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Let me just start off by saying that when doing Insanity or any intense workout program, it’s not recommended to do two workouts within twelve hours.  I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, which I knew was coming.  Cardio Power and Resistance already being the toughest workout for me is even tougher when you worked out the night before and have had very little rest.

I do know, that day 3, like day 2, was better than last time.  I’m down to 135 lbs. from 136 on Monday (remember I had GAINED from Monday to Tuesday, but really watched my eating and drank more water), I was able to push harder, my form was better, my speed was faster.  Till I got to the last three minutes.  By this time my clothes were drenched with sweat, but my heart rate got too high and I was dizzy.  It’s dangerous to just stop without cooling down, so I skipped through the last couple of sets and went to the stretches.  During the cooldown, my heart rate began to decrease remarkably faster than when I did it the last time, so I know I’m in better condition.  I just tried push too hard today, but I don’t plan on working out again till tomorrow morning when it’s Cardio Recovery time.

A note about my motivation:  I’m happy to be paying attention again and committing to getting healthier.  My motivation is my family.  My husband is a huge inspiration.  He was prediabetic and about to go on blood pressure meds a year ago.  Now his numbers are normal.  My family has a tendency towards heart disease and diabetes.  Sometimes genetics play into heart disease, but type 2 diabetes is completely a lifestyle disease and can be reversed through diet and exercise before the damaging effects of it take hold.  I don’t even want there to be a hint of those diseases in my life.  I want to set a good example for my kids.  I want to be around for them and future generations as long as I can and have the energy to keep up with them. But mostly I want to be a good-looking, energy-filled babe for my husband.

Here’s what we had for dinner last night (recipe courtesy of Cooking Light):

Lemony Orzo-Veggie Salad with Chicken

yield 4 servings, serving size is 1 1/4 c.  cal:275, fat 9.7 (3.8 sat), protein 18g, carb 28g, fiber 2g, chol 41mg, sod 338mg

*NOTES:  I added more veggies than this called for.  If you’re vegetarian, you can omit the chicken and replace with beans of some type.  This would be good with some toasted pine nuts (I always get mine from Trader Joe’s, but there’s some kind of federal inspection problem so I had to do without them. ).  Goat cheese, in my opinion, is an acquired taste and kids may not like it.  Feta, even though it’s higher in salt, would work in its place.  I may try, instead of orzo next time, red quinoa which is much better nutritionally.

INGREDIENTS:3/4 c. uncooked orzo, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp kosher salt (I omitted this, as we’re watching sodium), 1/2 tsp minced garlic,1/4 tsp honey (agave is a good low-glycemic alternative), 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 c. shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast (loaded with salt, so I used our own plain chicken breast), 1/2 c. diced cucumber, 1/2 c. chopped red bellpepper, 1/3 c. sliced green onions, 1 Tbsp fresh dill, 1/2 c. crumbled goat cheese

DIRECTIONS:Cook orzo (no salt or fat in the water), drain and rinse with cold water, place in large bowl to cool completely.  While orzo is cooking, combine lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey, whisk well and pour over orzo.  Add chicken, veggies and dill, toss to combine, sprinkle with goat cheese.

First, I need to say that if you want some REAL inspiration you should visit my husband’s blog.  He is on his second Insanity round and has lost over 50 lbs.

Second, my calves are KILLING me!  But that’s a good thing.  Even though I felt increasingly worse and more tired throughout the day, I managed to do my fit test in the morning, and it turns out it did some good.  Delayed onset muscle soreness, which shall be known from here as DOMS, happens in the next day or two after exertion and contrary to popular belief it is NOT a buildup of lactic acid.  It’s your muscle’s response to stress, you know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and all that.  How do I know this?  I’m on the road to becoming a certified personal trainer, after many setbacks.  But that’s a different story.

Anyway, I really needed sleep and woke up too late, BUT feeling much better.  I couldn’t do it later in the morning because I had a few errands to run, housework to do and our son’s 5th birthday celebration after dinner so I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get my workout in.  After much debate- do I skip it and do it tomorrow, but let this cake and ice cream sit in me like a lead brick, or do I get it in before bed, risk feeling energized, get a few hours’ sleep and get back on my morning routine tomorrow?- I decided to suck it up and get ‘er done.  I’m glad I did.

Good news, although I can’t keep up yet with Insanity’s pace, I know that day 2 this time was MUCH better than day 2 last time.  I didn’t have to stop nearly as much, and it was nicer to work out when it was cool, unlike yesterday when I decided to do the fit test when our house had already reached about 80 degrees.  So, during the next nine weeks, I will either be working out very early in the morning or late at night, when the kids are in bed and the only way I’ll sweat is if I exercise.

Bad news, I gained a full pound between day 1 and day 2, but I believe it’s water retention because it was so hot.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  We’ll see what happens on day 3…

So trying to add Insanity, or any workout program, to an already insanely busy school schedule was probably not such a good idea.  I decided to start over.  My fit test results are not in neat table form because I don’t do all that fancy code-writin’, but I happen to know a GREAT PHP developer who might be able to help me.  I can refer him if you need one too.  But I digress….

For each exercise you have one minute to do as many as you can.  Here are my results: switch kicks (2 kicks=1 rep) 53, power jacks 34, power knees 69, power jumps 20, globe jumps (4 jumps=1 rep), suicide jumps 7, push-up jacks 8, low plank oblique (2 kicks, for lack of a better word=1 rep) 30

Now, against my better judgment because I’d rather just give you the end result, I will tell you my starting weight in the interest of hopefully inspiring someone to get healthier and going on the 9-week Insanity journey with me.  I currently weigh 136 lbs.  I’m 5′6″ so it’s totally with the healthy range for me, but I definitely felt better when I was hovering between 120 and 125 (high school, pre-pregnancy and after 5th child weight).  We went to Disneyland in Sept ‘06, and then I stopped paying attention.  Christmas came around, and after what I hoped was no-calorie fudge and red velvet cake, I was shocked to find out that I had gained 10 lbs in 3 months.  So, with my calorie-and-fat-and-sodium free glass of water, here’s a toast to paying attention again- to getting more defined, to eating better, and to better overall health.