My Fitness Journey

  After my pregnancy I told my husband that I wanted to lose weight no matter what. I didn't care if I had to pay for a gym membership or whatever, I was determined to do it, whatever the cost. So I started looking around at gyms. YMCA was a little too...ghetto for me (at least the one here in phoenix) but still a good/cheap option, the other option was a club close by that we got a discount with through Robert's school, but they didn't take kids at the child care place under 2 years old. So that option went out the window. Then Beach Body came along. I knew I would lose the weight quicker than going to a gym every day. In the long run it would be cheaper. And I would have a support group, which I knew would be the most valuable part. I couldn't have done it with out my challenge group. So it was a no brainer. I bought the Insanity program and ordered Shakeology-the Healthiest meal of the day, for one month.  

I have always been skeptical about those people when you see their before and after pics. I honestly believed they were two different people and it was all a scam. Well who knows about them, but I have seen it work for ME and it was honestly miraculous to me. I couldn't believe how fast my body changed week to week. After my first week I started noticing changes. On average each week I lost about 1-2 lbs. doing the Insanity program through Beach Body and following the meal plan. I never missed a day working out. 6 days a week, 60 days. Each work out the first month was about 40 min and the second month some of the work outs go up to 60 minutes. 

 Let me tell you of the condition I was in before starting this program. I had had a baby 2 months earlier. I started out that pregnancy still with all my baby weight from my first pregnancy, about 30 lbs. I exercised on and off moderately but never enough to lose weight. In the 3 years between my kids, I never really lost weight, although I tried little things, nothing ever made an impact. During my pregnancy I stayed active, and ate healthy trying not to over eat like most pregnant girls do thinking and rationalizing "I'm eating for two!" So although with my pregnancy I gained about 31 lbs total, after I had the baby I was only about 5 lbs. more than before I got pregnant. Ok so here's my weight over the last 5 years: 120 when I got married, 164 at 7 months pregnant with baby #1 (Brady was 2 months early), 145/150 after baby #1 (Brady), 181 at 9 months pregnant with #2 (Catcher),  155 after baby #2, 130 now 4 months after baby #2. I still would like to get down to 120/125, so I'm not done yet:) But I went from a size 4, to a size 12, then 14, now back down to a size 4!!!! It is a miracle.

Anyway the a couple weeks before I started Insanity I started "working up to it". I knew Insanity would be tough and I couldn't start "cold turkey". I started lifting weights, running a little on the treadmill every day etc. little things to get my body slightly in shape before my Insanity challenge pack arrived in the mail. Regardless, my first day of Insanity was TOUGH! I think I almost passed out. literally. But I kept going. By week 2 I wasn't feeling like I would pass out anymore. By week 3 I felt like I could actually keep up pretty well. Week 5 was recovery week. Which meant an easier work out every day focusing more on muscle development. I got comfortable with that and then BOOM, week 6 killed me!!!! It was like I started all over again! I couldn't keep up, 60 minutes was a LONG work out for me! I wanted to give up and be done with 30 minutes still left! BUT I pushed through. I didn't think, I just kept getting up every morning, putting on my work out clothes and shoes, and pushing play. I just tried to keep up and do my best, pushing a little more each week. My consistent results are what kept me going. My challenge group kept me going. And the knowledge that my goal was so close...those size 4 pants, kept me going. And I am so proud to say that one week after I finished Insanity, I wore those size 4 pants in our family pictures, and I didn't think I would be able to only one week earlier. 

I DID IT!!! SIZE 4!!!  I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED! IT SEEMED SO EASY ONCE I WAS COMMITTED TO DOING IT, AND I KNEW WHAT TO DO EVERY DAY. I JUST FOLLOWED THE PLAN!!! 

Stay tuned for more on what I learned about Nutrition in following my meal plan....