Day 21 on P90X Sunday August 31, 2008

I was out late last night but still I got up early to back to business of P90X. Sunday can be a day off as we know by now. But, I needed to make up for yesterday so I did Kenpo first thing. Since I didn’t get to jog yesterday I headed up to the gym to run for about 30 minutes. The gym was closed and I have no idea why. Good thing I had my cell phone handy. This was the one time I really got my monies worth for the data plan I pay for on the cell phone. I just opened up my web browser, Googled Ballys and called the nearest one to me to see if they were open. After a short ride on the train and 30 minutes later I was jogging as intended. But , before the jog I had to check my weight. As soon as my foot touched the scale I thought this scale my be different from the one I use aat the other gym. Well I just told myself not to pay to much attention to what ever it said. When I read 156lbs I thought this is great it can’t be that far off. I know I am going to get a surprise when I go back and get on my regular scale but until then I am going to just be happy in my achievement. After running for about 3 miles it was time to call the day a success. I made up for Saturday and Monday starts the new week.

Day 20 on P90X Saturday August 30, 2008

This is the first time I actually blew it. I did not get to do any of the workouts and, I went of the meal plan too. Well what had happened was I was getting ready to go to this outdoors summer concert featuring “Donna Summers” the Disco Queen from back in the day. Some of you all may remember her. My friends had a Birthday Party right out in the lawn. They had cooked all this food and the had wind and beer. I didn’t eat much though. I fixed a very small plate and only had one beer. I felt a little guilty about everything but I wanted to be social and enjoy in the food and drinks. I will do better tomorrow but today I had fun.

Day 19 on P90X Friday August 29, 2008

Well I am sitting here drinking my P90X Recovery Formula after a very good Legs & Back plus Ab Ripper X workout. Today I was able to do more chin-up than usual for me. I get really excited whenever I see an increase in chin-ups especially. I still can’t do that many but now I know that, that will increase as long as I keep pushing play. I am looking forward to Sunday cause I will get to weigh in and see if I am still loosing weight. I am hoping to be under 160lbs. If I don’t make it I will just give it one more week and if it still does not change to 160lbs I will have to adjust my menu or do more cardio. 

Day 18 on P90X Thursday August 28, 2008

Who would have ever thought Yoga would have you working so hard but that is what it does to me. I think my biggest challenge is balance. Some I am getting better at but those three point stance have me tumbling over on my sides at times. Whenever I loose my balance I laugh at my self with a nice little chuckle. I have done better at Yoga but I had really poor balance today. I will be glad when I can increase my carb level cause I am really starting to feel the missing energy. I did make it to the gym for my 30 minute jog. Which reminds me now that I am talking about it that I need to download that information off of my iPod. It says I ran 2.78 miles and burned 355 calories. Not too shabby considering I really didn’t want to go up to the gym in the first place. Getting there is have the battle the rest in easier after that. I would say I had quite a successful day.

Day 17 on P90X Wenesday August 27, 2008

For some reason my alarm did not go off this morning. But, I still got up in time to get my day started. Shoulder & Arms make me push until my arms feel like wet noodles. One thing that I like to do is load up the weights so I can only do 8 reps to get the burn. Now I hate to have to stop and change my weights cause I have the dumbbells with the bar and plates. It takes time away from a quick change when I need to adjust what I am lifting. But if I don’t change I end up having pour form, which means I am not working the right muscle group. I intend on buying some more bars and a couple of 10lbs plates. That will solve my problem of twisting off the collars and sliding on/off the plates. I think this may be one of my favorite workouts because it is a challenge but does not leave me so drained after completing.

Day 16 on P90X Tuesday August 26, 2008

Yep, that was it Oatmeal was the key to the day. I ate a double portion of Oatmeal which was 2 cups cooked. I guess every now and then I am going to need an extra boost since I am on the low carb menu. For the first time while doing Plyometrics I was able to do the Jump Knee Tuck much better. I was also able to do the Rock Star Hop. Of course I had my Recovery Formula after the workout. I felt so good that I decided to do 3 miles on the Treadmill at the gym to give me a extra boost. Today was a very good day for me.

Day 15 on P90X Monday August 25, 2008

On days like today I learned to not eat cold milk and cereal for breakfast. Just not enough carbs to keep me energized to finish the Chest & Back workout as strong as I wanted. I did bump my weights up and did some extra chin-ups but still didn’t feel as strong as I think I should have. So next time I will be eating a hot bowl of Oatmeal which if full of carbs. A carb should be a carb but my body can tell the difference between Shredded Wheat and Oatmeal. Another thing I never noticed was how little milk I drank. Since being on this nutrition plan I have been drinking gallons of milk. I am also eating a lot more meats and veggies. Junk food is a lot cheaper than eating healthy. I am spending all most triple what I would normally spend for groceries.

Day 14 on P90X Sunday August 24, 2008

Its official, I have gotten through two weeks of the P90X extreme fitness and I must say I am just plum wore out. Every thing is off today and I am struggling to decide if I am going to really make this a rest day or Stretch. Well I didn’t stretch but I did go by the gym and walk for a few miles. But before that you know I had to get on the scale and see the results. I am proud to say that I now weight 161 lbs. That makes my about 11 lbs lighter than when I last weighed myself. So I feel I did indeed get something done instead of just sitting on my butt.

Day 13 on P90X Saturday August 23, 2008

The second time around is suppose to be a little easier right? Not, Kenpo still kicks my butt. Out of all of the cardio workouts this one still get me the most worked up. By worked up I mean I breath hard, sweat a lot, and constantly wipe my face. This is really the hardest for me. Still I have not learned all of the combinations but rewinding back helps me get them right every time. One thing is for sure and I am defiantly getting stronger and the balance is much better. Pretty soon I will be able to do those one legged stands with out have to put a let down to steady myself.

Day 12 on P90X Friday August 22, 2008

Whew now I am back on track. I had a nice brisk walk before breakfast to get some bananas to go with my bowl of Shredded Wheat. Today I found out my favorite little Fruit Market does not open before 8 in the morning. Not much of a problem just adds a little longer walk to the bigger main stream grocer further down the street. Now I know not to buy to much fruit at one time since I only get to eat one a day. I would like to eat more but not now. Maybe in the next phase I will be able to eat more fruit. Legs & Back is starting to work cause I could do a few more chin-ups and my balance is better. Ab Ripper is still kicking my butt and I am still able to push through the 349 ab moves. I am still just as excited today as I was on day 1. It makes me feel really good everyday I complete a workout.

Day 11 on P90X Thursday August 21, 2008

My day was really off when I finally got started. I took an extra hour to get out of the bed. Breakfast was off by 2 hours. I was not even sure if I was going to be able to exercise at all. I felt really tired and didn’t really even feel like doing a workout at all. I tried to get my meals back inline with the P90X meal plan. Well I ended up skipping a meal cause I just missed the allotted time frame. But, I just could not except that I was going to miss this days workout. I set a time to get my tired but in gear and get it done so around 8 o’clock I hit the mat. Yoga X was on today’s menu which is still difficult but not as bad as when I started. I pushed really hard to get it done and I did. So the next time this happens I will need to reread my blog to see what I do when in such situations of getting your day back on schedule.

Day 10 on P90X Wednesday August 20, 2008

Today was Shoulder & Arms plus Ab Ripper X. I felt like I needed to work harder that usual today because I don’t feel like I can do enough chin-ups. Tony says in order to get more muscle you need to do no more than eight reps for the burn to start. If you don’t feel the burn after 8 reps then you need more weight. If you can do more than 8 reps than you or looking more at endurance and lean muscle. So I pushed really hard. I was expecting that when I finished today that my arms and shoulder would be sore. That was not a issue at all so I must be doing something right. I could feel my arms shake while burning to get that last rep. I got my burn on every exercise today. Ab Ripper was the last push for today. Being as determined as I was today helped me actually do the 349 Ab moves just like Tony says. Now I did have to pause the DVD so I could catch my breath and finish the reps but never the less I did them all. I am beginning to look forward to that Recovery Formula because when I mix it, its like have I ice cold frozen Daiquiri.

Day 9 on P90X Tuesday August 19, 2008

Today I was curious to see if I would show noticeable difference in how I did the Plyometrics workout. There is this part where they do this jump that is hard for me called Jump Knee Tuck. At first I could not raise my knees high enough to touch my hands. Now I can touch my hands but still not as many times as they do. And, there is another one called the Rock Star Hop that is hard for me to. I can do my right side pretty good but for some reason the left just does not want to do it. The rest of the workout I can manage okay. It does make you sweat a lot and for me I wear that skip back and pause button out. Sometimes I just need to catch my breath and drink some extra water. Overall I am getting better so I know its

Day 8 on P90X Monday August 18, 2008

I’m excited about going into my second week of P90x. Now that I have a solid week under my belt I have a base to look back on. Tony is always saying pick a number when you are doing your reps. At first I was doing just that picking a number and not having any idea if I could do it. Now I can say I want to do 5 more than previously with 10lbs more weight. My push-up and chin-up numbers are not going up fast enough for me so I am going to have to find a way to make that happen faster, just a personal goal of mine. I am doing much better with the Diamond push-ups then the first week. I moved up my Heavy Pants weight by 10lbs and will still move it up more in the next week. Oh, and I didn’t get nauseas like the first day when I started P90X. Now that is a difinate improvement from the first week.

Day 7 on P90X Sunday August 17, 2008

It’s official now I have completed one whole week of P90X. Wheweeee Let me tell you it was rough and painful at times. But, like my Mama used to tell me “You have to work hard to get what you want”. The day started out really slow cause I did not get enough rest like I am suppose to. It being Saturday night I was out later than I should have been. I sure do miss having my morning cup of coffee. So like Tony says get your rest it is important. Today’s breakfast was easy just Bacon and a bowl of Shredded Wheat cereal with skim Milk. Today’s workout was either a rest day or X Stretch so I chose X Stretch cause I am on a role here. I have never worked out seven days straight in my life. Now I am starting to realize what I am capable of. I didn’t think there were any workouts that didn’t push to the extreme but this comes as close as you are going to get. Some stretches are hard but not all of them. I only tumbled a couple of times so not to bad. Now that I know what to expect I don’t really need a day of rest cause this is not to hard on me. Oh now that girl on the DVD named Shana stetches like a wet noodle. If I ever get to bend like her I will be a champion of X Stretch

After eating lunch I decided to go to the gym and do some running. Now I have not been up there on the regular for about 4 months. They probably love me as a customer because they keep getting to charge me even though I hardly go. Wish I had thought of opening a gym cause I would certainly be reach by now. So I get up there and I am thinking “do I really want to get on that scale and see if my weight changed”. After some trepidation I get on it and start pushing those weight and counter weights around I'm thinking, “I was just here Tuesday and it said 172lbs”. Now you know I want to see some changes cause I have been working really hard. I now weight 168lbs which means I lost 4lbs in a week. P90X is paying off after just 7 days. So now I am really pumped and head over to the treadmill to click off 2 miles of running and walking. I hit the scales again and it says 166lbs. Not bad for 2 mile and 225 calories. I used my iPod Nano with the running kit attached to my shoe to track the miles, distance, time, and speed that I ran. Technology is a great thing to have in times like this.

Day 6 on P90X Saturday August 16, 2008

Six days in now who would have thought it. Whew, now this has really been hard for me. It is hard doing the meal planning, and getting up early to do these workouts. Now I am telling you if I can do this anybody can, I mean if you are not like 50lbs over weight. I didn’t get much rest last night because I went to bed late. I was watching The Edge last night Staring Anthony Hopkins. I am quite a movies goer but I missed this one.

Today I wanted to have a sandwich for lunch but we are only allowed one carbohydrate (carbs) per day. Now I like to eat my carbs in the morning so that they are available when I do my P90X workouts. So I decided to split my whole wheat Bagel in half so I could eat half for breakfast and half for lunch. This worked out great cause now I can have me a Turkey sandwich for lunch with mustard. I also split my fruit so I could have two at once. Cantaloupe and Grapes was my choice for breakfast along with Bacon, Bagel, Jam, and cup of Milk. Now I am all pumped for todays workout Kenpo X. One thing about P90X so far everyday has been something different except for the Ab Ripper X routine. So, I am ready for the next step feeling all excited. I kind of like to read in the book how long the workouts are going to be for the day and how long it will take to complete. Now don’t do like me and assume that is the actual time of the workout. For me it is just a suggested time cause I have to skip back several times to see exactly how they do some of those moves, not to mention pausing the DVD cause I am out of breath or have to rest for a second to get my leg up 10 more times. Now I don’t know what if is about Kenpo X that makes you sweat so much but lets say I have ran three miles and sweated less. Either the workout was not to bad or I am starting to get a little better since I started. It still kicked my but with some of those hook/uppercut/lowsidekick/punch combinations or something like that ‘where is the pause button”. Tony jokes that this teaches you self-defense but you know what if you challenged someone to do this who never has you will win once you become the master of it. Normal athletic people are not ready for all of this unprepared.

Tomorrow can be either a rest day or a stretch day and I have not decided which I will do yet. I do know that after a week of this I deserve a day off. However, I will let you know tomorrow so look for my blog post.

Day 5 on P90X Friday August 15, 2008

Wow I am now five days into this. I am still experiencing some of the aches and pains but they are way more manageable now. Like last night my lower back was hurting from doing some of those stretches from the “Yoga X”. First, I thought that I had hurt myself by doing to much. Tony tells you to “Do your best and forget the rest” which he actually means. So if you can only do three chin-ups than stop right there. Well anyway after doing “Legs & Back” and “Ab Ripper X” that pesky back pain went away. I am finding that if I keep pushing myself just enough to finish the workout that I get better even if I don’t do as many reps or lift as much weight as they do on the DVD. You know “The Kids” have already done their 90 days and are used to the workouts. Now me I am older than Tony who is 40 something. Now don’t take it out of content about us older guys being able to get in shape cause that is certainly not true. I will be 47 by the time I finish my 90 days and I plan on having a ripped Beachbody.

The Lunges in todays workout were actually fun and challenging. They do quite a bit of balancing on one leg. I tumbled over a couple of times but just corrected myself and tried until I got it right. Oh, and I didn’t forget to do the “Ab Ripper X” like I did last Wednesday. I am always quite pleased with myself when I have completed another day. I told you all in my previous post that the “Recovery Formula” didn’t taste all that great to me. So after reading some other blogs I saw where someone said to mix it with some ice in a blender. Well that works pretty good and makes it taste a lot better. I think it taste best when it is really cold. If anyone has any recipes for cooking your meals using the “Portion” approach let me know. Today I am having fish for lunch and I not sure how to season it. I want to stay within the “Phase I Fat Shredder” serving chart.

Day 4 on P90X Thursday August 14, 2008

I forgot to tell you all that my P90X Recovery Formula came on August 12 and I didn’t get to use it until yesterday. On the infomercial the make it appear that the stuff taste so good that you look forward to drinking it. It has an orange flavor and scent to it but I can also smell something else like maybe the vitamins in it or something. I know most can’t smell things like that but I have a sensitive nose. Let me put it this way if you are going to drink it, drink it as fast as possible. The after taste will make you go “Blech” if you drink it slow. I did wake up feeling less sore today and it my be because of the Recovery Formula so next time I will drink up right after hitting the weights. I also feel like I got more rest out of my sleep too. Today breakfast was a bowl of Frosted Wheat, skim Milk, and 4 slices of Turkey Bacon. You know I was hoping that “Yoga X” would not be to difficult. I was shocked to read in my book that it was over 90 minutes long. And, that it will make you “Bring it” just like the others. So don’t think you are going to have an easy day because there are not weights involved. It’s a lot of stretching, and bending alone with a good amount of balancing. I am glad I had a mat from my previous exercises. So be sure that you have a mat to work out on. I got through it all and feel pretty good today.

Day 3 on P90X Wednesday August 13, 2008

Well I woke up kind of sore today around the chest, triceps, and legs. I felt a little better after a warm bath. Breakfast was really easy today. I had a bowl of Shredded Wheats, Milk, and 4 slices of Turkey Bacon. Shoulders and Arms was today’s workout. My first thought was how am I going to finish this when my arms are all ready sore. I previewed the DVD just to see what I would be doing. After seeing it I though this is going to be difficult but I will be determined to “Bring it”. I will tell you that warming up really helps loosen up your tight muscles. As I was going through the exercises I realized it would have been a good idea to buy the 1 piece dumbbell sets instead of the one with plates. Once I looked at the prices of those other sets and how many I would need to buy I decided to buy the set with the small bar, star collars, and plates. Now here is a piece of advise for those of us using this type of Dumbbell. On one of the exercises I need to change the weight of the Dumbbell so it best to do that exercise First and then Last for the repeat. That way I don’t have to change the bar right in the middle of everything. Oh, and guess what I did? I forgot to do the Ab Ripper X right after the Shoulders and Arms exercise? Now I have to go back sometime tonight and finish that part. I will try to make sure I don’t do that again.

Day 2 on P90X Tuesday August 12, 2008

Last night was kind of ruff for me. I felt like I was hungry for some reason. I did do a little extra working out since I had to go by the gym to get my weight which was 172lbs. After weighing in I decided to do some walking on the Tread Mill for about 1.25 miles. I guess I burned an extra 100 calories. Today’s breakfast consisted of Oatmeal with a little bit of Margarine sweetened with Honey, 4 slices of Turkey Bacon, half Whole Wheat Bagel, and a Banana. I thought I would take in an extra Carb because yesterday I felt like I had run out of energy. I felt much better after today’s workout. Plyometrics is a intense Cardio exercise with lots of jumping, twisting, and high stepping. I thought that it would not be to bad but I misjudged the intensity of this workout. I really keeps you moving to keep you heart rate in your target zone. So like they say be ready to “Bring it” when you start this one. Now if only my UPS guy would bring my Recovery Formula in time for me to drink it before I miss my hour of opportunity to use it. At first I was going to wait until a later time to start the workout so that by the time I finished I would closer to the time that the UPS usually comes but decide against it since Tony recommends that you exercise around the same time each day. So, since I saved my Banana for last it may have to do until snack time. My Chest and Arms feel a little sore from yesterdays workout but not to sore to be ready for tomorrows workout which will be Shoulders and Arms, and Ab Ripper X.

Day 1 on P90X Monday August 11, 2008

Today was my first day with the P90X Extreme Workout. Breakfast was a real treat cause I have never really liked eating Egg Whites by itself. Now I like Eggs just not the Whites by itself. I cheated and put some onions and green peppers in it. I also added some Hot Sauce and Black Pepper. The Turkey bacon was not to bad at all. Now, the Oatmeal was a challenge cause I don’t think I am suppose to use sugar. I added a little piece of margarine and some Honey which was tolerable.

I expected P90X to be difficult and of course it is. I pre-viewed the first disc Chest and Back. On the disc the call out reps in the twenty when they are doing chin-ups and push-ups. Now it would be nice if I could tell you that I did as many as they were doing. But like Tony says do as many as you can and pause the tape if you have to. Well, I did a lot of pausing of that tape. At one point I had to just stop the tape and rest and lay down because I was getting nauseas from working out. This happened when I was doing the second round at the Decline Push-up part. I think I rested for about 40 minutes before getting up to finish. When I looked at the time I noticed that I had passed my snack time by about 30 minutes. I ate my String cheese and decided I needed an extra Carb boost the I also ate a piece of Wheat bread. The book says that this is good when you feel like you have “boinked” and can’t finish your exercise. I did complete the Chest and Back work outs. Next comes the Ab Ripper X which is about 16 minutes long. It seemed easy enough but as the groups of exercises increase my energy decreased. On the last few I did not do as many as they did on the DVD. I will do better next time. But, for now I am just happy to have completed my first day.