Hello everyone!
I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted. I’ve been really busy! Sometimes I feel like maintaining a home is like a second job. When I get home from work there’s always something to do. Whether it’s dinner to cook, dishes to wash, laundry to do, etc. And then you know, I need my laying around time as well 😉
I wanted to write a review on something I’ve been passionate about for about a year now. I’ve mentioned it in my posts before, it’s a nutrition plan and workout schedule called Tone it Up!
I discovered Tone It Up a little over a year ago. It’s an amazing organization by two girls who are real life best friends and personal trainers (Karena and Katrina). To get started with the program is free. Just sign up on their website! They post a weekly workout schedule on their websites with both printable and video workouts also for FREE. Their actual nutrition plan is a little bit pricey. It’s $150 but they do have a payment plan option. I did Tone It Up for a few months without purchasing the Nutrition Plan. They post so many free recipes on their website I didn’t feel the need to! The jist of the nutrition plan is pretty simple. Do 20-30 min of cardio first thing in the morning to get your blood pumping. Then do a toning routine (which they post in the weekly schedule) in the evening! Their workouts are amazing! For food it’s pretty simple, eat clean. There are many other rules and regulations to it that I won’t spoil (you’ll have to buy the plan!), such as, they suggest you eat all your fruit and carbs in the morning, and keep it lean and green after lunch! You eat 5 meals a day on this plan so you are NOT hungry! I love it!
After I got engaged I purchased the actual Nutrition Plan and loved it! The recipes are out of this world and it really breaks down the types of things you should be eating and when. I learned so much about food and nutrition by studying this plan! Money well spent. Tone It Up helped me get in great shape for my wedding.
After the wedding I went a little nuts. I had been SO good in the 6 months leading up to it, that I wanted to let loose a little bit with my diet and exercise. Which was a bad call. Now I’m back where I started before the wedding and I am not happy about that. Luckily, I decided I wanted to get back in shape just in time for the 2014 Bikini Series! Tone it Up does lots of different series throughout the year, but the Bikini Series is their most popular. It goes from the end of April until the first day of Summer (June 21st). It’s 8 weeks of following the plan and their weekly workout schedule to help you get in the best shape for summer. I’m loving it so far. There are all these challenges, amazing workouts, and fun new recipes! To join the bikini series is FREE and it’s not too late! There’s still 6 weeks left!
One of the huge perks about the Bikini Series is the community. They encourage you to set up a separate Instagram or Twitter account to “check-in” with your trainers and the other girls involved in this years Bikini Series. You post pictures of all your food and workouts to hold each other accountable! It’s great! I’ve received support and encouragement from so many wonderful women on the same journey as me! I’ve even connected with some other girls on the TIU plan that live in the denver area. To see what I’m talking about you can check out my TIU account (@tiu_katiebrown) or just look under the hashtag #bikiniseries. You will see some awesome recipes and workouts! Here are some of the things I’ve been up to
M1, M2, M3, M4, etc stands for Meal 1, 2, 3 etc.
X2 means I did that workout two times through
I use the app Beautiful Mess to edit my photos! It’s awesome!
The pancake from my M1 is Tone it Up approved! Yes, you can have pancakes! These are both dairy-less and flour-less, super healthy and good for you! (and yes, they actually taste good!) You can find the recipe here: http://toneitup.com/2011/06/protein-pancakes-tone-it-up/
The Bikini Body routine is killer! Find it here:
http://toneitup.com/2014/05/week-3-bikini-series-schedule/
I have a protein shake for my M2 almost everyday. They’re amazing! (Turkey bacon is also TIU approved, which I LOVE)
They encourage you to do what they call a “Meal Prep Sunday” when you get all your food ready for the week! I even got Kurtis in on it and prepped baggies filled with healthy snacks for him to take to work. His bags have Cliff Bars, Slim Jims, 100 calorie packets of almonds, some have dried apricots, wasabi peas, or dairy-free, gluten free oatmeal cookies (Trader Joes).
Air popped popcorn is one of my favorite snacks! Popcorn is actually really good for you when it’s not drowned in oil and butter! Some of my favorites are Boom Chicka Pop (sea salted or kettle corn) which you can find at Sprouts, or Herbs and Spice popcorn and olive oil popcorn, found at Trader Joes.
For Cinco De Mayo they released a healthy taco recipe called bikini bite tacos, and a healthy margarita recipe called beach babe margaritas. I made both! (I added fresh watermelon juice from out juicer to the margaritas and they were extra delicious)
Find the recipes here:
http://toneitup.com/2014/05/bikini-bites-tacos-margaritas/
Kurtis and I started making our own fresh juices to use in our protein smoothies and fell in love. He especially loves watermelon juice and I love fresh squeezed orange juice!
All of these pictures are from my Instagram @tiu_katiebrown.
If you are interested in anything I posted above it can ALL be found at http://toneitup.com/ ! You can also follow them on Insta @karenakatrina and @toneitup. Check them out I promise you won’t regret it! You will feel amazing and still be able to enjoy food. Remember, it’s free to join and the bikini series is still going on! Oh, and did I mention there are prizes? There are winners each week getting goodies from checking in! And the grand prize winners win a trip to anywhere in the world with their girlfriends! Just for joining! Check it out, you won’t regret it.
xoxo.