Day 13.

Not gonna lie, I am surprised I got in the work out I did today. For starters, I spent my day on the beach and came back with a pretty wicked upper body sunburn. I didn't use protection because what I had I was allergic too, so that's no good. Hives & heat? NO THANKS. Secondly, I am slightly stressed because the wedding I'm going to in St. Thomas this weekend - yeah, I'm singing in it. 5 Songs. I have been struggling to fit in rehearsal time... I think I'll be okay, but naturally I'm anxious.

Nevertheless, I did Shoulders, Arms, Abs, and an extra 20 minutes of cardio. Thoughts today? Well, I increased some of the weight on my shoulders and bis, which made me very happy. Triceps I am staying light still. Mostly because kickbacks are such a ridiculous exercise in a retarded position and I don't want to hurt myself, ha. I thoroughly enjoyed my extra cardio but I wish I'd have done more.. I got fatigued. I think two work outs a day are best separated, something I will be doing tomorrow.

Tomorrow is yoga, don't hate on me, but I might super in Plyometrics. I miss it on this lean plan and I hate hate hate yoga. Then some extra cardio perhaps. Who knows.

It's weird it's only Day 13. It feels longer but I've really only been doing 5 days a week so I suppose that's why.

Well, I need to go rehearse more.

Days 11 & 12

My goodness this blog is harder to keep up with than I thought!! I have been super busy! This past weekend I attempted [read: attempted!] wake boarding. That took a lot out of me, I was beat, and sore the next day!

Monday I picked back up with Core Synergistics and it was slightly easier than the first time, but not that much! Geeeez, I thought I'd like it but I really just find it to be annoying.

Today was supposed to be Cardio X, but I found that to be...ehh. I don't feel like my heart rate is as high as I'd like it to be so I switched it up for 45 minutes on the elliptical that I have collecting dust downstairs. It worked though! I was sweating and my heart was pounding! Yessss!

I think I will probably add cardio in with my shoulders, arms, and abs tomorrow. I like having the extra work out, plus I think I need more cardio for optimum fat loss.

Finally, on Saturday I leave for St. Thomas for 5 days. It's for a destination wedding. The hotel has a gym and I am bringing my lap top as well as Plyometrics, Core, Kenpo, and maybe Yoga, to get some serious work out time in before the fun in the sun takes place. I don't want to lose momentum! As far as yoga goes though... yep...still hate it.

Day 9 & 10 - Changes?s

I know the other day I said I was starting to feel some changes but today I feel slightly discouraged. I did legs and back and abs and it was tough on my knees today. I also felt like the "pull ups" that I'm doing with the resistance bands are way too easy. Is it time to start doing real pull ups? Maybe.

I am doing everything right - mostly. Eating right, doing the work outs. If I miss a day, I double up the next. I haven't lost one pound! Granted, I only really want to tone and lose 10-15lbs... but I thought if I was working out and eating right a pound a week was healthy. Is this wrong for a 5'5" 140lb woman? Is it because I don't have much to lose that I haven't seen many results? Granted, the boyfriend said because it's only been 9 days and I'm not obese it'll take longer for me to see changes, but I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit discouraged. This is probably because I spend most of my time with itty bitty girls and I feel like the fat girl all the time. Maybe I'm not eating enough for the amount of strength training I'm doing? Or maybe I just need more cardio?

I've always struggled with what to eat while working out. Losing weight by diet alone is no problem, but I can never keep it off. I throw in working out and now I can't lose anything. I'm either eating too much or too little. I don't want to stay the same, I want CHANGES! Am I just being impatient?

I just want to feel sexy.

PS - I still hate Yoga.

Work outs 7 & 8!

Well, be proud of me!! I did both work outs today!!! I feel phenomenal! Tired, but great.

First I did Cardio X, as that's the second work out for the Lean version of the program. I liked it except that it begins with yoga and that I hate...seriously. Then it gives different routines from Plyo, Kenpo, and Core, all of which I enjoyed and could do fairly easily. I was definitely sweating though! I feel like it'd be a good addition to my work outs a few days a week. Like, working it in and doing two work outs on certain days. I liked it and I felt extra energized!

I gave myself a few hours and then did Shoulders & Arms as well as Ab Ripper. I still hate Ab Ripper. I don't know... I guess that explains the cushion in my waist because I hate working out my abs. Actually, no I don't. I just hate a lot of the exercises on Ab Ripper. Nevertheless though, I did it. For Shoulders and Arms I increased my weight on most of the exercises from 5lbs to 10lbs. I could've probably done 10lbs last week but I took it easier since I hadn't done anything in some time. I am excited though because I feel stronger.

I know it's only week two, so I won't see many changes yet, but I do feel a lot stronger, more well rested, and tighter all over. I thought about taking some photos each week, but I won't do it right now because I drank so much water I'm sure I won't look all that "thin" persay. Maybe in the morning. I went shopping the other day and a few weeks ago before the diet/exercise I would've been a solid 6. This week I fit in the 6 but the back of it gapped. I also fit in the four and it FELT comfortable, I just don't totally love how it looks yet. But seriously, if these are the changes I've got coming, I have a lot to look forward to!

Something I'm not looking forward to? Yoga tomorrow morning. NOT COOL.

Any tips for making it easier? Besides, "Just BREATHE!" because that doesn't work.

I wish I could sub yoga with plyo.

Busy Busy! Days 6 & 7!!!

So, on Friday I did Kenpo X. So far it's my FAVORITE!! I loved it. I think because it reminded me of boxing a lot. Granted, I struggled with some things related to kicking, but cardiovascular wise, I did great!! Boyfriend said he was proud of me. I was sore first thing Saturday morning though which did not make my next work out easy AT ALL!!

Boyfriend and I discussed it and decided I would switch to P90X Lean. That meant Saturday morning would be Core Synergistics. Boy was that HARD!! I was crying half way through it but boyfriend wouldn't let me quit! Like my first two work outs, it was good was there. He helped me with form a lot. He's also great at giving encouragement when I might otherwise have quit.

As for today?! It was super busy! I woke up early and headed to a bridal shower for a wedding in which I'm a bridesmaid. I got home around 7:00 and have been exhausted since! I know I need to work out, of course. I think boyfriend is disappointed... but my goal was go wake up tomorrow morning and do Cardio X and then do another work out tomorrow evening. That will make up for missing today. I WILL do that. Even if the boyfriend doubts it.

I wasn't prepared for fitting in the work outs to my busy life! Perhaps that's the most challenging part thus far. I do have to say though, I am sleeping better and I feel better over all. I think I see little changes but I'm sure a 9 days of diet and exercise is too soon to see anything significant really. We'll see.

Wish me luck that I stick to the two work outs tomorrow....

Day 5!

Day 5 was legs and back! Holy crap was it hard. I was sweating like crazy and sore well before the next day. My gluts and hamstrings and inner thighs mostly. It's a crazy good sore though! I can't squat down!! I did Ab Ripper afterward, but I was so tired. I didn't do it as well as I could have. I think it might be beneficial to separate the two work outs and do them different times of the day. I'm just so beat after and hour of intense legs and back [or chest and back for that matter] that Abs seems pointless because I'm so tired I half ass it. Just a thought for now though.

Today I was even more sore so after work I opted to take a day off. They recommend 6 days a week. Boyfriend says I could do 5. I took today off but I plan on working out tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday morning. Sunday will likely be another off day because I have a busy weekend and I'm not sure how easy it'll be.

I'm not punking out, don't worry! Just trying to get my schedules in order.

I am also considering doing P90X Lean now, instead of the classic. While I've always opted more for strength training, I'm feeling like more cardio would be beneficial for me as I'm trying to lose 11lbs of fat or so. Any thoughts on this?

Day 4 - Yoga X

This was slightly discouraging for me. I guess I expected it to be more beginner friendly? I am not a beginner in fitness by any means, but yoga? That's another story.

I couldn't get through the entire hour and a half work out, mainly because I felt frustrated. I knew I wasn't flexible, but damn! I did what I could for the first week I guess. I am trying to think of ways to improve my flexibility. I suppose if I stretch some every night and every morning in addition to my regular work outs, that will be beneficial?

Maybe I don't like yoga because it's so low intensity. I didn't feel like I was doing anything good for my body, even though yoga lovers will probably disagree. Really, it just made me feel like I had no fitness ability whatsoever. I guess that's the key with muscle confusion and these work outs, I'm not going to be good at everything immediately. Truth be told though, I'd much rather do push ups or plyometrics any day!

Regardless, I suppose I'll need to give it another shot. I wasn't completely awful at everything but it's like, the further the DVD went on, the harder the moves got. I feel all stretched out, but not as relaxed as I'd hoped. Probably because I allowed myself to be frustrated if I couldn't do something. Where's those words of encouragement, Tony? Come on now, you should mention in there somewhere that not everyone will be good at Yoga X right away.

Well, tomorrow is another day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's work out: Legs and Back and of course, Ab Ripper. I find that I enjoy high intensity work outs much more than low intensity, though I see the need for both.

Today I went grocery shopping and I bought all of the excellent foods on the list that are acceptable to my taste buds. Most of the stuff is things I already eat. I did add a few extras in there though. I'm excited about that, that's for sure.

Time to go cut up some veggies and fruit. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day..........

P90X Days 2 & 3

No, I didn't quit yet! I have just been busy! Not too busy to skip work outs, but too busy to write about them.

So, let's see... Saturday boyfriend woke me up and made me do Plyometrics with him. This is a good thing because if he wasn't there, I can't say I'd have stuck it out. I was tired and cranky. I wasn't so sore from Day 1 though, thanks to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, so that wasn't an excuse either.

We did Plyo together in my living room on my big screen TV. Some of the stuff I had done before like, jump squats but over all it was harder than I expected. It's NO JOKE. It's not that it was hard cardiovascular wise for me, because I feel like I have a lot of cardio endurance.... however, my muscles just hurt doing it. Plus, I'm not as flexible as I should be so I had a lot of tightness in my hips and hamstrings. Of all though, it kicked my ass and yesterday, DOMS didn't come into play because my body hurt from Day 1 and Day 2. Yowza!

So yesterday, I woke up with my friend Stacy and went to the beach. Boyfriend didn't say this until afterward but he doubted I'd do work out after that. Alas, he was wrong. I just needed time to rest and relax after all that soreness. I can't promise my work outs will be the same TIME every day, but I will definitely do them, no doubt. SO, I went to the beach, came home rinsed off, and banged out shoulders and arms! I won't bother typing my results for the 15 exercises. Most of the time I did 12-15 reps with 5lbs. I have weak shoulders, always have! A few of the bicep exercises I used 10lbs. The work out was more of what I am used to and I didn't find it as challenging as the first two work outs.

So, we'll see! I'm looking forward to today's work out, but so far the only change in my body after three days is total soreness!!! I think I'll be able to stick this one out though! :)

See ya next time!

P90X Day 1

So, P90X finally came in the mail yesterday; it felt like it took forever, especially since I was so anxious and did the fit test days earlier.

I knew I needed specific things before I could get started so I waited for the boyfriend to get here today and we went to Sports Authority. I bought a resistance band with heavy resistance. We tried it out in the store and it seemed to be the hardest for me. I was happy with that. We also bought me a new pull up bar, a removable one, so I could take it down when I'm finished. I bought push up handles, that I found I won't really need right away and the boyfriend bought me 15lb dumbbells because he says by the end of the third week, I'll need heavier then 8 and 10 pounders.

After that we set everything up and got started. Today was Chest and Back and Ab Ripper. He did some of the exercises with me, but really, he served as a coach for me. He corrected my form and encouraged me when I wanted to quit. Good thing he's so awesome! I was feeling really lucky to have him there. He showed me some modifications for things that were a bit too hard to me. The way it worked was you'd do 12 exercises for round one, as many reps as you wanted or felt like you could do in a minute. Then for round two, exercises 1 & 2 swapped, 3 & 4 swapped, etc.

All in all, here were my Day 1 Results:

Exercise: Round 1/Round 2

1. Standard Push Ups: 12/10
   
2. Wide Front Pull Ups: 20/17
   
3. Military Push Ups: 10/7
   
4. Reverse Grip Chin Ups: 20/15
   
5. Wide Fly Push Ups: 10/10
   
6. Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups: 20/20
   
7. Decline Push Ups: 10/5
   
8. Heavy Pants: 17/15
   
9. Diamond Push Ups: 7/6
   
10. Lawnmowers: 15/20
    
11. Divebomber Push Ups: 7/0 [These were SO HARD!!!!]
    
12. Back Flys: 12/10

There were some things that I modified, like, I used a band wrapped around the top of the pull up bar to assist my in my push ups... similar to this video:



This helped me A LOT!!! I'd done something similar before and the band was stronger before, meaning it was doing most of the work. This time, I was doing most of the work and it was exhausting!!

Tomorrow morning we're waking up and doing Plyometrics for Day 2. Then I'm on my own....the bf can't help me during the week, only on weekends!

As soon as we were finished with Ab Ripper X, I collasped...


I hope that's a sign of what's to come!!

Fit Test Results

I thought I would share my Fit Test results in a separate post, as the previous one was getting rambly.

So here goes:

• My resting heart rate was 72.
• My maximum heart rate was 119 [could definitely be higher]
• The first thing to do were pull ups. Lucky for me, I already have a [rather dusty] pull up bar! A girl needed to do 1 pull up on her own, or a 1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 for it to count. However, they do tell you you can use a resistance band to help you, and so that's what I plan to do right after I go to Dicks. I have used them before though and they do help significantly!
  
• I met the requirements for the vertical leap at 3 inches.
• I was able to do 3 regular push ups and 11 girly kind. The requirement is 3 regular or 15 girly kind, but I went right into the girly kind and stopped when I was tired. [Not sure if that's a good thing or not...]
• The toe touch was awful but still met the requirement of -6. I got -5. I can't believe I can't touch my toes. Come on, yoga!
• I was very successful in the wall sit. You needed to do it for 60 seconds. I did it for 1 minute and 20 seconds and my quads burned every millisecond of it.
• Bicep curls were easy! I did 10 reps with a 10lb weight in each hand. The requirement is 10 reps with an 8lb weight in each hand. I'm no stranger to strength training.
• Finally ins and outs, or reverse crunches. You needed to do 25; I did 30.
• The last step was do to 2 solid minutes of jumping jacks and a 30 second sprint. This was no problem for me because of that love affair with LA Boxing [as mentioned below].

According to my results of the fit test, I am ready for P90X!


Now, since you're probably all dying to see [not...] here's what I look like:


Yes, I realize this isn't a "bad" body. This was me 11 months ago. Not much has changed since except maybe about 3lbs. Everyone has areas on their body they don't like. I want to be toned and fit. P90X will get me there!

So now that I've showed you a flattering picture...here's the real deal...

From the side...

And the back...

Flexing?

And the front...

Eww, I can't believe I posted those! Words of encouragement anyone??

And so it begins...

On Friday July 3rd at 10PM my wonderful and fully deserving boyfriend took the liberty of ordering P90X for me. Perhaps he knew that if he didn't do it right then, the discussion we had of the possibility of it might fall by the wayside. Regardless, he ordered it for me and alas, I am here.

As a young 20-something [that is still young, isn't it?] I haven't had a big struggle with weight loss, though I have noticed a nice little cushion around my midsection since my 21st birthday. In highschool I was a thin 117lbs but couldn't even run a mile. Throughout the years I've begun to dabble in different types of exercise. I am by no means a beginner in the world of fitness, I do however struggle with consistency. I've yet to find a plan that I can stick to and see amazing results. My longest love affair with fitness was a year long membership at LA Boxing - that was the year I was in the best shape of my life. Nevertheless, I am a poor graduate student and that affair ended some time ago when they automatically renewed my membership and robbed me of a much needed $120.

So, here I am! About to embark on a new journey, one that I hope will enable me to maintain a healthier lifestyle and physique.

Today, I completed the P90X Fit Test that they suggest everyone do before beginning the program. Really, I'm just so excited about the thought of it, that I can't wait for my DVDs to get here! I had to do something, so I did that. Here's some statistics for you...

Age: Okay, I might as well tell you that I'm 24. I don't know why I didn't before but I really like the way 20-something sounds so I said that!
Height: 5'5"
Weight: (The scary part....eeek!) 140lbs even. The heaviest I've ever been.

Measurements include...

Waist: 32 inches
Hip: 36 inches
Bust: 35 inches
Right Thigh: 22 inches
Left Thigh: 22 inches
Right Bicep: 11.5 inches
Left Bicep: 11 inches

So those are my starting points. Not great, but not awful either. I think I have a solid base to build from.

So here goes, as soon as I get those DVDs in the mail [hopefully tomorrow!!!!!] I will begin a new lifestyle. I will appreciate anyone's help and encouragement along the way! If I know you're reading I feel that I'll be less inclined to give up!

Wish me luck!

Stay tuned for before pictures....