I'm starting to like yoga...

I still dilly dally and take more than an hour to actually start, but I don't dread it like I used to. It makes me feel wonderful for the rest of the day!

I've noticed I'm quite a bit more flexible, and some of the harder poses are doable by now. I started out p90x hating yoga, and now I think it is something I want to do on a regular basis indefinitely--the benefits are amazing!

I've been a very bad girl

At least at blogging!

I've still been doing P90x, and am about to start the second recovery week--I did take a little bit of a break over the holidays, but I plan to be back tomorrow in full force!

Discouraged...

It's Day 22, and I'm feeling pretty discouraged. No major changes in inches or weight. I definitely feel like I've developed more muscle, but I want the stats!

This is also the beginning of Recovery Week #1--which means double Yoga--ugh!

Luckily, my wonderful roommate, Allison, has decided to share the pain with me. Yay!

Hypnotism, Oreos, and Water

Two exciting things happened today outside of the P90x world.

1. I googled my own blog and found out someone named twittered about it! Granted, it was a link to my post about how Winter Oreos sing to me...but I'll take what I can get.

2. I was hypnotized.

No, not in the dog-barking, duck-quacking sort of way. I had the opportunity through work, so I decided to try it. We worked on getting me to avoid cookies, candy, and soda--three of my big downfalls that have been slowing me down so far.

I was completely conscious the whole time--there were no trances or anything like that involved. My "hypnotist" (also an employee) had me go through visualizations of switching behaviors--I wont go into it to much here, but it was pretty interesting and not creepy at all.

So far I've eaten two cookies today, but I'll give it a little more time :)

However, I had to pick an alternate behavior for eating candy & drinking soda, so I picked drinking water for both. Oddly enough, I had the strangest urge to drink water while watching Glee this evening--my roommate just confirmed it was during the bake sale portion of the TV show.

Maybe it's working?

In P90x land, it is now Day 15. I accidentally switched up my days and did Shoulders/Arms/Ab Ripper X instead of Cardio X, but I don't think the world will end.

I am pretty proud of myself, though--combined with the Pilates class, it was 2.5 hours of exercise today! I'm going to be hurting tomorrow...

Holiday Oreos & I Hate Yoga

I've been a bad blogger again...

Recent updates:

• I did my second round of yoga on Friday--UGH! I just cant get past how boring it is. I love all of the other workouts because it seems like they fly by--Yoga just draggggggsss on. I'm not looking forward to a doubleshot of this workout during recovery week.

• I hit a BAD food snag, due to holiday goodies such as Starbucks holiday lattes and these little black and red devils:

I swear they sing to me.

• I am happy to have been sticking with the workouts. Today will be X Stretch (which I actually have not done yet) and a Pilates class.

• I've also decided to check out the message boards on TeamBeachbody.com to get a little more support.

Day 9

I'm starting the cycle over again--one more week after this and then the first recovery week (which is filled with Yoga, so I'm really not excited about it)

The workouts are still fine--my biggest problem now is diet. I do well until I get home in the evening--then all I want is SUGAR! So far, I've limited it to frozen yogurt from Orange Tree (which isn't so bad), but some candy corn and a chocolate bar have snuck in there as well.

I'd really hate for all of my hard work to go to waste, so I'm going to continue working on buckling down--I've at least kicked the grilled-cheese-at-midnight habit!

The enemy:

And on the 7th day...

She rested. And took measurements.

Actually, I had planned on doing X Stretch, but didn't get around to it until after midnight. I figured a nice 15 minute stretching routine would feel nice before bed--it's actually 60 minutes...whoops.

In my defense, the official guide does say REST or X Stretch, so I really don't feel so bad, especially since I had Pilates class today.

And now for the measurements:

No changes, except for 1/2 inch lost in the chest, waist, and hips. I apparently gained a 1/2 inch in my thighs and above my knee--oh joy!

Gained 1.8 lbs, but LOST 2% body fat--woohoo!

I definitely could have done wayyyyy better with the diet last week, so even itty bitty results are encouraging--I am very happy about the body fat, though--I'm hoping it isn't a scale fluke...

Halloween Weekend Catch-up

Woohoo--I've kept up with this for a week! (though not so much in the blogging part)


Friday: Yoga--I was not excited about this. I've never done yoga before and this thing was 90 freakin' minutes! It wasn't so bad, but I got tired of doing every dang "warrior" pose known to man.

There was also a good 20-30 minute chunk that had me falling over and staring at the screen in disbelief. Oh well, it has to get better, right?

Saturday: Legs & Back/Ab Ripper X. Legs & back was good except for the pull ups. I don't really want to invest in a pull up bar right now--I'm a poor college student. Since I read you can use the bands instead, I figured I would just do that. Which leads to Complaint #1...

When it came time for pullups, Tony jumps onto a bar conveniently hanging out of the ceiling...and the girl demonstrating the band alternative WRAPS THE BAND AROUND THE SAME POLE. Ummm...excuse me, the majority of the target audience for this video (I'm willing to bet 98%) does NOT have an exposed pole hanging out of the ceiling! I thought this was supposed to be home-workout friendly?

I briefly eyed the ceiling fan before reality set in, and tried using the door attachment at the top of the bathroom door. It just wasn't high enough. So I did kinda-maybe-band-pull ups, which unfortunately make up about 1/3 of the workout, and I'm going to have to figure something else out soon.

Ab Ripper X still sucked...I've never experience ab cramps before...

Sunday: Kenpo X. This workout was fun, except for one major beef--Complaint #2: little or no explanation of the moves. I understand that too much explanation slows down a video pretty quickly, but I feel like there needs to be some explanation (maybe a separate video) explaning the proper technique for a lot of the poses, moves, and kenpo routines in the entire program.

Many were doable, but I think people would pay good money to watch my extreme arm-flailing on some of the moves!

Measurements are tomorrow!

Day 3--Shoulders & Arms/Ab Ripper X

I reallllllly did not want to work out today. I mean REALLLY did not want to.

But I did, and I'm proud of myself for it! I'm about to go "reward myself" with frozen yogurt from a new place that just opened up around here--Orange Tree. That stuff is great--completely nonfat, usually about 25 calories/oz and full of probiotic bacteria. Definitely not your old school TCBY!

Today was Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X:

Shoulders & Arms

• I rocked this workout!
  

• Definitely the easiest workout of the three I've done so far.

• I need to invest is 8 lb and 12 lb weights--what I have isn't cutting it. Some exercises were far too easy for the weights I had.

• I don't really like the bands--they get in the way.

• I had to skip out on the tricep dips--they hurt my shoulders immediately. In the past, I would have pushed through the pain and probably hurt myself, but I've learned enough throughout the past year to know if I do, I'll be more likely to quit the whole program.
  

• I'm in mental competition with Dreya--in my mind she is the now known as "annoying blonde overachiever." Seriously--she is really annoying. She is just too dang perfect and Tony is all over her skipping around and proclaiming how amazing she is. Gag me.

• However, I was really happy that I did the same amount of weight as Dreya on one of the tricep moves without the constipated expression she had on her face. Take that, annoying blonde overachiever!

Ab Ripper X

Oh my freakin' gosh. This hurts. I probably did half the reps. I am going to be in major pain tomorrow. Thank goodness it is only twice a week!

Day 2--Cardio X

I have to say, I'm surprised how much I'm liking this! I thought I would be cursing my way through incredibly long videos, but so far, I'm able to do most of the moves (though I have to modify some and I don't make it through all of the reps) and it's almost...dare I say...fun?

Since I'm focusing on losing weight more than gaining muscle, I'm doing the lean version.

Day one was Core Synergistics--this workout was actually a lot of fun. I'm taking a Pilates class right now and I think having that background helps me engage the right muscles and get a little more out of the workout.

My back hurts like H-E-Double Hockey Sticks today, though.

Day two (today) was Cardio X. I was expecting something similar to an aerobics video--lots of jumping, spinning, stepping, and other crap. Instead, it was a combo of yoga, kenpo, plyo, and core. A lot of the moves were difficult, but definitely not all high-impact (which has been a major problem for me in the past). Plus, some of the moves were downright fun (the free throws). I really like the Dreyarolls too--but I don't recommend doing them in a sports bra on bare carpet...

All in all--it went by incredibly quickly and I was sweating pretty hard by the end--definitely a good workout.

As far as the food part of it all goes--I'm kind of flying blind. I don't have access to the food guide, so for now I'm cutting out all processed food and focusing on a high-protein diet of lean meat, vegetables, and minimal carbs. I bought a couple different protein bars to try out and I've been drinking a whey based protein shake after each workout. Both the bars and the protein shakes are pretty good!

Getting rid of sweets is going to be hard. I fell off the wagon today and indulged in cookies (darn you Allison!) and some chocolate. And I'm trying to decide whether or not nonfat chai tea lattes are acceptible. But tomorrow is a new day...

Day 1--Here we go!

Let's cut to the chase--here is the reason I'm doing this:

 

I'm getting hitched on June 12th, 2010...and I want to look good!

I've got the dress--yup that's me in it above--and I have to get it altered by March. I've been engaged for 1.5ish years and from the time the ring was on my finger, I knew I should be getting my booty in gear. In fact, that has been my goal for years--before Mr. Bridezilla was a part of my life.

However, this was the first time I've ever had a set deadline...and it got me moving...but not quite enough. Here's the stats:

--Joined Weight Watchers three times--third time was NOT the charm.

--Lost 15 pounds

--Gained 15 pounds back

--Worked up to running a 5k from barely being able to jog a mile

--Worked up to competing in sprint-distance triathlons

--Tried Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred twice--more on that later

So, while I've certainly attained a much higher level of fitness, I still weigh the same amount I did 1.5ish years ago, and unfortunately, I'm pretty much the same size.

So why P90x? There's a variety of reasons (the main being that I had access to the DVDs for free) that I will get into later. But the bottom line is consistency--I need something that will get me moving every day and keep me motivated along the way. Hopefully, this will be it!