Insanity is loud.

So...today my lovely husband called me during his day of work...

apparently, our downstairs neighbors do not really appreciate my constant jumping and loud insanity moves.

Whoops.

So, for the time being, I think I will need to move to the gym until I can find another place to be insane. (haha)

Insanity-day 8ish

I am a bit of a sickly right now.

I have a bad cold and cant really breathe out of my nose...but its all good

I have to rewind a little bit on my insanity.  I accidentally misread the calendar and I wasn't supposed to start my recovery week for another two weeks-whoops! I got a little spoiled with that one. I got back on track yesterday with Cardio Power and Resistance. I actually really like that one for some reason.

However,

Today was Pure Cardio.

Enough has been said. 

Lunch time!

Wow. This selling stuff is rough. I'm not sure how B does it all day, but he is amazing, always with a positive attitude no matter how many people turn us away. That's one reason why I love him so stinking much. No sales yet, back to knocking!!! 

Take your wife to work day

We are matchy matchy today! 

I have the opportunity to go out and sell with Mr. Brooks today!! I'm very excited to see what he does all day and how I can support him more! It will be a fun day!! 

Insanity- day 7

mkay you caught me.

I skipped a day.

BUT i'm back on track today!

Its my "recovery week" so I am just doing "Cardio Abs and Balance"

I like this one! Its hard but its more muscles hard, not so much I'm totally out of breath.

The hardest part is the ending.

what we do is we squat real low and then move our arms up and down while straight out

and then up and down
and then front and  back
and then circle back
and then circle forward

And it hurts like crazy!!! But as always, I'm feelin good :)

Insanity- day 6

Cardio Abs.

Today was fun.

I actually really like this exercise for some reason! It makes me feel like I'm making a physical difference as I go.  Its super hard, as always, but I enjoyed it a little more today!

I am starting to notice some physical improvements! My legs are more firm and I have better endurance!


Today Brantley did the most wonderful thing for me!!
I sometimes sleep a little longer than he does (working on that) but today I woke up to the yummy smell of pancakes in my bed :) mmmmm I love that man! THEN all today I have been finding super cute notes all over the house from him.

I married the kindest man ever I'm convinced.

Love you Brantley! Can't wait for our movie date tonight!!!

Insanity- day 5

Pure Cardio

Shaun T is nuts.

Nuts I tell you.

I dont understand what was going through his mind as he made this workout...but I think he had some extra motivation to make it super hard.

As we were warming up, I was realizing that the warm up was getting easier! I was super happy.  As we were stretching, however, Shaun T said the most disturbing thing

"I'm super nervous for this workout y'all...I gotta be honest"

WHAT?!

Shaun T. you are super buff and never have a problem with the workouts I die from and you say you are nervous for this workout?? I was about to turn it off right there.

But I understand now why he said it.

apparently, there was no room to take breaks during this intense 30 minute work out.  NOT ONE BREAK. I kept waiting for one but it never came. holy smokes. This guy is motivated, props to him

When it was over, I was so tired.  I don't think my body has every worked that hard.

Now that its over, I'm glad I did it. But holy cow whoever can do that workout with all the proper form is my hero.  Good job!!

I found this on Pinterest...hahaha

Brantley gets home a little earlier tonight!! I can't wait!

Insanity- day 4

Cardio Recovery

Its Monday.

I took a break on Sunday from working out because Sunday is a day of rest for our family and its also the only day I get to spend with my gorgeous husband.

But today I started back again and I was relieved to find that it was a recovery day.
The workouts were still hard, but not nearly as bad as the other days.

The thing that got me the most were these epic squats we did. We went super slow and super deep and just held it there. Oh my heck that hurt. There was a lot of stretching and balance in this workout, but it wasn't bad! I was happy I did it and felt good about myself!

Funny story from yesterday:

Last week I looked in the fridge and saw this pork I had made a week prior.  I was thinking about throwing it away. I yelled to Brantley:

"Hey Honey, can I throw this-"
Brant: "Yeah!"
Me: "Wait this-"
Brant: "Yeah I know what you are talking about go ahead!"
Me: "ok!!"
(the conversation was like that a little longer, us just assuming we knew what the other was talking about)

So I threw it away.

Then, yesterday, I saw this old blondie bar I had tried to make like the first week we were here.  I was thinking about throwing it away. I yelled to Brantley:

"Hey hon, can I throw away this blondie bar?"
Brant: "....I thought you already threw it away..."
Me: "...no I threw the sweet pork away."
Brant: "oh no I wanted that!"

haha he thought I meant the blondie bar and I thought he meant the sweet pork. we laughed about that for a long time haha

Bragging rights

Can I just take a minute to brag about my awesome husband? 

He is seriously so cool.  

I am so impressed at his dedication and perseverance.  When he sets his mind on something, it gets done. 

When Brantley told me about this idea of coming to California and him selling security systems, I was pretty nervous.  What if sales don't come? What if this or that bad thing happens? But holy smokes I had nothing to worry about.  Brantley is amazing.  Even if he never made one sale this summer, I would still feel this way about his character.  He comes home every night from working 12 hours in the California sun, happy and positive about the day he has had.  He talks about things he is learning and how he is learning to not give up at the first 'no' someone gives. Yesterday he made two sales and is in the running to be the top rookie salesman in his office. THAT IS MY HUSBAND RIGHT THERE. 

I am so incredibly proud of that man.  He is teaching me so much about honesty and just being happy with life. Every day he tells me to try and make someones day better, and prays to find people to serve. He is amazing and I could not ask for a more wonderful companion.  

This is a picture from about a week or so after we started dating.  We were helping his friend in a photography class. It felt like we were taking engagement pictures haha :)

Insanity- day 3

Cardio Power and Resistance

Wow!! This workout is awesome. It hurts and I hate it, but its awesome.

I did not want to do this today. like, at all.
I have been eating healthy for the past week, but I was strugglin not to eat a cookie this afternoon.
After some more Pinterest motivation I decided it was time.

When Shaun T started pumping us up, I was almost dreading it more.

The warm up was as hard as usual, but we did some new exercises that I really liked
When the work out started, I could feel tears coming.  It hurt so bad. The pain was not like a normal physical pain I usually feel when I work out, it was like an inner pain, almost like a combo of being scared and being sore.  That was a rough moment and I wanted to quit right there.  I even paused the video and sat down, discouraged.  I am no good at this.  Its hard and I don't want to do it.  And then I thought of my awesome mom who got up at like 4 in the morning to workout and then help me get ready for school with no complaints.  I thought of the person I want to be and how I want to feel good on the inside and the outside and I decided to try again.

It was still way hard but I realized it was hard for every one of those super fit people on the screen in the beginning, and they got better!

I will get better.

When we started the first few circuits, it hurt like crazy...but as we went to the second and third, I started focusing not on the pain but on my technique.  I stopped watching the models on the video and focused on me.

When the last set of Globe jumps came (This is an exercise where you squat to the floor and jump back, squat, jump forward, squat, jump right, squat and back again a million times) I was powered up! I was doing them and doing them well!

Then the very last exercise came: four deep squats jump back and do eight pushups.   I hate pushups.  When I jumped back, however, I did them! I did them all without my bum in the air.  I did them right and I felt awesome.

When it ended, I was happy I didn't give up in the beginning. I felt empowered and strong.  I look exactly the same, but I can feel myself getting stronger.  Wahoo!

this is  Shaun T. 

He yells at me to keep going and I'm grateful for it

Insanity- day 2

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Today was a killer

I was excited to work out today because I felt good when Brantley came home and was proud of me for starting Insanity, and I know he is always proud of me but I like it when I have something to really show for it.

When I started  the warm up, it was the same as yesterday, super hard and  I was drained by the second time around the warm up exercises.  The warm up was slightly different with a lot of stretching. I am hoping to increase my flexibility as well over the next few months.

As I was working out, I could feel the muscles in my legs working crazy hard. I had to take a lot of breaks during this video, but at the end I felt really good.  Sorry I'm not more detailed, (I actually did this yesterday and was just behind on my posts so I cant remember everything)

I took some time to look up some fitness motivation on Pinterest....haha I love Pinterest

Here was one of my favorites:

And its true! I'm really no expert (for reals I've been doing this for 2 days) but I went to bed last night feeling awesome! I want to keep it up!

Insanity day 1

The fit test

Here we go: I got my water bottle and headband and I am ready for some insanity. I put the DVD in my computer and set it on our table in the living room. All of a sudden, this super intense music accompanies a ton of super hot people yelling and running in place like they were running toward the last ship off the titanic. All of a sudden this super huge guy comes to the camera and yells

"THIS IS INSANITY" 

Oh dear. 

It breaks and now the guy is smiling with two other super fit instructors.

"Hi I'm Shaun T, welcome"

Not sure what the "T" stands for

The fit test, as Shaun T explained, was to help track your progress over the 60 days of the program. 

A little more intimidated than before, I started the warm up.

Normally, I can do a workout warm up without too much difficulty, but as we started the second circuit of it, I was wheezing and drenched in sweat. 

Brantley And I did a few of these warm ups together after our honeymoon, but for some reason it was easier with him cause I was trying to impress him, but now it's just me, Shawn T and the stitch in my side. 

As we began the fit test, I realized quick that I wasn't "fit" according to these standards, but it did feel good to see that I could actually do what they were talking about, just not as many repetitions as the pros.

When we got through the whole test, it felt good! I felt empowered and like I was doing something right!

Then I took a nap.

DAY 1 DOWN

Insane

Here is the update on the Brooks fam:

Brantley sells security systems as a summer job (that is why we are in California and not Idaho, where we go to school) he is gone from noon til 10:30 every day. 

Claire is currently looking for a job, with little success (just got turned down from target...again). So I (Claire) have been trying to find some things to do other than napping and reading. I decided to try and use this summer to get in shape and try INSANITY WORKOUT PROGRAM. I knew I would probably not stick with it unless I had something holding me accountable so for the next 60 days I am going to write about my experience here! WOOO! Lets get goin!

Divergent Craze

Ok. Lets talk about this book.

Its amazing people!!!

Brantley and I read it on our honeymoon and road trip to California.  Its absolutely incredible.  If you have not read it, READ IT. Its one of my new favorite books.  To top it off, the movie follows it SO WELL, aside from one scene which I'm a little mad about but its ok.  

I wont give anything away, but if you do read it, you are not going to be able to put it down.  Enjoy!

Mr. Brooks

Brantley as described by Claire

-This guy is the best

-Funny

-Plays guitar

-loves to smile

-reads Sherlock

-Supportive

-Patient

-Loves Pizza, Chicken Cord on Bleu (is that how you spell it?) and mashed potatoes 

-Basketball pro

-Laughs a lot

-flosses every day

-Looks at the up side

-reminds me to use mouth wash

-likes to cuddle

I love this guy and I am so grateful to be his wife.  Love you Mr. Brooks!!

The Names (part 2)

My Sweet mother texted me some great ideas for the name of our blog.  I accidentally deleted the text before I could make a post, but here are the ones I remember

-Brooks' Nook
-Follow the play Brooks
-Follow the yellow Brooks road (that ones pretty dang good)
-Love Brooks


I'm so sad I cant remember the others....Mom! Leave them as a comment so everyone can see them :) Love you so much!