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 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!

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 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!