C'mon y'all, let's gooooooo

So Day 3 of Insanity started pretty much exactly how I remembered it would - painfully!

Day 3 is 'Cardio power & resistance' and after the insane workout the day before you will need every ounce of willpower and determination to complete it.

The 'warmup' (that term still makes me laugh with disbelief) consists again of a set amount of moves that are repeated 3 times with an increase of intensity during each set - again you get that all important 30 second break between sets. Use those 30secs to crawl to your water.
The moves for the warmup are:-

• Jog.
• Power jacks.
• Log jump.
• 123 heisman.
• Butt kicks
• High knees.
• Vertical jumps.

If you're still alive ( or at least able to pick yourself up from the floor) after those then you move on to the all important stretches - these really do help flexibility as you progress.
After that you're onto the butt kicking workout. Here's how this workout goes:-

• Power jumps:- start in a squat position and then jump into the air while bringing your knees up to your chest and slapping your thigh. Once you land you go at it again and again and again for a whole minute. 
• Belt kicks:- Love, love, love this move, it's a welcome break after the first move. Start in a squat position again and as you stand up you front kick with one leg. Then go back down in to the squat and repeat again and again.
• Hit the floor:- hmmmm can't explain this one because I hate the move.
• V push ups:- Start in the plank position then walk your feet in so that your backside is in the air and your body has formed a 'V'.  Now perform push ups from that position (if you can of course).

30 second water break and then repeat 3 more times.

• Tri-cep dips:- Performed on the floor in a table position.
• Leg Tricep dip:- Same as above but hold one leg in the air.
• Tri cep ball pushup :- Start in the 'V' position but your walk your feet in and bring your knees to your chest (ball position). Do your dips from that position.

30 second water break then repeat 2 more times.

• Hurdle jumps:- Basically running super duper fast on the spot and then hurdling to the side every time Shaun T shouts "jump".
• Globe jumps:- Start in a full squat position with hands touching the floor in front, jump up with hands in the air while leap frogging to the side, then do the same to the back and again to the left and then to the front. 4 jumps = 1 move.
• Moving push ups:- Start in plank position, as you lower your body down move the right hand hand and foot out to the side. As you come back up bring your left hand and foot in. harder than you would think and takes time to master.
• Floor sprints:- Run in a plank position.

So there you are after all that you then complete the all important stretching.


I think soon I will start wearing my heart rate monitor to calculate the calories I burn off during these workouts. It's only a cheap one and can be temperamental but if I can get the hang of it I think it will add to motivation if I can see what I am burning off.

Weigh in on Friday and I'm not looking forward to it. I haven't been as 'good' as I should have been this week and I know it's going to show.
Maybe I do need the accountability of a group after all :(

Balls to the wall.......

Now I remember!
Today it all came back me!
My sudden lightbulb moment? Day 2 & 3 of Insanity are the worst - Ever!
Day 2 because you are so stiff from Shaun T's "Fit test" the day before that even shuffling out of bed is agony and Day 3 because you remember the intensity of the workout from the day before and dread it!

So today was Day 2 for me. The stiffness of every bone in my body and the pain in every conceivable muscle (and then some) had me talking myself out of this crazy ass workout before I'd even shuffled out of bed.
That's the problem I have you see, I talk myself out of things very easily, luckily I've also learned how to trick myself back into them.
Basically I dragged my sorry ass out of bed at 6.30am and told myself  "I'll just workout later in the day", the problem with that theory is that if I don't workout in the morning I won't be bothered by the afternoon and I'll just miss it (been there, got the T shirt).
It has to be a morning workout so I convinced myself to watch the Insanity commercial (that I recorded via Sky TV) just to see what I'll be doing later on in the day (wink, wink) and it worked. Every single time it works! As soon as I'm 10 minutes into the commercial I cannot wait to get going on the workout - awesome!

So this was todays workout - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

45 minutes long this 'workout' will push you to your limits and just when you think you can't do anymore Shaun T will motivate you to 'Dig deeper'.
It starts with a 10 minute warmup but just like the 'Fit test' this 'Warmup' will have you questioning your ability to complete an actual workout.
Basically Shaun T gives you a set of 7 exercises to be repeated 3 times and each set gets more intense, but hey you do get a 30 second break in between sets!!

Next is stretching. By this point the sweat is already dripping but these stretches are just.....well......I love em. Seeing how much more flexible you have become each day is just as satisfying as seeing how much fitter you have become.
Do not omit these stretches!

Now it's time to get real and dig deep! The workout!
The moves in the workout are also divided into parts/drills with a 30 sec break after each set. The sets are repeated 3 times and again the intensity increases with each one.
If you thought the 'Warmup' moves were hard these show you a whole new level of crazy ass working out, it's called Insanity for a reason.

Finally you get to stretch again. The temptation will be to stay on the floor (because that's where you will be by this point) but do not miss this cool down stretch. Not only does it gently stretch those warm muscles but it also helps to bring the heart rate down.

So does that tempt you to give it a go? Think you've got what it takes or just want to challenge yourself? Even if you're overweight like I am you should give this workout a go so why not watch the commercial and see what you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6lbvC17OEk

Are you ready to dig deep?

 

"The INSANITY^® workout might just be the hardest fitness program ever put on DVD. Your personal trainer Shaun T will push you past your limits with 10 INSANITY workout discs packed with plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab and core training moves. No equipment or weights needed. Just the will to get the hardest body you’ve ever had."

Today was Day 1 of Insanity.
I have to admit I struggled at the thought of it when I woke up at 5.30am this morning knowing that I would need to be out of bed in 1 hours time in order to get going - it was hard!
But 6.30am I was up and dressed and by 7am I was ready to press play to Day 1 of Insanity - The Fit Test!

Let me tell you this 'Fit test' is more like a full workout and will need some real motivation and determination to complete, it would be much easier to give up after the 3rd move than to keep going knowing it's only going to get harder, but Shaun T is a fabulous motivator and is brilliant at making you want to get up off the floor and keep going.
It begins with a gentle warm up and stretch (well gentle by Shaun T's standards anyway)  and finishes with a cool down and stretch.
The 'Fit test' itself comprises of 8 moves and the idea is that you have 30 seconds per move (one move at a time) to do as many as you can and you then record your result, you then get a short break while Shaun T shows you the next move and it all starts again.
Initially there are no good or bad results because you are only competing against yourself - the idea is that over the 60 days of the workout you will take the fit test every 2 weeks and the aim is to prove your own personal result.

So my results for 11/03/2013 (I decided not to compare against my previous round of Insanity last year - too depressing I imagine)
1) Switch kicks = 62.
2) Power jacks = 29.
3) Power knees = 70.
4) Power jumps = 14.
5) Globe jumps = 5.
6) Suicide jumps = 11.
7) Push up jacks = 12.
8) Low plank obliques - 30.

Tomorrow - Day2 - 'Plyometric Cardio Circuit - Ouch!

Are you digging deep today?

Day 2 control

Jeepers Day2 and it's already hard to break those bad eating habits.
We had the day planned as staying home and cleaning out hubbys workshop but something cropped up and we had to pop into town to help a friend out.
If I'd stayed at home I would have found it easier to control what I ate and I started off really well when we got into town. MrSG stopped to fill the van with diesel and asked if I wanted anything out of the shop
"Nope" I replied.
"No chocolate? I have to ask cos I'd usually be in trouble if I didn't" Says MrSG
"Nope" says I resolutely.
"Mints?" asks MrSG
"Nope" says I.
"Cool".
Easy as that - one to me!
Later after we've helped the friend
"Shall we go for breakfast?" says friend to MrSG.
"Course" says MrSG
So off we all go to breakfast. Eggs, Bacon, sausage & beans all round.
One to the evil fat girl inside!

Here's another awkward conundrum. One of my daughters made me this for Mothers day tomorrow and it would be rude to not eat some

On the upside, this next image is my breakfast (before the town breakfast - poops, that does sound bad doesn't it). Normally this bowl would be full to the brim with either Crunchy Nut Cornflakes or Shreddies, however this is down to a mere handful of Shreddies (Crunchy nuts are off the menu now)

And I only added a splidging of milk too.
One to me!

2 days till INSANITY!

Foolproof weightloss tip......

Learn to say No!



Today was/is the day!
Today I tossed that fear aside (OK shoved it temporarily to one side) and faced the scales.
Originally I was going back to Slimming World but having consulted with Mr SG I came to the conclusion that as I know the diet pretty much inside out and because I literally dread the weekly weigh in I would try to do this on my own first. If I find it too difficult to motivate myself and/or feel I need to be accountable to a coach then I will go straight to Slimming World. For now though, I'm doing this on my own with the help of my family.
My first thought was that I need to set myself realistic goals and once I reach each of those goals I will recieve a treat to celebrate it. Mr SG came up with the idea of me getting a garden plant for every 7lbs I lose and me being the keen gardener I am agreed without hesitation, I'm even going to come up with some kind of theme.
7lbs seems most doable, I'm a happy girl.

I know I haven't exactly stated my actual weight yet, but here's the thing, I'm not quite ready to. I know, I know, it's a cop out and I really should be ok about pasting it on my own weightloss blog. The problem is that my family may read this blog and I'm not quite ready for them to know my weight - even Mr SG doesn't know it. I know it won't make any difference to how they feel about me, they love me unconditionally but I'm embarrassed about it and if I know they know then I'll start getting paranoid.
So for now my weightloss tracker (on the right) is tracking my weightloss as I lose weight toward my ideal total weightloss.
One day I'll be completely open and honest about it but for now......................

Basically I need to lose around 70lbs. I'm at the heaviest I've ever been and I'm completely uncomfortable on a daily basis. My knees hurt, my back hurts, my asthma is affected, I have heartburn most days and I'm tired all the time, while alot of those symptoms can be put down to medical problems there's also no denying the fact that my weight is probably also a major factor.


So as of today, this is me

With this motivation in mind

Sunday may be an issue as it's Mothers Day and it can be hard to resist those treats that the kids buy but look what is happening on Monday (widget on the left), yep Insanity is in the building!

All systems go.....................

It's all systems go on the healthy eating and exercise front!
Finally I am just about fully recovered from the flu and a chest infection - yay! Slimming World will see my return on Thursday (I am dreading the weigh in but need to face it) and I start my daily dose of Shaun T on Monday.
I am a full month behind where I wanted to start due to the illness but better late than never and I am slap my thigh, pee my pants excited!

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” ~Edward Stanley

Lurgy!

Crikey it really has been over a month since I posted. I feel like such a bad blogger but I do have a reason.
Before we went away to Jamaica in January I was recovering from a cold that I got way back in October. The cold part was long since done with but I get cold induced asthma and for some reason 3 months later I was still struggling to shake it. I could feel my lungs getting stronger by the day but any over exertion or laughing (strangely enough) left me in fits of coughing that would take an age to control and felt like the entire lining of my throat had been stripped.
Jamaica had an amazing effect, I assume it was the humidity (as opposed the cold air here in the Highlands) and when we arrived home my lungs appeared to have fully recovered.
However, less than a week after landing in the UK (5 days to be exact)  I managed to pick up the Flu virus. I thought I'd had Flu many times before but I can honestly say, having had this experience, that I've never suffered from it before.
For 10 days now I have been holed up in bed in excrutiating pain. The Flu itself with it's painful joints and muscles, fever, headaches etc etc has finally passed and I was left with Sinusitis, congestion and a return of the asthma.
Today the sinusitis appears to have abated and painkillers plus a hot water bottle on the face deal with any remaining pain but the real problem for me again is the Asthma. I'm unable to even do simple housework, if I attempt it I'm left in a coughing fit that gets quite scary when it leaves you gagging and unable to catch your breath.
I was supposed to start Slimming World the Thursday after we returned from vacation and I've now had to postpone that twice (I'm determined to make it next Thursday) and I was supposed to start Insanity on the Monday, however there is no way on earth I can even attempt such an extreme workout until I have full lung function back.
Basically I am extremely pee'd off, I feel like a complete invalid and if it wasn't for my husband taking amazing care of me I think I would have sunk into a pit of depression - as it is The Black Dog has only managed the odd snap and snarl late at night when I'm in pain from a coughing fit.

So there we are, I haven't forgotten my blog or the plans I have made to get my weightloss back on track, I'm simply waiting to recover from the Lurgy!