And we have officially started!!

Well, today marks Day 1 in our T25 journey! I'm super excited to start this process, and I always love doing these workouts with my husband beside me! 

I've done a brief synopsis of the T25 program in previous posts, but in case you are new....

T25 was created by Shaun T, who is also the creator of INSANITY. Brandon and I have both had amazing results with INSANITY, and have completed it twice (once a year). No, we are not health nuts, or gym rats (although we both were back in the day)...we are just normal people with full time jobs and an (almost) four year old. We loved INSANITY, but when Shaun T came out with a 25 minute a day workout, I jumped all over it! I ordered it the day it came out (which was in June, see previous posts). I started it, and got 2 weeks under my belt before I allowed my life to convince me that I didn't have time. Looking back, there was absolutely no reason for me to not complete it. I like to say that I got busy coaching volleyball and getting ready for school to start, which are viable excuses to anyone who wants to make an excuse. Being honest, I had plenty of time to get it done...I just didn't use the time that I had available. It was also harder to stay with it because my husband was not doing it with me. He's a good accountability partner!

The first year we did INSANITY, we didn't follow the provided dietary plan, but we ate very healthy. By the time it was all said and done, I ended up losing almost 30 pounds (and I needed to). I was ECSTATIC! Last year, we watched what we ate, but weren't nearly as vigilant. I think I had only gained 7 pounds back in the year, so I wasn't too concerned with losing weight, just wanted to tone up. I had amazing results again and was more toned up then I had been since college (back in the gym rat days)! I can't say enough good things about INSANITY and I hope that T25 lives up to the hype!

So, here we are, Jan 6th, and we're ready to get back in shape! I LOVE that it is only 25 minutes, and I really do feel worn out, so we'll see how good the results are in the end. We are both going to really watch what we eat this time, in order to have the best results possible. Today was brutal! Today was supposed to be our first day back to school for the faculty, but due to single digit temps following the monsoon we had yesterday, they callled in a snow day! I will always welcome a snow day, but I hadn't gone to the store yet, and it was WAY too cold to get out today, so we just had to make do with what we had. I munched on whole grain goldfish (that's gotta be better, right?), and had our only can of soup for lunch. Dinner was decent, we had baked chicken breasts with rice pilaf...I know, carbs in the pilaf, but I was desperate for a side item! I have my grocery list ready for a morning trip to the store, and it is loaded with healthy everything! I am actuallly kinda excited about the healthy eating...I am sure that willl be short lived, but I'll live it up while I can!

So on to the workout...T25 is only 25 minutes, but he gives you NO break time! If you feel like you can't go anymore, you do the modified move that Tania does (Tania is in ALL of his videos). It's kinda hard to program your body to do the modified move instead of putting your hands on your knees and breathing for dear life! I had to do a few modified moves today out of exhaustion, but it wasn't too bad for my first day. I definitely felt it in my calves and my bootay! CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK IN SHAPE!!!

So, I feel like I have to set a goal for my progress, so here we go...

I want to lose 6 pounds.

I would like to lose an inch and a half off of my waist and two from my butt.

I want to have my muscles back (I know that one will definitely be taken care of).

So, here goes nothing! Thanks for following me along this path!

Double Duty

Well, today was my first Friday doing Focus T25. One of the biggest lures of T25 is the ability to get a good workout in only 25 minutes a day, five days a week. Well, Fridays go against the grain...Fridays are double duty! You do two 25 minute workouts to finish out your workout week. I was NOT looking forward to today. I started with Lower Body Focus, which I had not done yet, then moved to Cardio. Lots of Cardio is lower body work and a few of the moves were repeated, so I was spent by the time I finished. I did it at about 9:30 this morning and I was glad that I got it done early. I have the Stretching DVD to do on Sunday, but no actual workout to do until Monday!

Yesterday, I felt sure that my abs would be sore today...but they actually weren't very sore. They were tight, but not actually sore, although I'm sure it will kick in tomorrow!

So far, I really am enjoying this program. I'll do this set of DVDs three more weeks before moving up to the "Beta." Next week is my last week of "freedom" before volleyball practice starts back every morning. This year I am coaching at my high school alma mater, and I am really excited to work with these older girls (although I enjoyed middle school last year). I try to do some of the conditioning with them, just to give them some added motivation,  so I'll be getting some extra workouts in. Most of their workouts consist of INSANITY circuits, ands they actually really enjoy it!

I'll do my best to keep you guys posted!

Focus T25

Well, hello everyone! It's been a while! Let me start this by apologizing for any typing errors; I am typing this on an ipad,and sometimes it has a mind of its own.

Well, it's been over a year sine my last post, so let me catch you up before I tell you whe I am now. If you are reading this, then you know that my husband and I completed INSANITY last year (whoop whoop)! We had planned to continue INSANITY on a modified, less intense schedule...but as you can guess, life got in the way and the we'll-just-do-it-tomorrow's kicked in. We fell off of the train shortly after starting our modified schedule. we had discussed starting it back up when school started, but I was coaching middle school volleyball, so that just was just a ridiculous idea. We kept putting it off, so we just decided that we would do it at the start of 2013 to jump start our year again... And we did! We completed the entire workout again! Oh yeah, we did! It felt awesome to do it again, although we screamed at Shaun T just as much as we did the first time. I had not gained much weight between the two rounds, but I definitely lost a lot of muscle. It was amazing how quickly my muscle tone came back! It's such as amazing program! This time, after we finished, we traded workouts with a coworker of my husband. His coworker was doing the TapouT program, which I thought would be interesting to try. My interest wained after just a few days. It was very ADD with no flow. And the guy leading it had to have been on some drugs to be as amped up as he was! About this time, I started hearing that the one and only Shaun T was coming out with a new workout program! Not only was there going to be a new one, the new one was only 25 minutes a day! What's that, you say? Yes, 25 minutes a day! So, I started my investigation.... I will now stop this run on paragraph and tell you where I am now...

The workout is called Focus T25 and I had to wait with heavy anticipation for it to come out! Luckily, it was due to "drop" around my birthday, so the hubs told me to order it and act surprised on my birthday (I have a great surprise face)! It was released to order through a beachbody coach (which I am not, but should I be?) on June 24, so I ordered that puppy on June 24 and received it on my doorstep on June 28th, the day of my 28th birthday! All I knew about the program was the workouts were 25 minutes a piece and only 5 days a week. I was a bit skeptical that I would "feel the burn" in that short of a time,but I was currently doing NOTHING,so it had to be better than that.

Well, I just finished day 4,and I can say that it is definitely a rough 25 minutes! So far the workouts are great! On the workout calendar, you are supposed to mark "nailed it" or "barely made it" for each workout. Monday, I "barely made it." The catch with Focus T25 is that there are NO breaks through
the entire workout...at all. Since there are no breaks, Tania (the one I hated *with love* from INSANITY) does ach move, modified. Her modifications are low impact and a little easier, so if you need a break, you do her modifications. I did as much as I could, then I'd join Tania doing the modified version for a few seconds, then jump back in with Shaun T. It was rough!

Tuesday wasn't as hard, I'd say I "nailed it!" It was lots of muscle work, but you stretched between each exercise, so it was almost like a break. Last night, "barely made it" through Total Body Circuit...whew! It was terrible! I hung out with Tania quite a bit last night.  Tonight was Ab Intervals,which was brutal! I thought INSANITY's Ab workout was rough, but it has nothing on T25! I hope I'mnot around anyone funny tomorrow,because laughter will be painful! Good gravy!! I definitely didn't nail it, but I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up as well as I did.

As far as the diet goes, I am not going to follow the diet that came with the program, but I am going to watch what I eat (except today...it's the 4th of July, so I had to have a big fat juicy burger!). I took before pictures so I can send them in for the t-shirt at the end! I plan to post pics after I finish the first month, so stick with me!

"I'm shopping for a size 8....right?!"

The first week "off" of INSANITY has been odd. We've worked out every other day...which is almost more difficult to keep up. When we were doing it everyday, it was easy to make it happen...when it's every other day...things come up that make you want to postpone it to the next day. Like today, some friends of ours wanted to grill out. I was great with that! The hubs, on the other hand, said, "No, we have INSANITY tonight!" I was cool with putting it off until tomorrow, but I was glad that he insisted on doing it tonight. I don't want to slack off at all...and I probably would without realizing it if it wasn't for him!

After fussing to my husband about how I have NO pants that fit...I went shopping today! I knew that I had a couple of pair of 8's that I was wearing (as mentioned previously), but I had not purchased a size 8. In the back of my head, I thought maybe the ones that I already owned had stretched with me as I gained weight back then. So, I was very interested to see what size I would wear when I shopped for new pants this time.

In order to avoid the food temptations of an all day shopping fest, I cooked breakfast for the shopping buddy and myself. The thought was that we'd eat a big breakfast, which should hold us until we get ready to come home...and maybe we'd have to stop and get a cereal bar or something...and he plan worked!! We had scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and choc-chip banana pancakes! Those pancakes were SO freakin good! I have made them once before, and they were just as good this time! It is a healthy recipe that I found on Pinterest! Only 178 calories in 2 of them!!

The first store we went to was Express. I had gone in and tried on pants since I had lost some weight, but that was after the first month...so I was ECSTATIC to fit into a 10! I haven't really shopped in Express in years. The last thing I bought in there were mentioned previously in this blog (my "stage 1" pants), and that was almost 4 years ago. Past that point, I did not feel like I was "up" for anything in that store. Today was different! My purpose was only to buy pants, so that is all that i tried on...I tried on their "Editor" and "Columnist" pants in a size 8. I told my shopping buddy, as I pulled up the first pair over my hips, "Cross your fingers!" AND THEY FIT!! I am a cheap-skate, so those pants were not on sale enough for me to buy them...I was just excited that they fit!!

Every store that we went in, I was a true 8! I was so excited to be in single digits again! I bought three pairs of pants and ALL of them were single digits!!!

I EARNED IT!!!!! WITH PICTURES

Well, we just finished our last workout of the INSANITY program!!! We are officially graduates!! No words can express how excited, proud, and amazed I am that we have stuck with and completed this program! I really don't know where to start in typing this EXCITING post!! I feel like such a goob, being so excited about something like this. I feel like I have really accomplished something and, better yet, proven something to myself! I did not hit my weight goal, but I would have never imagined that my body would react to this workout as well as it has! My physical results definitely surpassed any goal that I could have set!! Shaun T., I HATE you...but I LOVE you even more!! I "dug deeper" and got the results that I wanted!!

I guess I will start with my Fit Test results! Be prepared to have your mind blown!!!! Keep in mind, this has only be 60 days! We started the program on January 2! For descriptions of the fit test workouts, see previous posts.

First of all, my weight: starting weight 176.4    weight on Sunday, 3-4-11 - 157.3  for total of 19.1  lbs!!! Don't hate me for rounding up to 20!!! lol
Switch Kicks  1st-59    2nd-70     3rd-85    4th-100   5th-112     89% increase
Power Jacks  1st-37     2nd-45     3rd-49    4th-53    5th-55       48.6% increase
Power Knees 1st-60     2nd- 65    3rd-80    4th-100   5th-104     73.3% increase
Power Jumps 1st-13    2nd-20     3rd-23    4th-40     5th-47      261.5% increase!
Globe Jumps 1st-5       2nd-8       3rd-9     4th- 10    5th-10        100% increase!
Suicide Jumps 1st-9     2nd-12     3rd-17    4th-18    5th-22       144.4% increase!
Push-Up Jacks  1st-8   2nd-16!!!  3rd-23    4th-26    5th-30        275% increase!
Low Plank Oblique  1st-32   2nd-47   3rd-52   4th-60    5th-70   118.8% increase!
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?! I know I can't! Seeing the percentages REALLY makes it incredible!

Now for the measurements!!!
\Waist: Jan 2- 33 inches                 March 4- 28 inches             TOTAL LOST: 5 inches
Hips: Jan 2- 38.5 inches                 March 4- 33.5 inches          TOTAL LOST: 5 inches
Butt: Jan 2- 45.5 inches                 March 4- 41 Inches             TOTAL LOST: 4.5 inches
Thigh: Jan 2- L & R 26.75 inches   March 4- L & R 23 inches   TOTAL LOST: 3.75 each leg
Calf: Jan 2- R: 17   L:16.5              March 4- R: 15   L:15.5       TOTAL LOST:  R: 2  L: 1
Arm: Jan 2- L&R 12.5                   Feb 12- R: 11  L:  11.5        TOTAL LOST: R: 1.5  L: 1
GRAND TOTAL OF 27.5 INCHES LOST!!!!!!!!

SOOO close... (beware, bragging to follow)

Well, tonight we did our last "Max Interval Plyo" session! It is amazing to see how much I have grown since we started the Insanity program! I can do more pushups now than possibly ever in my life! We have one more full workout to go, and a fit test on Sunday. I cannot believe we are almost done! I am AMAZED at the changes that my body has accomplished in 60 days...just 60 days!!

The compliments continue to roll in, and I don't foresee me ever getting tired of that! My stomach is so much flatter now than it was when I started, my waist is close to the size that it once was, my quads are firm, my calves have definition (yes, my cankles have definition), and I have biceps!! I put on some old bathing suits the other night, and they fit! That's right!!! Two piece bathing suits!! I will not hit my goal weight of 150 pounds, but I did not expect my body to react to it this way! Regardless of what the scale says this weekend, for my final weigh-in, I am calling this process a COMPLETE success!! Let's be honest, people don't see the number on the scale when they look at you...they see YOU! I'm still not done trying to lose weight, but I'm not discounting this process because I didn't hit the elusive number!

We both still groan when we see certain exercises come up in each video. We still don't make it through the videos without taking unscheduled breaks, but we feel like we are burning out on each circuit...and that's what we're supposed to do!!

The next post that I have will say that we are DONE WITH INSANITY!!! We'll continue to do the videos 3 times a week...but we'll be done with the program! I can't wait to post the before and after pictures! I'm trying to figure out how to get pics side by side now, so that'll be figured out by then!

The Last Week

I did my measurements this weekend, but I'm not going to post them since I'll be posting my final measurements this weekend! THAT'S RIGHT....FINAL MEASUREMENTS!!! I can't believe it is almost over!

Tonight was rough for me (and the hubs, as well). I had softball practice after school, which went great. I introduced them to some Shaun T. moves, and they loved it! Actually asked if we could do it everyday! Before anyone gets too impressed with them, I just gave them some of the exercises from the warm up with a small break between each one. All they see is the 6 pack that they want for summer lol. The munchkin had been awesome ALL day, until it came time to go home. He got mad because he couldn't ride with GiGi (who was not going to my house). Just hearing him cry in the backseat over something that silly drives me BANANAS!!! Talk about nerve wrecking! About half-way home, he was fine...then we got to sing songs and play in the car, and all was well.We got home, and I fell asleep on the couch. I NEVER fall asleep on the couch, even when I want to. I woke up to get the munchkin bathed and ready for bed...then it was time for INSANITY. Tonight, we had the hardest video, Max Interval Plyo. It is soooo draining!! It's all jumping, whether from your feet to feet, feet to hands, hands to feet, whatever! If it's jumping, we do it! Being exhausted, and trying to do Insanity does not mix. Now I feel like I could fall asleep standing up! I'm about to throw my week's worth of chicken in the oven, shower and go to bed!!

Our motivation was really suffering today...but I think it was just because this is the worst video and we are both exhausted! Hopefully the rest of the week won't be so dreadful!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS ALMOST OVER!!!!