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.
Showing posts with label Pontificating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pontificating. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, March 19, 2010
No Recovery Drink = Bad Idea
I have cut my recovery drink consumption back down to 8 ounces over the past week as my energy level has adjusted to month 2. It's been fine -- I do 4 ounces during and 4 ounces after. But yesterday I had run out and forgot to make more before Max Interval Plyo, and midway through the workout I ran to the kitchen for a little orange juice. After the workout I had to shower quickly and leave, so I decided to just skip the recovery drink (part of it was an attempt to cut out more calories, but from the wrong place). It was a mistake. I was so tired all day yesterday; I just dragged.
I was reading in the nutrition guide last night that the post-workout calories are used most efficiently to repair muscle damage. So that not only prevents muscle loss and restores energy, but it also says that the quick repair of muscle tissue prevents the body from signaling you to overeat later. I missed that before, but it makes sense. I won't be skipping the recovery drink anymore.
I was reading in the nutrition guide last night that the post-workout calories are used most efficiently to repair muscle damage. So that not only prevents muscle loss and restores energy, but it also says that the quick repair of muscle tissue prevents the body from signaling you to overeat later. I missed that before, but it makes sense. I won't be skipping the recovery drink anymore.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Evening 36: Still Kicking
I wasn't sure what to expect today. I was so wiped after Max Interval Circuit that even the thought of taking a shower was too daunting because it involved standing up. I took it very easy for awhile afterward, and I drank 12 oz. of my recovery formula, which seemed about right. I'm happy to say I felt fine all day, including having enough energy to clean my car to sell and to teach class tonight. A cup of coffee around 3 pm might have had something to do with it. I feel good and not particularly sore anywhere. It's 9:15 pm and I still don't feel like going to bed.
One thing I did notice today that's very parallel with the beginning of month 1 -- my appetite is dead, and for me that's really something. Getting enough calories today was a stretch. In month 1, this was the case for a couple of weeks and then my appetite kicked in with a ferocity.
I also previewed Max Intensity Plyo (I don't like surprises) and it looks extremely knee-unfriendly. The individual exercises look way harder than MIC, and I can't see five minutes shorter making a whole lot of difference. Not looking forward to tomorrow. I didn't care for Cardio Recovery during month 1, but I have a feeling Max Recovery is going to be my favorite day this month.
One thing I did notice today that's very parallel with the beginning of month 1 -- my appetite is dead, and for me that's really something. Getting enough calories today was a stretch. In month 1, this was the case for a couple of weeks and then my appetite kicked in with a ferocity.
I also previewed Max Intensity Plyo (I don't like surprises) and it looks extremely knee-unfriendly. The individual exercises look way harder than MIC, and I can't see five minutes shorter making a whole lot of difference. Not looking forward to tomorrow. I didn't care for Cardio Recovery during month 1, but I have a feeling Max Recovery is going to be my favorite day this month.
Friday, February 26, 2010
My Butt
Ha! I so wanted to write that. It seems like we give a lot of attention to Insanity results in the abs and upper body... most of the photos you see are from the waist up, probably because that's easier to photograph. But last night I was standing in the kitchen and my 9-year-old son was pretending to drum on my butt and he said, "Mom, your butt doesn't move!"
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Insanity and Your Joints: The Big, Long Story
The following comes from not just my experience with teaching yoga and with anatomy but also from many mistakes made over the years. I've been through many sports injuries and helped many students through them, and unfortunately have learned many things the hard way. As I like to say, I know the surefire ways to fail.
If you're starting Insanity, pay close attention to the Digging Deeper section of the DVD. Form should always come first, but to do that, first you have to understand exactly what the form should be and why, and Beach Body only barely touches on that.
Insanity is loaded with plyometrics (jumps). Each time you land, the shock of that landing is ideally absorbed by a) the floor; b) your shoes; c) your feet; d) your ankles; e) your knees; f) your hips; and g) your lower back. In other words, most of the compressive force you generate with the jump goes right back into your body. To avoid damaging yourself, you want to spread the force out as evenly as possible.
SURFACE AND SHOES
I stupidly practiced high-impact aerobics in my early 20s on a concrete floor overlayed with industrial carpet. This type of floor absorbs no shock, and it's no surprise I had terrible knee trouble and quickly. I have witnessed these same injuries in many yoga students over the years. The surface you're practicing on is vital (as is the type of shoes you wear). Even if you have a less-hard floor, it's a good idea to use a plyo-friendly mat too. I use the black mat by Manduka and highly recommend it. It also has a lifetime warranty (of which I'm sure Insanity is a very good test). Your shoes will also lose shock absorbency over time, so make sure your crosstrainers still have good life. Runners are known to replace their shoes every six months.
LANDING and CENTER OF GRAVITY
When you land on the ball of your feet first, you help distribute the shock more effectively throughout your feet and ankles as well as your legs -- there are more joints that can "give" -- if you strike heel first, the shock goes directly into your knees and to a greater degree. It's vital to land ball-first, and to do that you need to have your core engaged to keep your weight more forward. This is what Shaun means when he talks about keeping your core tight and your weight forward. When you let your belly go, you tend to lean backward a little to keep your balance, and you're more likely to land the same way, striking on the heel and sending shockwaves directly up. In the same vein, keep your knee over the ankle when squatting, as Dig Deeper indicates. Jutting the knees out over the toes puts stress on the knees.
KNEES AND ELBOWS UNLOCKED
Shaun notes throughout to keep your knees soft. This allows some give in the joints when you land. You can probably see where I'm going with this... locking a joint prevents soft tissue from absorbing shock and leads to bone-on-bone pressure, and when you apply force to that, you have instant injury. Equally important is to protect your elbows by keeping them very slightly unlocked anytime you're in the plank position.
WOMEN AND HIPS
Men have a very fixed, stable pelvis with femurs (upper thigh) extending straight down to the knee joint with no angle. This means that when men run, the downward force is evenly distributed. Women, however, have a wider pelvis and this means that there is an angle from our hip to knee joint. Right out of the starting gate, we're at a disadvantage with unequal pressure on the knees. Unfortunately, this just means we need to be extra cautious.
BODYWEIGHT
When you walk, you put four times your bodyweight in pressure on your knees. When you run, this becomes tenfold. This is why the supposed ideal weight for runners is 100 pounds for the first 5 feet and 5 pounds for each additional inch. That's really light, but not as far as your knees are concerned. If you're overweight and you're jumping, you're placing a huge burden on knees that are already bearing tremendous force. So if you're only 20 pounds overweight, you're putting 200 EXTRA pounds of pressure on each knee during, say, log jumps. Now consider how many times you strike down over the course of a 40-minute workout.
This is where a little bit of what ails you can be the cure. Plyometrics can help strengthen your knees when done correctly and wisely. Strengthening the muscles and supporting structures in and around the knee joint will allow you to endure more compression over time, but be careful -- if you're completely out of shape, be aware that your joints probably have very little protection around them and injury becomes likely. Knee injuries take a long time to heal, and knees are unfortunately a weak point in human anatomy in the first place, even without other strikes against them.
JOINT HEALTH and FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Finally, with all the compression on your joints, it's vital to lengthen everything back out to bring everything back into alignment and allow healthy fluid exchange. Never skip the stretching, and ideally, stretch more. When you bend forward to stretch your hamstrings, make the back as long as possible (most people round the back to allow them to reach farther, but they put a lot of stress on their spinal discs). Just soften your knees to the point that you can make your back long. With straight legs, tight hamstrings will pull on your low back and force it to round. Also know that tightness in one area will be felt two joints away. If your hips are tight, they will pull on your knees. An imbalance in flexibility between the quads and hamstrings will pull your back out of alignment. This topic is complicated, but can be summed up this way: stretch. A lot. Do it while your muscles are warm, and never skip it or consider it wasted workout time.
SUMMARY
In summary, pay close attention to proper form at all times. Don't try to match the participants' speed and never take your mind off what you're doing, even for a second. All it takes is one tiny misstep. Pay attention to your choice of shoes and flooring, and seriously reconsider taking on Insanity if you're very out of shape. However, if you understand the mechanics of your joints before starting, you can head off a lot of problems. Even though I'm 10+ years older now than I was when I first abused my knees, I am now practicing Insanity pain-free. If you have any questions, please post and I'll do my best to answer. Good luck with this program and thanks for following me!
If you're starting Insanity, pay close attention to the Digging Deeper section of the DVD. Form should always come first, but to do that, first you have to understand exactly what the form should be and why, and Beach Body only barely touches on that.
Insanity is loaded with plyometrics (jumps). Each time you land, the shock of that landing is ideally absorbed by a) the floor; b) your shoes; c) your feet; d) your ankles; e) your knees; f) your hips; and g) your lower back. In other words, most of the compressive force you generate with the jump goes right back into your body. To avoid damaging yourself, you want to spread the force out as evenly as possible.
SURFACE AND SHOES
I stupidly practiced high-impact aerobics in my early 20s on a concrete floor overlayed with industrial carpet. This type of floor absorbs no shock, and it's no surprise I had terrible knee trouble and quickly. I have witnessed these same injuries in many yoga students over the years. The surface you're practicing on is vital (as is the type of shoes you wear). Even if you have a less-hard floor, it's a good idea to use a plyo-friendly mat too. I use the black mat by Manduka and highly recommend it. It also has a lifetime warranty (of which I'm sure Insanity is a very good test). Your shoes will also lose shock absorbency over time, so make sure your crosstrainers still have good life. Runners are known to replace their shoes every six months.
LANDING and CENTER OF GRAVITY
When you land on the ball of your feet first, you help distribute the shock more effectively throughout your feet and ankles as well as your legs -- there are more joints that can "give" -- if you strike heel first, the shock goes directly into your knees and to a greater degree. It's vital to land ball-first, and to do that you need to have your core engaged to keep your weight more forward. This is what Shaun means when he talks about keeping your core tight and your weight forward. When you let your belly go, you tend to lean backward a little to keep your balance, and you're more likely to land the same way, striking on the heel and sending shockwaves directly up. In the same vein, keep your knee over the ankle when squatting, as Dig Deeper indicates. Jutting the knees out over the toes puts stress on the knees.
KNEES AND ELBOWS UNLOCKED
Shaun notes throughout to keep your knees soft. This allows some give in the joints when you land. You can probably see where I'm going with this... locking a joint prevents soft tissue from absorbing shock and leads to bone-on-bone pressure, and when you apply force to that, you have instant injury. Equally important is to protect your elbows by keeping them very slightly unlocked anytime you're in the plank position.
WOMEN AND HIPS
Men have a very fixed, stable pelvis with femurs (upper thigh) extending straight down to the knee joint with no angle. This means that when men run, the downward force is evenly distributed. Women, however, have a wider pelvis and this means that there is an angle from our hip to knee joint. Right out of the starting gate, we're at a disadvantage with unequal pressure on the knees. Unfortunately, this just means we need to be extra cautious.
BODYWEIGHT
When you walk, you put four times your bodyweight in pressure on your knees. When you run, this becomes tenfold. This is why the supposed ideal weight for runners is 100 pounds for the first 5 feet and 5 pounds for each additional inch. That's really light, but not as far as your knees are concerned. If you're overweight and you're jumping, you're placing a huge burden on knees that are already bearing tremendous force. So if you're only 20 pounds overweight, you're putting 200 EXTRA pounds of pressure on each knee during, say, log jumps. Now consider how many times you strike down over the course of a 40-minute workout.
This is where a little bit of what ails you can be the cure. Plyometrics can help strengthen your knees when done correctly and wisely. Strengthening the muscles and supporting structures in and around the knee joint will allow you to endure more compression over time, but be careful -- if you're completely out of shape, be aware that your joints probably have very little protection around them and injury becomes likely. Knee injuries take a long time to heal, and knees are unfortunately a weak point in human anatomy in the first place, even without other strikes against them.
JOINT HEALTH and FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Finally, with all the compression on your joints, it's vital to lengthen everything back out to bring everything back into alignment and allow healthy fluid exchange. Never skip the stretching, and ideally, stretch more. When you bend forward to stretch your hamstrings, make the back as long as possible (most people round the back to allow them to reach farther, but they put a lot of stress on their spinal discs). Just soften your knees to the point that you can make your back long. With straight legs, tight hamstrings will pull on your low back and force it to round. Also know that tightness in one area will be felt two joints away. If your hips are tight, they will pull on your knees. An imbalance in flexibility between the quads and hamstrings will pull your back out of alignment. This topic is complicated, but can be summed up this way: stretch. A lot. Do it while your muscles are warm, and never skip it or consider it wasted workout time.
SUMMARY
In summary, pay close attention to proper form at all times. Don't try to match the participants' speed and never take your mind off what you're doing, even for a second. All it takes is one tiny misstep. Pay attention to your choice of shoes and flooring, and seriously reconsider taking on Insanity if you're very out of shape. However, if you understand the mechanics of your joints before starting, you can head off a lot of problems. Even though I'm 10+ years older now than I was when I first abused my knees, I am now practicing Insanity pain-free. If you have any questions, please post and I'll do my best to answer. Good luck with this program and thanks for following me!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Maximum Heart Rate
The comment about my high heart rate made me begin to wonder about it, too. I'm not using a heart rate monitor and never have; I've always used the talk test and have figured that when my body gives out, I can't breathe, or I want to puke, then that's the limit. But I've been taking my heart rate for the last couple of workouts during the water breaks out of curiosity, and was surprised to find myself reaching nearly 190. Even during the stretch yesterday in the cardio circuit, I was still at 157 bpm at the end of seven minutes.
My resting heart rate has gone from 60 to about 56 in the last three weeks. Because my resting heart rate is low, I assume I am not overtraining. (One of the signs of overtraining is an elevated resting heart rate.) I still wanted to look into what's safe, though, especially considering my medical history.
If you use the typical maximum heart rate equation you always hear about (220 minus age), my absolute maximum would be 187. Therefore, for me, 85% of maximum that denotes the anaerobic threshold would be 159. There is a lot of conflicting information out there about all of this, and it's hard to know whom to believe. Although there are lots of sources that would support the above (that I should stay below 159), there are just as many that say that equation is not applicable to everyone and that it's not even physically possible to reach your maximum heart rate, so there's nothing to worry about.
I e-mailed my boss, the owner of the fitness center where I teach. He's a chiropractic physician and a professional bodybuilder (and a yogi), and I have always considered him the final word on fitness matters. I then walked around with phantom heart pains until I got his response! Good news:
"... HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is cutting-edge aerobic technology. The program you are on is only one of a multitude of ways to do it, but it's obviously working well for you. The formula you mention for estimating maximum heart rate is just that. Your real maximum heart rate is really what you can bring it up to. Therefore, it's impossible for you to have exceeded it. For a healthy person, the higher you can raise your heart rate, the better -- and that's why HIIT improves our aerobic conditioning so well. Keep up the good work and don't listen to any well-meaning critics."
I haven't had any critics, but I guess that means to avoid the same sorts of "experts" who told me not to lift more than 25 pounds while I was pregnant. It seems logical that our bodies would have their own built-in "stoppers," and I'm sure cavemen weren't running around worried about their heart rates while hunting. So, bring on Pure Cardio tomorrow! It's a good thing today is a rest day. I was up most of the night with a child with a screaming, thrashing ear infection whose ear drum ruptured overnight. He and I are both pretty physically worthless today, poor kid.
My resting heart rate has gone from 60 to about 56 in the last three weeks. Because my resting heart rate is low, I assume I am not overtraining. (One of the signs of overtraining is an elevated resting heart rate.) I still wanted to look into what's safe, though, especially considering my medical history.
If you use the typical maximum heart rate equation you always hear about (220 minus age), my absolute maximum would be 187. Therefore, for me, 85% of maximum that denotes the anaerobic threshold would be 159. There is a lot of conflicting information out there about all of this, and it's hard to know whom to believe. Although there are lots of sources that would support the above (that I should stay below 159), there are just as many that say that equation is not applicable to everyone and that it's not even physically possible to reach your maximum heart rate, so there's nothing to worry about.
I e-mailed my boss, the owner of the fitness center where I teach. He's a chiropractic physician and a professional bodybuilder (and a yogi), and I have always considered him the final word on fitness matters. I then walked around with phantom heart pains until I got his response! Good news:
"... HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is cutting-edge aerobic technology. The program you are on is only one of a multitude of ways to do it, but it's obviously working well for you. The formula you mention for estimating maximum heart rate is just that. Your real maximum heart rate is really what you can bring it up to. Therefore, it's impossible for you to have exceeded it. For a healthy person, the higher you can raise your heart rate, the better -- and that's why HIIT improves our aerobic conditioning so well. Keep up the good work and don't listen to any well-meaning critics."
I haven't had any critics, but I guess that means to avoid the same sorts of "experts" who told me not to lift more than 25 pounds while I was pregnant. It seems logical that our bodies would have their own built-in "stoppers," and I'm sure cavemen weren't running around worried about their heart rates while hunting. So, bring on Pure Cardio tomorrow! It's a good thing today is a rest day. I was up most of the night with a child with a screaming, thrashing ear infection whose ear drum ruptured overnight. He and I are both pretty physically worthless today, poor kid.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Day 18: CARDIO RECOVERY (Recipe: Low-Cal Granola)
I'll keep doing these as written. But I added about 35 minutes of yoga afterward and it was probably the most enjoyable yoga in recent memory. I did Eoin Finn's "Shoulder High" routine from his Power Yoga for Happiness 2 set. I highly recommend Eoin and anything he has done. Specifically, my shoulders, hips, and lower back were in desperate need of some decompression and this was perfect.
"Gym-style" exercise, especially something along the lines of Insanity, creates huge compressive forces in your lower back and joints in general, and it becomes even more important to bring space back in. I have noticed that by the end of each week, I start feeling a little overworked and tight in spots. Also, while Insanity has been great for lengthening hamstrings, some hip angles, and inner thigh; I find that my shoulders, outer hips, and lower back have lost flexibility. I'm going to add in this yoga routine after Cardio Power and Resistance tomorrow, too (since it's only 38 minutes) and see how it affects the way I feel by the end of the week.
I'm trying to clean the diet back up, and I'm having my cousin over for healthy pad thai tonight (Cooking Light has a great vegetarian version) and coconut green beans. Great day so far... pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, I had a green monster as written below but with a full scoop of protein powder and with white peaches and honeydew added, sockeye salmon salad on a Oroweat sandwich thin, and a bowl of low-calorie granola as written below with almond milk. This is an excellent snack or a great part of one of your mini-meals:
BOWL OF AWESOME LOW-CAL GRANOLA
(makes one serving)
1/2 cup whole-grain puffed cereal (like brown rice or kamut)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped freeze-dried apples*
Dash cinnamon
1 1/2 TBSP light or sugar-free pancake syrup
Almond milk or skim milk (optional)
Preheat oven to 300. Mix the cereal, oats, cinnamon, and syrup together and blend well. Spread the mixture onto a sprayed baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crisp. Stir in freeze-dried apples. Eat plain or serve with your favorite milk. Not counting the milk:
165-175 calories, 1.5 g fat, 4 g fiber, 5 g protein
*Freeze-dried fruit and regular dried fruit are very different. Look for the airy, crispy kind.
"Gym-style" exercise, especially something along the lines of Insanity, creates huge compressive forces in your lower back and joints in general, and it becomes even more important to bring space back in. I have noticed that by the end of each week, I start feeling a little overworked and tight in spots. Also, while Insanity has been great for lengthening hamstrings, some hip angles, and inner thigh; I find that my shoulders, outer hips, and lower back have lost flexibility. I'm going to add in this yoga routine after Cardio Power and Resistance tomorrow, too (since it's only 38 minutes) and see how it affects the way I feel by the end of the week.
I'm trying to clean the diet back up, and I'm having my cousin over for healthy pad thai tonight (Cooking Light has a great vegetarian version) and coconut green beans. Great day so far... pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, I had a green monster as written below but with a full scoop of protein powder and with white peaches and honeydew added, sockeye salmon salad on a Oroweat sandwich thin, and a bowl of low-calorie granola as written below with almond milk. This is an excellent snack or a great part of one of your mini-meals:
BOWL OF AWESOME LOW-CAL GRANOLA
(makes one serving)
1/2 cup whole-grain puffed cereal (like brown rice or kamut)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped freeze-dried apples*
Dash cinnamon
1 1/2 TBSP light or sugar-free pancake syrup
Almond milk or skim milk (optional)
Preheat oven to 300. Mix the cereal, oats, cinnamon, and syrup together and blend well. Spread the mixture onto a sprayed baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crisp. Stir in freeze-dried apples. Eat plain or serve with your favorite milk. Not counting the milk:
165-175 calories, 1.5 g fat, 4 g fiber, 5 g protein
*Freeze-dried fruit and regular dried fruit are very different. Look for the airy, crispy kind.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Exhaustion and Recovery Drinks
I have been exhausted every day since beginning Insanity, peaking around 3 p.m. (the usual slump time anyway) when I feel the irresistable urge to take a nap. I also fall asleep sooner than I intend in the evenings. I'm re-evaluating my former comments on diet. I'm getting enough sleep (ha! Can't help it.) so in addition to watching my water intake carefully, I clearly need a recovery drink. I'm forcing myself to eat lunch after Insanity but it usually comes more than an hour later and even after I eat lunch, I'm pooped. I know that there's no way I'm going to get through month 2 without restoring my energy levels and productivity, as much as I hate to drink sugar post-workout, and I don't think it's from not eating enough. I'm also not going to spend the money on the official Beach Body recovery formula.
I’ve done some research on the Beach Body Rest and Recovery Formula, what’s in it, and how to make something similar, low-calorie, and low-cost at home. Good news. After lots of reading on various sites for performance athletes, here’s a recipe that provides nearly exactly the 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein that’s in their drink, as well as lost sodium and potassium. Other good news… it is damn tasty. Today, I drank it less than half an hour after finishing the workout. This recipe makes 2 liters (8 servings). Each serving is 1 cup. Shake everything up in a large water bottle. (By the way, I notice the Rest and Recovery Formula serving is bigger, at about 220 calories. You could drink more than 8 ounces to bring it to that, of course, but I am starting with 8 ounces as recommended on this site I found for endurance cyclists. Perhaps next month I will need more.)
Calories: About 75
Carbohydrate: About 14.4 g
Sodium: 104 mg
Potassium: 28.4 mg
Protein: About 3 g
½ cup orange juice or blend of 100% juice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
3/8 tsp salt
9 TBSP sugar
Water to make 2 liters
Here's a link to the cycling performance site with a full list of homemade energy bars and drinks, plus variations. I added the protein powder, as Beach Body says that 4:1 ratio improves recovery 25% more than an energy drink alone.
Hey, good news. It's 3:04 p.m. right now and I feel normal. I even went for a walk with a friend before lunch less than an hour after the workout. I don't feel like sleeping. So, I think this is what was missing. I'll stick with 8 ounces of my homemade recovery formula each day until I need to re-evaluate (skipping it on Cardio Recovery day, of course).
Some great vegetarian recipes and snack ideas coming soon!
I’ve done some research on the Beach Body Rest and Recovery Formula, what’s in it, and how to make something similar, low-calorie, and low-cost at home. Good news. After lots of reading on various sites for performance athletes, here’s a recipe that provides nearly exactly the 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein that’s in their drink, as well as lost sodium and potassium. Other good news… it is damn tasty. Today, I drank it less than half an hour after finishing the workout. This recipe makes 2 liters (8 servings). Each serving is 1 cup. Shake everything up in a large water bottle. (By the way, I notice the Rest and Recovery Formula serving is bigger, at about 220 calories. You could drink more than 8 ounces to bring it to that, of course, but I am starting with 8 ounces as recommended on this site I found for endurance cyclists. Perhaps next month I will need more.)
Calories: About 75
Carbohydrate: About 14.4 g
Sodium: 104 mg
Potassium: 28.4 mg
Protein: About 3 g
½ cup orange juice or blend of 100% juice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
3/8 tsp salt
9 TBSP sugar
Water to make 2 liters
Here's a link to the cycling performance site with a full list of homemade energy bars and drinks, plus variations. I added the protein powder, as Beach Body says that 4:1 ratio improves recovery 25% more than an energy drink alone.
Hey, good news. It's 3:04 p.m. right now and I feel normal. I even went for a walk with a friend before lunch less than an hour after the workout. I don't feel like sleeping. So, I think this is what was missing. I'll stick with 8 ounces of my homemade recovery formula each day until I need to re-evaluate (skipping it on Cardio Recovery day, of course).
Some great vegetarian recipes and snack ideas coming soon!
Monday, February 08, 2010
My Thoughts on the Nutrition Plan So Far
I already have a diet that works very well for me, but I am making changes toward the Insanity diet in an effort to follow the plan as closely as I can. For many this plan will be very doable and will be a huge improvement over their current eating plan, and it is definitely healthy. But here’s what I don’t like and what I’ll probably adjust slightly … and please keep in mind before you criticize my own choices that the first thing you have to consider with anything is whether you’ll be able to stick with it. Better to make small adjustments and carry through than to go all-out with something extremely inconvenient, etc., and burn out early.
1. Eating five small meals a day. I know this works great for some people, and I am adjusting my eating habits so that I eat five times a day. But I can’t make all five be exactly the same in number of calories. I have always found snacking leads to weight gain for me. So, while I’ve added in two snacks per day and adjusted the three regular meals accordingly, my meals are still distinct. I still want to have more calories at dinnertime than, say, breakfast. And here’s perhaps the most important factor: I still am part of a family of four for whom I do all the cooking, and we have a sit-down dinner every day that needs to be appropriate for children’s nutrition. What I usually do is make a low-calorie dinner for all of us and then add on extras for the kids: glasses of milk, extra butter, etc. My breakdown is more like this: Breakfast 300 calories, Lunch 400 calories, Snack 1 200 calories, dinner 500 calories, Snack 2 200 calories.
2. According to their eating plan, I should eat around 2,000 calories a day to lose weight. I know from experience this is not going to happen, at least not in month one. I need to eat more like 1,600 to lose weight, or even less. They do advocate re-evaluating every week to see whether you’re progressing and if not, adjust your amount. I have found that for month 1, eating 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day is about right.
3. They do not allow anything sweet, whether sugar or artificial sweeteners. I have a real sweet tooth and it’s not something I can just suppress but rather need to work with. This is a make-or-break thing. I use stevia as a sweetener frequently, and it is a natural sweet herb and not an artificial sugar substitute. I’ll keep using stevia. I love it. I’ll also use small amounts of sugar, but I’ve found cutting out as much sugar as I can really balances my moods. I’ve cut out diet soda, as they suggest.
4. Honestly, many of their recipes sound quite unappealing. I know a lot about nutrition and I’m also a very good cook, so I’d rather create my own meals based on their general guidelines.
5. Their recipes are heavy on meat. As a 95% vegetarian, this doesn’t leave me many options or at least not from their nutrition guide. I see the value of the extra protein, though, and I’ve been making sure to get enough.
6. They say they avoid processed foods and additives, but when you look at their recipes, they include lots of the following, which are all quite processed: lunch meats and other cured processed meats, protein powder, soy/almond milk, commercial cereals and bread products, canned tomato juice, nutrition bars, and crackers. I don’t have any problem with any of these, but they are processed, and so I don’t feel so bad about some of my processed vegetarian meat alternatives. I acknowledge it’s probably far less processed food than most people eat.
Again, this is definitely a healthy and balanced diet. I like that it’s not low-carb, but rather based on the body’s actual needs. You eat bread, pasta, and other complex carbohydrates that your body needs; lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and lean protein.
Another big change I need to make is drinking enough water. I’m naturally kind of a camel and I never get thirsty. Drinking more water is even harder for me than making me split my three meals into five. I have been drinking a full quart of water just during the workouts, I notice. Perhaps I should use a larger bottle with more water in it and see what happens.
1. Eating five small meals a day. I know this works great for some people, and I am adjusting my eating habits so that I eat five times a day. But I can’t make all five be exactly the same in number of calories. I have always found snacking leads to weight gain for me. So, while I’ve added in two snacks per day and adjusted the three regular meals accordingly, my meals are still distinct. I still want to have more calories at dinnertime than, say, breakfast. And here’s perhaps the most important factor: I still am part of a family of four for whom I do all the cooking, and we have a sit-down dinner every day that needs to be appropriate for children’s nutrition. What I usually do is make a low-calorie dinner for all of us and then add on extras for the kids: glasses of milk, extra butter, etc. My breakdown is more like this: Breakfast 300 calories, Lunch 400 calories, Snack 1 200 calories, dinner 500 calories, Snack 2 200 calories.
2. According to their eating plan, I should eat around 2,000 calories a day to lose weight. I know from experience this is not going to happen, at least not in month one. I need to eat more like 1,600 to lose weight, or even less. They do advocate re-evaluating every week to see whether you’re progressing and if not, adjust your amount. I have found that for month 1, eating 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day is about right.
3. They do not allow anything sweet, whether sugar or artificial sweeteners. I have a real sweet tooth and it’s not something I can just suppress but rather need to work with. This is a make-or-break thing. I use stevia as a sweetener frequently, and it is a natural sweet herb and not an artificial sugar substitute. I’ll keep using stevia. I love it. I’ll also use small amounts of sugar, but I’ve found cutting out as much sugar as I can really balances my moods. I’ve cut out diet soda, as they suggest.
4. Honestly, many of their recipes sound quite unappealing. I know a lot about nutrition and I’m also a very good cook, so I’d rather create my own meals based on their general guidelines.
5. Their recipes are heavy on meat. As a 95% vegetarian, this doesn’t leave me many options or at least not from their nutrition guide. I see the value of the extra protein, though, and I’ve been making sure to get enough.
6. They say they avoid processed foods and additives, but when you look at their recipes, they include lots of the following, which are all quite processed: lunch meats and other cured processed meats, protein powder, soy/almond milk, commercial cereals and bread products, canned tomato juice, nutrition bars, and crackers. I don’t have any problem with any of these, but they are processed, and so I don’t feel so bad about some of my processed vegetarian meat alternatives. I acknowledge it’s probably far less processed food than most people eat.
Again, this is definitely a healthy and balanced diet. I like that it’s not low-carb, but rather based on the body’s actual needs. You eat bread, pasta, and other complex carbohydrates that your body needs; lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and lean protein.
Another big change I need to make is drinking enough water. I’m naturally kind of a camel and I never get thirsty. Drinking more water is even harder for me than making me split my three meals into five. I have been drinking a full quart of water just during the workouts, I notice. Perhaps I should use a larger bottle with more water in it and see what happens.
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