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...