Yes, It's True...

I'm becoming a fitness junkie. Who'da thunk??? 

After years and years of detesting exercising, doing it because I "had" to, and still being overweight... something is starting to click. Some people enjoy running on a treadmill, working the weight machines, or doing Pilates. If they can stick with that... more power to 'em.

But, I never have.

There have been seasons of my life where I could stick to a particular workout routine for a few months (I danced for 12 years... I guess that's something, right!), but nothing ever lasted. I didn't see results, didn't feel any different, and honestly... I got bored. Doing the same thing over and over again to the point where you could do it in your sleep is not exactly my idea of fun.

The first workout (other than weekly dance class) that I've stuck to for more than a few weeks, is kickboxing. And I'm not talking about your typical cardio kickboxing workout routine where you basically have a cardio workout that includes some kicks and punches. The kickboxing workout that my sister in law and I have been taking since last June is an actual martial arts, self defense training class. Being with the class for almost 8 months has been the biggest fitness commitment of my life, both in time and effort. And what d'ya know, we even got our brown belts in the process (w00t!). In a few short months, I was finally seeing a difference in my body. And I wanted more.

After 6 months of kickboxing, it really clicked in my head that my weight loss struggle was not something I could just sit back and relax about. I needed to take it head on, and wrestle it by the horns. That's when I started researching. I knew if I tried to get back into the Walk At Home, pilates, or Jazzercise workouts, I would just get discouraged again and quit like I had done every time before.

In this way, Insanity really has been a good fit for me. It's fast paced, switched up, actually requires concentration in order to keep your form right, and works you hard. As we're coming up to the end of Insanity, I'm doing more research for other things that will keep me motivated in the same way. Shaun T has other workouts that build on Insanity. Truth be told, when I saw Asylum, I was seriously tempted to push the "add to cart" button. But then I remembered that this next two months between Insanity routines is actually for recovery... not "kill yourself more."

I have decided that I will be going back to Zumba class (Monday and Wednesday), will continue kickboxing (Tuesday and Saturday) and am actually going to try one of Shaun T's original workout series, back from when he was a dance choreographer and instructor. It's a hip-hop, standing ab workout (fun fun fun!). I'm actually really excited to be pushing into a new "season" of training!

"A coach can only give lessons; an athlete can instill them within themselves." - Shaun T