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 :]