It's been about three weeks since I've strictly followed the Tone It Up workout schedule or stuck to the guidelines of the nutrition plan.  I've still been tracking everything I eat but it hasn't been anywhere near as healthy as I was eating before.  I'm not sure if the reason for my break was that I momentarily gave up or if I just needed some time away from the pressures of following a strict plan.  

Either way, I did a lot of soul searching and spent time figuring out where my issues with food come from and why I've struggled with weight loss for almost my whole life.  Now that I've spent this time on contemplation and inner dialogue I feel like I have a much clearer picture of where I want to go and how I need to get there.  

I've decided to re-start the program slowly and take it one day at a time.  It feels like if I were to dive in and go at it 100% I might just get overwhelmed and quit.  So instead of going full-force, I'm going to ease into it.  This means I will not be following the workout schedule posted on ToneItUp.com right away.  I'm going to make it a point to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes at least three times a week, and maybe more if I can make that happen.  

I will start following the nutrition plan as closely as possible so that I can get back into the habit of eating healthy and giving my body the food it deserves.  So for now I'm basically following the well-known quote that says "Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym".  I plan on getting back into a full fitness routine eventually, but only once I am back into the swing of things with the nutrition plan.

While I would like to report that I've been doing great on the Tone It Up plan, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows.  I'm hoping that being honest about my struggles will show others that the path to being healthy is long and sometimes overwhelming.  Everyone's story is different, but I'd like to think that mine is inspiring to someone else who feels like they are the only one struggling.  

Today I finished my Week 12 on the Tone It Up nutrition plan.  Two weeks ago I started following the 8 week Bikini Series workout schedule from ToneItUp.com and did really well on my first week.  I worked out 5 days that week and followed the nutrition plan really closely.  You would think that doing so well would encourage me to keep up the good work, but this past week was not good at all.  My motivation tanked out and I just couldn't convince myself to keep going.  Here's a post I made on the TIU community:

• It seems like I've hit a wall with my motivation.  I feel like I've put in a lot of hard work and gotten very little back as far as results go.  My body has barely changed and it makes me question whether this is worth it.  I need some words of inspiration to keep fighting for this and to remember why I started in the first place.  
  

And here are some of the comments I got back from the amazing women in the community:

• Don't give up - you're so much stronger than you think you are! <3 
  
• We are all works in PROGRESS, and you are progressing, even if you aren't seeing it exactly the way you would like at this time!  
  
• Just keep going! It will be worth it! I know how hard it is!  You will see results, and it will be worth it! Just keep going, and eventually, it will show!! This is for you, and you deserve it :D if you treat your body right he will respond accordingly!  Keep strong :D good luck! 
  
• Don't be discouraged, you'll get there. Quick fixes never work,, cause they're quick.. sudden.. You need consistency and perseverance and we're all with you!
  

Aren't these women amazing?  And these are just snippets of the long messages I got with encouragement and words of wisdom!  It's such a good feeling to know that I am not going through this journey alone and that I have the support of so many women, including our awesome trainers, Karena and Katrina!

With that being said, I decided to take the rest of the week off and haven't worked out or followed the nutrition plan for the past week.  For me it was important to take a break so I could realize how good I feel when I am on the plan and use that as motivation to get back on track.  Tomorrow is the start of a new week and I will be getting back on the plan.  Wish me luck!

If you have any questions about the plan, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you with my input!  I am so grateful for the help I've received from the TIU community and I am happy to pay it forward.

It seems like forever since I've posted on here!  I can't believe so much time passed by without me making any posts, but life happened and now I'm back!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything Tone It Up related, so I wanted to check in and let you know that I successfully lost 10 pounds in my first 5 weeks on the plan.  I was super happy with my results because I had been hoping to lose about 2 pounds a week and was proud that I was able to keep up with that pace.  So if you're thinking about buying the plan or starting with Tone It Up, just know that it does work if you put in the effort.

I was successful in my first 5 weeks because I did my best to follow the Bikini Series workout schedule by working out for 60-90 minutes a day.  I also stuck to the nutrition plan 99% of the time.  I just started the 7th week of the nutrition plan today and it's a bit of a re-start after being on vacation and falling off the wagon for almost two weeks.  I did gain back some of the weight I lost in the first 5 weeks of the plan, but now I am ready to jump back in and get back on track!  

My plan is to follow the posted workout schedules on ToneItUp.com for the month of July and then starting in August I will follow the 8 weeks of the Bikini Series until my cruise at the end of September.  I started with Tone It Up mid-way through the Bikini Series, so I'd like to do the whole thing all the way through and also use it as a slim down in order to get bathing suit ready for my cruise.  It was encouraging to look back at the first few weeks of the Bikini Series workouts and see that they start off easier and then get progressively harder as you go along.  At least I know I can do the harder parts at the end, so the beginning shouldn't feel as rough!

I will check back in at the 2 month mark and let you know how things are going.  Let me know if you have any questions in the meanwhile and I'll try my best to help answer your questions.

Today is the 1-week mark since I started my journey on the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan.  If you've been reading my updates you will know that I started the plan by doing a 5-day slim down.  During that period I was eating a lot of protein as well as fruits and vegetables.  I lost a total of 3.6 pounds.  

Even though I just weighed myself two days ago at the end of the slim down I was due for another weigh-in, which I will be doing every Monday.  I was happy and surprised to see that I had lost another 1.8 pounds, which means all together I've lost 5.4 pounds in one week.  Needless to say, I am definitely happy with the results I've seen so far on this plan!

Along with sharing my progress, I also wanted to share my meals from today so you can get an idea of what a typical day on the plan looks like:

• Meta-D: This is a drink that you have every morning right after waking up in order to jumpstart your metabolism.  Today I chose the Bombshell Spell.
• Breakfast: 1/2 of a grapefruit along with 1 Morningstar Farms "Sausage" Patty and a cup of coffee with creamer.
• Mid-Morning Snack: Banana & a cheese stick.
• Lunch: Leftover roasted brussels sprouts from dinner last night.
• Mid-Afternoon Snack: Homemade stuffed mushrooms.
• Dinner: Mushroom stroganoff & a glass of white wine.

I also went to the gym today and walked on the treadmill for 6 minutes before the stitches in my leg started to hurt.  It probably doesn't seem like much, but it felt good to do anything at all.  Tonight I will be doing an ab routine from YouTube on the Tone It Up channel.  And that's a typical day in the life of a Tone It Up girl!

In case you're getting bored with all things related to Tone It Up, I will be doing my next post on something that is not related to eating, exercising, or losing weight!

Let me know in the comments section if you have any requests!

Yesterday I finished the 5 Days to Beach Babe slim down for the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan.  Overall the plan was very straight forward and simple to understand.  I did find it challenging because of my limited protein options as a vegetarian, but I was still able to stick to the plan for the full 5 days.  I weighed myself this morning and found out that I lost 3.6 pounds in the 5 days I was on the slim down.  I feel like that's a pretty good outcome, especially because I wasn't able to work out for the majority of that time due to having stitches.  

Now that that slim down is over I am ready to start the Tone Up phase of the nutrition plan, which is what I will follow until I reach my goal and am able to transition to the Maintenance phase.  The majority of the recipes that are included in the nutrition plan are geared towards the Tone Up phase, probably because you spend the most amount of time on this part of the plan.  Here is the total number of recipes I received, broken down by type:

• Breakfast: 13 recipes (plus 16 variations of protein pancakes)
• Beverages: 8 recipes (plus some juice recipes that I probably won't use)
• Soups & Salads: 32 recipes
• Sandwiches & Wraps: 19 recipes
• Snacks: 30 recipes
• Entrees: 32 recipes
• Desserts: 15 recipes
• Dressings, Dips & Sauces: 30 recipes

When preparing for this new phase I decided to pick a bunch of recipes I wanted to try.  Then I filled out a homemade meal planning chart to decide when to make each of them.  Here is what the chart looks like:

I figured this was the best way to make sure I could plan ahead for each day and know what I was going to eat instead of winging it and hoping for the best.  This way I could be sure to stick to the plan instead of realizing I didn't have anything I was allowed to eat and having to go off the plan due to lack of preparation.  I also created my own daily chart to keep track of what I eat throughout the day along with my workouts and my water consumption:

The Meta-D is a metabolism boosting drink that you start your day with.  The Booty Call is a 30-minute workout that you do first thing in the morning.  As you can see, I will be eating 5 meals a day and working out twice a day (or combining the two workouts into one longer workout, depending on my schedule).

I took the line above the chart from the nutrition plan.  It says, "I am beautiful.  I can make anything happen and today is the day to make my dreams come true."  I thought it was very inspiring and I hope by looking at it every day I can start to make my own dreams come true! 

Once I get into the swing of this phase I will post my meals for a day so you can see what a typical day in the life of a Tone It Up girl looks like.  In the meanwhile, please let me know if you have any questions I can answer about the plan and whether I think it will be worth it!

Today was day 3 of my 5 Days to Beach Babe slim down using the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan.  I am surprised by how fast this time is going and it feels like I'll be done with the Slim Down phase in no time!  

I have been able to stick to the eating plan pretty religiously and it doesn't feel too hard.  It seems like I did a good job grocery shopping so that I would have a good amount of variety in my meals.  However, I am looking forward to switching to the Tone Up plan on Saturday because there are a ton of recipes I want to try from the nutrition plan.  Speaking of recipes, I spent some time today making an Excel spreadsheet of all the recipes and marking down which meal(s) I am allowed to eat them for.  Once I've started the main phase of the plan on Saturday I will outline how many recipes I received and my thoughts on them.

The only downside to the Slim Down phase is that I haven't been able to work out at all for the past two days, even though I'm supposed to do 30 minutes of cardio each morning and another 30 minutes of toning each afternoon.  I do have a good excuse, though!  I went to the dermatologist yesterday and had two spots removed, one on my stomach and another on my inner thigh.  So right now I'm sporting stitches in two different places!  I figured I should give them a few days to heal before working out, so I'm waiting until they feel like they've healed a little bit before going back to the gym.  I'll have the stitches for two weeks, so I don't think I will want to wait until they are out to start working out again.  I'm just planning on playing it by ear and seeing how I feel as the days go on.

So that's my update for the slim down.  I'll post again once I've transitioned to the Tone Up phase of the plan so I can give you my thoughts on how I think that will go!

Ever since the beginning of the year I have been putting a lot of effort into working out regularly and also eating better.  I was able to lose 10 pounds before my cruise in April, but I am still hoping to keep losing weight and continue getting healthier.  

In an effort to keep up my momentum, I recently purchased the Nutrition Plan from Tone It Up in the Vegetarian version.  I had been thinking of buying  for awhile, but the hefty price tag of $150 kept me from doing it right away.  Ultimately, I decided that the price was worth it when I realized that this could be the tool that pushes me to successfully changing my life.  So I made the plunge on Saturday and spent all day Sunday printing the plan and getting organized in order to start today.  

First of all, here's a list from the Tone It Up website of everything that is included in the plan:

• Tone It Up™ Nutrition Plan. (Regular, Gluten Free, Vegan & Vegetarian)
• Lifetime Access to the Members Only Group (no further cost)
• Lifetime of Free Updates to Plan & New Recipes (no further cost)
• Measurement Guide and Chart to track your progress.
• Our Grocery List to help you make the best choices ~ no matter where you’re shopping
• BONUS 5 Day Slim Down ~ a tasty way to get Beach Ready
• BONUS 7 Day Slim Down our program for photoshoots and events
• Bridal Edition & Wedding Slimdown tips for that special day! Great for bridesmaids, brides and guests.
• All New Editions (past & future) including Fall & Holiday Editions (no further cost)
• Beach Babe Edition ~ a team favorite that’s sweet & tropical!
• Exclusive member coupons & weekly Members Only motivation emails where we share special recipes, tips and featured members.
• Comes as a PDF file for immediate download. You’ll receive all future bonuses & updates as well!  (no further cost)

I was happy that the plan comes in a PDF because I was able to start reading right away and didn't have to wait for a shipment to arrive.  The first thing I did was to save all the PDF's (9 total) to my computer and also put them in Dropbox so I can access them from my iPhone or iPad at any time.  

These are the 9 documents that I received with my purchase:

• Tone It Up Nutrition Plan - Vegetarian
• Beach Babe Edition
• Bridal Edition
• Holiday Update
• Tone It Up Fall Update
• Tone It Up Workout Guide
• Summer Sizzle Plan
• Love Your Body Edition
• Bikini Series Grocery List

So far I have mainly focused on the first two documents because they make up the main plan along with the "Five Days to Beach Babe" plan, which I started today.  They recommend using the 5-day or 7-day slim downs to prepare for a special occasion or to kick-start the plan.  I compared the two and the 5-day one seemed more manageable to begin with.  The last thing I wanted to do was try the harder one and give up after a couple of days because it was too hard!  

Because I am on the 5-day Beach Babe plan, I will describe that plan for now and then take some time to give an overview of the main plan when I start it on Saturday. The "Five Days to Beach Babe" plan mainly consists of eating lots of protein along with a ton of fruits and vegetables.  You also work out twice a day for 30 minutes each time, for a total of 1 hour of workouts a day.  

This morning I went to the gym right after waking up and did interval walking for 30 minutes.  I use an interval timer on my phone to keep track of time as I switch between 1 minute of high intensity walking (a 3.5 on the treadmill) and 1.5 minutes of lower intensity walking (a 3.0 on the treadmill).  I start with a 5 minute warm-up and end with a 5 minute cool down, so in between those I do 8 cycles of high/low intensity for a total of 30 minutes all together.  It might sound complicated, but the interval timer on my phone does all the hard work.  All I need to do is increase or decrease my speed on the treadmill as I follow along!

Later today I will do a couple of Tone It Up toning workouts, either from You Tube or the Beach Babe 2nd Edition workout DVD.

Here are the meals I am eating today so you can see what kind of food is allowed on the 5-day slim down:

• Pre-Workout: Bombshell Spell drink consisting of pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, and lime juice.  It was actually quite refreshing!
• Breakfast: Slim Down Scramble made with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and egg whites.
• Mid-Morning "One Piece": For this you can eat any piece of fruit.  I chose a banana.
• Lunch: I was supposed to eat a wrap made of veggies and protein, but I made a salad out of some broccoli slaw and a fake chicken breast with some homemade almond butter/soy sauce dressing.
• Mid-Afternoon Juice or Smoothie: I am going to make the Slim Down Smoothie, which is made from protein powder, almond milk, water, ice, and cinnamon.
• Dinner: this will consist of tofu for protein along with stir-fry vegetables.  I am debating on whether or not to use a sauce.  I probably shouldn't, but it's going to be very boring without anything on top!
• Evening "One Piece": I have some fresh mango that I'm going to cut up for my evening fruit.

As you can see, I get to eat plenty of food on this slim down!  I don't feel like I'm being deprived of food, but my protein options are pretty limited due to not eating meat.  I have a feeling I will be sick of fake chicken, tofu, and eggs by the time these 5 days are done!

All together I am very excited about starting the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan!  I feel like the plan makes a lot of sense and is regimented enough to get results but not so much that it's a recipe for failure.  I like that I am starting with a 5-day slim down so that I can kick-start my progress.  I am also hoping that by starting out with a strict plan the main plan won't seem so bad!

I will check back in a day or two from now and let you know how things are going.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments section.  I was grateful to find reviews online before making this purchase, so I'd be happy to help anyone else who is debating on whether or not this plan will work for them!