Getting EXTREME with Chalean Extreme

As I mentioned before, I'm on a diet deadline. Kind of.

I decided I have to just shape up and do whatever I can before my big trip in September. At first I had a number in mind - might have been do-able, but most likely not. So I'm taking a sane approach since my time is limited. I'm thinking long term, with a milestone to shoot for.

To refresh you on the saga so far, I started Nutrisystem again about 5 weeks ago. I'm just getting to the point where I can not take the taste of their food anymore. Which is good, because I need to reevaluate how I'm eating - thanks to Chalene Johnson & her ChaLEAN Extreme program.

ChaLEAN Extreme is a pretty intense exercise video series from the TurboJam creator (another old fave). It's a 90 day program, where you basically do a different workout every day of the week. It's broken up into 3 phases to further mix things up. Burn, Push, Lean. So you have 4 weeks of each workout circuit, then you move on to a new set of exercises.

For those of you familiar with the world of infomercial exercise programs, this is kind of like P90X light. Workouts happen 5 times a week, and are about 35 min long (so far). Don't worry though, your heart rate goes up, and you WILL sweat. There is cardio though. It shakes out as 3 days resistance and 2 days cardio each week.

I'm in Burn phase now, about to finish up my 2nd week. I feel great, I look better, but the scale has eeked up a bit. Not exactly the results I'm looking for.

This is what's spurred me to reevaluate my eating. I thought Nutrisystem would help control things, but I may not be getting enough food to make this extreme thing go according to plan. Some days I barely get 1,000 calories of NS food + grocery items. Not sure that's the best way to fuel my body for intense workouts. My body is loving the workouts, and it shows, so I think NS is getting the shaft.

More on ChaLEAN Extreme to come...stay tuned!