Starting Insanity

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  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Just got my husband to test me using the methods my homeopath uses, testing all the things I've been eating over last few days and looks like it's peanut butter and cheese, two great sources of protein.......never mind - back to the drawing board for quick easy snacks.
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    That stinks about the peanut butter and cheese! Are you having a reaction to almonds too? You could try almond butter. Or maybe a natural peanut butter (could be the additives causing you issues instead of the nuts?). I don't know what I would do without almonds!

    I made it through Pure Cardio, Cardio Abs, and Cardio Recovery last night, though I felt like puking during the entire Pure Cardio. Both my knees were bugging me too. I've been trying to run a little (like 2-3 miles twice a week) on easier Insanity days, but I think that is too much for my knees. They felt good the first week of Insanity when I wasn't adding in the running, so I'm going to cut out the running and just stick with Insanity right now. I'd much rather get the good calorie burn in then run myself into the ground on short little runs. Plus I really want to finish the program! Even though I am petrified of month two!

    I did Power this morning and had a lot more energy, even after not sleeping so well. My eating is back on track today too. I think the intense cardio circuits really triggered the carb craving, and I just have to work harder to fight it!

    Hope you get the chance to fit in your workout during the day- I love working from home, but I haven't gotten to do it lately! Another rest day is coming up soon :)
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Finally got round to Power once my little boy was in bed, and talked my daughter and husband into doing it with me. My 8 yr old thought it was fun and chatted constantly throughout - but my poor husband.....hating any kind of aerobic routine combined with a tad too much weight and minimal exercise for many years, he was dying. Was quite funny throughout the warm up but then I felt really guilty for putting him through it. I've been trying to get him get fit for ages, hopefully it's been a bit of a wake up call and the excuses will stop. I think I underestimated how intense it is. I've never been into exercise, tho have always watched my weight - and I guess running round after two kids helps. I walked up the BT Tower in London in February, 900 steps in 11 mins, with minimal training, and hadn't done anything before starting this - so I guess I thought he'd just be able to 'dig deeper' and do it like I did. Hmm, maybe not.....

    Great job doing the triple - we're both amazing!! I'm very much an all or nothing type person and know if I let myself have an unscheduled day off without catching up I'd stop and not go back.

    I'm planning to take some more pics after 30 days I think, don't feel like I'm getting anywhere (even tho my fit test results improved), I guess cos I'm not doing it to lose weight until the toning really kicks in it's hard to see the gradual changes.Hopefully will motivate me through the second month.

    The peanut butter thing is a pain, and I love peanuts. I was on a natural one with only peanuts, palm oil and salt - so I tested peanuts last night and they were bad, walnuts almonds and almond butter are all ok (phew), but pecans are bad too - who knows why, hopefullyit's only a temporary thing. I guess I never noticed the impact having them occassionally in moderation, but now having peanut butter most days as a snack with corn cakes it's had an impact. Least I can do almond butter tho, and I already had some, so all good.

    Had a lay in this morning so haven't done my Plyo yet, hopefully will be able to sneak it in if my son has a nap. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow......

    Hope you havea great day xx
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    That is awesome that you got your daughter and husband to join you. What a great inspiration for your daughter and hopefully a wakeup call to your husband. My husband doesn't do any sort of exercise, though he is one of the lucky people that even after gaining 25 pounds in the last few years is still in a healthy weight range. But even though he is thin he definitely isn't fit. I wish I could get him to join me, but he just looks at me like I am crazy while dripping puddles of sweat on the floor. He totally doesn't get the "hurts so good" mentality.

    I know what you mean about taking a day off and letting it snowball. I'm proud of us both for staying caught up! I actually did Pure Cardio, Cardio Abs, and then most of Cardio Balance (the workout for the recovery week) this morning. I realized that I am going on vacation July 1st, so I only have 5 weeks left to finish the program. I think I am going to skip the recovery week, take 2-3 days off this weekend for recovery, then jump into Month 2 next week so I can get in 4 weeks of month 2. I liked the Cardio Balance workout though. Still challenging, more cardio than Cardio Recovery, but less pounding moves and a little slower than normal. I definitely think it would be hard to do for several days in a row! I'm gonna try my plan of not doing the recovery week and just be aware of how my body reacts. If I feel overdone then I will step back, do the recovery, take my vacation, and finish up when I get back. But hopefully that won't have to happen!

    I haven't seen much in results, but my eating has been much less than stellar the past two weeks. I'm actually up two pounds, and I'm not noticing many changes in my core, but my legs feel stronger and more solid. I'm going to do 1-month measurements at the end of this week so hopefully they will either show a change or at least motivate me to eat better so I can really reap the benefits of this hard work.
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Wow, another triple, way to go!!! You'll be able to give me a heads up on month two - looking forward to it in a sadistic kinda way, tho very scared.

    Have worked from home again today so was able to have a little lay in (i.e. not getting up at 6am to workout) and do my workout at lunchtime. Caught sight of myself in the mirror doing the Power jumps and was impressed that I actually looked similar to the guys in the dvd, made me push much harder. Think most of my limtations are psychological rather than physical, although my triceps have started cramping for the tricep dips the last two times of Power & Resistance, just have to keep trying. Lower back is a little achy after cardio abs yesterday, stupidly attempted the leg lift thingys by leaning back rather than in c-sit, because I still can't do them, and think I twinged something, nothing major so am hoping will go away quite quickly. Just need to keep strenghtening my core, don't think I'm anywhere close yet.

    This will make you laugh. I was laying bed last night and ran my hands up my quads to my thighs and back down again, and became kind of obsessed with how it's starting to feel different, think my husband thought I'd gone mad, laying in bed running my hands up and down my thighs LOL, really motivated me to keep going though. I still can't see any changes and I've measured from time to time and haven't seen any change (despite being pretty religious with my diet) so to be able to feel a difference, Woo Hoo!!!

    Also, tested myself with goats cheese and seems to be ok, so bit the bullet and tried some today, fingers crossed there aren't any adverse side efects.

    Hope you have a great P&R today. Where are you off to on your vacation on 1st July??

    Catch you later

    M xxx

    p.s. Do you think it was something we said, we've lost lu123 and Zelsawef (or however you spell it) somewhere along the way, great that we;ve still got each other.....:happy:
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    LOL - just re-read, meant 'quads to my hips' - not 'quads to my thighs'....I knew what I meant LOL
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    LOL - just re-read, meant 'quads to my hips' - not 'quads to my thighs'....I knew what I meant LOL
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    That's funny... but awesome that you can feel the difference in you quads! How's your back feeling today?

    I really am trying to push the upper body sections that I wuss out on normally- did a bunch more of the tricep dips and moving pushups yesterday and the Level 1 drills today. I still couldn't do them all, but I only skipped about 1 per set and I'm proud of that!

    I heading to Connecticut for my sister in law's wedding and then staying for a few days to do family stuff. Not a "full" vacation but it will be a nice break from Miami :)

    I think Lu123 said she had to finish exams, hopefully she'll jump back into Insanity when she is done. I have no idea what happened to Zelsawaf! Hopefully it wasn't something we said. I am definitely glad that you and I are sticking to it together!
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Excellent progress on the dips, pushups and drills - they are really hard. They guys on the dvd make them look sooo easy!!! Mind you, I could barely manage one press up before starting this so who knows, we may make it look easy in another few weeks!!

    My only 'experience' of Miami is watching 'Miami Ink' on TV, always looks like a really cool place, but everyone looks so body conscious. Never been sure how much of it is exaggerated for TV. Much less pressure in the UK to have a 'beach body', and certainly not when you're over 25!! Kind of the norm to have kids and fill out...but then I've never been normal - LOL!!

    My back was ok this morning, I rocked plyo - well, more than normal, still struggle with the ski abs and in and outs, don't think they did the back any favours. Worked in London today which is about 45mins from where I live, and my laptop bag is really heavy. By the time I got there my back was really sore again and has been playing up all day....and what a day!! Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, work wise, have had a really rubbish day.

    I was hoping to have a productive day today, I've booked the next two days off work. My husband (Kev) works shifts and finished his four days yesterday (works 4 on 4 off, alternate days and nights), so even tho it was a long weekend in the UK, he was working (12 hr shifts) so we didn't really see him. As the weather is meant to be nice over the next few days, and tomorrow is my birthday (37 arrgghhhhhhh, getting closer to 40!!) , thought it would be nice to go away for a few days. We have a motorhome (nothing by RV standards but a 24ft 6 berth so big enough for the family and better on the wibbly wobbly UK roads), that Kev went to collect from storage today, only to discover a hideous noise emanating from the gear box, so our trip away looking less likely. Great end to a great day.

    I was hoping to do tomorrows recovery tonight and have a treat day off tomorrow, but really not in the mood. Hadn't quite worked out how I was going to fit my workouts in while away in the van. Kev suggested doing them in the dark outside the van, hmm, thanks darling!! I did consider buying a little gazebo to do it in!!! This insanity thing definitely affects the brain!!! LOL

    Think I shall take myself off for an early night of watching TV in bed and chilling out. Nearly succumbed to a take away tonight, but would have been comfort food so resisted the temptation and cooked pork loin with sweet potatoes and asparagus instead. Strangely that cheered me up (I guess being a control freak - I felt back in control of my day again), that and a cathartic outporing to a good friend with a shared insanity!! LOL :wink:

    Have a great day - catch you tomorrow.
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope your getaway works out and you have a chance to relax and celebrate with your family and regroup from your crappy day. Good job resisting takeout food. I find that even harder to do when I am in a celebrating or crappy mood (or basicallly when anything differs from my normal routine!). It is definitely nice to be able to vent to someone who understands the insanity ;). Those ski abs and in and outs make me beg for mercy. Of course by that point in the workout I am so sweaty that the floor is slippery and I have to do them in a different part of the room for each set so that my sneakers don't slide all over the place!

    Miami is an interesting place. It IS really body-consious, and people here are obsessed with bikini bodies. In a way it's good that it is so healthy, but it's also really unrealistic to see all the fake body parts and feel like you need to look that way to fit in.

    I just found out yesterday that I am coming to the UK in July for 4 days! Most of the time will be spent in England, but we are planning to make a day trip to Cambridge too. I've never been to the UK, so if you have any recommendations on stuff to do I'd love to hear them!

    My plan for this weekend is:
    Today- Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs and Recovery
    Friday am- Plyo
    Saturday- rest
    Sunday-rest
    Monday- start month 2 (or maybe rest and start on Tuesday, depending on how my body feels and what time I get back from my long weekend).

    Hope you have a fabulous birthday and long weekend!
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Hi

    Thanks for the birthday wishes. The day started out quite rubbish but got better. The motorhome needs work and by the time we'd been to the garage it made it too late to get organised and find somewhere to stay. We need to be back sun afternoon as Kev working Sun night, so would have been too much rush for too little gain.

    Great job doing the triple yesterday, I missed the recovery yesterday in the end, and 7 of us went out to Tgi's so I succumbed and had a bunless burger with fries. Only drank diet tonic water and no dessert so reckon about 600 calories, and counted as meal 4 & 5.......Made up for it with the triple today, cardio, abs and recovery but found it hard going. You def need to listen to your body for you short recovery. I seem to be tightening up rather than getting more flexible, think I'm going to need the recovery week to regroup.

    I'll definitely put some thought into places you should visit in July, the Cotswolds isn't far and is very pretty and quaint.

    Off to round up the kids and see where we can go, speak soon x
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Was nervous about recovery. Missed the last plyo session and haven't had the enthusiasm to pick t back up, back has been too sore. Worried about making excuses tho, so may try to do it during the recovery week.

    Feeling better after doing recovery, was pleased to have a break from the full on sessions tho and was surprised by how much I sweat.

    Managed to get to the beach on Saturday, we're land locked where we are so was a three hour drive there, for only four hours at the beach, but was a lovely hot day so was a nice break. Didn't do much yesterday in the end, seemed to spend most of the day nagging my daughter to do her homework.

    Hope you had a great long weekend's rest....let me know how you get on with month 2 if you start today, good luck!!! xxx
  • lu123
    lu123 Posts: 247 Member
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    Hi guys, seems an AGE since I've posted on here. Missed about a week of workouts due to major stressage about final exams. But its all over now and I'm back with the workouts. Did recovery today to ease me back into it lol. I'm looking forward to getting back into it

    Hurricane: Ooo my advice is bring water proofs. It'll be July but you never know ha ha ha... I love english weather! My advice is Bath, only about 1.5 hours on a train from London Paddington, so easy to do as a day trip and its such a nice city, its got the Roman baths there and lots of regency age type stuff and pretty buildings but it really depends on what kind of thing you're into. Let us know how Month 2 is :wink:

    Mbeforethes: BEACH! Love the beach. Did my degree in Swansea and the beach was literally across the road from campus. and we had the Gower nearby too. Love it. Four hours doesn't sound too short, you don't want to be out there that long, its been really hot recently.
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Hey LU123, great to have you back :drinker: Congrats on completing the degree, what was your degree in??

    We were in Gower last August, we did a three week tour of Wales and the South West in the motor home, boy did it rain!!!

    As for places to visit, I was thinking Cotswolds, Statford-Upon-Avon, Warwick - totally agree about Bath!! I'll dig you out some links HS and post them later.

    Another recovery done, can really feel it in my shoulders and quads. Had the delight of my husband working at the dining room table and my son trying to show me all of his toys this morning, must make the effort to get up when the alarm goes off tomorrow to limit the audience!!

    Hope month 2 is going ok HS, can't wait to hear all about it. I'm considering doing 5 days recovery, having Sat off and then doing the fit test on Sun so I only have the new mth 2 orkout to do on Mon, am frightened it'll kill me and put me off otherwise. I was exhausted after the last fit test.

    Have a great day both, catch you later xxxx
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    Hi guys! Welcome back Lu123! Congrats on finishing and we are happy to have you back with us- what week are you starting up with?

    M- I think your idea of doing the fit test of Sunday is brillant. 5 days of the Core and Balance is probably more than enough, and the fit test and max interval yesterday was really challenging! Although it was a HUGE calorie burn day (310 for the fit test and 730 for the max interval), so I got to eat a ton, but I was wiped out.

    My weekend plans didn't go exactly as I hoped. I managed to actually get sick with a cold on Thursday night (guess the thing I never fully caught the week before made me run down enough to catch one). So I did Pure Cardio and Abs on Thursday, then took Friday, Saturday and Sunday off since I felt horrible. So I ended up finshing Month 1 only skipping 2 workouts- Thursday's Recovery and Saturday's Plyo.

    Yesterday I started Week 5. I did the fit test first and was doing pretty well even though I was still really stuffy and had to blow my nose a lot during the breaks. But after the pushup jacks I threw up a little! Must have been all the drippy nose stuff and jumping around and then when I went down to do the pushup jacks it was just too much. So I didn't push as hard on the obliques because I didn't want it to happen again. I'll post my results later, don't have them with me at work.

    Then I took a brief rest and decided to give the Max Interval Workout a shot. Good news is that there is a new warmup, which was exciting since I was so tired of the old one! Bad news is that it has switch kicks and these new kickjump handstand things that are HARD! The rest of the Interval workout was OK. It is longer than Month 1, with 3 sets of 4 exercises instead of 2 sets, and each exercise is now 45 seconds long instead of 30. So it's a much bigger calorie burn, but the time does go a little slower. I liked most of the moves in the interval DVD though. I'll let you know how the Max Plyo one is tonight.

    Thanks for the suggestions on places! Are all of those outside of London? Is there anything in London that is a must-see for someone who has never been before?
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Sorry to hear you've been poorly HS, but great job fighting through the fit test and Max Interval, awesome effort!!!

    The following website highlights a lot of the attractions in London, and there are loads. Really depends on what you are interested in. There are lots of walking tours and bus tours that would allow you to cover lots of them in one day...

    http://www.6london.com/tourist-attractions-in-london/
    http://www.theoriginaltour.com/
    http://www.walks.com/

    I'd say you'd probably want to cover Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, The Tower of London...and maybe Covent Garden for some shopping.....

    Finally bought myself a heart rate monitor, so had fun playing with that last night. Have always been on the bradycardic side, with ow blood pressure and heart rate - so thought it was funny that my resting heart rate classes me as 'athlete', when 5 weeks ago I barely moved!! LOL

    Attacked the recovery again this morning, quite enjoying it really. The hip flexor thingys and plie shoulder thingys kill but after managing to hold out the first time through both I know I can't wimp out now, no matetr how much it burns!! I was going to take my 30 day pics yeaterday but I was having a self deprecating day, feeling all fat and worthless, so I decided not to. Have bounced back today and feeling much brighter, so will aim to break out the bikini when I get home. Not expecting to seemuch difference, and trying to kep reminding myself that the majority of changes happen in month 2!!!

    Hope you're both having a great day and you're pressing play and working hard. Keep going guys, we're over the half way there - we can do this!!! xxxx
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    Holy cow- Max Plyo is HARD! There are a ton of strength moves, and loads of pushups: One leg V Pushups, Power Pushups, Falling pushups, and the Level 3 drills (16 pushups/16 runs). It was definitely a challenging upper body workout that took the Month 1 Power DVD to a whole new level. I am sore again from the new moves in part 2! Now I understand why they make you do 4 weeks of the Month 1 moves- jumping straight into this month would be hard even for an athlete. Can't wait til you guys join me here!

    Good job fighting through the plie shoulders and hip flexor moves! You will enjoy the HRM. I'm finding that it says I am burning over 730 calories for the Month 2 workouts (so even once I subtract the 70 or so calories I would have burned that hour that MFP already accounts for it's still a huge burn!)
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    My fit test results from Monday.

    Switch Kicks 65 57 59
    Power Jacks 52 61 65
    Power Knees 109 116 111
    Power Jumps 36 35 40
    Globe Jumps 9 11 11
    Suicide Jumps 16 19 20
    Push Up Jacks 17 19 18*
    Low Plank Obliques 54 74 71

    *threw up after this set, so didn't push last set as hard. Still not sure why my switch kicks were highest the first round, must have counted wrong as I couldn't imagine doing any more in the minute than I did this week.

    Edit to add that my heart rate was 180 after the power jumps!
  • Mbeforethes
    Mbeforethes Posts: 51
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    Amazing results, especially as you were feeling so rubbish!! Great job carrying on after throwing up!!

    I took my 30 day pics last night, put off doing it as I didn't expect to see much improvement and didn't want to be deflated....and guess what, there wasn't much change and I'm feeling deflated. Pah!! I know it all hapens in month two - and boy am I scared of that, so I knew not to expect much, but still woken up today feeling blue. Will post them over next few days once I've managed to get them in a suitable format. Didn't help I was messing around truing to complie the pics to see a comparison until 12.45 this morning, so am tired today and kicking myself for not getting mroe sleep. I can see a little improvement in the muffin toppage, waist and back - tho seems little visible change for all of the effort.......but not gonna quit or anything, just need to remotivate and pick myself up.

    Dragged myself out of bed at 6.30am, got dressed into my workout clothes for my recovery only to find my 2 1/2 yrold son wandering around the study looking for mischief. Normally when I wake up feeling a bit blue the workout lifts my spirits, but can't work out with him awake - tried that earlier in the week and it's so distracting. So feeling pants, haven't worked out and meant to be meeting a friend for a belated birthday meal after work.....hmm, def need to give myself a big kick today!! I may leave work a few hours early and try to get a workout in before monster son comes home from nursery, and before I go out - else will be nearly midnight before I do the CC&B and worried I'll skip it.

    Hope you have a great day and that max recovery is actually a respite & not more torture!! xxx
  • HurricaneShaunna
    HurricaneShaunna Posts: 61 Member
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    I decided not to take 30 day pictures or measurements for that reason. I don't see a change in the mirror or how my clothes fit and I don't want to get down. And with my crappy eating I actually gained 4 pounds back in the past few weeks. So instead I'm pushing myself to work extra hard and eat well in Month 2 so i can see some results, and I'll take photos and measurements at the end.

    I did Max Cardio Conditioning last night and I have to say that I wasn't a huge fan. It was similar to Pure Cardio, with 30 minutes of 1-min moves non-stop, but some of the moves (especially in the first 10 minutes) were so hard that there was no way I could do them for a whole minute (like ski abs!). So I didn't feel like I got as good of a cardio burn in the workout because I had to take so many breaks. I am hoping that Max Recovery gives a bit of relief tonight, I am so ready for a recovery day after the past 3 days.

    Hope you find time to fit your workout in! I am definitely feeling the increased time in Month 2- it's only 20 more min a day but it feels like a big time committment!

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