New Year... New Plan

Hello again - I have spent the past year viciously doing extreme things with my body including Supreme 90 Day, P90X, and Insanity. I learned a lot about fitness an increased my belief in myself. However, continuously banging my body without a significant break had taken its toll. I have a recurring pain in my left shoulder that I did my best to try and ignore for months. It is not new but I'm sure that I have irritated something inside. I want to change my focus. These things I know: I LOVE Yoga and Running.
This New Year I am rethinking the way that I do things. I want to eat a plant-based diet - NO MEAT OR DAIRY! Can you believe that? Me? The Meatman? It's been a long process of slowly weeding out red meat and pork and only eating fish and poultry. Slowly changing things. Instinctively I know that my body will operate better without these things. Besides I watched this video: http://youtu.be/pNxcylWLEH8 . I really feel strongly about what I saw there.
So here are the objectives: I want to develop a daily yoga practice. I own several different yoga videos and have access to hundreds of podcasts through iTunes (check out yogadownload.com they have some 20-minute yoga sessions you can download and take with you - enough to do one per day for almost 2 months without repeating). I also ordered a couple more from amazon with a gift card I got for CHRISTmas.
The other goal is to train for a half-marathon. I don't think that I will be able to start a real training program until march or so but I want to maintain/regain the ability to run for 3 miles w/o stopping. This is the basic requirement for the 10-week plan I found.
I want to keep my goals focused on the input not the results. The goal is not
To do yoga everyday am achieve something through that - the goal is to try to do yoga in the morning. And listen to my body. The goal is to increase my running through the structured training program with a benefit of being able to run 13.1 miles. The increased running, increased yoga and better food choices should also affect my body composition but I do not want to make weight loss a goal this year. I want to come from a place of loving myself, not from a place of lack or not good enough. I have an intention of becoming more "mindful" and aware of the present moment. I want to live my life and enjoy it.

Weigh, Whey, or Way?

It seems that we all go through a cycle. Let's see if you can identify yourself in this cycle: WEIGH: When we first get into fitness it's all about the scale. We weigh often. When we lose extra pounds we are elated. When we have a week when it doesn't show up on the scale we get upset. Everything revolves around the number we see every day or week or however often we step on it. WHEY: One day we read that we should ignore the number on the scale and focus on our nutrition. We read all that we can about supplements. We begin to drink a few extra protein shakes. It becomes about our macros - how much protein do we take in daily? Should I drink whey concentrate, or isolate, or the hydrolized? WAY: One day we realize that it is not a race to a date in the short future. We surrender, no to the scale, not to our protein intake, but to the process. We focus on form, we focus on the program, we focus on the way things are done. I am glad about each one of these steps, but I am truly excited to have reached the point where I workout becuase it makes me feel good. I drive myself to get better each time I do a particular workout. I push to get another couple of reps or to up my weights on this set. I am not in competition with anyone or with myself. It is not about how much weight I have lost or even how my clothes fit. Today - I like the way I feel knowing that I give my all to something and that I feel good when I am done. I can't imagine ever stopping following this new WAY of life.

May 26, 2012

Phase 2 Update

I am almost finished with my second week of Phase 2 and need to update my posts. First and foremost - I am working 2 jobs. My first job starts at 6 am, and my second jod begins when I get off there and often runs until 6 or 7 pm. Needless to say I can get bogged down very easily. I am currently getting up at 3 am and try to start my workout by 3:30. I have not been doing Ab Ripper X - I know, I know... It's important. The plan is to add it in when I can but I don't have the energy at the end of the day. Eventually I will have a couple of afternoons each week off and plan to slide in a little ARX time then.
I just decided to switch teambeachbody coaches. Although I get a lot from reading Coach Wayne's posts and accessing all of the information on his site, I need constant interaction. I have been part of a closed group on Facebook and one of the guys in there has been very supportive. He is in the same "family" and Coach Wayne is his coach so I still benefit from all of the wisdom but also get to have the daily interaction.
I wanted to share my nutrition and supplementation regimine for now.

Workout time - 3am
PWO - Jack3d White Blue Raspberry
GNC Wheybolic 60 Chocolate Protein (1 scoop pre- and one scoop 30 minutes post)
Creatine Monohydrate - 5g (1/2 pre- and 1/2 post)
Endurox r4 - post 1 scoop
Glutamine - 5g

Breakfast - 7 am
100% egg whites (3/4 cup)
tomatoes/onions/jalapenos
5 oz canned chicken breast
Baby spinach

AM Snack
Life Choice High Protein bar (cheap wal mart)

Lunch
5 oz canned chicken breast
salad spritzer ranch 10 sprays
sweet relish
iceberg salad mix
spinach
rice cake

PM Snack
Life Choice High Protein Bar
Gold Standard Casein - 1 scoop (before bed)

Dinner
Tyson Chicken tenders - 8 oz
Frozen vegetables - 2 servings
Shelled Edamame - 1/2 cup

The plan is to replace my breakfast with a breakfast shake made with Chocolate Shakeology, PB2, Protein powder and, maybe, a packet of oatmeal.

Phase 2 Day 1

Chest Shoulders & Tri's - Wow! This workout put me in my place. After preparing for pushups and doing the first month of P90X, I had no idea this was gonna kick my butt so hard. The pushups in this DVD are so different than the ones I did in the first phase. The slow-motion and different handy
positions really challenged me.

Recovery week - Wednesday

Kenpo today In the middle of my recovery week. I was thinking yesterday - I took an actual rest day on Sunday for my off day. I am feeling it. I wish I had done X Stretch instead. I have been doing X Stretch on my off days for a couple of months even before I started The X "officially" and I can definitely tell that I missed it. Glad it comes around tomorrow in this week's schedule. I need it. I was reading a buddy's post yesterday and he posted thAt he had done X Stretch and I was sooooo jealous. Have a great day everyone. Keep pushing play.

A New Day

So... It's the last Legs & Back day for
Phase 1. Brought it today. I've had a couple of days of no work and lots of eating. Yesterday I did some yoga but not P90X yoga. I did a 20 minute podcast (yogadownload.com - 20 minute yoga sessions - Sun Salutations #1).
Today I pick back up. Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X - 77 minutes and 1058 calories. Gonna eat my fat shredder diet today. I adjusted myfitnesspal to coincide with my goals. Time to buckle down.

Getting caught up

Week 3 so far - today is Wednesday. I have done Chest & Back and Plyo X along with today's Shoulders & Arms. I won't see these strength workouts until phase 3 now. I pushed myself to up the weights or reps on every exercise. There are still a couple that just burn me out. And that is good. I'm excited to see what it's like when I come back after a month.
I made it all the way through Plyo yesterday w/o the pause button. I had to use it today to change weights but other than that I pushed through this too.
I will be starting a new job in a couple of weeks that starts at 6:00 am. I will still be working my other job too plus school starts next week. A lot on my plate. I have decided to get up another hour early and do the hour workouts and figure out how to fit ARX into the rest of the day. I have the P90X app and can actually do ARX anywhere I have room to sit down for 15 minutes. Keep pushing play.

Week 2 - P90X

Fourteen days behind me. I have done two weeks of the P90X Extreem Home Fitness program. Here are my reactions this week:

Ab Ripper X - Still doing this first and doing all of the reps. I made it through the first three exercises without pausing and can go to 15 on most exercises before I finally have to hit pause. I have tried to lift my legs during crunchy-frog and mason twist, but have had a little more trouble with these. Since this upcoming week will be the end of the first cycle and I will not do ARX during the recovery week that is scheduled for week 4, I will work even more intently on performing as many crunchy-frogs as I can and will lift one leg during mason twist.

Chest & Back - did 12 of all of the push-up exercises. This week 15 is the goal.

Yoga X - did the first 45 minutes of asanas and the last 15 minutes of stretch and savanana and the ohms. The goal this week is to skip the balance and the leg stretches and do the yoga belly 7 plus the end that I did last week.

Kenpo X - biggest problem of the week! I still can't figure out the star blocks. They get me so flustered that I stand there bewildered while they are working.

I wish that I had somewhere to mount a pull-up bar. The bands are ok. I can increase the resistance, but for the cost of increasing the resistance I can buy a cheap bar. I will only be able to get so far with the bands even with more resistance. Eventually the resistance will be more than i weigh and I will not be able to pull it towards me. Looking forward to the final "work" week of the first training block. I want to weigh but have decided to wait until I have completed the entire phase including the recovery week and weigh/measure/take pictures at the 30 day mark. Keep pushing play.

Day 13? - P90X - Kenpo X

Kenpo X - punching, kicking, twisting, blocking, sweating... Actual DNA removal. Feel like I did better this morning. Still not bringing it very hard during the breaks (I'm using them to cooldown a little - I have read that towards the end of the program people begin to use the breaks to make sure they are getting their HR's up). I'm also still completely baffled by the star blocks - I will have to watch the sometime this week and try to wrap my head around it. Other than that it was a great workout. I burned 633 calories which seems low to me, but I have to remember that the warm-up is long and focused on getting limber not on getting the HR up so there is really only a little over 40 minutes of effort. GREAT way to start a Saturday. Keep pushing play!

Day 12 - Legs & Back

Today I did ARX from the iPhone app and can tell that it is easier - primarily because I can change Fifer Scissors anytime I want. The app says to hold for 2 seconds then change. On the video Tony tells me when to change. That makes it harder.
Legs & Back kicked me good. Sneaky lunges are SUPER difficult. Burned 175 for ARX and 845 for L&B.

Namaste - Yoga X and Sharms

Yesterday I did Shoulders & Arms + ARX. Today was my second attempt at Yoga X. I made it through the first 45 minutes of moving asanas and the final stretching. I currently struggle with the Warrior 3/Half Moon series. But that will come. Took me a little over an hour to do what I did this morning. Tomorrow - Legs & Back + ARX. Need help with the wall squats.

Day 9 - P90X - Plyo X

The Mother of All X Workouts! This workout is a killer. I can see why people say the puke during this one. I burned exactly 900 calories and with a few extra breaks it took me 68 minutes to complete a 60 minute workout. I pushed a little harder in several moves and left the ground. I still did modified versions of several of the jumps but. Did some jumping! Bonked out just after the first set of Rock Star Hops. Decided to drink just a little waxy maize for some fast carbs. Will probably do that next week for just a little oomph. Can't wait to see how I bring it next week!

Day 8 - Chest & Back

Just a short entry today. Did Chest & Back and increased my pushups to 12 per set and pulled 15 per set of pull ups (1st time through like a row and 2nd like a lat pull down). Need more resistance for these already. Ready for tomorrow.

One Week

"It's been one week since you looked at me..." What a catchy tune. The rest of the song has nothing to do with what I am thinking but that first line is such a hook.
So... I've been doing P90X for one week and I've brought it everyday except Yoga day. For some reason that I cannot explain - even though I LOVE to do yoga - I am intimidated by the length and the extremity of that particular DVD. I have done similar power yoga in heated rooms where the temperature and humidity are purposely raised to 95 degrees and similar humidity. I have done Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior From the Inside Out Series (check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irLDil1MC70&feature=related). I have done Rodney Yee Power Yoga. But I have never been intimidated by a Yoga class or workout until now.
Over all I has been a great week - I worked out everyday and even added an additional workout yesterday when I did Cardio X later in the day. I can feel my muscles rebuilding themselves and I can feel my clothes fitting better already. I have decided to wait until after my first recovery week to weigh and check my Body Fat Percentage (BF%). So the only results that I will be able to measure is how hard I bring it, what my heart rate range is, calories burned and mastery of the moves.
Ab Ripper X - Improvements needed/goals for next week: Goal 1- Make it through both sets of bicycles before I pause the video. Goal 2 - begin doing crunchy-frog instead of another set of in-and-outs. Goal 3 - Make it to 15 reps of every exercise before pausing (I currently pause after 10 on several of them). Goal 4 - Begin to lift legs during Mason Twists
Yoga X - Goal this week - Complete the asanas, which take 45 minutes and then skip to the cool-down and relax. I can do this this workout will NOT get the best of me. I am half-tempted to replace Yoga X with Yoga For the Warrior but I want the next 90 days to be all Beachbody. Maybe if I have some extra $$ - ha! What is that? - I will buy Fountain of Youth from the one-on-one series. Currently any extra $$ I do have goes towards supplements. I am using 2 servings of protein each day, plus waxy maize to make a recovery drink (I actually probably have enough to last until almost the very end of my program since I only use it 5 times per week and there are 50 servings - not sure if I will use it at all during recovery weeks). And I am cyclying Creatine right now for the first two months. Once I complete the loading cycle it shouldn't be much more than $15/month. But add to that $50 for protein and $30 for protein bars, plus I want a Pre-Workout ( I am enjoying my sample), it sure does add up.
Been a REALLY good week for nutrition. I have stuck to my nutrition plan 100%. The end of the week tracking at myfitnesspal shows that I have maintained the 50/30/20 ratio for the fat shredder plan.

Cardio X

Did Cardio X this evening and burned an additional 740 calories. What a great workout. Seems like I burned more calories tonight than other times I have done this workout. I think the last time I did this I e I only burned 550 calories. It was hard to do in front of the tv in the evening while other people were eating. But... My net calories is less than zero and that is really good.

Day 5 - P90X -Legs & Back

Today I was raring to go! Started with Ab Ripper X. Still doing in-and-outs instead of crunchy frog and not lifting my legs for mason twists. Made it through the first set of bicycles before I took a break. I can do all of the oblique v-ups laying on my left side that use my right obliques but not the first set. Next week I am setting a goal of not pausing until the 15th rep in any exercise. I can tell that my weak spot is being able to balance with my hands off the ground (only 2 modified moves involve the same form). Need to figure out how to work on that.
Legs & Back - Wow! That is a workout. If I hadn't been doing an all legs workout prior to this I wouldn't be able to do it. Had trouble with wall sits - both of them! Other than that I think I already need to up my resistance for bands on the pulls. First time through I did them as rows with my body perpendicular to the pull and the second time through I did them as lat pull-downs similar to a pull-up with my back in line with the resistance. I went to the sports store and had a discussion with. The "fitness expert" Ted, who let me in on the idea that the closer I get to my own weight in resistance the more likely it is that I will not be able to hold myself down and will need to work into the pull-up. Today I burned 915 + 240 = 1155 calories. Way to bring it!

Day 4 - P90X

Had trouble with Yoga X this morning. I love yoga but I haven't done any in quite a while - at least not much. Made it through the first 30 minutes a d did my own cooldown and corpse pose. Actually tried to do more than the 30 minutes but after the first extended angle pose and they started to reach under their legs for bound-angle pose I stopped. I think the length is intimidating. I'm used to doing yoga for 30-60 minutes (I even have some podcasts that are called 20 minute yoga downloads) but to be this worn out and still have an hour left was difficult. Wondering about "Fountain of Youth.". I could just do some other yoga that I have but I want the next 90 days to be all Beachbody. Well next week I will make it through the asanas, then maybe through the stretching. Hopefully, by the recovery week I can make it through the entire thing. Today I will forget the rest.

Day 3 - P90X

Whew - what a good workout. Did Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X this morning. ARX was a little harder today than Monday. It took me 26 minutes to do all of the moves. Still doing in and outs instead of crunchy frog and haven't lifted my legs for Mason Twists yet. I figure I will finish this week and lift next week as I work up to the whole thing. Doing ARX first is a great idea. At the beginning of the video Tony Horton says, "Ab Ripper X - I hate it, but I love it!" I think I still hate it. I think that I dread this one more than any of the others. Sharms was good. I did several moves with low weights, some as low as 5 lbs - especially the shoulder moves towards the end. Tomorrow is Yoga X - I hear so much complaining against it. I have done the asanas and I love Yoga so I should be ok. My only concern is the length - over 90 minutes - Yikes! But I will do my best and forget the rest. Word for the day is WOW!

Day 2 - P90X

Whew Hoo! That WAS the mother of all workouts. I just did P90X Plyometrics. One hour of jumping, squatting, and lunging. Burned 926 calories while still doing several modified moves an taking longer breaks than prescribed. For most of the workout my HR was through the roof - I like to keep it below 150 but this was extremely tough to do this morning. I feel like anything over 150 is too high for me at this time. I'm 6'2" tall and weigh 217 with a BMI of 27 point something Nd right around 30% Body Fat and 41 years old. I have figured my "zone" to be between 117 and 152. To figure this I started with 220-41(my age) =179. This is my max HR. then I figured 65 and 85 percent of that to figure my "zone," and I try to stay in there when I workout.
All-in-all this was a great workout and u can definitely see where I can improve. I can see how this could still kick my butt after ten times of doing it. I just did my best and forgot the rest!

Day 1 - P90X

Started today with Chest & Back. What a workout! Did Ab Ripper X first and did all of the reps for each exercise. It took me 23 minutes (ARX is 16 minutes long). Did 10+ reps for each push-up exercise and really Brought It! I did over 120 pushups - real ones, not a single one from my knees!
Yesterday I went to Vitamin Shoppe and get a few more supplements. I bought some waxy maize for post-workout and put it in a protein shake. Also tried creatine for pre- and post-workout. They gave me a couple of pre-workout samples and I tried Jack3d. Definitely felt like I pushed myself harder today but not sure if it was because I was so excited about P90X or if it was the pre-workout. Not sure if I like them, I'm still on the fence. Would be nice if they brought energy during the workout and went away after. Keep pushing play!

Typical day food plan

So.. I have laid put my food plan for the fat shredder plan of Phase 1 of my P90X. The fat shredder phase has you eat specific percentages of your calories from each of the macro-nutrient categories. 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat. My coach has laid out a 1900 calorie plan that I have decided to follow. I believe that if I can follow this plan and NOT CHEAT and push play every day my results can be "Legen - wait for it - Dary!"
So, here it is:
Typical day
1910 cal - 247p/143c/36f

PRE/POST
2 scoops Protein
Recovery Drink
450 cal - 65p/41c/3f

BREAKFAST
6 egg whites
1/2 can chicken
Tom/on/jal
Spinach
288 cal - 57p/7c/3f

AM SNACK
Natural Peanut Butter
Apple
270 cal - 7p/28c/15f

LUNCH
1/2 can chicken
Salad spritzer
Relish
Slaw
Rice cake
Spinach
242 cal - 36p/16c/4f

PM SNACK
Protein Bar
Soy Nuts
310 cal - 31p/26c/12f

DINNER
8 oz chicken
Veggies
350 cal - 52p/25c/1f

Supreme 90 Day Review

So, I just completed Supreme 90 Day System, sort of...
As I may have shared with you, Supreme 90 Day is set up with three weeks of workouts followed by what I cann a "reset" week or what many people would call a "recovery" week. Followed by a different set of workouts the second month, etc. I have completed all three months worth of workouts, but have decided not to do the three "reset workouts over and over for the next two weeks.
Here is my review of Supreme 90 Day for anyone who cares to read it. First things first - I Loved S90D. I am stronger and have incredible endurance thanks to this program. The circuit training and interval cardio really burned a lot of calories and packed a lot of workout into a short amount of time.
I purchased my set of S90D from Bed Bath & Beyond for $9.99 and this may have been the best ten bucks I ever spent. I was looking for P90X for CHRISTmas and found out that I had put my request out there a little late, so... There I was wandering around BB&B a little sad and dejected when lo and behold, there it was: a program that claimed to use muscle confusion and offer the opportunity to get Ripped in 90 Days. After a few minuted I decided that ten bucks was not a waste of money even if it sucked.
The following day I started and put in the Chest & Back video. This video is short but effective. Basically all of the DVDs have the same 4 miunute warm-up and 6 minute cooldown, and this video had 22 minutes of pushing and pulling which includes a couple of minutes worth of ab circuit at the beginning of all of the strength videos.
Program Design: There are 5 strength DVDs. These include Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, Legs, Chest Shoulders & Tris, and Back & Bis. There are also Two Cardio videos Cardio Challenge and Tabata Inferno (which requires 20 seconds on followed by 10 seconds of rest in 4 minute circuits for over 30 minutes of intense fat burning - well worth the ten bucks by itself). There are also a Ball/Core workout, a Core Dynamics video, and a Total Body workout.
During the first month you do the Chest & Back video, the Shoulders & Arms video, along with the Ultimate Ball, Cardio Challenge, Legs and Tabata. You do this three weeks in a row, followed by a "reset" week during which you do Total Body, Core, Cadrio, repeat. The following moonth you replace the forst two with CST and Back & Bis and continue with all of the other videos. The order changes and so does the rest day. Repeat the reset week and month three follows a similar schedule to month 1.
My results: I actually stuck with something for multiple months in a row. I am back down to my lowest weigh ever as a healthy adult. I have weighed less than this but only beacuse I was living a lifestyle that was destroying me and I was close to death. I lost all of my Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas weight. I am stronger and have more endurance and I am ready for my next challenge. Bring on P90X

Before...

So here it is my before post. Pre P90X.
Starting weight: 217
Waist: 44.5
Hips: 40
Chest: 45
Right Arm: 14
Left Arm: 14.25
Right Thigh: 25
Left Thigh: 25
Neck: 16.25
Forearm: 11
Wrist: 7
According to the formula (Waist) + (.5*Hips)-33-(wrist) = my body fat percentage is 24.5
I will stick with this number until I can get a caliper and get a better reading.

Supreme 77 Day

So... I've finished the working weeks of Supreme 90 Day. I'm ready to start P90X on Monday. Ready to Bring It! Getting excited. In-laws will be here this weekend. Then on Monday I move on to the next phase in my life!

ARX -1st?

The other day I was reading on a FB group where several seasoned P90X grads recommended doing Ab Ripper X before the workout so that you are less likely to skip it. So, I tried it this morning and I have to say that I still hate it! I was able to do more reps but after I took that DVD out of the player it was hard to start my other workout for the day. I eventually did get through both of them. I'm actually glad that I did because I don't feel up to another 16 minutes of hard work after Tabata Inferno.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

So... I finally got my adjustable dumbbells yesterday. I researched and studied and finally decided that I wanted the Power Block Classic 50's. The adjust from 10 lbs to 50 lbs. the entire set was $300 from Dick's Sporting Goods at the mall. There are other adjustable dumbbells but none that seem as solid as these. I increased the weights on several of my lifts today.
I truly believe that these dumbbells, my HRM and the home workouts that I am doing I will be where I want to be by summer. I still weigh around 220 I want to start P90X at 210 in a month. It's gonna take some extra pushing to get there. I must stop eating cookies. They are about the only thing I eat that I shouldn't and they throw off my whole day. I hate 'em but I love 'em! I wish I could say that about Ab Ripper X instead.
Looking forward to a full review of Supreme 90 Day once I complete the program. I'll keep you updated.

S90D Month 3

So... Sunday I hurt my back and took most of the week off. Did some X Stretch and Yoga X late in the week. Dove right in yesterday and did Shoulders & Arms + Tabata Inferno. Burned over 1100 calories. Looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Nutrition is still a little off. Having trouble avoiding the cookies. Otherwise my fat burner percentages are just about right and my calories are low. Probably lower than recommended. Not seeing much change on the scale but I can feel it in my body. Once I get my adjustable dumbbells I believe I should really start seeing some changes. Getting excited for P90X. I'm already incorporating some of the workouts into my routine. I'll check back in a couple of days.