Crazy Train!!!!

This past Saturday, I had the amazing opportunity to spend the day working out and hanging out with Shaun T and other incredible Beachbody Coaches and customers.  We got to spend the entire day at Gillette Stadium (yep, the home field of the New England Patriots) for what was to be one of the best experiences of my life!!!!  As a reminder, Shaun T is the (extremely buff) trainer from the INSANITY workout program.  Here's a delightful little sampling of his madness and the true INSANITY of this workout program!

Our workouts on Saturday were similar to the ones from the dvds in that there were many familiar moves and I was used to his style of teaching.  There was, however, no pause button and by the end of the first workout, my husband and I were drenched in SWEAT!!!  Nice, don't you think?

Here's a little of how I felt about the whole experience:

Two full workouts (one hour each), over 150 in attendance, 5 bottles of water consumed (by me alone), 5 clothing changes, several pounds of sweat, estimated over 1200 calories burned and suffice it to say, it was one of the best days ever!!!  Now, let me make this clear (and this may surprise you - ha ha)......working out is not always fun for me, nor is it my most favorite thing to do!!!!  I do love the end result though - the feeling of euphoria knowing I did something that I did not think was possible!!  Eating right is also a struggle and a full time job for me.  There is no "finish line" with this!  It's an ongoing process of making a daily commitment to myself (no matter how difficult it seems or how tempting the alternative may be).     

I will be posting more about this awesome day and all 

the wonderful experiences in the days to come.  Until 

then, I plan to keep plugging away in The Asylum!

~Cheers!

  

Digging Deep

I am here to debunk the thinking that you cannot get a good, intense, effective workout by exercising in the comfort of your own home.  For most of my adult life, I have belonged to a gym.  Granted, I also own a treadmill, enjoyed running outdoors, and working out to exercise DVDs, but in the past, my "go to" place for sweating it out was always a gym.  When I purchased the workout set INSANITY, my thinking changed. Since beginning this program 9 months ago, I have worked out more regularly and frequently than any other time in my life.  If you don't think you have the ability to push yourself at home, don't sell yourself short - you can.  If you don't think you have the attention span to complete it - think again - once a workout gets "in your blood" you will not want to stop (and let's face it, the menial home tasks and laundry will always be there anyway).  Plus the awesome DVDs that Beachbody puts out all are led by amazing trainers who are incredible motivators.

Here's Shaun T and some of the INSANITY crew!  They look badass, don't they?  One of the great things about this workout is that some of the cast members were just "regular people" beforehand.  They went through the program in its testing phase and had tremendous success!  It's so motivating to see the results of a normal person who transformed their body in such a drastic way - makes me think I can do it too.  Also, I love the fact that they are all sweating, panting, raising their heart rates (to what sometimes feels like unnatural levels) and even collapsing from exhaustion right along side me.   

That's the man himself.  The King of INSANITY, Shaun T.  Shaun T is a superb trainer too.  He's constantly talking, encouraging, giving tips on proper form, telling me how to breathe, hold correct posture, and I love that he tells it like it is (plus he's nice to look at too).  One of my favorite quotes from him is "It's get fit or get out people!  I'm not trying to hurt you, just trying to make you better."


On Monday, I began Month 2 of INSANITY!!  Let the madness begin (again)!  Month 2 MAX workouts are around an hour long with (what seems like) double the intensity as the first month's workouts.  I am still sore from Monday's MAX Interval Circuit workout - ouch.  What makes INSANITY different from traditional workouts is the amount of time you spend pushing yourself to the limit.  In traditional workouts, you would generally exert a sustained moderate amount of energy/intensity throughout with short bursts of high intensity.  INSANITY workouts are just the opposite....you work as hard as you can for 3-4 minutes with a 30 second rest in between each burst of intensity.  It is extremely effective!  On the agenda for me for today is MAX Interval Plyo.  I'm ready (yikes)!!

  ~ Bring on the Diamond Jumps!

Busy Busy!!

So, I try not to be a complainer or live in a negative way, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret.....I LOATHE the word "busy".  It just drives me bonkers.  "Busy" grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard.  When people say "I'm always so busy" or "I was too busy to (fill in the blank)" or especially "I have no time for that because my life is just so busy" it makes me want to scream!!  The last time I checked, we all have the same amount of time every day.  24 hours in one day.  168 hours in one week.  I understand there are people who have a lot going on.  Jobs, kids, activities, housework, family obligations, yadda, yadda.  What I fail to understand is why some people feel that their "busy" outweighs everyone else's "busy".  Why do some people use their "busy" as an excuse (as in "I am too busy to exercise" or "I am too busy to eat right")?  168 hours in a week (and how we use that time) is all about choice, not a scheduling issue.  Despite a full schedule, obligations, a seemingly endless list of "to dos", people have to be willing to make a choice - especially when it comes to making time for exercise, or properly planning nutritious food options.  Yes, it does take a little time.  Yes, it does take scheduling.  Yes, it does take effort.  If everyone would just be honest from the get go and drop the word "busy" from their vocabulary, I think I can live with that.  If people would just tell it straight (as in) "No, I don't exercise because I don't want to get up an extra hour earlier in the morning" or "I don't prefer to eat healthy options because I am too lazy to shop for or prepare it" at least it's straightforward honesty and no more bogus "too busy" excuses.    

If you are willing, ready and able to make the choice to open up your sechedule, my advice is to honestly look at the 168 hours you have in a week.  Figure out the amount of time you devote to everything you do in life: work, eat, sleep, play, family, miscellaneous tasks.  Be truly honest with yourself.  I am 100% sure there will be time left over somewhere in there to devote to a regular exercise program and the effort it takes to eat right.  The question remains, how much of that time are you willing to give yourself ?  If it means improving your health, your body, your outlook on everything, your life......aren't you worth that extra time?

Be honest with yourself and others.
Drop the word "busy" as an excuse for everything.
Start moving.
Start eating right.
Start LIVING!
  

A Lesson in Motivation

Go back in time with me if you will.......June 2010, I'm sitting on my couch (a lot), falling asleep in the middle of the day (a lot), feeling gross, flabby, exhausted and generally apathetic about my appearance and life itself.

Now, I've always been active.  I've got 3 full marathons under my belt, have done several triathlons, participated in indoor rock climbing and group exercise classes, but for some reason, it all came to a screeching halt last year.  Yep, I got into a rut and "let myself go" a bit.  Funny thing is, apathy like that is a vicious cycle.  The more you don't care, the more you don't care.  So there I was, literally becoming part of my couch (muffin top growing by the day), when I saw the late night Beachbody infomercial for the workout series "INSANITY".  It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before and thought it seemed like something I'd enjoy.  I am not a "dainty" exerciser by any means - love me some hardcore cardio and bring on the sweat - the worse I look after a workout, the better!  The trick was, trying to convince my hubby that spending $120 on a set of DVDs was a wise investment.  I suggested not renewing our $100 a year (each) gym memberships (which were up for renewal and hardly being used anyway), he took the bait and we never looked back!  INSANITY is put out by the company Beachbody.  It's is the same company that puts out P90X (which if you haven't heard of by now, you must be living under a rock), Turbo Jam, Slim in 6, and other awesome workout DVDs.  Let me tell you, the $120 was the BEST money we have spent and it changed our lives forever!!!! INSANITY is designed to get you in the best shape of your life in 60 days. It is extremely DIFFICULT, you sweat your cottage cheesy tush (and muffin top) off, and the benefits are amazing!! We both lost weight - he about 13 pounds and myself about 11 (so far) - plus we both have completely toned up, added muscle and significantly lowered our total cholesterol levels. I am about half way to my ultimate goal of another 10-15 pounds lost and my husband only has a couple more pounds to his goal.

So, where does my motivation come from?  What got me up from that apathetic place on my couch, to push myself beyond what I ever thought was possible and sweating like never before?  Well, I gotta say, the shirtless, solidly muscled trainer (Shaun T - who I LOVE) in the DVDs certainly doesn't hurt - hee hee.  But truly, motivation for me comes from a whole bunch of places.  I turned 40 in September and that was HUGE motivation for me.  With Type 2 Diabetes running in my side of the family and heart disease lurking in my husband's side, and obesity on both, I did not want to end up aging with medical issues on top of it!  Looking at photos of my parents and in-laws when they were 40 is an eye opener.  Is it just me or did everyone look 60 at the age of 30 back then?  So call me vain, but I want to be a hot mama at 40 and beyond.  I want to look good in a pair of skinny jeans tucked into boots.  I want my loved ones to be proud of me and I want to be proud and comfortable with my appearance as well.  My Beachbody business is also a HUGE motivator for me.  If I'm not continuing to be a "product of the product", than I am a fraud.  Simple as that.  I continue to try and live by example and practice what I preach. 

So for me, motivation is NOT just the intention to do something, or saying you're ready, or planning it all out, or even clicking "Yes I'm ready to take the INSANITY challenge" as I did back in June.  Motivation is this........you've run out of excuses and have nowhere else to go.  What motivates you?