ChaLEAN Extreme

So, I'm a week and a half in to this program, but decided I'd like to go ahead and blog about my progress! First off, week one was a world of hurt and soreness, but I have already noticed such an increase in strength that those four days of ridiculous sore muscles were totally worth it! Secondly, I started the program with three pound and five pound dumbbells along with some resistance bands. While the resistance bands do provide a great workout, I am finding myself preferring to use the dumbbells for now. This may change as my strength increases and my budget may not meet the need for additional dumbbells, in which case I will use some of those heavier duty bands that I currently can't use.

It's insane that I'm talking about increasing the amount of weight I'm lifting on week two of this program considering the history I've had with weightlifting and strength training programs. My past with this type of workout was that I simply didn't do them, especially after I got a door kicked into my back which messed up my left shoulder significantly. It took several years before I was finally referred to physical therapy, then after two months of physical therapy I was finally pain free and ready to do more weight bearing exercises. Instead of heading for a strength training program first, I decided to go for a cardio program that had occasional sculpting and toning days - TurboFire. Now, don't get me wrong, TurboFire is an amazing workout and I do plan on continuing to do this workout, but I wanted to do ChaLEAN Extreme from start to finish the way it's designed to be done before creating it as a hybrid with TurboFire (which I plan to do come August!). I am so thankful for a pain free shoulder/upper left back, and super excited about increasing the weights!!

I took my before pictures and measurements last Monday, May 6 with the assistance of my sister. I'll be sure to post the before and afters once I complete the program in July and I hope to see some pretty awesome results! With how much strength I'm already gaining in just a week and a half, I know my body is going to see lots of changes over these next weeks and I'm excited for those changes!

Along with the new workout program, I am also making a commitment to eat ONLY home-cooked meals from here on out! So far so good this week! I've tried several of the Thin Kitchen recipes. Tonight's dinner consisted of Oven Baked Chicken and Roasted Seasoned Potatoes along with some boiled carrots. Positively delicious, can't wait to eat the leftover potatoes for lunch tomorrow along with some grilled chicken slices!

Tonight's dinner - mmm

Tomorrw's workout is  Burn Intervals, where you build muscle endurance in between cardio intervals. Talk about a crazy workout. Definitely going to need some Energy & Endurance to keep up that intensity!!