It’s this chick right here!

Congratulations to Rita, and thank you to EVERYONE who entered. You are ALL a bunch of bad asses!

In the spirit of kicking much booty and putting in the work to claim the body transformation you thirst for, welcome Shaun T’s Insanity Fast And Furious. I partnered with Yahoo! Shine as a Yahoo! Get It Guide Insider to share my thoughts on this 20-minute workout and offer you bad-asses the chance to win it for yourself. (Giveaway at the end of this post.)

I started doing Insanity last year. It’s the workout style I prefer most: high intensity in short time with maximum effort and maximum sweat for maximum results. It works for me. This is how I roll.

Equipment Needed: Your body, bottle of water, towel, mental toughness.

The Warm Up: Even the warm up is a little bit insane, so my advice is to allot 2-3 minutes for your own pre-warm-up time before you pop in the DVD. Because once you do, you’re headed right into a brisk jog in place, and the warm up only goes higher from there. Immediately following the warm up you’ll go into generous stretch that feels Oooo-ahhh-amazing.

Crux of the Workout: Delivering fantastic cueing with constant reminders to “keep good form” and “keep your core tight”, you’re in for one helluva ride, people. If you think 20-minutes is no big deal, just consider the plyometric-palooza that includes moves like high knee jog, moving push-ups, diamond jumps, mountain climbers, burpee push-up jacks, plank holds, and fast football feet, all set to epic rocker music. The fatty parts will begin to melt as you simultaneously build muscle. Your body WILL be changed. Isn’t that what you want?

Shaun T specifically cautions you to stay at your own pace and know your limits, so if you’re worried about not keeping up, just stop that right now. Even Shaun and his workout peeps in the background are taking unscheduled mini-breaks and scraping themselves up off the floor. Then it’s time to s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

This program is NOT for beginners or anyone with troubled knees, ankles, heart problems, whimpy attitude, etc. If you lack mental fortitude, you either need to go get some before doing this program or use Insanity Fast and Furious to start developing mental fortitude right now.

“I’m just a tool to get you to where you need to be. If you don’t wanna go there, that’s on you.” ~ Shaun T

Insanity Fast and Furious is a-buzz on the Yahoo! Shine Get It Guide

The Giveaway: Leave a comment and tell me why you’re bad ass. No, really. I wanna know how you’re pushing daily to achieve your fitness goals.

Your chance to win ends Tuesday, 1/24/12. Winner announced later this week. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited.

Ready? Set. Get Insane!

Congrats to “Tired of Being Broke”. What a fitting name for the $100 Amex gift card winner, courtesy of Kellogg’s FiberPlus. Have fun buying my Christmas present… or no? We are on a first name basis, after all. My first name is Yum. Your first name is Tired. duh

(thank you all so much for participating!)

So which one of you wants to win the $100 AmEx gift card I’m throwing at ya, courtesy of Kellogg’s FiberPlus? Just think of how easily you could Plus Up Your Day with 100 bucks. Here are some fancy suggestions for the winner that might be YOU:

• Indulge in a high-end, $100 professional toenail clipping session.
• Buy 100 of your closest friends an awesome holiday gift from the Dollarmania store.
• Purchase a $100 pre-paid calling card to telephone your long lost uncle in the Bermuda Triangle Islands.

Say what!? You don’t like my suggestions? Then you better get a move on and enter this Giveaway so you can Plus Up Your Day any way you wanna. As for me? I used my $100 AmEx gift card (thank you, Kellogg’s) for a fancy dinner with husband. Then we hit a cozy coffee shop for sipping on the java and chewing on delicious, high calorie desserts. ‘Twas a very lovely evening.

My hungry teeth have been properly sharpened and I am currently working my way through all the boxes pictured above. But this is not my first time at the FiberPlus rodeo. I was a customer before Kellogg’s ever came knocking on Yum Yucky’s door with free food samples. But, err, I do love me some free food.

Newsflash! You need to know that the newest FiberPlus bar variety, Caramel Coconut Fudge (130 calories, 7 sugars, 9 grams fiber), is FREAKING DELICIOUS!! I want another one. Like right now. Although I’m not a fan every single ingredient (boo to the High Fructose Corny-ness), my highly skilled, flavor-loving taste buds declare to you my desire to tote Caramel Coconut Fudge in my purse for a hungry emergency and pack it up for after-lunch dessert.

How To Enter The Giveaway

Show me your fiber-knowledge! To enter for the $100 AmEx gift card, leave a comment telling me what you know, think you know or don’t know at all about fiber. Let’s talk fiber, people.

Read the official giveaway rules. Your chance to win ends Sunday, 12/11/11 at 9pm EST. Winner to be announced by 12/13/11.

Ready? Set. FiberPlus!

Congratulations to Karen and Heather! You both win an EatSmart Precision Digital Bathroom Scale (booyah!) and a Shakology 2-pack sampler!

Thanks so much to EatSmart for being a fantastic sponsor of the Finish What You Started Challenge and for sharing their awesome scale goodies! Check out EatSmart’s full product line  and follow them on Twitter @EatSmartScales. BAM!

(If you’re a Finish What You Started Challenger, this week’s “Finish It Monday” message is hitting your Inbox, so watch for it!)

I love EatSmart. Not only because their Precision Digital Bathroom Scale was part of my journey of healing from scale obsession (yup, it’s a real condition), but it they’re a trusted company run by wonderful people. EatSmart has a full line of bathroom scales, plus kitchen scales and a luggage scale that are all reasonably priced, and include a 2-year warranty.

So before I Get To the Giveaway Part: My Story of (former) Scale Obsession

Obsession with anything is a very unhealthy thing. I could NOT stop weighing myself. At the time I had more than 40 pounds to lose. I was shooting to lose 1-pound per week to get to goal weight. Pretty reasonable, right? But is it normal and reasonable to weigh yourself 3-4 times per day?

I hadn’t yet discovered EatSmart. I was using some other scale at the time. It was heavy and clunky and ugly, but I’d drag that dang thing out, strip completely naked, making sure to have already used the potty (uh-huh) in hopes of the best weight loss reading possible.

If my number was neutral or higher, I’d blame water weight or a sammich that hadn’t fully digested yet. I’d even blame a water-logged head of hair if I was fresh out the shower. If my weight was lower, I’d celebrate, but still find an excuse to hop on the scale many more times that day. At this rate, I was weighing in up to 28 times per week.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this former obsession. It went on like this for close to 2 years before I acknowledged what I had been in deniable about for so long: I was obsessed with the scale. I knew my behavior was not normal. It took many more months before I had the courage to remove the batteries from my scale and stick it in the attic forever. It was sooo liberating to NOT have the ability to weigh in obsessively. After this, about a year passed by and that clunky old scale was still very much out of reach. I was doing okay and continue to drop weight. I could tell from the way my clothes fit.

In December 2010, EatSmart reached out to offer me my 1st scale giveaway. I also received a complimentary scale of my own. This is when I decided that I would not longer hide from any scale by banishing it to the attic. I would take control over my weigh-ins and maintain a healthy relationship with the scale. Keeping an EatSmart around would be the litmus test to show whether or not my old weigh-in habits had truly changed.

So did I go back to obsessing? Well, yes. I did for awhile. I had some ups and downs. It took effort and continued practice in self control over NOT weigh-in with the scale in plain view. But it got easier and easier over time. And now? I only weigh-in about every 1-2 months. Victory!

A major part of my recovery from scale obsession involved having the courage to keep my EatSmart around – not hiding from it. The other part of my healing involved ditching a goal weight and embracing non-scale victories like losing dress sizes, looking sexier in photographs (yeah baby!), making good food choices and simply having a healthy lifestyle mentality, NOT a “weight loss mentality” which very much obsesses over numbers.

There is more to our weight loss journey than the number on the scale. Do NOT use your scale as the absolute law that tells the entire story of your fitness efforts. A lot of people do that and it’s wrong. Instead, use your scale as a partner and tool in your journey. Use it to attest to your progress over longer periods of time.

I’ve lost over 16-pounds since March 2011. My EatSmart scale told me so. And it didn’t involve weighing in every week. I’ve only weighed-in about 5 times since March.

The Giveaway

Two (2) winners will each receive an EatSmart Precision Digital Bathroom Scale courtesy of EatSmart Products (you lucky peeps) AND a Shakeology Sampler 2-pack, courtesy of yours truly.

Required Entry: Leave a comment and tell us all how aim to maintain a healthy relationship with the scale.

*Bonus Entry: Get your booty on over to Twitter and tweet @EatSmart your fitness goals using the hashtag #HappyScale. They’ll been tickled to hear from you and I’ll also be following that hashtag, so join in!

Your chance to win ends Friday, 10/7/11. Winner announced on or before 10/10/11 on the top right sidebar. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited.

Ready? Set. EatSmart!

Calling all crazies! Go on and click the video above for inspiration.

(Special note to FWYS Challengers: Download this week’s Star Chart here to track your progress and earn your bonus stars.)

Well put me in a straight jacket and feed me happy pills! Surely I’ve gone insane in the cranial membrane? If you Like me on Facebook you might already know I’ve been itching to do this, and since it’s Finish It Monday, this Giveaway is reserved for my Finish What You Started Challenge peoples. Is that YOU?

I’ve been in the throes of Insanity for over 3 weeks now. It’s the toughest workout program I’ve even done in my life; much tougher than my beloved Bodyrock.Tv. And although I’m experiencing the fast results Insanity is designed to deliver, I still sometimes question myself (usually in the middle of a workout) with, Why am I doing this?  The discipline factor is also insane. It’s taking a lot for me (mentally) to get up every morning and push myself to do these workouts.

So in the the spirit of finishing what I, myself, have started and will definitely see through to the end, this is what I’m crazy enough to give away right now. One winner gets its all:

• Brand new Insanity 60-day workout program. It comes with 10-DVD’s, Elite Nutrition Plan, Fitness Guide, Workout Calendar and 20-minute Bonus Workout DVD.
• Shakeology 4-pack Sampler Bonanza (because those shakes are dang important with these workouts).

How To Win It All

1) If you’re not already part of the Finish What You Started Challenge, sign up now. You must be part of the Challenge to qualify for this Giveaway prize. But serious people only, okay? No slackers allowed – not unless you’re ready to turn yourself around and make a change.

2)  Leave a comment to show me the stars you earned this past week (I earned 26) and/or share with us all how you’re working to overcoming any urges to quit or slack off in your goals.

Other Stuff To Do (But It’s Not Mandatory To Win the Prize)

1) Like me on Facebook so you can follow my short vlog updates on Insanity.

2) Join me on Team Beachbody to make me your coach. It’s free to join and it’s an awesome resource! Let’s connect there.

Your chance to win ends Wednesday, 8/31/11. Winner announced Monday 9/5/11. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited.

Ready? Set? Go Insane!

UPDATE 7/26/11: Cheryl M. is the winner of this Greedy Giveaway. Go, Cheryl M.! woot woot!

I’m kinda picky about the Greedy Giveaways I do. That’s why you don’t see a gazillion giveaways ’round here liked you used to. There’s two very special reasons I chose to do this Giveaway today – this is why it’s important to me:

1) The “Faith, Hope, Love” bracelet from Just Jewelry was specially designed to support the Plumpy’nut® project. Plumpy’nut® is a ready-to-eat, vitamin enriched nutritional supplement. The organization is providing this supplement malnourished kids (I love to hear this)! Sure, I joke about my Greedy Kids and complain about them drinking up all the milk (Grrr!), but in all seriousness, when I think of ANY child being malnourished, it really breaks my heart.

2) My long-time reader, Cheryl Chamberlain, is a Just Jewelry Consultant and she’s offered the “Faith, Hope, Love” bracelet for the giveaway (thanks, Cher)! I can’t express how much I appreciate all of you, and with such a beautiful bracelet being offered for such an important cause, I couldn’t resist giving a shout out to my awesome reader Cher to support her in this charitable cause to feed malnourished kids.

**If you are interested in purchasing the bracelet, please contact Cheryl through her Just Jewelry website or through her Facebook Page. You can also visit the Just Jewelry by Cheryl Blog!

Now it’s time for YOU to win the bracelet!

.

How To Enter

You will NOT have to jump through earring hopes or swing necklace chains to enter. Just leave a comment by choosing either the word “Faith”, “Hope” or “Love” and tell me what that word means to YOU. I’m so curious to know! And I’m sure all of your comments will be inspiring and give me that warm, tingly feeling inside.

Your chance to win ends Saturday,  7/23/11. One random winner will be selected/announced by 7/25/11 on the top right sidebar and also updated in this post. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited. BOOM!

Update 2/28/11: And the winner is…. 444! Congratulations, girl.

Behold my grocery receipt. I ventured out to buy the greedy family some shrimp, but ended up leaving the store with a bunch of other crap I talked myself into needing (err, like cake mix and Pop Tarts).

I spent $54.85 when I only really meant to get a bag of frozen shrimps.

Doesn’t this happen to us all?

So how about this… I wanna pay for the stuff that YOU talk yourself into needing when all you meant was to buy one or two things.

One (1) winner will gets to grab the money outta my pocket: $54.85 deposited into their Paypal account on Tuesday, March 1st to put towards their greedy grocery expenses.

Will it be you?

Just leave a comment and tell me which of MY favorite grocery store item best suits your fancy:

• Freeze dried antelope oats.
• Processed cow giblets in the bulk box.
• Deep velvet moose cakes (fresh from the bakery department).
• Silky orangutan milk, 1/2 gallon carton.
• All of the above…. or something else not on the list?

Entries from all over the world will be accepted until Sunday, Feb. 27th.

Ready? Set. Grocery shop!

Update 1/23/11: The winners have been chosen! Congrates to grand prize winners, Kelly O-ski, and Shakeology winners JulieMCG, Jari and Dragonmamma. Git it, girls!

The Mob is here, yo! So I’ll skip the mumbo jumbo and get straight to the point. But don’t get real nervous. The Mob isn’t pushing diets. They’re pushing PRIZES, baby! And these prizes are gonna help you reach your fitness goals, so let’s get to it!

Diet Mob Prize Pack: ONE (1) greedy winner will receive these FOUR awesome prizes. Yep, ALL FOUR PRIZES!!!

EatSmart Digital Bathroom Scale: Ohh, how I do NOT like to weigh. I didn’t weigh for close to a year because I was obsessed, weighing in 3 or more times a day (say what!?). Then the EatSmart people got smart and sent me a scale. I like it, people. It has a sharp LCD display and it’s lightweight – way lighter than my expense-azz Tanita scale which I am totally not using anymore. But what about weighing in every 5 seconds like I used to? Nope. I don’t do that anymore. For the first time in all my 9-lives (because I am part feline?), I have a healthy relationship with the scale. I’m loving my EatSmart and YOU could win this thing!

Clean Eating Magazine: It’s a 1-year subscription, people (8 issues). Clean Eating Magazine is da bomb. ‘Nuff said.

Simply Fit Chocolate Chip Cookies: Huh? How can I talk clean eating and cookies in the same breath? Well when you consider that this $13 box of cookies (yep, $8 + 5 shipping) is a powerhouse treat that includes flax, oats, quinoa, barley, amaranth, spelt, sesame and more, of course it’s on my eating list! I buy these cookies and now the winner will get a box, too.

Chocolate Shakeology: Hell yeah! One sample pack of Chocolate Shakeology to riddle the taste buds with joy and help whittle your body to goal weight while improving your health. And if you want to know more about Shakeology, or how to join my team on Beachbody, just email me, yo!

56-second video! Check out ALL the food you’d have to gnaw on to get the nutrition found in one Shakeology shake. Gah! I’m greedy, but not THAT damn greedy. Just gimme the shake instead.

Shakeology Sample Prizes: Three (3) consolation winners will each receive a sample of Chocolate Shakeology to gulp on. ka-BOOM!

Your chance to win ends Monday,  1/17/11. Winner announced by 1/19/11 on the top right sidebar. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited.

Just leave a comment (either stupid, witty, or normal) and you’re entered. Ready? Set? Diet Mob!!!

[photo]