So I have found that as the summer nears the end I’m seeming to get more relaxed about my fitness. We all know that feeling. The warm comfy winter is coming soon which means lots of treats, large sweaters and the pounds sneak back. So I decided that I need some good old fashioned motivation! And in my life one of the greatest fitness motivators has been Billy Blanks. So I took some time to give a try to This Is Tae Bo his newest DVD.

This Is Tae Bo is Tae Bo at it’s best. It’s very old school, so if you come from the Amped up era – this may not be for you. But if you are one of those people that has worn out your old VHS of the original Tae Bo tapes – you have found a new love in this DVD.  It’s got good pace, loads of cardio, nicely timed recovery and you’ll burn the calories you need to get rid of the fat.

Now – cardio isn’t the whole picture, however. I trained for about six months with a great trainer here in town, and saw some really fantastic results. I did need to move my cardio to the next level, but now that I’m not at the gym I really needed to advance my strength training at home with some more motivating workouts. There is only so many times you can do the old routines before you need something new. So I added two great trainers into the mix.

The first is Jackie from Workout! Jackie Warner is great. And her DVD Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training is a great system to use. It has five great workouts that you can mix it up with. Right now I’m using the upper and lower as separates and finishing up with some cardio on two of my strength training days. If you’ve never done much in the way of strength training it’s a great DVD because anyone can do the 15 minutes of strength training. And Jackie is very technical so you don’t have to worry if you are doing it correctly.  Once you have mastered it the long strength training session will keep you gaining and growing.

The second trainer I added is Bob Harper of Biggest Loser fame. I’ve done some of Jillian Micheal’s workouts, but they just don’t do it for me. Personal opinion. Bob has a new line of DVD’s called the Inside Out Method. I recently purchased the Pure Burn Super Strength DVD to give it a try. I started with the beginners 25 minute strength training session, and it was more than hard enough for any beginner. It recommends you use 2 – 3 lb weights to start, but since I’ve been training for awhile I used my 5 lb. weights. I thought it was a well thought out workout, with good calorie burn. I haven’t tried the larger session yet, but I’m sure it’s a killer.

My biggest problem with this DVD is that he seems to be trying too hard to be hardcore in the video. I think maybe he’s gotten tired of the “my best friend Bob”  visual that The Biggest Loser has given him. His team is not the best choice I think for the video for his target audience, but I guess we aren’t there for the workout crew, right?  Bob doesn’t always give the best direction, but he does give you some motivation to keep going and keep trying. I haven’t tried the other DVD’s in the group – I’m really wanting to try the Yoga Warrior video. It looks intense. You can also combine with the tools and tips at his website – My Trainer Bob .

If you are looking for more of a cardio workout I prefer his portion of The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max. It’s a hard 25 minutes of cardio with a little weights thrown in. This could be a good side cardio for those days when you don’t have the time. He does a far better job with both direction and motivation on this one, and it’s a lot of fun. You have the option to add on both Jillian and Kim’s cardio protion as well which would make it great for someone just building for a cardio foundation in their healthy life.

Finally I’m finishing my week by adding in three days of walking (3.5 miles per day) and I’m doing yoga or pilates one day a week. A great yoga basic that I love is living arts yoga conditioning for weight loss with suzanne deason since it has great direction and no movements that are dangerous. Stretching out is not only important for after every workout, it’s important to do a good deep stretch once a week for overall flexibility.  Stretching allows your joints to lubricate themselves as well as it lengthens your muscles so that you have the lean look that we all want to have.

So go ahead and challenge yourself! Get off the couch and try something new. If these videos don’t work for you – try something else. We each are so different that what works for me may not work for you. The key is to challenge yourself, stick with it, and have some discipline to it. No one can force you into health – but you!

Technorati Tags: Billy Blanks, Bob Harper, cardio, DVD's, exercise, Health, healthy living, Jackie Warner, pilates, strength training, Suzanne Deason, Tae Bo, The Inside Out Method, This Is Tae Bo, working out, Yoga

A lot of people these days seem to be moving forward towards a healthier more organic lifestyle by incorporating the Farm In The Box into their weekly groceries. Unfortunately there are so many of these sorts of companies and so many CSA’s to choose from it seems difficult to figure out who to go to for your weekly pick up. I admit it can be easier than the Farmer’s Market – although you don’t get the one on one experience that you would get from the Market. But if you do choose the Farm In The Box there are some things you should keep your eye on.

1) You want to make sure that the products you are getting in your box are fresh and local. You can walk into the market yourself to pick up bananas, but they most likely aren’t fresh or local and so what are they doing in your box. There are many companies that don’t really bring you the fresh local products so get the local harvest list to see what is available and in season.

2) Second what sort of presence to they have.  If they are just a weekly box how are the improving your lifestyle. A good CSA or Farm In The Box product will offer you a newsletter or website with great recipe ideas that you will be able to use with your fresh local produce.

A great example of this is the Boistfort Valley Farm recipe area of their website: http://www.boistfortvalleyfarm.com/recipes/

3) Price. Keep in mind the pricing of your food. It is okay to have a little bit of a higher price point if it’s convenient and fresh, but don’t be ridiculous about it. There are organic whole foods that are worth a higher price and there there is just being ripped off.

One of items that a lot of my friends were dealing with earlier this month was white asparagus. Easy to figure out an asparagus frittata but how many of your kids are going to eat this? I loved the Boistfort Valley Spaghetti with Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms recipe. Spaghetti is a huge staple in many American homes and what a great twist on an old classic. They join together shallots, shiitake, asiago cheese and the flavors just melt in your mouth. And a great meal to share a fine glass of wine with friends.

So when you explore your fresh food options keep in mind the actual cooking and use of the freshness that you will be bringing into your home and sharing with family and friends.

Technorati Tags: asiago cheese, asparagus, CSA, family meals, Farm, fresh food, healthy living, Recipe, shiitake mushrooms, spaghetti

So you may ask yourself what in the Helena is Slow Food? “Definitions of Slow Food on the Web: (thanks Google)

• Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. It strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and promotes farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristics of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. …
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food
• food, in contrast to fast food, that is normally a part of a complete meal; especially the traditional cuisine of a region
  en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slow_food
• The Slow Food movement was founded to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
  www.carbondiet.ca/going_green/green_terms.htm “

Slow Food is a huge movement based on how you live, how you eat and how you think. SlowFoodUsa.org states that it “is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.”

USA Today says that Slow Food is everything that Fast Food isn’t… so are you Slow Food or Fast Food??

Give yourself one week. Don’t do it today – plan it and play with it. Try to live the Slow Food way for one week. I have a feeling if you do, you may never go back. Think about homemade organic tomato sauce on a fresh pizza crust, covered in raw goat cheese, organic spinach and your own fresh herbs. Imagine it cooking. Imagine the first bite. Be Slow… Be Slow Food.

Technorati Tags: Fast Food, Health, healthy diet, Healthy Eating, healthy living, Organic, Slow Food, Slow Food USA

I wanted to share a blog I found while looking at new bikes the other day. This woman is incredible. Really and truly incredible. She’s lost over 100 pounds doing the old fashioned way – hard, hard work. She started out just doing the cardio, and then added in the healthy eating, the weight training, the classes… and now she’s a cyclist. And she is having a blast living the life she was meant to live. This is what it’s all about folks. It’s about learning to have balance, and to challenge yourself to become the you that you always wanted to be. Don’t give up on yourself. Take the time and check out http://healthystride.blogspot.com/ – I promise you’ll feel inspired.

Technorati Tags: balance, blog, Cycling, Health, healthy living, Healthy Stride, weight loss, weight training