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!