out the veggies. lunch was spicy bok choy soup, which wasn’t great. it was really weird to eat soup out of a bowl with a spoon that was cold and green. the rest of the time i drank my soups out of mugs and liked them way better! afternoon snack was more blueberry blast- hard to choke down with the coconut flavor. the rest of the week i used less coconut than was called for. dinner was tomato bisque, and that was scary too, since i hate tomatoes. I let it blend until it was a little warm so it was pretty deilsh!

Blueberry Blast

1 c frozen blueberries
1/4 c almonds (soaked in filtered water overnight)
1 T coconut oil
1 t cinnamon
1 C filtered water

Pineapple Green Shake

1 C frozen pineapple
1 C kale (I used 3 leaves but the recipe only called for one)
1 t fresh grated ginger
1 C filtered water
pinch of cayenne

Spicy Bok Choy Soup

1 C baby bok choy
1 cucumber sliced
1/2 avocado
1 T lemon juice
1 T miso
1 C filtered water

Tomato Bisque

1.5 tomatoes
1/2 avocado
1/2 t garlic
a couple basil leaves
dash of salt
1 C filtered water 

i think i have a new love.