What NOT to do when doing Insanity?

It has been a very long couple of days.  My work schedule has been much more intense than usual, with longer days and a heavier workload. It ebbs and flows as always, but for right now I am definitely on overload.

Not to mention that little Miss SassyPants has been living up to her name lately. Maybe its the "Terrible Twos" finally kicking in, but the whining is killing me! We shall overcome though!

Thankfully, none of this is slowing me down. My goals are too high and my motivation too strong to let trivial distractions waylay me. In fact, I am noticing as the days go on that I am more and more looking forward to that personal "me" time at night. I crave the burn and the challenge, and may or may not have been sending the rugrats to bed a few minutes early in the evenings just so I can get to it.

I've also been playing with some new foods for energy, especially since by the time I do manage to get home and get the kids in bed I tend to be pretty beat and need to get into the frame of mind to workout. Chia seeds are an awesome source of near instant energy, and I've found blending them with a hemp protein powder, some spinach, and a banana completely boosts me through my workout and beyond without keeping me up at night.  It functions as an excellent recovery drink as well.

So on to the what not to do?  Donate Blood!! Unless its on your rest day I suppose.  I am a huge advocate of blood donations, having received one myself previously a few years back.  When my hospital announced a blood drive I thought "Sure why not!"

Mistake.

They warned against heavy lifting afterward. I figured cardio would be fine right? Ok clearly this lacks common sense since cardio makes the heart work harder and pump faster, and I had a lot less blood volume carrying oxygen to my body.  I came home and tried to do Cardio Power and Resistance that night. NOPE! My body outright refused.  

I am very pleased to say that over the past two weeks, while no where near being able to do every rep of every circuit, my stamina is greatly improving of late. That night? I was not even able to get through the FIRST circuit of the warm up without getting dizzy and gasping for breath.  So I slowed down a little, and tried again. Nope. I gave it my best effort for about 20 minutes into the routine but by then I was afraid I would faint, so sadly, called it a night.

Which moves on to today.  I woke up still a little dizzy with some muscle weakness, and glanced at my calendar.  Plyometrics. Crap.  Decided to protein and iron load today to try to hasten the recovery which can take 24-72 hours.  LOTS of spinach, chia seeds, red meat... Was definitely feeling a lot better as my workout neared, just over 24 hours later, but not quite sure I could handle Plyo so I swapped it out for Cardio Recovery which should have been tomorrow.

Proud to say I managed decently well, actually staying rep for rep with Shaun T (Remember last weeks Recovery post?! That is a huge improvement!) until about the last 6 minutes and then had to take a break.  By tomorrow I am sure I will be entirely on point and ready to tackle Plyo with my full core.

Still mostly attempting to avoid the scale and the measuring tape. I've peeked a time or two, but I'm still hoping for a big surprise result Monday, which is when I weigh in and measure for the 2 week point, as well as repeat the fit test.  Changes are brewing!

Only 6 1/2 more weeks until I leave for Canada. Loving the me I am finding on my there.