Cat Does Insanity While Fighting Rats

From Facebook, as posted by my cousin.  No, I don't know where she found it, but it's not my picture.

Okay, the saying on this picture is cute and funny, but that's not why I decided to make a post about it.

That damn cat is doing a hip flexor stretch!!!

You know the stretches you do right after the warm-up and you go into hip flexor then you put your arm up in the air?  He's doing that.  He's even got one of his back feet a little more forward than the other. 

Totally doing Insanity.

Now I realize I'm showing a bit more of my dorkiness by blogging about a CAT PICTURE, but ... you know if you saw it first you totally would have done it.  I wonder if the fuzz bucket up there can do any others moves.  This could tap into a HUGE feline movement to get fit.  Think of all those felines out there who are over weight and can't chase their toys or tails anymore.  This cat is their poster child.  He's working out AND making a joke AND ridding the world of tiny-rat-looking-dogs.  He's inspiring.

If this cat can do it, so can you! 

Insanity - Week 5, Day 6 - Complete!

Since I swapped my Saturday workout with my Sunday Rest Day, I did Max Interval Plyo today.  My arms feel like they are going to fall off my shoulders.  I had forgotten how much arm work is in this one. 

WTB New Buff Arms! PST!

This workout killed me.  Why?  Beer.  Yep, beer.  We went out to our campground this weekend and of course we drank.  Fire.  Beer.  It's like peanut butter and jelly.  They just go together.

Insanity - Week 5, Day 4

Max Recovery!  Oh, I love you!  Except for the whole balance-yourself-on-one-arm-and-leg-sideways thing.  That really was not fun.  Come to think of it, neither were all the push-up activities you threw at me.  But all is well with the world because I have chocolate.

Yep, that's right, FedEx finally came through and delivered my Shakeology and coaching materials today, as well as the program I will be doing next, which is Turbo Jam.  I'll be doing it with another woman who's doing Insanity right now too.  Projected start date is currently May 28th or June 4th.  If you're interested in doing it with us, contact me and I'll get you some details.  :)

Insanity - Week 5, Day 3

Max Cardio Conditioning is Pure Cardio on crack.

Seriously.  If you don't believe me, try them both.  I wouldn't recommend doing them both on the same day though, unless you're built like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Even then I would caution it.

"I'll be back" got turned into "Kiss my a$$" when I did this on Wednesday.  I don't know how people doing this for the first time can claim they did "all the exercises the right way" unless:

• They are Arnold in disguise. 
• They are already fitness maniacs. 
• They take steroids. 
• Are former gymnasts.
• Are former undercover agents or similarly highly trained government agents who are trained to beat the crap out of themselves.

Insanity - Week 5, Days 1 & 2

Hello Month 2!  I didn't realize that Month 1 was just kindergarten.  I thought I'd have to at least graduate grade school before you threw me right into med school.

Yeah.  You heard me.  It sucks - in a good way.

Month 2 (the beginning of Week 5) feels like Month 1 (the beginning of Week 1).  I feel like I've done nothing for the last 5 weeks but sit on my couch eating bon-bons and watching re-runs of Married With Children.

Independent Team Beachbody Coach

So, now I can make it official.

I am an Independent Team Beachbody Coach now.  Yay!!!

This makes me happy for a couple reasons.  One, I finally will get my daily Chocolate Shakeology, which is amazing (if you haven't yet read my review, head on over here and check it out).  And I'll get it at a discount.  Number Two, hopefully someone will be inspired by my journey through Insanity, and be motivated to start their own journey towards a healthier lifestyle.

And yes, I'm sorry, but me having chocolate in a healthy way is very, very, very important for my well-being ... and TH's sanity.  That is why it's number one.  :P

I'm still waiting to get all my packages from Beachbody, because, this is a business after all.  They should arrive sometime in the next couple days.  I choose to go the route of doing a challenge pack when I signed up, as it was the same price as doing the Coaching plus Shakeology, except I get a workout program out of it.  I decided to go with Turbo Jam, which I will be starting a week or so after Insanity ends.

This is of course assuming I MAKE it through the rest of Insanity, because let me tell you something.  No no, I will write it up in another posting later after tonight's workout.  That way I can vent about both of them at once.  :)

So, yes, congratulations to me for taking the next into making my life more fit and healthy.  I promise, I will not start saying "OMG, let me be your coach!" or placing tons of ads on my blog.  I will place a select few here and there.  I will however drop a  few suggestions here and there, and at the end of this post I will link my Shakeology website and Team Beachbody website.  And I absolutely will not promote something I don't think works.  I'm still going to be giving it to you straight on which products I personally like and don't like.

So here are a few links.

My Coach Website
My Shakeology Website

You can also contact me on Facebook by clicking this link and sending me a message on how you want to transform your life.  Or, even if you're just thinking about it and not sure what program to go with.

Let's get fit people!  :)

Stone City Saloon, Romeoville, IL

Image From the Romeoville Patch

This isn't the typical workout post, as you can probably tell from the title.  :P

I wanted to take a minute and give this place the props it deserves.

Stone City Saloon in Romeoville, IL is amazing.  Their tag line is "Come For The Food...Stay For The Party" and it couldn't be more true.  The atmosphere is great, the servers are quick, fun, and knowledgeable, and the food is to die for.  They also have one of the largest (20) "on tap" beer selections in the area.  We had my dad's surprise 50th birthday party here, and Randy & Chris (the managers) were just awesome.  They worked with us for months to make sure that my dad had the best we could give him.  Our server Eric busted his butt the entire time we were there, and we couldn't have asked for better.

Insanity - Core Cardio & Balance, Day 5

I'm kinda sad Recovery Week is coming to an end.  I really, really like almost everything about Core Cardio & Balance.  The shoulder burners at the end are the only major killer.  Man do my legs burn during that!  I still can't make it through each exercise without stretching them out for a bit.

I even did 3 Level 1 Drills today!  Yeah, that's right.  I'm awesome, I know.  :)  /flex

Oh, and I only stopped to cough my brains out twice, though I still can't make it through the entire workout without pausing.  I'm attributing this to the fact that Week 4 was kinda a bust on my part because of the sickness.  But, still, I'm kicking ass and I like it.  TH is worried I'll be able to beat him up now, but I'll let him win.  It's good for his ego.  (Love you!)  :)

Insanity - Recovery Week, Day 4

Hi everyone!  Lots of things going on today!

First and foremost, today, finally, I felt I was able to give 110% to my Insanity workouts again, even though it's Recovery Week.  I only broke down coughing three times!  And, to be brutally honest, I can totally tell that I haven't been exercising to my full potential for the last week and a half.

*glares at Half Squat, spawn of my brother*

Though, I do have to admit, I didn't sweat or shake as much on the exercises today, though I pushed myself harder (even with TH home).  I think it's because I was actually able to breathe.  Core Cardio & Balance isn't really that difficult-looking, but because this whole week is more about control and your abs, it's pretty tough.  Especially for the ab-less like me.  All of the movements are done "slowly" (compared to the rest of Insanity, yeah it's slow) and with more focus on controlling your breathing and keeping your core tight.  So, it's still a damn good workout.  :)

Writing Reviews Isn't Easy

UPDATE! It's not how I wanted it to be, and it's still too long, but I just posted the review here.
 
So, I've been promising a review of Shakeology for a while now.  I'm sitting here trying to cut my 5 LONG pages of typing down to a manageable, readable, non-boring post, and I'm hitting a wall.  I can't just say:

"Drink the Chocolate Shakeology.  It's awesome!"

That's not a review.  That's a statement.  And there are too many people who've said just that same thing.

So, I'm not lying when I tell you I'm working on it.  I really truly am.  Writing an informative review isn't easy, especially since I want to include all the facts too.  Hell, if I did that now, the review would be 10 pages long and you'd stop reading halfway through it.

So, I'm working on it.  My goal will be to get it published on it's own page before I go to sleep.  Today that is.  :)

Insanity - Day 30 Results

So I have some pretty exciting news for you readers.  Yep, numbers!  I wasn't going to post these until the end, but I decided against it.  In fact, I wasn't going to post them at all, because they are kinda personal.  But, I wanted to show that hard work and eating right (okay, maybe not right, but smaller portions) DOES work.

I probably would have better results if I hadn't fallen off the wagon a few times ("Eat The Brownie!" Extravaganza ring a bell?), and if I had followed the Insanity meal planner.  However, I wanted to do this with the food that I'm used to eating and that we had in the house already.  Each grocery shopping excursion had more healthy food than non-healthy food, but I'll go into more detail after the numbers.

Insanity - Month 1 Review - Core Cardio & Balance

So, today was my first day of "Recovery Week".

Oh.  My.  God.

I Love You.

This workout feels amazing - even sick.  It stretches, lengthens, works, and even relaxes your muscles.  It's like a Workout Spa, or a really good massage.  You know the the ones where it hurts, but afterwards you feel amazing?

Yeah, that's Core Cardio & Balance.

I thought it also might be a good idea to do a monthly overview of my Insanity.  So far, the people in my head have stopped yelling at me, but I know they're still there.  Just kidding.  :)  On a serious note, this has been one awesome, hurty month.  Some one should copyright the word "hurty" because it's so apt.

Insanity - Week 4, Day 6 - Completed!

Month 1 is OFFICIALLY OVER!!!!

/happy dance

If you haven't been reading this blog very long, it's quite possible that you have no idea how much I hate Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  You can read all about this love/hate relationship by clicking here.  In fact, I didn't think it was possible to hate it anymore than I did.

I was wrong.

Here's why.

Insanity - Week 4, Day 5

Well, I did a half-assed job at Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs last night.

Why?

You guessed it - still sick.  I already felt miserable before I did it, then while I'm doing it I kept asking myself if new window coverings and a vacuum was worth dying over.

The answer was yes.

We've been living in this house for almost 7 years...and I've had to deal with glare on my computer screen for 7 long years.  Blinds just aren't cutting it anymore.  So, I pushed through.

Insanity - Week 4, Day 4 - Cardio Recovery

I'm so glad today is a Cardio Recovery day for two reasons.

Number One: One of my brother's spawn must have gotten me sick.  My step sister is sick too, which is just wonderful.  /end sarcasm  I love my nephew & my niece, but I don't love their sickness.  My chest is tight, my head aches from dry coughing, and I keep sneezing and sniffling all over the place.  Which annoys me and makes my head hurt more.

Number Two:  Cardio Recovery isn't hard, and it's a short workout.  If today was, oh say Plyometric Cardio day or Pure Cardio day, I'd fore go my 30 day prize of new window coverings for one room, curl up in bed, and sleep for 24 hours.  That sounds like a wonderful piece of heaven right there.  On the other hand, if I miss a day, I also fore go my 60 day reward for finishing Insanity, which is a new vacuum.

And I really, really, really want a new vacuum.  One with many pet hair attachments.  And no bags to empty, change or buy.  Having three cats is like having a permanent fur rug.  That vacuum is my personal motivation to keep moving forward, just like having some form of non-crappy window coverings in the Office to keep the glare off my computer screen is my 30 day motivation.  There's nothing worse than a boss fight where you can only see half of what's going on due to glare.

"Sorry that heal didn't land.  It's the sun's fault."  Yeah, that doesn't work.  I've tried it.

So, I'll do my Cardio Recovery.  I'll drag myself to the shower, and hopefully sleep blissfully until 7:00 a.m. rolls around.  Or maybe 10:00 a.m.

On the plus side of things, my muscles are gong to get all nice and stretched today, so maybe they'll stop aching like crazy.  The right hip finally seems to be doing better, so yesterday during the hated Plyometric Cardio Circuit, I was able to give 110% again.  It felt great.  :)

So, off to wheeze my way through some Recovery.  :)

Creamer Is Evil! But I Found A Solution!

The title says it all.

I love coffee.

I love French Vanilla Creamer in my coffee.

French Vanilla Creamer, according to My Fitness Pal, is NOT a lovable addition to my coffee.

So last week, I was grocery shopping at Jewel.  I had just spent a little while talking to Coach Brandy about milk and how it too is evil, and she suggested milk alternatives.  I hate soy milk.  It's just nasty.  So I'm looking through the cooler and I what do I see but an almond milk coconut milk blend by Blue Diamond Almonds called Almond Breeze.

Pan Cooked Sweet Potatoes

So, TH & I were making dinner the other night and were trying to find something interesting to go with the Guinness Beer Brats we bought at Sam's Club.  Yes, I know, Beer Brats are not part of the diet, but Guinness is one of my favorite drinks of all time, so I had to try them.  And I only had one, not 2 or 3 or four.

Anyways, we had also bought sweet potatoes, so I wanted to do something with those.  Here's what I came up with.

Insanity - Week 4, Day 2

Day 2 was Cardio Power & Resistance.

Not really too much to say about this that I haven't said before.  Although, I was able to do some Power Jumps, and contrary to that blog post, I did make it through most of the intervals today.

So that's something at least.  :)

My right leg is still bothering me some and it's making me feel guilty that I can't put 110% into my workouts.  Especially when I'm doing the plank workouts.  It really pulls something nasty then and it's all I can do to just get a couple reps in so that it can be stretched and worked.  Unfortunately, stretching it out to its fullest during the stretching phases doesn't help much either. 

TH said something to me the other day that made me extremely happy.  "I can tell it's working because this is smaller."  The "this" he was referring to is the love handles.  Personally, I can't see a difference anywhere except in the fact I can breathe through most of the exercises now, but then again I'm constantly staring at myself in the mirror looking for something I can point at and say "Hey!  That's going away!"  But, it doesn't work that way.  :)

Also, this Tropical Strawberry Shakeology is ... shall I be nice?  No, this is my blog.  I don't have to be nice.  It's gross.  Sorry Beach Body, but I would take stale water & moldy bread before ever drinking this again.  It's chalky, filmy, and just....I don't know.  Nasty.  I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Chocolate Shakeology.  It was fantastic and I want more.  But I think you missed a step in the process of creating this one.  Yeah - the one that makes it taste good.  For those of you who like it, more power to you.  This is just my opinion of it, and I will go into more detail when I'm finished writing my Shakeology Review, which should be posted in a day or two.

As for me?  I'm going to go play Minecraft.  I've got myself a castle to build.  :)

Insanity - Week 3, Day 6 - Complete

Week 3 is over.

I hurt.  Still.  I think if Sunday wasn't a rest day, I wouldn't have had the gumption to do any workout yesterday.

Of course, I hurt because I ended with the much hated Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  I rocked that sucker on Saturday.  I was even able to do a few In & Out Abs, which before was just a "you've got to be kidding me, right?!" as I laid on the floor trying to breathe.  Two is better than zero though, and there are a couple other exercises that I had previously been unable to do "correctly" (I modified them to my strength level) that I did as well.  Moving Push-ups is one of those.  Before, I'd just jam out as many push-ups as possible, which was like 4.  I actually did like three moving ones.

I was damn proud of myself.

Today begins Week 4 with Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs.  Yay?  This is also the last week of Month 1.  There is no Fit Test until Week 5 begins - which is technically Week 6 because there is a "Recovery Week" that starts next Monday.  But, I'm not going to argue.  :)

Hello Week 4.  Please be nice.  Week 3 was evil to me.

Cardio Recovery, Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs

I love Cardio Recovery.  I wish every other day was a Cardio Recovery day.

Not only is it the sanest workout in this series, but it's one of the easiest, in my opinion.  I love how it just stretches everything out AND helps you work on the muscles that might be giving you trouble.  Like for me, squats and anything involving jumping, hitting the floor, jumping back, then jumping up is nearly impossible for me to do.  At first, I couldn't do any of them, but now I can get 1 or 2 in, so that makes me a happy camper.

Cardio Recovery helps with that.  I hate the pulses.  Abhor the pulses.  And the holds.  But, I'll have kick ass legs soon, so it's worth it.

Nerf? Buff? What Are These Words?

Okay, so I realize that I probably fall into a small category of people who play video games as an adult.  That said, the "normal" person probably has no idea why I think the title of this blog is creative & genius.  So, I will explain.

The word "Nerf"

The word "nerf" in my world means many, many things: it can strike fear, it can cause anger, whining, crying, griefing, bitching, moaning, high-fives, cheers, and praise.  It can be negative or positive.  It is not to be confused with the children's toys, because I'm not throwing soft, squishy round objects out of a plastic gun at myself hoping my fat will go away.

"Read More"

I figured out how to use the "Read More" function.

Go me!

Now, do I go back and change every single post so the blog doesn't look so....cluttered?  Or ... do I just leave it alone?

I'll decide tomorrow.  Probably going to change them to make a more pleasing reading experience.  I should do a bit of a research and see if there's some other cool things I can do.

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Here's what I think about Plyometric Cardio Circuit.

DIAF!!!

For those of you non-gamers, that means "Die In A Fire".

Every single time I do it, it seems harder.  It's a great workout, don't get me wrong, but you'd think after a while I'd be able to get through the intervals.  Granted, this is only Week 3, but still.  I'm not a wimp, I'm kicking my own butt...still can't get through a complete interval without stopping to breathe.

/sigh

Insanity Fit Test - Week 3

Today was my second Fit Test.

I improved!

It doesn't matter as much that every other measurement number went up, except my arms, which went a little bit down.

It doesn't matter that I gained 4 pounds since I weighed myself last week.

What does matter is that I was able to do 5 - yes FIVE - push-up jacks today.  It killed me, but I did them!!!!  (Super excitement there.)

What matters is that now I just have more incentive to work harder.

I felt better after doing the Fit Test today.  Beforehand, I was ticked off and down on myself for fallen off the wagon a couple times when out with family.  The fact that I improved (sometimes only by 2 reps, by hey, that's good!) showed me that I am NOT doing this because I'm a sadistic, insane person, and that it IS working. 

With my first Fit Test, I was a pile of sopping, sweaty, hurty human.  Today, I wasn't.  I pushed myself harder than I did then, with better results - not breathing as heavy, no major muscle complaints, no urges to puke or cry.  Creepy Cats weren't staring at me (they have learned to GO AWAY when I'm working out), and, though it was 80 degrees in the house, I wasn't a pile of sopping, sweaty, hurty human.  Just mega sweaty.  :)

Here I come Week 3!  Better watch out!

Insanity - Day 13, Week 2 - Complete!

Today was my first "double" workout - Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs.  If you remember from my post on Friday, I had to swap Saturday & Sunday, so this means 7 days in a room of working out in the coming week - which includes the Week 3 Fit Test tomorrow.

Pure Cardio kicked my butt.  I felt the rueben and fries I had for dinner yesterday, with the 2 shots, 2 amber ales, and 3 sodas.  Cardio Abs is deceptively hard.  The exercises themselves don't seem terrible, but when you're actually doing them, oh my God you can feel it burning.

And TH woke up halfway through Pure Cardio, so I had to pause it and closet him in the office with the door shut so I could finish swearing at Shaun.  He didn't mind though; he's building a farmhouse in Minecraft, so I don't even think he noticed my swearing or jumping around.

After my 10 minutes "I'm dying don't talk to me", I made a Chocolate Shakeology with 2% milk and 2 cups of frozen strawberries.  It's freaking awesome.  Coach Brandy sent me a couple to try, and I'll post a review of my testing of it when I finish them.  But right now, it's getting an A+ from me - in taste, effects, and pure awesomeness.  I was dog-tired after my workout, but since I've been drinking it, I'm a bit more perky then I was before. 

Now, I'm sitting here typing up my blog post, drinking a kick ass shake that's actually chocolatey and healthy for me, with random cat hair stuff on my legs.  TH was sleeping, so I couldn't vacuum before I did my work out.  Nothing like a little extra fur to motivate you to workout out faster & harder so you can clean it up.  :)

On another note, I got my Beta Invite for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria yesterday!  Yay me!  I've got it installed and ready to go, but had to work the body before the video games.  Now I just have to decide what I want to do first: Panda, Priest, or Paladin.  :P

See ya tomorrow!