MakingMine

I went to work this morning for my 6:30am shift and found out it got cut….. and nobody bothered to tell me! Ahhhhh! What I wouldn’t have done to be back in my warm, snuggly bed. But alas, I was on the opposite side of the city with a full gym bag. I sucked it up and went to the gym. So happy I did - I got rid of my frustrations and checked exercise off my list for the day.

On a side note, has anybody else tried the Kashi Berry Blossoms? They are AMAZING! Mixed in with some yogurt - SO GOOD! They were on sale last night at Sendik’s, so J and I decided to give them a try. I love finding healthy foods that don’t taste like cardboard ;)

I gave Insanity a try last fall and made it through less than half of the program. I’m currently doing Brazil Butt Lift and absolutely loving it. I’ve proven to myself that I can stick with a program, so what went wrong with Insanity?

Sure, Insanity is much harder than BBL, but I think there are several important factors that contributed to my failure:

1. I didn’t take personal responsibility for the program

• J and I tackled Insanity together. And by together, I mean that I rode J’s coattails. He set up the calendar, made the charts, and tracked our measurements. I followed. While having a “workout buddy” was definitely nice, I didn’t take responsibility for myself. If J woke up at 4:00am to complete Insanity, I was on my own and a little lost for my portion. I didn’t have a clear picture of what was ahead, so every single day was incredibly daunting. 

2. I waited until the very end of the day to complete the exercises

• I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. I dreaded marching my butt down to the basement to do Insanity, so I would put it off from the time I woke up until 9:00 or 10:00 at night. I set myself calendar reminders throughout the day to tell myself to go do it, but I knew they were arbitrary so they were easy to ignore. I would fall asleep exhausted and wake up with muscles so incredibly tight I could hardly get out of bed. 

3. I tried to take on too much at once

• When I decided to tackle Insanity, I also decided to would be a great time to start running again. I added an hour on the treadmill to my exercise regimen most days, leaving very little endurance for Insanity.

4. I didn’t fuel my body properly

• I totally revamped my diet around the same time. While this should have been a good thing (think: no soda, no sweets, more veggies, lean meats), I under-fueled my body. I increased the quality of my meals (GOOD) but also dramatically decreased the quantity (BAD). With little power, my body literally rejected the Insanity program. I also did not take water intake seriously at all - total dehydration.

5. I didn’t set any incremental goals

• This point goes back to the first. I didn’t have a clear idea of what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to complete Insanity. But that goal in itself was not enough to motivate me to keep pushing forward. I needed to break down the 60 day program and set some tangible goals for myself to meet. Looking back, this would have been very simple. There is a fitness test conducted throughout the program - how about setting goals for improvement at each of these checkpoints?

I really want to try Insanity again. I have a better grasp on where I went wrong last fall and I think I can be successful by course correcting these areas. I think point #1 is key - something that has made BBL totally different and a mistake I’ll never make again. We’ll see how the next couple of months go and I’ll possibly start again in May! I hope this info helps anybody who is struggling with getting through a fitness program! 

Brazil Butt Lift is still going well. I’ve officially done all of the videos at least once. It’s a good feeling to know that I can get through anything they throw at me. I think Sculpt and Tummy Tuck are probably the worst to get through (for obvious reasons). My abs are on fire by the time TT is over and Sculpt really makes me aware of how little upper body strength I have. 

Today is exactly the same as yesterday - High and Tight and Tummy Tuck. I’m waiting for my ankle weights to arrive from Amazon before I do today’s workout. I think I’m ready to bump up the intensity on High and Tight - we’ll see how it goes! I didn’t end up ordering the ‘booty band’ that’s also supposed to be used with H&T because everything I read said that they just break anyways. Not worth it.

I haven’t ran in a few days, so I’m also going to go to the gym to do an hour of cardio! I have my first class orientation at Mt. Mary this evening! I’m really looking forward to seeing what this semester has in store for me! Hope everybody is having a great Wednesday! 

Holy smokes - we went to Maggiano’s last night for dinner and it was amazing (as always). I am a sucker for all things carbs - bread, pasta, bread, bread, bread (you get the picture). We had a gift card and they had a great ‘date night’ deal that we just couldn’t pass up. I ended up practically eating a week’s worth of calories in 1 sitting. When I got home and entered my meal into My Fitness Pal, it kindly told me that if were to eat like this every day, I would gain 20 pounds in 5 weeks. WHAT?! How’s that for a rude awakening?

Now we have a refrigerator full of leftovers that I’m too scared to touch (grant me the strength to steer clear). After this post I’m headed to the gym for a nice, long run before tackling BBL for the day. I have some serious work to do :)

Today is my 4th day of Brazil Butt Lift. I’m no longer painfully sore (yay!) and I’m getting better at the moves (double yay!). Yesterday was a repeat of Bum Bum - I definitely got more out of this workout than I did the first time. I knew how to do to moves, so I was able to concentrate on form and pace.

Today I’ll be doing Cardio Axe and High and Tight. I did Cardio Axe on Wednesday and really liked it. It definitely gets my heart rate up and the sequences are fun. This is a huge bonus because when I’m having fun, I don’t concentrate on the relative *pain* of the moment. High and Tight will be new for me - excited to see what it’s all about! (And a bit relieved that I don’t have to do Tummy Tuck again until next Tuesday - ouch!)

I didn’t make it to the gym yesterday. I’m contemplating whether I should run today along with the 2 videos - don’t want to burn out but I also don’t think I’m getting enough out of BBL alone.

Anybody else doing BBL? How is it going so far?

Anybody out there using My Fitness Pal? 

Friend me (jro64217) and we can hold each other accountable! It’s a win-win!

…is now spelt B-B-L. Seriously. My first day of Brazil Butt Lift worked muscles that I never knew existed. An 80 year old lady at the grocery store beat me out of the car. Today it’s Cardio Axe and Tummy Tuck! I’ll need to do some stretching before I even try conquering BBL this afternoon. Wish me luck!