Insanity Week #2 Days 1 & 2

This is definitely the face that I often have during any of the excruciating moves in Insanity or while doing Pilates. I don't do this in public though, haha. Don't want to scare people.

So, yesterday. I'll do a quick run-down.

Day 1: Cardio Power & Resistance
Can't remember if there was anything specific I wanted to say about this particular workout. I do notice that there were quite a few arm workouts (tricep dips, anyone?), so afterwards I figured I'd do an arm-focused pilates workout. Love working my arms. My arms have seen definite improvement since I've started, which boosts my confidence in wearing arm-baring outfits.

Oh, and I did not feel a crazy amount of soreness in my thighs/glutes yesterday. Felt it, yes, but not in a crazy amount of pain, which made my workouts so much more bearable.

~16 min

I actually haven't done her Victoria's Secret Series much. I tend to veer towards the Bikini Blaster series and I'm really enjoying the HIITilates. I do like this workout though. It's nice to mix it up. I think I did "Awesomesauce Arms" a little too often and this definitely threw some new moves in.

Food:

Breakfast: Overnight crock-pot steel-cut oats (see link to recipe in the post from yesterday). So, funny story. I asked someone if they could put mine in a bowl w/some almond milk and drizzle a small amount of raw honey on it. They poured honey on it. Edible still, but not as healthy. And I couldn't finish it. But I had it today and it was great. Sans honey. I topped it with raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and almond milk.

Lunch: Eggs benedict, I believe. Prepared in the same manner as all the other days. I looove it. 

Snack: Juiced carrots mixed with green smoothie (same as days before).

Dinner: Someone dropped off steaks as a present, haha. So, yeah. I'm not much of a red-meat eater, but I like it occasionally. I had a small steak with one roasted beet, one baked sweet potato and ~15 green beans? Yum. Baked the sweet potato in foil for ~45 minutes @425 and the beets ~1 hour @425 F. The green beans were baked for ~15 minutes @350 F with some assorted spices.

If you have a sweet tooth like me (major sweet tooth)... roasted beets and sweet potatoes are lifesavers (if you like them). I've come a long way the past couple of years. I used to have a gigantic mason jar filled with refined sugar in my dorm and use it up within the school year. Now, I rarely add refined sugars to anything and watch my refined sugar intake (if I do add any sweetener, I now prefer Stevia). 

I am also limiting my sweetener intake though, as well. Though Stevia is all-natural (and, honestly, in my opinion, it tastes better than Splenda, which can leave a weird aftertaste), long-term effects are still not entirely known. Also, I don't know if this goes for natural sweeteners (I'm thinking probably), but sweeteners can increase your sweet cravings (much like sugar). I used to put Stevia in all of my teas (I drink a lot of teas). Now I only put it in Chai if I'm having it (1-2 times a week) and 1TB in my morning coffee. Progress. :)

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Day 2: Pure Cardio

In the words of Shaun T: "This sh** is BANANAS yo!" haha.

Felt more exhausted today, but still pushed through. And you know what? I felt amazing afterwards.

Followed with abs, since I haven't focused on those in a few days.

~14 minutes

I also started to do her "Flatter My Abs," but I couldn't push through. I was too exhausted to keep my legs elevated for any of the moves, so I figured it was my body's way of telling me I had enough.

I haven't done this video in a while. And dang. Cassey looks different. It's because this was filmed right after her bikini competition, so that was the most svelte I've seen her. She's still super-fit. As her instructor told her, "you can't keep your bikini body all year." 

Balance. I also noticed that my body was more fit in the warmer months, since I was more active (and not sick all the time). Winter I've softened up a tad. But I'm kicking it into gear. :)

Food:

Breakfast: Overnight Crock-Pot Blueberry Steelcut Oats w/pepitas and almond milk.

Lunch: Eggs Benedict with leftover roasted green beans.

Snack: 1 scoop of Trader Joe's Very Green Supplement, 1 scoop of Muscle Milk Light Protein Powder, unsweetened coconut milk, filtered water and 2 TB of Tart Cherry Juice blended. Following workout.

Snack 2: *ahem* Not healthy. Documenting all the goods and bads. 80/20 (80% clean foods/20% cheat foods), right? I actually try to eat healthfully, but it's good to have "food for your soul" every once in a while. Here goes: 1/2 c of Butter Pecan Ice Cream. Mmmm. Soooo good. I had to measure, because icecream is my kryptonite. I don't keep it in the house. Had dinner with my mom and she picked it up as a treat though, haha. At least she didn't pick up cookie dough. Or we'd be in real trouble. ;)

Dinner: Mom treated me to a Korean chicken soup. Basically, she removed the skin and fat off a whole chicken, cut it, boiled it with garlic/spices until the chicken was tender and the broth had formed. We usually top it on top of white rice, but I'm trying to avoid white rice... and I didn't bother making brown rice today. So, I topped it on top of spinach. Really delicious. Barely tasted the spinach (but I love spinach, so... it wouldn't have mattered). Also, topped it with a bunch of green onion. Might try adding in quinoa in next time. If I remember to make it. One of my favorites, though I feel it was a bit salty this time - wondering how much salt she put in. She thinks I'm crazy though, haha. She had to add extra to hers. I don't eat a lot of salt, so I just might be sensitive to any amount more than a sprinkle.

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So yeah, that's basically yesterday and today for you. I'm going to try to get in the best shape that I can before my friend's wedding in June. The dress is sleeveless. I want to tone up my arms a bit more before the wedding.

Stay warm and healthy,

Marie