Ketchup? Catsup? Catch up?

It's been a few weeks, so I'll do a quick little recap, though it won't be all that detailed. The biggest thing for me to report on is my 10k that I ran for the 4th of July! I finished it in 1 hour and 12 minutes! Not bad for a first 10k huh? I didn't even have to stop and walk any of it! There were some hard parts though. Mile 4 is when I first started to feel tired. The route took an uphill loop around the State Hospital down in Provo, and it felt long! But after the uphill came a nice downhill to catch my breath and gain a little speed without so much effort! Just after the 5 mile mark however, came the hardest stretch, it was a long, steady uphill for pretty much the remainder of the race! Given how tired I was already getting, this felt like it would last an eternity! The final corner brought a welcome sight: The Finish Line! This was a boost for those last few hundred feet and I finished strong! As hard as the races can be at certain points, I'm hooked to that feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish, the rush you get during the race as people cheering you on, and the strength I gain from running regularly! I love running!
The past couple of weeks since then, I've done a variety of different things. I've been taking advantage of my gym membership that I get through work, using cardio equipment, and trying some weight machines. My husband and I have been doing some work around the house, reorganizing, cleaning, and painting our bedroom! So, while those aren't really a structured workout per se, they have kept me pretty active! Now all I need to do is get my self focused back on my nutrition.... That's the hard part for me! I just like my sweets too darn much! One day at a time right?

A Busy Weekend

Well, these past few days, I haven't done any really big workouts, but I have been doing a pretty decent amount of walking! With the holiday weekend, we've been going to different festivals, and gatherings and such, so we've been on our feet quite a bit. I use a pedometer for a wellness program at work, and I've been getting anywhere from 14,000-16,000 steps just because of these little activities (on a normal day I average probably about 8500 steps). Not too shabby. I did try to go running on Thursday, but there was a big thunderstorm that was ended up being a little close for comfort. I was pretty sad, though, because it was raining pretty hard, and it felt fabulous to be out in it! Oh well, I at least jogged home! Tomorrow is the big day! My first 10K race! Hopefully I make it through in one piece!

Under the Sea... er pool...

Oh Mondays... they really take it out of me! Haha, it was a hot day after work, so I decided it would be a perfect day for a swim. However, to say I'm not a very good swimmer would be being nice... I can keep my head above water, at least; and my husband, who was on his high school swim team, has shown me a few different things to practice. I hadn't realized how tiring swimming (real swimming, not just sitting in the shallow end ^_^) can really be! Just treading water for a few minutes at a time is enough to leave me winded! I practiced that a for a bit, not just to work out, but just to get better at it in general! Then I did a lactic acid exercise that my husband showed me. It works your leg muscles really hard, and it's pretty idiot proof, so I like to do it. Basically, you hold on to the edge of the pool, while pumping your legs up and down as hard and fast as you can, kind of like running up a stair case, working to bring your knees up as high as possible. Do 100 reps, rest, and repeat, reducing your rest time each set. Like I said, it works your legs like crazy, as well as your abs, and it left me out of breath, so it must be good cardio as well! After doing that for a while, I swam some short laps back and forth. I swear I get more out of breath doing this than I do running! My form is terrible, so hopefully, with more practice, that'll get better! Who knows, if I get at least sort of decent at swimming, I may be able to tackle a triathalon someday! ...For now, I'll just see how I handle this race next week, and focus on swimming without drinking half the pool. :P

Wish You Were Here

Oops. Looks like I kind of dropped the ball on my blogging. Now, just because I haven't written in this thing for a long time, doesn't mean I haven't been exercising! With the weather being nice and warm, instead of doing videos inside all the time, I like doing things outside while I can; like going for a bike ride, taking a swim (our condo has a pool and it's AWESOME), I especially like to run. I'm not a very fast runner, I can't do amazingly long distances, but I can get at least 3-4 miles in at a time. In fact, my husband and I will be doing our first 10K next week on the 4th of July! I haven't done a race that long yet, so I'm excited and a bit nervous to see how it goes! I'm going to start tracking my progress here again (I REALLY will this time!), but I'm just approaching it a little differently. More of an overall fitness/exercise blog, not just P90X. I'll get some current measurements on here soon, since I haven't done some in a while. The last time I weighed myself (two days ago), I was at 151 lbs, so I have gone up about three pounds from my lowest point (148ish)... maybe some of that is just fluctuation, right?? Or maybe I've gotten a little complacent with my diet... Probably the second answer! No reason to freak out though, I'm still ahead of where I was at the beginning of the year, and, hey, about a month ago, I bought some jeans that were a size 9! And those still fit just fine, so I'm not going to let a number on a scale get me down! I just need to keep myself moving and always be watching what I eat, and I'll be okay! Getting back into writing this stuff down will help me with some accountability again too!

Remember the Time...?

So yeah, remember when I said I was going to do my workouts every day and do the whole 90 day program? Well, I hate to say it, but just I didn't follow through with that as well as I would have liked. The past couple of weeks, I've only gotten maybe 3 workouts per week! Granted, three workouts per week isn't too bad, but it's not following the whole P90X program the way it's meant to be done! I technically still have three weeks to go, however, so I can still really get some good progress in if I dig in and do it (heck, I could even extend the last phase by a week or two if I want). On the other hand, I'm kind of tempted to start over maybe beginning next week. Maybe I'll give P90X Classic a try. I know most of the workouts, they're just done in a different order. The only workout I haven't done at all is Plyometrics (which I hear is absolutely brutal), but hey, I gotta try it sometime right?
What do you folks think? Should I try and finish out my last couple of weeks on P90X Lean, even though I've been slacking off pretty bad the past few weeks? Or should I start over again at day 1 and do Classic starting next week? I'll even do new measurements, photos, the whole nine yards (I wonder where I could get a good measurement of my body fat? hmmm...). Anyway, any input is appreciated! 

Just Push Play

Today was the start of phase 3 for me. I couldn't help but feel like I haven't been doing good enough though. After getting sick last month, and hurting my foot the week after getting better, I haven't been doing my workouts every single day as scheduled. It's easy for me to beat myself up over not following the program perfectly. However, when I think about it, I know I shouldn't get so down on myself. Sure, I've missed some workouts, and I had to extend phase two for a couple of weeks (even then I still missed a couple each week), but I didn't quit! When I hurt my foot (it's feeling a lot better by the way, still not 100% but I can manage!) I had to back off on a few things, but I figured out other things to do. I eased up a little bit on the scheduled workouts for the time being. I could still do most of the strength training stuff, but instead of doing full-on cardio, kenpo, jumping-around-all-over-the-place stuff, I did some walking, and other things that were lower  impact. I was still moving and getting exercise, while hopefully allowing my foot to recover so it wouldn't set me back even further. In other words, I was trying to be smart. And there's no reason to beat myself up about that. Yesterday morning, I went for a run again, and it felt great! Today, I started phase 3. Phase 3! The first workout for the week was Chest and Back. Holy cow. This one is HARD! You pretty much just alternate between different types of push ups and pull ups the whole time, and I suck at both! ...Well, actually, I've gotten better at doing push ups over the past couple of months, but I still can't do a real pull-up without using a chair... No wait, I shouldn't say "can't" ... I presently struggle with doing a real pull up without using a chair! There ya go, happy Tony? Heheh. I mean that in the best possible way, of course! ^-^ Anyway, I was toward the end of the workout, and still feeling kind of bad about slacking off the past few weeks, when Mr. Tony said something that kind of stuck out to me: "Keep pushing play." It's a new week, I just need to keep on keeping on and quit worrying about past weeks! All isn't lost here! I really haven't even done all that bad! Just Do My Best and Forget the Rest!

Oh, Hello Again!

Okay, so I've completely lost track of what day I'm supposed to be on, so I'm not really counting anymore. I think I'll just go by week. The past couple of weeks have been kind of sporadic for me with my workouts. My foot is still kind of having issues, so I've been trying to take it a little easier to see if it will get better. I haven't stopped altogther though. Mainly, I've continued doing most of the strength workouts since those don't really require me putting a lot of weight on my feet (for the most part that is), and I've scaled back a bit on the workouts where I am on my feet and jumping around a lot (mainly cardio and kenpo, that sort of thing). Also, we just got a dog, and we take her out on walks regularly, so I'm still getting some good walking in at least, and it's not quite as high impact.
I started another recovery week this week, so hopefully, my foot will cooperate so I can back in my groove again and be ready to go all out with my third phase!
Oh, in case anyone was wondering, as of the beginning of this week (3-13-11), I'm officially below 150 pounds! Just barely! I'm at 149.6! For fun, I also tried on a pair of size 9/10 jeans at the mall (my 11's are way loose!) and they fit! I'm making progess, and it shows! I need to get some updated pics taken soon, they're way past due.

Day 41: If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Well, I guess I'm paying today for doing a different workout yesterday. :P I don't know if I stepped wrong at some point while running yesterday, or overdid it or something, but my left ankle and foot have been so sore today that it hurts to put my weight on it. I was supposed to do Cardio X, but I decided to rest my foot today. Hopefully, it'll recover quickly. I had this happen to me a little over a year ago on my other foot and it went away on it's own within a few days because I took it easy, so let's hope the same thing works this time!

Day 40: I Little Switch Up

Okay, so I'm not technically supposed to do this, I'm sure, but instead of doing my core workout today, I decided to go for a run. I haven't gone running for a while since starting this, and I just plain missed it. Now, I wish I could say I was cool enough to do both in one day, and I even thought about trying to do the core workout after running, but I ran long and good, and by the time I was done, I was spent! It was fun, and I brought it! I didn't do my scheduled workout, but I didn't slack off!

Day 38-39: I Need to Plan My Weekends Better

I missed Kenpo today. Dang it all! The weekends kill me! I have work in the morning, and when I get home, we get going doing too much stuff, and before I know it, it's midnight and I'm too tired to do my workout! Shame on me!
Day 39 was a rest day for me, but I did weigh in at 150.2 lbs! It isn't down by much, but honestly, I had thought my weight loss from the previous week was just because I was sick and was half expecting the scale to go back up. Plus considering how many workouts I missed, I'm pretty happy with what I see. Besides, my jeans are starting to feel pretty loose, and I don't think I'm just imagining that! :)

Day 37: I Remember Pain

It's Legs and Back for me today. This workout wasn't anything new, so I didn't expect it to be too brutal, not as hard as introducing a new workout like yesterday... But I forget that this is P90X... and the last time I did this workout was two weeks ago! So yeah, this one was still hard! It was hard, but in a weird way, I liked it... except for the 80/20 squat, if that move weren't in there, I wouldn't be too torn up about it. It's in there though, so I do it the best I can. I also had Ab Ripper X again (good thing it's short), so I buckle down and give it my best as well. I feel good afterwards, but man, I have a hard time walking downstairs afterwards....

Days 32-36: Catching Up

I've fallen a bit behind. Sorry folks! I ended up having to sit all of last week out because I was sick. Somehow, though, at the end of the week, I was down to 150.4 pounds! I don't know how much that has to do with "real" weight loss, or maybe just water weight or something else thrown off from being sick, we'll just have to see what the scale does next week!
Monday was President's Day, so I had the day off work. I spent the day with my husband doing some shopping and stuff (got some new running shoes!) We were both still shaking off the last of our symptoms too, so I didn't do a workout that day. I don't feel too bad skipping Monday, though, because we did a lot of walking around.
I got started on my workouts again on Tuesday. When you miss a week's worth of workouts, you can tell! The workout du jour was Cardio X, and it was tough! It was especially hard because I still had a bit of a cough that has been lingering ever since I first got sick. I got through it, though, and I was glad to get back into the game!
Since I'm starting Phase 2, Wednesday was a new workout for me: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. Oh wow. This workout is evil! The very first exercise we do after the warm up is slow motion push ups. Now, if you're like me, and not very good at push ups to begin with, doing them in slow motion reminds you of that fact VERY quickly! And Evil Tony makes you do them three different ways! First, arms wide, then normal, then really close in! My arms are already shaking by the time I'm done with these, and I still have about 45 minutes to go! Oh goody! ...Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic! Anyway, there are various different shoulder presses, and tricep curls that we do to further pulverize my upper body, and I had no idea there were so many different ways to do a push up! Holy cow! Some of the exercises were kind of awkward to begin with, mainly because it was my first time doing them, couple that with my arms and shoulders getting increasingly exhausted by the minute, I bet it would have been amusing for anyone to watch me struggle through this workout... Of course I don't workout before an audience for a reason! Haha! I do get through the whole workout more or less, although some of the exercises I could only do, like, three reps, but that should improve with practice... but I realize that I'm not done yet... Yes, after nearly two weeks without it, it's Ab Ripper X again...
Crimony, I always seem to forget about that one! I decided to try something a little different this time. They do 25 reps of each exercise, but they go through each of them pretty quickly, especially the first three of four exercises. I used to just follow along with the video, but I usually have to take a break or two depending on the move we're doing. When the folks on the video finish a move, I finish, whether or not I've actually completed all 25 reps. This time, I decided to try pausing the video at each exercise. I went at my own pace, and still had to take breaks, but I made it a point to all 25 reps of the exercises. Then I would move on to next exercise, pause it there, and do the full set of 25 reps and so on... That lasted for about the first half of the workout.... then I finally got so tired that I just let the video run normally and I did as many as I could get through with the last of the workout! It was a lot harder to do it that way, and I didn't do it that way for the entire workout, but I will probably continue to do it that way and see how I progress!
I do have to confess that those are the only two workouts I've done all week. Thursday was just too busy. I got off work early, but my cousin was going through the Temple, so we were gone all afternoon and evening. It was almost 11:00 when I got home that night, so no yoga for me on Thursday. I was out with family all evening on Friday and didn't make it home till late. Plus, I've still had this cough that just won't seem to completely go away.
Overall, it's been a bit of a struggle so far this week to get the motivation to get back into the swing of things. Getting sick and having to rest kind of made me lose momentum. I don't want to quit though, I've made too much progress already to just throw in the towel. There are a couple more days in the week, though. I can still do the workouts I need to do, and start a new week next week and hopefully I can really dig in and get the most out of it!

Yet Another Sick Day...

I'm slowly on the mend today, but not enough to tackle a workout just yet, darn it. I'm starting to get kind of stir crazy. Hopefully I get better soon. This may sound weird, but I kind of miss the workouts! Plus, I don't want to lose my groove and fall out of the habit or anything.

Day 29-31: Disaster Strikes

Well, okay, maybe calling it a disaster is a little overdramatic, but it's definitely bothersome to come down with the flu when you're trying to do P90X! I woke up with a cough Monday morning, but didn't think too much of it at first, maybe it was just cold dry air bugging me or something. As the day went on, I was beginning to notice funny little aches here and there throughout my body, which I just attributed to soreness from the workouts. No big deal, right? However, Since my cough didn't seem to be going away by the time I got home from work, I wanted to be on the safe side, so I took it easy with my workout. It was core synergistics, so I decided to lay off on stuff that might get me breathing heavy and aggravate my cough, and just focus on the strength exercises. Hopefully, whatever this bug is wouldn't get too bad...
It didn't really work out that way. When I woke up Tuesday morning, there was no mistake that I was sick. Body aching, head pounding, head and chest congestion, coughing more than the day before, and just plain not feeling good. It's a big week at work, so this couldn't have come at a worse time. I medicate, and tough it out, and try not to breathe on anybody! I make it through the workday, but no workout for me on Tuesday. I hoped that I would be on the mend tomorrow
Well, tomorrow is now today, and I feel just as lousy as I did yesterday :P I was able to go home from work a little early today, which was nice, I'm skipping the workout again today though, ugh! I really hate skipping workouts, but right now, just thinking of doing one makes me hurt everywhere! Obviously, I need to let myself rest and recover, otherwise, this will just drag out even longer. It's good to know I can repeat a week if something like this happens. So for now, I will focus on resting up and taking care of myself, and when I'm better, I can get back to bringing it!

Day 28: Progress report... well, part of it...

No workout today, but I checked my weight for the week. It didn't go down at all this week. However, given the way I had been eating most of the week, I'm just glad it didn't go up! I did really well with my workouts, and when I really think about it, even though I indulged quite a bit this week, I still ate healthier than I was eating, say, two months or so ago, before I started this thing! So I won't beat myself up too much... I just know where I need to improve that's all!
Oh, and I took my day 30 measurements! I'm down one inch on my chest and hips, and a half inch on my waist, arms, and thighs!

Day 27: Saturday is a Special Day

Well, I didn't do my yoga workout that was scheduled for today, but I don't really feel bad about because it was another really active day for me. I had the day off work, so I went to a Saturday morning zumba class with my mom and sister. After a nutritious breakfast (steel cut oatmeal, mmmm!) I went shooting with my husband, dad, brother and brother in law. Then we ran a few other errands here and there, some grocery shopping, that sort of thing. No, it wasn't yoga, but I think I definitely did plenty with my day!

Day 26: Cardi-OOO!

Friday night was another cardio night for me. I did my workout late at night again, because my family and I all got together for dinner and we went to this new fun center that just opened up for some bowling and arcade games and stuff. So overall, it was a pretty active evening, then I capped it off with a good workout!

Day 22-25: A little catch-up!

Sorry folks, I haven't updated for a few days! I'll recap what's been going on since Monday. I started week 4! Wow! Four weeks! I can't believe I've made it this far! Week 4 is a recovery week, which pretty much means no major strength workouts, but plenty of yoga and cardio stuff. The week kicked off with a good yoga workout, then core synergistics on Tuesday. Wednesday was kind of interesting this week. The past few weeks were always the arm and shoulder workout, so I would do that workout, get some good strength training in, then go to my zumba class with the gals and get some cardio. Well, this week, my Wednesday workout was kenpo, which of course, is also a really heavy duty cardio workout. I  didn't want to skip out on zumba though, because I really enjoy it, and it's a chance to get together with the girls, ya know? So I figured I'd go to zumba, really bring it, then maybe do part of kenpo to work my arms a bit extra. So I go to the class, really give it my all, get home, start my kenpo video; planning to probably only do about 15-20 minutes of it because I'm already pretty spent. I. Do. The. Whole. Workout. Holy crap, what's wrong with me?? I'm badass, that's what wrong with me!! Haha!
I probably won't make a habit of that, but honestly, I can need all the help I can get this week! It's been a somewhat hectic week for me, and I have not been eating very well the past few days! Breakfasts and lunches have been fine, it's dinners and snacks that I've been kinda fudging on... There was the whole Superbowl party thing on Sunday; then Monday we got together for a simple dinner for my brother's actual birthday. We had chili dogs and stuff like that. I tried to cut the extra carbs at least by having my hotdog and a little chili without the bun, and I had a little potato salad on the side. On the plus side, however, I passed on the chips and birthday cake that night! :) Tuesday I had a meeting for work in the evening and they provided dinner. The menu? Pizza & salad. I loaded up on the salad, but I still had two slices of pizza darn it! I was starving! I can't say no to Brick Oven! I'm only human! Wednesday was okay, we had dinner at home; grilled chicken and vegetables... but I may or may not have eaten a sugar cookie at work... just throwing that out there so I have a clean conscience (ha)! We had another work meeting tonight, and they catered in sandwiches from a local deli/bakery place. I had a turkey sandwich with just brown mustard (no mayo), lettuce and tomato. The trouble is, that was on white bread... big ol' thick slices of it, that you can tell they made in house and it was delicious dang it! So much white flour... Oh yeah, and I may or may not have eaten the chocolate chip cookie they gave us too... Yeah. I won't be too surprised if my numbers aren't what they could be when I weigh and measure myself this weekend. I am at least doing my workouts, and trying to push myself with those as hard as I can. I just need to regroup and refocus on the nutrition side of things, and I'll be back on track!
By the way, my workout for today was X Stretch. I love this one! I just feels great to do some good, deep stretches all over, I'll definitely be doing this one more often! Tomorrow is cardio X again, maybe I can get a little of this extra junk food burned off me!

Day 20 & 21: A Flip Flop

Saturday night was supposed to be my third Kenpo workout, but it was a busy day, and I didn't really have any free time till late. By then, I was so tired, that I decided to have Saturday be my rest day instead, then I would be sure to do Kenpo first thing the next morning. Hopefully, switching the two like that won't mess anything up. I should be fine though. I mean, I'm not going to make a habit of it, and at least I'm not skipping the workout altogether. 

I started up on Kenpo as soon I got up this morning, as planned. I noticed, though, that I got winded more easily than the last couple of times. All I can figure is it's because I hadn't eaten anything yet that morning (or since about 7 the previous evening, for that matter). Despite that, I think I did a good job, and got a good workout in to start the day. Now I just have an idea of what "bonking" is, and why it's important to be sure I am eating enough, and eating the right stuff! 

Speaking of eating the right stuff... uh... I'm afraid I didn't really follow through with that the rest of the day very well! It was Superbowl Sunday, and my brother's birthday is tomorrow, so we did a combination Superbowl/birthday party. We had burgers, chips and salsa (the salsa was homemade, however, and had a ton of healthy beans and veggies!), birthday cake... yeah. I didn't do too well with eating right today... But tomorrow is a new week! Time to regroup, recommit, and get ready to bring it even more! Wow, I'm starting week four tomorrow! I can't believe I've already gotten this far!

Day: 19: Legs & Back Revisited

Since I missed this workout last week, this is actually only my second time doing the Legs and Back workout. I could tell... Some of these were still kind of awkward. The first one, the balance lunge, is the most awkward one for me for some reason. It's hard for me to get in the right position to get a good enough lunge and keep my balance at the same time. The 80/20 squats are brutal! Overall, however, it felt good to do that workout again, I'm getting a better feel for the pull ups too. I still need a chair to do them, of course, but I felt like I figured out how to position myself better to work my back and arms better than last time. The dreaded Ab Ripper X was today, too. It feels like every time I do that workout, I make more improvements! The oblique v-ups are so dang awkward! I don't feel like I can ever get the right set up to do them correctly! Next time, I should probably pause the video to take my time a little more on those.

Day 18: Yoga, yo yo yo yo Yo-oga!

My workout today was a little harder to get into, because I think I was still kind of zapped from my double-duty last night. I knew however, that the longer I put it off, the harder it would be to just get started and get it done. So as soon as I got home from work this afternoon (I love half days!), I changed and got started. Because I felt so fatigued today, I took things a little easier, mostly through the vinyasas. I didn't worry about doing the extra push-ups they incorporate, since they were optional anyway, that way, I could use my energy toward improving on the postures and stuff. I still got a really good workout in, I rocked the balance postures, and the yoga belly 7! I'm glad I went ahead and did the workout, I could have very easily made up some excuse to skip it, but I didn't, and I felt a lot better afterward too! I rewarded myself with a hot bath and some relaxing music. One of my favorite ways to unwind!

Day 17: Possible Overload

So today I decided to do both my Arm and Shoulder workout and go to my zumba class. I figured it shouldn't be too big of a deal, since I've done both workouts before. I hadn't gone to zumba for over a week, and I don't like skipping out on it all the time, especially since my best friend and her sister started going on Wednesdays. I had to get groceries right after work, so that left me with about an hour before zumba started. I got a little something to eat, and went to my class first, planning to do Arms and Shoulders right after. Last week, when I did both workouts, I did P90X first, then went to zumba. I think doing it the other way around today made things harder! If any of you have done zumba, you'll know that it's a pretty heavy duty aerobic/cardio workout (and really fun!). It kicked my butt today, and it sure made for a grueling P90X workout! I got through all of it okay; in fact, I was able to increase weight and reps in many the exercises, but I'm absolutely beat now! I may have to stick to doing any strength training before doing a tough cardio workout if I'm going to do one after another like that!
I was looking in the mirror after working out (sure, I'm vain like that, haha!), and it may be just me, but I could swear that my bicep has a little "bump" to it now that wasn't there before... Am I already showing visible results? Cool...

Day 16: So far so good!

I had my cardio workout today, all went well, nothing particularly out of the ordinary to report. I was breathing hard and sweating bullets, just like it should be! There is something I wanted to mention: I was thinking back on the past couple of weeks, and while I haven't been completely without headaches (I wrote about a pretty nasty one I had back on Day 3, I believe), I think I've had considerably fewer (knock on wood)! The ones I do get are pretty manageable with just some ibuprofen, instead of having to resort to my Imitrex. Could it be that my regular exercising and watching what I eat is having more benefits than just losing weight??

Day 15: What's happening?

First day of my third week! I get right to it when I get home from work. This is my third time through the Core Synergistics workout, but there's an exercise that I don't think I've brought up yet that I keep meaning to: The Prison Cell Push-Up. Now, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I hate the Dreya Roll. I was wrong (those actually aren't as awkward as they were when I first started, and I've improved on those quite a bit). I hate the Prison Cell Push-Up. In these things, you do a push up, then bring your right knee to your chest, then do another push up, then bring your left knee to your chest, then do another push up, then jump up to a standing push up, then do it all over again. Tony says to do it as fast as you can. I can't do them very fast, in fact, I can barely make it through, like, two of those lousy things... After that, I'm kind of stumbling my way through one and a halfish more, then, I'm a pile of jello. Prison Cell Push-Ups suck. Yep.
Anyway, I make it through the rest of the regular workout. I really push myself today, so I'm at the point of exhaustion. Although I did the bonus round last week (sort of), I decide that I'm just too spent to do it today... but then all of a sudden, I find myself struggling through the bonus round anyway... What's going on here? What's happening to me? Have I become some kind of P90X drone?

Day 14: Day of Rest...

No workout today, but my weight is down to 153.4 pounds! That's just a pound down from last week, but considering I missed a workout, and was a bit complacent with my diet here and there (that barbecue on Friday was amazing, however. Hehe...), that's not too shabby. I'm ready to start Week 3!

Day 13: Ken-POW!

I had to work today. For some reason the past couple of days, I've been particularly on edge at work. You know when people just rub you the wrong way, although you know they haven't done or said anything wrong? Kinda one of those days at work. At least Saturday shifts aren't very long! Haha! After getting home from work, I decided to get some cleaning done around the house before doing ANYTHING else (you have no idea how much it needed to be done)! About four hours and a quick bite later, it's time for my next go-around with Kenpo. I think is one of my favorite workouts! Getting to just punch and kick it all out, and work up a good sweat is just what I needed today! Great stress relief! I clean up, and there's plenty of my Saturday night left to go out and have some fun!

Day 12: ...oops...

Sooo, yeah. I was supposed to do Legs & Back, but I'm afraid the Day 12 workout didn't happen. I had gotten home from work particularly frazzled and already feeling super tired for some reason. I really should have just gone ahead and done it despite that, I probably would have felt better after... Anyway, it was a Friday night and pay day (yipee!) So Aaron (my husband) and I got some dinner and went down to his brother's to visit for a bit. The plan was to go ahead and do the workout as soon as we got back. Kind of the late night workout I did last week. Since I didn't have to be up as early the next morning, it wouldn't be a big deal to be up a bit later... Trouble is, we lost track of time and ended up staying at my brother in law's place a lot later than we realized. By the time we got home, I was exhausted, and just didn't have the energy to do it! So, that's my confession/excuse, heh. This doesn't mean "Oh, I've blown it, might as well just throw in the towel" Of course not! This just means I rest up, make sure I plan ahead a little better, and get back on track tomorrow!

Day 11: Namaste

Time for more yoga! I had an early day off work again, which works out nicely since this workout is longer than all the others. As soon as I get home, I get changed and get started. I notice I'm doing a little better with some of the postures and vinyasas than I was last week! Like, chataranga (staff pose), for example, which is basically a low plank posture. It's kind of like when you go down in a push up, but you hold your arms and elbows close to your body instead of further out like when you do regular push ups. You hover just a few inches from the ground. It's hard! I used to be able to do it, but kinda lost it after a couple years of not practicing. I would have to drop to my knees last week, but suddenly today, I "remembered" how to do it! It was still really hard, and I wasn't able to do a full one every time, but it's more than what I could do last week, so I'm pretty excited about it. Half moon and warrior 3 still make me crazy (See day 4). They weren't really my strongest postures back in the day, but I don't remember them being this hard either! I can sort of balance in warrior 3 as long as I hold my arms behind me, but half moon is nearly impossible! I tell you what though, if I keep at it, I'm going to end up with an amazing butt (I better anyway)! Holding myself up with just one leg like that makes my glutes burn like no other!

Plough and shoulder stand was kind of interesting today. I noticed my middle back was starting to hurt while I was holding my legs and hips up over my head... I'm going to try and find some pictures that I can attach, it'll be a lot easier than trying to explain what all these postures are! I digress... Anyway, I think I might be letting my back and neck collapse down too much. So, next time I'll need to focus on keeping my abs tight so my torso can stay straight and my spine is supported. I may need to not stay in this posture for as long too, maybe ease myself into it a little more so I don't hurt myself...

Yoga belly 7 seemed to go a little better today too! I worked my abs well, and I was able to hold most of the postures for a lot longer. I think a lot of that was me not going "Abs? I don't wanna do my abs! I'm sore from yesterday! I can't do them!" And having more of a "Okay, let's bring it and see what we can do" Mindset... It's amazing how your thoughts and mindset can affect what you do! ... Lesson for the day!

My favorite part, the cool down! Aaaah, some nice spinal twists, happy baby, and of course, corpse pose... I could have fallen asleep right there! After some deep breathing and some Oms, I'm all done, and I feel great!

Namaste, everyone!

Just so you know what these postures that I'm talking about look like. This is warrior 3... No, that isn't me doing it.

Half moon. I double suck at this one.

This is shoulder stand.

Here's plough... the pig is awesome and you know it!

Day 10: Pump It!

Okay, Shoulders and Arms once again. I noticed last week, that after doing this workout, I wasn't really sore the next day... That might not necessarily mean I didn't work hard (I felt like I was really working my arms at the time), but I decided to really try and push my limits today and see what I could do. I added reps, added weight, and really brought it! My arms were burning and I even went for the bonus round! My arms felt rubbery, and I had broken a good sweat. We cool down and stretch and then... Ab Ripper X... Oh yeah. That. Well, let's buckle down and get it done! I found I could do a couple of the exercises without having to stop for a break! I hadn't been able to do that before! My form still wasn't the prettiest, and I was stopping for breaks for most of the other moves, but I could tell I was making some progress! It'll be exciting to see what the next couple of months will bring!

Day 9: Sweat it All Out

Cardio revisited! I really want to get a good workout in, so I push myself extra hard today. I'm already breaking a sweat after the warm-up, on to the yoga segment. I try to focus on keeping my lunges at a right angle, wow, my legs burn! I didn't realize how much I let that slide before! Clearly something to work on... Then some kenpo. After doing the full kenpo workout on Saturday, I realized how much that really works your arms! They were more sore after doing that than any other time this week! In fact, I can still feel a few twinges in my arms as I'm throwing punches now! I'm more familiar with the moves too, so I don't get quite so mixed up as I go along, so I can really bring it! During the plyo segment, I focus on getting my knees high, and keeping up a good pace. Wow! This really gets the sweat pouring! I'm nearly exhausted by the time the plyo is over, but we're not done yet! We still have some core to do! Yeesh... That's okay, I push on through, I'm getting a little better at the Superman/Banana, and I did 9 Dreya rolls! Personal Best! I have yet to be able to one without pushing off with my hands though... that'll come with time I hope. Finally, the workout is done! We do a good cool down, then I have myself a protein shake! nom nom nom...  

Day 8: Strange Dèjà Vu

Oh, Monday, Monday... The weekends are never quite long enough... Oh well, I make it through the day at work, and come home to dinner ready (thanks sweetie)! After a couple of quick errands, it's time to get going on a new week on the ol' P90...x... :) It's Core Synergistics once again. It still kicks my butt; however, I find I can do some of the exercises a little better than last week! Making progress! wOOt, wOOt! I even give the bonus round a shot. That was, well... interesting. I think I was only able to get through each of those exercises only about halfway! They're good, though, definitely add some extra oomph to an already oomphalicious workout!

Day 7: I do nothing!

Today is a rest day (or I could do stretches, but I skipped it today), so I have no workout to report on today. I did just want to report, though, that I weighed myself this morning, and I'm down to 154.6 pounds! That's down 4.4 pounds in just one week! Tomorrow, I start a whole new week, and this is good motivation to keep truckin'!

Day 6: Bam! Pow! Punch!

Kenpo X today. Kenpo is kind of like kickboxing, but more intense. It starts off with some leg and arm stretches to warm up. My legs are so sore and stiff from the Legs & Back workout the day before, that it's hard holding up some of the lunges and stuff, but by the time we're done with the warm up, my legs are ready to go, and we start in right away. First we do a bunch of different punches: jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks, and different combinations of those. Next, we do some kicks, then we combine kicks and punches. I've never really done this sort of thing much, so I get mixed up really easily! There comes a point where I don't think anyone can distinguish one punch from another... It just looks like I'm swinging my arms around all over! Once I get the hang of it, though, I really get into it! I even do the yells that everyone in the video was doing... glad no one's watching...  I don't realize how much this is working me! Even during the breaks, they want us to keep running in place and doing jumping jacks and stuff. I'm sweating like crazy! The one that really gets me going is a really simple one. You stand in your regular "fighting"stance (one foot in front of the other a tiny bit), do one punch with each arm (we do this a couple a of times with different types of punches too), then jump and switch sides, the repeat it! This one works ya! I should get myself a heart rate monitor...
In the intro, Tony says this workout goes fast, and he wasn't kidding! It seemed like no sooner than the workout started, that the workout was over! We cooled down, did a little stretching, then I realized something... I just finished my first full week on P90X! Day 7 is a rest day, and I think I'll need it!

Day 5: You Can Do It All Night Long!

I didn't get my workout in till almost midnight last night, heheh, but I got it done! The workout of the day was Legs & Back. Boy oh boy, I felt this one! Basically, it was lots of squats, lunges, and pull ups! The leg moves were hard, but I could pretty much do all of them. If any of you are curious what doing 75 calf raises in a row feels like, it's kind of like someone taking a blow torch to your calf muscles! And the wall squats! Oh jeez... those had me grunting and writhing and making all kinds of weird faces and stuff... Then Tony wanted us to do them on one leg at a time. Yeah. I may or may not have said a few bad words during that...  In general, The way the workout was set up was we would do two leg moves, then do a set of pull ups of some kind. Now, pull ups are a funny thing for me. When I try to do one, like the real way, I strain, and flex, and pull as hard as I can, and still pretty much just hang there like an idiot. Thankfully, they offer some options to modify them, so I can actually accomplish something other than just hanging around! You can either use resistance bands that you hang from above you and pull down like a lat pull, or have a chair or stool below you so you can use one leg to support yourself while you pull up with the chin-up bar. I chose the latter for this time around, because I have this weird fear that the bands will snap on me at any moment and take my eye out or something! However, it felt like I may have been relying a little too much on the chair and using my leg, rather than my arms and back muscles, to get high enough. Of course, I want to make sure I'm working the right muscle groups, otherwise, what's the point of doing the exercises? So maybe next time I will experiment with resistance bands and see how I do with those.
Finally, the workout is over! My legs feel like jello, I'm a sweaty mess and I was pulling a Tammy Faye Baker with what was left of my eye makeup. We do a nice little cool down, and then I remember what was still ahead... Ab Ripper X. Aw man... Well, gotta do what I gotta do, this jelly belly (and I don't mean the jelly beans) of mine isn't going away on its own. Some of the moves I could have sworn I did a little better on than just a couple of days ago. Could I already be making progress?! Some of them are still nearly impossible though. The oblique v-ups are extremely awkward, I'll have to practice those more. I make it through the Ripper once more and I'm beat. By now it's 1:00 am, so sleep comes very easily tonight!

Day 4: The Trick is to Keep Breathing

I got off work a little early today, and got started right in on my workout for the day: Yoga X. I used to take yoga classes at school for a couple of years, so I'm looking forward to this one. Now, I know a lot of you probably think of yoga as something for relaxation (or contortionists, maybe), but probably not as hard exercise. Yoga X, however, is basically power yoga, which keeps me breathing hard and moving almost constantly, and I start to sweat fast! Just like the good ol' college days, oh yeah! Most of the postures are pretty familiar, but man oh man, am I out of practice! Stuff I used to be able to do quite easily, I can now barely hold for a second or two! For example, in warrior 3, you're bent at the waist with a flat back, then holding one leg straight behind you, then your arms straight out in front of you. I couldn't keep balanced for the life of me! Half moon wasn't any better. Here, you're still bent at the waist with your leg out behind you like in warrior 3, but then, you twist at the waist and hold your back arm up in the air, with your fingertips of the other hand touching the floor... yeah, those will take some time to master. After what seems like a hundred different vinyasas, standing and seated postures, I'm sweatin' up a storm, my limbs feel limp, and we seem to be wrapping it up.. but then Tony announces this thing he calls the Yoga Belly 7... I don't like the sound of that... it's seven different postures that set my abs on fire, but I get through them... more or less... Some of them I can only hold for a few seconds at a time, like the scissor or half boat, but you gotta start somewhere! Finally we end with a few cool down postures, and corpse pose (this one's the best... You just lay there!), wrap up with some deep breathing and we're done! It felt great to do yoga again after so long, why did I ever stop??

Day 3: Silly Things

I woke up to a splitting headache this morning. There goes yet another day to get my workout in early. I don't necessarily mind doing my workouts in the evening, but I just figure if I try and get them done first thing in the morning, I won't have to worry about anything that may distract me from getting it done after work. The thing is, I'm really, REALLY, bad at getting up on time as it is (ask my husband, I like my snooze button way too much)! maybe trying to take on too many goals all at once is kind of a silly thing to do. I mean, this is a pretty intense workout program I'm doing, plus I'm trying to really watch what I eat. Maybe trying to get myself up out of bed an hour and a half or so earlier than usual would just make it harder to stick to everything, you know? So far I haven't had any trouble with just making sure I do my workout as soon as I get off work. Maybe I can take on the morning thing in a couple weeks...
I get ready for work and get a whole bag full of healthy things for my lunch and snacks for the day: tuna, whole wheat bread, plain yogurt & berries, jerky, and the like. I walk right out the door and drive all the way to work three towns away without it. What a silly thing to do. So no breakfast, no lunch, and no snacks... swell. Luckily, I was saved by Jimmy John's! Every so often they come around and bring small sandwiches to sample. I had breakfast! Turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and sprouts. There was a little mayo, and it was on white bread, but I figure it's a better choice than the donuts that were still in the break room! For lunch, I got myself some El Pollo Loco. Fire grilled chicken with steamed vegetables and beans. Not too shabby.
I still have my headache when I get home, but I know I need to get my workout done. Luckily today is Shoulders and Arms, so not a lot of running or jumping around to make my head hurt more. In fact, by the end of the workout, it was starting to feel a lot better... but I forgot one thing: Ab Ripper X. Silly me. I was complaining about core the past couple of days... Yeah, I won't be doing that anymore! Ab Ripper X is brutal! Over 250 sit ups! 11 Different kinds! I weep, and wail and gnash my teeth (well, okay, I didn't really weep), but I make it through the workout. I can't do all the reps of every single exercise, but that should get better with practice! Unfortunately, with all the grunting, groaning, and straining, particularly in my neck, my headache came back. Boo! I took some ibuprofen, get a little something to eat, and do another silly thing: Go to my zumba class...

Day 2: Confession & Restitution

Forgive me, for I have sinned. I let the temptation of the leftover birthday cake staring me in the face in the break room get the better of me this afternoon. I knew better. I knew it would be there, and I told myself that I wouldn't have any, no matter how much it beckoned me; no matter how fudgy and delicious the frosting looked, or how much I knew I would wish I didn't if I let myself have some... It didn't work. I ate a piece anyway. It was moist, fudgy, and delicious. Now, I'm trying not to beat myself up about it too much. I know one slip-up isn't going to completely undo all my efforts! But if I couldn't say no this time, what about the next temptation? Or the next one? Okay, I can't worry myself like this so much, it's not going to help anything! Focus on the positive... For what it's worth, I didn't have any of the cheesecake, donuts, or cookies that were also in the break room today (I know, my work is pure evil)! I can do this, it may be hard sometimes, but if I can cut out the junk food for just 90 days, maybe it'll be easier to not overdo it later on... right?
Well, anyway, after work I immediately changed and started my Day 2 workout. Cardio X. This one has a little bit of everything. Some yoga to warm up, some kenpo, plyometrics, and core. Wait, more core?! I just did that yesterday!! *sigh* Oh well. I get started with the workout, and I'm lovin' the yoga warm up! I used to take yoga classes all the time, so it doesn't surprise me when the sweat comes almost immediately. We do some sun salutations, and three different warrior poses, all connected with a vinyasa to keep me moving, sweating, and breathing hard (I know! In yoga, right?) Next we do some kenpo. It's pretty fun, but I'm a bit clumsy with it, especially doing the punches and kicks on my left side. My right side is definitely my better side. Then the plyometrics... wow. We only do five exercises, but we repeat them, and man, those five moves are enough (the wacky jacks are my favorite)! I'm struggling to catch my breath after the plyo routine and Tony announces it's time for core again... grrr... That's okay, I can do it! Burn off the cake! You can do it! I make it through all of it, I even do better at most of the moves, even that darn Dreya roll thing! By the end, I was grunting, and groaning and yelling (which I think helped somehow). The sweat was pouring, and it felt swell! "Good work everybody" Tony said, and I felt like he meant it. I'm actually looking forward to my workout tomorrow! Is that weird?....

Day 1: The Real Work Begins

Well, my original plan was to get up at 6:15 this morning to kind of "practice" getting up at the regular time that I would need to get up to have the time to get my workout in before work... But since I had the day off (happy MLK Day everyone!), I slept in till 10:00. Oh well. I still got dressed and went straight downstairs to officially start my P90X journey, odyssey, self-torture, whatever you want to call it! For those who are unfamiliar with the program, there are three different ways you can do it, P90X Classic, P90X doubles (for truly sick people), and P90X Lean, which is the one I'm doing. This one focuses a little more on cardio training and a little less on building muscle strength. This is not to suggest that it's easier! The booklet even says so (I think it said something about it being "no picnic" so, yeah.)! The first workout is Core Synergistics... Kind of a big word... Kind of a big workout. And what's that first word, Core? Crap. What if I have no core strength whatsoever?? I can barely do a real sit-up! The logical, reasonable part of my brain tells me "well, that just means this is the kind of workout you need." I want to tell it to shut up, but I know it's right. So I gather my equipment, hit the play button, and pray that I make it out alive.
It starts out nicely enough, some neck rolls, some nice stretches... I soon realize Tony only does this to get on your good side before he swoops in to kill you. After a warm up that alone puts me out of breath, we start in on a bunch of push-ups. Not just regular push ups either! In these, they want you to stack one foot on top of the other, and then have one hand back further than the other, then you switch sides every 5 reps! I'm not the greatest at push ups mind you, I can do the girl ones that you do on your knees okay, but I'm watching the girls in this video do their push-ups... and they're not on their knees. So I try to do them as it shows on the video and can barely get five in. Lame. But, wait a sec, suddenly Tony shows one of the gals doing a modification! She has one knee on the ground, and is holding other leg up behind her. This looks a little more do-able! And it is!! It's still hard, still works me really good, but I can get more reps in, and so it feels like I'm accomplishing a little more than I would otherwise! Okay, I'm already feeling it, and I've got like, 45 minutes to go... oh boy... There are a grundle of different exercises that I'm learning here, some of them I wouldn't have considered core exercises, in fact, I soon learn that there's more to core strength than just abs. You're working everything from the chest down to your glutes! I also realize that when Tony says that a certain exercise is his favorite, you have reason to be scared. One of his little "favorites" (he's got a lot), is the Dreya Roll. The bane of my existence. You begin standing. Then you crouch down to almost a seated position, but instead of sitting, you roll backward all the way to your shoulders, bring your legs up over your head behind you, then roll back up to your feet, stand up do it all over again! I hate them. I can only do, like, three before collapsing in a twitching, sweaty heap. Oh well, it's a tough one, and it's the best I can do for now! "Do Your Best, Forget the Rest." After about 50 minutes of madness, Tony announces a optional bonus round. I'm exhausted. I forgo the bonus round for now, but hopefully I'll be up for giving it a shot next week. After a much welcomed cool down, I hit the showers. My Day 1 workout is done!

Beginning Stats

Oh yeah, I took some beginning measurements and and photos (my apologies in advance) to get an idea of what I'm dealing with here! :D Here they are as of 01-15-2011:
Weight: 159 pounds (down a bit from my doc's visit last month! Yay!)
Chest: 38"
Waist: 33"
Hips: 42"
Right Thigh: 24.5"
Left Thigh: 24.5"
Right Arm: 13"
Left Arm: 13"

You don't know how hard it is to post these... you can laugh, chances are I'll never hear you!

Yep, those shorts say Drum Line.

Hmm, my belly button makes a little frowny face!

Getting Ready to Bring it!

Well, here goes everyone! I suppose I'll start from the beginning. I'm Jen, I'm 25 years old as of Friday, and I've always been a bit chubby. I have lost a little weight here, gained a little back there, and lost a little again later; but  generally I've always been about 25-30 pounds heavier than I would really like to be. Just after Christmas, I had to go to the doctor for a sinus infection, and when the nurse weighed me in, I tipped the scale at 160.3 pounds. Pooo! I tried not to let myself get too down and out about it, I mean, there was a time I weighed even more than that... then again, there was a time I weighed less than that too! I'm not old, but I'm not getting any younger, and I know how important it is to eat healthy, stay active, and maintain a healthy weight throughout your life, and the longer I wait to do that, the harder it will be to do so later! I've got a family history of obesity, and all the not-so-awesome things that can come with it like diabetes, heart disease, and plenty of other crap that I really don't want to deal with later in life. I know I don't have to! I can't change genetics, but there is plenty I can control to overcome what may be in my genes! I just have to be willing to make those changes.... that can be easier said than done sometimes! That's why I'm trying P90x... again. My husband and I bought this program two years ago, and well, we didn't make it very far at all. I think I hit a week, and just let it slide from there :P I have done other things to get exercise, I like to run and have even done a few 5K races, I go to a zumba class at our rec center twice a week (however, I even let those classes slide sometimes), and I even play Wii Fit occasionally! I'm hoping P90X will help me get in the habit of getting a good workout in every day (if it doesn't kill me first)! I hope that by the end of this, I can have better self discipline about what I eat after following the diet plan (sob)! I want to be able to buy jeans that are a single digit size, maybe get rid of the relief society arms (I'm only 25 for crying out loud)!! I want to feel (and look) good in a bathing suit, have visible abs, as opposed to a spare tire, have better endurance, maybe work towards running a half-or even a full- marathon someday! So there you have it, my little story & some of the things that motivate me. Hopefully writing my experiences will give me some accountability, and even help someone else out. Early tomorrow morning is time to Bring It!