P90X - Week 11 - Monday

Wow, three weeks to go! Today was my final Chest & Back workout (2 Activity Points earned). Too bad - I really like this one. Now, this is dumb but I was really disappointed with my workout, even though I either stayed the same or improved. I think I was just nervous, even though I was in no pain or even discomfort at all from my tubal (I was given NO post-op instructions regarding exercise - or anything else for that matter - so I just listened to my body). I will admit I skipped the dive-bomber push ups. My abdomen usually grazes the floor when I do them, and I didn't want to chance anything. So, I will do them during recovery week some time.

Before I did Chest & Back, I tried to get my extra cardio in. It was a slow 16-minute mile before I came home to rest. Then after my P90X workout, a shower and some breakfast, I walked to the post office, then did another mile. So 42 minutes and another 2.5 miles later, I felt really great. Between the two walks, I burned 241 calories, earning 2 Activity Points.

Banana Nut Cheerios w/ skim milk, banana [4 pts]

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

roasted chicken w/ lettuce, onion, green pepper, light sour cream & salsa [5 pts]

pork ribs & mixed vegetables [10 pts]

carrot sticks [0 pts]

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

24 points today. 31 weekly and 4 activity points remaining. For shiggles, I logged everything in my tracker to see how many calories this was - a mere 1321 [166 g carbs (22 fiber), 100 g protein, 35 g fat]. Not enough for my liking, but I really don't want to eat any more tonight.

P90X - Week 9 - Monday

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do Cardio X or Turbo Jam Cardio Party 3. On one hand, Cardio X is part of the program. On the other, I burn more calories and have more fun with Turbo. I went with Turbo, but I didn't get nearly the burn I usually do (only 366 calories - I gave myself 3 Activity Points). I think it's because it was 5 AM and I was afraid of waking the guys up. Next time, I won't care. I did Ab Ripper before Turbo. Then, as I'm supposed to, I did Chest & Back (2 Activity Points) way later in the day. I did it after I picked Sebastian up from school. For some reason, I really struggled with the pull ups today. My push ups were great though - lots of improvement there!

I've decided that I am going to celebrate the completion of this round of P90X by going to see New Moon. I haven't been to a movie by myself in a while, though I keep meaning to go. I definitely think becoming a P90X grad deserves a little reward. And I sure as hell need the motivation to get through the next 5 weeks. So, as soon as I finish my fit test on December 6, I am off to the theater.

The next two to three weeks are going to be a little hectic. This week will be normal until Sunday. I need to start next week's workouts on that day, then move a few things around in order to get everything in by that Thursday morning. I'm having a tubal ligation (cut & burned!) on November 12, and I did not want to get behind. I should be able to get everything in, and that will leave me the afternoon of surgery, and Friday through Sunday to recuperate. And since I did 3 Ab Ripper workouts last week when they weren't scheduled, I'll have the entire week after the tubal free of any ab work. I am pretty sure I can handle the weights & cardio, but I wanted to give my abs more time to heal.

I've mentioned a few times that I bought myself a small bag of dark chocolate M&Ms, but wouldn't eat them unless I had a plan. They are still in my freezer. And I have a plan. I bought the bag on November 12, 2008. My surgery is exactly one year later. Since I can't eat anything after midnight, and only a very light dinner - they actually prefer a clear liquid diet after noon on the 11th (surgery is at 9:30 AM, and I do have a workout that morning before I head to the hospital), I am going to eat the whole bag on the way home from the hospital. It's not much of a plan, but I'm just going with it.

Yikes! Sorry for the novel.

banana [1 pt]

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

grilled chicken breast, green pepper slices w/ avocado hummus [4 pts]

apple & cottage cheese [3 pts]

roased Bambi, mixed vegetables & jasmine rice [6 pts]

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

20 points today. 35 weekly and 5 activity points remaining. After this weekend fiasco, I'm afraid to dip in to any of my extras. Fortunately, I wasn't all that hungry today.

P90X - Week 3 - Monday

Chest & Back today. I improved in most exercises, and at least held the same from last week in the rest. Those decline push ups are the hardest exercise in this whole program. I hate them, and can only do 4-5, and that's with my feet elevated only a little off the floor, certainly not chair seat height. Oh well. I'll get better. I did ARX with no problems. I'm still pausing for the middle set of exercises, but I can do in & outs, bicycles (and reverse), crunchy frog, leg climbs, and Mason twists without rests. I actually did 61 Masons today because my mother-in-law called on rep 11, so I started over when I finished talking to her.

I'm over my issues from this weekend. I'm not having any cravings for sugar and junk. I think I should do well this week. I did go buy my son more ice cream, since I ate all but two small bowls of his. But I'm totally uninterested in it. I am craving grilled turkey breast, though! I bought some on sale at Harris Teeter this weekend and they are so good, already cut and trimmed into perfect portions. I just toss them on my little grill and in 5 minutes, I have a some quality protein. I'll have to keep my eye open for those again. Now that tourist season is over, Harris Teeter starts having really good deals again. I love the buy 2 get 3 free bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast!!

Except for a quarter of my son's ham sandwich (on whole wheat!), I did really well today, and came in pretty close to my ratios. And I hit all of my range.

7:10 AM - apple & cottage cheese

10:15 AM - plum

11:30 AM - omelet w/ onion, green pepper, turkey breast & picante sauce

3:00 PM - chicken salad w/ lettuce, onion, green pepper, light sour cream & picante sauce

5:45 PM - chicken salad w/ light mayonnaise & peas, baked sweet potato fries

8:30 PM - grilled turkey breast

Three cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1650
Carbs - 128 (18 fiber)
Protein - 193
Fat - 38
C/P/F Ratio - 31.4/47.6/21.1

P90X - Week 2 - Monday

First off, thanks to my mom for the link to this PDF coupon for a free Protein Blitz at GNC. I'll have to try it out and report back.

Chest & Back, ARX. I did all the ARX reps, with rests. Chest & Back, I showed some improvement in most of the push ups and pull ups, except for dive bombers. I double checked my form and I was a little sloppy last week. I did them properly this week and quantity was lacking. Quality counts though!!

After the workout, I spent two hours cleaning my house. I was completely wiped when I finished.

I hit my goal for calories, protein, and carbs, but my fat was under so I didn't hit my ratios. Oh well.

7:15 AM - apple & cottage cheese

10:25 AM - omelet w/ pepper jack cheese, grilled chicken breast, onion, green peppers & picante sauce; I also ate a whole grain waffle and a dry slice of whole wheat toast while I was cooking - I was starving after my workout!!!!

1:30 PM - plum & cottage cheese

6:20 PM - roasted chicken breast w/ barbecue sauce & peas

8:05 PM - roasted chicken, yogurt

Four cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1514
Carbs - 132 (13 fiber)
Protein - 185
Fat - 27
C/P/F Ratio - 43.5/48.8/16.2

P90X - Week 1 - Monday

Chest & Back today. It was so awesome!!! I was surprised how quickly the time went by. I don't care much for waiting for Tony to shut the hell up and get started, but as soon as I know all the moves, I won't bother using the video much, or I'll fast forward. I did some push ups on my toes, some on my knees, especially in the second round. Pull ups were all with the chair, and I managed one chin up without it. I did have problems with my chair staying put. It was sliding forward every time I braced against it, so I need to figure something out. I had that same problem doing the decline push ups until I finally just used my weight bench instead of the chair to put my feet on. For heavy pants and lawn mowers, I used 20 pound weights for 10 reps. I might move up to 25 pounds next week. For back flys, I started with 10 pounds and 10 reps but it was too light so I did 15 pounds and 10 reps the next round. Not too shabby.

If you're not familiar with Chest & Back, it's basically:

standard push up
wide front pull up
military push up
reverse grip chin up
wide fly push up
closed grip overhand pull up
decline push up
heavy pants
diamond push up
lawnmowers
dive bomber push up
back fly

Then repeat the exercises. You use weights for heavy pants and lawn mowers (which are variations of rows) and the back fly. Aim for 8-10 (for strength and size) or 12-15 (to lean out) reps for weighted exercise, to failure for the others.

Ab Ripper X SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was hard. I rarely do isolated core work, and it shows. I made it through maybe half the reps. I was able to do most of the Mason Twists, but only because I kept my feet on the floor. Next time I'll try to raise them up. After In & Outs, I was pretty much toast. Forget V-up roll ups or whatever the heck they are called. Not fun. But I hear it does get easier, so I'm hoping!

ARX is 11 exercises, 25 reps each, except for the last move (which is 50 reps):

in & outs
bicycles/reverse bicycles
crunchy frog
cross leg/wide leg sit ups
Fifer scissors
hip rock & raise
pulse ups
v-up roll up
oblique v-up (25 per side)
leg climbs
Mason twists

6:55 AM - apple & cottage cheese

10:30 AM - chicken breast & black beans

2:00 PM - chicken salad w/ green peppers, picante sauce & light sour cream; We're allowed 2 cups of salad vegetables but I probably had close to four - there's nothing in lettuce!!!

5:10 PM - tilapia & mixed vegetables

5:50 PM - yogurt

8:30 PM - omelet & homemade sausage; I was so under my calorie and protein goals that I had to make a monster omelet. Even with that, I barely cracked my minimum - a self imposed 1400 calories. I was nowhere close to the recommended 1800 calories!!

Four cups of coffee and 80 ounces of water.

Calories - 1488
Carbs - 117 (16 fiber)
Protein - 177
Fat - 32
C/P/F Ratio - 31.9/48.2/19.9 [Remember - the Phase I goal is 30/50/20]