Insanity Max 30 – Week 3 Review

Week 3 was a true test of how committed to the program I was. Staying on track during the holiday was tricky. I ended up surprising myself though. I did much better than I would have guessed.

I can happily report that the workouts were on track every single day except I did take off Christmas Day. I was itching to workout but all the traveling and visiting just didn’t permit it that day. I made up for it that Saturday. I took Sunday off and will pick back up tomorrow to kick off week 4. I cannot believe that I will be half way thru the program already.

The workouts were tricky to get done while we traveled because I had to do them in spaces that were smaller than I was used to. 

Did this workout in my moms breezeway area! Talk about a tricky space for this! 

Also had to do them on carpet and I prefer a hard surface to that but I made it work anyways. My “max out” times are getting better each week and I am starting to be able to endure all 10 minutes of the ab workouts. I am also starting to get stronger abs each week. Slowly melting away the momma belly. My upper abs were good, but those low abs are tricky to tone up. They seem to be the last thing to change.

Nutrition was off last week. Between hosting the holiday party, attending the parties and staying away I was not as focused as I could have been. Some of it was lack of packing and planning but quite honestly I just felt like taking some time off from being so strict. I skipped out on holiday sweets and splurged on a slice of chocolate cake at Olive Garden. I was better at avoiding sweets than I was salty foods. I will pick that over sweets any day. My mom makes homemade Chex Mix for the holidays and I had WAY too much of it. Trying to flush my system with lots of water now from all of those snacks and ham from Christmas. I need to buckle down this coming month because I know that this program will only work if I commit 100% and that means staying on track with my nutrition and getting the workouts in.

Breakfast while home visiting relatives. Can't go wrong with eggs or apples.

"Stronger each day."

Christmas brought with it some fun new fitness gifts! My family members are so supportive of my new lifestyle and got me lots of workout outfits and fitness accessories. My favorite is my new heart rate monitor! I had wanted one for ages! I swear getting new workout gear makes you want to workout even more!

I do have some bad news this week.  My husband had completely fallen off the wagon AGAIN! You would think that it would be easy to keep him on track but out of all my challengers he is my biggest struggle. He says he is starting over again on Monday but only time will tell. I will keep you posted on that one!

If You Want To Test Your Will Power... Try A Cleanse

3 Day Shakeology Cleanse Recap 

Well all I can say is that was really, really hard. My willpower was truly tested over the course of the last 3 days. I had gotten off track with my nutrition during the last few weeks. My extra snacking was becoming more often, I was hitting the drive- thru at Starbucks a few times a week. Basically, I was starting to slip a little from my typical disciplined habits into my old ways that I had worked so hard to change. I knew I needed to take some time and focus back on the foods I am fueling my body with. I had done the Shakeology Cleanse in the spring and found results so I decided I was going to go for it again. I planned to start on a Sunday and end on a Tuesday. I found that hands down this is much easier to do if you are working, extremely busy or distracted. I was feeling doomed when I was home and the pantry was tempting me. My advice – keep yourself away from food as much as you can unless you want to be miserable.

Here is how I went about it:

7:00 am - Breakfast: Shakeology with banana in it

9:00 am – 8 oz of green tea and an apple

11:00 am – Shakeology

2:20 – Shakeology

5:30 - Large salad (3 cups of greens and 1 grilled chicken breast cut up) Non – diary dressing

8:00 pm – 8 oz of green tea

In addition to this I drank 60+ ounces of water each day. You would want to strive to drink half your weight in ounces plus some!

You would repeat this each day for 3 days.  I still worked out each day while doing it. I made sure to get it in early in the morning so I had the energy for it. I felt fatigued by the end of each day. Here are some recaps from the journey.

Sunday

I think Sunday was the easiest day for me. I did some aerobic activity that morning and spent most of the day traveling for a few hours in the car. I had my green tea and apple in the car. That afternoon I went to a party at a friend’s house and struggled a bit to not want to eat the healthy snacks she had. Went for an iced green tea and held strong. My salad never tasted so great! It felt good to eat by dinnertime!

Monday

Started Monday morning off with 30 minutes of cardio from the 21 day fix. It really got me hungry right away. My shakes were able to ward of the hunger pains for the most part that day. I about cracked twice at work. 2 different groups that I was working with had pizza delivered in. It felt painful turning it down, but I didn’t cave. After dinner that night I broke and had 12 pita chips (yes I know it’s only 12 but it was still a cheat). Green tea was my saving grace that night. I was kind of grumpy by the end of the day. Knowing you still had one more day to go was a bit discouraging, but I was determined to finish what I started and make it happen the next day.

Tuesday

The scale was showing a 2 lb loss so far. I was hoping for more right away, but I need to remember that I am thin to begin with and it takes a ton of work for me to lose any weight because I am mostly all muscle now. My body fat percentage how really dropped since I started this journey seven months ago. Tuesday felt better during the day. My body was starting to get used to it. I decided that being able to complete a cleanse is simply a mind game, a hard one at that. Tuesday night I was not able to wait until 5:30 for dinner because I had missed my afternoon shake at work so I came home ready to chew my arm right off! Talk about being ready for dinner! After I ate my salad I waited two hours and had my 9^th and final shake.

"You wouldn't know it but this picture was taken at 4:30 am after only getting 4 hrs of sleep, being hunrgy and havng a million excuses. BUT I pushed play anyways and rocked day 3 even when I didn't feel like it anymore."

Wednesday Morning

It felt good to wake up and know the I was having oatmeal for breakfast today! When I got on the scale I had lost a total of 4 lbs during the time. Not a huge deal, but I do feel lighter and my stomach looks a lot less bloated. Plus I am focused again on my nutrition! 

It felt good to be able to say I did it. It also felt good to be able to cut out my sugar, salt and carb cravings. It was also nice to have the support of my challengers in my challenge groups. Not only did they help hold me accountable but also checked in on me at work and at home. It was nice to have the support!

If you would like to learn more about the cleanse, please send me an email: S.Griffith27@gmail.com I would be happy to talk with you about your goals and plans for the cleanse and well as help get you started.