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)