Insanity - Week 9: My Insanity Graduation (Part II)

In case you missed any of my Insanity posts (although how could you miss all that?... ha ha), here they are:

Phase I
Week 1 - Secret Insanity
Week 2 - Can't Stick to Any Diet
Week 3 - How Hard is It?
Week 4 - Running versus Insanity

Recovery Week
Week 5 - Tough Month Ahead

Phase II
Week 6 - I was Lazy Before
Week 7 - How Long Should One Exercise?
Week 8 - Taking it on the Road
Week 9 - My Insanity Graduation (Part I) and (Part II, this post)

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All Sorts of Results

Here are the results of my final Fit Test alongside the others.  I really smashed it on the last Fit Test, probably because of a hard hotel room floor that I had to use because I was away.  If I ever do this program in its entirety again, I need to hide this table from myself, because I would have a "PR" mentality (e.g., the world sucks when I don't beat my old time) when it came time for these, which isn't exactly how I want to approach these exercises.

	Fit Test 1	Fit Test 2	Fit Test 3	Fit Test 4	Fit Test 5
Switch Kicks (2 sides=1 rep)	58.5	53.5	60	56.5	60.5
Power Jacks	59	61	64	69	75
Power Knees	76	92	92	102	113
Power Jumps	29	33	35	36	60
Globe Jumps	10	12	13	13	13.25
Suicide Jumps	20	23	24	24	25
Push-Up Jacks	26	33	36	39	44
Low Plank Oblique (2 sides=1 rep)	37	43	43	52.5	54.5

Weight change: Zero.  Maybe even less than zero.  I fluctuated a pound or two throughout but am pretty conclusively at the same weight as when I started.  Is this a cause for dismay?  No -- during my Insanity plight, I was able to wear jeans, bathing suits, and even sleeveless things (side note: I normally hate my arms since they tend to store fat first, and it doesn't help that my shoulders slope down and cause my arms to lay closer to my body = accentuate flab) without worrying about undesired body mass poking out -- this is not typical.  My clothing size stayed the same, but right now, that same size looks a lot better on me.

Inches lost: Consistently, 1"... at the smallest part of my waist, but I think I lost mostly from my lower gut, which was not measured... booo.  My abs are generally not bad and can get definition pretty quickly, but I have never seen them flatten down that much, which means that the supposedly "deep, bad fat" must have decreased.  My arms and legs generally stayed the same but are definitely a lot more toned and definitely contain less fat.  Overall, I feel a lot more... solid?   Body composition changes rule.

Here is where I am going to insert a couple of pictures.  While they aren't good pictures (and are totally and utterly embarrassing... but since there's gotta be some proof...), they are all I have.  Why I chose these Speedo-type suits that hold everything in anyway is beyond me.

Day 23 vs. 43... the angling of the photos are slightly off and there's a dark object behind me in the "after" shot.  I usually took these shots after dinner (and nothing seems quite right after eating or drinking of any kind)... so see below.

Day 56... not sucking it in at all for these.  No before picture, either.  I know, I blow.

A Note on Body Image: While I didn't get ripped (and I didn't expect to!), and while I'll never be "skinny" to some people's standards, I'm happy about doing this program.  Recently, while watching the infomercial, Shaun T says that people often see pictures of people and think, "Oh, I want to look like them."  But everyone's body is different, and so we should aim to be the best we (as individuals) can be.  Your wisdom is infinite, Mr. Buff Man.


Before this program, I thought things like Bob Harper's Ultimate Cardio Body and any plyometrics (exercises involving jumping) at all were scary and too taxing.  I even groaned when Jillian Michaels put in "rock star jumps" into her 30-Day Shred.  Before this program, I felt that starting out another cardio burst when I was still reeling from the last one was insane.  Before this program, I thought that if I ever had to give up running completely, there'd be nothing else I could do to stay in good shape.  Before this program, I didn't think I could do it.

In Part I of this update, I vaguely mentioned future plans -- more specifically, those plans are to do a combined P90X and Insanity program starting around August 6, and the reason for that is because it marks the 90-day (plus two weeks) countdown to the wedding.   I got P90X for "The Ukrainian" for his birthday, but since he's still chipping away at Insanity, I decided to try some of the workouts to see what all that hype is about, and I don't think the P90X program in its original form will address my need for cardio enough.  Doing the mix will be a bit more balanced for me, since I didn't lift a single weight in the two months I did Insanity.  There are a lot of ways to mix the two programs, so I don't have the particular schedule set yet.  More to come, though I don't think I will do weekly updates on that one.

On the note of the countdown, I am tired of people asking me if I'm trying to lose weight or diet before the wedding, because I really just want to do what I can... just because I can... and when I can.  And based on my embarrassing photos above (and sprinkled around this blog), I don't care if people think I'm not as pretty or skinny as they think I should be, even when I'm supposed to be "the bride."  I don't need these programs to fit into my dress or anything, because I already bought/fit into it long before I started Insanity (plus, it's a little forgiving on the fit front).  However, I decided to do it in this timing because it will give me some sort of structure as the stressful last-minute details come... and also, I am hoping to take a small break from structured workouts leading up to, and after, the "big day"-- so I want to push myself a little before that.  In the end, I think this Beachbody DVD stuff all stemmed from being bored with running and needing structure.

In the meantime, I hope to maintain my newfound fitness and plan on running more in the interim.  The week after I finished, I ran five days in a row.  This is something I haven't done in more than a year, and although I didn't love it and miss running, it did feel good to do something different.  I was glad I was able to jump right back into running but only time will tell what I lost by not doing it.  As I mentioned, I don't think I remember feeling in this good of shape ever... I feel balanced.  So before I start a program again, I have a half-marathon next month and hope to actually train for that, whatever that means.

I hope you have enjoyed these updates.  I know I did a lot of Google-ing when I was considering the program, so I know these first-hand accounts can be useful to those in the market.  I'm not an infomercial story, just a regular person who wanted to try something new.  The bottom line is, I now have a nice set of fun and challenging workouts that can help keep me fit in the years to come.

P.S. "The Ukrainian" is starting Phase II of the program this week, so I will update you on his results at another time.  So far, he's creeping up on me in some of the Fit Test numbers. =)