Day 69

Tonight's workout was rough. I like legs/back but tonight I felt like crap. Total crap! I got super nauseous like 10 minutes in and struggled through the rest of the workout. It was awful, I'm not even kidding. By far the worst p90x experience I've had so far. I'm pretty good at this workout and I love to push myself and do my very best! It was unbelievably frustrating not being able to push my hardest because I felt like crap! I literally had to stop for a few minutes because I thought I was going to throw up. I was determined not to quit but it sucked pushing through my nausea. I wanted to just get through the ab ripper and take a hot shower. I was forced to take a break and drank some water while I waited for my nausea to calm down a bit. I didn't want to, but Jake was concerned for me since I was pale and practically crying... Gahhhh! Bottom line: my workout tonight was bad and frustrating. Yet, I got through it. I did the best I could and now I just want to put it behind me.

Tomorrow is kenpo, yay! I'm hoping that I'll have a much better day tomorrow and be able to bring it for real. It sucks having up days and down days and not knowing what each workout is going to be like on any given day. Nights like tonight when I feel like crap during my workout discourage me so much. I need a good intense workout tomorrow to rebound. Here's to hoping I can rock kenpo!

Day 68

A bit of a late update tonight, oops! I decided to switch out x stretch for yoga tonight. I have been so gosh darn achey lately, I felt like a good stretch was exactly what I needed. Plus, hubby and I both hate yoga and he really didn't want to do it today. Therefore, x stretch it was! Granted, x stretch is glorious and magical, whereas yoga is a repetitive pain in the butt, so it isn't exactly a fair trade off. Yoga is hard work and makes me break a sweat. X stretch is an easy, low-key "workout" that definitely doesn't make me sweat. Yes, I do feel a little guilty for switching them. I know my body needed something gentle, though. Gotta listen to my body ;] Seriously though, my knees have been KILLING me lately. I might've already blogged that considering they've been causing me a great deal of pain for a few weeks now... sorry if I sound like a whiner! It hurts to bend my knees. At all. Every bend. Even to sit down! It isn't good. I need to get some glucosamine or something. Ouch. Anyways, stretching was quite wonderful.

To make up for it, tomorrow I will bring it extra hard during legs/back and the ab ripper! It's happening!

Days 66 & 67

Yesterday was plyometrics. It was also my second anniversary! :] Hubby and I both brought it with plyo before going out for some delicious hibachi for dinner. Om nom nom. I really did not feeling like doing plyo, though. I just wanted to relax and enjoy a quiet day with Jake. Plus, we had to workout earlier so that we could go out to dinner and I don't particularly like afternoon workouts. But we both did it anyways! I was excited to wear my sweet new heart rate monitor (thanks, Josh!)... I discovered that I stay somewhere between 175 and 187 BPM during plyo. And I peaked at 191! That is some intense cardio right there! I felt super good once it was over :D It was encouraging to see in numbers how hard I push it during plyo. Something about looking at my wrist and seeing those numbers motivated me to keep it up and push harder at times. It was good. Dinner was good, too! Pretty healthy, I do believe. I had shrimp, scallops, veggies and rice! I know the rice wasn't too healthy (white rice, eesh) but I didn't eat all of it. I felt pretty good about my dinner-out choices :]

Today was back & biceps and the ab ripper! Man, I seriously brought it hard tonight!! I did every single bicep/forearm set with 10lbs, which is really good for me! There are a few moves that I usually do with 5lbs because they're rough, but I pushed myself really hard tonight and did everything with ten. Also, I increased my resistance band on the modified pull ups from 30lbs to 50lbs! I know I need to keep upping that weight so I can finally do real legit pull ups, so increasing it by 20lbs in one shot was great for me. My arms were quivering and felt like jello by the end of the workout but I'm so proud of myself! Honestly, I didn't know I could bring it this hard with my arms. It feel so good to know how hard I worked and stuck it all out! I didn't even cut out reps at all. I still did 12-15 reps on all the bicep/forearm moves and 12-18 reps on the modified pull ups. It burrrrned. It burned so good. I brought it hard with the ab ripper tonight, too! I did all the fifer scissors, hip rock 'n raise and heels to heaven moves. That one-two-three lineup HURTS. It's so great at hitting the lower abs, which I love. But I've really got to psyche myself out to get through those because it really does hurt a lot.

Tomorrow is yoga. Now that I've decided to pass on warrior three, I don't dread yoga quite as much. I still dislike it a lot, but I'm getting better at it and I do love the stretching portion of the workout. I've heard you can burn like 800 calories on that routine! Nuts! I don't think I burn that much but I do work up a good sweat. I'm going to do my best and bring it during yoga tomorrow!

Days 64 & 65

I took yesterday, day 64, off to celebrate Christmas with my family! It was definitely the best rest day I have ever had. I love being home. I love Christmas. I love it all! Plus, I didn't binge on ANYTHING. Nada, zip, zero, zilch! No splurging for me. I followed my diet and even ended the day with a few less calories consumed than usual. Win.

Today was chest/back/triceps and the ab ripper. It beat me up. This workout is definitely the hardest for me. It's just so challenging! My upper body seriously struggles through every rep. By the time I was 3/4 of the way through, my triceps were shaking! I'm talking a full-on exhaustion quiver. Ouch. I did the best I could with ab ripper but it wasn't the best I've ever done... can't say I didn't try, though! I did my best. This workout is so rough, I'm happy with what I did.

Another confession- I had a little breakdown tonight about my lack of body fat/general weight loss. It is thoroughly discouraging that I've been working this hard and haven't seen the big results I was hoping to see! I know it takes time and patience and everything, but seriously! I have been busting my butt, quite literally, for the past 65 days and I'm not getting where I want to be! What more do I have to do?! I've changed my diet, stopped eating sweets, cut back on all processed foods... what is it going to take?? I'm frustrated. Part of me wonders why I even bother... Why am I working this hard and not seeing all the changes?! What the heck!! I'm trying to cut out a couple portions to see if that will boost my weight loss... so I guess we'll see! My muscles are exhausted. At this point, I'm in a perpetual state of soreness. I think that going down to two proteins a day is making it harder for my muscles to recoup. So I'm cutting back on my snack portions... Gahh, I'm desperate for changes!

Tomorrow is plyometrics. Beast. I got a heart rate monitor for Christmas, so I'm super excited to try it out on such a high intensity workout! As much as I'm discouraged, I'm going to work that much harder to bring it.

Day 63

Kenpo all by myself tonight. It's tough to BRING IT alone. I thought Jacob and both my brothers were going to join me but before I knew it I was flying solo. I was very very tempted to skip it tonight and just relax with my family, yet I knew that I would feel guilty if I did. So, I toughed it out alone! I did it for me. Luckily kenpo is my favorite workout so it wasn't terrible to do alone. I'm not sure I would've made it alone if I was doing chest/shoulders/triceps or another workout that I don't like very much. I'm really happy that I chose to workout anyways. It feels good to complete a workout that you seriously did not want to start in the first place! I felt accomplished :]

Unfortunately, my foot is still hurting. A lot. Worse than yesterday, even. I don't know what I did! Maybe it's from working out on the concrete basement floor here at my parent's house... I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I'm hoping that my day off tomorrow will give it time to heal! It's not unbearable, but it's constantly uncomfortable. It particularly hurts when I'm on my tips toes, from all the pressure that places on the ball of my foot. No good. Kenpo was fun enough tonight that I didn't realize the pain in my foot, which was great. I quickly noticed the pain after I was done but it didn't hinder me in the workout. That's all that really matter to me. As long as I can still bring it I'm happy.

Tomorrow will be a glorious day of rest with my family! I'm so excited for Christmas!! I love it. I love it so much. I've worked hard to catch up all week after that skip day so I feel like I've earned this Sunday off. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do next week to get back on track for my Saturday rest days... I'll figure it out, though. Not a big deal. I'll keep bringing it!

Day 62

Legs & back and the ab ripper kicked my butt tonight! I am soooo sore! My legs, knees, everything! Plus, I have an owie, a slight injury. I don't know what happened... but the pad of my left foot up by my big toe hurts SO BAD. It's this horribly nasty knotted muscle pain! Ouchhhh :[ Doing lunges, especially toe roll iso lunges, and anything on my tip toes hurt like crazy. It was not easy to push through and do every rep. It's such a random/weird injury and I don't know how I did it. I'm not kidding when I say it legitimately hurts, though! It sounds so lame but it's not good. My knees are also feeling pretty beat up tonight, too. Luckily tomorrow is kenpo then I get to have a day off! Yay for rest days!

I felt rather discouraged tonight during ab ripper. I was struggling through some of the moves and just thinking how I've been working so hard yet I haven't lost body fat (according to my new calculation). It just made me feel like "who cares, why bother anymore." I know that sounds so emo but it's discouraging to work as hard as I have been working and not see all the results I was hoping for. Granted, I have four more weeks of the p90x journey to go but still. Don't get me wrong, I am seeing results! I feel thinner and firmer... I feel more confident and I think I look better! Yet, it bothers me that my body fat measurement hasn't gone down. It just doesn't make sense to me. It's discouraging. I guess I need to suck it up and push it even harder. The only way to see results is to consistently push myself and work hard at each routine. I honestly did leave everything on the floor tonight. And I do mean everything. I was wiped, sore, dripping with sweat. I brought it! I need to keep that up, whether I feel like it or not, and I know I'm bound to get where I want to be eventually. Keep bringing it. The changes will happen. I need to keep telling myself that. Bring it, see results. Gotta start with bringing it.

Days 60 & 61

Skipping plyo the other day has really thrown me off! I'm so used to my p90x schedule that shifting my days back has been strange. I was planning on skipping yoga tonight and getting myself back on schedule, but alas, that did not happen. Jacob and I decided to do yoga tonight, legs & back and ab ripper tomorrow and kenpo on Saturday. Although Saturday is usually our rest day, we thought it would be nice to take Sunday off instead, since it's Christmas. I'm not sure what that's going to do to our schedule next week but I'll figure it out! Maybe we'll take yoga off next week... I don't know! All this confusion has definitely taught me that skipping a day is not a good idea! Haha. I know it was the best choice for me and Jake on Monday but catching up from it stinks. 

Anyways! Last night was shoulders & arms and the ab ripper. Man, I completely forgot what the shoulders and arms workout was like! It's been awhile since I did that one... it was rough! I actually enjoyed bringing it, though. I felt pretty strong. I've been able to increase my weights since phase one, so that made me happy. Ab ripper was especially painful. I'm not sure why that is... I guess my abs are just working extra hard after the recovery week last week ;]

Tonight, as I said, was yoga. Not too miserable, surprisingly! But that's probably because I skipped warrior three and yoga belly :o] I don't even care, though. Attempting warrior three isn't even worth it to me anymore. And my abs are very sore from ab ripper yesterday so I'm giving them a little down time to recoup so I don't injure myself. Yeah yeah, excuse, I know. Oh well!

I had my brother remeasure my body fat percentage and was extremely disappointed to learn that it hasn't gone down. At all. I'm still sitting at 15% body fat. That percentage puts me in the "elite athletic" range, according to the p90x nutritional guide. But I am NOT happy that I haven't lost a single percent! Gahh. I'm going to have him measure it again next week just in case the equations weren't correct... It's very disappointing, not gonna lie. I'm trying to be positive about it... I mean, I've put on at least 2 pounds of solid lean muscle! That's a good thing! I was just hoping to lose some fat... I don't get it because I feel like I've lost fat and I look like it... I don't get it, stupid body fat. Maybe it'll come out differently next week, we'll see. It's frustrating that I've been working so stinking hard and the fat reduction isn't showing up yet. Makes me angry and discouraged. At the same time, it makes me even more determined to shred this fat!! Gotta keep up the hard work. My brother told me that he lost the most fat in phase three, so I'm hoping the same will happen to me. Just keep pressing play!

Tomorrow will be legs & back and the ab ripper! I like that workout. My legs are getting so strong, I love it! Just gotta melt that fat away... It's going to happen! I'm going to BRING IT!

Days 58 & 59

Of course, the day after I posted a blog about not slacking on my workouts just my blogging, I slacked on both. Sigh. I didn't do plyometrics yesterday, day 58. I do have very good reasons, though! I was running on 5 1/2 hours of sleep, I had just worked 7 1/2 hours and had a 6 hour drive ahead of me. I left work with a terrible headache and a very hungry stomach... I planned on doing plyo, loading my car and heading to my parent's house for Christmas break. After realizing just how crappy I felt, I decided that putting myself through plyo was only going to do more harm than good. Jacob and I were both tired already and didn't want to risk anything happening while we drove (due to said tiredness). So, we didn't workout. I felt verrrrrry guilty about it but I still thought it was a good decision. We arrived at our destination around 11:30pm and were totally exhausted. I can't imagine how wiped out we would've been had we done plyo!

Anyways, to make up for my p90x slack, I did plyometrics tonight. That workout is SO intense that I didn't want to skip it altogether for the week. Jacob and I decided that we would push our workouts back a day and just skip yoga to make up the difference. In other words, tonight was plyo, tomorrow will be shoulders and arms, Thursday will be legs and back and Friday will be kenpo. I'm not sure what this will mean for doing the ab ripper (we aren't supposed to do it two days in a row, but both our Wednesday and Thursday workouts should have ab ripper at the end) but I'll figure it out. I'm not super thrilled about the change but it was a necessary evil. I'll just have to bring it extra hard for the rest of the week!

Days 55, 56 & 57

Do not worry, my loyal followers, I have not quit my p90x journey!! I realized that with my last post being a frustration rant and no new post for two days thereafter, it might seem like I have given up. However, I have NOT given up. I'm still bringing it! I've just been slacking with my blog updates. Sorry about any worries or concern my blogging absence may have caused ;]

Day 55- Yoga, again. I worked a long day and was not in the mood for yoga (well, to be fair, when am I ever in the mood for yoga? haha). My body was tired and I just wanted a rest day. I pushed through yoga anyways, though. I must be honest and confess that I skipped warrior three. I just struggle so much with that movement that I almost think it isn't even worth it for me to do it. I just get frustrated and annoyed so I figured I would just skip it this day. I did my best with the rest of the workout and forgot the rest.

Day 56- REST. Glorious. I thoroughly enjoyed going about my day without having a workout on the back of my mind. The official end of phase two!

Day 57- today, the first day of phase three! Tonight was chest and back & ab ripper x. Rough workout. I haven't done this one since phase one, so I was anxious to see how I did with it. I was able to do more pushups than I could do on this workout during phase one, but only by a couple. No super impressive improvements, I don't think. I didn't get nauseous, which was good. This workout has a tendency to induce nausea with all the switching between pushups and pull ups. I felt pretty good with chest and back tonight. I was NOT excited to get back into doing the ab ripper. As much as I know that it works and gets results, I'm sick of doing it three times a week. The week off was very nice so I didn't want to get back into the ab ripper routine tonight. I beasted it, though! All-in-all, I brought it. It's hard to believe that I'm already into phase three! I know this phase is going to be the most intense, but I'm excited to finish strong. The beginning of phase three also brings with it a change in my daily portions. I'm down to two proteins and up to three carbs, which is a weird change. I've really adapted to a high protein low carb diet. I'm surprised by how much I've come to enjoy my protein filled days even at the expense of losing carbs. I'm interested to see how this diet shift goes for me. I'm also not happy to be reduced to a single dairy!! How am I going to make that work?! I like cheese and milk and yogurt... boo! :[ The snacks on this phase basically rock, though. I get frozen yogurt, fruit sorbet, rice cakes and fruit bars back! Yay! I also still get to keep pretzels and popcorn. PLUS, I now get fig newtons, pita chips and low fat tortilla chips! Fantastic snacks. So I'll make the diet work for me. It's just a matter of adapting yet again.

Tomorrow's workout is plyometrics! I'm going to be working a full day, doing plyo then hitting the road to go home for Christmas. Translation- I have a 16+ hour day ahead of me tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have the motivation to bring it during plyo!

Day 54

Not gonna lie, I felt like crap doing core synergistics tonight!! I don't know what it was, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. And that frustrated me beyond words!! I think it had to do with being tired and stressed out... whatever it was, it made bringing it during this intense workout even harder. Sigh. About 25 minutes in I was ready to call it quits. I was annoyed with my lack of motivation and I started questioning why the heck I'm putting myself through this... that just made me feel discouraged and more annoyed! Ugh, terrible mental cycle going on right there. I reminded myself that I'm doing this to get STRONG, the strongest I have ever been. To be FIT, the most fit I have ever been. I'm doing this to feel good, to look great, to be healthier, push my limits, increase my abilities and have a body that I am proud of! I'm doing this to make changes that stick. I'm doing this for me. With those things in mind, I mustered up the strength to get through the entire workout, including the bonus moves at the end! Still not gonna lie, though, I didn't even feel great afterwards! Boo. I LOVE that endorphin high after working out! In my opinion, it's one of the best feelings ever. I didn't get that tonight, though. I felt more nauseous than hyped up on endorphins. But hey, workout high or not, I did my best. That's all that I can ask from my body- it's best. The trick is making my best better with every workout. I think that's the hardest part- convincing myself that my "best" last week isn't my best this week. I have further to go as I get stronger; I'm capable of pushing harder. Constantly gotta bring it!

Tomorrow is the last workout day of the recovery phase, which means yoga session #2 on the week. Bleh. Not looking forward to it but it has to be done. I'm getting nervous to start phase three. My body is feeling pretty drained. I'm worried that I won't do that great with my final phase. I really want to kick it up a notch and seriously bring it! I just know that's going to be rough... I'm going to have to push my limits like never before if I want to finish this strong. I guess I'll embrace tomorrow's yoga day and be thankful it's not a crazy intense workout. Yeah, that's what I'll tell myself, ha. Yoga x, gonna bring it!

Day 53

I love x stretch. It makes my muscles feel so warm and happy. After how tight and run down my muscles have been feeling, an entire hour devoted to stretching them out was quite glorious. I think I'll go sleep like a baby now :]

Day 52

Oof, kenpo hurt tonight! I kept getting the worst cramps! I think it was because I hadn't eaten in like 5 hours. Working out on a super empty stomach can be just as bad as working out on a full stomach. Or maybe my stomach is just very sensitive... Yeah, I think that's it. Whatever it was, I felt completely drained! I kept up and did my best but it wasn't the best I've ever done with kenpo. Oh well! At least I did it, right?

I have a confession to make... I just realized that p90x is 13 weeks, not 12. I thought phase three was just four weeks alternating between the workouts from phases one and two. Come to find out there is also a recovery week after that (week 5 of phase three). Duhhhh! I should've realized that. It's p90x not p84x, hahaha! I feel so silly/stupid for not realizing it sooner. I'm still more than halfway through, though. This is week 8 which means I have 5 weeks to go after this one. Not too bad. I'm getting there!

Tomorrow is x stretch. Hallelujah! It's still an hour long workout but it feels glorious. Low impact and refreshing. I'm looking forward to it! Gonna get my stretch on and bring it :]

Day 51

I seriously believe that core synergistics as just as challenging as plyometrics!! It's cardio and all-around strengthening. It's a phenomenal full-body workout, but thoroughly trying and exhausting. I have an intense love/hate relationship with this workout. I did feel awesome after getting through it, though! I struggle with a few of the moves- sphinx push ups and plank to chatarunga run, mostly. Owie. But I bring it the best that I can! That's what matters. I'm bringing it everyday! And, for the most part, I am feeling fantastic! I'm excited to move into phase three next week.

On a side note, I went grocery shopping tonight and stocked up on fresh fruit and veggies :D Om nom nom. My life has been so hectic lately that I've pretty much just been eating frozen. Needless to say, I'm pumped to have fresh stuff on hand! I bought blueberries, which is definitely going to be part of my breakfast tomorrow. I also got some broccoli (I hate frozen broccoli- bleh!) and roasted it with smashed garlic for part of dinner. Other than that I got hot house cucumbers, thin asparagus, a mango, pomegranate and a few kiwis :D Pomegranate isn't in the nutritional guide, but I don't see why it wouldn't count as a fruit. It's chock full on antioxidants and a good source of fiber... I'm going to count it as a fruit.

Tomorrow is kenpo! Woo-hoo! I like mid-week kenpo during recovery week :D I'm ready to bring it!

Days 49 & 50

FIFTY DAYS DOWN! I feel great being able to say that I have kept up with p90x for fifty days! 50. Fiiiiiive zero. FIFTY. Woo-hoo! :D 

Day 49 was a day of rest. I always feel like I'm slacking off on my rest days, haha. I know my body needs it and I love having a day to let my muscles recoup... but going to bed at night knowing that I didn't BRING IT that day feels so weird. Yet, I do love the rest days. They're always very much needed and savored. 

Today was day one of week eight, a.k.a. the last week of phase two! Since this is the last week of this phase, it's recovery week which means- yoga, core synergistics, kenpo, x stretch, core synergistics & yoga again. Not exactly a fun week but I know it's good for me. And I definitely need it badly since phase three doesn't have a recovery week! I'll try to enjoy this week as much as I can. I got through yoga pretty well tonight. I am getting better at it, as much as I do not enjoy it by any means. My balance and flexibility are both improving, which does make me happy! I didn't completely despise yoga tonight, surprisingly. The stretching felt fantastic and I did pretty well with warrior three (although I still can't do the whole movement yet). I'm glad I don't have to do it again until Friday, though. It's just so longgg.

Tomorrow is core synergistics, another annoying workout. This one is a total butt kicker, though. It's very intense for a recovery week workout! I'm not looking forward to it. But then I get kenpo on Tuesday and stretch on Wednesday! I am looking forward to those. Admittedly, I'm a little nervous to take new pictures at the end of this phase. I am seeing results and feeling better, but I'm not sure how much my body has changed. Seeing myself everyday makes the changes a little harder to see, I think. I just don't want to take new pictures and not be able to tell a difference between these and the end of phase one pictures. We'll see what happens, though. Gotta do my best and keep bringing it!

Day 48

Kenpo is so fun! I love ending my week with this workout. After tomorrow's rest day, I will be through the hardcore weeks of phase two! It's hard to believe that I'm starting phase three the week after next. The time is going by quickly but at the same time I'm so ready to be a p90x grad! I feel like I'm getting senioritis ;] hahaha.

Nothing new or exciting to report tonight... I got through kenpo, did well with it & enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. My muscles need it. My knees are still achey. I'm not really looking forward to the recovery week next week because of the two yoga days (hate) and core synergistics (kills me). But I think it'll be a good change of pace. Hopefully it'll help me enter phase three rested and ready to finish strong! We'll see, I guess! :]

Day 47

Wow, I'm almost 50 days into this thing! Craziness!

Tonight's workout was rough. I've been feeling a little sick/nasty all day so it was not easy bringing it tonight. I got this nasty splitting headache on one side of my head early this morning. Luckily, it faded as the day progressed. That is, until ten minutes into my legs and back workout. Dang. I was in the middle of busting out some squats and POW! Welcome back to my left temporal lobe, you evil headache of nauseating intensity. Needless to say, finishing strong was not easy! It would've been nice if the return of splitting headache could've held off until I was almost finished my workout, but no. It had to come back and test my dedication early in the workout. Well, I am pleased to announce that I showed my headache who was boss!! Kaaacha! (as my hubby likes to say). I kept up with every move, every rep, every excruciating muscle contraction including ab ripper x! Winning.

One minor problem that merits mentioning... I'm having some knee issues. They've been achey off-and-on for the past week. Today, my left knee was particularly tight and uncomfortable. Balance squats, super skaters and dead lift squats were especially bothersome tonight. I got as deep as I could into the movements but I was admittedly frustrated with my need to ease up a little. It's good that I did, though. The last thing I want to do is seriously tweak my knees. I'll take is easier for the next day or so and see how I feel. Recovery week starts on Sunday, which means double yoga (ugh), but I think it will be good for my knees.

As for the diet, I made the most delicious meal of this entire journey for lunch today!!! Garlic, herb and wine marinated shrimp (fresh shrimp, yay) and spinach and onion tri-color couscous. AMAZING. I'm not kidding, this meal was five stars! It was different from anything I have cooked thus far. It was flavorful, filling and completely p90x approved! Two proteins, one condiment, one carb and one veggie. And worth every single bite. The couscous was very good and different. One of the best uses for a carb, besides waffles or pancakes, of course. Yum. Jake and I needed something different because we were getting sick of the same things; this is exactly what we needed.

Tomorrow is kenpo. Yay for kenpo! It's going to be a long day and a super long weekend, so I need to up my determination and stick with it. I'm ready to finish this third week strong. Kenpo is my favorite so bringing it will be fun.

Day 46

Well, I got through yoga <-- sums up how I feel right now. I'm happy to see my balance and flexibility improving but I still do not enjoy yoga. And I fell on my face today. Yep. It was graceful. I think I scared Jacob a little, haha. That's what I get for being ambitious and trying to "grab my right ankle with my right hand" during Warrior Three. Needless to say, I wasn't so ambitious when I did that pose on my other leg. Luckily, I didn't get hurt. Just a little tumble. I laughed it off and kept yoga-ing. In the interest of our sanity, Jacob and I decided to watch some Netflix tonight while we did yoga. Maybe it wasn't the best for us to be mildly distracted (that is, however distracted one can be while listening to Tony Horton instruct)... but it was nice not to focus completely on how much my legs were shaking as I held all these balance postures. I don't think it was a bad thing. Plus, it made the hour and a half go by quicker! Not literally, of course, but it sure did feel like it. Either way, I got through yoga. Now I don't have to worry about it again until Sunday (thank you, recovery week :P).

Tomorrow is legs/back and the ab ripper. Legs and back is my favorite resistance workout so that'll be good. It kills my legs but I feel great afterwards. I'm not anxious to rip my abs but it must be done. I will console myself with the knowledge that (a) it's good for me to embrace the burn in order to get "the most ripper abdominal section" and (b) I won't have to do the ab ripper again until the Sunday after next. With those things in mind, I'm totally going to BRING IT tomorrow!

Day 45

I must be having an off week because I did not feel like working out tonight, yet again. That usually only happens once or twice a week and the desire to skip it isn't very strong... but lately I have had practically no motivation to workout. I mean, I want to keep up my commitment to p90x but I am so drained! By the time my day allows me to workout I don't want to. At all. But... I do it anyways! And I'm glad I did tonight. I think I did really well with the back and biceps workout! I'm doing most of my curls with 10lbs, which doesn't sound like a lot but that's double the weight I started with! I know 5lbs is super lame but 10lbs is pretty good! The lady on the workout DVD for tonight only uses like 10-12lbs (that I've noticed) so I feel pretty good about my tens. I drop down to 8lbs for a couple moves but I still find the burn. I'm proud of my growing biceps! Haha. I think I'm getting better at the ab ripper, too. The entire ab ripper workout consists of 349 moves and I'm up to about 320! I'm still struggling with doing all 25 reps of crunchy frog and oblique v-ups. I've come quite a long way, though! I'm proud of myself. I'm trying to focus on the positive and all the ways I'm getting stronger instead of focusing on everything I can't do yet. At least I'm pushing my limits and getting stronger! That's what I'll remind myself.

Tomorrow is the awful day of yoga. Bahhhh! I wish I could do x stretch instead, haha. My muscles could use some TLC. Even though I hate yoga, I'll do my best and forget the rest. Gotta briiing it!

Day 44

Plyo was, as it always is, a beast tonight. It was painful and exhausting but I brought it! This workout never gets easier. I thought maybe I'd adapt to it a bit after awhile, yet it burns me out every single time. I like to think my cardio abilities are getting better, that I'm strengthening my heart as well as my body... I sure do hope that's true! I do really believe that I'm getting better every day. However, I was sooo tired by the end of plyo tonight. That's what happens when I don't eat for four hours and expect my body to perform at such a high impact, I guess! Haha. I was soaked through with sweat by the end of the workout. My face was as bright red as a tomato, my heart was racing... but I felt good! Every time I cool down and do the hamstring stretch at the end of plyo, sweats gets in my eyes and stings like crazy. I need to remember to towel off more often but I'm not gonna lie, I love being drenched in sweat from working super hard! It was also nice to have a break from the ab ripper tonight, haha.

Four more workouts to get through the week and it is on to a recovery week! Not that I really enjoy recovery week... the change of pace will be nice, though. Tomorrow is back/biceps and the ab ripper! My upper body is still sore from Sunday's workout, so this should be interesting. Bring it!

Days 42 & 43

I am officially HALFWAY through my p90x journey!!! 6 weeks down, 6 weeks to go!! :D It feels good to say that! Not gonna lie, the workouts and diet are really starting to wear on me. My body is tired and I miss some of my favorite foods from before... it's tough!! I knew it wouldn't be easy, though. I still think it has been and will be worth it. Lately I've been thinking about how far I've come and how far I still want to go. I can notice a big improvement in my upper body strength. Although I still have a very weak upper body, I've made some advances. I can see more muscles mass in my shoulders/biceps/triceps. That is encouraging. But, at the same time, I want to see my definition/fat reduction in my abs and legs. I'm telling myself that I just have to keep working as hard if not harder than I have for the first half and it will come... I hope I'm right ;]

I seriously did nottt feel like working out tonight! I had just driven two hours, hadn't eaten much all day and Jake was passing on the workout tonight due to homework (boo). All these things made my desire to skip tonight very pressuring. But if I only worked out when I felt like it wouldn't be a very frequent occurrence. Gotta bring it when I want to AND when I don't want to. Sometimes, just for the heck of it, I challenge myself to bring it even harder on the days when I'm especially not feeling the workout. Tonight was one of those nights. Chest, shoulders and triceps gets me every time. It's so intense. While I was struggling through the moves I found myself wondering how well my two brothers (both p90x grads who are on their second round of the program) bust out this workout. They're both so friggin' strong and intense. My older brother is the most disciplined, driven and hardcore fitness person I have ever met. But seriously. Tonight, as I stumbled through the workout, I thought about the intensity my brothers bring to their workouts and tried to imagine working out with them and attempting to keep pace. I did alright. I definitely couldn't keep up with them and I can't keep up with Jake when he does this workout with me either. I pushed myself and tried hard. I was pretty happy to accomplish 10 clap pushups, even if they were on my knees. And I did all but four of the two twitch pushups (hate those things)! My arms are dead now. I'll be feeling this tomorrow.

Quick bragging right- Jacob did an awesome job with his PT test this weekend! He actually got the best score he's had since getting stationed with his current unit. He busted out his run with a huge time improvement (we're both crediting that to plyo- he's been such a beast with that workout and it definitely showed during his run) and he racked up an impressive number of sit ups and push ups. I'm so proud of my man!! :D He has been doing an awesome job with p90x. I know it's rough for him, especially the diet aspect, but he's stepped up and dedicated himself in a big way. So babe, if you read this, please know that I am super proud of you! I love having you as my workout buddy and partner in all things. You're the best.

Tomorrow is the X workout. Plyometrics. Lovely way to end my Mondays, haha. Even if I don't feel like working out again tomorrow, I'm gonna bring it!

Day 41

Kenpo kicked my butt tonight!! It was good but exhausting! I was tired to begin with- definitely having one of those "this has been a long and busy week and I'm just ready for the weekend" kind of days- so doing kenpo tonight really drained me. This is the first time I've actually struggled to get through the workout!! The block series (4 different blocks, 30 reps on each arm) killlllled my shoulders/upper arms/upper back tonight. Eeeeesh. My shoulders were on fire! I felt really good after it was all done, though! On a side note, Jake and I decided to try a new recovery drink. Thanks to Gold Card week at GNC, we were able to get some new stuff and a couple blender bottles (we each have one already, but the watermelon recoup permanently made our bottles have a slight fruity flavor, not so good for milk protein shakes, haha) for a good price. Unfortunately, the new recovery drink that hubby picked out is naaaasty! Yuck. He doesn't mind it but I think it tastes like Robitussin. Gross. Good thing I picked up more watermelon for myself just incase ;]

Well, my body is sore and tired so it's time for me to get some sleep. I'm thankful that tomorrow is a rest day!! I definitely need a day off. I'll totally bring it relaxing tomorrow, hahaha.

Day 40

Ugh, I had an off day today. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was... Maybe it was from working out really late again. Maybe it's because I feel bloated from eating lots of broccoli (haha)... I just don't know! Whatever the reason, I felt like crap during the workout tonight. I got through the whole thing pretty well, no lessening of weights or anything... as a matter of fact, I actually did more of my pull-ups on the bar with a chair to assist tonight. Nothing too impressive, but I did work hard. I'm sooo freaking sick of the ab ripper! I think I said that last time, but seriously, it's getting old. And it feels like I do it every day. Bahh. Oh well. Gotta suck it up, put tonight behind me and keep going. Work harder, push more. Do it. Every day. The problem is, I feel like that isn't enough. I feel like I'm not progressing as much as I would like to... I'm getting stronger, I know that, but I'm not looking how I want to look yet. Again, I know I just need to keep going and pushing through the workouts, but it's getting more and more difficult.

At least tomorrow is kenpo! That always makes me feel good. And the end of this week will officially mark the halfway point of my p90x journey! I guess I can feel good about that :]

Day 39

Well, I thought yoga sucked before... it turns out that doing it alone sucks even more :[ Jacob is super busy with homework right now so I had to fly solo. To make it even better, our TV decided to die so I had to put the DVD on my laptop. I did not like that at all! I did the best that I could, though. I think I'm getting more flexible, which makes me happy! I still don't like yoga at all, though, even if it is helping me, haha. I was happy to get it over with today and not to feel as stiff as a board like I did last week. I'm tellin' ya, I do not understand how people like early morning yoga! My body felt so tight and gross working out first thing in the morning. I can run but yoga just does not feel good. At least tonight was better than that.

Tomorrow is legs & back and the ab ripper. The combination of ab ripper last night, yoga belly 7 tonight and ab ripper tomorrow night is rouuuugh! It totally tears up my core. I'll continue bringing it, though!

Day 38

My body feels like jello. Or overcooked noodles. Or a very heavy bag of sand. In other words, it is very sore and worn out. The combo of back/biceps & ab ripper x is totally brutal. Why? Because you destroy your upper body with the back/biceps component then tear up your entire core with the ab ripper. My quads even get sore from the beginning moves of the ab ripper! I was thoroughly SPENT by the time I finished it all tonight. Down for the count. Of course, that is partially because I didn't start working out until after 9pm, oops. Late night workout sessions always wear me out like no other... Seriously though, my body is certainly feeling the wear and tear of p90x! I collapsed on the floor for a couple minutes before even stretching out my core with some cobra. Owie. To be quite honest, I'm getting sick of ab ripper x. I know it's effective and I definitely can't get through the whole thing yet without a couple short breaks, but I'm sick of doing it. I get sick of workouts very easily, haha. But hey, as long as it's doing what I need it to do I'll tough it out and rip it up!

I realized that I never blogged my new portions that came along with phase two, so I guess I'll throw 'em out there now:

• 4 protein
• 2 dairy
• 1 fruit
• 2 veggie
• 1 fat
• 2 carbs (hallelujah!)
• 2 snacks (single & double)
• 1 condiment
• 1 recovery drink (this goes for every phase)

I am so happy to eat more carbs!! I still choose wisely but it's nice to know that I can have twice as many as I did in phase one. One less protein isn't too bad... And everything else is the same. Oh, minus one fat but I'm not super adamant about eating my fats anyways. I cook with a little extra virgin olive oil and call it good, haha. Overall, I think my body has adjusted to my new eating habits pretty well. I must admit that I miss sweets, though. I'd love to have some frozen yogurt! That was the best snack in phase one. But I loooove the soft pretzels and popcorn as snacks in phase two! :D Om nom nom. Oh, one other thing I miss/am craving- cranberry orange scones. I had a lightened up version of them that I would bake every one in a while and I'd really love to have one right now... Alas, I don't know how that would fit into the p90x diet. I did discover a recipe in the nutrition guide for some pear muffins that I'm going to try making soon. They sound yummy.

I'm dreading yoga tomorrow. Last week's early morning session left a very foul taste in my mouth which makes me not want to do yoga tomorrow... but it won't be an early morning workout so I think that will help. I'll bring it! I have no other choice, really. I've committed myself to this program and when I commit to something it's 100% or nothing. So I'll give it my all!

Days 35, 36 & 37

Day 35 was a much needed day of rest. It was nice to just relax and recoup a little... One day isn't enough for my muscles to really recover but it's still nice to get one rest day a week.

Yesterday, day 36, was chest, shoulders and triceps & the ab ripper. Since Jacob and I were leaving his parents house in Kentucky to drive back to our place in Pennsylvania, we got up extra early to squeeze in our workout before getting on the road. As much as I wanted one more day to sleep in, I knew that if we didn't workout in the morning we wouldn't workout after a 12 hour drive. I started my day of with a whole wheat bagel, waited a little over an hour and pushed through the workout! I seriously that that is the most challenging workout of this entire program. There are a lot of move I have to modify or I can't do many reps or much weight on... but I do it! That's what counts- I'm putting the DVD in and bringing it the best I can. It felt good to workout in the morning and not have to worry about it once we got back here. Eating on the road was tough, though. On the way there, I had packed a buuunch of p90x approved snacks. On the way back I wasn't able to do that. I didn't eat anything not p90x approved, but I did miss a few portions- one protein, one veggie and one carb. I wasn't about to discard the nutritional guidelines to get those portions, though. I just wish we would've found a Subway at a decent hour. Oh well.

Tonight, day 37, was plyometrics!! I think I waited a little too long between eating and working out tonight. I wasn't cramping, which is great, but I felt like I was running on empty. But I brought it!! I was seriously drenched in sweat by the time I was done. I love that. I can hardly believe that I'm already done 37 days. In some ways, it feels like I've been doing p90x for a VERY long time. In other ways, the weeks have zipped on by! It's good. I'm feeling pretty good.

Tomorrow is back & biceps and the ab ripper. Another very challenging upper-body workout for me... I'm getting to the point that I can do assisted chin-ups/pull-ups on the pull-up bar, but I'm not too great at them, yet. I'm working on it!! I'm going to try my hardest and briiing it!

Day 34

Another week conquered!! Tonight was kenpo, so obviously it was a great workout ;] My body is so sore. Legs an back & the ab ripper really tore me up last night! I think this first week of phase two, following the recovery week, is especially challenging on the muscles. But hey, muscle confusion gets big results so I'm not complaining! I'm just anxious to see those big results. I'm happy to be through another week! Feeling good. I was great with eating again today, too! :D I'm ending the night with a couple half-portions left but I don't think it's a big issue to skip them today. I'm not hungry and it's late anyways. That is all for tonight- time to sleep!

Days 32 & 33

Yoga was awful yesterday morning. Awful awful awful. I planned to get up and start yoga around 7am since our water was being turned off from 9am-12 and I wanted to shower before getting on the road for Kentucky. However, when I woke up at 7am I had a terrible pounding headache! I went back to sleep and didn't end up starting yoga until around 9:30am. I officially decided that I hate early morning yoga!! I was tired, sore, stiff and very hungry! Not a good combination. Not to mention I only got like 10 hours of rest between back and biceps on Tuesday night and yoga the next morning... But seriously, my body was so stiff, it hurt to stretch and balance. Yoga always stinks to begin with, but I really struggled to get through it first thing in the morning. I like working out in the evenings because I've been awake for awhile, had a chance to eat and move around... not so first thing in the morning! It hurt. But Jake and I pushed through it, doing the best we could. We had a delicious breakfast once it was over! :D I made overnight French toast with whole wheat challah bread, soaked in egg whites, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Yummmm.

Legs, back and the ab ripper went well tonight! I like the legs/back combo. My legs were seriously shaking and burning but it was good. I even did a set of pull-ups on the pull-up bar!!!! Granted, I used a chair to make it an assisted pull-up... but I got up there! I did eight alternating grip ones (or whatever they're technically called). My arms were shaking at that point, haha. I was happy to actually try some on the bar! I know it isn't completely legit, but I'm getting better! Jake was really proud of me so that made me feel great! :D I'm definitely going to do real pull-ups by the time I'm done the p90x program. I'm so determined!

Honestly, it wasn't as hard to stick to my diet today as I thought it would be. I had a bunch of turkey (om nom nom), some steamed carrots, and mashed potatoes that I made with a little smart balance light and skim milk. Not bad at all! I didn't have any dessert... I pretty much ate normally, minus all the turkey, haha. I had egg whites and turkey bacon for breakfast, a few soft pretzels, some popcorn, a bagel... Yeah, I was very good today. Go me, haha. I think a big part of that is being at my in-laws. I don't like eating when I'm at other peoples houses so it's pretty easy for me to stay disciplined. I wasn't tempted by the unhealthy food. Well, the cheesecake did look delicious but I kept telling myself "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"! Hopefully I can stay this well on track during the rest of my little vacation.

Tomorrow is kenpo. WIN. I'm excited to bring it! :D

Day 31

Quick update tonight: back and biceps was a rough but really good workout. It wasn't as awful to get through as Sunday's chest, shoulders and triceps workout was but it was still very challenging. I definitely need to get a heavier resistance band, though. I could feel it with each rep but I know that I could do more. I need to remember to pick one up sometime this week... But yeah, the workout was good tonight! I'm finally starting to get biceps, hahaha. I've got a little bicep bulge and it makes me happy. I've been working so hard to improve my pathetically weak upper body and it's nice to see it paying off a little.

I'm getting up super early to do yoga tomorrow morning since Jake and I are heading to Kentucky for Thanksgiving break... I'm interested to see how yoga goes for me first thing in the morning. I don't think I'm going to want to get out of bed but I gotta bring it!

I'll update again on Thursday or Friday, depending on how hectic things are.

Day 30

Woah, thirty days of p90x complete!! That went by pretty fast... Plyometrics was a killer tonight!! It always is, though. It is brutal yet so satisfying. My love/hate relationship with this workout grows more intense every time I do it, haha. But I brought it tonight!! I felt like a million bucks afterwards. My apartment was super hot (thank you radiator heat) which made plyo feel even more intense, if that's possible. I've also been dizzy all day and I have no idea why but that made me get pretty nauseous tonight. It was not easy to push through all the moves. I still did it, though. And I'm happy I did! After my frustration last night, I felt so hardcore busting out plyo tonight. I suck at upper body stuff but I'm getting pretty good at the cardio. Not fantastic but I'm getting better at it every week.

Tomorrow is another new workout- back & biceps. Considering the fact that my chest and triceps are extremely sore from last night's workout, tomorrow should be interesting to say the least. I'm not too anxious to see what this one is like. I do not like upper body work. I'm going to do my best and forget the rest, though! And that means bringing it!! Here we gooo.

Days 28 & 29

Yesterday was day 28: the last rest day and therefore the official end of phase one! Jacob and I spent the day (and I mean the entire day- 15 hours!) in New York City, which made sticking to our diet a little tricky... We had a good breakfast of egg whites, veggies and turkey bacon before getting on the bus for the city. I honestly didn't do too bad eating while we were out, though! My vice was Starbucks. I love red cups! Ahhh. But I got a skinny peppermint mocha and didn't even finish it, so that isn't too bad. Other than that, I had shrimp and veggies at Bubba Gump's, turkey sausage egg white flatbread at Dunkins, some dried fruit and soy nuts that I packed and nonfat frozen yogurt with fruit. See? Not bad :] I was proud of myself for sticking to my diet so well during our outing. It wasn't easy (so many goodies all over the city!!) but I toughed it out.

Today was the first day of phase two. Oh boy. I was thrilled to eat TWO carbs today!!! :D I had oatmeal for breakfast. I was so happy to eat oatmeal and still have a carb left for later in the day. And yes, I realize that I sound completely pathetic saying that but whatever. I missed my morning oatmeal. Jacob and I then decided to buy whole wheat pizza dough and make a veggie pizza for lunch. Technically, I don't think pizza dough is in the p90x nutrition booklet, but we figured it was wheat and we only ate a little (1/4 of the package each- thin crust style). We counted the dough as a carb, the sauce and veggies as a veggie (duh) and the cheese as a dairy... it was a pretty big meal, but tasty and worth it! I was also beyond excited to eat popcorn today!! I love popcorn! It used to be my go-to munchie before p90x so I was missing it quite a bit. Oh, and we get to have soft pretzels now. Can you say win?! I am very sad to say goodbye to my nonfat frozen yogurt and mini rice cakes, though :[ I enjoyed those a lot. And I'm not too happy to lose a protein... but I think it'll be worth it for an extra carb. Now to get used to eating in this phase...

As far as the workout, tonight honestly beat me up hardcore. Chest, shoulders and triceps is a nasty workout!! I struggled through it... And had a small breakdown after it was over. I just lack upper body strength so much that it really makes me angry. I push and I try my hardest, but I get so discouraged that I'm using 3 or 5 pound weights and getting "the burn". I know the goal is to find that burn but seriously Alayna, THREE pounds?!! I'm pathetic and weak. Oh and one handed pushups?? Yeah, right. Even on my knees I can barely bend my arm... How about clap pushups? Right. I think I did five. And by that I mean I barely struggled through being able to do five from my knees. Yeah. Great. I feel so pathetic. I am so pathetic. And ab ripper x. Lovely ab ripper x. Still can't get through the whole thing! Yep. I need to take breaks during some of the moves. Why? Because I'm pathetic, remember? It's true. Ughhh. In case it isn't blatantly obvious, I'm very discouraged tonight. Maybe I've hit my plateau. I'm not sure. I just hate my stupid weak body that can't do everything I want it to do. I want to be stronger. I want to be able to do upper body work without having to modify moves. I want to do all of the ab ripper without resting a couple reps. I just want to be better. And I know I'm doing p90x to get better. I understand that I'm my own biggest critic. I know that it's great I'm at least doing it, staying committed and trying to force my body to change. I know all of this. But it doesn't translate into a difference in my capabilities. It's a frustrating day for me. I'm hating p90x right now to be completely honest. I won't quit. I refuse to quit. I just wish the changes would come quicker. Ugh. Slow and steady though, right? :/ Stupid body.

Tomorrow is plyometrics. That workout is also a killer but at least I know I can do it! It might make me want to die but I'll get through it and feel awesome afterwards. Plyo, I'm gonna bring it.

Day 27

I am done with phase one!!!!!! Well, technically tomorrow is my last day of phase one, but it's a rest day so it doesn't really count, haha. I can't believe I'm already 1/3 of the way through p90x!! :D Eeeee! I'm not gonna lie, when Jacob and I first decided to try p90x, I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it. I didn't think I'd make it through the workouts, I thought I would fail with the diet... I feel so good for making it this far! I compared the pictures we took today to the pictures we took on day one and I do see some changes! Nothing major (well, I can see some major changes in my hubby- I'm so proud of him for working super hard at this!) but I do see little changes... And I'm determined to make those little changes become BIG changes. It's so going to happen! I've toned up a lot more in my upper abs, which makes me happy. I can see my legs getting more lean and toned, too! My legs are so long, I want to make them killer ;] I'm nowhere near where I want to be quite yet, but I'm making progress. I'm taking it one day at a time, pushing myself, staying disciplined and making the changes happen!

I think I get a little better at yoga every time I do it. I still hate it, but I'm getting through it a little better now. I think I expect too much too soon out of myself and get so frustrated when I'm not at that point... I'm trying to teach myself to just do the best I can, do as much as I can and leave it at that. Like Tony Horton always says, "do your best and forget the rest". It's a good catchphrase, but it's also so true. I need to really listen to that advice and not beat myself up for not doing everything perfectly. I'm doing the best I can. I'm getting stronger everyday. That is what truly matters.

Tomorrow is a glorious rest day before honing in on phase two on Sunday! It won't be a "down" day for me, per se, considering I'm spending the day walking around New York City, haha. I guess it's good to still be up and active even on a rest day, though! It'll still be rest compared to the p90x workouts, that's for sure ;]

Day 26

Today was my second experience with core synergistics. I must say, I did much better with it this time around. I feel good! This workout is seriously a full-body challenge. It has everything from planks and pushups to mountain climbers, lunges, boats and bananas (think low v-sits, hello abs), bicep curls, squats... and a whole lot in-between. It's a very challenging and exhausting workout but getting through it makes for one wonderful feeling of accomplishment! I'm not lying when I say that this is one of the most well-rounded full-body workouts I have ever done. I even got through the "bonus round" (a few extra challenging moves at the end) tonight!! I skipped it on Tuesday and went right to the cool down. I toughed it out tonight, though! I managed to do 25 one-legged table dips! That was hard, haha. My body is tired but my muscles definitely feel better than they did at the beginning of the week. I was a little leery about this recovery week but I think it's doing the job. I didn't think I would like doing all these workouts when I should be resting... but I'm glad it wasn't a solid week off because that would make me feel very lazy and gross. I do love working out. I'm feeling pretty well recovered... In fact, I'm getting pretty anxious to start phase two on Sunday! Unfortunately, I gotta get through yoga tomorrow first. Booo. Oh well, I guess it'll be good to stretch a little more, rest on Saturday and hit the ground running, so to speak, on Sunday.

I've been getting a little more creative lately with my meals :] it's making a big difference. I'm still hooked on my egg white, turkey bacon and low-fat cheese on an English muffin breakfast. Om nom nom. Although, I did discover today that I have accidentally been using four egg whites instead of three every morning! :X Oops! I have no idea how that happened and I feel guilty for the extra protein... nothing I can do about it now, though! A couple nights ago, I used half a carb and a dairy to make myself a delicious mini baked mac 'n cheese :D I made it in one of my cute red ceramic mini casserole dishes, hehe. It was so good. Tonight, I sauteed some shrimp, scallops, French-cut green beans, pressed garlic and a splash of lemon juice. I served it over rice for dinner- WIN. It was different and quite tasty! I'm also discovering a love for avocados (3oz = 1 portion of fat). Mostly, I like them in the form of guacamole, which I think is allowed since it's just dry seasonings added to the avocado... I have decided, however, that I will no longer eat taco-seasoned chicken on a day when I'll be doing a cardio workout, haha. I kept burping it up and it was so nasty! Sorry for the TMI ;] But it was not my wisest choice. I will, on the other hand, be cooking with more shrimp. I love shrimp. I have a (slight) allergy to them that makes me get itchy every once in a while after I eat them... but they're totally worth it, ha! Either way, I'm enjoying coming up with different recipes to try out. It can be annoying when I'm just hungry and want something quick but if I plan ahead it isn't very inconvenient. I'll tell you what, though, I am excited to eat a bowl of oatmeal next week when I get two carbs a day! :D I miss oatmeal. But I'll miss my nonfat frozen yogurt. A LOT. I love that stuff. And mini rice cakes. I'm losing my two favorite snacks in phase two :[ At least I gain popcorn and pretzels as a snack, though! I'll survive.

Tomorrow marks my last workout of phase one. Ready to briiiing it!

Day 25

It was so nice to just stretch today! I wasn't in love with the x stretch workout, but it was nice to take it easy and get all my muscles warmed up and loosened up a little! A lot of the moves reminded me of yoga which is probably why I wasn't crazy about it... But it was easier and less annoyingly redundant than yoga so it was nice. Obviously every workout begins with a warm up that includes some stretching so in some ways I was waiting for the actual workout to start tonight, haha. I knew it was just stretching but it felt weird to stretch without a real hardcore workout! I think my muscles will thank me tomorrow, though. I used to stretch allllll the time when I was dancing but I lost that habit once I left for college. This workout made me miss those dancing days!! I always loved getting all limbered up, especially on a cold and rainy day like today. It's healthy to take time and stretch out your muscles. It helps prevent injury, increases your flexibility and range of motion... and it feels good! Uncomfortable, but in a soothing way if that makes any sense, ha. Anyways, I enjoyed x stretch! Tomorrow is core synergistics again. I'm not excited for it but I'm determined to do a little better with it then I did on Tuesday. In other words, I'm gonna BRING IT doing core synergistics tomorrow!

Day 24

Half-way through recovery week! Today was kenpo <3. I looove it. My shoulders were burning tonight... I'm tellin' ya, my body is exhausted! I really brought it- threw hard punches, got my kicks up really high, push push push! I felt awesome. I worked out between my morning job and babysitting so it made for a very busy day but it was good. I really can't complain. As much as my body is begging for a break, I am thankful that I have the physical capability to workout like this. It's definitely not easy but I was thinking today that so many people would probably kill to be able to workout like this. I'm lucky to be healthy and able to use all my muscles and do an hour long cardio routine. I can breathe, I don't have to modify moves for an injured muscles... I can do it. I struggle and it hurts, but I am physically capable of working out this hard. I love it.

In some ways, it's hard to believe that I'll be done phase one in a few days! Not gonna lie, it went by pretty quickly. I know it'll only get harder from here but I'm getting used to the diet and setting aside an hour or so to workout everyday. I'm excited to start a new phase! Some days and workouts have seemed painfully long... I can feel every excruciating second inch by as I push my body harder and harder... Yet, I get through it. And here I am, almost 1/3 of the way through my journey! Obviously, I'm feeling pretty accomplished and happy tonight, haha. I think this will all be worth it in the end. Gotta take new pictures on Saturday to compare to my day 1 pics. I'm not going to post any pictures until I'm completely done with p90x, though. I'm not losing weight or seeing too much difference, but I am noticing that clothes are fitting differently and I feel healthier, tighter. I can't wait to see how I look at the end of this! I better see some good changes, haha. I think phase three is going to be ridiculously tough. The time fram (December-January) is rough and I'll be working a lot which means less free time for planning/cooking around the diet and way more temptation to skip a workout... but I'm determined to make it! I'm doing my best.

Tomorrow is x stretch. Fabulous. I've been told that this "workout" is glorious. Not gonna lie, I'm basically thrilled to spend a workout focusing solely on stretching out my overworked muscles. Yes please. Even though it's a low-kay workout, I'll bring it ;]

Day 23

Well, core synergistics is just about as bad as yoga. I was rather unpleasantly surprised. It's this painful blend of pushups, cardio bursts, multi-muscle strength moves, intense core work... Oh man, it was really rough!! Synergistics means engaging multiple muscles at a time. Like doing lunges, kick backs and curls all in one move. Owie. I thought this was supposed to be a recovery week! It sure doesn't feel like it! My muscles are so worn out. They need a REAL break. I pushed through as well as I could but there were definitely some moves that I couldn't manage to do. I feel like this workout is just brute strength and agility. And I couldn't really hack it. That frustrates me. But hey, at least I did it. I did my best. I'll tackle it again on Thursday and try even harder to bring it!

Tomorrow is kenpoooo :D Thank God there's one workout this week that I love! It's going to be a long day for me, though... I'm going to try to workout earlier in the day so I think that'll help. Either way, I'm going to bring it because kenpo is the best!

Day 22

Today was my first p90x-style recovery day. It's nice to have a week off(ish) and some change of pace... But I really dislike yoga. I would've rather been doing chest/back and the ab ripper tonight! I did my best with yoga, though, and managed to do a little more of the one-legged balance stuff than I have previously, which is good! It wasn't great but I did my best. I wish I didn't have to worry about yoga for another week but unfortunately I have to tackle it again on Friday. Booo.

On a happier note, I had a delicious lunch today! Jacob and I were inspired by Chipotle and decided to make our own taco salads like they do. We cooked up some shredded chicken with taco seasoning, sauteed some peppers and onions and ate it on top of lettuce with low-fat cheese and homemade guacamole! It was so delicious! We needed a good hearty meal- we've both been annoyed with the p90x diet and feeling like we have to eat the same things over and over. We're sick of chicken and eggs like we can't even explain. I need to get more creative but it's hard to find the time and ideas... We nailed it today, though! Oh and we found some flavored nonfat frozen yogurts last night- mocha fudge and cookies 'n cream! YUM. And totally allowed on our diet. Winning! Now I just need to think up more meal ideas and we'll be okay. I'm so ready for phase 2 to start next week so that I can eat two servings of carbs a day :D I miss cereal, oatmeal and bagels. I tend to just eat English muffins nowadays.

Tomorrow is core synergistics. I have yet to try this workout so I'm a little excited and a little nervous. I'm worried that it's going to suck as bad as yoga, but we'll see! Either way, I'm ready to bring it!

Days 20 & 21

Sooo I didn't kenpo yesterday :X I had a rather (very) crappy day and wasn't feeling the best so Jacob and I decided to postpone our workout to tonight. Saturday is usually our rest day but we figured with our recovery week coming up it wouldn't be too bad if we rested yesterday and did kenpo today. That's exactly what we did. I felt guilty not working out last night but I needed the night off. Kenpo was fantastic today! I was so exhausted but I brought it! I pushed it so hard, I owned those kicks and punches like I never have before. It was great. My muscles feel like they're dying- they are so sore it isn't even funny. My shoulders were on fire throwing all the punches and blocks... I was literally cringing. 

Like I said, this week is my first recovery week!! I'm a little excited, haha. Tomorrow is yoga (yuck), Monday is core synergistics, Tuesday is kenpo (yay!), Wednesday is x stretch, Thursday is core synergistics again and Friday is yoga (again, yuck). I'm interested to see how this goes... My muscles definitely need the break but I still hate yoga so I'm not looking forward to that aspect of the recovery week. All-in-all, I think it will be good.

I don't really see results yet which is making me a little upset. I know it takes awhile, but I' almost done the first phase! I see my upper abs coming through more but I haven't really lost any weight. Ugh. Maybe after I finish this week and take pictures I'll notice the difference... I hope so at least. I'm really expecting some great results from all this hard work. I'm starting to wonder if I'm eating too much... I'm following the portion approach set forth in the p90x nutrition guide, but obviously it isn't personally tailored to my body so maybe I need to cut back my caloric intake overall. I just don't know. Ugh. Admittedly, I'm a little frustrated. I just want to see changes... I want to lose fat and tone up! That isn't too much to ask! Especially for how hard I've been working.

I guess all I can do is continue to bring it! Even though I hate yoga, the change of pace will be nice so here goes nothing- three weeks done and one week away from finishing phase one! Briiiing it! 

Day 19

Nothing exciting to report today... I pushed it doing legs & back and made my muscles tremble. My quads were on fire! Especially during the beastly wall squats. I didn't feel like doing the ab ripper AT ALL tonight but I busted it out anyways... I'm excited that I don't have to worry about those workouts for a little while. I'm ready for a recovery week. I need it. My muscles are begging for it.

I cooked a delicious chicken and veggie stir-fry for dinner :D A little orange teriyaki sauce and a splash of low sodium soy sauce- yum!! It was delicious. I need to start marinating meat more often or something. Mix it up so I don't get bored eating the same foods.

Tomorrow is my favorite workout- kenpo x!! Woo-hoo! That workout is such a great way to end the week. I'm going to bring it so hard!

Day 18

I must admit, I didn't completely despise yoga x tonight! :X  I decided that I only truly hate the section where I'm supposed to do all these balance posture/stretch moves on one leg. I reallllllly hate that part. I've hated it enough to hate all of yoga x. It just frustrates me so much because I cannot stand on one leg and move weird ways for that long!! It just doesn't happen. I get this nasty charlie horse in my hip and my extended leg starts shaking... ahhhh! I hate that. I got so upset that I actually threw one of my yoga blocks across the room tonight :P Yep. Not my proudest moment... But other than that painfully long one-leg section, I didn't mind yoga x too much tonight... It was very nice to stretch out during the stretching section... Yoga belly 7 still kills me. It's hard to do ab ripper x last night, yoga belly 7 tonight and the ab ripper again tomorrow. Owie. I'm feeling pretty good, though.

As far as the diet... I wasn't as ravenously hungry today! Yay. However, I did cook a filet of fish with lemon and garlic and it tasted slightly reminiscent of vomit. Yeah, epic fail. It was so bad. I got Jake to try it and then laughed so hard as I watched his face distort when he realized how bad it tasted, lol. Then I threw it away and made chicken instead. Woooo chicken :P I also used all my carbs on pancakes again today. Again, a wonderful choice. I love pancakes. And I love cinnamon flavored agave nectar. Yum.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite workouts- legs and back!! I'm not exactly excited to do the ab ripper again since I'm already sore... but I do like legs and back. Even when I do the one-legged wall squats and convulsive uncontrollably. Embrace the burn! I'm BRINGING IT!

Day 17

Halfway through week three! Thank God next week is a recovery week- my body needs it!! Every day my muscles ache more and more... They're taking longer to recover so each nightly workout builds on top of the soreness from the day before... My body is tired and ready for a little break!  I did well with arms/shoulders and ab ripper x tonight! I upped a lot of my weights, which makes me feel a little better about my lame-o upper body strength. It's not impressive (yet) but it's the progress that matters. Gotta count every victory, no matter how small! My abs were sore before I even started the ab ripper tonight. That was pretty rough to get through. For the first time, I did all the mason twists at the end! Even the ten extra :D I'm going to feel it tomorrow. More than I already feel it tonight, haha.

On that note, my right hand/wrist has been killing me today! I thought it was from push-ups but it wouldn't make sense for me to have done all the push-ups on Sunday and not have this pain until today. Weird. Whatever it is, it seriously needs to go away. It hurts to grasp anything so that made getting a good grip on my dumbbells really hard tonight. Other than that, my appetite is back. With a vengeance! I was hungry all day today. Constantly hungry! Ahhh! No good. No good at all. I didn't binge or cheat, though, so I feel good. I'm still hungry but my portions are done for the day and I need my three-hour digest window before going to bed.

Tomorrow is the worst workout of all- yoga x. Ughhhh. Maybe it'll feel good this week with how sore my muscles are? It's good to stretch out... so I'll bring it!

Day 16

Plyo owned me tonight!! I don't know why, but i was seriously exhausted beyond belief! Even warming up I could feel some cramps and I was getting tired... It was brutal! It was the worst plyo experience I've had so far. I toughed it all out and didn't take breaks, but I couldn't keep up with all the double-time jumps this week :/ It's weird to think how one day or week a workout can feel so great and the next it just kills you! Good days and bad days, I guess. It felt soooo good to finish, stretch out and guzzle my recovery drink! I needed it for sure. My muscles are worn out. I suppose it could be because this is week three and I have less energy than I did weeks one and two... but I still felt crappy for struggling so much. I did my best though! All that's left to do is forget the rest :] On the upside, no plyo next week because it's recovery week! Yay! Even though I'd rather do plyo than yoga twice... it'll be nice to have a different week.

Tomorrow is arms/shoulder and ab ripper x! I need to get some heavier weights so I can bring it!

Day 15

The beginning of week three! After a long day out and about and a two-hour drive home, I wasn't exactly looking forward to working out. I just wanted to eat my dinner and unpack... but I worked out despite myself and I totally brought it! I'm up to the heaviest resistance band that I own (I'm not sure how heavy it is, but I was definitely feeling the burn) and I did some of the push-ups on my toes!! Plus, I increased the weight on everything else... I pushed it so hard! I felt awesome. It might not sound major, but these are improvements for me! I'm happy to see some improvements. I was worn out by the end and my arms still feel like overcooked spaghetti... but I'm glad I pushed so hard even though I didn't feel like working out at all! Sometimes I think those workouts are the most satisfying- when you really don't want to workout at all yet you do anyways and you totally push yourself. I love it. I'm not seeing any change on the scale but I can feel my body changing, which is exciting! I can see minor differences and it makes me anxious to see how major those changes might become eventually. Or WILL become eventually because I'm not gonna stop pushing myself to make the changes happen!

I stuck to my diet very closely today, following my chips and salsa binge last night ;] I ate all my portions and nothing extra. I'm becoming very fond of drinking my recovery drink while working out, it helps quite a bit. Other than that, nothing is new with the diet... My appetite is back a little bit but not completely. I went almost four hours today without eating and didn't even realize it until I started to mentally sum up what I had left for portions on the day. Haha, oops! I changed it up with some herbed tilapia from Wegmans for dinner and that was delicious! I needed something quick to cook after working out since I was getting home a little later. I need to start planning weeknight meals on the weekends and preparing stuff ahead of time so I'm not as bored with plain old chicken tenders.

Tomorrow is plyometrics, yet again. The killer workout with which I have a very intense love/hate relationship. I'm ready to bring it!!

Day 14

Rest day number two today! It felt so good to have a day off :D I slept in, lounged around the hotel, had some turkey and veggies for lunch with my love, took a long shower, watched some of Jake's squadron's annual football game, made chicken and veggies for dinner and caught up on a couple shows. I must admit, though, I cheated on my diet tonight :o/ I couldn't help it! I wanted chips and salsa sooo badly! At least I ate whole wheat Tostitos, right? And I only ate an english muffin as far as other carbs... I felt bad, but I needed the splurge. And it was considerably healthyish, haha. Oh well. I'll get strict again tomorrow and it won't matter... Chest/back & ab ripper x tomorrow!! I'm gonna make up for this little binge and BRING IT hardcore!

Day 13

I HEART KENPO X. Best workout of the entire series, for real. It makes me tired and kills my shoulders, but I love it! And with that, I am officially done week two of p90x! Woo-woo! I'm feeling good. Still not very hungry and sore as all get out, but I'm happy that I made it this far! Sunday starts the last intense week of this phase then it's onto a recovery week and the beginning of phase two. I'm excited to get more carbs in phase two, haha. With my appetite being next to nothing, I find that I'm drinking most of my protein portions as a shakes and wishing I could just eat a bagel. That probably sounds silly/crazy/like it doesn't make sense... but I think my stomach was having a hard time processing all the protein I was eating from chicken... I dunno. Maybe I just miss my bagels. Either way, it'll be nice to change things up a little in phase two.

On a very exciting note, my abs are starting to come through a little! I have a somewhat weird looking two-pack, lol. Supposedly that's how it starts... I'm gonna find out! :D

Short update tonight because I'm about to hit the road for the weekend... I'm thankful to have tomorrow off since I'll be away. I'm hoping to sit in a hot tub for a little while and relax my muscles. Mmm, that sounds so fantastic right now!

Day 12

Last night I had this weird dream that I skipped day 12 and went right on to day 13. I guess I just really love kenpo! I did day 12, legs/back & ab ripper x, anyways though :P At least now I have kenpo to look forward to tomorrow!

The workout was good tonight! I like this one better than the other two straight-up strength workouts. However, I have a bad aching pain in my right hamstring up to my butt. I'm not sure if I overworked something or if that side is weaker than my left or what the deal is. But it hurts! Hopefully it'll get better over the next couple days. I can't afford to be injured. I'm hoping I just tweaked it a little with all the squats tonight.

Small victory: I completed all of the forward and reverse bicycles and 40 of the mason twist in the ab ripper tonight!! First time I've done that! I was excited, haha. My abs are gonna hurt tomorrow! Love it.

On a side note, my appetite has gone missing. Oh no! The only time I actually feel hungry is the middle of the day around lunchtime. But even then I don't want to eat much... just a veggie or fruit maybe a few rice cakes. Maybe it's stemming from me being sick of chicken and egg whites but it's weird that I'm just not hungry. The only other time I can recall my appetite being gone like this was when my hubby left for his deployment... so it's weird that I'm feeling this way. Even right now: I just finished my workout and I do not want to eat. You'd figure after about 3 hours without food and a 1.25 hour workout I'd be starving! Nope. I think I'll just have another protein shake and an apple. Ugh. I hope this goes away soon!

Other than all that, I'm feeling good! Anxious to start seeing results... excited to be wrapping up week 2... and happy that I've been bringing it!

Day 11

Have I mentioned that I hate yoga? Because I do. I hate it with every fiber of my being.

See, I do not like doing things that I suck at. Maybe that sounds immature, but I try not to regularly engage in activities that I cannot accomplish/complete. Well, I suck at yoga. A lot. There's one section that I seriously cannot do. I try and I fall over. Not kidding. I know I'm supposed to say "currently struggle with" instead of "cannot" but this workout makes me so frustrated! And it makes me angrier than words could ever express! Rage. I'm getting upset now just thinking about it! Gahhh!! Some of the moves are very advanced and I hate that I cannot do them. So I get frustrated and discouraged and hate yoga more with every passing second. It doesn't help that the workout is so long... A whole hour and a half and I feel like I accomplish nothing. Irritating. I'm glad it's over for this week.

Today, I decided that I needed a break from chicken. I've been eating tons of chicken tenderloins lately (easy portion control and quick to thaw out) and I needed a change of pace. I actually opted for a protein shake for dinner, haha. I had snap peas and half a mango on the side... I just did not want chicken. And I didn't feel like cooking. I also decided that I need to buy more fresh veggies. I want some good raw broccoli! Chocolate protein shakes are delicious, though! Oh, I got more Recoup today, too! The GNC I went to didn't have fruit punch (boo) so I got blue raspberry instead. I think Jacob will like it quite a bit.

Tomorrow's workout is legs and back. Another killer! Heck, they're all killers! I'm finding that my muscles are getting sore more easily and taking awhile to recover... my whole body is in a perpetual state of aching... It'll be great to have a recovery week in two weeks. For now, I'm going to stick to it and let my muscles feel the burn... I'm ready to shred my legs again tomorrow and BRING IT!

Day 10

I don't have anything exciting to say today... it looks like Tuesday's arms/shoulders & ab ripper routine gets me frustrated and a little discouraged each time...  I feel like such a weakling even admitting this, but there are two moves I can only do with 3 pounds! THREE. That is so lame, I want to punch myself. Unfortunately, my arms are so sore I don't want to lift them off the comfort of my keyboard :P  I'm "getting the burn" with the 3lbs, but it's just so pathetic!! Grrr. Stupid weak arms.

I decided today that homemade pancakes are totally and completely worth my one carb of the day!!! At first I thought 3 pancakes at 3.6oz each would not be worth splurging on... I was WRONG! Oh man, so good! Then again, I've always been a huge fan of pancakes :D I used the heart healthy version of Bisquick, added a little vanilla extract and some cinnamon... topped them with cinnamon agave nectar (1 condiment) and a side of turkey bacon (1 protein). Epic win for me!! It was the most filling and delicious lunch I have had since I started p90x. Thrilled. I even used my last dairy of the day just to drink a cold glass of milk with the pancakes. Yum yum yum!! Okay, now that I'm hungry, haha...

Tomorrow is yoga x, the bane of my existence! Ughhhh. I'm dreading it. I hate it so much. I guess I'll keep bringing it, though ;] Here's to being halfway through week two!

Day 9

Day 9 complete! I'm officially 1/10 of the way through p90x! Haha.

Tonight was "the mother of all p90x workouts"- none other than plyometrics! I made sure that I drank plenty of water all day long and I didn't eat for two or three hours before the workout... but it still kicked my butt!! I really need to get a heart rate monitor to gauge how well I'm staying in my THR zone. I know for a fact that this workout is some serious cardio! I can tell that without a monitor ;] but I would like to be able to see just how high my heart rate gets doing this. I was able to keep up with the double-time jumps this week (which I couldn't do last week) so I felt pretty darn good! I'm not jumping super high, but man, I am getting off the floor and sticking to all the jumps. That's enough for me to work up quite the sweat! This week, I drank my Elite Recoup recovery drink during my workout and that helped. Speaking of which, I need to get some more Recoup... good thing this week is gold card week at GNC! I think I'm gonna try the fruit punch flavor next.

Things with the diet are about the same... It is super nice to be cooking again after this weekend, so I guess the diet is better than it has been for the past day or so. I had an egg white, spinach and low-fat cheese omelette with turkey bacon for breakfast- yum! I use my one carb to devour a bagel (medium, multigrain) for lunch- totally worth every bite! Dinner was a very disappointing 3oz steak that got too rough and done for my liking in the Foreman. I did, however, salvage the meal with some roasted acorn squash topped with cinnamon and a dash of pumpkin pie spice! So yummy! I'm thinking of doing an egg white, low-fat cheese and lean ham sandwich for breakfast tomorrow... I really like my breakfast sandwiches ;]  My discipline was slightly tested today by lots of goodies at work and candy all over the place due to Halloween. But I DO NOT RACK DISHIPRINE! (translation: lack discipline). I resisted the urge to eat unhealthy food and munched on my 12 mini caramel rice cakes instead :D

Tomorrow is arms/shoulders and ab ripper x again. Ahh, my arms are already sore! Honestly, my whole body is sore! Plyo killed my legs and butt tonight- owie! I'm gonna bring it tomorrow, though! No pain, no gain!

Days 7 & 8

Day 7 (yesterday) was my first rest day! It felt good to just take it easy and not worry about a workout last night... and it was very much needed considering our apartment lost power for about 26 hours! I felt a little like I was slacking off not bringing it last night but I still followed the diet so it's all good :]

Today, day 8, was chest/back and the ab ripper x, same as last Sunday. Difference is, this week it totally kicked my butt and made me ridiculously nauseous!! Not even kidding, it was brutal. I think part of the problem is that I didn't drink enough water yesterday and today... Without power and electricity, I was freezing! Freezing. And it's hard to bring yourself to guzzle 96oz of water when you're so cold you don't even want to move. Whatever it was, my workout tonight totally ran me down. By the time I was 10 minutes into chest/back, I started feeling sick to my stomach... by the time I started the ab ripper, I seriously thought I was going to throw up. I stuck to it, though! No breaks, no pausing, no cutting corners. I broughtttt it! Like a champ, haha. I'll tell you what, nothing could touch how amazing it felt to drink my recovery drink and take a long, hot shower after my workout was done! (Thank God we got electricity back earlier in the afternoon so I was able to workout and actually shower afterwards!).

Right now during the chest/back and ab ripper session, I struggled the most with decline pushups (well, pushups in general- I still do them on my knees, ugh) and the under the fence move (dude, I cannot hover myself over the ground to snake through and back into downward dog)... I'm really liking the resistance bands for the modified pull-ups. They definitely make me sore! I'm going to do pull-ups before I'm done with these 90 days! I'm gonna make it happen. As far as the ab ripper, I seriously struggle with the oblique v-sit crunches (or whatever they're called)... I can squeak out twenty of the twenty-five, but I have to bend my legs. Ab ripper in general is a killer. I did all the scissors tonight, though! My abs were on fire after that. But I think that was the first time I did all twenty-five of those, so I'm proud! Gotta celebrate the victories, right?

I found it extremely difficult to follow the p90x diet without power... I couldn't cook ANYTHING! I was so furious, you have no idea. All I wanted to do was throw some chicken on the Foreman and heat up my broccoli soup! Alas, such a simple meal was too much to ask for. I settled for a salad from Cosi (which I hesitantly ate because I didn't know exactly how many veggie portions it contained) and a bland rotisserie chicken (which I shoved down my throat simply because I needed to protein portions). This morning I caved and bought a turkey sausage egg white flatbread from Dunkins and washed it down with a Wawa coffee. Don't judge, I had to eat! And the coffee was just so warm and delicious... 

Anyways, I'm excited to be starting week two! I'm still as determined as ever to stick to all the routines and the diet so I can get some results! Tomorrow is "the X in p90x workout"- plyometrics! That workout is exhausting like no other. But what will I do? I'll bring it! 

Day 6

WEEK ONE COMPLETE!!!

Words cannot express how accomplished I feel! I know it probably sounds silly, but I feel so great for getting through my first week! Honestly, I thought I was going to struggle a lot more than I actually did. Don't get me wrong, all of the workouts were extremely challenging, but I DID IT! I wasn't sure I'd be able to, but I did! Woo-hooooo!

Tonight was kenpo, which is hands-down my favorite p90x workout. One hour of cardio kick-boxing, throwing punches and banging out some kicks, is fun. A lot of fun! It goes by so fast, it stays interesting and you work up a great sweat! Oh man, I love it, haha. I wish I could cut out yoga and do kenpo twice a week instead :P haha. I seriously despise yoga. But at least I have kenpo to look forward to every Friday!

I also thought I would have a much harder time with the diet... It's very restricting, but I'm getting used to it. Today, I did not feel deprived at all! And I'm finding ways to make it fit into my lifestyle so it will stick even after I finish p90x. It's a beautiful thing, haha. I had the best dinner tonight- a lean turkey burger with a piece of low-fat cheese, some bbq sauce and a piece of turkey bacon. Yum. And I discovered the most delicious snack of all- 2 cups of sliced strawberries with 4oz of nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt! Oh man, I felt like I was cheating when I ate this!! But it counted as one fruit and one snack, so it was totally allowed ;] I'm getting better at planning ahead and figuring out what I'm going to eat all day in order to space out my meals and snacks and get all my portions in. I've got to admit, it's a little fun! I like challenges, obviously.

All-in-all, I am feeling GREAT! I'm expecting to hit a plateau in the next two weeks or starting "bonking" (as the p90x nutrition guide calls it, haha) from lack of carbs, but right now I'm feeling so good. I'm proud of myself for this somewhat minor accomplishment and I am even more determined to stick with it and bring it again next week! But for now, I will enjoy a well-earned day of rest tomorrow!

Day 5

Today was muuuuch better than yesterday! I actually enjoyed my workout today! :D All the leg work was definitely killer, but I felt good! I'm still using resistance band modifications for all the pull-ups, but I'm hoping to eventually gain enough strength to do them for real. As for legs, I want to work on getting super deep into the lunges. I can get pretty low to begin with, but Tony Horton and the back-up workout people (whatever they're called, haha) get so freaking low it's crazy!! At one point, you do a lunge sit against the wall and hold it for awhile... then later you do another and lift one leg then lower and lift the other leg... oh man, I was shaking!! My muscles were going spastic! It was so nuts. I felt really good at the end of the workout, though. I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Very sore. It already hurts to stand up. I think the workout should be named legs, butt and back because it definitely works your butt quite a bit, too.

Diet-wise, I'm still doing well. I decided to use my one carb today on a bagel :D I was so excited to eat a bagel, haha. I was hesitant at first because I've really been enjoying my egg white/turkey bacon/low-fat cheese on an english muffin... but this morning I decided to put some peppers and onions in my eggs, skip the english muffin and reserve my carb. Man, was it worth it!! I even made a special trip to Wegmans just to buy a fresh multigrain bagel. Om nom nom! I got creative with dinner and marinated tilapia filets in oil, lemon juice, garlic and a ton of herbs. Golden. It was a wonderful dinner, paired with one cup of steamed carrots. I also made my chocolate protein powder "hot chocolate" today and enjoyed that with some fresh strawberries. On that note, two cups of sliced strawberries counts as one fruit! I was thrilled to learn that. Too bad strawberries are out of season, haha. Now I'm not down to two snacks for the day, so I must choose wisely... I think this is the most I've eaten this early in the day since I started p90x. It's all good, though.

I'm wicked excited for the workout tomorrow- KENPO!!! My favorite. Ohhh how I love it! For real, an hour of cardio kickboxing is insanely fun. And I'll be able to use that workout to blow off all the stress from my week and get ready for the weekend and my first day of rest on Saturday! I'm basically pumped and ready to BRING IT!

Day 4

I HATE YOGA X!!! And I mean HATE. Replace all the names in this video clip to "yoga x" and that's precisely how I feel. Especially the last one...

I was somewhat looking forward to yoga... I'd done half of it with my brothers and I mostly enjoyed it. Thing is, I missed all the crappy parts of yoga x and had just done the more fun stuff like the balance postures and the stretches. Come to find out, I hate everything else! It was a rough workout- very annoying and redundant. I like a challenge, but some of this stuff was near impossible! It was frustrating. Oh well, at least it's over with and I don't have to worry about it for another week. What really sucks is that the recovery week (the fourth week in phases one and two) has yoga in it TWICE. Sunday & Friday. Here I was thinking recovery week would be wonderful but now I'm dreading it more than our regular weeks. I would seriously rather do plyo than yoga! At least I feel like I've accomplished something after doing plyo. 

Okay, that's enough complaining. Other than that, I'm doing well with p90x. I'm excited that I'm two workouts away from being done the first week! Pretty sweet. I can't wait to see some results. I'm so anxious. I'm trying to be patient but I just want my body to change so much... I guess I just need to stick with it. Stay disciplined. Muscle through all my workouts. I'll make the changes happen. Tomorrow is legs and back! Should be interesting considering my legs are already sore from plyo and this is the second time working back this week (chest & back was day one)... I have a feeling I'll be limping on Friday, haha. I'm going to embrace the burn and bring it!

Day 3

Ugh. I'm a little frustrated today. I worked out later than usual and I hadn't eaten anything for almost three hours... needless to say, I was tired before I even started. The routine was arms and shoulders & the ab ripper. Again, I was reminded that I have a super weak upper body. Not gonna lie, it was a little discouraging to have that thrown in my face again... I know I can't let it get to me because these workouts are meant to push me and meant to make me stronger! I know it isn't going to happen overnight... It was just a rough workout for me. I struggled through the ab ripper more than usual, too. Freaking oblique v-sits will be the death of me! I pushed myself and got through it all, so I guess I can still chalk it up as a win.

On the upside, I'm handling the diet a little better. I officially love my egg white, turkey bacon, low-fat cheese sandwiches on an english muffin. YUM. Great way to start out my morning! I'm still having a hard time with balance but I did the best today that I have so far. I had two of my three snacks earlier in the day along with the second half of my carb and my condiment. Turns out it was a very good thing that I ate more earlier due to the fact that I worked out later and I can't eat within three hours of going to bed. Yeah, three hours. That's not easy to do! So tonight, since I didn't finish working out until almost 10pm, I'm stuck staying up until about 1am because I had to eat after the routine. Oh well, I guess I'll take a nap tomorrow...

Side note- I am definitely feeling plyo today! My lower body is so sore, it hurts to sit down! Haha. I don't mind, though. Being sore means I accomplished my task and worked my muscles hard. And I'm happy with that.

Tomorrow is yoga x! I'm looking forward to it. Yoga is a lot harder than most people think... I have pretty good balance so I'm decent at it, but I'm looking forward to improving my yoga skills! I've done some of this routine before, so I'll be interested to see how I do with the whole thing. I feel like yoga belly 7 is gonna kill me because the ab ripper really did rip me up tonight. Yet, I'm still ready to briiiiing it!

Day 2

Another day completed!

This diet makes me tired... one serving of carbs a day does not feel like enough! But if it does what it's supposed to do and makes me burn a bunch of fat, then I don't care, haha. I just need to stay strong. I think my biggest problem with the diet as of right now is that I think I'm going to eat too much early in the day and have nothing left to eat at night so I conserve a lot of my portions then end up with a bunch to eat after working out! It could be worse... but I need to learn how to space my portions out more evenly. I discovered a wonderful breakfast today! Three egg whites scrambled with a little onion powder, three pieces of turkey bacon and one slice of low-fat cheese on a whole wheat english muffin. Deeeeelicious!! And surprisingly filling. I also bought chocolate protein powder today, so I'm excited to have some "chocolate milk" tomorrow (I bought the protein powder after I ate most of my dairy for the day and didn't want to mix it in water because that's nasty, haha). I'm still loving my Elite Recoup recovery drink! I bought the watermelon flavor and I swear it tastes like a drinkable watermelon jolly rancher. Om nom nom!

The workout was brutal tonight! Plyometrics, a.k.a. jump training. It was so intense and exhausting! Almost every move was only thirty seconds, like 5 or 6 in a row then repeat the whole circuit. Sounds relatively easy, but believe me, it was more than challenging!! But I did it all! I couldn't keep up with some of the double-time jumps, but I kept going and did my best (forget the rest!). I felt so thoroughly drained by the end. Yet, I felt incredible for getting through the entire workout! Tony Horton says that plyo is "the X in p90x" so I think I should feel good about getting all the way through it without pausing or taking extra breaks.

Day two has been conquered. Tomorrow is arms and shoulders & ab ripper x. Tomorrow is also my 10 hour workday so this is bound to be difficult. Nonethless, I'm gonna BRING IT!