P90X, Week 7, Day 3

Well, I'm terrible at Math, but I believe I'm 45 days into the program now, which means I'm halfway through it! Then who knows waht I will do, but I will have to find a way to keep my body active so I don't regain the weight. I notice my legs are starting to get thinner and more muscular, but the butt and thighs are still there... and that little "pooch" just below my belly button doesn't want to budge, either. It may be with me for the rest of my life?

Tonight's workout was Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. Have I mentioned that I HATE pushups? 'Cause I do. Man oh man, this workout has sooo many pushups. I was super weak, yet again, probably because I have not had any protein shakes today. We are officially out of protein but will buy some tomorrow, as it is Gold Card week at GNC and you save 20%, which is a lot considering the price of the protein. In addition to the chest/shoulders/triceps workout, I had to do Ab Ripper X as well. That's become like second nature to me, because I do it so often. I like Ab Ripper X. It's over in 16 minutes :)

Other news... Today, my daughter and I went shopping for Easter dresses. I let her pick out her dress this year, and she kind of surprised me by her 3 choices. We had to narrow it down to one. She had picked a frilly pink dress, which really isn't her style, as well as a sparkly turquoise dress (gorgeous), and then a floral dress with blues and purples. She went with the floral dress. I was surprised because all along she ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the flashy turqoise dress. She said the floral dress was more "Easter'y". I guess that does make sense! I had picked out a beautiful dress in the store circular, but once we got to the store, it was nowhere to be found. So I did something very brave; I let my daughter choose some dresses for me to try on. I tried on three, and of the three, she liked a blue floral one the best. It has a ruffle and everything. Definitely not a dress I would have picked for myself, but it is very pretty. I just hope I don't regret the choice later. I have tried it on a couple of times, and each time I have a different reaction. I either love it or hate it. I either feel ultra-feminine and flirty in it, or I feel like Grandma's curtains. Hmmm.

I also got a haircut today. I went into the salon not having a clue as to what I wanted, other than the fact that I wanted all the scraggly stuff cut off. The young girl who cut my hair was very helpful and I picked a style out of a book. She copied it to a "T". I now have side swept bangs and a much shorter length. It's to my shoulders, with long layers. It's cute. I still want to grow it out long, but I want to do it right; I want it to be nice and healthy. So this go 'round I'll be sure to have it trimmed every 6 weeks. Since getting my hair cut, I feel a little chubbier, just because it kind of changed the proportions of my face and makes my belly/butt/thighs look bigger, at least in my mind. I always thought the longer hair kinda hid my fat. Mabye that was all in my head too. Ha.
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P90X, Week 7, Day 2

(GASP) I posted after midnight. That's because I started Cardio X at somewhere close to 11 PM. It just about killed me tonight, but I slugged through it. I was absolutely exhausted from hauling brush for 2 1/2 hours and burning it in a big bonfire with my family. It was fun, and i know I burned a lot of calories doing it. After finishing Cardio X, I hit a nice, hot shower... and here I am :)

Well, amazing news, I lost 2 more lbs this morning! I had to step on the scale 3x to actually believe it. I hope the weight doesn't go up and down on me; it will drive me insane. I'm getting better at this counting calories thing; I have more than enough to eat each day, and it's pretty well balanced. I had a hard boiled egg and banana for an early breakfast, then drank a protein shake around 11 AM. For lunch, I had a big green salad with lots of fresh veggies and fat free dressing. For dinner, we had pork tenderloin and another big, green salad with almonds on top and light italian house dressing. For snacks I had about a cup of fresh strawberries and later about 1/2 cup of cucumber slices. Like I said in my last blog, the nutritional part has become like a fun little game to me. I enjoy finding the healthiest foods with the lowest calories that still taste really, really good. My pork tenderloin, though it was baked, tasted like it had just come right off of the grill. It was amazing. And 4 oz was only 140 calories. 

My totals for today were: 
Food-1180 cals
Exercise-941 cals

Oh, and I'm starting to see defined leg muscles coming through the fat now. My legs are much thinner from about the knee to the hip. I still have cellulite and saddlebags (UGH), but my quadriceps are pretty cut. I really need to get a tan on this white body to show off my progress so far with P90X. I can't wait for the next 5 weeks to be over so I can see the final results!

P90X, Week 7, Day 1

I really brought it today. I burned 1,499 calories and only consumed 955 in food. That's a little low; I should be consuming around 1200. It was a great day, though. I didn't have a morning client to see today, so I met a friend out for Brunch. I love love LOVE my Iphone app called "My Fitness Pal" which tracks all of my daily calories. I use it when I go to various restaurants to search the lowest-calorie options on the menu. It's become like a little game to me, to pick the healthiest thing on the menu. I'm a bit obsessed, actually. So, for example, we met at I-hop (International House of Pancakes). If you look up Ihop's menu, you will see that most of the plates there are 500+ calories. So, after searching through the different options, I found a Create-your-own omelette which was only 150 calories. It was made from egg whites, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I drank my share of coffee (with skim milk and Splenda), which was also very low in calories, and rather than the 3 pancakes (490 calories PLUS all of the calories in the syrup) which was supposed to come with my omelette, I opted for a small bowl of fresh fruit... only 80 calories. So, all in all, I only consumed 340 calories at brunch. 


After brunch, I came home and walked my dog Coda for 30 minutes... that burned 106 calories.... and I did Ab Ripper X, which burned approximately 330 calories. Ab Ripper X is only around 16 minutes long, so after completing that I went to see my afternoon client. Once I was finished with her, I came back home and did the Core Synergisitics DVD which works all of your core muscles (abs, butt, thighs, lower back) and burned another 418 calories. I kinda thought I was done for the day after that. In fact, I felt so tired and weak, I made myself 1/2 pb and j sandwich (220 calories) which made me feel better. I took my son to his soccer practice for one hour, then we were off to Chic Fil A for school spirit night. On these nights, 10% of the total sales go to their school budget, so we try to support their school (AND we love Chic Fil A). Again, I used my handy dandy Iphone app to find the healthiest menu option. I decided on the chargrilled chicken sandwich, which was only 290 calories. It hit the spot! 


After dinner, I was hoping for a chance to get a nice, hot shower and rest a bit. My husband was outside cutting up trees with his chainsaw and wasn't able to take our children to their karate class, so I ended up taking them to that, too. On the way, the kids BEGGED me to take the class with them. I really didn't think I'd have the energy to take the class, and I was a bit embarrassed at the thought of doing so, because I have never tried it before. Although I was timid about it, I agreed to do it for my kiddos. I actually did very well! I was the only female (other than my 10 year old daughter, who is a green belt) in the class, and I was surrounded by 3 black belts, 1 other green belt, and a blue belt. Even my 8 year old (who is a white belt) has more experience than me. But thanks to P90X, I knew most of the abs exercises that they started warming up with, and I was able to keep up with them. I think I surprised 'em a bit when I showed them up on the pushups. The thing I need the most practice with, however, were the step-blocks. My coordination was not the best, and I definitely need more practice! I did great with kicks; Sensai said I'm very flexible. Must be all that yoga. So, the 60 minutes of karate burned another 644 calories. I honestly don't know if I'll be returning to karate class, but it was kinda fun and I learned some helpful self-defense techniques!


The hardest of all the exercise was definitely the P90X-Core Synergistics. I was covered in sweat by the end, and I opted out of the Bonus Round because that was when we had to leave to make it to soccer practice. 


All in all, I'm feeling pretty good-confident, strong, and maybe even a little bad-a@@. But not sexy yet... Still lookin' to feel sexy :)

Warning: This is going to be a rambling post. I should have been in bed at least a couple hours ago. I'm a terrible sleeper. Too nosey, to afraid I'm going to miss something, no matter how exhausted I am feeling. So, I'm thinking that I need a makeover. I'm just clueless when it comes to hair and makeup and all of that. If/when I do wear makeup, it's typically a mixture of very cheap stuff and a few Mary Kay products. I am very pale and feel that I need the coloring that makeup provides. I wear very little-typically mascara and lipgloss will do the trick. So, it's not as if I want to change my low-maintenance approach, but I really do want a new hairdo. Right now it's long with shaggy layers. It doesn't look good. I have had it long all of my life, with the exception of a bob haircut maybe twice. I want something that will actually look good on me. I love long hair, but I think I look scraggly with it after awhile. Now that I've lost some weight, I want to try something new with my hair. I would like something long-ish but different. I just don't know what.


I would love a new wardrobe too. I haven't tried anything on in a store in awhile. I am not sure how that experience would be. On the one hand, it might build my self-esteem to see that I can wear smaller sizes; on the other hand, those harsh florescent lights m the dressing room might highlight flab that I wasn't even aware of. It would be great, though, to have some new clothes for Spring. Which reminds me, I need to get the kids Spring outfits for church on Easter Sunday. I'm usually on the ball about that sort of thing; in the past years, I've had their Easter outfits picked out weeks or even months in advance. However, we have spent Easter at the beach for the past 2 years and have not really dressed up. This year, we'll be at home, and we'll be going to our church, so we all have to look spiffy. My daughter says she wants a yellow dress. I have the shopping itch. Bad. 


So, you've seen pictures of me posted on this blog. Please throw out some ideas for me for hairstyles. I desperately need a new look!


GOOD NIGHT :)

P90X, Week 6, Day 7

Well, I almost forgot to post this evening, because today's workout is "Rest Or Stretch X". While I had it in the back of my mind to do the stretch video, I opted for Rest today. Then the guilt caught up with me. But the rest won.

P90X, Week 6, Day 6

Just finished Kenpo X! It's Tuesday, so it's my biggest calorie burning day of the week, because I took my step aerobics class this morning (60 minutes long, high impact), and then had Kenpo X tonight. I am pretty exhausted. I noticed while doing Kenpo X that there are things I've been doing wrong all along, as far as some issues with form and different moves. I guess as long as I've been moving, it is ok. Definitely seeing my waist shrinking and now even my bottom half is starting to catch up. The arms are getting CUT. I can see my muscles are becoming more and more defined. I still have a little jiggle in my wiggle everywhere on my body though. I guess that is to be expected. I'm over half way through the program now! YEAH!

P90X, Week 6, Day 5

I said I wouldn't make it a habit to substitute the gym for P90X workouts, and I'd only done it once so far (last week) until tonight, when I opted for the gym again. It's just easier to use the gym equipment for my back, and I feel that I work my legs harder at the gym than I do with P90X... I'm a pro at working my legs by now because that's always been a problem area for me. So, with that said, I worked out using gym equipment for about an hour, then came home and completed Ab Ripper X... "I hate it... but I love it"....