P90X Doubles and Phase 2 began yesterday. I am already loving it! "Doubles" in Phase 2 = 3 times per week I'll do 2 workouts/day. One workout is cardio and the second a normal P90X Workout.
Yesterday I ran 4 miles in the morning and then did the P90X Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab Ripper X Workout. I woke up today sore! I love that feeling!
I will begin training for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon beginning the week of February 15th. I am so excited. I have every intention of completing the full marathon! But the good news is that they just added a half marathon this year, too. If my body cannot hold up for the marathon training, I'd still love to do the half! This is my "next hurdle" to overcome - a marathon! But what better place than San Diego, June 6th, to do it at?!
Today for P90X was the Plyometric workout. It #neverfails, the Plyo workout is hard. When the workout is over I'm always drenched in sweat. But I love it. And this is why I #carryon with the entire P90X Program!
Tomorrow is another Doubles day. I can't hardly wait! Cheers!
Today began my 3rd week of P90X! Today is also Day 16 with me sticking to my strict GAPS Diet.
How do I feel? AMAZING!
I did the Chest/Back + Ab Ripper X Workout today. This is my third time doing it and I can honestly say that it still absolutely kills me (in a good way of course)! I shake so much by the end of it, with my muscles capped out in fatigue. I try to do at least one more rep than the previous week. And this is usually all I can do! I feel stronger and in better shape, but P90X reminds me daily that I have a long, long way to go!
My stomach, mouth and all "those" problems have been nil yesterday and today! It is always that way almost exactly 2 weeks (to the day) after I start eating only the foods I'm supposed to eat. It is the oddest and most bizarre thing, but it's like clock work. People wonder why I hate to stray so much from my diet - that is why. Two weeks is a long time to deal for one "sinful meal."
I suspected Tuna this week, though, of making me instantly bloated. I had it for lunch 2 days in a row. Both days I was in a lot of left-sided pain immediately. No Tuna for a few days. I will try it again and see if it is indeed a culprit.
One food I have been eating that has been sitting perfectly fine with me is the Mango. In California we are so blessed with the amazing, year-round fruit. It's like candy. I ate a whole one yesterday and today! I am fairly certain I may turn into Mrs. Mango Head.
I am not too worried about becomming her, though, because the Mango is so good for you! Did you know that...
- Mangoes are high in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Vitamin A?
- One whole, peeled mango only has approximately 135 calories?
- Mangoes are High in fiber and are virtually fat-free?
Find out all this an more by clicking HERE. And then go get yourself a delicious mango!
In final Saturday news...I am working on building my own website via a Blogging Platform. I am so excited for this new one! It will definitely have a different "edge" than this one: A "professional," Social Media, Branding and Marketing "edge." Stay tuned!
And as always....Cheers!
Week 2 of P90X is in Full Effect!
Week 2 is the same as week one, as far as days/workouts go. So, here I was today back at Chest/Back & the Ab Ripper X Workout!
I had some great energy this morning, since I allowed myself that (fabulous) rest day yesterday. After my Saturday morning Cup-of-Joe at the best place in Tracy, CA (Baristas: It's no wonder they get a 5-star overall rating on Yelp) I hit the gym to do a little cardio.
(Interject - Running - Rant) I have been craving to run again! And today I finally was able to. It's been so long; oh how I've missed you my dear LunarGlides! I took it nice and slow. I did a nice, little warm up and then ran a very easy 2 miles, pacing at only about 8:49/mile. My sciatica felt great. What I'm praying for is that I can do easy, slow and light and be smarter with my running training so that I can do half marathons and (hopefully) a full this year! (Stay tuned for a *coming very soon* Running Goal posting!)
Once I got home, I ate to refuel, relaxed a minute and then dug right in to my P90X Workout for the day, Chest/Back & the Ab Ripper X. The overall workout was very similar to what I did last week (we keep sheets to track the weight/reps we do for each exercise to watch and ensure progress).
The difference this week, on my 2nd time around with this specific workout, was that I tried to do at least 1-3 more reps than last time. My goal is to "out do" myself, even if it's just a by a tiny amount! And I did it! By the end of the Abs, though, I was shaking so badly and almost got a little dizzy. I grabbed more water and persisted on. I am so thankful I did so! Today I truly did was Tony Horton preaches, "Bring It!"
When the going gets tough, the tough don't listen to negative thoughts in their minds. They just "get it done" until the muscles are truly and completely spent! It's all in your hands, you control that...and that's the beauty!
Cheers!
Day 5 today and these are the solid, muscular legs I aspire to have. I have a new "odd" obsession with the part of the leg just directly behind the kneecap. It's an honest obsession, though. I know I'm not the only one that notices this part of the leg! While I believe that part of the leg is more diet than anything else, I do believe that my new workout is going to help me in overall tonation for it (if I can use that term - tonation?!)
The legs and back workout goes similar to this:
- Tons of leg reps, a few different exercises and then
- Reverse Grip Chin-Ups
- Tons of leg reps, a few different exercises and then
- Wide Front Pull-Ups
- Tons of leg reps, a few different exercises and then
- Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups
- Tons of leg reps, a few different exercises and then
- Switch Grip Pull-Ups
- REPEAT WHOLE CYCLE
Here's what I have to "admit" about my pull-ups: I don't do them all normally. I do use the chair for a little assistance. But, this is okay. Tony Horton says it is, so for now I'm OK with it. But using the chair for a little assistance still has me leaps and bounds from where I used to be prior to working out a lot! I could barely do a pull-up with 90 pounds of assistance! I can now do at least a few pull-ups on my own, with no assistance!
I'm certain I will feel this workout tomorrow, especially because tonight I went to my friend Gary's kickboxing class for an hour. I know that the 2-a-day "doubles" workouts don't start for a few weeks yet, but I love it so much and when I have the energy I keep going!
I am teaching myself to eat, eat, eat, eat so I'm not tearing down muscle. I want to maintain lean muscle, "find" new muscles and shed excess fat, but I also know that without the (good) calories, it will be hard to do. I take one day at a time with the food/workout discipline. It's all we can really do! Cheers!
And on the 3rd day I did the P90X Shoulder/Arm + Ab Ripper X Workout. Hard....again!
I am so sore today that I am finding it hard to maneuver around. My lower body (glutes in particular) are so sore. The Plyometrics did them in. I am realizing I have muscles in certain parts of my body I never knew I had! For example, there is this part of the triceps directly above the elbow. I was not sure how I would ever reach it. P90X has shown me its possible. Wow!
Here is what I would tell anyone who is thinking about doing P90X: Often times, Tony Horton says, "you can do anything for 30 seconds." I expand on that and say, "you can do anything for 30 days."
30 days into the P90X Program would have you done with Phase 1. What I have heard from several people is that if you follow the diet, you will see changes in as little as 2 weeks to one month. Thus, if you can do anything for 30 seconds and then anything for 30 days you will:
- Have the energy to go for 30 more seconds AND
- Never want to give up after the 30 days when you see results and feel amazing
Another successful day with the GAPS Diet. I'll stay at this stage until the weekend at least, probably. Today I added: Extra Lean Beef from Whole Foods (then I made "mini burgers" and added a pinch of cayenne pepper/onion and cooked in Coconut Oil), steamed broccoli, spinach and asparagus, Raw, Organic Artisana Walnut Butter, Artisana Coconut Butter.
I was so hungry when I was doing P90X this morning. The workouts have my metabolism in overdrive. This is a great thing, but I just need to be sure that I am sticking 100% true to my GAPS Diet while consuming enough calories!
Alright, time for me to rest for the evening. My muscles are in overdrive. I have Yoga X at 5:30am tomorrow. But....I'm content, motivated and so excited! Cheers!
Today I took the plunge.
After several weeks of feeling blah, icky, lazy and bloated I am back! I am ready, focused, determined and super excited!
It was Day 2 of GAPS for me, so I felt much better already. I added a few things into the diet today. My diet consisted of: Extra lean turkey, chicken, broth, a small coffee with coconut milk and baked crab legs. I added in the additional probiotics and had my other probiotics, enzymes and multivitamin. Still no carbs, more fats (ie. avocado) or raw almonds. Tomorrow I move into Stage 3 (I can move through the stages faster now that I have already been on the diet and heal faster). Stage 3 means I can add raw egg yolks (though I may cook it), ripe avocado and "pancakes." I will probably only make one egg yolk in the morning and have some avocado. The "pancakes" use flax and veggies, which I'm not ready for yet. I will have a half ripe banana or possibly a full one. Working out a lot with no carbs is not good for you. I don't care what anyone says!
My energy level is way up. It always is when I'm eating the way my body needs to be fed! Thus, I was ready to start full-on with P90X today! For the record, YES, I did my STARTING STATS. I took my weight, did measurements and took pictures. That being said, I'm not sharing those stats. I will wait! I'm so glad I took them all for me, though. It's nice to have a starting place. Starting is the hard part, seeing final results is the best part!
My workout today was Chest/Back and the Ab Ripper X. Ryan and I bought a pull-up bar last night, some extra weights and bands. Chest and back really equaled push-ups and pull-ups....for 45 minutes! The Ab Ripper X was 15 minutes of abs.
By the time I was done with the workout, I felt like Jell-O! I haven't been that "shaky" from a workout in a long time. I think I'm in overall fairly good shape. P90X told me differently! But that's the beauty in this program for me. I'm shaking it up. I'm doing something different with my workout. Shaking it Up = Results, and for now I won't accept any thought other than that!
Tomorrow is the Plyometrics workout. I'm nervous for that one, but it won't stop me from getting it done! I can't wait for all of this!
I'd love to have you join me with all of this. If you currently do P90X, I would love to hear from you! Cheers!
