Monday, November 30, 2009

Day 58, Chest and Back

Man I suck. I seem to have lost ground on this workout based on the numbers I had down before. I dropped my reps on most of the pull ups for some reason although most of the push ups I was able to keep up to where I was before. Not sure if this was due to waking up late, being tired, having such a long break between phase 2 and 3 or what. I also am a little sore in my lower back this morning and we ended up stopping the ab ripper x workout pretty close to the beginning and will try to do that tonight instead, hopefully I will be a little looser in the back by then. Not real happy with the results this morning but I am going to just chalk it up to a bad day and move on. If I see the same sort of thing going forward...

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Day 57, X Stretch

Nice relaxing stretch this evening. It felt good to get this routine in twice this week. Looks like we start back with the Resistance training again tomorrow to start out phase 3. The chest and back workout is one we have not done in 5-6 weeks I think. Should be interesting to see how the reps and weight goes. Looking forward to getting started on phase 3 and heading down the home stretch of this thing. I am not anticipating seeing any big changes in the way I look or feel over the next 5 weeks but we will see, I could be wrong.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Day 56, Yoga X

Nice workout tonight with Yoga. I felt really good, strong and balance was good. I even did beter, somewhat, on the sequence I always have problems with (half moon,...). I have put back on a couple of pounds since getting over my illness and I am back up to 154.4. I am actually much happier with how I look at this weight than any lighter. When I was a few pounds lighter earlier this week my waist started looking too thin and I think I am going to try to stay about where I am even if that means altering the nutrition plan. I still have a small layer of fat around my waist but I think as it was going away earlier in the week I just looked skinny and sickly. I think we are going to have the time tomorrow to get the X Stretch workout in and I am looking forward to that no matter what the NY times says here. I am still convinced that the stretching and yoga is increasing my flexibility and I am also convinced that will help prevent injury.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Day 55, Core Synergistics

Good workout this morning. I don't think Sarah really likes this workout much but I think it is OK. I don't think it is very tough though except the lunge, kickback, curl, press, reverse curl move and that is really only hard because you do it for so long. Even though it does not seem to tough to me when we are doing it my core always feels ragged after we finish. I have a band around my mid section right now that is taught as hell and feels like it got a great workout. This is just a strange workout that way for me.

Sent most of the leftover food home with others last night so we don't have too much junk here but we did somehow end up with all the pies. We have an apple and a pumpkin. I had a very tiny piece of the pumpkin last night and it was damn good, Sarah can really make a pie. I think Sarah had some of each which is good considering she spent all that time making them. Need to figure out someone to have over to eat the pies soon. Looking forward to a long weekend with nothing to do, should be relaxing.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Day 54, X Stretch

We got to sleep in a little this morning because the kids slept at grandmas house last night so that was nice. We went out with some old friends of mine last night and this was the first time we have really gone off the nutrition plan, not too bad though. Went to a mexican resteraunt and most of what we had was fine but we did eat some chips and salsa and the chips were fried. We also went to a wine bar and Sarah and I each had a glass of wine. No worries though we had a good time.

Did X Stretch this morning while some food is cooking in the oven, we are having everyone over here for thanksgiving. It felt good to stretch but I was a little tight especially in the lower back. By the end of the hour everything was loose again though. I can't believe how long it had been since we did this workout, we need to try to start fitting it in again on Sundays. Have a good holiday everyone and remember portion control.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Day 53, Kenpo X

I could certainly tell that the Core Synergistics workout did a number on my core as I worked through the Kenpo workout today. It was especially obvious when doing the kick moves when I could tell there was a band around my midsection that was pretty sore from the previous workout. We did pretty well with this one today and sweat like crazy by the end of it. Heart rate still getting up there good on this workout unlike others out there. My shoulders really seem to get a good workout from this one for whatever reason. I am still pretty bad with the kicks but can hold my own with the punches and blocks. This workout really flies by when you are doing it as well, I guess because you never really stop at all. Looking forward to doing X Stretch tomorrow, we have not done that thing in weeks because of schedule conflicts on Sundays for a while.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Days 51 and 52

Monday was supposed to be Yoga X but if you recall we did that on Sunday due to other things going on Monday. I was planning on trying to get X Stretch in Monday but my parents came over for dinner and hung out for a while so I skipped it and used it as a rest day instead.

This morning we got up at 5:30 and did core Synergistics. This is the first time in a while we have worked out in the morning and it felt good to do it. We have had schedule issues that have forced us to do the workouts at night for a while and I forgot how good it feels to get up and workout first thing in the morning, except Yoga. This workout went by pretty fast and I got to sweating pretty good. I lightened up the weights on a few of the lunges because I am still pretty sore in my left groin for whatever reason. I hope that gets better this week.

Nutrition is back on track after the several days of not eating much but man did I drop some weight. I weighed in again this morning and was 150.8. I was able to tell I had lost some more weight just by looking in the mirror because my stomach is shaped a little different and you can really see the muscles in there moving when I move around. Kenpo X tomorrow should be fun.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Day 50 rewind

Well, looks like there is just something about this recovery week that gets me. If you recall I had a fever and was sick all week during the first one and worse I was on vacation. Last Tuesday we did Core Synergistics and I woke up Wed. morning with some sort of stomach bug and have been out of commission until today. I was unable to eat much but did not blow the nutrition, although I did eat mostly carbs since toast and rice are pretty easy on the stomach. My wife and I talked about what to do about the program and decided to just redo the recovery week this week and go from there. So Monday should have been Yoga but my wife is going out Monday night so we did Yoga tonight which makes today logical day 50.

Yoga was pretty good and I felt surprisingly strong considering I hardly ate for the last 4 days. I even made it through most of the ridiculous half moon sequence, yeah most I still did not get it all the way. For whatever reason my left groin muscle is pretty sore even though I have bee doing nothing for the better part of a week, hmmm??? That soreness and a few of the stretches a little tough but all in all it was a good workout. I was able to get myself mostly back into the nutrition plan today although I was still probably a little light on calories but that should change as the week goes on. Speaking of calories I weighed myself this morning and was a whopping 150.6, wow. It is incredible how quickly you can lose a few pounds when you are not eating much at all. I will probably try to do X Stretch tomorrow night while the wife is out and then we get up Tues. morning to do Core Synergistics again for day 51.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Day 50, Yoga X

First day of te recovery week and the first time I have done Yoga after playing hockey. My legs and lower back were tight as hell and I was struggling with the yoga tonight. I really did not think I was going to make it through to the balance moves tonight but I struggled through. My balance was off a little too due to my sore legs but I feel really good now that I finished it. I am relaxed and everything is loosened up. Should be fun to try core synergistics again tomorrow, I don't even really remember how it was. I guess I should go back and read my post from the first recovery week.

As if people need another excuse

I read this article in the NY Times that appears to be saying that people are fat, excuse me overweight or whatever the politically correct term of the day is, not because of poor diet and lack of exercise but due to their DNA and their brain. The article almost seems to suggest that the attempt to get Americans to slim down is futile. What a load of crap!! Learn what to eat, how much of it to eat, and get a lot of exercise. There is no magic formula to weight loss and fitness just hard work. When I say hard work I am saying exercise but even more importantly diet. This is hard work too and there are no tricks to it. You are not going to find a cookie, or brownie, or ice cream diet that will work in the long run and just cutting calories is likely to fail as well because your body will go into starvation mode and try to conserve energy. As anyone who has done a really intense workout program will tell you if you are working hard enough you will be able to eat a lot of food and still lose weight.

The article says at one point "First, the federal government told Americans to exercise for half an hour a day. Then, dietary guidelines issued in 2005 changed the advice, recommending 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise a day. There was an uproar; many said the goal was unrealistic for Americans. But for many scientists, the more pertinent question was whether such an exercise program would really help people lose weight." Well if you are not willing to put the work into losing the weight then you are not going to lose the weight. We were not designed to sit in front of a computer all day and then come home and sit in front of the TV and when we do we get fat. We evolved as hunter gatherers who did a large amount of "exercising" every single day, much more that 60-90 minutes most likely. As far as will this exercise do the trick, not if you keep eating the crap you always do. You can't just go to McDonald's every day and workout and expect that you are going to lose weight. If it wasn't once alive or you can't pronounce any of the ingredients on the package you probably should not eat it more than once a month or so. Better yet, real food does not need an ingredients list.

They then go on to say "Scientists now believe that each individual has a genetically determined weight range spanning perhaps 30 pounds. Those who force their weight below nature’s preassigned levels become hungrier and eat more; several studies also show that their metabolisms slow in a variety of ways as the body tries to conserve energy and regain weight. People trying to exceed their weight range face the opposite situation: eating becomes unappealing, and their metabolisms shift into high gear." Give me a break! By this logic all the morbidly obese people out there must be genetically designed to be at that weight, I think not. If they weren't then as stated their food would become unappealing and they would simply lose weight with no effort so it must be correct. How convenient that is for the person that wants an excuse to not get up off their fat lazy ass and work hard at their diet and exercise. I will again go back to our evolution as hunter gatherers, if you were that overweight in that environment you are very unlikely to last very long. Toady we don't have to worry much about predators but in the past that was not the case and if you were too fat to run away you would not last too long.

Finally, it is suggested that "According to several animal studies, conditions during pregnancy, including the mother’s diet, may determine how fat the offspring are as adults. Human studies have shown that women who eat little in pregnancy, surprisingly, more often have children who grow into fat adults. More than a dozen studies have found that children are more likely to be fat if their mothers smoke during pregnancy." Really, is this so surprising as suggested. Is it not reasonable to think that a woman who eats little or smokes during pregnancy may be more likely than others to not have as much concern for her overall health and perhaps she does not teach her children proper eating habits over the course of their childhood. I am not saying this is the case or that eating little during pregnancy or smoking during pregnancy makes you a bad mother but I am saying that there is no cause and effect relationship that one can draw from the results of a study like this. There could just as easily be some totally unrelated or maybe related factor or factors involved. This is another case of giving people a way to deny personal responsibility. No matter what your parents or society does you are always still free to make your own choices so don't blame your weight or any of your other problems for that matter on someone else. Step up and take some personal responsibility and work hard. Unfortunately too many people want an easy fix, a pill, that will just make all their problems go away.

I know some people might take offense at some of what I have to say here. I suspect most people reading a P90X blog will be OK with it but who knows. This is largely my opinion but is based on my personal experience with gaining weight as well as my observations of others and the large amount of reading I have done over the past year trying to figure out how to lose weight. If it offends you then perhaps you are one of the people I am talking about and maybe you should think about what I am saying.

Days 48 and 49

Well I missed a couple days of blog posts so here goes. We did Kenpo on Saturday to finish out the last full week of weight training for phase 2. I got a really good workout and still am amazed that some people claim they can't break a sweat with this workout. I don't break a sweat until after the first break when all the jumping jacks and X jumps come in but after that I am sweating pretty good and my heart rate gets up where it needs to be. I do notice that my heart rate drops quick if I stop but that is not much of a problem with this workout. I also notice that I am often moving faster than they are in the DVD so maybe that has something to do with it. I think I might pause the DVD after the warm up next time and do some jumping jacks until I start to berak a sweat so I am there from the start.

Sunday we went to the football game and did some tailgating again. Stuck to the nutrition again even at the game. We did not do X stretch because by the time the football game was over I had a hockey game to go to. That was a decent workout and got me sweating pretty good. I am looking forward to being able to do the X stretch routine this wek during recovery since we have not done it in several weeks due to scheduling things on the off day. Can't wait for Yoga tonight.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Day 47, Legs and Back

Saw some gains in my pull ups tonight for a change. Lost some ground again on the ab ripper again though, I just can't seem to do as much in this workout after the leg and back workout and yoga the night before. Still feel good though and having fun with it. Looking forward to one more day this week and then recovery week again. I am interested to see how the recovery week goes this time. I was sick as hell last time we had the recovery week and I really was not able to put into it what I wanted to. Should be interesting.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Chicken Salad Tip

I can't stand yogurt!! If I was starving on a desert island I would probably not eat yogurt. However, there is one thing I hate more than yogurt and that is fake mayonnaise. So the problem is what to do about eating chicken salad and sticking to the nutrition plan. My wife made some chicken salad and snuck some yogurt in there and I have to say I never even noticed. What she does is uses half mayo, we use regular but you could use low fat if you want, and half plain low or no fat yogurt. Basically the yogurt does not add any flavor but has the same texture as the mayo and it doesn't have the fat so the chicken salad now is significantly lower in fat than usual. Her recipe is:

chicken
almonds
grapes
celery
curry powder
may
yogurt

Adjust it if you want an go all the way with either low/no fat may or yogurt. It is delicious stuff, the curry powder gives you a little kick the grapes some sweetness and the the almonds and celery give you that crunch.

Day 46, Yoga X

Just finished our yoga for the day and it was good. I still had problems with the half moon sequence but was good on all the balance postures after. Everything else was good with it and I am feeling pretty relaxed. Looking forward to finishing out the week and getting to the recover week. On another note, we made the gronola that fitbomb put the recipe up for and it is great stuff. I measured out my 1/2 cup serving and stuck to it but watch out for this stuff, I could sit in front of the TV and eat it all.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Day 45, Half Way There

I can't believe we are half way to the 90 day mark already. This thing goes fast once you get into it. Almost done with phase 2 and getting stronger every day. We had back and biceps today and the workout was good. I increased my weight on a lot of the exercises but I am not seeing very big gains on my pull ups yet. I wonder if I will see more improvement there in phase 3. Ab Ripper was good again but I think I figured out why the Monday one seems easier. There are a bunch of exercises in there that involve you legs as well as abs and low back, like crunchy frogs and bicycles. So every day but Monday there is a leg workout before the Ab Ripper workout and that is affecting my performance on those exercises. I noticed it today because as I said I really pushed hard on Plyo yesterday and I could tell that my legs were holding me back on those exercises. I had no problems on the exercises that did not involve legs tonight and did as much on them as I had done Monday. I still am getting much stronger in the core and I am noticing that the stronger my core gets the more I use it. I notice, for instance that after playing hockey now my core is sore the next day which was not the case before. I basically feels as if I did a core workout the night before and I assume this is because I am engaging my core more during hockey than I was before. This is great because it just makes my core that much stronger and helps prevent injuries while I am out there.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Day 44, Kicked Some Ass on Plyo Today

Another great Plyometrics workout today. I went into this knowing I have a recovery week next week so I won't get to do this for 2 weeks and I decided to really go for it. This was without question the best I have performed on this workout to date. I kept up with Tony and the kids throughout this one and even outpaced them at points. I am still amazed that I am seeing the improvements week after week after week like this. This program works pretty damn well if you follow it. My wife noticed tonight that ever sensitive Tony commented when doing leg stretches that we need to switch and do the other leg because "we all have 2 legs." Keep in mind this is right after the announcement that one of the kids, that is what he calls the people working out with him, has a prosthetic leg. Looking forward to hitting the half way point tomorrow!! Can't believe how fast it is going by.

Keep pushing, it is only a little pain

Good article in the NY Times about working through pain. This can be a real problem for those not used to doing it or who have never been pushed to do it. It takes being pushed for most people to realize their bodies are capable of much more than they think and all they have to do is ignore the discomfort and keep pushing, it will end eventually and then you can relax and the pain will be gone. Just learn to recognize the difference between injury and normal workout pain. Once you realize you can do just about anything for 30 seconds it then becomes easy to take the next step to a minute...

Day 43

Today was rest or X Stretch and I did not do the stretching because I just did not have time. My son had hockey and then I had a hockey game too so I got a pretty good workout there. Plyo tomorrow night and I can't wait, I love plyo. Nutrition is still right where it needs to be. I did another weigh in Sunday and was 154.2 which I think means no change in the last week in my weight but I am looking and feeling good. I did go buy some new jeans and they were 34" waist and have a little room in them. I measured my waist again too and I am down to 33" even which is down 1/2" from day 30. Almost halfway through and still having fun.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Day 42, Switching Things Up

Well today was supposed to be rest or X stretch but I have a hockey game to play tomorrow night so we did chest, triceps, and shoulders tonight instead of tomorrow. Good workout tonight and Phil cracks me up with the crap he gives Tony. I just love it when he tells Tony "will you get lost." I do not like the plyo (clap) push ups at all. They bother my wrists and I am actually thinking about substituting something else, I almost hurt my wrist on this one tonight. Hopefully it will be fine tomorrow. I kicked some ass on Ab Ripper X tonight too which is interesting considering we did not have the day off before this workout. I had assumed that I was doing better with the abs on Monday because of the day off on Sunday but maybe it is something else. I did more of the ab workout today than I have yet, I think I did 20 reps on most of the exercises and that is pretty good considering they are only doing 25 in the DVD and I couldn't get to 15 on most at the start and even 5 or 10 on some.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Day 41 , Kenpo X

Well I started out trying to use some 2 pound weights on this workout just for the hell of it and since some have said they needed to do this because they were not getting a good workout on this one. I only made it to the first break using the weights and let me tell you my shoulders were getting fried. I mentioned before that I really try to pay attention to keeping my hands up and punching, blocking, and kicking as if I am really trying to kick someones ass and I make sure to get my core involved. I am not trying to suggest others don't do the same but I currently could not get through this with the weights for whatever reason. An interesting observation I have made while doing this workout is that if I were to be a boxer or similar I think I would be a southpaw. I am much more comfortable and coordinated on that side even though I do everything else right handed. I also noticed tonight that not only does Wesley not only is slacking in general during the workout but he spends a lot of time taking breaks and drinking water and wiping sweat while everyone else is doing jump rope or running in place. I think he is just out of shape compared to the rest of these guys and that is why he appears to be dogging it as the workout goes on. I am sure he could kick my ass in a fight but I bet the longer I could make it last the better chance I would have.

Nutrition is still going good and I have not been hungry at all. I did have a weird situation the other day though, I went to lunch with someone and I did not have the opportunity to pick the place. I ordered a grilled chicken with potatoes and green beans. When it came the beans were drenched in butter and the potatoes were very greasy as well. I ate the beans but could not force down the potatoes and I felt kinda bad after eating all that butter. My taste buds have without a doubt changed over the last 41 days and I think that is probably good. I have done some reading about changing your eating habits to lose your sweet tooth and it seems there may be something to that and it might not really take that long. I may blog about some of my reading on that some time soon if I can find the time to write it.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Day 40, Nice Round Number

We just finished Legs and Back and I made some minor gains on the pull ups and also seem stronger in the legs but it is hard to say because there is not a lot of weights involved in the leg work. I would like it if they had switched this workout during the 90 days instead of the same one the whole time. This thing seems almost as if it was an afterthought to the program or something. I also don't like the fact that phase 2 has you doing back on Wed. and again on Fri. This seems like poor planning and does not allow me to be able to get the most out of the back workout or get the rest for my muscles I need. And what the hell is Tony talking about at the intro to this one when he says the reason he can do so many pull ups is because he works back and legs together... what the hell is that supposed to mean??? Oh well, I am getting stronger and still enjoying the program but I think this one could be better. Ab Ripper was good but again I am much better with this on Monday after the break than Friday after doing workouts all week and Yoga Belly 7 the day before.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Day 39

We just finished Yoga and it is getting to be one of my favorite workouts, what a turn around from the beginning. I am able to do most everything now in the workout including crane for about 25 seconds. I still can't make it all the way through the whole warrior three to standing splits to half moon to twisting half moon sequence. I can usually get all the moves but I need to put my foot down at some point for a bit, that is a long sequence to be standing on that one leg for. I will get that damn thing though before this is over. My balance was off a little tonight on a few moves (tree and royal dancer) for some reason. I had no problems with the rest of them though. I am wondering if it was just fatigue from trying to complete the half moon sequence just before that.

Day 38

Back and Bicep workout was last night and although I did not have the gains I did during Mondays workout I did see some improvement and it felt like a great workout. I don't like this one as much as the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout but it is still fun. I think it is the fact that I don't really like the pull ups, probably because I am not so great at them although I am getting better. I was not quit as good on Ab Ripper last night as Monday but I assume that is due to the 2 days of workouts before hand and I was still better than last week. Strength is improving and workouts are still fun so that is good. Looking forward to relaxing with Yoga X tonight.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Great Recipe, Easy Too

This is a recipe that my wife has been making for some time now but we had it last night and I thought I would share it with everyone. It is pretty simple to make and unbelievably good. This comes from the Cooking Light web site which has many other good options if you want to check it out. The pineapple pepper relish on this is so good, I might even make that some time all on its own to put on something else.



Ingredients
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple chunks
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
4 lime wedges

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle fish evenly with spice mixture. Add fish to pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Combine pineapple and next 5 ingredients (through jalapeño) in a large bowl, stirring gently. Serve pineapple mixture with fish. Garnish with lime wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 228 (22% from fat)
Fat: 5.5g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein: 34.9g
Carbohydrate: 11.2g
Fiber: 1.5g
Cholesterol: 85mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 328mg
Calcium: 29mg

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Day 37

Just finished Plyometrics and I LOVE THIS WORKOUT!!! It seems from looking at the rest of the P90X bloggers out there that most people don't care for this workout much but I can't wait for it each week. I am feeling much stronger and making gains every day in phase 2. I don't know if it has to do with the diet change or just my body getting used to the intense workouts or what but I am loving it. Bring on the weights tomorrow.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Day 36

Just finished chest, triceps, and shoulders and what a great workout that is. I like the phase 2 workouts better than the phase 1 for sure. I fell on my face trying to squeeze out one last plange push up tonight, can't imagine doing them without my feet like this guy.I feel like I am getting more out of these phase 2 workouts than I was out of the phase 1 workouts, I am going to be real sore tomorrow. Sarah really brought it tonight as well, should be funny when she has to lift the kids tomorrow. I like the fact that my grandmother is in this video too, and she outworks me no less. Laura is one bad ass for her age or my age for that matter. A quick thanks to Fitbomb for posting the yummy looking granola recipe. Check it out we will be trying that here real soon. I kicked some serious ass on Ab Ripper X tonight too. I definitely am getting a lot better with this workout but I still have problems with heals to the heavens. I was pretty disappointed with my performance on Ab Ripper on Friday but I am pretty sure it is due to doing Yoga Belly 7 the night before.

Day 35

Well Sunday was supposed to be my X Stretch day but I had a sore wrist from something and decided to not do the stretching. I am not sure what the problem was with my wrist or how I hurt it but it appears to be feeling better today, a little sore but not bad. I did not just sit on my ass all day though since I did have an ice hockey game Sunday night. That was fun and got me moving and the blood flowing a bit.