Hey y'all!I gotta confess. I am sitting here with a small glass of white wine with frozen blueberries joyfully bobbing around while I stalk the election results as they come in.
I would be lying if I didn't say I have been STRESSED! My kryptonite of stress, anxiety, and depression has been rearing its ugly head but enough ia enough. I need to take a stand and fight for what is right. My health.
For the past 5 weeks I have been focused on Insanity MAX30 (yes, it has taken me 5 weeks to do the first 4 weeks) and I am loving the results I am seeing.
First, why 5 weeks?
The week of October 24th my family take a detour from our regularly scheduled life to visit O'ahu for two days while I spoke at a rally and shared my testimony on life issues. It was an amazing time but an emotional time. I took the week off of Insanity and focused on running and self-love and self-care in other ways of life. I have no regrets.I have been busting out my daily workouts in addition to my running goals and I beyond proud of the results. My weight is being maintained and since I am not looking to lose weight, but to gain strength and endurance, I am very, very happy.
Plus, I must confess, my eating wasn't 100% on target while we were on O'ahu and I may have had a few vegan Halloween treats (hey, it only comes once a year!) PLUS I have succumbed to some emotional eating with habanero black bean chips so staying at the same weight is a HUGE win.
Why am I telling you this?
Because I believe in honesty and seriously, if anyone is telling you they nail every single workout and always eat perfect I kinda want to scream and say, "Yeah, right!". We are all human and have the right to indulge. I am seriously teaching my daughter that too. Want a piece of candy? Okay. But in moderation and watch what you are doing. Balance that treat with plenty of amazing food choices and an active life style. No regrets. Life is too short to feel stressed over what we eat.
But back to Insanity. It really is insane! The workouts are intense but for everything there is a modifier. You want to push yourself but not kill yourself. Max out but not die...if that makes sense. Over the four weeks I saw a progression with me being able to go longer without maxing out and I managed to pull off a handful of workouts without maxing out at all. I also noticed I got better at the exercises in terms of form and speed and that is really cool. I did modify some and some I was able to move out of the modifier stage. Some, not so much. I would rather modify and go less intense to really nail the form and I discovered my hip flexors and hammies are weaknesses I need to continue to work out.
And I am stronger. Those 4 weeks have generated strength in me I never knew existed. I was always the 'knees on the ground push up type of gal' but now I can do them in amazing military form and can lift a leg. cross a leg, raise a leg, etc while pulling off push up's. I may not be going at the speed of lightening but I am going and ladies and gentlemen, that is success!
Y'all, this isn't just about a great body but finding strength in me that I never really believed existed and that strength is manifesting itself in so many more ways in life that make a bigger difference. That strength is helping me find my voice and more importantly, USE it. Y'all, that is PRICELESS to me. And being able to set this shining example for darling daughter, for her to see a mom that may want to break down and cry but finds the strength to keep pushing AND achieving great goals...that matters.
Are you ready to fight to the max?
I am! I have four more weeks of this program. Oh my! Where will that take me?
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for home workouts and amazing programs, and people, that make a difference.
Daily Bible Verse: “Therefore I tell you, do not worryabout your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they?D)" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendorwas dressed like one of these.If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.But seek first his kingdomand his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.J)">J)" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> J)">Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ Matthew 6:25-34
