P90X - Week 12 - Monday

It's the return of Ab Ripper X. It was nice not to have to do it last week (since I did it during the previous Recovery Week). I also did Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. I'll be honest - I did not work as hard as I could have. I was absolutely uninterested in doing P90X today. The only reason I pushed through is because it's the last week of weights. So the light at the end of the tunnel is what keeps me going.

I'm also ravenous today! Seriously, I ate twice before I even worked out. It's going to be a crappy week, food-wise. I've already got it in my head that Thanksgiving (and the lack of extra, proper cardio this week) is messing me up. So, I'll have fewer activity points, different food options (more about my menu in a minute), and a lack of motivation. In my head, that's all permission to just screw it, but in reality, it should be all the more reason for me to buckle down and eat well. This is the battle I'll be facing the next 5 weeks. This week, I'm not even going to bother with keeping track of points. I'm going to try to be good, but I'm not sure I even want to be.

My menu! We're just staying home for Thanksgiving, and my husband actually won't even be here. He's going hunting, and won't get home until way after dark. We discussed it and decided we did not want a traditional Thanksgiving feast. After lots of back and forth and many menu changes, I've decided to make it a Hell's Kitchen Thanksgiving. We're huge fans of Gordon Ramsay and his shows, so I picked some items off the menu from the Hell's Kitchen competition. So far, I have risotto, wellington (venison, not beef), and chocolate souffle. The only thing on that list I have ever made is risotto, and I don't even make true risotto - I make an easy version. But anyway, I'm going to give that all a shot. I'd like to have one more dish, but I'm not sure what. It's hard finding the menus from the show.

Banana Nut Cheerios w/ skim milk, banana

apple & cottage cheese

omelet w/ onions, green pepper, cheese & salsa, light English muffin w/ jelly

salad w/ sliced turkey, green peppers & light ranch dressing

whole grain spaghetti w/ venison meatballs & onion gravy, homemade garlic bread, half a cookie (I won't say how big the cookie was)

garden vegetable medley; Okay, the cookie was a bad idea. All I wanted after I ate it was more junk.

Two cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

P90X - Week 10 - Wednesday

It's my last crazy workout day. This morning, I did Kenpo, Jillian's Cardio Kickbox & Turbo Jam 20 Minute Workout (613 calories burned). Just after noon, I did Ab Ripper and Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. I had to get it all done today because I'm not allowed to drink water in the morning. This morning's craziness earned me 8 Activity Points.

A huge challenge today was the need to be on a clear liquid diet after lunch. I ate my last meal around 2 PM. As the hours went on, I go crankier and crankier. I'm so used to eating frequently that even just an hour or two past my "scheduled" time really bothers me. I am going to have to take a sleeping pill and go to bed early so I don't a) realize I'm hungry and b) toss and turn all night trying to sleep but not sleeping because I'm too anxious about the surgery. I am scared to death of the anesthesia. I've been under before with no real problems, but for some reason it's really bothering me this time around.

apple & cottage cheese [4 pts]

turkey sandwich, carrot sticks, black bean & corn salad w/ avocado lime vinaigrette [7 pts]

crustless pumpkin pie [3 pts]

omelet w/ onion, green pepper & salsa, multigrain English muffin w/ light cream cheese & jelly [5 pts]

Four cups of coffee [1 pt] and 80 ounces of water.

20 points today, with 0 weekly and 17 activity points remaining.

P90X - Week 7 - Monday

I am so, so freaking mad at myself! After I blogged, I ate tons of crap: cookies, a hot dog, Toaster Strudel, and a bowl of cereal. I wasn't hungry. Damn it. I didn't even try to avoid it. GRRRR!!!

Today's joyful workout was Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (earning 2 Activity Points). I had a rough time with push up for some reason. I still did most of them on my toes but my arms were so shaky. Even when I did ARX after, my arms were still quivering. I think I either stayed the same or improved on last week's numbers. I also did Cardio X this morning (232 calories, earning 2 Activity Points). I was really motivated to do well, because I remembered that next week is Recovery Week - no doubles!!

I did reach an important point in my food weirdness today. I accidentally bought bread flour instead of whole wheat. At first, I was a little bothered, but then I said, "Screw it! I'm going to make a normal bread and I'm going to eat it." So, I made a plain old loaf of white bread, out of my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I haven't had any yet (maybe tomorrow) but I've decided that I'm just going to stop freaking stressing about food! A little white bread isn't going to kill me. Overindulging now and then isn't going to do any long-term damage. Last night's incident is all but forgotten. I'm not worried about the little binges (not right now anyway - after they happen, I am upset). I'm generally happy with my food. I do still need to work on some things. I'm pretty good about portions - I have to get a little better control over food choices, and stopping myself when I know I'm making bad choices (like last night). But overall, I am content with how I eat, using points as a guide.

Kashi cereal w/ skim milk [5 pts]

omelet w/ onion, green pepper & salsa, light English muffin w/ jelly [4 pts]

chicken breast, black beans, avocado & salsa [6 pts]

green pepper slices & baby carrots [1 pt]

chicken & dumplings (completely from scratch) [5 pts]

yogurt [2 pts]

toast w/ jelly [3 pts]; I used a new bread recipe today and had to try it. I forgot the s

Four cups of coffee [1 pt] and 80 ounces of water.

27 points today. 29 weekly and 4 activity points remaining.

P90X - Week 6 - Monday

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and question my sanity regarding the P90X Doubles program. I almost skipped (or at least put off) Cardio X this morning when the alarm went off at 5 AM. I'd been awake on and off for a good hour, trying to get back into a dream involving John Mayer (not THAT kind of dream!!). I got up and put myself to work. I hate doing jumping jacks as part of a warm up, but I love doing them well into the cardio. It was a good workout (215 calories, so I earned 2 Activity Points here), and I followed up with ARX. I continue to make progress with this one, as well. I can probably do half the exercises without having to pause. I fear I will never be able to do all the Fifer scissors in one shot. Ugh, those things are killer.

My weight workout today was Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. Holy hell, I do like this one a lot. I'm getting to be a pretty good pusher-upper! I am having a problem with the Pour Flys. I can get the fly part down, but when it comes to tipping the hands forward ina pouring motion, my wrists just won't cooperate. I can pour backwards, but not forward. If I use a lighter weight, I can almost get the pour motion, but then my shoulders are not challenged at all. I would much rather lift a weight that challenges my muscles and do an isometric hold at the top, than be able to do the pouring motion. The guy in the video who uses the bands doesn't do the pour move, so I'm figuring I can do the iso move like he does and it will be fine.

I'm doing more and more of them on my toes, and today, I even used the push up part of my Iron Gym. I must get some separate push up bars because the ones on the Iron Gym are fixed, and I can't do wide stance push ups. Push ups on the bars are a lot more challenging than the floor! I didn't use the gym for all the push ups but a few, and I can tell the difference already. My entire upper body is just shot right now, and it feels great! I was sweating my butt off and really, really worked to failure. I'll give myself 2 Activity Points for this, also.

Oh! I got some of those interlocking exercise mats, the ones that are the hardish foamy stuff? LOL My brother had an almost complete set (it's missing two squares) and it's really going to help with plyometrics and kenpo. My landings are softer and I can twist my legs easier. The thing is filthy from being in his truck but whatever.

apple & cottage cheese [4 pts - it was a bigger apple]

omelet w/ onion, green pepper & salsa, multigrain English muffin w/ reduced sugar jelly [4 pts]

banana [1 pt]

green pepper slices & baby carrots [1 pt]

chicken breast w/ black beans, corn & salsa [5 pts]

Special K Protein Plus cereal w/ skim milk [2 pts]

chicken breast w/ romaine lettuce & light ranch dressing [8 pts]

Four cups of coffee [1 pt] & 80 ounces of water

26 points today. 29 weekly points, 4 activity points remaining.

P90X - Week 5 - Monday

I have decided that I am 100% definitely doing Doubles. I woke up at 4 AM and tossed and turned until 5, when I finally got out of bed and got Cardio X out of the way (43 minutes and 254 calories). It's a decent work out. I probably wouldn't pick it as a stand alone cardio option outside of P90X, but it's not overly taxing when you've still got another our work. The schedule says to do cardio in the morning and the weights and abs in the afternoon/evening. I'd planned on doing that, and changed my mind. I wanted it out of the way, so I did ARX immediately after cardio, then shortly before lunch, I did Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. This workout was awesome! It's a lot of push ups. I managed a good number on my toes, even near the end. I only had trouble with the clap/plyo push ups - I couldn't get a good push off the ground to get a clap in. I used mostly 5 and 10 pound weights. I'll be going up a bit for a few exercises next week. Overall, I really liked this workout, but my arms are exhausted.

Here's the exercise list for Chest, Shoulders & Triceps:
slow motion 3-in-1 push up
in & out shoulder fly
chair dip
plange push up
pike press
side-tri rise
floor fly
scarecrow
overhead tricep extension
two-twitch speed push up
Y press
lying tricep extension
side-to-side push up
pour fly
side-leaning tricep extension
one-arm push up
weighted circles
throw the bomb
clap/plyo push up
slo-mo throw
one-arm balance push up
fly row press
dumbbell cross-body blow

The decision to do Doubles came to me when I was thinking about the ice cream I ate last night. Doing extra cardio is good motivation for me to eat as cleanly as possible, otherwise, I'm wasting my time. Every time I want more than one serving of junk, I'm definitely going to think twice about it. I'm not doing an extra 45 minutes of exercise just to eat twice as many calories in crap.

turkey bacon, omelet, multigrain English muffin [7 pts]

apple & cottage cheese [3 pts]

yogurt [2 pts]

catfish & romaine lettuce on homemade whole wheat bread, baby carrots & green peppers [6 pts]

chicken breast & steamed cauliflower w/ EVOO [5 pts]

Four cups of coffee [1 pt] and 80 ounces of water.

24 points for the day. I'm exhausted.