Fit Mama; Week 8

Monday little dude and I were going to go on a walk, but it started raining the second I stepped out of the garage. I did Core Synergistics. The little guy has become a great workout buddy. He mostly just hangs out in his crib and we talk and he kicks things. This particular day, he started to get frustrated that he couldn't see me the whole time, so I moved him to the floor so he had a better view. He was perfectly happy after that.  

Tuesday I decided to do plyometrics. I guess I've given up on the P90X schedule. I'm just doing the workouts I'm not sick of and still feel like I'm getting a good workout.

Wednesday I pulled out my Tracey Mallet DVD for some Functional Interval Training. It's a 90 minute DVD, but my dude woke up from his mini nap at the 60 minute mark, and I was beat anyway, so I called it and took a shower. I also went on a quick 3 mile walk earlier in the day. I was a little rushed because we were meeting my mom and grandparents for lunch and shopping - lots of big events coming up my little dude needs outfits for.

Thursday I opted for Cardio X. I was so excited to have a shorter workout, but then the computer decided it needed to run updates 10 minutes in, so my workout was rudely interrupted. While I took my unwanted break, dude did a little core work aka tummy time.

Friday my only workout was baby & me yoga, but we did our usual squats and lunges and planks and such.

Saturday I complained that I was bored with my workout DVDs, so hubs put together a workout plan for me. He bought me all kinds of fun workout equipment for Christmas, so part of the plan was to get me to use it! I did squats on a balance board and more squats and pushups wearing an extra 20 lb weight vest. It was nice to do something different. :)

Sunday afternoon I ran out to one of my favorite yoga classes - pre/postnatal. Some of my fellow new mom friends joined me. Its so nice to see them and workout where most of us met.

That was my week. I'm really hoping to get some more interesting posts going soon, but for now it seems like this is it.

Fit Mama; Week 6

Monday was a holiday. Hubs was home so I planned to take power yoga from one of my teachers (woman who taught me to teach)! The website didn't say anything about a sub, so when I showed up and saw it was being taught by someone else, I have to admit I was a little bummed. It ended up being an incredible class. It was fun and unique and challenging. I was so impressed. Jill, the sub, taught such a great class!

Tuesday I got back into P90X. It was week 2 of Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. I was supposed to do Ab Ripper X too, but my fussy monkey baby would not allow it. At least I got to finish the arm workout this time. ;)

Wednesday I texted the hubs and asked him to come home a little early so I could maybe go for a jog instead of doing plyometrics. He said no and told me to suck it up and do plyo - it was a better workout anyway. Woooooooomp. I did just that, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't all that bad. It's actually easy to get through the workout when you break it up into sections - I could tell myself, "only 3 more sets to go". My dude was a boss and let me finish the workout AND shower before losing his sh*t. :P

Thursday I did back & biceps and ab ripper X. As I write this I don't remember anything in particular about the workout except telling Joe, who was in his crib next to me, how much I hate all curls and pullups. He laughed at me.

Friday afternoon my little dude and I led baby & me yoga. We danced and did squats and tummy time, and core work and pushups. It was so fun. We started late, but we still did about an hour of class.

Saturday I was not feeling Kenpo (I wonder if I'm bored with P90X? ;)). Instead I decided to do an hour of Dance Central Spotlight in the living room. I wore a 20 lb weight vest for the first 15 minutes. My plan was to wear it the whole time, but it was digging into my shoulders. Mucho uncomfortable. The game threw some new moves at me and I had a lot of fun with most of them. Hooray!

Sunday my sisters and I had a date for aerial yoga. I ended up jacking up my shoulder during the warm up. It made me suuuuuper careful for the rest of class. I skipped one silk climb altogether. Everything else I did, I just took it really easy. Then I made a quick stop at the gym and ran 2 miles on the treadmill. I'm starting to feel better about running again, but I still haven't been able to get the full 2 miles without taking a break.

That's it for last week! Look at me getting one of these posts up in a timely manner with a picture and all! 

Fit Mama; Week 4

Time gets away from you taking care of a tiny one. I don't remember much by way of specifics about these workouts, but I did do them - at least I'm sure of that.

Not only is this post late, but I don't have a picture for it. These posts are mostly for me anyway, amiright? ;)

Week 4 of P90X is straight core/cardio/stretching. So I did not lift a single weight last week.

This week also commenced dude taking semi-regular naps. So whenever he starts to get sleepy I put him down in his crib and workout next to him. He usually sleeps through most of my workout. If he wakes up cranky, I either nurse him or incorporate him into my workout to keep him happy. If he wakes up happy, I can usually finish my workout. :)
 

Monday was Kenpo X. I've set up so now I work out almost completely in the nursery right next to the crib. He slept through most of my workout, and I even managed Ab Ripper X that I was supposed to do the day before.

Tuesday ended up being a rest day. I don't remember why. That's real life.

Wednesday I did yoga X - again in the nursery. I'm getting stronger. I've been doing a lot of the push-ups after vinyasas  now. It's so nice to feel sort of strong again.

Thursday another rest day. We have mommy & me on Thursdays now, and since it takes a lot if planning to get a workout in, I didn't want to worry about having to schedule it in around our afternoon out. 

Friday was core synergistics. I forgot how hard that workout can be. Chutarunga runs are a cruel form of workout torture. In general it's a fun workout though. I might even go so far as to say I missed it. 

Saturday I did Kenpo X. I'm getting bored with it. That could be a problem since still have 2 months of P90X to go.

Sunday I did  yoga x. I had a relatively cranky boy in my hands through a good chunk of he workout. I incorporated him into A LOT of the workout, which was challenging for sure.  

That's it for last week.

Today is the last day of this weeks workouts so hopefully I'll have that post ready soon. ;P

Fit Mama; Week 3

Monday (Day 14) would have been my rest day, but since I rested on Saturday, Monday was Kenpo X. This happened to line up with the day Joe started taking semi regular naps, SO, he sat and watched me from his rocker for half the workout and then passed out. I had a pretty good workout. Not super tough, but Kenpo is one of the easier ones.

Tuesday I jumped right into week 3 Day 15 with some Chest & Back. I put Joe down for his second nap around 330, and he stayed down for about 40 minutes in his rocker. He lasted about another 25 minutes without totally losing it. I was able to make it through most of Ab Ripper X too! Only had 4 moves left before I had to feed him. Then I finished and showered after he ate. I was really pleased with my workout overall. I managed some really great sets of pushups, and I felt so much stronger during abs than the last time I attempted it!

On Wednesday for day 16, I decided it was time to attempt Plyometrics. I remembered how hard this workout was when I'd done it before, so I put it off as long as I could. Up until a few hours before my workout, I was still contemplating doing Cardio X instead. I stuck to my guns though! Pressed play on some plyo and got my heart rate up and a good sweat going. I felt really bad when Joey got cranked and wanted to put his head on my chest, but it was all sweaty. ;/ So, I grabbed a burp cloth and put it between his face and my chest. That was about halfway through. After the freak out, he napped through most of the rest of my workout.
Earlier in the day, Joe and I also started practicing for baby & me yoga. He's so helpful - such a good ~10 lb weight. ;)

Thursday ended up being a rest day. We went to our mommy & me class in the morning and by the time we got home we we're beat.

Friday I started Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X at 10:30am... and I finished my workout at 1pm. It's an hour and 15 minute long workout. There was some baby drama to say the least, but at least I finished my workout, right? 

Saturday I put Joe in his crib to stare at the flowers on the wall for a minute and he fell asleep. He stayed asleep for the entirety of Yoga X. I didn't have to stop once. I held back a little in some of the poses. It just didn't feel right to wrap my arms in right angle yet - though it's already more comfortable than last week. I also was able to hold crow pose a lot longer this time around. I was pretty happy.

Sunday I was scheduled to do Legs & Back, and I did... kind of. I subbed my first class since having a baby, and that kind of threw off my whole schedule for the day. It was so great to be teaching again! I loved it so much. Had some rust to shake off, but the class went really well. I think it was a class I would have liked to take. I did a lot of demoing too... more than I did toward the end of my pregnancy anyway. After I taught I ran a mile on the treadmill. I might have done more, but I forgot headphones and I was bored and focusing on how tired I was. Then I came home and did 30 minutes of Legs & Back before dude got fussy, then hubs got home, so we showered and went on a family trip to the park.

How was your week?

And then I turned 30...

Here's where I stand with my 30 goals to accomplish by the time I turned 30. I fell short on a couple, but I think I did really great overall. The thing I didn't get to will just become life goals - who needs a timeline anyway, right?

1.    Clean out and reorganize the garage (5/26-5/27/2013)

2.    Redo the master bedroom & bath (Repainted 11/9-11/10/13), Bathroom scheduled to be done before yoga baby arrives in December. 

3.    Run a 1/2 marathon (registered 3/27/13, run on 9/8/13)

4.    Get paid to teach yoga (completed 2/21/13) 

5.    Meditate (at least once if I can't make it a regular thing) (Began 3/11/13)

6.    Buy a new car (completed 12/29/12)

7.    Try (at least) one new recipe every month (October 2012, November 2012 , December 2012, January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, May 2013, June 2013, July 2013, August 2013, September 2013, October 2013, November 2013, December 2013, January 2014, February 2014, March 2014, April 2014, May 2014, June 2014, July 2014) You can probably see I ended up missing a few months, but I like this goal in general. I've loved trying new things in the kitchen at least once a month. Even when I'm busy, I can usually get in at least one new recipe. :)

Currently; May 2014

Happy Monday and Happy May!

Currently, I'm...

Reading...
A Long Way Down. I am really enjoying it. I found I just really enjoy Nick Hornby's writing style. I don't always like his message, but while I'm reading it, I find the characters and the plot pretty entertaining. I'm excited to see the movie. As I'm writing this, there have been a lot of Toni Collette movies playing on TV, which is a little weird since she'll be one of the leads in the movie version of A Long Way Down.

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 18

Wednesday (P90X Day 49) was technically a rest day, but like I said in my last workout recap post, I took Tuesday to rest, so Wednesday I did mommy & baby yoga with my class, and then after work, I did Kenpo X.

Thursday I decided I would rather do Core Synergistics from home instead of yoga  (Day 50), and since I knew I wouldn't have a chance to workout later in the day (because we'd be on an airplane). Hubs was working from home downstairs, so I did my best not to make too much noise as I jogged in place and jumping jacked. It ended up being a great workout.

Friday (51) morning I did a short yoga routine on my own in the hotel room. I wasn't super motivated and I didn't have a mat, so my hands were slipping around a lot on the carpet, but I did get about a half hour in, with some good warming, energizing stuff, so I was satisfied.

Saturday (52) morning I looked up the Core Synergistics routine online and did it on my own sans DVD in the hotel room while hubs was at the gym. I decided it was easier to do in a hotel than Kenpo or Yoga, so I would just switch them around when I got home.

Sunday (53) was rest day, and good thing since it ended up being a long travel day.

Monday (54) I taught yoga twice and did most of the practice both times. I felt good about that and called it my exercise for the day.

Tuesday (55) night I took Power Yoga. I felt so so so good to get back on my mat in a class. I think I've talked about this before. Doing a solo practice is great, but there is something so much more meditative about being about to just turn off my brain and follow instructions. I can focus on my body and what it's feeling and I don't have to think, "should I be pushing myself with more challenging poses?" "should I have warmed up more before I do this next pose?" "what should I do next?".

This concludes Phase 2 of P90X. I have kind of wimped out after being sick a week or so ago and feeling swamped with life since I got back from my break, but I'm ready to tackle phase 3 head on. Let's go!

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 16

This week was kinda lame. I ended with a brutal migraine on Monday and all weekend I was at my inlaws and couldn't really get away to get in a workout, but when I did workout, it was good.

Wednesday (P90X Day 35) was my rest day. I taught in the morning, did a lot of core and squats and dancing around with my ladies, and then taught again in the evening and did nothing. I didn't demo a single thing. I just walked around and told everyone what to do. Then I came home and ate all the vegetables in the house.

Thursday (P90X Day 36) kind of got away from me. I only had one student in my yoga class that afternoon, so I decided to do most of the practice right along side her. It was a really great little private session. I think we both got a pretty good workout, although I maintain it is way more challenging to talk through a yoga practice than to just do it. Ha. By the time I got Panda and headed back home, it was dinner time and hubs was already home from the gym, so I just made some spaghetti squash and called it a night. I figured even though I didn't do the P90X workout, I still worked out that day. Good enough for me.

Friday (P90X Day 37) I did plyometrics after a lovely lunch with an old friend. Since I had the afternoon off work, I got to workout whenever I felt like it and finished pretty early, which was awesome.

Saturday we drove to San Diego to visit the inlaws, and Sunday we drove back. At least I didn't totally overeat this weekend. I am giving myself so many points for not devouring all the snacks like I usually do.

Monday I went on a hike with my big sis. It was 5 miles and uphill the entire first half. There was no shade, so we were happy we wore sunscreen, but the first half of the hike was pretty brutal.
I ended up getting a migraine that night, so even though I planned on jumping back into P90X, I just was not able to work out any more that day.

and Tuesday I was still in recovery. I spent about half the day on the couch. Hooray for taking the week off work, right?

Lame week, I know. Oh well. I'll have to kick it into high gear this week. ;)

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 15

Wednesday (P90X Day 28) was kind of a weird day. It was supposed to be a rest day (according to P90X). I had a doctors appointment in the morning after I taught my class, and then had to go back to the lab to have a thousand (normal) tests run after work, so the extent of my exercise was teaching my class - which was good bit of exercise - lots of ab work, planks, and squats, so I feel good about it. It's just strange for me to have that be my only workout.

Thursday (P90X Day 29) was the first day of Phase 2, which introduces new workouts. When I got home from work and teaching, I started Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. It was haaaaard. My arms were so tired when I finished and I got a really great calorie burn considering I was mostly weight lifting.

Friday (P90X Day 30) was back to Plyometrics... womp womp. I remember this the first time around - getting bored with Plyo and wanting to go do something else! Le sigh. Oh well, I powered through it when I got home from work. I'm still not jumping very high and I'm stepping through for a lot of the moves, but that will happen when you do modified everything for 2 weeks. Can't just jump back in at full speed.

Saturday (P90X Day 31) I had to go to work, so I got up around 9 and did Back & Biceps while hubs went to the gym. I forgot how hard that workout is. It's a super low calorie burn compared to some of the other weight lifting workouts, but man, it is tough. So many curls.
I'm back to almost 100% doing Ab Ripper X. It felt so good to finally get some ab work in. Then the whole family piled into the car and headed out to the 'Bu so I could work for a couple hours. Then we went to the beach.

Sunday (P90X Day 32) I was able to go to my friend Chelsea's barre class. It's a tough class, but it's hard for me to make it work with my schedule, so I try to go whenever I can! After that, I was supposed to do yoga, but I just took Panda on a mini walk. I figured I got plenty of exercise earlier in the morning.

Monday (P90X Day 33) after a long day at work, I did yoga with my friend, Jenny, at her house. Then I went home and did P90X Legs & Back. It was late by the time I finished my workout, but I love the leg moves in Legs & Back, so it was woooorth it! It makes me feel strong.

Tuesday (P90X Day 34) was Kenpo X! It was also tax day, so I was super wiped out by the time I got home. I almost skipped my workout altogether, but decided to get up and do it. I'm glad that I did, but it really took a lot out of me.

How was your week?

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 12

OK! So, because I've started P90X, you're gonna see a lot of repeat workouts from last week, HOWEVER, since I'm still teaching and trying to spice things up with additional workouts - because I'm cray - these posts will still vary from week to week - not to mention, I'll be talking a lot about my progress in P90X.

Wednesday (P90X Day 7) was supposed to be resting or X Stretch... I did neither, BUT I did take it super easy. I had been texting a friend about getting together for happy hour after work, so I got up early and did an hour of at home practice yoga. I pushed myself a little bit, but mostly I acknowledged that my body was still a little tweaky from the previous few days workouts, so I didn't do too much.
When I taught Mommy & Baby yoga, I did most of the class - getting up only a few times to change the music or check how long we'd been going. We did a lot of core work, which was great. I got a few groans from my mommies, so it was definitely a good workout. :)

Foam Roller to the Rescue

Y'all know I was having some knee trouble, right? Every since I ran my half marathon, I had some pretty regular discomfort behind my right knee - sometimes in the calf, sometimes in my hamstring, but always behind the knee. No big deal, I thought, I'll just keep doing my yoga and I'll stretch it out and heal it, right? Wrong.

Since high school I've had undiagnosed hip and leg pain. I even saw a doctor for it once, but because we couldn't figure out where the source of the pain was, they didn't even know where to look. I ended up working with my chiropractor aunt on stretches and things I could do at home to prevent and alleviate.
Then when I started doing yoga all the time, I stopped noticing leg pain. I never even knew what stretches were helping - only that I was active, doing yoga, and not hurting anymore.

Then my shiny new injury limited the amount and depth of the stretching I could do. Normal stretches I used to relieve and pain in my hips, legs and low back, I couldn't get into all the way because of my knee.

Now lets rewind a little bit again... (imagine rewind sound effects)

I'm a P90X fan. I've done both P90X and X2, and while I was doing X2, I invested in a little gadget called a foam roller. This is the one I bought (because they're majorly overpriced and I didn't want pay $40 for a piece of foam). I mostly used it to roll out my calves and middle back. Since I was so active with my regular yoga and stretching, I didn't feel like I needed it much.

Then this weekend at the gym, about halfway through cardio Sunday, I had an epiphany (or an 'apostrophe' for any fellow Hook lovers out there). Maybe I can work out this leg pain with a foam roller. So, I grabbed a mat and a roller (the gym has nicer ones than I have) and ducked into the empty workout studio.

I immediately went for my IT band. I didn't know for sure that it was the source of my pain, but it's helpful to give all your muscles a little foam roller love sometimes, so I went for it, and almost immediately I knew I was working the right place. I stayed on it for a good 10 minutes - finding points and letting the foam roller work its magic, essentially using my body weight against the roller to work out tension.

Later that night, sitting on the couch I noticed the lack of nagging discomfort in my right leg. Then just for the heck of it, I straightened my leg and grabbed my foot... just to see if I could, and I was astonished to find I had almost COMPLETE mobility back in my right leg. It's not all the way back to normal, but can I just say "Hallelujah Foam Roller!"? I am elated.

Foam rolling can be very uncomfortable. Let's just get that out of the way. You're finding tense points that need to be worked out hard. It's the equivalent of having a knot in your back and asking your friend to dig their elbow in there. The difference is that the foam roller wont slide out of place and elbow you in the rib. That's how you know you're working the right place - when you have to grit your teeth until the pain goes away. Ultimately, it should feel good though, so listen to your body and know your limits.

Have you ever tried foam rolling? Do you love it or hate it? :)

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 35

Hey friends! I hope you had an amazing long weekend for Labor Day. My weekend was crazy, but the week that led up to it looked something like this...

Sunday we took the day off of exercise. I was super reluctant, but hubs convinced me. We had stuff to do. Errands to run, etc.

Monday I ran 6 miles at the beach and it was glorious.

Tuesday I ran 6 miles at the beach and there were naked people and high tide and it was less glorious, but still really nice.

Wednesday I was back at Power Yoga. My hamstrings thanked me.

Thursday night I taught my class and had a major case of lazy bones. Class was the only time I was able to get out of me head. I wish I could have carried it better through my day. Oh well.

Friday I got P90X2 back out and did some Plyocide. Even though I was a little wobbly on my right leg, it felt amazing. I iced my knee afterward and 30 minutes later, I was fine. We had friends coming over that night. They got in late, so I had plenty of time to workout at home.

Saturday we didn't have a chance to work out. We had our friends' 4 and 7 year old boys staying with us in the morning. That afternoon/late morning, we took them out to Malibu to rejoin their parents and baby sister for a beach vacation. No exercise for me - except keeping Panda away from strangers on the beach to keep her out of trouble.

How was your week?

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 24

Y'all, I'm so behind on this. I'm having to resort to myfitnesspal to remember what workouts I did!

Sunday I was supposed to do X2 Core, but I needed to get up and out of the house for my workout. So, I ran over to Cardio Barre for their advanced class. It was a great class. I'd only ever taken this instructor's beginner classes, but she worked us hard in advanced on Sunday. I was happy.

Monday night I was back on schedule with P90X2. I decided just to move around the rest days. Instead of having one on Wednesday, I would just jump in with a workout. SO, Monday night I did X2 Core. I did not get the same calorie burn as last week, which was a little disappointing, but it was still a great workout.

Tuesday I didn't intend to, but I ended up taking the night off.

I got up crazy early on Wednesday to teach my very first 6am class.  That night I decided to do a little more switching and went to Power Yoga. I also decided to play around a little more with my heart rate monitor to see what my calorie burn was in that class. (548 calories, btw. Not bad)

Thursday night I taught my class.

and Friday morning I taught another class. I didn't do much yoga in either.

Saturday morning, I was in Portland. My sister and I drove out to the Gorge to hike Oneonta trail to Triple Falls. It was a little over 3 miles round trip and it was absolutely beautiful!

Fitness Things; HaHA! I Win!

At the end of March I joined the Kool Kids Klub and finally got an iPhone. The main reason I wanted it was for the camera. I'd never been a big "apps person", so app compatibility wasn't #1 on my reason for the switch.  Of course, I immediately started to download apps. I have to have the mark. app, and instagram, and scramble with friends, etc. Now that I had Instagram, I had to do a photo-a-day to get the ball rolling, right? Isn't that what people do?

Then I found this. It's the Team Beachbody April 2012 Photo a Day Challenge. You had be a member of teambeachbody.com, submit one photo a day to the designated message board and you're entered to win whatever the prize of the day was. I submitted for something like 7 or 8 of the 30 days. I took pictures for more, but only posted them on Instagram or Twitter because I was lazy and was really only doing it for fun. April 30th rolled around and I hadn't won anything. No big deal. I wasn't playing to win. I was just playing. So, I submitted my Day 30 photo and went about my day...

#after

When I woke up on May 1st, I had a one new email notification on my phone, subject line: "You are the April 30, 2012 Team Beachbody Photo of the Day Winner!"...I took a moment to process and then...

I WON! I WON! I WON!

I was so pumped the rest of the day. I spent half the day google-ing what I would get. I emailed them to ask, but they didn't respond. All I knew was "deluxe copy of P90X", but when I looked at the website, there was no deluxe copy. Some independent coaches websites listed all this stuff, so I was uncertain...until yesterday. I got home from work to find 3 big boxes on my porch. One box full of the brand new mark. hair care line I am super excited about (but I'll save that for another day), and two boxes full of amazing Beachbody treats and toys. Ok, they're only treats and toys if you're an at-home-fitness junkie, like moi, but LOOOOOK!

My snazzy-pants P90X Deluxe Set INCLUDES:
          1 set of P90X workout DVDs
          1 P90X Nutrition Guide
          1 P90X Fitness Guide
          1 P90X Pull Up Bar
          3 Resistance bands
          1 50 serving tub of Results and Recovery formula (This is my FAVORITE. It tastes like Orange Julius and takes me back to my childhood walking around the Fallbrook Mall when it was all indoor)
          1 30 day supply of Chocolate Shakeology
and
          1 30 day supply of Tropical Strawberry Shakeology

Coolest...Thing...Ever. 

Want to know something kinda silly? Too bad, I am going to tell you anyway.

I was most excited about winning because my P90X Legs & Back dvd is scratched up, and winning meant I would get a new Legs & Back dvd. *giggle*

My coach sent me samples of Shakeology a little while ago. I wanted to see if they were good enough that I would want to spend $4 a day on protein/supplement shakes. I really liked the chocolate one, but thought the strawberry one was weird. Now I have a 30 day supply to find out if there's a recipe out there I will love. :) Sweet!

I don't know what this means in terms of whether or not I will continue to buy these products once I finish with my winnings. I do know that I LOVE me some reminiscing over a protein rich, electrolyte enhanced  Orange Julius. I just love the idea of it, actually.

Side note: I just found out the closest place I can go to relive my childhood with a real Orange Julius is Northridge. Bah. Good thing I can now drink them at home.

Fitness Things; P90X & X2

Lately my life has been whelmed by mostly fitness related things. I even have a separate blog to keep track of my daily workouts and occasionally, my eating habits, goals, etc. Since that's taken up a good bit of my time lately, I haven't had much to update about. So, I've decided to put together a little summary - in case you're interested.

Today is Tuesday, May 8, 2012 and it is also Day 41 of P90X2. I know a lot of people watch the P90X infomercials and think, "I could never workout at home," or, "Those results aren't real", or WHATEVER. I thought those things. Every weekend in Summer 2009, my husband and I would sit in front of the TV between kettle bell workouts, sprints, and overdoing it on wheat thins and spinach dip, and I'd think, "I wonder if that really works" and Tim would tell me it would work, and then we'd agree that it was too expensive and we didn't have room to workout in the living room. I'm annoyed by how sales-pitchy I sound right now. The truth is, I'm not trying to sell you on P90X - at least not today ;). I'm just telling my story.

On Halloween 2009, we moved into a 600 sq ft apartment on the 3rd story of a big complex in Woodland Hills. The complex had a fitness center, and for a while we got up early in the morning to do a half hour or so of exercise before heading to work. The following April, we got a puppy.  Dogs are supposed to be great for fitness. I don't know what they say about puppies, but my personal experience tells me that puppies are the opposite. Sure, we got up early to take her on walks, but we didn't go to the gym anymore. We didn't want to leave her alone in the mornings - especially since she would have to be alone all day while we were at work.
And since I'm an amateur baker and Tim has turned pizza making into an art (OMG, they're so good), we ate a lot of heavy - delicious, but heavy - food that caused us to put on some weight.

The following Halloween, just before escrow closed on our fixer-upper townhouse, it was decided that now that we would have more space, no neighbors below us, and no free fitness center, it was a good time to give in to the bombardment of P90X infomercials and order ourselves this Extreme Home Fitness program.

Tim and I worked out together for about 3 weeks before the holidays were in full swing and we temporarily lost hope. Our house was under construction. The living room floor was so slippy we could play air hockey with the couches. Having just put all our savings into a house, we were low on money, but mostly low on time, so fitness took a back seat for a few months.

In March, after finally finishing the living room, I picked up my set of dvds again and decided to give it another go. Tim was out this time. It was only me. He missed the gym. He wanted to lift heavy weights and such. I get it. I wanted to get my money's worth out of these dvds.

Here's the thing about P90X that people aren't expecting or don't really grasp; these workouts are HARD. You won't be dancing in front of your TV for an hour a day, 5 days a week, until 3 months later when you are magically 20 lbs lighter and have cut abs. On several occasions - particularly during plyo - I had to press pause and just breathe until my head stopped spinning. Basically P90X works because it forces you to challenge yourself, not because it lets you dance the lbs away.

Here's where I went wrong round 1; I lost track. I didn't commit to "the program". I wanted to go jogging sometimes and I had just bought a Groupon for Cardio Barre and loved it. So, while I mostly stuck to P90X, I was also averaging 1.5 trips to CB per week. I wasn't sticking to the schedule. I couldn't look at a calendar and tell you what day I was on and how my progress was going - how I felt about myself, if I was seeing results, etc.  One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is I had gotten stronger. I starter out struggling to finish 15 pushups and by the time I stopped to reevaluate, I could do 22. When I started, there were moves I never thought I'd be able to do that P90X helped me achieve.
I picked a random day that felt about 4 weeks in - but in reality was probably more like 6 weeks in - and I decided to start phase 2. If you've seen the infomercials, you probably know what I'm talking about with the phases. Then I did the phase 2 workouts for a while. I think it was about 4 weeks, but I don't really know, and then I switched to phase 3, which is the same workouts as phase 1, but you're supposed to be stronger on the second go-round.
I don't know how common this is (could be 1 in 2, could be 1 in 10, I have no clue), but I'm pretty sure I have a distorted body image. I remember learning about teenage girls who were asked to draw a life size silhouette of themselves on the ground and then they would lay down in it and someone would trace them so they could see the difference between what they thought they looked like and what they actually looked like. When I looked in the mirror on day 60, I saw the same thing I saw on day one. No matter how defined my muscles are, unless I can compare one thing next to the other (trace my silhouette), I'll keep seeing the same thing.

A few weeks before we got married (in September), I accepted that I was no where near where I wanted to be with the program. I knew I was in better shape, but I didn't know what I could compare it to. Even though I knew I should have taken progress photos, I didn't want to have or look at pictures of myself in a sports bra, so I didn't take them. I decided to just continue what I was doing and get back into more workouts when we got back from our honeymoon.

In shape for our wedding. No corset top necessary.

I don't really remember what I was doing to stay in shape October to December. I didn't have a plan. I had a gym membership by then and was going to yoga, pilates, and Cardio Barre pretty often. I gained 7 pounds in those 3 months. Embarrassing. It's easy to think 7 lbs isn't very much and its easy to lose, but its not. I'm not a big person, and I'm one of the incredibly lucky folks whose weight goes straight to my face.

Right before Christmas I started getting emails about the release of P90X2, and I thought maybe this was the motivation I needed. I decided to cancel my gym membership and buy it. Starting January 1st, I would start phase 1 of P90X, finish the program (with progress photos this time) and then attempt P90X2.

I started 2012 looking like this:

I'm not gonna lie. I am embarrassed. These photos are embarrassing - not even taking into account that my eyes are closed in the last one and the lighting is terrible. The only way I can reconcile posting these is because they are part of my journey. They have helped me see how far I've come and what I've accomplished, but also how quickly the body can change. 

I failed myself almost right off the bat. My Legs & Back workout dvd was majorly scratched and none of the dvd players in our house could read it. I was kinda crushed. That was my favorite workout. Instead of giving up, I swapped it out. I decided that Cardio Barre would be a great substitute for Legs & Back AND I could still mostly stick with the schedule. 

Then I forgot to take Day 30 progress photos...and then I got bored in Phase 2. I had still been working our really hard, tracking my workouts and trying to eat healthy. So when I reached Day 60, I decided not to complete Phase 3 of P90X and jump right in to X2. 

My Day 60 progress photos for P90X are also my Day 1 photos for X2. I was so happily surprised when I looked at these pictures next to my Day 1 X pictures. 

Still terrible lighting, but I am still astounded by the difference. (Fyi, this was in front of the same wall, but we had the room painted that month) In two months, I basically got back to where I was at our wedding. And I was about to start a whole new adventure. 

I knew from experience that P90X was a tough, but I knew nothing about X2. It was brand new. They had a whole group start X2 together on January 1st. I thought about joining in, but I wanted a refresher round of X. I'd read some reviews and blog posts about X2 and everything sounded even harder than what I'd done in X. And then it was. 

Every time I got up to do a new P90X2 workout I felt like I would never be able to complete even one rep of some of these exercises. Each workout took so much effort to even get a few reps in. I felt like I wasn't even benefiting from the hour every day I was putting in every night because I couldn't do most of the exercises, but I learned and I kept trying. By the end of the 4th week, not only was I able to finish a few reps of everything, I had good form and was feeling strong. Before I knew it it was day 30 and time to take progress photos again. 

I feel pretty silly every time I take pictures like this - hence the funny face. Don't you think the sleeping pup in the background is a nice touch? 

I am so impressed with myself in this picture that I'm worried I won't be able to look more "cut" in the next one. In fact, I don't even feel like I look like that right now. 

It's 11 days later, 19 days until my next photos. These phase 2 workouts are hard, but I'm keeping track of my workouts this time. I know exactly where I'm supposed to be and what I'm doing next. 

I also started using an app to track my caloric intake about 3 weeks ago. The pounds aren't "melting" off, but I am losing weight AND getting stronger. It makes me happy to know that I'm on the right track. 

I didn't mean to write this much about only P90X and X2, but I guess my journey has been longer than I thought. I have more to write about, if you can believe it. I guess that will have to wait for another day. 

If you're interested, you can follow my daily workouts here. 

Maybe some blogging about yoga next time. 

Fitness Goals

As of today, I have just over 3 and a half months before the wedding. For the past three months, I have been really good about working out right around 6 days a week. Sometimes I slipped to 5 and sometimes I powered through 7, but for the most part I've been keeping up with 6 days...until this past weekend, which was disastrous for my fitness and completely pulled me out of my rhythm.
Tim hurt his back last week. No big deal. He just needed to rest to get back to a place where he felt comfortable lifting large amounts of weight.
This should not really have any impact on my workout schedule, right? Not so. Tim and I usually work out at the same time. He goes to the gym and I go to the dining room (where I have all my weights lined up, yoga mats out and even a blanket for when I do ab work - because hardwood floors and tail-bones don't get along)
Tim ended up in the living room. Not so bad. I still have the dining room. Too bad there is no wall to separate the two rooms. My peewee laptop speakers cannot compete with the Black Ops explosions and NCAA football commentator. So, my motivation is gone. I have not done a P90X workout since last Thursday.
I did manage to make it to Cardio Barre on Sunday and did some kettle bell work and swam some laps on Monday, but yesterday I was back to depressedly (not a real word) eating cupcakes on the couch and rereading Harry Potter 7.
The cupcakes are delicious and I'm happy to refresh my HP7 memory - because I forgot damn near everything - but I feel like in 3 days I completely cancelled out all of the work I've put in over the last 3 months.

So, I'm starting over. For reals this time. I'm going to continue to go to Cardio Barre once or twice a week, but I am also going to actually follow the P90X schedule - not say to myself "I think I've been doing this about a month, I think I'll work in some new discs" - and I'm going to write down what I'm able to do this time so that I "know what to do" next time.

Today will be disc 1 - Core Synergistics

Maybe I'll even take some "before" pictures this time around. Ha!

EDIT 6:43pm: Nevermind. No living room workout for me tonight. Tim and his injured back have taken it over. :( P90X will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Tonight I'm off to Cardio Barre