Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Getting off track and getting back on

I should officially be halfway through week 4 of P90x already, however I feel like I've just fallen way off track.  Life really just has this way of getting in the way!  I didn't make the time over the weekend to do anything, and I have been so busy the past couple days.  It is incredibly easy to make other things priorities over working out!  I somehow left off week 4 on my printout for keeping track of which workout to do each day.  I skipped right over it, and that has made it easier to skip workouts as well.  After all, I have nothing to go check off when I'm done anyway!  Good excuse right?

Well here's the kicker...I've still lost 12 pounds so far!!  That's right boys and girls!  A few bad days is not getting me down.  I picked back up today with Kenpo-x, and I plan on getting Cardio-x in sometime tomorrow morning before the parade starts and before I go chow down on some yummy Thanksgiving fare.  I feel so much better about myself right now.  After several days in a row of not working out at all, I could tell my mood was terrible and I was incredibly tired.  I was taking it out on Gray and the cookies in the pantry.  With just about an hour of dedicated time for myself, I have done a complete 180 from the last few days.  It is amazing!  

I was a little scared to step on the scale earlier because of those cookies, but thankfully my body and the scale knew I needed a pick-me-up!  The number it displayed was definitely what I needed.  I checked it 2 more times just to make sure the scale wasn't trying to fool me!  I have not been my current weight in nearly 4 years!  

Tomorrow is surely going to be a challenge.  I love my family's cooking on any holiday.  But Thanksgiving is definitely a stand out.  With pumpkin pie, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, homemade rolls....I could go on and on. I want it all!  I just need to make sure I try little bits of everything, and not overeat!  Luckily I will have my sister and her mother-in-law there as motivation.  They have both lost weight recently and are major inspiration! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Middle of Week 3

It's day 3 of P90X (lean) week 3.  I'm glad I've stuck with it (sort of) this far.  I have missed a few days with Gray's parties and just being busy.  How in the world people that work outside of the home everyday find time to workout boggles my mind.  Being here all day (most days) it's still really difficult to make the time.  And when I miss a day, I'm trying to catch up with 2 workouts in one day, but that's just madness.  That's 2 hours I need for other things like cooking and laundry, or taking care of the kids.  Something suffers.  Ah what a juggling act this is!  Leftover cake is definitely not a help to my situation either!

I'm up to 9 pounds lost so far.  Although I don't notice a big difference yet, the compliments from friends and family members who say they do notice is really a huge boost of motivation.  Plus I've only got 21 pounds to go to catch up with my sister!  I feel better, my skin is healthier, and I've been told I'm happier.  I'd say all of these things are well worth the daily effort.

Next week is going to be a real challenge.  Who doesn't want to pig out on mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving?!  My absolute favorites and I am most certainly going to indulge.  But my goal is to be reasonable about what I eat and make sure I keep up with the workouts even on those off days!  And if I venture out on black Friday, I'm sure there will be some calories burned fighting through all those other holiday shoppers!  I can't believe there's only a little over a month until Christmas.  I am truly hoping that my gray cashmere sweater fits by then.  So far, time is flying faster than the fat is burning!

Monday, November 8, 2010

One Week Down

I made my official start of P90X last Monday.  I'm doing the lean version instead of the classic version because I'm hoping to burn more fat instead of build more muscle.  There's a different workout everyday Monday through Saturday.  Sunday is either a day of rest or X-Stretch.  Guess which I chose?  Well in my defense I was preparing for a birthday party and even that extra hour of daylight savings went to getting that ready.  Ab Ripper-X is also thrown in after two of the workouts each week.  It's 16 minutes of torture.  One day I may be able to keep up with that one, but definitely not on week 1!

Mondays are Core Synergistics and probably my least favorite of all the workouts.  I am absolutely terrible at doing push-ups or any kind of exercise remotely resembling a push-up.  Again, hopefully one day I may be able to successfully keep up with the DVD on these but definitely not right out the gate.  Saturdays are Kenpo.  Now that's a fun workout and well worth taking time away from Saturday morning cartoons!  I'd like to think it's even teaching me a little self defense.  It's all about punches, kicks, and blocks.  Everything is incredibly do-able (by a beginner!) and no equipment required.  The best part of it: being called vibrant after I had finished.  I honestly can't remember the last time anyone used that word to describe me!  Now, I'm looking forward to hearing it again! =)

There's a laundry list of equipment you're supposed to have before you start P90X.  I don't have any weights or a pull-up bar, or yoga blocks, or really anything else on the list.  The only thing I do have is a set of cheap resistance bands, which do their job.  Or at least they can do their job as long as my toddler doesn't pick them up and run away with them while I'm in the middle of the workout!  The only piece of equipment that I feel I might need is a yoga mat.  I never really saw the purpose in these until I did the yoga workout and started slipping and sliding all over the carpet.  Although if I was a little better at the Core exercises I might not have that problem as much!

The scale hasn't been as friendly as I would have liked this week.  I was really hoping for some drastic results, but it has only been one week.  It's not like I was doing the Biggest Loser or anything!  I did see a number on the scale that I haven't seen in a long time, and I'm down another 2 pounds. That's even after the birthday cake I had yesterday.  They say it takes 21 days for something to become a habit, so I need to make sure I stick to this like glue for 2 more weeks.  After that things should be easy right?  Well, like I said before....baby steps.  One week at a time.  One week is already behind me.  And right now I'm even tempted to throw in an extra cardio workout today just because of all the party food we had yesterday.