Day 19 - Arms and Legs

It is Friday - again and almost the end of this week as well as the end of week three.

Do I see some changes? Yes I do - mostly in my arms and I can feel my Abs!

Next week is recovery week - Will I miss the weight workout? Yes/No ... But I will enjoy the stretch and no weight week.

The workout was ok - my arms were tired and I could not do as much pull-ups (with a chair) as I wanted to. I can feel my legs today - no wonder since this was a Leg workout today. I wish very much I would see some results in my legs too. Maybe there are some changes but I cannot see them - but maybe others.

Even if there is a recovery week next week - I am thinking about still practicing my push-ups and the negative pull-ups ... Just to be better for Phase One.

I am wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Day 18 - Rest Day

...

Day 17 - Shoulders and Arms

Midweek - and "only" 13 more days till I am done with Phase I.

I am still modifying some of the weight workouts - not that I cannot do it with just 8 Kilo dumbbells, but:

Like about almost 20 years ago I had a bad accident and broke my arms while riding my bike from the pool. My left side got twisted really bad and after surgery I woke up with screws in my elbow and no feeling in my little finger. After lots of training and "electronic water therapy" I got my feeling back but never my full strength. I am guessing that either my fall from the bike or the doctor during surgery did mess my muscle strain up. Ever since I have about 12-14 Kilo less strength in my left arm. And I can feel the difference as soon as I do weight workout and I have to push the weight up in the air, otherwise I have no problem at all. Even if I use 5 kilo it is still hard at some point. So I am not doing 15 reps but try at lest 10 or 12 with less weight. This does not affect my normal life at all - I can just feel it during the workout.

After today's workout I did Ab Ripper X and wow - I hate that in most of these routines my legs are burning (leap frog, bicycle, etc.) more than my stomach - they should have called it like "Ab Ripper Upper Legs X" .... hahaha

Good news - today I did Masons Twist with no break!!!

Favorite Quote: "Dont smash your face"

Day 16 - Plyometrics

Pushed play this morning at 5:00 am again. This morning we where all complete again (me and Christi and Jenn). It is summer break and sometimes it is hard to get them all together because of vacation with the family :-)

Even now 30 minutes after I finished the workout I can still feel my muscles and since I gave a little bit more effort into it this morning - I bet that I will have a slightly muscle pain. But thats a good thing.

I also felt like that I am getting used to the Videos so much that workouts seems to be shorter or quicker to be done. I am guessing some people dont know what Plyometrics is - so I googled it and found this here:

"Plyometrics exercises use explosive movements to develop muscular power. Plyometric training acts on the nerves, muscles, and tendons to increase an athlets's power output without necessarily increasing their maximum strength capacity." (Wikipedia)

Favorite Tony quote - "Get sexy with it"

Day 15 - Chest and Back

Yeah - I am so happy, so proud and so excited!!!

Why? I did my first half-push-up without being on my knees. Thats a big deal for me, really.

2 weeks of P90X and on my knees while I am doing push-ups and finally I can do half-way-down push ups.

I did the first round on my knees and I though when they repeat it I should try to do it the real way. I can do 2-4 so far but thats it - no more and because I did real once today I can feel new muscles in my arms.

Also it seems like I am having less and less muscle pain after a workout now, I hope that only means I am getting used to the workout and not that I am not giving a 100%. I can say it again and again - working out with someone does really help - especially when you have someone who is "better" than you - that really keeps me pushing harder every time.

Promise: Next time I do push-ups I'll post a photo :-)

Day 14 - Roadtrip

I am bad - so bad but the fun at the amusement park is so big I am not feeling bad at all.

We walked all day around the park and and I was wearing my "Easy Tones" - so I kind of did my workout. Waking up by 7:30 am after a short night sleep and leaving the park by 10:00 pm and then the long drive back home - no chance of a workout. I am trying not to sound like I am looking for excuses ... Or I maybe I do :-)

I did good with the diet on this trip - lots of water, salad with chicken breast, more water, no ice cream, no chocolate (which is hard when you are at Hershey park) BUT I ate some Kettle Corn ... and I love it. That was my little treat this weekend :-)

All happy and exhausted from lots of walking and waiting for rides in the hot sunshine and swimming in the water park .... and so ready for a new week full of P90X. Will push a littel extra hard so I can feel guilt free about the Kettle Corn ...

Day 13 - Roadtrip

I got invited for a weekend trip to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.

Leaving by 4:30 am there was no chance of an early workout (p90x) - and creating chocolates bars and riding rides and staying up till 11:30 pm there was no chance of a late workout. So I called today a "Rest Day" ...

And YES I made my very own chocolate bar today - with all these delicious fillings and mhmmm that nice milk chocolate. It was very much fun for the kiddos and for me and I can proudly say that
I AM NOT GOING TO EAT IT!!!

Day 12 - Legs and Back

Yeah - it is Friday and I almost can say I have finished another week of P90X.

Did my workout alone today since Christi took care of some stuff. Hate it - to workout alone, but what needs to be done...

I am feeling the strength in my arms and back more and more after each week. And of course thats where I see the most changes so far. My stomach - well ... we will see. I am doing Ab Ripper X three times a week and I can feel that Abs wanting to come through ... but that little bit of belly fat .. Awwwww!

Since I am Nanny'ing this summer I have the great opportunity to go to the pool pretty much every day and I can tell that that is the most fun and relaxing part of the day. I can do underwater stretches with my back and legs and arms and swim, and I am pretty sure that keeps me from having muscle pain.

Thanks to all the people who follow me on my blog - Have a great weekend :-)

Day 11 - Yoga

Outsch, outsch, outsch ....

I gave up hope today that Yoga will get easier - ever.

Today I had trouble keeping my fingers awake. Every time I put my hands/ arms in the air I could feel the tickle in my fingertips - arms are getting heavy ... Maybe I just had a bad day - short night sleep or my mind "was not in to it". I went through like 80 % of the routines - had to do some adjustments. But - hey - I Pushed play and I tried my best ... then forget the rest :-)

Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.

~Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois

I'll will keep my mind clear next time and practice a little more.I did Yoga alone today and I realized I really need my workout partner!

Day 10 - ....

Shame on me - no workout today.

(Will do it on my Rest Day)

Day 9 - Plyometrics

Since I couple of nights I am not sleeping right, awkward dreams and waking up many times during the night. That is a little problem when you wake up at 4:30 am and work out by 5:00 am. I was tired during the entire workout - still pushed hard. I can feel my legs more than I did last week. Plyometrics really makes you sweat so much that you could fill an entire towel with it :-)

Tony keeps telling that if I need a break I just have to push the pause button. Well the only problem is that the DVD Player is in that room behind the big screen. By the time I would go over there and push pause I would have had already my little break. So I pushed myself through the entire program today.

Feel like I have very short legs - I can do the jumps but not even close to be that high like the guys do it on the Video. I really need to improve on that one in the next couple of weeks. Other than that I think I did pretty well today. I am not going back to sleep this morning - I try to stay awake and may take a little nap later.

I hope I can sleep better and whatever bothers me in my dreams will go away so I will be all fresh tomorrow morning to "Push Play" again.

Day 8 - Chest and Back

Monday morning. A new week. And Day 8 with P90X.

I pushed hard the first round, with pull-ups (still with a chair) and push-ups (still on my knees) - so hard that when they did all the workouts again I had barley energy left. Yes I could not do all reps - well thats why you keep pushing play and get better every time. I still enjoyed it and then when it was over I could not believe it was. Learned a good lesson today:

Rather do 15 reps with a comfortable weight than 8 reps with a lot of weight. Well Better less weight and more reps than less reps with more weight. That will help me to tone up and dont get too much pumped:-)

I love to have the competition - I love having my dear friend doing the workout with me - even if this is early in the morning.

“I hate it…….but I love it.” (@ 5:00 am in the morning)

Day 7 - Rest Day

I wanted to do Yoga or some Stretch but somehow - I didnt.

Thats ok because it is either Stretch or Rest ... I chose Rest.

Sleeping in, go to church (listen to a great sermon), go out for lunch and then watched a movie at the movies "Inception" ...

That was my rest day :-)

Day 6 - Kenpo

Kenpo ... lots of boxing, kicking and screaming (not me but the people in the Video..)

I had to smile today - seeing Tony with sweat-pans and not in shorts and tight T-Shirt. Well its is weekend everybody wears comfortable clothing at home :-)

The workout was great - have done it before but with weights on my ankles and hands. Today with no weight and still it is a very intense workout. And if you put a lot of effort into it you can feel the burn and the fat melting.

Tony in sweat-pans ...

Me doing some serious boxing and kicking ...

I am struggling very much with the names and the routines. I am doing it but it takes me a couple seconds till I have it in my head and do exactly what Tony is saying. Sometimes I caught myself doing something else than they - because I forgot the routine. Mostly because I dont look at the screen and focus more in my head what to do. But since I will do Kenpo every Friday in Phase I .. I hope I will remember at some point.

It is weekend and tomorrow is Rest Day ... thinking seriously about doing the Stretch and Yoga ... to be more flexible next week. (Some warm ups at Kenpo showed me I am not that flexible ...)

Day 5 - Legs and Back

Finally Christi is back in town and I have someone to work out with. I can say for sure it is very important for me to have someone working out with me. It is not only for the fun, it is also for the competition and for going through the whole workout without giving up.

So I did Arms & Back as well as Ab Ripper X today. But guess what? Not at 5:00 am or 7:30am NO - I did push play at 11:30 am. Why? We went bowling last night till midnight and it was very hard to get up this morning. I had my Oatmeal this morning and before lunch I pushed play. Great timing since today I had food in my stomach and time to drink a lot and of course right after the workout time to cook good chicken breast and asparagus for lunch.

If I could I would do it always between breakfast and lunch - I am guessing thats when I have the most energy?! But if I want to do it with the Ladies together during the week - I have to push play at 5:00 am. Good the weekend is here and I can do workout the same hour like I did today.

The workout was very "easy" compare to Yoga or Plyo ... but still one great workout tomorrow ("Kenpo") ... I am still doing push-ups with a chair - which is ok for the first couple of weeks - but I am working hard on improvements.

I feel great, very good :-)

Added in the evening:

I did spoil myself tonight with a nice relaxing time in the Hot-Tub .. that felt so good after a week (5 Days) of P90X. I am so ready for tomorrows workout.

Day 4 - Yoga

Ops ...

Yoga is no joke. You want to be healthy and more flexible you should try "P90X Yoga X" ...

I knew I wasn't that flexible - but I ma pretty sure doing yoga every week and then in the recovery weeks for stretching ... I will eventually be able to do the whole workout with no excuses. Since I have dine two times Ab Ripper X this week - yoga is helping to get "rid" of the muscle pain in your stomach area ... at least thats how I feel.

I am drinking every morning my recovery drink (not the one P90X is selling, a different one), eating either an Omelet (egg whites only) with some onions, tomatoes and some seasoning, or just a cup of oat meal with half a banana. I try very hard to eat every 3 hours and not to eat.

“Don’t just kind of do it!”

Day 3 - Shoulders and Arms

Good morning :-)

I feel great, still sore but it feels great. Plyo from yesterday makes it hard to sit down, to stand up and I can feel muscles in my legs I have not felt since a long time. Ab Ripper X ... makes it a new experience to wake up in the mornings. Just getting up is not that easy no more - I can feel my muscles in my stomach and I hope they will show up eventually.

Well, today was shoulders and arms and it was great. Could keep up with pretty much all the workouts. I did my workout at 7:30 am this morning since the Ladies are out of town and there is no need to wake up at 4:45 :-)

As I sad I feel great - sometimes I get these "hunger-attacks" but I am good not eating bad food. Some almonds and warm tea helps a lot.

Added in the evening:

I went bowling today - 3 hours! - now thats what I call an extra workout ... Towards the end my right arm was like pudding and I scored barely no more points - but it was fun!

Keep Pushing Play

Day 2 - Plyometrics

Good morning America ....

"The mother of all P90X workouts"

It was 5:00 am this morning when I pushed play again. I am sore but not too bad from yesterdays workout - my arms feel like steel ... very heavy.

Plyo was very hard this morning for me. Just wondering if this is the time of the day (I mean I wake up and push play right away). During the workout I got numb fingers and it almost feels like I would pass out any minute. I took is slow - took some breaks and drunk a lot of water. Still I made it all the way to the end. The jumping is hard this morning too.

Jenn and me did a lot of sweating and we both are happy to accomplished something like Plyo that early in the morning :-)

Since I am doing the workout at 5:00 am in the morning - I usually take a shower and then go back to sleep. I am glad I can do it that early - then its done for the day :-)

PS: All I can say is do P90X as early as possible at the beginning of the day - then you can enjoy the rest of the day without even thinking that you still have to do your workout ...

Wise Words

"The best exercise to really define abs is walking. Walking away from the kitchen."

Chalene Johnson

Day 1 - Chest and Back

I pushed "Play" and I did "Bring it" this morning at 5:00 am. It wasn't to hard to get up because I was really excited. Christi and Jenn worked out with me. I actually got a pretty good group of Mom's here.

I still cannot do one single "normal" push-up - feeling bad because the 30-something Mom's both can do it. But I am doing good on my knees and do about 8-15 reps. I am doing good with the Chin-up bar ... with a little help from a chair I can do about 8 pull-ups. But as it - this is day 1 and not day 90 (I hope I will be able to do as many as they do in the Video without any help).

Thats Tony - he never stops talking but he can make you smile even if you are in major pain. He does not get mad at you if you take a little break ...

I have dont P90X for about 30 days before but I had to "watch" it on my little laptop screen and here I have Tony right in front of me - working out with me :-)

"Bring it" - during a little Water Break. Of course I will take pictures here and there to show my success. Maybe you are wondering why I did not put up the "Before" pictures yet. Well, I have them - but will post them on day 30. Why? Because I would like to see results first so I can be proud showing myself how I looked before. Here you can see me in my workout clothing. That should be enough :-)

=> add in the evening:

Long day of nothing else to do (except having fun) - thinking of adding another workout for the evening. Need to find out which one will be good. Sticking with the diet - still graving for some "sin" food but I will be strong.

State of Emergency

Nothing really bad happened this week. Expect that I do enjoy without guilt the food I am eating.

Yes I had some "Coldstone Creamery", "Olive Garden", "DQ", "Dominos Pizza", Glory Day's "Cheese Fries", etc. ... and I did enjoy.

But on Monday this will be over - over for good. I am actually looking forward to it and I am pretty sure it wont hurt too much :-)

And of course this weekend I will "enjoy" some bad food - just because I wont have it no more after I start P90X next Monday ....