p90x - Back and Biceps

Still hanging in here...trouble getting back into a routine, even a week after being home. I'm home for 1 more week, then out of the country again for two weeks! Hope I can keep it all together.

I did back and biceps last nigth for the first time. OUCH! Wow, that was tough. How can there possibly be so many different exercises you can do?

The strip sets at the end were pure 100% tor ture!

But it felt good. Bring it!

p90x - Phase 2 - Bring It with Chest/shoulders/tris

Wow, that was a damn tough workout! My first of Phase 2. Like I said before, I took an extra "rest" week, but I did some stuff. I did 3 workouts, went telemark skiing at Copper Mountain, and did a bicycle race, the first of the season.

But my diet went to crap last week, and I carbed up. It's easy to do once you start. I did a little better today, but when presented with chocolate chip cookies, I had two! Oh, and a plate of sweet potatoe fries..>I know the worst food ever invented next to pizza (but it t astes so good!)

This was the toughest workout so far, but I LOVED it.

Chest/shoulders/try totally rocks and I am wiped out!

p90x - 2nd "rest" week adn core synergistics

I'm here, don't despair. Actually, I'm there. I'm out of town for a week, at 7500 feet elevation. I don't have good access to weights, at least not at the same time as a DVD player, so I'm doign rest week again. Sunday was a travel day and arriving at altitude kind of sucks teh energy out of you!

TOday I got back itno it with core synergistics. I did about half of it and was really wiped out, then I remembered that I'm at altitude, so I was pretty happy with how well I did.

Diet has taken a turn for the worse...and so has some intestinal distress! I bet it's due to increased carbohydrate ingestion, so starting tomorrow, back on the p90x diet as best I can.

I havn't been in this town since last September and people are noticing that I've lost weight!

New Weight Low

Well, a new low for the past year or so. Got on the scale today: 147 lbs! Yay, I broke the 148 barrier. :)

Even though it's rest week, I'm still losing weight.

p90x - Rest Week - Stretch X

Wow, what a great session. a full hour of nothing but stretching. Some of the stretches were just a little hard, but they all felt great. I'm better at several of them that we've been doing in the yoga sessions as well. RIght now I'm having a rasberry chocolate smoothie...yum. Feeling pretty good.

Rest week - Core Synergistics & Kempo

Somehow on my days off, I manage to fill the whole day and leave no time for my workout. I did the first 4-5 moves of core synergistics and can't wait to get at it a gain later this week. It seems really cool (and veyr hard!)

Kempo was fun, I did the whole workout this time. I still dont' sweat as much as Tony and the gang, but it's a great workout none-the-less.

Cheers.

p90x - Day 22 - Yoga

This is my first rest week, and I was really glad to see Yoga here. I've been feeling tight, especially since I missed Yoga and Kempo last week and havn't been stretching otherwise.

I made it through the entire tape, with the exception of about 5 seconds of a handful of poses like "twisting half-moon". Of course, there is a lot to be improved in terms of my form, but at least I made it through.

I find with yoga that the more familiar I get with the poses and the comfort of it, the more I can "lose my mind" and just let go and relax adn do the moves.

I did almost all of the "Yoga Belly Seven" as well which REALLY impressed me as the first week I could barely do any of it.

Looking forward to the rest of "rest" week.

p90x - Day 21 Pics

OK, here's a different shot you havn't seen yet. I'd be mortified just to have the first picture up, but since I'm seeing so much progress, here it is. in the front and side views this week, I couldn't see much progress from last week to this week. But in this angled view you can see some additional progress.

Extrapolate that continued fat loss/muscle gain to the next 10 weeks to finish up p90x, and I'll be one foxy chick!

I like to call this picture, "The Incredible Shrinking Belly"

Week 3 Day 7 - Rest Day

Today I wont' be resting, I'm headed out to cross country ski! I took my pictures a day early since I'm workig a 12 hour shift tomorrow and I dont' think I"ll be able to get pictures in before work.

As far as measurements, things are OK, not dramatically different, but changing

Weight: 148.5 (no change from last week, but it's a day early still)
Waist 29.5" (Yay, first time below 30")
Hips 40"
Chest 38"
Bicep (R) 15"
Thigh:: 24.5"
Calf: 15"
Wrist: 6"

So not much change in measurements. I'll be anxious to look at the pics side by side because I FEEL just a little skinnier, and the waist measurment is smaller as well.

You really need ALL of thesse things (weight, measurements, photos) in order to see progress, if I didn't have the photos I'd probalby be getting discouraged by now. But the workouts still feel good, my core feels REALLY strong compared to before and my legs feel great as well. Picking up something off the floor is a piece of cake...no knee pain or back pain at all.

p90X - Day 20 - Catching up!

The past few days have been busy. I worked an overnight shift, then back again to work at 3pm, so I didn't do a workout yesterday. You'd thnk that the day before when I didn't work until 9pm I would have gotten a workout in, but I was busy doing house buying stuff, then I just stayed in town until it was time to go to work.

I missed Yoga and Back & Legs/ab ripper X. kempo was scheduled for today.

So today I did back & Legs when I got up, didn't to ab ripper (yet) because I was really bonking. Since then I've had some good food & calories. I plan to do abripper X before long, and then I'll do as much yoga as I can muster before bed.

Tomorrow I'll do Kempo then I'll be as caught up as I'm able to be.

Diet wise, it's really busy & time consuming to try and get all the right nutrition. My kitchen is a mess because I'm constantly fixing food instead of snacking on fattening chips. So overall it's good.

I try not to put too much stock in my weight and measurements except at weekly intervals because things don't change quickly. But today I was happy to see my waist measurement sneak below 30 inches for the first time! Stay tuned on Monday to get a new set of measurements & photos!

p90x - Pictures - Day 15

I still can't believe I'm posting pictures of myself on the itnernet. But I hope it's inspiring to you to see what can happen in a short period of time. The weight loss in the photos below is not stunning...about 3.5 lbs. But the body shaping is incredible. I hope this keeps up...I'm going to be one hot fox!

Update: Jan 2013  This is still the most visited page on my website, so thanks for visiting!   Please contact me if you have any questions about p90x...

Take a look and see what you think:





Things I notice:
1) Chin smaller
2) You can see my neck. (that could be the haircut)
3) HOT new haircut
4) The six pack wants to come out
5) Butt looking toned and lifted
6) Hips smaller still

Let's see your Pix!

Bring it!

p90x - Chocolate Mango Protein/Recovery Shake

This shake doesn't have enough carbs to qualify as a recovery drink, but it gets close, and you can add something on the side to bring the carb count up and make it nearly a complete meal if you like.

it was something like this:

1/2 cup fat free yogurt
1 scoop Chocolate Designer Whey Protein
1 cup Frozen Mango cubes (Trader Joe's)
1 tbs Flax Seed Meal (Omega 3 & 6)
1 Tbs Wheat germ (lots of B vitamins)
1/2 cup skim milk

Blend to desired consistency.

Serves 1:
Dairy 1
Protein 1
Fruit 1
Fat 1/2
Carbs 1/4 You can add more wheat germ to incrase the carb count, it also gives it a nutty flavor

YUMMMY!

p90x - Day 16 - Plyo

Well this was good and bad. I got through the warm up and the first set of four exercises, both times, and did it far better than than the past 2 weeks. I was a little slack on the next set of exercises & skipped a few, but last week that's where I stopped. This week I was able to finish the workout, but with lots of modifications.

one of the really great things about this p90x Plyometrics DVD is that they show you modifications to reduce impact, but still get the feel & benefit of the workout and allowing you to progress into it. Any time I've done plyo in the past, I've felt like I hurt my back or my SI joint, because the instructions are to be "explosive", jump "as high as you can", etc. But with p90x, "We've got options!"

I have a secret crush on Tony I think. LOL.

p90x - thoughts on 2 weeks in...

I thought that this would get easier as I went, as my body got used to the workouts. But it's getting harder!

First, motivation comes and goes, the novelty is wearing off. Second, I AM getting stronger. So doing 10 pushups today is just as hard if not harder than 10 pushups 2 weeks ago. I'm just doing them with better form, going deeper, straighter back, more core muscle involvement, which ultimately, burns your pecs even more.

I am more sore today than I was 2 weeks ago!

I am losing weight and inches as well, but slowly. 3.5 lbs in 2 weeks is not insignificant, but I'm inpatient. Yes, my clothes are fitting better, but they are my "fat clothes" that are fitting better. LOL.

I have high regard to those who have successfully lost 40,60, 100 lbs or more over 12-18 months. It's a long road.

I am feeling good about myself, but every new thing I take on pushes something else behind and I need to figure out how to get back on top of things.

Quitting my job, unfortunately, is not one of them , but neither is quitting p90x. Tony Horton is waiting for me!

p90x - Day 15 - Chest & Back

Wow, this workout never gets easier! (I just get stronger...)

I notice new things each week. Last week it was my abs that got tired and limited the number of pushups I could do...well they must be getting stronger because I really felt it in my chest this time!

Pullups were super hard as well. By the end of the workout I was trashed and could barely do Ab Ripper X. I skipped a few of the ab exercises, but others I did better than I have before.

Overall I'm making good progress. Even though the scale and measurement changes aren't dramatic, the photos really show my progress!

Today I felt pretty skinny even though I've got at least another 10 lbs that will come off "easily", and then I'd be trhilled with another 5 lbs after that. 15 lbs may not sound like a lot to some of you, but combined with the 3.5 I've already lost, and my small frame (5'3"), it's pretty significant to me.

Bring it!!!

Day 15 Measurements

End of 2 weeks! I'm not seeing dramatic changes int he mirror, but I can really see it in the photos! I'm wearing a "skinny" sweater today too. Yippee.

Here's the scoop:
Weight: 148 (3.5 lbs wt loss)
You have 29.5% body fat.
You have 43.7 Pounds of fat and 104.3 Pounds of lean (muscle, bone, body water).

(The silly equation says I've lost muscle and gained fat, but it's obviously incorrect!)

BMI:26.2
Chest: 37.5"
Waist: 30"
Hips: 40"
R thigh: 24.5"
L thigh: 24"
R arm: 13"
L arm: 12.5"
R calf: 15"
L calf: 15"
R wrist: 6"

p90x - Days 13 & 14 Kempo & Rest

I switched my rest days this weekend. I'm workign overnight shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday, pretty much the worst combination of shifts that one could possible get. It' doesn't get much better next week, when I will have done 6 night shifts consecutively (not back to back, but with no day shifts inbetween). 4 of those on weekend days.

Considering that I am contracted only part time, I'm basically getting screwed.

SO anyway....

I used yesterday as a rest day s ince I was wiped out from workign overnight the night before. I didn't even get a hot tub soak because the hot tub was closed for cleaning! But today I got up a little early from my post night shift fitful sleep and did most of Kempo X. I totally bonked near the end and skipped the last 1/3. It was a good workout none the less, and was just as hard as last week...I"m probably working harder than I did on the last one.

TOmorrow will be the first day of week 3, more pictures, measurements and weighing.

I've lost just a bit more weight, and maybe another half inch or so. I'm trying not to get too hung up on measurements and just keep pushing play.

Hopefully my mood will brighten a bit when I get back on to day shift.