Insanity

"Eighty percent of success is showing up." - Woody Allen

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." - Rita Mae Brown

"Don't believe quotes you read on the Internet." - Benjamin Franklin

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Whew.  Insanity.  All sorts of definitions for that word, right?  Merriam-Webster has its version, of course (though technically, that dictionary has three versions).  Each of us in turn knows what the word means for us.  The politicos, meanwhile, would have us believe that the word refers to whatever the opposing politicos are doing. 

Right now, for me, the word is looming large in my mind because it refers to a workout program.  Yes, I saw the Infomercial for the DVD-based workout program called Insanity, and yes, I got sucked in.  I didn't call right away, to my credit, but instead I did a ton of research online first.  It's real.  It turns out that the program is kind of like the old Jane Fonda workout routine, only on crack.  It's kind of like P90X (in fact, it's offered through the same company) but where P90X targets muscle mass, Insanity targets weight loss and cardio.

Trust me, more mass is the last thing I need.

So I went online and, feeling a little bit guilty over the cost of the program, purchased it (in three easy payments!).  As you can imagine, they tried to upsell me with everything fitness-related under the sun, but I held off.  No, I don't need the special powder drink of good goodness.  No, I don't need the additional CD to bring me rockin' abs (maybe later, once I can actually see the dang things, I'll consider it).  No, I don't need it in 2-3 business days instead of 3-5.  Just--send me the damn DVDs, okay?

They arrived today.  Our stuff isn't here from Virginia yet, though, so I needed to go buy a couple of things: 1) a tape measure, to find out just how much of my non-youthful roundness I'm shedding as I go through the 60 insane days of Insanity, and a digital scale (a serious upgrade from our current +/- 50 pound wheel-based unit, anyway).  I also bought a DVD player, in part because it's also a Blu-Ray device (and we didn't have one of those) and it was on sale!, but also because I wanted to watch skinny people doing exercises I couldn't quite do on the larger TV I have here.  Didn't buy the push-on coax cable, though, so I'm still watching those skinny people on the small screen of my laptop.

Ah, well.  Insanity still burns just as much.

I also bought some high protein stuff, like eggs and chicken breasts, because despite the myth that eggs are bad for you, the protein is what I'll need to do this.  Yes, I did listen in that nutrition and that personal training class I took at West Point so long ago.

And then, full of trepidation though I was (can I do this? will it kill me? will it really help me?), I started.

Sometimes the most important thing to do, after all, is to start starting.

Wish me luck....

- TOSK