The Weigh In

Although it may be a bit late to do an official weigh-in, seeing as how I've already started my new workout program, I figure it's good to get a decent track of where I'm at in terms of a starting point for this 6 month endeavor. So here are the metrics:

As of 9/25/09:

Weight: 132 lb in underwear
Waist: 29in (not an exact measurement, but it's my jeans size)

I'm not really looking to lose a lot of weight during this project. As the old adage goes, muscle weighs more than fat. So ideally I would actually hope to gain some weight as long as it coincides with a reduction in fat. However, I think that reasonable targets for me would be to get down to about 130lbs, while reducing my body fat percentage. The only problem there is that I don't actually know my body fat percentage. I know personal trainers at 24 hour fitness will provide body fat calculations, so that might be my next stop. I'd definitely like to get some official statistics before we get too far into this.

Day 1 Thoughts...

Collapsing into a sweaty, gasping heap on the floor of my hotel room, I curse Shaun T's name between snatches of breath. That's pretty much my review for Day 1 of Insanity. The sad part? I just finished the "Fit Test." Basically, this is the test you do every two weeks, first to see if you can actually do Insanity, and then to see your improvement over time. This test consists of about 10 different exercises, done in 1-2 minute intervals with roughly 1-2 minutes of rest in between. Sounds easy, right? Well, it depends. As with any video workout, the key is really to try your hardest. If that sounds so blatantly cliche, it's only because it's true. Obviously, if you half-ass your way through each exercise, you'll break a bit of a sweat, and think to yourself, "This isn't so hard." But if you honestly train at your maximum level, then even the Fit Test is going to push you.

And so begins my 60 day Insanity journey. As usual, the hardest thing is maintaining the diet. Not that it's incredibly strict. But more that I love to eat. But if 60 days of lean protein is what it takes, then I'll manage...

Just Crazy Enough to Try Insanity

Last week, my friend told me about a new workout for people who really want to push their limits. It's called Insanity and it was created by Shaun T. At first, I was a bit skeptical, as this is the same guy who created Hip-Hop Abs. Now, don't get me wrong, maybe there's something to the whole dance/workout combo. But the whole idea of hip hop dancing your way to a six-pack seems a bit too gimmicky for my tastes. Nevertheless, I decided to do some research on Insanity and what exactly the program involves.

As far as I can tell, the focus of Insanity is primarily around core, cardio, and plyometric (jump training) workouts. No weights are required so it's perfect for my hotel-hopping consulting lifestyle. There are some ab workouts involved, but it seems like for the most part, the focus is on core and cardio work. The program itself is 2 months long and it is broken up into two 4-week phases with a week recovery between phases. Of course, nutrition is a major component as well, and they provide a nice booklet of recipes and recommended foods. The diet is strict, but not as bad as the first phase of P90X. Without going into specifics, they are recommending a 40/40/20 Protein/Carb/Fat% count. Hard, but manageable.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to balance this in with my my current CrossFit workouts, but I'm going to try it and see how it goes. Stay tuned as I discuss the different workouts.

I Have an Excuse

Okay, so there's no real need for me to excuse myself from my...er, one reader. But still, it's worth noting for posterity the reason why I haven't posted in over two weeks. After all, the entry right above this one clearly states that I will post a new entry at least once a week. So what's the reason for this almost immediate breakage of my ground rules? A European vacation...

Which brings me to my point for today. How do you work out/eat right while you're on vacation? The answer? You don't. I just spent the past 10 days in Rome and London. And on the first morning, I woke up at 8am, went to the hotel gym, and started doing ab exercises for a good 15 minutes. When I got back to the room, I was tired, my stomach hurt, and I promptly had to get up and do "touristy" stuff for the rest of the day. It was after this first painful day of trying to work out and vacation that I realized an important lesson. Vacations are not simply vacations from work. They should be vacations from all aspects of drudgery and routine in your life. We don't check our e-mail or answer work phone calls while on vacation (or at least, most of us don't). So why should we kill ourselves with workouts and exercise while trying to relax? Does that mean that if you think it'd be cool to jog through the streets of Rome that you shouldn't? No. But it does mean that you shouldn't spend 30 minutes on a treadmill when you can spend an extra 30 minutes seeing St. Peter's Basilica instead.

And as far as food goes, why not take a vacation from your diet as well. Here I was, in one of the meccas of European cuisine. The city that has a first pasta course and a second meat course with every meal. Was I going to order the garden salad with dressing on the side? Instead, I was going to order what I wanted. That's not to say that vacations are a license to overindulge. For me, it was all about portion control. I'd order what I'd want to eat, and eat about half of what they gave me. Okay, the starving kids in Africa my mom always talked about might not appreciate my wanton wastefulness, but this was the best way for me to enjoy what Italy had to offer.

Ultimately, I probably packed on more daily calories during my vacation than I usually do at home. But I can accept this. Just as long as this vacation does not cause me to slip into old bad habits of diet and exercise after I'm back home. Vacations should allow you to break from routines that you follow on a day-to-day basis, whether that means PowerPoint presentations or abdominal crunches. Use the time away as a reward for months of dilligent diet and exercise. Just as long as you understand that all vacations eventually to come to an end...