Yesterday was day one of the 11 week training schedule I made to prepare for the North Face Endurance Half Marathon Trail Run. Originally on the schedule was my first day of Insanity and a 9pm soccer game, unfortunately due to the weather soccer was cancelled. To ease back into things, after a week off of working out, I went to yoga over lunch also. The Monday 12-1 teacher at my gym is normally pretty meh but yesterday that class was great. I actually got in a good sweat, which she has yet to accomplish until now!
After work I cleared out the living room and set up for Insanity. After Kayla’s post yesterday I decided to snap a photo pre work out in hopes I can see some change in 30 days. Insanity is intended to be done 6x a week and they have a 30 day challenge. Because of everything else going on in my life 6x a week just isn’t going to happen. I currently have it on my schedule for 2-3x a week and who knows, maybe I’ll do it more but for now this is fine. Day 1 with Insanity is a Fit Test. There are 8 moves that you do for 1 minute and you record the number of reps you were able to complete. You retest every 2 weeks I believe to track your progress. My roommate works from home on Mondays so she had the pleasure of watching me whine all the way through the video. It was exhausting and I am convinced the air in my apartment is beyond dry because my throat felt like it was on fire. Or perhaps it’s the radiation coming off my ghetto TV (which BTW will be replaced when my new roomie moves in in a few weeks, woah HD HERE I COME).
On the schedule today is a lifting session with the boy and I’m quite excited. I NEED to incorporate more weights into my routine to build up some muscle. Word on the street is muscle takes more fuel to maintain so I am hoping to cut some flub and add some muscle so my body can do its own thing and continue eating away at the junk in my trunk. I have no clue what he has planned but he has been pretty cruel lately at the gym so I am excited. I’m pretty sore from Insanity / yoga (she really worked us) but I should be fine. Besides if it was easy every one would do it : ) I like being in that special club of lady lifters.
On top of patiently waiting to start working out again I have been up to a little cooking. I know I have mentioned this before but I love making a large pot of something or another and then bringing it to work to eat all week for lunches. It is so easy and I get something warm in the middle of the day! No sandwiches for this gal. Originally I had planned on making a concoction I could throw over some mixed greens but I ended up with chili.
Pan Chili
1lb ground beef – I used 93%
1 medium green bell pepper
3 small carrots
6-8 white mushrooms
1 can chili tomatoes
1 can tomatoes with green chiles
Salt
Pepper
Taco Seasoning
Garlic
When it comes to using canned vegetables / tomatoes always check the labels! I will only buy cans that don’t have wonky ingredients. AKA I just want tomatoes and some spices, nothing else. The carrots in this turned out a little hard so I would suggest boiling them / throwing them in the microwave to soften up a little before getting going. Cut up all the vegetables and set aside. In a non stick pan add in the ground beef, using a wooden spoon break it up a bit and then add in the vegetables (not the canned goods). You won’t need any fat because the beef has it in it. For 1lb of beef you are supposed to use 1/4 a cup of taco seasoning. I put about half in at this point along with salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook until the meat is brown and all the vegetables are cooked. Add the two cans of tomatoes, the remaining taco seasoning, and cover with a lid. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes you have a basic quick chili! Oh and if you have cats they will be stalking you because they heard you use the can opener…
Speaking of furbabies Sasha was a real model in the car to and from the parental units house. She was born for the camera. On the way home (pics with pink blanket) she was super tired from playing with other dogs all weekend, she tried really hard to keep her eyes open and look alert but inevitably passed out hard snuggling with the door.
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Q: Have you ever tried Insanity?
Q: Do you go by the scale, measurements, or pictures to track progress?
Q: Chili: meat or vegetarian? Share a recipe if you have one!
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Categories: Half Marathon Training, Paleo Recipes
Snazzy Paleo Pancakes and Long Run Recap 
I Almost Thought Friday Would Never Come 
Long Run #1 & Sunday Crock Potting 
Tomato Face 
Food & Fitness 
Oh man I do Insanity and it definitely kills me. I don’t do it regularly either, I just use it to supplement my workout schedule but after doing it a bunch of different times I would say that while the warm up has gotten to be pretty easy, everything else is still hard haha I yell at the TV 🙂
I was so pathetic, I just kept yelling “WHY IS SHE SMILING” those peeps are crazy.
I did insanity for 3 weeks. Then I got sick and haven’t turned it on since. It’s a great winter workout when you’re stuck inside. Or in Missouri’s case… A good Spring workout since we just got 13 inches of snow!
Ah! I don’t like working out in my living room at all. I am so much happier in a gym or outside. Luckily my living room has one wall of windows that are to my balcony and a great view. So lots of sunshine still! And once it warms up the windows will be open too!
I dated a guy that did insanity all the time last year but I have never been able to get into it. I’m much more of a cardio queen but I know it’s supposed to give awesome results and a lot of people swear by it!
I’m with you, I really don’t enjoy work out videos, I am going to give it a whirl though to hopefully shake up my routine. I think it will make me enjoy all of my work outs more because I don’t do the same thing two days in a row!
I am also not a huge cardio lover but I love TurboFire. Insanity I will do if I HAVE to but TurboFire is way more fun for me!
I just started Insanity yesterday too. I’m going to stick with he 6x wk schedule and try not to quit this time……Healthy Journey!
Ah good luck!!! I bet you will see some crazy results, the fit test alone was rough ha, I think I’m in for a rude awakening on the next video!
Sasha is so so cute!
There’s a girl on Insanity named Tanya… I can’t stand her! She seriously kicks ass and it makes me want to kick HER ass! lol
Hm, I don’t know if she was the girl on the fit test or not. I like how the chick on the fit test basically smokes the guy though, lady power!
oh i am excited to see what you think about insanity! i love it! it seriously improved my running stamina and toned up my legs =)
Oh I like the sound of both of those things! I definitely carry my weight on my bottom half so anything to tighten and tone that up is fine by me!
I go by pictures! Although I use the scale as well. But pictures definitely give me a better sense of my progress than the scale. I can’t wait until my goal to share the transformation!
I am excited too!! I love when people push through and make it happen. I have been within 10 – 15lbs of where I want to be forever, I hope the pictures help and I can be a success story too!
Ummm you look great to begin with so I can’t wait to see your progress! I want to try insanity one day, when I’m more “maintaining” my running rather than building mileage.
Thank you : ) My stomach normally isn’t an issue, I’m not quite ballsy enough to take a super unflattering picture of my cellulite though haha. I am hoping to get a little more ab definition though and just slim out in general. There is definitely still room for improvement!
I haven’t ran in 10 days!!!! My first run is tomorrow and I’m really excited, I am doing the same and not killing myself on mileage for a little, sticking to what I know and just adding in some trails!
I officially broke up with my scale today. Simply because the number is something I am liking, but my body is changing!! I am loosing muscle for sure. And the number on the scale is helping me stay lazy because the number isn’t changing haha. SO NO MORE SCALE!! I want to do Insanity so bad! I love your living room set up haha. I can’t wait to see your progress!!
Wooo go you!! My scale can be a real bitch so sometime I’ll hop on my roommates and that one is always super nice to me. Just goes to show now all scales are made the same and not all numbers are made the same!!
I’m so excited to see how you change in your pictures! You should even keep track of how you feel during your runs to see if you start to feel more endurance. As your coach, I am here for you anytime you need it! My next challenge group is starting soon and I will add you to our group just so you can interact with more peeps if you want!
Oh lala how fun. Unless I am stuffing my face every night after dinner I should be able to show some sort of change! The amount and variation of exercise I’m doing is enough to shock the most stubborn chub cells into running away : ) (at least that is the goal)
Hahaha!
Best of luck in your new training! Sounds awesome and you definitely have a variety of training styles going on so that should certainly keep you guessing which is good! I always do progress pics. I don’t really focus on the scale or measurements because in my opinion no one ever see’s those. Progress photos give you that looking-eye self image. Keep crushing it!
I have taken a few “before” pictures but never afters! With my racing schedule this year I don’t have the opportunity to fall off the wagon so I for sure will have some afters! Thanks!
Way to go you! I’ve never tried insanity but I hear it is intense! Can’t wait to see how it goes!