Insanity Revisited: Day 16

After telling myself I would never, ever do Insanity again... I'm doing it again. I've kept the wall calendar up since April and after the holidays, decided I'd give at least month 1 a go again. Unfortunately, I'm starting out a bit higher weight-wise than I did last time, the product of beginning a full-time desk job and being extra merry over the holidays. The plus side of that is I got so tired of junk food I couldn't wait to eliminate it, and it hasn't been hard at all.

When I began Insanity last year, I was at 118.5 pounds. At the end of month 1, I was at about 115 and at the end of month 2, I finished at 116-117.

This time, I started at 122.5 pounds. On day 16, I'm at 120. I won't post a daily journal this time, just occasional updates. For now, here are some observations from my second round as I begin the third week:

1. NUTRITION: I'm following the nutrition guide much closer this time. I'm eating five 300-calorie meals per day, every three hours, plus a little extra and my homemade recovery formula, to make about 1,600 calories total. Even though I have a lot less time this round than I did the first time, it's been easy because I keep ready-made things around at all times that I can make add up to 300. I've become a big fan of Muscle Milk Light blended with fruit. I wish I'd followed the plan more closely the first time, as this time my energy has been much more stable and my cravings have seemingly subsided. I've eliminated by nighttime snacking urge just by eating these mini-meals (and therefore more calories) early in the day. Through force of habit and continual resistance, I've been able to avoid the cookies and crap at work, and it's to the point I barely notice it anymore.

2. RESULTS: Like in the first round, I've noticed immediate improvements in my skin and my overall outlook. I noticed muscular changes by the end of week one, especially in my shoulders, upper chest, and stomach. I was really tired and cranky that first week but I adjusted quickly, and now I feel great. I get up in the morning at 5:30 to work out before work, and to my surprise, I really love it. There's no way I'd have the energy to do it in the evening.

3. CHANGES THIS ROUND, BESIDES FOOD: In my first round of Insanity, I went a full month with no knee problems. This time, I felt twinginess in my second week. I've already started wearing my knee wraps again. This is one reason I don't plan to do month 2 (at least not as it's written and not without a lengthy break between). At the end of the month, I plan to do a full week of only yoga and rest, and then re-evaluate. I may do some sort of hybrid for month 2, as I do enjoy some of those workouts. I also can't get up any earlier for the longer workouts, as I already feel my sleep is suffering somewhat. And finally, while month 1 was magical for me last time, month 2 was a continual struggle and an exercise in misery and overtraining. While I wanted to finish to prove I could do it (and I did), I have no desire to repeat that experience. I also gained weight in month 2 last time, and while I'm sure it was pure muscle, I'm not looking for that this time. (One thing I'm keeping my eye on is the new Insanity: The Asylum that's due out in March. That might be a good followup for me.)

I'm skipping the fit tests for now, and I've jumped right in with the workouts on those days and adding Cardio Abs to Pure Cardio before the schedule indicates it. I've already done Insanity once, and even after 9 months, I haven't lost much of my fitness level even going back to only practicing yoga. These don't feel any harder than they did before (but they feel very, very hard... although last time I hated Pure Cardio and this time I really like it, and it's Cardio Power and Resistance that I think is the killer.) Finally, on recovery day, I'm going to yoga class or doing Max Recovery, which I like a lot more than Cardio Recovery. I'm going to give myself the option on the sixth day of each week to do the workout as written or to go to yoga if I feel like I've overdone it -- but so far, that hasn't been necessary.

So that's it, folks. More musings and recipes coming your way, and it's great for me to look back at my own experiences each day to gauge my progress, so I'm glad I've kept this blog up. I hope something here helps you as well.