DAY 7: MEAL PLAN

Today i had a gruelling 12 hour shift at work, so it was important for me to think ahead. Before leaving the house at 8 am, i made myself two slices of wholemeal toast with low fat spread and marmite (love it or hate it, right?!!) and a cup of Jasmine green tea which is so good to get me going on a morning.

Midday i walked into town and got myself a tin of tuna in sunflower oil to have with my pre-made brown rice. I always add garlic, onion and chillis to my brown rice, gives it an amazing flavour and it never tastes boring.

Unfortunatley i messed up with the timing of when my work's cafe closed as i'd planned to get a bowl of soup for my tea, so i was super hungry through the last hours of my shift. I'm not nor will i ever promote missing meals, it's so bad for your metabolism and it slows it right down. But in this case i really didn't have a choice, so when i got home i downed a large glass of my protein smoothie which gave my stomach and body the goodness i need. A few rice cakes with peanut butter gave me some healthy fats before bed. Great bedtime snack by the way.

And tomorrow is a new day!
Sorry for lack of pictures, my phone now has no memory, so need to find some time to back up my 1000s of photos and clear some room for clean eating and exercise photos!

Sweet dreams!

A.

DAY 7: CARDIO POWER & RESISTANCE

I honestly thought it was a different workout today, slightly sighed when i realised it was Cardio Power and Resistance. There isn't as much cardio in this one, but that doesn't mean you don't sweat like hell. It's all about interval training, so your constantly getting your heart rate to it's maximum and then resting to recover, then get it back up and repeat! It's the most effective way to fat burn, with the amount of sweat that drips off you, there's no way you ain't burning fat.

I think for me, the tricep push ups and one legged tricep pushups are the most challenging. Feet out in front of you, hands behind you in a kind of crab position, balance yourself on your heels and bend the elbows, keep going until Shaun says STOP. Then we're lifting one leg, and doing it again. It really really reallly burns. I had to rest a little on this as my arms were on fire!!

Tips: 

• Always make the most of the stretching, although i'm quite flexible naturally, i've definitley seen improvement
• Don't feel bad for taking a 5 second rest
• Exhale after power moves
• When you think you can't do another - do two more!!

Tomorrow is Pure Cardio again. GOD HELP ME. It's so tiring and so much hard work, but you don't see results without perseverance. 

A. 

DAY 6 PLYOMETRIC CARDIO CIRCUIT

Another late night workout! I've been pretty laid back today and caught up on some reading and watching of my favourite series. Doesn't mean I'm gunna miss my workout though!

So I've just finished my second time of doing PLYOMETRIC Cardio and it didn't get any easier I gotta say that much. The warm up still killed me, and I'm still LOVING the 30 second water breaks. One thing I must say that did get easier was my breathing and my ability to keep up, I managed to do all of the exercises without stopping. I just slowed down my pace slightly when I started to get a little tired. Shaun T is aaaalways saying go at your own pace so for once I decided to, and rather than stopping to catch my breath going slower enabled me to keep my form and continue the workout.

I'm beat and have a 12 hour shift tomorrow, finish at 9pm so I'll be doing another late night but I'll still be giving it my all, that I promise!

So goodnight and god bless!


A.

DAY 5 MEAL PLAN

I had to get up very early this morning as i started work at 8am, ugh!

I prepared myself my breakfast and took it with me to make my favvvvv, porridge oats and banana. I munched away on this while investigating fraudulent payments at my desk. Most of my pictures today have keyboard in the background as i had to compromise and take pictures at work! 

For lunch, i went to my favourite noodle bar, Wok & Go, i espcially love it here because you can actuall ask and specify how you want your food cooked and with what oils etc. I opted for the brown rice Nasi Box which came with asian veggies (carrot, spinach, peppers, onion), slithers of pork and some beautifully cooked shrimp. The whole fat content of this box is only 7g and i asked for it to be cooked in low fat spray which i spotted sitting on their workbench. Nosy me. 

Once finished work, i came home for a nap...don't ask, i started to read and fell asleep. I think it's the heat. Later on in the evening, i had a lovely meal cooked for me...grilled chicken, baby potatoes, garden peas and a little pot of Diane sauce. Yummmmy. This meal gave me all my energy for my workout which i was quite excited to do...see how i got on in my previous post. 

And for my post-workout meal/shake, i'm having my infamous (to me) smoothie which gives my muscles the recovery vitamins they need so again i don't suffer from aching muscles. 

Tomorrow would normally be my rest day, however i have another workout to do since i started on a Tuesday, then i'll be back on track for Monday!

It's a hard life.

A. 

DAY 5: PURE CARDIO

I didn't get in till quite late tonight, which meant i had to do my workout late, no way in hell was i skipping a day of this. It's just not worth it..i want to see results, which means i have to work for results.

Most of the Insanity workout's names kinda give you a little inkling of what to expect.

PURE - def: not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material.

CARDIO - def: cardiovascular exercise.

We all know that cardio, whatever type of cardio it is that you do is going to make you sweat and burn a few hundred calories. So PURE CARDIO will make you sweat BUCKETS and burn at least a thousand calories, well maybe a little exaggerating there. 

Once again we begin with the mother crazy warm-up, yep..three times, jog to sprint, power jacks - insane power jacks, bum kicks to take-your-butt-off-with-a-kicks, 123's to 123-i'm-gunna-die's. You get the picture, so three sets of these getting faster and faster. Another stretching 5 minutes, with more 30 second water breaks WOOOO.What kind of scared me at then end of the stretches though was the fact that Shaun T began to say he was getting nervous...uh....what?! Shaun T is getting nervous for what's about to come..HELLLLL NO. At this point i prayed and hoped i'd make it through. And i did, and i'm not lying i feel good! Sore good but good!It's no joke when he said he was nervous, i can now see why. Consant sprints, football sprints, suicide jumps, mountain climbers, level 2 drills...LEVEL 2! Even though it's not quite cardio, Shaun doesn't leave out the power moves, he had us on the floor holding the plank down. I think it ended with about 22 minutes altogether of cardio, with a 7 minute warmup, and 4 minute stretching each side. 
I honestly think i can do this, having done the past 4 days, i did have my doubts after my sprint to the toilet midst fit test. But its getting easier, my body is recovering faster and i'm ready for the next 55 days!

DIG DEEPER!

A. 

DAY 4: MEAL PLAN

I've slacked a little today guys. Not in the eating department, in the uploading photos department. Haha, not too much of a let down...but my phone decided to mess up big time and not want to drop anything into dropbox after my breakfast photo! So i only have one photo for this post, boo..i feel like i've let myself down.

Instead, i'm going to thoroughly describe my other two meals!
But for breakfast, i made myself three medium poached eggs, with wholemeal seed bread and a little low fat butter spread. I enjoyed this hugely as it was a change from my normal porridge routine.

Once at work, i noshed on brown rice again i know, but it's so yummy..a tin of tuna in sunflower oil which i drained off, and a salad made up of crunchy iceburg lettuce, tangy cherry tomatoes and some crisp cucumber. Sounds a little boring, but i promise you i enjoyed it a helluva lot.
Once home, i put myself a chicken breast seasoned with a homemade mixture of spices (secret secret) and a few bunches of steamed broccolli. Eating this after the Cardio Recovery seemed like heaven, i felt so re-juvanated, yet not tired or down on energy.

I honestly think this clean eating and Insanity could be something i go on to do for longer than the 60 days. Definitley the clean eating, it's a lifestyle change. But even Insanity, incorperating that into my normal days once i've done the challenge doesn't half seem like a bad idea. I'll be suuuuuuper fit too!

So i apologise for the lack of photo's, i'll be back on the ball tomorrow with the uploading. Providing my iPhone stops having a mind of it's own and listens to it's Master......ME!

Night!

A.

DAY 4: CARDIO RECOVERY

Ahhhh. This was bliss.

Well, i'm thinking that now, after i've done the workout. But i must say it wasn't what i expected. At first, i thought it was going to be brutal like the rest of the workouts i've done so far. However, it was actually quite pleasant. Now saying this, don't be thinking...oh it must have been easy.

No, i was still sweating and still thought, please no..not another set.

Cardio recovery was made up of a series of strengthening stretches. We started with planks, however there were a few variations involving leg lifts whilst in plank, and they hurt. Then we had squats...now i like squats, having rather muscular legs i seem to be able to hold myself down in a squat without too many problems, however Shaun's take on squats had me begging for mercy. He had us hold down squats and pulse for what seemed like an eternity. Onto lunges on each side, again pulsing for ever and a day.

Each lot of actual exercises, had stretching in the middle, chest presses to the leg, flat backs etc. This workout seemed to focus a lot on balance and strengthening your core muscle (that's where the abs come from people!) Like i said, it wasn't easy but it was definitley more 'pleasant' than the rest of the crazy insane workouts we've been doing!

Now it's late and i've pretty much just finished my workout, i'm tired...so after my next post, i will bid you all adieu!

A.

DAY 3 MEAL PLAN!

Today was a good day for my intake of food and consumption of healthyness. I also thoroughly enjoyed my meals. Must admit i kept it quite simple as i had quite a busy day. Driving to Manchester this morning made me miss an actual solid breakfast, but as soon as i got home i filled up on another smoothie. This time i added a lot more fresh fruit as my stomach grumbled quite a bit, and 3 bananas got sacrificed to the blender.

For my lunch, unfortunatley being at work meant i had to eat on the go...a nice low fat, protein rich Tom Yum Soup did the trick, prawns, string noodles, peppers, water, coconut milk, herbs and spinach gave me loads of energy to power on through work and get me ready for the workout i had to endure once i'd gotten home.

Post-workout, i was at this point STARVING, i needed a hearty meal to satiate my cravings. But i didn't reach for the crisps or chocolate..nope. I made chicken seasoned with cajun spices, brown rice with a dab of soy sauce (it gives it such a nice flavour), spinach and mashed sweet potato. Beauuuutiful. Now i'm sat back resting my sore legs with another glass of fruit smoothie and then i shall go to the land of nod, a happy, full, fatigued girl.......until tomorrow.

Fare thee well.

A.

DAY 3: CARDIO POWER AND RESISTANCE

Just the name of today's workout had me at the brink of anticipation, even at work today, knowing i was coming home to Insanity, i pondered on what i could be. 

Well...now i know. MORE PAIN, but also more gain. I felt so energized after this workout..., my calf muscles are so sore though..but i took a hot/cold shower switching between temperatures, which has always helped my muscles to stop aching so much the next day. 

This workout consisted again of the usual warm-up, i vaguely remember a few different exercises, they won't come to memory at the moment, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Then again with the section of stretching. It's so good to stretch after getting your heart rate up high, your muscles are so warm it reduces the risk of injury hugely, but also helps improve your flexibilty massively. Not to mention, it feels so good to just chill out and stretch for 5 minutes after consant mobility. The downside of stretching straight after intense interval training is you WILL continue to sweat....a lot. This then goes into your eyes which momentarily blinds me and is just plain yuck. Nevermind, no-one should look cute after a workout. Not if your doing it properly anyhow. 

Then came the POWER AND RESISTANCE part, Shaun T combined globe jumps, power squats, kicks, press ups, tricep pushes, one-legged tricep pushes (SERIOUSLY my body screamed at me at this point!) and yep you know, repeat it 3 goddamn times. Speed increasing still. 30 second water break, WAHOO. 

I won't spoil it for you guys that might try Insanity, i think the whole fun of it also is to not know what to expect fully! Having a small idea is good, i researched it quite extensively before purchasing, but don't look up what each DVD exactly does. You wanna be surprised, i sure as hell was.

Tips:

• I've noticed that my breathing is becoming a lot better, i manage to exhale on releases and inhale on contractions almost every time (thanks to the Martha Graham technique in dance class)
• Hot/Cold alternating showers after a workout work wonders, you'll still ache, just not as much!
• Again, rest when need be..if not form will not be there and there's no point

Tomorrow i have Cardio Recovery. Sounds nice doesn't it...recovery, ahhhhhh *SIGH*...Cardio, pretty sure that's gunna involve sweating, can't be too much of a recovery. Well..it's not called INSANITY for nothing is it!

Peace.

A.

DAY 2 MEAL PLAN!

Once again i started my day with porridge, raspberries but added some banana for a bit of protein this morning. I'm seriously loving porridge lately, going to have to switch it up a little bit soon i think. This breakfast gave me lots of energy when i combined it with some green tea and vanilla. Tasted gooood.

After my workout, i had my smoothie, same ingredients as yesterday, i just added some natural greek yogurt which gave it a slightly more tart taste, still delicious.

I was good and did my meal prep for the evening as i had work at 4, so needed to make sure i would still be eating every 3-4 hours in order to keep my metabolism where i want it to be. HIGH please! I made myself some brown rice with onions, garlic and chilli again (soft spot for brown rice, MMMM) and a can of tuna. HOWEVER meeting my friend Anya she announced 'let's go to BarBurrito' my stomach insantly growled...loudly but my mind thought 'NOOOO' however, once i got in there i decided to have some tacos instead of a burrito, leaving out the floury tortilla. Now..it may look awfully unhealthy, however after googling the ingredients, not so much! YES YES, maybe i should have skipped the sour cream and grated cheese, but it still had loads of healthy fats (avocado/kidney beans) protein (chicken) and salad. So not too bad.

I've come home to another smoothie, left over of what i made earlier. So all in all, not a bad day i don't think!

Tomorrow, i will be sticking to my meal plans. Promise :)

Night all.

A.

DAY 2: PLYOMETRIC CARDIO CIRCUIT

Not going to lie, this workout is a killer. We started with the usual warm-up of jogging, jumping jacks, power squats, 123's, bum kicks, and high knees for about 30 seconds each exercise...then repeated that 3 times the pace getting faster each time. I'm so loving Shaun T, he really really knows how to keep motivation high.

I'm also LOVING the 30second water breaks, although my body screams for them to be a little longer, but no...i did not pause, i powered through.

SUICIDE DRILLS!

Guy's they are called Suicide Drills for a reason, i almost threw myself out of my balcony in one of the water breaks. Alas, i did not! They consisted of a few exercises involving mainly form and using your core to the maximum. Even when my body fatigued and i found myself going slightly slower, i kept the form exact in order to get the results i want in the end.
The middle part of this workout was definitley my favourite, STRETCHING! Being a dancer, i love to stretch anyway, the feeling of your warm muscles getting that bit more flexible is amazing. The thing that did make the stretching hard which i normally don't have to deal with was the sweat from my face dripping into my eyes (i know, not pretty) it almost blinded me, but a quick towel break soon sorted that out.

I did a bad thing then....i looked at the clock on the countdown bar onscreen. 20 minutes left, HOW CAN THAT BE i cried. But yes, more was to come. Level 1 drills...basically pushing your body past the point of fatigue. The drills were made up of push-ups, leg crawlers, basketball squats, mountain climber and football runs. Then we had some crazy exercise which looked like i was trying to punch someone, which at that point i happily would have.

But yes, after a cold shower and more beautiful breeze from my window i ain't gunna lie...i felt good! Little sore, but good.

Tips: 

• Don't have water in the water break in Level 1 drills, the motion made me iiiilllllll
• BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE
• Look at the people behind Shaun T, some of them rest, you can too!
• Make the most of the stretching period, helps to avoid muscle ache the next day

Tomorrow is Cardio Power and Resistance, now to me that sounds fun. However wait until tomorrow night's post...i'm sure FUN will be my last descriptive word of choice.

Dig deeper guys!

A.

DAY 1 MEAL PLAN!

After picking up my Insanity package, my mind began to wander to the contents of my fridge and i realised it seriously lacked on my usual healthy products (admitedly i've slacked the past few days knowing i'm going to start Insanity). So i stopped at the supermarket on the way home to get the necessary items for the week!

Now my fridge and cupboards include:

Lettuce                  Raspberries                   Chicken Breasts           Almonds
Tomatoes              Bananas                         Tuna                           Low fat peanut butter
Mushrooms           Apples                           Mince                          Rice Cakes
Avocado               Mixed frozen fruit           Broccolli    
Asparagus            Low fat natural yogurt
Onions                 Cottage Cheese

So now i'm all set to eat and train my way to ultimate fitness, at least thats the plan?!

Since i was so eager to start the Fit Test i thought i'd better have a substantial breakfast to get me going, an hour before i ploughed through the test i made myself some oatmeal made with water, added raspberries and almonds which gave it a little more taste and texture.

After my Fit Test, (RESULTS IN PREVIOUS POST) i made myself an all natural protein smoothie, i basically dropped 2 bananas, a handful of frozen mixed berries, soya milk and some coconut water in my blender, whizzed it around for 30 seconds and gulped it down. Tasty!

For lunch, i made some brown rice seasoned it with a little soy sauce, added some chillis, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Opened a can of tuna and made a small side salad, wolfed this down in possibly 5 minutes i was so hungry.

Another smoothie, same ingredients as the previous, added a little more coconut water as it was a little thick.

And finally, chicken breast baked with asparagus, cherry tomatoes and small spoonful of cottage cheese.

I love eating clean, especially after eating crappy for a few days, the energy release you get is so unexpected but so refreshing. After 60 days of eating like this, i'll be in tip-top shape..i'd like to think so anyway.

Now for a night of pre-recorded Sky shows that i haven't had time to catch up on.
Sleep easy guys!


A.

FIT TEST

1 day down, 59 to go.

After completing the fit test, it gave me a tiny insight into what i can expect for the next 59 days. HARD WORK. Once pressing play, and listening to Shaun T's motivating words i thought 'this should be relatively easy, it's day 1'......um NO. Training to be a professional dancer enables me to have slightly higher fitness levels and my stamina isn't too bad either, but even for myself who has a highly active lifestyle i found myself dripping (i mean literally dripping) with sweat.
Somehow, i managed to keep pace with the majority of the exercises, Suicide Jumps, not so much. My legs were crying out.

Picture quality isn't great, the results are:

Switch Kicks 116      Globe Jumps 13

Power Jacks 62         Suicide Jumps 16

Power Knees 110      Push Up Jacks 20

Power Jumps 40        Low Plank 50

The idea is to complete each of the exercises above for one minute, seeing how many you can manage within 60 seconds. I swear without Shaun T's constant 'COME ON, DIG DEEPER' ....'YOU'RE HALFWAY THERE..YOU CAN DO THIS!!' I honestly would have taken 5 minute breaks in between, but that guy knows how to shout and get you going seriously.


Tips:

• Breathing is SO important, without it you can guarantee nauseous feelings and light headedness.
• DON'T drink water immediatley before working out, i did and could feel it swishing about (not good)
• Take tiny sips of water throughout, anymore and you'll chuck it up 30 seconds later
• KEEP GOING!!

Tomorrow i have Plyometric Cardio Circuit, i'm not entirely sure what that's going to involve, but no doubt i'll be once again making my living room into a sweat swimming pool and gasping for air once again.



A

DELIVERY DAY / INSANITY DAY 1

It has finally arrived. WOO! After waking up at a ridiculous hour to go and collect my parcel after missing it yesterday. I've come home with a box of Insanity and a bag full of groceries.

I'm going to make two little changes to my upcoming blogging. I'm going to do two posts per day now, one will be an ongoing progress update on the actual Insanity workout, along with my feelings towards how i think it's going. The second post will be my meal plan for the day, hopefully including calorie/fat/protein content. I've toyed with the idea of putting my measurements on here, but i think i'm going to wait until Day 15 (Second Fit Test) because then i won't feel too bad about the start measurements...providing i've actually seen a little change. I don't expect a huge change but something little will let me know i'm going in the right direction. So up on my next post will be the workout, once i've completed it and recovered. Then later on tonight i'll upload my meal plan!

 LET'S DO THIS

 A.

THE DEEP BREATH BEFORE THE PLUNGE

So, i'm giving this blogging thing another go, but this time i'm doing it about something i'm A. interested in and  B. looking forward to writing about. However it's not just going to be pointless writing and boring updates, it's also going to act as a kind of motivator for myself as well as a 'diary' if you like so i've got something to look back on. Two for the price of one ey?

' What is it?! ' I hear you all yell.

Well, i'm sure most of you...if your reading this will have heard of the infamous INSANITY 60 day workout. Or if you haven't...you have now. It's different to those 'other' workout DVD's that promise fat loss in 30 minutes, or sculpted abs in one quick hour. Really? If i got fat loss and sculpted abs in a mere hour and a half i'd be a ripped machine by now.......and i'm not. It's a combination of 10 workouts from 30mins - 1 hour long sessions but from what i've heard it's one of the hardest workouts ever. We'll see!
Back to Insanity then, i purchased the enticing package online for £33 a month for three months, steep i know for workout DVD's but this is after a lot of research and endless scrolling about success stories. Inside my package i should recieve:

• 10 workout DVDs ranging from cardio exercise to deep stretching sessions
• Elite nutrition plan which includes meal ideas and recipes for the 60 days
• Fitness guide, i presume to help me get fit?
• Insanity Calender which is split into two months with assigned workouts EVERYDAY

 I even attended an Insanity class at my gym, almost throwing up during the class and waking up the next day with muscles sore enough to keep me in bed oddly enough gave me the brilliant idea to go ahead and click purchase.
I'm excited to begin Insanity and i've even decided to apply for the T-Shirt which means i have to measure and weigh myself thoroughly...that's not the worst part, i have to take before and after pictures to prove i've done the workout. Ideally i'm going to update my whole journey including the meals i eat every single day, you know the saying 'abs are made 70% in the kitchen and 30% in the gym' ... My next post should be in a day or so once the lovely postman has graced my door and then it begins! Exciting stuff.



A.