Backing WAAAYYYY up..

Just because I wasn't committed fully and totally missed a lot. So Day 61.

This morning was Slim in 6 Cardio Core Express and followed that with a Greenberry Shakeology mixed with pineapple juice and a touch of coconut. Sound familiar? It should. It's my new favorite morning drink.

Later I had an apple for snack, a protein drink for lunch and for dinner pork chop, some garlic pasta (wheat of course with extra protein) and some broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

And I just finished up Plyometrics. And it kicked my butt. It's alright. I deserved it.

Gotta figure out the day

So tonight was ARX and Shoulders & Arms. Did amazingly well considering the amount of missed days.

Food - Light on the calories today. Shakeology for breakfast, protein drink for lunch, a little hamburger soup for dinner. Told you it was light.

I've been reflecting on the last couple of months. Asking myself why I'm doing this. People have asked me why too. The quick answer is because I feel good working out and I have more energy overall.

The deeper answer is because I've always been overweight and have never been really happy with how I look. Call it vanity if you want. I don't. I call it being happy with myself on the inside and just making the outside match.

An even deeper answer is my why is my kids. I need to be around for them. I'm 42, will be soon anyway, and I took a long hard look at myself. The way I was going between the foods I ate, the 6 to 8 liters of diet soda I drank everyday and the sedentary life; I was heading down the road of an early death. At one point I was at almost 230lbs. On a 5' 7" body that is a lot of weight.

I always watched the exercise commercials and said "Hey. That looks like I can do that. I should order that." Never did. Always sat there and said I needed to change my diet. Eat better. Never did. Saw the exercise machines advertised. Thought wow I could look like that and only have to use the machine for 15 minutes 3 times a week. I'm going to buy that. Never did.

I always had the thought to do something about my weight. I did a biggest loser thing at work. Sure I dropped some weight but it came back after the thing was over. Started going to the gym and worked out 4 or 5 times a week on average. Did a lot of treadmill and weights. It helped. I lost a little weight. I started at the gym in January this year. By June I had lost 5 or 10 lbs. Yay me! Not bad for 6 months, ya?

So then came my daughter. She had bought P90X. I had been watching the infomercials and found it interesting. I watched some of her DVDs and thought wow, that's crazy. I made a deal with her. I'd buy P90X and we would do this together. It was fine for the first week or 2 but she had some things going on and had to back out. (It's all good, Kendra!) I kept going and kept asking myself why am I putting myself through hell 6 days a week.

Then I started seeing changes, feeling changes and feeling better overall. I could go into the "infomercial testimonial" about P90X but I won't. Well not too much anyway.

I had my doubts about the program. 90 days to a ripped body. I'm not going to be ripped in 90 days. I know that. I have too much fat to burn off and I haven't been as diligent as I should have been. But has it changed me? Absolutely. In MANY ways. I eat better and smarter EVERY day. Sure I have candy bars, cakes and doughnuts. Just not all the time. I've stopped drinking soda for the most part. I still have a glass here and there but that's a far cry from 6 to 8 liters a day.

And it bugs me when I don't work out every day. It's not obsession. It's a lifestyle change. A change for the better. Better health and better living.

So find your WHY and think about it.

Not sure what day to call it

Regardless... Kenpo was on tap this morning. Tonight is going to be early to bed. It was a drag kind of day and really lacking energy. I've got to watch the calories and need to get more sleep.

Food - shakeology -- OH new recipe - Greenberry, 6 oz pineapple juice and a touch of coconut flavoring. Awesomeness in a glass let me tell you. Especially in the morning.

The rest of the day was some grapes, some nuts, some pineapple, a protein shake and dinner (hamburger soup).

Oh and yesterday I had done Cardio X in the morning. Forgot that on yesterday's post.

Blown up week...

...or so. It hasn't been the best couple of weeks. No excuses - just life. So I'm backing up a bit and getting back on track.

I've gone 60 days so there's no reason I shouldn't commit to the last 30. I'm not worried about my food plan. I've got that down pat. Plus with shakeology in the morning normally a protein shake for lunch and then a good dinner, I'm in good shape there.

So hell or high water I am working out every day and I'm going to get to where I need to be on day 90.

This is a lifestyle change and I beat myself up and feel terrible when I get off the routine. I've made a healthy choice for my life and there's no reason I should go back.

Back and chest tonight w/ARX.

DAY 70

I knocked it out of the park today, baby!

Breakfast - Greenberry Shakeology

Lunch - Chocolate Shakeology with strawberry protein powder

Dinner - about a cup of chili and a slice of lean ham (deli sliced)

Desert -
   From Slim in 6 --- Slim & 6pack and Cardio Core
   From P90X - Ab Ripper X and a whole bunch of Biceps and Triceps

BRING IT, BABY! I DARE YA!

Day 69?

Lost the week so calling today Day 69.

Shakeology for breakfast. Honestly had a hard time dealing with Shakeology when I first started it but it's really not bad. I've been drinking them in the morning mixing with just water. With the chocolate I was going with peanut butter at first but it's good by itself. Greenberry isn't bad either. Someone posted mixing it with pineapple juice and a banana. I'll have to give that a try.

Lunch was a strawberry protein drink, a protein bar and an apple.

Dinner was noodles, chicken and carrots.

And desert was Back and Chest with a side of Abs. Topped off with a smattering of biceps.

Very good night.

A lost week

It's sad. I lost a week. Camping for 3 days, a couple days sick, out of town, and finally got my cortisone shot in my shoulder.

Been feeling a little agitated with it all. Is it a bad thing to miss working out? Is it a bad thing that you've made a healthy change in your life and when you have to deviate from that change you get agitated and miss doing it? Seriously? Is it a bad thing or am I just obsessed?

So tonight I did Abs and CardioX. And I can certainly tell I've missed a week. So back on the RIGHT track and time to finish Round 1 of P90X strong. Still looking at Insanity and possibly RevAbs. I like the intense stuff.

Day 67 & 68

Really tired last night so I didn't workout and had a hard time getting up this morning. Part of it is my shoulder and it keeping me up at night.

So it was turn and burn tonight - abs followed by back and biceps followed by core. Craziness I know.

Gotta love it.

DAY 65 and 66

65 was yesterday. It was rest day although I had fun doing the pics and stats.

My son and I did go for a bike ride though. He's 5 but still manages to put in a 4 mile ride with relative ease. Didn't do 4 miles yesterday but he's more than capable.

66 - A night of rocking uggers and Chest, Shoulders and triceps. Very, very nice workout with increase in weights almost across the board. Even with the shoulder issues. Didn't do all the push-ups. If you've ever had this type of shoulder injury you'd understand. But I didn't stand around doing nothing. Instead of push-ups I either did more triceps or worked on the biceps. Always do something instead of nothing.

Food today -

Breakfast - snickers bar. What? Candy? Snickers Bar even!? How dare I!!!!! Ok relax. Chocolate shakeology with crunchy peanut butter and some caramel flavoring. Not too shabby.

Snack - protein bar
Lunch - boiled cabbage and a sausage
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - wheat spaghetti, sauce with a little meat.

Rock'in!!!!!!

DAY 60 STATS

                     START           30 DAYS               60 DAYS                   
Weight:        200 lbs            189 lbs                  180 LBS
Waist:          42 inches         39 inches              37 inches
Chest:         43 inches         41 inches               40 inches relaxed
Arms:          15 inches         15.5 inches            15.75 inches
Body fat:     21.6%              19.1%                     17.5%

DAY 60 PICS

DAY 62, 63, 64

I was pretty wiped out Thursday and Friday. My shoulder was bothering me quite a bit too. Have an appointment to get a cortisone shot to hopefully get it taken care of once and for all.

So today went for a couple mile walk to the library and back after dinner. And after that did uggers, legs and back and followed that with almost all of Kenpo. Yeah a pretty intense night of workouts.

Tomorrow stats and pictures for my sort of 60 day mark.

DAY 61 - Shoulders and Arms

Good workout on shoulders and arms. Not so good on uggers. I felt it coming on in the bonus round of shoulders and arms. 3/4 of the way through uggers and it hit me like a brick wall. A serious bonk. Need to tweak up the calories a bit more I think. I'm trying to find that balance where I'm taking in just enough calories so I'm burning fat and still have plenty of energy. May need to think about upping the good carbs a bit too. I know I'm getting enough protein.

I can't change what happened today but I can certainly look forward to tomorrow and make adjustments.

Loving every minute!!!

DAY 60 - can ya believe it?

Wow.. it's been a lot of work to get here and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Day 60. The official 2 month mark.

Did plyo tonight. Bonked the last half of the last set but I know why. Not enough calories for the day. It's all good. I'll make adjustments and press on.

Awesome day though. This weekend the 2 month pictures and stats. Excited to see what they hold.

DAY 59 - Umm... Don't do it!

I know I've said this before so let me say this again... maybe it will sink into my head... Don't do uggers 3 days in a row! It's KILLER!!!!

Anyway... WEEK 9!!! Back and chest and those... things. Feeling awesome all the same.

My Shakeology showed up today!! YAY! Perfect timing to start my 3rd month of P90X! I can't wait to try it out. Found great recipes to add variety. Going to give the 3 Day Cleanse a shot too. Need to give the fat loss a kick in the pants.

So food today -

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - apple
Lunch - chicken, mozzarella and turkey bacon and corn
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - ham and 3 pirogies

Feeling great and looking forward to tomorrow.

DAY 58 - Something new..

So today was supposed to be rest but considering I had Friday off, so to speak, I did uggers and something new - Cardio X. I kinda liked it. It's a combination of Yoga, Kenpo, Plyo and Core. I think it's going to be a common part of my morning workouts.

Today was kinda rough on food. Not that I didn't eat right just one of those days where I was hungry all the time. I could have easily gone to the kitchen and stuffed myself like a Thanksgiving turkey. But I had control.

Breakfast - Kashi cereal
Snack - none - late breakfast
Lunch - leftover 1/2 a chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella cheese wrapped in turkey bacon.
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - fish and broccoli

I did have a snack later - a handful of tortilla chips.

All in all a good day.

DAYS 56 & 57

Day 56 - Didn't workout. No real excuse just exhausted and spending time with family. Celebrated Jayven's 5th birthday a few days early with family. Have to set priorities you know.

Day 57 - Core followed by abs. Bonked on abs and should have done them first. I was also cramping tonight even during core so not sure what was going on.

Get some rest tonight and I think tomorrow I'm going to try doing cardio and kenpo.

Monday is week 9!!!!

DAY 54 and 55 - Need to catch up with things..

Certainly didn't slack off on things --

Day 54 - AM workout with Plyo. No evening workout. Spent a little time with Katie before she had to leave and made sure she had everything around.

Day 55 - No morning workout but up at 4am to take Katie to Scranton. Sad day. Always sad when the girls have to leave. And for this evenings workout - Uggers for the warm up followed by Kenpo. Crazy ya? Maybe tomorrow or Saturday I'll do uggers as warm up for Core followed by Cardio? That's REALLY crazy.

Can't really remember everything I ate over the last few days. I know my protein drinks and some apples. Had soy burger, tomatoes, wheat pasta throw together kinda meal Wednesday for dinner and again for lunch today. Really haven't been very hungry today.

OH and I've successfully removed diet soda as a necessary component of my normal day. That means 4 to 6 liters of soda daily is no more. Yay me!

DAY 53 - Uggers

Only did the uggers today. Better performance when you aren't already exhausted. So I think on ugger nights I'm going to do them first then the other workout.

At any rate. Tomorrow morning I'm doing core and tomorrow night I'm doing plyo.

Food - not the greatest day because I was in Syracuse.

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - none
Lunch - Beef stroganoff, salad, piece of bread and a small piece of brownie - I know, I know. I was hungry.
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - sloppy joe and some fries. I know, I know.

I'll make up for it.

DAY 52 - Good Night! - And holy crap - WEEK 8

Plyo was good tonight. I find it odd that tonight I was working out and a few times I found myself yawning. Must not have been breathing right or something. Trust me it's still a very tough workout so it wasn't boredom that was getting me. I even took some time to work on my arms - biceps and triceps. Not a lot mind you. Just a little extra.

Hey did you catch Tony Horton in the chat room? Excellent advice on getting better results on the pull-ups. I'm going to try it out.

Felt good all day.

Food - and let me know if you get tired of hearing what I ate. I know it's been kinda boring lately. Just working on getting that last bit of the middle gone.

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - apple
Dinner - some pizza. Daughter and Son-in-law took us out to dinner.

Rocking day. Tomorrow not sure if I'm going to get a morning workout or not. I have to be in Syracuse early in the morning. I will however make sure I get the evening workout in.

DAY 52 - Good Morning!!!

Wake up to Kenpo in the AM. Very nice way to start the morning. I so like doing the cardio stuff to start my day. Blood gets moving, heart pumping, calories burning, fat melting away. I just feel better the rest of the day.

So tonight I'm thinking Plyo and maybe sneaking some abs in there.

DAY 51

No workout today. Just realized this week is recovery week. Ummm.. Don't think so. I'm going to push hard this week. I have a goal to be at by day 60 and recovery week isn't going to cut it. Tons of cardio and stepping up the resistance.

It's going to be a tough week especially Tuesday. I have to be in Syracuse all day which means probably no morning workout. And Thursday an early morning to take Katie to the airport.

I'm pushing ahead and pushing hard. Day 60 here I come.

DAY 50 - Rest

Took today as a rest day. Spent several hours at my daughter's house for my son-in-law's birthday.

DAY 49 - PM

OMG. Kenpo and abs Thursday night, core Friday morning, go on a 3 or 4 mile bike ride, then back, legs and abs again Friday night. Made it through uggers but it wasn't pretty. Well actually the first 3/4 of abs was fine. And actually I did amazingly well. Made it all the way through pulse ups without a break. After that though it fell apart. It's ok. It happens. As Tony says "Do your best and forget the rest." I still did all the reps just not in the prettiest fashion.

So food today -

recovery drink
Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - apple
Lunch - ham sandwich and an apple
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - Burritos.

See? Told you I have regular food in the diet and not just protein drinks. So can't wait to order my Shakeology.

DAY 49 - AM

Did core again this morning. I know. Need to change it up. Tonight Back, Legs and Abs. Tomorrow maybe something different. Doing Kenpo for sure and maybe CardioX. I haven't done that one yet.

DAY 48 - PM Edition

I'm BAAACKKK!!! Full round of uggers and did Kenpo. Those that may be just joining me - uggers are abs. 339 motions on abs. 11 exercises 25 reps of each. Well.. leg climbs are 12 per leg and Mason twists are 40 reps. ANYWAY... it's 339 moves. I may have actually done a few extras here and there.

Feeling great today. Again plenty of energy through the day after this morning's workout. 

Food for the day -

recovery drink after this morning. 

Breakfast - protein drink

Snack - Protein bar

Lunch - what was left of the Teriyaki beef.

Snack - protein drink - tried something new. Had 35g of protein with like 10g of carbs. Was really good. Waiting to get my Shakeology though. (Check it out and if you're interested let me know.) 

Dinner - small piece of steak, baked potato and mixed vegetables. 

I know some of you might be wondering about all the protein drinks and bars. I'm sort of on a cleanse routine at the moment. I am taking a packed multi-vitamin Activit every day and I still add actual food to my day. I'm watching my caloric intake to make sure I'm where I should be. I also eat fruits and veggies. So I'm getting everything I need but keeping the carbs down to almost nothing. For example to other day I took in about 1800 calories. My protein intake was around 240g but my carbs were way down around 50g. I'm not worried about too much protein because any extra protein my body doesn't need just passes through and isn't stored. 

It'll be so much easier with Shakeology. It's really meant as a meal replacement. 

Great day and great night. 

DAY 48 - Back and Biceps in the AM

Love doing these. Actually love the results. I was going through the routine and got to thinking. It's better to workout on an empty stomach to capitalize on the calorie burn. So if I'm getting up in the morning to workout and have really cold muscles I was thinking it made more sense to do the cardio stuff in the morning. More calories burnt = more fat burnt = lower body fat percentage = happy Jack. :)

So from now on I'm going to do my cardio in the morning - Kenpo, Core, Plyo, Abs, etc and do all the resistance work in the evening.

That said - Kenpo to replace Yoga tonight and I'm doing abs.

DAY 47 - Morning Core

Up early and did Core this morning. Nice getting up and getting that blood flowing, muscles pumping. Felt really good all day. Even with the busy day work I had energy to spare.

Food today -

After workout recovery drink so it was late breakfast but that was a protein drink.

Snack - none. It was more or less my breakfast.
Lunch - leftovers from last night. Just the meat and veg. No pasta.
Snack - some peanuts
Dinner - same as lunch.

Ended up being light on calories today but had my protein just about where it needed to be. Carbs were well under control. Tomorrow's another day I'm really looking forward to it.

DAY 46 - Plyometrics and something popped..

I'm back!  And no, nothing broke and I'm not hurt. I'll get to the pop in a sec.

Plyo was great! Sure it was harder than it has been BUT I pushed through it all and I feel really good right now.

So call me crazy. Like I said the handles are going to be gone by day 90. I'm stepping up and bringing it full force. Enough jerking around. I'm going to borrow something from one of my coaches - Tommy Mygrant:

"Nobody but you owns your life!! So stop blaming everyone else and starting taking responsibility for who you are, where you're at, and what you do from this point forward!! IF NOT YOU, WHO?? IF NOT NOW, WHEN???"

POP!!!!!

So what does that mean for me? It means I'm done coming up with excuses for missing this or that. Done making stupid choices on food. I'm bringing it. I love working out, I love the results. Mostly though I love how I feel. I have more energy when I'm working out than I do when I miss days. I was really dragging this last weekend and Monday.

POP!!!!!

SO Bring It I shall. Morning workouts along with the evening workouts. Better choices on food. It's going to be dramatic.

So how about you? What do you think? Crazy? Obsessed? How about tired of having the fat around the middle? How about tired of just being tired? How about YOU step up and join the fun? I'm more than happy to help you out and get you going. It takes work. It's not quick fix. BUT you'd be amazed at how you feel after the first few days. AMAZING! I'd be right there with you every step of the way.

I'm changing my life and if you want to change your life you know where to find me.

DAY Hmmm....

I'll have to figure out where I am actually. Technically day 49 but I haven't worked out since Wednesday\Thursday last week. So lets pick up at Day 45.

Chest, Back and Triceps. Uggers too. It feels good to be back to working out. I crashed on uggers. Paid for not doing them Wednesday and Friday last week. I'll get back up to speed.

The past is the past and just need to focus on today. So I'm going to do my best to double up this week. I have a goal to lose the love handles by day 90. Very doable. Just need to focus on what I'm doing and eating.

So food today -

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - beef jerky and an apple
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - 6 ravioli with cheese.

So no updates...

... went camping this weekend. No workouts unless you consider putting up tents, taking them down, hiking, walking around the park and swimming.

Doubles this week!

Day 44 - Night workout...

Umm. Yeah not. Busy tonight getting ready to go camping this weekend. Unless you want to consider sweating my butt off putting up the house of a tent, rounding up everything in the basement, going up and down the stairs a few dozen times, taking down the house of a tent, blah, blah, blah. It's all good. It'll be a fun weekend.

Besides, I worked out this morning. I'll probably get up early tomorrow and workout then.

And about morning workouts. I kinda like them. More energy through the day, more focused, easier to get things done through the day. Let's see if it helps me sleep better too.

And one more and... I'm a coach now so if you have questions or want to check things out for yourself or whatever visit my coach page:

http://beachbodycoach.com/JackMason

And of course let's not forget the daily food rundown:

Breakfast - recovery drink after my workout.
Snack - more of a late breakfast - but a protein drink and some cantaloupe
Lunch - brown rice, chicken and more cantaloupe
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - half a subway sub - wheat bread, chicken breast, green peppers, lettuce, cucumber, pickle and lite mayo.

Half Way....

I was sitting here and realized I'm half way through P90X. It just boggles my mind. This is an amazing program and it does work. Thoughts running through my head sound like an infomercial. But I can honestly say it really does work. I know I might not hit where I want to be at the end of the 90 days and that's ok. But there's nothing stopping me from doing round 2. 

I've learned so much going through this. There are two big things I've learned so far. Food being one of them. I've really started to think about everything I put into my mouth. I think about how it's going to affect me, if it's good carb or bad carb, portion sizes when I don't have any other options. Just a ton about what you should and shouldn't eat.

The second big thing and probably the bigest is that I can push myself hard and do things I didn't think I could possibly do. I'm turning 42 in a few months and I never thought I could look as good or feel as good as I do. Sure 20 years ago maybe but not at 42. I know I have more work to get where I want to be. But even where I am now I've gotten compliments about how I look. You know the "Wow! Are you losing weight?" or the "That's really working for you. I can see the difference. You look good."

That is probably the biggest motivator for me. I look in the mirror every day. I see changes but because I see myself every day it's not as dramatic. People that I see maybe once a week or once a month notice it even more.

The other day I noticed something I hadn't before. I was doing stretches before a workout and happened to look down at my arm. There was a ridge on the back of my arm. I know it's a simple thing but the definition I'm seeing in my arms and other parts of my body I've never seen before. I really DO have abs! No I'm not being conceited or self absorbed or anything like that. I'm just amazed at the changes I'm seeing every day. It feels good!

I'm amazed at the things I can do even in the workouts. I remember watching the P90X commercial and seeing someone do corncobs. I was thinking "wow. Yeah right. I could never do those." Well... I'm doing them. Even beyond that everyday things seem better. I'm more focused on things, I have more energy (would probably be even better if I slept better at night. That's a bed issue though), confidence is higher and just about everything is better.

So I look back over the last 6 weeks and see where I started and where I am now. The transformation to this point is amazing. Can't wait to hit day 60 and day 90.

DAY 44 - Morning workout...

So I got up early this morning and did biceps and back. It was actually kinda nice doing it in the morning. More energy all day long.

I didn't do abs but I'll be doing them tonight after I do Core. No yoga. Too hard on the shoulder right now.

Day 43 - No workout

Long day in Syracuse for classes. Ended up in a meeting too. I didn't get home until 7:30 so it was late before I even had a chance to think about working out.

I think they're trying to kill us. Lunch was fried chicken, mashed potatoes made with sour cream and drenched in butter, green beans drenched in butter, Italian bread, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and salad. Ugh. I should look into Shakeology.

SO.. food for the day:

Breakfast - orange juice and a protein bar
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - 1 small drumstick - coating was picked off. Just ate the meat. Salad, about 10 beans, 1/4 cup or less of mashed potatoes.
Snack - none
Dinner - late - brown rice and cantaloupe
Snack - carrots... I was hungry.

DAY 42 - Plyo. And you know what? Week 6!

Just realized that I'm in to week 6 already. Where did the time go? See what happens when you are having fun and enjoying what you're doing?

So plyo tonight. I can tell I haven't done plyo in a couple weeks. I kicked my butt. I guess all the more reason to turn things up.

Food for the day -

Breakfast - the usual. What can I say? Quick, easy and I really do enjoy it.
Snack - some cantaloupe and blueberries - word of caution if you pick fresh blueberries - DON'T freeze them. Completely changes the taste.
Lunch - brown rice and chicken.
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - 6oz pork chop, brown rice and spaghetti squash

Off to ice the shoulder.

Shoulder Update

Just got back from the doctor. Acromio-clavicular bursitis. Fancy words for an inflamed joint in the shoulder. It's a minor joint where your collar bone ties in to your shoulder. It's very common and very easy to treat. Ice twice a day especially after working out. Generally clears up after a month. Or get a cortisone shot and have it done with. I'm trying the ice first.

So it's GOOD news!!

DAY 40 - Rest -- DAY 41 - Back, Chest and Triceps and of course...

UGGERS!!!

Ok so I bonked a little on the uggers. It was a real struggle getting it all done. I did it but it wasn't pretty. I'm blaming it on dinner. Should have known better.

So I'm going to be making some changes. I really need to step some things up because I really want to get rid of the fat I have around the belly and sides. I need to do more cardio or more of something. More than just the normal workout each night. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do but I'll find a way.

So the food --

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice
Snack - cantaloupe
Lunch - brown rice, chicken and blueberries
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - spaghetti VERY small portion but it kicked my ass.

DAY 39 - Kenpo and a little extra

Kenpo tonight! Love it. Had a little extra workout today. Spent an hour at Dorchester Lake working out the legs on a paddle boat. And a round of miniature golf later in Vestal.

Food today -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal
Snack - none
Lunch - Leftover beef Lo Mein and rice
Snack - none
Dinner - 1 small hamburger, 3 ears of corn on the cob and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.

Tomorrow - Plyo. I'm going to try to do it first thing in the morning.

DAY 38 - Legs and Back and Uggers.

Yeah, baby! 3 times in a row making it all the way through Abs. Fewer and shorter breaks!

I think the biggest motivator in all of this are the little successes I have each night. A few more reps, a little more weight... making it all the way through something I've struggled with. It's those little things that make you feel the best. That boost of "Hey! I really can do this!" It makes it all worth it. I can be beat after, or even during, a workout but I still smile when I look over my sheet and see I did a little more of everything.

That's why I'm so excited about abs. Unlike everything else, you do these every other day. You put a lot more sweat and effort into this above everything else. So even when you complete all 25 reps of just one of the eleven moves you say, "Wow! I did it." It gives you a boost of confidence. Even doing just 1 or 2 more than you did the other night is a big boost.

Now that I'm completing all reps of all 11 moves I'm pumped. I know I still have work to do on them. They ain't easy! I still take mini breaks but each time there are fewer and shorter breaks. So now my goal is to do all reps and all moves without ANY breaks.

Tonight was a smile night. I made it through the first 6 of the 11 moves without a break. Which is better than I did on Wednesday.

So food for the day -

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice
Snack - cantaloupe
Lunch - chicken
Snack - protein drink and blueberries
Dinner - soft taco - wrap, 1/2 cup meat, lettuce, tomato, olives

Feeling great!!!

DAY 37 - No Yoga... Core instead.

Yep. Did Core instead of Yoga. I know I should be doing Yoga. It'll help increase my flexibility and balance. Problem is I'm still having to skip a lot of it because of my shoulder. And YES I did make an appointment with the doctor. I'm going Tuesday morning.

Anyway... I love core and I feel the results. I like yoga too but if I'm going to work out I need to get as much as I can out of it. So it's core. Seems kind of strange to do core with everything you do with your arms. It still bothers me but with yoga I'm torquing my shoulder too much. Especially on the chaturangas.

I did bonk tonight a bit. Had a very late dinner and had the bad 'I' word. I know.. not smart. But I did do everything.

Food for the day -

Breakfast - protein drink and some orange juice
Snack - apple
Lunch - leftover chinese from last night - not the smartest.
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - chicken, brown rice and corn... and a little later... the "I" word.

DAY 36 - Biceps and Back and of course uggers

So an awesome workout.. sort of. It's the first week with new exercises so still figuring out how to do the new things. Corncob pull-ups? OMG. They are pretty cool. Hard as hell but pretty darn cool. I seriously need to get a bar up though. It'd be much better than trying to do pull-ups with my fingertips on the beam. I'd probably get much better results.

Anyway it was a great workout. AND 2nd night of uggers and completed ALL 349 moves once again. Fewer breaks, many with no breaks at all.

Food for the day -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal and blueberries
Snack - none
Lunch - garden salad with chicken and ice tea
Snack - none
Dinner - some Chinese - beef lomein and vegetable fried rice.

DAY 35 - LLOOONNNGGGG

Very long day. I didn't get home until 8:30 - 9:00 tonight. I was supposed to do Plyo. Yeah not happening. I'll make it up though. I'm going to turn things up a few notches. I'm loving it!!

Food -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal and a protein drink
Snack - some blueberries
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - protein drink --- I was at work so selection was limited.
Late snack -- I know... bad choice... peanut-butter and jelly sandwich on 12 grain whole grain bread and some beef jerky.

DAY 33 & 34 - Yeah Baby! Week 5

Day 33 (Sunday) was rest. I was going to do Core but opted not to. Did go blueberry picking in the rain though. 17 pounds of blueberry picking to be exact.

SO.. Today, day 34, was the first day of WEEK 5 - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and the ever lovely Uggers (Ab Ripper X, in case you're just joining me.)

Awesome workout and a nice change of pace. Entirely new routine - 25 exercises to be exact. Even with my shoulder still bothering me (yes I'm going to get it checked out) I was surprised at what I could do.

BUT... the most AMAZING thing was I did all 349 ab and core moves from Ab Ripper X!!!! You have no idea how excited I am about that. Every other day for a month I've been struggling to do them all. Every other day for a month I've seen a little improvement here and there. Maybe doing an extra rep before I take a break. But NEVER have I been able to do all the reps. Tonight I did it! FINALLY! Excited, excited excited!!!!

Food for the day -

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice
Snack - apple
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - 1/4 cup of peanuts
Dinner - turkey sausage, peppers and onions and mixed vegetables

Tomorrow - Plyo

Bringing it!!

30 Day Pics - scary

DAY 32 - Kenpo

Kenpo was on tap for tonight. Tomorrow is rest day but I'm doing Core. Monday starts the week 5 routine. I'm SO looking forward to it.

Food -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal and some blueberries
Snack - didn't have one
Lunch - Protein drink
Snack - beef jerky
Dinner - brown rice, squash and zucchini, turkey burgers
And cheated a little with a little fat free ice cream

Updated pictures tomorrow night.

30 Day Stats

Ok so I was going to do this tomorrow but...


                     START                30 DAYS                               
Weight:        200 lbs                   189 lbs
Waist:          42 inches                39 inches
Chest:         43 inches                41 inches
Arms:          15 inches                15.5 inches
Body fat:     21.6%                     19.1% 

Pictures will be posted later this weekend.

DAY 31 - Pretty cool seeing that 31

Legs, back and abs. I didn't do much in the pull-ups department. Still having problems with my shoulder. SO... Monday it's make an appointment day with the Doctor to have him check it out. I'm hoping it's nothing serious and it doesn't impact me too much.

Love the workout otherwise... wellll.. not so much doing abs but like I've said I'm seeing changes and that's what counts.

Food today -

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - apple
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - protein drink
Dinner -- yeah I know. Not cool - a couple small slices of pizza.


So tomorrow is Kenpo. Sunday I'm doing core and I'm doing my 30 day pics and measurements. Should be interesting.

DAY 30 - Woot

So officially 30 days of working out. Yeah a skipped week in there but still.

Last night I switched it up. Instead of doing Yoga I did Core. I like Core and it was a very good workout.

Food yesterday -

Breakfast - Protein drink
Snack - missed it
Lunch - more of the tuna
Snack - apple
Dinner - 2 small pieces of pizza

DAY 29 - Arms, Shoulders and uggers

Great workout once again. I just love doing this. Uggers were ok. Definitely a little more difficult doing them 2 days in a row. But the results are worth it.

Food yesterday -

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - a little spaghetti
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - a tuna dish - wheat pasta, tuna, broccoli, tomatoes. Wasn't too bad.

DAY 28 - Plyo and Uggers

Very nice workout. Uggers after Plyo maybe questionable tactic but it was still a good night.

Food for the day was:

Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - apple
Lunch - a little spaghetti
Snack - Applesauce
Dinner - eggs, turkey bacon and pancakes (from scratch). Pancakes probably weren't the best part of the meal from the carb standpoint BUT they tasted very good.

DAY 27.. yes repeat

So I'm repeating week 3. Back and chest last night was great. I was actually able to do dive bombers and did quite a few. It was surprising.

I didn't do abs. I wasn't feeling right so I'll do them tonight with Plyo. End of this week I'll take measurements and put up 30 day pictures.

Food yesterday -
Breakfast - protein drink
Snack - 1/2 cup cottage cheese
Lunch - 1/2 cup cottage cheese and grapes
Snack - some peanuts
Dinner - spaghetti - probably why I wasn't feeling so great

Feels good to be back in the swing of things.

Home

Made it home safe and sound. Tomorrow getting back on track.

So...

Working out at Disney all week didn't work out to well. Did lots of walking and sweating though. I'll be home late Sunday so Monday I'm going to repeat week 3 and then move on to Week 5. And I'm going to go through an intense fat burner couple of weeks. Food was very difficult to deal with down there. Yes I ate too much and not the best so I'm going to have to get back on track.

DAY 27 - Fayetteville, NC

Long day on the road. Got to the hotel at about 5:15. Went to dinner, came back and swam for an hour. Now I'm relaxing (9:15pm). Yes supposed to do Yoga but not tonight. I'll do that when we get to Disney tomorrow. It's a drive day and just hang out at the resort. So Yoga tomorrow.

Food - don't ask and I won't tell.

DAY 26 - Core and Stretch

Core and yes I did Stretch. Donna made an observation just a few minutes ago. I didn't do my workout yesterday and I slept terribly last night. I did too. Tossed and turned for hours.

Anyway... Feeling really good. Did better on Core than I did the other day.

Food -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal
Snack - none
Lunch - the other half of the sub I had last night.
Snack - none
Dinner - beef soup.

Yeah not a great day for food. It was a busy day finishing up getting ready for Florida. Tomorrow morning is an early wake-up - 3:30am - and hitting the road. Stopping in Fayetteville, NC for the night. Then arrive in Disney Sunday afternoon.

And yes I'm going to continue working out along with a ton of walking, swimming and sweating.

DAY 25 - Stretch

Didn't do it today. It was a busy day with getting ready for Florida. I'll make it up. Tomorrow is Core again and I'll probably do Stretch. It'll be an early night because it will be an early wake-up on Saturday to head out.

Food today - kinda light

Breakfast - Kashi cereal
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - 6" 9 grain honey oat sub - chicken breast, lettuce, cucumber, pickle, green pepper and a little lite mayo.
Snack - some peanuts.

I know not the best.

DAY 24 - Kenpoooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Still can't decide which I like better. Awesome workout. Taught Jayven (my almost 5 year old) how to do the elbow series, sort of. He loves working out with me. Great workout - I already said that. My coordination is getting much, much better.

Food today - another protein kinda day. Might as well keep it simple and tell you to look at yesterday's post for my food.

Loving this more and more every day.

DAY 23 - Core Synergistics

OMG! That is an awesome workout. I'm not sure which I like better - Kenpo or Core. I held up pretty good. Sphinx push-ups - yeah. They're  going to take some work. Those are NOT easy.

Food today - It was a protein kinda day.

Breakfast - Kashi cereal and protein drink
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - 1/2 cup cottage cheese
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - didn't eat dinner. It was late when I got home and I wanted to get my workout in earlier.

So here's a quandary. Next week I am supposed to start week 5. That means I'd be back to doing weights. Problem is I'm going to be in Florida all week. I really don't want to haul my weights down to Florida.

SO... I'm going to double up this week. I'm going to do 2 weeks of the recovery.

Here's the logic -
 1 - I don't need the weights. I can use the bands for the 2 or 3 things that need them. Bands are easier to throw in the truck than weights.
 2 - I could really use the extra core work.
 3 - It's a lot of cardio with Core, Kenpo and Yoga. Plus I'm really going to need to burn the extra calories off. Granted we're going to be doing a lot of walking in Disney but food choices are going to be somewhat limited from the healthy point of view. Yes I'll be using portion control.

So it's going to through me off on the 90 days by a week but it's not like I'm taking a week off. I'm still going to work out every night. At least I'm going to do my best to work out every night. We are on vacation so I may miss a night of the regular hour workout. Maybe I'll kick in an uggers session. It's only 16 minutes.

DAY 21 & 22

Day 21 was a rest day. I should have posted what I had for food because right now I don't remember everything. I know I had Kashi cereal for breakfast, a protein bar for snack. Oh a very small steamed hamburger and a few tatter tots. Ok so it wasn't the best dinner.

Day 22 - Officially started week 4 with Yoga. Still some problems with moving asanas. Primarily the Vinyasas and chaturangas. But it's getting better.

Food today:

Breakfast/lunch - Kashi cereal (slept in late)
Dinner - McDonalds Bacon-Ranch salad w/o the ranch dressing. Chicken was grilled.

Feeling good.

DAY 20 - Keeping it simple

Kenpo - Nothing to say but love it. Maybe next time I'll do it twice in a row. Goes WAY to fast.

Tomorrow is rest day but I might do stretch. We'll see.

Food -

Breakfast - Kashi cereal and blueberries
Snack - didn't really have one. I think I had some orange juice
Lunch - spaghetti
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - 6oz pork chop, rice and black beans 1/2 cup, mixed vegetables.

Have a very safe and happy 4th of July everyone!

DAY 19 - Legs, Back and ugghers

Wow. Can't believe it's day 19. Closing in on the end of the first month pretty fast. Today was legs, back and ugghers. That's what I'm calling abs now. Did great on the legs and while I gave the pull-ups a shot it didn't work too well so I stuck with using the bands. My shoulder does feel better today too. Heating pad and sleeping with those disposable heat pads stuck to my shoulder helped a lot. Still I took it easy. Kenpo tomorrow and rest on Sunday. And.... wow recovery week!

So what does recovery week entail?
Day 1 - Yoga
Day 2 - Core Synergistics
Day 3 - Kenpo
Day 4 - Stretch
Day 5 - Core Synergistics
Day 6 - Yoga
Day 7 - Rest or Stretch

Ok so what is Core? Let's see the book says - Stacked foot/staggered hand push-ups, Banana roll, Leaning crescent lunges, squat run, sphinx push-up, bow to boat, low lateral skaters, lunge and reach... holy crap.. there are 22 moves in this thing. So much for recovery.

Actually what they mean for recovery is to drop the weight training and work on cardio, flexibility, balance, core muscle groups, etc.

So food today -
Breakfast - Kashi oat flake cereal and protein drink
Snack - Protein bar
Lunch - spaghetti
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - fish, cauliflower, carrots, brown rice.

It was a good day! Love it!

DAY 18 - Yoga

Ok so that was interesting with the shoulder. I couldn't do all of the Asanas. Too tweaky on the shoulder. Had problems with warrior poses too. Just the odd twisting of the shoulder. Damn shoulder. I'm starting to use heat and cold on it. See if I can get things to correct themselves. Might need to just give it a good rest too. Tomorrow is supposed to be legs and back and abs. It might turn out to be just legs and abs. Saturday is Kenpo and that didn't seem to bother me last week. We'll see.

Food - yeah. early morning. Sucks when you have someone call in 20 minutes after they were supposed to be there. Rushed out of the house to cover.

Breakfast - Orange juice and about an hour later protein drink
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - spaghetti - small portion about a cup
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - 6" 9 grain wheat sub - chicken breast, lettuce, green peppers, cucumber and a touch of lite mayo.

I'll probably end up eating something a little later. Sticking with high protein of course.

DAY 17 - Arms, Shoulders (ouch) and..ugh... you know whats.

So arms and shoulders. Yes my shoulder is still hurting. I went down in weights in some moves but up in others. Still have to be careful with the shoulder. It's odd because where it was hurting last week it's fine. Now it's moved down the arm and closer to the neck. And it's not the kind of hurt as in sore muscles from working too much. This is pain as in almost tearing the muscle and extremely weak in certain directions. Either way I'm being careful.

And yes did them very painful things they call abs. BUT I'm getting better at them.

Food - very light food wise

Breakfast - protein drink, oj and kashi cereal
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - protein drink
Snack - pineapple
Dinner - small portion of wheat spaghetti and salad.

Love it!!

DAY 16 - I don't know what it is....

But I really like doing Plyometrics. It's harder than you can believe and painful but I love it. I don't know if it's the jumping around or what it is but it's great. And like everything else I see improvements every time I do it. Hot foot.. you hop on one foot moving your foot in a cross pattern. When I first did plyo I couldn't do it to save my life. 4 or 5 crosses and I was done. Now, keep in mind this is only the 3rd time I've done plyo, I'm doing the full 30 seconds on each foot. LOVE IT!

Anyway... plyo is awesome.

Food today -

Breakfast - protein drink and oj. Go figure.
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - 4 oz steak and 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup of pineapple
Snack - protein drink
Dinner - kashi oat flakes

I know. Should have had the cereal for breakfast. I had a late lunch so wasn't really hungry and didn't want to cook.

Happy days I tell ya.

DAY 15 - WEEK 3

Amazing. Just did back and chest. First round I upped the weight to 45lbs. Easily did 15 reps on back-fly and lawnmowers. So second round upped to 55lbs. NOT ENOUGH still cranked out 15 reps. Amazing because a couple weeks ago 25lbs was just right.

Even with my shoulder still a bit tender I was able to do push-ups and pull-ups. Some of the push-ups I was able to do 20 to 25 each round. Others not so much. Diamond I had to do from the knees. Tweaked my shoulder too much. Dive-bombers - not a chance in hell I was going to do those with my shoulder.

Pull-ups I still did a fair amount but not what I should be able to do. I think part of it is because I'm using the beam for my pull-up bar so I'm doing them with my finger tips. I need to figure something out to mount a bar.

Food -

Breakfast - protein drink and oj
Snack - protein bar
Lunch - 1 cup salad, 4oz chicken, 1/2 cup low fat yogurt blended w/fresh strawberries.
Snack - protein shake
Dinner - steamed zucchini, brown rice and about 6oz of steak

Was a very good day and so excited to be in my 3rd week of this. Loving it and bringing it!

DAY 14

Officially 2 weeks into P90X. And I took it easy today. I really want to go downstairs and do something... anything. But I need to give my shoulder a break. It won't do any good if it's injured to the point I can't do anything at all. So I've been truly resting it.

Food today -
Breakfast - Kashi cereal and blueberries
Snack - no morning snack because it was a late breakfast.
Lunch - tuna salad sandwich w/celery and spinach
Snack - protein bar
Dinner - leftover Cajun garlic spinach chicken and noodles
I was hungry so another snack - a little beef jerky

Tomorrow Day 15 and back to the routine. Last week of same routine then a so called recovery week.

DAY 13 - Kenpo - love it

So day 13. Can you believe it's been 2 weeks already? Today was Kenpo and makeup day for Ab Ripper. On both accounts not a bad workout at all. I hate abs but love the results. Every time I do them I make a little more progress. A few more reps, a little bit longer on the mason twists. And I notice the improvement to other workouts too. Balance is even getting better.

All I can say about Kenpo is I love it.

Food -
Breakfast - 1 cup Kashie oat flakes with blueberries and orange juice. Gasp! No protein drink.
Snack - No snack. It was a late morning and a late lunch
Lunch - salad and cottage cheese (1/2 cup)
Snack - Blueberry protein slushy
Dinner - Cajun Garlic Spinach Chicken w/egg noodles in a garlic white sauce and salad.

Ok let me give you the recipe because it was my concoction.

3 chicken breasts - cubed.
1/2 bag of whole spinach - loosely chopped
4 cloves of fresh garlic (or more if you really like garlic chicken) - chopped
Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil.
1/2 bag of egg noodles
1/2 can of low salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup of 2% milk
2 - 3 tablespoons minced garlic.
Salt and pepper

Serves 4 - Serving size -- 1 cup egg noodles and 1 1/2 cup of chicken (about 6oz)

While the egg noodles are cooking -

Put the cubed chicken in a large skillet. Add olive oil and fresh chopped garlic. Cook chicken over medium high heat stirring occasionally.  When almost done add Cajun seasoning (to taste) and chopped spinach. Continue cooking over medium heat stirring occasionally.

White sauce - mix flour and milk in a small sauce pan. Stir constantly over high heat until it starts to steam. Add chicken broth stirring constantly. Once it starts to boil add minced garlic. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the egg noodles but do not rinse. Place them back in the pan and pour the white sauce over them. Mix the noodles around until the sauce thickens (about 3 minutes).

Serve as a side or put the chicken over the top.

PS - I think I lost my daughter in the whole journey thing. Hope she has a compass.

DAY 12 - Legs, back and abs

Well.. no abs tonight. Rough day. I'm doing abs tomorrow with Kenpo. As far as legs go it was an awesome workout. Back not so much. My shoulder is still bothering me quite a bit so the pull-ups (that I forgot about on this one) were killing my shoulder. Couldn't do many at all. Rather than risk serious injury I backed off doing those. I was able to use the bands so I still got a workout that way. I just don't feel it was as good as if I were doing the pull-ups.

Food today:

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice
Snack - 1/2 cup cottage cheese
Lunch - leftover Chinese from last night - small portion
Snack - protein drink and beef jerky
Dinner - last of the Chinese

Kenpo tomorrow with Abs. Other than my shoulder I feel really good.

DAY 11 - Ahhhh.. yoga

Yoga is very nice. Still having issues with a few things but doing better. Flexibility is improving. So are the abs. And even better that I did it later at night. I'm stretched and relaxed. So hot shower and off to bed soon.

Food today - let's see.

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice. I know I have that every morning. It's just convenient.

Snack - yogurt

Lunch - tuna wrap - tuna, lettuce, celery, spinach, carrots, onion

Snack - protein drink

Dinner - I cheated. Chinese. But it was small portion. Beef and Chinese vegetables, vegetable fried rice.

Feeling good for the most part. My shoulder is still sore and I was feeling it with yoga tonight. Tomorrow is legs and back so the shoulder will have a rest. Then Saturday is Kenpo. Should be in good shape.

DAY 10 - Have I told you... yep I did.

I hate abs. Does it ever get easier? Guess that's a stupid question considering every time I do abs I get a few more in. /smile Yep. Arms, shoulders and Ab Ripper X. Did better all the way around. I like seeing the improvement each time. Gives you that little boost you need when you can do a few more pounds or a few more reps.

Food - light day really.

Breakfast - protein drink and orange juice

Lunch - cup-o-noodles and a protein drink

Dinner - tuna salad wrap - tuna fish, celery, spinach, carrots, lettuce, onion

Yep light day. I was getting hungry about the time I left work but other than that no real problems and I didn't feel like I was tanking my workout due to lack of energy.

Oh and I lost 3 more pounds since last Wednesday. So about 7 lbs and 2 inches off the waist in 10 days.

Day 9...DONE!

Wow...Plyo is hard! Definitely need to get a heart rate monitor. I think mine is getting too high, but I don't want it getting too low. Some of those exercises in Plyo I hate, but results will soon show and I'll love them ;)

Plyo is definitely not ideal with cramps.....UGH!

Food was off today. Went to the pool with the kids.

DAY 9 - Feeling good!!

Woot! Day 9 is down. Second round of Plyometrics and it was AWESOME. I did take 2 extra 30 second breaks because my heart rate was way up BUT I did complete almost ALL of the same number of reps and same amount of time for everything. Amazing. And considering I was as tired as I was before doing Plyo it was even better.

Why was I tired? Long drive to Watertown to teach a class.

Food - again not the best because it was road trip day.

Wait before I get in to what I had to eat I wanted to bring something up. In the nutrition plan.. I think that's where I saw it, maybe not, someone said that when you're cleaning your system out and happen to have bad carbs it tends to drag the energy right out of you. LET ME TELL YOU.... It's true. I was doing fine energy wise all day long. Then in the training class they ordered pizza. I had a small 3 inch by 3 inch  (if that) piece of pizza. About 20 minutes later I was ready for bed - and I still had a 3 hour drive home.

SO for the food -

Breakfast - protein drink, orange juice and half an english muffin (wheat)

Lunch - the stupid piece of pizza, protein drink

Snack - protein bar

Dinner - shrimp stir-fry and rice.

Bringing it and loving it.

Day 8; Week 1 Complete ;)

One week down! Woo hoo! It's exciting because there is one muscle in my arm that is starting to improve and Wade felt it and high 5ed me! It makes me so happy when he's so excited about my accomplishment with it!

Chest and Back was easier this time around, but definitely not a piece of cake. I was so pumped on Ab Ripper X. I did the Mason Twist for 20 sec continuously. I decided I'll up it every time or so. My abs just burn after that. Feel the burn.

My diet was off today. Had a protein shake this morning and then was on the road. Had a fruit cup and then some somewhat healthy mac and cheese. Didn't go as planned for supper, but tomorrow it will. I was craving a salad, but didn't make it in time. Bummer! Good ole Runza ;)

Congratulations Donna for graduating today! Congratulations Dad for completing Week 1 too! 12 weeks to go!! I'm so excited!

DAY 8 - 1 week down

So 1 week down and today was chest, back and Ab Ripper X. I did abs first and didn't do too bad. The Mason Twists are killers. But it's only been a week. I'm getting there. Saw improvement in everything all the way around so I'm feeling REALLY good. My right shoulder is a little sore but it was sore when I got up this morning. Must have slept wrong. It's just more sore now than it was.

Food - Kept it a pretty light day on food. I've been feeling bloated with all the food so I'm backing down the quantity.

Breakfast - protein shake and orange juice.

Snack - protein shake

Lunch - shrimp stir-fry with rice, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and some yogurt.

Haven't eaten anything else. Donna had graduation so our night has been busy. All good though and congratulations to her for her accomplishment!

Day 7 - Rest and stretch

So today was a day of rest. I decided to do Stretch X. Even though it was an hour of stretching it was still sweaty and work. It felt really good though. I've been noticing that I'm starting to get a better range of motion, my hamstrings are letting me bend farther and overall just feel looser. Definitely a good thing to do and I may do it a couple times a week.

Food today:

Breakfast - protein drink and wheat english muffin.

Lunch - tuna w/celery and chopped spinach, about a tablespoon of miracle whip. and 2 pieces of wheat bread. Oh and a piece of celery.

Dinner - shrimp stir-fry. It was pretty good considering I had to wing it a bit because I didn't have everything. Still lots of veggies and protein. So it's all good.

And tomorrow - Back to chest & back and Ab Ripper X. I hate abs but I think I'm going to do them first before I do chest and back.

Dad's Day 6

I have to completely agree with Kendra... Kenpo ROCKS! And yeah it does go too fast. Hey Kendra? How about next time we do a double Kenpo session?

Seriously though that is an amazing routine. I probably didn't do all the reps they did. Actually I know I didn't. I was trying to get the coordination down on the moves so I took my time to figure them out. My heart rate was up there but it wasn't consistent.

Food wise today. Eh. Probably could have done better.

Breakfast - cup of cereal with milk.

Lunch - protein drink - 2 scoops w/10oz 2% milk

Dinner - turkey burger, 2 pieces of wheat bread, 2 cups of salad

And later some watermelon.

So tomorrow is rest day. I'm going to try and go to the gym and do some treadmill, some real pull-ups to check myself, and some other miscellaneous things. Keep that muscle confusion up. I'm not going to workout hard but I would like to get some treadmill time and the pull-ups. Or maybe I'll just do Stretch X tomorrow and stay home.

I'm loving this!!!!

Day 6!

I loved Day 6! Kenpo X....LOVE IT! Can't wait to do it again next week. I was bummed that it when by so fast. Bummer! I wish the other ones would fly by. I was sure sweating though. Gregg caught me punching the air and told me to keep it up! ;) He was spying. ha!

I love how I feel after I take a shower after a work out. It feels different today because I have all day long. This morning I had a protein shake. Now, I am drinking my recovery drink, then might have a salad.

Can't wait to see what Dad thought of Kenpo! I love punching and kicking air. Ha Ha!!

Days 2, 3, 4, and 5

Wow it's been awhile since I have been on here. Been a crazy week. Kinda down, but still hanging in there. P90X is definitely doing its job. I have been sore and barely able to move all week and sadly, I love it! That means results on coming.

I have noticed some improvements on Ab Ripper X and I love it! The Mason Twist gets me everytime, but I'm able to do it longer, and touch the floor. The problem I have is my hips tense up and start to cramp. Bummer! I'll get there!

Plyometrics hurt! I'm not going to lie, my hips were tense and they were freezing on me so I did not complete the DVD, BUT I will keep trying and next week, I will push through it and try harder. I'm bummed I didn't make it through, but I'm determined to make it next week.

Yoga, I started Yoga and got about 15 minutes into it and realized I was not fully focused and to me, you have to be to get through it. Especially Yoga X. It's not easy. I decided I would complete Yoga X on Sunday when I am suppose to be resting. Wednesday was my rest day so Sunday I get to work!

I loved the arms and shoulders work out! I can definitely feel my arms getting stronger, but on some of them, I found some muscles I didn't even know I could find. Oh boy, I was so sore the next morning. Granted, I've been sore all week, but those muscles in particular were hurting.

Did I mention that the recovery drink (Accelerade) sucks for flavor? Ha! It wasn't too bad tonight since I was so tired.

Tonight was Legs and Back. Wow!! Tony has it cut out for us. I didn't even know you could put the combination's in lunges like that. Lifting the heel and doing lunges. WOW! My calves will feel it tomorrow.

All in all, I having such a great experience doing P90X. Tonight, while doing the workout, I just thought, wow why am I doing this to my body? So I looked at the girls in the video and said that's why. They are fit! And some of these workouts are fun to do when you need to get some anger, frustration, and even hurt out. It's been quite a stressful week and it's nice to take that out on some extra pull ups.

Congrats Dad! We are just about through week 1!!! YAY!! I have two more workouts to do and you have one! Awesome! I am looking forward to Kenpo X. Sounds like fun.

I will try and post on here more; ok so let me reword; I will post on here everyday! Day 6 tomorrow, Kenpo X. Looking forward to it! I'll try to post my diet up here too!

DAY 5 - Ugh. ABS

Have I said how much I hate the Ab Ripper? Really. Have I told you? No? Well... I hate the Ab Ripper. Love my abs though... well... at least I can feel the muscles. Can't see them yet but I'm getting there.

So legs, back and yes abs. I'm thinking the next time I have an ab night I'm going to do the abs first. I think that is part of my problem. Then do the other. See if I'm more successful with them.

So food today. Stepped out of the box for food today.

Breakfast - 1 cup of of Kashi oat flakes and blueberry clusters and a protein drink. What? You think you can't have cereal? Sure you can. Just stick with the 1 cup serving. I went with 1/2 cup of milk though because I was having the protein shake. Still for the cereal it was 200 calories, 15 cal from fat (2g), 44 carb, 6 protein. A lot of sugar 12g but I wanted some crunchy today.

Snack - protein drink w/2% milk

Lunch - 2 cups salad, 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Snack - protein bar

Dinner - 8oz of whiting (fish), lemon pepper coating, 1 cup garlic mashed potatoes, 2 cup salad, 8oz 2% milk.

Not a bad day on food. This weekend I'm planning on precooking lunches and dinner. Pop them in the freezer so they're good to go. That's been part of my struggle too. Keeping variety. SO cooking this weekend. I'll fill you in.

Tomorrow - Kenpo. I watched the DVD and it looks very good. I know. It's not going to be easy. But it's so worth it.

DAY 4 - Yoga. No not Yogurt.

For all of you that might think Yoga is easy and dumb? Ummm... it's not. An hour and a half of yoga tonight. Let me tell you it was painful, but felt good at the same time. I certainly found tendons and muscles I didn't know I have. They were either REALLY tight or if they weren't sore they are now. And lots of sweating - as usual. Even though it was my first time through this I did find I was able to stretch a little more than I had before.

All-in-all I liked it and won't mind doing it again.

Oh... there were belly moves (abs) too. They weren't the most comfortable to do because I just did abs last night so still weak and sore a bit. Still... I did everything I could possibly do to get through and complete as much as I could.

And now for the daily food update! Another half day in Syracuse. I'm tired of driving and I still have to make a trip to Watertown and Massena. ANYWAY.. the food. Not a lot of calories today.

Breakfast - Protein shake 8oz 2% milk, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 8oz orange juice.

Snack - protein bar

Lunch - protein bar (I was driving back from Syracuse.

No afternoon snack. Day was all messed up.

Dinner - the almost last of the stroganoff - 1 cup noodles and 1 cup stroganoff. I was getting hungry about an hour or so later so I had a couple pieces of jerky and a plain piece of Wheat bread. I had about 6oz of 2% milk too.

Now I'm drinking the recovery. It was light calorie day so I suspect I'll be getting hungry in a little while. I need to finish my drink and then wait at least 45 minutes after that before I can eat anything. Hopefully the recovery drink will satisfy me until tomorrow.

Yeah I know. You're not supposed to be hungry. My day was just messed up with everything.

OH -- Did I tell ya I lost 2lbs since Monday? AND 1 inch around the belly along with it? VERY nice.

DAY 3 - Arms and shoulders and the killer abs

Another one is in the bag. About an hour on shoulders and arms and about 15 minutes on abs. I hate abs. I really hate abs. BUT... I was able to do more of the abs workout tonight than I was able to do Monday. So progress!!! Always a good thing.

As far as arms and shoulders go it wasn't bad. I couldn't do the weights I had been doing at the gym. But then again I wasn't doing the same lifts at the gym. So, many more new muscle groups being worked. I still pushed it though. Probably going to pay but in the beginning of this you're supposed to be sore. I'm good though - loving it.

Food - Kind of an off day. Another day of driving and sitting in class so lunch was interesting. Here's the run down.

Breakfast - 1 cup egg beaters, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 8oz orange juice. (1 cup of egg beaters is still too much to eat. Next time 1/2 cup)

Both snacks were protein bars because I was sitting in class all day.

Lunch - this was a served lunch and was deli meat tray and salad. So about a 1 cup of salad, 1 tablespoon of dressing, 1/2 a roll, 1 slice of american cheese, 2 deli slices of chicken breast.

Dinner - leftover stroganoff from the other night. 1 cup noodles and 1 cup of the stroganoff. 8oz of 2% milk

And of course sipping my recovery drink as I type this.

DAY 2 .. Plyometrics

I have to say that was not at bad as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong. My heart rate was way up there, I'm sweating like a pig and my legs are absolutely burning. All in all though... I liked that workout.

Jayven even did some of the exercises with me. He was having a ball.

SO... Day 2 and Plyo is IN THE BAG!!!!

Now to go drink my recovery drink --- SSS LLL OOO WWW LLL YYY.

And then a shower.

Jack

**UPDATE**
Accelerade did fine tonight. It's orange flavor but isn't the best tasting. So I added a berry flavor packet that you'd normally put in water. So it's orange-berry. Much more palatable.

Day 2...

Well this morning is not too bad. Triceps on my left arm (near elbow) are a little tight and sore. My right has just a twinge of tightness. That was probably the diamond push-ups. It's all good though. Muscles are rebuilding and that's how you get stronger.

Food for the day:

Breakfast - protein shake w/2% milk
Snack - 1 cup strawberries
Lunch - 2 cups salad with 6oz of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (learned my lesson!)
Snack - protein bar and beef jerky.
Dinner - Beef Stroganoff, mixed vegetables

So today is a more normal day at work. Which means I can stand, walk around, etc. Probably go for a walk during lunch considering it's going to be such a nice day.

PLYO tonight!

And Dad's is complete too..

All I can say is OMG!

Actually the first part wasn't too bad. I think I pushed the first cycle of reps too hard. Should have paced better. On the second cycle of reps I matched most of them, a few fell short of the first round and for the dive bombers I actually managed one more than the first round - that means I only managed 5 on the second round. They ain't easy!

I did pause the DVD about 10 minutes from the end. My heart rate was too high and I was getting light headed so I stopped for a couple minutes to bring it down. Yes it was only 2 minutes while I got my breathing and heart rate under control. Better safe than sorry.

Abs, umm, not so good. I was surprised what I was able to do. Not surprised what I couldn't do. It'll get better.

Overall not too bad. Still feeling a little woozy but my body temp is high and my heart rate is still up there. It's coming down.

Off to do plyo tomorrow.

**UPDATE**
So 3/4 of the way through the Accelerade I started feeling sick. Ok feeling sick is putting it nicely. Let's just say so much for the first 3/4 of the drink. Not sure if it was because of the drink or because of the workout. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I might be pushing TOO hard.

Day 1 Complete!

Wow! Of course I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't realize it would be this demanding. Ok, so I did, but anyway, it's hard! You have to be mentally ready to push through all the burning and weakness and get through it. I'm learning very fast and it's only day 1.

I definitely need to up my calories. I was very weak when I was doing the Ab Ripper X after the Chest & Back. My reps for the Chest & Back portion weren't amazing, but they didn't completely suck either. I feel pretty good about them. My arms don't like it, but I'll whip them into shape in no time and they will love it!!

My diet consisted of a protein shake in the morning, and I'm serious, that filled me up. Then I was kinda hungry later so I had about half of a nasty protein bar. I need to find a better tasting bar. HA! For lunch, I had a small salad with a side of fruit and then for a snack I had cottage cheese and the rest of the protein bar. For dinner, I had a delicious grilled lemon peppered chicken, green beans, fruit, and a small roll. I know I shouldn't have eaten the roll, but after the healthy stuff today, it tasted somewhat like cheesecake. Lol! Kinda....it I use my imagination. ;)

My arms are feeling a bit weak after the workout. I need to ice my left shoulder a bit, but that recovery drink will speed up the healing process. The hips were definitely popping. Kinda annoying.

But, enough with the bad. I loved the workout, well, after it was all said and done. I felt very good about it. I feel as though I didn't get what I could have gotten out of Ab Ripper X because I was real weak during that workout. I think when I up the calories that I take in, it will improve. My body was just in shock. Ha!

I can't wait for tomorrow! I heard that Plyometrics is harder than day 1, but I am ready for the challenge!

More thoughts later....

Kendra

And the day has arrived...

So I haven't done the workout yet. Just got home from Jamestown. Four hour drive out, 2 hour class and a 4 hour drive back. Long day.

Food - Let me tell you 2 cups of egg beaters is A LOT of eggs. Needless to say I had a cup and a half. Next time probably just a cup. Lunch - 2 cups of cottage cheese. I had a salad with me but after the cottage cheese I wasn't hungry. So the salad is still hanging around.

So let me break it down:
Breakfast - 1.5 cups of egg beaters (still too much) and 8oz protein drink w/2% milk.
Snack - another 8oz protein drink (I was driving)
Lunch - 2 cups cottage cheese (also too much)
Snack - protein bar and a couple pieces of beef jerky
Dinner - haven't had it yet but will be chicken, vegetables and strawberries.

I haven't been hungry at all. I can probably attribute that to the fact I spent the day sitting on my butt driving. Although I came up with an idea on the long drive. DriverX - workout while you drive. Stretches, leg lifts, abs, isometrics with the arms on the ceiling of the car, and of course seat dancing. Think it'll catch on?

Anyway going to make dinner so I can workout at a reasonable hour tonight.

More to come.

Tomorrow is the Day...

Tomorrow is Day 1. I'm nervous about everything, but ready. The nutrition part of it is hard. I don't eat right at all. LOL. Thanks Dad for sending me those recipes! Some of those look horrible and some of them look too good to be true! They all approved? Ha ha!

All of this will take awhile to get used to, but it'll happen!

Can't wait to get started, I'll make a post after my workout and let you all know how dead I am. Ha!

Kendra

Tomorrow's the day..

I'm excited about starting tomorrow but really wondering how I'll do on day one. I'm going to be spending 4 hours on the road to Jamestown, teaching an hour and a half class then heading back 4 hours. Eat dinner when I get home and about an hour or so later... first day of putting my body through the paces.

Not really the best way to start, eh?

Regardless... I'm going to do it, and do my best.

And here are all the bad before pictures:

Kendra's Starting Stats

So here are my starting stats:

Weight: 146.2 lbs (be happy I told you all my weight, women should not have to. Just kidding!)
Waist: 36 inches (the real waist across the navel)
Hips: 41 inches (measured from widest part of hip toward the bum)
Chest: 35 inches (the one area that can stick around!)
Arms: 12 inches (right)
Thighs: 24.5 inches (right)
Body fat: 35.4% YIKES!

Pictures will be posted later tonight.

Day 0 Pictures...Oh Lord! How dreadful, gotta change this!!! At least at Day 90 I'll look good, AND have make up on. LOL! I look awful!