The Beginning - Insanity Before/After Pics & Results + Going Forward

Hello,

My name is Cody Anziano, but online I am usually known by Dcgreen. I started this blog to talk about Fitness and Nutrition. Being a "Gamer" we are constantly plagued with the stereotype that we are fat, unfit, and unhealthy people. While it may sometimes be true I prefer to be an exception to the rule and so have invested my time heavily into fitness and nutrition to better my self image. I don't think this is an area of expertise that comes easy and I want to share the things I have learned and am learning with the online community to help them stay motivated and succeed in their fitness goals.

In the Summer of 2012 I was working for Curse Inc. managing their Reign of Gaming website. I got to work from home and decided to put a lot of the free time I had in between major workloads to getting into better physical condition. I found a copy of Insanity online as I was more interested in becoming slim and lean rather than bulky and muscular (I really wanted a 6-pac). I changed my diet to be more healthy, incorporating more slow digesting carbs, lean meat like fish and chicken, eating 5-6x a day, and drinking only water. I completed the 60 days of Insanity and I looked and felt great. My results could have been better if I had been more strict about my diet (I wasn't counting calories or monitoring macronutrients), but I was in the best shape of my life I would say. Later down the road I lost my job with Curse and had to move back into my parents house.

Depressed about the loss of purpose, independence, and income I turned to eating whatever the hell I wanted because food made me happy. I had basically been depriving myself all summer of awesome junk food like Wingstop and 5 Guy Burgers so that I could shape my body and now it was time to overindulge! Needless to say I lost the body that I worked hard for in a very short period of time. I always thought about regaining my self control and trying to start over but who was I kidding when so many food-based holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were all right around the corner. So I ate my way through the holidays unabashedly and did what any American in my situation would do and put all my weight loss expectations and goals on the shoulders of my New Years resolution.

I set my mind to it and decided that early January I would start Insanity again and go super strict with my diet because I had been such a pig during the holidays. I bought a bunch of protein powder and supplements online during a Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale to really cement my decision. January came and I didn't start Insanity till Monday the 7th because I knew I would be hungover on the 1st, which was also a Tuesday, and Insanity you work out 6 days and rest 1 day and I didn't want my rest day to be on a Tuesday because it splits the week weird. Waiting till Monday allowed me to start every fresh week of Insanity on Monday, be done by Saturday, and rest on Sunday. These details aren't super important but I feel like being thorough.

The first day of Insanity was hell, just like it was last Summer. I actually managed to finish the whole Fit Test in 1 day this time, but I still almost threw up and it took me probably an entire hour to finish the 25 minute video because of how often I had to take massive breaks to catch my breath. My Fit Test results were as follows:

Switch Kicks: 90
Power Jacks: 42
Power Knees: 60
Power Jumps: 18
Globe Jumps: 7
Suicide Jumps: 8
Push-Up Jacks: 22
Low-Plank Obliques: 28

I don't have my results from last summer to compare, but these numbers are pretty pitiful. I basically shot my whole load trying to do as many switch kicks as possible and then from there every exercise just got exponentially harder. This really put into perspective how out of shape I had gotten and while it was disappointing it served as a good motivator to improve. I didn't take any "Before" pictures because I am an idiot but I did find a nude pic from the 9th that I sent to some girl I was trying to bang. I edited it so its safe lol.

I'm flexing pretty damn hard in this picture and sucking in my gut to make myself look more sexy and athletic but its pretty bad. My body is all soft and flabby as it should be after eating like shit for 3 straight months. I have no definition in my chest and I have a lot of fat on my lower abs which has always been a problem area for me. By sucking in and contracting my core I make it look like I have pseudo-abs but as soon as I let go of my breath it becomes quite unflattering.

Anyways so I made lots of changes this time around and I had much better results. I officially finished Insanity on March 12th and these were the results of my Final Fit Test:

Switch Kicks: 122 (Increase of +32 from 1st Fit Test)
Power Jacks: 60 (+18)
Power Knees: 93 (+33)
Power Jumps: 60 (+42)
Globe Jumps: 12 (+5)
Suicide Jumps: 21 (+13)
Push-Up Jacks: 47 (+25)
Low-Plank Obliques: 74 (+46)

Here are 2 pics of me "After" Not Flexing:

Annnnnnnnnd Flexing:

So as you can see I achieved some pretty good results for all the hard-work I put in. When I am not flexing I have a nicely defined mid-section with the makings of a 6-pac and some nice separation as you can see from the front and the side. The lower ab problem area is also almost completely gone (it may not look like it cuz I had something to eat like 60 mins before these pics, but I will upload something on an empty stomach to show my abs are pretty much flat. It make's a difference trust me). When I do flex, you can see the "ripped" version of my abs and obliques, the flatness and definite separation of my entire torso, and a very nice V-cut going into my pants. Success!

Now, while I used Insanity to help achieve these results I am not trying to talk up Insanity and say that it is the "go-to" program for fitness gains and weight loss. Anybody that has ever tried to lose weight or do any kind of physical transformation knows that exercise is about 20% of the battle and diet/nutrition is the other 80%. My ideal diet was not easy to figure out and I did a lot of experimenting over the 60 days I was doing Insanity to better lead to my results. I actually ended up gaining weight in the first month because of the Insanity recommended formula for calculating your daily calorie needs, so needless to say I faced some set-backs. I am not going to go in-depth about the best techniques I found in this entry because I want to keep this relatively concise to conveying my starting point/motivation and end results, just to show that it can be done. To find out my specifics/advice you will have to keep reading. I know that sounds gimmicky like the next blog is going to ask for your credit card so you can buy my $29.99 e-book on diet/nutrition but its all free I promise. I just want this entry to be primarily about my Before/After progress. See you again soon.

Love, Dcgreen