How to Train Your Dragon and Max Plyo

Imagine this... Tuesday night, sitting around the supper table with my little family of five and my sweet middle child asks, "Mom, can you watch How to Train Your Dragon with me tonight?" How could I say no???? I couldn't... and I didn't! I intended on watching the movie early and then putting the children to bed and going to workout but it seems that my body would not be game for that. I laid down at 6:10 p.m. with the children, turned on the movie and was asleep before 6:30 and only woke up at 5 a.m... how is that for a nap!!

Anyway, we shall call Tuesday my day of rest and on Wednesday I put on Max Plyo and it was a great routine. Well, all except the side push ups - those are brutal and my arms are clearly too weak for them... but darn it, I tried! I know that as hard as these routines seem the first time round that I can and will conquer them! I am sore this morning again... just like in the first week. I feels GREAT!

As for the HRM issue I worked that out too! How you ask? Well it was actually quite simple... I took my hubby's chest strap :P It worked like a charm! I do have another complaint though... I did not finish the routine... the last 11 minutes of it froze on my DVD. I am thinking that I am going to ask my Mom for her Max copies and that way I am assured that I can get the entire DVD.

Speaking of my Mom... she turned 53 in March and she is kicking INSANITY's ass!!! That is right, she is doing the program too and just finished her second week and her fit test numbers are through the roof! She had some small love handles that had developed over the summer and they have since disappeared... she is truly amazing. My Aunt Judy is also doing the program and trying to go it alone... even though we are here to support her we are still 18 hours away and I know that it must be harder for her, but she too will do it! I have strong, beautiful women as my role models... what pillars of strength.

So here are the facts from my first attempt at Plyo:

Calories: 686
Average: 135
Maximum: 163

Make it a great day!

I Worked it OUT!

So, last night I tried to get someone to take my little girl to Karate but to no avail. SO, I suggested she stay home and she was all over that! A night free to watch TV with her big sis... sounded like heaven to her :)

That being said, I accompagned my hubby to a "wake" (visitation, deceased viewing... whatever you call it). Now our intention was to go in, greet the family, offer our condolences and get out of there. So, we walk in and buy a card and our friend said that her husband (the grandchild of the deceased and our good friend) is running late because there was another death and he had to go and pick up the body. As you may have guessed our friend is an undertaker.

So, we ended up staying a lot longer than originally planned. Then when we got home my hubby saw his uncle was at his parents house and convinced me to go and visit there :S I love his aunt and uncle so I went. Upon arriving there I quickly scanned the room to realize that it was a boy's party... our aunt was not around... so I excused myself and headed home to throw on my workout clothes and get to work.

That is right, I was able to do Max Intervals and I loved it. It was fast and furious but I did not expect anything less. Some of the new moves were hard for an awkward chick like me to do BUT by the time I got through the third round of each set I was getting it done. My only disappointment was with my HRM... it kept beeping and telling me to check the transmitter. I checked the HRM on occasion and it was reading 00????? I gotta ask Laura what she did to fix her HRM when that was happening.

In any case, the HRM did calculate when I was standing upright... but anytime that I was in the plank position or on my hands and knees, or squatting the HRM would beep :S I got some data but not all of it...

Anyway, here are the facts even though there is no way that they are accurate:

Duration:1:04:38
Calories: 472
Fat Burn: 15:06
Fitness: 37:14
Average: 142
Maximum: 169

Slacker Week is over

Why do I always do that? These Beachbody programs put one week (or 2 in the case of the X) in the program and call it recovery week and my brain automatically shuts down! During the X it was no different... I slacked off the entire week getting a routine in here and there but did not remain consistent. As we all know consistency is the key to success in these and any fitness program. Anyway, there you have it - my confessional for the week. I was a slacker and only got in 5 routines and burned a measly 2000 calories :S That won't give me the results that I am craving and working so hard for!

So, this marks the beginning of the last leg of this journey. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I am excited for the new routines, excited about pushing myself harder and REALLY excited about the notion of burning about 1000 calories per routine! I am scared too though... scared that I won't be strong enough to push through the routines, scared that I will lose momentum because I may feel defeated and scared that my results won't be well pronounced.

So, on top of all this worrying I have my first dilemma of the second half of this program... tonight I have a funeral to go to, Karate and I want to get in my Insanity workout!! I haven't quite figured out how I am going to get around this but I am sure that I will find a solution. I will let you know tomorrow what I decide to do...

Here are my weekly stats:

Duration: 5:29:41
Sessions: 5
Calories: 2011

It is a little embarrassing but the purpose of this blog is to be held accountable... so there you have it! This will be a better week , I know that because I believe that we are in charge of our own destiny and so if I say it will be I will make it so. That is why I always say...

MAKE it a great day!! It is your day, your choice to make it great or not :)

I am smiling because I LOVE it!

I feel so much better after a great workout... so why can't I wake up at 5am to do my workout? Anyway, I have to decide that it is ok not to do it in the morning as long as I do it at some point in the day. So, last night, I am pleased to report that I was able to get to my workout even though we had a meeting, even though the children had homework, even though the Finale of So You Think You Can Dance Canada was on and I wanted to know if our girl from the Maritimes won... I still chose to Push PLAY and I feel great for it.

Here are the facts:

Duration: 44:59
Calories: 365
Fat Burn: 17:12
Fitness: 27:38
Average: 134
Maximum: 171

That is not what I expected for a recovery week... I thought that we would be meditating or something... I certainly did not expect that my pec muscles would be so sore this morning. I am not sure if it was just Insanity that has made me that sore or if it was a combination of Insanity + Karate but OUCHIE!

Make it a great day folks!!

Karate was a success

Yeah, I feel so much better about get my Karate class in! It was a great night and I had some great remarks from my instructors... it is always nice to have someone recognize your efforts. I kinda feel like a senior karate kid :D












The facts:

Duration: 1:29:58
Calories: 660
Fat Burn: 49:42
Fitness: 39:38
Average: 127
Maximum: 169

Yes, I am still hiding my HRM and getting my stats... just wouldn't be worth working out if I can't record it. I did forget my HRM at home today so I will not have an accurate number of calories burned on lunch but I will use My Fitness Pal to guesstimate the number.

Make it a great day folks... it feels good to have turned this week around!

The calm b4 the storm?

Why am I so nervous about next week? Maybe it is because I have lost a little focus during this, my recovery week? Monday night I had a meeting that I HAD to go to so no routine was done Monday... Tuesday morning, the alarm goes off and I moan, roll over, turn it off - not snooze, not sleep... OFF! That should have been ok though because I would be able to do it at night but would just have to make up for the skipped DVD the next day... SHOULD, COULD, WOULD but didn't! Didn't happen because I had company last night. We never get company through the week and although I was very pleased to have hosted our friends I did not get to exercise again! Then this morning I woke up late because in my fatigued state last night I did not even turn on the alarm!!!! Oh dear, what have I become?

Tonight I am doing Karate that will be worth 600 calories... tomorrow morning I AM getting up with the alarm and doing my workout!. I plan on walking on lunch for the rest of the week as well. I will also try and make up for some lack of ambition by pulling doubles a couple of days... I will kick my own ass for getting so lazy!

Anywho, the lack of posts is due to the lack of exercising going on in my home these days. I also think that my poor planning is making me crazy scared about what is to come next week... get it together MArge!!!

Make it a great day!

Not a good start to the Recovery Week

I am not feeling great! I think that I may be coming down with something :(

Yesterday afternoon I took a three hour nap!! Followed by a 7 hour sleep last night and woke up still feeling yuckie. My tummy is turning and I am lacking energy. I am just hoping to get through the day and I have Karate tonight so I need a miracle to get through the day.

Still trying to make it a great day!

What do you do on a Saturday night?

I do Insanity :P




















After spending the afternoon baking with my lil daughter (while my son slept) I crept downstairs and got to work, after all it was Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs! I am happy that it is over for a bit but I hope that I did enough to prepare me for month 2. I kinda wish I wasn't so keen about the program and that I hadn't read as much as I have about it... maybe then I wouldn't be so worried! Anywho, I thought that I would add a few photos to make the post a little more interesting :P I just snapped them with my phone so sorry about the quality!
Here I am, all warmed up:






















And here I am, almost done... just before Cardio Abs:





















And following the routine I am now off to hang with a few of my favorite people and here is a pic with one of them:)























And I nearly forgot the facts:

Duration: 1:35:50
Calories: 588
Fat Burn: 1:07:59
Fitness: 27:42
Average: 117
Maximum: 166

So far this week: 2725 calories ... I will get over the 3000 mark but not quite to the 3500 calorie/1 pound goal :S Not that it would equate to a pound on this program :S 1 pound is hard to shed on Insanity :S
Make it a great day!

Cardio Recovery + Kenpo X = on target for calorie burn

So tonight I did the routine that was scheduled for last night... Cardio Recovery. I, once again, looked at my Polar FT7 and it read that I had burned a measly 180 calories and I knew that it just wouldn't cut it. Since I have been craving a little P90x and the fact that I missed my Karate this week I thought that I would try my hand at Kenpo to make up for the missing calories. I played it with music and cues and I LOVED it! I skipped part of the warm up since Shaun T. had already accomplished that with the Cardio Recovery and went right into the punches and kicks and it was fun but low impact :S Who would have thought that it would have taken Shaun T. to teach me that I can do more, kick higher, move faster and stronger than I had in my first round of the X. I just can't wait to combine these two programs... it is gonna be FUN!

So, here are the facts for tonight's routine(s):

Cardio Recovery:

Duration: 42:08
Calories: 180
Fat Burn: 41:36
Fitness: 00:23
Average: 101
Maximum: 131

KenpoX:

Duration: 1:04:40
Calories: 454
Fat Burn: 32:01
Fitness: 32:30
Average: 124
Maximum: 160

For a grand total of 634 calories today... not bad but nothing compared to what I am about to burn on the second half of this INSANE ride ;)

Make it a great day!

Day of Rest

Not much else to say... we be back to regularly scheduled exercising tonight. Stay tuned!





















MAKE it a great day!

Opted for Plyo Cardio Circuit instead of Karate

OK, so truth be told I really did not OPT for this change of schedule... my little girl was feeling under the weather so did not want to go to Karate last night. So, rather than doing nothing... I did the routine that was scheduled. I get one more attempt at the Plyo DVD in a couple of days and then I will put that one to rest for a while too :D How fulfilling is that!!

I should say that I think that I hit a mental block last night... I am not sure if I had convinced myself that I too was under the weather or if it was something else BUT I found the routine to be really hard?! I am not sure why...

Here are the stats as they were recorded on my favorite piece of jewellery, my Polar FT7:

Duration: 1:22:03 (got so busy with laundry and such that I forgot to stop it again)
Calories: 563 (After the workout it would have probably been about 380ish )
Fat Burn: 49:15 (extra long cool down)
Fitness: 32:39
Average: 123
Maximum: 166

So far this week I have burned 1503 calories... with 3 days left I have to burn over 500 calories per day to reach my 3000+ goal... so, I think that I will get some extra workouts in when I can. I can do this!!

Make it a great day!

I can FREAKIN do this...

I am feeling so inspired lately ... I know that I can do this! My heart rate is recovering much quicker now and my calorie burn is less BUT I am getting through the routines with greater ease. Don't get me wrong, I am still a sweating mess, panting and pushing my self further and harder BUT I feel much stronger and able. What a great feeling. I have four more routines left this week and then I am onto my first recovery week. Now, when I think about what lies ahead of me I get a little scared because I have read a lot about month 2 and what it demands of the body; however, I am also excited about the thought of burning nearly 1000 calories per workout! In the meantime, should I cut back on my calories because I am burning less calories per workout? Should I start walking or jogging on my lunch to make up for the lack of calorie burn? Or should I just carry on in the same manner? Oh, what to do????

Anyway, here are the stats from my very last Power and Resistance routine of round 1 of INSANITY:

Duration: 50:37
Calories: 388
Fat Burn: 21:27
Fitness: 28:56
Average: 130
Maximum: 165

Make it a great day!

Texas Baked Biscuits

OK, so as I said in the previous post I tried this great and SUPER easy recipe that I found on one of my favorite blogs: Cheeky Kitchen. Brooke McLay has the greatest recipes and writes this great, fun and easy reading blog that I follow. She ALWAYS has great photos, like this one that makes you want to try it:



Anyway, it worked for me and here is the link for all of you to try it too:

yummy and super EASY Texas Baked Biscuits

Thanksgiving Gorge + Injuries = Worse week YET!

BUT I only missed one workout due to injuries and I dug deeper and saw progress none-the-less. I have OVER 10,000 calories burned to date on the program and that has to be good for my body. I can't wait to start really SEEING results and after the recovery week I think that I will take pics to see if changes are happening that I can't recognize in the mirror yet.

This week's game plan is not to miss a workout, push harder and dig deeper. I want my calorie count back in the 3500+ for the week and when you start off the week with Pure cardio it feels like it is achievable.

Diet related issues this week: Thanksgiving is not good for the diet. I tried to behave BUT it is my Mother's cooking that did me in. When I wasn't eating turkey we ate way too late! I turned down dessert last night and stayed busy cleaning up so that no one gave me a hard time about it... and it worked. I did see someone this weekend that I have not seen in a while and they were asking me all kinds of questions about what kind of a diet I was on and how much weight that I have lost... I guess it is noticable :D I proudly tell everyone it is through HARD work... no amount of dieting alone can get good, lasting results.

Oh, and I treated myself on Monday morning with a breakfast recipe that I found online.. it was scrumptious and when I find the author I will give her credit and like her blog here.

SO, here are the stats from last night's workout:

Pure cardio:

Duration:1:00:17
Calories: 471
Fat Burn: 30:37
Fitness: 29:31
Average 121
Maximum: 170

Had some trouble last night with my DVD freezing... I wonder if it has something to do about getting my set on Kijiji? I was SO mad and it affected my average HR for sure!

Tonight is Power and Resistance... c'mon, LET'S GOOOOOOOO!

Oh, and my Mom started today :D She is going to be doing it too... and my other friend should be getting her set this week too so I will have other Insanity addicts to chat with. Gotta love that!

Make it a great day!

Ouchie! My Karate injuries really affected my results

Last night I took three pain killers to numb the pain enough to get through my routine. Thankfully it was cardio recovery. I suffered through but did not get the results that I aimed for because I had to back off a bit... pics below to better illustrate my issues right now :P

My big toe:









The top of my foot, same side:







I also have a sore wrist and my big toe on the other foot is bruised and swollen. I am DEFINATELY wearing protective gear next week!

Anyway, after I weakly got through Cardio Recovery yesterday I looked at my HRM and saw a measly 198 calories burned and decided to go into Cardio Abs to some additional calorie burn. Here are the stats from both routines:

Duration: 1:02:56
Calories: 303
Fat Burn: 58:07
Fitness: 4:40
Average: 106
Maximum: 154

JUST PITIFUL!!!

Tonight is Cardio Power and Resistance... My toes are feeling better so I am hoping to get through it a bit easier.

Make it a great day!

I have lost an average 2 year old :P

So, I managed to hide my HRM last night by tying it to the drawstring on the pants. LOL It was such a hard night because it was my first night of combat, so I am glad that I got the reading.

First let me say that Shaun T has made an animal out of me. When he tells me to dig deep that is exactly what I do in every exercise that I do. So when I got to fight last night I went all IN! I was proud of myself BUT I think that I may have broke a toe. It hurts so bad... and on my other foot I have a HUGE bruise and bruises on my leg... hehe, I am INSANE.

Here are the facts:

Duration: 1:28:20
Calories: 629
Fat Burn: 28:49
Fitness: 48:00
Average: 134
Maximum: 178

Whew! What a night... tonight is back to the INSANITY routine - BRING IT!

And, just for fun... since January I have lost an average 2 year old!

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human’s skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony"
Make it a great day!

My blood pressure is now 130/80!!!

What a great morning I had! I went for my followup with my rheumatologist which began with the usual triage treatments... weigh in, blood pressure reading, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels. WELL!! Weigh in was exciting... 5 kilos less than May. I can officially say that I have lost 5 pounds on Insanity. Then the blood pressure reading was 130/80... well, I nearly cried. I haven't seen those numbers since before my last pregnancy and Buba is now 5!!!! There was even a time that my family doctor prescribed high blood pressure pills (although I did not take them). I committed in January 2010 too take matters in my own hands and exercise! So, all I can say is that my body seems to be loving the extra attention that I have been giving it.

Now, on to the Plyo Cardio Circuit that I did last night. I felt SO good when I did not take a water break during the warm up - Yeah me! I managed the workout better than times before and I know that I will be feeling like I can really manage them and then Shaun T. is going to change things up again. I guess that I will just have to redo the program ;) Here is the deal though, I forgot to shut off my HRM following the workout so my numbers are a little skewed ... but here they are none-the-less:

Duration:1:37:11
Calories: 584
Fat Burn: 1:00:33
Fitness: 36:29
Average HR: 116
Maximum: 172

Tonight is Karate and I think that I found a way around the HRM ban... I am thinking about wearing it under my Karate uniform rather then on my wrist. I will get the reading one way or another ;)

Make it a great day!

Results of the 2nd Fit Test

So, here is the deal... I worked HARD last night to get the best results possible. I was concerned about getting the true number of reps so I got my dear sweet teenaged daughter to help me out. My concern is that I may have miscounted the first time BUT these numbers are accurate. I pushed harder and succeeded. I am a little disappointed with some of the numbers but hey... I was moving!! The first numbers are in ()

Here they are:

1. Switch Kicks - (79) 93

2. Power Jacks - (38) 42

3. Power Knees - (80) 85

4. Power Jumps - (31) 31

5. Globe Jumps - (9) 13

6. Suicide Jumps - (13) 13

7. Push up Jacks - (6) 13

8. Low Plank Obliques - (50) 55

And my HRM stats:

Duration: 35:50
Calories: 286
Fat burn: 15:53
Fitness: 20:37
Average: 131
Maximum: 176

Whew! What a night and Cardio Circuit tonight :D Can't wait...

Make it a great day!

This shit is bananas!

Well, I am a little late in posting today because my little man had hockey this morning and I just completed the Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs now... and I agree with Shaun T... this SHIT IS BANANAS! But I must be a monkey because I LOVE IT!

Not much to report besides that I *think* that I am getting better... we shall see tomorrow. Here are the stats:

Duration: 1:25:07
Calories: 608
Fat Burn: 50:00
Fitness: 34:58
Average:125
Maximum: 167


For the week...

Duration: 7:41:24
Sessions: 7
Calories: 3231

Weighing in at the doctor's office on Wednesday... we shall see what all the hard work equates to (on the scale)

Make it a great day!

Rest Day and Cardio and Resistance

So Friday I had to be on the road early, ate poorly and had 0 energy to do the workout that night... so it was considered my rest day. This morning I woke up a little behind schedule (5:20am) but got right to it. Got the Cardio and resistance workout in and it made me excited about the fit test coming up on Monday. I think that I have improved a lot and I look forward to evaluating it ;) I just took two 10 second breaks during the warm up (both during the power jacks :S) and a couple of breaks during the moving pushups. I have to say that when Shaun T yelled at me to hit the floor, I nearly did! BUT I dug deeper and did better than before... I LOVE INSANITY!!

Here are the stats:

Duration: 56:23
Calories: 469
Fat Burn: 22:05
Fitness: 34:07
Average: 135
Maximum: 171

I don't even know if that is good or not but I felt GREAT afterwards and recovered well.

Make it a great day!