Hey strangers!

So, what have I been up to lately?

Well, I definitely have been busy. As I said before, it's hard for me to stay focused with so much on my plate. I have had a lot going on in my life lately but I've never lost sight of the prize. Over a period of about two months I noticed myself hitting this plateau and I couldn't lose anymore weight. I felt like I was just spinnin my tires. I talked to several different people, and the answer was that I needed to change up my routine. So I tried a couple different things but I couldn't find anything that worked for me. It's hard enough to get into a routine with working out but then, to have to change it all up, and almost feel like you are starting over, that was even harder for me. I had to power through a lot of demons in my life and shut out all the negative self talk. It was an ugly mind game there for a couple weeks. But then...I saw this commercial for a new workout dvd.

It's called Insanity.

When I saw the commercial I KNEW it was what I needed to do. That was the missing piece to the puzzle. The only problem....money. So I had to wait a couple more weeks till I could afford to get the set. Found it on EBay for $70.00 when on the "Special TV Offer" it was $120.00!! Woohoo! Missy got a deal!!

I've been doing the workout for a while now. I wanted to get settled into my new routine and get comfortable with this new workout before I talked about it. But they did tell me to journal a lil about my workout every day so I could have something to refer back to when I'm through. So I have journal entries back from day 1 that I will go back and add here for ya'll to keep track of my progress.

So what's Insanity like? In a word....Insane.

I've never experienced anything like it before. The easiest way I can describe it would be to have you imagine doing a circuit of say, pushups, jumping jacks, lunges, and squats for about 30 seconds each at a moderate pace. Then you do the circuit again...only faster. Then you do the circuit again...at break neck speed! Then you go to another type of circuit and repeat the whole process....and so on. But people, it's not as simple as your regular old, run-of-the-mill pushups, jumping jacks, lunges, and squats. No, no. Nearly everything you do has you leaping off the ground. When ever your body has to literally take flight, it really steps up the workout a notch. It takes so much power to do that over and over. For example, one workout takes you from a squat position to leaping straight up in the air, to landing back in a squat position. Some of the workouts are like high school football drills. All of it combines cardio with working out. 2-for-1. It's extremely challenging. If you've never seen/heard of it before I'll attach the promo video so you can see a bit of what I'm talkin about.

Folks, I'm thinkin that taking my workout to a whole nutha level will successfully get me off my plateau. What do you think?

Work Out Examples

So Month 1 went something like this:

Upper Body Day-

1. Chair Dips
2. Sit Ups on a Balance Ball
3. Push Ups

I'd do 15 of each one then I'd repeat that 2 more times for a total of 3 sets. (And I had to work up to that 15!)

Then I'd do 60 minutes of cardio on my treadmill. I'd have it set at max incline at 2.5mph with a 2 minute warm up and 2 minute cool down.

Lower Body Day-

1. Forward Lunges
2. Sit Ups on a Balance Ball
3. Calf Raises

Again, 15 of each, 3 times. Oh but that's 15 PER LEG on the Lunges and Calf Raises...

And, again, I'd follow up with the exact same cardio.

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Now Month 2 is going something like this:

Lower Body Day-

1. Reverse Sit Ups on a Balance Ball
2. Leg Lifts
3. Side Crunches-30 of these total
4. Lunges out to the side

Same as before, 15-15-15 (per leg on Leg Lifts and Lunges out to the side) , repeat 3 times.

Cardio changed up a bit. Now it's more like 60-75 minutes on the treadmill. No incline. And I adjust the mph at all different time intervals. One day might look like this:

5 minutes 3.0 mph
5 minutes 3.5 mph
2 minutes 4.0 mph
5 minutes 3.5 mph
5 minutes 3.0 mph
2 minutes 5.0 mph
5 minutes 3.0 mph
1 minute rest

(REPEAT for a total of 60-75 minutes)

Lower Body Day-

1. Arm Rows using Stretchy Bands
2. Standing Abs-30 of these (almost like doing a standing bicycle)
3. Tricep Extentions using Stretchy Bands
4. Standing Abs Side Crunch-30 of these (arms at your sides, bend sideways at the waist)

3 Sets of 15 reps each (per arm on these), same as before

Then Cardio this day would be more like 75 minutes of cardio on the treadmill with no incline and speed set at these intervals:

10 minutes 3.0 mph
10 minutes 4.0 mph
10 minutes 3.0 mph
2 minutes 4.0 mph
2 minutes 3.0 mph
2 minutes 5.0 mph
2 minutes 4.0 mph
2 minutes 3.0 mph
10 minutes 4.0 mph
10-20 minutes 3.0 mph

And yes, I always do a warm up and cool down, and stretching. Stretching is a must! And water too! So the main thing is to keep your body guessing. I love how no matter what I'm doing it's a challenge for my body. Some work outs may seem simple, some may not, but I know they all kick my butt. Is this all clear as mud? If you don't know what a certain work out is, let me know, I will try to describe it a little better. Wish I had pictures but I don't. And I definitely enjoy the work out part more than the cardio at this stage. My lungs are just out of shape. Blah. I also love how Boot Camp/BC taught me so many moves I can do just using body weight or regular household items instead of free weights or awkward equipment (if you've ever seen Biggest Loser we did a ton of the exact same moves that they do on the show, just without the yelling/screaming trainer). I want to make a point of doing as many things without the aid of gym membership as possible....not that there's anything wrong with a gym, I just need to not rely on a gym for myself right now. Another goal....