I don’t do magical weight loss powders or pills. For the most part, I believe in whole foods, regular exercise and occasional indulgences without overthinking or self-loathing. It’s not good for your mental health to fixate on your shortcomings (and please, please stop openly complaining about how disgusting and fat you are, unless you want the rest of us to start thinking it’s true).
But – I’m sure many of you identify with this – my post-Christmas period is a bit different. It’s a time for reflection on all the crap that I ate without restraint: the trifle, the restaurant meals, the gigantic artisan chocolate bar I didn’t even like…I’ve come around the bend, arrived at the crossroads of Feeding Ave and Fed Up Street. Cake? Blech! You may as well be offering me a boiled boar’s head.
So if, like me, you’re looking to atone for your sins, here’s something I’ve recently tried: The Stratusphere Yoga DVD.
Trish Stratus is a fellow Canadian and a WWE wrestling champion. She is also the owner of Stratusphere, a yoga studio near where I live in Vaughan, Ontario.
The thing that actually brought this to my attention is the Fit Gloves that Trish uses in the DVD. I think this is a really cool idea to increase the toning in your arms while you practise yoga. They each weigh a pound, and you’ll feel them when you’re holding your warrior pose.
The DVD itself is fast-paced and incorporates non-yoga moves like bicep curls and moving lunges. It’s broken down into five 10-minute segments which you can mix and match:
- lean legs & glutes
- toned biceps & triceps
- sculpted shoulders & calves
- defined chest & back
- tight abs & core
In my opinion, this is not for absolute beginners. I find it quite challenging, especially the abs & core portion. Billy probably thinks I’ve gone into phantom-pregnancy childbirth, judging by the sounds I make as I try to get through the 7th plank.
The only thing that’s missing is a warm up – you’ll have to do your own. I feel like the DVD launches into a hardcore workout too fast.
Another reason I’ve decided to post this now is to tell you about the 30 day challenge that Trish is running this month (you have to start by January 24). It includes a nutrition guide, workout plan and a nuTRISHon journal (oh they do love their puns at the Stratusphere). I’ve perused it, and I must say it looks very realistic. The diet is based on whole foods and encourages a “cheat meal” every week. There’s even a checkbox on your journal that says “poop?” which made me laugh. How often do you see that second “p” in action?
There are prizes to be won and there is community support on Twitter (#stratusphereliving), though if you tweet during your plank for sympathy, you’ll probably just make it harder for yourself.
I’m not officially doing it because of my blog-related food commitments, but I did pay the $4.99 to get the nutrition/workout guides and I intend to use it for inspiration to clean up my act a bit. You can get the whole shebang (fit gloves, DVD, journal, literature) for $39.99, which is a helluva lot cheaper than a bootcamp or gym membership.
Have you launched into a New Years fitness/diet routine? Tell me about it!
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Hello, my name is Alejandra
I’ve been a fan of Trish’s since I was a kid, watching her kick ass in the ring was amazing! As soon as I found out she released the Stratusphere DVD i was stoked, my brother bought for me as my birthday gift (best gift ever) anyway enough blabbing haha.. So I have been using the fit gloves and DVD for about 2 months now and it has been working amazing for me however I have a question I’m hoping you may know the answer to because I can’t find one anywhere! ..can you hand wash or in any way clean the fitness gloves?
Thank you so much doll!
Alejandra (Alex)
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