Friday, February 18, 2011

Insanity, Day 22: Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs

Woo! Ok, 3 days straight of not watching what I ate. I've been carbo-loading -- for some reason during times like this, all I want is carbs and sweets (mainly chocolate). Dunno why?! Maybe loading up on fat stores for the upcoming prime time to get preggers!? I wish my body would listen to my brain and say HEY! Not now! I need to stick to my diet and hormones are messing it up! I am really glad I made myself exercise yesterday. I normally wouldn't have, but being on a strict program helps me in that aspect.

Yesterday I did Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. I lasted longer through the ab workout, but the parts that require lifting legs is so tough (but I hear so effective for abs). I noticed that in the video mostly everyone keeps their toes pointed up. I find it more comfortable if I place my feet flat on the ground. I thought it might be because they are wearing shoes and I'm barefoot, but I saw another girl have her feet flat while in shoes. If I point my toes up it uses my upper thigh/hip muscles which is why I was able to last longer yesterday when I didn't do that. But I know that sometimes we do things to make sure that we're focusing on the right muscles -- in this case, abs -- and I'm wondering if feet pointed up emphasize the work on the correct muscles (similar to how you have to be careful and make sure you're using your abs and NOT your hips when doing sit ups, or to make sure you tuck your hips forward when you're doing some glute exercises to focus on the glutes and not lower back). At Pop Physique we always put a ball between our thighs and squeeze that and supposedly that helped reassure our instructor (and us) that we were using our abs and not our hips to do the exercises.

Anyway, my body's starting to normalize again, so I am going to eat better. (Blargh, I feel like I proclaim that a lot...) Unfortunately I figured out that I'll have this again near the end of Insanity. I hope to be able to have more self-control when that time comes around.

Oh a piece of good news I forgot to share: I got a haircut! I chopped 1-2 inches off. Having shorter hair is better when I whip my hair back and forth quickly for these exercises. Better for not getting smacked in the FACE.