Some Days It Is Just As Much Mental As Physical.

I have never been so happy to do a 30 minute yoga based workout in my life, as I was this morning! Today is day 4 of Insanity and I am quickly becoming addicted. I look forward to it in the morning, and while I know it's early days yet, I haven't looked forward to a vicious workout in years and it feels so damn good. 

Today was a recovery day which was yoga, light cardio and deep muscle stretching. I was happy with how much my yoga poses have improved since I last gave it a go in spring of 2011. Thanks to years in ballet I am a huge fan of stretches and despite my sizes through the years, I have always maintained the habit of stretching often and deeply. Not much feels as good to me as a deep stretch. Hell, I could still put my hands to the floor at 9 months pregnant, and if you had seen the size of my belly (11 pounder) you would be floored by that. I am already looking forward to next Thursday so I can do it again! 

Yesterday was a different story. Day 3 is Cardio Power and Resistance and it was so very hard. In reality I probably properly executed about 55% of the whole workout. I had a hard time keep me up and it pissed me off to no end. I have no shame in telling you that I cried after the moving push ups because I was so frustrated and felt so out of shape. But I realised that I was crying because I couldn't do it and the only way to be able to do it was to get up and try again. So I did. There was no epic revelation or Oprah a-ha moment but I got through it and I was proud. I realised that some days mentally getting through these workouts is just as important as perfect form and speed. 

I have to give a huge shout out here to my husband Daniel. He gave the fit test a whirl last night and I am so proud of him for it. It was a great laugh for both of us, too! Despite the fact that Daniel goes to the gym as often as possible, he does not do much, if any cardio. My big old hypocritical ass was always giving him hell for it. However, he stayed motivated and did the best he could with pretty good form! Well, I have to call him out after all that love because his fit test scores did not "destroy" mine as he had so boasted! I'll leave it at that :)

59 DAYS TO GO!!

Insanity Isn't Even The Word For It.

Today is day 2 of the Insanity Workout Program and I can see how this is going to transform my body! Let me go back a few weeks. After I completed the 30 Day Shred I had a few weeks of downtime before Insanity showed up. So I continued to use the Latin Cardio Jam that I started with and also the Killer Buns & Thighs dvd that I purchased with the Shred. I quickly realised that I need a structured time limited program in order to succeed. The first two weeks I gained 2.6 pounds overall, however I lost 1.9 pounds this week. That leaves me with a .7 left over, but I am pretty sure the last two days with Insanity have destroyed those few ounces.

The Insanity Workout program is made up of a series of videos that are 35-55 minutes in length . You workout 6 days a week with a different video each day. Sunday is your rest day and there is a week of recovery in the middle of the program (I am already looking forward to that). The program is 28 days on, one week of recovery workouts, and another 28 days on for a total of 63 days total. I have googled before and after photos and some of them are mind blowing. I accept that there will likely be days that I miss it and will have to make up the next day, but I really am hoping that between Daniel and I we can get it done in 63 days. As with the Shred, I hope to stick to the program as accurately as possible.

A Quick Overview

The first day was a simple fit test to gauge your personal fitness level and set goals. I can tell you that it was a workout in itself and I was stiff this morning! There are 8 specific moves involved and you have one minute to complete as many reps of that move as you can. There is a chart in the package that you can use to track your fit test scores every 2 weeks through the program. I was pleasantly surprised by my own numbers I must say!

Day 2 was a Polymetric cardio circuit, and it kicked my butt. I was completely soaked with sweat when I was done but my sweet baby Jesus did I feel amazing! There was a few moves that I spent my time dry heaving through, and some that I couldn't complete one rep, but that motivates me so much! I look forward to trying it again next Tuesday! I went for a nice walk after the work out with one of my closest friends and as always it did wonders for my heart and mind and I think it will really help with the inevitable soreness that awaits me in the morning.

I am a little scared and completely intimidated but I am focused and ready for this challenge. I am already considering learning to run with Couch to 25K when this program is over. But lets not get too ahead of ourselves shall we?!

I'm back!

It's been way too long and I have to apologise for my absence. I have been wrapped up in a lot of emotions surrounding my dad over the last few weeks, and I needed some time away from everything but my family. It happens like that, grief. In random patterns of tidal waves and still waters. Early May was a tsunami of emotions. My dad's birthday is May 12th and this year was the first birthday since his death. It was surprisingly hard for me to get through. That being said, Daniel has been wonderful and kind and I appreciate that so much. Moving on, it was just Mothers Day weekend! Daniel and James were just amazing yesterday and I couldn't have asked to have felt more loved and needed.
I did work in the morning, but upon my return I was showered with gifts from my guys! James gave me the INSANITY Workout DVD Program and flowers and I am so pumped about that. I have been not so subtly making it known that I 'desperately need' to do this program. I saw it online a while back and I know a few survivors who highly recommended it. So in my mind I have been gearing up the balls to try this program. I started it this morning and will be writing a separate post about it in a few hours. I was so appreciative that Daniel was able to purchase it for me! Daniel himself gave me a bottle of my favourite wine. Which I must applaud, that is not something that Daniel pays attention to and to receive it as a gift was very thoughtful. Awwww :)
After the gifts Daniel made and gave James lunch while I had a nice long bath and read and had a small taste of my wine. The boys both napped while I baked a cake and got ready to host my mom and Daniels mom for a nice dinner! I made porcini mushroom tortellini, roasted porchetta and oven roasted asparagus! It was a really good time and I am so happy we did it! I gorged myself, knowing that I was back on track this morning and it was lovely!

Happy belated Mothers Day to all mom's everywhere!

xo

Final Results of the 30 Day Shred!

Well I personally can't quite believe that I started this challenge and finished it. It was harder some days than others. It was frustrating when something came up and I couldn't get a workout in for some reason. It was infuriating when it felt like I was never going to be able to keep up. In the end it was a glorious feeling to finish the 30 Day Shred.

There have been incredible improvements! My endurance is up considerably. I am very impressed with the improvement in my upper body strength. I had a hard time completing 3 push ups in the beginning and I can now do 25. My lower back is much stronger. Deep breathing has improved, focus has improved, flexibility has improved greatly. For the first time in a decade my plank position is strong and I can hold plank (alone) for almost 20 seconds. Polymetrics (jump training) has improved my height and form.

On to the numbers.

Over all I have lost 16.2 pounds & 12 inches while dong the 30 Day Shred.

Inches came off in the following places:

Arms   42 - 40      -2

Hips    52 - 49      -3

Bust    46 - 42      -4

Waist  41 - 39      -2   

Thighs 31 - 30      -1

And here you have it folks, the final picture. I apologise for the exposure, I am terrible at this editing stuff.

Thank you so much for ALL of your love and support!! I couldn't have finished without you! 

Worth Every Second.

I am very proud to say that I have accomplished my first goal. I have officially lost 5% of my body weight. I lost 3.8 pounds this week! This is unreal to me, as I was expecting a gain! I ate well and within my portions, however, I did not think I drank enough water and I only worked out 3 times due to Daniel's insane work schedule last week. It looks like my body benefited from the rest. I am down a full pant size, and many of my older shirts are starting to fit again, also!

Starting Weight -   239
Previous Weight -  229.1
Current Weight -   225.2
Total Lost        - 13.8

Today I took a bold step forward and started Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred! It was incredibly challenging but also very motivating. They pick up the pace for level 3, that's for sure! Walking push ups, jumping squats, jumping lunges..ouch! But I could keep up better than I could with level 2, which is interesting. I assume it's because I am using different muscles.

So I have decided to make a series of smaller goals to propel me towards my bigger goals. My next goal is 10% weight loss. This is 10.2 pounds away. I am aiming to get to that goal by the middle/end of May. I mentioned to my Sister in Law that I was looking forward to getting to the point where I only have 35 or so pounds left to lose. At that point I realised that goal was only 10 pounds away from my 10% goal. Then I plan on spending the summer losing that 35 pounds!

I would like to get to 170-175 by James' birthday. This is a substantial goal. 50-55 more pounds in 4.5 months. I will do my best, in as healthy a way as I can to achieve this goal. I am even more motivated that it's possible than I was on day 1.

Easter Weekend was a Success In My Books!

I recently read something that says it takes about 4 weeks for you to notice the changes in your body. I am between 4-5 weeks into this weight loss journey and I am down a full pant size! And not the "suck it all in hope for the best" fit, but the "wow, these pants do up AND feel comfortable" fit. It's an amazing feeling. I didn't expect it so soon. My last round with weight watchers was much slower in the inches lost department, but it was however, faster in the pounds lost department. This time around it's the opposite. I am losing weight slower but the inches are melting away. I prefer this approach!

I am onto day 20 of the 30 Day Shred and I feel amazing! I am struggling with level 2 but it's motivating. I have a hard time with lunges and squats and that is the whole basis of level 2. I am pretty determined to get through it  and onto level 3 though, and I can feel it getting easier and easier everyday. I suspect it will be more of a 40 day shred in the end, but I will still post stats and pics as planned on day 31. I gave level 1 a shot the other day to gauge any improvements and I was thrilled. Level 1 is by no means easy, but my endurance was significantly better, and I was able to go full out on all the moves.

This week I did miss one day due to Easter Sunday, and I didn't do so well with tracking my food and my water intake with Weight Watchers. However, I did make fantastic choices and stayed away from holiday candies and chocolates and didn't drink nearly as much wine as usual lol. All in all after I weighed in yesterday morning there was no change in my weight this week, but in the grand scheme of things, I am fine with that. I did weigh in on Thursday to see how strict I needed to be with WW through Easter weekend, and I was down  just over 1.5 pounds which put me at my 5% goal! I didn't add it into my WWOnline tracker because it wasn't a weekly weigh in and it can fluctuate a lot through the week, but it was a huge empowering personal goal to see the numbers staring back at me. Since this weeks official weigh in didn't reflect the same numbers as mid week, I will be stepping it up this week now that the holidays are over. Travelling really throws me off.


Starting Weight -   239
Previous Weight -  229.1
Current Weight -   229.1
Total Lost        - 9.9