Hi Everyone,

Let me start this post by making it clear that I won't hide the fact that I adore Shaun T, and that this is basically a novella of a post.  I'm psyched to be participating in this DietBet.  I had no plans on doing a second game, and then he announced his bet and I was pretty much like "WELP here I go again!"  I listen to his podcasts, check his Facebook daily (seriously, it's almost a problem), laugh at ALL of the Shaun T/Insanity memes and hilarious images out there on the Internet, etc.

ANYWAY I was first introduced to Shaun T in 2012 when I was living in Tampa.  My neighbors invited me over to do a fit test and start the program for me.  I still remember their laughter when I'd burst out cursing during the first fit test.  We did the program on and off for a couple weeks before our efforts fizzled.  I tried to restart the program twice over the course of the two years that I was living in Wisconsin.  Both rounds ended with my putting off workouts til the next day, skipping a day here and there, and lack of commitment to the program.

I am SO EXCITED to say that today I FINISHED THE INSANITY PROGRAM!  It wasn't glamorous, but it was awesome.  I didn't miss a single day.  Granted, sometimes I did the workouts at 10 at night (those nights were usually pretty full of curse words), but I didn't miss a single day, and my fit test scores always improved.

Results

Over the course of the nine weeks, I completed five fit tests.  I've graphed the results and included an image below, but I want to provide some highlights.

  • For each of the eight exercises, my repititions increased every week.
  • My greatest improvement (percentage) was in the Power Jump exercise, which I increased by 97%.  Ninety-Seven. Freaking. Percent.
  • My greatest repetition improvement was in Power Knees; I increased by 49 reps from 65 to 114.
  • The results of the second fit test yielded the highest average percentage increase of all exercises; the average improvement of that fit test was 26% (compared to 16%, 16%, and 5% for the third through the fith tests).  This means my performance spiked at the time of the second fit test, and while I performed better with each test, my improvements were never as high as with the second test.

 

These results make me proud.  I worked hard for these improvements, and I love seeing all of my data filled out.

So on to some of the other items.  How much weight did I lose?  How did my measurements change? 

Well, to be honest, I didn't lose any weight.  I don't know the science behind fat and muscle conversion, so I'm not going to claim that my fat magically transformed into muscle (Holga, my affectionate title for my gut, has not disappeared).  I did not make any commitment to cleaning up my eating throughout this program, and it shows.  The fact is that you're not going to exercise away three pieces of pizza and two bowls of ice cream.  If you want to display the muscles that your exercises build, you need to get control of your diet and change it for the better.  That's not a task that I prioritized while completing this round of Insanity.

As for measurements, I didn't take any.  I know I should have, but I didn't.

Takeaways

My main question for myself is "Why was I able to finish the program this time?"  There are many contributing factors to the answer to this question.  All of them boil down to the fact that I was not willing to commit myself to the program before.  I enabled a lifestyle in which it was okay to find excuses for not exercising.  Do any of these sound familiar to you?

  • I had a hard day at work; I'm too tired to work out. 
  • I am sad today, I just want to lie in bed and eat my feelings. 
  • I could work out, or I could binge on Netflix with my husband.

With this most recent round of Insanity, I had a lot going on.  It's true that my work schedule is a little more relaxed, and that working from home gives me back two more hours of my day, but I have been extraordinarily busy with my fixer-upper house, huge yard filled with the leaves of nearly 40 mature oak trees, keeping a pool clean, planning and making dinner, and in general just keeping my life together.  I am tired every night, and I very frequently did not want to do the workouts.

I started Insanity on February 9th, which is...just nuts... because I moved into my house on February 6th.  We had a lot going on.  We still do.  But in the beginning, we didn't have a single room of the house in a liveable state.  I would go on to remodel the living room and both bedrooms while completing the workout program.  I was stressed.  I was so incredibly stressed from the house, from the huge life changes that come with moving, and while I'm not sure it was stress, there was an additional component of sad, desperate confusion while I grieved (and continue to grieve) my young cousin's death.  There were so many negative things going on that it would have been laughably easy to make excuses. 

I needed structure, and Shaun T provided it.  And I honestly think that is why I was able to get through the program - because my life has been one chaotic mess lately, and he gave me a weekly plan to follow and all the tools to do so.  I didn't use my sources of negative energies as excuses for avoiding a workout; I used them as reasons to seek out the workouts.  It was a matter of changing my perspective on the challenges that life provided.  Those challenges became opportunities.

What's Next?

Well I am taking this week off of Shaun T exercises.  I have so much yard work to do.  I cannot explain.  I'll take pictures, and later you may understand.  So this week I will be working on my house, and I'll do light exercises like 5Ks and bike rides.  Next week I am starting up Insanity Max: 30.  My goal to complete the program without missing a day is obvious, so this time I am adding on the goal of cleaning up my diet.  I am excited to see the physical results of doing so.  I will also take before and after measurements, so that I can report on more data after I am done.

 

 

PHEW that was a lot of typing!  Do any of you have Insanity (or Max: 30, T25, Asylum, etc) results you'd like to share?  What about non Shaun T programs?  What are the challenges that you are trying to turn into opportunities?