MUST FOCUS!!!

Okay, so this is now week 2 of INSANITY. The workouts are going well, so that's great. Unfortunately, as is always a fact with me, I fell off the food wagon this weekend. I don't know why I do it because I can be so focused with my workouts. It's totally unacceptable to me that I will workout and then eat crap on the weekends and think things will turn out well! So not good!

This summer, I was traveling all week for work, and I COMPLETELY lost all control. I was working long hours, I was eating out at every meal (living out of hotels), and I wasn't working out. This caused me to gain back the weight I had lost on P90X and then some. UGH!!! Again, so not good!

I really need to focus on my eating so I can get the real results of these fitness efforts! Here are some of the things I'd like to do to keep myself on track for the next 8 weeks:

1. Log my food and workouts on www.myfooddiary.com, including my walks to and from school (35 min each way with my laptop bag on my back... that's actually pretty tough!)
2. Eliminate alcohol, even the occasional glass of wine for this next 8 weeks. I can go back to the occasional glass of wine when I'm done with INSANITY and I really feel like I've got myself in a good food pattern.

So, I'm not sure where else to focus. Do you guys stick to your plan all the time? Or do you subscribe to the one day off philosophy?

So today is not going too hot. I'm at the too few calories level... oh boy! This is so difficult but it's worth the effort! I'd really like to lost 30 pounds, so I've got to FOCUS!!! Any and ALL advice is greatly appreciated!

On the topic of INSANITY, today's workout went well. My power jumps are getting much better! I still had to take some breaks at the end, mostly when I was transitioning from move to move. Today was the Power Cardio Resistance workout... not sure if that's the exact title, but it's got a bit more of the toning moves in it... some dips, more pushups, etc. Quite nice! I burned 612 calories... woo hoo!

This better work!

I just finished up day 6, ie the last workout of week 1 for insanity. All I can say is this better work! I can't imagine it won't, but you know... gotta say it. This is tough work! I've done really well with the workouts this week. Today was a repeat of Plyo Cardio Circuit, and I already felt stronger. Man, I can kick butt in that warmup already! :) That sounds sort of funny, but if you've done the warmup you know what I mean! I still have a ways to go in the pushup section, but those were even better than a few days ago.

As for the food, last night I strayed a bit and had some wine. I totaled up my calories and was around 2200 instead of 2100. Not the end of the world! My dinner was still healthy and balanced, and if I hadn't had a glass of wine, I would've been good to go. I just finished the first week of my fall semester at school so I took the chance to relax. In my opinion, a girl's gotta live, and this is part of my life. I like a glass of wine here and there... so be it! :)

Today's calorie burn was 646 calories. Woot! Tomorrow is rest day, so I plan to spend the day at the local farmers' markets getting all my good for me food for the week. This week, I have eaten so many yummy healthy things! My favorite for the week has been greek yogurt with fruit and walnuts. I highly recommend it!

For all those INSANE people out there, best of luck!

Day 5 - Pure Cardio

So you know you're in trouble when Shaun T finishes the warm up of his workout and proceeds to say he's scared to do the workout. Ummm, really???

The warm up was the general warm up he uses for all the other workouts where you mix up jogging, high knees, butt kickers, etc. and vary your speed as you move along. My favorite move in this part is definitely the 1-2-3 Heisman. I'm getting better at that already! My feet are moving so freaking fast! I love it! After you finish the warm up and the stretches, you move into fifteen straight minutes of cardio. And by cardio, I mean the type of cardio where you feel like you are sprinting up a hill. For 15 minutes... in Shaun T's words, it's bananas!

In total, that was 596 calories!

Still having issues getting the food balanced out during the day. I'm at 1100 calories, and I only have dinner and a snack to go. I shall continue trying...

Day 4 - Cardio Recovery

Ahhhhh, that felt nice! After two days of crazy workouts, my body needed that relaxing workout. It definitely wasn't easy but it was way more yoga-based, so I now feel awesome! I noticed in the first two workouts that he hardly stretches your calf muscles, so I've had to do that on my own. This workout included a little downward dog action, and my calf muscles really needed it!

Shaun T channeled my favorite squat and lunge guru, Debbie Siebers, in this workout too! We did slow squats with some pulses and slow lunges with some pulses too. Brought me back to my Slim in 6 days! He even did leg lifts but of course they had to be INSANE. Instead of doing leg lifts on all fours just lifting one leg, you actually balanced on one of your toes and did the leg lifts. Nice!

All in all, it was 338 calories, and a much needed stretch/break from the INSANITY!

Day 3 - INSANITY Cardio Power and Resistance

Wow! I just finished the second full workout since the fit test. This is TOUGH!!! I am seriously dripping... like it looks like I showered in my clothes. I get like this by the end of the warmup! This workout included that crazy power jump that you see in the trailers. I think I'm getting pretty high off the ground, but I'm definitely not coordinated enough yet to just jump, jump, jump. I have to reset! Shaun T stressed form, so I take my time when I need to. Not like "taking my time" makes the workout any easier! All in all, I burned 636 calories. Phew!

I'm still having a bit of trouble with the food. I'm at 1400 calories for the day and all I have left is dinner. I'm definitely going to need a snack after dinner. I seriously never believed anyone who said they had a hard time eating enough. I'm going to try my hardest to eat the 2100 calories a day this is telling me to eat though. Tomorrow I'll try harder to eat more in the morning!

INSANITY Day 2 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

I started the first official workout today for INSANITY... it was definitely tough! I made it through, so that's an accomplishment! The warm-up starts you off with a bunch of familiar moves like jumping jacks, high knees, Heismans, etc. The first round is "slow" and then you continue to build up speed. By the end of the warm-up, I was drenched! Shaun T has a really great stretching circuit he does before you move into the really intense stuff. That has to be one of the biggest things I appreciate about these Beachbody workouts... they definitely do what they can to teach you the right way to workout!

As for the rest of the workout, it was HARD!!! I can't wait to see how I progress through this. Some of the moves were decent, like squat jumps and ski jumps. I can't always go as fast as the people on the DVD although you can definitely tell they're really pushing it (and suffering) too! The drill circuit in the middle is pretty intense! You have to jump down and do pushups and then move into mountain climbers and just do that over and over and over. That's definitely one of the moves that I can't do as fast yet!

The great thing about this workout is that it flies by! Shaun T is very motivating, and he breaks the workout up really well. There's certainly never a dull moment! :) Just like you see in the trailers, I was dripping ALL OVER MY FLOOR! It was pretty hard to keep myself steady in some of the moves where you're in a plank... my hands were too slippery! I didn't have my yoga mat out, but I think I'll use that in the future.

Craziest move for me: the plank ski jump thing! You're in pushup position, and you stay there while you jump your feet up to the left, kind of like a slalom and then back center then right etc. I could not go as fast as they could and that whole circuit definitely kicked my butt!

My nutrition went pretty well today too! I figured out I need to eat much more earlier in the day because by the time 8 rolled around tonight, I had only eaten 1600 calories. According to the nutrition plan, I should have 2100! I ended up having a Greek yogurt with some strawberries and walnuts, which brought me up to 1900. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Total calories burned on this workout: 680

All in all, a good day! I expect to have sore quads and sore core muscles tomorrow... those were burning and used a TON with this workout! I'll report in on day 3 tomorrow!

Fit Test, Day 1

Yay!!! I finally started the workouts! Yesterday I spent a lot of time wandering grocery stores buying myself the food I need for the program. I was actually surprised at how cheap it was. I bought a TON of produce, plus cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, bread, meat... only $68! Nice!

So on to the workout... I did pretty well! I'm especially happy because a lot of my numbers were where the people who started out were. This is the result:

Switch Kicks - 112

Power Jacks - 49

Power Knees - 100

Power Jumps - 34

Globe Jumps - 11

Suicide Jumps - 15

Push-up Jacks - 24

Low Plank Oblique - 44

Now, let's talk form. I'd say for my switch kicks, as I get stronger and more flexible, my kicks will be higher. They weren't quite parallel to the ground, so I want to work on that. I think my form for the Power Jacks and Power Knees was pretty good. The Power Jumps will get better with time. I think I could jump higher, but I was able to hit my hands with knees so I guess it wasn't too bad! I DEFINITELY need to work on the Globe Jumps. I feel like I was getting exhausted and not doing full jumps... more like little skips or something. Can't wait to see how the next fit test goes for those! I have always thought Suicide Jumps are crazy! I'm cool with how I did on that. Push-up Jacks definitely need improvement. I need to get lower in that pushup! I have to say though I was quite happy with my ability to actually do the jack portion of it. I'm a big fan of planks, so I liked the Low Plank Oblique, although I did have to rest in child's pose for a second or two.

All in all, it went well! I can see places I can improve but I'm also pleased with my base level of fitness. I burned 376 calories! I'm a big nerd, and I've decided to start a spreadsheet to track my calories. I'm hoping I can report the total calories burned at the end of the 60 days. It's bound to be INSANE. Haha, pun intended.

Off for some recovery calories! Will report in tomorrow on how the next workout goes!

INSANITY Nutrition Program

Since I'm not prepared to start the workouts until next weekend, I decided to do my due diligence and read through the Elite Nutrition book. I really like it!

Before I went to grad school, I had a very typical office job, and my company was just awesome and relaxed and flexible. We had a fridge and a gym there, and I was able to structure my meals and workouts really well. I ate 5 small meals a day, and I made sure I balanced my carbs, fat, and protein. It was awesome! This nutrition book suggests the same, not surprisingly. I've wanted to get back to that type of eating, and I have been using my lifestyle as an excuse... no longer! I'm going to follow this plan!

With my age, weight, and fitness level, it says I should be eating 2100 calories a day to lose weight. I'm going to give it a shot! I think this is the breakdown I'm going to go for:

Breakfast - 400 calories

Snack 1 - 400 calories

Lunch - 500 calories

Snack 2 - 300 calories

Dinner - 500 calories

I know it's not goo to push all your calories to the end of the day, but I know I'll always want to have more at dinner, so I'm going to just plan for it. The good news about the plan is that it's a lot of food I really eat anyway like whole wheat toast with peanut butter on it (my breakfast EVERYDAY).

I'm going to be gone all day long, so I'm going to need to pack my foods in the morning. There are a lot of egg options, so that's going to be difficult. I don't like hardboiled, so I'm going to stick to eggs when I'm home near my stove. I have a feeling I'll be substituting in sliced turkey or even beans for some of those proteins on the go. I love oatmeal and yogurt, and I actually used to use those as my afternoon snacks when I was more on the 5 meals a day kick. I think this is going to be an old familiar eating plan that I have absolutely missed! Now the key is to never get off of it!

INSANITY has arrived!

While I was away for work this week, my INSANITY package arrived. Very nice! The packaging is quite fun. It's this huge book basically. I love it! So far I've looked at the beginning of the nutrition section and paged through a few of the recipes. Here are my observations:

It definitely sounds like a great way to eat! I used to be in the habit of eating 5 meals a day that were very well structured in terms of the balance of carbs, protein, fat. This internship has gotten me away from that, so I am going to focus a lot on this when I start INSANITY.

The calorie totals are high! I used the Very Active multiplier because it's for people who exercise 5-6 times per week. I'll be doing that plus walking to and from school which is ~1.5 miles each way. That brought my maintenance calories to 2645! I sadly gained a few pounds this summer... They won't be here for long though! I'm going to do the weight loss totals, so that will still put me at eating 2145 calories a day! WOW!!!

I plan to track my calories on www.myfooddiary.com which is IMHO the BEST food and exercise diary out there. It's only $9 a month, and it is worth it! Waaaayyyy better than the free ones!

Okay, only one more week of work and then I start INSANITY!!!! I can't wait!

Go Debbie Siebers!!!

So as I wait for my Insanity to come, I'm doing random workouts here and there. The weekends are my main time because lately I've been working almost 80 hours a week. Yuck! Today I was going to go out jogging, but it is like a swamp in PA! I came back inside immediately and decided to do a workout at home.

In 2003, I bought Slim in 6, and it was my first foray into beachbody.com workouts. My results were actually awesome! My legs have never been so slim. I also bought the Slim Series DVD's which I think of as the equivalent of the P90X plus series... just a little something extra but similar to Slim in 6. For those who aren't used to Debbie Siebers workouts, they are actually quite good! She is more of a muscle endurance type... you are literally moving for the entire hour you are working out. It's a combination of lunges, squats, and plies with different arm exercises done simultaneously (like shoulder raises, bicep curls, etc.).

After doing P90X, I think you tend to get a little of a workout chip on your shoulder... kind of like, well I did the X, so nothing else will be hard. I'm expecting Insanity to be hard, but going back to a Slim in 6 workout seemed like it would be a piece of cake. Let's just say I was WRONG! I was so impressed by how difficult my body thought it was! My muscles were absolutely burning, and I was dripping with sweat! It just goes to show you that doing something different can really kick your butt! In my one hour workout, I burned 795 calories!!! During the lunge/squat/plie sequences, my heart rate was in the 170's! WOW!!! I'm so happy I did this workout! PS, in case you're wondering, it was "Tone It Up!" a weighted workout.

So here's a highlight of some of my favorite moves that work your butt off (literally) but I totally forgot about them. One of her favorites is the pelvic tilt where you lay on your back like you're going to do crunches, and you squeeze your booty and tilt your pelvis. It's a teeny tiny movement, and you'd think it does nothing, but I dare you to try it. You will definitely be sore the next day if you're doing it right. Plus, she has you put your dumbbells on your lower stomach, so you're actually lifting weight with your butt. Interesting, right? Debbie Siebers is also a leg lift queen. Now you'd think again, no big deal, that is so 80's. I can just imagine the ladies from the old Firm videos in their crazy spandex throwing their legs around. Well, Debbie focused on small movements, and it just NEVER ENDS!! My hips were literally burning. I was laying down, and my heart rate was still in the 120's. That has got to say something!

I should have remembered that someone who created the 80/20 squats that Tony H does can really kick my butt. I'm so happy I did that workout! It makes me remember that not only do I have P90X to keep me going, but I have some of these great Slim Series DVD's as well. And of course, INSANITY is on the way!

Have an excellent Sunday!

I bought Insanity!

It's official... I have purchased Insanity! I can't wait! I only have one minor concern about it... I live on the fourth floor of my apartment building, and I'm worried I'm going to annoy my neighbor with all the jumping. Ahh, whatever! I'll make sure I do it during decent hours of the day! I'm so excited!!! I have two weeks left in my internship and then it's back to normal life (which will now include INSANITY)!!! Woo hoo! I'm going to be better about before and after photos on this one. I promise I'll post those once I get things started!

Arms and Shoulders!!!

That's right, I did arms and shoulders today!!! I am so happy! I have some free time today, which has been rare this summer. I decided I'd catch up on my DVR and do some P90X. I got to run yesterday and did some lunges and squats, so I figured I'd go for Upper Body work. My goal is to do Chest and Back tomorrow. Woo hoo! Arms and Shoulders felt great, and I felt pretty strong which is great since I haven't done it in a while. I'll be interested to see if I'm sore tomorrow... probably! It felt great to be back on the wagon though. Hooray!

I got myself some new yoga pants, which are awesome! They're from Victoria's Secret, and they're the ones that fold at the waist. Quite comfy and cute! I'm pretty sure they were on sale too, if you're looking for a deal.

Happy workouts everyone! :)