So about half a year ago (August 2017) a friend of mine had told me about a workout called “Insanity”. The name definitely caught my attention and having ended my membership with a local gym (their chain of gyms offered the best locations in the city but charged heaps of money and you always had to notify them a month in advance that you would want to put your membership on hold and still pay a small fee for that), I was eager to start with a workout that did not require me signing up for a gym. Luckily for me, my work offered a free room dedicated to young spirits, willing to push their body to its limits and cover the floor with sweat. The motivation was in place as well so naturally, my only question to my friend was “When do we get started?”.
Insanity workout was 2 months long and was separated into two sets of workouts - first month, basically to get started with syncing into cardio, muscle raining and developing control and the second month was more intense where the workouts would be 50-55 minutes long instead of regular 35-40 minutes in the first month. The start was rough but we climbed quite swell together and pushed each other. After a couple of workouts and spreading some sweat at work’s gym, we went to Vilnius for a couple of days, anticipating Shaun T (trainer of insanity) to remain with us in spirit and pick up where we had left off in Vilnius. However, Karina’s (my friend) other friend from Poland came to Vilnius for a few days to accompany us and so did a couple of bottles of magic Polish beers. Karina could not resist them and neither could I so we reluctantly came to a conclusion that it would be a sin not to drink those beers. We agreed that when we get back to Tallinn, we could start the workout anew and keep up the spirit. By Jove I enjoyed my time in Vilnius though!
We resumed with the workout in back home and kept up the spirit. We managed to continue pushing one another to get better and do as much as possible. The workout, however, came with a price. We both had to change our diet and pay more attention about what we ate. Karina pulled out her notebook, noting down the calorie intake and I started eating at scheduled times and limited my portions. As the weather was not particularly warm and the sun seem to have forgotten to rotate over the country, I could not manage my diet without a couple of cheat meals during the week. Workout was 6 days per week, meaning that I felt righteously obliged to go to a shop on Sunday and buy literally anything that looked appetizing to me and as much as I wanted of it and literally consume it at home. I would buy a 6-pack of ice-creams, pizza, some sweets, Coke Zero (cutting on sugar right there) and just…enjoy myself. Then Monday came and I would get back on track until Saturday and Sunday the feast was ready to be commenced.
Despite all of that, I still managed to lose weight and gain decent amount of muscles. I finally started feeling better at work, my mood improved and I felt more energised during the day but goddammit did it feel hard ("that's what she said", I know). I could not just take a day off, buy a 6-pack of beer and fall unroll onto a couch eating crisps. I mean, I could have done it on my cheat day, yes, but my combining high intensity workouts with alcohol was and never is a good idea. My body needed a good recovery and I did not want to fall back on the training routine. I have to admit, however, then I would sometimes have a few extra cheat meals than usual (after my Friday’s workout) and a few strong drinks (obviously mixed with Coke zero!) but it was tough to get back on track. Then again I could not refuse my other friend with that, who I do not see too often. I mean you’ve got to let yourself go once in a while but I did my best at not extending this "once in a while" to more than 1-2 times per month.
Those two months put my mind and body to the test - I was very satisfied to have passed it and the gains were the biggest motivation to continue working on myself but most importantly, I learned that if one can challenge their body, then they could challenge their mind. Just like Confucius temple, I am holding on strongly to the aspirations of my mind and body and do not give up. The challenge goes on!
What an intense journey. Thanks for sharing mate, and welcome to steemit. Hey, if you need some tips on improving your content and posts potential, do follow my mate @steemitguide for some guides and tutorials on steemit!
Interesting life transformation.
The more you treat your body fairly and kindly the more you will feel the need to keep it up.
I wish you the best on your journey :)