I did workout 7.4 today, i was still sore from thursday 7.3... so far 7.3 has been my favorite. for some reason i thought stage 7 had 7 workouts lol, till I realized it's only 6 so yay! Im 2 workouts from finishing it. I will most definitely go for a second round and then head back to stage 4,5 will think about 6 and finally 7. while I love SL5x5 i think i wanna finish NROL4W. I wish I could say i've started to melt fat, but i havent, my mid section is about the same, and i'm humbling myself and accepting that i might not have the genetics for abs as some other people. i will hope some day i will have a flat tummy, but is causing me to not enjoy the rest of my gains in strenght, endurance, etc. so for now i enjoy my new strenght.

I've been too tired for cardio this week, so i rather not do it than have bad form and it paid off. im back to barbell backsquats... empty bar but olympic bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so yeah, i guess t25 and/or insanity dont agree with my knees.

Like you @red... im going to enjoy this summer, bikini and all, coz i did work hard. ive been at this journey since january and not stopping any time soon.

Like you, excercising, lifting and starting with insanity has changed my life incredibly. I did practise sports before, so i knew the benefits, I just let my life get in the way and got lazy, i found more excuses than "reasons" to workout and take care of my body, for years. bad diet, sedentary habits, excuses, brought me to january this year when i almost freaked out thinking ive gotten to 139lbs, being 5feet tall...

First with Insanity...
I learnt that i can make time for important things in my life, my health it's important... so rigth now i find time to fit whtever else AFTER i have done my workouts.
I learnt that u dont need to have "everything in order" and "stars aligned" to start doing something. I just went for it, with the videos in my laptop, no volume, no cable to connect laptop to tv, no good crossfit shoes, no HRM, no cute workout clothes. everything came after coz i needed it to "continue".
I learnt that it's ok to splurge on yourself and be selfish with your own time, thats major for me, i would always prefer to give my time and my all to my family, friends, whoever i was dating, not anymore...
I learnt that nutrition is 90% of fitness, and water is important, and NOT starving myself is the beginning of the game.
And I also learnt that the scale lies and one day u wake up and see a new muscle or u can see ur ribs, and ur body changes in new amazing ways...

And then I started lifting, and I realized that I do like cardio too, as long as it's not boring or hurts my knee lol.
So with lifting...
I learnt that i'm badass!
I learnt to humble myself when I couldn't lift a certain weight, so in my life I learnt to ask for help and admit when something is beyond my capacity.
I learnt that I looooooooooooove pushing myself to new limits and challenge myself from old me (and last workout weight) and nothing stops me. So I'm taking that, along with my newly found "selfishness" and I'm going back to school.
I learnt that everything takes time and you gotta start from low weights, and make slow steady improvements...everything worth in life takes time, healing injuries or broken hearts, take time, and time passes by really quick so you better make everything and every day count while healing.
I learnt that I eat because i love my body, and I want to feed it to be healthy and do better in my workouts, and yeah im nuts, i talk to myself when im hungry "im sorry body, i know you are hungry, we cant have that donut, we can wait half an hour for that lunch break and yummy tilapia i brought for lunch... enjoy some hot water, you will feel better lol"
I learnt that i can push my body to new limits, and actually I havent found my limit, 6 months ago I wouldnt even dream of a 105lbs deadlift!! so if my body can handle all that, rest and keep going, there's nothing ever again stopping me from nothing in life.
I learnt that if I can face that bar and weights and lift heavy, I can face everything in life.
and finally I learnt that we can all inspire someone with our actions, more than with our words and you can quickly realize when someone is full of excuses or full of drive... and all of you ladies are full of drive, and amazing support!

ps...sorry for the LONG post, got inspired lol

^^second that - great post Maya and congrats on your progress! I love the lessons learned idea, too! ) you're speakin to ^me friend

congrats everyone on good progress!
sorry I have been away in a long time!

red - amazing progress
Both red & maya - well said!! It is truly about what all we learned, how much we improved overall.

sunshine - I told you already!! Serious respect!! Those are great numbers!!
My folks are visiting me for this month, so I have been lifting/running when I can. Working out to 3-4 days a week instead of consistent 3X lifting and 2X running. It is still better than nothing at all so I will take it. I just wish to maintain my weight and strength I have gained during this period of time since I am always out and about and on the move till mid July.

I finished 5th workout in Stage 7. The lunges and squats - 4 sets of 15 are killing me!! I am finally getting better at push ups and I tried full push ups for the first time ever today - I did not get full range of motion, but I am proud of moving away from knee /incline push ups finally!!

Will catch up and peek in here when I can - Keep up the great progress!!

Red, bikinigeddon approaches and you're gonna be ready! That's so great that you found your best calorie-exercise mix, too.

Maya, I am with you, I was saying the other day this workout thing is total discipline, it def takes a lot.

Mnsmov- thanks friend, and congrats on the pushups.

Slammed 3A today and even got the BWM. Time was 3:45, not too too embarrassing. I have to say my jumps were more like hops and I took quick breathing breaks after the non jumping lunges and in between the squat jumps. Never mind this bunny is gonna keep on going.

Couple proud moments: 26# one armed dumbbell snatch, 80# bent over barbell row, 60# dumbbell incline press (got 10 but for some reason could not even budge 35# dumbbells, so not sure how to progress), 90 sec planks.

Really dislike the reverse wood chop I can't get the motion right. Dumbbell Romanian dead lift is my enemy, right lower back still having some pain so had to go lighter.

I'm baaaaaccccckkkkkk. I haven't really been posting but I have been working out. I finished workout 5 tonight and I'm like you guys. I'm kind of over it. I dread doing it and while I'm doing it I want it to be over. As a matter of fact I stopped taking the rest breaks in between the super sets. I just go straight through all of them. The only breaks I take are when I'm changing the weights on my bar. Of course the work outs probably would go a lot faster if I wasn't constantly stopping to check myself out in the mirror. I'm down half an inch in my waist since I started stage 7. Yes I am officially a 27 inch waist. Hopefully I can keep my same progress and be down to 26.75 next week for bikinigeddon. I'm so glad that I haven't given up because my body is still making amazing changes and I love waking up every day and finding out how my body has changed. Now that I can stop obsessing over my stomach because it's doing what it's supposed to do I've noticed that my legs are doing some sexy things. Me like sexy things.

Awesome, Red!

hey ladies, im also back! have had a couple busy days, but i've still been fitting my workouts. so i finished stage 7! whaaaaat! i did it. and im crazy, so im on round 2 now! workout 7.2.1 down! knee almost 100% recovered, im back to squatting with olympic bar! yay!

@msn, sorry i didnt answer earlier. unfortunately i had lowered my weights due to my knee injury, and since i was only coming from stage 1&2, i didnt have huge numbers. so i was basically on most of the same numbers as i finished stage 2. from someone coming from stages 1-6 i bet this is such a humbling experience.

this stage is the hardest, mental battle but oh such results, such a high when im finished each workout (right before almost passing out lol) ive upped the weights i lift little by little but making progress.

@red, im like u, im loving myself in front of the mirror, i cant believe the changes this stage have brought to my body. might be the whole process from stages 1&2 as well, but the biggest changes are showing now. im finishing this second round of stage 7 and off to stage 4....

sunshine: So I totally forgot to take pics when I was on the beach. I'll get them next time I go. Stage 7 is rough. It's non stop. The rest breaks are literally a joy. 30 seconds is enough time to pick up the next set of weights you're using.
Maya: I know right! The changes that stage 7 brings to your body are unbelievable but it is a fight to get all 4 sets done. It's totally worth it in the end though.
Bikinigeddon has come and gone. I laid on the beach in my bikini and got the best tan. And no one looked at me. No one walked up to me to ask for my measurements and weight. No one screamed at me that I can't wear a bikini on their beach without a six pack. No judge walked up to me to tell me where I'd placed in the bikini competition. No one looked at me. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every second of facing my fear and my own self consciousness. I can't wait to go back to the beach next month. I can't wait to see what my body looks like next month.

Maya: I hope you're feeling better! The flu sucks especially when you get it in the summer.

I've only got 2 workouts left until I finish stage 7 round 2 as well. I took a mental health break after I finished round one because stage 7 can take a lot out of you. Now of course I'm so exercise obsessed at this point that I couldn't take a real break and just do nothing. I ran three times a week and enjoyed it so much that I kept doing it. So I've been lifting three times a week and running 2-3 times. My knee is starting to hurt though so I might switch over to yoga for a bit in place of the runs. In huge and important news I have reached my first goal weight! I am officially 135 lbs even. I've officially lost six pounds! I'm so proud of myself for doing it you'd think I'd lost 25 pounds. But these 6 pounds have made a huge difference in how my body looks. I'm also according to the measurements that I've taken down 4% body fat. I started at about 31% and I'm at 27% now. The new goal now is to get down to 22-25% body fat which will give me 2 pack abs and more visible muscle definition all over. I'm not really interested in having a 6 pack. I like my curves and from what I can see usually when the 6 pack comes the curves go. 22-25% gives me the best of both worlds. Happy lifting this week ladies!

@maya Hope you feel better soon!

@red CONGRATS!! Thats wonderful. Glad its working for you.

@sunshine - I see you are doing 4B - I started stage 4 today. After the hiatus. Hope allz well with you.
You might wanna try and correct our form a bit more or reduce the weight on the bar until your lower back issues go away.
Increasing too soon might cause this too.

I stayed away from lifting for almost a month. Life happened. My parents visited me from India and while being busy taking care of them, I did not have enough time or gas left in me to continue my lifting workouts. So I took it light, just ran when I can and played outside a lot.
Maintained my inches from where I left off.
Now, starting off again with Stage 4 from today. Planning to do stage 7 round 2 after this.
Hope some more changes in me will be seen by the end of these 2 stages.

I started slow,
but here's how today went

4A 1
FSPP 45*3*8
Step Ups 45*3*8
One point row 12DB *3 *8 (I did 6sets in total, 3 on each side. Not sure if that's correct)
Lunges 45*3*8
Push Ups - Incline, but felt better with my ROM
Plank - just held 50s and then switched to 2 1 min each side planks. I was completely shaking by the time I was done
Wood Choppers 50*3*8 (Again, I did 3 on each side)