Day 8

So day 5, I skipped the video. It was supposed to be pure cardio.... instead I went out dancing for 3 hours. REALLY dancing. So I think that counts. Also did a bunch of walking, some biking, and challenged an ex army guy to some drunken push ups/pull ups contest. lol. sometimes i get bored with "fake" workouts. I prefer real life. this is merely a tool for me to accomplish my real things

so. day 6, had little sleep the night before, had to work the afternoon shift, and hadn't been eating great, so i decided to skip workout this day. I thought it'd probably just do more harm than good the way i had been treating my body. i know the value of proper recovery and when to push it when to not.

day 7 - i was still taking it a bit easy. ate a bit better, got plenty of rest. decided i want to mix and match insanity with p90x. my concerns with insanity are that it's extremely cardio intensive - which is great for fat burning (i need maybe a little...i'm currently low in my body fat percentage, but i really wanna take it to an elite level...want the abs to really show, so i do need this a little bit and don't want to totally neglect the fat shaving) and losing weight (don't want) and aerobic endurance (which I could use a bit of)

so day 7, i was still a little low on the energy, but i didn't wanna slack off two days in a row, so i did the p90x chest and back routine, but only the first round. but that's still about 80% of the benefit of the workout, just half the time. apparently the second circuit only gives you 20% more out of it. I think something's better than nothing, it's important for me to just keep doing it, and if telling myself "ok, i'll only do half" is what gets me moving, then i'm ok with that once in a while. exceptions are ok on the weekends, according to my rules plan

today is day 8. i am a little tender in my pecs this morning. nothing much elsewhere, only little bits.
I took my resting heart rate this morning. sitting for a while...not right in the morning still in bed. 68. today: my goals are:
1)start keeping a food record
2)cook some meals for the upcoming week and keep them in the fridge. want to avoid eating crappy when i don't have the time or energy later. i've got off today, and plenty of time.
3)i will do the p90x plyometrics this afternoon, shortly. if it's not intense enough, i will do the insanity one instead.
4) i will do the ab ripper later on this evening. i prefer muscle intensive workouts in the evening - 6 or 7pm. but i will try to do cardio type ones earlier in the day to get more of the metabolism boosting benefits from them.

it's rainy today and cold. i ache to go on a long bike ride. i may try to plan one for this upcoming weekend, if the weather is amenable.

i've also played around with trying to actually keep track of my water intake. i think it's insufficient, but i'm not positive. i really want to work on counting/measuring it today, and getting the proper amount. i've pulled my jug out of the cabinets that i would normally use for kool aid or ice tea or whatever. it has ounces marked on it. my plan is to fill it up to 64 ounces every morning, and then pour my water out of it throughout the day, so i can know that i've gotten the proper amount.

have also decided not to buy bands or weights. i'm a big believer in not spending money. today i will see if i can't find suitable household items to match up to yesterday's exercises. (i.e. the perfect size can of soup to go with the back flys, etc) i'm not worried about big weights. reps are going to be more useful to me that bulk. i need actual real strength, not looks.

Insanity- Day 5 - Pure Cardio

   So I figured maybe creating a blog might be a wise idea to help me keep track of things. Plus, I've been reading some other people's blogs and have been finding them immensely useful. Unfortunately, I procrastinated on starting the paperwork (ie blog)/jumped right into the activity. My typical M.O. So we'll start right now, with day 5.  : D I'll bring us up to speed.
     Ok. I'm doing insanity because sometimes I'm really susceptible to advertising. This is why I HATE shopping. Once I start spending money, I just keep going. I've eliminated TV from my life completely. With the exception of last weekend I spent some time at my cousin's house and we were watching TV. And I saw the infomercial, and decided I must do this. Sold.
     I like the looks of the Insanity workout for a few reasons. First, I'm a big fan that you don't need any equipment. Because I don't have much, and I don't have money to spend. Also, if there's no gimmicks, it's a good indicator that it's a good solid workout. Old-fashioned - like actually WORKING. HAHA. Also, it seemed many of the moves were things I already incorporate into my own made-up workout program. I call mine an "army-style" workout. I do lots of push-ups, dips, crunches of all sorts, pull ups of all sorts, lunges and calf raises. My pull up bar is the over-the-door kind (as seen on tv - there's the consumer susceptibility again!) and that's basically the only equipment I have. I also have a set of light ankle weights that are sort of like sand bags that wrap around your ankle and velcro on. But I mostly use those for fore-arm curl, or holding them to add just a little extra weight for the calf raises or lunges. I also tend to do a good bit of dancing (goofy stuff for cardio and warm up, and sexy moves for abs and legs and butt) and hand stands as part of my workout. I know. I'm a weirdo, but it works for me.
      Things I'm not too keen on about the insanity workout... high impact. My knees worry me. I've had trouble with them before, and I don't have money for a fancy pair of sneakers quite yet this week.... So that'll have to wait, my crappy ones will have to do for now.  Also - cardio has never been my thing. I'm a cyclist, not a runner. I like to use my muscles, not my heart and lungs. If that makes sense.
     I've thought about doing p90x instead or maybe even also? But i'm doing insanity because 1)it downloaded first. 2)no equipment 3)quicker results 60 days vs 90 days.   But i'm still going to investigate this further. I might do a hybrid. I'm worried that Insanity is too cardio-intensive and neglected my muscle strength. We'll see.....
     So far, it's the morning of day 5. I don't plan on working out til later today. I'm a late afternoon, evening workout person. Which I hear is best anyhow as far as performance and gains go. I need to work on my eating. Went to the grocery store the day before yesterday, so now I should be set. Yesterday I ate terribly, but we're not gonna talk about that. I'm just proud of having no alcohol, seeing as it was st. patty's day, and everyone wanted me to come out last night. My biggest goals are:
1) Aim for no alcohol. Exceptions only if REALLY worth it. AND MODERATION ONLY
2) No waffles. Ok. That sounds odd. But I work at a coffee shop and our specialty is belgian sugar waffles....
3) Similarly, limited coffee. Never more than one coffee drink for a shift. Try to have most shifts without one. Replace with chocolate soy milk or green tea. Only have coffee when I really could use the caffeine/mood enhancement that day.
4)More "real" whole foods. Strive to eliminate processed foods.
 4.5) Shop from the produce section first, and buy most of my groceries there. Then bulk section. Allow myself to buy a junky snackfood, to reduce extra meals instead.
5)Eat many small meals.
6) Actually keep tabs on my water intake.
7) Food journal.

I think eating is going to be the hardest part for me to do right. That's discipline that I never developed. I've always been a fat girl in a skinny girl's body, so I never had to worry about it. But I do enjoy all I've been learning about "healthy" eating and I'm getting the hang of cooking, and have started to really enjoy my explorations with it.

Day 5 - Have noticed clearer skin. Maybe I'm just taking better care - getting sweatier more often means washing face more often?
Bit sore after yesterday's "recovery"... probably the most yet. Weird. Mostly in hip, butt and obliques. Some in back of shoulders. But its all the good kind of soreness, not the bad. So far my knees and ankles are ok. I need to start really focusing on my form more though to get more out of it all, rather than pacing.

Also, started taking a multivitamin yesterday. Had NEON YELLOW PISS. hahahahhahahahhaa
 Think I'm just gonna take half of one everyday instead.

That's it for now. More later.