Starting Week 6

Last week was tough. Between all the Christmas celebrations, sketchy eating, and sore hip, I was also pretty sick for a couple of days with a cold. I was able to BRING IT, though, and kept (mostly) on schedule. Thursday I doubled Plyo X and Yoga X. I modified Yoga X, though, and cut out about 10 mins of the more vigorous standing poses due to hip pain. I used my blocks liberally as well to modify the standing forward bends that are the most painful pose. Friday I did not add extra cardio (due to upper respiratory congestion) but I did do ARX and Legs & Back. I then took both weekend days to rest and recover.

So, today I'm back in Healthy Land :D :D :D I'm ready to BRING IT this week!! This morning was Cathe's 4DS Kickbox cardio only (I never did Kenpo last week and wanted to get some KB in). This afternoon will be ARX along with Chest, Shoulders & Tris. I will lighten up that blasted Scarecrow move so I don't hurt my shoulder. This week is all about getting back on track with nutrition and adding extra cardio to up the calorie burn so I can get my body back on track. My hip, while not 100%, is much better, too. I'm ready to BRING IT again this week!

Doubles

is now underway. Monday (Xmas eve), I did an HIIT run on my mom's treadmill for 30 mins and later on did Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. It was not my best effort with the weight work. DH and my sister's dog kept distracting me, plus I'm unfamiliar with it and I went to high on weight on the Scarecrow move, so my one rotator's cuff was sore the rest of the workout, so I had to lighten up and modify the rest of the moves, but I got through it :) Yesterday I cooked and cleaned and hosted dinner, so no workout, but I had a ton of fun!! Today I'm back on track. I did the 2nd half of Imax 2 (Cathe) this morning and I'll be doing Back & Biceps later on. I'll be doubling up tomorrow with Plyo in the morning and Yoga X in the afternoon and I'll be right back on schedule. I'm also now through day 30, so I'm a third of the way there!! YAY!

Nutrition, as to be expected, has been pretty sketchy at best. Meals have been ok, but way too many cookies and things have been hanging around and found their way to my mouth ;-) I'm back on track today, though! I'll be happy this week to just maintain and not gain weight/fat back. That's the goal. I also need to flush the excess water I'm lugging around from the increase in sodium (I usually have very little). Back on the horse...

The end of Phase 1

Today's the last day of Phase 1, and it's gone well. I managed to catch up this week, though I didn't get to Core Syn yesterday. I DID have a workout helping my friend move, though. My compound AWT workout was moving furniture :) I will be doing Stretch X today and then tomorrow (despite being Christmas eve) will be the start of Phase 2. I'll be doing doubles and adding on extra cardio (mostly Cathe). I'll be keeping the cardio sessions short (30-45 mins total) and doing them fasted for extra fat burning. Nutrition has been as good as can reasonably be expected this time of year. I'm thrilled that in the month of December, I've done as well as I have. Back on the horse full time on Wednesday, though. Right back to 100% clean.

My phase 1 results are as follows:
Weight loss: none really (I keep losing and gaining the same 1.5-2lbs depending on how much water my body's holding on to)
Body fat: -1.3%
Chest: -0.25"
Waist: -1"
Hips: -1"
fanny: -0.75"

My total "inch loss" is 3.75 :) I'm feeling firmer and thinner, though I still have plenty of work to do. I'm hoping to see nice results from Phase 2, too!

Recovery Week

has so far been spent being BUSY and then subsequently playing catch-up. We spent an extra night at my MIL's house due to bad weather conditions there, so we came home Monday and then spent most of the day busy busy with Christmas decorating and putting the tree up. Tuesday was equally busy as I found out I would have to be at a family funeral on Friday and therefore lost a day that I had previously planned to spend with preparations. So, I spent most of Tuesday frantically wrapping presents, lol. I was finally able to come up for air yesterday and I did Kick Max (I had to sub Kenpo, it's just not intense enough) and Eoin's Daily Dose of Bliss. I did notice I felt a lot stronger with the push-up pose in each vinyasa during the yoga. I think all those extra push-ups I added in during Yoga X are paying off :D Today's plan is to tackle Core Syn this morning and then Step Blast later on this evening. Then, my days will be caught up and tomorrow will be yoga (planning Eoin's Power Yoga for Happiness in full) and Core Syn again on Saturday.

My eating has been hit and miss, lol. I had my first really GOOD day again yesterday. I'm looking to stay on track as long as possible before Christmas (which means delaying baking cookies as long as possible, lol!). My weight is down a little (about 1lb, I'm assuming from the retained water leaving my muscles as I'm not lifting heavy this week). I'll be measuring and taking pics again probably Sunday (day 28, but day 30 is on Xmas, so that's not happening then). I'm getting psyched up for Doubles next week, even with Christmas so close. I'm hoping to see some nice results from the added (short) cardio sessions. Tony's just not intense enough for me in the cardio department. My opinion (so far) is that Tony is very creative with resistance training as Cathe is very creative in cardio. I feel like Tony just sticks with basics for cardio and Cathe sticks to basics for weight lifting. I'm hoping to see some creativity in her upcoming STS set, but I'm sure she'll kick my butt either way.

Week 3

...is in the books! I'm now officially done with week 3. I finished up with Yoga X on Thursday, ARX and Legs & Back on Friday, and Kenpo X yesterday morning. Today's my rest day, and tomorrow I start my first recovery week. I will be subbing some, adding some more cardio, but not doing any weight work. Sick as it sounds, I'm looking forward to Core Syn b/c it's new :) I think it will be challenging, but I'm ready to crush it! Tomorrow will be yoga, but I haven't yet decided if I'll be doing Yoga X or Eoin's Power Yoga for Happiness. We'll see. I had a family Christmas party yesterday, and it was fun. No clean eating, but I tried hard to keep the portions small. I'm back on track (mostly) today. I'll be heading home tomorrow morning and back on track 100% then. At the end of my recovery week, I'll be measuring so I can see some progress. So far, though, my weight has come back up to where it was, but I'm down 1.4% body fat, so I'm excited to be building muscle and losing fat. I also got the battery in my HRM replaced, so I'm back on track with that, too! I'm still sick, but mostly better. I just need to kick the cough to the curb. Hopefully the recovery week will allow my body to rest and get rid of the germ. I'm almost done with phase 1!!

Make Up Day

So last night I got a bunch of sleep and I'm FINALLY feeling better. This morning I crushed Plyo X and this afternoon I felt so good I tacked on Shoulders & Arms. I'm NOT doing ARX 2 days in a row, though, so I'll make that one up later. I had no nausea or fatigue (more than normal during those workouts) and I BROUGHT IT!! YAY! I'm so happy to be both feeling better AND caught up!

Nutrition is spot on, too. I upped the cals due to doubling up, but I'll have to plug them in to find out how many...

Being Sick Sux

So week 3 is now underway, but I'm sick :( I took an unplanned rest day yesterday due to the busy-ness of life, but today I did ARX and Chest & Back. I had hoped to double up and crush Plyo tonight, but I have this cough that won't quit. I don't think cardio is a good plan today. Also, the battery in my HRM died :( I'm a tech head and addicted to it, lol. I'll need to get a new one this weekend, but I feel lost without it. Today's workout was pretty weak, too. I haven't been sleeping well and despite the extra rest day, I got wasted pretty quickly. I did ok, but not nearly as well as last week. Why couldn't THIS be the recovery week? lol

My nutrition has been so-so. Last night was not a good night. We ended up ordering pizza (I know, you're screaming in horror) b/c we were just so busy, but the rest of the day was crystal clean and today's been great, too. I need to keep the clean eating up b/c we'll be going to MIL's house this weekend and she doesn't believe in clean food...

Halfway through Phase 1...

I'm now at the end of week 2. I completed Legs & Back on Friday, and yesterday was ARX and Kenpo X (not enough time to get ARX in on Friday so I made it up yesterday). Kenpo is just not that challenging of a workout. Cathe could kick Tony's butt any day ;-) I'm seeing good endurance gains, too. I can do just about all the reps of all the exercises in ARX now :D Despite going as heavy as I could and feeling wasted at the end of workouts, I really didn't have any DOMS to speak of this week. Compared to week 1, where I was very sore most of the week, it's a welcome change. I hope I'm still working hard enough to make good fitness gains. I feel like P90X is less about heavy weight work and more about endurance and muscle shaping, which I wouldn't have thought based on reviews. There are SO many reps, though, I'm not sure what sort of strength gains can really be made. Plus, with my heart rate being up in the aerobic zone for significant portions of the weight workouts, I'm sure I'm burning fat, but not sure about the building muscle. Time will tell, though.

Nutrition this week was good. I had a (planned) splurge meal while out with DH at his company Xmas party. Through the other days, though (didn't track on Friday), my average cals were 1528, keeping macros in range. No more weight loss this week, but I am down almost 1% body fat. I have one more active week in Phase 1, then it's onto a Recovery Week! Woo hoo!

Going strong

Well, week 2 has been much better overall (so far) than week 1. I'm hardly sore at all and I'm more familiar with the workout routines so they go much more smoothly. Yesterday was ARX and Shoulders & Arms and I was able to heavy up nicely. Wasted as I was at the end, though, I'm surprisingly not sore today. No matter. Today's workout was Yoga X. This went much better than last week, I was able to get into the poses, the breathing, etc. I even added a lot of pushups during the vinyasas. I even tackled the crane, but I still, for the life of me, can't do twisting half moon. Maybe someday.

Nutrition is right on track, too. 1600 cals yesterday, about 1450 today. Tomorrow will be more challenging with DH's work Xmas party, but I'll be going for the portion control method of dealing with it. It'll be nice to have an evening out with just DH and no kiddos, too!

Bringing it...

I finally feel like I've settled into this program/rotation and I'm really BRINGING IT! My nutrition is in place and I have plenty of fuel for my workouts. Plyo X was today and I crushed it. Ok, well, it was better than last week. I was able to keep up, doing almost all the reps (sometimes missing 1 at the beginning or end) and taking much fewer breaks. I made sure to keep careful watch on my form and knees so I don't end up with any injuries, too. I tacked on seg. 2 of Stretch Max to get extra stretching in, too.

I'll be eating fewer cals today and the next 2 days, then on Friday night is DH's company Xmas party so that'll be a higher day. I'll be hitting around 1428 cals today with macros of 42.3% carbs/ 36.6% protein/ 21.1% fat. Ready to BRING IT tomorrow with ARX and Shoulders & Arms.

The dawn of week 2...

went pretty well! I enjoyed my rest day, and I felt ready to BRING IT today. I cranked it out with Ab Ripper X first. I am now doing almost all the reps. I only wimped out on 5 of the V-up/Roll-up combo reps and 10 of the Mason twists at the end (Tony is really evil adding on there at the end!). My knee was feeling a bit tweaky yesterday, and I didn't notice it at all today until ARX. I'll have to ignore Tony for awhile when he says to fight to straighten my legs. My knee says no, lol. I'll have to be careful to watch form on Plyo X and Legs & Back this week, too. I don't want to end up with an injury. Chest & Back went well, too. I CRANKED out the push-ups, but my back is feeling tired, so I was not feeling it as much with the pull-ups. As many push-ups as I do, though, my chest still feels fine at the end. Hrm. I wore my HRM, though, and I was actually up into my aerobic zone for 25% of the workout. Maybe that'll help boost the fat-burning. A little AWT is never a bad thing.

My nutrition is right on track, too. I'll be taking in 1590 cals today with macros of 47.2% carbs/ 35.1% protein/ 17.7% fat. I'm not looking that forward to Plyo tomorrow, but I'll still be PUSHING PLAY anyway.

Week 1

has (almost) drawn to a close. I banged out Ab Ripper X (yet again) and Legs & Back last night. Those wall squats HURT! In a good way, of course ;-) I liked the combination of weighted and unweighted work for the legs, and even the pull-ups felt good :-O I'm definitely feeling it today, though, in my hamstrings and rear delts. Ow. Today I BROUGHT IT with Kenpo X. It was a lot of drills, no real combos, but I liked it. I'll have to use more intensity next time, though, as my HR just was too up and down. I was only in my zone for 36.5 mins out of the entire hour long workout. I did cheat on Tony, though, by adding on Cathe's Stretch Max afterwards. It felt so good to really stretch all the muscle groups. Tony just doesn't do enough stretching at the ends of workouts for my taste. So, tomorrow is my much anticipated rest day. Ahhhhhh.

Eating has been great this week, too. Yesterday was 1520 cals just about spot on at 40/40/20 and today should be 1574 cals a little closer to 45/35/20. Tomorrow I'll be eating at the lower end of the range (around 1400 cals) due to taking a rest day. I just need to stay strong with the eating through the holiday season. I tend to fall apart then. 6 days down, 84 to go...

Ahhhhhh.....

That's what my body says today after Yoga X. It was a welcome break from the butt kicking Tony's dished out over the last 3 days. It's not all fun and games, mind you, there are some very challenging poses, but being experienced with yoga, it was mostly all doable. And it was not weights or jumping around, lol. I'm ready to BRING IT tomorrow and hit it hard :)

Nutrition on track, too. I toned down the cals today due to burning less, eating just over 1400 today. Lots of water, too :D :D :D

CRUSHED Day 3!!

Today's scheduled workout: Ab Ripper X and Shoulders & Arms. I had some dread factor going on with ARX 'cause Monday didn't go so well and I'm still sore, but it was great! I did almost all the reps and didn't scream in pain once! lol. I also really like S&A, too. It's a great workout. I love the sequencing, the fact that I can go heavy and feel like I got a great workout without feeling like I killed myself. Good stuff. Today felt like the first day I actually BROUGHT IT!! The first of many...

The eating's spot on, too. I'm on track to eat 1539 cals today with macros of 45.8% carbs/ 34.4% protein/ 19.8% fats. Tomorrow is my first encounter with YogaX and the cals will be lower, too. I wonder what pain Tony has in store for me...

Day 2

Done :D This was my first time for PlyoX, and it wasn't too bad. I've done lots of drill and interval work with Cathe, so I felt like I would be well prepared. I liked that he repeated the sequences because during the first round of each sequence, I'd miss a few reps trying to learn the move. It was more work on the legs than I thought, but the cardio factor wasn't too bad. It rated (according to my HRM) like a steady-state cardio workout. No anaerobic intervals, but maybe I wasn't pushing hard enough, lol. I did take a few more breaks than Tony, so my goal will be to eliminate those over the coming weeks. My abs (particularly my intercostals) are quite sore, though, so I'm not looking too forward to ARX again, but I'm tough, so I'll BRING IT!

Eating was great, too. 1577 cals in, 40.3% carbs/ 38.9% protein/20.8% fats, 100% clean. My weight came down 0.4lbs, too (but could be water weight dropping after all that cruddy food last week.) Today will be on the higher side as well (around 1600 cals), then the next 2 days on the lower end of my range. I'm aiming for a weekly cal average around 1500. I'm still going strong, and I'm looking forward to weight work again with Shoulders & Arms today!!

Day 1

is in the books!! I brought it with Ab Ripper X and Chest & Back. Boy, I have a LOT of work to do over these next 90 days. I felt like a weakling, but it's a place to start from!! I did all the pullups/chinups assisted with a chair, making sure to work the negative phase hard. I'm hoping to see some good improvements with that in the next few weeks. I've also slacked off in the core/ab work area the last few weeks, so ARX was tough. I'm not too sore YET, but I'm sure I'll be feeling it later. I'm glad I have a cardio day before I have to face more weight work...

My eating was spot on yesterday, too. I ate 1517 cals, with macro ratios of 44.8% carbs/35.5% protein/19.8% fats and 136oz of water, too. So, I'm off to a good start, but it's always easy in the beginning. The real test will be later on. Stay tuned for more...

Final Preparations...

Today is my final day before beginning my P90X journey. I'm planning on tackling the doubles rotation, subbing 30-45 min Cathe cardio for the extra Cardio X in Phase 2. I took some "before" photos and measurements and did the fit test. My fit test results are as follows:

Resting Heart Rate: 58
Pull-ups: 1.75
Vertical Leap: 11.75"
Push-ups: 36 on toes
Toe Touch: +5.5"
Wall Squat: 3 mins
Biceps Curls: 25 reps with 15lb dumbells
In and Outs: 75
Heart Rate Maximizer:
0 mins: 163
1 min: 116 (Thanks, Cathe, for all your intervals!)
2 mins: 104
3 mins: 98
4 mins: 92

Photos will follow as I have results to show ;-) I also set some goals to reach by the time I repeat the fit test on day 90... I'd like to be able to do 5 pullups and 50 pushups on my toes. I expect to see nice gains in my pushup and pullup abilities and to see the most muscle changes in my back and shoulders. I'll also be tracking my calories (I'll be eating in the 1400-1600 cal range with macro ratios of 40% protein/40% carbs/20% fat) to optimize results and performance. Day 1 is tomorrow and I'm ready to BRING IT!!!

Setting up my blog...

Today is the first step in my P90X journey. I'm setting up my blog :) I'll be taking the fit test on 11/25 and starting my first journey through P90X on Monday,. 11/26. Stay tuned for more...