Winter Shape Up 2011
Hi friends!
It’s time……
Welcome to the 2011 Winter Shape Up!
Here’s the dealio:
-For the next 4 weeks (on Monday), I’ll be posting a workout of the week, as well as 7 dinner, lunch and breakfast ideas + 10 snack ideas. After the initial 4 weeks, the entire plan can be repeated so that it’s an 8-week program
-The WSU begins towards the latter end of January, so that when the 8 weeks are over, the sun is just starting to peek its sunny face out. The winter layers come off just as mayjah results have occurred.
–It’s not about weight loss- it’s about strength gain, fat burning and energy boosting 🙂 If you choose to join in the fun, do it sans pressure and adjust anything you need to in order to suit your nutrition and fitness needs.
-Please check with a doc before starting anything new and be SMART- if it hurts, don’t do it!
Eats: As far as eats go, aim to eat 5x day– 3 small meals and two small snacks. As a rule of thumb, try to follow the 3-2-1 principle: 3 parts carbs, 2 parts protein and 1 part healthy fat for each meal.
Smart carbs:
-100% whole wheat bread/pita/pasta (Hodgson’s Mill and Ezekiel products are great)
-sweet potatoes and other starchy veggies like peas, corn, squash
-whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, millet, barley, wheat berries, oats
– beans and legumes
-fruit (raw, canned in its own juice, dried with NO added sugar)
-all veggies
Lean proteins:
-organic deli meat (look at for lower sodium choices)
-fat free or nonfat milk or dairy products (almond or hemp milk is great, too)
-boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs
-extra lean ground beef/ground turkey
-fish: salmon, tilapia, halibut, mahi mahi, tuna, shrimp, crab
-beans and legumes
-eggs and eggs whites
-nut butter (max 2 tbs per day with NO added sugar- ingredients should be nuts and (optional) salt. That’s it)
-dark green leafy veggies (romaine, collards, spinach, kale)
-protein powder (whey, soy, brown rice, hemp)
-nuts and seeds (unsalted)
Healthy fats:
–Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil
-eggs (use the yolk)
-Fish: salmon, tuna, halibut, mahi mahi
-lowfat dairy
-Nuts and seeds: aim for raw, unsalted
-avocados (1/4 avocado is one serving)
Drinks:
-Coffee (with Stevia and fatfree/nonfat milk or vegan milk), unsweetened tea, WATER (8 glasses per day), red wine (5 oz per day) instead of a second snack
Condiments:
–Annie’s ketchup
-mustard
-balsamic vinegar/rice wine vinegar/red wine vinegar
-Salad dressing (make sure to measure and choose ones without weird ingredients– better yet, make your own with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper or balsamic vinegar with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper)
-salsa and hot sauce
-hummus
*Remember, what we look like is 80% nutrition, 10% genetics and 10% exercise.
*To cook, always pan sear, bake, roast or grill with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, organic butter, nonstick spray, coconut oil or canola oil
This week’s meals:
Breakfast
Yogurt of choice (watch the sugar), 1 scoop of protein powder stirred in, berries, 1 T almond butter
Goat cheese and strawberry stuffed French toast
Omelet with veggies, 1 egg, 3 egg whites, salsa, and one piece of toast (or small bowl of oats) on the side
Lunch
Mung bean pasta with cheese sauce (Daiya or goat cheese, almond milk to thin it out, nutritional yeast and a little lemon juice) + salad
Salad beast with any veggie under the sun, shrimp + a piece of fruit
Smoked salmon sandwich with a salad or some soup
Chicken and vegetable pho with brown rice noodles, seaweed salad
Greek style quinoa (quinoa with cheese of choice, chickpeas, kalamata olives, tomatoes, bell pepper, mint, parsley, oregano, sea salt and pepper)
Quesadilla with salsa and fajita-style veggies
Smoothie (1 C milk of choice, 1 serving protein, frozen fruit, stevia) + salad beast
Dinner
Dijon salmon, mashed sweet potatoes and wilted spinach
Chicken Pita with tzatziki sauce (yogurt of choice blended with a few slices of cucumber, parsley, mint) + Greek salad
Fish tacos with baked tilapia, soft corn tortillas, salsa, black beans and veggies
Curried cauliflower with veggies, with fish or cheese of choice
Snacks
Organic turkey slices with cream cheese, veggies
Hummus with fresh chopped veggies
Larabar
Apple with 1-2 T almond butter
Baked vegetable “chips” with salsa
Omelet (1 egg, spinach, cheese of choice)
Small smoothie (1 C milk of choice, 1 scoop protein)
Fruit salad
Green juice (homemade or from the juice bar)
Yogurt and berries
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WOW (Workout of the Week!):
This week’s workout is meant to be done circuit style, with little to no rest in between sets. You’ll do 12-15 reps of one exercise, go to the next exercise (12-15) and then repeat #1. You’ll do this 1-2 more times (for 2-3 sets total of each exercise). Each exercise in one circuit will be completed 2-3 times, then the cardio blast, and you’ll move on to the next circuit.
Complete this workout 3x this week, on non-consecutive days. On the days you don’t circuit train, do some cardio (spin, run, take a fun class) or active recovery. Make sure to give your body at least one day of active rest each week (walking the dog, easy yoga, nothing too strenuous).
*The entire workout should take an hour. Feel free to split it up (circuits in the morning, HIIT training at night).
*ALL of these can be done at home, with some dumbbells, resistance bands or water bottles. No excuses, play like a champion 😉
Warm up: Cardio of choice, 5-7 minutes
Circuit 1:
1. Plie Squat and Bicep Curl combo
2. Bent over row kickback (12-15 on each side)
*Cardio blast: Jog in place 1 minute, burpees 1 minute, mountain climbers 1 minute, plank 1 minute
Circuit 2:
2. T-push-ups
*Cardio blast: Jump rope (or fake jump rope) 1 minute, jumping lunges 1 minutes, pulsing squats 1 minute (squeeze your booty!)
Circuit 3:
1. Calf raise and overhead press
2. V-ups
HIIT workout: 15-20 minutes (Alternating 1 minute 30 seconds easy peasy with 30 seconds balls to the wall intensity. You can do this by either sprinting or adding in incline for tough hills during the intervals)
Cool down, stretch.
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So are you joining in the fun?
You know I’m cheering for you! Each time you complete the workout, please leave a comment on this post so we can support each other and I love to hear your feedback 😀
Happy training!
xoxo
Gina
206 Comments
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I’ve totally been neglecting the strength training so I was STOKED to see this workout. I did it today. But I think I messed up — did circuit 1, cardio blast, circuit 2, cardio blast, circuit 3, THEN repeated the whole thing… though I guess I got in a bit of extra cardio!
Thanks for your amazing workout…
So far I am loving this! I used the moves from the circut in a Group Strength class I teach and it was tough! Even for me the instructor! I shared with my class that it was challenging for me too and it was good that we were shaking things up a bit. When it was all over they all said they liked it! (I wonder what they are saying today 🙂 ) I liked it so much I’m thinking about doing it on my own tomorrow. Thanks for the great ideas!
Do you have any shoe recommendations? I am super hard on wearing out the insole under the ball of my foot, probably cause I love elliptical so much. I’m tired of the insides blowing out so fast! Thanks for any suggestions. ~Tina
i always roll with asics- they’re my fave 🙂
Did all three workouts this week (weights in my tiny dorm room! then walked over to the gym for the HIIT.) Thanks for making it so accessible!!
Got my WSU workout in today. yayaya!! Feeling GOOD!!!
way to rock it out!
Did the workout again today (3rd time all together for the circuit ish part) Still have cardio to do tomorrow, had to adjust the consecutive days thing to make it work for me this week! I actually had my boyfriend do the workout with me today hahah I think he underestimated it. I was feeling a little smug when I looked over and he stopped halfway through our first set of v-ups…(mind you he is on scholarship for d-2 lacrosse hehehe 🙂 ) I love the shapeup so far, can’t wait to see what you bring to the table Monday!
Got one last workout in before the new one comes out. Love the WSU so far cant wait for the next workout.
W1D3 complete! Looking forward to seeing what the next week will be like.
Wahooo!!! Love, love this! I used the Turbo Fire HIIT 20 for my HIIT part. I feel awesome right now! I’m going to Marshalls! =)
Just finished my 3rd time… it’s a killer but thank you so much for these workouts.
I did the Week 2 workout last night and am soooo loving it! I want to try and get about an hour in at the gym tomorrow so I was thinking of *attempting* to do the whole routine twice. Any suggestions? Think I’ll survive? hehehehe 🙂 I’ll keep you posted! As always, THANK YOU!!!
I am sooooo under the weather this week, so I decided to give my body a rest and pick back up on Monday. I’ll be a week behind everyone else, but I’m going to stick with it regardless!
Just finished my first time of week1. WOW!!! It’s a killer but I really liked it. I made some modifications because of my knees (no jumping lunges for me) but otherwise it was great and felt my muscles work!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH
I did this workout while snowed in yesterday and it was awesome- those cardio blasts really make you work. Please keep these coming!
Holy Guacamole! I just completed the first workout (I know I am behind!) but I just wanted to say thank you for posting this! I cannot wait to try the other workouts!
Oh my gosh! Just finished Week 2 Day 1 and I’m sweating buckets over here. Just wanted to thank you for your awesome job creating these workouts. 🙂 I’m loving it.
thank you!! so glad you’re having fun 🙂 keep up the amazing work!
I did the week 3 workout last night. Wow. What a humbling experience that was! Looking forward to hitting it again tomorrow. My goal: Do all three minutes of push-ups. Whew! 🙂 Thanks again!!!
I am just now starting the workout, and as I am typing this, I am drenched in sweat. In a good way, of course! I can’t wait to keep through with the workout (I plan on doing it for eight weeks; I live in Los Angeles, and have to keep up the good bod!) Once I complete a full round of four weeks, I hope to see some awesome changes! Thanks for a fun workout!
so awesome- keep me updated on how it goes!
Hi Gina!! I recently ran across your blog via another blog. Im not gonna lie, Im OBSESSED!! I love this blog. I have been doing the exercises and have just finished up WSU 2011 week one. Week 2 starts Tuesday (Im also training for a 10 mile run on my non circuit days). I have done quite a few of the other workouts as well. Thanks to you, I have tried almond milk (love it), goat cheese (delish), as well as some other things on here. Keep it up girl….you are awesome. BTW, will you be adding more exercises?
yes i’ll definitely be adding more!
so glad you’re enjoying them 🙂
keep up the amazing work and thanks so much for saying hi
Hi Gina!!
I decided to start the winter shape up plan BEFORE the winter time!
I must say that Week 1 kicked my behind today!! I loved the cardio bursts and then the HIIT at the end of the workout!
Any more tips for Abs/Mid section? I’ve done your ab burners and such, but I’m looking for INTENSE!
🙂
Bridget