Fitness Review: Focus T 25/Shakeology

Hey all!  Hope your Mondays were fucking awesome.  I worked out this morning- training for my 5k- and then decided to take the afternoon off.  Cause ya know what?  I can.  It's technically my rest day anyways so I totally overachieved this morning.  The beebs and I are grillin out tonight :)

This morning's bootycall workout- about 40 min alternating walking and running

Anyways, I have just finished my first week of Focus T25/Shakeology and wanted to share my opinion with y'all.

With the ever amazing Shaun T

Alright sewwwwwwwwww....what is Focus T 25?  The way I like to explain it is, FT25 is Insanity for the less insane.  You work out 5 days a week- one 25 min session for the first 4 days, and then a "double day" on the fifth day.  Then you have 2 days off, and a stretching video to do during your off days.  There are 2 stages:  alpha stage and beta stage.  Each stage lasts 5 weeks (so 50 days total- 25 alpha and 25 beta). 

The alpha series includes: Cardio, Speed, Total Body Circuit, Ab Intervals, and Lower Focus.

The beta series includes:  Core Cardio, Speed, Rip't Circuit, Dynamic Core, and Upper Focus.

 The workouts were made to start on a Monday so you could rest over the weekend, but I like to buck trends so I started on a Wednesday.  Total Hipster Move.

The workouts are extremely challenging for a 25 min time period- they utilize the high intensity interval training method to get your heart rate up.  Here are some pics of me after workouts:

Me after day 1- cardio

My Before "Yay let's workout!!" and After "WTF did I just do" photos- this was after the double day, which for the first week is lower body and cardio.

As you can see, I got pretty sweaty lol.  But I loved it, every single minute of it.  Even if there were times when I was cursing like a sailor.  The workouts are HARD.  But because they're only 25 min long, I never dreaded them, and I never felt like I couldn't finish.  It's pretty awesome sauce.  

Of the workouts, I would rank them in this order (hardest to easiest:  1) cardio and total body circuit; 2) ab intervals; 3) lower focus; and 4) speed.  They are all challenging, but I had the most problems getting through the cardio and the total body circuit.  I did pretty well with the ab intervals and lower focus.  To me, the speed video was hard, but I thought the others outweighed it.

Another thing I really appreciated was that Shaun T was very into FORM.  He always stressed form was the most important.  Like some of the videos require you to do burpees (gag me with a spoon).  Instead of focusing on how many burpees you could do, Shaun T focused on making sure your form was good- quality over quantity.  I quite appreciate that, especially given my propensity to injure myself.

Now, in addition to the Focus T25, I am doing Shakeology.  For those of you who don't know, Shakeology is pretty much the best thing ever.  It is a very healthy, nutrient dense meal replacement shake.  Currently, it comes in a couple flavors:  Vanilla, Chocolate, Vegan Chocolate, Greenberry, and Tropical Strawberry (which is also vegan).  Some people balk at the price, but if you break it down, it's only about $5 a day- basically, a daily starbucks.  And soooo much better for you!

I have the vegan chocolate.  And lemme tell you.  That shit is so good!  I've done it in a blender bottle with just water, I've blended it to make an actual shake.  It is ah-mayz-ing.  Like I didn't think it would be tht good so it was doubly amazing.  I usually have it for breakfast, and it keeps me pretty good to go.

I have noticed a lot of my digestive issues (I suffer from IBS and a multitude of other GI problems) have significantly quieted down since I started shakeology.  I've had like maybe one bad day?  And having only been using the product for less than a week, I'd say that's pretty good.  Like ridiculously good.  I feel good, and I feel lean- which, if y'all know anything about IBS, is a rare feeling sometimes cause you bloat a lot.  I fully support this product and it's been less than a week- that's how good it is.  If you have some tummy troubles, you may wanna look into Shakeology.  For realz.

Overall stats for the first week of T25 and Shakeology?

-1.5 pounds

-0.5 inches off my waist

Considering the fact that I've been at a weight loss plateau for a long ass time, I was over the moon when I saw that I had almost dropped 2 pounds!  I'm not really doing this to lose weight per say- maybe 5 or at the most 10 pounds- but it's a pretty awesome feeling to actually see your hard work pay off.  Especially when you've been having problems with that.  I will keep you guys updated each week of my progress.  I'm really hoping for a toned tummy!  That's my goal.  

If you want specifics on any of the vids/workouts just let me know!  Is anyone else taking on the FT25 challenge?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  

Off to grill.  I'll share one of my own workouts tomorrow :)

Stay classy and lift heavy

~K