P90X, Week 11, Day 4

Hello! It has been a great day! I started my morning with my 60 minute step aerobic class, which is always a lot of fun. It was especially hard today, maybe because it was so warm outside today, and I got really hot really fast. I burned around 600 calories in the class. Then I came home and took the dog for a walk for about 30 minutes, which burned another 100 calories. Tonight was my night to do Yoga X; however, since it is 90 minutes long and I have a lot of paperwork to get done (plus showering 2 children/putting them to bed), I opted for Ab Ripper X, which is 16 minutes long and burns more calories than Yoga X. I will probably try to do Yoga X tomorrow, because my legs are already extremely sore from last night and today, and Yoga really helps. I'm always the 'sorest' on the second day, which will be tomorrow.

I... uh... went shopping again. I know, I KNOW! I went to Marshall's again, and I bought myself some workout clothes. This was following feeling overheated in Step class, mind you. I decided I needed some shorts and tank tops as opposed to t-shirts and workout pants. Problem is, the selection was so good, it was tough to narrow it down. I ended up getting 2 very cute workout tops and 3 black bottoms- one is a pair of running shorts, one is capri-length workout pants, and the other are knee length. I have buyer's remorse, but I only paid around $70 for all of that. I won't mention yesterday's purchases again :/ But that is IT for awhile- or at least until my next payday. It is just so much fun to buy new clothes once you lose weight.

This is a terrible picture, & yes it is sideways...but here is one of my new workout tops, worn with the knee length black pants I also purchased:  As you can see, I'm gonna need em... I still have quite a booty on me!

P90X, Week 11, Day 3 (substituted with Brazil Butt Lift)

I can't believe I survived two back to back Brazil Butt workouts. I had intended to do Ab Ripper X and ONE Brazil Butt workout. Unbeknownst to me, however, the first workout (called "Bum Bum Rapido") is only 10 minutes long. So I decided to do the next workout after that one as well, which was about 30 minutes long. I do not think that these workouts were nearly as difficult as the Bum Bum workout; however, I was covered in sweat head to toe when I finished, and I felt the burn in all the right places.

Exciting news.... my friend just sold me a TV/VCR/DVD combo which my husband REALLY didn't want me to get, because it's one of those big bulky box TV's... but I'm so psyched, because about a month ago I cleaned out my VHS tapes and found a ton of workout tapes that I forgot I even had. I'm going to do some Vintage workouts in the near future. lol. My VCR has been broken for years (thanks, kids) and I still have the entire Buns of Steel set, unopened. I bought the set at Big Lots about 10 years ago for around 50 cents per tape. Even then they were outdated! I was telling another friend of mine about it, and she was jealous, because she used to own Buns of Steel and said it had been taken off the market because people kept falling during one particular move. Then she saw it being used on "The Biggest Loser", which is as we know, a popular modern day weight loss show. I bet it sounds silly that I'm excited over a VCR, huh... Well, in addition to the Buns of Steel, I have some other workout videos like pilates, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, among others.

Other exciting news... I got to go shopping again today. It's payday. I believe I have become a shopaholic. But it's SO FUN to buy smaller sizes and to try on clothes. When I look in the mirror, I still feel fat, but the clothes make me feel better once I put them on. Today I bought a cute orange'ish top and a long white hippie skirt. I can wear it to work and/or church and/or wherever.

Even more exciting news... My husband bought a new TV. It's a new chapter in our lives.. I remember the last time we purchased a family TV; It was right after Dylan was born, and it just kind of 'showed up' in my house. It was a 55 inch, Mitsubishi rear projection HDTV 1080. In other words, it was this humongous rectangular BOX with a speaker. I was NOT happy, because it was an expensive purchase and I was a stay at home mom, which means we had no money. He financed it, which made it even worse. I ended up paying the thing off with my short term disability check from work (I worked up until Dylan was born), and from then on I've referred to it as "MY" TV. Now we're tossing it aside. It's gotten old and none of the inputs work except for the digital cable, which means that you can't play video games or watch movies on it. It's also slow to start up sometimes. It's time :( So, we took our tax refund money and got a new TV. It's exciting, like having a new family member. I haven't had much time to check it out due to the above mentioned workouts, but it's a 3D Plasma Smart TV and it's like 100 inches or something... No, I'm exaggerating, but the thing is huge. I'm not even sure how many inches it is. I just asked my husband- it's 64 inches. He would know! It's like a giant computer... I mean, you can do anything on it. I just hope it lasts longer than the other TV did... Remember the olden days when the TVs lasted 20+ years?
With that being said, we are also getting our home alarm system updated. lol.
So, that's all the news... 2 new TVS... one super cool high tech one, and one super cool dinosaur age one, that I can watch Buns of Steel on. How ironic that seems.

P90X, Week 11, Day 2

Tonight, I did Shoulders and Arms again, and I am planning on doing Brazil Butt Lift, though I'm resting at the moment. It's getting late, and tomorrow is Monday. Eesh. I have paperwork to do as well. 2 things: I BROUGHT it tonight, and 2. My shoulders and arms are looking nice!

P90X, Week 11, Day 1

Okay, so I cleaned all day yesterday and missed Day 1 of Week 11. I'm not happy with myself, but I did have a good excuse: my sister in law came to visit! We had a great time. Today I'm getting back on track, and went to the gym earlier and burned 638 calories on the eliptical machine. Just finished Ab Ripper X as well, and that burns over 300 calories in just 15 minutes. My abs are coming right along :) Today I realized that I actually have 3 weeks left, not 2, because there is a week 13. In a way, it's a bummer, but in another wayit's a relief, because it gives me an extra week to get the pounds off. I didn't want to finish up feeling too disappointed.

It's really late, but I am thinking about doing the back, shoulder, & arms video also. That was what I was supposed to do for Week 11, Day 1, but I did the cardio to kind of make up for yesterday. Plus I just did my arms 2 days ago.  I need to have nice arms/shoulders for the dress I'm wearing to my friends' wedding in September. I will try to find a pic and post it later.

So, ppl are finally starting to notice I've lost weight. Today, a friend who didn't know I was dieting/exercising and isn't on facebook to see my daily updates, commented that I'd lost a lot of weight. She said, "What's your secret?" and I said, "Counting calories and working out every day". She replied, "Oh :( Don't you have any other secrets?" lol

P90X, Week 10, Day 7. JUST TWO MORE WEEKS!

So, today is Rest and Stretch Day! Unfortunately, I didn't really get to do either. I cleared my schedule so that I could work on cleaning my entire house, because my sister in law is coming to visit tomorrow. I'm super excited she's coming (she's never been here overnight), and I want my house to be presentable. As a full time working mama of 2 busy, busy kids, my house looks like a hoarder house about 85% of the time. Not only do I not have time to clean, I absolutely HATE to clean! It's something I really struggle with, and it's the only complaint my husband has about being married to me. I have suggested hiring a maid; I mean, c'mon, I am bringing home quite a lot of bacon, I deserve a break, too. But cleaning ladies are expensive, and my husband doesn't understand my need for one. "This is a very small house", he says, "It should be easy to keep clean". Well, he's right. But it's just not my strength, ya'll. I was trying to think about what my strengths are today, and sadly, I don't have many. lol. I'm good at writing, I'm good at mothering (not perfect, but good), and I'm really good at making money. I do not mean to sound like I'm bragging in any way by saying that; I just have this knack for landing good jobs, making good money, and also saving/investing/etc. Too bad I also really love to shop. I truely wish I had other talents besides making money. Like being clean & organized. Oh yeah~ I'm a GREAT cook, when I have time to actually cook! Lately it's been hard to even find the time to buy groceries TO cook.

Ok, enough complaining. I really went on a tangent there. My point is that I exercised by cleaning. I also did some calisthenics at home; some abs exercises, leg lifts, butt lifts, etc... that I just kind of made up on my own, to target my "problem areas". I only have 2 weeks left, and I don't mean to be negative, but I know I won't be where I want to be by then. I am still trying to decide what I will be doing next. Possibly Insanity, possibly just cranking up the cardio and using kettlebells, and possibly trying to run every morning. The third option makes me cringe, because I hate, hate, hate running with a passion. I just know that I need to tone up my upper thighs and my butt. And I still have my love handles to work on, too. 

I have to say, I have given this P90X program a good try. I wouldn't say I have given it 100%, but possibly 95%. I lost another lb today, so that's 15 lbs total doing P90X, and 32 overall since January. My clothes are all falling off of me, and I'm getting lots of compliments. I really cannot complain about it, you know? So what if I still have a little chub; I've still got a month to work on it before the pool opens, and 3 months to work on it before our family beach vacation. I know I can do this!!!

P90X, Week 10, Day 6

Today's workouts were Ab Ripper X and Shoulders and Arms. I had to wait until after 9:00 PM to start them, due to my long work day (day job + church job). I have to say, there are only a couple of workouts in the P90X program that make me feel like a complete bada$$, and Shoulders and Arms is one of them. I've definitely gotten stronger. I made it through the bonus round. Ab Ripper X was the same as always, 16 minutes of excruciating pain, but it's working... No pain, no gain, right?? My waist is sooo much smaller now; I just wish the flab on the front side would GO AWAY. I don't know much more that I can do other than to just step up the cardio.

Well, tomorrow is rest and stretch day, so as of tomorrow, I will be done with week 10. That means I only have 2 weeks left. I do not look like the people on the box OR in the videos, but I do look a lot better than I did 10 weeks ago :)

P90X, Week 10, Day 5

Well..... today I got up early and went to my Step Aerobics class, which was soo much fun. I was bouncing around so much and it's such a great feeling to look in the mirror and see my shirt gaping off of me where my big stomach used to be ;) Step Aerobics was an hour long, and I felt really energized afterwards. I wanted to keep working out, but I had to come home, shower, and go see my clients. I am about to do my shoulders and arms now. I am actually supposed to do Core Synergistics; however, my legs are pretty sore from Plyo, Yoga, and Step Aerobics, that I am going to let them rest for tonight. Core Synergistics involves quite a bit of legwork. Tonight I'll be focusing on upper body. Lemme go do that and I'll blog more once I'm done!