Day 53 & 54 - Stretch X and Core Synergistics

I'm a bad girl.  I know.  I said no more skipping workouts and here I am three days later skipping workouts again :(
I have a good excuse though... I had one of those migraine-type headaches again last night... It hit me while I was at work around 4:00 in the afternoon and didn't go away until I went to sleep despite all the Motrin and rubbing out my knots in my shoulders.  I've been getting those headaches often for the past month or so and I'm not sure why, but I wish they'd stop.  Maybe I should see a doctor... Who knows.  Or I should get a massage... but saving money for a down payment on a house is a priority right now...  OD'ing on Motrin will have to continue for now unless I have any massage volunteers  ;-)

So, today will be both Stretch X AND Core Syn again, which is okay, because I probably need a good stretch after work today anyway, and I remember Core Synergistics not seeming as hard the 2nd time during the first recovery week.

I am going to have to make some changes with the diet... I was SO hungry at work yesterday that I ate two extra protein supplements and extra cheese...  And after calculating my protein, I realized I am doing much more than I thought I was - between 120 and 130 grams, which is ideal for my weight, apparently.

Yesterday's food:
8:00 - Hard Boiled egg
8:00 - 6 Strawberries
9:00 - Protein bar
11:00 - 4 Strawberries
1:00 - Chicken sandwich on 45 calorie bread
2:00 - 1/2 cup cucumbers with ACV
2:00 - cheese stick
3:00 - Protein bar
3:00 - Melba toast
4:00 - Salad (2 cups)
5:00 - cheese stick

Yeah, by 5:30 I was crazy hungry so when I got home at 8:00 pm I had an egg on a bagel... a large bagel...:(  Aaaand.... I may or may not have had some cheez-its too..... :(

Ugh.

It's just not enough food.

I need to pick up some Casein protein to take at night (as recommended by my favorite client... you know who you are) when GNC has their next Gold card sale next month...  After doing a little research online the best choice seems to be Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein... I need some whey too... In the meantime I am going to keep cutting down on the salt and carbs and upping the protein so I can lean out (finally seeing my triceps under that layer of water weight after 3 days of the diet was more exciting than you'll ever know) but I will definitely incorporate more food into what I was allowing myself to eat.

Time for some stretching!

 9:02 pm Update -

Tomorrow is Stretch X or Rest; I am definitely not going to skip out on a workout tomorrow....I am planning on waking up early and riding my bike with the sunrise.  Besides, I can't skip, I have 60 day pics coming up, heh... which I'll really post this time since there is a little improvement.
Today's workouts went okay.  I had my HR monitor on during Core Synergistics, but apparently it wasn't working throughout half of the workout so I didn't' have an accurate calorie count to post.  Stretch X felt like a waste of time. :-/  I'm sure it wasn't. :-)

Ha.  I just received a text message that just read "Hell"
Then I got an "oops". Haha.
<3 you, girl.

You know...  I want to thank everyone for the support during this P90x torture.... I don't get many comments on my blogs but to those who actually read these and offer me support when I see you, it helps more than you know.  It's been becoming increasingly more difficult to stick with this as the days go on.... but the encouraging words make a difference!  So, thank you.

Day 52 - Core Synergistics & Kenpo X

What a morning...

Core Synergistics
Max HR: 178
Avg HR: 147
Calories Burned: 552

Kenpo
Max HR: 182
Avg HR: 151
Calories Burned: 452

9:15 pm Update -

Foods
9:00 - HB egg
9:00 - slice of 45 calorie toast with light margerine
11:30 - large salad with HB egg
11:30 - Egg sandwich on 2 slices of 45 calorie bread
12:00 - apple
1:00 - 6 large strawberries
1:00 - 2 oz of mozzarella cheese
3:00 - Fudge Graham protein bar
5:30 - Rotisserie chicken from Publix and 1 cup of cooked broccoli
8:00 - QWL vanilla pudding

Total Calories for the day: 1,237 (!!!)
Total Protein - 90 grams!

I was starving before the 5:30 meal...  I need to try shifting more foods toward the end of the day I think.

Oh yeah, and there's this:

Day 51 - ......Will Happen Tomorrow

I am off from work tomorrow which gives me an entire day to do both Core Syn and Kenpo.

Food Diary
8:00 - HB egg
10:00 - Apple
11:15 - QWL Fudge Graham Protein Bar
1:00 - Cucumber
2:00 - 1/4 Turkey Sub
4:00 - Salad with ACV
4:30 - 1/4 Turkey Sub
5:30 - HB egg
5:30 - Apple
8:00 - Publix Sushi, Cream Cheese Roll (bad!)
8:30 - QWL Mocha Pudding Protein supplement

My total calories for the day...?  1,642
86 grams of protein... not bad.

I felt good today... I was worried about eating less starches than I'm used to because hypoglycemia will set in if I don't have carbs, but the only time I was hungry was before lunch at 4:00, and before getting home from work at 8:00.

Day 50 - Yoga X...? Or Chest, Shoulders & Triceps...?

Um.  So apparently, today is the beginning of recovery week.  I was warming up and all set to start Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps when I looked down at my worksheet and there is no week 8... Ha.  So yeah, this is actually day 1 of my 2nd recovery week which I didn't realize until just now.  However, (and no, this is not an excuse to skip yoga ;-)  I am going to re-do chest, shoulders and tri's because last week when I attempted to do it I had a migraine and literally did up to the plange push ups (which is the 4th exercise in the workout) before quitting and I never did that workout again last week.
Yoga will have to wait.

I had a big fat plate of pasta for dinner so I'll have to burn it off with tomorrow's Core Syn :)

9:04 pm Update -

I just finished Chest, Shoulders and Tri's and I just want to say; I LOVE the way this workout makes my arms feel.  They feel puffy and numb... and call me crazy, but I love it :)  Lying Tricep extensions has got to be the most effective tricep workout I've ever done... Even though I can only really do 5 good ones before my arm gives out, they really work *just* my triceps, and do a damn good job of it.

10:21 pm Update -

You know, after doing some thinking about how I've been pushing hard for 50 days and my thighs STILL touch, I decided to follow a very strict diet for the next week or two.  I work at Quick Weight Loss, there is no reason I can't follow the QWL diet for at least a week to see what happens.  I don't need to lose weight; no no... I just need to focus on eating more balanced.  Carbs have made up about 75% of my pie chart of daily foods the past few months and that's no good.  I have 1/2 of a turkey sub I didn't finish today that's on white bread, but after that, I'm going to be on track with the foods I choose to eat.

I am currently weighing in between 131 and 135 (5 to 9 lbs up from when I started P90X and 12 to 16 lbs up from when I gave up on the Vegetarian thing months prior) and I'm really happy with that.  I'm not looking to lose "weight" per se, because when I weight 119 as a veggie I looked sickly.... I just seriously need to cut the junk food out of my diet so my thighs are no longer conjoined.  "Cricket legs" is what my ex used to call his.  No more cricket legs for this chick :-)

Oh, and a couple people have asked why I didn't put up the "30 day" pictures that I took; I avoided giving an answer... Well, the reason is because my thighs still touch and because of that I am disappointed.

I will be keeping a food journal and will try to post it daily.... Again, as self motivation. 

My daily Cheez-Its will be waiting for me at the end of the tunnel :-)

Day 48 - Kenpo X

Kenpo X
Max HR: 169
Avg HR: 128
Calories Burned: 351

My heart rate was *much* lower than normal during today's entire hour of Kenpo... which has me confused because I was working just as hard and sweating just as much as usual.  Every time I looked down and saw how low it was I would push even harder.  Weird.

Tomorrow is my rest day... maybe I'll try Kenpo again depending on how I feel.


Here is the video from yesterday's Legs and Back workout.

Day 47 - Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X

Am I on week 7?  Really??  I went to mark my pull ups on my sheet and apparently yes, I'm on week 7 which blows my mind.  This will be over before I know it...  I may do another 90 day round once I finish the first 90 days depending on my results... For now I'm focusing on today... and today was a decent workout.  My abs were sore during ab ripper which was unusual, but I welcome any kind of soreness because it means the workouts are effective.

I videotaped some of today's workout... I'd work on the video to post to YouTube right now but I'm actually going out tonight... crazy, right?  I need it... the whole "work, come home, work out, go to bed, wake up do it all over again" thing is getting old ...So the video will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm so glad the weekend is here.  Later, kids.

Day 46 - Yoga

Yoga was tough tonight.  I skipped some of the poses just to get through it quickly because it was getting late... My mom did Yoga with me and did a great job for never doing yoga before; much better than I did the first time.
It felt good to stretch after a long day of work but my balance seemed less controlled than normal. 

Back to Psych Week on the Discover Health channel and then sleepies.

Day 44 (again) and 45 - Plyometrics and Back & Biceps

Plyometrics (round 2)
Max HR: 183
Avg HR: 148
Calories Burned: 559

That's better.

I still have to do Back and Biceps but my brother has a band over that he's recording and well, seeing that the pull up bar is in his doorway... um... yeah. Unless I were to take my assistant manager's advice about my brother's single 20 year old friends, that will just have to wait.
It's reeeeally hot out, but I'm going to ride my bike around for a little bit while I wait for the band to leave.

I would like to pay homage to my little Honeywell fan... Without you, fan, I surely would not make it past the first round of  'Circle Run'...
As I jump and bounce like a jackrabbit on crack, your little blades spin and spin and never stop. I am, and forever will be, your biggest, um... fan.

:-p


5:29 pm Update -

I just finished Back and Biceps and I am very proud to say that I have moved up to 12 lb weights.  I did the entire workout with 12's... I have weak little arms so 12 is a huge improvement.
I was unable to do any of my "low bar" pull ups because that band is STILL here 5 hours later, but I'm okay with that because I don't think I could do any anyway... I really pushed with the weights and can hardly hold my arms up over the keyboard to type, heh.  I'm going to feel this in the morning... But that's a good thing, right?

Day 44 - You Know... It's Just Cruel to Make A Man With a Prosthetic Leg Do "Hot Foot"...

I am beat.

Plyometrics
Max HR: 176
Avg HR: 142
Calories Burned: 423

Back and Biceps tomorrow... I may do Plyo again because 423 calories is pathetic. I did find myself yawning throughout a lot of the workout... I did my best.

I have yet to buy the recovery drink, but I have been using this Magnesium Plus "Ionic Fizz" powder that my manager swears by for muscle relief... It does seem to help my back pain so I've been taking it on a regular basis the past few days. I almost couldn't swallow it the first time because it was so bitter, but now I'm addicted and I love the way it relaxes me after a long day at work. Get yours today ;-)

Day 40 - Can You Believe It?!

Wow... Just about 6 weeks into this and almost halfway through! It's gone by fast so far... Definitely doesn't feel like I've been doing it for 40 days.

I am doing Kenpo later today but first I wanted to share some interesting experiences I've had online the past couple of days. It's not often that I get a chance to sit around a play online, by the way. My work schedule has me by the you-know-whats and doesn't leave much free time. So, after waking up today around (you ready for this?!) NOON, I decided to hop online and look at some before and after P90X videos. I saw one of the suggestions on the side titled something like "Watch me shrink, week 5"... I clicked out of curiosity, and it was a girl standing in a bikini talking about how she was starving herself to lose weight for summer. Really, now. Then I saw over to the right side "Watch me shrink: Before" So I clicked to see how this girl had progressed with her onset of anorexia in the 5 weeks, and it was a completely different girl! I found many girls on YouTube doing this same kind of food restriction to get thin before summer, most of which are doing zero exercise (one girl even responded to a comment suggesting she exercise to tighten up her flabby waist she complained about by saying "Ha, exercise?! I'm too lazy.") That irritates me.

I work for a company who promotes weight loss without exercise. Upon starting working for this particular company, I thought that was a little um... yeah... Anyway, now I encourage the clients to workout. There are so many benefits to it (both physical and mental!) Why wouldn't you?? Because like the YouTube girl said, laziness? That is a terrible excuse.

People constantly comment on my thinness, and how I must have good genes, or starve myself, and they need to stfu, because it's neither. I work hard at it... And they can too. Anyone can.

Another thing (while I'm on this topic) no healthy person should complain how "fat" they think they are if they are doing nothing to work on it; such as eating fast food all the time, or brushing off any sort of physical activity... They have no right to whine and complain. It's not going to disappear on it's own. I give people who make a little effort a ton of credit.

Ha. Okay enough of that. Maybe I am just bitter that I slept half the day away.  Anyway, I feel better now... ha.


The other thing I wanted to share was a website that I'm falling in love with, www.myfitnesspal.com.
It's great; you track what you eat and it automatically breaks down the foods into the amount of protein, fat, sodium, etc... It's wonderful. What makes this site different than other calorie counting sites is that it saves all your days in a diary format, and it has every single food you can think of; even my employer's supplements we carry.  I'm trying to increase my protein, so it's interesting to see the difference in the amount of protein compared to how I used to eat (I sure do love my carbs)

Time for some laundry and Kenpo.

 4:18 pm Update:

Kenpo X
Max HR: 186
Avg HR: 142
Calories Burned: 615 (!!!!!)

I have migrated to a new workout spot... Thanks to my brother's technological expertise, I was able to hook my netbook up to the living room tv.  (So much more room!!)  I also had a workout partner today, my mom is going to start P90X Phase 1 on Tuesday but wanted to try Kenpo to see if she could hang.  She did great!!

I'm working on a quick video on Kenpo X as requested by one of my YouTube peeps... I burned a ton more calories than usual during today's Kenpo; maybe because I knew the camera was on....?  ;-p hehe  j/k.

Days 38 & 39 - I Really Gotta Get Caught Up

Yoga (blah) and Legs & Back today. Tomorrow is Kenpo and after that I made a promise to myself that I will catch up on my workouts so I can stop this doubling up thing. I'm guessing that the workouts aren't even as effective when skipping days then doubling them up.

6:50 pm Update -

I just finished with all 3 workouts (yoga, legs & back and *surprise!* ab ripper!) I completely forgot about ab ripper. I'm beat... Yoga was pretty much half-assed; I'll be honest. I pushed hard on Legs and Back & Ab Ripper though.
I somehow got my mom to try some of the exercises with me and she did great for her first time, and really great for not being able to go to the gym in a few months. Go mama!

Now going for a quick spin on my bike and then coming home to shower and curl up in my Snuggie to watch a (hopefully good) movie. Don't judge me. ;-p

Day 36 & 37 - "It's called ab-rip-per-X"

So.... Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps, Ab Ripper X, AND Plyo in the same day. Am I nuts? Sure am.
I skipped a couple days so I definitely need to catch up and what better time to do so than on my day off.
I just finished Chest, Shoulders, & Tri's and Ab Ripper and I'm about to start Plyometrics then try to walk around the mall with my cousin. Anyone own a pair of crutches I can borrow?

Update-

Plyometrics
Max HR: 183
Avg HR: 157
Calories Burned: 555 (make a wish)

I was getting really weak toward the end around the first set of Monster Truck Tires... My legs were shaky and just, weak. I finished the whole thing though but the end wasn't as strong as the beginning.

I've been nauseous everyday for the past couple of weeks throughout most of the day... It's one of three things: stress, the protein supplements (I increased from one a day to two a day), or pushing myself too hard during the workouts. That two workouts in one day thing really kills me... I need to focus on getting one in everyday without skipping days. It's becoming increasingly more difficult to get one in everyday because work has been a HUGE source of stress for me the past couple weeks... To come home from 12 hours of mental abuse to go through an hour and a half of physical abuse is a lot. I'm doing the best I can.

Day 35...Again - Another Night Off

Work today was bad to the point that I'm surprised I stayed and kept my calm all day. Needless to say, there is no way I'm going to make this a quality workout. Tri's will have to wait until tomorrow.

Day 35 - Rest!

I went for a quick ride on my bike after work and now I plan on catching up on some much needed sleep. Damn storm.
I bought a bunch of protein supplements from work at a really good price since the owner was there and approved it. Score. I think I will go have one now...
My legs and booty are the most sore they've been yet; I think doing Kenpo and Legs in the same day was overload; but the soreness makes me feel like I've worked hard so I welcome it.
Tomorrow is Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps... and of course, Ab Ripper. Bring it.

Days 33 & 34 - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X and Kenpo X

What a day! Two and a half hours of nonstop exercise. I'm exhausted. I even managed to squeeze a 20 minute bike ride in there somewhere... because I'm nuts.

Kenpo X
Max HR: 188
Avg HR: 144
Calories Burned: 495

No energy to type. Going to get some water!

Day 32 - Yoga X

I don't like yoga... and it's recently hit me as to why... It's boring. It is long (an hour and a half) and it's the same moves, over and over and over and overrrr... It does cause me to "feel the burn" though, as Tony Horton would say, so I don't skip it. I just don't like the lack of variety and the fact that I'm falling every couple minutes. I'm going to do two workouts in one day at some point this weekend to get back to where I was before skipping a day from that migraine the other day.
I think I'll do Legs & Back, Ab Ripper, and Kenpo tomorrow since I have all day off from work.

I'm seriously starting to love how my body is taking shape... It's like a work of art that's slowly (very slowly) being sculpted over a period of a few months; It's been worth every drop of sweat (and a few tears along the way)
It's the first year I have not been dreading summer!

Day 31 - Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

You'd figure that a bad day at work would make me want to come home and just tear this workout up to relieve some frustration, right? It had the complete opposite effect... I had to pep-talk myself into doing tonight's workout and let me tell you, it wasn't an easy decision.
I took last night off from P90x because I had a migraine all day (I hadn't had red wine in years and completely forgot it causes me to have migraines) and today's workout was decent considering that I was this close (_) to going straight to bed after work.
My arms are puffy and shaky from working my biceps which I love... My abs are wrecked though. Those hip flexors of mine have been on fire lately during the ab ripper and I don't know if maybe I'm doing something wrong...? Who knows.
Time for a shower and catching up on last night's episode of Sober House :)
Half day of work tomorrow!:)

Day 30 - Plyometrics!

AHHHHHHHHH!

I'm addicted....

Plyometrics
Max HR: 185
Avg HR: 151
Calories Burned: 640

I videotaped most of my workout to see exactly how my form is, and it's not too bad...  I need some help on the Mary Katherine lunges (I lost my balance a couple of times) but so do the people on the video so I don't feel so bad :)

Day 29 - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

Can I just again say how excited I am that I can do PUSH UPS!!!  I am proud say I was able to complete tonight's workout with real push ups during the entire thing... until it came to the one arm push ups... those required the knees.  However, the rest of the push ups were real; I swear! :)
Tomorrow is Plyometrics, so I'm relieved it's on a day I'm off from work so I can really give it my all.
My right triceps is very "stiff" again like it was when I strained it during the very first week... I hope that I didn't hurt it again.  Like I said before; I'll just overwork the left one so they are even ;-)

Day 27 - End of the First Month

I am as excited about moving onto month two as I was starting the entire program because of the whole theory of muscle confusion... I should start to see more of a difference after month two.  Prior to starting the program,  I had looked at many before and after P90x pictures online and in most of them, it seemed that the major changes do not happen until after month one.  I myself didn't experience many changes in the first 30 days; although I do see a difference in my boo-tay... also my abs seem more toned and my calves look bigger... 

Progress

1. My heart rate comes down MUCH quicker than it did a month ago
2. I am lifting more weight and increasing reps each week
3. I am ALWAYS hungry
4. More energy throughout the day
5. A more positive mood
6. Sleeping better
7. More conscious of what I eat
8. Taking more showers (ha)
9. Drinking more water throughout the day
10. My body is changing rapidly
11. Daily EFA's have made my skin so smooth (!)
12. Lower resting pulse
13. I CAN DO PUSH UPS!!!!!!!

There are so many positive changes already, and it's only been one month.  I can't imagine the amount of progress at day 90.... or day 120!