Hey teamRIPPED!
Whew! I’m back in the good ‘ole USA! …. for a week!!! The first phase of the adoption trip ended up taking 3 weeks in Ukraine. Everything went great with the adoption, and seeing our son was awesome! We got to spend a lot of time with him. The government does NOT make the process smooth, quick, or easy though. But it’s SO WORTH IT!!
I’ve got to admit, being gone from my home, my workout equipment, and my usual schedule has wreaked havoc on my Body Beast calendar. I just don’t feel like I can truly BEAST UP with bands, no pullup bar, etc. So what I am going to do is start over, Day 1 of a new Body Beast round, when I’m back home after the second Ukraine trip. I’ve done a fine job of maintaining my fitness with smart eating (lots of local produce, fruits and veggies, oats, lean meats, and of course my Shakeology which I take everywhere). And I’ve been doing P90X workouts with bands to maintain my strength level. I feel like I’d have to modify too much to do Beast or X2 workouts without equipment, so I’ve decided to put those on hold for now. In all, by the start of September, I will have been gone for 6 out of the last 7 weeks. Adoptions aren’t easy!!! But they are worth it! And I’ll be chomping at the bit to get back to a full, uninterrupted 90 days of the Beast workouts. I love ’em!
And in these few days of being back at home with my weights, I am BEASTING UP with the build workouts. What a pump! Loving it.
I know the rest of our teamRIPPED BEASTS (all 400 of them!!!) are rocking it, cuz I check the group FB page every day. I miss not being able to stay on the same schedule. But for anyone who didn’t jump on the Beast bandwagon initially, if you want to start up in early September, I’ll be doing the same. You are more than welcome to come join our teamRIPPED BEASTS and Beast Up along with me for the months of September, October, and November! Whatever it takes! Find our FB group HERE.
And if you are planning to start Beast soon, you might be interested in getting a Challenge Pack bundle that includes the workouts and the supplements at a reduced price. In fact, there are several new Challenge Packs available through TeamBeachbody that I recently linked in the “Challenge Pack” tab above. These are a great savings for people looking to get a workout program and Shakeology as a bundle, so check it out!
More about the new Chocolate Shakeology =
Here’s the verdict —
The look = The new chocolate is more pale than the original chocolate, which was quite dark in color. It looks more like the tropical when comparing the color and texture (light and fluffy — not as dense). This is most likely due to the plant protein used in the new superfood chocolate formula, as well as the new superfood formula having less cocoa powder in it.
The smell = The new superfood chocolate is definitely lacking the rich chocolate smell you get when you open the old bag. It smells more like the vegan chocolate. (So thus far in the comparison, the new superfood chocolate seems a heck of a lot like the vegan chocolate in look, feel, and smell).
The taste = Honestly this is what I care about most. How does it taste? I compared all three, at the same time, with 7 mouths doing the testing. There was definitely a difference in flavor. Every one of us noticed the difference. But it wasn’t necessarily a “bad taste” (I was expecting it to taste bad after hearing the negative reviews on message boards). The kids all liked it too. They said the original chocolate was still their favorite, but that they also liked the other 2 a lot (the new chocolate and the vegan chocolate). I’d say the new superfood chocolate flavor is in between the taste of the original and the vegan (which makes sense, since the new formulation of regular chocolate has a lot in common with the vegan chocolate).
So in the end, I highly expect that people who never tried the original formula will love the new formulation, and those who aren’t crazy about the new flavor right now will start to really like it as they get used to it (less sweet, less “chocolate” than the original, but more like the vegan). However, I would personally prefer the regular chocolate to be more like it was originally, with only whey protein and not the plant proteins. If someone wants a vegan formulation, they can order the vegan. For those who don’t, I would like to see them have that option, along with the flavor benefits that come with it. And from what I’m hearing, BB is working on the new superfood Chocolate flavor to bring out a more chocolate-y taste so the story isn’t over yet. They ARE listening to everyone’s feedback, and their goal is to give us the healthiest meal of the day (first and foremost), yet also give us something that tastes GREAT.
So if you are one of the folks who don’t like this change in taste, don’t get frustrated. Beachbody wants to give us the very best nutrition, but taste is important too. They have learned a lot from the vegan formulation, and they wanted to increase the superfoods in the original. It’s led to these changes. But it’s a work in process, and Beachbody never settles for less than the best.
Creatine studies: And finally, this cool news about creatine was shared with me, and I thought I’d pass it on because I found it quite interesting and encouraging. There may be more benefits from creatine than just helping our muscles get stronger =
And 2 favors that I ask:
1) If you like the hard work I put into writing my articles and videos, PLEASE help me out by sharing them. Click the share links below them and share them on FB, twitter, etc. It really helps me get more exposure and grow teamRIPPED!
2) Also, as always, remember that the way I benefit from being your coach is that I earn a commission from any Beachbody products that you purchase, as long as you buy them through my site, www.teamRIPPED.com, or by logging in to www.teambeachbody.com to do your shopping (If you buy from the plain beachbody site I get no credit). It helps with the amount of time I spend answering all your questions and helping you out. Thank you! I really appreciate it!
Keep bringing it and inspiring others to do the same gang!!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
