Day 50, P90X

179!!! I finally busted into the 170's. I lost 2 lbs this week, so 2 more stones got moved into the "pounds lost" jar! My bodybugg is working, or I guess it would be better to say that I'm consistently logging my food and with the help of my bodybugg I know exactly how many calories I'm burning, so I lost 2 lbs this week! WOOO-HOOO!! Good-bye plateau.
I had a bit of a lazy weekend. I was supposed to do Yoga on Saturday morning, but I got side-tracked and didn't get it done. Then we celebrated my son's first birthday Saturday afternoon/evening, so it didn't happen again, and then I did my schedule for this upcoming week and saw that we do Yoga on Monday night so I didn't bother doing it yesterday (no way am I doing it 2 days in a row). Only 5 P90X workouts logged last week. I'm proud of myself - it's the first time since I restarted P90X that I missed a workout. Not too bad if I do say so myself.
I'm going to try and get to the gym around 630 tonight so I can do a half hour of cardio before Yoga X. The extra cardio I did last week really seemed to help so I'm going to try and keep it up. Even though I only managed 10 to 15 minutes on the cardio machines it really seemed to help jump start my weight loss.
I'm ready to start recovery week and then jump right into the last 30 days of P90X!! Bring it!

Day 46, P90X

Tonight was Kenpo X. I burned 566 calories. This one was my favorite when I first started doing P90X because it's so "easy." I got to the gym early enough to do 1.25 miles on the elliptical then I went down to the aerobic room to start Kenpo. Only Steph made it tonight, but we still worked hard and motivated each other. I used 2 lb dumbbells for the first set (with all the punches) and the vertical punches at the end. We followed Kenpo with Ab Ripper X. I'm always happy when we get to the leg climbs because I think, "yes an easy exercise" then Steph went and challenged me to see if I could do it without grabbing my leg - turns out I can do all 12. I guess there are no more "easy" ab exercises for me.
Nutrition has been really good for me since I've started using my bodybugg. I've been extra hungry lately, but I've also been having deficits of around 1200 calories every day (after inhaling around 1800-1900 calories). I'll get it figured out soon. I've completely cut out coffee. My only indulgence is Starbuck's and I allow that once a week if that. I've been doing really well without it. I decided to stop cold turkey because swapping out my creamers just wasn't working for me.
Tomorrow night is legs and back (ab ripper if time) - Bring it!

Day 44, P90X

Tonight is Plyo, and I'm hoping it goes smoother then last night at the gym. We had chest, shoulders, and triceps and I had trouble doing push-ups so I did most of them on my knees. It wasn't my arms that were tired, but my left palm was sore. It felt like my bone was trying to push through the skin - no better way to explain it...just a sharp pain right at the bone on my left, lower palm. Ouch.
Another bump in the road last night was someone else was there to use the TV. Sigh. Luckily Steph had her DVD player so we could do it in the corner, but I was rather annoyed. It's first come, first serve so nothing we could do about it, but it was just one person and she had it so loud - we couldn't hear our DVD player and we were just distracted...and annoyed...and aggravated...(she was doing Turbofire). I think I was more annoyed by the fact that she did the Step class and then did her workout...or maybe it was jealousy because she could spend that much time at the gym? Nah, I was annoyed because we use it every night and have for the past 7 weeks and because the gym won't let you make reservations we now have to adjust our schedules yet again and it's frustrating to know there is nothing I can do about it other then try and beat her to it. We are 7 weeks in and I am determined to finish out P90X not start a new program. We're hoping this isn't going to be an every night thing. I guess if it does turn into that we can always talk to her about joining us or compromise - she workout before the classes and then do the classes instead of after? Maybe. I don't know why I let these things bother me. We can easily push back our time Monday night, but nothing we can do about the next 3 days since there are classes until 730 and the gym closes at 9 (workouts have to be done by 855). We'll see how it goes tonight, but based on how my day has started I'm going to say she'll be there again. I can only hope she'll be doing HIIT 15 or something short. Anyway the plan for tonight if she beats us to the TV is to face the corner and to ask her to turn it down. I'm easily frustrated when things don't go according to plan.
Well I weighed in on the gym scale for Dump your Plump last night. The 4 lbs I've magically gained while at the gym the past 2 weeks disappeared plus 1 more, so according to the competition I've lost 5 lbs in one week! Woot-woot!

Scales and weight

How often do you weigh yourself? I try to do it once a week (Monday mornings), but find myself stepping on the scale almost every day. The only day I really count is Monday though, that's the day I put my weight on my calendar upstairs. I'm doing the Dump your Plump base challenge so I keep thinking I need to lose weight - which is extra frustrating since my home scale has said 182 for 7 weeks now...ALTHOUGH this morning it said 181! I lost 1 lb - at home.
On the first day of the challenge the scale at the gym said 184. Last week it said 185. My home scale still said 182. Tonight I'll weigh myself at the gym again although I will wait until Wednesday to submit in case I get a lower number before Wednesday. Wonder what it will say? 186?? LOL
I have an entire other rant about the competition though - the top male lost 8% of his weight the first week!! That is a lot of weight for one person. Every thing I've ever read has said that if you want to lose weight safely (and keep it off) then you should aim for 1 - 2 lbs. I know that you can get bigger numbers then 1 to 2 lbs per week, but usually that means you are doing something drastic (skipping meals, not eating the right foods...all things that set you up for failure). The first week I ever started changing my diet (measuring food, having only 1 portion based off of the label) I lost 5 lbs...that was 3%. Just say this man weighs 240 lbs, that would be 19.2 lbs in one week. It was equally bad for the top woman - she lost 6%...so say she weighs 220 lbs, that would be 13 lbs in one week. The top team (they are of 4 people) lost just under 6%. I have no idea what the top female and male were doing last week, but I hope they are not hurting themselves just to win a competition.
I told the ladies in my group that I don't want any of them starving or hurting themselves just to win. I'm not in it to win it, I just want a reason to stay motivated - of course winning would be nice, but it certainly isn't worth risking your health over...I'd just be happy to figure out this plateau. The competition is 8 weeks long. My goal weight loss is 15 lbs. I would love to lose 20, but we'll just have to see what happens.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. Back to my whole scale issue. I think for the sake of my blog and my own sanity I will only focus on the numbers on my home scale. Besides, after the competition I will still have weight to lose so I might as well go off of what I have the most access to. Since I lost 1 lb at home I get to use my weight loss jars. Good bye stone - only 33 more to go!

Day 42, P90X

We got the first snow fall of the year yesterday - only an inch, but it got covered in ice making the best sledding weather! We took the kiddos out for about 2 hours (I burned 508 calories!!!). It was such a great family day. Katelynn ended up staying late so by 9pm when she went to bed I was not in any mood to start Yoga, so I skipped it. Seriously, I still hate P90X Yoga. It is my least favorite workout and I will always find just about any excuse to not do it.
Here are two pics from our sledding adventure...

We walked the trails on base (I was pulling her sled with a bungee cord) and every time we got to a clearing I would swing my arms and Katelynn would laugh and slide out in big circles.

Today is Sunday, so it was swim day with my Sister. We did 30 minutes, but only 10 laps this time. We tried something new (her physical therapy doctor told her to try swimming with a dumbbell), and it really slowed us down (okay, maybe not REALLY since we only did 2 less laps and I only used it for one lap). I'm a terrible swimmer. For some reason I get nervous putting my head under water, so I probably look like I'm thrashing around instead of swimming. I like the back stroke - it's always my fastest lap. Right now we will swim one together (with a kickboard), then we'll free style and repeat. I'm really enjoying just being in the water. Next month it will be time to start adding on laps so I can prepare for the triathlon.
This evening after Denver went to bed I put in Yoga. I was feeling guilty about not doing it yesterday, so I just sucked it up and went with it. Katelynn thought it looked fun, so she joined me. When I went into my first downward dog she climbed underneath me and laid down. LOL. I got Chris to put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the computer and I finished the rest solo.
Here she is stretching with me...

 and using the Yoga blocks!

Oh, and just another reason for me to hate Yoga...in 90 minutes I only burned 300 calories. SIGH. I mean, I'm not really surprised since you don't really move a lot, but some of the moves are just ridiculous and I feel like I should get extra calorie burn just for attempting them!
Tomorrow night it's back to working out with the girls - YEAH!! It's push-up day - Bring it!

Bodybugg - Why it works for me

I love, love, love my bodybugg! I realize now that I've never blogged about why I like the bodybugg since I first got it before I started blogging. So, here is a little bit about my journey...
After my first pregnancy I was pushing 200 pounds (at that point, my highest weight ever). It was September 2009, Katelynn was almost 10 months old and I scheduled a check-up with my doctor - I found out that I had high cholesterol. It was my first weight related health issue, and I wanted it to be my last. The doctor referred me to the base nutritionist and that’s when my journey of losing weight truly begins. Before this point in time I always thought I had to find the perfect diet and that skinny people were just naturally born that way. Turns out I was so wrong.
Here I am in September 2009 (barely fitting in my size 16 jeans)

The base nutritionist was amazing! She made me realize so many things and opened up my eyes to a whole new way of thinking. The thing she said that sticks out the most in my mind is, “how can you expect to lose weight if you don’t even know what you are consuming?” She referred me to a website, livestrong.com, where you can enter what you eat and it will track the calories for you. It allows you to enter how much you want to lose a week (I did 2 pounds) and it will tell you how many calories to eat to achieve your goal; then all you have to do is enter the food in their log. During my first week of tracking I lost 5 pounds! I continued to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. It was tough. I was doing Jazzercise and starting to feel better, but after about 10 lbs I got stuck. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. I was Jazzercising and running (probably about 3 miles a week - not much but more then I was doing before), and tracking my calories, but nothing was happening.

Here I am October 2009. We walked in the Breast Cancer Walk in downtown Denver. I was looking and feeling healthier. My body was changing, but not fast enough for me...I wanted bigger changes. I was about 180 in this photo (close to what I am now).

Chris and I joined 24 hour fitness in November. You get free personal training sessions when you sign up, so I took advantage of it (I LOVED having a trainer, they really do push you more then you would ever push yourself). All over the gym I saw signs for the bodybugg plus the contestants on Biggest Loser were wearing them, so I mentioned it to Chris. He bought me one for Christmas that year (he got it at Costco). It came with a 12-month free subscription to their online service. It tracks exactly how many calories I burn in a day, and I love it! Sometimes I think wearing it makes me workout more. I hate not seeing big deficits between my workouts and my food.

Here I am in January 2010 (about 2 weeks after getting the bodybugg)...my 16's were getting lose!

Exercise and a personal trainer were the final tools that helped get me to 160 pounds and a size 12! Numbers I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years!!

March 2010 (size 14)

May 2010 (size 12)

June 2010 (size 12, I was about 6 weeks prego in this pic)

Then I became pregnant with my second child, Denver, and that is when things turned around for me yet again. It was a complicated pregnancy with many ups and downs. I was on bed rest at times and could not workout. During my first pregnancy I put on 30 pounds, but for this one it was closer to 50 pounds. So, now Denver is 11 months (he'll be one on Thursday) and I'm wearing my bodybugg again. The scale says 182 and has said 182 for almost 7 weeks now.

May 2011. This is me at my heaviest ever. 205 lbs. Denver was 5 months old. Chris loves this photo, he calls it my model shot, "work it, work it." Men!

They say everyone has that moment when they start to change - this picture was mine. I was so embarrassed when  I uploaded them and saw how I looked. I couldn't believe it was me. I started changing my eating habits, and 6 months later I was 23 lbs lighter at 182. I'm breaking out the bodybugg to see if I can start to achieve the same results as the first go around. I know a good bit of it was working with a trainer before, but P90X is as good as any trainer for me right now.

I like pictures which I think is why the bodybugg works so well for me - its all right there in front of me. You ate this many calories, you burned this many, so you are on track to losing this much this week. There are charts for it all, and it just works for me.

If you're interested in the bodybugg you can check it out here. I'm sure you can find one on Craigslist for less...it does have a monthly fee. I just signed up for 6 months. That should be plenty of time to get things figured out, and get to my goal weight - 150. A number I haven't seen since high school. I'm hoping to be a fit 150 this time.

P90X, Day 40

Tonight was legs, back, and ab ripper X. What a great workout!! I'm so glad that we switched to the pull-up assist machine. Right now I'm doing 125 (I think basically it takes 125 lbs off your weight to help you pull-up...something like that). Anyway, I'm doing 10 of every exercise except for wide arm pull-ups, so next week I plan on dropping (or increasing) my assist to 110. If I can do at least 4, then I'll keep it there. I feel so strong doing the assisted pull-ups! I can't wait to rock a tank-top this summer.
I burned 571 calories tonight. I'm so happy to be wearing my bodybugg again. I like seeing how much I'm burning in a day. Honestly, I think it makes me work harder because I want to see all those calories burned. I've gotten really good about tracking everything I eat and right now I'm on track for losing 2 lbs this week. I'm determined to bust through this plateau. I even finished my weight loss jars (actually my Sister and I both did these today - she came over and spent the day with me and went home with 2 jars of her own)!

The plan - every stone equals 1 pound. As I lose weight, I'll take the stones from one jar to the other. I'm not done yet. I'll need to label them somehow so I don't confuse them as they start to become equal. I had big jars at first but only small stones, so I had to find small jars. LOL. I guess I should be happy that I don't need to lose so much weight that I need a big jar. I found the idea for this on Pinterest although the blogger only had one jar and each stone was .1. I'm more concerned about the big number in front to worry about the "." numbers. Anyway, the blogger would remove a stone every time she lost weight. Originally I wanted a jar to just add stones as I lost weight so I could see all my lost pounds right in front of me, then 2 days ago I found another blogger who had 2 jars, and I liked that idea so much I went ahead and made my jars.
Tomorrow is Yoga X. Problem - there is supposedly a storm coming. We're supposed to get about an inch of snow followed by lots of rain...temps in low 30's. I guess it'll just be ugly to be out...anyway, that means no workout group tomorrow. I have to find the motivation to do Yoga by myself in my home. I'm worried if I wait until the kiddos go to bed that I won't get it done, but I can't really do it while they are up and running around. I'll have to come up with a game plan or it won't get done at all. I'm going to say tomorrow night as soon as my son goes to sleep. Chris can entertain Katelynn or she can do it with me. Hopefully I'll have the will power to get it done!

Day 38, P90X

Tonight was back and biceps - gotta love it!! I up'd my weights to 10's and it felt good (I felt like I could've gone to 15's on the lawnmower exercises). I managed at least 1 or 2 more pull-ups on all the exercises as well (we are using the pull-up assist machine). I must be getting stronger!
Food today was okay. I went over my calories by 200 (my protein shake after my workout put me over)...but once I add in my workout it should all balance out - maybe even have a deficit. I broke out my bodybugg today. I put it on and it was like I haven't missed a day. I burned 404 calories while doing P90X tonight! A lot of that could be due to my running 2.5 miles beforehand. Either way, that's awesome. I love my bodybugg!

P90X, Day 37

I'm still going strong with my P90X workouts. Tonight was Plyo (jump training). It was good...not much more to say about it; same old, same old. My food today was crap though so the actual workout felt off for me. We ate dinner late (Tilapia fish sticks on a salad) so I was burping cucumbers throughout my workout - so gross. ICK.
We are doing the Dump Your Plump challenge on base and it said I gained 1 lb this week. My scale at home said I lost 1 lb. SIGH. Competitions are weird like that, they make you feel awful if you can't pull out a great number. I guess I was in a weird funk because I felt flabby tonight. Hmmm...maybe it's the capri's I wore (they are too big in the waist and snug at the calves). I felt flabby one day last week too; wonder if I wore the same capri's?!
Tomorrow I'm going to try my hardest to get a run in before our weight session. I'm doing a little 30 miles in January challenge and I've logged 2 miles so far - ha, ha. Gotta get on the ball.

Day 34, P90X

Good news - Vinson came back. He was curled up on the porch this morning - darn dog. We took him to get bathed today and he smells so much better. Two nights this week he was out running around all night, and he smelled horrible. He's much better now.
While we were out and about we went to Whole Foods too. That place was insanely busy. Must've been because it was a Saturday morning. They had some pretty decent deals, but we still ended up spending $80. I don't think it's really worth the drive, so we probably won't go back again unless we are in the area. There is a Mom's Organic right down the road from the base, and I recently found a Trader Joe's (I'm going to check them out tomorrow).
Anyway, tonight's workout was Yoga. I still dislike Yoga. Not my favorite workout, but it is getting easier. I really like using my Yoga blocks, they really do help. My left ankle was bothering me tonight especially during Warrior 1.
Tomorrow is a rest day from Yoga X, but I'm going to go and swim in the morning. I'm going to spend a little bit of time tomorrow working out a schedule for training for the triathlon. I need to start getting some miles logged if I want to be able to do well in June.

P90X, Day 33

Tonight was just crazy. My darn dog ran away again so Chris spent 2 hours out and about trying to find him...which he didn't. My workout group was at 630 tonight, and he got home at 650. I asked if he wanted to do legs and back with me and he said, "um, no." Fine. I walked around moping for a bit, then thought well I can still get to the gym and do the last half and maybe run on the treadmill. I ran out the door, and got my butt to the gym. Turns out they were only on the sixth exercise so I didn't miss many. I'm so glad I went! It was legs and back tonight, so lots of pull-ups.
There was a new girl in the group tonight too - Susan, a Marine. She was awesome, and helped push us on the pull-ups. Seriously, I have it set at 125, and she had it at 65 (we use one of those pull-up assist machines...100x's better then the bands). Anyway, it was fun. So, so, so glad I went. I know I would've totally skipped it if I'd stayed home.
Nutrition today was decent. I've been making my own natural creamers, and they are pretty good. Today I used the last of the Coffeemate Hazelnut and after drinking my natural creamers for a week the Coffeemate was so sweet and I just didn't like it. I think that's a good thing. Progress.
Here is the site for the natural creamers if you're interested. They are not any better calorie wise, but taste so much fresher in my coffee, and not nearly as sweet.

Day 31, P90X

Tonight was another new routine for us - back and biceps. We were getting some weird looks from some of the guys for those crazy pull-ups we had to do tonight. I personally like them and thought they were fun. It's probably my favorite workout in the whole series. No time for Ab Ripper X since we had to keep stopping the tape and running upstairs to use the pull-up machine. If they had a remote control we'd probably had a little more time. We had to skip the last set of pull-ups too. It was still a great workout. I just chugged my vanilla protein drink and I'm inhaling my Luna bar. So hungry tonight.
Nutrition today was decent:
9am - Pumpkin oatmeal, coffee with natural pumpkin creamer
noon - 2 eggs, 3 small sausages
230pm - Chocolate Shakeology - 1 banana, 1 Tbsp natural pb, 1% milk
5pm - Swordfish with avocado and pineapple salsa (avocado, pineapple, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and cilantro all tossed together) with leafy greens. It was so yummy!
10pm - Protein drink, Luna bar
Water intake was really good today too. Here is dinner. Hubby was devouring my salsa with chips before dinner. LOL

P90X, Day 30

Tonight was Day 30 of P90X - woo-hoo!!! I'm already on Day 2 of week 5 though, so I celebrated over the weekend. Tonight was Plyo. Nothing really new there - same old crazy jumping moves. I'm not getting as tired as I used to so that's a good thing.
I'm still completely and totally annoyed that the scale is not budging. It's time to get serious with my diet and stop ho-humming around. I watch what I eat but I don't really put a lot of effort into it other then absentmindedly writing it down. I think I need to actually sit down and make out a meal plan and do some prep work for it. That would seriously help especially when I have cravings. I told Chris last night we need to go and get groceries because we had no snacks. We had hummus but no veggies or Triscuits. We had tortilla chips but no salsa. LOL - it was funny, or at least it is now...not so much last night when I was starving. I also told Chris no more eating after 9pm - UNLESS it's my protein shake/bar after my workout. Only water.
My goal for the week - drink more water. Every time I feel hungry I'm going to drink my large cup of water and if I'm still hungry 10 minutes later I'll eat celery and carrots with hummus or another light snack.
I'll figure this whole eating thing out sooner or later. I've got 34 years worth of habits to correct - it won't be easy.

Day 29, P90X

I'm not sure if I'm happy or slightly depressed from my numbers tonight. Here are my photos:
Day 1

 

And here are Day 30 (I still have no idea how to make them side-by-side)...

 

The numbers:
                   Day 1           Day 30
Chest             39                40 (wooo-hoooo!)
Waist             38.5             35
Hips               45               40.5
Thighs            29               29.5
Arms             14               14.5

Hmmm...so my boobs got bigger but my waist and hips got smaller - SWEET! LOL Weight wise, I was 183, now I'm 182. Big change I know.
Workout tonight was just crazy! I forgot how tough those push-ups were. The hardest for me by far were the two-twitch speed push-ups. Four fast, four four count slow, repeat. When we did the second set of 4 fast my arms were screaming. It was insane, but in a good way. I was definitely feeling this workout. I ate my protein bar and drank my protein shake so hopefully I'll be feeling good in the morning and not too sore.
We were there early tonight so we got to do ab ripper X. It felt good tonight...maybe it was because we got such a nice break from it? Not sure, but I was able to do more reps of the exercises.
I didn't go to the meeting tonight. I talked myself out of it. Want to hear my excuse? It was snowing tonight and it got really cold. I don't like driving on icy roads, so I came home right after our workout. I'll go to their next meeting.

Swimming

My Sister came over this morning and we went swimming together. It was a lot of fun and it felt good to get into the water and swim a bunch of laps. We only went for 30 minutes (that was plenty since it's been awhile) and we did 11 laps. I have no idea if that is good or bad, but we have a starting point now. Next week our goal will be 11 laps and anything more is bonus. The board at the pool said each lap is 50 meters so we did 550 meters. I believe it said that 1 mile is 32 laps. The triathlon is .62 miles, so my goal for now is to get up to swimming 20 laps comfortably. Today I alternated. I used the kick-board for one lap and then I free-styled a lap. It worked out really well. I won't be able to use the kick-board for the triathlon, but that's why I'm starting now. In March I will start running laps after I swim just to get used to the feeling. When the weather gets good I'll be riding my bike back and forth to the gym too - that should help me out as well.
Tomorrow night is the first meeting of the year for the Mid Maryland Triathlon club. I'm going to try and make it so I can meet them and maybe even find a mentor to help me with training for the triathlon. I'm nervous about going because I've never been good with meeting new people or groups, but I really REALLY want to do a triathlon so I'm going to go and see what it's about...hopefully I'll have the confidence to speak up.
Tomorrow is going to be crazy as it is - we'll be doing photos and taping for my workout group. We do our P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps too. I won't have time for ab ripper X, so I'll do that at home. I'm going to the triathlon meeting all sweaty from all those crazy push-ups - LOL!

P90X - Day 27

WOW! I just completed phase 1 of P90X!!!! YEAH!!!! I did all 6 workouts every week for 4 weeks - woot-woot! Monday starts phase 2 and some new exercises...can you say plyo push-ups? Corn cob pull-ups?! Woo-hoo! I'm so excited. My little group of workout friends have helped motivate me to push play each and every time. Bring on the next 30 days. We'll take photos and tape on Monday. I'm excited to see if I've dropped any inches. I feel like I have. The scale hasn't budged any, but my clothes are getting looser.
I had a nice little celebration with my Sister today - we got a Sister day! It was just me and her, and it was WONDERFUL! We went shopping for swim suits (she's going to swim with me on Sunday's to help get ready for the triathlon). She took me to an awesome place for lunch as a special treat - Flying Avocado Cafe. I had a blackened chicken and brie sandwich (it had apple slices, honey, brie, chicken, organic field greens on a ciabatta roll). It was served with blue chips and fresh salsa and I had a cup of black bean soup to go with it. It was delicious, and a great way to celebrate. I managed to find a super cute swimsuit today too - no pics, I promise! LOL I'm excited to try it out tomorrow.
Just keep pushing play people!

Day 25, P90X

Day 25 of P90X was Stretch X. I skipped this one the first time around, so tonight was my first time doing it. I actually liked it. I wanted to get to the gym early to do some cardio, but was running late so I only got 7 minutes and 38 seconds on the elliptical. Stretch X is exactly what it sounds like - stretch moves. It was basically all the warm-ups, cool-downs, and a bunch of yoga moves. It felt good, and I think it's exactly what I needed to get my motivation back. I'm raring to go now and it's time to go to bed - LOL. I think it's the first time ever that I want to stay up and Chris wants to go to bed. Tomorrow is Core Synergistics - Bring it!

Day 24, P90X

Today is Day 24 of P90X. It was Kenpo X. I really just wasn't feeling it. I'm not sure why, but I am in a weird funk today. I've been munching like crazy and just didn't feel like working out...in fact, if it wasn't for the group of awesome ladies I workout with I would've never worked out tonight. In fact, during week 4 the first time around I lost interest this week as well. I don't think that I'm a fan of the whole recovery week. Probably something to do with doing Yoga twice, only doing stretch stuff tomorrow. Hmmm...maybe I'll switch it to Cardio X. That's at least somewhat interesting.
Yesterday was Core Synergistics - LOVED it! I think I liked it so much because we just had to laugh through it. Some of those push-ups were just CRAZY! Steph brought her camera again, so here are some pics...

 

 

 

putting the "X" in P90X

 

We do Core Synergistics again on Friday...I hope it's as much fun.
Don't be thrown off...my Sister did a couple blogs! YEA BARB!!!!! She changes her color and font so you can tell which sister is blogging. But I guess you could probably tell just from the difference in our writing.

Setting goals

Today I learned a lot about myself. Not deep, soul searching information, just stuff. My face has been breaking out a lot lately and I attributed it to not keeping up with my skin care like I should. However, I have been vigilant the past two weeks and it still looks nothing like it did a few months ago. So i thought about what has changed and the answer - my diet. I went off the diet pill and no carb that the doctor prescribed and while i feel healthier and I actually have an appetite (no more force feeding myself), there are some down sides to not being on it. I think the no carb, no sugar, no processed food helped clear up my skin. I know that no carbs is not healthy, so I am going to try no sugar, no processed food, and limit carb intake. I am sure the first few days will be rough because I'll go through sugar withdrawal, but I brought this on myself. I have the motivation so I'll see how far it will push me.

I also returned to physical therapy today. I talked with my therapist about my concerns for my knees. It appears that I have a torn miniscus and my patella is not tracking properly, all of which is worsening my arthritis. I am looking at more physical therapy but better that than surgery! So with yoga twice a week, PT twice a week, and swimming on sundays, I think I can stop doing Jillian's workout for a little while. Besides I have made so many changes to accomodate my knees that I'm not sure I can even call it Jillian's workout anymore. But don't worry - I shall return!

I spent the day listening to podcasts, mostly news and how stuff works. I checked out Dave Ramsey's show for the first time and I picked the right episode to try. It was all about goals and the new year. He talked about how most people fail at thier resolutions because they are more like wishes, not actual goals they intend to complete. According to Dave, there are 5 things that a goal needs to be successful:

1. They are specific.
2. They are measurable.
3. They are your goals.
4. There is a time limit.
5. They are in writing.

I thought this was brilliant. So I am going to give this a try. I am going to lose 20 lbs by June because I want to look and feel better and keep up with my neice and nephew 9and sister!). I am going to go to yoga twice a week for the next 6 months because I enjoy the class and it helps me cope with stress. I am going to strictly follow my skin care routine until my dermotologist appointment on 1/20 so that I can have better skin or tell her what is wrong if it doesn't work. And I will follow the diet advice in Jillian Michaels Master Metabolism and podcasts until March so that I can have a healthier body, clear skin, and no toxins. Now this may seem like a lot but I am already doing some of this, albeit half assed, but still it's a start. I just need to do it right. All I need is motivation, determination, and support all of which I have.

I get all my podcasts off of itunes so check them out, they have anything and everything on there and can be very inspiring and entertaining. The best advice I recieved today was from Dave Ramsey. He said "The definition of success is that you fail forward." While I don't have any intention of failing, if I do I just need to make sure I take the lesson with me as I move on to the next thing.

Talk to you later!

far too long

I have let this turn into sister and the scale so I am going to try and contribute more. I have been wanting to write down all the facts I learn, the successes I have, recipes, all that and realized I should just use the blog. It's working so well for Angie and I should use it more often too.

Today - I went to my first yoga class at Oja's Yoga in Owings Mills and I loved it! It is so relaxing and I love the way I feel after class. I look forward to many more classes. I did have to laugh at myself though, I am definitely in need of a pedicure and forgot all about the barefoot part of it! But I doubt anyone noticed. That's another thing I love about it - everyone's there for their own reasons and no one judges you.

I also listened to Jillian Michaels podcast about the importance of organics. At first I was bummed because I had already listened to it but quickly realized that I could still learn from it. Today what stuck with me was how important it is to eat organic meat, especially beef. It is so important to eat grass fed beef. So many corporate farms use growth hormones to make the cattle grow bigger to get the most meat for their money. And often they are not out in pastures but penned up and antibiotics are required to keep them healthy. There are even cases where they are fed other animals which is a big mistake because they are not meant to eat meat. And when the cows are filled with hormones to get bigger, and antibiotics, we absorb that into our system when we eat their meat. And now we have the antibiotics and the growth hormones in our body. What a disgusting thought. Now obviously I am paraphrasing and doing this from memory so I am not relaying this as well as I should but you get the point. And that is not to say that all farms are that way. Many are not. But to be safe, buy the grass fed beef from the grocery store or better yet, go to the local farmers market or butcher shop and get to know the vendors and how they raise their animals and crops. Not only are you doing good for yourself, but you are supporting your community as well. I grew up on a farm so I know that many farmers do not share these practices but we need to be vigilant and read the labels. Look for grass fed, or no growth hormones, no antibiotics. The more informed you are the better decisions you make. You wouldn't feed yourself these poisons, why eat something that has them in it?

We bought mango chicken sausage that is nitrate free, no antibiotics, no growth hormones, aka the good stuff. I took fresh salsa and added some mango and topped the sausage with it. I also found that Paula Deen has a peach salad dressing that is very low in calories, has very few ingredients - all of which I can pronounce - and doesn't contain soy. I brushed this on the sausages the last couple minutes. It was an awesome meal! Everything was so fresh and tasty. Even the sausage had very little grease and was very healthy. I will definitely make this again.

Later!

Barby

Day 22 of P90X

Tonight is Day 22 of P90X - Yoga X. It's cardio week. I just did Yoga on Saturday and really don't want to do it again tonight, but since there will be 2 other girls there waiting on me I better go! I love working out with a group - it really helps keep me on track.
I ran/walked the golf course yesterday (3.6 miles) - great way to bring in the New Year, right?! I completed it in 45 minutes. As I was running/walking I thought how in the world am I going to be able to do a triathlon when I can't even run 3.6 miles without taking a break? When I finished and saw that I did it all in 45 minutes, I got a glimmer of hope. Sure I can! I've got 5 months to train for it. I need to make every day count and stay focused on my ultimate goal. On the 9th I am going to the Maryland Triathlon club's first meeting of the year. I'm hoping to meet someone who will become my 'mentor' and help me train for my first ever triathlon.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!