Resolutions

Christmas is now over, in a few days the new year will be here. Have you made any resolutions? Most resolutions we make are unrealistic and we know we will never be able to keep them. This year, instead of making a resolution that includes dropping 50 pounds, running a marathon, and never eating sugar again, try making a resolution that is small yet attainable. Try cutting out soda this year, or tell yourself you will work out for at least 30 minutes 3-5 times a week. Tell yourself you will only have dessert on the weekends, or that you will run your first 5k or maybe the Monument Ave. 10k. If you make a few small goals for yourself, you are more likely to keep them which will encourage you and in turn cause you to continue to make good choices and maybe one day set that goal to run a marathon. Maybe this will be the year that you can make a resolution and not break it and that in itself is something to be proud of, no matter how small it is.

Well Christmas is almost here, and I'm sure everyone has been to at least a few holiday parties. If you are part of the 5 Lb. Challenge, how is sticking to a healthy eating plan at this time working? Most people think that dieting during the holidays is pure torture. I usually tend to agree but this holiday has been a little easier. A holiday party or gathering does not mean open season at the buffet, but if you walk into a place telling yourself you can't eat anything sweet or yummy, you'll most definitely fail. Try to fill up on fruits and veggies first. Most parties have a fruit or vegetable tray, but try and avoid the dip provided. It's usually extra rich and creamy and loaded with those calories you're trying to avoid. Allow yourself to splurge, but try to keep it to two things. You aren't going to feel so guilty in the morning if you had a cookie and a piece of fudge, but if you wiped out the whole dessert buffet then you're probably going to feel it. Remember, your jeans don't know it's holiday time so the next time you catch yourself saying something like "but it's the holidays!", think about the way you'll look in those jeans come January 1st. Good luck everyone and have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

Master Cleanse Challenge Overview

Michelle's Feedback- The Master Cleanse Challenge was a little long. If I did it again I would do one ease in day, a 3 day cleanse, and one ease out day. I was able to reach my weight loss goal and the cleanse helped me increase my vegetable intake, control my portions and drink more water throughout the day. It was definitely harder to get through my runs while on the cleanse but I liked that I wasn't feeling stuffed after meals.

Brandyn's Feedback- The Master Cleanse Challenge did seem extremely long. If I did it again I would do something similar to what Michelle listed above. I would say I lost a total of 8 lbs doing the cleanse. My weight fluctuates a lot but its holding steady at 186......not bad for a 13 day process. I think the cleanse did help to clean my system out which was the point and it did encourage me to move into a more strict nutrition plan and eat small meals at regular intervals throughout the day. It also helped me to drink more water during the day which I have always been bad about. My energy level was actually pretty good throughout the whole process except for with my workouts and that was the one thing that I did not like about the cleanse. I just didn't have the energy for my workouts (cardio or strength). I normally do very intense strength workouts and while on the cleanse I was completely dragging through them. Now that I'm back to "real" food, I am eating fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein. And surprise, surprise, my energy level is back up. My weight loss goals have not changed. I would still like to get down to somewhere between 170-175 lbs and now I am 8 lbs closer to that goal. I hope my metabolism and energy levels will be throughthe roof and I can lose the rest of the weight the old fashion (and healthy) way........ with healthy eating and hard work in the gym! Stay posted for updates on my weight loss journey.

We are now extending FREE enrollment through Monday, January 3rd!

Day 13- Final Day of the Master Cleanse Challenge

Brandyn's Feedback

So yesterday was the last day of the challenge. I got up and went to the gym. I had a great workout but I think I pushed it a little too hard. I ran for about 20 mins, did an upper body strength workout and then did the stairs for another 12 minutes and I think that is what did me in. I didn't feel that great after my workout. I went to the grocery store and felt somewhat better so I had some of my son's fruit smoothie. Immediately after that I started feeling kind of nauseous and the feeling really didn't subside the rest of the day. I didn't eat anything else and ended up going to bed pretty early. I slept well and woke up feeling better. Early in the day on Saturday my home scale said 182. The scale at home runs a little lower than the one at work....but based on the numbers, my estimated weight after the 13 day cleanse was right at 185. That is a 9 lb weight loss. Starting on Sunday I will move into a nutrition plan of fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein when needed for the remainder of the 30 days. On Monday I will write a more detailed blog of my opinion on the Master Cleanse Challenge and will periodically report in about how the rest of the 30 days is going.

Master Cleanse Challenge- Day 12

Day 12- Brandyn's Feedback

So I didn't drink orange juice yesterday or lemonade or much of anything for that matter. I didn't feel very hungry and I was pretty busy so I really didn't think much about it. Yesterday when I got home I did have some celery with ranch dressing and a couple nibbles of the food that I fixed for the kids. My weight was at 184 this morning. I planned to do juices and raw fruits today but of course life has a tendency to get in the way. Daycare was closed this morning and I had to bring my youngest to work with me. He was starving so I ended up getting "real" food. We had eggs and a couple slices of bacon. It filled me up fast.....probably won't feel like eating much more today. I am also having to leave work early since I have him with me and most likely will not get my workout in......owell. Tomorrow is the last day of the diet.....def looking forward to it.

Master Cleanse- Day 11

Day 11- Brandyn's Feedback

Weighing in at 186 today. I feel pretty good about that being that yesterday was a crazy day and I really didn't have time to work out. Today should be better and am planning a weight routine (and maybe a little cardio if I can fit it in). Today is supposed to be orange juice day but I still don't have any oranges. Both kids are sick so I spent yesterday evening running around and picking up prescriptions for them. So not sure what I'll do today. At work I have: lemons (to make lemonade), 1 grapefruit, carrots and snowpeas so I might just have to make that work. I'm ready to start eating regularly again. I'm ready to have a little more energy so I can up the intensity of my workouts and really see what I can do with this weight loss thing. Check back later for how the rest of the day went.

Day 10

Brandyn's Feedback:

Is it Day 10 already? Who's counting anymore....lol. Ok so yesterday was an interesting day and I must say I cheated my butt off. As I already stated, I ate 2 hard boiled eggs early in the day. I had a decent weight workout. Last night I didn't keep the kids so I had a "date night". I drank wine (can't tell you how much) and I fixed the most scrumptious dinner in life. Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Salmon with olive oil and basil spinach noodles and mixed broccoli, mushrooms and snow peas. Not trying to toot my own horn but....Toot, Toot! I don't know if the food was just that good or if it was good because I haven't had a real meal in over a week but it was quite tasty. Whew! glad I got that off my chest and don't have to feel guilty anymore.....

So here is the interesting part. Several hours after I ate the eggs yesterday I was down 2 pounds. And this morning, after eating real food last night, my weight is down to 185 lbs. That does say something about metabolism and how not eating can cause your body to hoard calories (and fat). But I really do feel like I'm back at my old weight. My stomach looks flatter and my clothes are fitting better. I am really anxious to see what happens when I move into a healthy diet and am eating at regular intervals throughout the day. My metabolism should be nice and speedy and I'll have more energy to put into my workouts.

Back to the lemonade today. I will try very hard to have a perfect day with no cheating since it is the last day of just lemonade. Wish me luck!!! Tomorrow is orange juice and I need some oranges.....

Free enrollment

Free enrollment from now until New Years! That's a savings of $99! Get a jumpstart on your New Years fitness resolutions and sign up today!

Master Cleanse- Day 9

Brandyn's Feedback- My workout went well yesterday....just running. I did a mix of endurance, hills and sprints for 3 miles. I was pretty tired when it was over. I had good energy throughout the day but still hungry and tired by nighttime. Last night I fixed the kids black beans and corn over rice and I had a couple of bites of just black beans and corn which is the only "solid" thing I ate all day.....other than that, just my new favorite drink...lemonade! I slept well. I have a very hard time sleeping on an empty stomach. This morning I was rushing around and didn't get a chance to drink the salt water flush....maybe later today. I also brought all my ingredients for the lemonade with me today instead of pre-mixing, which I also did not have time for this morning. My weight is holding steady at 189. I have had one cup of lemonade and I ate a couple hard boiled eggs about 9:30am. I have been craving hard boiled eggs since this whole process started. I wasn't really hungry but I am hoping that the protein will allow me to push myself during my strength routine today, which has been very challenging to do with being on this diet. I hope by the end of this thing I am down a few more pounds....still a little discouraged by that but every little bit helps.

Master Cleanse- Day 8

Brandyn's Feedback- Ok my weight definitely went back up yesterday as soon as I started drinking my lemonade and water....it gradually crept back up around 188....hmmmm, that's kind of discouraging but hey that's what is meant by "water weight". I'll have to wait and see how this whole thing ends. Weighing myself everyday is becoming a little discouraging so maybe I'll wait until tomorrow or Wednesday and weigh again. I didn't sleep the best last night but that was more because of the kids and not the diet. Feeling pretty good today and looking forward to a good workout. I've been extremely thirsty yesterday and today so trying to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Day 7- Brandyn's Feedback

Day 6 went well. I had a great workout (cardio and weights) and had lots of energy throughout the day. I did have some snow peas, mushrooms and carrots around dinner time but the were minimal and a couple glasses of wine....mainly out of boredom on a saturday night.

Day 7- I felt a little dehydrated this morning when I woke up even though I drank extra water to counter the wine. My weight was way down this morning at 182....it must have been a fluke so I'll wait until later and weigh again and then re-post.

Other than that, feeling good.....not really hungry at all throughout the day now.....around dinner time I start to feel it a little bit. Had my salt water and first lemonade drink this morning and just trying to drink plenty of water. I won't work out today....resting and taking the kids to see Santa!

Day 6- Brandyn's Feedback

continued from Day 5- Yesterday morning I was actually up about 2 lbs....bummer. I was pretty tired by the end of the day. I didn't take enough lemonade to work and minus the cayenne pepper to curve my appetite I was really hungry. After my workout which was a pretty intense run mixed with sprint/walks and some ab work I was extremyly hungry. I ended up eating a grapefruit. The rest of the evening went well. I also did the salt water flush again which worked this time. Being that it was Friday I was tempted to have a glass of wine but I decided against it and went to bed pretty early, right after I got the kids in bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and ate about 7 grapes and went back to bed....slept really well.

And now its Day 6. I just fixed my first lemonade drink of the day. I will hold off on the salt water drink until later this afternoon since I just did it last night. I am getting ready to go to the gym in about 30 mins....I'll probably do a more intense leg workout today. My weight is back down but still hovering around 189....hoping for some better weight results by tomorrow morning. Check back later for feedback from the rest of Day 6.

Day 5- Brandyn's Feedback

Last night went well. I didn't wake up in the middle of the night starving to death so that was good. Drank my salt water this morning.....ughhhh....it was harder today and I'm not even sure it worked so I might have to try again later. I used less salt today so that was probably the reason. I brought my lemonade to work minus the cayenne pepper. I had so much cayenne pepper yesterday that I made myself sick of it. Maybe I'll save that to put in my lemonade tonight (as a special treat...ha ha ha). I also brought two grapefruits today....just in case I start becoming delirious and maniacal (look it up people.....these are symptoms of starvation). I don't think turning into a Maniac at work will fare well with the employees and members....lol. I feel really good today though. Again its early but I feel like I have a lot of energy and a good attitude. I think I'm glad its the weekend but not sure. There is something "safe" about being at work during this cleansing process....not as many temptations. Today's workout is cardio. I'll report back later with updates about the day and how the workout goes. Until then.....lemonade cheers!

Day 4 Already

Michelle day 4

The lemonade is good. This is probably the biggest surprise so far.

I woke up with a little bit of a headache this morning but I am not hungry. I haven't mustered up enough courage for the salt water cleanse yet but the lemonade is going down just fine. My work out was interrupted by a screaming baby but I think that was a blessing, my run was very slow this morning. I felt pretty good just weaker than usual. As far as my weight goes, I have settled on 130.0. It will be nice to see a 12...something tomorrow. I haven't seen 12...anything since circa 2006 pre-children. I know you are thinking it is only 1lb but that is a big 1lb for me. 2 Christmas parties tonight and tomorrow. I'll let you know how I do.

Day 4 Starts

Well I almost hate to post this but I have to tell on myself. I cheated on the good ol' diet last night. Around 2:00 in the morning I woke up feeling restless, and hungry, and hot and a little anxious. Kinda weird. I could not go back to sleep so I got up and had two thin slices of turkey breast and a couple bites of an apple. After that I felt much better and slept well the rest of the night. This morning I woke up and started with the salt water drink and the lemonade of course. The salt water was not really fun. The lemonade tastes really good....even with the cayenne pepper which is surprising. It took about 2 hours but the salt water did its thing. So far this morning I feel great! I really do. But it's only 8:30am. I'm going to try to stay away from the coffee today. I don't get headaches or anything when I don't drink it but I've needed a little pick-me-up the last couple days. I'm anxious to see how my weight routine goes today. My weight was about the same this morning....still down 5lbs.

Day 3 is almost over

Brandyn's Feedback:

I've been kind of hungry off and on today. I drank the orange juice all day and and did have a cup of black coffee that I put some Maple Syrup in for extra calories.....though I accidentally got the "sugar free" kind so it probably didn't help much.

My workout was pretty tough today. I felt very low on energy. I ran 20 mins, walked sprinted about 5 minutes and walked 5 minutes. No weights today, though I probably could have pulled it off since I felt like my cardio was so slack.

I am down 5 pounds since the weigh-in on Monday morning so that is the one thing keeping me motivated to do this.

Start the lemonade tomorrow......

Brandyn's Feedback from Day 2

All I can say is thank goodness today is orange juice day!!! Yesterday's vegee concoctions were horrific. I guess I have myself to blame for that but who knew a carrot/tomato juice could taste so bad and so weird? I literally had to hold my nose and choke it down. For those of you that might try this at home......experiment with your juice concoctions ahead of time and if all else fails just make a fruit juice. Other than that, the day went well. I had great energy throughout the day and got a good workout in. I went to a holiday party at Feather Nesters for the Richmond Business Alliance and was pretty proud of myself. I stayed away from all the scrumptious food and only had a small glass of sangria and a taste of apple cider (fruit juice right???). I was pretty hungry last night and woke up starving this morning. I kind of wanted a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit with my orange juice......but no such luck. We'll see how today goes. Michelle is skipping to the lemonade cleanse today.....I will finish out the orange juice today and start the cleanse tomorrow.

Day 2

Alright 2 days down...All I can say is thank goodness for the flu bug. Brandyn insists that it must have been better than the liquid veggies. So, I think I will skip the third phase in day and jump right into the cleanse.

Master Cleanse Challenge- Day 1 Feedback

Day 1 Feedback:

Michelle's Feedback


Ha...well I'd say...Day 1 went pretty well. Watermelon for breakfast and a salad for lunch...I'm pretty nervous about dinner. I did have a diet coke but I'm hoping to phase that out by Day 2. I do feel good having not stuffed myself with a sandwich for lunch...run is tonight and boot camp in the morning.



Brandyn's Feedback



Day 1 went well. I didn't really have a breakfast/lunch/dinner.....I just kind of ate all day long which is a huge change for me. I had a mix of apples, grapes, bananas, cranberries, snow peas, mushrooms and avacados (all raw of course). I drank a lot of water and was running to the bathroom every 5 seconds. For my workout I ran 3 miles.....felt pretty good. The evening was tough especially when the kids were eating their dinners and I was still eating snow peas. I slept well considering. We'll see what Day 2 brings.....all juice.

Master Cleanse Weigh-in and Goals

Michelle
Start Weight: 132.6 lbs
Goals:
1) Lose 2.6 lbs to get down to ideal weight of 130 lbs
2) Refocus overall nutrition plan and consume more vegetables

Brandyn
Start Weight: 194 lbs
Goals:
1) Short term- Get back down to 185 lbs (what I've weighed for the past year)
2) Long term- Get down to an ideal weight between 170-175 lbs
3) Increase energy level
4) Refocus workout regimen

Master Cleanse Challenge starts today!

Brandyn and Michelle will begin the master cleanse challenge today, starting with Day 1 of "Ease In". Today's diet will solely consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, and water. Along with the fruit and vegetable diet, they will run approximately 3-5 miles. Check back later today to see their weigh in results and goals!

Ease In (3 days)
Day 1: only consume fresh vegetables and fruit (60/40 balance)
Day 2: Break down all food into juice, soup, or broths
Day 3: Juice enough oranges to make 2 liters of orange juice (mixed with water to taste). Add maple syrup to increase caloric intake.

Less than 2 days until we start the master cleanse challenge!!!

The Master Cleanse Challenge starts on Monday, December 6th (this coming Monday!!!). This will be a 30 day nutrition plan complete with a "cleansing" portion that leads into a more healthy (overall) nutrition plan. Michelle and Brandyn will be tracking their progress via the RB Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please, please, please feel free to join us!!! The closer the start date gets, the more anxious we are because it will be a challenging experience.We hope it will be well worth the effort and hope to see AND report great results in our overall health, energy and body composition!!! Check back for details about our starting assessement and health/fitness goals tomorrow.

Count down to the Master Cleanse Challenge- 3 days

For those of you just checking the Blog, me (Brandyn) and Michelle will be doing a 30day Master Cleanse Challenge and reporting our progress on the RB Blog, Facebook page and Twitter. We are inviting everyone to join us in the Challenge and encourage you to share your experience too!

See below for details and check back for updates on our progress!!! We will be posting our starting weights and goals over the weekend....


The Master Cleanse Diet

Ease In Diet- (3 days)
Day 1: only consume fresh vegetables and fruit (60/40 balance)
Day 2: Break down all food into juice, soup, or broths
Day 3: Juice enough oranges to make 2 liters of orange juice (mixed with water to taste). Add maple syrup to increase caloric intake.

Lemonade Diet (7 days)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons rich maple syrup
1/10 teaspoons cayenne powder
8 ounces of pure water
- drink at least 6-12 glasses a day
- refrain from pre-mixing the juice in large batches. It kills the enzymes
from the lemon juice.
- drink pure water throughout the day

Salt Water Flush (optional)
2 teaspoons of non-iodized sea salt
1 liter of pure water
- drink on an empty stomach in the morning

Herbal Laxative
3-5 tablets taken at night

Ease Out Diet (3 days)
Day 1: Orange Juice mixture from Day 3 of Ease In
Day 2: Break down all food into juice, soup, or broths
Day 3: only consume fresh vegetables and fruit (60/40 balance)

General Workout
Day 1: Cardio (3-5 mile run)
Day 2: Weights plus (15-20 min interval sprints)
Day 3: Interval sprints (3 miles/run 60 sec/walk 60 sec)
Day 4: Weights plus (15-20 min interval hill climbs)
Day 5: Cardio (3-5 mile run)
Day 6: Weights plus (15-20 min interval stair climb)
Day 7: 30-45 minute cross training
- cycle back to day 1 once day 7 has been completed