Half Point Fit Test

So, half way through the 30 day challenge, we do another fit test (ughhhh)!  I wanted to compare, and see how far I've come in only 15 days:

Exercise                       Fit Test 1                      Fit Test 2
Squat Jumps:                   23                                 30
Push Ups:                       12                                  15
Burpees:                         11                                  13
High Knees:                   90                                  98
Switch Lunges:              19                                  23
Tuck Jumps:                  18                                   20
Tricep Dips:                   20                                  30
Straight Abs:                  16                                  17

I'm pretty happy with myself over these scores.  Some, I improved dramatically (squat jumps, High Knees, etc), and some were only marginal (stupid Straight Abs...), but they all were improvements, which is what I'm aiming for:)

In other news, Happy Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday, everyone!  The austere season of Lent begins tomorrow, and I know many of us will be giving things up...as for myself, I'm still debating what to let go for the season.  I'm thinking being lazy would be a good one:)

If you're giving up something, what is it?  Let me know in the comments!

Until Next Time,

Ashley

Bodyrock Week 1 & Food Update

So I have a confession to make....I didn't do the entire first week of the February Bodyrock challenge.

Oops


I was super sore after day two, forced myself to do Day 3, and ended up just going hiking everyday from then on.  But hey, I got some exercise, right?

Anyhow...


Results:

Day One: Fit Test

The point of the fit test is to see what fitness level you're at.  It's also a good workout:)

Squat Jumps: 23
Push Ups: 12
Burpees: 11
High Knees: 90
Switch Lunges: 19
Tuck Jumps: 18
Tricep Dips: 20
Straight Abs: 16

No easier modifications for me!  Before the fit test, I had only done a few Bodyrock workouts, but before that, I couldn't even do a full push up.  For me, being able to go from not-even-one to 12 in 50 seconds was unbelievable.  I can't wait to do the next fit test to see how far I've come:)

Day 2: Rep Challenge

Rep Challenges are different from the other workouts.  Instead of doing one for 50 seconds, resting for 10, then moving on to the next one, you just have a certain number of each exercises to do, and you time the entire thing.

Day 2 was a pyramid challenge, which is my favorite: you start out doing 10 of each, then you do 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, etc. until you're finished.  You feel sooo accomplished by the time you get down to doing one of each exercise!

Time to do the entire workout: 17:28 without abs, 20:28 with.

Day 3: Difficult workout that I was too sore to do well in:(

This was another 50 second timed workout. Pretty sure I prefer those pyramid ones:)

Sandbag Shoulder Lift & Drop: 26, 21, 25
Leg pushups & jump over the sandbag: 7, 9, 11
10 High Knees & 10 Mtn. Climbers: 5, 3, 3 (these are full sets, as in 10 High Knees + 10 Mtn Climbers = 1)
Tuck Knees & Star Jump: 14, 15, 18

Abs:
Star Abs: 20
Right Oblique: 15
Left Oblique: 16

Even though I only did three days of the challenge, I already see and feel results.  If you haven't looked into bodyrock and you're looking for something new to shake up your workout and challenge you in every way possible, you should definitely check it out!

And for the food update....

Remember last month when I posted this?  Well, I finally made the first dish, Vidalia Onions stuffed with Rice-Lentil Pilaf last night!

And as bizarre as the dish sounds, it was soooo delicious!  Even my super picky father liked it:)  Some notes if anyone decides to make it:

1) There's no salt in the dish, so be sure to keep a shaker handy.  We're not even big into salt (compared to people who eat a lot of high-sodium, processed food), but we found the need to heavily salt this dish.

2) 10-20 minutes was not enough time to finish cooking the rice and lentil pilaf.  It took more like 30-45 minutes, so be sure to allow enough time for that:)

It is a very time consuming dish to make, but it's surprisingly easy- no complicated maneuvers in this one!  I also made chocolate mint brownies, using the same basic recipe as before, but adding chocolate mint chips (you can find these seasonally, or at specialty food stores) and adding 1 tsp. peppermint extract to the batter.

I would add pictures, but everything was eaten by the time I came home!

It's been an amazing week so far for me, how about you?

xoxo

Ashley

Bodyrock.tv

I first heard about Bodyrock.tv around the middle of January and saw that they had a 30 day challenge running.  Of course, since it was already in the middle, I just did their other exercises, but soon saw that they were going to do another one...

If there's one thing I love, it's a challenge.

(you can see where this is going...)


I decided to take the 30 day challenge starting Monday and I'll update at the end of every week with my results!  I'm super excited, because I love finding new ways to exercise, especially if they produce such toned bodies like the ones seen on the website.

I know they follow strict diets as well, which I'm not going to do.  I feel like life is too short to deprive myself of the foods I love, but so much of what I love to eat is fairly healthy.  In short, I'll be looking for healthy (meaning mostly vegan) recipes that aren't too difficult to make.

I'm already hooked based on the workouts I've already done- I get bored so easily, so it's really nice that they put a new one up everyday:)

Anyone going to take the challenge with me?