My Insanity Results - 17.5lbs down - almost 1/2 to my goal!

Today was my last Insanity workout so I thought I'd share some progress pics. Still have ~22lbs to go before I reach my goal but Insanity has definitely given me a great start!

My stats:
33 years old
5' 10"
Starting Weight: 213 lbs

The pics:




Really wish I would have taken pics that show my thighs/butt since that's where the most dramatic change has occurred, but sadly I did not. I went from a size 36 pants to 33...and now the 33s are hanging on me.

The proof:


(These charts are actually from yesterday)






I did not follow the Insanity nutrition plan but instead changed my eating habits to eat more whole/non-packaged foods, consumed significantly more vegetables by making homemade juices for breakfast and significantly reduced my sodium intake. I followed MFP's dietary suggestions first to lose 2lbs/week but quickly realized that I was not eating enough due to being very irritable, easily annoyed and having a short fuse. I changed my MFP diet settings to 1.5 lbs/week and noticed a considerable change in attitude (back to normal) while continuing to lose weight. My diary is open to all MFP users, so please feel free to check it out. One thing I did not give up was beer & whiskey - however, I did switch to drinking only light beer.

My diet settings were only set to lose more than 1 lb/week due to the fact that we had a weight loss competition at work. Now that the competition is over (I won!), I'm going to consider changing my settings to 1 lb/week.

This is the first and only time I've ever completed Insanity after 2 previous attempts. During the previous attempts I did not take scheduled rest days nor did I do the Recovery Week, which I definitely blame for my previous downfalls. This time through, I did both the rest days and the Recovery Week and believe that it not only allowed my body to rest/recover but the Recovery Week also reset my mind back to "Just get through the workout and do what you can" mode to start Month 2. You need that mind reset because by the end of Month 1 you are able to really push yourself in the workouts. Then if you start Month 2 without the mind-reset, you feel as though you should be able to push yourself just as hard as in Month 1. However, since the workouts are longer/harder, I was discouraged to the point of quitting because I wasn't able to perform at the level I thought I should. This time through, the Recovery Week gave my body the rest/recovery it needed and allowed me to change my mindset to take on Month 2 as a new challenge. By Week 2 of Month 2 I was able to start pushing myself again. By Week 4 of Month 2, I was able to push myself to levels I never thought possible!

Hope this helps to motivate some fellow MFPers out there. I know reading the success stories and other message board threads on here have really kept me motivated and helped me reach this milestone towards my goal. Thank you MFP!