Surgery date

Hi everyone, just a really quick post. I thought I'd let you all know that I'll be having surgery on Dec. 9. I'll be off work for about 2 months and I hope after all this is over, I'll be better than new! It will be a while before I can get back into exercising a lot, and I'm really looking forward to the day that I can!
Thanks for following my blog, even though it's been pretty inactive!

Surgery

I had a second consult with the surgeon today and we have decided that it would be best if I have surgery. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...I have a herniated disc which has forced me to quit soccer, the P90X program, and keeps me from doing any sort of activity other than the day to day stuff. The waiting list is about 3-4 months so it will probably happen in Dec. or Jan. That works out perfectly because we hope to be moving into a new house next month (we're getting movers so I won't have to lug boxes) and I'll be off during the really crappy weather this winter!

I'm really happy with this decision because there is relief in sight! And hopefully I'll be better than ever after about 3 months recovery. I have my doubts that I'll be able to play soccer next summer because it's a bit too rough with a lot of pounding, but with any luck I'll be able to hike, bike, run, etc.

I'm continuing to (try) to eat healthy and so far haven't gained any weight since I stopped exercising. I've been hovering at around 151 lbs for a couple of months now but can't quite break into the 140's. I'll keep trying though! I really miss being able to exercise every day, since I got into quite a routine with P90X. I hope to pick it up again sometime in the future, but I guess it's just baby steps for now!

I'm out.

That's right, I'm out...for a long time I'm afraid. I've seen a specialist about my back and he's pretty sure I'm going to need surgery. I'm actually pretty happy that he feels this way because so many people have told me that my herniated disc is never going to go back to normal. I'd rather just get surgery over with instead of waiting another year or two to see if things get better, only to need surgery then. I have another appointment with the surgeon on the 15th of this month and we will discuss what we're going to do for sure.

I'm pretty sure I've had a problem with this disc for quite a while, but the current, sciatic nerve problem has been going on for about 5 months now. It's affected my life so much and I'm glad that the surgeon understands that. I am still able to walk around and work, but he understands that I'm normally a pretty active person and this is keeping me from doing the things that I enjoy. Because of this issue, I've had to quit soccer & P90X. I can't go biking, hiking, running, camping or even walk any distance. I can swim at least, but I feel like I've completely missed out on summer. It's even painful to sit and relax in a lounge chair! Argh!!

So I'm hoping that when I see him in a couple of weeks, he'll decide to go ahead with surgery. I'm not sure what the waiting list is like so it may be a while before I can get in. Although "back surgery" sounds terrible, the procedure itself doesn't sound that bad. It is a very small incision and they basically just cut off the piece that's protruding. Then he'll put in an implant called a DIAM to keep the disc from compressing further. I should only be off work for 4-6 weeks and I won't be able to lift much for another 2-3 months.

So that's my news for now. I'll keep you posted on what happens next!

Another update

Just a quick update...I'm still not back to exercising. Physio seems to be working a little bit, but not much. I see my doctor soon to discuss what I should do.

On a good note, I still seem to be losing weight! It's probably all muscle, but hey, I'll take what I can get!! This morning I weighed myself at 151.6 lbs! I'm not really going to count it yet until I see it a few more days in a row.

Basically since I stopped exercising to rest my back, I've been trying really hard not to eat too much. I've found a really great application for my iPhone that tracks calories and it has a huge database of foods so I don't have to go find the nutritional info myself. The application came up with a plan for me, based on my stats and in order to lose a lb per week, I'm to eat just over 1500 calories per day. So far it seems to be working (as long as I stay on track of course!). I also recently started taking these pills called Green - Lean. Or maybe it's Greenies...can't remember! Anyway, they are supposed to boost your metabolism and so far it seems to be working.

MRI results

I had an MRI of my back today and I guess I have a good reason for all my whining! (Not that anyone was accusing me of being a whiner, I just felt like I was complaining a lot!) I have a large disc herniation between L5 and S1 that is protruding posteriorly and slightly to the left and it's pressing on my nerve root. Your disc should be flush with your vertebrae, but this one is stuck out more than a cm past the vertebrae and it's more than a cm wide too.

I work with an MRI tech and she went over the images with me. When she first saw them, she used words like: "Jesus", "Oh my God Heather" and "that's really nasty". So I guess it's pretty serious!

I spoke with my doctor and she wants me to go to physio, take anti-inflammatories, ice and rest, and I'll see her in a month. I'm hoping that I can get this fixed enough so that I can stop limping and start playing soccer again. I have my doubts that I'll be playing this season though. But there may also be the possibility that I'll need surgery down the road. My mother had the same problem at my age and needed a spinal fusion. Yikes!

So I guess P90X is out of the question for a while at least. I do hope to get back into it sometime down the road, but for now I guess I'll just take it easy. I'll keep you posted.

Taking a break

I'm very disappointed to say that my body is in need of a break for at least a couple of weeks. I went to see a physiotherapist yesterday (and I've also been seeing a chiropractor) and they have both insinuated that maybe I should rest my back for a little while. It kills me to have to stop exercising for a bit...especially that I have to take a break from soccer. But soccer is what bothers my back the most because there is a lot of pounding involved.

My instructions are to ice my back a lot, rest it as much as possible...and lie on my back as much as possible. Yikes! That's a hard one! Apparently even stretching my back and leg is doing me more harm than good. So I think my best bet is to totally stop exercising for 2 weeks and see if there are any improvements. Hopefully I won't have to take off any longer than that, but I realize it may be necessary. It just sucks that the soccer season is so short.

Also, I'm so close to being done P90X and I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be, weight-wise. I wanted to be in a bikini by this time, and although it is physically possible for me to wear one, I wouldn't be caught dead in it right now! Don't get me wrong...I have accomplished a lot since starting P90X and I have lost a lot of fat, but I'm not where I want to be yet. So fingers crossed that my little break doesn't last too long.

Checking in again

Hi all. Yes, I'm still here. This month has been terrible for working out for me and I feel so guilty! I'm still having major problems with sciatic nerve pain and it's making my life difficult. I limp around most of the time and it's hard to play soccer and to do a lot of different activities. I'm so close to being done P90X, but since I've been away from it for so long, I feel like I might need to repeat a couple of my last weeks before I finish. I'm losing a lot of the muscle tone that I've worked so hard to build up and I know that my fitness test at the end won't be accurate because I haven't exercised in so long. Argh! This is really frustrating!! I want to be more active but my body just won't let me!

I have an appt with a physiotherapist today and I've been seeing my chiropractor as well. I've also made an appt with my family doctor to see if I can get an MRI done to see if my problem is in fact a disc issue. It may end up that I need to take of the summer off from soccer, or just plain take it easy from exercising and rest. I really hope it doesn't come to that because I've been working hard to get into better shape. If I can't exercise, I'll really need to work on my diet alone in order to lose lbs.

Sorry for the absence!

I know it's been a really long time since I last posted and I apologize. I am still working away at P90X, but I've had to take a couple of breaks.

After my last post, I believe I did about 3-4 more days of P90X, with a few soccer games thrown into the mix. With about 2 weeks left before the end of the program, I decided that I needed to take a three day break. I'm still having major sciatic nerve problems and the pain is pretty much constant...it even hurts when I cough. I thought that maybe it would get a little bit better if I took a few days off. At about day 2 of my mini break, I got sick with a cold and ended up taking almost 3 days off work because of it. So for about a week, I did no exercise whatsoever.

After taking the week off, I started back into P90X (this was last Monday) and had a soccer game early last week as well. Then on Thursday, we left for a trip to Ontario for four days. I did a bunch of walking during the trip, but no other exercise. And I ate pretty crappy too! I got back from my trip late last night.

So that brings us up to date. I've got soccer tonight and Wednesday and I'll be continuing on in week 12 of P90X. My sciatic nerve issue is no better after about a month of pain and the week off didn't do me any good at all. I have a physio appt. next week so I'm hoping she can perfom miracles! It's kind of painful to run during soccer, but I'm making sure I put heat on it before my games and stretch it really well. Plus I take 2 extra strength ibuprofen before each game. Most of the moves in P90X don't bother me, but there are a couple that I usually end up skipping over.

So that's where I've been. I know I've been really slack lately, but I'm going to try and be better about posting for my last 2 weeks. I'm anxious to finish, but it will take a little longer than 2 weeks since I play soccer about twice a week. I haven't taken any measurements in quite a while, so I'm hoping I see some more change since day 60! I'll post again soon!

Days 69, 70, 71 - Kenpo, Stretch, and Chest, Back & Abs Ripper

This will be another quick post because I've gotten myself really behind again. My sciatic nerve is still bothering me, so exercising has been a bit difficult. But I managed to do the last 3 workouts pretty well, plus I played soccer on Friday night. I took a day off on Saturday too (unintentionally) because I had to work, then we were with friends for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I really hope this nerve problem goes away soon. I'm finding it difficult to put my shoes and socks on and I limp for a bit every time I get up off a chair. Also, oddly enough, when I laugh, cough, sneeze, etc, it hurts my ass! (see previous post if you aren't sure what I'm talking about).

My massage therapist and fellow soccer player assessed me on Friday before my game and she can't figure out what's going on. She did a few tests on me to see where the pain originates, but they didn't really tell her anything. But she thinks the problem either originates from a tightness in my piriformis muscle in my bum, or from a known disc problem in my back...or both. So I'm not really sure what to do about it, aside from stretching the muscle. I'm going to try icing my back tonight instead of my bum and see if that helps. If it does, that will answer my question at least.

I shouldn't be having this many problems!!...back issues, sciatic nerve issues. The whole point of getting into shape was to get rid of these problems! I'm only 33! I can't imagine what I'll be like at 50 at this rate!

Day 68 - Core Synergistics

I have a really sore bum! As I discussed in my last post, I went to see my massage therapist yesterday to work on my piriformis muscle, which is causing some sciatic nerve pain. She worked REALLY hard on it and as a result, I have a big bruise on my left bum cheek!! I'm quite sore as well and still have nerve pain, so I have some stretches and exercises to work on.

I was a little wary to try core synergistics today because there are some exercises which work your gluts, but it wasn't so bad. The only part I had problems with was the 3 minutes of lunges with the barbells, where you do the kick-backs and overhead presses. But I was able to do the whole exercise, without too much pain!

I'm almost done week 10, which means that I've only got three weeks left!!! I'm excited to be finished this round, even though I plan to keep going and do the classic version throughout the summer. Because I play soccer, the last three weeks will probably take much longer than that. Once the season starts, I'll be playing 2-3 times a week, so I won't do P90X on those days. I'm really hoping I can finish the round by the end of June, so fingers crossed!

Soccer and Massage

Yesterday was my first league game of the summer. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we played on the turf, which is awesome to run on. And thanks to P90X, I felt amazing!!! I'm usually really out of shape at the beginning of the summer season and only really get into shape by the end of the summer...when the season is over. So it felt fantastic to actually be in shape at the beginning! Imagine how fit I'll be by August!

For the past several weeks, I've been dealing with piriformis syndrome, which is when your piriformis muscle pinches the sciatic nerve. It's rather irritating and aches most of the time. Today I went to see my massage therapist right after work and when I told her my problems, she asked if I had plans later in the evening "because this is going to hurt!" Holy crap, she wasn't lying! I've never had such a painful massage before. But it's all good and I know it will help in the long run. So my instructions for tonight are to rest and ice one area, while putting heat on another. So I guess I'll be skipping my P90X workout tonight.

Day 66 & 67 - Back, Biceps, Abs & Yoga

This will just be a short post, because it's a nice day and I don't want to spend too much time on the computer!

Two days ago, I did back & biceps for the very first time, since I'm doing the Lean program. It was a good workout and I can feel my biceps getting stronger. I'm still not a fan of pull ups and I still need the chair for them, but I've moved to using one foot for support instead of both. The corn cob pull ups (or whatever they're called) are killers though. And I kept banging my elbow on the door frame while doing them...ow!

Yesterday I mowed the lawn and did a bunch of yard work, so I kind of ran out of time to do yoga. So I did it today and got it over with early. I can feel my legs getting stronger and I can go longer now without having to take a break and straighten my legs in the vinyasa series. I can actually do half moon pose now, but struggle with the reversed version. I still skip over crane though!

I weighed myself this morning and I was the lowest I've been since I started P90X! Mind you, it's not by much, but since I've been hovering at around 158-159 lbs for so long, it was nice to see 156.8 on the scales! I've stopped weighing myself every day and I'm trying to only do it every couple of weeks or so. And I know I really shouldn't focus on my weight and should focus in inches lost and body fat% instead. But it's still nice to see a drop, even if it's slight, in my weight. I've been taking Osolean for about a week now, so maybe that has something to do with it!

Day 64, 65 - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs & Cardio

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with what I'm about to write, but I thought it was just so darned cute!

Yesterday was Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Abs. I think this workout is the hardest for me. I can do all the moves (not necessarily a lot of reps), but it is really quite challenging. So many push ups!

Today was cardio. I'm not sure what was in my water today, but I had tonnes of energy! I really felt like I got a great workout and sweat buckets. I really like the cardio workout. It's great that it's only 45 min and I love the yoga at the beginning. The whole thing flies by so quickly and it's over before you know it.

This past weekend I didn't do very well with my nutrition. Today I'm getting back into it and did pretty well, except for a few Toffifee's someone at work brought in. I'm kind of thinking that I might need to adjust my nutrition plan. According to my weight, I should be in Level II of Fat Shredder, but I'm just barely in that level. When I'm following the plan properly, I feel like I'm eating too much and end up feeling like I do when I over eat. I'm not sure that I would get enough food if I move down to Level I, but if I pick something in between the two, I think I'll be alright. I'll play around with it and see how it goes.

I've also started taking a product called Osolean by Mannatech. My friend sells Mannatech products and suggested it to me when I asked for something to help me boost my weight loss just a little bit more. It is all natural and is supposed to help you lose fat, but not muscle, when you are following an exercise and nutrition plan. It's more about helping you to lose inches, rather than lbs. You mix it in a drink 2x per day, before breakfast and supper. The main components are whey protein and calcium, but apparently it's more than just taking protein and calcium. I don't really understand the chemistry behind it, but it has worked for others, so I'm willing to give it a go. So far I've noticed that it doesn't taste very good, but if you mix it with the right drink, it's ok. Chocolate milk hides the slightly bitter taste pretty well though. I've also noticed that it makes me feel full faster when I'm eating my meal, so I don't tend to eat as much....which is a good thing!

So I'll let you know how it goes with the Osolean. It will be hard to tell over the next phase of P90X, whether my inches lost will be from P90X, Osolean or the two combined. But if it can give me an extra inch or two off my waist, that would be great!

Day 60, 61, 62, 63 - Yoga, Core Syn, Kenpo, Rest

Wow, I'm getting really bad at posting aren't I? I used to be so good and post every day. Last Thursday I did yoga, Friday was Core Syn, Saturday was Kenpo and I opted to take a rest day on Sunday. I'm ashamed to say that I also took a rest day today, making it two in a row. I really didn't mean to take the day off today, but I painted all day yesterday and today (see previous post) and my shoulder is killing me and I just want to go to bed now! No excuse, but I still feel guilty. Tomorrow I start week 10!

Exercise room done!

Well I finally finished painting my exercise room! I decided to make it a little fun by adding a design to the walls. Here are some photos.

The first picture is where I got my idea for the whole thing - a t-shirt I got from Old Navy several years ago.



And here is the room:



Now all I need to do is paint the navy blue entertainment centre and shelves. I'll probably paint them either black or chocolate brown? What do you think?

Days 58 & 59 - Cardio and Shoulders, Arms

Two days ago, I did Cardio and yesterday I did Shoulders and Arms. I was late getting started yesterday, so didn't have time to do Ab Ripper. Every time I tried to start my workout, people kept calling on the phone. Eventually I stopped answering! Sorry Mom!

I'll try and fit Ab Ripper into one of my other workouts this week. It was either stay up past my bedtime and do Abs, or try and get to bed on time and get a good sleep. Sleep won!

Yesterday was the first time since week 3 that I've done Shoulders and Arms. I missed this workout. I really like working my upper body and I was really happy that I didn't have to do any squats or lunges! I noticed quite an improvement during this workout and was able to lift more weight than last time for all of the moves. I pushed harder than normal too, but I'm not even sore today!

Day 57 - Chest and Back, Ab Ripper

Day one of phase 3! This is the first time I've done this workout and I found it was challenging but not too bad. I'm getting way better at push-ups and I've moved to using only one foot on the chair when I do pull-ups. With this workout, I'm going to have to get heavier weights though. So far, in other workouts, I've been fine with 8lb weights. I used 10lb ones last night for this workout and it wasn't enough. I was able to get to 20 reps and that's too many. I should be failing at 10-15. Maybe I'll try my resistance bands too and see how that goes.

I'm liking the change in routine in phase 3. I was getting a little bored because phase 1 and 2 were pretty similar. One thing I'm a little concerned about is the fact that I don't do a legs workout at all this month in the lean program. I'll still working my legs a lot in other workouts, but not totally focusing on them. But, I figure the creators know what they're doing, so I won't stress myself out about it too much!

I've been thinking recently of trying BeachBody's Shakeology. It's pretty expensive, but when you break it down, it's not too pricey on a per day basis...that is if you live in the States. I had finally decided that I would order it to give it a try, but I forgot that I need to add the shipping, taxes and exchange rate. What started at $119 USD per month, ended up being $172 CAD per month!!! I'm disappointed because I did want to try it, but I just can't justify paying that much for a 30 day supply.

Day 1 to Day 60 Photos

Well I think I've built up the courage to show you all some photos. I wanted to wait until you could see some changes before I put them on my blog. You can view them here, or there is a link on the sidebar of this blog.

And here are my measurements since Day 1. I know I'm not quite at 60 days, but I'm sure things won't change that much before then.

Day 54, 55, 56 - Cardio, Yoga, Rest

Wow, I'm getting really behind on my posts! I don't really have a whole lot to say because I forget how the workouts went and I didn't do very well at all with the diet for the last few days. Today I was supposed to start day 1 of phase 3, but it got late and I decided to run/walk on the treadmill instead. Tomorrow I'll start phase 3 and I'll try and give you a review of P90X so far. If I'm feeling brave enough, I may just show some pictures. I'll at least try and post some measurements though.

Day 53 - Stretch

I know I've said this before but I LOVE the stretch exercises! They all feel so good!

I'm almost done decorating my exercise room. It's pretty much all set up. I've added a few lamps for some soft lighting, a fountain and another water/air bubble thing. All I need to do now is draw my design on the wall and paint it. It's going to look very zen in the end. I wanted to make it a place that I want to hang out in and it's just that. I love it!

I'm not going to comment much on my nutrition today. We had free pizza at work today and it just went downhill from there. I didn't go to McDonalds or anything like that, but I did have more than my alloted one carb, and I'm going to have popcorn at the movies tonight. All in all, it could have been way worse, but I wasn't nearly as good as I had intended.

Day 52 - Kenpo

I feel like I've been a little slack at posting lately. I've been pretty busy and just don't seem to have the time to post anything significant. Today is going to be the same...just a quick post.

Yesterday I took a day off because I spent the entire day painting my exercise room. I'm still not done yet, but I've got the walls covered. I just need to do the design next. But since I painted all day yesterday and the room was a mess, I didn't have the energy to exercise, even if I'd had the space to workout!

Today I cleaned and tidied up the room so that I was able to do Kenpo. I used the hand weights, but didn't use the ankle weights this time. I feel like I got a decent workout, but didn't push myself that hard. No excuse really, just didn't feel into it.

• Breakfast: Kashi Go Crunch (if that's the right name) and skim milk
• Snack: sliced peaches, V8 juice
• Lunch: ham, lettuce, tomato sub and salad with very little catelina dressing
• Snack: protein bar
• Supper: pork tenderloin and some low cal ranch dressing, salad with feta and olive oil, pudding

Day 51 - Core Synergistics

Another really quick post, because honestly, I'm just too pooped to write anything. I've pretty much been on the go all day today. I bought a bunch of stuff to make our back deck more appealing to hang out on, and I set it all up. I bought some paint to paint my exercise room and started painting this evening. And basically just did a lot of puttering around.

I did core synergistics before supper, amidst a messy exercise room. I've got to get it painted quickly because it's pretty crowded in there with everything moved around. I've come up with a neat idea for how I'm going to paint the room. I'm not going to describe it yet so it will be a surprise. I'll post pictures when it's finished!

• Breakfast: 6 egg white omelet with goat cheese, mushrooms, spinach and turkey bacon. WW english muffin, glass of skim milk
• Snack: protein bar, protein shake with milk
• Supper: Maple/BBQ salmon salad (with spinach and romain lettuce, olive oil, goat cheese, pine nuts, and spices) Yummy!!

Yesterday I walked on the treadmill for an hour and then played soccer for 1.5 hrs later on in the evening.

Day 50 - Yoga

Just a quick post. Did yoga today and felt like I did way better than normal. I didn't need as many breaks and I was actually, sort of able to do half moon...both versions! My nutrition was crap today because we had birthday cake and chocolate chip cookies at work. I didn't get near my quota for proteins, but the rest of the day wasn't too bad.

We got our "new" treadmill today. As I said in my last post, we're babysitting a treadmill for a friend. She has no space for it and no one was using it at her parents' house. She kind of indicated that she probably won't end up wanting it back, so yay! new treadmill! I don't know how much I'll use it while I'm doing P90X, but I will for sure after. I might also make a new rule...I can only watch Grey's Anatomy (on DVD) from the treadmill, not the couch! (We'll see how that goes!)

Day 49 - Stretch

I opted for a stretch day instead of resting because I really love this "workout" and I feel so great after it. I'm working my way up to being able to do the single leg stretch with the yoga block like Shawna does it in the video. So far I'm able to have the block sideways so I'm using the larger of the widths...if that makes sense...not the full length).


I did the workout before we went out for supper with friends tonight. And I was pretty good at supper...I had meat and veggies (skipped the potatoes), and only a few bites of a friend's cake.


Here's what I ate today:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces of low cal. toast with honey
• Snack: cinnamon raisin bagel with marg. (cheated a little here, but someone brought them to work for us), protein shake with soy milk
• Lunch: 1 c. vegetable soup, spinach salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing (1T), small piece of cheese
• Snack: 2 oz. soy nuts, couple of bites of cottage cheese (I keep trying to like this stuff, but I'm not so sure it's working)
• Supper: Approx. 3 oz of pork tenderloin and 3 oz of lamb, broccoli, tomato, turnip, and a few bites of cake

I rearranged our exercise room this evening because friends of ours are letting us babysit their treadmill, so I needed to make room. I LOVE having a dedicated exercise room! Here are some pictures:

Note the cat on the bottom left.

And the pull up bar:

I've even been given the ok to paint the room however I like, and my BF suggested that I do a mural of some sort. I think that would be so fun, so I've got some thinking to do!

Day 48 - Kenpo

For today's kenpo workout, I wore my new weighted gloves (1.5lbs each I think) and my 5 lb ankle weights. I pushed really hard and got a great workout. I really like using the weights because they add just a bit more "oomph" to the workout. I can't go fast with the rest of the "kids", and I skip the airborn jumping jacks, but it's all good! 481 cals burned.

Meals:

• Breakfast: WW english muffin, 1 egg, 1 slice turkey bacon, sliced cheese
• Snack: Protein shake with chocolate soy milk
• Lunch: Yellow veggie soup with a scoop of protein powder, spinach salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing. 12 mini rice cakes
• Snack: Small piece of cheese, protein bar, protein shake
• Supper: Lean, grilled chicken burger with WW bun, fat free mayo, lettuce, tomato and cheese.
  

Day 47 - Legs, Back and Ab Ripper

I skipped my P90X workout yesteday because I played soccer for close to 2 hours. I spent some time debating whether I should do the legs and back workout earlier in the day, but I'm glad I didn't. I think my legs would have been really sore. It was our first time outside this season and the weather was fantastic! It felt so good to be playing soccer outside after being couped up in the gym all winter!

Today I did Legs, Back and Ab Ripper...not in that order. I did ARX first, then the rest after that. There's nothing really exciting to report about the workout. Burned 483 cals.

I've been following the nutrition plan for a few days now and things are going really well. It's not nearly as difficult to follow as I had originally expected, but it is really hard to only have one carb a day. It takes some planning, that's for sure. So far so good though! I'm doing the Fat Shredder plan because I have a fair bit of weight that I'd like to lose (about 20-30lbs). A few years ago I weighed around 127lbs and I'd really like to get back to that weight. But for now, if I can get to 135-140, I would be really happy! I have muscley (is that a word?) legs, so I usually look smaller than I weigh.

Here's what I ate today:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of turkey bacon, 1c skim milk
• Snack: plain, fat free yogart with blueberries
• Lunch: Spinach salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegrette, 2 veggie dogs with WW buns, ketchup and mustard
• Snack: 12 mini rice cakes, protein bar
• Supper: Chicken breast, spinach salad with goat cheese and raspberry vinegrette, mushrooms and yellow peppers
• Snack: Low fat pudding

Summary:

• Protein: 6/7 (6 out of 7 recommended servings)
• Dairy: 3/3
• Fruits: 1/1
• Veggies: 4/4
• Fats: 1/1
• Carbs: 2/1
• Snacks: 3/3
• Condiments: 3/2
  

Days 45 & 46- Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs and Yoga

As of yesterday, I'm half-way done P90X! I'm still loving it and I'm still feeling great! Yesterday was Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Abs. It's a tough workout, but I feel like I'm getting more used to it and doing better. I'm not going to write what I had to eat yesterday. I started off really well, but friends came over with treats, so it all went out the window. I tried my best though and had a veggie burger and veggie dog instead of the bad kind. I didn't do nearly as bad as I could have, but it wasn't great!

Today was yoga, but I didn't get to it until this evening. It was gorgeous out today (about 25C), so I spent a lot of time outside, not wanting to be couped up inside for 1 1/2 hr doing yoga! So I sat in the sun for a bit, cleaned my car, shoveled some snow and did some gardening....yep, you read right, I shoveled some snow! We still have a snow drift from where the plow guy piled it this winter. So, while wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops, I shoveled snow onto the driveway so it would melt faster. The rest of the yard is clear of snow, except for this one pile. I hate looking at it and wanted it gone, but it's going to be there for a few more days at least.

Anyway, I did yoga later on this evening. I love that I'm half-way through the program, but I'm finding it's coming at a price. When I first started, I liked the yoga workout. I would happily go through the workout, doing my poses, and then BAM...yoga belly 7. I would keep forgetting that yoga belly 7 (which is worse than Ab Ripper X in my opinion), was at the end of the yoga workout. But NOW, I know what's coming at the end and I'm having a harder time enjoying the workout because I know there's torture at the end. Not my idea of a good way to finish up a yoga workout!

Here's what I ate today:

• Breakfast: Omelet made with 6 egg whites, 2 slices of turkey bacon, mushrooms, yellow peppers and cheese. Large milk
• Snack: Frozen fruit bar
• Lunch/Supper: Chicken breast wrap with honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, cheese
• Snacks: Protein shake with soy milk, workout drink, protein shake with water, fruit (mandarin oranges and peaches), can of V8 juice, a couple of handfuls of popcorn with melted butter.
  

Rest Day

I decided to take a rest day yesterday because I've had a headache for about 3 days straight. I originally thought my headache would go away with exercising, but that's not working anymore. Plus, I got groceries after work last night, which totally messed up my routine and I wasn't able to exercise until about 8:30. I know, I'm probably just making up excuses, but I haven't taken a rest day in over a week, so I don't feel too bad about taking one last night.

Yesterday was my second day of following the nutrition plan and it went really well. I ate 2030 cals out of a recommended 2008. I think I had one too many fruits, and I was slightly under on my veggies and protein (by one per category). I'm using the P90X XtremeFit Tracker to keep track of my workouts and nutrition and it recommends that I have 2008 cals/day and only have 6 proteins. But according to the P90X nutrition guide, it suggests that I have 2400 cals and have 7 proteins. I think the Fit tracker is considering my weight and other stats, so I should probably go by that one since it seems more tailored to me.

Day 44 - Cardio

The last two days I complained that I felt a little sluggish during my workout, and I have a theory as to way. Both days, I didn't have my usual pre-workout protein bar and I also didn't drink my during-workout drink. Today I had both and I felt way more into it. Perhaps I'm on to something! Burned 377 cals

Today was my first day of really trying to go by the nutrition guide. For the next several weeks, I'm following Phase 1: Fat Shredder (because that's what I need to do!) So here are the results:

Protein: 5/7 (5 servings out of a recommended 7)
Dairy: 1/3 (ran out of milk)
Fruits: 2/1
Vegetables: 3/4
Fats: 1/1
Carbs: 2/1
Snacks: 5/3
Condiments: 2/2

Consumed 2640 cals
Recommended Intake: 2008 cals

As you can see, I'm not quite on the mark. It's really hard to get in the right amount of proteins and only eat one carb. I need to get groceries though so hopefully I'll do better next time.

Meals:

• Breakfast: Corn Bran Squares cereal with skim milk
• Snack: nuts
• Lunch: sandwich with lettuce, tomato, turkey breast, mayo. Spinach salad with mandarin oranges and strawberries, and a tiny bit of poppy seed dressing (dipped my fork in it every once in a while, didn't pour it on salad)
• Snack: 1 cup blueberries, protein bar, protein shake with water
• Supper: Shrimp and veggie stir fry with fish sauce, hoisin sauce and garlic

Sorry there is so much about what I ate. I'll try and consolidate it a bit next time...or you can just skip over it. I won't be offended!

Day 43 - Core Synergistics

Just a quick note because I'm off to bed. I was a little disappointed that I had to do this workout today because I thought it was Cardio day and I was mentally prepped for it! Like yesterday, I just wasn't feeling it, but I did my best and sweat buckets in the process. I burned 493 kcal.

I did my measurements today and was disappointed to see that there still is no change. I know I'm getting stronger and I'm seeing some toning, but I would have liked to see more of a change. I know it's my own fault because I haven't been eating really well lately. I am starting to see that the nutrition plan is quite important. I had hoped that I wouldn't have to worry too much about what I eat (within reason of course. I was still trying to eat healthy), but I guess that's not the case. So I'm going to start making more of an effort to follow the P90X meal plan. I might not cook all the meals, but I'll try to get the right amounts of proteins, carbs, etc.

My body fat caliper finally came in the mail today. I've been tracking my body fat % on XtremeFit Tracker and I've been using the US Navy equation, based on my measurements. The results I got with the caliper were pretty comparable so I think I'll continue to do it both ways.

Meals today:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces of WW toast with almond butter
• Snack: 1/2 cup of nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts and soy nuts)
• Lunch: had a meeting and lunch was provided. We had mini subs from Quizno's and I probably had the equivilant of a 9 inch sub with meat and mustard for condiment. 2 cookies and apple juice
• Snack: Blueberries with fat free cool whip
• Supper: Chicken breast, red peppers, mushrooms and wild rice.

Hmmm, guess it wasn't a quick post afterall!

Day 42 - Legs, Back and Ab Ripper

Last night I went out for supper with my cousin, so I wasn't able to do my workout right after work when I usually do it. It really makes a difference I find when I can't workout when I get home. Once I eat supper, I need to let it digest for a bit, making it even later before I get around to working out. I was REALLY tempted not to do my workout last night because it was after 8pm before I was able to start, plus, I had a headache. But I sucked it up and did it and I'm glad I did! I also thought that I might just skip Ab Ripper, but I ended up doing that too!

I did Ab Ripper first, as usual. I think if I had left it to the end, I probably would have skipped it. I know I've said this a lot, but I love doing ARX before the rest of the workout. It's such a nice feeling at the end of the longer workout, to know that I've already done it.

I felt a little sluggish during the whole workout last night. Maybe it was because I had a headache (which went away by the way!), or maybe it was because I didn't drink my "Endurance" drink to keep me going. I did the whole thing, but I just didn't feel into it.

As I said, my headache went away from working out. I had it most of the afternoon and evening and had taken meds for it, but that didn't work. Maybe working out got my blood flowing and that why it went away. Anyway, I'm glad it did and it's good to know for next time!

Before I wrap it up, I just wanted to say that I ordered P90X Plus and Chalean Extreme today from the beachbody.com website. Since I'm halfway through P90X, I thought I should plan ahead and be ready for when I'm done. I still haven't decided exactly what I'll do for the summer because I'll be playing soccer 2-3 times a week. I might just decide to go for runs or bike on my off days. I'll probably also do some weight lifting so I don't lose what muscle I've built so far. I don't know if I want to fully commit to a program over the summer because I'd like to be able to do it straight like the schedule suggests. I still have some time to decide I guess!

Meals:

• Breakfast: Corn Bran Squares cereal and skim milk
• Snack: Coffee
• Lunch: Part of a turkey breast and ham sub from Subway, a few chocolates
• Supper: Salmon with roasted red pepper and pecan sauce, roasted potatoes, veggies, and half a piece of chocolate cake.
• Snack: protein shake with skim milk

Days 39, 40, 41 - Stretch, Yoga and Kenpo

I went home to Moncton this past weekend to visit my parents, so I had to change my routine a bit. I didn't want to have to lug weights home, so Friday night I did Stretch, Saturday I did Yoga and Sunday I did Kenpo. Tomorrow I will do Legs, Back and Abs, then go straight into week 7 without a rest day.

On Friday night, I had company doing Stretch. My father's girlfriend did the video with me while my father watched. I feel so good after doing the Stretch workout, that I wonder why I don't do it more often. Usually I opt for a rest day instead.

I had an audience for some of the Yoga video the next day, but since it's so long, I guess they got bored! They were quite surprised at how difficult the yoga is. Most people seem to think that yoga is all about stretching and meditating, but it's so much more. I was working so hard I had sweat dripping off my nose during Half Moon pose...man it's hard!

I did Kenpo this morning at my mother's house and she joined along for the first little bit. She put in a good effort!

It is really hard to eat well when everyone wants to prepare you a good meal, so I wasn't able to eat very healthy this weekend. Plus, I went to my best friend's baby shower today and there was all kinds of finger food. Tomorrow I'll get back at it!

Day 38 - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, and Ab Ripper

Just a very quick post today because I'm off to bed. I worked really hard this workout, lifted slightly heavier weights and did more reps...at least at the beginning. Because of this, my arms were dead by the end of it, so I had to go back to previous weights and reps to finish up.

This weekend I'm going to visit my parents in Moncton, so I'm going to modify my workout routine at bit. I won't get a chance to workout tomorrow because after work, I've got to drive almost 2 hours, and will be fed a meal once I get there. Saturday I plan on doing yoga and Sunday I'll do kenpo. That way I don't have to lug any weights home with me. I'm not going to take a rest day at the end of this week because I took yesterday off sick and tomorrow I won't be working out either.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Taking a sick day

I'm not feeling so hot today, so I've decided to take a day off. I feel guilty about this, but I don't know if I'm up for Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Abs. So I think I'll just go to bed early and hope I feel better tomorrow. 'nite!

Day 37 - Cardio X

Once again, there isn't much to write about cardio. I sweat buckets and burned 375 kcal in 45 min. I didn't do very well on the nutrition side of things today.

Meals:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces multi grain toast with cinnamon
• Snack: Corn bran squares, coffee
• Lunch: Caribbean chicken soup (curiously, I didn't find any chicken), roll
• Snack: mini Dairy Milk bar
• Supper: Quiznos carbonara sub
• Snack: protein shake

Days 35 & 36 - Rest and Core Synergistics

This picture is actually my own, not one taken off the internet. It's of kitty #2 of 3 in our house. Her name's "Seven" and this was taken when she was a kitten.

Yesterday I decided to take a rest day instead of stretch. I find most of my rest/stretch days so far have ended up being rest days. Since that's allowed, I don't feel guilty at all!

Today was Core Synergistics. I am getting better at this workout. I remember the first time I did this, on day 1 of P90X, I thought it would kill me. I've especially had a hard time with "plank to chaturanga run" and "walking push-ups". I'm happy to report that I was able to do all 60 sec. of each of these moves today!

Meals today:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces multigrain toast with honey, protein shake with blueberries, milk and water
• Snack: protein bar
• Supper: 2 tuna melts (multigrain bread, fat free mayo, tuna, cheese), small glass diet coke

Day 34 - Kenpo X

Today I decided to do kenpo wearing 5lb ankle weights. It definitely made the kicks harder and I felt like I got a good workout in my butt and hips. I think I'll probably continue to use the weights from now on.

Today was also the first day that I used my new heart rate monitor. I'm still unsure if I'm setting my limits right, but I decided to set my lower limit at 133bpm (the lower limit for a moderate workout) and the upper limit at 170bpm (the upper limit for an intense workout). I spent most of the time in the 160's to 170's. If I noticed I was going over 170, I would pause and get it down a little bit, which is what Tony says to do.

From what I've read, staying in the low to moderate workout levels is better for weight loss, but this was pretty near impossible. So I just focused on trying to keep my heart rate below 175ish.
I ended up burning over 500 kcals during the kenpo workout. Afterwards, I went for a walk with my friend since it was so nice out today, so today I burned a total of 930 kcals!! This is really good because I had pizza for supper! I really haven't been doing very well with my nutrition lately.

Meals:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces multigrain toast with almond butter, juice
• Supper: 1 piece of pizza, garlic fingers with donair sauce, small glass of diet coke
• Snack: chocolate bunny, blueberries

Day 33 - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

I was bad today and had some chocolate bunny for Easter. You know how it is with chocolate, you only intend to have a little and you just keep going back for more!

As I've been in the habit of doing lately, I did Ab Ripper X first. The workout went just as well as last time. During Legs and Back though, I felt a little sluggish (this was before the chocolate).

Meals:

• Breakfast: 3 egg omelet (using only 1 yolk) with cheese and mushroom
• Snack: chocolate bunny
• Lunch: Caesar salad, coleslaw
• Snack: more chocolate bunny
• Supper: small bowl of maple curry chicken (there was a lot leftover!)

I really lacked in proteins today. Must do better tomorrow.

Day 32 - Yoga X

There is really nothing special to report about the yoga workout today. I know a lot of people really don't like this workout, but I don't mind it. I'm getting a bit better at the balancing poses, although I can only really do the tree pose when I'm wearing shorts, but not with pants. I was able to do the moon poses ok today, but I still need some work. As for the crane pose, I just skip over it. As a friend of mine said, I doubt that having the ability to do the crane pose will make a huge difference in my overall fitness. One day I'll try it again, but for now, I'm just going to skip it!

Meals:

• Breakfast: Harvest Crunch cereal with skim milk
• Snack: Fat free yogart, cheese
• Lunch: Rice, Greek salad, and a little bit of chicken, pork and donair meat (equal to about 1 serving of meat)
• Snack: Protein bar
• Supper: 2 hot dogs with ww buns, frozen fruit bar

On another note, I downloaded a program called Xtreme Fit Tracker that Mike mentioned on his blog. Here's the link to the program. It's specifically for the P90X program and you can track your workouts, measurements and nutrition. So far I like it!

Day ?

Today I skipped my yoga workout for a couple of reasons:
Every Wednesday, we go out for supper with friends at 6pm. Yoga almost always falls on a Wednesday as well, and it's really hard to a) do yoga after a meal, and b) fit the 1 1/2 hr long workout in when I get home after 8pm. So I decided to not do anything today and do yoga tomorrow. That way I've shifted my workouts so that I shouldn't have yoga on Wed.'s anymore. I figure it's ok that I took a day off since I've only missed 4 workout days in the past 5-6 weeks.

On my way home from work today, I stopped in at Sears and got myself a heart rate monitor (Polar F4). I played around with it this evening, but don't quite have the hang of it yet and the manual isn't that great. I'll try and figure it out this weekend.

I do have one question though that maybe people can answer for me. When you're setting your lower and upper limits for bpm, should the range be the lowest and highest you want to acheive during exercise? Or should the lowest be just above your resting HR, and highest be the absolute max? The monitor beeps when you're out of your limit (which can be turned off), so it's a little annoying when it beeps when it's lower than the range set. Any suggestions?

Day 31 - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Ab Ripper X

I started off my workout today with Ab Ripper X. Wow, having over a week off from this workout does wonders!! I was able to complete all 25 reps for all the exercises, and only needed a break with Crunchy Frog, Fifer Scissors (2 breaks), and Mason Twists. I used to only make it to 12 reps on the oblique V-ups before I needed a break, but today I was able to go right to 25 reps. Talk about progress!

Next was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, which I hadn't done yet in this program. All I can say is holy push-ups! My arms are like jelly. I had to do all my push-ups on my knees and by the end of the workout, I almost collapsed because my arms were shaking so badly. Besides the push-ups, there are lots of other moves using weights. I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow!

Meals for today:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces multigrain toast with honey, skim milk
• Snack: Banana, 2 rice cakes
• Lunch: Leftover maple curry chicken, apple
• Snack: Protein bar
• Supper: Turkey club bagel sandwich from Great Canadian Bagel
• Snack: Protein shake with water

Day 30 - Cardio X

This picture cracks me up!
It's getting a bit hard to write interesting things about a workout that I've written about several times already. Cardio was cardio today. Thank goodness I added a funny picture!

Meals

• Breakfast: Corn bran squares cereal and skim milk
• Snack: Mango green tea, nutrigrain bar, banana
• Lunch: Leftover spagetti
• Snack: Protein bar, post workout protein shake with water
• Supper: Chicken breast, couscous, peas and corn
• Snack: Strawberry frozen fruit bar

Day 29 - Core Synergistics

Day 1 of Phase 2 went well, although I still have to modify a lot of moves. My upper body strength is nothing to brag about, so I have a hard time with push-up-type moves. The walking pushups are killers for me, as are the running pushups/chaturanga. I definitely can't do the run in chaturanga, and I have a hard time going the whole time while in pushup position. My arms just aren't strong enough to hold me! I can, however, do the chaturanga ISO!

My meals for today:

• Breakfast: Country Harvest cereal and skim milk
• Snack: Banana
• Snack: Endurance drink during workout, protein powder with milk, post workout
• Supper: Maple curry chicken penne, 2 rolls, white wine, fruit and whipped cream on pastry (I know, bad!)
  

Day 28 - Rest and Phase 1 results!

I think I'll take a rest day today instead of stretch because I'm playing soccer tonight and I'm just plain pooped from mopping the floors.

I've finished Phase 1 of P90X and here are some results:

Weight: I've fluctuated quite a bit over the last month or so and in the end, I've only lost 2 pounds. I didn't really expect to lose much after only the first month, and probably part of it is from building muscle. I also haven't really been following the nutrition plan, just trying to eat healthy, but that's probably part of the reason why I haven't lost much.

Measurements: Not a huge change in my measurements yet either. Since day one, I've lost 2.5 inches in my waist and an inch in my hip/thigh area. I also seem to have lost 1/2 an inch in my left thigh, but none in my right! Everything else is pretty much the same.

Overall: I'm still feeling great and even though there isn't a lot of difference in my measurements, I am starting to see some more muscle tone. I took my 30 day pictures, but unfortunately you can't really see it! But I can tell, and that's progress. I'm not quite ready to post my pictures yet...not until I start to see some major differences.

So tomorrow I start Phase 2. I'm a little disappointed that it's almost exactly the same as Phase 1, the only difference being that I do Chest, shoulders and triceps instead of Shoulders and arms.

So to finish, here's what I ate today:

• Breakfast: 2 soft-boiled eggs, 2 pieces WW toast with natural peanut butter, milk
• Supper: 1/2 of a WW tortilla with veggies, chicken, salsa and feta...the two hairs were just a bonus...thanks Smitty's restaurant! And because I was still hungry, I had leftover shrimp and veggie stir-fry.
• Snacks: Protein bar, chocolate milk, small bag of mini eggs

Day 27 - Yoga X

Isn't this picture beautiful? I wish I could do yoga there!

Yoga went well today. I was actually able to do the "upward dogs" the whole way through instead of "cobra" (on my knees). I realized I wasn't doing upward dog properly before, so maybe that's why I had trouble with it. But I like to think that I've progressed, so we'll go with that! The next step will be to do all the push-ups in between!

Each time I do this workout, I like it more and more. I know a lot of people hate the yoga workout, but having done yoga before, I really like it. I still think it's a bit long, but I don't find it as long as I used to.

I've been thinking lately that I might like to order P90X+, but I'm not sure if I should wait until I've finished P90X. I think maybe I better wait and not jump into it too quickly. I don't want to get bored with things too fast, and since my plan is to do the classic P90X program next, maybe I'll wait to get the "plus" DVD's after that. Any suggestions from anyone?

Tomorrow is the last day of Phase 1...yahoo! I've made it 1/3 of the way through! I'll be taking my 30 day pictures tomorrow (which I may or may not show), and doing my measurements too. Stay tuned!

What I ate today:

• Breakfast: 2 pieces of multi grain toast with almond butter, milk
• Snack: Nutrigrain bar, coffee
• Lunch: Shrimp and veggie stir-fry, applesauce with cinnamon, cheese
• Snack: Pre-workout enery bar (Myoplex lite)
• Supper: Spagetti with ground lamb and garlic bread

Day 26 - Cardio X

Ok, I know this picture has nothing to do with cardio, but when I saw it, I had a little chuckle, so I thought I would share.

The cardio portion of my workout today went really well. I felt like I was working harder and the breaks between moves seemed to be shorter too?! I was sweating profusely by the end of the workout. The yoga portion of the workout, however, didn't go so well. For some reason, my legs felt like jelly and I couldn't hold any of the warrior poses for very long.

I've decided I'm going to start writing what I eat on my blog as well. Not that I think any of you are really interested in this information, but I figure it's just another way to keep me on track. If I show the world (because I know you're all reading this!) what I eat, I think I'll try harder to eat healthier. So here's what was on the menu for today:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with flax seed, wheat germ, blueberries and honey added

• Snack: Nutrigrain bar and cheese

• Lunch: Salad with raspberry vinaigrette and a rice/ground beef/cheese concoction

• Snack: Myoflex bar (to prepare for my workout), and chocolate protein powder with milk after the workout

• Supper: Shrimp and veggie stir-fry

• Snack: Approx. 15-20 chocolate chips

Day 25 - X Stretch

Stretch day today! Gotta love stretch day. It feels so good and it's not a lot of work!

So I'm half-way through recovery week and at the end of this week, I'll take my measurements again and give you another summary of how things are going. I can tell you a couple of things now though...my weight is still fluctuating a little, but not going down. What's weird is, yesterday I weighed 4 more pounds than I did today. That seems a little out of the normal fluctuation range. The other thing I can tell you is that I've lost another inch off my waist. So that's 2.5 inches gone so far!

Tomorrow's cardio and then yoga the next day...I like recovery week!!

(By the way, that's NOT me in the picture...just thought I'd clear that up)

Day 24 - Kenpo X

Kenpo X, or kickboxing today. I seemed to have lots of energy today and was able to put more into the workout than previously. I also had to hurry through it because I had things to do afterwards. I did the entire workout, but I skipped the breaks where you do the running and jumping jacks. I'm quite enjoying recovery week!

Unfortunately I was up 4 lbs today! Yikes! Just curious when other people started losing weight in this program. I'm starting to see more definition in my muscle tone and I know I'm decreasing body fat, but I kind of hoped I'd have dropped a couple of lbs by now. Anyone else out there seeing the same trend?

Day 23 - Core Synergistics

This is my second day of recovery week. I'm liking this workout more and more. The first time I did it, I really hated it, but now I'm starting to see why it can be a favourite. I don't really have much more to say. I did this workout yesterday and I seem to forget it already!

Day 22 - Yoga

By adding this picture, I'm kind of copying Crystal's idea, but I really love how she always adds interesting pictures to her blog. So I hope she doesn't mind my stealing her idea. At least I've linked to her blog so you can check it out!

This weekend I played in a soccer tournament, so Friday and Saturday I didn't do any P90X workouts. I played games Friday night, Saturday and this morning. One of those days was my rest day though, so after my game today, I started up week 4.

Today was the first day of my first recovery week. The yoga workout went well and faster than I expected. I usually find the first section is quite long (the vinyasa's), but today I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing, so that part went by pretty fast. I find I'm able to hold my positions longer and I'm able to get a little lower. I still have a hard time with some of the balance poses, particularly the section with the half moon pose. I just can't keep my leg in the air for that long. All in all a good workout though.

Day 20 - Kenpo X

Love this workout, maybe because I can actually do all of it! I felt quite energetic today so the workout went really well. I was pretty much able to keep up with them the whole time.

I think my extra energy came from the fact that it was "beautiful" out today. And I use the word "beautiful" loosely because it was only about +9C (48F for you Americans). But it was sunny and warm for March in New Brunswick and I took the opportunity to shovel some of the snow off my deck, wearing a tank top and slippers. I felt very Canadian!

Day 19 - Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X

I was a little late getting my workout done yesterday because we went out for supper with friends. So I didn't end up starting until around 9PM. I mixed it up a little bit last night by doing ARX before Legs and Back instead of after. I think I prefer it this way. It was good to get it out of the way so I didn't have to worry about it later. Plus, I had more energy to work my abs. I'm not saying I performed better at ARX this way, it was just less tiring.

As always, ARX is a killer for me, but at least it's short. I can manage to do 25 reps on the "in and outs" and on the "bicycle", but that's about it. For the rest of the moves, I can get to about 11-12 reps, then take a break and finish the last 5 or so with the group.

Legs and Back went well. I decided to use the stretch band for my pull-up moves. I think I prefer it this way. I feel like I have more control and that I'm getting a better workout that way. Eventually I'll go back to the pull-up bar, once I get stronger, but for now I'll stick with the band.

I think my favourite move on the Legs and Back DVD is the calf raises. Man they hurt, but I like them!

Day 18 - Yoga

I was originally planning on skipping yoga today because I had soccer practice at 8:30pm and I figured I wouldn't have time to fit both in. But since we're going out for supper with friends tomorrow, I thought it might be better to do yoga today instead of tomorrow. Yoga on a full stomach is not good! I did manage to fit it in right after work, then went to practice afterwards. I'm glad I did it today because I was nice and stretched for soccer and had a good cardio workout there. By the end of the day though, I was pretty pooped, but proud of myself!

Day 17 - Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X

I bought myself some new stretch bands to try instead of weights, but I'm not really sure I like them. For some of the moves, they were way more of a workout than using weights and made me realize that maybe I should increase my weight when using dumbells. Overall, I prefer using weights, but having bands adds variety, so I'll probably use them every once in a while.

Shoulders and arms went really well last night. As I said, I ended up lifting more weight than last week. Ab Ripper X didn't go quite as well. I wasn't able to do as many reps as normal before needing to take a break. I think it will be several weeks before I'm finally able to do all of this workout!

Day 16 - Cardio X

I felt a little sluggish today doing this workout. I think it might be because I had supper before working out. I did wait about an hour after supper, before exercising, but I still felt like stuff was sloshing around inside. So the first part of the workout wasn't great, but eventually I got a bit more into it, possibly because I was drinking my energy-workout drink. I was sweating pretty hard by the end of it.

Day 14 - Rest / Day 15 - Core Synergistics

Yesterday was my rest day and that's exactly what I did. I originally thought I might do the stretch workout, but never really got around to it.

This is the beginning of week 3 and today I did Core Synergistics. I feel like I keep getting better each week. I still really suck at the push-ups though. Being a soccer player, I don't really have much use for my arms...they kind of just hang there like a T-rex's!! They're not really that bad, but I don't have a lot of upper body strength. Most of my push-ups are done on my knees, but I do try to do some in full plank position.

So since I've completed 2 whole weeks, here are some results:

Weight: Over the two weeks, I gained a little over 4 lbs then lost it, so I think I'm pretty much back to where I started now. If you want to get technical, I've lost 0.4 lbs since I started, but statistically, I'm pretty sure that's not a significant change.

Measurements: All of my measurements are still the same except for my waist. I've lost 1.5 inches there!

Overall: Overall I feel great! My back is feeling better, I feel like I have more energy and I feel like I'm getting stronger. I also think I'm starting to see a bit more muscle tone, but it's hard to tell. The other day, my soccer coach told me he noticed I was looking a bit fitter and I was surprised that others could see any change.

So things seem to be right on track. I didn't really expect to see any changes yet, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I lost a bit in my waist.

Another thing I should mention...I got this drink mix from GNC called "Endurance". You drink it while you work out and it's supposed to give you more energy so you get more out of your workout. I've been using it for almost a week now and I think I'm able to see a difference in my performance...or maybe I'm just getting fitter and can do the exercises better. So in addition to this, I often have a Myoplex bar about 1/2-1 hr before working out and I have a protein shake after.

Day13 - Kenpo X

I'm almost to the two week mark! Today was Kenpo. I like this workout and I can pretty much do the whole thing.

A co-worker/friend just started this program, but she is doing the Classic version, where I'm doing Lean. I'm getting the impression that the Classic is quite a bit more difficult than mine. I kind of knew this, but to hear her talk about her workouts, mine don't seem quite as bad. I've sort of been wondering which program I really should be on, but I think I've picked the right one for me for now. My main goal is to lose weight, and the Lean program sounds like it's best for that. I'm already planning ahead though and I think once I'm done the Lean program, I'll do P90X again and do the Classic version next time. I'll take the summer off though because I'll be playing soccer 2-3 times a week, but in the fall, I'll plan on doing it again.

Day 12 - Legs & Back and Ab Ripper

I split up the two workouts today. I did Ab Ripper after I got home from work and before a group of us went out for supper. Then after supper, I did the Legs and Back workout. I should be off to bed now after I shower, but I'm stuck on the computer and feel the need to write about my workout first!

Today was the first day that I was able to do all of the ab ripper exercises without back pain!! Yay! I still can't do all 25 reps, but I can do more than before. I can feel my abs getting stronger and I think that is helping me from putting strain on my back. I love seeing progress! I was also able to get more of a workout doing legs and back and now my legs feel like jelly.

I'm also quite proud to say that since I started P90X on March 1st, I've exercised 15 out of 18 days, between playing soccer and my 12 days of P90X! One of my days off was because I ate too much on the 6th and the other two I took off to rest my back.

Now one last thing before I go to bed, I'm going to decorate my blog! I know...sad!

Day 11 - Yoga

My second round of yoga went much better than last week. My back felt great and I could do the bends, pain-free! Some of the poses were still pretty challenging, but I was able to do most of them properly. Even though the workout is really long and there are endless vinyasas and runners poses, I feel great once I'm done. And I'm happy to say I'm pretty flexible too. I can touch my head to my knee doing the single leg stretch!

Day 10 - Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper

I felt I got a much better workout on my arms and shoulders this time around. Last time I only had 5lb weights and it didn't feel like enough, so I bought 8 and 10 lb weights. I'm not strong enough for the 10lb ones yet, but most of the moves I was able to lift 8lbs. I have to go to the 5lb weights for triceps though. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow!

I'm still having some trouble with the Ab Ripper. A lot of the moves hurt my back, especially the ones where you start from lying down and have to roll all the way up to touch your toes. Ouch! So I've been doing a lot of modifications on this workout. I also think it will be a while before I'm able to do 25 of any of the exercises!

Day 9 - Cardio

Last night I had a soccer game so I skipped my P90X workout. This evening I did the cardio X workout and it went really well. I started off wearing my back brace, but ended up taking it off because I didn't need it. I felt I was able to do a better job with the workout this time around too. I like this workout, mostly because it's only 45 min!! I think my favourite move is the wacky jacks. I always start them off wrong, but once I get the hang of them, their fun!

Day 8 - Core Synergistics

I'm back at it again! That three day rest for my back did a world of good. Even though it's not completely better, it feels way better than it did for the past 2 weeks. And the neoprene back brace seems to work really well too. It doesn't provide a huge amount of support, but it does support a bit, and it keeps the heat in, which seems to help. I still have to take it easy, but the moves were a lot easier to do than before.

The second time around for core synergistics seemed to go better than the first. I was able to do more of the moves properly (not all of them, mind you), and I could do more reps. I still can't do everything they can do, but I do see progress, and I'm only just starting my first week! That's encouraging! Tomorrow night I have another soccer game, so I'll probably continue with day 9 on Saturday.

Ready to go again!

I took 3 days off to rest my back and I think I'm ok to continue on to week 2 of the program. It still bothers me a bit, but it's feeling much better than it was before. I had a soccer game on Tuesday night and it actually felt pretty good. I bought myself a neoprene back brace for exercising while my back is still bothering me and it seemed to help at soccer. So fingers crossed that it goes well tonight when I try core synergistics for the second time around!

Day 7 - Stretch!

Ahh, it felt good to do the stretches today. It was a nice, relaxing video, what else can I say?!

So I've finished my first week. I haven't taken any new measurements or anything, but I can tell you that I've actually gained a couple of pounds since I started last week. Let's hope it's just muscle and that it doesn't continue for too long.

Unfortunately, my back isn't getting any better. I don't think that the exercise is hurting my back, but I have a feeling it's aggravating it and preventing it from healing. I've been icing it a lot and I've been seeing a chiropractor, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should take a couple of days off and let it heal a bit better. I REALLY don't want to stop this workout, because I know my core has to be strong in order to help my back. So I think what I'll do is take 3 days off, ice it a lot and hope for the best.

I'll keep you posted and hopefully I'll be back at it again soon.

Day 6 - Kenpo X

I feel kind of guilty because I missed my workout yesterday and I don't really have a great excuse either! I had a few things to do right after work yesterday and I'm also taking care of my friend's dogs, so I was late getting supper. We ran into town to get a sandwich from Great Canadian Bagel (so yummy!) and oops, made a quick stop at Dairy Queen on the way home! I was so full by the time I finished that I couldn't make myself workout at 10pm. On the plus side, I have been eating really well all week, so I don't feel too bad about cheating with a sundae.

I guess I haven't mentioned this yet, but I'm not doing the P90X nutrition plan. I just decided that I'll try my best to eat healthy and see how that goes. If I need to, I can always try the plan and see if it works any better.

So today I did the Kenpo X workout. It was fun! I really like doing kick-boxing exercises, so I found this one was quite enjoyable. I still have to be careful of my back so I didn't get as much out of it as I probably should have. But it was better than nothing and it still had me sweating pretty hard.

I'm looking forward to the Stretch video tomorrow.

Day 5 - Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X

Just a quick note on today's workout because I'm off to bed in a minute. The leg and back workout felt good today and I finally got to try out the new chin-up bar. Couldn't do a chin-up without a chair mind you, but in my eyes, they were chin-ups none-the-less! I found the abs a bit harder today because of my back, so I modified and did my own ab moves for a lot of it.
Off to bed now - Kenpo X tomorrow.

Day 4 - Yoga

I was really pleased with myself that I actually did this workout today because I was thinking of skipping it. I had a bunch of things to do right after work today and then we met some friends for supper at 6pm. I tried my best not to eat too much (which was hard!) so I could do yoga once I got home. I figured Chinese food and up-side-down poses wouldn't mix well!

We got home after 8pm and I'm proud to say that I still did my workout, even though it made me late getting to bed. The workout is 1 1/2 hrs and I like to get to bed early when I'm working at 7:30am. Even as I was doing the workout, I was tempted to cut it short, but I didn't and I finished it all. I did have to skip a few exercises that hurt my back a bit, but I was able to do most of them.

I have been a little worried about my back while doing this program. I found out recently that I have a slightly compressed disc between L4 & L5, which has been bothering me on and off for quite a long time now, but it's been worse lately. They warn you not to do P90X if you have any problems, including back issues, and I was worried that someone might tell me not to do the program. But so far, I think I've been ok. I know my limits and I think I can adjust the moves so that I don't make my back worse, or I can just skip any moves that put strain on my back. I know I have to strengthen my core muscles to help support my back, so I don't want to stop exercising. So I guess I'll just continue on and hope for the best!

As for the Yoga X DVD, it was a lot more intense that I had expected. I have done lots of yoga and pilates in the past, so I didn't find it too bad. It was definitely challenging though and I just don't have the strength yet to hold some of the poses. I wonder how others would find it though, particularly guys who have never done yoga before. It would be pretty tough I would imagine! But then again, some of the people on the video weren't able to do a lot of the moves when they started either and they seemed to do a great job now.

I liked this video a lot and I was pretty limber by the end of it. It is a little long, but definitely manageable.