One more week!

Insanity day 56

The workouts were more enjoyable last week. I felt like I was able to push myself as hard as I should be able to and I was seeing improvement in how much I could do. Only 6 more check boxes to go!

BAM!

Insanity Day 50

Today was fit test, weigh and measure day! The thing I fear the most with Insanity is not seeing any improvement after all the hard work I put in every day, and the biggest reward is seeing that improvement. This is why I both dread and get excited for these days all at the same time. Today was a mixture of wins and losses, but overall I have no reason to be upset.

From 2 weeks ago, all of my measurements remain the same except I lost another 1/4^th of an inch off my hips. Even though the measurement is the same around my waist I’m starting to see more definition in my torso that wasn’t there a couple weeks ago. As for the scale…well, I imagine hurling it at a tree trunk, watching it bounce off into the street just before a ginormous garbage truck rolls over it. I’ll show YOU who gained half a pound since 2 weeks ago. There goes my beloved new middle number back up to the decade I just can’t get out of. Whatever. I can’t be sad about numbers. I may never get to my dream weight, but I’m certainly smaller than I’ve ever been and that’s leaving me feeling pretty good.

Which brings us to the fit test! I’m always so nervous going into it. Today I worried that since I worked the night before and only slept 3 hours before putting in the DVD I’d not have the pep to push myself to win (I HAVE to beat myself. I just have to). I am not content to just be grateful for the exercise the fit test gives you. I want improvement!

BAM! Improvement! A lot! By my standards anyway.

I guess I didn’t need to worry. BUT, I am slightly worried for 2 weeks from now when it’s all done and I have to beat those numbers. Because I HAVE TO beat them. Even more so than the previous fit tests since it will be the LAST one. I will be so disappointed in myself if I don’t. Each time I do the fit test I push myself so hard and can’t possibly do any more than what I put out, which is why I always worry for the next fit test, and is always what makes it fun to see the numbers go up each time. I am very happy with the fit test results today. I wasn’t expecting that much of an improvement.

I think hitting my goal amount of calories every day has really helped with my energy level, although after the fit test (which lasts about 25 minutes) I had nothing left for the workout after. Aside from the first and last day of insanity, you follow the fit test (which is a really good workout all on its own) with a regular work out, which in the second month gives you about an hour and a half of insanity. Whatever energy I had from the yogurt and pretzels I ate about 45 minutes before I began today was completely drained, I couldn’t even keep up with the first 2 minutes of the warm up. I remember thinking “There’s 57 more minutes?! Gah !”  I was shaking by the middle, and not doing nearly as much as I felt I should/could be doing and I was so happy to be done at the end. I should have eaten a better meal and waited before trying to work out, but I wanted to get it done before I had to go back to work for an inservice. I don’t work tonight or tomorrow and I’ve been consistently hitting my calorie goals for the last 4 or 5 days (keeping a food journal tracking calories of everything I eat has helped a lot) so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s workout. I should be feeling really good.

We can do this

Insanity Day 48

The workouts the last 3 days have felt much better than before and my body is thanking me for the food. I was surprised at how much food you can eat when the calories you’re consuming are healthy ones. I definitely wasn’t getting enough before even when I wasn’t working (I was eating the same kind of food, but not as often as I am now) and I’m almost embarrassed by how stupid I was being about eating. I knew the science behind nutrition I just wasn’t paying attention to what I was actually taking in. I still feel tired after a workout, but it’s a different kind of tired. I’m not exhausted to the point of tears and when I’m tired now I can tell it’s because I need sleep or because I just worked my muscles after pushing myself as hard as I thought I should be able to. It’s been educational getting to know my body this way and learning how nutrition affects the way I feel and what I can do. I’m also learning to listen to my body. When I feel hungry I need to eat something, and that happens at least every 3 hours and sometimes as often as twice in an hour. I don’t have anything in my place that is bad for me to eat and if my body is telling me it is hungry then I need to respond and put something into it. In the past when I’d be "dieting" when my body told me it was hungry I told it to shut up because it’s not dinner time yet. Counting my calories has given me the freedom to eat more often letting me know that even though it’s my 5^th time eating that day I still have 800 more calories to go so go ahead and eat something else. The other day I ate something when I wasn't really hungry just because I knew I hadn’t gotten close to what I needed for the day, was about to go out for awhile and didn't want to be under my minimum number. It’s taking some getting used to feeling like I’m eating all day, but I feel better doing it and I can see/feel a difference in my workouts. I’m going to splurge tonight and eat ice cream and I had an oreo at a church activity this afternoon. It wasn't the kind of cookie I'd been craving, but it still made me happy. I don’t even feel guilty about it…but I guess I kind of do about the icecream because I went for an extra jog this evening to help justify my going and buying it tonight.

My trusty shoes I wear with every workout...and jogging too. I'm going to need new ones soon

My insanity calendar...only now there's a purple checkmark on Saturday along with a +3.3 mile jog written in

And here's me looking goofy pre work out this morning. We'll spare the blogosphere an image of post workout. Nobody should have to see that mess.

Fun facts about the shirt I'm wearing: It was a gift from my awesome cousin Courtney. It has a flamingo on it which is my favorite animal. It is yellow, which is my favorite color. Underneath the picture it says "Paradise Island" (you can't really see it in the picture). We had no idea how awesome that would be when I originally got it knowing where I live now.

Eat more

Insanity Day 47

Month 2 hasn’t been very satisfying for me yet. I’ve been feeling tired all the time, I feel like I’m not making the amount of progress I’d like with the workouts because I’m too tired to push as hard as I want and the scale that I expected to start moving down a bit more now that I’ve developed some muscle and my workouts have intensified hasn’t moved at all…except for maybe a pound in the wrong direction. I’ve been craving sugar more than I had been. My muscles have been extra shakey in the workouts this week and I felt like crying once. What the heck was wrong with me? It was just a work out!

I did a mental reflection of the food I’ve eaten the last 3 days tallying up the calories and realized I was starving myself eating only about 1000 calories a day on the days that I worked. A girl my height, weight and age who doesn’t exercise at all requires 1395 calories a day to meet her basal metabolic needs. I’ve been doing hour long insanity workouts  6 days a week and half the time following that workout with a 12 hour shift at the hospital. 1000 calories isn’t going to do it. No wonder I felt like crap. With weight loss as my goal at the activity level I’m at, I should have been eating at least 700-900 more calories a day than I was.

I never focused much on the nutrition side of insanity aside from cutting out sweets (although I still have an occasional dessert like last weekend for mother’s day and my nephew’s birthday) and my diet ginger ale/cranberry juice I used have all the time and incorporating more fruit and vegetables. I never bothered counting calories. In month two with the harder workouts they tell you to “eat more”. I didn’t change anything nutritionally in month 2. I guess I’ll have to do a little bit more food planning on my days off to make sure I eat enough on the days that I have to work so I can have the fuel that I need to get through my workouts and which should also decrease my sugar cravings. I was just hungry. I hate counting calories, but I’d rather know I’m getting what I need than feel like I’ve already done a workout before I even begin one. The calorie count started yesterday and I’m already feeling better with more food in me.

I'm tired

Insanity day 45

And I miss cookies.

I'm smiling because I love it

Insanity day 39

Welcome to month 2! It’s just like starting from the beginning. My muscles are sore all over again and I’m tired. I’ve been working the last 3 nights, and I know I haven’ t been getting enough protein, and maybe not enough calories either so that might be part of the problem as well as not enough sleep. I’m off for a few days so I’ll be able to spend more time preparing and thinking about food (as I sit here eating my lemon pepper baked chicken and zucchini). On the bright side of nutrition I have been valiantly just saying no to all kinds of goodness that has been thrusting itself in my face at work this week. It’s nurses appreciation week and every night there has been candy, ice cream, cupcakes and goodies that normally I would have partaken of. I still crave dessert sometimes (not as often as I used to though) and it’s still hard to not eat it especially if it’s right there. Last night they also brought apple slices “for those of you who don’t want to get diabetes”, which I did eat. I thought it was nice they had an alternative the beautiful cupcakes they were passing out. Aside from a scone with a bit of honey butter I let myself have on Sunday night, the only dessert like thing I’ve had since Easter was that boston cream cake thing I had at my parents 2 or 3 weeks ago. This weekend with Mother’s day and my nephew’s birthday, I’m planning on letting myself have some dessert.

Monday was the weigh, measure and fit test day! It was good! The scale finally dropped into the next decade down and I saw a middle number I can’t ever remember seeing before. That was exciting.  Since insanity day one, total weight loss is 4.8 pounds and I’ve lost  ½ an inch off each upper arm and thigh, an inch off my chest, 1.75 inches off my waist and 3/4ths of an inch off my hips. 

I saw improvement or stayed the same in each exercise on the fit test except the power jacks. I did 5 less than last time which was the same amount I did the first time. That doesn’t bother me too much because the exercise before it I improved by 9 (which is a big number for me) and I think I was still worn out when it came time to do the next exercise which was the power jacks. I totally wear myself out with the fit test and it was hard on Monday going from the fit test to the workout for the day. I had an hour and a half of insanity and then went to work.

This week so far doing insanity and having to go to work for 12-13 hours has left me frustrated with myself in the workouts because I don’t feel like I’m able to push as much as I want to. I jump in a certain exercise thoroughly intending to jump right back up again when I hit the floor and then nothing happens. My legs wouldn’t move. I had to pause and then jump after a second or two when my legs finally connected with my brain. Go!! They just wouldn’t. I can’t say that I blame them, but it still made me mad. I’m feeling like a beginner all over again, but it should be just as fun to see how much more I can do in another couple weeks as it was last month. And I can’t help but smile at the results.

You shouldn't feel super exhausted at the end of this...

…if you do you’re doing it too hard.

Insanity day 31

Crap. What if you’re feeling super exhausted and the workout hasn’t even started yet?

Officially half way done! Done with the first 4 weeks, I’m now half way through the recovery week, and 4 more weeks left starting Monday.

For the recovery week in between months I’m supposed to do the same video (core cardio and balance) all week that is supposed to let me recover before jumping back in full steam ahead for the second month of insanity with a whole new set of longer more intense work out videos. I’m tired this week! I just finished my 3^rd night of work and each night was especially tiring leaving me feeling not so peppy for the workout even after I slept. Yesterday I didn’t even want to wake up I was still so tired from the night before. I’m not loving the core cardio and balance recovery video, but I’m doing it. Yesterday and today were the first days I really didn’t want to do an insanity workout. I usually look forward to them. I don’t know if it’s because I really don’t like the actual workout, or if it’s just because I’m cranky and tired from work this week. We’ll see how the next 3 days go. I should be more rested having a few days off now. I went for a walk today on my 3.4 mile jogging route after the video. That was much more enjoyable. The weather was so pleasant and trees were blooming and the sun was just starting to go down. I was glad I decided to go outside. It left me feeling more like how I like to feel.