Ok, so I totally failed at the weekly Hammer & Chisel updates but that doesn't mean I fell off the wagon! I am still here, going strong! I have just been busy and so the blogging was put on the back burner!

Week 7 starts tomorrow. Yep, we have 14 days left! It really went by faster than I expected and after I got over that initial hump (the first few days are ALWAYS the hardest, they suck really), I realized I would survive without wine or ice cream for 60 days. I just had to remind myself that I have goals I am trying to reach and those goals are more important than a bowl full of delicious Ben & Jerry's, The Tonight Dough (If you haven't tried it, you should. Now). Or the Samoas that are still sitting in my bottom drawer of my freezer, seriously, how the hell have I avoided those this long?!

Since we leave town a week after we complete this program and I know I will be busy, I wanted to give you my two cents on it now.

1. What is this program about and does it work?

Hammer and Chisel is a 60 day program built on 3 key areas: Stabilization, strength and power.
The benefits of this program are a strong, chiseled, defined body, improved strength, power, cardiovascular endurance, balance, and agility, definition that you might not have been able to achieve before. and the flexibility to lean out, sculpt and maintain what you have, or build muscle, depending on your unique goals.

And hell yes it works! Coming from someone who did a full 60 days with shitty nutrition then did it again and kept my nutrition on track, I can tell you that nutrition is KEY in combination with these workouts. Do I know better? Yes. Should I have had my nutrition in check the first time around? Yes. But I am human and I wasn't in it, I was having mindset issues which caused me to not really believe in my ability to do this program and succeed therefore I turned to food. But not this time! I went into it with the right mindset. And so far I have proved to myself that with the right mindset anything is possible!

2. Food brackets!

Make sure you are in the right food bracket! This can make or break your results. I opted from day 1 to do the 2nd bracket even though my calculations tell me to do the 1st. Why? Because I have done the 1st bracket for 21 Day Fix a few times and hit a plateau but when I moved to the 2nd bracket, I started getting results again. Sometimes it is necessary at some point to increase your food intake to continue to see results so I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to have that happen. Now, that being said, for these last 2 weeks, I am going back to bracket 1 because I can tell that my body is ready for the lower calorie bracket. Plus we have a cruise in 3 weeks, I need to buckle down a bit.

3. What equipment will you need?

I opted to go all out and get the bench. However you can use a stability ball. If you go for the bench, it needs to be super sturdy. Our first bench was cheaper in price and it was VERY wobbly during some of the workouts which is not safe at all so we decided to return those and splurge on some more quality benches. We have definitely gotten our monies worth so far....

You will need weights and as you go along, you will likely need heavier weights because your strength will increase and in order to keep seeing results, you need to make sure you are upping the weights!

A chin up bar/pull up bar or a resistance band with a door attachment is also a must. We workout in our basement so my husband built us each a chin up bar that is mounted to our floor joist and since I can't use the bar just yet, I have the band attachment that I have on my bar to modify my chin ups and pull ups. It works great.

What if you don't want to buy the equipment to do the workouts at home? That is ok, you can stream them from our Beachbody on Demand app and do them from the gym! Problem solved.

Last but not least, get yourself an accountability partner. I can't tell you how much easier it made it when the alarm went off every morning at 5am knowing that my husband was getting up to workout with me! We have kept each other on track with not only our workouts but our nutrition. If you don't have someone to be your accountability partner, that is ok, message me, you can join one of my groups for extra support.

4. Schedule your workouts.

You schedule your meetings at work, right? Your nail appointment? Hair appointment? Well the same thing should be implemented in your life when it comes to your workouts, after all, you don't bail on your meetings with your boss, right? When you have a workout on your calendar and have set aside a block of time, you are less likely to skip it.

We like to get our workouts done first thing in the morning. The kids are asleep, it doesn't cut into our daily routine and we get it done and out of the way. It is nice to get up, drink my energize and get my workout done, sometimes even a shower in before the kids are even up for the day. Everyone is different, you have to do what is best for you but I know that if I don't get up and get it done, I will find EVERY excuse in the book as to why I don't have time later in the day. :)

5. Performance Line...do I need it?

Yes and no. Let's just say it is up to you and the results you are wanting to achieve. I used the Energize and Recover for the 1st round but still had some soreness that kept me from really pushing the next day and I was also not hydrating myself properly in my workouts. This 2nd round I have used a pre workout, a hydrate drink for during, a post workout and a shake before bed to help with muscle recovery while I sleep. I have definitely been able to push myself harder in these workouts than the last round and I can feel a difference each day when I wake up, like, I don't know, I am able to walk. ;) I even had a week where I did two workouts a day, seriously on somedays I should have been in serious pain but I know that my recover and recharge helped me!

6. Meal prep!

Planning and preparation are key. Pick a day each week that you will spend a couple of hours, shopping and prepping meals. I have decided over the past few weeks to keep our meal plan pretty consistent from week to week, it has been easier on us and helped us to stay on track...did you know that is a trick of most trainers or athletes? They keep their meals each day pretty much the same because they are healthy, taste good and it keeps them on track. I make the same basic proteins each week, shredded chicken, turkey taco meat, turkey meatballs and extra lean burgers. Then on the weekends, we add in a meal that doesn't involve those proteins like approved homemade pizzas or flank steak, shrimp, etc.

When I grocery shop, I stick to the basics. Meats and veggies. Of course, I get the kids the food they need as well but I don't keep extra crap laying around the house that will tempt us. I also save money this way, so it is nice! I mean, I rarely shop anything but the perimeter of the grocery store and we haven't had a meal out in weeks (so rare for us foodies).

Here is a small glimpse into our meals and prep over the last 6 weeks. You think you could handle some of those meals? They don't disappoint. ;)

Bottom line, this program is going to push you. It is going to make you step outside of your comfort zone so you can do things you didn't know were possible. There were days I wanted to quit, I wanted a bite of my kids food or I wanted to skip a workout because my bed sounded way more comfy than my basement but I did it anyways. I knew that I needed to do it for me. I went into this with the mindset of "I can" and giving up was not an option. From day 1 my goal has been to prove to myself that I can do this and I knew quitting would only mean letting myself down which wasn't part of my plan. And I know 14 days from now when we have completed this program, I am going to be proud of myself because I did it. The girl who has always quit. The girl who was SUPER impressed when she made it through 21 Day Fix a couple of times without cheating or quitting finally caved and did a program that was 60 days even though I was scared as shit to fail. <3

If you ever want more info about this program or others, I would love to give you more info so you can participate with me! I offer:
-support
-accountability
-meal plan ideas
-recipes
-tips
-daily coaching
-a free shirt or other schwag depending on the program
-a chance to win $500 (What?!? Yeah, awesome, right?)
Contact me or send me an email for more information: ashley.molitor@gmail.com

My next group starts April 18th, don't miss out!