Well I honestly don't even know what my last post was about. I haven't been very consistent posting. Life is busy enough and quite honestly I haven't made the time.
SO... I did PiYo for about 8 to 10 weeks with my wife. It pushed both of us. I really missed true cardio and strength training that required weights. Although PiYo really pushed both of us, it wasn't for us. Christie struggled with strength and flexibility, partly because of her hip replacement, partly because of her weight. Again - I struggled with it because mentally I couldn't get past the fact I wasn't being pushing my cardiovascular or moving any weights.
Moving forward - we both decided we really didn't care for the program and wanted something different. I chose Body Beast. A true strength program that was all about weights. Workouts range between 30 - 50 min each. Truly a challenge when you are accustomed to 30 min workouts. Either way.... onward and upward.
I'm currently about 7 or 8 weeks into the program. It challenges me every time I push play. No question about that. My first month I ate the see-food diet. I ate everything in front of me, good or bad. Lots of beer consumption, etc... I could see my muscles were growing, but unfortunately my mid-section was growing a little bit as well.
What happened? What are my goals? When I started Body Beast I told my wife my goal with this program is to just get a bit more muscular and shed fat. I didn't care what my weight was, but I did want to keep it under 175lbs. That was my primary focus. Once I got past 175lbs I risk going over the healthy BMI range and that is something I absolutely did not want. I've worked too hard to finally get in what the "health" world considers a "healthy" range. I've been down over 20lbs for over a year now. I started this journey back in July of 2013 at 197lbs of flubber.
The first phase of Body Beast is the "Build" phase (at about 174lbs) and that was the phase I was on the see-food diet. Diet. LOL I remember finishing that first phase and weighing myself and seeing I was pretty much the exact same weight as when I started. Was this for the better? Was it for the worse? Did I feel better? (No) Did I look better? (also a resounding NO). What were my obstacles? What was preventing me from getting to my goals? You have to look inside yourself to answer those questions. The answer though was really pretty simple. The issue was ME. I was preventing myself. I was stopping myself from getting to where I want to be. The next question was, what can I do to fix it? The simple answer is educate and act on it.
To simplify the issue I've had has been with food. Is it how much I consume or which foods I eat? Or both? Really its all of the above. I started watching Food documentaries on Netflix (Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Farmageddon, Forks Over Knives, Food, Inc., Hungry For a Change, Killer At Large and shows like Ted Talks - Chew On This) Things about nutrition. I also started reading the book Eat To Live by Dr Joel Fuhrman. I stopped drinking alcohol. I seriously cut back/almost eliminated processed foods. The goal was to fuel my body better. Eat more cleanly. Consume less meat and more vegetables. I needed to eat at least twice as many vegetables as I did meat. I knew I did not want to count calories. I did not want to track my food at all. Under no circumstances do I think anyone should ever need to track their food when trying to get healthy. Eat healthy things 95% of the time and the rest will take care of itself. My snacks would no longer be whatever I brought (KIND bars, not as frequently). I am not really a snacker but I have been known to sit down and consume a family size bag of potato chips on date night with a few beers AFTER having a couple of frozen appetizer things (tacquitos anyone?). Healthy? Probably not.
What have I been doing and has it worked? Again - no alcohol now for over a month. Practically eliminating processed foods. Focusing more on clean nutrition with lots and lots of vegetables. Less meat. Even if the meat we consume is lean and grass fed. Just trying to be more cognizant of it. I keep my meat portions to 5oz or less. If I finish my dinner and am still hungry I go back for more vegetables, not more meat.
Has it worked? Well I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 169lbs. That is a 5 or 6lb weight loss in the past month. My love handles? Pretty much gone at this point. My belly? FAR less bloated and shrinking more and more every day. Do I have 6pack abs yet? Nope - but I'm on my way. In addition to that I am continuing to see the muscle growth from the Body Beast workouts. Arms, back, chest, legs - nutrition has really brought those positive changes more to the forefront.
How has this change affected me? Am I happy? Actually I am. I gave up alcohol on my own terms. I have zero regrets about it. ZERO. Do I miss it? Surprisingly no. Same with potato chips and all the other stuff. Don't miss it. I have had a couple of chips here and there. If the kids are having some chips with sandwiches on the weekend, will I grab 2 or 3 chips? Yeah. That's the end of it though. My lunch is something else. I've become very fond of tuna mixed with mashed avocado on toasted whole wheat bread on the weekends. That works well for me. More vegetables than meat has been the real focus though. Snacks being baby carrots with homemade hummus or sliced peppers with homemade hummus. Fruit - mandarin oranges or an apple. Just good healthy choices. My wife does an awesome job of planning good, healthy meals for our dinner every day - which I am EXTREMELY thankful for. Typically during the week there are leftovers and if I think there aren't enough veggies for my lunch I do 1 of 2 things. 1) bring a bag of steam veggies with me that I can make in the microwave or 2) go to the cafe and get a nice, fresh salad with no animal protein, no dairy and no dressing. Is it bland or lack of flavor? No. The complete opposite. It is bursting with flavors. I'll typically add some grilled vegetables from the salad bar (brussel sprouts, peppers, onions) and I like to add chickpeas and seeds as well. YUMM!!!!!!!!!!
How have these changes impacted me elsewhere, besides the scale and my physical body image? Mentally I feel sharper. I typically always sleep good, except for my on call week. I've noticed what I can only term as resentment from Christie during this. She is not happy that I'm choosing not to drink beer with her when she decides she wants a beer. I'm choosing not to eat a less nutritional snacks/fatty snacks on our date night. She has let me know in no uncertain terms she feels kind of singled out by my choices and although I feel bad about it, I am not changing my decisions because of that. I'm just not. I've done enough damage to my body over the years and I'm doing my best to heal it and get healthy. Get stronger and be there long term for my family. Dying or becoming ill to the point where I become a burden on my family legitimately scares the shit out of me. It brings me to tears thinking of it. If I can do simple things like making the healthiest choice on the menu for a meal and getting up and dedicating less than 1 hr for exercise per day to try and avoid that, then I'm good with that. That I can do. For me and my loved ones. I only hope the others that I love in my life jump on board and try and do the best for THEM. I can't imagine my life without any of them.
That's about all I have for today folks. I'll hopefully get back to updating more frequently. I have about 5 weeks left on Body Beast. I'm looking forward to sharing my before and after pictures of my Body Beast adventure as well as my before I started working out, until now pictures. That should be quite the trip.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Dr follow up, cholesterol, Piyo, nutrition, next steps/program
I follow up with my Dr every 6 mos. I do fasting blood work, etc... I had been on Lisinopril (10mg) for high blood pressure, which I am very much convinced is a result of whitecoat syndrome. I was also on Pravistatin (80mg) for high cholesterol. Back in January I saw my Dr for the first time since I had started T25 and I was down over 20lbs (last summer I was 197lbs), my BP was good and my cholesterol was finally within normal limits. He did not want me to come off cholesterol meds. Instead he recommended I cut my dosage in half (just break the pills in half) and we'd revisit it at this last appt. Well my cholesterol numbers were fantastic. My good cholesterol went up to 56 (last time it was 53 in January and last year it was 41). My bad cholesterol was down to 66 (129 I think in January and closer to 200 last summer). Doc was still hesitant to allow me to come off the cholesterol meds because in his opinion they do "other things to HELP" my body. I'm off them. I'll help my body through nutrition and exercise. Still on the BP meds until I can prove I don't need them.
I'm still at it. My weight is hanging between 169 & 170lbs. My nutrition isn't perfect. I know if I buckle down I will reach my next goal of 165lbs. Either way my body continues to change for the better. The scale number is just that - a number. I can show you a flabby person weighing 170lbs and I can show you a more muscular person at 170lbs. Right now I'm the latter. I want to continue to push myself and get down to 165lbs and lose the rest of this belly before my next program/routine. The best way to accomplish that is to continue to trust the workout programs and buckle down on my nutrition.
Current program is Piyo. I've completed my T25/P90X3 hybrid and it was fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who owns those 2 great programs. Piyo is supposed to be a fast paced combination of Pilates and Yoga. I've been working through this program with my wife. There isn't any impact on the joints, but it still works your body pretty good using all body weight exercises. Since she is just coming off hip replacement surgery back in April, this seemed like a great option. So far so good. Some of the workouts we've done so far have been extremely short (18 min, 21 min respectively) but I'm finding ways to dig deeper on my focus of what its trying to work and push my body. I'm not really sure what to expect from it, but I'm trusting the program and hoping for the best. Things that I am concerned about though are 1) losing some cardiovascular stamina and 2) losing some muscle size. After all there isn't any traditional cardio in this program and no weights per say lifted in the program. Just body weight. We just completed week 2, so 25% done. I'm looking forward to seeing how we are in the end.
Nutrition. Overall we eat pretty healthy. Weekends are more of a struggle. Vacations are definitely a struggle. We have done a great job of continuing our fitness and activity during these times, but nutrition wise we seem to just kind of throw most of it out the window. It is a challenge for both of us to find that happy medium. Christie has started reading the book "It Starts With Food", which kind of prepares you for the "Whole30". If anyone doesn't know what the Whole30 is, there is quite a bit of information available out there. Here is a link to their site: http://whole30.com/ The short of it? Eliminate all processed food, dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream, etc...) grains (breads, crackers, etc...) and just eat whole foods for 30 days. Oh yeah and no alcohol either. OUCH. Yeah, that one hurts. I'm not a drunk, but I do like to relax with a beer or two. Apparently we are targeting starting this Sept 1st. This will be a HUGE challenge for both of us. Can we do it? I believe we can, but the commitment will be kind of "next level" beyond where we have gone. We've done things before like the Paleo 28 day challenge, etc... so we know we can do this - but it will be tough. Damn I'll miss pizza. :(
Right or wrong I've picked my next program. It will be Body Beast (yes, why would I not pick a Beachbody program?). The 3 primary reasons why I chose this program 1) I need a break from Shaun T 2) I need a break from Tony Horton 3) I want to add a little muscular size to my frame and the 4th bonus, its on sale right now. lol I'm very anxious to start it - but at the same time it won't kill me to wait it out. Again - we have another 6 weeks of Piyo on the schedule.
One last thing.... I just celebrated 1 year of fitness. Yup, that is one year of making a commitment to being healthier. I committed to making sure I get 30 min a day of exercise in and I've stuck with that. During that time in the Beachbody community I've met some incredible people. Some truly inspiring people that have helped me on my journey to making me a better me. We have become some what of a family in our own right and I couldn't be happier about that. It brings me great pleasure to try and help them succeed and support them during their journey as they are doing for me. Just a truly awesome experience. Yet another reason why I love Beachbody. I'm very proud of how far I've come during that time, but I know not to get content - there is still work to be done. :)
I'll update again soon.... hopefully before September (I've become such a slackass on blogging)
I'm still at it. My weight is hanging between 169 & 170lbs. My nutrition isn't perfect. I know if I buckle down I will reach my next goal of 165lbs. Either way my body continues to change for the better. The scale number is just that - a number. I can show you a flabby person weighing 170lbs and I can show you a more muscular person at 170lbs. Right now I'm the latter. I want to continue to push myself and get down to 165lbs and lose the rest of this belly before my next program/routine. The best way to accomplish that is to continue to trust the workout programs and buckle down on my nutrition.
Current program is Piyo. I've completed my T25/P90X3 hybrid and it was fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who owns those 2 great programs. Piyo is supposed to be a fast paced combination of Pilates and Yoga. I've been working through this program with my wife. There isn't any impact on the joints, but it still works your body pretty good using all body weight exercises. Since she is just coming off hip replacement surgery back in April, this seemed like a great option. So far so good. Some of the workouts we've done so far have been extremely short (18 min, 21 min respectively) but I'm finding ways to dig deeper on my focus of what its trying to work and push my body. I'm not really sure what to expect from it, but I'm trusting the program and hoping for the best. Things that I am concerned about though are 1) losing some cardiovascular stamina and 2) losing some muscle size. After all there isn't any traditional cardio in this program and no weights per say lifted in the program. Just body weight. We just completed week 2, so 25% done. I'm looking forward to seeing how we are in the end.
Nutrition. Overall we eat pretty healthy. Weekends are more of a struggle. Vacations are definitely a struggle. We have done a great job of continuing our fitness and activity during these times, but nutrition wise we seem to just kind of throw most of it out the window. It is a challenge for both of us to find that happy medium. Christie has started reading the book "It Starts With Food", which kind of prepares you for the "Whole30". If anyone doesn't know what the Whole30 is, there is quite a bit of information available out there. Here is a link to their site: http://whole30.com/ The short of it? Eliminate all processed food, dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream, etc...) grains (breads, crackers, etc...) and just eat whole foods for 30 days. Oh yeah and no alcohol either. OUCH. Yeah, that one hurts. I'm not a drunk, but I do like to relax with a beer or two. Apparently we are targeting starting this Sept 1st. This will be a HUGE challenge for both of us. Can we do it? I believe we can, but the commitment will be kind of "next level" beyond where we have gone. We've done things before like the Paleo 28 day challenge, etc... so we know we can do this - but it will be tough. Damn I'll miss pizza. :(
Right or wrong I've picked my next program. It will be Body Beast (yes, why would I not pick a Beachbody program?). The 3 primary reasons why I chose this program 1) I need a break from Shaun T 2) I need a break from Tony Horton 3) I want to add a little muscular size to my frame and the 4th bonus, its on sale right now. lol I'm very anxious to start it - but at the same time it won't kill me to wait it out. Again - we have another 6 weeks of Piyo on the schedule.
One last thing.... I just celebrated 1 year of fitness. Yup, that is one year of making a commitment to being healthier. I committed to making sure I get 30 min a day of exercise in and I've stuck with that. During that time in the Beachbody community I've met some incredible people. Some truly inspiring people that have helped me on my journey to making me a better me. We have become some what of a family in our own right and I couldn't be happier about that. It brings me great pleasure to try and help them succeed and support them during their journey as they are doing for me. Just a truly awesome experience. Yet another reason why I love Beachbody. I'm very proud of how far I've come during that time, but I know not to get content - there is still work to be done. :)
I'll update again soon.... hopefully before September (I've become such a slackass on blogging)
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Still making forward progress.... wrapping up my hybrid
Look at that... long time no update (AGAIN). I'd just like to point out that Google makes updating a pain in my ass. It just seems to be a problem when you have more than 1 gmail account and your blog isn't associated with your primary email address. Whatever... enough with the technical crap.
OK - well I'm still going strong with my workouts. I have just over a week left of the T25/P90X3 hybrid I've been doing. Then I'm moving on to PiYo. I'm very hopeful that it is a workout that Christie and I can do together. If not, then so be it.
First and foremost... for about 2 weeks now on my weight check in days (Wednesday & Saturday mornings) I have weighed in under 170lbs. That is a big deal for me. Its something I've been striving to get to and been SO close for months. MONTHS. I don't think that I really had plateaued. My workouts really haven't changed. I'm still doing cardio & I'm still doing strength. My nutrition, still pretty much the same. Creature of habit? Yes I am. So yes, maybe I do only weigh 169.6lbs, but when you've been hovering between 171 - 174lbs for months, its a nice change. My next goal weight is 165lbs. I can get there. It may take a few more months to get there, but I will get there.
What really changed? One thing I did do was just add some dedicated ab work. I started with 3 days a week doing Power90's TH100 ab routine (10 exercises, 10 reps per exercise). After less than 2 weeks of that I jumped up to the TH200 ab routine (yes, same 10 exercises but 20 reps per). Also a few weeks ago I got some medicine balls courtesy of the Beachbody big summer blowout (and my family). lol Those things ROCK!! When the TH200 became less challenging I found a way to make it more challenging by incorporating a medicine ball wherever possible. This really started working my fat section. Especially those full body crunches. Do those but with the medicine ball held behind your head (not resting on the ground) and then crunching everything in? Feel it all the way through the core. AWESOME. I've also switched from doing any regular push ups to doing push ups using the medicine balls whenever push ups are called for in my workouts. Push ups off of medicine balls or side arm balances off of medicine balls, crazy core work. You fall and you fail if you don't engage that core. Its great stuff. Also - I added in trying to hold a plank at the end of my workout on the days that I'm not doing the modified TH2x0 ab routine. My goal has been to out-plank my previous plank. I think my first one was maybe 1 1/2 min. I'm now up to 3 min 15 sec. Time to push for more tomorrow.
Regardless of the "in my mind" plateau or the cursed number on the scale, I know my body has been changing. My abs want to come out and play. My waist is shrinking. I don't know what the size of my waist is, but it will be measured (for better or worse) AFTER we finish our NH vacation next weekend and before we start PiYo. I know it has shrank. Last year I had 1 pair of size 38 waist cargo shorts that I was pushing the limits on. This year, towards the end of spring, we bought 3 pairs of size 32 waist cargo shorts. Every one of those are too big now. All my work pants are 34's with stretchy waist, all too big. My shirts, I can't even wear XL anymore. Those are completely weeded out of my closet & dresser. Some larges fit good, but then again some size mediums fit good as well. Bottom line is, the scale doesn't tell the whole story. It is just a number. It does not tell the whole story, but it is still a measurement of progress.
On another note... its just a few more weeks until I have my 6 month follow up with my Dr. I went and got my blood taken for blood work this past weekend. I have been on Pravastatin for high cholesterol for years. I have also been taking a very low does of high blood pressure medication. My last check up (January) I had already lost about 23 lbs (now up to 27lbs) and all my blood work came back good. Vastly improved over what it was. In addition to that my blood pressure was normal. My goal was (as I told the Dr) to come back in July and prove to him that I no longer needed this medicine. I've changed my lifestyle (for the better) and with fitness & mostly good nutrition I am healthy. Do I have 6 pack abs? No (not yet). Either way, my waistline is no longer as wide (if not wider) than my chest & shoulders. I don't have the fat overhang, hanging over all my pants. My body is fairly muscular and getting better. I fully expect my blood work to come back and be substantially better than what it was in January. I expect that I will no longer be on any medications after that appointment. There will be no reason to. A year of excellent, healthy reports - tell me why I need the harmful medicines? I don't - and I won't.
It has been a crazy ride so far. My 1 year of dedication to fitness in my life comes up on July 27th. I'm looking forward to doing before & after pictures of that. I have the befores... I can't wait for the side by side comparison. :) Keep following so you can see that as well.
OK - well I'm still going strong with my workouts. I have just over a week left of the T25/P90X3 hybrid I've been doing. Then I'm moving on to PiYo. I'm very hopeful that it is a workout that Christie and I can do together. If not, then so be it.
First and foremost... for about 2 weeks now on my weight check in days (Wednesday & Saturday mornings) I have weighed in under 170lbs. That is a big deal for me. Its something I've been striving to get to and been SO close for months. MONTHS. I don't think that I really had plateaued. My workouts really haven't changed. I'm still doing cardio & I'm still doing strength. My nutrition, still pretty much the same. Creature of habit? Yes I am. So yes, maybe I do only weigh 169.6lbs, but when you've been hovering between 171 - 174lbs for months, its a nice change. My next goal weight is 165lbs. I can get there. It may take a few more months to get there, but I will get there.
What really changed? One thing I did do was just add some dedicated ab work. I started with 3 days a week doing Power90's TH100 ab routine (10 exercises, 10 reps per exercise). After less than 2 weeks of that I jumped up to the TH200 ab routine (yes, same 10 exercises but 20 reps per). Also a few weeks ago I got some medicine balls courtesy of the Beachbody big summer blowout (and my family). lol Those things ROCK!! When the TH200 became less challenging I found a way to make it more challenging by incorporating a medicine ball wherever possible. This really started working my fat section. Especially those full body crunches. Do those but with the medicine ball held behind your head (not resting on the ground) and then crunching everything in? Feel it all the way through the core. AWESOME. I've also switched from doing any regular push ups to doing push ups using the medicine balls whenever push ups are called for in my workouts. Push ups off of medicine balls or side arm balances off of medicine balls, crazy core work. You fall and you fail if you don't engage that core. Its great stuff. Also - I added in trying to hold a plank at the end of my workout on the days that I'm not doing the modified TH2x0 ab routine. My goal has been to out-plank my previous plank. I think my first one was maybe 1 1/2 min. I'm now up to 3 min 15 sec. Time to push for more tomorrow.
Regardless of the "in my mind" plateau or the cursed number on the scale, I know my body has been changing. My abs want to come out and play. My waist is shrinking. I don't know what the size of my waist is, but it will be measured (for better or worse) AFTER we finish our NH vacation next weekend and before we start PiYo. I know it has shrank. Last year I had 1 pair of size 38 waist cargo shorts that I was pushing the limits on. This year, towards the end of spring, we bought 3 pairs of size 32 waist cargo shorts. Every one of those are too big now. All my work pants are 34's with stretchy waist, all too big. My shirts, I can't even wear XL anymore. Those are completely weeded out of my closet & dresser. Some larges fit good, but then again some size mediums fit good as well. Bottom line is, the scale doesn't tell the whole story. It is just a number. It does not tell the whole story, but it is still a measurement of progress.
On another note... its just a few more weeks until I have my 6 month follow up with my Dr. I went and got my blood taken for blood work this past weekend. I have been on Pravastatin for high cholesterol for years. I have also been taking a very low does of high blood pressure medication. My last check up (January) I had already lost about 23 lbs (now up to 27lbs) and all my blood work came back good. Vastly improved over what it was. In addition to that my blood pressure was normal. My goal was (as I told the Dr) to come back in July and prove to him that I no longer needed this medicine. I've changed my lifestyle (for the better) and with fitness & mostly good nutrition I am healthy. Do I have 6 pack abs? No (not yet). Either way, my waistline is no longer as wide (if not wider) than my chest & shoulders. I don't have the fat overhang, hanging over all my pants. My body is fairly muscular and getting better. I fully expect my blood work to come back and be substantially better than what it was in January. I expect that I will no longer be on any medications after that appointment. There will be no reason to. A year of excellent, healthy reports - tell me why I need the harmful medicines? I don't - and I won't.
It has been a crazy ride so far. My 1 year of dedication to fitness in my life comes up on July 27th. I'm looking forward to doing before & after pictures of that. I have the befores... I can't wait for the side by side comparison. :) Keep following so you can see that as well.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Look who's still at it?
Well first off I'm still working out faithfully. My neck/shoulder issues appear to be a thing of the past. My nutrition is still an issue. Summer is here and everything in summer says "drink a beer with me". lol I'm working on that. I really am. I'm focusing on trying to limit my alcohol consumption to 1 day a week and even at that, limit it to 2 or 3 beers. There isn't a need for it at all, but I do enjoy it. The problem is - I have a beer or two and then out comes the junk food. Granted, it isn't an every day thing. Its not even an every few days thing, but it still ends up being a bigger issue. Its certainly not helping me get to the bigger goal.
So what have I been up to? First.... well I'm not just doing T25. I'm not just doing P90x3. I'm doing a hybrid of the two programs and quite honestly I'm loving it. P90X3 had zero cardio to offer me. T25 pretty much had very little strength training to offer me. I do love weight workouts. SOOOO.... the search for a hybrid went on. I found one I like that wasn't just doing doubles every frigin day (I ain't got time for all that!) Its workout out really well. I really enjoy the blend and variety of it all. I'm currently on week 6 of this thing... 6 or 7 more weeks to go!
http://johntfitness.com/p90x3-t25-hybrid/
I'll check my weight on Saturday but my mid week check had me at 176, which didn't really please me. I did drink a lot and eat a lot over the holiday weekend though.
Bottom line: I will not reach my fitness goals if I do not correct my nutrition. I'm a dead horse by saying it and not completely correcting it, but that is the reality. Something I need to work on. Part of addressing that will be me getting more involved in the meal planning and controlling my portions. I can workout until my arms & legs fall off, but it won't matter if I don't fuel my body correctly. My first time I did Power90 I used the following book: The Formula: 40-30-30. Honestly - I kicked ass and my body looked it too. My strength gains were better, my stamina was better, I slept better and my urges for junk food were very much in control. Definitely a good read for anyone interested:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Formula-Personalized-40-30-30-Program/dp/0345443063
Being honest with myself I think I need to setup a 3 week interval where I reign in my nutrition and follow a strict meal plan to see how my body does. I need to know if I'm ever going to see under 170 again (other than for a brief fleeting day or two). I've come a great distance, but I am not there. It is great to be at a healthy weight again. Feeling more fit and strong. Liking the way I look (minus the abs). There is still more work to be done though.
That's all I've got for today. I'll do a better job of updating my blog. Nearly 2 months between posts? Not gonna work. Good luck to everyone with their fitness goals!!
So what have I been up to? First.... well I'm not just doing T25. I'm not just doing P90x3. I'm doing a hybrid of the two programs and quite honestly I'm loving it. P90X3 had zero cardio to offer me. T25 pretty much had very little strength training to offer me. I do love weight workouts. SOOOO.... the search for a hybrid went on. I found one I like that wasn't just doing doubles every frigin day (I ain't got time for all that!) Its workout out really well. I really enjoy the blend and variety of it all. I'm currently on week 6 of this thing... 6 or 7 more weeks to go!
http://johntfitness.com/p90x3-t25-hybrid/
I'll check my weight on Saturday but my mid week check had me at 176, which didn't really please me. I did drink a lot and eat a lot over the holiday weekend though.
Bottom line: I will not reach my fitness goals if I do not correct my nutrition. I'm a dead horse by saying it and not completely correcting it, but that is the reality. Something I need to work on. Part of addressing that will be me getting more involved in the meal planning and controlling my portions. I can workout until my arms & legs fall off, but it won't matter if I don't fuel my body correctly. My first time I did Power90 I used the following book: The Formula: 40-30-30. Honestly - I kicked ass and my body looked it too. My strength gains were better, my stamina was better, I slept better and my urges for junk food were very much in control. Definitely a good read for anyone interested:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Formula-Personalized-40-30-30-Program/dp/0345443063
Being honest with myself I think I need to setup a 3 week interval where I reign in my nutrition and follow a strict meal plan to see how my body does. I need to know if I'm ever going to see under 170 again (other than for a brief fleeting day or two). I've come a great distance, but I am not there. It is great to be at a healthy weight again. Feeling more fit and strong. Liking the way I look (minus the abs). There is still more work to be done though.
That's all I've got for today. I'll do a better job of updating my blog. Nearly 2 months between posts? Not gonna work. Good luck to everyone with their fitness goals!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition... some of my struggles
I started writing this post a couple days ago and every time I think I'm good, I delete everything I had in my head and restart it. Why? I just don't know how to resolve my issue. I don't know exactly what to say. Often (VERY OFTEN) I criticize people (yes, I am as critical of others as I am of myself - equal opportunist) for not taking action. For just sitting around and "thinking" about what to do next. Instead of just picking a fucking route and moving forward. If its the wrong direction, well then take a step back and change direction. The worst thing you can do (in my opinion) is nothing. Sitting around and saying you are thinking about doing something or trying to map out this fucking long term master plan is a waste of fucking time. Doing something to move forward, even if later it proves to not be the best solution, is better than doing NOTHING.
Yet - here I am. Sitting and thinking about nutrition. Why would I do that? After all, on a good day I'm down 27lbs on an average day I'm doing 23/24 lbs. I am proud of that accomplishment. I truly am. It has taken a lot of effort, discipline and consistency to get this far - but if there is anything I have learned throughout my journey (which dates back a lot farther than this blog) is if you don't set goals, you will fail. You need to have a target you are trying to hit. If you hit that target, you find another target to hit. You need to have something to keep working towards - if not, whats the point?
My goal is to have a frigin 6 pack. For as far back as Power90 (hmmm, 11 yrs ago or so?) I've said - I can do this and I will get a 6 pack. Yet, despite all my successes and failures, I've never achieved that. Sure a 6 pack is kind of a generic goal. What do you need to get to that goal? You need consistency with fitness and you need consistency with nutrition. Fitness is typically the easier of the two (IMO). You need to find a time (or make time in your schedule) for it. I've found a way to do that. I've put in the time and continue to due so. Every morning I get up, grab my shorts off the floor and head down to the kitchen to grab my water bottle and then head to the basement to get my workout in. Every. Single. Morning. Why do I need to do that? I mean - I'm already down over 20lbs and according to other people I look great!
I sincerely appreciate people's support and their kind compliments. It is not my intent to give them the feeling that their compliments do not matter or that I don't care what they have to say. It is not. Ultimately though I have to be happy with my results and I am not there. I want to believe that I will know when I get there, but I'm not there. That much I do know. My core could/should be stronger and more defined. I've often though about doing doubles of P90x3 and T25 to accomplish this - but I'm guilty of "over thinking" the situation. Is it the right thing to do? Just double up on the work, increase the workload of your body to reach the goal.. or what you perceive to be the goal? What happens if you get injured and you can't even do the first workout for a while... what do you do then?
It brings me to nutrition. Probably my biggest downfall. Yes, I know Doritos and beer aren't good for me. No shit. I can read ingredients and see that, but you know what.... I like to have them from time to time. Some weeks more than others. Should I have a second plate of whatever dinner is that night? Probably not. Should I go back for more pizza? Probably not. These are things I do though. They are also decisions that are preventing me to getting to my next goal. These are MY decisions and I have no one to blame for them but myself. I had been teetering on the weight of 170lbs for weeks. Some time last week I saw myself about 173 and honestly I haven't stepped back on the scale since. I know if I do, it won't be what I want - because I haven't changed the things I need to change.
In addition to all my nutrition struggles - the past week I have really struggled to get these workouts in. I'm getting them done. Haven't missed a single one, which I should be proud of. I'm fighting it though. My body is tired and I promised myself I wouldn't overtax my body like I did last time and injure myself. Yet another reason why I haven't done doubles with T25. I've been doing the 30 day burpee challenge (30 burpees a day for 30 days) in conjunction with restarting P90x3 and it has been SO tough to get through these burpees as the week goes on. Honestly, by the end of the week it was taking me 10 minutes to finish 30 burpees. Fucking ridiculous. I'm more fit than that. The issue though (IMO) is when I choose to not fuel my body right. Indulge in some alcohol, even if its just a beer or two, and some empty calories the next day my body is completely drained. Even more than if I instead chose just to go to bed hungry. Not that I typically do, I'm usually quite satisfied with dinner (unless we have shrimp for some reason) and I typically do not eat another thing after dinner. I try to go by the "eat nothing within 3 hrs of going to bed" rule, with the exception of Saturday nights when we have our "date night".
Anywho I need to just end this sorry ass post and get back to work. I can't keep over thinking the situation. I need to just prepare my food better and make the healthiest choice available to me at that given time and I will get there. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Yet - here I am. Sitting and thinking about nutrition. Why would I do that? After all, on a good day I'm down 27lbs on an average day I'm doing 23/24 lbs. I am proud of that accomplishment. I truly am. It has taken a lot of effort, discipline and consistency to get this far - but if there is anything I have learned throughout my journey (which dates back a lot farther than this blog) is if you don't set goals, you will fail. You need to have a target you are trying to hit. If you hit that target, you find another target to hit. You need to have something to keep working towards - if not, whats the point?
My goal is to have a frigin 6 pack. For as far back as Power90 (hmmm, 11 yrs ago or so?) I've said - I can do this and I will get a 6 pack. Yet, despite all my successes and failures, I've never achieved that. Sure a 6 pack is kind of a generic goal. What do you need to get to that goal? You need consistency with fitness and you need consistency with nutrition. Fitness is typically the easier of the two (IMO). You need to find a time (or make time in your schedule) for it. I've found a way to do that. I've put in the time and continue to due so. Every morning I get up, grab my shorts off the floor and head down to the kitchen to grab my water bottle and then head to the basement to get my workout in. Every. Single. Morning. Why do I need to do that? I mean - I'm already down over 20lbs and according to other people I look great!
I sincerely appreciate people's support and their kind compliments. It is not my intent to give them the feeling that their compliments do not matter or that I don't care what they have to say. It is not. Ultimately though I have to be happy with my results and I am not there. I want to believe that I will know when I get there, but I'm not there. That much I do know. My core could/should be stronger and more defined. I've often though about doing doubles of P90x3 and T25 to accomplish this - but I'm guilty of "over thinking" the situation. Is it the right thing to do? Just double up on the work, increase the workload of your body to reach the goal.. or what you perceive to be the goal? What happens if you get injured and you can't even do the first workout for a while... what do you do then?
It brings me to nutrition. Probably my biggest downfall. Yes, I know Doritos and beer aren't good for me. No shit. I can read ingredients and see that, but you know what.... I like to have them from time to time. Some weeks more than others. Should I have a second plate of whatever dinner is that night? Probably not. Should I go back for more pizza? Probably not. These are things I do though. They are also decisions that are preventing me to getting to my next goal. These are MY decisions and I have no one to blame for them but myself. I had been teetering on the weight of 170lbs for weeks. Some time last week I saw myself about 173 and honestly I haven't stepped back on the scale since. I know if I do, it won't be what I want - because I haven't changed the things I need to change.
In addition to all my nutrition struggles - the past week I have really struggled to get these workouts in. I'm getting them done. Haven't missed a single one, which I should be proud of. I'm fighting it though. My body is tired and I promised myself I wouldn't overtax my body like I did last time and injure myself. Yet another reason why I haven't done doubles with T25. I've been doing the 30 day burpee challenge (30 burpees a day for 30 days) in conjunction with restarting P90x3 and it has been SO tough to get through these burpees as the week goes on. Honestly, by the end of the week it was taking me 10 minutes to finish 30 burpees. Fucking ridiculous. I'm more fit than that. The issue though (IMO) is when I choose to not fuel my body right. Indulge in some alcohol, even if its just a beer or two, and some empty calories the next day my body is completely drained. Even more than if I instead chose just to go to bed hungry. Not that I typically do, I'm usually quite satisfied with dinner (unless we have shrimp for some reason) and I typically do not eat another thing after dinner. I try to go by the "eat nothing within 3 hrs of going to bed" rule, with the exception of Saturday nights when we have our "date night".
Anywho I need to just end this sorry ass post and get back to work. I can't keep over thinking the situation. I need to just prepare my food better and make the healthiest choice available to me at that given time and I will get there. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Monday, March 31, 2014
P90X3 re-started!! Nutrition. blah
OK - so I just realized that I never went back on Saturday and weighed myself in for the "weekly" weigh in. My bag. Oh well. I wouldn't have expected a better weigh in. My nutrition was spotty at best. I think I drank alcohol 4 days last week. 4 fucking days. That's not going to get it done. Do I really need to wonder why my belly isn't getting smaller?
This weekend I didn't do any structured workouts. Saturday I helped my youngest brother move, but that honestly wasn't that difficult. So thanks Justin! I feared the worst, but it wasn't bad at all. I was supposed to do Combat 30 on Saturday, but my morning was spent just trying to get the kids ready and help Christie get out the door before I left. Sunday was going to be a rest day and it was. I did NOTHING.
Overall I've been really tired. I'm pretty sure its due to the nutrition or lack there of that I've been consuming. Again - drinking 4 days last week (7 beers total)...wait.... was it only 4 times.... might have been 5. Either way, it just drags you down. As much as you may enjoy it while you are doing it the energy level after just plummets. I've been drinking my Shakeology for breakfasts and that is great. I love it. Love the taste of it and honestly its quick & easy. I'm not helping myself with some of my other choices though. I have to get back on track and just have my 1 night a week where we consume some bad food. Limiting myself to 1 or 2 beers.
P90x3. I did a workout last week to test my shoulder and overall I felt great. My muscles were sore and it was a feeling I had not had in a while. It felt great and I definitely missed it. Initially I thought to myself "I'm going to go crazy and do doubles every morning of X3 and T25!". I definitely want to work in more T25 because the program is phenomenal. It totally works your core and the cardio is awesome. Something X3 seriously lacks. My focus though needs to shift back to nutrition and portion control. Anywho, I'm getting sidetracked.
X3 is great. I LOVE the strength workouts. This morning I did 11 unassisted pull ups. 4 chin ups with you pulling your knees up to your chest after you have your head above the bar. 7 pull ups where you bring your legs around in a circular motion across your chest after you pulled your head above the bar. So - completely different exercises, but still 11 when all is said and done. It felt great. There was a time though when I was telling Tony to just shut the fuck up and get on with the workouts. lol Its all good though. He didn't mind. lol
Tomorrow will be Agility X which is by far one of my least favorite workouts ever. I just don't enjoy it. I'll focus on form though and try and make the best of it. Until then!!
This weekend I didn't do any structured workouts. Saturday I helped my youngest brother move, but that honestly wasn't that difficult. So thanks Justin! I feared the worst, but it wasn't bad at all. I was supposed to do Combat 30 on Saturday, but my morning was spent just trying to get the kids ready and help Christie get out the door before I left. Sunday was going to be a rest day and it was. I did NOTHING.
Overall I've been really tired. I'm pretty sure its due to the nutrition or lack there of that I've been consuming. Again - drinking 4 days last week (7 beers total)...wait.... was it only 4 times.... might have been 5. Either way, it just drags you down. As much as you may enjoy it while you are doing it the energy level after just plummets. I've been drinking my Shakeology for breakfasts and that is great. I love it. Love the taste of it and honestly its quick & easy. I'm not helping myself with some of my other choices though. I have to get back on track and just have my 1 night a week where we consume some bad food. Limiting myself to 1 or 2 beers.
P90x3. I did a workout last week to test my shoulder and overall I felt great. My muscles were sore and it was a feeling I had not had in a while. It felt great and I definitely missed it. Initially I thought to myself "I'm going to go crazy and do doubles every morning of X3 and T25!". I definitely want to work in more T25 because the program is phenomenal. It totally works your core and the cardio is awesome. Something X3 seriously lacks. My focus though needs to shift back to nutrition and portion control. Anywho, I'm getting sidetracked.
X3 is great. I LOVE the strength workouts. This morning I did 11 unassisted pull ups. 4 chin ups with you pulling your knees up to your chest after you have your head above the bar. 7 pull ups where you bring your legs around in a circular motion across your chest after you pulled your head above the bar. So - completely different exercises, but still 11 when all is said and done. It felt great. There was a time though when I was telling Tony to just shut the fuck up and get on with the workouts. lol Its all good though. He didn't mind. lol
Tomorrow will be Agility X which is by far one of my least favorite workouts ever. I just don't enjoy it. I'll focus on form though and try and make the best of it. Until then!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Mid week weigh in, Combat week 2, new pull up bar
OK - so today's weigh in was 170.6lbs I don't buy it and don't get it. I certainly don't feel it. Definitely feeling bloated. I'm killing a fair amount of calories doing Combat, but I know its not the most intense workout I've done. So it makes me wonder how many calories would I be killing if I was doing a more intense workout. Hmmmmm
Combat - Week #2. Lets see, unlike week #1 I have actually followed the schedule, not guessed which workout is the next day and just did what I thought I was supposed to do. Such a dumbass. I've used the weighted gloves all week, except for the Power HIIT workout (30 min and over 350 cals burned) and yes, its provided more resistance. Extremely difficult routine? No. Tomorrow is a scheduled "rest day" and they follow that up with Shock Plyo (jelly legs, lots of jumping) and Combat 30 to round out the week. I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to do P90x3 Incinerator to see how many calories I kill. Great strength training and I could really use that right now.
New Pull Up bar - FINALLY I used my lunch break today on my "work from home" day and cut up the 2x6 and mounted it to the ceiling joists in the basement. Drilled a couple holes and insert 5' long x 1" thick black steel pipe. Ta-da! New pull-up bar. Why go through all this trouble? Let me just say this.... my existing one did in fact work. It did. It mounted in the door frame. The challenge with it was the door frame was at the bottom of a stair landing. Extremely easy to do "assisted" pull ups with one foot on the landing. When I did pull myself all the way up (my max is 6 unassisted) my head would either A) hit the ceiling or B) hit the light mounted on the ceiling. Kinda sucked. The new one is roughly 18" down from the ceiling so this should help avoid those scenarios. In addition, its just a straight bar. So no odd hand grippings when trying to to do any of the assorted pull ups in X3. On top of all that - as I've tested, my form is MUCH better with the new pull up bar. I'm excited to use it for a workout. LOL
That's all I've got really. Really tired and stressed lately. Things have been really busy at work, busy at home and sleep is a precious thing. I'm thankful that I've been able to workout and help with some of the stress release, but I'm looking forward to calmer times and getting past this stress.
Combat - Week #2. Lets see, unlike week #1 I have actually followed the schedule, not guessed which workout is the next day and just did what I thought I was supposed to do. Such a dumbass. I've used the weighted gloves all week, except for the Power HIIT workout (30 min and over 350 cals burned) and yes, its provided more resistance. Extremely difficult routine? No. Tomorrow is a scheduled "rest day" and they follow that up with Shock Plyo (jelly legs, lots of jumping) and Combat 30 to round out the week. I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to do P90x3 Incinerator to see how many calories I kill. Great strength training and I could really use that right now.
New Pull Up bar - FINALLY I used my lunch break today on my "work from home" day and cut up the 2x6 and mounted it to the ceiling joists in the basement. Drilled a couple holes and insert 5' long x 1" thick black steel pipe. Ta-da! New pull-up bar. Why go through all this trouble? Let me just say this.... my existing one did in fact work. It did. It mounted in the door frame. The challenge with it was the door frame was at the bottom of a stair landing. Extremely easy to do "assisted" pull ups with one foot on the landing. When I did pull myself all the way up (my max is 6 unassisted) my head would either A) hit the ceiling or B) hit the light mounted on the ceiling. Kinda sucked. The new one is roughly 18" down from the ceiling so this should help avoid those scenarios. In addition, its just a straight bar. So no odd hand grippings when trying to to do any of the assorted pull ups in X3. On top of all that - as I've tested, my form is MUCH better with the new pull up bar. I'm excited to use it for a workout. LOL
That's all I've got really. Really tired and stressed lately. Things have been really busy at work, busy at home and sleep is a precious thing. I'm thankful that I've been able to workout and help with some of the stress release, but I'm looking forward to calmer times and getting past this stress.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
End of week weigh in, Combat 1st week opinion, etc..
End of week weigh in. I was expecting good things. I really was. I figured I'd be below 170 without a doubt. I was 170.8 on Wednesday, I've not eaten junk all week. I've stayed on track with my nutrition. What was the weigh in? Which one? I got on the scale the first time and it was 171.8lbs. Said to myself, no - that can't be right. Stepped off, let it zero out and stepped on again. 171.4lbs. OK - that's a little better, but why am I getting 2 different readings? Let's go a 3rd time and see what it is. 172.2lbs. WHAT!!!! This is BULLSHIT. Step off, clear, try again. 171.8lbs. We are going to stick with 171.8lbs.
Yet another reason why I hate the scale as a measurement tool for success. I haven't been feeling "thin" like I had been and my jeans aren't as loose as they were, so that is why I was using it. Christie will be taking my measurements later today to see if I am completely losing my mind or not.
Les Mills Combat. OK - today was "Extreme Cardio 60". A 60 minute workout, which by the way is only 55 min long. I'm sorry - but accuracy is a pet peeve of mine. If you say 60, you fucking better be 60. I don't care if 60 min includes a warm up, a cool down, etc... Just as long as the video run time is at least 60 min. T25 says get your workout in 25 min a day. You know what, you hit that clock and you start at 25 min and you stop when 25 min is up. Your cool down is another 3 min AFTER that workout. P90x3 the workouts are 30 min. Meaning each routine is 30 min long. PERIOD.
In addition to my bitch about that inaccurate time keeping they do (like the 30 min workouts being 27), I don't understand why they are stopping. OK - you want to show me how to do a transition, fine. Do you need to completely stop and practically rest to do that? Probably not. I'm clearly fighting this program. I even got the 1lb fighting gloves (1lb each hand). Wore them today. Egh. I'm sure it helped me work "harder", but nothing extreme.
OK - that's the end of my bitching about my weight and workout. I'm doing SOMETHING, but I'm just not sure what I'm doing is the program for me.
Yet another reason why I hate the scale as a measurement tool for success. I haven't been feeling "thin" like I had been and my jeans aren't as loose as they were, so that is why I was using it. Christie will be taking my measurements later today to see if I am completely losing my mind or not.
Les Mills Combat. OK - today was "Extreme Cardio 60". A 60 minute workout, which by the way is only 55 min long. I'm sorry - but accuracy is a pet peeve of mine. If you say 60, you fucking better be 60. I don't care if 60 min includes a warm up, a cool down, etc... Just as long as the video run time is at least 60 min. T25 says get your workout in 25 min a day. You know what, you hit that clock and you start at 25 min and you stop when 25 min is up. Your cool down is another 3 min AFTER that workout. P90x3 the workouts are 30 min. Meaning each routine is 30 min long. PERIOD.
In addition to my bitch about that inaccurate time keeping they do (like the 30 min workouts being 27), I don't understand why they are stopping. OK - you want to show me how to do a transition, fine. Do you need to completely stop and practically rest to do that? Probably not. I'm clearly fighting this program. I even got the 1lb fighting gloves (1lb each hand). Wore them today. Egh. I'm sure it helped me work "harder", but nothing extreme.
OK - that's the end of my bitching about my weight and workout. I'm doing SOMETHING, but I'm just not sure what I'm doing is the program for me.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Mid week weigh in, Combat workouts, shoulder/PT, exhaustion
My mid week workout - as expected, the vacation bloat is gone. I'm 170.8lbs, so down 4.8lbs from Monday morning. Now time to get closer to that goal weight of 165. My main focus right now is just getting under 170 and staying there. I've seen it from time to time, but clearly not there yet. Just like when I was 200, 190s and 180s - I want it in the rear view mirror.
Apparently I screwed up my workout schedule already. Yesterday I did what would have been today's workout so as a result today I did yesterday's workout. I'm actually glad that this happened. I had physical therapy last night and that was 75 min long. I don't know if I could have done a 45 min workout today. It took me a lot to just get up and press play for today's 30 min workout. It was a very awkward workout. Les Mills Combat - HIIT Power. It had weights! I was happy about that. Just kind of odd exercises and transitions in my opinion. Just not things I was used to, I'll get there. According to the fancy new Polar FT4 I got for my bday I killed 300 calories in that 30 min. Between these 3 workouts this week I've killed about 1000 calories. Not disappointed.
Shoulder - all is good. No pain, no discomfort. No longer pulling in the neck. Officially cleared and I don't have to go back to PT unless I have a relapse. I don't plan to have a relapse. I need to figure out though what schedule to do those PT exercises on and how to incorporate them. They are definitely tough and work the core/shoulder/back. Really good stuff.
Exhausted. That's all I have to say about that. Getting back from vacation and trying to catch up on everything is always exhausting. All the laundry, the house cleaning, keeping up with all the day to day stuff you didn't have to do for a bit. I know.... no boo-hoo's for the guy that just got back from fucking vacation. It's OK. So, also adjusting to getting back to work. Trying to get sleep, but sometimes your body or your environment don't cooperate and help you. Add in being extremely hammered at work and you've got an exhausted man right here. A work in progress (aka WIP). Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but I think I'm going to do P90x3 Dynamix. Great routine, good core stuff and stretching.
Apparently I screwed up my workout schedule already. Yesterday I did what would have been today's workout so as a result today I did yesterday's workout. I'm actually glad that this happened. I had physical therapy last night and that was 75 min long. I don't know if I could have done a 45 min workout today. It took me a lot to just get up and press play for today's 30 min workout. It was a very awkward workout. Les Mills Combat - HIIT Power. It had weights! I was happy about that. Just kind of odd exercises and transitions in my opinion. Just not things I was used to, I'll get there. According to the fancy new Polar FT4 I got for my bday I killed 300 calories in that 30 min. Between these 3 workouts this week I've killed about 1000 calories. Not disappointed.
Shoulder - all is good. No pain, no discomfort. No longer pulling in the neck. Officially cleared and I don't have to go back to PT unless I have a relapse. I don't plan to have a relapse. I need to figure out though what schedule to do those PT exercises on and how to incorporate them. They are definitely tough and work the core/shoulder/back. Really good stuff.
Exhausted. That's all I have to say about that. Getting back from vacation and trying to catch up on everything is always exhausting. All the laundry, the house cleaning, keeping up with all the day to day stuff you didn't have to do for a bit. I know.... no boo-hoo's for the guy that just got back from fucking vacation. It's OK. So, also adjusting to getting back to work. Trying to get sleep, but sometimes your body or your environment don't cooperate and help you. Add in being extremely hammered at work and you've got an exhausted man right here. A work in progress (aka WIP). Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but I think I'm going to do P90x3 Dynamix. Great routine, good core stuff and stretching.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Vacation is over - back to work, Les Mills Combat...first impressions
OK - well I've returned from vacation. I consumed a lot of stuff that I typically wouldn't... why? Because I could. Here is the short of it - I'm up 3.4lbs. My weight this morning was 175.6lbs. A lot of my food choices were good. I ate a lot of healthy foods, but at the same time - I drank a lot of beer. I also consumed a lot of salty/cheesy type foods that I normally just wouldn't eat. Not to mention had my fair share of desserts - again, something I don't consume on a regular basis.
I still stayed active. We flew out Thursday and flew back on Sunday. I worked out Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Plus between Thurs & Friday we walked just over 11 miles. Not too shabby. If you do all that activity and STILL gain weight, well its got to be over-indulging. GUILTY.
In my defense - when you go to get some breakfast and they say "oh its buffet and the buffet is $22.50" or get a nice sit down dinner and they say "oh its yet another damn buffet and its $42 per person", you bet your ass I'm tying a feedbag on. lol Especially after my wife apparently became ill during that buffet, I may have tried to eat $84 worth of food. lol WHATEVER.
Again - I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I refuse to. I'm happy to be back and happy get back to those things that have become routine for me, for a HEALTHY me. Drinking my shake. Doing my workouts. All good things.
Now - I have officially started Les Mills Combat. I'm digging it. Its a badass workout. Is it as badass as the MMX workout in P90x3? So far, no - but I've only done a couple of the workouts. I've done "the basics" which is essentially a training video, one in which I will have to revisit. I've also done the "kick start 30" routine. I just got a Polar FT4 for my bday and used it this morning to see how many calories I burned. 284 calories for just under 30 min of work. I can do better. I want to be eclipsing 300 cals for each 30 min workout. I've just got to push harder. Focus more. Get more intense in the workout. Maximize these results. Tomorrow's workout is HIIT: Power Kata. No idea what the hell that is, but I'm liking the sound of it. My core already feels today's workout, can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I'm sure by my mid-week weigh in (Wednesday) I'll probably have those few extra pounds gone. I look forward to continuing my journey and getting closer to my goals.
I still stayed active. We flew out Thursday and flew back on Sunday. I worked out Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Plus between Thurs & Friday we walked just over 11 miles. Not too shabby. If you do all that activity and STILL gain weight, well its got to be over-indulging. GUILTY.
In my defense - when you go to get some breakfast and they say "oh its buffet and the buffet is $22.50" or get a nice sit down dinner and they say "oh its yet another damn buffet and its $42 per person", you bet your ass I'm tying a feedbag on. lol Especially after my wife apparently became ill during that buffet, I may have tried to eat $84 worth of food. lol WHATEVER.
Again - I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I refuse to. I'm happy to be back and happy get back to those things that have become routine for me, for a HEALTHY me. Drinking my shake. Doing my workouts. All good things.
Now - I have officially started Les Mills Combat. I'm digging it. Its a badass workout. Is it as badass as the MMX workout in P90x3? So far, no - but I've only done a couple of the workouts. I've done "the basics" which is essentially a training video, one in which I will have to revisit. I've also done the "kick start 30" routine. I just got a Polar FT4 for my bday and used it this morning to see how many calories I burned. 284 calories for just under 30 min of work. I can do better. I want to be eclipsing 300 cals for each 30 min workout. I've just got to push harder. Focus more. Get more intense in the workout. Maximize these results. Tomorrow's workout is HIIT: Power Kata. No idea what the hell that is, but I'm liking the sound of it. My core already feels today's workout, can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I'm sure by my mid-week weigh in (Wednesday) I'll probably have those few extra pounds gone. I look forward to continuing my journey and getting closer to my goals.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Vacation!!
Although on Saturday my weight was 170.8lbs, today (Thursday) my weight is 172.2lbs. Off to Savannah, GA until Sunday. I'm going prepared to have lots of fun with my wife. Lots of walking, exploring, hopefully some sensible nutrition. Also loaded my tablet with workouts (T25 BETA & Les Mills Combat).
Check back next week.
Check back next week.
Monday, March 10, 2014
PT update, workouts & coaching
First - I did my weekly Saturday weigh in and it was 170.8lbs. Not too bad, but could have been better. Definitely could have been better. My nutrition has been spotty. Lots of bdays right now and I'm letting all the celebrations get the best of me. That's a mistake. There is no reason why I can't partake in the celebrations, but I don't have to go back for multiple slices of pizza. Today I had 7 pieces. Yes, count them... 7. My only saving grace was tonight there was no cake. Thank goodness for workouts to offset my lack of discipline with food.
Physical Therapy: I've been consistently doing my exercises/stretches twice a day since Wednesday of last week and its made a world of difference. I have very very little discomfort. I haven't taken any muscle relaxers in a while, a few days actually. Nothing for pain. Its just certain positions I feel a little bit of pulling in my neck/shoulder. The pulling is extremely minimal. I'm very confident that if I stick with the routine I'm going to be completely pain free really soon and back to full workouts with zero restrictions.
Now regarding workouts, I just started BETA again this morning. T25 BETA Core Cardio first thing this morning. It was tough. Part of the problem was my energy level due to time change, lack of sleep recently and of course nutrition. Garbage in, garbage out. Mistake for sure. I've been drinking my Shakeology shakes though and that has really helped. Not to mention kept me extremely regular, which is great.
Coaching - Let me tell you. SO proud of the peeps that have reached out to me. They are motivated for change. MOTIVATED. A couple of have programs and they are already going after it. They are inquiring about how to eat healthier, how to be consistent with their workouts, etc... I need to start an FAQ page soon I think. lol Awesome. So proud of these folks. Change is coming for them and its all good.
Physical Therapy: I've been consistently doing my exercises/stretches twice a day since Wednesday of last week and its made a world of difference. I have very very little discomfort. I haven't taken any muscle relaxers in a while, a few days actually. Nothing for pain. Its just certain positions I feel a little bit of pulling in my neck/shoulder. The pulling is extremely minimal. I'm very confident that if I stick with the routine I'm going to be completely pain free really soon and back to full workouts with zero restrictions.
Now regarding workouts, I just started BETA again this morning. T25 BETA Core Cardio first thing this morning. It was tough. Part of the problem was my energy level due to time change, lack of sleep recently and of course nutrition. Garbage in, garbage out. Mistake for sure. I've been drinking my Shakeology shakes though and that has really helped. Not to mention kept me extremely regular, which is great.
Coaching - Let me tell you. SO proud of the peeps that have reached out to me. They are motivated for change. MOTIVATED. A couple of have programs and they are already going after it. They are inquiring about how to eat healthier, how to be consistent with their workouts, etc... I need to start an FAQ page soon I think. lol Awesome. So proud of these folks. Change is coming for them and its all good.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Physical Therapy started, Coaching - first clients!
OK - the thing I had been dreading for a few weeks has finally come and gone. My neck/shoulder injury was really really getting to me. I started out with, OK - I'll give this a few days and get back to the workouts. Then it went a week and I started getting thoughts of "will I ever be able to workout again"... then another week went by and I was like "OK, what if I have ALS or something horrid like that". Yes - the mind is an extremely powerful thing. I can raise you and drop you. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I typically am not a ray of fucking sunshine. FITNESS though has brought that out in me. It has made me feel better about myself and about life in general. I feel empowered and it makes me want others to feel just as empowered.
Moving back to the physical therapy.... I had my consult/1st appt yesterday. All went well. He was happy with my overall health. He wanted to go over form on some things like squats and what not to insure that I knew what good form was and that I didn't have a bigger issue like a spinal issue. In short - I had great form and he feels I should be good in just a few weeks. I'm really really excited about that. I'll see him again on Tuesday and then again the following Tuesday and Thursday. At that point I should be done and ready to get back at P90x3.
This week I've finally felt healthy enough to get back to ANY workouts so I jumped back on board with T25. I started right from week 1, day 1. It has reminded me everything that I both loved and disliked about the routine. lol Trust me, there is a LOT more love than dislike. 25 minutes and you are dripping sweat when all is said and done. You can't complain about that. Your core is tight, you WILL SEE RESULTS. I completed day 4 today and I'm hoping just a couple more weeks of this and I'll jump up to BETA. I want to do my last 5 weeks of P90x3 and double it with T25 BETA. I'm thinking that will give me some great results with my fitness level and overall health.
First clients - so I had reached out to a very dear old friend a couple weeks back and she went ahead and ordered Les Mills Combat after a short chat. She wanted to make sure that I was positive I would be able to keep you on track, motivate her and be with her on this journey. HELL YES. I am positive. I am looking forward to it. This person is deep down a great person. She shares a lot of the same qualities that I love so much about my wife. Extremely compassionate person. I can't wait to help get her healthier and happier.
In addition to that I saw another dear old friend and signed up and made me their coach. I reached out to her just because I was caught off guard by this. I wanted to know how she was doing and what her goals were. She had told me she was getting ready to order P90X, which I was excited about for her - but after a lengthy discussion with her we agreed it may not be the best program for her at this time. Yes, she wants to get stronger, but you don't just get stronger from using weights. She has a goal for doing a half marathon, she has more weight to lose (as do we all!). She's looking to increase her stamina and cardio. One of the reasons P90X would not work for her at this time is lack of time. She is already getting up at 4:30AM and going to the gym and busting her ass. KUDOS. I've been there and it sucks. Your commitment is amazing. T25 is going to push her in ways she didn't think imaginable. She will re-think fitness and get awesome results. Her journey is going to be fantastic and I can't wait to help her with it. As a proud T25 graduate, I've been there and done that. It works. Trust and believe - it works.
That's all I've got. LOTS to do today and we have celebrations this weekend for my wife & I's bdays. Families will be joining us for a very wonderful celebration and we are looking forward to it. We will indulge a little bit, but not go overboard. Nothing says you can't have fun, but don't lose sight of your goals either.
Moving back to the physical therapy.... I had my consult/1st appt yesterday. All went well. He was happy with my overall health. He wanted to go over form on some things like squats and what not to insure that I knew what good form was and that I didn't have a bigger issue like a spinal issue. In short - I had great form and he feels I should be good in just a few weeks. I'm really really excited about that. I'll see him again on Tuesday and then again the following Tuesday and Thursday. At that point I should be done and ready to get back at P90x3.
This week I've finally felt healthy enough to get back to ANY workouts so I jumped back on board with T25. I started right from week 1, day 1. It has reminded me everything that I both loved and disliked about the routine. lol Trust me, there is a LOT more love than dislike. 25 minutes and you are dripping sweat when all is said and done. You can't complain about that. Your core is tight, you WILL SEE RESULTS. I completed day 4 today and I'm hoping just a couple more weeks of this and I'll jump up to BETA. I want to do my last 5 weeks of P90x3 and double it with T25 BETA. I'm thinking that will give me some great results with my fitness level and overall health.
First clients - so I had reached out to a very dear old friend a couple weeks back and she went ahead and ordered Les Mills Combat after a short chat. She wanted to make sure that I was positive I would be able to keep you on track, motivate her and be with her on this journey. HELL YES. I am positive. I am looking forward to it. This person is deep down a great person. She shares a lot of the same qualities that I love so much about my wife. Extremely compassionate person. I can't wait to help get her healthier and happier.
In addition to that I saw another dear old friend and signed up and made me their coach. I reached out to her just because I was caught off guard by this. I wanted to know how she was doing and what her goals were. She had told me she was getting ready to order P90X, which I was excited about for her - but after a lengthy discussion with her we agreed it may not be the best program for her at this time. Yes, she wants to get stronger, but you don't just get stronger from using weights. She has a goal for doing a half marathon, she has more weight to lose (as do we all!). She's looking to increase her stamina and cardio. One of the reasons P90X would not work for her at this time is lack of time. She is already getting up at 4:30AM and going to the gym and busting her ass. KUDOS. I've been there and it sucks. Your commitment is amazing. T25 is going to push her in ways she didn't think imaginable. She will re-think fitness and get awesome results. Her journey is going to be fantastic and I can't wait to help her with it. As a proud T25 graduate, I've been there and done that. It works. Trust and believe - it works.
That's all I've got. LOTS to do today and we have celebrations this weekend for my wife & I's bdays. Families will be joining us for a very wonderful celebration and we are looking forward to it. We will indulge a little bit, but not go overboard. Nothing says you can't have fun, but don't lose sight of your goals either.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Injury update, PT and customer/clients
First an injury update. As we all know it has been a total pain in my ass for weeks now. WEEKS. It has really prohibited me from doing any strength training. Even cardio, because the injury is more my neck and it has severely limited my range of motion. Yeah - it sucks.
My last couple days of this past weekend (my on call week) I got a heating pad, used the muscle relaxers and Ibuprofen wisely, not to mention slept on my back (kinda) on the living room couch. End result? I woke up Monday morning with very very limited pain/discomfort and a lot of range of motion. SWEET. I was doing so good that Monday night I did T25 Alpha Cardio. It was AWESOME. The only area I really modified was the jump knee tucks, just because of my history with knee pain. It was great. To be consistent, I slept on the couch again last night. Again, I woke up with little/no discomfort and did T25 Alpha Speed 1.0. Good stuff. My legs are a little tired, but overall I feel pretty good. There is definite tightness/stiffness in my neck, but again - not a lot of pain and manageable.
PT - aka Physical Therapy. I go to my first appt for that tomorrow morning. I am curious. I am certainly feeling better, and that is great. However, I would FEEL much better knowing that there isn't a larger problem here. Certainly I don't want to have to rely on pills, pain meds, muscle relaxers to get my body "healthy". That is not healthy. We will go tomorrow and see what they have to say. I'm anxious to find a regimen that will "fix" me so I can get back to strength training and finish up P90x3 before I start on Les Mills Combat.
Customers/Clients - so I had a couple casual conversations with some friends regarding getting healthier and getting in shape. One of them I know used to do Tae Bo (hey, Billy Banks was cool!) and I suggested to this person that maybe Les Mills Combat would be a good fit. Sent a video link, they didn't get back to me - but no worries. I told them that it was definitely a program that I was diving in on and going to do as soon as I completed P90x3. Out of the blue I got a message today from that person saying they had ordered COMBAT. WOOT WOOT!!! So excited! They messaged me to make sure I was up for the challenge to motivate them, hold them accountable and help them get in awesome shape. YES - I am up to that challenge. I'm PUMPED for it! I know they can do it. Super psyched. While checking my Coach Online Office I found that I had someone else who signed up for me as their coach and I didn't even realize it. Pretty awesome.
So I'll update more tomorrow after I get through physical therapy and all that jazz, but tonight is ending on a really good note and I'm loving it.
My last couple days of this past weekend (my on call week) I got a heating pad, used the muscle relaxers and Ibuprofen wisely, not to mention slept on my back (kinda) on the living room couch. End result? I woke up Monday morning with very very limited pain/discomfort and a lot of range of motion. SWEET. I was doing so good that Monday night I did T25 Alpha Cardio. It was AWESOME. The only area I really modified was the jump knee tucks, just because of my history with knee pain. It was great. To be consistent, I slept on the couch again last night. Again, I woke up with little/no discomfort and did T25 Alpha Speed 1.0. Good stuff. My legs are a little tired, but overall I feel pretty good. There is definite tightness/stiffness in my neck, but again - not a lot of pain and manageable.
PT - aka Physical Therapy. I go to my first appt for that tomorrow morning. I am curious. I am certainly feeling better, and that is great. However, I would FEEL much better knowing that there isn't a larger problem here. Certainly I don't want to have to rely on pills, pain meds, muscle relaxers to get my body "healthy". That is not healthy. We will go tomorrow and see what they have to say. I'm anxious to find a regimen that will "fix" me so I can get back to strength training and finish up P90x3 before I start on Les Mills Combat.
Customers/Clients - so I had a couple casual conversations with some friends regarding getting healthier and getting in shape. One of them I know used to do Tae Bo (hey, Billy Banks was cool!) and I suggested to this person that maybe Les Mills Combat would be a good fit. Sent a video link, they didn't get back to me - but no worries. I told them that it was definitely a program that I was diving in on and going to do as soon as I completed P90x3. Out of the blue I got a message today from that person saying they had ordered COMBAT. WOOT WOOT!!! So excited! They messaged me to make sure I was up for the challenge to motivate them, hold them accountable and help them get in awesome shape. YES - I am up to that challenge. I'm PUMPED for it! I know they can do it. Super psyched. While checking my Coach Online Office I found that I had someone else who signed up for me as their coach and I didn't even realize it. Pretty awesome.
So I'll update more tomorrow after I get through physical therapy and all that jazz, but tonight is ending on a really good note and I'm loving it.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Injury update, BB coaching update, etc..
First the neck/shoulder injury. Honestly this has turned into a neck injury and it has really limited range and movement in the upper body. The reason why this sucks is because, sure - I can't do P90X3, but I could still do cardio. Well, not so much. Stupid right?? It is to me. I can't stand it. I'm jumping back into this on Monday. I've totally put off physical therapy (also dumb, my wife isn't too happy with me about it). Next week I will be doing the week 8 (transition week from block 2, moving to block 3) over AGAIN. This will be the 3rd time I've started this particular transition week. Hopefully I can actually complete it.
Beachbody Coaching. Nothing really to report. I put myself out there, that was the first step. I shared on FB about the success I've had thus far and included some before & after pics. Again - before my little injury hiatus, down 26lbs (197 down to 171). Feel pretty good about that. Here are some pics.
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Beachbody Coaching. Nothing really to report. I put myself out there, that was the first step. I shared on FB about the success I've had thus far and included some before & after pics. Again - before my little injury hiatus, down 26lbs (197 down to 171). Feel pretty good about that. Here are some pics.
Where does that leave me here.... hmmm... well today I went out and purchased the items needed so I can build a new pull up bar. The one I have now works, but since I workout in the basement the only doorway down there is the one from the bottom of the stairs that leads into the unfinished side. When I go to do pull ups with it and I get my chin above the bar I hit my head on the light at the bottom of the steps. If I move my head while pulling up, then I hit it on the ceiling. SO annoying. To avoid these obstacles and hopefully get better with my pull ups, I've got a 2" x 6" x 8' board, lag bolts and a 3/4" x 5' long black steel pipe. Pretty simple, I'm going to cut the 2 x 6 and mount it to the existing joists. Drill a 3/4" hole in these now hanging 2 x 6's and slide the pipe through. Secure it on both sides and BOOM. New pull up bar done. Providing work leaves me alone a little bit this weekend I'll get it done then.
I've also found a couple of things that I'm hoping to pounce on that can help me with my pull ups.
http://twentypullups.com
I've also found a couple of things that I'm hoping to pounce on that can help me with my pull ups.
http://twentypullups.com
http://pullupszone.com/how-to-increase-pull-ups-in-11-days/
I have never done any more than 6 pullups. My form on these pullups has always been a little questionable because as I get tired I tend to use my legs. I want good form, I want double digits with good form and start upping the ante.
OK - that's all I've got for now. I'll probably post again after my next workout... likely Monday.
OK - that's all I've got for now. I'll probably post again after my next workout... likely Monday.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Injury update, Dr appt, workouts, coaching
Injury update. I'm still fucking injured! How about that! Seriously though, I woke up in a tremendous amount of pain this morning. I was an extremely unpleasant person to be around. Advil has been taking a little bit of the edge off, but not doing much of anything else. I immediately (FINALLY) made a Dr appt.
Dr appt. He was surprised my blood pressure was high. REALLY? Did I mention I'm experiencing this little side affect from being injured? It's called PAIN! Fucking donkey. He gave me a script for muscle relaxers. REAL ones that you get from a pharmacy, not fake ones that you get from your mom, who got them from.... whomever and turn out to be glorified Aleve. lol He wants me taking 600mg of Ibuprofen 4x a day and as many as 2 muscle relaxers a day. He also wants me to go to physical therapy. He told me that a lot of people think PT is a joke, but they can do some great things there. I'm sure they can - but I'm not going. No need to right now. Just no need. Let us take this one step at a time. Start with the meds and continue to NOT workout (strength workouts) and see where that takes me.
Workouts - well, I'm obviously not frigin doing them. It sucks, I don't like it and its NOT something I want to get used to. I feel unhealthy from not exercising and I feel like bad habits are bound to come back. Exercising, especially first thing in the morning, sets the tone for my whole day. It gets me started with my water consumption. It puts me in the right frame of mind to make good food choices all day. I'm struggling with this, but I will get past it.
Coaching - I just had another coaches meeting with some amazing people on Sunday. To me, it is kind of crazy for my life to be headed in that direction. I've always kind of had my own little, small group of close friends and not really interested in expanding it for whatever reason. Just kept it to the people that I knew well and knew were great people. Then I decided to get healthier and get to a healthier lifestyle and meet all these awesome people. Now I'm going to move forward and be a coach. I don't know, it sounds dumb - but it's kind of crazy. Regardless of if the coaching opportunity works out for me or not, I couldn't be happier with the people I have met through this adventure. Some great people. Looking forward to meeting more like minded individuals throughout this adventure.
OK - already started taking the new meds, I'll report back in the next day or so and let you know if they are working or not. Hopefully they do so I can start getting some fucking workouts in.
Dr appt. He was surprised my blood pressure was high. REALLY? Did I mention I'm experiencing this little side affect from being injured? It's called PAIN! Fucking donkey. He gave me a script for muscle relaxers. REAL ones that you get from a pharmacy, not fake ones that you get from your mom, who got them from.... whomever and turn out to be glorified Aleve. lol He wants me taking 600mg of Ibuprofen 4x a day and as many as 2 muscle relaxers a day. He also wants me to go to physical therapy. He told me that a lot of people think PT is a joke, but they can do some great things there. I'm sure they can - but I'm not going. No need to right now. Just no need. Let us take this one step at a time. Start with the meds and continue to NOT workout (strength workouts) and see where that takes me.
Workouts - well, I'm obviously not frigin doing them. It sucks, I don't like it and its NOT something I want to get used to. I feel unhealthy from not exercising and I feel like bad habits are bound to come back. Exercising, especially first thing in the morning, sets the tone for my whole day. It gets me started with my water consumption. It puts me in the right frame of mind to make good food choices all day. I'm struggling with this, but I will get past it.
Coaching - I just had another coaches meeting with some amazing people on Sunday. To me, it is kind of crazy for my life to be headed in that direction. I've always kind of had my own little, small group of close friends and not really interested in expanding it for whatever reason. Just kept it to the people that I knew well and knew were great people. Then I decided to get healthier and get to a healthier lifestyle and meet all these awesome people. Now I'm going to move forward and be a coach. I don't know, it sounds dumb - but it's kind of crazy. Regardless of if the coaching opportunity works out for me or not, I couldn't be happier with the people I have met through this adventure. Some great people. Looking forward to meeting more like minded individuals throughout this adventure.
OK - already started taking the new meds, I'll report back in the next day or so and let you know if they are working or not. Hopefully they do so I can start getting some fucking workouts in.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Shakeology, regularity, weight & injury
OK - first and foremost, I started taking a fiber supplement daily for weeks so I can be more "regular". Something more than just twice a week. I already have 4 or 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day, so .... why can't I poop? lol The supplement helped by getting me up to 3x a week. Yay.
Insert Shakeology. 3 days of drinking it, ZERO fiber supplements and 3 straight days of "regularity". Who can beat that? Personally I feel better about that. Now I haven't been working out since I've been injured. My last workout was Wednesday (first day back on Shakeology). Maybe things will change when I get back full bore on the workouts, we shall see.
A bonus of regularity? You are literally getting rid of the waste from your body. The garbage its processed and doesn't need. This helps your weight. Since I'm heading out on a rare boys night out tonight I figured I'd do my weekend weigh in this morning. 169.8lbs. Less than 5lbs to reach my next goal. Psyched.
Injury. Muscle relaxers work! I took one around 7PM last night and another around 9AM today (so I wouldn't be mixing it with beer tonight). By lunch time my neck was in considerably less pain. There is still some tightness, still discomfort and motion restrictions but - without question better. I'm seriously fighting the urge to do burpees right now. lol Oh and my new pillow finally arrived. I'll pass out on that tonight for sure. Not due to too many alcoholic beverages as I am driving. I am going to have fun though.
My intent is to again, hold off working out this weekend. Giving my body the rest I think its not so subtly trying to tell me it needs. Then back at it hard on Monday. Monday I will NOT be repeating my transition week, instead moving on to week 9 of P90x3.
Insert Shakeology. 3 days of drinking it, ZERO fiber supplements and 3 straight days of "regularity". Who can beat that? Personally I feel better about that. Now I haven't been working out since I've been injured. My last workout was Wednesday (first day back on Shakeology). Maybe things will change when I get back full bore on the workouts, we shall see.
A bonus of regularity? You are literally getting rid of the waste from your body. The garbage its processed and doesn't need. This helps your weight. Since I'm heading out on a rare boys night out tonight I figured I'd do my weekend weigh in this morning. 169.8lbs. Less than 5lbs to reach my next goal. Psyched.
Injury. Muscle relaxers work! I took one around 7PM last night and another around 9AM today (so I wouldn't be mixing it with beer tonight). By lunch time my neck was in considerably less pain. There is still some tightness, still discomfort and motion restrictions but - without question better. I'm seriously fighting the urge to do burpees right now. lol Oh and my new pillow finally arrived. I'll pass out on that tonight for sure. Not due to too many alcoholic beverages as I am driving. I am going to have fun though.
My intent is to again, hold off working out this weekend. Giving my body the rest I think its not so subtly trying to tell me it needs. Then back at it hard on Monday. Monday I will NOT be repeating my transition week, instead moving on to week 9 of P90x3.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Shoulder/Neck injured.... AGAIN
Sucks. Woke up this morning (2AM) with a lot of left shoulder/neck pain. Same area as before. I've since gone and gotten a 55 min full body massage. It did help a little. I've had 6 Advil since 2AM and I just took a muscle relaxer. I'm really really hoping to get past this nagging bullshit sooner than later. That really is all it is. Nagging bullshit.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to get up (providing I sleep) at my normal time and try and do Dynamix. Basically kind of stretching. We'll see.
The massage therapist told me that I have a lot of tension in my left "lavatore scapulae". Also some tightness in my rotator cuff on my right side and tightness in the "spinalis thoracis" (fancy label for between the shoulder blades). You can see all the gross pictures here:
http://healthfavo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/human-body-anatomy.jpg
Apparently I carry a lot of tension up in my shoulders (no shit) and because of that I tend to bring my shoulders forward, out of their natural position. Putting additional strain on my deltoids.
Recommendations? Soak in a nice hot tub (sorry, I don't have a large tub for such matters). Also, stretch. Really? I do that EVERY DAY. Hmmm. Lets just hope the muscle relaxers work. :/
Tomorrow morning I'm going to get up (providing I sleep) at my normal time and try and do Dynamix. Basically kind of stretching. We'll see.
The massage therapist told me that I have a lot of tension in my left "lavatore scapulae". Also some tightness in my rotator cuff on my right side and tightness in the "spinalis thoracis" (fancy label for between the shoulder blades). You can see all the gross pictures here:
http://healthfavo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/human-body-anatomy.jpg
Apparently I carry a lot of tension up in my shoulders (no shit) and because of that I tend to bring my shoulders forward, out of their natural position. Putting additional strain on my deltoids.
Recommendations? Soak in a nice hot tub (sorry, I don't have a large tub for such matters). Also, stretch. Really? I do that EVERY DAY. Hmmm. Lets just hope the muscle relaxers work. :/
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Plateau broken!
Pretty psyched to find that my weight plateau has been broken. I weigh
myself twice a week. Once Wednesday morning and once on Saturday
morning. This morning after I drank my shake, ate my apple (snack), had
40oz of water and did my workout I weighed myself. 171 lbs. That puts
me down officially 26lbs. 6 more to go to get to my next goal of
165lbs.
Keep it moving forward.
Keep it moving forward.
Shakeology is FINALLY here, Les Mills Combat
Shakeology has finally arrived and I'm excited about it. I made my first one this morning. 1 scoop Shakeology, 1 Tblspn of Almond Butter, 1 banana, some ice & water. Blend blend blend. It was good.
The last time I was taking Shakeology was actually BEFORE I got serious with my fitness. My blood work numbers for my cholesterol were better than what they were this past January. That's right, better than when I was eating right and fit. My overall cholesterol was lower and my bad cholesterol was also lower. When my family made the decision we didn't have money for Shakeology and just put our focus on fitness & real food for the whole family we knew I had blood work to be done again within 6 months. The results don't lie. My blood work is better, my blood pressure and sugar levels are better while on Shakeology. Even with just good, healthy eating and regular exercise - my medical stats are improved with Shakeology.
Now moving onto my next routine. I had originally thought T25 and that was primarily because I know my core will see the results and again, its only 25 minutes of ass kicking fun. The concern with me though is if I've done the routine before I'm probably going to get bored. I've been intrigued by Les Mills workouts and COMBAT looks awesome. It reminds me of the ass kicking fun I have doing the MMX routine in P90x3. I've decided to choose that as my next routine.
The routine last 60 days. Most of the workouts are 30 minutes long which is great. There is 1 that is 45 minutes long and 2 that are 60 minutes long. I'm not going to be thrilled to do 60 minute workouts in the morning, but I'll deal. They state in the marketing material that people have been known to kill 1000 calories in a single 60 minute Combat workout. AWESOME. Did I mention I still have 6 or 7 lbs to lose to get to my goal weight of 165lbs? My wife still looks at me funny when I say that is my goal weight. She can look at me funny all she wants. My plan is always to revisit my weight after I have hit a goal. 165lbs will be no different.
Les Mills Combat. The routine also has 3 different schedules you can do. Warrior (with 2 rest days), Supreme Warrior (1 rest day), Ultimate Warrior (1 rest day, but some double workouts during the week). My intent is to push for the Supreme Warrior schedule. My fitness level is pretty good and I believe it is reasonable that I can really push myself and make that happen, without killing myself. Also keeping in mind my house responsibilities will be drastically increased while Christie is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Its doable.
Now Beachbody does sell gloves for the routine. If you have ever previewed the routine or the infomercial, everyone is using these gloves. They look like they are weighted gloves, but apparently are not in fact weighted at all. Beachbody sells them for $40. Pricey. Even for me as a coach. I won't be going that route. I'm strongly leaning towards some weighted gloves on Amazon that run about $20 and each glove has a 1lb weight on them. I think it will provide some great resistance. If its too much I can simply remove the weight without damaging the gloves.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7X9DEY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2NLFAI3FWFFFZ&coliid=I3LVW6R87WELH3
Overall I'm really excited here! I've got a plan and that is exciting. It's something to work TOWARDS. Its going to be a great summer, partly because I'm going to be the healthiest I have been in years. LETS DO THIS!!
The last time I was taking Shakeology was actually BEFORE I got serious with my fitness. My blood work numbers for my cholesterol were better than what they were this past January. That's right, better than when I was eating right and fit. My overall cholesterol was lower and my bad cholesterol was also lower. When my family made the decision we didn't have money for Shakeology and just put our focus on fitness & real food for the whole family we knew I had blood work to be done again within 6 months. The results don't lie. My blood work is better, my blood pressure and sugar levels are better while on Shakeology. Even with just good, healthy eating and regular exercise - my medical stats are improved with Shakeology.
Now moving onto my next routine. I had originally thought T25 and that was primarily because I know my core will see the results and again, its only 25 minutes of ass kicking fun. The concern with me though is if I've done the routine before I'm probably going to get bored. I've been intrigued by Les Mills workouts and COMBAT looks awesome. It reminds me of the ass kicking fun I have doing the MMX routine in P90x3. I've decided to choose that as my next routine.
The routine last 60 days. Most of the workouts are 30 minutes long which is great. There is 1 that is 45 minutes long and 2 that are 60 minutes long. I'm not going to be thrilled to do 60 minute workouts in the morning, but I'll deal. They state in the marketing material that people have been known to kill 1000 calories in a single 60 minute Combat workout. AWESOME. Did I mention I still have 6 or 7 lbs to lose to get to my goal weight of 165lbs? My wife still looks at me funny when I say that is my goal weight. She can look at me funny all she wants. My plan is always to revisit my weight after I have hit a goal. 165lbs will be no different.
Les Mills Combat. The routine also has 3 different schedules you can do. Warrior (with 2 rest days), Supreme Warrior (1 rest day), Ultimate Warrior (1 rest day, but some double workouts during the week). My intent is to push for the Supreme Warrior schedule. My fitness level is pretty good and I believe it is reasonable that I can really push myself and make that happen, without killing myself. Also keeping in mind my house responsibilities will be drastically increased while Christie is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Its doable.
Now Beachbody does sell gloves for the routine. If you have ever previewed the routine or the infomercial, everyone is using these gloves. They look like they are weighted gloves, but apparently are not in fact weighted at all. Beachbody sells them for $40. Pricey. Even for me as a coach. I won't be going that route. I'm strongly leaning towards some weighted gloves on Amazon that run about $20 and each glove has a 1lb weight on them. I think it will provide some great resistance. If its too much I can simply remove the weight without damaging the gloves.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7X9DEY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2NLFAI3FWFFFZ&coliid=I3LVW6R87WELH3
Overall I'm really excited here! I've got a plan and that is exciting. It's something to work TOWARDS. Its going to be a great summer, partly because I'm going to be the healthiest I have been in years. LETS DO THIS!!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Back at it!! WHOHOOOOO!!
OK - so my brother Justin hooked me up with some stuff called "Atomic Balm" and said, this should do a better job on your muscles than Tiger Balm. I used that last night. I put it on and waited and waited and waited and it snuck up on me. Next thing you know 20 minutes later my shoulder just kept heating up. WTF!! lol Between that and using a roller and stretching ball against a wall I've really been able to get into the muscle and get some relief (FINALLY). The past 2 nights I've slept on my back out of fear of ending up on the side and re-injuring myself. Its working as I was able to get my workout in this morning. WHOOHOOOOOOOO!
I'm starting my transition week over for Block 2 of P90x3. I really didn't want to, but since I only got 4 days of it in last week I feel I have to. Transition week or not, its part of the program and I feel I'd only be cheating myself if I didn't see it through. If I finish the program a week later, then so be it. At least I finish it knowing that I've DONE IT. Not most of it, but ALL of it.
The only thing this is really delaying me with, aside from the end date of P90x3, is my block 2 pictures and measurements. Saturday morning I weighed in at a light 172.4lbs. That would probably put me down another 1.5lbs from block #1. In total I'd be down less than 4lbs after 8 weeks of P90x3. As usual though the scale doesn't tell the whole story. Shoot the scale. My arms, legs, back, chest, belly are all much more defined. I've lost inches everywhere and it shows. I'm converting my fat to muscle. Am I going to go enter a fitness competition tomorrow? NO - but I'm healthier and THAT is my goal. I'm not looking to win awards with my body. I'm looking for long term health and being healthier for my life, for me and my family. That is all that matters.
I'm starting my transition week over for Block 2 of P90x3. I really didn't want to, but since I only got 4 days of it in last week I feel I have to. Transition week or not, its part of the program and I feel I'd only be cheating myself if I didn't see it through. If I finish the program a week later, then so be it. At least I finish it knowing that I've DONE IT. Not most of it, but ALL of it.
The only thing this is really delaying me with, aside from the end date of P90x3, is my block 2 pictures and measurements. Saturday morning I weighed in at a light 172.4lbs. That would probably put me down another 1.5lbs from block #1. In total I'd be down less than 4lbs after 8 weeks of P90x3. As usual though the scale doesn't tell the whole story. Shoot the scale. My arms, legs, back, chest, belly are all much more defined. I've lost inches everywhere and it shows. I'm converting my fat to muscle. Am I going to go enter a fitness competition tomorrow? NO - but I'm healthier and THAT is my goal. I'm not looking to win awards with my body. I'm looking for long term health and being healthier for my life, for me and my family. That is all that matters.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
STILL INJURED!
So I woke up in the middle of the night on my left side. Lots of neck and shoulder pain and it hurt to try and get up. I could feel it down the back of my neck and shoulder. My preferred sleeping side is my right side, but I've never had an issue sleeping on my left. I was really starting to feel better yesterday and thought I was past this and going to do Yoga today and bang out CVX & Dynamix tomorrow. As it turns out that is not the case at all. Instead I am left hoping that I'll be able to start working out again on Monday. It really pisses me off.
Things I have learned:
Things I have learned:
- Replace my pillow immediately.
- Tiger Balm is apparently nothing more than an overpriced Icy Hot
- My wife apparently can only give 1 min massages
- Keep stretching
- Not being able to workout really has messed with me mentally. It puts me in a very foul mood.
We are supposed to do measurements today. So I'll be posting progress pictures, measurements and all that jazz. Joy
Friday, February 14, 2014
P90x3 completion, Shakeology and next program chosen
OK - so the last couple days (today and yesterday) I've been battling muscle issues. My calves are so so so sore from Insanity on Tuesday night. My neck and shoulder are coming along after some freak sleep injury (totally dumb). I'm getting better, which is the key. I barely got just over 2/3 of my workout yesterday and today I didn't even bother. I just decided to let my body rest. I'm still trying to talk my mind into it being OK - but still.
My biggest concern with these injuries is having to repeat a week. I don't want to do it. I want to move forward, be done, say I've completed it and move onto my next challenge. One of my other focuses is that my wife and I are going away to celebrate our birthdays in March. Its in the middle of March and I thought I had everything lined up so that I would finish P90x3 right before that getaway. As it turns out, I mis-calculated or something. I don't know what the hell went wrong. All I know is that I have 5 weeks left and that'll bring me to March 23rd being my end date. Our getaway will be the 13th to the 16th. So no matter what my routine is going to get shaken up a little bit. I'm not going to be able to finish by my desired time and I need to be OK with it. Honestly my biggest thing with that is I wanted to have some cheats and maybe even over-indulge a little bit while away without risking my day 90 completion pics. Is that wrong? Is there something wrong with me? I have no idea. lol I definitely want to show people what you can truly accomplish when you commit for 90 days and I'm afraid of tarnishing that with my cheats. That being said, my wife and I don't get away often at all. Our last one was about 7 yrs ago, so I am going to enjoy it.
In short I guess - it doesn't matter if I have to repeat this week or not. I'm not going to hit my desired end date, there is no getting around that. What I really need to focus on is getting past these piddly injuries so I can finish the program strong. Get the best results I possibly can. That is the end of that.
Shakeology - I'm starting back up with it next week. It should have already shipped (need to confirm that) and I'm pretty excited about it. I believe it is going to help me take my health and fitness to the next level. It has been sometime since I've had it and that was a decision my wife and I made together. She has always been extremely supportive of my fitness journey and I, hers. From a financial stand point though I couldn't justify it. We've made some changes in our budget so that it is now possible and I'm happy about it.
Next program considerations. Let us be honest, I own a lot of Beachbody programs. A LOT. Which one would think "he should be so frigin fit he could be one of the instructors". Like I said, I OWN a lot of them. I didn't say I've done a lot of them. It has taken me a long time to get my head straight and COMMIT to what I need to do to be healthy. Yes, I have been dragged backwards by my own decisions (make no mistake, it was always MY decisions ultimately). Some programs that we as a family own: Power90 (my first program so so so many years ago and I got in awesome shape back then). P90X, P90X+, P90X3, Slim In Six, Chalene Extreme, Turbo Fire, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, T25, Insanity, Shaun T's Fit Club for Kids, Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer. Yeah - I think that's it. With ALL those listed... do you think I need to BUY something else? Probably not.
My objective is to keep my workouts short, so I don't have to get up any earlier than I already do (hello 4:55AM!). As I've stated before, my wife is going to have hip replacement surgery and while she is recovering I'll be really busy with life. Work, kids, house, etc... I'm totally OK with that. It's what I signed up for when I said "I do". With that though, there is absolutely no reason why I need to let my health and fitness level and decline. Especially since I have a plethora of options.
My wife's recovery time is at a MINIMUM of 6 weeks before she will be ready for more "regular" activities. I will NOT rush her. It takes however long it takes. The goal is to get her healthy and let her reclaim the quality of life she hasn't had in many years now. With that in mind, and my desire to have short workouts just to insure I can get them in, I've decided I'm going to go with a modified version of T25. We have all 3 phases (ALPHA, BETA & GAMMA). It is the program that helped me get healthy again. It helped me get a tighter core and eliminate the lower back issues I have had for years. It helped me cardio vascularly. It is less than 30 minutes from start to finish (with cool downs). I can't say enough good things about it. Now it is 5 weeks for each the ALPHA & BETA phases. It is not my intent to do 5 weeks of ALPHA. There are ZERO weights involved with ALPHA and I just can't see myself doing it. I plan on doing maybe two weeks of ALPHA and then 5 of BETA and then onto the 4 weeks of GAMMA. I'll likely do 30 burpees a day every day during that just so I can get some additional strength stuff in there. I don't want to lose the muscularity look that I've started to gain from both T25 (everything non-ALPHA phase) and P90x3. I still need to be fit though and I think this will help. When I am ready to start GAMMA I'll revisit the situation and see how I want to move forward after GAMMA. Will it be P90X3 again? Will I move onto Body Beast, Les Mills, Insanity, 21 Day Fix, something new? Who knows. Beachbody has a TON of options for me nowadays and for that I'm happy. My kids see that and they want to be healthy. They want to exercise. They want to eat good/healthy food and that is what I want as a parent. To put them in a position to be the healthiest they can be so they can succeed in life with whatever they choose to do. Hopefully I can do that.
My biggest concern with these injuries is having to repeat a week. I don't want to do it. I want to move forward, be done, say I've completed it and move onto my next challenge. One of my other focuses is that my wife and I are going away to celebrate our birthdays in March. Its in the middle of March and I thought I had everything lined up so that I would finish P90x3 right before that getaway. As it turns out, I mis-calculated or something. I don't know what the hell went wrong. All I know is that I have 5 weeks left and that'll bring me to March 23rd being my end date. Our getaway will be the 13th to the 16th. So no matter what my routine is going to get shaken up a little bit. I'm not going to be able to finish by my desired time and I need to be OK with it. Honestly my biggest thing with that is I wanted to have some cheats and maybe even over-indulge a little bit while away without risking my day 90 completion pics. Is that wrong? Is there something wrong with me? I have no idea. lol I definitely want to show people what you can truly accomplish when you commit for 90 days and I'm afraid of tarnishing that with my cheats. That being said, my wife and I don't get away often at all. Our last one was about 7 yrs ago, so I am going to enjoy it.
In short I guess - it doesn't matter if I have to repeat this week or not. I'm not going to hit my desired end date, there is no getting around that. What I really need to focus on is getting past these piddly injuries so I can finish the program strong. Get the best results I possibly can. That is the end of that.
Shakeology - I'm starting back up with it next week. It should have already shipped (need to confirm that) and I'm pretty excited about it. I believe it is going to help me take my health and fitness to the next level. It has been sometime since I've had it and that was a decision my wife and I made together. She has always been extremely supportive of my fitness journey and I, hers. From a financial stand point though I couldn't justify it. We've made some changes in our budget so that it is now possible and I'm happy about it.
Next program considerations. Let us be honest, I own a lot of Beachbody programs. A LOT. Which one would think "he should be so frigin fit he could be one of the instructors". Like I said, I OWN a lot of them. I didn't say I've done a lot of them. It has taken me a long time to get my head straight and COMMIT to what I need to do to be healthy. Yes, I have been dragged backwards by my own decisions (make no mistake, it was always MY decisions ultimately). Some programs that we as a family own: Power90 (my first program so so so many years ago and I got in awesome shape back then). P90X, P90X+, P90X3, Slim In Six, Chalene Extreme, Turbo Fire, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, T25, Insanity, Shaun T's Fit Club for Kids, Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer. Yeah - I think that's it. With ALL those listed... do you think I need to BUY something else? Probably not.
My objective is to keep my workouts short, so I don't have to get up any earlier than I already do (hello 4:55AM!). As I've stated before, my wife is going to have hip replacement surgery and while she is recovering I'll be really busy with life. Work, kids, house, etc... I'm totally OK with that. It's what I signed up for when I said "I do". With that though, there is absolutely no reason why I need to let my health and fitness level and decline. Especially since I have a plethora of options.
My wife's recovery time is at a MINIMUM of 6 weeks before she will be ready for more "regular" activities. I will NOT rush her. It takes however long it takes. The goal is to get her healthy and let her reclaim the quality of life she hasn't had in many years now. With that in mind, and my desire to have short workouts just to insure I can get them in, I've decided I'm going to go with a modified version of T25. We have all 3 phases (ALPHA, BETA & GAMMA). It is the program that helped me get healthy again. It helped me get a tighter core and eliminate the lower back issues I have had for years. It helped me cardio vascularly. It is less than 30 minutes from start to finish (with cool downs). I can't say enough good things about it. Now it is 5 weeks for each the ALPHA & BETA phases. It is not my intent to do 5 weeks of ALPHA. There are ZERO weights involved with ALPHA and I just can't see myself doing it. I plan on doing maybe two weeks of ALPHA and then 5 of BETA and then onto the 4 weeks of GAMMA. I'll likely do 30 burpees a day every day during that just so I can get some additional strength stuff in there. I don't want to lose the muscularity look that I've started to gain from both T25 (everything non-ALPHA phase) and P90x3. I still need to be fit though and I think this will help. When I am ready to start GAMMA I'll revisit the situation and see how I want to move forward after GAMMA. Will it be P90X3 again? Will I move onto Body Beast, Les Mills, Insanity, 21 Day Fix, something new? Who knows. Beachbody has a TON of options for me nowadays and for that I'm happy. My kids see that and they want to be healthy. They want to exercise. They want to eat good/healthy food and that is what I want as a parent. To put them in a position to be the healthiest they can be so they can succeed in life with whatever they choose to do. Hopefully I can do that.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Shakeology, Beachbody coaching, injuries
Let me start by saying this. If you want to be healthy, you need to eat REAL food. REAL FOOD. Let me see if I can give you a little more detail. R-E-A-L F-O-O-D. What does that mean? It means if the ingredients of whatever it is you are eating is something that you can't pronounce, you can't read, you can't grow (like fruits & vegetables) or catch & kill (fish, steak, pork, chicken) then its not real food. Stay the F away from processed crap. That means the bags of chips, the pop tarts, anything in the frigin Keebler family is not something you want to live off of. Different people have different opinions about what else should be included in this mix. Milk, dairy, pasta, etc... To each is own. My opinion, start with getting rid of processed foods and then see if your body needs more intake changes to change the outcome.
To complement the REAL FOOD and give your body as much possible healthy nutrition as it can get, there are supplements that are made up of real foods. Some would say super foods. Shakeology is one of those. Let me just say, it is every bit as healthy as they (Beachbody) make it out to be. Go ahead, look at the ingredients. AMAZING. Lots of things that I would definitely not get in on my daily intake. I eat lots of fruits, veggies (all organic) not to mention grass fed beef, antibiotic free chicken, uncured & nitrate free pork. I'm still not as healthy as I can be. So I've decided to re-introduce Shakeology into my daily nutrition and I'm going to use it as a meal replacement (very common). It is pricey, but the health benefits are worth it. Fortunately my wife and I have figured out a way that our family can afford it.
To help off-set the cost of Shakeology I signed up to be a Beachbody coach. Why? Initially it was just to get discounts on great products I believe in (like Shakeology, P90X3, T25, etc..). Products that I have used and have worked to help me, easily improve my health and quality of life. It has also helped me motivate others into improving the quality of their life and taking charge of their health.
Now let me make it clear - I have never, ever been a coach. I have been fortunate enough though to be part of a group of a couple hundred like minded individuals who daily are using the products to try and improve their health. Improve their life and lift others. It's amazing to be a part of it. I am right there with them. Sharing in their successes. Helping pick them up after they've had a misstep or injury. Motivating them, encouraging them to keep going on and moving forward. They have done the same right back to me when I needed it the most. What have I learned during that process? I really like being part of the process. I like doing these things that coaches do. No - they can't do the work for you so that you can be successful. That is your job. They can help guide you down the path of success, show you where the pitfalls are so you can avoid them and help you learn from mistakes they have made. It is really awesome to be part of. That is one of the reasons WHY I am choosing to delve into this and actually be a coach to help people. Not just pay to be a coach to get a discount. I'm a bit clueless in regards to this whole process, so once again I'm leaning on my support system to help me through it. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.
Now moving onto injuries. I've been fortunate to be relatively injury free while working my way back to a healthy me. I've had a weak lower back and weak knees throughout the journey, all that stuff is behind me now though. My back hasn't been an issue in a long time. My "core" is the strongest its been in years. My knees are a lot better. I used to have a lot of pain there and its been a process, but as I've gotten stronger that pain is gone. I'm pretty happy about that. This is not the case for everyone. Injuries are real and they do happen. You do have to listen to your body and rest when it needs rest.
My wife and I have been going back and forth about me resting. She has been insisting I need to rest my body more. I've been feeling so great that I've been insisting I need to pick it up a notch. I've added "mini" workouts to my regular workouts in an effort to increase my health and results. These mini workouts are challenges like the 30 day Spartan burpee challenge. 30 burpees each day for 30 days. TOUGH. Its been a great benefit to me. I even went and did Fit Club this week, which was insanity. Literally. It was Shaun T's Insanity Pure Cardio. That whooped my ass. Kudos to anyone who has done this program start to finish. Definitely tough. I think I've come a long way in my fitness level and I believe I could do this program and see some amazing results, but I'm not doing it just yet.
From doing Insanity my calves are KILLING ME. I've been doing P90x3 for the past 2 months and Tony doesn't really do cardio. Shaun T does cardio. He does cardio to exhaustion. Crazy. Calves are still sore, but I'm proud of how well I did during that Insanity session. That being said - my body is tired. It's wasted. This morning I woke up and my body said enough was enough. I clearly slept wrong and muscles in my neck and shoulder aren't happy. Super tight and sore. I tried to push through my workout (Pilates X) and it didn't work out so well. Fortunately this is a transition week for me. I'll see how I feel in the morning, but right now I'm leaning towards resting. It'll drive me nuts - but I need to listen to my body. I'm not helping it by hurting it more.
This weekend is the end of Block 2. I need to take some pictures and take measurements to measure my progress. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how much progress I've made. Until then....
To complement the REAL FOOD and give your body as much possible healthy nutrition as it can get, there are supplements that are made up of real foods. Some would say super foods. Shakeology is one of those. Let me just say, it is every bit as healthy as they (Beachbody) make it out to be. Go ahead, look at the ingredients. AMAZING. Lots of things that I would definitely not get in on my daily intake. I eat lots of fruits, veggies (all organic) not to mention grass fed beef, antibiotic free chicken, uncured & nitrate free pork. I'm still not as healthy as I can be. So I've decided to re-introduce Shakeology into my daily nutrition and I'm going to use it as a meal replacement (very common). It is pricey, but the health benefits are worth it. Fortunately my wife and I have figured out a way that our family can afford it.
To help off-set the cost of Shakeology I signed up to be a Beachbody coach. Why? Initially it was just to get discounts on great products I believe in (like Shakeology, P90X3, T25, etc..). Products that I have used and have worked to help me, easily improve my health and quality of life. It has also helped me motivate others into improving the quality of their life and taking charge of their health.
Now let me make it clear - I have never, ever been a coach. I have been fortunate enough though to be part of a group of a couple hundred like minded individuals who daily are using the products to try and improve their health. Improve their life and lift others. It's amazing to be a part of it. I am right there with them. Sharing in their successes. Helping pick them up after they've had a misstep or injury. Motivating them, encouraging them to keep going on and moving forward. They have done the same right back to me when I needed it the most. What have I learned during that process? I really like being part of the process. I like doing these things that coaches do. No - they can't do the work for you so that you can be successful. That is your job. They can help guide you down the path of success, show you where the pitfalls are so you can avoid them and help you learn from mistakes they have made. It is really awesome to be part of. That is one of the reasons WHY I am choosing to delve into this and actually be a coach to help people. Not just pay to be a coach to get a discount. I'm a bit clueless in regards to this whole process, so once again I'm leaning on my support system to help me through it. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.
Now moving onto injuries. I've been fortunate to be relatively injury free while working my way back to a healthy me. I've had a weak lower back and weak knees throughout the journey, all that stuff is behind me now though. My back hasn't been an issue in a long time. My "core" is the strongest its been in years. My knees are a lot better. I used to have a lot of pain there and its been a process, but as I've gotten stronger that pain is gone. I'm pretty happy about that. This is not the case for everyone. Injuries are real and they do happen. You do have to listen to your body and rest when it needs rest.
My wife and I have been going back and forth about me resting. She has been insisting I need to rest my body more. I've been feeling so great that I've been insisting I need to pick it up a notch. I've added "mini" workouts to my regular workouts in an effort to increase my health and results. These mini workouts are challenges like the 30 day Spartan burpee challenge. 30 burpees each day for 30 days. TOUGH. Its been a great benefit to me. I even went and did Fit Club this week, which was insanity. Literally. It was Shaun T's Insanity Pure Cardio. That whooped my ass. Kudos to anyone who has done this program start to finish. Definitely tough. I think I've come a long way in my fitness level and I believe I could do this program and see some amazing results, but I'm not doing it just yet.
From doing Insanity my calves are KILLING ME. I've been doing P90x3 for the past 2 months and Tony doesn't really do cardio. Shaun T does cardio. He does cardio to exhaustion. Crazy. Calves are still sore, but I'm proud of how well I did during that Insanity session. That being said - my body is tired. It's wasted. This morning I woke up and my body said enough was enough. I clearly slept wrong and muscles in my neck and shoulder aren't happy. Super tight and sore. I tried to push through my workout (Pilates X) and it didn't work out so well. Fortunately this is a transition week for me. I'll see how I feel in the morning, but right now I'm leaning towards resting. It'll drive me nuts - but I need to listen to my body. I'm not helping it by hurting it more.
This weekend is the end of Block 2. I need to take some pictures and take measurements to measure my progress. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how much progress I've made. Until then....
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Prepping for my 2nd "Transition Week", New weigh in day, Next program considerations
The week started off really bad with Amelia being sick with walking pneumonia. She is MUCH better now. However that resulted in me missing the first 2 days of the week of workouts due to complete lack of sleep. I'm 1 workout behind with 1 day left in the week, meaning I'll have to do a double tomorrow. No biggie.
I've changed my weigh in day from Sunday nights to Saturday mornings. It just makes more sense to me. Saturday night is my cheat meal and although one meal shouldn't make a big difference, it can. Especially if you have a couple of alcoholic beverages with it.
Weigh in this morning was 173.2lbs. Still not where I want to be, but getting closer. Very much looking forward to my transition week.
It seems as though everyone in this house has been sick lately. Christie, then Amelia, then Kiera... repeat cycle and mix me in every now and then. I'm still rundown and I don't see myself getting past that until after the transition week maybe. MAYBE. I want to really push hard in that last block of P90X3. I want to see what my results are going to be when its all done. I feel like I need to mix in some cardio or something, but I likely won't. I have to be honest there. I like to get my workout in and just be done for the day. It sets the tone for my whole day. We'll see.
I'm still undecided on what doing for my next program. One thing to be certain is there will be a continuation of working out. There will likely be a NEW program. What? I don't know just yet. I have 6 weeks left of P90X3. I want to have my new program figured out within the next 4 weeks. I've thought of Les Mills Pump or Combat, neither of which I own (YET). I've thought of the 21 Day Fix, because I've considered that maybe my portion sizes may be a little out of whack and that could help me in that area. That is really such a short term routine though. 3 weeks. I've considered Insanity and I have that one, but I'd have to preview it first. My concern with Insanity is it'll be too much like T25 but longer. I really enjoy being done with my workouts in 30 min or less. Its going to be tough to take on something longer than 30 min. It'll also be tough to take on something that doesn't have weights in it. Lots to figure out.
I've changed my weigh in day from Sunday nights to Saturday mornings. It just makes more sense to me. Saturday night is my cheat meal and although one meal shouldn't make a big difference, it can. Especially if you have a couple of alcoholic beverages with it.
Weigh in this morning was 173.2lbs. Still not where I want to be, but getting closer. Very much looking forward to my transition week.
It seems as though everyone in this house has been sick lately. Christie, then Amelia, then Kiera... repeat cycle and mix me in every now and then. I'm still rundown and I don't see myself getting past that until after the transition week maybe. MAYBE. I want to really push hard in that last block of P90X3. I want to see what my results are going to be when its all done. I feel like I need to mix in some cardio or something, but I likely won't. I have to be honest there. I like to get my workout in and just be done for the day. It sets the tone for my whole day. We'll see.
I'm still undecided on what doing for my next program. One thing to be certain is there will be a continuation of working out. There will likely be a NEW program. What? I don't know just yet. I have 6 weeks left of P90X3. I want to have my new program figured out within the next 4 weeks. I've thought of Les Mills Pump or Combat, neither of which I own (YET). I've thought of the 21 Day Fix, because I've considered that maybe my portion sizes may be a little out of whack and that could help me in that area. That is really such a short term routine though. 3 weeks. I've considered Insanity and I have that one, but I'd have to preview it first. My concern with Insanity is it'll be too much like T25 but longer. I really enjoy being done with my workouts in 30 min or less. Its going to be tough to take on something longer than 30 min. It'll also be tough to take on something that doesn't have weights in it. Lots to figure out.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
End of Week 2, block 2
OK - so Thursday night I came down really sick and was exhausted. I did not workout at all on Friday and it really really bugged me. Hell I felt like such shit I even called into work. You know how often that happens? I think it was the fourth or fifth time in the last 15 years. Yeah - that often.
Saturday night we actually went out and it was nice to get out and just have a night away from the kiddos. We went out to one old stomping ground and had a pub platter of apps. We split that and each had a beer. Both pretty full from that. Moved on and went to the pet store to pick up food for the shithead dog. Then to Home Depot so we could get stuff so we can hang a Bruins flag. We then moved onto food destination #2 which guess what... another app and another beer each. We split an order of buffalo calamari. It was OK. The beer was good. We then each had a water while we split a piece of chocolate cake with a scoop of what apparently was vanilla bean ice cream on it. Nothing crazy and honestly much more reserved from a "normal" night out. We finished off our big date night at BJs shopping for who knows what. Shoot me, I'm apparently old enough to be at retirement age but not enjoying any of the benefits.
Since I missed my workout on Friday I was really concerned about having to repeat week 2 of block 2 and I don't want to do that. I don't want to fall behind. Also, block 2 has some really fun stuff in it - but it also has some stuff in it that I am not really a fan of (Triometrics, Eccentric Lower). I managed to do Incinerator on Saturday morning before the girls activities. Sunday I doubled up and did MMX & Dynamix. MMX really gets you moving. By the time Dynamix was done I was totally wasted.
I weighed myself just for the sake of weighing myself. I knew it wasn't going to be what I was hoping for. Not after a night of a couple beers and some fried food. 176.6lbs. It will flush out, so I'm not too worried about it. Week 7 starts tomorrow. Really have to push myself harder.
Saturday night we actually went out and it was nice to get out and just have a night away from the kiddos. We went out to one old stomping ground and had a pub platter of apps. We split that and each had a beer. Both pretty full from that. Moved on and went to the pet store to pick up food for the shithead dog. Then to Home Depot so we could get stuff so we can hang a Bruins flag. We then moved onto food destination #2 which guess what... another app and another beer each. We split an order of buffalo calamari. It was OK. The beer was good. We then each had a water while we split a piece of chocolate cake with a scoop of what apparently was vanilla bean ice cream on it. Nothing crazy and honestly much more reserved from a "normal" night out. We finished off our big date night at BJs shopping for who knows what. Shoot me, I'm apparently old enough to be at retirement age but not enjoying any of the benefits.
Since I missed my workout on Friday I was really concerned about having to repeat week 2 of block 2 and I don't want to do that. I don't want to fall behind. Also, block 2 has some really fun stuff in it - but it also has some stuff in it that I am not really a fan of (Triometrics, Eccentric Lower). I managed to do Incinerator on Saturday morning before the girls activities. Sunday I doubled up and did MMX & Dynamix. MMX really gets you moving. By the time Dynamix was done I was totally wasted.
I weighed myself just for the sake of weighing myself. I knew it wasn't going to be what I was hoping for. Not after a night of a couple beers and some fried food. 176.6lbs. It will flush out, so I'm not too worried about it. Week 7 starts tomorrow. Really have to push myself harder.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Mid week report
So we had Amelia's 7th bday party and followed that up with Great Grammy's 86th bday party the following day. To say I made some bad food choices would be accurate. I had about 7 pieces of really bad pizza at Amelia's party. Really - bowling pizza sorta kinda sucked. I also had a pretty large piece of cake. On Sunday I followed that up with some snacking (cashews, veggies with ranch dressing, triscuits/cheese/pepperoni) and then had dinner which consisted of a beet salad (that was a first) and lobster mac n cheese and regular 7 cheese mac n cheese. I got at least 120oz of water in each day. When all was said and done though I was up with my weight (surprise surprise) Up to 177lbs. So up 3 lbs, despite not having any alcohol in 2 weeks.
I jumped on the scale today just to make sure that I had rid myself of the weekend bloat and I have. 174.2lbs. Still not where I want to be, but still progress. I know I'm still converting fat to muscle, so I'm not complaining. I can see it in my arms, legs, back, etc... I'll get there.
I just finished Wk6D3 of P90x3. Not thrilled with the 2nd block of P90x3. Probably because it has a lot more legs in it. lol I hate working legs. This week I started adding in Ab Ripper X from P90X fame and today I just finished the 30 day burpee challenge (30 burpees a day for 30 days). No question it was tough. Glad its done. Not sure what my next challenge will be aside from my every day workouts and mostly healthy eating... but I'll figure something out.
Overall I feel good. Again, I still want to get rid of this belly fat. I'm told I look great and that's great and all. I still see belly fat and I want to lose it. I've contemplated taking supplements that would help with that, but it is kind of morally wrong in my head. The goal has always been to get healthy with REAL food. Not processed food. Healthy and ripped. ;) I'm healthier, not ripped.... yet
OK - until the next post. I'm out and going to bed. Time to catch up on some sleep as I have a frigin lower body workout tomorrow AM. SUCK.
I jumped on the scale today just to make sure that I had rid myself of the weekend bloat and I have. 174.2lbs. Still not where I want to be, but still progress. I know I'm still converting fat to muscle, so I'm not complaining. I can see it in my arms, legs, back, etc... I'll get there.
I just finished Wk6D3 of P90x3. Not thrilled with the 2nd block of P90x3. Probably because it has a lot more legs in it. lol I hate working legs. This week I started adding in Ab Ripper X from P90X fame and today I just finished the 30 day burpee challenge (30 burpees a day for 30 days). No question it was tough. Glad its done. Not sure what my next challenge will be aside from my every day workouts and mostly healthy eating... but I'll figure something out.
Overall I feel good. Again, I still want to get rid of this belly fat. I'm told I look great and that's great and all. I still see belly fat and I want to lose it. I've contemplated taking supplements that would help with that, but it is kind of morally wrong in my head. The goal has always been to get healthy with REAL food. Not processed food. Healthy and ripped. ;) I'm healthier, not ripped.... yet
OK - until the next post. I'm out and going to bed. Time to catch up on some sleep as I have a frigin lower body workout tomorrow AM. SUCK.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Wednesday.... not such a good day
So I struggled. It was very snowy, shitty and even though I didn't have to get up and go to work (work from home day) I still had to get up and clear the snow so my wife could go to work. Knowing I didn't have to get up and drive into work I decided I would take an extra hour to myself and sleep. So instead of getting up at 4:55, I set the alarm for 5:55. What I did was set my day up for failure.
I cleared snow until almost 7:30 and I had to be logged into work for 8AM. What does that mean?? No morning workout. I spent most of my day angry and I ate my way through that anger. First a whole bag of buffalo flavored pub fries, then followed that up with a 14" tall gingerbread man cookie and I'm sure there was some other crap in the mix there as well. I was pretty much angry the whole day.
After I got dinner ready (which I had a shit ton of veggies and a tiny piece of fish) I went and did my scheduled Yoga workout and of course my burpees. I was a little disappointed in myself for letting me get into emotional eating, but I know I could have been far worse. I also know that I burned some of those calories off snowblowing in the morning. Did I burn the 1000 calories that were in that fucking gingerbread man cookie? Probably not. I just know it could have been worse.
What this reminded me of was basically I am a creature of habit and I don't like my routine fucked with. My shit gets messed up and I get pissed. Right or wrong I get pissed. I've been fully back on track today and I plan to stay that way. Saturday is Amelia's bday and I'm very much looking forward to proudly celebrating her birthday. She's an amazing young girl and I'm reminded of that more and more each day. On top of that I get pizza. :) Next weigh in Sunday.
I cleared snow until almost 7:30 and I had to be logged into work for 8AM. What does that mean?? No morning workout. I spent most of my day angry and I ate my way through that anger. First a whole bag of buffalo flavored pub fries, then followed that up with a 14" tall gingerbread man cookie and I'm sure there was some other crap in the mix there as well. I was pretty much angry the whole day.
After I got dinner ready (which I had a shit ton of veggies and a tiny piece of fish) I went and did my scheduled Yoga workout and of course my burpees. I was a little disappointed in myself for letting me get into emotional eating, but I know I could have been far worse. I also know that I burned some of those calories off snowblowing in the morning. Did I burn the 1000 calories that were in that fucking gingerbread man cookie? Probably not. I just know it could have been worse.
What this reminded me of was basically I am a creature of habit and I don't like my routine fucked with. My shit gets messed up and I get pissed. Right or wrong I get pissed. I've been fully back on track today and I plan to stay that way. Saturday is Amelia's bday and I'm very much looking forward to proudly celebrating her birthday. She's an amazing young girl and I'm reminded of that more and more each day. On top of that I get pizza. :) Next weigh in Sunday.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
P90X3 - Day 30 measurements
I will start by saying - I never measured or took pics before I started P90x3. I'm not in this to get a free T-Shirt. I'm in this program to get lean, healthy and look pretty kick ass.
I do however have some measurements that were last taken from when I completed T25, which was shortly before I started P90x3. That will have to do. The one thing I didn't record when these measurements were taken from T25 was my weight..... how the fuck does that happen? I have a rough idea of what it was, so we'll go with that. Now onto the stats....
End of T25 (early December, ALPHA, BETA & GAMMA - 1 round)
Weight: 176 lbs
Arms 13 inches
Legs 21 1/2 inches
Chest 37 1/2 inches
Small of the waist 35 inches
Belly button 38"
2" below belly button 37 inches
Biggest part of the ass 39 3/4 inches
Day 30 of P90x3 (Block 1)
Weight 174 lbs
Arms 13 1/4 inches
Legs 21 1/2 inches
Chest 39 inches
Small of the waist 34 1/4 inches
Belly button 35 1/2 inches
2" below belly button 37 1/8 inches
Biggest part of the ass 39 1/2 inches
A couple other things I'd like to note here. I definitely feel less fat, certainly I can see some muscle definition in my arms, legs, chest, shoulders and back. I know I'm making forward progress, even though the measurements are minimal in their changes I know I'm trading fat for muscle. The pictures don't lie... so I get why they say "take pictures to help measure your progress!"
I think the biggest surprise to me was the measurement of the belly button. Certainly after an ab/core intensive workout I can definitely see some abs that want to pop out there and show themselves under all this fat. lol However I still see myself as kind of fat. To see that I lost over 2 inches just around my waistline where my belly button is.... well... it just really really surprised me. I'm pumped to see what the next 30 days brings. I'm ready to bring it even harder (if that's possible).
Off to bed. Block 2 starts tomorrow and that starts off with Eccentric Upper. NO idea what that is, but I'm sure I'm going to pay for not previewing that video tonight. lol
I do however have some measurements that were last taken from when I completed T25, which was shortly before I started P90x3. That will have to do. The one thing I didn't record when these measurements were taken from T25 was my weight..... how the fuck does that happen? I have a rough idea of what it was, so we'll go with that. Now onto the stats....
End of T25 (early December, ALPHA, BETA & GAMMA - 1 round)
Weight: 176 lbs
Arms 13 inches
Legs 21 1/2 inches
Chest 37 1/2 inches
Small of the waist 35 inches
Belly button 38"
2" below belly button 37 inches
Biggest part of the ass 39 3/4 inches
Day 30 of P90x3 (Block 1)
Weight 174 lbs
Arms 13 1/4 inches
Legs 21 1/2 inches
Chest 39 inches
Small of the waist 34 1/4 inches
Belly button 35 1/2 inches
2" below belly button 37 1/8 inches
Biggest part of the ass 39 1/2 inches
A couple other things I'd like to note here. I definitely feel less fat, certainly I can see some muscle definition in my arms, legs, chest, shoulders and back. I know I'm making forward progress, even though the measurements are minimal in their changes I know I'm trading fat for muscle. The pictures don't lie... so I get why they say "take pictures to help measure your progress!"
I think the biggest surprise to me was the measurement of the belly button. Certainly after an ab/core intensive workout I can definitely see some abs that want to pop out there and show themselves under all this fat. lol However I still see myself as kind of fat. To see that I lost over 2 inches just around my waistline where my belly button is.... well... it just really really surprised me. I'm pumped to see what the next 30 days brings. I'm ready to bring it even harder (if that's possible).
Off to bed. Block 2 starts tomorrow and that starts off with Eccentric Upper. NO idea what that is, but I'm sure I'm going to pay for not previewing that video tonight. lol
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Almost end of block 1
Tomorrow is my last day of "Block 1" or , the first 30 days of P90x3 for me. I've made no secret that my "diet" or eating habits the first couple of weeks of this program was pretty poor. I made some really good strides to bring myself back to reality and get back what I've earned over the past 6 mos or so.
Overall I really like the program. Tony sculpts that body boy. He helps with all the places that men care about. Arms, abs, chest, back, shoulders and yes... even the legs. I'm feeling pretty good about my progress as I gear up for Block 2. I know its going to get more intense and at the same time I need to kick up my own intensity so I can get the results I want.
I know I had stated that I was going to concentrate on a few different things and those things were 1) clean eating - eliminating processed crap food. 2) tracking what I eat (I was using MapMyFitness.com) 3) giving up pizza and beer for a while. I have not been consistent. Last weekend I did indulge in 3 beers. Yes on Saturday, Jan 11th I had 3 beers. Also - on Monday the 13th I bypassed dinner so I could have a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. That was my first bit of ice cream in some time. It was really yummy. On top of that - well, I haven't been tracking. SO - my wife was right, I should have focused on just 1 thing. That being said, I've busted my ass with my fitness and I haven't missed a workout in well over a month. Outside of those 2 things that I just mentioned, my eating has been clean. CLEAN. I still haven't had any pizza and I'm still on track for my next pizza being at Amelia's 7th bday party next week. There is a reason why I am back in the low 170's.
Tomorrow I do pictures & measurements for my first 30 days. I never did either of those things before I started P90x3. I did however do them after I completed T25.... so I'll have a rough idea of how far I've come. I know its going to be all positive and I'm happy about that.
My birthday is 2 mos away. I'll be 42. I'd like to be 42, 170lbs and have some rocking abs. lol Pushy? Maybe. It took me 10 yrs of neglect to get this body fat, it shouldn't come off in less than 10 mos. It doesn't hurt to try though.
Now.... time to get some sleep while I can.
Overall I really like the program. Tony sculpts that body boy. He helps with all the places that men care about. Arms, abs, chest, back, shoulders and yes... even the legs. I'm feeling pretty good about my progress as I gear up for Block 2. I know its going to get more intense and at the same time I need to kick up my own intensity so I can get the results I want.
I know I had stated that I was going to concentrate on a few different things and those things were 1) clean eating - eliminating processed crap food. 2) tracking what I eat (I was using MapMyFitness.com) 3) giving up pizza and beer for a while. I have not been consistent. Last weekend I did indulge in 3 beers. Yes on Saturday, Jan 11th I had 3 beers. Also - on Monday the 13th I bypassed dinner so I could have a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. That was my first bit of ice cream in some time. It was really yummy. On top of that - well, I haven't been tracking. SO - my wife was right, I should have focused on just 1 thing. That being said, I've busted my ass with my fitness and I haven't missed a workout in well over a month. Outside of those 2 things that I just mentioned, my eating has been clean. CLEAN. I still haven't had any pizza and I'm still on track for my next pizza being at Amelia's 7th bday party next week. There is a reason why I am back in the low 170's.
Tomorrow I do pictures & measurements for my first 30 days. I never did either of those things before I started P90x3. I did however do them after I completed T25.... so I'll have a rough idea of how far I've come. I know its going to be all positive and I'm happy about that.
My birthday is 2 mos away. I'll be 42. I'd like to be 42, 170lbs and have some rocking abs. lol Pushy? Maybe. It took me 10 yrs of neglect to get this body fat, it shouldn't come off in less than 10 mos. It doesn't hurt to try though.
Now.... time to get some sleep while I can.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
"Transition Week" Block 1
This week is transition week. So the 4th week of every block of P90X (1, 2 & 3) is called "recovery" or "transition" week. I'm really liking it. I did Isometrix on Monday and I sweat and worked my ass off and never lifted a weight. As Tony says, it's all the hardest parts of Yoga without the flow. Yeah - I see that now.
This morning was Dynamix. I've done it before and I'll do it again. This morning for whatever reason my focus was really good and I was really really strong with the moves (I thought). At the end it was a really good sweat.
My typical go to breakfast is 2 large cage free eggs cooked in 1/2 tspn of coconut oil with 2 pieces of nitrate free, uncured bacon. This morning I think I slightly under cooked one of those eggs. I get completely grossed out by the texture of an under cooked egg. The uncooked white. YUCK. Raw eggs are vomitous. Time to switch up the breakfast I think and instead I'll mix the eggs together and cook with some sauteed baby spinach. Greens are so yummy. Then add some salsa to spice things up. :)
This week is my "on call" week. Meaning I work nights from 5PM until 1AM Monday through Friday. Friday night at 5AM I am the only person on call until Monday morning at 1AM. That weekend will kill you if you let it. It can be tough tough tough. The reason why I mention this schedule here is because during this week I would typically struggle with my eating. I would indulge in processed foods of all shapes and sizes. Probably struggle with my water a bit more than I should. Plus being up late doesn't really help me with my normal "get up early and get it done" workout schedule. Again, I struggle. After dropping the kids off I typically head right back to bed and get a nap in. It's definitely a challenge for me and I recognize that. I'm working on it and just focusing on my food consumption and water, water and more water.
My wife just started her new diet from her nutritionists. It is for all intents and purposes at best a 1000 cal a day diet. They say its healthy but if she should stray off course she could land in the hospital with pancreatitous (no, I don't know how to spell it - sound it out jack ass). Does that sound healthy to me? No. Do I agree with it? Not entirely, but I do agree something drastic is needed to shock her mind and shock her system. She will essentially be doing this for the next 8 weeks. During which time she can have ZERO alcohol. Her primary nutrients will be in liquid shakes. She can have a few ounces of lean protein with some veggies every day, which is good - because you need real food. I'm here to support her in this venture in any way I can. This means I also make sacrifices with my eating and drinking, so be it. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I need her healthy. This will hopefully help get her to the healthy weight she needs to be so she can have the hip replacement surgery she needs.
Those eight weeks should bring me pretty much to the end of P90x3. I look forward to the journey and seeing what my body will look like and how it feels. I don't have a six pack. 8 weeks from now I don't expect to have one either. I'm OK with that. As long as I continue to make strides in the right direction then I'm OK with it. I get stronger every single day and push myself every single morning. My body is toning and getting stronger, all good things.
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