Saundra

Weight Watchers Smart Ones Anytime Selections have been adding a greater variety in their low calorie meals. One new entry are their smart mini wraps. The wraps come in two flavors: Chicken Ranchero Smart Mini Wrap and Chicken & Mushroom Florentine Smart Mini Wrap . I have tried both flavors and I have to say while I loved the Chicken Ranchero flavor, I didn't care for the Chicken & Mushroom Florentine flavor at all. I had my boyfriend try the Chicken & Mushroom Florentine flavor and he loved it. Both flavors clock in at 4 points per serving. One serving is two mini wraps. Each box comes with 4 mini wraps. So there are two servings per package. I think the mini wraps are an excellent addition to the Smart Ones line up. 4 stars out of 5.

Jiggle Free Arms is a 30 minute workout led by Stephanie Huckabee. The workout uses the TransFIRMer and it alternates upper body exercises with aerobics for an interval style workouts. The sculpting sets are much shorter in Jiggle Free Arms than there were in Jiggle Free Buns, but then there are more of them. All 5 muscle groups are hit in some faction. The sequencing and the exercises do allow you to go heavy with this workout. Jiggle Free Arms is also a workout that gets in and gets out. Stephanie is an extremely good at cuing and she is very easy to follow. Again, you are using the TransFIRMer in a variety of position. Moving the TransFIRMer in and out of the workout space can be a workout in and of itself. I was very very please that the FIRM put this DVD out. So often you just see the industry coming out with separate lower body workouts but no upper body workouts. I swear I think for every upper body workout that is out there, there is 4 lower body workouts. 3 1/2 stars...

Jiggle Free Buns is a 30 minute lower body workout led by Pam Cauthen Merriweather. It alternates cardio breaks with sculpting breaks and it is one of six workouts that features the TransFIRMer step apparatus. I really like the TransFIRMer workouts and I like Jiggle Free Buns. It is a nice get in and get out lower body workout. You can go heavy on the sculpting sets and you can jack up the intensity in the cardio segments as needed. The cardio combinations are easy to learn and there is a slight repetitive feel to them. Because the moves are so simple, you can really work the move. The TransFIRMer is used in a variety of position and while I like the TransFIRMer it is a bulky piece of equipment and it can be cumbersome to move. 3 1/2 stars out of 5

July Rotation Notes: Friday is active recovery day. This day is most stretch and/or yoga type workouts. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I will be doing two workouts a day - energy permitting. Along with being a core day, Sunday is also an outside run day of 3 miles. I am hoping for minimum humidity on those days. The sequence for the morning schedule is: Core Lower Body Upper Body Cardio (Treadmill) Total Body Stretch Cardio & Weights Evening sessions are essentially all cardio.

Okay. I have jump on the Turbo Fire bandwagon. My system arrive last week and I have previewed all of the workouts. I revise my July rotation to include the Turbo Fire workouts. Most of the Turbo Fire workouts I will be doing as evening workouts but I might changed them to morning workouts. I am still trying to decide when I will have the most energy to give the workouts my all. My July rotation starts Sunday June 27. My first Turbo workout will be an evening workout Tuesday June 29. Let the Fire Begin........

MM10 Power - Accelerate Metabolism is one of three DVDs in the Montenegro Method series and is lead by Marta Montenegro. The DVD contains 4 athletic style sports influence workouts. The workouts boast 10 exercises in 10 minutes. None of the workouts are 10 minutes. All the workouts clock in at between 12 and 14 minutes. This usually annoys me - when the makers (i.e. producers, instructor, lead) can't tell time but in the case of Marta's workouts I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt. What Marta is doing is actually giving you 10 exercises and each exercise you do for 1 minute or if you have two sides - 30 seconds per side. Accounting for all the transition between the exercises is why the workout goes longer than 10 minutes. All the workouts use weights/dumbbells except for workout 4. Workout 4 was my favorite section, followed by workout 3. The 4 workouts would make good add on workouts. I only felt I got a warm up in workouts 3 and 4. Mostly though all 4 workouts j...

Mmmm .... over all not bad. I enjoyed 20 minutes of Reach Further . 10 minutes I didn't care for or rather I didn't like it as much as the other segments. This workout is part of Tracie Long Fitness focus series and Tracie states it is the 4th workout in the series - which I guess really only means something if you happen to own all 4 workouts. Reach Further, like all the Focus workouts are broken down into three chapters. Chapter 1, I would label as flowing yoga. It moves at a brisk space and you are getting in and out moves quickly. Surprisingly this was one of the sections I enjoyed. I usually don't care for this type of yoga. Chapter 2 is core/ab work. About 1/2 of this section is plank work and the other half is traditional ab work. This was my least favorite section - not because it isn't challenging, more because I felt it out of place in this workout. This would be a good section to add on an ab/core day. Chapter 3 I would say is about balance and stabili...