DAY 23: CARDIO POWER AND RESISTANCE & MEAL PLAN

Here we go again! I must say, i'm so excited to start Month 2 now, one because i know it's going to be so much more of a challenge, but two because it'll be more variety. I mean i can still do these workouts without getting bored, however it's just getting quite scary how i almost know everything that Shaun T is going to, along with the names of his 'posse'. I was browsing on some Insanity progress sights and found some hilarious photos i'm going to share. 

Josh, cracks me up..never get's the stretching right does he.

Onto the workout itself. For some unknown reason, i've been having really bad knee aches, so i'm taking it slow (ISH) i'd say on the round 3 of the exercsises i'm just going slightly slower than i normally would. I feel if i don't put as much effort in i won't see results! But i don't want to cause myself injury either so i need to change it up a little bit. I got through it, and without too much knee pain, still sweating like crazy and feeling so good having completed it.

My tricep dips are coming along too i've noticed, i'm able to make it to the one legged tricep dips without collapsing now, my prior attempts had me resting on the normal ones. Afterwards my arms still burn yes, that will never go away i don't think! 

MEAL PLAN

My morning started as it quite regularly does, with porridge. I had some honey mixed into it this morning and chopped banana. 

Lunch was a bit of a thrown together deal, i boiled some wholewheat pasta, opened a tin of tuna and added some broccolli to mix together. Although it wasn't probably the best meal i could have came up with, it happily filled me up for the majority of the day! Didn't manage to get a picture of this one (forgetful me)

For dinner, i ate rather late due to some commitments i had to take care of, meant i had to cook late which i haaate doing. So i boiled some light flat noodles, and flash-fried some chicken and veg to make a stir-fry, which i ate half of and left the other half so i could have it for lunch tomorrow, don't wanna wwwaaaaste!

A. 

DAY 22: PURE CARDIO AND CARDIO ABS & MEAL PLAN

Another brutal workout, another brutal body beating from beachbody and Shaun T. A lot of B's in that sentance. I could add another 4 but that would be rather ruuuude!

I think this workout kills me the most because there isn't any of my favourite 30 second water breaks, once the warmup is done, and the stretching..you go into 22 minutes of PURE CARDIO..hence the name! This is why it's sooo important to keep down with your breathing otherwise you'll either chuck up or pass out..or you might be fine, but i highhhhly doubt it! 

Can't believe i'm almost 30 days in, well almost. I can see so many changes in both my physical qualities and my health in general. 

MEAL PLAN

Photos are back!

Finally cleared up all the useless memory eating apps on my phone and made room for the more important things. Like meal pictures!

For breakfast we have some granola and muesli with freeze-dried strawberries, i didn't even realise that you can get these in packs either! I got mine from this health food shop in town, i'll try and post the name of them on here one time. For lunch i had some more of these gorgeous wholemeal pitta breads lightly toasted stuffed with ham, cucumber, tomato and spring onion. 

My evening meal consisited of a chicken breast rubbed with chinese 5 spice, usually this would go on pork or duck but i thought i'd try it and it worked. Sweet mashed potato is my lifeline at the moment and tastes sooo good with no seasoning at all, and cottage cheese to give my meal a bit of variety. The shake i've pictured is my regular protein smoothie, with two bananas, frozen berries, soya milk and coconut water. YUUUUMMM.

A. 

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 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 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.

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.