Today's Workout/Goals for the New Year

Would you look at that!  I managed to work out 2 days in a row!  Today I did Shoulders and Arms with Joyful.  It felt really good to actually do a "real" workout, and actually finish it!  It helped that it was upper body, so it barely affected my hernia.  I got the occasional sensation, but nothing to worry about or anything.  I decided to be a wuss and use 10# weights for everything.  For some stuff, it was really easy, for some stuff it was fairly hard.  10# on some of the tricep stuff is tough! 

I'm really trying to make a point of actually doing what exercise I can do every day.  It's so easy for me to use my hernia as an excuse to not do anything, and that doesn't do me any good.  Sure there are days where I actually hurt bad enough that exercise would suck really bad...but most days, I could do something.  We own a LOT of Beachbody workouts, and I bet there's something we have that I can do pretty much every day...my original plan for the New Year was to do Insanity...that's still the plan once I'm back to normal after my surgery.  From what I've read, it looks like it'll be a week after my surgery and I should be back to myself...so I guess probably starting Insanity the beginning of February.

I'm going to do the Lincoln Marathon this year.  It's in May...so I'm going to be using Insanity to do most of my training for that.  I've made it my goal that by the time I'm 35 years old, I'm going to qualify for the Boston Marathon...which means doing a marathon on 3 hours 15 minutes.  Step one of accomplishing that goal is getting my marathon time solidly under 4 hours.  I should be able to do that just fine seeing as how my Omaha 1/2 Marathon a couple months ago was 1 hr 51 minutes.  So I really want to use Insanity to get my Lincoln Marathon done in like 3 hours 45 minutes.  If I start Insanity the beginning of February, I'll have the whole month of April to work on my running, since the marathon is the beginning of May.  I'll have the cario/leg strength part down already, I'll just need to get my knees back into running...thankfully since losing my P90X weight, running is WAAAAY easier on my knees.  They say for every pound you lose, it's 4 pounds of pressure off your joints.  Plus, I really want to get a good time in Lincoln so that I don't need to do a full marathon in Omaha...that course is too hilly for my liking.  Doing a half marathon there is plenty for me :)

So that's really my main goal for the year, athletically...have my hernia surgery on January 20th...start Insanity February 1st...start running when I'm done with Insanity...do the Lincoln Marathon in 3:45 or better.  For goals after that, I guess we'll see.  It'll depend somewhat on how the Lincoln Marathon pans out for me...it'd be kinda nice to start another round of Insanity after the marathon, but I guess we'll see :)

Stretchin' It Up

Joyful and I did X Stretch tonight...it was quite nice.  We were going to do Plyometrics, and I was just going to do what I could, but we decided like 5 minutes in that it just seemed like a bad idea to do that tonight, so we changed to X Stretch.  Tony says in it that "it might just be what the doctor ordered", and sure enough, it was glorious.  It's just an hour of stretching everything from the neck down.  Kind of like Yoga, but not hard...just nice and relaxing.

We had a fabulous Christmas time this year.  It was Isaiah's first Christmas, and it was fun watching him with his presents...though he really didn't want to go to sleep tonight.  I tried to not be overly gluttonous, and I think I did a decent job of that...especially considering my lack of will power.  I could have done a lot worse :)

well, it's something...

So my working out has been super hit or miss the last while due to the hernia thing....I'm starting to slightly regret pushing back the surgery to January, but I tell myself that financially it'll be nicer...I do miss working out on a daily basis, though.  I get in a Shakeology workout here and there, but it's hard to stay motivated when my ability to workout is dependent on how my stupid groin feels.  Someone once said at a Beachbody thing that it's way easier to stay on track with your exercise and eating habits if you follow a specific program, and it's so so true.  Not that I've ever been good with the eating habits part even when I was sticking with a specific program, but I did pretty good...and it was so much easier to be dedicated to working out when it was habit.

Tonight I attempted the Yoga workout from the One on One series.  For those who don't know what the One on One series is, you should click here .  The Yoga is fun and crazy...and that coming from a guy who really doesn't care much for Yoga.  Tony has some new moves that are pretty ridiculous.  Some I can do, many I can not...but how awesome would it be to get to where I could do it?  I think that's one of the things I really like about P90X (and presumeably its successor, MC:2)...it's got stuff for you to work towards.  Sure right now I can't do Crane or some other pose, but if I work at it, eventually I will be able to.  That way you can celebrate the little milestones.  You've got your 30, 60 and 90 day stats, and you've got the "ability milestones" as you are able to do things you couldn't before.

Sadly I had to stop my (surprisingly) enjoyable Yoga time about 30 minutes in because my hernia was feeling weird and I didn't like it.  It's not so much that it hurt, it just felt weird and made me feel uncomforable...so I stopped.

I need to make a point of being better at exercise this week, especially with my challenges of will power around yummy food.  Joyful and I have done a good job of just not having stuff in our house that I shouldn't eat...but we're going to my mom's on Christmas Eve, and I'm sure that will be a potential for gluttony if I'm not careful.  As I mentioned once before, I work out obviously because it makes me more fit and healthy, but also because I like to eat :)

I'll try to do a better job of blogging...it's been a while since I wrote anything...but just in case, have a Merry Christmas!

New Workout

So I've been saying for a while that I needed to try the Shakeology Workouts...and I finally did today!  It felt so good to actually do a real workout.  Now, the Shakeology workout is NOT on the same level, intensity wise, as P90X...but it was perfect for me right now.  I felt some discomfort in my hernia one time when there was a bunch of jumping jacks, but I took it easy while they finished all the jumping and then I joined back in. 

It was kind of a weird workout for me...for one, I'm really used to working out with Tony Horton and having his style...the gal on the Shakeology workouts is most definitely not Tony.  I won't lie, I felt a little dumb at first...the lady is super super super perky, and that's just not my style, but I told myself I needed to workout, so just deal with the annoying lady and do the workout.  The workout itself is actually quite good.  The Shakeology workouts are designed for people who probably don't have a super high level of fitness...it was a nice, whole body workout...it had some cardio, had some weights, had some ab stuff...a decent number of squats and lunges.  There are 2 workouts, a 30 minute and a 50 minute.  I did the 30 minute because I wasn't sure how my hernia would react to doing a workout and I didn't want to kill myself.  It seems to me that this is definitely a workout I could do daily...probably on Sunday-Tuesday when I'm generally feeling good, hernia-wise, I could do the 50 minute.  I'm excited to workout again.  I'm excited that the UPS man brought our bag of Shakeology today.  I think my body will be thanking me for both.

Hooray!

I did a workout!!!  It makes me a little sad that on my P90X Blog, I'm so excited about having done a workout, but so it goes when I've got a hernia, I suppose.  Joyful's hip has been bugging her off and on (apparently we're falling apart), so instead of Yoga, she decided to do X Stretch...I figured I could join her for that one.  It was really nice...it felt awesome to stretch my body...pretty much the entire thing felt fabulous!  There was one stretch, Prayer Squat, that hurt my hernia area, so I stopped...but otherwise, it felt glorious.  I really need to be doing this much more often. 

I haven't actually attempted the Shakeology workout yet...I really need to.  My problem is that my hernia discomfort/pain tends to grow as the day goes on, and also as the week goes on...so chances are good that by the time I get home from work tomorrow all I'm going to want to do is lay down and hurt less...hopefully not, but it seems like Thursday and Friday tends to be my painful days...

I don't remember if I ever put it on the blog or not, but I'm doing my hernia repair surgery on January 13th, so I've got about a month until I will get all fixed up, then it seems like it's probably like a week till I'm normal again.  Joyful and I had planned on starting the Insanity workouts in January, and I'd still really like to do that, so I'm thinking after my surgery we'll start that up...might as well put the repair to the test :)

Awesome...

So since I can't really work out very well physically right now, I'm trying to improve myself in other ways.  One thing I really like about Beachbody as a company is that they're really big on personal development.  And trust me, I need me some personal development.  We had a great training thing yesterday with Craig Holiday and Traci Morrow...chances are really good the vast majority of the people who read this will have no idea who those people are (I know a year ago, I certainly had no idea who they were).  Traci is one of the founding coaches with Team Beachbody, and Craig is a marketing/leadership training guru of sorts.  They both came and spoke yesterday, and it was awesome.  We did these breakout sessions where Craig talked to the guys and Traci spoke with the gals.  It was really good stuff...very encouraging, very motivating, very challenging stuff.  A lot of it was encouraging me, as a man, to show my son and wife that I love them and work on healing any broken relationships, and work on consistently being the same person no matter where I am.  It was great, that it was this Beachbody event, but all the speakers were very heavily tinted with the Christian perspective...it's just nice to be working with a company who isn't afraid to have very vocal Christians doing their training stuff, and allowing them to just be themselves and not have to hide that aspect of themselves while they're doing work...way different than really almost any other job out there...and, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I'd be happy to have any of you join my team and help end the obesity epidemic in America...feel free to send me an e-mail :)

The Latest...

I had my appointment today with the surgeon who will do my hernia repair surgery, and here's what I learned.  I don't care much for dropping my drawers in front of a stranger (okay, I didn't just learn that, but I still don't like it).  More importantly, I learned stuff about my surgery.  I was hoping that I would be able to put off surgery until mid-January, and that is the case.  I was hoping that for a couple reasons...for one, it'd be nice to not have to deal with recovery while we're getting Christmas stuff set up and doing all that fun Christmas stuff...but the main reason is that my anniversary at work is in mid-January and I get my anniversary pay, which would be helpful since I'll have to take a little time off work.  Not having paid sick leave at my job is one of the unfortunate aspects of my job.  The doctor told me they recommend people take a week off work. 

So basically between now and then I'm just supposed to keep an eye on my hernia and make sure it doesn't show any of the signs of complications, be careful when I lift things and take it easy in general. 

The main hassle with putting off the surgery is the whole working out thing.  It turns out I miss working out, and I REALLY don't want to put on a bunch of weight between now and when I can work out for real again, but I SUUUUUCK at eating good.  I decided I'm going to try doing the Shakeology workouts or if those make me hurt look at the other workouts...I just need to find a workout that I can do that's not going to put too much strain on my core, thereby putting strain on my hernia and hurting.  I'm tihnking tomorrow I'm going to try the 30 minute Shakeology workout and see how it goes...I'll let you know :)

So ya...

Hey, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!   I hope you're able to spend time with family and/or friends today.  We're heading up to Bellevue to spend time with my mom and some family friends, so that'll be really nice.  It's Isaiah's first Thanksgiving, so I'm sure many pictures will be taken.

So I went to the doctor yesterday and he confirmed that I do, indeed, have a hernia and will need surgery to repair it.  I don't know exactly when said surgery will happen, but it sounds like it will be sooner rather than later.  My doctor set me up with a surgeon who is supposed to call me and set up a consult appointment and get the surgery set up.  I gotta say, I'm not happy about the whole situation.  I don't like going to the doctor, and I really don't like the idea of having surgery.  My doctor said it's a pretty straight forward surgery and the recovery isn't too bad, but still...it's really gonna mess with my plans for working out.  I haven't worked out in like 3 weeks because I hurt and/or was sick...consequently I've put on some weight...not tons or anything, but still...the scale is moving in the wrong direction.  Turns out I need to exercise to keep my body in check since I suck at eating healthy.  So in that regard, I'm happy to have the surgery so that at some point I'll feel good again and be able to be active.  Joyful and I had planned on doing P90X through the holiday season and then starting Insanity in January.  Looks like I'm not finishing P90X with her...she took some time off because she was sick for a couple weeks, but she started back up and is on day 42.  Most of the stuff I've read says it takes about a month after hernia repair surgery to be back to normal.  So I guess I'll be back to normal about New Year's.

If, for whatever reason, you're interested in knowing what sort of hernia I have, you can click here and read all about it on WebMD

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What the heck...

So for those who read this...I haven't given you anything to read in a while...so it turns out I'm pretty sure I have an inguinal hernia...which is a hernia in my groin.  I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to have it checked out.  I've been putting off going tot he doctor because (a) I don't like doing to the doctor and (b) if it is, indeed, a hernia, the only way to fix it is with surgery, and I just don't want to hear those words from the doctor...but man, oh man, it hurts...so I just can't put it off any more.  Consequently, I haven't worked out in a while because by the time I get home from work, I want nothing more than to sit down or lay down so my groin stops hurting. 

I'll keep you posted tomorrow when I find out what's wrong with me...

Day 40

We decided to take yesterday as our day off, and we'll work out on our normal day off, Wednesday.  We had some family in town yesterday and wanted to spend time with them...and it was lovely :)

Today we did Yoga X...I've really gotten myself to the point where I don't hate Yoga...shocking, I know.  I think I prefer every other workout to Yoga, but at least I don't hate it anymore :)  I felt like I did pretty well today.  I actually managed to hold Crane for a couple seconds two different times, so that was exciting for me...I keep meaning to look up some tips for actually attaining Crane.  I'd love to be able to do it.  I know strength is a big part of it, but I'd like to read up on the technique.  I'm really hoping that by the time I get done with this round of P90X, I'll be able to hold Crane for a while...

Day 38...sort of

So I needed to take the last 2 days off from working out.  I had my weird groin thing going on, and then I got sick on top of it.  Not pukey sick, just a nasty cold.  I'm usually not too wussy about having a cold, but my horrible cough made my throat kill me, and my sinuses were all jacked up, and I felt weak.  I ended up going to bed early while Joyful did her workouts...I kinda felt like a wuss/loser, but I also felt like crap...so I slept.

I wouldn't say I felt 100% today, but I felt well enough to try to workout.  It was Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X.  I made it through Back and Biceps just fine, and felt good about myself...a couple little coughing fits, but nothing terrible.  I can't say the same for Ab Ripper.  Something about the ab exercises made my breathing strained, which made my throat hurt, which made me cough...a lot...so I gave up because I just couldn't do it without coughing the entire time.  Mercifully my groinal area never hurt me during the workout.  I thought it would, as it's still swollen, but it felt OK, so that was nice.

It was such a beautiful day today, we took Isaiah out for a nice long walk to put him to sleep tonight...that was super nice...plus, you know...physical activity's always good :)

Day 34

So what in the world happened to days 31, 32 and 33????  One day was Yoga and I couldn't even stay awake enough to properly do the workout, so I didn't blog, and the other 2 days I just kinda spaced doing the blog...one day was Legs and Back and the other was Back and Biceps...the workouts have been dandy...I think I have gotten bad at blogging because I don't feel like I really have any awesome insight or anything super motivating or witty to say...

So today, being day 34, was Kenpo X...I ran into a speed bump today that I think is going to be an issue for a while...I did...something...to myself.  I don't know what exactly, and I'm not one for going to doctors unless it hurts so bad I can't move...I somehow managed to strain the muscles in my groin area...I don't know how, but it kinda hurts...turns out it really hurts if I jump around (as I learned tonight when doing Kenpo).  Seems like the main thing I can do is rest, so I guess when I'm not at work and not working out, I need to take it easy.  I did what I could tonight on my workout, but there was some stuff I just couldn't do without it hurting pretty bad.  Tomorrow's a rest day, so I think that is some fortuitous timing.  I'm thinking of icing myself down some and see if that helps...I guess we'll see....

Glorious Pictures

Okay, so we got our Day 30 pictures done...here's some viewing pleasure for you...



Day 1

Day 30

Day 1

Day 30

Day 30!

Hooray for being 1/3 done!  If you want to be technical, I did my day 30 workout on day 31...I was super tired last night, plus Isaiah was having a bad night (see Joyful's blog)...I ended up sleeping off and on, and decided I'd just do my Plyo when I got up in the morning, and then we'd do our Day 31 workout in the evening like usual.

The workout today was pretty good...I worked up a CRAZY sweat, which is always good.  I was trying to push myself as hard as I could, and I felt like I did a good job.  There was only one time where I really had to catch myself and breath deep because I was starting to feel funny...usually it's 2 or 3 times during plyo.

Sometime today we'll take our Day 30 pictures and do measurements and what not...according to the scale, I've dropped just over 5 pounds, but my body fat has stayed basically the same...so there's definitely room for improvement :)

Days 28 and 29

Yesterday was our rest day, so hooray for that!  When I was at work yesterday, I was tempted to go for a run when I got home, but it was so freakishly windy and kinda chilly that it really didn't sound good anymore. 

Today, however, was a different story...it was GORGEOUS outside today, so when I got home from work, Joyful was out on a 2 mile run, and when she got home and changed clothes and took over watching Isaiah, I got out for a nice 2 mile run...it felt so good to get out and just run my bootie off.  I figured since I was just doing 2 miles, I'd push myself as hard as I could...I got done in about 17 minutes...I don't now exactly how long it took because my iPod wasn't charged, so I didn't have the use of my Nike +...it was nice to have the quiet, though.

The P90X workout tonight was a new one...Chest, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X.  My arms were absolutely destroyed by the end of the workout.  It felt good to push myself on the push-ups and shoulder stuff especially.  I really really enjoyed doing this workout with Joyful.  When I did P90X by myself before, I had a hard time with this workout because it's really hard for me, so I'd get discouraged and quit...so it was nice to have her there with me.  So it was great to have her there with me doing the same workout...

Days 26 and 27

So as I mentioned before, yesterday I did Core Synergistics again for the second day in a row since we fiddled with the schedule...time definitely went by faster, so that was nice :)

Tonight was Yoga...you have to do Yoga twice in Recovery Week...I actually thought it was fine this time...I put in the cd for the Braveheart soundtraack and we listened to that...I used the Kleenex box cover as my "yoga block" and used it on 3 moves...it was actually quite helpful.  I really enjoyed listening to the music.  it kept my mind off stuff, and helped me relax and just try to do the pose.]

Well, that's it for me tonight...I'm so tired right now...I keep falling asleep as I type :)  So hopefully this all makes sense...

Day 25

Today was Core Synergistics...that one's fun.  It's a little of everything...some cardio, some abs, some push ups, some leg stuff.  Obviously it has a lot of core exercises (it's in the name and all), and then it works multiple muscle groups at the same time (thus the synergistics)...so I like it because it's not just doing a bunch of leg stuff or whatever...it's really good variety.

The funny thing is, since we rearranged our schedule over the weekend, I'm scheduled to do Core Synergistics again tomorrow :)  It's a good thing I like that one...Plus since I work a double every Monday now, I end up getting in my workout pretty late at night, so it'll be nice to have one that I enjoy doing and that makes time go by fast.

Days 23 and 24

Man, I'm not doing so good at keeping up the blog these days, am I?  At least so far I haven't had to do 3 or 4 days at a time, I suppose :) 

We're on our Recovery Week right now...we did a little rearranging of the schedule due to having a bunch of stuff we were doing Thursday and Friday...so yesterday (Day 23), we did X Stretch...we had intended to do Core Synergistics, but in my tired state of mind, I put in the wrong disc...and we were both tired, so just doing X Stretch sounded great...and sure enough, it was.  That disc rules...it's an hour of stretching.  There is one "stretch" that's an ab workout, but it's just the one..you do scissors, and he calls them "ballistic hamstring stretch"...whatever, they're scissors.  But you get all done with the routine and feel so good...Today (Day 24), we did Yoga X.  I attempted to do like I did last time and have some good audio thing playing that I could listen to and take my mind off doing the Yoga, but we had the dishwasher running, too...and all the competing sounds made it really hard to listen to anything.  But it wasn't too bad this time...Yoga is so dependent on your state of mind...if you're approaching it (as I tend to) with the mindset that you hate it and it sucks...then sure enough, you're going to hate it because all you do is have time to think about how much you hate it.  I tried to appreciate it as much as I could...some of it felt really good, some of it was frustrating, but all in all, it wasn't too bad.

Days 21 and 22

Yesterday was a rest day, so I also rested from blogging :)  The thing that I really noticed on my rest day was this:  when you first start doing P90X, the time commitment seems like kind of a big deal...I mean, 6 days a week and the workouts last about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours...who has the time for that?  But you make time for it, and after a while, it becomes part of your routine and you don't think about it anymore...last night, Joyful and I were sitting on the couch, watching some TV and we commented to eachother how strange it was to not be working out...we debated if we wanted to do today's workout early so we could do our rest day today, but we didn't...kinda wish we had...

Today is the beginning of a Recovery Week.  P90X is broken up into 3 segments lasting 3 weeks each with a Recovery Week in between each segment.  Today's workout was to be Yoga X, but the time commitment became an issue, so we decided to swap workouts...we did Kenpo today and will do Yoga on the Kenpo day.  I like Kenpo better anyways, plus it's like 30 minutes shorter.  We went to Omaha to have a "hooray, Joyful got a promotion, we're gonna go out and be adults" night...Some friends watched Isaiah (Thanks Stan and Mel!!!) so we could go have an evening to ourselves...we got home fairly late and were tired after we got everything unpacked and Isaiah put to bed.  We both REALLY wanted to skip today...I was thinking up ways we could do it...just double up on Saturday or Sunday or something...I just wanted sleep...but Joyful is more dedicated than I am, and she turned on the TV and pushed play on the DVD.  Once I got going, I was sooooo glad we were doing it.  It felt great to be moving and sweating...my arms were strangely tired tonight, and my legs were tight, but the workout felt great.  They do an awesome stretch sequence at the beginning of Kenpo called a "saunders cycle".  It hurts and feels good all at the same time, and it felt fabulous on my legs.

As a side note, today was Isaiah's 7 month birthday!  I think you stop counting birthdays in months once they hit about a year old...but it just seems so crazy to me that it was 7 months ago that my little boy came into the world...everyone always says how time flies, and it really does.  I know this has nothing to do with P90X, but it has everything to do with WHY I'm doing P90X...I really want to be a good example to Isaiah as he grows up on how to live a healthy, active life...and the best way I can teach him that is to model it myself.  Here's a great picture of my sweet little boy :)

Days 19 and 20

So I never got around to blogging yesterday...it was a crazy day at work at Olive Garden, and I got home late, so I got to my workout late, and I just wanted to go to sleep when I got done...like last Monday, I did Ab Ripper with Joyful when I got home and then she took her shower and went to bed.  I think I really like doing Ab Ripper before the workout...my body isn't destroyed yet, and I can actually do more.  I nearly was able to the whole video this time!!!  The only thing I couldn't keep up with was the oblique v-ups...but other than that I totally kept up with the video...awesome.  The Legs and Back workout was dandy...both my legs and back were tired from work, so I wasn't able to push it terribly hard, but I did it.

Today was day 20...Kenpo X.  I felt like I was really pushing it hard...when we had the optional "break" times, I had my knees up really high and was trying to push everything as hard as I could.  I sweated more than I have in a while on Kenpo...it was good...

I've decided I really need to work on focusing on my eating more...and I actually mean I need to be eating more.  I need to be taking in my 2400 calories a day...I'm not exactly sure how many I take in right now (which is part of the problem) but I know it's not that many...problem is, I've plateaued at my current weight of 185...I need to get my metabolism going and burn off the fat.  I set a fairly modest weight loss goal of getting down to 175 for this round of p90x, and I need to work on my nutrition to help get me there...

Day 18

Today was the joys of Yoga X...though really, I didn't mind it too much today...weird, I know.  You want to know how to get over hating yoga?  Listen to something else while you do it...let your mind be thinking about something other than yoga!  It's almost the opposite of what Tony (and really every yoga instructor in the world) tells you...they always say (in very meditative tones) to clear your mind, stay in the moment, etc. etc...well what if you hate the moment?  What if all you can think about is how much you hate what you're doing right now?  Then I say, think about something else!  Every Sunday night, there's a Beachbody webinar at 9pm...so tonight, we put that going on the computer and turned up the volume, and then started doing Yoga X and turned the music off, so that all we could hear was Tony talking...it was a little tricky to catch when you were supposed to change position, but it was great...time flew by...I wasn't as angry...then when the webinar ended and we still had yoga to do, I put on a great recorded Craig Holiday conference call where he talked about living your life with passion...one quote that I really liked from Craig's thing was this, "courage is doing important things that you might not like very much".  I really liked that because it means that anyone can be courageous.  I have a hard time going up and talking to people...so for me to do that, is courageous.

So how about that Yoga, you ask...the actual workout was pretty good...I saw some improvement on a couple poses...I could actually do Right Angle pose the whole time on both sides, which I was super stoked about.  I still can't hold Crane, which didn't shock me in the slightest...I will be able to by the end of P90X, though...There's this whole weird sequence that I don't know if it's "real" yoga or Tony's made up yoga, but it's Warrior 3, and then Half Moon and Twisting Half Moon...I usually find it pretty much physically impossible...but today I could actually do it on one side, which pretty much shocked me.

All in all, it was a good night for the Yoga...some moves felt fabulous, some felt horrible, and by the end I was sleeping in relaxation pose :)

Day 17

So today was Shoulders and Arms, plus Ab Ripper X...once again I was super tired...we got to bed freakishly late last night...seriously, it was almost 3am by the time we got to bed...I'm not in my 20s anymore...my body doesn't agree with that sort of thing.  Thankfully, Isaiah let us sleep in...but work called at like 9:30 to see if I could run up to Omaha to get some stuff for them, which I did...so I was running on like 6 1/2 hours sleep all day.  I suppose it could be worse, but I like my sleep :)  Plus we watched that horrible football game today...I don't know what was wrong with our receivers' hands, but they couldn't catch a ball to save their lives.

Anywho, the workout was lovely once we got to doing it...I tend to enjoy this workout because it's kind of the "glamour muscles"...guys like their shoulders and arms to look good.  It did make me wish I had heavier weights...sometimes I just don't want to use the bands, but I only have weights up to 10#...but so it goes...I was pretty darn happy with myself on Ab Ripper today.  I tried to see how much I could do without having to take a break.  I made it through the first 4 exercies before I had to take breaks on scissors, and then I had to take breaks later on oblique v-ups, but otherwise, I actually kept up with the video, which I was super stoked about.

So I have tried to make it a point to not use my blog to push Beachbody stuff...I mention Shakeology or Recovery Drink sometimes because they're things I use that I like, but I don't want this blog to just be a big advertisement because who in their right mind would read this thing if that's what it was?  Today I'm going to make a one day exception to my rule.  They just announced a pretty awesome deal at Beachbody.  From now until the end of the year, Beachbody is waiving the start up fees to become a Beachbody Coach.  So what?  So Beachbody coaches get 25% off any Beachbody products...P90X, Insanity, Slim in 6, Turbo Fire, Shakeology, any of their awesome supplements or nutritional products...it's a pretty awesome opportunity if you're a person who is looking at getting a workout program to get them through the winter, or someone who uses various supplements or ESPECIALLY someone who's interested in the joy that is Shakeology (click on that link on the top of the page to check that stuff out!).  If anything I just said sounds interesting to you, click on the "contact me" button on the right side of the page and send me an e-mail and I'd be happy to help you out.

OK, sales pitch done.  Have a lovely evening :)

Day 16

Today was one of those days where doing pretty much anything but working out sounded great...we spent time with some friends tonight, and by the time we got home I just wanted sleep...but we did our Plyometrics and I'm so very glad we did!  It felt sooo good to jump around and work up a solid sweat....it's crazy, I feel so much more awake now at 12:44am after doing that workout than I did at likke 9:30pm when I was falling asleep on our friend's couch :)

I felt pretty strong during the workout, which was nice...there was a couple moves that I normally can't make it the whole time, and today I could.  There's this one towards the end...the name escapes me, but that doesn't matter.  You start in a running stance and go down into a squat and touch the ground, then you jump up and spin so you're looking behind you when you land, then touch the ground and jump and spin back to the front...I felt like I could have gone on with that one for a while...it was really nice feeling the progress in my abilities.

On a side note, just to be extra vain...I've been super happy lately to buy new pants...I got a new pair of blue jeans the other day that were a size 33!  And they fit!!!  Do you know how exciting that is for me?  Really the exclamation points should be a give-away...And then I got me some new work pants that are a size 32...those are a touch snug in the waist, but I bet by the end of my 90 days they'll fit super :)  It's really exciting to have the problem of all my clothes getting too big for me.

Day 14 and 15

Yesterday was my rest day...so I didn't really feel like blogging...I took a rest day from that, too :)  It was a good day to rest, as I had a pretty sweet head ache when I came home from work...and then Isaiah was having nothing to do with sleep and was super fussy...we ended up going for a 2 mile walk with the stroller to knock him out...worked like a charm.

Today is day 15...Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X.  In this workout, you go through the workout and then repeat the whole thing.  The first time through you're supposed to pace yourself and the 2nd time through you try and push yourself to see how far you can go...The first time through, I really wanted to do more reps than previous times...sure enough, the 2nd time through, I didn't have a whole lot left in me.  But I pushed myself as hard as I could...sometimes I had to relegate myself to doing push ups from my knees, but I did it as hard as I could.

I felt like I did pretty good overall with Ab Ripper...I've gotten to where I can do all of Hip Rock & Raise, and Heels to the Heavens...plus the last 2 times I've been able to go the entire time on Mason Twist, which has been very exciting for me :)

Eating is a struggle...when I'm at home I'm fine, but at work we're no longer allowed to bring outside food in the building, and it's not like I've ever had a lunch break (or really any break for that matter)...they told me that I could bring some food and leave it in my car and run out and eat real quick when I need to, but that's not really practical at all...I had been sneaking in  P90X Protein Bar and having that when I got hungry, but we're all out now.  So my options are either go hungry all day and let my metabolism shut down and go into starvation mode or munch on work food that's not good for me...really neither option is good...the ideal option would be the one that doesn't exist...me getting to bring my lunch in to work and leave it in the break room and eat when I'm hungry, but alas...that's not an option...the joys of restaurant work..

Days 12 and 13

So I got done with my workout kinda late last night and didn't get around to blogging about it.  It was Legs and Back plus Ab Ripper X...Ab Ripper was actually kinda nice...I had to work last night (now that Never Ending Pasta Bowls are done, I have to go back to working Monday nights), so by the time I got home, Joyful had already done her workout, just not Ab Ripper...so I did that first so we could do that together before she went to bed...it was pretty sweet doing that before the Legs and Back workout because a lot of Ab Ripper is "core" exercises, thereby you use your legs a lot...so doing that after a leg workout kinda sucks.  I was feeling pretty good about myself when I got done with that.  Legs and Back was fine and dandy...I didn't feel especially good or bad about it...it just is what it is...it was hard to get it done after working 12 hours on my feet...I wasn't able to do quite as well as I would've liked, but I did pretty good.

Today is Day 13...Kenpo X.  I really enjoy that one.  The workout is 58 minutes long, but it flies by.  It's the weirdest thing...when we were getting ready to start, I mentioned how I liked it because it was really short...and then it started and the countdown clock showed 58 minutes...so apparently it just feels like it's short :)  I felt like I did a pretty good job pushing myself, especially in the "break if you want to" times...really tried to get my knees up when running place, jump high on the x jump things.  I sweated a pretty good amoutn, so that's good.  It's kinda weird this time around though...last time I did p90x, it was summer so I sweated my butt off every single workout...now it's cooler out, so it takes loner for me to get sweating...

Tomorrow's our rest day!  Hooray for that...we're gonna reward ourselves with a glass of wine and cigar on the porch before bed :)

Day Eleven

So yesterday was Yoga X....for whatever reason, I was EXHAUSTED when it came time to workout.  We got to the workout late because Isaiah just wouldn't go to sleep...As I was doing the yoga, I really felt like it was completely useless for me to be doing it because I just couldn't do most of it because I had zero energy...but I figured something is better than nothing.  It seriously felt like the longest hour and a half of my entire life!  I did what I could, and I made it through...I fell asleep a couple times :)  The last pose is Savasana (corpse pose), and I remember my head hitting the ground and then I remember waking up when Joyful was doing her blog...I got up and went to bed and crashed.

So what did I learn from that lovely experience?  I need more sleep.  Sleep has been a little hard to come by for me lately.  I'm the kind of guy that needs 8 hours of sleep.  Normally I get it, as we're blessed with a baby that actually sleeps, which is awesome...but the last few days we've been getting our workouts in late, which means I get to bed late, and I guess it finally caught up with me.

Speaking of working out late...time to start today's workout at 10pm!

Day Ten

My arms are tired now...today was Shoulders and Arms plus Ab Ripper X.  We didn't actually do this workout last week since we did the live workout with Tony Horton, so it had been quite a while since I had opportunity to do this one.  It's a great workout...my arms/shoulders were screaming at me by the end of the workout.  Last time around when I did P90X, I used the bands for the entire workout, but this time around I used weights about half the time...a whole 10 pounds :)  I mostly used the weights on tricep moves and a couple shoulder moves...

I mentioned on yesterday's post how I like in P90X seeing myself do things that I couldn't do before...when we did Ab Ripper X today, I was able, for the first time ever, to do all 25 reps on V-ups Roll-ups!  If you don't know what that is, you lay on your back, legs flat...then you roll up and touch your toes, then as you're going down, your legs come up and when your top hits the ground, you pulse up...I don't know if I explained that well, but when I first started P90X, I couldn't do any part of that move, so being able to do all 25 reps made me really happy :)

Hooray progress!

Day Nine

Today was Plyometrics...for whatever reason I really enjoy it.  I think I like the challenge of it...it's the kind of challenge where I know I can actually do it, it's just hard.  Plus it's always nice to work up an awesome sweat :)  If you don't know what Plyo is, it's a bunch of jumping around for about an hour...one time I almost threw up...

For the 2nd day in a row, we got our workout in late...but I suppose better late than never...the nice thing about it today is that tomorrow's Saturday and we don't have any plans in the morning, so we actually get to sleep in!!!  Provided, of course, that Isaiah lets us do so...I know I've said it a million times before, but I've really enjoyed getting to do the workouts with Joyful.  It's just so nice to share this experience with her.

So here's something I discovered today that absolutely blew my mind...this blog is being read by people in 8 different countries!  How crazy is that?  My little 'ol blog has been read by people in:  the U.S., South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Russia and Singapore...that's crazy talk to me.  I really appreciate people stopping by to see how it's going for me with the P90X :)  It really helps keep me accountable!

The eating thing was a challenge this week.  I started out great...bringing my lunch with me to work so I could actually have a snack and a small lunch (I work at Olive Garden, so there's no such thing as a lunch break or any sort of break, really)...then we were informed that we're no longer allowed to bring outside food into the restaurant, and if I wanted to bring food, I'd have to keep it in a cooler out in my car and run out and eat real quick if I needed to...that's a huge hassle, so I'm just not bringing food...I started bringing a P90X Peak Performance bar with me because I can hide it easily and eat it when I get hungry, just so I can have something...that's better than nothing, but it's not great...I'll have to figure something out...

Day Eight

Today was the start of Week 2 of P90X!  The nice thing about tonight's workout was seeing some level of progress from last week.  I know it's only been a week, but I could do more push-ups than last week, which was sweet.  I once again used the chair for pull-ups, but I tried to rely on my legs a little less so it'd be closer to doing actual pull-ups...I'm really striving for the goal of being able to do at least 10 real pull-ups when I get done with P90X.  Last time around I went from doing 0 to 3, so I think going from 3 to 10 should be doable.  One of the great things with P90X is that there are so many things you can set as goals other than your weight.  Like I'm trying to get to 10 pull-ups, or you can make it your goal to make it all the way through Ab Ripper X without needing a break, or any number of other performance based goals.  I like that.  I mean, sure...I'm still obsessed with standing on the scale everyday, but it's really nice to have different goals that I can work towards and accomplish.

When Tony Horton was in town he talked about how that was one thing he really wanted in his workouts...he talked about how there's plenty of workouts where you run around like mad and work up a crazy sweat, and really the only goal is to be able to successfully get through the workout, and that's fine for what it is, but he really wanted to have concrete things that you can say you can do now because of the workout.  I'm certainly not opposed to workouts where you jump around like mad...Joyful and I are planning on starting Insanity in January...but I do like the idea of saying, "when I started this program, I could only do 3 pull ups, and now I can do 10".

Joyful and I got some great P90X nutrition stuff from the UPS man yesterday...a tub of Recovery Formula (which I'm getting ready to drink) and some P90X Protein Bars...I took a bar with me to work today, which was awesome because they're being dumb about bringing in outside food, so I can sneak in a bar in my pocket and eat it when I'm hungry....plus one bar has 20 grams of protein!  And it's super yummy :)

OK, time for Recovery Drink, shower and bed...

Day Seven

And on the 7th day, he rested.  Joyful and I decided we'd set up our P90X schedule so that Wednesday is our off day since we have stuff we tend to do Wednesday nights, what with hanging out with our cigar buddies and helping out with the college age group for church...it gets to be a busy night.

So what are my thoughts of week 1?  I'm glad you asked!  First off, I am LOVING being in a habit/routine of working out daily again.  Someone at a Beachbody training thing said (rightly so) that it's so much easier to stick with your fitness and nutrition when you're actively doing one specific program.  That month and a half I was attempting to train for the Omaha 1/2 marathon, I had the hardest time keeping myself going.  I don't know why...I wrote up a spectacular training schedule for myself that was realistic yet challenging, I had a goal and a time-line...but for some reason I just couldn't stick with it.  I really think that part of what helps me stick with the P90X is doing this blog.  I don't want to have to write that I skipped a workout, or that I ate a bunch of garbage today (speaking of which...darn you, mom!  I can't stop eating those stupid cookies!). 

The other thing I've enjoyed is seeing a tiny bit of improvement in the mirror.  Really that just comes from me sweating off excess water, but it helps me see muscle.  I got home from work and was changing out of work clothes and saw myself in the mirror, and I actually kinda had noticable abs!  I was in shock.  My mid section is really the thing I'm hoping to get rid of in this round...obviously I want better overall fitness, but I really want to work on my abs/core so I can have some sweet muscles to show off :)  Being a guy, it'd be cool to have big 'ol guns on my arms, but whatever...some time down the road.  My goal by the end of this round of P90X is to lose body fat (my goal is to be at 13%) so you can see the muscle that's hiding underneath.

Also, I've really enjoyed going through this with Joyful...the accountability of doing this workout with my wife has been awesome.  There have already been a couple nights when I'm just tired and would love nothing more than to go to bed, but there she is, making me do my workout.  I need that.  If only she could be with me 24/7 to help me with my eating.  Thus far, I feel like I am doing better than in the past.  I haven't had 1 doughnut (mercifully nobody's brought them to work to test me yet...)  I've been watching my carbs like a hawk and trying to take in a bunch of protein and get in my veggies.  Of course, Shakeology helps out a lot...it's super yummy, so it helps with the sweet tooth, plus it's got all the protein (17g!  Plus more if I make it with milk and peanut butter) and all that other good for you stuff. 

Ok, I've rambled on long enough...all in all, week 1 was good.  I can't say that I had really any change in weight or body fat the first week, but I was already pretty active, plus I had just gotten done doing the Shakeology 3 Day Cleanse prior to starting P90X...but I feel like I'm doing well thus far :)

Day Six - End of Week One!!

Today was Kenpo X...that tends to be a fun one for me...I guess i wasn't trying hard enough because I worked up a sweat, but nothing crazy...it did feel nice to jump around and punch and kick, though :)  It was interesting to feel different muscles on some of the different things...I could feel my back muscles when we did some of the punching, which tells me the pull-ups ara doing some good.  I could feel my legs when I was in Horse Stance forever, which tells me I'm working my legs good.  Thankfully, my legs didn't hurt today!  I was pretty worried yesterday with my legs hurting so bad already and then having to do Legs and Back...but I really felt fine today...so hooray!
My nutrition did pretty good today until my mom showed up at my house with a big zip-lock bag filled up with cookies...how mean is that???  I'm trying to not be fat and watch what I eat and what not, and she shows up with a bag of cookies!  Nothing like highlighting the fact that I have absolutely no will power when it comes to eating yummy cookies.  Oh well...tomorrow is a brand new day when I can start over.

Day Five

So I can't even begin to think what my legs will feel like tomorrow...my legs were still sore from the Tony Horton event a couple days ago...Yoga helped a little bit, but my hamstring/glute area was pretty painful today...so of course, my workout was Legs and Back...why not?  I didn't really feel like my muscle pain hindered my working out abilities, which was nice...but I'm worried that my working out isn't going to help the muscle pain issue...okay, enough crying...

The workout was good...the tricky part was this:  I'm only doing pull-ups on my pull-up bar, but the only doorways we have that would accomodate a pull-up bar are all upstairs.  So I do my workout in the living room, and then when we get to a pull-up exercise, I run upstairs and do those, then run back down, write it down on my sheet and then start the  next thing...it feels a little rush rush, but it does make time go by :)  It's been fun doing the pull-ups on the pull-up bar, instead of using bands.  I'm using a chair to assist, but it feels like it's one step closer to to doing real pull-ups.  I really want to be good at pull-ups...I think that would go a long way in making me feel good about my progress...speaking of which...it's really weird looking at myself in older pictures and then looking at myself in current pictures...I'm definitely less chubby now, so that's nice :)

Thanks so much for keeping up with my blog!  I really appreciate everyone who's reading this...it provides some extra motivation to keep going, and keep writing stuff :)

Day Four

Ahhhhh, Yoga X...how I have not missed you.  Though I have to admit I did enjoy certain parts of it.  I was pretty sore from yesterday's workout with Tony Horton, so I quite enjoyed the stretching part towards the end of the workout.  The balance postures were frustrating as always, and some of the hard stuff that comes the first half of the video that I can't do was obviously frustrating.  I tried really hard to stay in a positive frame of mind today...I figured I have to do the stupid workout, I might as well not be pissed about it the whole time...where's the fun being mad for an hour and a half...so I tried really hard to just let go of my frustration and on some level enjoy what I was doing.  It's not like I was 100% successful in that, but it did make the whole thing more bearable.

So I finally got around to plugging my "before" measurements into my Beachbody tracking thing.  Turns out that since I started P90X in the first place, in May, I've lost 26 pounds and 7.5% body fat.  I had to put in new goals so I have something to shoot for...I put in that I want to get down to 175 pounds and 13% body fat...that would mean dropping 13 pounds and 4% body fat.  Really, I'd like to get my body fat lower than that, but I wanted to set a goal that seemed realistic.  As far as a performance goal, I would like to be able to hold the Crane pose in Yoga X, and I'd like to be able to make it all the way through Ab Ripper X without having to take a break.

I've been doing pretty good with the nutrition thing...I ate some not good for me stuff at a wedding reception last night...couldn't resist cake and free beer...but past that I've been doing good :)  I like having the card thing that Joyful made up for me to keep track of my eating...that thing is handy...

time for bed...need sleep...

Day Three

So for my workout today, instead of doing the DVD, we went to the Beachbody Event and worked out with Tony Horton live!  It was a super fun day...watching the kids' workout was fun and cute and all taht good stuff.  I really appreciated listening to Tony exhort the parents to be feeding their children healthy food (aka, no doughnuts for breakfast...he really got on a guy because he gave his kids doughnuts for breakfast today).  Plus watching all the kids run and jump around was fun.

For the adult workout with Tony, he did a series of Upper Middle Lower exercies...we'd start out with some sort of push-up type exercies, then do some sort of ab exercise and then some sort of leg exercise.  It was super cool because he pointed out that what we did today, anyone can do anywhere...you don't need to have a video or a trainer or equipment...anyone can do some push ups, anyone can do some squats or lunges and anyone can figure out some sort of ab/core exercise.  Of couse, doing it live with Tony is probably harder than what I would just come up with on my own :)  It was a great workout, and I felt tired and drenched with sweat afterwards...then I had to walk up a bunch of stairs to get to the sky walk to get back to my car!  No fun...but hey, check out the nice picture I got with Tony this year! 

Tomorrow is Yoga...sad.

Day Two

Wowzers...today was Plyometrics...it's been a little while since I did that one.  I felt pretty good, actually!  I tried to make myself do the more intense versions instead of just trying to get through...some of the jump squat things where you can touch the ground or not, in the past I would touch my calf or knee, but today I was going all the way down to the ground...definitely got the heart rate up there.

Today was a shining example of why I'm excited to be doing P90X with my lovely wife...we met with our small group from church tonight, and didn't get home until after 9pm...by the time we got around to starting the workout it was 10pm.  If it was just me all on my own doing this, I don't know that I would've done it...I was tired, and doing Plyo was not high on the list of things I wanted to do.  But now that I did it, I'm really glad I did.  It's one of those things where I know that I'm healthier now than I was an hour ago because I exercised instead of just going to bed.

I felt like I did pretty well with the food today...at very least I didn't have any major screw ups.  They brought in some Q'Doba at work today...I didn't eat any burrito or anything, but I had some chips with guacamole.  I'm having a really tough time getting as much protein as the nutrition guide wants me to get.  I'm supposed to get 7 servings of protein a day...that's a lot for a guy who doesn't eat much meat.  I also didn't get quite as much veggies today as I should have...I just wasn't home very much today and it's hard to eat right when I'm not home...but I figure aside from the chips and guacamole, I managed to avoid eating crap, so that's good :)

Day One

Day One workout today...Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X...it was like a study in contrast.  I felt so good about myself as a person doing Chest and Back, and I felt like a failure doing Ab Ripper.  I decided this time around that I want to make it one of my goals to be good at pull-ups when I get done...consequently, instead of using the bands for pull-ups, I used my pull-up bar and used a chair for assistance.  I can do 3 pull-ups all on my own (which is 3 more than I have been able to do most of my lfie)...using the chair to help, I got 15.  The push-ups were pretty good...I can knock out some push ups pretty good from after doing P90X last time. Though, I still can't do Diamond Push-Ups to save my life.  I have to modify it pretty heavily to get any reps done.  All in all, though, I felt really good doing the workout. 

Then came Ab Ripper X...when I got done doing P90X last time, I had gotten myself to a point where I could actually do almost the whole workout...I had to take a ton of breaks today, which made me extremely sad.  I'm sure I'll get back to where I was before long (since you do Ab Ripper X 3 times a week), it was just disappointing today.

It was wonderful doing the workout with Joyful...I'm so looking forward to doing that with her 6 days a week!  It's such a great thing to be able to share with my wife...and not that he has any clue right now, it feels good to know that we're working to set the example for Isaiah.

Here We Go Again

Today I'm starting Round 2 of P90X.  I'm pretty excited for it...Joyful's doing it with me this time, so it'll be great to have her along my side. 

For Round 2, I'm trying really hard to focus on the nutrition aspect of P90X...that was an area I felt I was really bad at last time (as you can read in previous posts).  I think it'll really help me that we're going through this together.  We can help keep eachother accountable for our eating habits (okay, Joyful can keep me accountable...).  For what it's worth, I felt like I did well today with my eating.  We made up little cards with what we're allowed each day...I'm on a 2400 calories a day plan, high protein low carbs...it seems doable, it's just hard to eat while I'm at work, which sucks...plus people bring doughnuts there a decent amount, which also sucks.

We did our fit test last night, and I had regressed a little bit since finishing P90X a little over a month ago, but I was happy that I could still do 3 pull-ups and 35 push-ups...I'm really looking forward to seeing results this time around with being strict with my nutrition.  I lost 20 pounds last time and I didn't do that great with the food...I'm hopeful that I'll really like what I see in the mirror when I get done this time around :)

Thanks so much for following along.  I'll do my best to post every day...for those who followed last time, you know I grow weary of posting stuff that seems redundant to me...so I'll try my best.

Fit Test

So I more or less did my post P90X Fit Test tonight...I say more or less because I couldn't do the vertical leap test by myself, and then when I got done doing the heart rate (do a million jumping jacks) test, my stupid heart rate monitor decided to act up and not work...so I did 2 minutes of jumping jacks just for the fun of it :)  But for the stuff I did, here's my results...I gotta say, I'm pretty darn happy.

• Pull Ups
• Day 1:  1/2 a pull up
• Day 90:  3 pull ups
• Push Ups
• Day 1:  16
• Day 90:  40
• Toe Touch
• Day 1:  0 (right at my toes)
• Day 90:  +3 (3 inches past my toes)
• Wall Squat
• Day 1:  1 min. 30 sec.
• Day 90:  2 min. 34 sec.
• Bicep Curls
• Day 1:  34 reps with the Red Band
• Day 90:  22 reps with the Green Band
• In & Outs
• Day 1:  28
• Day 90:  57

Now I know some of that might not mean a whole lot to you, but I'm stoked...I'm most happy about the Push Ups and the In & Outs...those both kinda surprised me a little bit.

I started today with my training schedule for the Omaha Half Marathon...once that's done at the end of September, Joyful and I will do P90X together, which will be awesome!

Day 89 and 90

I'M ALL DONE!!!!  Day 89 was Yoga X for the LAST TIME...I seriously don't know that I'll ever do that again on purpose (aside from doing another round of P90X down the road)...hated it the first time, hated it the last time...Yoga's just not my thing, and that's okay...it's like eating Kale...it's really really good for you, and I love the heck out of it, but some people can't stand it...same thing with exercise...the same thing isn't for everyone...that's why there's 12 workouts in P90X :)

The last workout I did was Core Synergistics...love it.  I will definitely be mixing that into my workout routing for training for the Omaha Half Marathon...great workout, works up a killer sweat, and it's FUN.

So now that I'm all done with P90X, what are my stats?  I lost right at 20 pounds...when I stood on the scale Friday it said 194.4, when I stood on it tonight, it said 195.1...so I'm somewhere in there...I lost 6.5% body fat...started at 24.5 and finished at 18.0.  I'm doing my fit test tomorrow, so I'll let you know that stuff later...

Really the main benefit for me from doing P90X is this...for starters, I actually finished something I started!  That might not be a big deal for you, but for me, it's huge.  Also, I fit into clothes that I haven't fit into before...I've got stuff that I bought once upon a time as my "someday I'll lose enough weight to fit in these" clothes, and now I fit in them!  Then you add in the fact that I'm in way better shape than I've really ever been in, and my running has vastly improved...I gotta say, I love me some P90X...it's tough sticking with something like that for 90 days...if I could go back in time, I'd do it all over again...the only thing I'd do different is punch myself everytime I ate garbage...I still suck at not eating crap...

I really enjoy the results I've seen from P90X, and that pushes me to keep going...I'm training for the Omaha 1/2 Marathon, and then after that, we'll see...I'm thinking about either doing P90X again or getting Insanity and doing that.

Here's a little before/after action:

I'll put some more pictures up later...it's late and I've got a cigar to smoke :)

Day 88

Day 88 was X Stretch...man, I had forgotten how nice that one is...I'm gonna have to remember to do that from time to time in the future.  Just an hour of stretching...a tiny bit of yoga, but basically just stretching you from top to bottom.  I got done and my body was just like, "ahhhhhhhhh".

Next up, Core Synergistics!

Day 87

So for me, personally, one of the best things about doing P90X has been the improvement of my own self-image.  I have a pretty serious lack of self confidence, and I've never really had very positive feelings about my body.  Tonight when I was doing my Kenpo X, I happened to be standing more on the left side of the living room than normal, which put me in front of a mirror while I worked out...I found it very gratifying to actually see a change in my body, and feel good about my progress!

I really do wish it weren't so hot right now...I've got the itch to be out running, but it's freakishly hot outside, and it's even uncomfortable early in the morning.  I suppose if I were super motivated, I'd just run on the treadmill, but it's just so boring!

Day 85 and 86

Yesterday was my off day....glorious, glorious off day...it felt so good to rest this week.  I don't know why, but last week wore me out..I don't know if it's because I ran some, but it killed me by Sunday.

Today I did Core Synergistics...I really enjoy that one, and I hadn't gotten to do it for quite some time, so it was great to do...I really think when I'm in full blown training for the half marathon, I'm going to have to mix Core Synergistics into my routine...it really helps running to have a solid core...it keeps your form better thereby helping you avoid wasting energy.

It's crazy to me that I've got less than a week left of P90X...Sunday's my last day (it should have been Saturday, but I shifted my off day to Monday so that got me off a day).  While the scale isn't telling me the number I really wanted to see, I feel so much better physically and mentally.  I'm fitting into clothes I haven't fit into in ages and people are telling me that they can tell I'm doing something because I'm looking thinner...it's a tough thing, that weight.  You want to get down to a number you have in your mind as being the ideal...maybe you get there maybe you don't...but you can't let it get to you if you don't.  It's like Tony's always saying in the workouts...set a goal for yourself, if you do...great, if you don't...write it down and you'll get there eventually.  Just because I'm almost done with P90X, that doesn't mean I'm almost done exercising.  I've seen what a difference regular exercise can make in my body and mind...I don't plan on stopping any time soon :)

Oh and hey, you should check out my brand new, actually attractive looking website! 
http://www.stovesfitness.com/

Days 82, 83 and 84

Friday was Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X, and Saturday was Yoga X...it turns out that the P90X people knew what they were doing when they designed the schedule...I got off this week for whatever reason, and was doing stuff out of order.  By the time I got to Yoga X last night, my body was EXHAUSTED...I did back and biceps, then legs and back...too much back stuff...when I got to Yoga X, I had the hardest time doing a lot of it...but hey, I did my workouts darn it!

Today, being Day 84, I've got Chest Shoulders and Triceps (aka evil push up day)...we'll see how that goes...push ups have still been a challenge with my elbow hurting, but we'll see how I do.

I got out for a  5 mile run today...got it done in 42:30!  That's about an 8 1/2 min/mile pace, which I'm super happy about.  I had intended to do 10K today, but I went out too fast and killed my legs, so I just did the 5 miles...but I got a great time :)

Day 80 and 81

So yesterday, we hosted the high school and college age people from church to watch a movie.  That didn't get over till like 11, so no working out for me yesterday :)  So today, I got in a little over 2 hours of working out!  I did Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X, and Kenpo X.  Really, I should have done Yoga X, but I figured with doubling up today, doing Yoga wasn't something I really wanted to do.  So we're planning on doing Yoga on Saturday instead of Kenpo.

It's so crazy that today is Day 81...only a little over a week left!  It'll be exciting to do pictures and measurements and the Fit Test and see how all that comes out...I weighed myself today, and it told me my body fat was down to 17.5...so that was really exciting for me :)  That's the lowest I've ever seen that...

Tomorrow is the glorious Legs and Back...that's always a butt kicker...

Day 79

Today was Plyometrics...great workout...I feel like I did better in certain parts (squatted lower, jumped the whole time, etc.)  The problem I had today was that I had a fabulous dinner at my work's company picnic...I didn't completely gorge myself, but I definitely ate a little too much...we did our workout 3 1/2 hours after we ate, but I still felt like I was going to throw up half the time.  I actually did throw up in my mouth a little bit one time, but I never full out puked...so I'd call that a success :)

I got my 3 mile run in the morning...it was way nicer out than I thought it was going to be, so that was nice.  I don't know how long it took me...I didn't wear a watch.  It was actually really nice, I didn't have on a watch, I didn't have my iPod, I wasn't wearing a shirt...just shoes, socks and shorts...it was very nice and relaxing...a great way to start the day. 

I think I'll try to start my day the same way tomorrow...though we'll see how I'm feeling after the Plyo tomorrow morning :)

Day 77 and 78

So yesterday was originally supposed to be my rest day, but I did that a different day last week, so I did Yoga X with Joyful...I still really just don't like that workout.  It doesn't help currently that my left elbow has been hurting me when I do push-ups, so doing the first 45 min. of Yoga X is tough/painful.  The last half was actually kind of nice this time around, though.  The very end was super relaxing, which was great.

In addition to doing the Yoga X, I ran 5 miles in the morning before church.  The greatest part about that was that I knocked it out in 44 minutes!!!  I'm so excited that doing P90X has drastically improved my running abilities.  Running is the form of exercise that I really enjoy doing, and I've always wanted to actually be fast...with the help fo P90X, I'm on my way.  When I get done with this round of P90X, I'm going to be training full force for a half marathon at the end of September...I'm planning on sticking with exercise 6 days a week...running 4 and doing a P90X the other 2, and doing Ab Ripper X 3 days a week....I'm going to write my own schedule.  I'm shooting for a sub-2 hour half marathon.  I have to get it done at about a 9 minute/mile pace...if I could score a 1:45 half marathon, I'd be extatic...

Today I've decided to do what I should've done 78 days ago...I'm changing my schedule a little bit.  I'm making Monday be my off day and I'm going to work out on Sunday.  Monday is my long day at work, and by the time I get home, it's either really late, or pretty late...either way, working out is the last thing I want to do after working 12 hours on my feet.  So I'm not going to work out today...my plan is to wake up early-ish tomorrow morning and get out for a 3 or 5 mile run, and then do my P90X in the evening...

Day 76

Only 2 weeks left!  Holy crap-ola!  Today was Kenpo X as it always is on Saturday...as always, a lovely workout.  Broke a good sweat, felt the burn in the legs...good times :)

tomorrow morning I'm planning on getting out for a 5 mile run.  The Omaha Half Marathon is at the end of September and I need to get myself into running shape for that.  P90X has gotten me in way better shape than I've really ever been, but I need to get my knees used to running again so I can avoid pain.  I was really encouraged the other day when I got in a 3 mile run...it was really hot, but I felt great doing it...I felt like I could have gone much longer if not for the heat...so I'm excited to get out for 5 tomorrow and see how the extra 2 miles treats me :)

Days 74 and 75

Day 74 was supposed to be Yoga X, but I got super tired and didn't do it...consequently, I'll be doing it on my rest day tomorrow :)

Day 75 was Legs and Back just like almost every other Friday :)  Always a great workout...it's been nice the last couple weeks...I haven't woken up sore on Saturday.  I don't think I'm being a wuss on the workout, so perhaps that implies progress...I'm all for progress! 

Today's Day 76...Kenpo X...I'll write about that later after I've done it.  Assuming my legs feel ok in the morning, I plan on getting out for a 5 mile run in the morning...I did 3 miles the other day and felt great, other than it being super hot outside...so I'm excited to do 5 miles.  Joyful and I are doing the Omaha Half Marathon in September, so I need to be out running to get ready for it...

Day 73

Today was Shoulders and Arms...it's nice doing a workout I haven't done in a while...partly for variety's sake and partly to see progress...I definitely saw some progress...I could do more resistance on most of it, and I felt like I could do it better in general, so hooray for that!  Speaking of progress, the evil Mr. Scale actually told me I was down to 196.something!  I about crapped myself...I don't even remember what the exact number was, I was just stoked to see the 196...if I can get it to tell me 194.5, I'll be down 20 pounds...that's the goal by the end of P90X...my original goal was 30 pounds, but 20 is quite good, too.  In the nutrition book that comes with P90X, they talk a lot about how if you don't have the nutrition aspect as strict as the workout aspect, you'll be in great shape, but you won't visibly see the results as much as you'd like...that's definitely true.  I know for fact I'm in way better shape than I was 73 days ago, but I don't feel like my appearance has changed much since my day 45 picture..maybe I'm wrong...I'm trying to be good with the eating thing, and not drinking pop, and cutting back on coffee...I figure I just need to get down like 3 more pounds in 2 weeks...that should be totally doable. 

Here's a great video for your viewing pleasure about nutrition and why drinking diet pop is still bad for you:

Days 69-72

I think one of the things I'm looking forward to once my 90 days of P90X are done is not having to do my blog anymore :)  It turns out that I bore myself...I don't think I really have a whole lot worth sharing, but I keep doing it on the off chance that someone is actually reading this and maybe they find some level of encouragement from whatever it is I have to say.

So here's a recap of the past few days:  Day 69 was Kenpo X...I've decided that the Friday/Saturday combo of Legs followed by Kenpo is kind of evil...my legs were super tired this week while doing Kenpo anyways, and then I got pretty sore on Sunday like always...speaking of Sunday, it was rest day!  We had Joyful's brother and his wife in town while they were passing through, so it was nice to see them.  Day 71 was yesterday, and it was Chest and Back...I tried pushing myself on it, and it must've worked because this morning my back muscles were a little sore.  Today being Day 72, it was Plyometrics.  I felt like I did pretty good...I wore my heart rate watch, and the highest I saw my heart rate go was 171, which is better than the first time I did it...I think my heart rate that time was in the low/mid 180s.

It seems to me that when doing something along the lines of P90X, you either learn something about yourself, or something you already knew is highlighted.  The thing that has been highlighted for me is my complete lack of will power as it relates to food.  I love me some junk food.  I'm jealous of these people that can seriously pass up a free doughnut, or someone who can have 1 cookie and call it good.  I can do neither.  I eat reasonably healthy otherwise, but if I'm at work and there's doughnuts, you can bet I'll have a couple...or if I make some cookies at home (which I shouldn't be doing anyways), I'll eat a bunch of dough and then have a couple cookies when they're done....stupid food...why does it have to taste so delicious?

Day 68

Today was Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X...man, was I tired...not like my muscles were tired, but I was sleepy...we had the house dark so we could get Isaiah to sleep, and it put me to sleep, too :) But hey, I got the workout in...and it's before midnight, so that's good.  I like the leg portion of the workout...I feel like I'm good at it...I get frustrated with the pull-ups in P90X...I can't do many real pull ups, and I don't like using the chair, so I use bands, which I don't really care for, either.  On a happy note, I actually did 3 chin-ups today on my pull-up bar!  That's the best I've done since I was in elementary school!  My toe that I jacked up still hurts...I've got it iced up right now whilst I type this...hopefully someday it gets better :)

Days 64, 65, 66 and 67

So hey, I've sucked at blogging this week, haven't I?   So let's see here, how's this week been?  Monday was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps...I think that might be the hardest one for me...so many crazy, crazy push-ups that I can't do very well...I do every push-up in that workout on my knees just so I can get through it.  Tuesday was Plyometrics...super hard, super fun.  My stupid pinkie toe was hurting me some during that one.  It feels more or less fine until I put shoes on...then it hurts until my feet get used to shoes...but all the jumping around in Plyo made it sore...but as usual, I was a big ball of sweat by the time I got done with that one.  Yesterday was supposed to be Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X...by the time we got around to working out, we were both soooo tired...so Joyful and I just did Ab Ripper X, and I'll make up the rest on Sunday (my rest day).

Today is day 67!  I was excited today...when I got home from work, I got on the scale and it said I was down to 197.6!  Normally if I want to see the scale tell me I weigh 198, I have to weigh myself right after I workout, but today it told me happy numbers prior to working out...hooray for that!  Today, we're gonna do the Back and Biceps from yesterday's workout...Yoga X is on the schedule for today, but that's what we're gonna do on Sunday...

Day 63

REST DAY!!!!!  I'm so happy about rest day this week...my butt is killing me...between Legs and Back on Friday and then Kenpo yesterday, my booty is super sore.  Yesterday I had these grand thoughts of going for a run on my day off today, but no no...that would be a bad idea right now.  I'm gonna stretch a bunch and work on getting my butt un-sore.

Day 62

Today was the Kenpo X...I learned recently that this whole time I've been spelling it wrong...I've been spelling it KeMpo, not KeNpo...oh well...either way, I like it a lot!  It's a great workout to end the week...it's fun, it's challenging, and it gets the sweat going :)  Today, I didn't take any of the breaks...for those who don't know, on Kenpo X, during the water break time, you can either take a break if you need it or you can jog in place/do jumping jacks with the people on TV...normally I take one of the breaks, but today I was feeling especially good, so I kept going...

My booty is definitely sore from Legs and Back yesterday, though :)  that one always gets me...

Day 61

Today's workout was Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X...I was definitely in a better mood today, which was nice...made the whole working out thing a million times better.  I like that on the Ab Ripper, I'm getting better at some of the stuff...I still have a hard time doing stuff that works the lower abs, but in general, I'm getting a lot better...I think back to when I first started and pretty much the whole workout was physically impossible for me, and now I can do everything...I may not be able to do all 25 reps, but I can do all the moves, which is sweet.

I did my Day 60 pictures tonight, and it was less depressing than I had imagined...so that was good.  The standing on the scale time was pretty much what I thought it would be..I was 198.4 pounds and 19.5% body fat, which is pretty much where I've been hanging out the last little while...but hey, I'm under 200 pounds most of the time anymore, so that's sweet!  I don't know that my initial goals of 185 pounds and 15% body fat are super realistic anymore for this round of p90x, but I'm certainly in way better shape than I was 60 days ago, and I'm down like 16 pounds and 5% body fat...not too shabby for 2 months out of my life. 

I really need to work on eating better these last 30 days (well really, I need to work on eating better as a general rule of life)...I know that if I can do that, the scale will treat me better on day 90...it just turns out that I lack will power...if I see cookies or doughnuts, and they're free and I can have them, I can't possibly turn them down...I just need to force myself for at very least the next 29 days to be super nazi-ish with my eating habits...

So here's the exciting progression pictures for day 60!

Day 1                                Day 60

Days 59 and 60

So apparently today is day 60!  I just realized that when I had to type the title for this...I guess I'll have to take some pictures tomorrow and put them up...plus I'll have to do measurements and weight/body fat.  I guess we'll see how that whole thing goes...I plan on being somewhat disappointed.  I know for fact I'm not eating as good as I should....but I suppose we'll see.

I've also discovered recently that I suck at keeping up with the blog...at first I was all excited to be blogging my p90x-ness, but anymore it seems so redundant, I have a hard time believing anyone cares to read it...but for whoever is out there actually still reading this puppy...yesterday was Shoulders and Biceps...I must've worked out good because I had a hard time with Yoga X today...it didn't help any that I was in a "meh" mood to start.  I despise doing Yoga when I'm in a great mood, so doing it in a less than stellar mood wasn't the greatest...but I suppose I did it, which is better than sitting on the couch the entire time.

Days 57 and 58

So between having what I'm pretty sure is a broken pinkie toe on my left foot, and working a ton yesterday, I didn't get my workout in...consequently, I had to do 2 workouts today.  AND, since I didn't want to wake up this morning, I had to do my 2 workouts back to back tonight...my saving grace was that since my toe is still killing me, I can't do Plyometrics, which is what today was to be...so I did Cardio X instead. 

Yesterday's workout that I did today was Chest and Back...that workout was good...I saw some sweet improvement over the last time I did that one about a month ago...the first time through the circuit when we did standard push ups, I was able to knock out 30, which I was happy with.  I saw some improvement on other things, too, but that was the best one.

Cardio X was kinda frustrating for me...I had to modify a fair amount since my toe wouldn't let me do stuff, and there was a couple things I couldn't figure out how I could modify it, so I just stood there and stared at the TV pissed off.  I'm really really hoping my toe stops hurting before too long...if I didn't have Joyful here to force me to work out, I would definitely be using my toe as an excuse to not work out at all...I just have to keep telling myself that even if i can't do everything, whatever I am doing is better than nothing...

Days 55 and 56

We had family in town all day yesterday, so I used that as my day off and did Yoga X today.  The thing that made it especially interesting today was that last night I think I broke the pinkie toe on my left foot.  I was going down the stairs when it was dark, and I didn't realize there was a cat there...I stepped on her and then that knocked off my balance and I stumbled down the stairs and whacked my toe really good.  When I got up this morning, it was pretty swollen and turning purple.  Right now, pretty much my whole toe is a lovely shade of purple.

I was still able to do the Yoga X, though...it did take a little bit extra positioning to get in some of the poses so that my toe didn't kill me.  I was surprised that I was able to do most of the balance postures on my left leg...there was 1 or 2, but for the most part I could do everything more or less normally.  We'll see how it goes when I have to do more active stuff, but for today it wasn't too bad.

Tomorrow I start my final 3 week segment of P90X...I'm down to only having like 33 days left!  that's crazy...

Day 53 and 54

Yesterday was the X Stretch...always a nice time.  We did it right before bed, and it was an awesome way to wind down from the day.  He's got so many great stretches...

Today was Core Synergistics...It was kinda nice this time around because I wasn't a giant ball of sweat when I got done....don't get me wrong, I was sweaty...just not like last time.  Last time, I think it was like 85 degrees in the house, this time the thing says it's 72, so that helped.  I was excited this time around, when I did the plank run, I was actually able to do it for half the time...that's about double what I used to be able to do...I was still dead by the end of it, but I was able to do better, so tha was nice :)

Day 52

Today was Kempo X...always a fun workout :)  I really tried to push myself today as far as intensity is concerned...I jogged in  place with my knees pretty high during the "break" time...did fast jumping jacks, and tried to generally push to bring up the intensity on everything.  I definitely felt like I got more of a workout :)

I'm altering the schedule a little bit this week...we've got some family coming to town Friday night and will be here on Saturday, so I'm going to take Saturday as my day off and work out on Sunday...We're going to celebrate our 8 year anniversary on Friday, so we're going to get our workout done in the morning that day...I'm sure you care deeply about my schedule, but alas, I told you all the same :)

Day 50 & 51

So yesterday was Day 50...I worked 14.5 hours and got home exhausted.  I left home at 6:15am and got back home a little before 10pm.  I didn't really feel like working out after that :)  So today I doubled up.  This morning when I got up at 5 I did Yoga X...I say I did Yoga X fairly loosely.  I was still pretty sore/stiff from my day at work yesterday, but I did what I could...and as Joyful said when I was getting angry at the workout, doing as little as I did was still more than sleeping...

Tonight when I got home from work tonight, Joyful and I did Core Synergistics.  It's a great workout...I think that one makes me sweat more than any other workout.  When I got done, I had gone through 3 towels, my yoga mat was soaked and the floor was slippery from all the sweat.  I feel like I did better at the workout than I did the last time I did it 3ish weeks ago.

So hey, when I weighed myself tonight I was down to 198.8 pounds!  I've had a hard time getting myself under 200 pounds...it seemed like I got down to the 203 range relatively easy and then I stopped going down.  When I got home from work tonight, I was at 200.0 pounds, so I decided to cheat a little bit and weigh myself right after my workout...so apparently I sweat out a little over a pound of sweat!  I don't care, though...the scale said I was under 200 pounds!!!

Day 49

Hooray Rest Day!  Plus this rest day happens to be on the 4th of July, so all the better :)  I just can't go super crazy on the burgers and hot dogs...we'll see how successful I am at that one :)

Day 48

Today was Kempo X...I like that one as the last workout for the week because you can do things to easily make it harder or easier as need be...I was feeling good today, so I tried to push myself pretty good.  I was going deeper in my squats, and I didn't take any of the optional breaks...I just kept going so I could keep my heart rate up there in the happy zone :)

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I'm going to celebrate by having my rest day, and hosting our college group at our house...should be a fun day :)

Day 47

Day 47 was Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X again...that workout always goes by fast since I've done it so many times....I decided to be smart this time and not go for a run today :)  Last time I ran after I did legs and back it killed me for like 3 days...

It's always interetsing when you do the same workout many times, how one time something will be really hard, and the next time that won't be bad at all, but something else will suck horribly...I suppose it's kinda like if you read something multiple times, each time you'll get something different from it...

deep thoughts by Todd Stoves :)