P90x Round 2, Day 19 - Legs and Back

P90x Round 2, Day 19 - Legs and Back
Diet :
Breakfast: 4 Egg Whites w/ Onion, Peppers, Tomato, Diet Coke
Lunch: Salad with Turkey, Carrots and Celery, Cottage Cheese, Potato Salad, Baked Beans
Snack: Granola Bar, Jello Cup, Mixed Fruit Cup
Dinner: Chicken Burritos
Unplanned Snack: None

Summary:
Finally I got a good night's sleep and what a difference it makes. It's amazing how much better you feel when you actually close your eyes at night and open them the next morning with no interruptions. Amazing.

Today was was Legs and Back and while I didn't get the entire workout done, I gave it 100% for the 2/3 I did complete. I just slept in a little later than I wanted to and had to be into work for an early meeting so I got in what I could.

On the scale front I weighed in today at 234.5 which is 1.5 down from last week and a total of 11.5 lost for this round of P90x. I'm hoping to end this first phase having lost at least 13 pounds but I'm secretly hoping for a total of 15 pounds which is absolutely mind blowing and more than I could have hoped for. 1.5 total for this week isn't what I'd hoped for but considering my eating has been a little looser and my fitness hasn't been up to the same level as the previous two weeks I'm happy that I've lost anything.

Busy Saturday in front of me already so I'm going to make sure I get up early tomorrow and get my 5 mile run in. I'm sure I'll end up doing Kenpo too to give my wife some moral support, but I'm sure I'm going to want to rest instead.

Have a great weekend everybody.

P90x Round 2, Day 5 - Legs and Back, Ab-Ripper X

P90x Round 2, Day 5 - Legs and Back, Ab-Ripper X
Diet :
Breakfast: Raisin Bran w/ Skim Milk
Lunch: Salad with Ham, Cottage Cheese, Carrots and Celery
Snack: Granola Bar, Oranges Fruit Cup, Jello Pudding Cup
Dinner: Chicken Alfredo, Rolls, Caesar Salad, Ice Cream Sandwich
Unplanned Snack: Cup of Chicken and Rice Soup

Summary:
So I decided that Today (Friday) is going to be the day I weigh in. With Fridays and Saturdays being prime days for cheat meals I knew that Friday morning is my best chance to get consistent and good numbers.

I weighed in this morning at 239.5 which is down 6.5 pounds from last Sunday. You have to love the first week of the new fitness. You get to put up some big numbers and get that boost of momentum and positive reinforcement that you need to justify your first week of hell.

My diet might need to be adjusted slightly after the last few days. I had a feeling that I was lower than I might need to be in regards to calories, but today I was absolutely starving all day. I'd eat my meals and within 30 minutes I'd be absolutely starving. I know it led to some extra eating that I would have liked to avoid but there didn't seem like much I could do about it. I drank as much water as I could tolerate today but was still starving. We'll have to take a look at that next week.

On to workouts. Today was Legs and Back. I'm still not any closer to doing a pull-up, but it's good to keep getting 2 chances a week to work on this for the next 90 days. Legs day is really tough, it's ALOT of lunges or lunge-similar exercises. I can only take so many one legged squats and side/back/front lunges before my legs are screaming but I did the whole workout and felt really good about it afterward.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Kenpo X and a 4 mile run. I've got a busy morning already lined up so I'm not sure how it's going to work out. I know that I'm probably going to have to get up extra early and do my run before I head out for the morning and then do Kenpo later in the afternoon. We'll play it by ear.

Overall feeling really good. Just hungry all the time.

P90x Day 68 - Legs & Back

Today was an odd day.

I woke up crazy early this morning because I'd been drinking water all night and had to hit the restroom. So on the way back to bed I was thinking of all the things I had to do today. Mow the lawn, wash the car, maybe grill out. Then it hit me... today wasn't Saturday. UGH!

So there I was, super awake and I decided that if I went back to sleep it wasn't likely that I'd get up with the same awakeness that I had at that moment. So I did the bizarre thing and just went ahead and got up to work. So I was at work at 4am and then got to leave at lunch. I actually got a ton of work done with the hours where nobody was around.

So anyways, I was really tired and the rest of the day sorta played out as it did. But then after the kid went to bed I realized that when I came home I didn't work out like I had planned. So I ended up working out later than I wanted to and with alot less gusto than I wanted to. But surprisingly it turned out ok. I did 10 reps of every exercise and took no breaks. So after 10 reps I'd skip to the next workout and while they were setting up or talking I'd be doing my 10 reps of that and moving on. I cut about 30 minutes off the workout from just following the DVD and felt pretty wiped out afterwards. I was really surprised at how much of a sweat I worked up and even though I felt pretty tired before, it ended up being an ok workout.

I really almost skipped the workout because of the day's circumstances, but I couldn't stand the idea of having to mark down another missed workout. After the last 2 weeks of spotty workouts I am doing everything I can to stay the course.

Tomorrow is Kenpo and another run. Hopefully with all the Saturday chores I'll fit it in without having to do it late at night.

P90x Day 47 - Legs and Back

I NEED TO START WAKING UP IN THE MORNING!

So tonight I went out with some friends and when I got home I took a shower and came out to watch some T.V and thought to myself. I'm missing something. I pulled out my laptop to check my email and it hit me that I hadn't blogged yet. And then it hit me, I hadn't worked out. I have no idea how I didn't realize this at any point, but at some point during the day I forgot about it.

So I got myself back off the couch, went in and worked out. It wasn't the greatest workout I'd had so far, but it was pretty good. I skipped a few parts of the workout but my legs are still on fire so I know I got a good workout. Tomorrow is Kenpo and running and I'm going to get that done and try to get into next week.

I desperately need to correct my eating habits next week if I want to have any results for the next weigh-in.

P90x Day 40 - Legs and Back

Another poor workout because of lousy planning on my part. I thought I'd get a good workout in today because I've struggled the last few workouts, but I again overslept and had to try and fit in my workout after work. I made the mistake of eating dinner before my workout and I didn't give myself enough time between the two. So my workout wasn't that great and I had to cut it early because I was coughing up my dinner. Overall not my best day.

I've had a really lousy last few days in regards to eating and workouts and I'm getting irritated by it all. I've decided to recommit myself starting Monday so I can get two quality weeks out of this phase before weigh-in.

I have to start over. I had almost 5 great weeks working out and I've had 1 and 1/2 crappy weeks so I'm going to try and wipe the slate clean and start over.

Kenpo tomorrow. I think I'm going to run too. I just need clean my system out start over. I can't wait to quit feeling lousy.

P90x Day 33 - Back and Legs

Things I got today.
- An acceptable workout
- A very long nap
- A pretty good day of eating
- Bronchitis

Yeah, you read that right. I have a case of bronchitis which explains why running yesterday was the worst thing I've done in weeks. I thought it might have been the cold or the fact that I haven't ran in a while but it was actually something entirely different. I'm not sure if the head cold I've had all week turned into bronchitis, or if it was playing out in the snow last weekend, of if it was the fact that sick people were at my daughter's party and one of them surely gave me this plague. Who knows.

Anyways, it would have been simple to use all of the above as an excuse to skip a workout. I mean hell I'm on Benedryl, Codine laced cough syrup, and anti-biotics who wouldn't be able to rationalize not working out. Afterall I'm sick, boo-hoo pity party. Blah blah blah blah blah.

So I put all those excuses into a ball, and swallowed it and knocked out a decent workout. It wasn't the best ever because I felt like I was about to fall asleep the entire time, but I worked up a good sweat and my legs are feeling it now so I'm glad I got it in.

I'm going to do Kenpo tomorrow but I'm iffy on the running. I know that I put running on the calendar and I'm suppossed to do it, but I've got to balance that out against skipping one run to give my legs a chance to recover. I won't skip next Tuesday's run, but tomorrow is iffy.

I don't know why I'm so rediculously determined to do everything. I haven't "skipped" a workout yet this cycle but I've cut a few short because of one thing or another, so it would be easy to justify it. I guess I'm just worried that I'll fall off the wagon and end up back in the non-workout zone. Either that or since my wife is going to do P90x after this if I can finish maybe I feel that I have to go out of my way to set the positive example so she'll have no excuses during her phase. I don't know if that's petty on my part or what that maybe I feel if I do this I can lord it over her during her workout or what. I have no idea why I feel so compelled to go so far and beyond what I normally do.

Anyways, I'm going to continue to med up and hopefully over the next week I'll be back to 100%. I'm looking forward to pressing plan on Kenpo tomorrow and to a restful healthy weekend.

P90x Day 19 - Legs and Back

It's hard to believe that 3 weeks are almost complete. This morning was the first morning that I looked in the mirror and felt like I could see a difference. I'm pretty sure my upper stomach area what I call my "top ab" is flatter or smaller or what have you. I think that this is one of the last places you put on weight, so I have to believe that this is one of the first places I'd see improvement. Again, I don't get on the scale until next week so looks are all I have to go on.

Speaking of that I'm going to change things slightly. The "plan" calls for you to weigh in and take pictures on day 31. However the "phases" are in 4 week blocks. So it doesn't make much sense to me. I'm going to weigh in and take pictures next Sunday on the end of the 1st phase. I'll have more time to do this on Sunday and it makes more sense to me to do it on a day you're resting and your muscles aren't jacked up rather than do it after arm day or something to where the results look skewed. I think this makes more sense. It does mean that my last weigh-in will be 5 weeks long instead of the 4 from Phase 1 and Phase 2 because Phase 3 is 4 weeks and then a recovery week. I'm fine with this having to be this way.

Leg and Back workout today went well. My legs right now are really warm feeling which is always a good sign of a tough workout. I'm thinking that tomorrow I might have a sore lower back because that always seems to happen after I work my hamstrings. Kenpo should stretch me out. Today's workout seemed like I got alot more out of it than usual. This was my first leg and back workout with my resistance band and I didn't get my usual breathing time during the back part of the workout. I got alot of reps on the back workout and I'm really thinking that between losing weight and the new workout I'm getting with the bands that I stand a good shot at being able to complete a pull-up by the end of the cycle.

Ab-Ripper today wasn't the best effort I've put forth on it. I just have such a hard time on it. By the time I do In-Out,Bicycles,Crunchy Frog, and Wide Leg Sit-ups I really have nothing left. My abs are killing me and I feel like I'm using more back at that point than abs to get up and I'm worried about hurting myself. All this might be excuses I make because I'm super tired, who knows. All I know is that by the time Feifer Scissors comes along I've got nothing left.

Energy is way up today. Yesterday was pretty low energy wise but I fought through it.

Looking forward to Kenpo tomorrow. I love that workout for some reason. I can't wait to press play on it.

P90x Day 12 - Legs and Back

Legs today and it went well. I'm not disabled sore but I can definately tell that I got a good workout.

I'm starting to wonder if I should just go ahead and get some bands for back workouts. I can't do pull-ups at all and it seems like I might be able to get a better workout doing 120+ reps of the bands vs. 30 pull-ups that I have to do with 95% assistance. I don't know. I can feel it in my back that I got some work done, but I just don't know what is better. If you can't do any pull-ups are you better off doing bands?

I think today was my best Ab-Ripper so far. I made it through the In-Out, Bicycles, Wide V, and Froggies before I started running out of steam. I got a few reps after that but I was pretty much worthless and didn't finish the whole disc. I've never actually finished the disc yet, but I'm getting farther.

I can't believe two weeks are almost over. Not sure if I'll do plyo or Kenpo tomorrow. Kenpo is the scheduled workout. But I skipped Plyo on Tuesday so I'm not sure. Part of me worries I won't be able to do Plyo on Saturday and Tuesday, so I might be better off just going back to Kenpo.

I'm not sure if I am imagining it or not, but i think my jeans are a bit looser this week. Without getting on the scale I'm not sure how I'm progressing with the weightloss and all I have to go on is how my clothes fit. Maybe I want to see progress so much I'm starting to hallucinate looser clothes.

Looking forward to a good weekend and pressing play on some good weekend workouts.

P90x Day 5 - Legs and back

This morning I felt a little better. The pain in my arms and when I tried to use my elbows was very minor.

Then I did Legs and Back this morning.

Now I hurt.

My legs are pretty torched after the workout today which I am nicknaming "Everybody Loves Lunges". My flexibility is still pretty poor and as a result my Hamstrings are really tight. As a result my lower back which is an extension of my hamstrings is really really really (repeat) sore. I can't even really stand up straight right now and I'm walking around in somewhat of a T-Rex posture. I've been taking some Advil and trying to stretch so we'll see how it goes. I don't feel like I injured my back in any way and while there is a bit more pain in the lower right where I blew out a disc in my back 2 years ago I don't think I did any damage to that.

I could tell my lower back was weak and sore from all the squats and lunges as I was finishing the workout. I skipped the Ab Ripper today just to make sure that I didn't injure myself. My core strength and flexibility just isn't where it needs to punish my core.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Kenpo. I'm going to do it unless I'm really hurting. If that's the case I'll flip rest/stretch and Kenpo.

I was joking around today with a friend saying that at the end of my 90 days I'll be just about at the point I should have been at before I started the program. Sadly I'm not sure that is too far from the truth.

Overall my energy is way up today. I was really dragging the last two days but today other than my lower back I've felt really good. Which always helps morale.

I'm really really looking forward to the stretching DVD.

I'll push play on something tomorrow.