A sad day progress wise hit two days ago. While stepping on the new digital scale that was purchased just after weighing in for the first weight loss contest, I was shocked to see my first 'plateau.' I wasn't that surprised that the weight hadn't changed much as I hadn't competed a workout as of yet. We did spend the day doing things around the house, drinking some juice and just kind of enjoyed the kids. Thinking that those daily activities would burn off a few calories at least was what led me to being surprised at the numbers being displayed on the scale. The day before it read. 224.6 When stepped on yesterday morning it read again, 224.6 Ugg... are you serious, not even .2 of a pound difference? Quickly stepping off and getting back on once again confirmed my weight. 224.6 WoW! No change. That became the first day since I began this journey with NO change in my weight loss.
I was determined to do more and force the scale to reflect my efforts. I took care of things around the house, played with the kids, got things ready to go to Dinseyland with some friends and then, they cancelled. Hmmm... this actually worked out, as we rescheduled for another day and went about our day. Which helped me, as I had been looking forward to crushing the next Insanity workout!
Around 11:30 p.m. I hit play on Insanity's Pure Cardio. After completing that workout I felt great... dead, tired, and exhausted due to the nature of the program but, I felt like I had surely burned some calories.
*The next morning (today).*
Upon waking up and laying in bed for thirty minutes I finally stepped on the scales: 223.8 -- Down .8 of a pound. The thought rolled in; "Hmmm... I wonder what the scale will say after an Insanity workout if I don't do anything to add weight?" I threw my workout clothes on and headed to hit play. I was about to "Bring it!" on a whole different level! In the back of my mind I wanted to limit my water intake to the bare minimum, possibly none... as water weight is still weight. I wanted to see if the scale would reflect any weight loss after the workout.
First things first...
I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE DOING WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ.
This is a BLOG post of ACTUAL EVENTS. I am not a Doctor. I had an idea and I ran with it. I don't intend on repeating it verbatim again... It was a test. The results were mine and mine alone. This is for readers to see and comment on, but I do not suggest anyone doing this.I hit play on Insanity's Plyometric Cardio Circuit DVD. This took place only about six (6) hours after finishing up Pure Cardio the night before. I took an inventory of how I felt, as I planned to drink a minimal amount of water to test how many calories I would burn. All was going well... and then the kids woke up. They wanted to help and join in. The 37 minute workout turned into probably 57 minutes, as I kept having to restart some of the exercises. And from time to time, hold a child while doing "butt kickers" or wait for one to get done; "Daddy! I'm stretching." so I could have floor space again.
Throughout the course of the workout I felt fine... exhausted, but not dizzy or lightheaded. When Shawn T called for a water break, I gave it a thought and then just kept running in place or, I went to the sink, took a big mouthful, and then spit it back out. Allowing my mouth to become wet, as it was drying out some. However, I felt okay and didn't actually consume any water... not a single swallow as I worked out. I was determined to see what the scale would say. After completing the workout my boy wanted to play... so, we ran around the living room and then played "horsey" and other activities. I was thinking, my heart rate is still up. I'm still burning calories. Much like a log smoldering after the flames die out on a campfire... I knew my body would still be burning calories for a while after my workout. After playing for about 10 minutes I headed upstairs, took a shower and took care of the morning "business" all before weighing myself. Doing ALL of the above without drinking any water as of yet.
I stepped on the scales: 221.4!
Yes, that is what it said! I stepped back off... and stood on it again. 221.4 again! WoW!
From the time I stepped on the scale before the second workout to when I stepped on it again, I dropped 2.4 pounds! I immediately drank some water. Went down stairs, told my wife the news and then consumed 24 ounces of the protein and caloric juice that I blogged about yesterday. After doing so, I felt... Full. Satisfied and I could tell I needed to be more hydrated so I drank another 16 ounces of water. After that I have made sure to drink 16 ounces or more every hour as throughout this day. It is now 4:28 and I feel great! I don't feel sluggish, maybe a bit tired (anyone doing two (2) Insanity workouts in less than 7 hours would probably feel tired though) but, nothing abnormal.
With the above said, I tried to Google how many calories one would burn in an Insanity workout. Since everyone's body is different and everyone works out differently, ball park figures (at best) were all I could find. Somewhere between 300 and 800... WHAT?? That's a huge difference.
I want something that will track most accurately track my calories lost. After searching, I'm at a loss as to what is a GREAT and ACCURATE heart rate monitor and calorie tracker. I feel that I need a heart rate monitor. When I looked online I found over 2,900 results in the Sports and Outdoor section on Amazon alone! When I sorted those by four (4) stars and up, the results were still over 700! When sorted by low to high, 506 results came up, but not all were monitors. The Health and Personal Care department had over 1,900 results.
Those of you who are reading this, I would love to hear from you. What heart rate monitor do you suggest? The top one on amazon is the Omron HR-100C Heart Rate Monitor. It has a 4 star rating with 1,103 votes giving it that rating. Are monitors with a chest strap, like the Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor better or more accurate? It also has 4 stars, but only 428 votes.
Any suggestions or ideas on which monitor will work best would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments or send me a tweet via twitter @84days84lbs
Time to go drink some more water and make another juice!
Progress 30.6 pounds lost in 20 Days!
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