<3 support group for women eating 2000+ calories per day <3

Love4fitnesslove4food: I owe half my body/weight changes to Jillian Michaels. Her workout-at-home DVDs are very popular: 30 Day Shred, Ripped In 30, 6 Week 6 Pack are the ones I do/have done. She has made 20-minute workouts (25 including the warm-up) using HIIT. Then I follow it up with crunches, weightlifting, or cardio. You can get them almost anywhere. I get them at Target or amazon.com. Some people don't like her tough trainer attitude, but I love it. I might try her Shred It With Weights down the road.

That being said, I think I'd like to try other things, like the workouts in NROLFW, or things I've heard of like Chalean Extreme, Turbo Fire or P90X. Right now Jillian Michaels workouts work for me because time is tight (3 kiddos to chauffeur around school and therapies). The eating part, however, is something that I'll constantly be working on and fine-tuning.

How'd you find Ripped in 30 compared to 30 Day Shred? I own the Shred and have done it a few times, now I just alternate it with my running and lifting days. Would you recommend Ripped? Or is it just the same kind of exercises? I've read online that some people got better results with Shred than Ripped but I'd love your opinion!

Thanx!

I did 30DS first, then did Ripped. Some of the moves are the same, this goes for all her DVDs. But she adds some tough moves in Ripped, and you have 4 levels to get through vs. 30DS's 3 levels. Personally, I liked Ripped better and think it's tougher. I stayed on Level 2 for over a month because it kept giving me a great sweat. I liked Levels 2 & 3 more than her Level 4 (which she called The Mother Of All Workouts. Um, not really, but it was still challenging.). Starting with 30DS and then moving on to Ripped is a good strategy, and how can you beat getting a sweat-inducing workout in about 25 minutes? I may try the NMTZ or Banish The Fat DVDs, but those workout are longer. And working out with Jillian for longer than 25 minutes is T O U G H!!!!!!!

Thanks so much for your input! I've been thinking about ordering Ripped for a while now, and I think I'm just gonna go ahead and do it! I mean, I can quote her word for word in every level of Shred so it might be time for a change!! I love that her workouts are challenging and quick!

Banish the Fat is long but I just time myself and do a set number of circuits. She repeats each circuit 2x and then moves on just like in 30 DS...so you can kind of customize it. That's what I do. Today I did 20 minutes. It's nice. I would highly recommend it. It's better than 30 D.S. in my opinion.

oooh, maybe I will try Banish was well - our NZ dvd supplier doesn't have Ripped at the moment so might give this one a go! I'm all for trying different things to work this body of mine out! What can I say, I just love me some Jillian!! I even listen to her podcasts when I run....hehe girl crush!

Thanks to those who answered! I think I am understanding much better!

Hmmm, I guess my answer to the question depends on how I define treat. I try to have something a little bit sweet every day. My favorite is a small bowl of frozen fruits (raspberries, blueberries & strawberries) with cinnamon, a little bit of low fat yogurt mixed together. If I'm feeling extra special I'll drizzle some maple syrup or honey on top. Another favorite is a sliced banana with peanut butter and a few dates.

I'm so pumped to workout tonight. I picked up my new weight set last night and I've been setting it up today. I can finally up my weights on P90x. I'm gonna kill it tonight!

Workout plan for today:
90 minutes cardio (A.M.)
35 minutes circuit/abs (P.M.)

Eat: 2000 calories

Drink: at least 64 oz water, 1 cup coffee, and 3-4 cups cocoa

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DAILY QUESTION: (i think this will be fun to do daily to get to know one another)

1. How often do you have a "treat" and what is it?

--I have one daily or several times a day --usually it's frozen yogurt but I am thinking of changing that since it's all sugar. for now though, it's frozen yogurt. I spend about 300-400 calories on it and enjoy it every time.

WOW! I really admire your dedication! I dont think I could work out that much!!! Great job!
I just finished a 5 mile run! I replaced that instead of Kenpo for my recovery week in p90x.

I am sure I will be eating well over 2000 calories today because I am having friends over for dinner. I made some spagetti squash, butternut squash, salad and turkey meatballs. Cant forget the chocolate decadance- an awesome chocolate ganache cake that is (almost) flourless and relatively low cal. I got the recipe out of Eating Well mag. Only 165 calories per slice. IT is heaven!!


TO answer the question (which is a great idea!!) I 'save' myself calories at the end of every day for a treat, which for me is a fiber one bar and 1 cup plain fat free greek yogurt with some agave and flaxseed. THis is about 300 calories and I look forward to it every day. If I am having a "cheat" treat I go for the peanut butter!! LOVE peanut butter!!

Morning group! Plan for today is to go ride my horse now.. sit on my tushy for however long it takes to write a paper that's due today and then hit the gym...probably Step mill which I think is the hardest cardio in the gym and then core. Oh and I need to hit up a target to find those DVDs!!

I do have a treat daily after dinner. I love skinny cows but now I've fallin in love with vitatops or vitabrownies. They have less calories and are yum yum!! But...Dang they are expensive!

My question for the day....how much are you guys spending on food? I seem to spend a small fortune just to eat healthy. It's very frustrating!!

Re: treats
My treat is anything fast food and/or carby ... my favorite being a baked potato rubbed on the outside with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt, and loaded on the inside with about 3-4 tbsp of butter. Yes, that's half a stick. I'm a glutton for butter. >.> I'm just getting over being sick, but when I first fell ill earlier this weekend, we ordered Domino's. That was definitely a treat. (btw, their new artisan pizzas are pretty good! a bit pricey though)

Every once in a while, I get a hankering for something sweet, so I'll generally wander into the bakery section of the local market for a slice of cake. We also have a great little patisserie that's open late, so when I can convince my bf to go with me, I'll go for one of their cake slices.

Re: food costs
I probably do spend a small fortune. The majority of food is purchased at our local Kroger market, and I generally spend ~$60/week (more if I'm stocking up on a meat sale). I get our staples here.

I spend ~$100/trip to Costco about once every couple of weeks, just for food items. I like getting their bagged apples and sausages, and we usually get the giant bags of frozen veggies and the ground turkey from there too (comes in a 4-pack, and we'll freeze most of it), since it's cheaper than Kroger unless Kroger is running a sale.

I'll spend ~$20-30/trip at Whole Foods about once a month -- I go there to find items I can't find at Kroger (like non-soy, non-whey protein powder) or to buy bulk items (like rolled oats). I also paid $500 earlier this summer for a 25-week CSA (community supported agriculture) where I get some of our fresh veggies.

I feel like I spend a fortune on shopping!!
I probably spend about $200 per week for my family of 3! Approx. 125 dollars at trader joes each week for all the organic meats/dairy/fruits and vegetables and then about $75.00 a week at Stop and Shop for everything that Trader Joes doesnt carry like cleaning supplies, paper goods, some breads etc. I really try to do organic as much as possible.

Wow! A lot to catch up on. The only time I was on the computer this weekend was to take a mid-term. Stinking Economics class!!!!!

Food not nearly close to 2000 this weekend. Between babysitting and the test, just didn't happen.

I would love to have a Body Fit or Body Bug. Just not in the budge right now. Everyone already thinks I'm obsessed with food & working out anyway.

re: food costs

Eating healty is more expensive than junk food. It's even harder on a tight budget. My splurge is Fage greek yogurt. Love it! Even like it plain with nothing in it. Fortunately, I have 3 grocery stores close, so shop the sales. I try to get out with $50 or less. Depends on if DD13 goes shopping with me or not. I don't buy any prepared foods, so I get lazy with food sometimes. Crockpot and lots of chicken and broccoli. I will fix DD other stuff sometimes, but most of the time, it's eat what I do or starve!

re: treats

I have to be really careful here. It's not easy for me to stop once I get started, so I just usually avoid them. For me fresh baked bread is a treat. But that's definitely forbidden. If I do have one - it'll be a few Hershey's kisses. Can't keep the bag in the house though or I'll eat the whole thing.