Insanity

I really hate being fickle about things, but when I heard about Beachbody's new Shaun T joint, Insanity, I couldn't resist checking it out.  I also hate my workouts coming in fits and starts.  It's been an insane time for work, I went on a vacation, and a bunch of other crazy crap has happened so my workouts have suffered.  Still using the weight vest (but not with Insanity).  New plan is to do a run of this program to get my head straight and get back into it.  Then I will return to my regularly scheduled mass gain program.  I admit, I've gotten a little soft.

Don't laugh.

They haven't been billing it as a P90X killer, but I would say that the advertised fitness goals are pretty much the same, only Insanity promises them in 60 days instead of 90 and the workouts are shorter.  By half (at least in the first month).  There are zero bands or weights or any other fitness aids in Insanity.  It's all body weight.  I do love the resistance training aspect of P90X, though.  Let me get through the first week and see how bodyweight only goes (with no pullups!!  I'm sad about this). 

Which brings me to my first impression of Insanity.  I just finished the Fit Test, which one does at the beginning of the week, every two weeks.  It was hard.  There's no fluffy chit chat stuff and he goes fast.  It only took 30 minutes and it really kicked my ass.  I kept saying to myself, "dang, this is flipping INSANE."  No doy.  I'm a little scared of the next workout, Plyo Cardio Strength Waterboarding and Rubber Hose Beatings.  I watched a little bit of it yesterday and they really should call this workout Torturosity.

The diet plan is much easier to read and understand than the P90X nutrition guide, I must say.  I came up with the following menu in about 10 minutes:

1. Egg white breakfast wrap with 1 cup nonfat yogurt topped with 1-1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)
   1. or 1-1/2 cups fiber cereal, half a banana, and some flax seeds (with soy milk)
   2. or veggie omelete (two egg whites, two whole eggs) with one slice of cheese and a slice of toast topped with all-fruit preserves
2. Nutrition bar (200 calories) and ½ cup cottage cheese with walnuts (2 tbsp) and a banana.
   1. or regular turkey sandwich the way we do it downtown
3. Turkey sandwich
   1. or grilled tuna – 4oz steak seared with 1 cup  brown rice (about 175 grams, the amount in a two-serving container of Annie Chun's Rice Express) and 1 cup of spinach sauteed in a tsp of olive oil
   2. or ¾ cup whole wheat pasta with 1 cup grilled or steamed veggies, 1/3 cup feta, and 3oz of diced grilled chicken
4. Turkey sandwich
5. Dinner is kind of a no-brainer at this point:
   1. 6oz steak, steamed or grilled veggies (asparagus or broccoli), and small baked potato plain
   2. or poached salmon, steamed or grilled veggies, and brown rice
   3. or grilled chicken, etc, etc.

Note to all noobs regarding Beachbody products:  None of these programs will let you gain much in the way of muscle mass (some with P90X, but not much).  These programs are designed to guide the user through the basics of fat loss and athletic conditioning.   In other words, losing fat is a numbers game:  calories in less than calories out (exercise, basic metabolism) = fat loss.  That the user becomes much more fit by the end is simply a wonderful side effect (er, maybe it's the other way around).  They all do the same basic thing so don't obsess too much about which program to buy.  It's the user who loses the weight and gains the conditioning.  A person with 30 pounds to lose could go on a calorie deficit diet and do 30 minutes of jumping jacks every day for 90 days and lose it all if they really bring it during their workout.  The programs mix it up so it's not boring and the body doesn't have a chance to adapt to the exercises.  I recommend Power 90 for a complete beginner.  It will kick your butt (I lost 26 pounds on it).  P90X if the person has an hour a day to spend listening to Tony fawn over Dreya and getting their butt kicked with pullups and pushups and wants a good resistance workout (I got RIPPED on P90X).  Looks like Insanity if one is pinched for time.  If a person wants to get big, they really need to check out www.coachdos.com or Crossfit.  At any rate, the user will be in the best shape of their lives at the end of any of these programs, it's only a matter of what the ultimate fitness goal is.  Getting skinny is easy.  Getting ripped is hard.  Getting in the best shape of one's life is even harder, but once one gets there, it's the best feeling ever.  Even better than finding a twenty under the couch.

My weight right now is 170.