#OperationSxy Summer Edition: 12 Week Program

It's finally here! 

#OperationSxy Summer Edition 12 Week Program!

What exactly is included in the 108 pages of the program:

• 12 Weeks of workouts that involve heavy weights to increase strength, muscle building, and blasting fat with high intensity interval cardio circuits
• Pages of in depth "Exercise Breakdowns" to show and explain how to execute each exercise as well as modifications to make the moves easier or harder
• Information pages on the importance of 
• progress check ins, measurements, and pictures
• different types of cardio (HIIT vs LISS)
• why you should lift weights
• why you should rest, stretch, and foam roll
• Nutrition information section 
• breakdown of macros, micros, and other essential foods
• in depth grocery guide list
• tips for success

** Note: these workouts do require the ability to do jumping movements (squat jumps, burpees) and basic weight bearing exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bicep curls, shoulder presses, etc. While there are modifications, if you are physically injured or unable to do most movements, this program might not be suitable for you.

Example of Exercise Breakdown

Example workout (not all will be in this circuit style!)

The whole program is selling for just $35!
Add to your cart below and start your #OperationSxy

Tips for Staying Healthy On Vacation & While Dining Out!

Why do vacations and trips always scare us to death when we think about staying on track for our lifestyle? Because it's a completely different atmosphere! You're on a different schedule, different foods are around you, and not to mention you're off your gym plan too!

But don't worry, follow these tips and the vacation will do as little damage to your progress as possible :) If you want to view my YouTube video on some tips, click here!

1. Portion sizes: You know I'm all about moderation not deprivation, but make sure it's MODERATION. You don't need the whole pizza, but maybe a slice or two are fine! Don't feel like you HAVE to finish your plate when you go out to eat at restaurants. Doggy bags are you friends and leftovers are sooooo tasty the next day. Ways you can watch your portion sizes are
1. Share your plate with a friend
2. Ask the waiter to split your dish in half! Serve you one half now, and save half in a to go box!
3. Don't order with your eyes! Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, so try and order a smaller dish. If afterwards, you're still hungry, then you can always order another side.
2. Save on the calories: there are soooo many sneaky calories in dishes when you eat out! Try and lessen the calorie overload by:

1. Getting sauces on the side
2. Get grilled, baked, steamed dishes instead of fried, buttered, or creamy
3. Don't fill up on the table munchies (biscuits, breads, nuts, etc)
3. Allocate!  I'm always allocating my proteins, fats, and carbs!
1. Have open faced sandwiches or burgers! You don't need both buns for the taste! So just take one out and eat it open style!
2. If you're having a carby meal at night, lessen the carbs throughout the day! If you're having a fatty meal later, lessen the fats throughout the day
4. "I regret wasting calories on things that didn't taste as good as I hoped"

1. Don't waste your calories! If you don't like the food, don't eat it!
2. If you're at a buffet, look at everything before piling it all on your plate! Pick out the things you know you'll like instead of just filling yourself up with food you'll just regret later
5. Be annoying to the waiter! Ask how dishes are prepared, ask for no seasoning, ask for additional lemon, for steamed instead of fried, sauce on the side, etc etc. This is your life, who cares if one person gets annoyed!
6. KEEP ACTIVE 
1. Have a buffer for those additional calories! Add in activities like swimming, walking everywhere, going to amusement parks, etc. Keep active so that you don't have the DOUBLE negative of eating too much AND not working out! Add in some exercise/be active to help lessen the impact the additional food will have
7. Alcohol: Always aim for the less calorically dense choices. Don't go with the mixes with soda or juice because that's a lot of unnecessary sugars! Try vodka and water, vodka diet sodas, vodka sugar free redbull, or lightened up versions of your favorite drinks! Ask for mojitos with less sugar!

AND IT'S VACATION! Don't forget to enjoy yourself. Don't revolve your days around food or stressing about it all. If you're having a great time, food shouldn't be the center of attention! Spending time with your friends, family, loved ones SHOULD be! So have fun, relax, make smart choices, and you'll do great!

Erin Condren Planner Review and $10 OFF + Fit Summer CRUISE?!

Want to possibly join me and a bunch of other Fitness/Healthy lifestyle lovers this summer for a Fitness #HealthyBodyHealthyMind cruise?! Be sure to watch my YouTube Video where I talk about it! :D

Also in this video, I give a review of the Erin Condren Quick Ship Planner ($50) and the Happy New You Bundle Clutch (on sale from $33.20 down to $25!)!
I've been looking for a new planner for a longggg while because my life was pretty unorganized :P I had a separate planner for school/homework/planning and a separate journal for my Vmfitness Fitness updates/progress/etc. However, I would always leave my Fit Journal in my gym bag and never have it on me to update! But NOW, I have everything I need in one Planner! And I LOVE IT!
You can watch the video above to see my breakdown and review of the book, or you can keep on reading below!

Happy New You Bundle Clutch 

(on sale from $33.20 down to $25!)

This bundle comes with sooo many goodies! 

1. Monthly Budget Book
2. Wellness Journal
3. Snap-In Meal Planner
4. Snap-In To-Do List
5. set of Elastic Bands
6. Perpetual Calendar
7. Pen Holder

My favorite item from it would have to be the Wellness Journal, especially for this fitness/health lifestyle! If you can see in the picture below, it separates your days by meals! So you can put in what you ate that day from Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, and there is also a section where you can write your goals, what activity/workout you did that day, and any other notes! In the beginning of this Wellness Journal there is also a progress update page that lets you write in your measurements for quarterly results, which I think is AWESOME.

 

And what's great about these little thin notebooks is that I can place it in the BACK of my Erin Condren Planner in the "Keep It Together" pouch, and that way keep everything together so I don't have to go scrambling for different books or journals or forget one at home and not be able to update it! Super handy to have! I also love the dry erase boards they include for "Oh! What to Eat" and "Oh! What to Buy" because since they're snap in, I can just snap them into the current week, plan my weekly meals and my grocery list/shopping list and I'm set! To see more about the Budget Book and the Perpetual Calendar, watch the YouTube video to get a glimpse of what's inside!

Quick Ship Planner ($50) 

Now we'll take a quick look at the Quick Ship Planner!

The Quick Ship is an option if you do not want a customized cover (although who wouldn't want one, with your own name on it and everything?! I actually went back on the site and ordered one that should be coming within the next few weeks! YAY! Love personalized things!)

How the Quick Ship comes: Shows the year view in months, then shows the full month so you can plan it out right in the beginning, and then the following pages are the weeks laid out. Each day is separated by Morning, Day, and Night, making planning and organizing appointments or your schedule a lot cleaner! At the bottom you have space to write whatever you wish, like meal plans, thoughts, To Do lists, etc! And on the left you have a whole section to write your goals for the week. I'm not sure if you're the same, but I always feel like writing things down sets it in STONE and makes it more legit and I'm more likely to actually complete the task if I write it down! A goal in your mind isn't as strong, but when I can SEE IT physically, it's just another motivational PUSH to succeed!

Near the end there are also additional lined pages for notes, and then empty pages for random doodles! I think I'm most excited to use these stickers that are included at the end of the Planner! Basically they're reminder stickers like "Birthdays, Doct Appt, Mani/Pedi" etc, and also there are 2 blank sheets of stickers included, so that YOU can write what you want on them! For example, you could make stickers that are for Bills or Paydays, or Laundry day, Meal prep day, workout, ETC! The stickers are also pretty easy to take off the paper as well, so if you want to reuse them for the next month, it's not too hard to just move the stickers around and save some mulahhhh $$.

I am SO SO excited to get to writing in my planner and just fill it with my crazy life and schedule :) I love cute organizational things like this because I feel like it PUSHES me to be more organized and scheduled! I'll probably upload a YouTube video later on the planner actually filled out and how I'm utilizing it for School, Life, Fitness, ETC!

If you want to get your own Erin Condren goodies to keep YOUR lifestyle organized, click the link below to get started AND to get $10 off your first order!
Be sure to check your email for the coupon once you've signed up!
https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/josiemai0120

Tips to Stay Fit Through the Holidays

Long time no talk Blogger World!
The Holidays are here, are YOU ready to tackle them on?!

#Vmfityear14 October Month Workout Plan: HALLOWEEN SLIMDOWN!

HELLO OCTOBER! Oh my goodness the months are flying by! How are YOU doing so far this year? Getting to your goals? Working hard? Or maybe not so hard? Well it's time to CHANGE that. Change for YOU. Do you have a goal that you envision yourself in? Why not put in the work to GET there! You have all the tools you need to get to where you want to be, you just need some self motivation to push yourself to get there. Remember, you only get the results from the work you put INTO yourself.
So why not start NOW. Get ready for this month's new plan,

HALLOWEEN SLIMDOWN

[Random note: Hope you all are subscribed to my new YouTube Channel, where I'll be posting a bunch of videos of workouts in the gym, at home workouts where I workout WITH you, baking and cooking in the kitchen, as well as random vlogs and lifestyle tips!]

In this plan like in all the others you get:

• full calendar of at home/gym workouts
• progress pages
• food log pages
• grocery guide
• chances to win:
• 2 Boxes of Quest Nutrition Quest Bars + Quest Apparel Shirt
• Food Product from P28!

All for $6.50!

Get ready for some HIGH INTENSITY workouts right here, full of jumping actions mixed with some light weights, to get that heart rate going and that fat BLASTING.
If you cannot perform some moves, like a burpee or mountain climbers, I have added a slight modification in there, but if you cannot do them AT ALL due to physical limitations, then this might not be the plan for you! But you can always try any of the other #Vmfityear14 Month Workouts to focus on building strength in the gym to jump start your journey!

So what are you waiting for?! You've got 1 month til the big Spooky Holiday, so grab your program, some light weights, and get to work! You'll be addicted to the sweat and the change you'll see.

Vmfityear2014: Strong and Sexy September

Hello everyone!

Ready for the latest edition to #vmfityear2014 ?!!? Check out

STRONG AND SEXY SEPTEMBER

You know the drill for the #Vmfityear2014 plans!

• calendar full of: gym workouts AND at home workouts
• progress pages
• food log pages
• grocery guide
• PRIZES! 
• You can win Quest Nutrition Quest Bars or P28 products!

This edition's workouts will be focused on building that STRENGTH, and "toned" look that a lot of ladies out there look for! Don't be afraid to hit the weights! They'll mold and form your bodies in AMAZING ways!
Then be on the lookout for next month's edition, Halloween Slimdown! Which will target on blasting the fat before the end of the month!
Who's in it to get STRONG and SEXY this month?!

What are you waiting for?! Purchase below for $6.50!

#Vmfityear2014 MARCH FITNESS MADNESS: Glute lifting edition

Welcome to another month in this #VMFITYEAR2014!
Ready to keep on going in this lifestyle journey of yours?!

January Bounce Back Winners and February #VMFITYEAR2014!

I bet you all ROCKEDDD January's plan! Hopefully it pushed you and made you sweat!
Check out the 3 winners of the prizes and get your February plan now!

Must Read Blogposts For the New Year

It's officially 2014!
Brand new spanking year.
Today is the first day of a 365 page book, make an amazing and inspiring story.

New Mentality for the New Year

2014 is around the corner!

My Top 3 Workout Moves, Flavor Your Greens & Crunchmaster Crisps Review

Crunchmaster 

Here's a little bit about Crunchmaster :

Click to enlarge Nutrition Info

Our Crisps are made with 100% whole grains, contain 50% less fat than regular cheese and graham cracker snacks and are certified gluten and peanut free. Crunchmaster Crisps give kids (and grown-ups) the perfect snack for at home, on the go and every stop in between. Keep the flavor. Lose the gluten.

July Goals, Workouts, Protein "Poptart" & Probar Core Review & Discount!

Wahoooo new Month new Goals!! I loved seeing all your goals on the #vmfitjuly hashtag on instagram! They're awesome and you'll all REACH THEM! You got it FITFAM!

MY NEW FAVORITE QUEST BAR & Easy Do-Anywhere Workout Circuit

DO ANYWHERE WORKOUT CIRCUIT

• 20 squats
• 10 pushups
• 20 jump squats
• 20 hip lifts
• 50 jumping jacks
• 15 tricep dips

Repeat as many times as you'd like :] 

Larabar ALT Review & Total Body At Home Stair Workout

Larabar ALT Bars

ALT®, the Alternative Protein Bar™, is the first-ever bar with added protein from LÄRABAR! Many bar brands use soy or whey protein, but ALT uses an alternative protein source: peas. Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and non-GMO, ALT also uses a wrapper that is 31% renewable.

They sent me 4 flavors to try out!

TABATA Quickies!

Have you ever heard of

TABATA

It's a form of HIIT - or high intensity interval training.

Basically, it's :20 seconds of RIDICULOUS INTENSITY, followed by :10 seconds of rest. And then you repeat that 8 times, for a

4 MINUTE WORKOUT

So really, if you say you have no time for a workout? FALSEEEEEEE

What is 4 minutes out of your day?! Wake up a little earlier, set out you clothes for the next day so that you have 8 minutes to spare for a HIGH INTENSITY workout!

Yeah, I think you have time :P

I DO recommend however not just jumping right into it, so add like a 3 - 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down stretch, so really at most an 18 minute workout... but STILL, that's not bad at all! And we all have time to spare! Get off the computer! Stop watching TV! So many things take up our days, so why not give a little time to working up a sweet ol' sweat?

Here are some great TABATA workouts you could try out that I found online!

 

There's also CARDIO tabata, with sprints! 

That's when you do :20 second sprints with :10 seconds rest - repeat 8 times. 

OH MY GOSHHH I've tried this and it was ABSOLUTELY KILLER>

Now you don't have to stop at 4 minutes, you could keep going if you wanted to!
Maybe combine 2 or 3 tabatas for one HECK of a sweaty workout!
Like this workout below:

However long the workout, you know tabata's revving your body up and busting a sweat! AND even if it doesn't show a great calorie burn DURING the workout, you know your body will be burning long after you've stopped your workout!

Workouts by Body Parts

So I got an e-mail requesting ab workouts, but I figured HECK, I'm stuck inside the house today so why not just post workouts for all body parts?!!?

I know some people break up their workouts like Back and Bis, Chest and Tris, etc, but everyone lifts differently, so I'm just going to write up the top moves for each body part, and depending on how you have your split, it's up to you on how to combine them!

Remember, you don't have to add ALL the moves in, I'm just simply telling you my favorite moves :] choose which you want to try and add them into your routine!

I usually do, depending on the weight, 4 sets of 10-15 reps.
So that means: perform move 10-15 times, rest, repeat 3 more times.

If you're confused on any moves, google them or head to bodybuilding.com to find out what they are! :]

Cutting/Leaning/Fat Loss OH MY! And Kickstarting My Healthy Lifestyle Journey.... Again

So a lot of you have asked me about:

Cutting / Leaning Out Stage

However, I feel these terms are more for bodybuilders or competitors. They usually follow bulks or off season with on season leaning out to get to very low body fat percentages for competitions! And they are veryyy strict with their diets and workout, which in my experience, when I did this, didn't turn out so well for me because I rebounded back to the beginning of my journey - same [if not more] weight, measurements, and body fat.

So instead I like to call it the

Fat Loss Stage

aka. the 

Healthy Lifestyle

I say the Healthy Lifestyle, because basically if you're living the healthy lifestyle:

Eating right, keeping consistent workouts, and being body, mind, and health conscious, 

you should be losing fat because you're not stuffing it with the usual processed nasty fatty foods!

Endless Cardio is NOT the Way! And Workouts for Fat Loss

"Cardio: the only way to lose fat!"
Uhm... WRONGGGGGGGGGG

Like most people, at the beginning of my lifestyle journey I thought the only thing girls did in the gym was hop on a bike/treadmill/elliptical/cardio machine and go and go and go till they couldn't go no more! Oh how FALSE that is!

Did you know you're doing your body more HARM than good? Slowing down your metabolism, making it harder for your body to lose fat, and breaking down gorgeous muscle??!!? I know CRAZYYYY.

I wanted to post some wise words from a friend of mine, @Mrgeecue or Nate, from Instagram, and his thoughts on endless cardio.

#OPERATIONBOOMBOOM Grow your Glutes Challenge!

 

I know it says arpil :[

LETS MAKE APRIL A GROW YOUR BOOTY BOOMBOOM MONTH!!!!

Simple:

Each week has exercises - end EACH day of that week with that number of the specified exercises!

So example:
Week 1 - 100 squats EACH day
Week 2 - 100 squats + total of 160 lunges with kickbacks EACH DAY
etc etc.

These can be bodyweight, or if you want to make it extra tough, go ahead and add some weight!
You can space them out (example: 20 squats 5 times a day, 50 two times, etc).

If you don’t know what the moves are, google them!!! And have 1 full rest day a week!

I already took my before pics! Excited to see if this does anything to this #pancakeasianbutt
WHO’S WITH ME!

Why I'm Not Competing...

That's right #fitfam

I've made the decision to not compete.....

If you didn't read about my concerns about competing, go HERE to read it.


So along with the many other reasons I had with competing, one of them was to get control of my binge eating problem.... I thought:

maybe if I could get through this prep, then I can get through anything! I can stop binging, stop eating past the point of full/uncomfortable, get control of my eating habits and get back to the healthy lifestyle I had in the beginning! 

But unfortunately it seems to have not really helped and actually has backfired... I find myself wanting to binge more than ever, and sometimes I'm not even able to control it and do end up binging..

I think I went into this competition too fast.

Lots of people PREPARE for competitions.
They've been with the healthy lifestyle for a while already, with their food and eating habits controlled, and at a good healthy lean weight, and they also prepare mentally for all of it, and I was not at any of these points.

When I decided to do this competition, I was at a point in my life that was still rocky, with my whole healthy lifestyle journey. I had been on and off the wagon, battling my binging problems, not completely in the right mindset about what I would be getting myself into. I just thought "Hey, this seems like a good thing that'll challenge me... push me past my limits" but I went in too far over my head.

I should have waited till I was already consistent and comfortable in the clean eating healthy journey, not gone in at a point where I was still dealing with those issues. I should have recovered completely from B.E.D before going into this journey, but it just triggered it all over again.

Like I said in my past post, the past few weeks have been rocky, I got back home with my family for break, and I just let loose. Today I talked with my sister about me contemplating doing this competition and brought up how I was scared about my binging coming back up, and she told me she noticed and also worried about that too, saying she saw some of my old ways emerging again, back when I binged a lot last year. She also said I am a LOT moodier/less happy than I used to be when I wasn't preparing for this competition... back when I was just doing a fit and happy lifestyle.

And I agree with her. 

I felt less happy, on edge all the time, not enjoying the lifestyle, the foods, anything. My grades were also dropping, I snapped at my roommates and my family, no good no good.

These past few days with just clean healthy eating have brought me back to really enjoy the lifestyle. I've missed it. Clean ol' fun eating foods! Healthy lifestyle eating. I don't feel as unfocused, tired, moody, I feel happier, more "Josie". And it's only been a few days!

So in all, that's basically why I'm not competing this summer.

Now I know I've probably let a lot of people down, my coach, my suit sponsor, and all of you ig-ers.

And trust me, I reallly really really wanted to compete.... but in all honesty, I KNOW post comp I would have gone crazy, if I didn't already go crazy before comp... I'd be binging hardcore nonstop and that would NOT be good.... So many horror stories from competitors who can NOT control their eating after comp because they've restricted so long.... and I would just... go insane.....

Please don't see this as me GIVING UP. I am not giving up, I am listening to my body, and not putting it through something I KNOW I'll regret down the road and that will become unhealthy for me....

I'm looking out for me, my health, my sanity right now.
Down the road I hope to get full control of my eating and lifestyle, and THEN, maybe some day in the future, next year, 2 years from now, 10 years from now, I'd love to compete. Just now isn't the right time. And I'm sorry for any of you I've disappointed... but I had to do this for me.

Thanks for understanding fit fam.

So for now I hope to just inspire you all as a regular college student, trying to live the healthy life, one clean eat and workout at a time.

Josie