Changing It Up

This past week, I took a break from P90X to change things up a bit before I started on Phase 2, a.k.a Days 30-60. I took advantage of some Les Mills classes offered at one of my local recreation centers as well as hitting the road and field.

This is my schedule of last week:

Monday: Les Mills Body Combat (high cardio, alot like KenpoX/kickboxing)

Tuesday: Les Mills Body Pump (cardio/weight mix)

Wednesday: Rest (I tested heavier weights than normal on the Body Pump and could barely move my arms)

Thursday: Les Mills Body Flow (a mix of Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates - I love, love this class!)

Friday: Unintended rest day

Saturday: Early morning run. Short, sweet, slow. 1.64 miles in 22 minutes.

Sunday: Soccer training with P and the boys. Shooting, passing, sprints, one-on-one practice with P as the keeper/coach.

I'm glad I changed up the routine a bit. A little mix up is good for the body, but for me, it's a more mental thing. I get bored easily with workouts, therefore the change up was just what I needed to get excited about starting Phase 2 of P90X.

The Les Mills classes were really fun. That's a surprise coming from me because I don't get into the whole group fitness classes. Yet, I think they were more fun because I've been working out at home. I know I would have made a fool of myself in the Body Combat classes if I had not done the KenpoX. Tripping over my own two feet is not my favorite way to embarrass myself. I was confident though during the class, probably because I did all the self-tripping in the comfort of my own home where no one was watching. The Body Flow class was exactly what I needed that week. Full of calming and centering techniques with strength poses intertwined, I felt stronger and calmer at the end of the 60 minutes. My confidence soared when I hit and held two strength moves (the Crow and Warrior 3) consistently. I could not do that in May. I think I'll definitely be taking the Body Flow classes again. I added pictures of the Crow and Warrior 3 poses for you to see these amazing strength moves.

The Crow and Warrior 3

My run on Saturday was amazing and difficult. I felt free again, and loved the feel of my feet hitting the pavement. Despite the humidity, I felt strong and ran all but 0.10 of the 1.64 miles I tracked. The difficulty of the running was the mental motivation. I have been scared to get running again, even though I felt I could. I did not want to push myself out of excitement or the internal want to do more. I have a tendency to push myself to do more than my body should. After the run, I was glad I got out there and just did it.

Sunday morning, I got P and the kids up to help me with some soccer training for my upcoming season. Why Sundays? My games are on Sundays. Why training? I feel that since my workouts have been indoors and with very minimal running, I need to get out on the field and acclimate myself to the heat, the humidity, the field, and my cleats. I always need work on my long balls and shooting. P makes a great coach. Even though he only played a couple of years when he was younger, he knew enough to push me when I was ready it call it a day. He knew what I needed work on and yelled across the field to keep my mind out of the zone I get in when it comes to soccer and mentally aware of the skills I needed to work. The boys helped me with passing and I also got to do a little coaching of my own with T and teaching him how to kick the ball and the Cy-guy and keeping his dribbling consistent. A perfect morning to get us all up and moving for the day.

Now, Week 5 of P90X starts. I'm ready with a mental excitement and ready to keep moving on this journey to get stronger and healthier. Those are my main goals from this round of P90X. The lost weight and inches are only an added bonus, as well as the look in my boys' eyes when they see my arms while we compare muscles in the evenings.

P90X Week 4: Recap & Results

I realized the past two weeks completely threw me for a loop, and I didn't get my last week's recap posted. Last week was "recovery" week. I did the recovery schedule mixed in with the chest & back session and the Ab Ripper. Part of me forgot what week I was on (see, I told you it's been crazy around here), so by my start date I was on Week 4 .... Recovery, ha! It seemed I worked harder during recovery week than during the previous ones. I think it might be that I'm finally feeling like my old self and even better than the kidney stone episode. Me feeling better = me pushing harder = me LOVING my workouts. By the way, if you're doing P90X and you haven't made it to Core Synergistics yet...get ready. I think I was sore for three days. I always knew my core was a major area for me to strengthen, but, wow, this workout gets it done.

Results:

No weight lost this week, but I'm not surprised. I can feel and see my muscles rebuilding. Yet, partial inches were lost, which is exciting for me. More inches lost = Mommy gets a new wardrobe!

P90X Week 3 : Recap and Results

Week 3 (or Week 2 Reboot) went similar to Week 2. A very busy week combined with some physical issues left me fatigued. My iron levels have been lower than normal lately, therefore it's been difficult to make it through a "calm" normal day, let alone my hectic "normal" kind of day. I did manage to get in a Plyos workout along with some stretching. I've been eating very well, despite the July 4th holiday AND my birthday (falling on a weekend, no less), as well as keeping my hydration levels on par or above.

Results: Another pound lost. The scale has truly surprised me. I actually thought it was a fluke until I went to the doc's office yesterday, and they even said I've managed to lose 5 pounds since I was in 3 months ago. The lab tech asked my trick, and of course I told him P90X! I seriously thought I was at my "happy weight", not at a plateau. The changes I'm seeing in my body truly encourages me for when I can get back to running and my soccer season starts. The muscle definition I'm beginning to see tells me that my body is getting conditioned and in better shape to do the activities I love doing.

Ah, and let me tell you about Cardio X! After a weekend of watching intense Women's World Cup games, I needed a bit of a workout to sweat some of that fan tension. Oh wow. Cardio X is usually recommended for those either doing the Doubles schedule or a bit less intense workout with the Lena schedule. Cardio X kicked my booty. It mixed up elements of Yoga X, Plyos, and Kenpo X as well as other cardio moves I've heard in other programs. Let's just say I can tell i did not intake enough protein yesterday to reduce the soreness I feel in my hamstrings (thank you Kenpo moves!).

Here's to another week of bringing it with P90X (and watching the amazing women's world cup games too)!

How Racing Opened My Heart

Over the last couple of days, I've been browsing around for 5Ks to get me back into racing. I lean toward charity races when it comes to choosing a race, even though most races do support a cause or organization. I try to select supported charities that are close to my heart like:

Susan G. Komen

Local organizations like the Denton County Children's Advocacy Center

And one day do a marathon and triathlon for TNT

I've always considered myself compassionate and giving, but racing has opened my heart in immeasurable ways. The feeling I get when I cross the line is not just about me finishing. It's about knowing that I've helped one or two people that I may never meet to better the quality of their life. The feeling my heart is overflowing with joy as well as accomplishment.

Racing has opened my eyes to more volunteering opportunities and giving to others in ways that's more than monetary. Racing has helped me in my quest to teach my boys to grow up and be compassionate, empathetic, giving men. Racing for others gives my running more meaning than I ever could.

‎"Running has given me an opportunity to reach out and be a benefit to a fellow human being." - Mark Goldstein

P90X Week 2: FAIL

Last week started out great with goals and a new frame of mind. My Monday workout went fantastic, even getting through Ab Ripper X. Then, the rest of the week disappeared. Seriously, I remember working, cooking, and sleeping...and that's it. Sunday morning I woke up and was like "What in the world? It's Sunday?". I decided to enjoy my couple of days off of everything and reboot Week 2 starting this next week (meaning yesterday today).

On another note: my legs and feet are itching to feel the pavement/trails/pitch....whatever I can run on. I find myself debating on modifying the P90X schedule a bit to incorporate a run or two during the weeks. The only thing holding me back from just adding the running on top of the P90X schedule is my hesitance to be overly ambitious thinking my body can handle it when I'm not 100% sure it can right now.

Oh! Results from The week of only 1 day of P90X....

I'm going to chalk up the one pound loss to sticking to my healthy diet and drinking basically only water to stay hydrated in this 100° Texas (humid-like-nothing-else-and-it's-not-even-August-yet) heat. The exciting part...I broke the 140 mark that I've been at for about 6 months. The last time I was below 140 lbs. was a long time ago back when I met P... in 1998. 13 years later when I'm actually not at a point to try and lose weight, just trying to stay the healthiest that I can, I drop at a healthy weight. It's good news, and good news is always a great way to start off the week!

P90X Week 1: Recap & Results

If you asked me to describe the first week of P90X in one sentence, here it goes: it kicked my ass, but I love it and I want more. First off, thanks to everyone following this adventure of mine. It sure seems to be a joyride, eh? I had several opportunities to get discouraged and throw in the towel, but I refused. I had to make myself recognize that I still am not at my normal strength level, and actually pretty well below it.

On Day 6, I woke up at 6 a.m. to do the Kenpo X. I physically could not do it. It took everything in me to take a shower and get myself to work for my weekend shift. On Day 7, even after a good 10-11 hours of sleep, I still did not feel well enough to attempt even the X Stretch. I'm pretty sure I was just beyond tired as well having some low iron days too. I literally slept the day away.

Not all is lost though! I still managed to end the week with some pretty surprising (at least to me) results. Drum roll please.... 3 inches lost in the waist as well as 1.5 inches in hips. I also saw marginal losses in each thigh, which is still awesome. My jaw still drops when I see those numbers (and I measured 3 times to make sure). I can honestly tell you I have never seen that kind of loss, ever, and to lose it at a point where I feel like I'm in pretty decent shape and modifying the program. Wow.


Yes, I am a bad blogger that not only forgot to weigh herself again (I don't believe in the scale), I also didn't take Week 1 pics because my body didn't seem much different than the beginning photos. I guess I know better now, huh?

I think I realized a couple of my struggles this past week: cutting into my sleep to work out and intaking enough good calories (target about 2700 with my activity level) to keep my body fueled while also trying to intake about a gallon of water a day. The sleep issue became a moot point when I told myself I need to be an evening workout person. I need to get the workout in right after work or sometime in the evening while my kiddos are preoccupied. The extra hour of sleep right now is crucial to my fitness. The calorie intake I'm still trying to balance. Following suggestions with my Meal Planner on teambeachbody.com, I've made sure to mix protein (i.e., cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.) with my fruit, have slightly bigger portions (this scares the crap out of me), and make sure I eat...all the time. I am looking into adding the P90X Recovery Drink and/or Shakeology to help up my nutritional needs as well during this extreme program.

With clearer objectives in mind, I transition into Week 2. The routine is the same as Week 1. Look for a late week update as well as Week 2 results intermingled with some Women's World Cup posts! Go USWNT!!!

P90X Day 5: Loving the Legs

Day 5 consisted of Legs and Back plus Ab Ripper X. After resting yesterday (thank you crazy digestive system) and a great night of sleep, I was ready to slash today's workout. My legs have always been stronger than my core and upper body. It's sometimes considered the curse of soccer players.

I loved the Legs and Back workout. The warm up and stretching alone helped me get my hammies completely stretched out. The last six months has been a struggle when it comes to my hammies. I often felt like I had dried up rubber bands in the backs of my legs, but not today! The Legs part consisted of squats, lunges, and various other body weight type exercises, but still it's mainly squats and lunges in many different versions. I really loved the way you were shown how to modify the exercises for less or more intensity. With adding more weight or more movement, you could really get your legs shredded. Heck, you could turn it into whole other plyo workout if you wanted. There's this one 'triple lunge with a kick' move that totally blew my coordination out of the water. I'll get it; probably by week 12, but I'll get it!

The Back part consisted of pull ups with grip variations, just like in the first work out. I definitely needed a stronger band. I did not want to be wasted by the time I got home from my workday though. I really want to slash the back workouts because as soon as I finish this round, I get to finish the BIG ink on my back. Just thinking about it makes me want to do a happy dance! *Wiggling with joyous excitement like my 4 year old* I ran out of time for the Ab Ripper, so I'll need to carve out 15 minutes this evening to bust it out.

Super positive note! It's day 5, and results are already noticed. Today I'm wearing a shirt that usually buttons a bit too tightly across the chest (you know, that one little gap that men love to try and sneak a peek through). It's buttoned and laying completely flat. I also noticed the cap sleeves aren't so tight on my upper arms. Very minimal results, but I wore this blouse two weeks ago, so it's noticeable. Minimal, but quick results of sticking to it and working hard.