Insanity Day 60: Yes, Day 60! (But It's Not Over Yet!)

Despite the infomercials that clearly state that Insanity is 60 days long, it isn't. Insanity is actually 63 days long but I've completed the numerically significant 60 days, so I feel great about that. Today was pretty much a recovery day, doing Core Cardio & Balance for 37 minutes. I burned only 477 calories, which mostly reflects the fact that I didn't do this workout with Meghan today, plus it's short duration and minimal cardio. Still it's a fun workout, especially the end (try holding your arms straight out and flapping them a little for 3 minutes. The first minute is easy, then it's HARD!)

My back is still a bit sore today, but my sciatic nerve is much better. I did a bunch of stretching last night (thank you YouTube once again!) and I'll continue that, even into next week after I'm done with Insanity.

In the spirit of transparency I will say I'm going out with some friends for a birthday tonight, and we're doing Italian (I know, shocker for New Jersey right?). I'm going to cheat, and I'm going to cheat big time. I will order whatever I want and suffer the consequences tomorrow. I don't care, and I won't feel guilty about it. As I've said a gazillion times, this isn't a competition. This isn't Biggest Loser. I'm not trying to lose x number of pounds in 63 days. I need to be able to sustain this new lifestyle, and that means there will be times where I will let loose. And tonight is one of those nights!

Okay, so with that off my chest, I'll just end with this: I feel great overall. I'm really proud of myself, and I hope I stay as injury free as possible for these last few days so I can finish strong. I've learned so much about myself, about how to exercise, how to eat, and how to stay accountable and motivated. Thanks to those who continue to read these admittedly self-indulgent blogs. I hope they help to motivate others and provide a real view, from someone who ISN'T a BeachBody employee or coach, of what Insanity is all about, at least for me.

See you tomorrow!

Insanity Day 59: A New Pain!

So yesterday after my workout I started to feel a sensation I've never felt before: Sciatic nerve pain. Actually it wasn't really a pain. More like an annoying tingle that went down the back of my left leg for the most part (and a little down my right). It doesn't feel like stretching a muscle. It's more like someone ran a string through my leg and started tugging on it from one end. There's a position you can get into to find out whether it's really sciatic pain or not. See what the woman below is doing? If it causes the sensation or pain, it's your sciatic nerve:

Anyway, it was more of an annoyance than anything else. Probably caused from stressing my lower back too much. I did some sciatic exercises and stretches I found online (including the one above) and it felt a bit better. I also took Advil for the first time during Insanity, but only to help as an anti-inflammatory. Later in the evening, I also applied some heat pad and did my usual back stretches. I felt fine when I went to bed.

When I woke up today, it was much better, but I took it a bit easy on the "hit the floor" and other back-intensive exercises today, doing some modifications instead (mostly cross-jacks and high knees) to keep my heart rate up. Today was my favorite workout: Max Interval Circuit. I burned 748 calories, maxed out at 164, and averaged 135. I'll admit I took it a bit easy because I didn't want to hurt myself, but I still got a great workout in and burned a lot of calories.

I'm starting to rethink whether I should just leap right into the next rotation of Insanity without taking a break. I am 42 years old and I've read a lot of good advice to "take a break and let your body heal", so I'll think about how I want to handle that. Perhaps I'll go running. Not sure yet. More to come.

If you're around my age, thinking about doing Insanity, and wondering if your body will take a beating, the answer is unequivocally YES. But that's no reason not to do it. The body will heal, even if it's a bit slower then when I was younger. The benefit of weight loss and muscle gain far outweighs the risks of injury in my opinion. I suppose that's a personal choice, and I made mine 2 months ago!

Still feel great overall and I'm looking forward to hitting day 60 tomorrow. Only 3 workouts and 1 Fit Test left to go. Woo hoo!

 

Insanity Day 58: And The Countdown Continues!

Today is Day 58, and I only have 5 workouts remaining in Insanity. Can't wait to get my free T-Shirt! LOL.

I did Max Cardio and Cardio Abs today, burning 942 calories, maxing out my heart rate at 180 briefly, and averaging 136. The average is lower than usual largely due to Cardio Abs which doesn't really raise the heart rate much. The diet has been good today: Kashi cereal, egg white omelet, salad with olive oil and vinegar, and of course my recovery drink. My back is a bit more sore again today, but nothing major. Lots of "hit the floor"-and squat-type exercises in Max Cardio. But I've learned how to handle that: Heat pad and stretching of the lower back. Seems to work every time. I still haven't taken a single pain reliever since I started Insanity. I just don't think it's a good idea to mask the pain. I'm afraid it could lead to an injury.

I'll admit I've been watching the Biggest Loser TV show this season. Not something I would normally watch. Aside from Survivor I don't like reality TV, but I must say it's provided some good motivation. While some of the people are emotional messes which I suppose makes for good ratings, there are a couple who have a grip and are just there to lose weight, so I focus on them. I'm not into all the drama. ;-)

Have a good rest of the week!

Insanity Day 57: First Day of the Final Week!

Well I made it to the final week of Insanity. I would dare anyone to make it this far then tell me that this program hasn't changed their life. Impossible. I feel like a completely different person, both physically and mentally. I look in the mirror and I see cheek bones for the first time in a decade, not pronounced yet, but glad they're still there after all these years. My shoulders are bigger. My waist is smaller. I've lost somewhere between 22-25 pounds (tough to tell exactly since my weight fluctuates by about 4 pounds throughout each day, and from day to day). More importantly, I look forward to working out each day.

I have a little soreness in my back and shoulders today, but it's the regular muscle kind, not the joint kind. My knees have amazingly held out almost completely pain free throughout the past 57 days. I've learned to love diamond jumps, but I still hate power jumps (if you don't, you either have never tried them, or you are not human!)

I'll admit it, I don't want this week to end. There's a part of me that knows it will never be the same again, not like the first time. But there's also a part of me that knows when I start it again, I'll be able to dig even deeper because I won't be starting as Oompa Loompa. I still have a lot of weight to lose on my journey, but I now know I can do it. I've been successful at changing my lifestyle. I'm eating healthy and exercising 6 days a week. Put simply, I'm hooked, and will continue this journey once this program ends on Sunday.

Today was my second-to-last Max Interval Plyo. I burned 783 calories, maxed out my heart rate at 173, and averaged 141. I felt great throughout the workout. Still not my favorite, and I think it's the hardest Insanity workout overall, but I've improved a lot since I first did it a month ago.

Have a great week!

 

Insanity Day 55: Sometimes It Takes Two to Earn a Steak!

It's always hard to get motivated to workout on a Saturday morning, but it's much easier when I'm not working out alone. Meghan joined me today for Core Cardio & Balance, which is the same workout I did for recovery week between months 1 and 2. I burned 580 calories and felt great. No shoulder or back pain whatsoever, even with the "walking planks" and "hit the floor" moves. It almost felt like a recovery day since this is kind of a month 1 workout, certainly in duration. But it still had some solid cardio in there. Most significantly this concluded my second-to-last week of Insanity. I'm off tomorrow and Monday begins a 7 day stretch of straight workouts, with the program concluding next Sunday with my last Fit Test.

I'm going to reward myself tonight with a filet mignon dinner. While admittedly off-topic and certainly not on the Insanity diet, I've got to share this recipe because it's the best way I've ever had filet. We got the recipe from our friends Mike and Tess a few years ago and it's basically the only way I cook filet mignon anymore. If you're on a low sodium diet or you like your steak well done, this recipe is not for you.

First, you need to buy a whole filet mignon tenderloin. Have the butcher trim the fat and tie it up with string to hold it together.

Next, make the marinade using:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 bay leaf

Mix everything in a heavy sauce pan and heat it just to the boiling point. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. Pour cooled marinade completely over tenderloin and marinate overnight or several hours in an airtight (i.e. Tupperware) container in the refrigerator.

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake uncovered in a roasting pan at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees (leave door open for a minute to cool oven) then bake for another 20 minutes. The steak will be medium rare. If you like it medium, bake for another 5-10 minutes (you may need to cut it to check how done it is). Take it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 5 minutes then slice it into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Now take a bite of that pure deliciousness and enjoy!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Insanity Day 54: Self Imposed Double Beating Complete!

As I mentioned in my Day 53 post this morning, I wasn't able to do a workout yesterday due to a funeral and travel. I wasn't sure when/if I would makeup the workout, but I felt so good after today's workout that I did them back to back.

So I started with my favorite, Max Interval Circuit, and burned 1032 calories. I felt great, with tons of energy. At the end, I wasn't ready to stop, so I popped the Max Recovery DVD in and went to town. I skipped the warm-up because I was completely warmed up at the point and had just completed the cooldown stretch. I still dislike Max Recovery. I think it strains shoulders far too much to be considered a recovery at all. With that said, I burned another 233 calories for a grand total of 1265 calories burned today.

Glad I was able to make up yesterday's workout, and now I won't have any guilt about skipping it. Even better, that's the last Max Recovery of Insanity, and I'll probably never do it again. Assuming I repeat Insanity, I'll swap something else in its place, perhaps the recovery workout from month 1...not sure yet.

Have a great weekend!

 

Insanity Day 53: No Recovery Today

As I mentioned a few days ago, my wife's aunt passed away and we were in Philadelphia for 2 days. I did manage to get my Day 52 workout in before we left, but there was no time or place for Day 53. We were up early to head to the church service, burial and luncheon. We weren't on the road home until 4pm, got home around 6pm, with my wife's other aunt from California in tow. So we went out to dinner then to bed early since we had to wake her up at 3am to get a ride to the airport to fly home.

So how to make this up? My plan is to do it this coming Sunday, or perhaps even tomorrow. Even though I dislike the "Max Recovery" workout, I didn't come this far to skip a workout, not even a recovery workout. So I'll get it in and will blog about it once I've completed it.

I'm off to do the Max Interval Circuit in a little bit, since I'm writing this on Day 54.

Talk to you all in a bit!