I never thought yoga would do this for me...

            Happy Friday everybody, I wanted to share that no matter what my step meter says with zero intensity minutes measured all week ;) that I have been working out every day. This has been my first week of the 3-Week Yoga Retreat that I've been doing online from Beachbody on Demand and it's been amazing.

            Most people know that yoga can help you relax and increase flexibility- within the first four days this week I was already getting deeper into stretches and felt so much more flexible. The direction given by the trainers is so precise that I have made little adjustments to poses that I have been doing wrong for years. I've been getting deeper stretches; I've been feeling less pressure in my lower back as I'm learning to even breathe more correctly in order to support my lower back. I have always suffered from low back problems until I found PiYo but this yoga retreat has been amazing for my back: it hasn't even been cracking at all in the morning or feeling tight at all.

            Another thing I know people don't like to talk about, but yoga has helped my digestion amazing even more than the added bonus than having my daily Shakeology with the digestive enzymes and probiotics and all that good stuff. I did some Googling and I didn't realize that so many yoga poses with the twisting and the concentration on your core and your breathing really help loosen up your intestines and get everything moving so there's no stagnation or no uncomfortable feelings or anything like that.

            I have also noticed since I wear a Garmin Vivofit all the time is that my sleep graphs in the morning have been really different: it seems like there's a lot more dark blue (deep sleep) on my graphs every morning as opposed to light blue (light sleep). I am a numbers nerd, so I went through the 9 nights that I have been doing the Yoga Retreat so far and then I did the same number of nights before I started. I wrote down the amount of deep sleep and total sleep that my Garmin has telling me I've been getting.

            I had been averaging 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep in the 9 nights leading up to my yoga program and I was spending 23% percent of that in deep sleep (2 hours, 11 minutes) each night. Since I started the Yoga Retreat, I've actually only been averaging 9 hours of sleep a night (I had bible study, girls night, and have been up late watching the Cubs in the playoffs). So I’ve actually been getting less sleep per night then before the yoga program but I have been spending 29% of my night in deep sleep, which works out to 2 hours and 45 minutes. This means I've been getting less sleep overall but I have been getting half an hour more of deep sleep at night!!

            Deep sleep is so important to your physical health, your mental health, and to your whole body because that's when your body regenerates. Deep sleep is when things get moved from short-term to long-term memory; it's when your muscles rebuild themselves; it's really where you just get reset for the next day. The fact that I have been sleeping less but been getting more deep sleep has been such an added gift that this program has given me…in addition to the better digestion, in addition to the less tightness in my lower back, in addition to the increased flexibility, in addition to not just the less tightness in my back but I feel taller and lengthened.  That is an amazing benefit of yoga: you feel just stretched out and you don't feel as so compressed and tense.

            Oh, and more deep sleep means that I have had more energy during the day it's just one of the greatest things that I think Beachbody has come out with because anyone can do this! The fact that it is free is totally amazing. If you want to try this yoga program, it takes 21 days and no more than 30 minutes a day (the weekends are actually shorter)- it's totally free with your trial of Beachbody on Demand. If you have never tried yoga before, you should give it a try! It's going to help you sleep better; it's going to help you de-stress; it's going to help your energy, your digestion…everything! It's not got some of the Eastern religion connotations or weird music to it, it's just stripped down simple basic yoga and it's going to make you feel great.

            I had been looking for a low-impact program to continue on from Country Heat and this program fit the bill for me. If you want to learn more about it or if you want to keep following my journey please stay tuned and make sure you are following my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving

Country Heat: a simple, fun cardio dance workout with fool-proof nutrition tools

Here is my 30 day Country Heat transformation!! I found myself really enjoying the dances (especially those on disc 2) despite not being very coordinated or really a country music listener. Every day the 30 minutes flew by with constant movement and fun songs.

I love Autumn's training and teaching style and really loved the move breakdowns. This was a walk-through speed without the music so you weren't trying to figure out the moves DURING the workout itself.

I did not miss a workout OR a Shakeology, and was more mindful of my portions, waited a while before wanting 2nds or dessert (and almost all of the time ended up not being hungry enough after waiting), and really felt some changes in my core/waist. 

I have gained weight this year due to removing my Mirena in the spring (sorry if that's TMI for you, but I'm being honest) and have struggled seeing that number on the scale increase EVEN THOUGH I know that it's just a number. Doing this low impact cardio workout gave me the results I was hoping for. 

This picture may "only" show a 2 pound weight loss but to me it feels like a lot more. I feel shrunken, not starved. Does that even make sense?? lol. I feel so much leaner in my entire torso, and even see more muscle tone in my legs. To achieve that without using weights or killing my hips, knees, and back is amazing.

The picture here also shows more than my stats. It shows a 30 day commitment: to myself, and to my challengers. I don't invite people to my accountability groups to sell them something and leave them to fend for themselves. This stuff changed my LIFE- why wouldn't I want to share my experience with others?! I am there every single day, doing the same things that I ask my challengers to. We've formed a support system and are there for each other every single day.

ANYONE can benefit from improving their nutrition, and the tools in this program make these changes with no guesswork or confusion. I believe this fitness program is the MOST ACCESSIBLE to anyone, regardless of injury or current fitness level. What do YOU have to lose by giving it a try? If this looks fun to you, please reach out to me.

Country Heat thoughts- Day 2

            I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on Country Heat so far. I missed Monday so today is only my second day of it, but I did my second routine today and my skin is glowing and I am dripping and just as sweaty as I got in 22 Minute Hard Corps. So I'm really surprised- honestly I bought the program because everyone else in my room at Summit bought it too, and I said, “okay everyone else is doing it, I guess I'll do it too.” That's kind of how I felt last year when I bought Cize, which was more of a hip-hop dancing program. I ended up loving Cize, by the way, and I can already tell that I’ll love this program, too.

            I'm not watching the clock at all during the workout. I am out of breath when I’m doing it; I don't know how Autumn does the program and talks the whole time! You don't need a home gym for this, there's no equipment, there's a girl who doesn't even do the jumping so there's no impact or anything. I’ve just been using my living room floor: if you can take 2 steps to the right and 2 steps to the left, forward, and back: that's all the space you need! I'm really pleasantly surprised! It's fun and it is more of the fun, upbeat country songs that have been on the radio lately. It's not line dancing at all; it is cardio.

            They're all really simple moves and I think honestly my favorite part so far is the move breakdown. It's like a 20-minute separate track where she goes through each move at walking speed, so for me that's really helpful. I even had to replay a couple, because if you're trying to learn them as the music is going you're gonna mess up. So I really love the move breakdown a lot.

            There are some moves that I have not gotten the hang out quite yet since this is only my first or second day doing some of them, and it's kind of nice that once you do that round of them you're done and you're onto another move. I've got a few other people doing Country Teat with me in my group and so far I think that they love it too. The fact that it comes with Shakeology and the portion control containers just makes it well rounded and you know that you're getting your nutrition taken care of. I think you're easily burning 200 calories in each workout at just half an hour.

            If you want to join in or learn more information about Country Heat (or any other program for that matter), please comment below, email me, or reach out to me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving 

Here's a view of me dancing while Addie plays in the living room behind me.