WORKING ON MY FITNESS WITH KAYLA ITSINES

I have been recieving a lot of texts, emails, and comments about this whole Kayla Itsines program so I decided to just answer them all in one post.

1. Are you seeing results?
Yes, I look like Gisele now.... I WISH! I am stronger, and the days where I am on point with eating I can see my abs poking through. My arms are more toned, my butt is lifting and my legs are slimming down again. The Holidays really did a number on me with laziness and over eating. You can see results from women all over HERE

2. Are the workouts hard?
I'll let you decide, I am doing the program to challenge myself and get a good sweat in. Don't be intimidated though it's 28 min of cardio and strength training and there is a pre-training program to ease you in. You can get a 7 day free trial HERE, The progress photos from women all over is what got me interested. Yes it's going to be hard, do what you can and push yourself, you will be proud.

3. How many days do you have to work out?
Well M-W-F I do 28 min of her program ( 4 sets of 7 min with a 30 sec break in between) and the days in between you do LISS (fast paced walking for 35-45 min) so 6 days a week and 1 day of rest. Sometimes I like working out twice a day just because I like to. I don't do her work out twice I just might go to the gym and walk at an incline, do sprints or I might go on a jog with Zeyk.

4. Do you still drink alcohol?
Heck yes, I enjoy Pinot Noir way too much to give it up completely. I just plan ahead now so if I'm going to eat out or get together with friends I make sure I work out really hard that day, maybe twice that day so I can have way more calories to enjoy the whole experience.


5. What do you do in your workout?
SWEAT A LOT! Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Lunges, Jumping lunges, Walking lunges, Squats, Jump Squats, Step ups, Knee ups, Push ups, Sit ups, Jump rope and a number of variations to all the above. I just write my workouts out from her downloads and take to the gym, Week 5 really went up a notch. So you do circuit one as many times as you can in 7 min, then you take a 30 sec break, then you start on circuit two and do everything as many times as you can in 7 min, take a 30 sec break, then Repeat. Make sense?

6. What do I need?
Yoga Mat
Jump rope
Dumbbells
Medicine ball or you can use a heavier Dumbbell instead.
I use a chair for step ups if I am not at the gym

7. Can I do this workout at home?
Yes, I did it at home the first 4 weeks during pre-training, sometimes I go to 24 Hour because Jacob likes going to the gym together.

8. Do you like the meal plan?
I really do, I haven't tried all the meals yet but so far everything I have tried is legit. I like how she breaks everything down for you. I do try and eat every 3 hours with the breakdown of the nutrition plan so that I am eating a total of 5 times a day, I'm a feed the beast type. AND YOU CAN EAT CARBS!!! Praise the Lord!

9. Is Kelly doing the workout?
Yes, she just started yesterday. She is back in Nashville and this is something she can do at home or on the road. I am really excited about us both doing this program to push each other more.

10. I want to see progress photos will you post those?
Do you really? Because I have done that in the past and some people get all weird about it.

What do you want to see more of in these Working On My Fitness posts? Be specific. Is this something that you want to be a weekly feature? Click HERE for previous Working On My Fitness Posts

Keep checking Instagram for updates /// @BuenoBrandi

WORKING ON MY FITNESS ///

This is what you would find me working out in most the time.

I don't pinch pennies when it comes to workout pants or sport bras,  Lululemon has the best selection no doubt.  When it comes to shirts I will throw on any ragged ol' tee. As for shoes I am all over the place, I have a variety. Still searching for the best running shoe for my hill sprints days, but for doing typical workouts I like the old school classics.

Hanky
Sports Bra-I have the hardest time finding sport bras that do the job, this one rules.
Vintage Tee
Thrifted Fanny
Sweatshirt
Pants- I'm telling you just try them and you will be hooked.
Socks
Sneaks
Water Bottle -I have the worst problem with drinking water so carrying this around helps big time.
The Best Protein Bar-I have one with me at all times, and we are fully stocked at the salon too.
Jump Rope-Kelly got me into this
Head Phones (how do I always lose these)

Workout of the day /// Conditioning
Warm Up // ( I like to do this on the bridge by my house)
20 walking lunges / 10 Jump Squats / Short run  (repeat 4 rounds)

60 sec on/ 30 Sec off / 4 rounds
Jump rope 
Speed Squats
V-ups
Burpees

I stopped going to the gym because of my schedule but I really miss the group training. Now I get emails sent to me with daily workouts so that I can stay in shape. But dude...working out on your own is a lot harder because I don't have a trainer standing over me telling me to push harder. Costa Rica is my biggest motivation right now because I need the endurance for surfing.

Kelly and I will be posting about our experience with the 30 day challenge later this week.

WORKING ON MY FITNESS /// 30 Days of Being Awesome

Sometimes you just need a good challenge to get your butt in gear for Spring/Summa time! About 16 days ago Kelly, Lonnie, and I decided it was that time again after his recent visit. I mean... We had way too much Mexican food and wine in a two week span. Dang those breakfast tacos! Who am I kidding, I still think about them. haha.

The 30 Day Challenge started Feb 21st ///
No booze. Only Water, Tea, or Coffee
No Sugar. Except fruit.
Eat 3-5 small meals a day.
Get some exercise in at least 3 times a week.
Protein, Greens, and Fruit.
One Cheat meal per week.
No Cheese!!!
2% Fage Greek Yogurt unsweetened/unflavored (only Kelly)

As soon as we started the challenge, I made us a private facebook, yup that's right... PRIVATE. On our Facebook page we posted our before pictures so there is no turning back. Each day we take photo's of what we eat and post them on the wall so we can keep each other accountable. We also post inspiring video's on our wall that have nothing to do with fitness or food, just for fun and to keep our spirits up during this butt kicking. Lonnie had a little more difficult time part of this challenge when he was in Argentina because there is so much delicious wine. We felt bad so we gave him the OK because WINE NOT? (Yes I just said that!)

This week I wanted to make my food a little more interesting and since I don't normally cook, my friend Ashley told me to check out The Betty Rocker. We purchased a 30 day meal plan and it has everything we could possibly need. It comes with the grocery list for each week, how to prep the food and store it, and it lists the meals I eat for the whole week. I spent a good portion of my day Monday meal prepping but I really enjoyed it. There were times when I felt like a joke and things would go wrong like the quinoa bag melting as I was pulling chicken bites out of the oven and at the same time uncooked quinoa spills all over the kitchen floor and inside the stove causing the fire alarm to go off. Since this was my first time multitasking in the kitchen, I just laughed because what else could I do?

Biggest challenge for Brandi // Drinking enough water and finding a new fun workout, Monday I started p90x again. Another challenge is eating 5 times a day with my crazy schedule at the salon. I write out the times that I have to eat (every 3 hours) so I don't forget.
What keeps me motivated // Surf trip to Costa Rica next month!  But really what is keeping me motivated is how I feel and seeing results. Did I mention that our Dad is on his own challenge so it's really fun sharing recipes and getting texts with each others results. It really helps having people to hold you accountable.


Biggest challenge for Kelly // Finding the right balance of calories and eating enough proteins during that first week. Something around day 3/4 hit me hard and I had to re think my daily intake and ratios. I had cut so much out of my diet originally that I wasn't getting enough calories and getting enough proteins. I've been a vegetarian for ten or so years, so I thought I had this and I did NOT. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and started logging everything. I LOVE this app. It's not just a calorie record, it also give you your nutrition breakdown of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins.
What keeps me motivated // I want to be my reach my healthiest self this year and hold on to her. I want to be out running, surfing, camping, hiking, biking, whatever the next adventure, I want to be able to tackle it and feel good. I'm dedicated to creating/practicing healthy habits now so that by the end of the year my lifestyle has evolved. My favorite part of the day is breakfast. I wake up with an hour and a half to myself. I toss on a record, prep ingredients, make coffee and cook. Having that time to ease into the day, fill my body with good grub, and feed my soul with good vibes sets the tone for my day. As long as I have a strong morning, I find it easier to make better decisions through out the rest of the day. I'm loving how I feel these days and am so grateful for all the motivation I've received from friends and family. A few of my friends and our Pops have also been on their own fitness journey and talking to them about new recipes, juices, workouts, struggles and success has really been the lead motivation for me.

For those of you in Houston working on your fitness // Lululemon just opened up their First Colony store today! We love their stuff. Not sure if it's a personality thing or a human thing, but for us, we gotta feel good going into a workout and their pants... man. The rumors are true when it comes to their magical pants AND they are comfortable. Since today is day 16 (we made it to the middle!) of our challenge, Kelly and I picked up a few things from them as a little reward/motivation.
If you are just new to working on your fitness and want to know what kind of classes are available in your area, Lululemon stores have community boards and their employees usually have the scoop on rad workouts nearby. 

What kind of workout gear do you like? What do you look for when shopping for athletic apparel?