Starting the real Insanity Program

As you maybe red from my previous post, that i finally received my whole Insanity program and i started with it from this week, on monday. For a month i did Insanity-kind-of-exercise. So finally i have the real deal.

What did i get myself into?

It is a hardcore workout, only for people who are stubborn enough to suck it in and just do it! No matter if you are tired, no matter if you feel weak, no matter if you can only do the first 10 mins of 40 min session. If you want a hard body, you have to work hard.

I sweat like crazy. I think if somebody would have seen me today after workout they would have assumed that i took a shower with my clothes on :D

On monday i did the Fit Test. Here are my results:

Switch Kicks - 104
Power Jacks - 58
Power Knees - 81
Power Jumps - 43
Globe Jumps - 13
Suicide Jumps - 17
Push-up Jacks - 30
Low Plank Oblique - 60

The Fit Test is in every two weeks, so you can see your improvement.

Dig Deeper!

Insanity Workout - Week 4

Yellow! Today i finally got my REAL Insanity DVD (actually my friend send it to me :P) so maybe, baby, im gonna start the REAL program from monday.

I was actually getting a little bit bored from doing the same routine every day. But in the real Insanity program there is so much more variation. Like some days you do a hard core cardio for 40 mins, some days you can relax and do more streching and stuff for 30 mins or some days the focus is more on abs and so on. It is very important to keep changing the workout routine actually, otherwise you will eventually just reach a plateau (read: get bored).

This week i have been eating a lot more GREENS as well. Did you know that chimpanzees, who actually share about 99.4% genes with us, eat almost HALF of their daily foods from greens?

Im not sayin´ we should eat exactly like them, but there is something to think about for sure. I got this chart from Victoria Boutenko´s book "Green for Life". You can see the link to it here: http://www.hcgfatloss.com/victoria-boutenko/green-for-life/how-chimpanzees-eat.htm









I made this yummy and very simple spinach soup. What looks like poison, because of this dark deep green colour. But it was very delicious actually and im sure very nutritious.

It goes something like this:

2 bunches of spinach
1/8 red onion (optional)
3 cups rice milk

and thats it!

(Its not my picture, sorry! I just wanted to add some)

You just boil the spinach in the milk. Just to soften it a little bit. And then you blend it until you reach creamy texture with a hand blender. It was soo good. I also made a big salad with more greens, red cabbage, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, carrot, some couscous and steamed broccoli :)

My first magazine feature!

This is in estonian language (in magazine Naisteleht), so many of you wont understand it. But its an interview about me and my lifestyle - low fat high raw vegan lifestyle, 80% raw foods, mostly fruits and cooked vegan meal at dinner.

I talk about how i was eating mainly dairy products as i grew up, cereals with milk and bread with cheese was my staple food 2x a day! I didnt like vegetables at all and fruit were rather rare or in summertime. I always had an oily skin with pimples as a teenager, but when i got 20 years old, i had acne on my face. Doctor said "its nothing to do with the foods you eat" and prescribed me medications which only made it worse. So i quit medications and started to look for alternative solutions. And thats basically how i found healthy vegan foods, raw lifestyle and 80/10/10.

I never told this before, but i had anxiety disorder for about 12 years and eating disorder witch culminated with bulimia. Last year being the worst one. And thats why i decided to take it slowly this year. Transitioning slowly to more raw foods and NOT try to do it overnight. I was constantly trying to stay 100% raw, using mainly willpower just to end up binging on junk with purging afterwards. So much shame and guilt! I was eating too little fruits and starving myself, and saw this lifestyle as a "diet". I did couple of fasts as well, what was the main reason i gained weight last year.

Other thing i have noticed is that my hair dont fall out anymore like it used to. About 2-3 years ago my hair started to fall out excessively. When i was at shower washing my hair i saw big junks of my hair falling down. Or if i brushed my hair i had to literally sweep the floor afterwards. And my hair was everywhere - in my bed, on the carpet, on my clothes...but now i feel i dont lose hair anymore. There is some, what is normal, but it finally stopped! And i was so worried about this before. My hair is thin anyway, but i have so many new hair growing now :) they are about 10 cm long already.

Of course im not perfect yet. I still have issues. But its supposed to be a journey. One thing ends, another thing begins. Theres always something to improve. Thats just life :)

PS. and i have to point that out that they actually CHANGED my mealplan in the magazine :) I only eat fruits at daytime, so they replaced my lunch meal with "raw asparagus-broccoli soup and BRUSCHETTA"! I was like "WTF?" (Wheres The Fruit?). I obviously would not eat something like bread, and i know that blended broccoli is disgusting. So dont make that "raw asparagus-broccoli soup" if you wanna have any faith in raw foods being good :D

Insanity Workout - Week 3

Hellooo!

Insanity is getting a bit easier every time, but im sweating like crazy in the first 10 minutes! This week i did the 20 min workout 2 times in a row two days. It was hard!

Last week i was a bit sick, but not anymore. I red a book "From Fat to Fabulous" by Alison Andrews and there was a chapter about the importance of vitamin D. She was talking about how she never thought that she would have the deficiency since she was living in a very warm climate year round, but she had the tests done and she had a major vitamin D deficiency! There are numerous symptoms of lack of vitamin D, but there were so many of those i was experiencing as well and i decided to just go out and get some more sun on my skin.

I travel in Australia right now, but actually i dont go out to get some sun very often at all. I prefer to stay indoors at the day time when the sun is its hottest. Also i wear clothing while out and never actually take the time to put on a bikini and just lay out in the sun. You dont have to fry yourself either, but about 20 min a day of sun exposure of your naked skin is very important for good health. And this means without the sunscreen. Sunscreen blocks the vitamin D absorption. Some people can tolerate sunlight better than others, some burn very easily. So just feel how much is right for you. Getting burnt by sun is bad, so make sure you dont go overboard.

Alison Andrews also very clearly explains why it is so important to eat enough calories of low fat vegan foods (either cooked or raw). And she also explains why some people start to gain weight at first when starting out with this diet. I wasnt restricting my calories before, but i still had this mindset that said "If you eat so much its hard to lose weight", or "Dont eat more you have had enought" while i was still craving more food....so now im completely convinced that eating as much as we want is a MUST on this lifestyle. You can eat as much food as you wish as long as its: low fat high carb vegan food. It can be cooked or raw, but you cant use any oils or fried or processed foods, it has to be a whole food and whole grains. And dont use any condiments or even salt.

So you can eat as much as you want of:
- raw fruits
- raw vegetables
- boiled/steamed/baked vegetables
- cooked whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, millet, oats etc..)
- greens!

No deep frying or using oil. No junk/processed foods. No salt.

I have been eating about 2500-3000 cals this week. I just ate when i was hungry or craving food, i ate more to make sure i didnt subconciously deprived myself. I havent gained any weight and I havent lost any either, but muscle weights more than fat and i FEEL better in my body each week. And i feel mentally better, as i dont have to worry about calories anymore. I eat when im hungry or having a craving, even when its late at night.

If you come from a disordered eating background - binge eating, anorexia or bulimia - your body have been starving and now you may feel thats its having this "abnormal" appetite. But your body tries to rebalance itself of the previous calorie restriction. So yes, at first you may gain weight. Since you have trained your body, by calorie restricting, that it has to store everything it can, because there might be next famine coming. So it will take time until your body understands that starvation is over and it dont have to store calories anymore. And eventually it will let go of all the excess weight :) It will just take time, so be patient and in the mean while start with a new exercise, drink your water, get enough sun and sleep and enjoy the ride.

Insanity - Week 2

Another week has passed. Heres picture of me...making my power Insanity pose and power face after workout :D

Today im sick! Yes i can t believe it! I have a little sore throat and runny nose! Havent had it in a looong time. I dunno why its like this. But, i will just try to do my best, have a rest and water and right foods and i will be well pretty soon :) But in no way i would skip my workout, so i did it anyways ;)

I just watched some Anthony Robbins videos from Youtube. He is the best life coatch on the planet (and a vegan by the way:)). So inspirational and smart about how to condition your mind so you will NOT accept anything less than the best thats possible!

Heres a video i really, really enjoyed if you need some kick in the butt to start your exercise routine or eating healthy raw foods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPo2SL_NRNs&feature=related