New Discovery: Yumprint!

While browsing around one of my favorite blogs, Whole Family Strong, to see the changes they made with their recent blog remodel, I noticed a new option. Or maybe it was there the whole time and I just didn't notice before. That would not surprise me either, lol. 

I found one of the recipes that I love and have made several times and noticed a "Save" button next to it. So I decided to go ahead and click it. It took me to a site called Yumprint. I instantly fell in love. 

I always struggle with the grocery list each week because I try to make sure not to forget anything and keep it organized, but each week I get to the store and can't remember whether I need ground chicken or chicken breasts or whether I REALLY need that coriander, but can't remember which ingredient it's in. This website solves all my problems. 

It allows you to install a special button, similar to Pinterest's "Pin It" button. From there you can go to any website you want and find a recipe that you'd like to try or that is an all-time favorite and click the "Yumprint" button that pops up. It will open a mini window that shows you a "recipe card" listing the ingredients and instructions. You have the option to edit it any way you want before saving and when you save you can choose which category you'd like it to be placed under (breakfast, crock pot meals, appetizers, desserts, etc.). And just like Pinterest, you can choose from any of the photos on the page to use as the picture ID for your recipe.

That's just the start!

 

Once you've got a few recipes saved you can go to the Yumprint website and they will have all of your recipes organized for you by category.  You can then click and drag individual recipes up to your "Meal Planner" at the top of the screen to organize your meals for the week ... or month... it's pretty customizable.

And then ... you can click on the "Grocery List" tab and choose to drag and drop specific recipes to your grocery list where it automatically adds up and combines any like-foods that there are. It even organizes them by produce, dairy, etc. You can drag and drop individual recipes or even just choose to "Add all planned recipes" to the list to instantly have your grocery list for the entire week. You can go in and edit things as needed and just check off items that you already have or add in individual items if you are making something else that isn't in a recipe. 

 

Ok, you may love all of that already, but guess what! You can then email or print your grocery list to take with you, but I was curious and decided to search my iPhone for a Yumprint app and I found it! And it's free! Can't beat that. So now I can take my phone to the store with me (which I always do anyway) and just pull up my grocery list, check items off as I need to, and the best part is that I can click on an individual item and it will show me which recipe it belongs to so I can make any last minute decisions on whether I REALLY need to drive to the second store to pick up an item the first store didn't have. 

I love it! It's the most user-friendly option I've seen yet for organizing meal plans, recipes, and grocery lists. The only thing that I wish it had was the option to place your mouse over the individual recipes on the website and have the name of the recipe pop up. I can't always tell which recipe is which just by the picture. So that would be more convenient. But it's really not a big problem because I can always just click on it and it will pop up and show exactly which recipe is which. 

And if you don't know of any recipes or maybe just want some more, you can go to Yumprint's home page and they will have suggested recipes from other users for you to try, if you want. Pretty cool, huh? 

I tried out the app at the grocery store last night and it worked perfectly. I have a feeling Yumprint and I are going to be very good friends! : ) To follow my Yumprint Cookbook, click the link HERE!

Young House Love and a Whole30 Update!

It's been a while since I checked in, but we've still been doing pretty good on our Whole30-ish way of eating. We have decided that we are going to just continue with the majority of the rules from the program that we did and incorporate them into our daily lifestyle. The exceptions are that we will not avoid Paleo-ifying foods and we allow ourselves peanut butter and honey from time to time as those don't seem to have any negative effects on how we feel. We've stuck to this plan about 90% of the time. Maybe 95%. We've been pretty good. Although, I do know now how easy it is to go overboard with certain Paleo-ified foods and will have to watch that.

I have noticed, now that we mostly eat only whole foods, that the foods that I used to love drool over are no longer all that appealing. They lack that extra umph that makes you want to just say, "Mmmm" when you take a bite. I can honestly say that about 90% of the time that I've eaten something off plan it has been a disappointment and not worth it. So that's good because it really makes sticking to the plan just that much easier! And... still no more headaches! : )

So now on to Young House Love. I don't remember how I came across this blog exactly. I know I was looking around for different decor ideas and different DIY ideas for the house that we are buying. (Update on that coming soon!) But anyway, I found this blog called Young House Love. It is written by a young couple, Sherry and John, who have a young daughter, Clara, and an adorable pup, Burger.

Apparently they started out just redecorating and remodeling their home for fun, discovered a real passion for it, and have turned it into their day job, along with blogging about it, of course! They have even written a book about their DIY adventures!

They are now on their third home and have documented pretty much everything from Day 1 online. It started out as a blog to keep their families up-to-date, but now they have a full business from it. Pretty cool! And we can all benefit from it by checking out their different design ideas and DIY tutorials. The website is very well organized, lots of great photographs, and enough personal touch to make it a must-read blog!

I've been copying all kinds of ideas for inspiration on decorating the different rooms in our house and have learned quite a bit. For example, you can make just about anything if you know where to find the materials, which don't have to break the bank either. Most of their projects are done by themselves and on a budget, so it totally makes it doable. Yay!

They are just getting started on the projects in their 3rd house, so check them out and follow along! I have to say that their second house is my favorite though. I just love pretty much everything about it. I can't say that I am lovin' the animal statues as much as Sherry, but she has at least made me think about adding them! : )

I just love all of the colors and the patterns and how everything seems to flow together. I think it's amazing how they tore down the wall in their kitchen in that second house to open it up and there's so much more light. I would love to be able to do that to the house we buy. No dark and dreary for me, thanks!

So Young House Love... our inspiration and daily entertainment as we consider options in decorating our first house! : ) And now I will leave you with a couple of before/after photos. To check out all of the before/after of their second house, CLICK ME!

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FRONT YARD:

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OFFICE:

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KITCHEN:

 

I really could just post all of their pictures, I love them so much, but I'll let you head over and check them out yourselves! : )

New Way to Exercise!

I got a new product that I've been wanting to try out for about a week now. 

 

Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated. It's stormed just about every day. And this product is an outside product, since I don't have any memberships, so I had to be patient. But finally we got a chance to get outside in between the bursts of rain. So we took advantage of that time and got in the pool. It was a little cold, but we made it work, lol.

Credit: aquagear.com

My new workout product would be a pair of water resistance gloves. I ordered them from AquaGear Swim Shop for about 20$ + S&H. They arrived in just a few days so I've just been waiting to get in the pool.

Other than a water aerobics class with my mom when I was about 10 years old, I can't say I've done much with water workouts, but we have a pool where we live now and I'm always open to trying different products and programs. So here is my experience with the gloves!

The gloves

They are designed simply, just a webbed glove, made from durable, chlorine-resistant fabric. The gloves are pretty easy to get on. I thought maybe they'd be a bit fragile since the fabric stretches while the threading doesn't, but they are tougher than they look. They also had no problem with my rings, no snagging or anything like that.


They are snug, but that's a good thing, so I didn't have a problem with them sliding around at all, even when under a lot of pressure with the movement in the water. They come in 4 different sizes and there is a sizing guide to figure out which ones are the best fit for you.  You don't really get to pick the colors of the gloves, they are decided based on the size, but I do really like the blue. My hands were just kind of on the brink of being between small and medium, but I chose medium just to be safe and they were a perfect fit. My husband wanted to try them on too, lol, so I let him and they worked alright for him too, so I think they're probably pretty flexible with sizing.

One thing I really love about the gloves is that they float! So no worries if you're in the pool and need to take one off or maybe if you just haven't gotten them on yet and you drop one. Even if you stick it at the bottom of the pool, it will float on up. And being black on the bottom makes them easy to find too. They're also really lightweight and compact, so they would easily fit in your gym bag or any other small bag. They can be a bit difficult to take off, but once you get it figured out it isn't an issue. Taking them off by the wrist is much easier than at the fingertips and is much less likely to cause any tears in the threading. They're easy to flip right side out since they don't have individual fingers too.

One of the selling points of this glove, and one of the reasons why I picked it out, is because it has the option of closing your hand. They do offer other types of gloves, which I have not tried out, that are silicone and I imagine these may be a little more durable, but it looks like you can't close your hand easily, so it would make it difficult to grab something or hold on ... I would think. Again, I haven't tried out those particular types of gloves so don't take my word for it. The fabric of this pair of gloves is sturdy, but I was also impressed that I could wipe my face without drenching my face, thus defeating the purpose of wiping my face to begin with. I was afraid that they would retain all of the water and I'd have to wipe my face with my arm if I wanted to clear the water, but I just squeezed my hand and the water drained out and I had no problems. The fabric isn't so rough to be abrasive to your face either, which also makes it a little more tricky to hold on to the edge of the pool, but our pool has rounded edges, so it may be easier with pools that have more of a grip to begin with.

I love these because they have the option of closing your hand for less resistance and opening your hand for more resistance. You can really tell a difference between the two styles too. I really noticed how much more quickly I move through the water with my hand completely open. It's nice too because you get resistance in both directions, not just one way, so it works both sides of your arms, depending on which exercise you're doing.

The Exercises

Since I am new to water workouts, I decided to look up some suggested exercises to make the most out of my experience. You can use the gloves for quite a wide range of exercises with strength training or aerobics and even just simply swimming laps. They're a great option for pregnant women, people with injuries, or people who prefer low impact workouts.  I have a feeling my husband is going to be using these gloves often. He has a back/hip injury from lifting weights improperly when he was younger, so he's been going to a chiropractor and hasn't been able to get back into lifting weights. He was very impressed with the gloves though and thinks they'd be a great option for him to get some strength back without messing up the progress he's made at the chiropractor's office.

So I found a few helpful sites to give me some ideas for us to try. Fitday.com has a great list of basic exercises to work your upper body. These suggested using water weights, but I found it very easy to modify to use the gloves instead and it's easy to get resistance going both directions. Here are some of the exercises I found on their site:

1. Bicep Curls - Tones and shapes the front of your upper arms.
Hold your hands down to your sides and, either one at a time or both at the same time, bend your arms, keeping your elbows to your ribs, and raise your open hands towards your chest and back down.

2. Flies - Define your chest.
Stand with your arms out wide, hands open. Swing your arms, keeping them straight, to the front of you so that your hands meet and then take them back open. Sort of like you're imitating smashing a bug that's flying in front of you.

3. Karate Punch - Tone various muscles in your arms.
Holding your hands open and close to your chest, push them forward through the water one at a time, then pull them back, rotating between hands.

4. Shoulder Shrugs - Sculpts your shoulders and can relieve tension.

I tried this two different ways, bending my elbows and not bending my elbows. The first way is to bend your elbows, so stand with your arms at your sides, hands open, and your palms facing downward. Slowly raise your shoulders up, bending your elbows to raise your hands towards the surface of the water, then push back down and lower your shoulders. The other way is to keep your arms straight only move your shoulder muscles up and down. 

5. Triceps Push - Firm the backs of your upper arms.

I modified this one so that instead of pushing vertically, I was swinging horizontally and then upward. I stood, slightly bent over, with my hands at my sides and palms facing behind me and swung my arms backward and forward through the water. Similar to a tricep kickback with weights.

6. Rows - Define muscles in shoulders and back.

Similar to the shoulder shrug and the triceps push, this one starts out with your arms out in front of your body but with your palms facing forward. Pull your arms backward so your hands come to your chest. It should feel like you're trying to touch your shoulder blades together, then push back forward.



For more exercises to work the rest of your body, I found bodybuilding.com to be a helpful resource. As with all workouts, make sure to warm up and then stretch afterwards and stay hydrated, even if you're standing in water the whole time! : )

In Review: AquaGear Swim Shop resistance gloves

Pros:

• sturdy fabric does not get snagged or tear easily
• can open and close your hand for more or less resistance
• can still wipe your face and grab things with the gloves on
• great option for pregnant women, people with injuries, or those who prefer low impact workouts
• lightweight and easy to carry with you
• reasonably priced
• orders ship quickly
• website is very easy to navigate
• easy to use with all types of workouts: aerobics, strength training, or laps
• sizing guide is accurate

Cons:

• not as easy to hold onto smooth pool walls
• can be a bit difficult to remove when wet
• could see the threading being ripped if you pull too hard 

If you'd like to try a pair of water resistance gloves from AquaGear Swim Shop, click the link here and search for keywords "wave web pro".  Or if you're interested in other water gear, they've got a great assortment of products on their website from swimwear to snorkeling masks to resistance cuffs. I'd like to try out the resistance cuffs some time too and explore the options for lower body resistance training, but the gloves are a great fit for us right now! Pun intended! : )

New Favorite Appliance!

I just received a late (very late) birthday gift from my mother-in-law. In fact, it possibly could have been a half birthday gift if she gave it to me 3 days later, lol, but I am not complaining because it is awesome! I've been wanting one of these for quite a while now, but I don't really like to spend money on myself so I hadn't worked up to buying it.

← (Hubby holding the smoothie. Sorry for the poor quality. It was taken with my phone.)

I'm talking about the NutriBullet! A couple of years ago my husband and I bought a juicer. We thought we'd be healthy and make shakes and all that. Well, it's so big and such a pain to set up ... and even more so to clean up afterwards. And you have to chop and peel a LOT of fruit and veggies to make much juice. Besides that, you throw away a lot of the essential nutrients when you throw away the fibrous part. It does come in handy, but most of the time it sits on its shelf collecting dust.

Doesn't look all that appetizing, but it was delicious!

So, I had heard a lot of good things about this NutriBullet mixer/blender. You can put so much in it and it tears right through it and makes it into a delicious shake. Well, delicious if you use the right ingredients anyway. So I always wanted to try one. And lo and behold, my mother-in-law got us one!

So I got it out of the box and hooked it up, cleaned all the parts, and went to the grocery store to buy some fruit and veggies. So far I have only tried sweeter concoctions. My favorite so far is:

• 1/2 apple
• 1/2 banana
• large handful spinach
• 1 TBSP natural nut butter
• 1 scoop whey protein powder
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup of water

It's so good!! You really can't taste the spinach either. Not that I have issues with spinach, but you don't typically start salivating when you imagine peanut butter, bananas, apples and ... spinach. But trust me, if you haven't had it, it is delicious. It also turns the smoothies into a very lovely green color.

Another thing that I love about this blender is that it is so much smaller than my juicer. I can leave it on the counter and it barely takes up any room. You don't have to wash anything except the blade attachment and the container that you hold your smoothie in. So much simpler. Also, the blades are nice and sharp so I haven't had problems with large chunks of apple or anything. It blends everything very nicely.

Credit: nutribulletblog.com

The machine is super easy to use too. You just drop the container/blade attachment into place and push down. It twists into place, locking it, until you are ready to stop and you twist it a little to release.

I have pretty much used my own recipes for this, tossing in whatever sounds good, but if you go online you can find recipes on their website ... or just use any other smoothie recipe and mix it up in the NutriBullet. That'd work too. I have seen on the infomercials that you can even make stuff like salad dressings and salsas with this too, which is pretty cool, especially since I've discovered a new salsa recipe that I love. I'll be sharing that in a post in the next couple of days.

Pros:

• minimal clean up
• doesn't take up much space
• easy to use
• comes with recipes
• blends evenly

 Cons:

• you still have to wash and roughly chop your fruits and veggies

If you'd like to order one for yourself, click the link HERE!

Product Review: Fitness Blender

I may have been a little MIA on the blog these last few weeks, but I haven't been slacking off! I have gotten a bunch of new workout DVDs (and websites) and have been trying them out. I am so excited to review this one because it has quickly become my favorite source for a good workout!

It's called Fitness Blender and you can find them at fitnessblender.com. Fitness Blender is made up of a married couple, Kelli and Daniel, who create workouts that you do in your own home with little to no equipment. They don't have a fancy studio or a production team or anything, but their videos are very professionally put together in their home studio (garage). Typically, Kelli does the workout and Daniel narrates, but I've seen some videos with Daniel being the model too. I thought I would prefer Kelli describing the workout as she does it (similar to Lisa Marie in BodyRock), but it's much more organized and thorough with Daniel doing it behind the scenes. He's supportive and encourages you to give your all, but doesn't make you feel rushed. He also offers tips on proper form as you go along.

Daniel and Kelli

I like the format more than even some of the BeachBody or Jillian Michaels workouts because it shows a preview of each move that is coming up, so you have time to prepare and can jump right in when the timer starts instead of trying to catch up as you learn the move. It also has a scale on the side of the screen that tracks an average calories burned, for those of you who don't have a heart rate monitor. (I have found that my calories burned rides on the lower end of the scale each time, but I also take more breaks than they do!). On the other side of the screen is an indicator scale from 1 to 5 where they rate the difficulty of the full workout. So that's a good tool to utilize if you're trying to decide which workout you want that day.

Another great aspect of this website is that it has a search tool. So you can refine your search based on exercise type (functional, strength, toning, balance, flexibility, cardiovascular, plyometric, isometric) or by muscle group (you name it, they got it). You also have the ability to type in a keyword to search for something in particular, like their famous "Epic 1,000 calorie burn workout at home".

Did I say 1,000 calorie burn workout? Yes, I believe I did. They have two of these actually. Both are about 85 minutes long and include warm up, cardio/HIIT, strength training, stretch, abs, and cool down. I have to say that my curiosity won out over intimidation and I gave this workout a try and LOVED it! It is challenging, for sure, but I was able to keep up or modify so I still got in a great burn. You can modify to make most moves easier or harder, depending on your fitness level. And at the end, if you followed along, I can guarantee that you will feel completely drained but also amazing at the same time!

Not all of the workouts are over an hour though; some of the videos are even just ten minutes long, like some of the ab videos. It depends on what you are looking for. I really feel like they have taken a creative approach to the workouts too, as they don't incorporate just the same old boring moves that you see in many of the workout DVDs nowadays. Many, if not most, of the moves that they have in their workouts are ones that I've never seen before. They're variations of the old stand-by's, sure, but the little variations make them fun.

Each workout also comes with a description of what equipment you'll need and which exercises will be performed and you can even print this out to take with you or to use another time to record reps or weight or whatever you like. 

In addition to the full workouts, the website also includes videos on how to perform individual exercises properly. Again, it has the search tool so you can find whichever exercise you want easily. Then there are tabs for different articles on exercise, nutrition, health, weight loss, and even recipes. If you're looking to buy equipment, the website has a store tab. You can also learn more about the Fitness Blender duo and support them by making a donation. They even say that they are willing to create custom workouts for donations of certain denominations.

To sum up:

Pros - 

• You choose how long your workout is
• Tons of workouts to choose from
• Search tool to find the workout you want
• Organized and professionally made videos
• Calorie burn bar
• Degree of difficulty scale for choosing workouts
• FREE
• Printable worksheets
• Chart to show what equipment is needed
• Tips on proper form and encouragement throughout videos

Cons - 

• I wish they had a timer to show how much time is left in the total workout 
• Have to play the video on a computer or device with Internet access

It's easy to see why I love Fitness Blender. Since I do all my workouts at home anyway, having to do them on my computer is not a problem for me. It actually might even be easier because of how we have our living room arranged currently.

So those are my thoughts. I highly recommend you go out and try them. I am sure you will find at least one or two workouts that you just can't help but love! And if you like them and want to share the love, go ahead and donate or spread the word about the site so they can keep giving us these awesome workouts! 

Find Fitness Blender:

      Facebook

   Twitter



 Website

     YouTube

Body Rock/Daily HIIT Review

This review is not for a specific workout, but a specific workout group called Body Rock. I discovered this website some time last year and it's a great resource. It's also a FREE resource. The website is full of videos, and instructional videos, as well as nutritional information. The thing that is probably one of my favorite aspects of this website is that the videos are all under 20 minutes long, usually just 12 minutes. As short as they are, they pack a serious punch! You start out at high intensity and don't stop until you're done. These workouts are not for beginners, although they do show you different modifications if your fitness level is not quite as high yet. It's also great because there are always new videos so you aren't doing the same thing all the time and you won't easily get bored.

The workouts are high intensity intervals. They are typically made up 50 seconds work and 10 seconds rest alternating until the workout is finished. Some of the routines require equipment such as: free weights, equalizer, stability ball, and quite frequently a sandbag. They do offer modifications for many of these if you don't have the equipment though. And they even include a Yoga workout occasionally for those looking to build flexibility.

The program also has grown to a new website, called the Daily HIIT. I haven't followed this website as much, but it seems to be a bit more organized and has been divided into different categories including:

** HIIT Core          ** HIIT Reps
** HIIT Light          ** HIIT Prep
** HIIT Body         ** HIIT Bonus
** HIIT Max          ** HIIT Wkend
** HIIT Lean

On the flip side, the workouts can be a bit hard to navigate. They don't come with a set schedule of which workouts to do and when to do them. So if you're someone who likes specific structure, this may be a bit difficult for you. Also, and this is just a personal opinion, but I feel like the host, although very chipper and motivating, is a bit full of herself and as much as the program promotes being beautiful no matter who you are or what you look like, she has changed just about everything she can using plastic surgery in the last year: boobs, nose, and at some point lips. So it's hard for me to see her as a good role model for loving our bodies when she alters hers so much. The behind the scenes stuff can also seem a bit immature at times.

Pros:

• It's FREE
• The workouts are short and easily fit into your day
• The workouts are intense and guaranteed to bring results
• The hosts are high energy and motivational
• The program offers a wide variety of workout styles

Cons:

• The hosts can be a bit full of themselves
• The workouts don't follow a particular schedule
• A lot of the workouts require equipment
• Does not include warm up/cool down

Overall though, I give this one a thumbs up! What you put into a workout is what you get out of it and you have to put a lot into these workouts, which means you also get a lot out of them. If you can get aside the occasional drama on the web page, then it's a great program! 

Insanity Review

After trying P90x for a bit, I decided to look into the Beachbody website for another workout program. I opted to give Insanity a go. I have to admit that I struggled with P90x, but Insanity was a step above even that; the two workout programs are designed very differently. While I enjoyed working out with Tony Horton and P90x, I really enjoyed the new style and energy that Shaun T brings with Insanity.

Insanity is categorized as a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). They call it Max Interval Training. The main idea behind this program is to push the body as hard as you can for 2 minutes and then take a short, 30 second, break before jumping back in. You repeat this cycle over and over until you've reached the end of the workout. The DVD involves great warm up and cool down instructions as well, although, the warm up workout is very much a workout in itself. It is ten minutes long and is nonstop!

The videos typically consist of several circuits. The circuits involve four different moves, each 30 seconds long, totaling 2 minutes. Then you get a 30 second break. Afterwards, you move on to a new circuit, with four new moves. Occasionally, there is a bonus move or two in between circuits.

There are a few videos that break this routine and instead consist of the warm up, followed by about 16 minutes of pure cardio moves, each 1 minute long, and then the cool down. These DVDs are a bit shorter at about 40 minutes long, but really pack a punch.

This DVD program comes with 10 DVDs:

1: Dig Deeper
& Fit Test
2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit
3: Cardio Power & Resistance
4: Cardio Recovery
5: Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs 
6: Core Cardio & Balance
7: Max Interval Circuit & Fit Test
8: Max Interval Plyo 
9: Max Cardio Conditioning & Cardio Abs
10: Max Recovery

Along with the 10 DVDs, you get:

• Elite Nutrition Plan

• Fitness Guide

• INSANITY Workout Calendar

• FREE Online Support Tools

 

Pros to Insanity:

Shaun T is a fun, high energy trainer
DVDs get to the point, no wasted time at all
Workout program lasts 60 days instead of 90
Workouts are shorter than P90x
Guaranteed to bring results

Cons to Insanity:

May be too extreme for many fitness levels
Some workouts are still a bit long
A little expensive at $120 but you can find it cheaper on other websites
Not recommended for people who have bad knees, as it involves a lot of jump training

This workout is definitely a great workout if you are already at a high level of fitness or athletic ability, but I wouldn't suggest it for a beginner. It's a very high intensity workout, so it may become easy to get burnt out. I always recommend trying everything once (within reason) though, so I would give it a shot. I typically use it now mixed in with a variety of other workout DVDs when I want a high calorie burn workout. So give it a shot!

Zumba Review

"Zumba Fitness^® is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive. Since its inception in 2001, the Zumba program has grown to become the world's largest – and most successful – dance-fitness program with more than 14 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly Zumba classes in over 140,000 locations across more than 150 countries." (Zumba.com/about)


Zumba was created by Alberto "Beto" Perez through what he considers a "happy accident". On his way to teach a fitness class, he forgot to bring his music and ended up using the music tapes that he had in his backpack (salsa and merengue). His students responded to it very positively and he turned it into what is now one of the most popular forms of dance fitness worldwide.

There are two ways to do Zumba. You can either take a class, Zumba Class (click to watch the video), held either in a gym or in their own locations, or you can buy the DVD and do it in your own home. I haven't tried any of the Zumba classes, although I have heard many positive reviews of them, but I received the Zumba DVDs a couple of years ago.

I quickly learned that I have 2 left feet, but even so, this workout is FUN! Fun AND challenging. You can choose between an introductory DVD which shows you how to do the dance moves one step at a time, then there are several different options between a long type of workout or a short type workout. They even have a DVD to dance along to a Zumba concert. Yes, they even hold concerts, where people gather to work out together, with Beto and his dancers on the stage. Pretty exciting huh?

The DVDs, no matter which length you choose, are so much fun that they go by very quickly. It is a great DVD if you love to dance, or even if you just enjoy it slightly. They go through a wide variety of different types of Latin dances, and even a few outside of that genre. They are constantly switching it up, so that you don't do a single version for too long and get bored. It moves along quickly, but if you do the introductory DVD you should have minimal trouble keeping up.

Another interesting note to the Zumba DVDs is that you have the option to work out in English or Spanish.

If you aren't into dancing, then this workout is probably not for you. Also, if you're looking to tone specific areas, then you probably should move towards a HIIT workout or a strength training workout. Zumba will slim you down, and is a great cardio workout, but it won't add much as far as tone to your upper body... or not as much as targeting those areas specifically.

Pros:

• Fun
• Workout goes by quickly
• Cardio workout to improve stamina
• Lots of variety in the workouts
• English or Spanish option
• Can do the workout in a class or on a DVD
• Price of the DVDs falls between the expensive Beach Body products and the more affordable Jillian Michael's or Body Rock workouts

Cons:

• Not going to get you as toned, specifically upper body
• Not great for the uncoordinated person
• Need a bit more space to do the workout than other DVDs

Overall, I say Zumba is a great addition to your other workout DVDs as a fun cardio workout when you want a good burn and/or you don't have a lot of time to get your heart rate up!
Buy Zumba.

P90x Review

When I first started losing weight, I focused on what I was eating first. I didn't actually start any kind of working out until after I had lost about 50 pounds. After that I started walking, then tried jogging briefly, and then I was introduced to P90x.

P90x is a 90 day fitness program sold by Beach Body, a large company that sells both nutritional products and workout programs. They've made quite a name for themselves and many, many people have lost weight using their products. I would say that P90x is not a program that I would recommend for a very beginner. I think I could have done well to start with something a bit less extreme, but I wasn't really all that aware of what was out there, so I jumped right in.

When you buy P90x, you pay $140 and you get 12 DVDs, a nutritional guide, a workout calendar, and access to an online community for support and guidance. The  DVDs include:

*Chest & Back                                          * X Stretch
* Plyometrics                                              * Core Synergistics
* Shoulders & Arms                                   * Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
* Yoga X                                                   * Back & Biceps
* Legs & Back                                           * Cardio X
* Kenpo X                                                 * Ab Ripper X

You can CLICK HERE for a sample view of each of the discs.

The program follows a concept of muscle confusion, meaning you won't be working the same muscle areas two days in a row. You work one area enough and then let it rest and move on to another area. In this theory, the body never gets accustomed to what is thrown at it, and therefore you won't plateau. It also gives your sore muscles a chance to recover before hitting them hard again. The program lasts a total of 13 weeks. I can definitely guarantee that you will get results if you follow this program. Of course, you need to follow the nutritional side of things too, but the workouts are enough to get major results.

With the discs, you have to watch to make sure that you perform the moves with good form though, or you may end up hurting yourself. The Plyometric DVD can also be hard on your knees if you have bad knees, as it involves jump training. I've never typically had bad knees, but did notice a bit of tenderness when doing the jumping and twisting motions, so you will want to watch that. I think that if I were to try it now, I would have better success though, since I'm at a lighter weight than when I first tried P90x. The jump training does not require any equipment, but many of the DVDs do. In most cases you can get away with most of them with a good set of workout bands. However, if you don't want to do the band version, the program calls for free weights and a pull-up bar.

A great thing about the program is that there is a lot of variety. You will be doing 12 discs over the course of 13 weeks, so it's much favorable to doing the same workout every day, back to back. I can also say that it is fun. I know you don't typically think of working out as fun, and it may not be quite the same as a dance workout or sports, but Tony Horton, the instructor in the DVDs keeps things lively and if you're not grunting from the workout, you'll be giggling. He's a hoot! He can get a bit chatty though, which leads me to another negative for the program. The workouts are typically an hour long, which can be a bit more than most people can fit into their daily schedules. I have found though, that once you get a handle on the workouts, you can fast forward a bit through the instructional part of the DVDs and chop off quite a bit of time. You should never rush a workout, and always should strive for good form, but there's nothing wrong with skipping the "how-to" part of a DVD when you've done it five times.

To sum it up:

Postives

• Full of variety
• Guaranteed to get you results
• You get a lot in the package
• The online community is a great resource
• Tony is an entertaining instructor
• Comes with a 90 Day - Money Back Guarantee

 Negatives

•  A bit expensive
• Workouts run a little long (one hour)
• You will need equipment (free weights or bands, pull up bar or bands)
• Tony can get a bit chatty
• It will make you hurt (but that's a good thing, so should probably be in my positives list!)

Beach Body offers a wide variety of workout programs for people of all fitness levels. In addition to P90x, there is also  P90X2 (more difficult), P90X Plus (more difficult), Power 90 (less difficult). If you're looking for something with dance, they've got Hip Hop Abs. If you want High Intensity Interval Training, they've got Insanity. If you want something to boost your booty, they've got Brazil Butt Lift. I can almost guarantee they have a product for you if you look. I think the programs are a bit expensive, but I've seen the results. They are going to get you where you want to go, if you follow the program. So I give them, and specifically P90x, a thumbs up!

I hope you enjoyed my first product review. I hope to share more as I get into writing more in the blog. Have a great week!