PiYo Review

I love running.  I love weightlifting.  And last July, I learned that I really loved PiYo.  If you have ever talked to me about working out, you've probably heard me call PiYo my "soul workout".  PiYo saved my life and my body.  Last June when I had knee surgery, I was at the end of my rope.  I hadn't run for five months... or really done any kind of strenuous exercise.  My husband wasn't working and I was stressed and depressed.  My cousin-in-law had been gently baiting me with both the anticipation of PiYo's release and the possibility of coaching for months.  Even still, when I signed up to be a coach with PiYo on the day it was released, one day after my knee surgery, I not only felt like I was jumping the gun, I was not super hopeful that it would do anything major for me.  Best case scenario, it would be exercise that I could easily and safely do while I was rehabbing my knee.

Not to sound pompous, but I am hardly ever wrong... and I was very wrong about this.

Here is my review of PiYo including answers to the most frequently asked questions, along with explanations of each of the workouts.  If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comments or send me an email or private message!

What is PiYo?
PiYo is a low-impact, high-intensity workout that combines the flexibility and power of yoga with the  core-focused strength-building of Pilates.  However, I tend to think this definition does not do it justice, and in fact, can be misleading.  For cardio and strength-training junkies like me, they hear the word "yoga" and go running for the hills.  "Yoga is boring" is what I often hear from them (and frankly, from myself).  For yogis and people who find their meditation and peace from practicing yoga, they go into PiYo expecting the same.  The thing I think I want to stress the most about PiYo is that PiYo is HIGH-INTENSITY.  You will move.  You will sweat.  Your muscles will scream.  It is not boring and it is not meditative.  It is for people with an open mind for an unexpected way to exercise and transform their bodies.

Why is PiYo effective?
Every movement in PiYo engages the core muscles.  A weak and inflexible core minimizes your ability to properly and effectively use the rest of your body during the workouts and in your everyday life.  Every movement in PiYo also engages multiple muscle groups at the same time while in constant motion.  This not only mimics the functional movements of the real world, but keeps your heart rate up to ensure that you are burning calories the whole time!

We've all heard of the benefits of stretching.  The dynamic stretching in PiYo is effective in many of the same ways as static stretching.  Stretching and flexibility can improve the range of motion of your joints, allowing your muscles to work most effectively.  Because stretching lengthens your muscles and supplies blood flow, it increases your ability to build muscle and recover from muscle fatigue.

Who is PiYo for?
This is actually great because unlike many Beachbody programs, PiYo is literally for everyone!

• For men and women who want to lose weight-- The high-intensity moves that require the use of multiple muscle groups at one time keep your heart-rate at the optimal level for calorie burning!
• For people who want to build lean muscle-- PiYo uses your own body weight as the primary source of resistance... no weights required!
• For fitness beginners-- There is no complicated choreography to learn.  There is a modifier in every workout for every move.  Chalene is VERY vocal when it comes to explaining all the movements and when they happen.  Even in moves where you are not looking at the TV, you understand what she is asking you to do and how to do it.
• Extreme fitness enthusiasts-- PiYo is constant, often athletic movements that require muscle endurance, flexibility and core strength that even the most fit men and women may lack.
• People who want the results of an extreme program, without jumping, weights, or straining their joints--  PiYo has no jumping and no weightlifting.  Even two weeks after my surgery, I was able to complete the program following the modifier.  After four weeks of PiYo (six weeks post surgery), I saw NOTICEABLE changes in my body, despite modifying.
• People who don't have a lot of room and don't want a workout that requires a lot of equipment-- All that is recommended for PiYo is a yoga mat!

What do I get with PiYo?
Your PiYo program will come with a Quick Start Guide that will explain how to maximize your results, two 60-day PiYo workout calendars for either PiYo or PiYo Strength (PiYo Strength DVDs sold separately), the Get Lean Eating Plan with clean eating meal suggestions specifically tailored to the PiYo program, and a tape measure to take your body measurements in order to track your progress and get your free t-shirt upon completion of the program!  And of course, your program also comes with the following workouts:

Align:
Get the basics on the moves you will see in all the workouts.  Chalene will explain the movements and positions to you, show you the proper form, and give you the opportunity to become comfortable with everything in a relaxed setting.

Define Upper Body (20 min):
This basic workout includes all the moves that you will see throughout the program that really focus on your arms, upper back and core.

Define Lower Body (20 min):
This basic workout is another stepping stone to the more challenging workouts in the program.  It includes all the moves that you will see throughout the program that really focus on your glutes, hamstrings, and core.

Sweat (38 min):
This is a transitional PiYo workout that takes you through moves that work every part of your body.

Buns (28 min):
This workout really targets your glutes and hamstrings to tighten and strengthen the lower part of your body.  It's leg day!

Core (30 min):
Core incorporates both standing and floor moves that target your lower, middle and upper abs AND obliques with very little actual crunches!

Strength Intervals (22 min):
This workout is non-stop for the entire 22 minutes.  It alternates between intense body weight resistance moves and heart-rate elevating athletic cardio to give you a well-rounded workout!

Sculpt (27 min):
Sculpt is all about muscle endurance.  It uses body weight moves you've seen before, but constantly varies the tempo to challenge your strength and your balance.

Drench (47 min):
By far the most comprehensive and challenging PiYo workout in the program.  Drench consists of two parts.  The first part is the body weight, high-intensity moves featured throughout most of the workouts.  Flow, the second section, focuses on stretching and balance.

BONUS Hard Core on the Floor (30 min):
If and only if you order through your coach (me), you'll receive this amazing core workout that--you guessed it-- includes only floor work.  However, say goodbye to boring crunches, because you won't see any of those here!

Don't even get me started on the PiYo Strength DVDs!  Those are for another, shorter blog post day!  If you want to get hyped up about PiYo, you can watch the PiYo Launch Promo!

Now that you know absolutely everything there is to know about my favorite program PiYo, what are you waiting for?  I have Challenge Groups starting the first Monday of every month and along with Shakeology and a diet of clean eating, I can guarentee success!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Burger with Blue Cheese Dressing

I'm not going to lie to you... the first time I read a recipe that required ground chicken, I was a little grossed out.  And then I touched it, and felt worse about it.  It's squishier than ground turkey or beef, and all I kept picturing was raw chicken going through a meat grinder.

BLECH.

Then I cooked it and OHMYLICOUS it was great.  Juicy and tender.  I started searching for anything that I could make with ground chicken.  Most of what I was finding was chicken burgers.  I love burgers and I had a new-found love of ground chicken, so this seemed like the obvious answer.  One of my husband's and my favorites are Buffalo Chicken Burgers with Blue Cheese Dressing that I found from Spiced Blog.  Rachel and I changed the recipe only just slightly!  We used whole grain sandwich thins as our buns for dinner, and for leftovers the next day, I just used lettuce!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Prep time:  15 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Total time:  35-40 mintes
Yield:  6 burgers

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced (I keep mine diced and frozen in a bag in the freezer, so I used about a 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients and gently mix until well incorporated.  Be careful not to overwork the meat, as that make the burgers tough after cooking.  Prep a baking sheet with a sheet of tin foil sprayed with cooking spray (we used coconut oil spray).  Divide the meat into 6 equal parts and carefully mold each part into a patty.  Space the patties equally on the prepared baking sheet.  I like to press my thumb just slightly into the center of the burger.  It helps the burger keep it's shape while cooking!  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

**If you would like to grill these babies, they only take about 5 minutes on each side!  DON'T press down on them with your spatula though!**


Blue Cheese Dressing

Prep time:  5 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I wanted SO BAD to try substituting an avocado in here... but mine wasn't ripe yet!)
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

Mix together in a small bowl and enjoy on top of your burger or as a dip!

Why am I not losing weight? Don't blame the fat fairy.

I want to take a moment to be real with you, and also encourage you (it is Motivational Monday, after all)

The other coaches on my team and I often talk about how to encourage our Challengers and people in general who feel discouraged during the first few weeks of their programs. When the numbers on the scale don't drop rapidly, they figure their new healthy lifestyles weren't working. We're all so busy, so if something is not working, why make the time for it?

There are a few things I want you to consider if you feel like this is you. 

1.  First and foremost, think about this: it probably took a while, maybe even years, for you to get to this point, the point where you feel like you need to lose a few pounds. This happened because life happened. This is normal! However, the exercise and nutrition changes you started making a few weeks ago need to become lifestyle changes. I promise it’s not going to take the same amount of time to lose the weight as it did to gain the weight, but to do it in a healthy, permanent way, it’s going to take some time.

2.  Second, you are putting your body through a new rigorous routine and believe it or not, there's going to be some swelling and water retention until your body regulates.  Why does this happen?  When your body starts a brand new exercise program, you use your muscles in new ways.  Microscopic tears in your muscles during these exercises cause the muscle soreness you experience.  In order to "protect and defect" your body from future muscle tears (essentially making your muscles stronger so you can continue to improve with that exercise), your muscles become swollen and inflamed and therefore retain water.  Once your muscles and your body become used to your new exercise routine, the muscle inflammation will decrease and so will your weight.

3.  Another big difference especially for those who have never worked out like this before OR were not eating what they should have (let’s face it, in college I might have been 10 pounds lighter but I was eating a soft pretzel and chocolate pudding every day for lunch), your body didn’t have the muscle that you are currently building. So when we are focused on the number on the scale, we might not realize that there is actually less flab around our bodies to pinch. THIS is the goal!

This is your EXTRA CHALLENGE for this week: no matter what program you are doing or what week you are on, if you are feeling discouraged, take your measurements and your pictures again, but do not get on the scale. Finally, take a good, hard look at what you are eating. Are you eating things you shouldn’t? Calorie counting is a great idea, but it’s not going to work if those calories include Cheetos and Gatorade and bagels. It was a tough slap in the face for me too, but the results have been undeniable.

Water Water Everywhere

I'm currently running a free Challenge Group in which our goal is to drink a gallon of water every day.  At first that sounds extreme, and maybe it is, depending on how much water you're used to drinking and how closely you follow the going advice for daily water intake, which is about half your weight in ounces (so, the daily water goal of a 100 lb person would be 50 oz).  If you're around 250 lbs, a gallon of water is really what you should be drinking anyway.

It all started when I found this article making it's rounds through the internet.  The woman drank a gallon of water every day, and found her body changing in amazing ways.  Her bowel functions improved, her skin cleared and improved in elasticity and pigmentation and she was even less bloated and more energized.  I'm always so skeptical of viral news, but I thought, hey, whether this is real or not, what's wrong with trying to drink more water?  The answer is NOTHING.  I KNOW I don't drink enough water.  Some days, the only water I drink is during my workout.  NO Bueno.

But that's what's so great about Challenge Groups!  They're a place where people with similar goals can come together and support each other!  So far, January is the second month I've run the group (the first was November, 2014).  I have challengers who hit their gallon every day (they're amazing), and challengers who don't (ME), but everyone checks in every day and tries their hardest, recognizing why they struggling and figuring out how they can do better the next day.  Every day I post a fun water fact and ask them some questions for reflection about what kinds of liquids they drink and what those liquids might be doing to help or harm their health.  Here are some of my favorite facts!  And if you'd like to be a part of our group in February, or any month, just let me know!  Even though we skipped December, the group will be ongoing for 2015!  Enjoy!

• A healthy person can drink about three gallons (48 cups) of water per day.  (We are only aiming for 16 cups a day!)
• Health experts are now saying that the recommended amount of water to drink daily is half of your weight in ounces—so someone weighing 200 lbs should drink 100 oz of water daily (we are obviously trying to exceed this for this month!)
• By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount.
• You can drink too much water, a condition known as water intoxication. Elite athletes are at the highest risk for this complication. Your kidneys cannot process more than 3 to 4 cups of water an hour.   Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in the brain.
• If your urine looks like the color of apple juice, you are probably dehydrated. If it looks more like the color of lemonade, you are probably well hydrated.
• You lose about 4 cups of water per hour of exercise, depending on how much you weigh and how much -- and how quickly -- you perspire. A moderate workout in a mild climate will likely result in a loss of 1 to 2 quarts of fluid per hour through perspiration. The more intense the exercise or the more extreme the temperatures, the greater the fluid loss.
• Drinking water helps with hunger pains. At times thirst feels the same as hunger; and a glass of water can occupy our mouths (and minds) when we’re tempted to snack. Drinking water can also keep you fuller between meals.
• Soft drinks, coffee, and tea, while made up almost entirely of water, also contain caffeine. Caffeine can act as a mild diuretic, preventing water from traveling to necessary locations in the body.
• There are numerous brands of flavored waters on the market packed with varying amounts of vitamins, herbs and minerals. However, they also typically contain high amounts of sugar, high fructose corn syrup or crystalline fructose (a variation of corn syrup).
• Just like caffeine, alcohol is a diuretic that causes you to lose more liquid than you consume. Many of the effects felt after a night of heavy drinking are related to dehydration.
• Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.
• Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.
• For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain. Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.
• Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.
• Coconut water is a natural source of potassium and electrolytes and contains no added sugars, sodium or other additives (just make sure you read the label!)
• Most food has some water in it.  The amount of water you normally consume in food is about 2 cups.  This can be higher with watery foods like melons, plums, and peaches, however with these also comes sugar, carbs and calories.
• Water helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite.
• Water is the primary mode of transportation for all nutrients in the body and is essential for proper circulation.
• Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.

Here are my sources!

http://www.cncahealth.com/explore/learn/nutrition-food/functional-drinks-exposed-which-are-best-for-your-health#.VFOedTTF-uI

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-drinks/myth-busters-do-you-have-your-facts-about-water-straight/slide/4

http://www.livestrong.com/article/533851-daily-water-intake-and-frequent-urination/

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/feel-your-best-with-water?page=2

http://www.allaboutwater.org/

Warrior Squat Moon

I've always considered myself to be a runner.  I hated it, but I loved it.  I loved preparing for a race; scheduling out my runs, increasing my mileage, watching my stamina and speed improve.  It was like studying for a big test.  And I was very good at studying and getting A's.

Then I started to feel like running wasn't doing what I wanted it to for my body anymore.  It was bringing down my spirit and my drive.  And that's when I discovered weight lifting.

Man do I love weightlifting.  I started with P90X in the spring of 2013.  The workouts were long, but I hurt every day for 90 days.  It was awesome.  I would go out for a run and my strides felt lighter and easier.  When I was training for my first half marathon in the fall of 2013 and even when I was counting down to my knee surgery in the spring of 2014, I was able to find a P90X workout that fit my needs.  In the Fall of 2014 I complete Chalean Extreme.  And on Monday, I reconnected with Tony Horton to begin P90X3.  I am beyond excited to see what this program has to offer!

Total Synergistics was the first workout I did and below, the Warrior Squat Moon, was the last move of that workout.  Having just finish my second round of PiYo, I know my balance and lower body strength is exceptional.  This move was still challenging!  Try going back and forth between Warrior and Moon for a total of 30 seconds on your right leg before switching to your left.  Also, don't strain your neck as much as I did in the video during Warrior.  Keep it in neutral spine with your ears between your shoulders.

Clean Tomato Enchilada Sauce and Quinoa Enchilada Bake

I am a huge fan of Mexican food.  Nothing too spicy, but maybe with a little bit of a kick.  In the past, I always just bought enchilada sauce.  Not a bad idea if, like with everything, you're label conscious.  However, in my effort to become a little more clean, I decided to attempt to make my own enchilada sauce.  This way, I could make a huge batch and freeze it!  Always up for anything, my partner in crime, fitness, and food, Rachel, suggested we make not only enchilada sauce, but Quinoa Enchilada Bake as well!  Two-Recipe Tasty Tuesday!

Clean Tomato Enchilada Sauce

Prep time:  5 min
Cook time:  15 min
Total time:  20 min
Yield:  4 cups

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 (28 oz can) organic crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Instructions:
Heat coconut oil in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour until well combined, about one minute.  Stir in remaining ingredients, including the salt and pepper to taste.  Bring mixture to a boil and then lower to a simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and using some kind of blending device (we used an immersion blender), blend mixture until smooth.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to six months.










Quinoa Enchilada Bake

While we were making the enchilada sauce, we were also prepping the quinoa for our casserole!  If you've never made quinoa before, it's a lot like rice.  I usually just follow the instructions on the package (Rachel, however, prefers a 1:1 ratio.  More on that in another post!).  The only difference is that we toasted ours before we added the water to cook it.  Once the quinoa and enchilada sauce were cooked, we followed the following recipe:

Prep time:  10 min
Cook time:  15 min
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa (that's 1 cup dry quinoa... after it's cooked it becomes 2 cups!)
10 oz clean tomato enchilada sauce
3 chopped green chiles
1 jalapano, diced (seeds included or removed based on how spicy you want it)
1/2 cup of organic frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup organic canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (OPTIONAL)
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 avocado, seeded, peeled, and diced
1 tomato, diced

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly oil an 8x8 baking dish.  We like olive or coconut oil.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, enchilada sauce, chiles, corn, beans, and spices.  Stir in 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese and a 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese.

Once well combined, spread the mixture evenly into the baking dish.  Top with the remaining cheeses.  Bake until cheese has melted and bubbled a bit, about 15 minutes.

Top with avocado and tomato.  Serve immediately.


**We did not try this, but this recipe would be delicious if we had added a cup of Mexican shredded chicken!  If you do that, increase the amount of enchilada sauce to 16 oz (2 cups).**