P90X - Week 13 - Friday

I AM SOFA KING DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did Core Synergistics this morning, then decided to go ahead and get my last yoga workout out of the way. I did not do push ups with the vinyasas (because I had just done all the push ups in Core) and I had a hard time with crane (again, because of Core) but I did well. I didn't nail the twisting half moon like I'd hoped, but I'll get that eventually. I have no plans to stop doing yoga. I really, really wanted to get my Fit Test out of the way, too, but thought better of it. I will need very fresh arms. So I will do it tomorrow night, along with pictures, and post all of that on Sunday. I'll also have some just-for-fun math: how many push ups & pull ups I've done, how much total weight I've lifted, per-exercise improvement over time. Lots of stuff that is just keeping me busy with a pencil and a calculator.

Food was much, much better today. Not stellar, but nothing to cry about, for sure. I even resisted the new mint M&Ms I bought for my cookies for next week. I'm going to post a list (with links) of the recipes once I get everything baked (next week). The problem is going to be storing everything (my refrigerator and new freezer are full) until I finish baking all 13 double batches and prepping it for distribution. I'm giving some to my mom, some to my son's teachers, and some to the front office at the school. And of course, lots to my belly.

P90X - Week 13 - Tuesday

I got up early to do Core Synergistics. It went well. As usual, that workout kicks my butt - probably because I only do it twice a month.

Food was okay today. No binges, no major junk (I did have some pretzels & a bite of my son's toaster pastry).

P90X - Week 8 - Friday

I'm taking off 8 weekly points for crap I ate last night. I knew I should have planned better and not eaten dinner so early before going to the Halloween party.

I did Core Synergistics [2 Activity Points] this morning and I did the entire plank to chaturanga run. My chaturanga run wasn't fast, but it was there. And I absolutely love the plank to charturanga iso. That is probably my absolute favorite move in all of P90X.

Total cereal w/ skim milk, banana [3 pts]

light English muffin w/ light cream cheese & jelly [2 pts]

cajun lime tilapia at Applebees, some of my son's fries [8 pts]; Holy crap - this was really, super good! I'm definitely getting it again.

candy & cookies eaten throughout the day [25 pts]; I have been planning for this all week, but I'm still disappointed that I had so much trouble limiting myself.

tuna w/ salad greens, black beans, corn, avocado & light balsamic dressing [6 pts]

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

45 points today. 0 weekly and 12 activity points remaining.

P90X - Week 8 - Tuesday

I did ARX this morning. For some reason, it is actually getting harder to do the oblique v-ups. I hate doing abs. The bone at the bottom of my spine hurts during some of the moves - I use a yoga mat and a folded up kindergarten nap mat. I don't know what else to do other than try a couch cushion, but I worry that it will not work the abs as well.

Core Synergistics is always interesting. I really, really enjoy the push ups. I didn't do a single push up on my knees today. I was very pleased with that. I also managed to complete the plank-to-chaturanga ISO (but not the run). Oh, for prison cell push ups, I didn't do the part where they jump up. I just pulled my knees in and kept doing reps. I actually forgot about the jump part but wanted to stay consistent. I'll make sure to hit it Friday. Also on Friday, I'll be increasing my weights for all the weighted work. I really should wear my heart rate monitor during this workout. I am drenched and my heart is racing throughout. I can't decide if I earned 2 or 3 Activity Points for this one. I'm leaning toward 2, but every point is going to count this week since a) I have fewer daily points, b) there's not as much exercise on the schedule and c) Friday & Saturday are going to be chock full of Halloween goodness. I have a very scary menu planned for me and the kid.

I wanted to do Turbo Jam again today but I was too lazy. I'm kind of disappointed in myself. It's such a fun workout, but exhausting. Still, I feel like I'm slacking off. Just because it's Recovery Week doesn't mean I shouldn't work hard. So, I loaded up a back pack with fruit cups and boxed milk and ramen noodles and walked to the library to drop that off at the food bank collection they have going. I have a trunk half-full of stuff to donate but I can never get to the actual food bank when it's open. I could at least carry the lighter stuff in my bag. I'll make another trip tomorrow with the boxes of pasta. The canned goods are just going to have to wait until Friday when I can be lazy and drive to the regular location, since Sebastian doesn't have school.

Speaking of Sebastian, I am so proud of MYSELF for being a good fitness influence on him. He's always coming to me with new exercises he's invented, and most days, he jumps in when I'm doing a P90X workout. He loves yoga & stretch, and sneaky lunges. Since Sam & I started doing Weight Watchers, Sebastian is also more mindful of what he eats. He reaches for fruit and pretzels (and doesn't ask for junk all that much - and when he does, a quick "no" does the job). He has a treat every other day or so. With Halloween coming, I'm trying to hold back a bit. We're going to be making some chocolate gremlins & meringue ghosts on Friday. He's been asking to make them now, but I know if we did that, we'd both eat the whole batch before the weekend, then we'd have to make more. You can find the recipes for those in Pillsbury's Halloween ebook. We're making those on Friday afternoon, then on Saturday, we are eating hot dog mummies & Halloween soup for lunch, and a cauldron of chili with spider breads for dinner. I'm very excited. I love Halloween, and I think I'm going to really start playing it up. It's too bad no one around here goes trick-or-treating the way we did as kids. In the decade that I've lived in this house, I've had fewer than 10 trick-or-treaters. Bummer.

Total cereal w/ skim milk [2 pts]

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

tuna salad w/ black bean, corn, avocado & light balsamic vinaigrette [5 pts]

raw red pepper slices & steamed broccoli [1 pt]

the crust from my son's grilled ham & cheese sandwich [1 pt]; I don't know if I really ate that much, but I'd feel guilty if I didn't count it as something.

chicken breast & whole wheat pasta w/ red peppers & onions [7 pts]

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

22 points today. 33 weekly and 8 activity points remaining.

P90X - Week 4 - Friday

Core Synergistics today. I am very mixed on this workout. I don't feel like I enjoy it overall but I love the individual exercises. I do have a hard time remembering to keep my core engaged, but I think the moves are fun and challenging. I love banana roll and Superman/banana. The Dreya Roll is my favorite. I did struggle again today with the plank to chaturanga run, so I stayed in a plank run, but I nailed the ISO! And I love the push ups in this workout. I can't do all of them on my toes yet, though.

I also did 30 minutes on the Wii Fit (breaking 3 of my yoga records) to entertain my son.

I have decided, thanks to the patient guidance of my friend Melissa, that I am going to adopt the Weight Watchers lifestyle. I'm not going to join the program officially, but I am going to start thinking in terms of points. It hit me that this would be a good way for me to move away from being a compulsive calorie counter. I've always said that I don't want to track my calories forever. This feels like a good transition, and a lot of the nutritional philosophy of Weight Watchers matches my own. I'm not sure how I'll handle overeating, but that is a problem with any plan. I'll still be doing the same things I did (food-wise) over the summer, but with a little guidance rather than strict calorie counting. I'm optimistic.

I won't know for sure until Sunday morning, but assuming I weigh 130 pounds, my daily points allowance will be 21 points (and that's being generous with the "how do you spend most of your day?" question). Taking the middle of the road estimate (moderate) with my activity points, I get an extra 3 points on days I work out (Monday - Saturday). With my 35 weekly Flex points, that all works out to about 28 points per day, if I've done my math right.

So starting Monday, I'll begin my transition to counting points instead of calories. By the time I finish this round of P0X, I'd like to be off the calorie counting, and not logging my food in SparkPeople anymore. Gah, that is such a pain, even after all this time, especially with my new computer (which is a netbook and slow as hell - it takes forever to do anything on the Spark web site).

7:55 AM - apple & cottage cheese [3 pts]

10:40 AM - turkey bacon, whole wheat toast, scrambled eggs w/ onion, green pepper & picante sauce [11 pts]

12:55 PM - almonds, banana [5 pts]

3:00 PM - chicken breast & green pepper slices [4 pts]

6:15 PM - catfish on bun w/ ketchup [4 pts]

Four cups of coffee [2 pt] and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1553
Carbs - 154 (25 fiber)
Protein - 137
Fat - 48
C/P/F Ratio - 38.5/34.3/27.2

Manually calculating and adding the points for the day gave me 27 points, but using this recipe calculator (it's an XLS file), I get 30 points. I'm not sure which to go by - this one seems more precise because it allows for decimals. But it's a 3 point difference. That's quite a bit.

P90X - Week 4 - Tuesday

Today was my first go with Core Synergistics. It was a good workout. I only had trouble with the chaturanga stuff. I couldn't hold it the whole time I needed to, so I'd just go back to plank for a few seconds, then back to chaturanga. Here's the complete list of exercises in Core Synergistics:

stack foot/stagger hands push ups
banana rolls
leaning crescent lunges (24)
squat run
Sphinx push ups
bow to boat
low lateral skaters (20)
lunge & reach
prison cell push ups
side hip raises
squat x-press (30)
plant to chaturanga run
walking push ups
Superman banana
lunge/kickback/curl/press (20)
towel hopping
reach high & under push ups
steam engine (50)
Dreya roll
plant to chaturanga ISO
half back
table dip leg raise

It was another long night with a sick kid. I wasn't up as often as Sunday night, but I was still exhausted this morning, so when Sebastian slept, I slept. I finally had to get up and work out though. I hope my next go at this one Friday is better than today's. I could tell I wasn't 100%.

9:25 AM - apple & cottage cheese

12:15 PM - turkey bacon, omelet w/ onions, green pepper & picante sauce

2:40 PM - chicken salad w/ light sour cream & picante sauce

6:00 PM - taco salad

7:45 PM - chocolate banana protein shake

Three cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1667
Carbs - 146 (22 fiber)
Protein - 171
Fat - 41
C/P/F Ratio - 35.6/41.9/22.4