10M- Week 5, Insanity W7 (W)

The first week of month 2 of Insanity was so intense and I was in so much pain after the whole week. I could barely move on my rest day and I really felt that the movements left me prone to injury. To make matters worse, the scale went up. After all this hard work I have come to the conclusion that Insanity really won’t help me lose any weight. In fact, after the initial shrinkage, I am pretty sure this is all I am going to get out of this program. That being said, I will finish out the last 3 weeks and I am praying that the weather will be better so I can start running again.

IJ is also burned out from Insanity, he actually stopped because he was in so much pain and we figured he may be doing more harm than good if he works out with an injury. Hopefully he can get back on the wagon. I am not really enthusiastic about the rest of this program, in fact I am disappointed that I put so much into it, digging real deep only to be down 3 pounds. It’s a joke really. I burned so many calories and ate healthy and got absolutely nothing out of it.

Anyway, I will continue my quest to be healthier. Hopefully my heart got stronger with the workouts.

Weight: 205.6lbs

10M- Week 4. Insanity W6 (W,M)

First day of Month 2 of Insanity……Dear Lord, please guide me through. Just when I thought Shaun T’s shenanigans could not get any worse, the first day with Max Interval circuit was filled with a bunch of modified moves from month 1 and all I can say is WOW. I found myself telling IJ how I finally learned how to do a suicide jump and I can actually spring back without walking my feet forward, then I saw “side suicide jumps” lol. This is really going to be interesting!

I totally kicked ass on the FIT test; in fact, I am not sure just how much better I can do after that. I imagine one or two more of everything will be fine. Not only did I finish strong on the FIT test, I actually was not too exhausted to do the Max Interval Circuit. My endurance is much much better. This week will really be more about learning the rotations. While some of the exercises are familiar, there is a lot of new things in these workouts.

I lost just one pound this week. After reading the forums about losing weight in the recovery week, I was hoping to see crazy numbers but that did not happen. Funny enough I read more forums that said the big drop came at week 6-7, lol. I guess we will see. I have lost some inches. It amazes me with all those hip flexors and hip burners, my thighs are not budging, I don’t understand that. I am starting to feel like a ninja just for doing this so I am determined to see it through to day 63.

Chest: 40.5in (-2.25)

Upper chest: 37in (-1)

Waist: 34.25in (-3.75)

Hip: 46.5in (-2)

Thigh: 28.25in (-0.5)

Arm: 12.25 (-0.75)

Weight: 203.4lbs.

I don’t know why I just can’t break 200; IJ says the extra 3 pounds are on my head because I am so hard headed, lol. I will give it 2 weeks, so starting week 8; I should be at least 199.8lbs. I am going to give it my all and watch what I eat.

10M- Week 3, Insanity W5 (W)

I am finally in the core cardio and recovery week. I was excited about this coming week because I was tired of the jumping, guess what, there is more jumping in this workout too. On Monday I really was not amused, it was not hard, I was annoyed. Tuesday was a lot better, I think I actually like the workout, lol.

The recovery week has my heart rate in Z3 and Z4 which would be more of the fat burning zone. I am hoping to see more changes on the scale because of that. Last week, the scale finally budged. I actually dropped 4 pounds in one week. I know those results are not typical but if by some miracle I drop 2-3 pounds a week for the rest of the program, I would be VERY happy. I am really starting to see some changes on my body, I did not measure this week but I am sure I lost a few more inches. My clothes fit a little loosely now.

On another note, I think IJ is down with an injury. He has been complaining about his knees, his thumb and his shoulders. Although I really want him to stick with it, I think he probably needs to rest to avoid further injury.

I have been able to cut out sugar from my diet. No more candy, sugar in my coffee and I will try to stay away from those juices in the fridge, lol. I think changing what I was eating is helping me with the scale. Unfortunately, it is not helping me with the breastfeeding. I am trying to drink more and more water but it is not helping. Anyway, the struggle continues!

Weight 204.8lbs

About heart rate...

Yesterday I received the heart rate monitor that I ordered. I was really hoping that it would show me that I burn 800 calories per workout, lol, but instead it showed that I burn around 500 calories per workout. I guess that is still okay. Anyway I was curious to see the zones and how I was doing on the workout. I gathered information from the beachbody.com website about heart rates and this is what I got;

Zone Name                       Percentage of Max HR    Perceived Exertion Difficulty

Z1 Healthy Heart Zone      50%-60%                        2-5 (perceived exertion)

Z2 Temperate Zone           60%-70%                        4-5 (perceived exertion)

Z3 Aerobic Zone               70%-80%                        5-7 (perceived exertion)

Z4 Threshold Zone             80%-90%                        7-9 (perceived exertion)

Z5 Redline Zone                 90%-100%                      9-10 (perceived exertion)

Each heart zone burns a different number of calories per minute based on how fit you are:

Zone 1 = 3-7 calories per minute

Zone 2 = 7-12 calories per minute

Zone 3 = 12-17 calories per minute

Zone 4 = 17-20 calories per minute

Zone 5 = 20+ calories per minute

So, based on my Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs workout, I spent 90%of the workout in the Z3-Z5 range. That being said, the monitor beeped when my heart rate went over 187 which I guess put me at almost 100% of my maximum heart rate which based on the simple calculator of 220- age is 190. I am excited about tracking the number of calories burned, I think that will keep me motivated.

10M- Week 2, Insanity W4 (W)

I am getting so burned out with Insanity it’s not even funny. I think I am going through a lot this week with that time of the month approaching and changing my diet. I realized that maybe my hard mashona body won’t be positively responsive to the 5 meals a day thing and I decided to cut out most carbs from my diet. I will stick with my whole wheat bagel breakfasts and brown rice for lunch but no carbs at night. I will also be staying away from soda, candy and sugar in my coffee.


This week the scale started going back down, just enough to get me back to my original weight. I hope to see bigger changes next week though. I am actually starving even though I am still eating 1500 calories. I am going to work hard to finish this week and get ready for recovery week, which I hear is not recovery at all. I also ordered a heart rate monitor that both IJ and I can use to see just how hard we are working.

Weight - 208.6lbs

10 months - Insanity W3 (W, M)

I can't believe our little Ishe is already 10 months old.  He is such a little riot it's amazing. He may be the smallest person in our house but definitely the biggest personality.  He loves to dance and I think he is going to be the musical one.....

I am now in the 3rd week of Insanity. At the end of the 2nd week I felt like death,  I don't even know how I got through it. Insanity has to be the 2nd traumatic thing I have done to my body, pregnancy/delivery being the 1st. The program was me doing jumps, kicks and squats that even my 5 year old cannot do. There are some rotations that are easier and some have become harder. Particularly anything that involves push-ups, I am finally learning how to do real push-ups and they are really hard on my shoulders right now. I have to pace myself to avoid injury.

I finally measured myself and these were the results.

Chest – 41.75inches (-0.75)

Waist – 35.5inches (-2.5)

Hip – 48inches (-0.5)

Thigh – 29 inches (+0.5)

Weight – 210lbs (+1.2)

I am really disappointed by the number on the scale but I think the 2.5inches lost on my waist speaks volumes. So I am discouraged but not enough to quit the program. I can’t believe that I gained in my thighs and hips. You can see that my butt is a little higher though so again I figured that is a good thing.

I also did the 2nd fit test today. I have really improved and at this rate, if I can just perfect my form for all the rotations at the same pace, I will be good. I even attempted those gaudy push-up jacks. How does Shaun T come up with this craziness? The other thing to note this week is the double work-out on Wednesday. The first one was on Saturday and even though I tried to prepare myself mentally when the time came, it was worse than I imagined. So this week, it happens again on Wednesday, I am not sure what I can do to prepare myself for those c-sit exercises.

I can’t believe IJ lost 2 pounds already; he weighs in Thursday so we will see his progress. I am really impressed that he is sticking to it. Makes feel like we can conquer the world!!!!

9M- Week 4.- Insanity W2. (W)

I survived the first week of Insanity….YAY me!

This workout is just that, insanity at its best. That Shaun T surely is crazy to come up with such an intense workout. I felt my muscles responding after the fit test, I knew then that this was going to be an interesting one. I barely made it through most of the rotations but I could feel myself get stronger as the week went by. I even found some muscles I did not even know I had, lol.

In the middle of the week I stepped on the scale and noticed that I had added 2 pounds to the scale and I was a little annoyed. I choked it up to poor eating habits since these workouts are really increasing my appetite but I have not been dieting. I did some research and found out that it is very common to add a few pounds the first couple of weeks into an exercise program because your muscles are “bruised” and tend to retain water in order to heal themselves. After a couple of weeks the scale will start to go down. I did check my weight today and sure enough the scale is going down. I will make a better assessment of how much this program works for weight loss at the end of month 1.

The exciting thing that happened is that IJ started doing Insanity too. That is so amazing and I believe that we can push each other to finish the program. I wake up at 5:30am to work out and he has been doing this after work. He works up quite a sweat and I really think he is doing a lot better than I am. I took his measurements and pictures and I will be tracking his progress as well as mine.

I am dreading the workouts, now that I know how intense they are, everyday is really going to be a challenge. This stuff is hard. I am really hoping I will get better at it. I would really like to gain some upper body strength, hope I will be able to do a real push up by the time this is over.

I didnt take definitive measurements, I will do it after the second fit test. As of now, I just have my weight.

Weight: 209.6lbs

# of days active: 6

9M- Week 3- First week of Insanity! (W,M,G)

The first week of January means the gyms are packed with people with a lot of New Year’s resolutions. While I have no shame in admitting that I am one of those people, I just can’t get myself to the gym. Combine that with below zero temperatures and I am not getting out of the house. So, I finally started doing Insanity. I have really been looking forward to doing this program for why; I am really not sure why because it is a narcissistic move I tell you. It has been a slow start but I am really hoping that I will be able to do a lot better.

One thing I noticed is that I have ZERO upper body strength, none whatsoever. I cannot do a push up to save my life. As much as I am sure I will have no strength for it. I am going to do my workouts in the morning and after work, try the Level 1 drills until I can do them better.

I clearly gained some weight over the holidays but I have new measurements, definitely in the wrong direction but no use in crying over spilled milk.

Hip - 48.5in

Waist – 38in

Chest – 42.75in

Thigh – 28.5in

Arm – 13in

Weight 208.8lbs

Let’s see of Shaun T can get some of those inches off. My goals are, 2.75inches off the chest, 6 inches on waist and 7.5inches on hips!

I am going to try to run as much as I can though, I actually miss it and I don’t want to lose momentum. I am not sure when I will be able to fit the gym in but I will try. I am sure I will need the sauna quite a bit more now. I can’t wait until the snow melts and the temperature gets up to 50 degrees so I can start running outside again.

The end of the first 9 months....(W,G,G,G,G,B)

The hustle and bustle of the holidays kept me from updating my blog and also reduced my accountability. I ate and ate, worked out a little and ofcourse I paid for it. I will not dismiss some of the accomplishments I made during the first 9 months of my journey. I am definitely more active and I ran a 10K in an hour and 8 minutes. I also lost 44 pounds (gained some again but that is another story). I am a little disappointed that I turned 30 while still in the 200s, no need to mop about it, just keep chugging on.

Weight on 12/20/2013: 206lbs

So now that it’s 2014, I have new goals;

   1) Long term- Lose 41 pounds by Sep 20. I am going to focus on 10lbs goals as I go.

         a. 11lbs by Mar 20

         b. 10lbs by May 20

         c. 10lbs by July 20

         d. 10lbs by Sep 20.

   2) Drink more water

   3) Run 3 10K races

   4) Be active 4-5 days a week

   5) Do more weight training

   6) Try something new every 6 weeks.

   7) Work out with IJ more.

2013 was a good for me in fitness, 2014 will be better. I also made goals with Debra, so I will check up with her more to help with the accountability. On Monday January 6th, I am going to be starting Insanity. I really wanted to do this work out for so longest time and finally someone sent it to me so I cannot wait. I will be blogging on my weekly progress and let’s hope I will be just as excited in a month, lol!