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 - Completed!

I know I've fallen a little behind with posts lately, but here's a recap of the last two workouts.

Day 5 of week eight was Max Interval Plyo.  I did eleven S-S jumps from the warm-up and jammed out a good number of Power Jumps too!  It was tough because the house was ROASTING - even with the air on.  I was sweating buckets.  I really pushed hard doing this for the last time, and I felt it! 

I still hate Level 3 Drills, and I probably always will. 

Day 6 of week eight was a double workout with Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs.  There's nothing like running out of steam halfway through an exercise, stopping to breathe, and trying to pick it back up.  The house was still roasting and the knees were aching a bit (I blame Power Jumps and Riot Jumps).  Again, I pushed myself as hard as I could for this last exercise and man am I feeling it today.  My legs feel like Day 1 all over again.

My final Fit Test is today, and I'll be making a separate blog post for that one once I complete it.  I'll also put up all the good numbers and give you an over view of my Insanity experience.  All said and done, I can't wait to do round two after we finish Turbo Jam. 

I will miss Mr. Shaun T during our two months of Turbo Jam, but don't worry, I'll be back to visit.  During the two weeks before we start, I'll be doing Hip Hop Abs, so I can still get my fix.  :)

Stayed tuned for the Insanity Results ... and maybe pictures.  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to post them yet.

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 8, Day 2 - Double Trouble!

Have you ever been denied something you really wanted?  You coveted it?  You dreamed about it?  It was the first thing you thought of in the morning and the last thing you thought of before going to sleep, only to dream about it?

Lorraine Swiss Cheese.

I want it.

Bad.

The kick in the butt is we have some in the fridge.  And I can't have it because I'm still on the Shakeology Cleanse.  As soon as I woke up on Monday, I wanted it.  I have been coveting and craving that single piece of goodness for three days.

Insanity - Week 8, Day 1

Week 8 has started off great!

Can you hear the sarcasm in that?

For one, I'm doing everything a day behind when I normally should, which throws me off completely. 

For two, I'm doing the Shakeology Three Day Cleanse, which leaves me begging for energy about halfway through the workout.  If I could harness the power of anything to get through them the way I know I can, I'd be a happy camper.

However, I'm not a happy camper.  I should have listened to myself and waited until AFTER Insanity was over to do the cleanse.  I almost hurt myself twice today doing Max Interval Plyo because I got light headed.  If you're not used to doing a cleanse, have never done one before, or are not used to exercising, I highly recommend NOT doing one while doing Insanity.  Do it before you do the program, or after.  Just not during.  Maybe it's just me, but yeah.

So, Max Interval Plyo.  My friend.  How I will miss you when I'm bouncing around doing Turbo Jam in two weeks.  (Did you see the sarcasm there too?  LOL!).  I know the workouts haven't changed, and I know I've beat this poor horse to death before, but I swear they come in, steal my workouts, and switch them with modified ones.  They always seem harder than last time.  I guess that either means I'm slacking or I'm pushing myself harder. 

Knowing me - it's probably both.  :)

I did do 7 S-S jumps today during the first group of intervals though.  That made me happy.  I still can't keep up with the machines when they are doing Level 3 Drills though.  I just go at my own pace, and it seems to work.  I'm not a huge fan of what I call "burpies" (Level Drills to Mr. Shaun T), and I've never been able to do them well.  Getting on the floor and assuming my body is going to catch itself is not going to happen for a very long time, if ever.

Oh, and the knee step things - I can't remember the real name at the moment - I love those.  They hurt, but they feel great at the same time.  :)

I'm seriously debating whether or not to do Max Cardio Conditioning tonight, or just push this whole thing back.  MCC is more intense (for me) than Max Interval Plyo, so I'm thinking I'm just going to push this entire week back one day.  If I wasn't doing the cleanse - yeah I'd push myself to do it.  But, this just means my FINAL FIT TEST (yay!) will be on Monday instead of Sunday.  I'm thinking that sounds just fine to me.

Besides, if I push it back it gives me more time to play Diablo III.  Which I'm going to do right after I proofread this and publish it.  :)

See ya tomorrow!

Insanity - Week 7, Day 6 - Complete!

Saturday's workout was Core Cardio & Balance, which I did today.  Yes, I know it's Monday, and I said I'd do it on Sunday, but there were extenuating circumstances which prevented me from doing it yesterday.  You can read about them by clicking the link I'm typing, which you are currently reading.

I really do love Core Cardio & Balance.  It's such a laid back workout when compared to the other workouts.  :)

I also started a Shakeology Three Day Cleanse today too.  One of the options is to swap your dinner of salad and meat with your lunch of Shakeology.  I'm so glad I did that, because even with the relative ease of Core Cardio & Balance, I was still struggling to find the energy to do it.  I think if I had not swapped my meals, I wouldn't have been able to make it through it.

I feel better after doing my workout, though I'm very tired.  Normally, I feel energized after my workouts, but after the hell that was yesterday, and doing the Shakeology Cleanse, I think my body just needs to sleep for a few hours.  I'm also starting to get a headache, so after I'm done writing this, I'm going to go chug some water and veg on the couch for a while before I start folding the laundry that got left in the dryer all day.

If you'd like to know what the Shakeology Cleanse is and what does, drop me a line by clicking this link or by clicking the "Contact Me!" link on the navigation bar.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will make up today's (Monday's) workout.  I'm now on Week 8 and I don't want to stat falling behind now.  I'd rather push myself to do two workouts than screw up the schedule.  I can't believe how fast 60 Days has flown!  I can't wait to see what my final results be.  :)

I think I'm going to end the blog for today off here.  My brain is starting to demand sleep.  I'm going to apologize now for any typos because I feel really lazy and don't feel like going back to fix them.  :)

Camping, Mother's Day, and Daisy

It's hard to know where to start for this blog post.  So many things happened over this weekend.

First, campground was awesome!  I only gained 0.7 pounds this time versus the 2.5 pounds from the last time we went.  I was smarter with my food choices and I found a replacement for beer.  I wanted to try Malibu Red because it sounded awesome (it is), so I brought a bottle out there.  Jewel also had Sobe Lifewater on sale, so I brought those out too.  Put two shots of Malibu Red in a Lifewater and you've got a  pretty damn good drink that is marginally better than the Icehouse I normally drink.  One bottle of Lifewater lasted me between 45 minutes to an hour, and in that time I'd normally drink two or three or four beers.  So...bonus!

Oh, I tried all the new Lifewaters (minus just the regular old coconut) with the Malibu Red.  The best one was the Pomegranate Nectarine.  It also tastes fantastic with the Sobe Raspberry Lemonade too.  :)

Mother's Day was great too.  We had dinner at TH's sister's house and ended up staying a while.  I also made smart food choices there - mostly veggies with only half of a rib-eye steak which I JUST REMEMBERED RIGHT NOW IS STILL IN MY PURSE!!!!  Damnit!  /sigh  It was a good steak too.  Anyways, the only bad choice I made was the Baskin Robins Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream cake that TH and brother-in-law bought.  Hello - Oreos.  Ice cream.  Chocolate.  Yes, I'm having some, and while I wasn't an animal with the size of my piece, I definitely didn't skimp on it either.  It was amazing. 

Then, we came home and discovered our cat Daisy had passed away while we were gone.  She adopted us about 3 years ago, and she was old, about 15 or 16 at minimum.  We were going to take her to the vet today because she hasn't been eating right and not acting like her normal self.  She was just really lethargic, not very vocal (which she always was because she was deaf), and laying down in the oddest places.  I feel absolutely horrible that we went away this weekend, because I told TH when we left on Friday that I had a feeling she might not be here when we got home.  I hate that no one was here with her, because she would always cuddle with you, purr her heart out when you weren't feeling well, and rub her head on your chin (or lick you or both).

I miss my little old lady, and hope she's playing in kitty heaven with my Panther, who we had to put down about 2-3 months after Daisy adopted us.  Rest in piece Miss Daisy Crocket.

Needless to say, after we buried her in the yard at midnight last night, I didn't feel like doing Saturday's swapped workout.  If you'd like to read about Insanity, Week 7, Day 6, you can click here.

Miss Daisy Crocket - the coolest old lady cat ever.