Insanity: My work in progress

 My last post was Aug 27th when I started Insanity. I haven't been posting because I've got a lot going on, which means blogging is one of the first things that falls off my list in order to keep things moving along. I don't like that it happens this way because I love sharing but I have responsibilities that I can't skip.

We are all works in progress, all the time.  I happen to be a work in progress in many areas & in my quest for being healthier & making healthier decisions I am trying to move more & eat less so I can be stronger, more flexible  have more energy, & less weight on my joints.  Those were some of the main reason I decided to start Insanity at the end of August.

In case you didn't know, Insanity is intended to be a 60 day workout program. You workout for 6 days rest on the 7th & repeat that.  Of course you could do more than one round of it but right now my focus is to complete my first round. The name of this program is very fitting. Not only are the drills Insane but you WILL get Insane results when you do the drills as they are intended. I knew before I started Insanity that the drills were intended for people that can handle a lot of jumping. I was warned but that didn't stop my curiosity of ordering my own copy & trying it out for myself.  I figured that I could modify it if needed & probably still get some nice results.  It is slow going but I wasn't wrong. I can literally feel my waist shrinking. I'm getting stronger in many areas of my body & I am overcoming so much head junk that it feels good.  Head junk? ya know, those 'reasons/excuses' that you come up with not to exercise, those reasons that make it easy to give up & do what seems easier like enjoy a bowl of ice cream or eat unhealthy foods, watch tv, or mess on the computer.

Wanna know how I measure up? Okay, here it is.  Simply put...I'm out of shape!  I gained 45 pounds while pregnant with Sadie, despite trying to be careful of what I was eating. I figure my body was just used to gaining that much weight during pregnancy since that's what I gained with all 4 of my babies.  Frustrating?  yes, especially since I had lost weight & many inches prior to becoming pregnant. BUT we were blessed with a beautiful & healthy baby girl in April so I silence my frustration with thankfulness.  While pregnant I experienced some issues with my hips & back which caused some difficulty with being able to workout at a high intensity like I did prior to becoming pregnant.  That too was frustrating & I had to fight myself because I was finding it was so easy to fall into excuses of not doing anything for movement when I knew I couldn't do my Insanity workout.  So there are a few excuses I used for not doing Insanity 6 days a week when I started.  I certainly started out strong but then took some days off of it.  Having a baby again & nursing her too has proved challenging to find the right time to exercise each day.  Dealing with lack of sleep now that she's been waking in the middle of the night to eat & teething fussiness has made it EXTREMELY difficult to climb out of bed most mornings let a lone add a scheduled workout to my day.  But I am trying to squash those 'reasons' to put off my morning workout & JUST DO IT! Hey, there was a reason that Nike made that their catch phrase. They target athletes & those that want to be like athletes.

I made myself a deal that when the alarm goes off I will hop out of bed & get myself ready to workout as quickly as possible.  I will put the DVD in & press play & do as much of my workout as possible before it hits 7am when I need to get my kids up & ready for school.  Then when they have been picked up I will feed the baby again & then press play AGAIN in order to finish my workout for the day.  I don't like to listen to my baby cry so if she's crying & needs me, I have to pause the program.  Sometimes its a bit more challenging to get my workout done because not only do I have to overcome the desire to slack & skip pressing play that first time but I have to do it several times in one day. I guess its just good practice for me. One baby-step at a time  will make me better at getting up with my alarm & eventually I will work toward the alarm going off earlier.  Does the baby go with my schedule?  Nope, not my dream schedule.  But I am determined to work around her because I will be able to care for her better & I will eventually have less hip & back pain as I strengthen my core & get closer to my weight goal. Changing my dream schedule is what I must do.  It too is a work in progress.

The Insanity workouts have a lot, well I really should say, a TON of jumping in the drills that are being done. What does this mean for me? A few things. first, my knee joints aren't the greatest (bad genes for joints so I must take care of them) but I have learned to modify & still get results and then there is the topic of incontinence. I only share this TMI info because it might help someone else overcome this excuse.

WARNING: TMI about to be shared here. Sorry but I know I'm not the only one with this issue & I almost used it as a 'good reason' not to exercise.  Someone like myself who has had 4 babies sometimes finds it difficult to exercise because there can be issues with bladder control with jumping or running. Heck, I've heard women talk about too much laughter & their bladder doesn't hold. Solution ladies: Poise pads. Yup, I figure I won't need them forever and wearing them for a 45 minute workout solves the issue for now & takes away that excuse.  End of WARNING!

I find it great to be able to exercise in the privacy of my own home gym. Why? I'm uncoordinated, lack rhythm, I'm S-L-O-W, & weak. Who am I kidding...I  found it difficult to even do a girl push up when I started exercising again   Because I'm slow I sometimes cut out one move in a drill in order to get the rest in.  I can't kick as high, jump as high, move as fast, etc for the drills but I can certainly tell you that I have improved since first putting the Insanity DVD in on August 27th and that's all I'm personally aiming for.  Instead of comparing myself to what the Shaun T or the others on the DVDs can do, I'm comparing myself to what I could do when I started & measuring from there.  I can honestly say that I have a long way to go & since I'm sometimes in far too much hip & back pain to press play on Insanity & therefore have to choose my stationary bike or something else, it may take me awhile to complete the 60 day workout.  I don't care if it takes me 3 months or even 4 months to finish this 2 month program. I'm determined to do it. I know that I am gaining strength, losing inches, gaining muscle, gaining flexibility, & losing fat along the way. It may be a slow process, I may be slow, but it works for me & that's what counts.  So I press on & persevere!

That reminds me of a few scriptures I use to help me keep going. Philippians 3:13b-14  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Another great one is found in James 1:2-4  ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers , whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

I hope that I have inspired someone to throw the excuses/reasons out the door & do something healthy for yourself .  No its not easy but it is so worth the effort & energy to reach your goals & dreams. Think positive. You can do it!!!