Insane Insanity: My Initial Thoughts and then some….

Looks like I have some catching up to do.  

Yesterday was go go go and when we got home, I didn't do a thing expect change into my PJ's and crawl into bed.  

Let's review…

Yesterday morning marked my first day in a new workout challenge.  If you saw my last post, you may know that I've started the Insanity Workouts by Shawn T.  

I've been wanting to try Insanity for months and I do realize that this workout craze is so last year, but I seem to jump on the bandwagon a day late quite often. 

Okay, let me first start this review by saying I really had no idea of what to expect.  I've never seen/done a P90x workout, I didn't do much reviews on the Insanity but I did know that they were both highly reviewed for being extremely difficult.  I did get the chance to meet Shawn T at my AAAI/ISMA World Fitness Conference last October and feel in love!  I figured at the very least, watching him shirtless for 30 min a day would be convincing enough. ;) 

So far, I've completed the Fit Test and Cardio Workout 1.  The Fit Test is a series of 8 high intensity moves that you complete for one minute and the goal is to see how many you can complete in that minute.  The moves themselves weren't crazy hard and I did a good job and getting more or keeping up right with the actors stats so I figured that put me in a good stance.  But I won't lie, it was hard!!!  

One my of biggest pet peeves about workout dvd's is when they claim to be challenging but then they turn out to be a waste of time.  I think that is why I stick with the ones I am comfortable with and the ones I know I will break a sweat, but this is now backfiring because my body is getting too accustomed to these moves.  

Today, I did the Cardio Plyometric Workout.  The first 10 min, Shawn has you complete the warm up 3 times, but each time, you go harder and faster.  I was out of breath and so ready for a break after that which was given.  The next segment, Shawn has you do 7 min of stretching.  I did think this was a bit long because it brought my HR down for a little too long before going right into the next heart pumping circuit.  Other than the long stretch break, I was very impressed with this 40 min workout.  It's all what you put into it and sometimes, going balls to the wall for 30 min will be just as effective as putting in 2 hours at the gym.  I definitely appreciate Insanity workouts for this reason.  It's an effective workout you can do at home in little time. 

After my insane workout, I refueled with a big bowl of Chocolate Covered Strawberry Overnight Oats. 

I haven't made overnight oats in a long time because I usually don't care for them on cold mornings, but these are too good to neglect even in January.

I had some errands to run over lunch and didn't even think to bring anything because I wasn't sure if I would be having a lunch meeting.  The lunch meeting got cancelled so I came up with plan B.

Cafe Magnolia Veggie Wrap

 I dream about this wrap.  Black Bean Hummus, Avocado, Roasted Corn and Tomato Pico De Galo in a whole wheat wrap.  What I love most is that they do not skimp on the hummus.  It oozed out in all it's glory which is exactly how I prefer my veggie wraps.

 I love the side of fruit they serve with their sandwiches.  I'm not sure what makes it so good, perhaps the mandarin oranges?

After work, I headed to the gym for a quick run, then came home to change.  We had plans to meet my good friend and her new hubby for dinner.

 Dana and I go way back but over the past few years, we've lost our strong connection.  She moved down south for a few years and just this past year, came back home to get married.  We caught up over the summer and I realized how much I missed having her in my life.  After she got married, she moved to Kansas City with her hubby for a few months.  They were back in town for a few weeks so she called me to see if we could get together.

 The newlyweds!  You may recognize her man.  He is a fullback for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is why they live in Missouri.

We spent hours over wine, sushi and catching up.  It was great to see her again and we made plans to get together again on her next trip home.


This morning, after Insanity, I grabbed breakfast.

 Oats with frozen berries, vanilla yogurt, granola 

I forgot how good Trader Joe's frozen berries were.

I had a meeting before lunch that was close to home, so afterwards, I ran home to heat up something warm.

When I first opened the can, I thought this had meat in it.  I had to double check the label which is when I saw that it had tofu.  Such a nice little surprise.

Toasted up some pumpkin cornbread croutons, added avocado and a dollop of greek yogurt.

 Served with a side plate of carrots and hummus and grapes.  I couldn't bare to throw away the last little hunk of cornbread so I placed it on the plate, but turns out I was way too stuffed to eat it.

After work, I hit the gym for a quick 5 miler and then came home and put together a hodge podge dinner.

Meatless Chicken Fingers, TJ's Thai Veggie Dumpings, Roasted Broccoli 

I was craving all of these things so I figured whats the harm in having them all? 

Now we're catching up on American Idol.  Looks like a good season!