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Day 6 is a repeat of Plyo Cardio Circuit.  I woke up with too little sleep and not enough water, again, which affected my workout.  I was dragging again.  I was also feeling discouraged by the scale.  Not that there’s a lot to lose, 10-15 lbs or so, but I feel it and want it GONE! Still, I did it, not to the best of my ability, but I did it.  I like this one because you use all of the muscle groups in one session.  What am I saying?  ALL the sessions are like that.  The exercises change, though, so you work the muscles in different ways.  That brings me up to today, which is Day 7.  Rest day.  A REAL rest day.  And a day that I’m starting to see real results.  Two pounds lighter than when I started a week ago.  Enough said.  See you tomorrow for day 8, Cardio Power and Resistance.  Time to pack on the protein.

Here’s the recipe for what we had for lunch:

5 lbs potatoes, sliced (peels on or off, your choice)

2 or 3 leeks, sliced and rinsed well (they grow in sandy soil so they’re really dirty)

4 tbsp olive oil (or butter)

4 tbsp flour (I use unbleached)

2 quarts low-sodium organic stock (chicken or vegetable)

2-3 cups milk (if you’re avoiding dairy, use cashews ground in a blender or VitaMix with water, garlic, dill, lemon, salt and pepper to a paste to add creaminess and protein.  I use the cashew mixture for a veggie dip as well.)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil, add leeks and sautee, then add flour, sautee till flour is cooked, 2-3 min.  Add stock and potatoes, bring to a boil till potatoes are tender (about 20-30 minutes), then add milk or cashew paste to desired creaminess.

Made it for lunch for 6 people, no leftovers.  Good sign.

Pure torture!  Not really.  Although I couldn’t keep up with some of the exercises, I kept moving without having to stop, other than when he says to take a water break.  It is intense, non-stop cardio, with exercises the likes of which I have never seen.  I couldn’t understand the weight gain, but was thankful to be able to even be able to exercise.

A little background, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 2 1/2 years ago, one of the main symptoms being that exercise causes you to be completely wiped out and feel worse for the next few days, where it’s energizing for most.  After walking down the block and back, I would be immobilized for at least three, in most cases five days, where every time I got up it felt like I would collapse.  They said if it resolves, it would be within 2-4 years.  So, I am thankful to make it through an Insanity workout and actually feel better afterwards.  HUGE victory!  Changing eating habits and eating cleaner has helped also.

If you’re reading this and doing Insanity or any form of exercise, if I can do it, so can you.  Keep going, don’t give up!

Recovery.  Sweet Recovery.  Well, recovery according to Shaun T., which really means yoga and stability exercises.  But it was nice to not have to jump around.  My legs were more sore the next day than from the first workout with all the “control, not cardio”, in the words of Shaun T.  Right.  Then why is my heart pounding?  Anyway, I get the idea, it’s to allow your heart to not have to pound quite so hard to prepare for Pure Cardio.  Yikes.

So I didn’t work out on Friday, what SHOULD have been day 3.  I felt like I had a cold coming on, so thought rest would help everyone better than killing myself.  The next day (yesterday) I woke up feeling refreshed after having gotten good sleep and making sure I was hydrated. Robert took the kids out to breakfast and my friend Anne came over.  The timing worked out well since it was just the two of us.  While I like the kids exercising with us, this particular workout would have resulted in at least a couple of injured kids.  We needed room for this one.

It was Cardio Power and Resistance.  Lots of squat jump exercises that employ the core.  Different variations of push-up exercises and tricep dips.  I couldn’t keep up with the people in the video (THEY couldn’t keep up with Shaun T.), BUT I was able to keep moving without stopping, until water breaks.  Rest+enough water= more stamina.

Now that I’ve started exercising, I’m noticing that my cravings are much more intense.  Not good, but I guess that’s normal if I’m using more energy.  I gained half a pound yesterday, despite us also going out shopping a walking around a lot.  I noticed yesterday that I wasn’t wiped out after being out with my family for six hours.  I haven’t been able to say that for a long time, since I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in 2007. Robert did say from his experience that the first few days he gained as a result from increased hunger, but that as his body adjusted things became more balanced.  I hope that’s the case with me as well.  I’m keeping track of my intake: calories, fat, sodium, fiber, sugar and protein.  It shows me where I’m doing well and where I need to watch more carefully, and helps me stay at a calorie count that will allow me to lose.

Tonight, Anne will be coming over to do Cardio Recovery with me.  The word “recovery” in Insanity language means only a little sweat is dripping instead of a lot, because you’re not jumping around.  At least we get a break.

Today was a challenge.  I was having a hard time waking up, but my husband was diligent and I was up.  I checked my phone, and thankfully saw that my friend Anne was on her way.  Oh, good, accountability, which I need right now with everything else our family has going on.  She got here, I got my water and we, with the kids, began plyometric cardio circuit.  Not at the Shaun T. and kids’ pace, but at the haven’t-done-nearly-enough-yet-to-be-in-that-kind-of-shape pace.  Then I stopped.  And began again.  And felt nauseous and sat down.  And began again.  Towards the end, I got a bit of a second wind even though my legs felt like jello, and we completed it.

My legs are in pain, and I know it will spread to the rest of my body by tomorrow morning.  Will that stop me from doing day 3?  No.  If I can push through the next couple of days and allow my body to condition itself, the pain will subside.  Then I can push harder till I get sore again.

Two things I was reminded of today:

1. If you’re working out first thing in the morning, make sure you drink a lot of water the night before. I started dehydrated today, which I think contributed to my unsusual exercise fatigue and muscle soreness before the workout was done

2. The benefits of exercise so outweigh the difficulty of beginning a program.  I’m only on day 2, and although I’m sore, my energy level seems to have improved already.  Keep going!

As far as my diet, it wasn’t the greatest today, mainly because we were out of the house for six hours.  The content wasn’t bad, but I don’t think I ate enough today.  Tonight I hope to make up for it with the salad I created.  My husband and I were also trying to think of ways for him to add more calories and protein without adding sugar and sodium, and not get bored with the same stuff all the time, hopefully this will help.  For family of four or so, the amounts should do it.  Our amounts were much larger, as we have seven, but it feels like at least ten….

2 c lettuce (I used romaine)

1 c cashews

2 c grilled meat (I used boneless skinless chicken breast)

1/2 c mint, rough chopped

1/2 c fresh basil, rough chopped

1 cucumber, peeled and julienned

1 c bean sprouts

rice noodles (either leave them soft or fry them,we left them soft to reduce the fat), you could also use chow mein noodles

For time’s sake today, I grabbed a bottle of Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s, but I’ve also made this Asian dressing with success:

peanut oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, diced onions and a bit of sugar (now I use agave nectar because it’s low-glycemic), all to taste and drizzle over salad.

Insanity 60-day workout is not for the faint of heart.  It’s an intense, max-interval training program designed to push you to your limits and beyond throughout the workout.  The warnings in it are not just for show.  That said, this workout program produces incredible results if you stick with it.  My husband Robert started four weeks ago.  He’s lost 20 pounds and muscles are becoming more defined.  He’s also eating right, which has added to the effect.  It can be done!

OK, so today was the Fit Test, in which you do a series of exercises and record your results after each one.  It’s a baseline to see where you are when you start the program, then you do it every two weeks to check your progress.

Tomorrow will be Plyometric Cardio Circuit, but here are my results for the Fit Test:

Switch Kicks (2 kicks=1 rep): 43

Power Jumps: 11

Power Jacks: 24

Power Knees: 58

Globe Jumps (4 jumps=1 rep): 4

Suicide Jumps: 7

Pushup Jacks: 8

Low Plank Obliques: 48

Can’t wait to see what the numbers are in two weeks!

So my husband and daughter started the Insanity workout which means that we started eating a bit differently. We had a diet setback triggered by the holidays, but seem to be getting back on track.  I’ve also been working hard to make sure that we are buying quality foods, as organic and as artificial-stuff free as possible.  Trader Joe’s, the farmer’s market and Azure Standard has helped in this area.  If Whole Foods was closer, we’d be there a lot too.

Anyway, Rebekah came up with doing a burger salad, I compiled the ingredients (more recipes to come), and all the kids loved helping with this one.  We decided on mushroom swiss but you can vary this a million different ways.  Have fun!

Mushroom Swiss Burger Salad with Bacon Dijon Dressing:

dark leafy greens, 2 lbs lean ground beef (96/4), egg white, Mrs Dash steak seasoning, 1 cup shredded cheese, 2 pkgs mushrooms, tomatoes, scallions, 1 c red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp dijon mustard, agave nectar to taste and 1/2 pkg bacon.

salad: mix meat, egg white and  seasoning together, form tiny patties and cook till done. let cool.  sautee mushrooms in a bit of ghee, olive or coconut oil, let cool.  toss greens, burger bits, mushrooms and cheese together.  the scallions and tomatoes are optional.

dressing: crisp bacon, let cool. mix red wine vinegar and 3 tbsp of dijon mustard.  add agave nectar to taste.  add bacon bits to dressing. you may need to doctor the amounts according to your taste buds

approx. nutrition per 2 cup serving w/2 tbsp dressing: cal 350, fat 10g, sodium 300mg, sugar 10g, fiber 5g, protein 48g

NOTES: I use certified organic produce.  I use crimini mushrooms for their hearty flavor, but use your preference. I use agave in place of sugar.  It’s low-glycemic but you need to use less of it.  You could also use stevia.  I use bacon that has no nitrates or nitrites, which I get at Trader Joe’s but any preservative-free will do.  Ghee is clarified butter.  I try to use organic, grass-fed beef when we can.  I’m finding that I’m sensitive to dairy products, so I use raw, aged cheese as it’s more easily digested.  You can use any dressing you like, but I thought the bacon and dijon would complement this salad well plus it has no oil in it.