Final Review of Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping

I just finished 10 amazing weeks at Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping. I saw results, I feel better, I enjoyed every workout.
The basic set up was 6 days a week, alternating cardio and strength workouts. Cardio days were centered around kickboxing moves. And the strength workouts utilized resistance bands.

Check out the recaps of the first five weeks:
Week One
Week Two
Week Four
Week Five

I bet you're wondering why no reviews of weeks 6-10... Well, I got f-ing busy, so just assume they got progressively harder and I enjoyed them as equally (if not more) than the first 5 weeks.

My results were pretty good. At the end of the 10 weeks I worked off 5 inches (mostly from my gross c-section tummy). I improved my mile from 11:20 to 9:38. I went from 12 to 32 sit-up in a minute. And from 23 to 69 push-ups in a minute. I'm really proud of my mile time and my push ups. My weight went down like 6 lbs but my body fat % dropped like 4%!
People like lists, so I'll give you what I think are the Pros and the Cons of dropping like $400 on a 10 week program like this.

Pros

•  If you go you will see results. Plain and simple, you can't fail if you show up every day.
• It's like a family. Your class and your coach really make it about your success.
• the Coaches  are great. It's personal but not over bearing. And they use EMAIL! It's the 21st century, I'm glad someone is effectively using email to keep me motivated. 
• The strength training workouts are just as engaging and fun as the cardio. I didn't think they would be.
• a 45 minute workout is the PERFECT amount of time. It's gut busting, sweaty, and extreme. But then you look at the clock and you're 10 minutes to finished. 
• It's a group workout that isn't cheesy and it certainly isn't dancing.

Cons

• It's not easy to drop $360+ on anything you're not sure about.
• I was a bit younger than everyone else in the class, sometimes that is awkward for me (oh, I'm 28 BTW)
• The nutrition portion/regime was hard to follow as a breast feeding mother. I kind of wish it was more specific, too.
• My employer wouldn't reimburse me at all because it wasn't a monthly fee; like other gyms.
• oh, and current top 40 pop/dance tracks ALL THE TIME! Egghhhhh...

End summation-- If you want to change your self- Do it at Farrell's. You will love how you feel and you that's worth any cost.

Finished Farrell's 10 weeks, jumped right back into busy-ness

I have about 6 million great things to say and details to give about my 10 weeks doing Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping. But at this very moment, I'm busy. I've got tons to do, and I recently became addicted to Twitter-- (Follow me @CrunchieMom) .

Finally getting in the swing of Twitter

So y'all should follow me @CrunchieMom.

I find you totally Encapsulating... Fenugreek !

Milk supply is a big issue for me. I pump 3-4 times a day at work, and I'm just barely getting the 14 -15 ounces my baby needs for the next day. I'm not building up a freezer stash, and I'm fairly constantly stressed about it. This isn't healthy. I've been taking fenugreek for about a month now. 3 pills 3 times a day, and yes I've noticed some increases, but they don't seem to be consistent and don't last throughout the day. For example, I pump at 9am and get 5 ounces, then at my next two pumping sessions I'll only get 2.5-4 ounces each time. Adding in a 2am pumping and a 4am pumping will always help me cover the spread, but that's stressful- getting up 3 times a night for a baby that actually only wakes once!

The 100 pill bottles last a little over a week. $7.99 a bottle, means that I'm spending roughly $25 a month, minimum. I'm too cheap to not seek out an alternative that doesn't involve as much packaging, and all that crunchy biz.

I came to the conclusion that making my own fenugreek capsules was the way to go. Usually I'm a compulsive Googler of process and theory. But this time I just kind of jumped in. Bought a package of capsules, filled up a bag of bulk ground fenugreek, and brought it all home. Total I spent like $6 and I think I'm set for a while.

My Process
I spoon some out onto a plate. I use a little butter spreader to tap in the powder, then i repeat with the other side of the capsule. I admit, it's not scientific. I'm not measuring or weighing..

Fairly simple stuff.

Seitan- The Wheat Meat, 1000 possibilites

Fake meats creep me out. My husband's vegan sausages, meat crumbles, and chick'n nuggets are all gag inducing. Oddly enough, I've found seitan to be palatable. We've tried a few different brands and styles. So far, I like chicken style strips the best; Westsoy strips to be exact. The problem is, I'm a Googler, which means I found like a gagillion recipes and uses for seitan.

Seitan Recipe

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 cup of any vegan broth (I used vegan chicken broth)
• 6 cups of vegan broth + 1/4 cup soy sauce for boiling the seitan

Mix all ingredients

Let it rest for a few minutes, then knead the dough for about 2 minutes. The Internet told me to let it rest again for about 15 minutes then knead again. I didn't.

I pressed it as flat as I could then cut it into strips about 2 1/2 inches long.

Boil the strips/chunks/loaf in the 6 cups of broth for about 45 minutes to an hour. It'll expand quite a bit, so go extra on the sauce.

After an hour, pour it out into a colander in the sink. Kind of press it out. Don't go crazy with the pressure, but give it a good squeeze.

I stored mine in a ziploc bag in the crisper drawer.

Failed Cookie cups with Oreo Filling

The theory was good, the imaginary taste was amazing- the reality was not so perfect. But, it's still worth tell you about. Maybe you can take this idea and make it work.

• 1 bag oreos
• 8oz cream cheese
• tube of sugar cookies
• muffin pan

I put the whole bag of Oreos and cream cheese in a food processor, ran it until it was fine. I bake the cookies in the muffin pan at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.. The cookies actually turned out alright. I was going to pipe the cookie mix into the cookies all cute like. But the mixture was WAY to thick. I think a half tub of Cool Whip mixed in might have been needed.