So tomorrow marks days one of Insanity month two. I have to say the hardest part about fitness is really the diet. It only takes two weeks to successfully develop a habit, and insanity takes the guess work out of workouts. I used to do Bodyrock (which still can be useful, but since Zuzana left, they are on a much more sexually charged path--they also have a ton of ads everywhere now that can slow down the initial page load). I have a ton of their workouts that I really enjoyed on my pinterest, along with other various workouts I found along the way. The most common problem I'd run into was boredom and lack of time. I didn't have the time to really scour the internet for the best at-home no-equipment (or limited equipment) workouts. I also got bored very quickly with my pinterest workouts as you can only do a workout so many times before you want to gag.
I finally buckled and got Insanity (off craigslist, because $145 was a bit much for me to handle at the time) and I haven't looked back since. Nothing has honestly ever compared to the burn, sweat, and results. The thing I love about insanity is it very rarely is a set number (do 20 squats, 30 lunges, etc); it's a program where you get out what you put in. If you half ass it, your results will reveal just that.
Which brings me back to diet. I feel about diet the same way I feel about Insanity--you get out of it what you put in. Let's say you ran 3 miles at a nine minute mile pace. You feel great, you got your sweat in--at the moment a lot of people begin planning a "treat": beers and wings at the bar, cheese cake for dessert, chips and soda--whatever their comfort food is really. But this is highly counterproductive. For me, a 3 mile run at a 9 minute mile pace burns about 300 calories--guess what has way more than those 300 calories just burned? All that junk I listed above.
Now this isn't to say a person can't enjoy those things from time to time. Once you figure out your BRM and how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, you can subtract 500 calories from that to lose 1 lb per week or 1000 calories from that to burn 2 lb a week. Knowing your calorie intake and knowing the calories of any given restaurant's menu (almost always available on line or by request) will help you still enjoy the things you like to eat without breaking the calorie bank.
While on the subject of calorie counting, don't ignore the rest of the nutrition label. That Taco Bell chicken quesadilla has 520 calories (a reasonable amount of calories for dinner), but wait it also has 12 grams of saturated fat, 28 grams of total fat, .5 grams of trans fat and 1210mg of sodium. Of all the fats, trans is the worst and takes the longest to burn away (it also can do serious damage to your health if you eat it all the time). Excessive sodium can also cause all sorts of health problems and cause you to retain water (i.e. bloating).
So, now that we've eliminated all the tasty foods ever, we are stuck eating like rabbits and crapping pellets for the rest of our lives, right?
Well, no, not really. The main problems people have with eating healthy are 1.) The cost and 2.) it doesn't come pre-wrapped in a box or paper or whatever. You have to prepare it yourself, and yes this will take longer than ordering a McDouble. If cost is truly the problem, then sometimes you will have to find work around. There are frozen meals that don't pack on the fat and sodium and you can use tons of chicken or fish that will keep if frozen. I've found for me, the key to not losing all my fresh produce is to pre-plan my meals and only buy what I need for the next week or two. It means smaller, more frequent trips to the grocery store, but think about it--does the time gained by eating fast food instead of going to the store and preparing a healthy meal outweigh the years you add to your life? I'm willing to go out on a limb and say no.
I've got a lot of recipes that are absolutely delicious, can be prepped and cooked in under an hour, and come with the nutrition data. I'll post them soon along with my Insanity adventures. I think I'm going to look into Turbo Fire next just to keep things interesting.
Until next time.
