60 Days of Insanity

As a little background, I have always struggled with weight issues.  I spent about 5 years of my youth in a state of overweight/obesity until I learned to moderate my eating habits and add regular exercise.  But moderation is not always easy, and a few slip-ups can leave you with pounds that take months or years to lose.  For me, I ran into a big problem when I became pregnant.  All of a sudden, I had an excuse to eat a little extra, and blamed many bad food choices on "cravings."  After all, I reasoned, it was only temporary, and no one would notice a few extra pounds when there's a baby protruding from my midsection.  Through nursing and lots and lots of walking with a colicky baby, I managed to lose the extra weight within the first year after my baby was born, but then all too soon became pregnant again (it was planned, but kind of disappointing to only have about 2 months of my old body before going through it all again).  Same eating habits, same weight gain, but this time the weight didn't come off.  After 2 years of trying to fit exercise into my busy schedule, I found myself only 5 lbs closer to my goal.

I decided I needed to get more serious.  I started tracking my calories and switched to a mostly vegetarian diet, and I started making the gym a priority, even if it was still just twice a week, I worked out for 2 hours each time (aerobics and strength training).  I was getting closer to my pre-pregnancy weight, but a physical exam revealed that my heart was still out of shape, and did not return to a normal range after just a minute of light exercise.  My doctor advised that I needed to exercise more consistently, and that increasing to 3-4 times a week should greatly improve my cardiovascular fitness.

My problem was that I couldn't see myself getting to the gym more often during the week.  With the time constraints of my day and having to drive my kids to various activities, I found that by the time I dropped them off and drove to the gym, I had long enough to work out and shower, but not really long enough to do anything else, so any way I scheduled it my entire morning was lost if I went to the gym.  I needed to find something I could do at home, BEFORE my kids woke up and my day switched into chaos-mode.  I also needed something more structured, something that would provide me with motivation to do it every day.  I found my answer with the fitness programs offered through Team Beachbody.

Since I have free weights at home and was used to doing my own strength training, I was mainly looking for a program to offer cardiovascular fitness.  I decided, despite my fears after watching the infomercial, to try Insanity, lead by trainer Shaun T.  In the days between placing my order and the arrival of my DVD package, I had serious doubts about whether or not I would be able to do this program.  My friends and family all thought I was crazy.  I mean, the extremely fit individuals in the promo video look like they're having a hard time with this - what chance do I have?



I lost 7 lbs total, which may not seem like much, but since my goal was 5, I ended up lighter and with a lower body fat percentage than I had been in 11 years.  I lost a total of 6" (waist, hips, thighs, and arms combined). I was able to dig out all my old clothes, and then found that even a lot of those were now too big.  I also met my cardiovascular goals.  My resting heart rate is now much lower, and my recovery rate after exercise is excellent.  I met the strict fitness requirements to be a part of the Wellness Club at my workplace, and am hoping that my next text will reveal that I can advance to the Athletic Level of fitness (I was just 0.6% body fat away from qualifying last time, and I have lost 2 more pounds since then).

But what's next?  After completing Insanity, I feel like I can do anything. But my husband has been watching me these past 2 months.  Watching me do these moves that seem crazy, watching my confidence soar with both my physical changes and my sense of accomplishment, watching me climb up flights of stairs without getting short of breath, and I think watching his own waistline which is slightly rounder than what it used to be. He decided that he wanted to do Insanity with me. So, starting Monday July 16th, I'm going for Round 2! It's going to feel a little strange starting from the beginning, but I've heard from others that it's just as difficult the second time around, especially since you're likely able to make it through the whole video this time. But I have to admit I'm slightly less motivated than I was the first time. First of all, I've already done it, so there's less of that feeling that I have to finish just to prove to myself and others that I can do it. Second, my husband can only exercise in the evenings, and I know that for workouts I do much better in the mornings.  I'm a little worried about having the energy by the end of the day, and also pushing myself to spend one of those precious husband-only/kid-free hours on exercise. Third, I've already met all the goals that were driving me the first time around, so I need to find new goals to motivate me for the next 60 days.

With a program this demanding, motivation is key. So here's my plan to get me through.
1) Accountability with my husband. We're in this together this time, so his goals become my goals. If I flake out, he's more likely to skip the workout too, but alternatively my perseverance can push him to keep going.
2) Accountability with my new blog. If I am blogging about each day, as I hope to do, that means I have to admit when I skip a day.
3) New fitness goals. I plan to get below 20% body fat, and hope to lose another inch or two around my waist and hips. I'm not sure my Fit Tests will improve much this time around (I mean, realistically, there is a limit to how many power jumps you can do in one minute, but I will try to improve each time, even if just by a few reps).  I'm hoping to further improve my muscular endurance, as there are still many exercises that I can not complete during the Max workouts without taking a quick break.
4) Motivate others. I'm hoping that through this blog and by sticking to the schedule, I can motivate others to try Insanity or really any regular exercise program, or for those currently in the program, to stick with it till the end.  If you are interested in Insanity and would like to join me as we go through the program together, click here to order your own copy of the DVDs.

The Ultimate Goal is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  So no matter what program I'm doing, I'm in this for life. I'm hoping this thought will also keep me going, since it's not just a matter of finishing the next 60 days, but of finding a way to incorporate fitness into not only my life, but the life of my husband and children as well.  For the next 2 months it may be Insanity, but perhaps after that we'll do another Beachbody program together, like P90X, or take walks or bike rides with the kids before bed.  I hope that I can save my children from the overweight childhood I had, and infuse in them a love for fitness and healthy eating that will last for generations to come.