During the course of our conversations, she started talking to me about working out. She's a runner, but she also trains at a gym with a trainer because she works with horses a lot and she needs strength. So she knew I had gotten pretty sedentary and she asked me about have I done this and that, and did I know what burpees are? Well, I had done a lot of this and that when I was doing Insanity. I wasn't sure what burpees were, so I asked Josh, and of course he had heard of them, also called pukees, but when he demonstrated, I recognized them as suicide drills. I hate them, by the way. But I had done those in Insanity, too. The more Renee and I talked, the more I got to missing doing Insanity, and I told Renee that I was going to ask Josh to get it for me for Christmas.
The next thing I knew, a Beachbody box showed up at my house, and it had the whole set up- the discs, the mat for the various floor workouts, the big schedule on a poster, for checking progress, the fit test, a body fat measuring device, and a nutrition guide. I thought at first that Josh got it for me, but when I said something to him about it, he said I needed to talk to my cousin. Can you imagine? She bought me the whole kit and caboodle as an early Christmas present. It was mid-November. I was overwhelmed with emotion over it. That she cared that much, and acted on it...I don't know many folks willing to do that. I was so grateful and I knew that I could NOT let her down. This time, I would complete the program, no matter what.
I wasn't going to wait, either. I resolved to start the next Monday, so my rest day would be on a Sunday. Josh's new position requires he travel a lot, so he couldn't do it with me this time. That's sad for me, but I do understand. Everyone has their own fitness journey, and he will have to work on his in his own way. Meanwhile, I wanted so much to set an active example for my son.
It was frustrating at first, because I couldn't do the moves or the workouts as well as when I had stopped doing Insanity before. Of course, I had put on a LOT of weight, and my knees seemed especially weak. There is a lot of jumping in Insanity, so I would wear knee braces. When I had done it before, I had at least gotten to the point where I could do the entire warm up without stopping. But this go around, I had to do the workouts for two weeks before I got back to that point.
I started seeing progress in my ability. This was super exciting to me. It turned out that a co-worker of mine is a Beachbody Coach. She was running a private Facebook Group for folks wanting to do T25, which is the next program that Shaun T, the trainer in Insanity, had put out. She offered to add me to the group for motivation and support, even though I was doing a different program.
The folks in that group were so helpful! Everyone had similar experiences loving and hating Shaun T. Everyone would encourage everyone else on a off day. Everyone celebrated the little successes and achievements. It was so wonderful and exactly what I needed to stay motivated through the holidays. I ended up completing the program at the end of January. I was so proud! I lost 18 lbs and 13 inches over all during that first round. I was feeling so good about it, I decided to do another round of it. I was very motivated because of my success and because at the beginning of January, my workplace started a weight loss competition. I won it, because I was consistent with doing Insanity! I would get up at 4:30 in the morning to make sure that I had time to complete the workouts before getting Mo up for school.
I was surprised at the support I got from Mo. He's a very generous and sweet boy, but he blew me away. One day, a couple of weeks after I started Insanity, he asked me why I was doing it. I was just about to work out on a Saturday and he wanted to watch and he asked me why. I told him it was because I was fat, and I didn't want to be. "Mama!" He said, shocked. "You shouldn't say 'fat', that's not a nice word!" Well, I had not taught him that, but it's true. Then he said, "You should say 'plump' instead." That made me smile, but I answered him, "Mo, it's true that 'fat' is not a nice word, and I hope you never call anyone that, because it's hurtful and mean to do that. But I AM fat, it's a true thing. And I don't want to be--I want to be healthy. So that's why I'm doing this. To get myself healthy." He just looked at me for a minute. Then he said, "Hold on, Mama, I'll be right back." He ran off to his room and I had no idea what he was doing, because he was gone for more than a minute. But he came back in sweat pants and sneakers and said, "Ok, now I'm ready. I'm going to do it with you!" And he did, for about five minutes before he was over it. But to me, it was a HUGE gesture, and he made it at five years old, which is what was so special to me. I hope and half expect my husband will be supportive. But I never in a million years thought to get that kind of support from my child.
So that became an even stronger motivation for me to do this--get Mo involved in a healthy and active lifestyle early on in his life! Shaun T has a program just for kids and Mo wants it. I'm going to get it for him, too. And if he wants me to do it with him, in addition to my own workout, I will.
When I completed the program, I decided to do it again. I still have a long way to go before I get to my goal, and so I started over. It was fantastic! The first month's workouts were easier because I had just completed the harder second month. I still would have to stop and take rests, but I stopped using the knee braces all together. Then my coach suggested I try the couch to 5K program. Run? Me? I hadn't in a LONG time, and I didn't consider myself a runner. I told her, no thanks, maybe later in the year when I had finished Insanity again. She wouldn't take no for an answer and signed me up to her facebook group and told me to find a 5K to sign up for. She wasn't kidding! I could have really balked, but she said something that made me think hard. She said, "You'd be surprised at how well Insanity has already prepared you to be a runner." Wow. If she had that kind of faith in my ability, then I should really consider it. Ok, I'll do it. Renee is already a runner, so I made her sign up with me. She even got two other folks from her gym to run also.
Training for the 5K did eat into my Insanity schedule a bit. So this second round of Insanity is taking longer than the first, but that's ok. I WAS surprised at my ability to run. I can run over three miles without stopping! Holy cow!!!! Or I can run intervals...4 minutes of running for every 2 minutes of fast walking...it's great! Renee pushed me to try harder and she gave me some tips on breathing which helped a ton. My coach, Melanie, encouraged me every day, and on the day of my 5K, she was glued to Facebook, cheering me on, and waiting for my post to say I had finished. I did finish! I ran the whole way and Mo and Josh were there to cheer me on. It was fantastic. The only thing that I was sad about is that Renee got sick and couldn't run her race the same day. But she's a runner at heart and she runs a 5K just about three times a week anyway. I was the VERY last runner to cross the finish line. Some walkers finished after me. But I did finish, and I met my goal of running the whole time, and I'm already signed up for another one. And, because I've decided that this running and Insanity combination is working for me, I've signed up for a half marathon in October. I got this amazing training hybrid with Insanity and running as a 12 week training from one of the other coaches in the Facebook group. It's perfect and I'm excited.
Going Insane is so much better this second go around. I don't complain about working out, like I did the first time. I've started implementing the nutritional meal plan, and I'm getting better results. When the folks in the facebook group post a workout challenge, I'm interested in trying it just for fun instead of thinking, "are you kidding me?" It's a crazy new me. I love it!
After I complete the second round of Insanity, I'm going to try T25 before I start my half marathon training. When I do that, I will post my before and after Insanity pics. It will be a few more weeks. And I'm still not at my goal. But I've already come a long way and I'm excited about where this fitness journey will take me.
It was frustrating at first, because I couldn't do the moves or the workouts as well as when I had stopped doing Insanity before. Of course, I had put on a LOT of weight, and my knees seemed especially weak. There is a lot of jumping in Insanity, so I would wear knee braces. When I had done it before, I had at least gotten to the point where I could do the entire warm up without stopping. But this go around, I had to do the workouts for two weeks before I got back to that point.
I started seeing progress in my ability. This was super exciting to me. It turned out that a co-worker of mine is a Beachbody Coach. She was running a private Facebook Group for folks wanting to do T25, which is the next program that Shaun T, the trainer in Insanity, had put out. She offered to add me to the group for motivation and support, even though I was doing a different program.
The folks in that group were so helpful! Everyone had similar experiences loving and hating Shaun T. Everyone would encourage everyone else on a off day. Everyone celebrated the little successes and achievements. It was so wonderful and exactly what I needed to stay motivated through the holidays. I ended up completing the program at the end of January. I was so proud! I lost 18 lbs and 13 inches over all during that first round. I was feeling so good about it, I decided to do another round of it. I was very motivated because of my success and because at the beginning of January, my workplace started a weight loss competition. I won it, because I was consistent with doing Insanity! I would get up at 4:30 in the morning to make sure that I had time to complete the workouts before getting Mo up for school.
I was surprised at the support I got from Mo. He's a very generous and sweet boy, but he blew me away. One day, a couple of weeks after I started Insanity, he asked me why I was doing it. I was just about to work out on a Saturday and he wanted to watch and he asked me why. I told him it was because I was fat, and I didn't want to be. "Mama!" He said, shocked. "You shouldn't say 'fat', that's not a nice word!" Well, I had not taught him that, but it's true. Then he said, "You should say 'plump' instead." That made me smile, but I answered him, "Mo, it's true that 'fat' is not a nice word, and I hope you never call anyone that, because it's hurtful and mean to do that. But I AM fat, it's a true thing. And I don't want to be--I want to be healthy. So that's why I'm doing this. To get myself healthy." He just looked at me for a minute. Then he said, "Hold on, Mama, I'll be right back." He ran off to his room and I had no idea what he was doing, because he was gone for more than a minute. But he came back in sweat pants and sneakers and said, "Ok, now I'm ready. I'm going to do it with you!" And he did, for about five minutes before he was over it. But to me, it was a HUGE gesture, and he made it at five years old, which is what was so special to me. I hope and half expect my husband will be supportive. But I never in a million years thought to get that kind of support from my child.
So that became an even stronger motivation for me to do this--get Mo involved in a healthy and active lifestyle early on in his life! Shaun T has a program just for kids and Mo wants it. I'm going to get it for him, too. And if he wants me to do it with him, in addition to my own workout, I will.
When I completed the program, I decided to do it again. I still have a long way to go before I get to my goal, and so I started over. It was fantastic! The first month's workouts were easier because I had just completed the harder second month. I still would have to stop and take rests, but I stopped using the knee braces all together. Then my coach suggested I try the couch to 5K program. Run? Me? I hadn't in a LONG time, and I didn't consider myself a runner. I told her, no thanks, maybe later in the year when I had finished Insanity again. She wouldn't take no for an answer and signed me up to her facebook group and told me to find a 5K to sign up for. She wasn't kidding! I could have really balked, but she said something that made me think hard. She said, "You'd be surprised at how well Insanity has already prepared you to be a runner." Wow. If she had that kind of faith in my ability, then I should really consider it. Ok, I'll do it. Renee is already a runner, so I made her sign up with me. She even got two other folks from her gym to run also.
Training for the 5K did eat into my Insanity schedule a bit. So this second round of Insanity is taking longer than the first, but that's ok. I WAS surprised at my ability to run. I can run over three miles without stopping! Holy cow!!!! Or I can run intervals...4 minutes of running for every 2 minutes of fast walking...it's great! Renee pushed me to try harder and she gave me some tips on breathing which helped a ton. My coach, Melanie, encouraged me every day, and on the day of my 5K, she was glued to Facebook, cheering me on, and waiting for my post to say I had finished. I did finish! I ran the whole way and Mo and Josh were there to cheer me on. It was fantastic. The only thing that I was sad about is that Renee got sick and couldn't run her race the same day. But she's a runner at heart and she runs a 5K just about three times a week anyway. I was the VERY last runner to cross the finish line. Some walkers finished after me. But I did finish, and I met my goal of running the whole time, and I'm already signed up for another one. And, because I've decided that this running and Insanity combination is working for me, I've signed up for a half marathon in October. I got this amazing training hybrid with Insanity and running as a 12 week training from one of the other coaches in the Facebook group. It's perfect and I'm excited.
Going Insane is so much better this second go around. I don't complain about working out, like I did the first time. I've started implementing the nutritional meal plan, and I'm getting better results. When the folks in the facebook group post a workout challenge, I'm interested in trying it just for fun instead of thinking, "are you kidding me?" It's a crazy new me. I love it!
After I complete the second round of Insanity, I'm going to try T25 before I start my half marathon training. When I do that, I will post my before and after Insanity pics. It will be a few more weeks. And I'm still not at my goal. But I've already come a long way and I'm excited about where this fitness journey will take me.
