Day 12: Legs & Back/Ab Ripper X

This was the key workout for me this week. I really push it on this one. I was sweating buckets by the time I was over. It felt good. Since most of the exercises isolate each leg, I can really tell a difference between my right and left leg. I am MUCH weaker in my right leg. When I was doing the skaters, I was able to have good form and balance in my left leg, but was all over the place with my right. Plus, I could only do about half as many lunges with my right leg than with my left leg.

Breakfast: Shake
Lunch: Chef salad
Dinner: Taco soup
Snack: Shake

Day 11: Yoga

Was NOT in the mindset for Yoga. Looking back, I should have traded out legs for yoga today. Like I said, yesterday was really bad at work, so I needed to sling some weights, not try and balance on one leg. My form suffered for it too. I was a little sloppy in my stances, and wasn't motivated to try and push myself. Tip for anyone that doesn't feel like Yoga that day. Trade it out. You will still get the workout you need, but on a different day. Will woke up early again today and wanted to watch Wow Wow, so I killed the DVD with 10 minutes left. That is why I recommend doing another workout if you are not in the mood. You have to be motivated to do something for 1.5 hrs.

Breakfast: Coffee, Protein shake
Lunch: N/A -
Dinner: ?? Orange chicken with rice I think.
Snacks: Protein bar and cottage cheese.

I really need to get to eating better again.

Day 10: Arms and Back

This was a good workout. I am going to sound like a broken record, but my band work is getting better, my form is getting better and I am working my muscles to exhaustion by the end of the workout. I feel that that is a good thing. William woke up a little early today and was watching me workout. He even joined in by grabbing his own band and mimicked my movements. That was pretty funny and cute! I find that even though my muscles are working pretty hard, I am not getting as much lactic burn afterward. Don't get me wrong, I am sore, but I don't feel like I am the Tin Man walking around, like I was last week. Today was a really bad day at work, so I didn't eat during the day, which is bad. I had a protein shake for brekkie, one for afterwork snack, and Island Pork tenderloin with asparagus for dinner. Dinner was really good. The only thing in the nutrition plan that I havent liked has been the shimp stirfry, but I would make any of the others for anyone. Good workout, felt good afterward. This is starting to feel real good:)

Day 9: Plyometrics

Well, I completed goal number 3 for this week! Today was much more difficult that last week. I think there were a couple of reasons for this. First, I worked on getting lower into my stance. I could really feel it in my quads. I also worked on exploding out of my stance and landing on the balls of my feet. This really worked out my calves. I had issue with the lunges, both with balance and with form, so I wasn't able to keep up with the tape. The other area I had trouble with was the 180 ski hop. I think this started pushing me into the red zone. I had to take a little break because I was getting a little light headed. I let them finish it off, then I jumped back and finished up strong. BRING IT!

It was a good workout that really kicked my butt, but in a good way. I was exhausted and sweating by the end. I now know exactly what made my legs so sore last week. I hope my body has gotten use to it this week, but if I am sore that just means I am making progress.

My chest, shoulders and lats are pretty sore today. Yesterdays workout really hit the target areas.

Breakfast: Turkey bacon, scrambled egg whites
Lunch: Chefs salad or something akin at Central Market
Dinner: Pancakes (off diet, but it is Shrove Tuesday.)
Snack:?? I left my homemade protein bars at home today, so I will need to pick something up at Lunch today.

Day 8: Phase 1, round 2: Shoulders and Arms/ Ab Ripper X

Monday, 2/23/2009 0500- 0630

Here we go again. My goals for this week are:

1. Improve form
2. Increase reps/weight
   
3. Survive Plyo.
   

Today was a good day. I left everything on the floor today after the workout. During the second round of decline push ups, I actually went to failure and could not go back up w/o dropping my hips. Since goal number 1 is to improve form, that was not an option. It felt good to give it all I had. I think last week, I kept a little bit of energy in my back pocket since I didn't know what was coming. This week, I let it all go, the way you should if you want results. The only bad thing was that during my last set of pull ups, my improvised door attachment (a small cheap bungee) broke and cracked me right in the knuckle. I am going to make a hanger tonight, but looking back, I probably should have bought the attachment Beachbody sells. Ab Ripper X was exceptionally brutal. I believe it is because I am not allowing my hips to drop during the push ups, and am fatigued before stating. I feel that I will struggle with Ab Ripper throughout this program, but will keep powering through it.

I am worried about tomorrow. Plyo was tough on me last Tuesday and left me sore the rest of the week. Hopefully it will be a little easier this week (one can dream)!

Breakfast: Egg scramble, strawberries, cottage cheese
Snack: Odwalla protein bar (last one, going to try a recipe tonight)
Lunch: left over chicken and rice
Snack: Cottage Cheese, pistachio nuts, protein shake
Dinner: Fish with lemon caper sauce, Wild rice and broccoli

Day 7: Rest

I slacked off today and did not do the stretching exercise. I was a little disappointed in myself but I also needed the time to recharge for the coming week.

Breakfast: Cottage Cheese and Turkey Bacon
Lunch: Poblano pepper stuffed with Spanish rice and Chicken fajita
Dinner: Steak Salad
Snack: Protein Shake

Week 1 Photos: The Ugly Truth

Week 1 pictures are below. They were taken on Day 3 and should be viewed at your own risk :-)

Day 6: Kempo X

Today was a fun day. Kempo X is another cardio program similar to Plyo, just not as crazy, which was nice. The combination of punches and kicks keeps your heart rate up, but for me, it showed how uncoordinated I am. I would get lost in the middle of a punch combo and just flail about until I went back to neutral. I think over time, as the exercises become more familiar, I will be able to stop being such a complete spaz. I am sore all over, but am becoming use to that, and the major lactic acid concentrations seem to have dissipated. I have noticed that I am able to get lower into some of my stretches already, so 1 week into it and I am already seeing improvements. I feel better about myself, I am eating better and I am working toward my goal. I think my state of mind is pretty good right now. The only thing I didn't like was waking up at 5 on a Saturday. Will ended up sleeping until 7:30, so I could have totally slept later. Oh well. Tomorrow is stretch X which I am looking forward to somewhat. The stretching will be nice. Like I have said before, I need it.

Breakfast: 2 Soy sausage patties, 2 2% fat swiss slices, and 2 whole wheat english muffins
Snack: Strawberry protein shake
Lunch: Turkey Taco Soup
Snack: Cottage Cheese, 8 oz. Grapefruit
Dinner:??? Chicken with Lemon caper sauce, asparagus, and wild rice.




I am very hungry and am craving carbs and fat. This is not much of a suprise, since that is what got me into the state that I am in. Just have to stay on target.

It is already Day 5!? Legs and Back / Ab Ripper X

Friday Feb 20, 2009 0500 – 0630

I was a little apprehensive about this workout yesterday. I work on the 4^th floor and have made the commitment to always take the stairs. This week, I have been going slower and have been a little more flushed when I reach my destination. Coming down has been harder than going up, since my quad has been on fire. I asked my good and dear Friend, Mr. Nash how I was supposed to do legs when I could barely walk? His answer was for me to do what I can and keep moving. Very similar to Tony’s “Do you best and forget the rest” statement.

There was only one exercise that I skipped today. That was the toe lunge. I will try it next week, but I was trashed when that exercise came up and I could not hold proper form. Squats were ok, no big surprise there, except for the wall squats, and one legged wall squats. Those were a killer. A lot of the exercises were one legged, and I needed to support myself with the coffee table to keep my balance. In retrospect, I believe that I was cheating a little and using my balance arm to push myself back up. While this might be minor, I will try and use the wall at a 90 degree angle next time. I am really trying to do form perfect exercises. My form on some of the static lunge and wall squat exercises was ok. I had around a 75 degree angle on the squats and maybe and 80 degree for the lunges. One thing I liked about today was the dynamic exercise. I found that when I was moving into the lunge position, my form improved and it was less exhausting. Maybe because I was worrying about where I was going and not thinking of what I was doing.

I almost skipped Ab Ripper X today on accident. At least that is what I keep telling myself. I don’t like the advertisements at the end of the dvds so today, I just cut it off with 1 second left. When I looked at the calendar for what was day 6, I noticed that I was shortchanging myself. I guess that will teach me not to turn off the dvd to early! Ab Ripper X was ok. I did more than I did Wednesday. My forms were much better and that led to fewer reps for some of the exercises. Twenty reps is still my average, and I am ok, because I am feeling the burn. I had to modify the scissors exercise; I was trashed by then. I left my lower leg on the floor as lightly as possible, and then raised the other leg. This allowed me to work some of the muscles targeted. Next week, or week three, I intend to get that lower leg up. Finally, I am able to do around 20 of the final exercise. For this one, form as a V with your body, put your hands together and punch the floor on either side of you as fast as you can.

Food:

Breakfast – Protein shake with Blueberries

Lunche – Caldo de pollo

Dinner – Beef and broc stir fry?

Day 4: Yoga X

This morning I woke up sore again (what's new?), especially in my legs (quads) and triceps were still a little tight. I was looking forward to Yoga simply because it is a lower intensity workout. By no means was this easy, it was still a workout. I made it through the fist 20 minutes following the forms Tony and pals were doing. That was about it though. The plank became the half-plank and the “push-down transition pose” disappeared all together and I went strait into upward facing dog or cobra depending on my core. I was pouring sweat here and trying very hard to keep form. I did ok, but there is defiantly room for improvement. During the balance portion, I did well, but had to use the entertainment center a couple of times for balance. I also found, during the core 7 that I have null core strength. No big surprise there, which is one of the reason I am doing P90X. I think my favorite pose of all was Happy Baby. This one actually made me laugh while I was doing it. I enjoyed the stretches as well. I would like to become more flexible too, and am going to do the stretching on my rest days definitely to help with that.

Feeling about today:
This was a tough workout out at the beginning, then a long decrease in intensity to the end. I wish that I had brought it more than I did and will definitely put more effort into Yoga X the next time I do it. This one might even be a good one for Sara to try. Some of the poses were familiar due to Wii Fit, but explained in much more detail, which was nice. Good mid week break. Looking forward to it tomorrow.

Food:
• Breakfast:
o Egg White Migas (8 egg whites, salsa, 1 corn tortilla, 1 tbls HEB mex chesse mix) + coffee.
• Lunch:
o Chef salad (6 oz cubed ham, 3 cups salad greens, 1 carrot)
• Snack
o Cottage cheese
o Odwalla protein bar
• Dinner
o Taco soup (with Turkey)

Tony Quote of the Day:
I can do the things I can do at 45 not because of how may pushups I can do, it is because I do yoga.

DAY 3: Shoulders and Arms/ Ab Ripper X

Wednesday Feb 18, 2009 0500-0620

I was sore when I woke up. Ouch. Last night around 1 I guess I turned over and bent my left arm 90 degrees. My triceps protested and it was so painful I woke up. It wasn’t a cramp, my muscle was just really tight. I had to lay in bed and stretch a little. My legs were a little sore from yesterday, but not too bad (yet).This workout was not as difficult as yesterdays, but it was still pretty hard. I am using the resistance bands to work out with. I kept getting annoyed because they would zoom in the dumbbell workout and I would have no clue how to do it with the bands. I would have to rewind, pause, etc. a bit. The triceps exercises were a little odd, but I will get use to it the more I do it. I targeted 8-10 reps. I will need to adjust my band use to match my level. Hopefully next week I can figure it out. It was a good day though. I am tired and sore but I showed up and pressed play. Ab Ripper X was next, and I did better today that I did Monday. That made me pretty happy. If I can improve every time I do an exercise, soon I will be doing the whole thing correctly! YEAH! I still had to break, and for most exercises, I only did 20 instead of 25 reps, but it was an improvement. I was wasted when I finished, but that has started to become the norm now. I am looking forward to Yoga X tomorrow. I don’t do a lot of Yoga but it has always intrigued me. Plus, it might not be as hard as today or yesterday (yeah right!).

I had fish tacos for dinner tonight. They were good. The only thing I had to stay away from was the sour cream. I had corn tortillas, salsa, cabbage and onion, with some Spanish rice and peas on the side. Good stuff.

I am finding that I have to go to sleep earlier now. I played some games with Sara tonight and at 9:30PM, I was nodding off. I went to bed, and fell right asleep!

DAY 2: Plyometrics

Tuesday Feb 17, 2009 0500- 0620

This workout is a killer. Tony says that this is the extreme in P90X and I believe it! I was huffing and puffing halfway into the warm-up! The warm up was tough, and I was warned the workout would be even harder, and oh was it! I wasn’t using a heart monitor, but I am absolutely sure I was redlining it pretty early into the workouts. The water breaks were a welcome respite. I cannot remember when, but while doing the solder exercise, I realized I had gone into “glucose shock” as I call it. That is when you are working so hard that your brain runs out of sugar and you get disoriented and cannot follow instruction very well. I was having trouble following which arm to move with which leg. It was pretty funny. Boko, my feline workout partner, had a good laugh. I was glad that I survived this one. Once again, there were times when I had to break, but considering this is my first week, I feel this is acceptable. If I am not keeping up in Week 2 or 3 at the latest, then I will be slacking.

My arms, especially my triceps right at my elbow are KILLING ME! My arms and back are sore, which means that I brought it yesterday, and I am feeling good. My joy has increase, I am feeling better about myself and I am looking forward to seeing myself at the end of phase 1. I am happy with myself today for working on improving my health. BRING IT!

I am still following the diet, salads for lunch, protein shakes or egg white scrambles for brekkie, and fish or chicken with veggies for dinner. Week 2 in the meal plan and still loving the food.

Day 1

DAY 1: Arms and Back

Monday Feb 16, 2009

I received my program from extreembody.com last week and decided to wait until this Monday to start the workout. An interesting caveat, the box that was delivered to me was from Beachbody. I was listed as the ship to address. Basically, no matter where you buy it, you will be getting it from Beachbody. I got it a little cheaper though because Beachbody was going to charge tax + shipping whereas exteembody just charged shipping. That is a savings of $20, which can be used for the nutrition plan. Speaking of which, Sara and I started it last week. I made a list of what I would need and what she would need for the week and William and I went shopping. 3 hours later and $250 dollars poorer, our fridge as packed full of cottage cheese, skim milk and veggies a-go-go. If you do follow the nutrition guide, be aware that the soups and sauce make a LOT. The red pepper soup made enough for both Sara and I (lvl 1 and 3) for 4 weeks. The $250 will NOT be a weekly bill. The food is actually really good; lots of lean protein (goodbye hamburger meat), and veggies. Yum. I would like the nutrition plan even if I wasn’t doing the workouts. Also, some of our veggies went south before we used them so I would suggest only buying for a couple of days or make everything on the weekend and freeze. I am going to try that this weekend, since I would like to see Sara and William some.

The Workout:

Lots of band work and pushups. It was a little brutal. I was able to do about 5-10 of the pushups for each style, except for the declines. I could do a whopping total of 3 the first time and 1 the second round:) Then Ab ripper reinforced just how weak my core truly is. I was able to do the in and outs and bicycle, but that was the only exercises that I could do. After that, my core was trashed and I couldn’t keep my form at all. So, I will be interested in seeing my results in P2 of the program. I am sore and thirsty now. It was pretty good. I like at the beginning when Tony is talking he said "don't say 'I can't,' say 'I presently struggle with.” It seems like a slight change in semantics, but I can see how that can really change your POV on the program. I had to keep telling myself that during the 2nd round of Arms and Back and the ARx.

I had to take some breaks today to or skip some of the exercises, especially during the Ab Ripper X because I couldn’t keep form. Tony says it is ok, and I believe him. If I can only do 3 right now correctly, that is better than 10 with crappy form. Of course, if I could keep up with the guys on the DVD, I would look like them too:) The future looks bright and I am looking forward to the next 89 days!