Remix Music - Random Share

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Love the remix and will go very well on my running playlist!

Insanity Workout Day 23: Stubborn is my Middle Name.

I am the type of person that has to find out the answers/outcome for myself. No matter if the outcome is good or could potentially be bad I still choose to find out for myself. I have never been the girl that believes in taking the lessons of others and applying them. I am sure I could have saved myself a few scares if I would have taken the advice of those who have gone before me but then again I wouldn't be me. Having a stubborn personality is part of my charm and has served me well in my profession. What I mean by that is I don't back down from a challenge where others might have tried and didn't succeed. I believe in accessing a problem with fresh eyes and then trying to solve what has been deemed unsolvable. Don't get me wrong I don't not have hundred percent success rate in this approach but I do feel that being able to tackle a challenge is seen as a valuable asset.

Source: parenting.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Now to sprinkle a little reality onto the joys of being stubborn girl. I do have to admit that having stubborn as my middle name has not been all rainbows, butterflies and pots of gold. I have acquired some bumps and bruises along the way. My dad loves to tell the story of when I was two and wouldn't put my toys in the toy box when he asked me to clean up. When asked to pick up my toys I promptly said no followed by the head shake mirroring my response. What next was a sequence of asking me to pick up my toys, me saying no and my father applying a firm spank to my bottom. This happened about four times before I gave in and decided maybe I should pick up my toys. Long story short, I picked up a toy, tears running down my face, went and gave my father a kiss and then placed the toy in the toy box. Now you can imagine if I was that stubborn at two years old I have only learned to dig my heels in deeper as I got older.

The Insanity workout for me is just another situation where I wanted to dig my heels in and not concede; however, given that my knee is throbbing it made digging in the heels more difficult. Don't get me wrong I still tried even through I had received warnings from my parents, friends, partner that maybe I should let it rest a little longer. But somewhere in my head I didn't want to go the rest of the week without moving forward conquering the challenge I had taken on. So, after three days of resting I decided I would give the old knee a test drive by doing the cardio abs and pure cardio videos. Within the first three minutes of the cardio abs video I knew that I was not going to be able to do the jogging, jumping and/or anything cardio without causing myself pain and possibly more injury. I did work though the rest of the abs video completing all the floor work so I could at least get some of my core workout. I then decided I would give Cardio Recovery a quick spin because it didn't involve the jumping. The mistake I made during this workout is that you are required to utilize your knee when doing squats, lunges and stretches. Again, being stubborn and not wanting to have to concede I gently pushed my way to the end of the routine.  This situation I believe we go down in the history books as a bruise caused by my own stubborn nature!

Source:  Pinterest

So where does that leave me? I must make the choice to do the right thing by my health and the safety of my knee. With that being said I am going to bow out gracefully from the Insanity Challenge. That is until I get a cleared doctors note; however, not knowing how long that will take it might mean that I will need to start from day one. I have an appointment with him tomorrow to understand the fate of my workout future. Until then I will continue down the path of making healthy food choices and perhaps exploring the possibilities of adding more random thoughts on my other blog page.  http://stateofpensiveness.blogspot.com/

Insanity Workout Day 20,21 & 22: Icy HOT!

                         Source: google.com via Sarah on Pinterest

After my last post, a few hours of letting my last workout set in and the repeated practice of applying Icy Hot to my knee my positive outlook on the possibility of modifying the workout to continue going was put to bed.  I had to make the decision that the best thing would be to take a three day vacation from INSANITY to heal. Medically this was probably the smart decision but mentally I kept thinking I was suppose to be doing something. Any kind of workout because doing nothing would undo all the progress I had made. But as the expression goes, change the things you can and except the things you can not change. 

With that in mind I wrapped up my knee and wrapped my mind around the fact that I could control my diet even if I wasn't working out INSANELY.  I have said all along that this is not a diet for me but a lifestyle change so I continued to approach the weekend with that same mentality. The kicker of all of this is that this past weekend was a "girls" slumber party weekend with my mother and my sister. They were in town for the weekend to visit, watch chick flicks, eat ice cream and thin mint girl scout cookies.

I was very proud of myself for being able to serve all of these delicious treats and finding health substitutes for myself. If there wasn't a healthy substitute I granted myself permission to have a bite just for the taste and then no more.  I stayed within my calories, continued to drink water and overall was impressed with my ability to make better choices. The meals were not as difficult to navigate because I am the cook so I decide what is plated. So even though they had a weekend of snacks I did feed them healthier meals in-between.

Now it is Monday and time to get back on track with the workouts. My plan is to ease my way back into the routines by first doing the cardio abs because it is less pressure on my legs and more on my core. If my knee holds up through that workout being braced then I will move onto the Pure Cardio which is what is on the schedule for today. If I can't do all the moves I will try to substitute upper body moves to continue to build my strength and muscles without losing all momentum. If my best laid plans fail then it will be a doctor's appointment in my future.

Wish me luck!! I think I may need it! ;-)

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Insanity Workout Day 19: For the love of FASHION

Staying motivated is not an easy task when the only place you are losing inches is your chest and the scale seems to be stuck in the past. On day nineteen I find myself drifting to the back of my mind where it is asking the question "why do you keep going if you are not seeing results." Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. Right?
Even though today was my FAVORITE workout day because it was cardio recovery I found it hard to want to start the workout. One because of that little voice in the back of my head reminding me I haven't seen too many results and two I fear that I might have hurt my knee in one of the past routines.

One of the things the instructor repeats on every video is that you should go at your own pace and be safe. I have been doing just that; however, on day seventeen I could feel my right knee starting to ache and swell. Not a good sign but I am in this and I am not about to quit or make excuses not to do the workout.

There is not much I can do about my knee except to take the necessary steps to protect it from any further damage. So right now I am walking a fine line of not losing momentum and not hurting my knee permanently. I am thinking about doing the cardio recovery and Cardio abs video for the next two days even though it is not the routine scheduled. My thought process is that switching the videos my not be ideal for the program but it will allow me to keep going and give my knee some time to heal.

Source: fashionworship.com via Britt on Pinterest

As for the little voice inside my head asking WHY is it so important to complete this particular exercise program, especially since your results to date are only fair? I choose to respond to it's pesky questions with this responses:

1. I said I would! I am the type of person that we I make a commitment to someone or even myself I always follow through! 
2. It's a challenge and I want to conquer the CHALLENGE!
3. Because I believe this program produces results. I have seen it with my own eyes. 
4. For the love of FASHION!

Yes, you read number four correctly. For the love of FASHION is one of the ways I stay motivated to push through the challenge and the pain. At the end of the day, life is about being healthy but like any girl I love clothes and I want to look good in what I define as "my style." When my little voice starts to get me down I turn to Pinterest Fashion to stock my virtual closet and remind me to keep pushing forward.

Source: nicola-conner.polyvore.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Insanity Workout Day 18: That Sh^t is Bananas!

Source: instagram.com via magquote on Pinterest

If you have every done the Pure cardio workout for Insanity you will know that at the end Shaun T always says "that sh^t is bananas!" Yes, he always says it because with a pre-recorded DVD the endings doesn't change. Even I know this but found it  humorous because no matter how many times you have done the routine, knowing the pre-recored ending and knowing he will say "that sh^t is bananas"  you 100% agree as if it was the first time! As you are lying on the floor after the last exercise in the moment "that sh^t is bananas" feels like the perfect sentiment!


You would think the craziness would end there but now that we are into week three we get an extra special treat of an additional 16 minutes of cardio abs! That is if you can scrape yourself off the floor for another warm-up session.

And of course you will...because you are INSANE! :)

Source: designerwhey.com via Stacey on Pinterest

Insanity Workout Day 16: To Eat or Not to Eat?

For the better part of a decade I have been on what some would call a "professional's diet." For those of you that are living in breathing Corporate America you might know this diet includes coffee as a meal and is usually picked to be the breakfast and lunch of champions. This is not a diet that is developed on purpose or overnight. One day you wake up in the busy world of back to back meetings realizing that it is three o'clock in the afternoon and the only thing you have had to eat all day was the cream and sugar  you added to your cups of coffee. By this time you think yourself that it is only a couple hours away from dinner so you might as well grab another cup and head off to another meeting. My body is now a well oiled coffee machine and does not want for food in the mornings. Well, at least that is what I tell myself. It may need food but it does not want for it. I never realized how much I could be hurting my health or the shape of my body by slowing my metabolism. Like I mentioned earlier this diet wasn't on purpose but rather an outcome of my particular circumstance. Now that this habit is as familiar as biting my nails or twisting my hair into a bun the moment I awake from sleep.

Source: burnettsboards.com via Angela on Pinterest

I did not occur to me that my bad eating habits might impact the INSANITY challenge. I have workout, been in a gym and even started running while maintaining the same eating habits. Yes, I read the nutrition guide and I have heard it all before about eating six small meals. But really, who has time for that?  Convincing a mind that has survived on the professional diet for years was going to take more than a pamphlet inserted into a DVD workout program. I would need to see proof!

After sixteen days of doing my best to muscled my way through the INSANITY workouts I may have been given the proof I needed to make the change to ditch the professional diet. As I have mentioned in my past posts I can feel my muscles getting stronger and I even performed better on the second fit test but my measurements must have been written in permanent marker.

Source - Pinterest

Being one out of three individuals doing the program and not losing the weight or inches you begin to question what it is YOU are doing differently. After several conversations it has been narrowed down to the question of "to Eat or Not to Eat?"
The other two individuals are following the six meals a day plan with a focus on healthier choices. They have not gone completely organic or vegan but started small with the simple changes such as less sugar, more fruit and more water, less soda. In this case I guess you could say that the "proof is in the pudding" literally.







Now that my mind has been opened to the possibility that I may be holding myself back by the choice to remain on the "professional diet" I am willing to make a change. This week I will focus on eating breakfast within the hour I wake and repeating a meal/snack every two hours thereafter. If I keep the meals around 200/300 and the snacks around 100 calories I should still be able to maintain my goal of eating less than 1200 calories a day. So let the eating begin! Oh, I forgot to mention this does NOT mean I am giving up coffee. I will just add a meal to go with my beverage of choice.

Insanity Workout Day 15: What you can MEASURE, You can IMPROVE!

The first day of the INSANITY program you have to complete a fit test that you will then be asked to repeat every two weeks throughout the entire program. The purpose of the fit test exercise is so you can track your progress as you move through the sixty day program. This workout can be used in two ways.

1. A way to push yourself each time you test ensuring that you will beat your last results and
2. As well as it is a visual reminder of how far you have come in the past few weeks. 

I must admit that I was happy to see the needle move on a couple of the exercises given that the scale needle seems to be glued in place. But we will get back that in a moment.

My baseline: Week 1 Results:

Source: cedricc.be via Courtney on Pinterest

• Switch Kicks - 60
• Power Jacks - 43
• Power Knees - 60
• Power Jumps - 20
• Globe Jumps - 6
• Suicide Jumps - 13
• Push-up Jacks - 13
• Low Plank Oblique - 40

Beginning of Week 3 Results:

• Switch Kicks - 77 (+17)
• Power Jacks - 50 (+8)
• Power Knees - 75 (+15)
• Power Jumps - 21 (+1)
• Globe Jumps - 8 (+2)
• Suicide Jumps - 15 (+2)
• Push-up Jacks - 19 (+6)
• Low Plank Oblique - 50 (+10)

For me, my results tell me that I am still "weak" when it comes to jumping. I use the word "weak" loosely because I am not viewing these results as a negative but rather a way to focus on what I need to improve on in the weeks to come. On a loose average it appears that I have increased my numbers by 25%. As I begin the next two weeks of workout routines I now know I will need to really push myself when it comes to power jumps, globe jumps and suicide jumps in order to increase my numbers on my next fit test. It will be my own challenge to move the needle another 5% on March 11th when I complete my third fit test.

As for my other measurements, the scale seems to be stuck in time and I have only seen an inch lost around my stomach. Although these numbers are not WOW numbers I try to remind myself that it has only been fifteen days and to imagine what another fifteen days will do for me!

Source: Uploaded by user via Payton's Place - Inspired Me! on Pinterest