30 day challenge – Warrior Girl Fitness

March 21 Day Fitness Challenge

Starting March 16th, I’m participating in a fitness challenge group and I wanted to share this opportunity to join our fitness challenge group with my readers!

The fitness challenge will be 21 days. One ~30 minute workout per day. We’re also going to follow a results-driven nutrition plan, because diet is 80% of the equation to achieving your weight loss goals!

You can do any 30 minute workout, or you can follow the 21 Day Fix Extreme workout program that I will be doing with my fitness challenge group (there is also a less “extreme” workout program that you can do with us, called 21 Day Fix). Since I live a Paleo & Bulletproof diet & lifestyle, I have tweaked the 21 Day Fix Nutrition plan for my specific diet preferences. I have put together a 7 Day Meal Planner for Week #1 just to give you an idea of what the Paleo or Bulletproof version would be like. Download the free PDF example >HERE<. And the free excel version (so that you can input your own calories and change the meals and macronutrient percentages) >HERE<.

If you aren’t eating a Paleo or Bulletproof diet, then you can just follow the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan as it is!

Here’s the game plan:

21 Workouts: Do either the 21 Day Fix Extreme or 21 Day Fix workout program {or choose any ~30 minute workout that really pushes your limits and gets you sweatin’}! You can find a plethora of at-home and/or gym workouts on my site.

Nutrition: EAT CLEAN. Abs are made in the kitchen, so this is a vital part of the 21 day challenge. No alcohol, it slows down your metabolism, adds calories to your daily caloric intake, and spikes your blood sugar levels which isn’t going to help you achieve your weight loss goals! Follow my meal planner or follow the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan that comes with the workout program. I would suggest the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan, especially if you’re just starting out with a wholefoods, clean eating approach to nutrition. It will get you on the right path!

That’s it, keepin’ it simple because I know you’re busy! This fitness challenge is the perfect jump start to what I like to call “Spring Training”. What’s “Spring Training”? Winter is coming to an end, it’s been REALLY cold and dismal and has put a lot of people into “hermit crab – couch potato” mode…so when the sun and warmth come back into the picture this Spring, we’re going to kick into high gear with getting fit this year…THIS is “Spring Training”. Not only will Spring Training get you in bikini body shape, but it will also boost your serotonin and endorphin levels to improve that mood and get you out of the winter blues. Let’s just say, Spring Traning is SUPER ENERGIZING!

So this 21 Day Fitness Challenge is the perfect prelude to what’s to come, Spring Training! It will kick your butt into gear and smack a smile back on that winter blues face of yours! Not to mention tighten and tone up that bod for bikini season woot woot!

Okay, enough chitta chatta, comment below if you want to join the 21 Day Fitness Challenge group!

If you need some Workout Gear, don’t forget to pop on over to Brave Angel Shop for some Athleisure: Women’s Motivational Workout Apparel for Everyday Use!

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Any recommendations made by Natalie Krul, Brave Angel, guest bloggers, or on our website http://www.BraveAngel.com about weight training, nutrition, supplements or lifestyle should be discussed between you and your doctor because working out involves risks. The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay in seeking it, because of something you have read on this website or from our products or services. Never rely on information on our website, from our products or services, in place of seeking professional medical advice.

Kettlebell Cardio & Full Body

20 Day Kettlebell Challenge

Here are today’s and Saturday’s workouts for the 20 day Kettlebell Challenge. This is Day 5 and Day 6 of the challenge. Day 7 is a rest day. These two workouts are going to really challenge you. The Kettlebell Cardio will get your heart rate fired up and build that lean, strong muscle mass that helps tone and shape up the physique! The Kettlebell Full Body workout will really target all the large muscle groups to achieve a good burn and help your body get into fat blasting mode! The workouts are below. Have fun and enjoy your weekend!

Day 5, Friday, Kettlebell Cardio Workout:

Day 6, Saturday, Kettlebell Full Body Workout:

Final Week – October Challenge

October Barbell Challenge

Final Week Workout Schedule & Routines

The final week is here, congrats on making it to week #5! Below is the workout schedule and routines for the final week of October. Rock out these workouts and then give yourself a nice rest day on November 1st because you earned it!

Take a look back at what you did this month. Ask yourself what worked, and what didn’t work. Was there a specific workout routine that you really liked? Any specific exercise move that really boosted your progress towards your goals? How were your eating habits this month? Do you feel like you lost the excess fat you were looking to shed off this month? If you did, WAY TO GO! That means that your diet was on point this month. If you feel like you didn’t shed that excess weight, than it is your diet that is holding you back from achieving your weight loss goals. You are either eating too much or too little, too much sugar/fat/carbs or too little protein & carbs. You need protein and carbs to fuel your workouts. But, at the same time, you need to eat in moderation and make sure you aren’t eating too much fat and carbs (especially saturated fats and processed carbs and sugar). Take this free Seven Day Detox & the Clean Eating Plan to get a jump start on revamping your diet so you can shed the excess weight!

I have included three template workouts below: one for the upper body, one for the lower body and one template for a cardio workout. You can use these templates to create your own workouts. This week I want you to choose your favorite upper body exercise moves and plug them into the upper body workout routine template below. Also choose your favorite lower body exercise moves and plug them into the lower body template below. Do the same for the cardio workout routine too. And if you don’t have the time to figure out your fav moves, just do the workout routines as shown below. The goal here, is to start having fun with your workouts by adding your fav moves to the routine you do.

Final Week Workout Schedule:

Monday {October 27th}: Upper Body Workout

Tuesday {October 28th}: Lower Body Workout

Wednesday {October 29th}: Cardio Workout

Thursday {October 30th}: Upper Body Workout

Friday {October 31st}: Lower Body Workout

Saturday-Sunday REST, you made it through the 31 Day October Barbell Challenge!

Important Notes: Make sure you plug in compound exercises versus isolation exercise into the workout routine templates below. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at one time. Isolation exercises only work one muscle or muscle group and one joint at one time. An example of a compound exercise would be a squat, lunge, bench press, chin up. An example of an isolation exercise would be a tricep kickback, bicep curl, or quad extension (usually using the commercial weight machines at the gym). Including one-two isolation moves in your workouts is okay, but just make sure a majority of the exercise moves in your workout routine are compound exercises.

Final Week Workout Routines:

Week #4 Workout Routines

October Barbell Challenge

Week #4 Workout Routines & Schedule

It’s week four! You should be feeling stronger day-by-day and feeling more cut and slim too! If not, you are either eating too much or too little. Make sure you are getting enough protein daily, watch your macro-nutrient intake ratio (protein vs. fat vs. carbohydrate ratio) and you are drinking plenty of pure filtered water daily too!

Below are the workout routines for week #4. You will notice some new exercises, like chin ups and push ups. I want you to feel how much progress you have made so far (with strength gains) when you do these new exercises.

For example, before you started this barbell challenge, about how many push ups could you do before failure? How hard was it for you to do a push up? This week when you try the push ups, pay attention and be mindful of how many more reps or better form you can hold while doing your push ups.

Also, if you don’t have a means to do chin ups at home (get a chin up bar like this one I use) or just substitute for inverted rows or you can do bent-over barbell rows instead of the chin ups. However, if you can afford it, invest in getting a doorway chin up bar because chin ups are a fantastic exercise move!!!

Week #4 Workout Schedule:

October 20th {Monday}: Upper Body Workout

October 21st {Tuesday}: Cardio Workout

October 22nd {Wednesday}: Lower Body Workout

October 23rd {Thursday}: Upper Body Workout

October 24th {Friday}: Cardio Workout

October 25th {Saturday}: Lower Body Workout

October 26th {Sunday}: Rest Day

Week #4 Workout Routines:

Enjoy your week and have fun with each workout. Pat yourself on the back for making it to week #4!

Take 30 Days & Re-Vamp Your Wellness…weight loss, fitness & well-being!

Alright…it is SUMMER! Today is the first day of summer. So much to look forward to, getting out and about with friends and family, the beach, enjoying the city you live in, taking in what nature has to offer and much more.
We also will be faced with more temptation. You will face temptations at cookouts, there are more gatherings centered around drinking alcohol, people will be indulging in frozen treats and drinks everywhere, like ice cream & pina coladas…you’ll be tempted to skip a workout either because you went out and had a little too much to drink the night before…or the view of the pool is calling you away from your workout shoes…

Enter…the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge. Coming July 1st, 2012. Take the month of July to re-vamp your wellness. Work towards 3 health, fitness & lifestyle goals. This challenge is for you, you will customize it to what you want to get out of 30 days in relation to your health. Be it mental, emotional, physical health and so on. I will provide each RawFitnessChallenger with a template and you will customize it to your individual needs and goals. You can do this challenge from anywhere in the world. If you happen to live in the Baltimore, MD area…you will get the opportunity to take part in my local wellness meetups I hold for this challenge. If you live elsewhere, you can do this challenge on your own…or invite friends/co-workers/family and hold your own meetups…the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community will provide everyone with the workouts, nutrition guidelines, motivation and accountability to keep you going for 30 days! I will explain how you join (free) the interactive community for the RawFitnessChallenge below.

What will the challenge be?

You will do 3-7 workouts per week (depending on your current fitness level and goals). The 30 Day Fitness guidelines will be posted on RawFitnessTV.com blog for you to read, print and post on your refrigerator or somewhere you visit daily.
You will follow ‘clean eating’ practices that include wholefoods that are unrefined and unprocessed for 30 days. The 30 Day Nutritional guidelines will be posted on RawFitnessTV.com blog for you to read, print and post on your refrigerator or somewhere you visit daily.
Each Sunday, I will post the W.O.W. (workout of the week). You can choose to do the W.O.W. or your own workout you design but must log your 3-7 workouts on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board as an accountability factor and to help support others & keep each other motivated as well as provide ideas.
Each Sunday I will share a new M.O.W. (meal of the week) breakfast, lunch & dinner recipe to test out and include in your week’s meal plan. You can choose any ‘clean’ wholefoods, unrefined/unprocessed ingredients and recipes that follow the 30 Day Nutritional guidelines. You are encouraged to post your recipes, success w/avoiding temptations, experience, and questions on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board!
You will join the challenge by posting your commitment on the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board on Facebook. Also you can post on your twitter page (if you have one) and your own facebook wall, as well as email close friends/family so that they are aware and able to empower you and keep you accountable. You must state this on the Facebook Page: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. (State your 3 fitness goals you want to work towards/achieve in 30 days if you feel comfortable doing so)”. Make sure you use the hashtag #RawFitnessChallenge when posting on Twitter so that your post is logged in the twitter RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board!!!!
- Example: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. Lose 5 lbs, go vegan, apply myself at work.”
Email Friends/Co-workers/Family: “I am committing 100% to the 30 Day #RawFitnessChallenge to fuel & condition my mind, body and soul towards optimal wellness. Lose 5 lbs, go vegan, apply myself at work. If you’d like to join me, let me know! Go to RawFitnessTV.com for info on the challenge.”

Where do I find the RawFitnessChallenge interactive community board?

Log on to your facebook account.
‘Like’ Get Fit with RawFitnessChick.
Every time you workout, need motivation, hit a roadblock, have questions about the challenge or need support, eat wholefoods, want to share a recipe, achieve one of your goals or to log the results you’re experiencing…basically, ANYTHING related to the RawFitnessChallenge….YOU WILL compose a new facebook post ON GET FIT WITH RAWFITNESSCHICK’s page – this page will be the interactive community board.
You can also log on to your twitter account. If you don’t have a twitter account you can choose to open an account with twitter, or just log your posts on the ‘Get Fit with RawFitnessChick’ Facebook page.
Once logged onto twitter follow @RawFitnessBmore
Your first tweet will be your ‘commitment’ tweet as explained above.
You can also tweet your questions, motivational quotes/pics, recipes, achievements, experience, workouts on twitter using hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge. You can then do a search on those posting about the #rawfitnesschallenge on twitter and get support and motivation on twitter as well. But the interactive community board is FACEBOOK.
Log on to your pinterest account. If you don’t yet have one, sign up on www.pinterest.com.
‘Follow’ the following boards on ‘RawFitnessChick‘s’ pinterest page: Wellness, Amazing Vegan Desserts, Vegan Meals & Snacks, Raw Delicious Meals & Snacks, Raw Desserts, Exercise, Nutrition (or just follow all my boards if you wish).
These ‘boards’ on pinterest.com will be a good resource for recipes, motivation, and workout ideas!

Your resource for workouts, recipes, nutritional advice and guidelines, motivation and support will be mainly Facebook, RawFitnessTV.com, and pinterest.com AND if you wish to use it, Twitter. If you live in the Baltimore, MD area and want to join in on the wellness meetups…join us on meetup.com or listen for updates on meetups on facebook and twitter!

The 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge will provide you with exercise and nutritional guidelines as well as the support, motivation and accountability needed to stick to the 30 day challenge to empower you to achieve your 3 health & fitness goals. After the 30 days, you will incorporate what you’ve learned and the habits that you’ve maintained into your new life for a healthier and happier new you! Let’s do this together, start preparing now, join the challenge now on twitter and facebook. Get committed early so that you can learn what you’ll need to do for the challenge and when July 1st comes you will be 100% ready to go!

Join us now…#RawFitnessChallenge…make your commitment statement now on twitter and facebook, let it be heard!

30 Day Vegan/Macrobiotic Challenge…the experiment begins!

Don’t judge or come up with an opinion about something until you’ve tried it! This is something I’ve had to remind myself when researching different healthful approaches to nutrition, exercise and lifestyle habits and/or programs.
SO…I’m embarking on 30 day challenge to see how taking a vegan/macrobiotics/whole & unprocessed foods approach to living will affect my energy levels, wellness, physique, lean muscle mass, body fat%, mental functioning, bodily systems/organs, physical fitness levels and so on.

I already consumed products somewhat ‘vegan’ for the better half of my days Monday -Friday. Oatmeal/vegan protein powder for breakfast, smoothie w/vegan protein powder and a salad for lunch, steamed veggies w/eggs or poultry or fish for dinner. So as you can see, for the most part, dinner was where I included animal product. So instead of eggs/poultry/fish/meat, I just needed to eat grains/legumes/beans/nuts/seeds in place of these animal products. Well, there is much more to it than that I found out!

I know that you need to eat a combination of seeds/nuts/beans/legumes/grains throughout the day when not including animal proteins/products in order to get sufficient minerals/vitamins/protein. However, since I do much more strength training than the average person, I really needed to monitor my macro-nutrient intake.

So I wrote down all of my ‘food options’, divided them up into categories (beans/legumes, grains, greens/vegetables, nuts/seeds/healthy fats, ‘superfoods’ & fruits, and ‘seasoning’). ‘WHOLE’ grains like brown rice, quinoa, and amaranth are a main staple for this diet plan. Greens & non-starchy veggies will also play a big role in the 30 Day Challenge. Greens such as kale, spinach, collards, and veggies such as carrots, cauliflower, onions, cucumbers, celery, daikon, and cabbage. Beans/legumes like lentils, chickpeas, adzuki and tofu are about 10% of daily diet. Seeds & nuts such as flax, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, and walnuts as well as healthy fats such as avocados, olive oil, and sesame oil are important as well but used in moderation. My ‘superfoods’ & fruits list consists of prunes, currants, Dulse flakes, dates, cacao powder, apples, wakame seaweed, kombu seaweed and Nori. Finally, ‘seasonings’ used sparingly such as miso paste & miso mayo, apple cider or ume vinegar, tamari, sea salt, dates, cacao powder, and as much fresh herbs as I want like cilantro, mint, parsley, and basil to add flavor to dishes.

Once I compiled a large list, I found out that most things like the grains and beans would need to be soaked and then cooked in a pressure cooker (pressure cooker cuts cooking time down by A LOT). I needed to avoid my processed products that I so dearly love (LOL), such as my protein powders, vitamins/minerals, fiber supplements, and caffeine such as coffee and also avoid using sweeteners as much as possible, also no alcohol. Also, I have to give up my beloved oatmeal for breakfast, but I’m replacing it with quinoa which I love!

I have already started to wean myself off of my coffee habit and incorporate more grains/beans/seeds and less protein powder. I thought I’d feel weak, but instead I’m slowly feeling clearer minded and more like my body is really using every bit of the food I eat to fuel my activities until my next meal. I’m still experimenting with correct daily amounts of grains/seeds/beans/legumes to ensure I have enough protein/calories by the end of the day. Like anything new, you learn as you go!

This 30 Day Challenge for me will be to experiment with ‘whole foods’ to see if my physical fitness levels & lean muscle mass can remain the same or even improve without the use of supplements such as protein powder or vitamin/mineral/other supplements. There are ‘vegan bodybuilders’ out there, so I know it is possible to achieve improvements in lean muscle mass while maintaining low body fat% but…from the vegan’s I’ve researched they did use vegan protein supplements and other supplements. So this will be a testament to see how I do with going completely ‘whole foods’ & as unprocessed as possible.

My Goal: To stick to the rules! This is a 30 Day cleanse/makeover/challenge and in no way do I plan on restricting my diet to this extreme after the 30 days is finished…BUT, I plan on taking a lot of what I learned and implementing it in my nutrition & lifestyle habits post-30 day challenge. Will I stay ‘vegan’? To be completely truthful…I doubt it…nothing personal to any ‘vegans’ but it seems very restricted and I don’t do well with extremes. I do want to lower the impact I have on the planet and the types of products I use to be of no harm to animals…we will see how much ‘veganism/macrobiotic’ I keep with me after the 30 days, how about that?

My other goal: To help you see how veganism/macrobiotic/whole foods/unprocessed foods can make a positive impact on your health and to possibly help others wean themselves off of a highly processed, junk food, red meat, artificial sweeteners/flavor/additives, pesticide/fertilizer/hormone/gmo ridden diet and ‘take a walk on the wild side’ and transition to more whole foods because all-in-all, I think that if your diet includes a majority of whole, unprocessed foods you will improve & experience a higher level of wellness!

Wish me luck & questions/comments/suggestions are appreciated & welcome!

Health & Happiness,

Natty Mac 😉