Insanity, Day 60: Max Plyometrics and pictures!

I exercised today, whew. I'm almost a full week behind now! Argh. I am so close to finishing but it seems so far! Today's work out was really hard. I had no energy. I wonder if it's because of last night's dinner and 1.5 slices of pie and soy ice cream sandwich? I felt super sluggish and it took me a really long time to get into it. I skipped a lot of the work outs like a slacker. I probably did 10 power jumps (jump and touch your knees) total (if even that) and the power push ups (get on the floor, do a push up, jump up so your feet meet your hands, get back and do a push up, etc) I don't even think I got 10 out of 3 rounds. The squat push ups are hard for me. I like them, but I for sure do not go down all the way. I lack upper body strength, and I feel like I'm not getting stronger there. But maybe it's because I do things like slack off like I did today...

Food-wise, I am not getting enough protein (that's not news). I don't eat a lot in general, but the ratio of carbs to protein to fat isn't looking quite right.

I know I still have a week left, but is it too early to post pictures? Yeah? What about dark grainy pictures? PLEASE remember that your muscles always look the best after you've worked out, and these pix were taken right after I worked out, before I ate, hips shoved forward, rounded back, muscles tightened really hard. I want to get to this point without having to contort my body! I am making progress though as prior to this I was rounder without any definition. (I BETTER freakin be making progress with all the hard work I've been doing in Insanity!!) I will have reached my fitness goals visually after I get tighter abs, lose some more fat around the gut line and my inner thighs. I will have reached my fitness goals strengthually after I can do a push up, a pull up and can hold a plank for 2 minutes straight.

Yay for grainy cellphone pictures? I know these aren't pictures of much.. but it's the most definition I've had in my stomach in my whole life. SO FAR. It will look better than this! Just you wait.

Insanity, Days 58 and 59: Nothing and more of nothing.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a lazy day. Today I didn't work out in the morning, either. blargh. I only have 7 days left!!! Where is the motivation?!?! Why is this so hard?!! I must do it.. I am already far behind!!

I don't know if my monthly time is making me not want to work out. It might be. Makes me tired and unable to stand for a long time. Or maybe I'm just using it as an excuse... this time around I didn't go tooooo crazy with the food. Cravings aren't too bad, thankfully. I just really like sleep... :) But I am super glad that I managed to summon the strength to make juice this morning. whew.

Insanity, Day 58: Snowboarding

Went snowboarding today. I figured out from Mammoth that I am completely capable of snowboarding AND doing Insanity, and I totally planned to do Insanity tonight, but then I got to thinking... is the loss in time worth it? Insanity is way harder than what I did snowboarding today, BUT, today I pushed myself and we were boarding from 8:30-3:30 with a lunch break. Anyway, I figured I'm too tired to do Insanity and it's okay. :) Man, that mountain did a number on me, lol. I don't predict I will be too sore tomorrow. I can really feel the ease of what used to be hard thanks to having trained my core and doing certain exercises to strengthen my legs. My upper body wasn't worked too much today other than for maintaining balance because I don't fall too much anymore, but overall I had a great exercise.

Insanity, Day 58: Rest Day

I decided to take today's rest day.

Updates

119-120 lbs this morning (lazily weighed myself with clothes on)
Hovering around 26 - 26 1/8" waist
My lower abdomen is definitely smaller, but I still have that annoying pooch!
I was also requested to retract my earlier statement of being "pear-shaped" because the boyfriend doesn't like pears. "Pizza-shaped" was rejected because pizza slices don't have boobs. Therefore I am now a refined hourglass shape with a smaller amount of sand on top than on bottom. :)

Insanity, Day 57: Max Interval Sports Training

DAY 57!!!!! The end is in sight! I'm in the single-digit-days left!! Woohoo!

Lately my knee has started to hurt... urgh. Lots of jumping. Those who have sensitive knees, land softly!

Today was Max Interval Sports Training. I was 20% wanting to not do it, but I did it! It helped that this is the easiest work out next to the Recoveries, which  I understand isn't saying much... and I still can't do all of the exercises. I don't think I explained it well last time: in Max Interval Sports Training you do training for boxing, football, basketball, gymnastics, and track & field. Boxing consists of many jabs and punches; football consists of many squats and jumps; basketball is more or less the same as football in doing squats and jumps, but in different ways; gymnastics is balance and strength; and track & field is much running. Boxing is the easiest for me and is reminiscent of cardio kickboxing at 24 Hour Fitness. Football and basketball got tiring with all of the squat jumps. Gymnastics is by far the hardest, with the things where you stand on your hands and the ab exercises (my hands kept slipping on the carpet, so it was as if I wasn't even using my hands. Although do the hands really help in the first place?!). Track & Field is hard too, but mostly because I suck at running.

I think it was the part in gymnastics I totally tapped out of: get in low plank on your palms and walk sideways. And then get in low plank on your palms again and pulse. When I get down there, I either fall all the way down or can't get up. I don't get how they do it. I also think with bronco jumps and the other one where your legs are straight shows that I lack back muscles or something; I can't get  nearly as high, and today was much less about how scared I was because last time I was afraid I would do a front flip so I held back. This time I held back less but I feel physically incapable of doing those.

Oh yeah something else I wanted to say was that this past weekend I went rock climbing, and I really felt myself using my core. I'm sure that if I had not done Insanity, I would not have done as well as I did. Well, my buddies cheering me on (and doing it before I did HAHA) helped a ton. But in terms of muscle ability, flexibility and strength, this sense of "cross training" kicked in and I knew that my previous work outs with Insanity helped a ton. I can do anything!

Insanity, Days 53-56: Nothing, Nothing, Max Cardio Conditioning + Insane Abs, Max Interval Circuit

Ok, I messed up on the numbering of some of the previous posts, plus having skipped one and doing things out of order really confused me. Anyway, content is more important, but it's nice to be organized. So I'm missing a day somewhere, or I recorded something wrong.. anyway, I'm back on track in terms of numbering and exercise.

Sunday I had a busy day and Monday I was too tired to work out from getting back late on Sunday. Sometimes, life happens, you know?! And what do you do then? One good thing about having a rigorous schedule is that it's just that: it's a schedule. But what happens when..? I was MUCH better about not letting things get in the way of my work outs in Month 1. Month 2, it's not so exciting anymore. I remember one Saturday last month I woke up at 6:30 so I could work out! But on Sunday I woke up at 8 and decided 3 hours wasn't enough time to do a work out AND chores, so I neglected my work out, and then I didn't do it on Monday.

Tuesday I got back on track with 1.5 hours worth of Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs. I was able to last longer through the Insane Abs portion, which made me feel really good. I only skipped ONE round of the last set (where you start in low plank on your elbows and move your right foot out, left foot out, right arm up, left arm up (so you're in high plank), right foot in, left foot in, right arm down, left arm down. or something like that. the pattern goes like that but I'm not sure if I had the ups and downs and ins and outs in the correct alternating order but you get the idea)!!! But I can't do the thing where you're in high plank and you do one knee to reach across and then same side to your arms. My leg can't reach that far! And OMG I look absolutely pathetic when I'm doing the balance stuff. The thing I'm worst at is the one where you start off in high plank and then lift and straighten your right arm and right leg and back down and then left arm and left leg. I've almost fallen over SO many times, and I don't lift my leg nearly as high as the people on the video. I have no balance. I'm slightly better at the oblique ones where you lift your right elbow and right toe and make your elbow and knee meet. Interestingly, I was MUCH better at it when we did as many as we can for 15 seconds. Or maybe I was good at it because I was moving the whole time and didn't have to "balance" much. Like how it's hard to ride a bicycle slowly, or come to a complete stop on a unicycle.

This morning I did Max Interval Circuit and to me it's one of the easier ones to do but I will say that the side suicide jumps are difficult for me. When I bend down sideways, I -- and I know this is going to sound really gross -- I feel like my ribs are rolling on top of each other. Plus I don't have too much room. Oh yeah, that's something I kept forgetting to mention. Month 2 requires a biiiiiit more space than I have allotted in my bedroom. I also wish I had a mirror on my closet because I can't tell if my butt is sticking up or not when I do planks (namely plank punches).

Speaking of things I forgot to mention, did I mention I have been working out before I eat? So yeah, I changed my schedule so that I get to work around 11 and leave around 8 or 9, and this way I can avoid traffic and also work out in the morning. I've been doing this for about a week or a week and a half? So far I haven't passed out yet, which is in stark contrast to just a few years ago (2007) when, if I worked out before I ate, I would feel dizzy and lightheaded. Banking on the whole "work out before you eat so your body can burn off stored glucose and speed up your metabolism after having slept 7-8 hours" thing.

Thanks to the new schedule I unfortunately have not been eating right. Well, that and I didn't go to the store. I've been eating HORRIBLY. Like, 2 granola bars a day, which is AWFUL for me. I hate eating bars as I think they're bad for my skin and I'd rather eat real food. Not to mention that GIANT piece of chocolate cake (which I completely don't regret, btw. I mean, I wouldn't do it again, but I am proud to have conquered that thing.). I am in awkward eating schedule phase. I should just bring enough food to work -- like, 3 small meals I mean.

However, I have noticed that the layer of fat that previously laid between my skin and my abdominal muscles has -- gasp -- shrunk!!! When I tighten my abs and push with my fingertips the distance between my skin and the muscles is noticeably smaller. No 6-pack yet, or even 4-pack, but my abs are there. My body type is pear-shaped. Wish I were more hourglass. I mean, duh, all women do. But what I mean is, I can see my sternum sometimes, which is.. kind of gross. And my arms aren't fat (thankfully I have little backarm fat to worry about). So not much upper body fat. But I have excess fat in my belly and thighs. Would like to transfer fat. Maybe I can push it up there, gradually, everyday, little by little...