I started my Insanity Journey July 18th, 2011. Many of you know I have always been active, but I knew my body was needing more. I was nervous to give it more, or lazy might be a better word. It’s easy to get lazy isn’t it? Ive woken up after getting lazy, working out then stopping, and looking in the mirror one day to see someone I hate. This happened to me and my husband in 2005. We were in the middle of struggling to have a baby, The stress of infertility took us down a long road of ugliness. But we did have that *look in the mirror moment* and we both started back up again. I was a Tae bo junkie for a bit, and I finally got back in my groove, lost a lot of weight, toned up, and got in the best shape of my life. In 2007 I got pregnant through our first round of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) and then our lives got flipped upside down when we found out we were having twins! I had to take it easy being pregnant with 2 babies, I couldn’t really workout anymore. But I did well with my pregnancy, I ate well, and TRIED to gain the weight my doctor wanted me to. I gained 45lbs and delivered 2 big healthy baby girls.

Being a Mother turned out to be something totally different then I expected. I got diagnosed with postpartum depression 2 weeks after I had them. I was spending my days not eating, not sleeping, and basically crying when I was awake. I felt robbed. Where was the sunshine and rainbows that came with a new baby? I tried to fight it, and tried to just suck it up and do my best. But that didn’t happen, and my doctor put me on medication. I didn’t like it at first, but then I realized it was helping me be the Mother I had always wanted to be, so I continued to take it.

3 months after I had my girls, I started back up doing Tae Bo, Post natal workout. That got my feet wet again, so I was back in it, doing what I could with twin babies around. I discovered Jillian Micheal’s 30 Day Shred in 2009 and started losing inches like crazy. I discovered that, then feel in love with her and her workout programs, was doing Tae Bo and feeling pretty good. I read her book *Master your Metabolism* and changed the way my family ate. It was a total eye opener. But the problem was I was holding on to weight I couldn’t get off. While I know muscle weighs more then fat, I was 130 pounds before I had the girls, with a 32 inch waist. My 148 pounds was not muscle. And while I felt like I was in *good shape* something was not working. Like I said, being lazy is easy, taking shortcuts during workouts, not counting calories…..you name it, I’m sure I was doing it. I was working my butt off, but not pushing myself to my limits. A workout should never be *easy* So maybe I was fooling myself in to thinking I could look the way I wanted by working out for 20-30 minutes a day.

Then last year, Christmas of 2010 we made a quick, big move. We moved from a tiny little house, to a huge 2 story. I was overwhelmed. We were leaving a house that had memories in every room, leaving a house were were brought our little girls home after so many years of trying. We lost our Doberman to cancer in that house, and while that may not seem like a good memory, I felt like I was leaving his spirit, leaving him in a sense. I spent my days packing, crying, and going down a bad path again emotionally. I could feel the depression coming back, but just couldn’t face it again. I could not be diagnosed with depression twice. But I was, and I did. My husband came home one day and I was crying for no reason and he felt helpless. So I went back to the doctor, and started to feel better again. Started feeling excited about my new house, and excited to feel good again! I was still working out even through all the stress, and I think that probably helped me a lot.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started Insanity. I remember looking at my heart rate monitor and saw I was burning close to 300 calories after the warm-up/stretch which is about 15 minutes into it..crazy. Month 1 on average I burn about 650 calories, month 2 when the workouts are an hour long, close to 850-1000. There are days I was working out for 75 minutes and burnt close to 1200-how’s that for motivation? This will explain why that happens!

What’s Interval Training?-The secret behind Shaun T’s Insanity and what makes it unique is his Max Interval Training program, the heart and soul of the workout. Traditional interval training works by having your perform at high levels of intensity for brief periods of time, and then relaxing for longer stretches. Max Interval Training flips this upside down, and instead has you working at your most extreme levels of effort for long periods with only short breaks in-between.
What does this mean in terms of your workout? The most common unit in the Insanity Workout is four minutes at maximum intensity with a thirty second water break, and then repeated. This forces your body to work in the anaerobic zone for most of the workout, allowing you to burn a ridiculous amount of calories in a very short period of time.
The anaerobic zone is where your body is no longer able to deliver sufficient oxygen to your muscles so as to allow them to function aerobically. This forces your body to turn to other energy pathways to keep going, and helps your body rev up your metabolism to extreme rates of production. That’s why people who have performed the Insanity Workout have been clocked at burning almost a thousand calories in one workout!

The Myth of the Fat Burning Zone.
Insanity flies in the face of a popular concept called ‘The Fat Burning Zone’. You’ll see this zone labeled on cardio machines and spoken about by casual fitness trainers, and essentially it means working out at a less intense pace so as to maximize fat burning. The reality of the situation is that these so called low intensity fat burning zones only lower the effectiveness of your workout, so that you burn fewer calories over all.
The reason people believe in the ‘fat burning zone’ is because at lower levels of intensity your body is able to function aerobically, allowing it to turn to fat stores for energy. This sounds great, because it means your body is burning fat for fuel, but the reality is that it does this at a very slow pace; one pound of fat contains 3,500 calories, so if you only burn a couple of hundred calories during your workout, you won’t be losing much fat.
Instead, if you work at an extreme pace, you will be forced to function anaerobically, and this will result in the breakdown of body tissue as your body looks for other sources of energy. While it’s not reaping directly from your fat stores, your body will release a host of hormones to help repair your body tissue, rebuilding it as a stronger and tougher version of itself. Your metabolism gets ramped up, your body burns through its source of blood glycogen (blood sugar), and as the tissue repairs itself your body begins to really change. Your future workouts won’t be so hard, you’ll adapt to stress, and your body will soon begin to look radically different.

Insanity has changed my life. When I started this program I had no idea what it would do for not only my body, but my soul. When you get through an Insanity workout, you feel like you can do anything. Something about it changes your outlook on life. I went from working out 30 minutes a day, to now an hour plus!!! Just after 2 months I was stronger, leaner, more flexible, and feel better then I every had in my entire life!!! I have 3 year old twin girls that I used to use as an excuse when I didn’t feel like working out. Now I do it for them. I do it be the best Mom and wife I can. I used to look in the mirror and hate everything I saw. Now I look in the mirror and tell myself that if I can do Insanity, I can do anything. It really did show me that if I want results, I have to EARN them. I have to work hard and can’t sit around waiting for things to change. I have to change them.

In my last week of Insanity I loved it so much, I am now a beach body coach. This decision was the best decision Ive ever made. I love helping people. I love talking to them, and encouraging them, and showing them it can be done!!! You can have that body you want-you just have to DIG DEEP!!!

My results after 60 days were pretty awesome! I actually GAINED weight. I know what your all thinking, and I thought the same thing too! 🙂 But while I gained that 5lbs, I also lost 5.5 inches from my body. So I was doing something right!! I learned the scale can really not be your friend. If your currently struggling with the scale-PUT IT AWAY!!! Measuring your body is a much better way to go. Losing inches, losing fat-simple as that!

Here I am on day 87! Yes, I’m doing it again!!! =) So far Ive lost around 9 inches and 10lbs. I still have more to go, I have about 10lbs to lose before I’m at my goal weight. But I don’t weigh myself that often-so as long as the tape measure keeps showing smaller numbers, I’m okay with that!!!

If you are interested in joining my team, and letting me help you with your goals and fitness, please get in touch with me!!! I would be more then willing to help you out, or answer any questions you have.

I am absolutely not trying to sell you anything!!! I know as a Mom of twins how hard it can be to lose the weight after you have a baby. It took me longer then I had hoped, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is I’m here now, healthier and happier then Ive been in a long long time. I just want to help people, and motivate people, and let you guys know that you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to!!! And I’m here to help. 🙂

~Christina