Insanity: Results and Impressions

I DID IT!!!!!!

I FINISHED INSANITY!!!!!!!!!!

I almost can't believe it. There were many times that I wanted to give up, plenty of times that I just didn't feel like doing it & about 10 million times during the workouts that I thought "go ahead and stop, no one is looking, no one would notice if you take a break..."

But I didn't. Oh don't get me wrong I did take MANY breaks but I did it because I was literally about to pass out. I never gave up, I pushed right on through; and now looking back on the other side I can safely say that it was all worth it. 

Ok ok on to the pictures.

Day 1 Front

Day 1 Back

DAY ONE!

Now I didn't think of myself as out of shape by any means when this picture was taken. I had just finished running my 4th 1/2 marathon and I was back down to my pre pregnancy weight. I started the insanity journey with the goal of gaining muscle mass; a way of transitioning myself from fit to SUPER FIT. 

The first week was the hardest. Transitioning my body into taking the beating these workouts dole out was no easy task. For the first 8-10 workouts my favorite part of the experience was when I would literally collapse into the shower at the end of it. I was sore and beat up; but I was also extremely motivated. 

In short: harder workouts = faster results (DUH)

Day 30 Front

Day 30 Back

DAY 30 (halfway)

By the time I reached my halfway point I was really starting to feel results. I had actual deltoids!? (see em? I KNOW I KNOW RIGHT?) I hit a few hard spots but to be honest as I said goodbye to the first set of DVDs and made my way to the second set I felt pretty excited about it

Until I actually started the workouts.

I couldn't believe that the max workouts could be so much HARDER than month 1!? Month one was almost impossible!!!!!!! It was so hard to keep going but Shaun T (the creator and leader of each workout) is so motivating and positive I stayed in the game and was able to DIG DEEP!

Day 60 Front

< Day 60 Back

DAY 60

Words can not express how proud I was on this day when I finally finished the workouts!!!! I am so happy with my results! I have ABS!?!?!?!?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!??! I can also bang out 20 push-ups (*ahem* real push-ups) without breaking a sweat. When I first started insanity I could barely do 4. 

I would HIGHLY recommend INSANITY for anyone who is up for a challenge and wants to do from fit to SUPER FIT. I wouldn't say it's for everyone; because I don't think you should start with this if you haven't exercised in a while.

Day 1

Day 60

To be honest part of me was a little sad that I won't be seeing Shaun T in my living room every day. He had become such a integral part of my daily routine that I'm not quite sure what I am going to do now....

Challenge Accepted........

Nathan's Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

On August 24th we had a BBQ to celebrate Nathan's first year in our family!

It's hard to believe that a year has already passed us by. We had a wonderful day with friends and family and I think everyone had a great time!

I had planned on food and favors for around 30 people and I'm pretty sure that's how many people came so that worked out pretty well. To be honest the week before I was working like crazy making all the decorations and planning the meals etc so when the party day arrived I was pretty relieved to no have to party plan anymore :-)

I made most of the decorations myself and we rented some tables and chairs from the navy base. Our friends were generous enough to loan us some easy-up canopies and lawn games (corn hole and bocci ball). I made the caterpillar photo banner  pictured above with my Cricut machine; I think it turned out really well! It was hung on the fence in our backyard behind the food table.

I had this sign made on Etsy and had it printed at Walgreens. I had a 10% off coupon and was able to get it printed on hard foam board for the same price as a regular 11x14 print. I love how it came out!

To the right of the sign is The Birthday Book; I found this on amazon and fell in love with the concept. It has one or two pages to fill out for each birthday from year 1 to 18. As you child grows there are pages specifically for the child to fill out.  I still need to find the perfect picture from the party to include in the book.

For the desserts I asked one of my very talented friends to make cupcakes for the guests and my very talented mother in law made the smash cake for Nathan.

1) Birthday Invitations - Etsy - Ashlee @ Scriptiva Paper

 2) Birthday Stats Sign - Etsy - Tiffany @ Enchanted Wishes

 3) Cupcake Toppers - Etsy - Chelsi @ ChelsiLeeDesigns

We BBQ'd burgers and dogs for everyone and had a nice picnic lunch. We had samplings of all the different foods that the caterpillar had in the story. (Not familiar with the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Then you obviously had a very deprived childhood!... Just kidding!)

Kyle's mother who is the Children's Lead at the Local Barnes and Noble got me a really nice hardcover copy of the book to use as a guest book. Everyone that came to the party signed it. It will be a great keepsake to flip through and cry over after Nathan leaves for college!

I made him a special birthday sign for his highchair and the smash cake pictures! It was so amazing watching him while we all gathered around to sing happy birthday to him. I kept it together but it was really hard not to get choked thinking in those moments that my baby really isn't a baby anymore..

Investigating the smash cake (first time every having cake!)

I think he likes it!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday sweetheart. Mommy loves you very much.

All in all it was a wonderful day full of good food and good friends! I can't believe that a year has gone by so fast!

Nathan Batch Update: 10 & 11 month Photos!!!

Here are the first batch of photos taken in our new home in Little Rhody. I can't believe that my baby is almost a year old!

10 Months

11 Months

Mommy and Daddy are so proud to be your parents little man! 

Nathan; Batch Update!! 8 & 9 month photos!!!!!!

Hey guys!

I'm still here!!! I have missed you guys! Sorry I have been MIA over the last two months but we have since PCS'd (permanent change of station; military speak for moved) from the west coast to the east coast back to my old home town. Little Rhody Girl is actually back in Little Rhody!!!!

It feel so nice to be back home and among lots of old friends and family. We are finally settled into our new home and regaining some semblance of normalcy at the LRG household. Although things have been pretty busy, I still have kept up with my monthly pictures of the big guy (which is why you are reading this post I'm sure) All righty; on to the main event!

8 Months

9 Months

A beautiful baby boy, Don't you think?

I can't believe that he is growing up so quickly! It's been such an amazing experience to watch him grow and change each month. I love being a mother!

Feels good to be back in the blogosphere with you guys

Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery

Still pressing on!

Day 3 was a delightful change of pace. I was worried when I saw on the calendar that today was "cardio recovery" because I figured that the term "recovery" was very relative when you are talking insanity.

So Cardio Recovery is a 33 min workout which basically incorporates stretching with some isometric exercises done s-l-o-w-l-y instead of as fast fast fast as you can like in the other DVDs.  It still is work but I finished the workout without being drenched in sweat like the last two days.

NUMBERS YO!

April 23rd 2014

Cardio Recovery

Time:  32:17

Calories Burned: 188

Average HR: 119

Max HR: 157

So not as much heart pounding intensity today, it felt good to stretch it out and do some leg work. I got though it ok but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that my legs are really conditioned from the 1/2 marathon I just spent 3 months training for. I did try the wrist rotation that I mentioned in the post from yesterday and my wrists did feel a lot less stressed afterwards. Hmmmm let's see what's on for tomorrow?

Pure Cardio

shit.......

Insanity Day 3: Cardio Power & Resistance and a Solution for Weak Wrists.

Day 3! Cardio Power & Resistance...

I am really loving these workouts so far. I know it's crazy hard and while I'm doing it I keep asking myself "WHY!?" but afterwards I really feel like I accomplished something amazing!!! I know that after each circuit I am stronger, my body is changing and it hurts so good! (and so much!)

I wish someone would have been there to take a photo of me passed out on the floor after the second circuit gasping for air. Would have made quite the motivating image!

My Numbers!

April 22nd 2014

Cardio Power & Resistance

Time: 40:21

Calories: 458

Average HR: 163

Max HR: 189

(I'm seeing really high heart rates these last two days. I'm going to clean my sensor and make sure check my HR the old fashioned way to see if it's really accurate)

There were a lot of pushups during this workout, all of which were done on my knees today and even so by the end of it my wrists were killing me. I have always had funky problems with my wrists; I have little dainty girly ones that are always sore after bearing weight like pushups or some yoga poses. I figure if I want to really get the best results possible from this program I should see if I can find a solution for this problem.

A quick google search and I found this

I found the article really interesting and I plan on trying his suggestions during tomorrow's workout if there are any pushups. Tomorrow is "Cardio Recovery." I'm not holding my breath that it will be easy just because the word "recovery" is in the title.  

"Just don't think about it. Yes it's hard, it's almost impossible! Get out of your head and just freaking go to work and amazing things will start to happen."

-That's what I keep telling myself while I'm getting my ass kicked

Bring it on tomorrow...

Insanity Day 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Well It's day 2, the first REAL workout.

eep....

So today was Plyometric Cardio Circuit day. I waited until Nathan went town for his morning nap and put on my shorts, laced up my sneaks and said a little prayer. Then I pushed play...

I'm pretty sure this workout was the single hardest workout that I have ever done

I'm also pretty sure that I'm hooked! 

The workout lasted about 45 min and was full of high intensity cardio drills; I was pretty much drenched in sweat by the end of the 15 min warm up. Over the weekend I had watched a youtube vlog by a fellow nursing mother who had completed a round of insanity back in 2009 and she said that a big part of her ability to complete the workouts was that she got out of her head and went to her "happy place." I took her advice and "went to my happy place" when it got really hard. I think because of that I was really able to push myself harder than I normally push when I'm working out at home and it's just me and the DVD player. I liked Shaun T's motivational style, he got in your face but not in a overly aggressive drill sergeant kind of way which I appreciated. One of the reasons why I'm not quite sold on the CROSSFIT phenomenon like everyone else is because the CROSSFIT gym I went to on a groupon back in San Diego just had people screaming in your face all the time. I like intense workouts (obviously) but I just don't respond well to that kind of motivation. I guess I'm thankful I never joined the military!

Anyway I was able to finish the workout (barely) and only had to stop a little (a lot). There was a drill called "level 1" where you do 4 push-ups then plank runs then back to standing (burpee style) then repeat. I did all the push ups on my knees but I did do (most of) them before I completely collapsed. I had my trusty heart rate monitor on (birthday gift last year) and these are my stats:

April 21st 2014

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Duration: 46:38

Calories Burned: 543

Average HR: 165

Max HR 193 (wow)

I was so thankful to Nathan that he slept the whole time and I was able to take a LONG hot shower afterwards. I'm not super sore yet but I am definitely more "aware" of certain muscle groups than I usually am if that makes any sense. I'm sure when I wake up tomorrow Kyle will have to carry me out of bed because I won't be able to move under my own power.

Well I'll have to rally because tomorrow is another workout.

Am I insane for doing this? Probably, but that's what makes it fun!

Stay tuned!

Insanity Day 1: Fit Test

Today I started the beach body program INSANITY by Shaun T. I have been meaning to start this ever since I bought the DVDs back in November 2012. I did p90x a while before that and really enjoyed it so when I saw the commercial for insanity I was like "am I insane? sure! let's do this!"

Then I got pregnant

Then I was a postpartum nursing mother

Now I'm still nursing but after some research and because I have completed the half marathon I was training for (the San Francisco 1/2 on April 6th) I figure now is a good time. 

If I don't start now I probably never will :-)

Never herd of it? (do you not watch T.V?)

go ahead & watch the video...

Anyway so I started the program today. Day 1 is the fit test which is made up of 8 different exercises. You do one exercise at a time and try to do as many reps as possible in 1 minute. This fit test is repeated every 14 days throughout the 60 day program.

I barely finished the fit test. I did have to stop a few times. Holy crap this is going to be (um) INSANE! Even the fit test is crazy!!!!!!!!!!

Here are my results so far:

I used post-it notes because I plan on using the workout calendar again

aaaaaannnnnnndddddd

Here are my pictures which I took today!!!!

Insanity Day 1: April 20th 2014

Now let me make something perfectly clear. I am INCREDIBLY happy with the weight I am now. I am NOT doing this in an effort to loose weight. I am anticipating that I will in fact, gain weight when I build muscle and that's totally fine with me. I want to get ripped & have some muscles!

But mostly I want to be able to do more than 5 push ups before I have to do girly ones. 

I don't know how strict I am going to be with the diet because I need to keep my calorie count high to support my breastfeeding. However I'm not too concerned since Kyle and I eat pretty healthy to begin with. 

If I keep with the program as is I'll be well into month two while we prepare to move. It will be

INSANITY!!!

Stay tuned and I'll post on my progress!

Nathan: 7 Months

To my little man,

You are 7 months old today!

I can't believe how big your getting! You have two teeth now! It seems like you are constantly learning and discovering your world; and you are becoming more mobile! You have now mastered the army crawl and despite our efforts to contain you always seem to find yourself where you don't belong.

I know it's only the beginning of your shenanigans!

You are doing so well with your solid food and never refuse any food we give you. We are still nursing throughout the day and you are definitely a growing boy! We no longer worry about whether you are going to gain the weight you need to, you have definitely bulked up and now have the oh so adorable chubby baby wrists which I love to cover with kisses!


Your personality constantly makes me smile; at times you seem so perturbed with us when we are trying to make you laugh. Your face seems to say "Mommy & Daddy are so weird. Why are they making faces at me? I'll just smile because that seems to make them happy...."


Boy does it. When you smile at me it makes me feel like the most important person in the universe.

We love you my sweet baby; we can't wait to see what next month will bring!

With love to the moon & back,

Mommy & Daddy

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Nathan has a bit O' Irish on his daddy's side; 

so we kiss him because he's Irish 

(and cute!)

Nathan: 6 Months

To my little man,

You are 6 months old today!!!!!!!!!

You are half a year old! So much has changed since you first came into our lives back in August and we CAN'T IMAGINE life without you anymore!

Your bedtime routine is now wonderfully predictable and putting you to bed at night in your own room is now pretty much effortless. After a bath and a story you nurse for a few minutes and are basically asleep by the time we put you in your crib. You are averaging three naps during the day and are always ready to play when you wake up!





Mommy packed up your newborn and 3-6 month clothes already because you are already way to big for all of them! You have graduated from physical therapy and your neck issues have been completely resolved! You are rolling and rolling all over the place and are so CLOSE to sitting up all by yourself. You have also starting babbling a lot and like to say "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA." (I don't think it counts as mama but its still really cute when you do it.)





Your eyes are still blue and the doctor is confident that they will stay that way which I am thrilled about! I remember dreaming about a baby with brown hair and blue eyes like your daddy and now here you are!





You continue to astound us with your loving personality and easy going nature; how lucky we are to be your parents!

With love to the moon and back my sweet baby,

Mommy & Dadddy