As mentioned here, I started a pretty vigorous exercise routine the first of March. Several days after posting about it, I had dental surgery. I didn’t think it would matter and I’d be back at it the next morning . . . funny. The surgery put me out for a good two weeks. It was horrible. For the first few days after I couldn’t do anything; I was drugged up and completely out of it. The pain was pretty bad. I tried to start up again with my workouts about 10 days later, and it still hurt. I was finally able to begin again and decided to start over. I’m doing INSANITY. Let me tell you, it’s INSANE. Literally. But I love love love it. More than I thought I would.

I am now in week 5 of the program (it’s two months long) and it’s fabulous. If you haven’t heard of it or seen the constant infomercials on tv, take a look at it, here. I knew I wanted to try it right after I had my baby. I was anxious to get started and when my midwife said, “Go” at my six-week check-up, I was excited. The first day is a fit test that records how many of certain exercises you can do. When I finished it, I fell on the floor and could have easily fallen asleep. It was exhausting! I just laughed at how out of shape I was. The program itself, though, is great. Once I started doing the workouts each day, I loved it. Yes, it was excruciatingly hard at first, but I expected that. I wasn’t in shape – I had just gone through pregnancy and childbirth! BUT, I could tell that some of my hard work before and during pregnancy paid off. This helped me the most when it came to having the proper form so that I didn’t injure myself. I had been working on that for months before getting pregnant, and it helped a lot.

I feel stronger every day. I am HAPPY.  It’s hard to explain other than the typical “Runner’s high” that people talk about. After I work out in the morning, I am honestly beaming because I’m just so darn happy! I look at my kids and they make me smile. I have energy to do whatever I want to do all day long. I can see my body changing and that’s obviously the most exciting part. The thing that I love is being able to see the strength I’m building and the endurance I have now compared to just a month ago. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, if you STICK with it and get up and make yourself keep going on day 2, 3, and 4, you WILL see that change start to happen, and it is awesome. No, I still can’t do some of the crazy moves like the people on the video, but I’m getting there. I can keep up most of the time and I really do enjoy it. I have sweat dripping off of me by the end of the WARM UP every day. That tells you how intense it is! I have never sweat so much in my life, and it’s awesome.

This program isn’t for everyone, but I’ve found that I love stuff like this. I thrive while doing it. It’s easy to do at home, and I see results. I loved doing Jillian’s workouts from home too, but this is a whole new ball game. It’s definitely the most intense form of exercise that I’ve ever done. If you love at-home work-outs like I do, I would recommend it. I know a lot of people who tried it and after the first day or two thought it was too much for them. If it isn’t your thing, that’s fine. It’s something that you really have to pace yourself with, or you will get injured. You have to ignore the crazy awesome people with their rock-hard abs on the video; just go at your own pace, and you’ll get there. My biggest piece of advice besides getting up and making yourself go on days 2, 3, and 4 is to really concentrate on doing things the right way. Proper form is so important to prevent injury and help you get stronger. I love INSANITY because Shaun T (the trainer) makes you stretch for about 5 minutes after the warm up, and again at the end of the work out. I LOVE a good stretch, but don’t love taking the time to do it right, so I appreciate that it’s included already, and I don’t have to think up my own stretches after. I haven’t hurt myself, but I’ve been really careful about keeping the proper form and not trying to keep up when I wasn’t ready. I am already fitting back into my pre-baby jeans that were my goal jeans (even if they don’t fit exactly the same as they did before, I can still wear them without being mortified). It feels really good to work really hard at something, and then see the results start to happen.

I’m a little terrified to start month two and have decided that I want to do the first month again. I think it will really help me build up more strength to tackle the more intense work outs during the second month. I have really listened to my body while doing this, and I think that’s important for any type of exercise. The week before I drove to Canada my baby had yet another growth spurt and was nursing constantly. That week I felt so drained; I was exhausted. I decided on Tuesday evening that I would take a little break from my work outs to take care of myself and my baby and get through that little spurt. I took four days off (during which I drove to Canada with my girls) and it was just what my body needed. I was ready to go again after and felt much better than if I had just made myself do it and exhausted my body.

I love INSANITY. Try it, I dare you. But make sure you have a good sports bra if you happen to be breastfeeding . . . there is A LOT of jumping involved!