Insanity - R2 - Week 1, Day 1 - Fit Test

Have you ever seen head cheese?  It's kinda like jello with fruit in it, only not nearly as good looking or appetizing.  Or as colorful.  My grandma used to get it from Jewel (a grocery store) back in the day and eat it on rye bread.  That's how my muscles feel right now.  Like head cheese, a little jiggly with chunks of stuff you'd rather not see.  Google it and tell me it's not the most disgusting looking thing you've ever seen given the label of "cheese".  I won't post a picture of it because I already feel like puking. 

Yes, today was Fit Test Number One day.  I swear they made it harder.  I don't know how, but they did.  I didn't do too bad considering I haven't done one for "real" since the last one of Insanity Round 1.  I'm not counting the one in June, because I didn't even finish week one.  Yes, my numbers are lower, but not as low as they were the very first time I did Insanity, so I consider that a bonus.

Here's my Fit Test #1 Results:

• Switch Kicks - 50
• Power Jacks - 21
• Power Knees - 55
• Power Jumps - 12
• Globe Jumps - 4
• Suicide Jumps - 4 (DIAF. That means "Die In A Fire" for you non-nerdy types)
• Push-Up Jacks - 8 (I hate you with a  passion only rivaled by my hatred of spiders)
• Low Plank Obliques - 50

I also have good news to report!

I did my weigh-in before doing the Fit Test.  I'm down to 194.2 pounds.  On my last weigh-in date, which was May 23, I was 208 pounds.  That's a difference of 13.8 pounds!  And the weird part?  I didn't workout, I wasn't really watching what I ate (besides eating smaller portions sometimes), drinking my Shakeology every other day or so, and drinking TONS and TONS of water.  I was in shock!  So, now you can imagine me doing a happy dance around the living room, because that's what I did.  :)

Now, my goal weight is 180 pounds.  Considering I lost 10 pounds on my first round of Insanity, and I was still learning how to eat proper portions of the right foods, I'm pretty damn confident that my final weigh-in in 60 days is going to be 180 or LOWER.  That's right.  I said it.  LOWER.  It could be 179.9, but that's still lower.  :P

Here's to a great beginning to another round of Insanity.  I guess this means I have to nix the beer completely now.  /sigh

My Fitness Goals - Round 2

I know, I've said it before but I'm doing Insanity again!.  This time I mean it!  When I said that back in June I think, we had normal weather.  Four days into the program, mega hot heatwave hit us and it didn't let up until last week, but this week has been gorgeous.  I've made my start date tomorrow, August 13th, because 13 is my lucky number.  You may think it's strange or weird, but I like that number because everyone else fears it.  :)

Part of starting Insanity the first time was to make a goal list.  If you want to check it out, you can find it by clicking on the pretty blue link you just read.  So, I figured the best way to do this right would be to create a new set of goals that reflect what I've learned from the first round of Insanity, and what I want to accomplish in this second round.  If you'll look back through my first round, I lost a total of 10 pounds and 19.7 inches.  In a perfect world, I'd like to double the weight lost, but realistically, I know that is not possible, nor would it be super healthy.

Why you might ask?  Well, I'll tell you.

Because I'll rebound and go on an "I must eat all the ice cream I can because I'm not as huge as I was anymore" spree.  Like the great and well known "Eat the Brownie Extravangaza!".  And I know I would.  I may not limit it to ice cream - cookies, soda, chips, chocolate, candy, Wendy's, beer, Burger King - whatever.  It would be a total nightmare and a waste of 60 days of kickin' ass.  Not to mention depressing as all hell.

So, I'm going to do it the way I did before - Daily, Weekly, and Monthly goals.  I am also staying with Sundays as Rest Days (except for camping weekends where I make up Saturday's workout on Sunday), and also with the "I'm allowed one bad thing on Wednesdays IF I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE IT".  With my last round of Insanity, I had to kick the soda habit and letting myself have one on Wednesdays was awesome.  After a while, I didn't even want one, or if I opened it, I couldn't drink it because it killed my stomach.  Sadly, this is no longer the case, so that one day of having a single bad thing will help again with cravings and rebound issues. 

Also, Saturdays are considered "Free Days".  I don't have to follow my nice eating healthy habits, I can eat badly if I want too.  With the first round of Insanity, this "Free Day" was used probably 50% of the time.  I just didn't want to jam my mouth full of french fries and a burger all the time, so I rarely used it.  BUT - when I did use it, I wouldn't feel as guilty about it.  Having a Free Day is a good thing.

TLDR version for you ADD types: Saturdays are Free Days, Wednesdays are "One Bad Thing" days, and Daily, Weekly, and Monthly goals are a must.

So, here they are, in no particular order:

Daily Goals

• Drink a glass (8 oz.) of water with every snack & meal.
• Eat 5 times a Day - Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner.
• Drink at least 64 ounces of water daily, more is better.
• Log my Calorie Intake with My Fitness Pal.
• Do the WORKOUT!.
• Eat suggested serving sizes, not how much I really want.
• Write an INVENTIVE blog post about the workout of the day.  Because I've done this before, it gets kind of old reading about how much I hate Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  Be Original!

Weekly Goals

• Lose 1/2" inch on a body part; it doesn't matter which one.
• Record bi-weekly measurements & weight, and ONLY bi-weekly.  No checking weight in between measuring days.
• 6 of 6 workouts done each week.
• Don't injure myself!
• Write a blog post that doesn't pertain to a workout at least twice a week.

Monthly Goals

• Push myself harder each week than I did the previous week.  
• Month 1 - Lose 4" total.  Month 2 - Lose 8" total, for a total of 12" lost by end of Insanity.
• Stick with the program!!!

Final Goals

• Final weight of 180 pounds or less
• A flat stomach
• Have more energy and sleep better.
• Complete lifestyle change by eating healthier foods & proper portion sizes without realizing it
• Be able to wear the "closet jeans" with no belly flab hanging over the top, or in this case, "closet shorts" since it's summer time.  :)
  

And there you have it.  Some of them are the same as before, as they are things I still need to work on.  Some of them have changed because I know what I can accomplish if I set my mind to it.  Round Two - here I come!!  :)

Turbo Jam on Monday!

So I know I haven't written anything since I posted up my Insanity results, and for that I am sorry.  Been super busy with summertime fun activities - like camping.  I've also been sucked into Diablo III and have been playing it like it's going out of style.  :)

Monday June 4th I'm starting Turbo Jam with a few people from our team's super awesome Facebook page.  I absolutely can't wait to get back on to a workout schedule.  I just don't workout without a schedule to follow.  I wanted to test myself and I failed miserably at it. 

"Today, I'm going to do push-ups, some arm work, and some good old fashioned crunches."

Yeah, that hasn't happened.  Though yesterday, I did do a couple sets of arm curls with my trusty ol' five pound weights.  Yeah, I'm a weakling, shoot me.  :)

I do things if I know I have to follow a schedule, so next week is going to be awesome.

My Uncle is flying up from Mississippi for a work conference, so I'll get to hang out with him tonight.  I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving last year, so it should be fun.  Last I heard, we're going to Jimmy Buffet's Cheeseburger in Paradise.  Too bad I won't get a cheeseburger, but I'll report to you how good their salads are.  :)

I have continued to eat mostly right.  With the Memorial Day weekend, I kinda let myself slide a little a bit (beer, food, horseshoes and bags!), but I've still managed to lose 2.2 pounds even without being super strict on myself.  I'm doing a modified Shakeology Cleanse to jump start my Turbo Jam program, and so far so good!  :)

With that 2.2 pounds of weight loss, I now officially weigh less than I did when TH and I got married two years ago.  This makes me super happy! 

My goals for Turbo Jam are to be under 200 pounds by the time I finish the program.  I'm going to shoot for 199, but secretly hope I'll get down to 190.  Since it's not as intense as Insanity was, I'm not exactly sure how that will work, or if it will work, but I've got two months to lose 15 pounds.  But, as I learned from Insanity, it's not about the weight I lose, it's about the inches.  So, a parallel goal is to fit into the size 14 shorts I've had for like 10 years.  They are almost brand new since I think I only wore them like three times before I stopped being able to button them.  They are the "Closet Jeans" of summertime.  :) 

Again, like Insanity, I'll post up measurements and weight loss, as well as pics, when I'm finished with the Turbo Jam program.  I plan on staying to the "every two weeks" schedule of measuring and weighing like I did with Insanity on Fit Test days.  

Lots of stuff going on these next few months!  I can't wait to be able to write to you about them!  Don't forget to "Like" NFBL on Facebook to get more frequent updates and tidbits that I don't post up on the blog!  See you Monday!

60 Days of Insanity - Review, Results, & Pics

I've finally finished!  I dug deeper, pushed harder, and made it through what's been labeled as one of the toughest workouts you could ever do without expensive equipment.  Insanity is just that - insane.  It will make you work, make you sweat, and make you swear.  And it's totally, completely, 100% percent worth it.

For those of you who don't know what Insanity is, here's the blurb from the Beachbody website:

Your personal trainer Shaun T will push you past your limits with 10 discs packed with cardio and plyometric drills with intervals of strength, power, resistance, and core training. No equipment or weights are needed, and you don’t have to be in extreme shape to do it. As long as you’re ready to dig deep, Shaun will help you get insane results in just 60 days.

Insanity is a Total Body Conditioning Program designed specifically to tone and shape your body with nothing but your body in 60 days.

Now, people may ask if Insanity works.  I can tell you that yes, it does work.  I have muscle where I had no muscle before.  I have confidence and energy where before I had none.  I don't have nearly as many problems with my knee, unlike before I started.  I can chase my nieces and nephews and not feel like I'm going to have a heart attack after running five feet. 

Was it hard?  Definitely.  I went from a complete lazy couch potato to a level of intensity I've never experienced before in my life.  At times, I wanted to give up, because I thought to myself "There's no freaking way I'm ever going to be able to do that".  I was wrong.  Within a couple weeks, some times as little as one week, I was able to conform my body into the moves required - like Diamond Jumps and Riot Tuck Jumps.  I can do those now.  Not that I can do them perfectly, but I can do them.

I also had a great team of people helping to encourage and inspire me to keep pressing play every day.  My heartfelt thanks go out to them and all my readers, especially Coach Brandy, because I can honestly say that if I didn't have all of you to be accountable too, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it.  I've learned so much, and have all of you to thank for it.

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering when I'm going to get to the "review" part of this post.  So, I'll stop rambling and feeling mushy and get on with it.  I'm not going to go through every single week, just highlights here and there.  If you want to read about my entire journey through Insanity, you can click this link and it will take you to a nice little list I have compiled for just that purpose.

Day 1.  Sorry for the crappy pic.

Day 1 was my first Fit Test and it was by far the worst day ever.  I felt like I had dropped into the pits of hell and was slowly being consumed by goblins who were masters of all sorts of evil torture.  Everything ached and I discovered muscles in places I didn't know HAD muscles.  The next two weeks weren't much better in terms of evil torture methods.

By the time I reached my second Fit Test, which was two weeks later, I felt confident that I wouldn't have improved.  My muscles, especially my legs and feet, were sore.  There was a muscle under my arm pit that was sore.  Hell, my damn fingers were sore!  But, I did improve.  I was like "Holy crap!  They went up!".  It was after seeing those numbers go up that I realized I was going to stick with it.  I wanted to know how much higher I could get them.

At this time, I could tell that it was working a little bit.  My arms looked smaller, my face looked smaller, but I still wasn't really losing much weight.  It wasn't until I did my measurements that I found out that I was losing inches.  It was also at this time that I stopped focusing so much on losing weight and focused more on losing inches.  I suggest you do the same.  Focusing on weight can be discouraging, but focusing on losing inches made the workouts go by faster and made me work harder.

Day 30.

By Day 30 of Insanity, there was definite improvement everywhere.  I had energy, had a great attitude and was proud of myself for finishing the first month.  Day 30 fell right into the middle of "Recovery Week", and let me tell you, I LOVED LOVED LOVED Recovery Week.  It stretches and almost relaxes your muscles, but you still get a great workout without feeling like you want to die.  It was also at this time that I signed up to be a Beachbody coach so I could get Shakeology cheaper.  Shakeology is like a gift from the Gods.  It tastes good and it gave me my daily dose of chocolate in a healthy form.

One of the hardest things for me was curbing my eating habits and eating five times a day.  I loved soda, chips, crackers and cheese, beer, fast food burgers, ice cream - all the things you shouldn't eat massive amounts of, I wanted, especially since now I couldn't have them.  Instead of cutting them out completely, I set a limit for myself.  Saturdays were free days, I could eat whatever I wanted if I was smart about it.  I also set Wednesdays as "You can have one, and only one, bad thing today" day.  At first, I gorged on Saturdays.  After a while, I didn't want to because the food I used to eat didn't taste as good, so I stuck to my shakes, salads, healthier foods and snacks.  Wednesdays I would pick to have one can of soda.  I can't even drink soda now because it's too sweet, makes my stomach hurt, and gives me a headache.  I really miss my bubbles, but I'll take a chocolate shake instead.  :)

Day 45.

It wasn't until Day 45 that I really started to notice the changes in the mirror.  I'd been so used to looking for them, that I didn't see them when they showed up.  My stomach was smaller, my arms had muscle bumps, my legs were more toned.  The closet jeans that were so uncomfortable to wear at Day 30 felt good to wear, not loose, but not cutting into my stomach anymore with 5 inches of gut hanging over the edge.  I didn't have to wear the baggiest shirts I owned to cover up that hanging bulge either.

Let me interrupt myself here and say that starting Insanity Month 2 was just like starting Month 1 all over again.  It was hard, everything ached, and those damn hellish goblins were back with their torture devices.  The exercises became more complex, sometimes combining two or more exercises from Month 1 into one exercise.  And I will be honest and say that there are a few them that I still can't do, but I did the best I could with them, modified them when I had too, and got the job done.

Day 60.

These last two weeks of Insanity, I kinda hit a "blah" phase.  I don't really know why.  Maybe because I'm a little sad it's over.  Before I used to be like "OMG I DID MY WORKOUT! YAY ME!" and it's been "meh, did my workout" lately.  I'm sure those of you who have been following my blog posts have noticed this as well.  I really don't have an explanation for  it, but one of the ladies in our Facebook group is feeling the same way, so maybe it's normal.  I think it's the beginning phases of Shaun T withdrawal, because he is just an awesome guy.  :)

Day 60 of Insanity.  I made it!  I did it!  YAY ME!  I decided to commit and succeed (to steal a line from my buddy Jon - thanks!).  I stuck to it, even through the aches, the pains, the "why do you hate me"s.  And I have the results.  They are more than I expected, considering I didn't even think I'd make it out of Month 1.  Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think! 

And there you have it folks.  Insanity - 60 days of pure insane cardio designed to make you sweat, swear, and look good.  :)  Up next for me is Turbo Jam, which we're starting on June 4th.  After that, I've already planned on re-visiting Shaun T and Insanity to see how badly I can pound those number into the dust.  :)

I want to thank those of you who've been following this journey either here on the blog or over at our Facebook page.  Stayed tuned for a journey through Turbo Jam!  :) 

Insanity - Week 8, Day 3 & Day 4 & Facebook Challenge!

This post is going to cover two workouts.  Why?  Because TH and I were being huge dorks yesterday and played Diablo III all freaking day.  You know what that means right?  Yeah, the workout didn't get done.

So, I'm doing them both today.  Which is going to suck monkey chunks.

Day 3 of week eight was Max Interval Circuit.  I just finished it and I'm dog tired now.  I got a new record for S-S Jumps though - nine!  I was so proud of myself!  I was also able to do the Full Body Drills a lot better than the last time I did them.  By this I mean I was ALMOST able to do two full sets without stopping to rest my arms.  That's huge!  Doing the moving push-up jacks is still a bit discombobulated, but I did them!

The only thing that still gives me trouble with Max Interval Circuit is the Side Suicide Jumps.  The problem is I still have that flabby roll (thought it's A LOT smaller now), and doing any kind of get-down-jump-back or to the side move is a real pain in the butt.  It gets in the way a lot less than it used too, but it's still an issue.  It's my dearest wish that when I do round 2 of Insanity in two months and two weeks (Turbo Jam!  June 4th is our start date!), that problem will be corrected.

Insanity - Week 6, Day 5 - Double Workouts!

Today was the first day of "double workouts" for Month 2.  Yippee!  /end sarcasm.  At least this month I was smart about it and split them up instead of trying to do them back to back.  Much more effective that way because I was actually able to give each workout the focus it deserved.  I did Cardio Abs first, then did Max Cardio Conditioning about 45 minutes later.

Not really too much to report on either, so...yeah.  Max Cardio is getting a bit easier to do.  I was actually able to do 4 Diamond Jumps.  Surprised the hell outta me when I just did it.  I'll take that as a sign that my legs are cooperating with what my brain wants them to do.  And In - N - Out Abs/Push-Ups Jacks didn't kill me until halfway through the second set of them.  Another shocker!  Push-up Jacks are still the bain of my existence (as far as Insanity goes), but they are getting easier - a little bit.

A New Coach, New Clothes, & Tilted Kilt

So, my first exciting news of the day happened just a little while ago.  A good friend of mine had been working out with P90X last year (or maybe the year before, I can't remember at the moment) and stopped.  When he started reading my Facebook posts about Insanity, he picked his P90X back up and has been doing it everyday since.

Today, he became the very first person to sign up as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach under me.  I'm so happy and excited for him, as I know he's going to be excellent at motivating and inspiring others to improve their lifestyles.  He's always posting up how he's doing, songs or sayings that help him stay on track, and being very vocal in our various accountability pages on Facebook.

So, a big huge "Congratulations Jon"!!!  :)

The second wonderful thing that happened today was I finally got my Kohl's shipment.  If you are a guy, you may want to just skip over this part, because I highly doubt you want to read about boob insecurities.  Since starting Insanity, I've been stressing that I'd lose boob size while doing it.  TH would not be happy about that, and honestly, neither would I.  They are the one part of me (besides my hair pre-highlights) that I actually liked.  Well, I finally got a 30% coupon to Kohl's and since the damn store rarely carries my size (or if they do, it's the really ugly old-lady styles), I ordered them from online, which I've never done for that particular piece of clothing.  Since I got sick of wearing stretched-out-missing-the-underwire bras, I ordered a bunch of them, thinking I could return the ones that didn't fit or I didn't like.

I'm keeping them all.  They fit great, look great, and that's all I'm saying about that.

The third great thing actually happened yesterday.  TH and I went out with some of his friends from work to Tilted Kilt.  Tilted Kilt is like Hooters but 1,000,000 times better.  They are a designed around a Celtic/Scottish/Gaelic theme (obviously) and their servers outfits are way better than Hooters, hands down.  They have great food as well.

Copyright Tilted Kilt.

The TK Lager (house beer) is delicious.  They also had something called a 'Beergarita' which is a margarita made with Blue Moon.  They also had a Spinach Chicken salad to die for.  It has spinach, grilled chicken, feta, dried cranberries, bacon, hard-boiled egg, and a house vinaigrette.  I got it without the bacon and it was fabulous!  I only had one TK lager and TH and I split the Beergarita, because I had to try it.  I drank iced tea the rest of the night. 

Now, it's storming and the lights are flickering, so I'm going to end this post here before I lose power.  I need to go find candles and a flashlight.  Later all!

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 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 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!

Starting Week 2, Day 1

I feel blah today.  I think I've decided I don't like rest days.

Remember how I said yesterday I was going to maybe do the Wii things?  Yeah, I played Minecraft for 16 hours instead.  There's the nerd.  So I did absolutely nothing productive except make my castle bigger.  I also only ate twice, drank a lot of coffee and water, but I snacked on lots of cashews.  So...I gotta do something different on rest days.

Going to start Week 2, Day 1 earlier than normal today.  TH doesn't work tonight, so during my normal work out period, he will be awake.  This is not okay.  I love him to death, but that doesn't mean I want him listening and/or watching as I push my way through Cardio Power & Resistance today.  It's bad enough that the cats stare at me, I don't want him doing it either.  LOL!

I also found my cloth measuring tape.  It was in a box it shouldn't have been in.  I re-did my measurements, and found that my robe belt + ruler method was almost accurate.  In reality, with my trusty tape, my measurements were BIGGER!  How terrible is that.  So, I recorded them on my Team Beach Body page chart, and hope they start shrinking soon.  One note though: I've read that you will get larger measurements & sometimes actually gain weight in the first week or two.  It's because your muscles are working harder, so they swell up a little bit.  Also, muscle weighs more than fat.  So, I'm not freaking out yet.

Let's hope Week 2 is better than Week 1 was!