Monday, February 8, 2010

One Week Down

Well! We got a pretty good look this week at what P90X is all about! We missed two workouts due to DVD and electronics issues. And I have determined that I CANNOT eat 3000 calories a day at this point! Even Brandon has a hard time getting that much food in. Sure, if we ate chocolates or high fat / high sugar foods we could pull off 3000 calories, but eating according to P90X nutrition...all that high quality healthy food....3000 calories is a HIGH VOLUME of food!

Now, due to our missed workouts and our desire to see serious results, we are going to do week one over again. The first 4 weeks are the same workouts (perfecting the moves and getting in all the reps), so we'll have 5 weeks of the same work outs. The decision is a good one, but it messes with my precision mindedness a bit. I liked that we started on February 1st so I could measure progress in "months", but I can reset and refocus for a good cause.

Additionally, I am seriously considering joining a roller derby team! I need something fun to do for exercise. Not that P90X is not "fun", but...oh heck, who am I kidding?! P90X isn't fun! I'm determined to get my workout in every day, and I know its going to get me results, but I definitely wouldn't call it a rockin good time!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Alive! We're still alive!

OK! Now that I've done two of the workouts I will blog it. And I will continue to do so throughout the next 90 days. By the way...which do you think sounds longer, 90 days or 3 months? Comment below!

One of the reasons I wanted to blog about our experience is so that if others were considering trying P90X, they could have another person's perspective on it. So, I will have that in mind when I make the posts. I'll also get Brandon's feedback, so we can hear from a guy.

I'll tell you what I noticed straight off...Tony Horton's presence on the screen is NOT annoying! He's "cool", but not in a "I'm trying to be real cool" sort of way.
He's got this really great way of showing his deep enthusiasm for what he's teaching on the DVD's and he keeps us motivated with his words, humor, and energy. But he's not psycho energized like some Richard Simmons (you know the high pitched scream as he helps us sweat to the oldies) or Tony Little (can you picture his crazy muscle grimace /smile as he strides all over his Gazelle). Tony Horton is just truly energized and motivational. And I KNOW he passes the test if he doesn't annoy Brandon. If you know my guy, you know it's not hard to annoy Brandon. See image of annoyed Brandon below HAHAHAHAAA!!!!



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(ok, that's not really Brandon) ANYWAY....Brandon and I are doing the "Lean" program...you can chose "Classic" or "Double" or "Lean". Our choice is because our goal is weight loss rather than muscle building. More cardio in this version.

I'm not going to go into the whole program here because there are tons of sites out there that will give you that info. Here are a few: P90X official site
or a review by a P90X graduate
or Amazon customer reviews

Yesterday was DAY ONE of WEEK ONE of PHASE ONE, so we did the Core Synergistics DVD. Today was day two and Cardio X DVD. I started stiffening up a few hours after the first workout and haven't had a pain free moment since. Brandon says he barely got out of bed this morning. :-) That's the point of P90X though. :-) Not really. CHANGE is the point. But change isn't comfortable, is it? Sometimes change hurts, huh? Yeah, well this HURTS! And here's a little secret just between you and I...I'm kinda babying myself. I'm not pushing my body as hard as I have in the past. But I think this will work in my favor. Admittedly, we've never been this out of shape...either of us. And in the past couple years I've tended to go gung-ho right off and then I'll be in so much pain that I de-rail and I'm no good for a while. This time I'm going the tortoise route, slow and steady and keep on track. Respecting my body, pacing myself, modifying the moves, focusing on form and finishing the workout. That's what Tony says too...focus on your form and finishing. By the end of Phase 1 we will be able to complete the DVD's in good form and full bore all the way through to the end!

One thing I'll say...that Dreya Roll move they do...HECK NO! That move HURTS my muscle tissue all the way to the bone! Even when I did pilates and was in great shap, the tuck roll thingy they did hurt me. I'm going to have to find some other move to do when P90X is telling me to do THAT one!

Another thing I am going to do is post motivational photos of my self and Brandon here. Feel free to say all sorts of nice things to me about them to keep me working on getting back to where I want to be!!

Cheesy Cowgirl Shot
...but I like my shirt in this one and want to wear it again. Yes, I still have it!

A SHout OUt Thank You to My Neighbor!

Soooo...luckily for me, I have a neighbor who was kind enough to take the kids for me while I work out. She said she could do that for me around 9am most mornings. I had planned to get my workout in when I had the teenagers and the hubby home after school /work. Of course, that meant AFTER I'd cooked dinner and eaten and fed the baby (AND amid the grumbles and whines of the big kids who would have to look after the small kids) and BEFORE bedtime routines, etc. So it was going to be pretty dicey as to the consistency of getting that workout DONE. I knew there was no way I could be up all night with the baby and then work out at 4:30am before Brandon left for work, and definitely no way that I could have an hour of uninterrupted time during the day while home alone with the two little ones. So the offer of my neighbor's help is INVALUABLE! And I just have to walk them over when I am ready to ROLL! THANK YOU!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

TOMORROW WILL COME...!

Today Brandon and I will be doing our fitness tests (and 90 days from now we will do the same test to see our progress) and preparing our meals for the next three days. (Sundays and Wednesdays are meal prep days.) Yesterday we calculated our body fat percentages and our nutrition levels.

Oh my word! This IS going to happen! I'm a bit scared ~ the P90X program actually tells you to have your pain killers on hand because you CAN NOT SKIP A WORKOUT and you WILL be in pain.

Heaven help us!

Monday, January 25, 2010

7 Days



Gotta go out to the Shred Room every day for the next 7 days. While there, I need to do some sort of workout video (I prefer Pilates) so that I get myself into the habit of going out and working out. Brandon is in Spokane all week and has committed to going to the hotel fitness room and doing an hour of something.



Also this week I will prepare the huge whiteboard that Brandon installed out there. It's about 3 feet tall by about 6 feet wide. We can track our progress, which workout needs to be done, etc. I think I'll write little motivational messages to him (and myself) as well. :-)

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Plan and The Prep and The Participants

The plan is simple. Beginning on February 1st 2010 we will DO the P90X program. Every day. For 90 days. And then do it again. And probably one more time. Just to get to where we need to be.

The Prep is pretty simple too.

There's the Physical Prep:

We have converted out garage into what I call "The Shred Room". Includes yoga mats, weights, resistance bands, TV and DVD player, the P90X DVD's, carpeted area over cement floor, fans, water in the fridge. Why the need for our Shred Room? Because there is no way on God's Green Earth that I am going to work out in front of any one, not even family members. And our house is FULL. No room to set up a dedicated space inside. Two bonuses to having the Shred Room outside: we can escape the kids for an hour a day, and because it's winter it's cold out there and P90X is going to burn us up; we'll appreciate the cold!

And there's the Mental Prep:

We know this workout is going to be HARD! It's going to kick our butts. We need to have our pain killers ready, we need to NOT SKIP A WORKOUT, we need to go out there and DO IT even when our muscles are screaming at us for being tortuous conquerors. We need to eat high protein low simple carb meals. We need to not get discouraged and to just go, go, GO! We need to write down why we need this. Why we want this. And how we're going to get it. We need to do some serious self-talk. Get our minds i the game. Be accountable and encouraging to each other.

The Participants:

Tara (Me). Turning 40 this March. Mother of four kids aged 18(boy), 16(girl), 3(girl) and 6 months(boy). Not gonna tell you my weight, but it's not a nice number. Ha! I'm 5' 4" and at my best 5 years ago I was 135 pounds. BUT there's been two pregancies since then. Here's a photo of me in winter of 2005 (Ever was born on January 23rd, 2006 and Torin was born July 23rd, 2009):









Being nice to myself, I will also include a photo of me when I was fit, BEFORE the pregnancies!







Brandon (my husband). 35 years old this coming April. Great Dad. Great husband. 230 lbs at 5'10". 6 years ago he was about 180 I think. Photo of him in March of 2004:


















And here we are in a couple of our engagement photos in 2004:





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And here we are, not so pretty (this was about 4 years ago. I MAY post something more recent if I can get up the guts. I really don't like how I look right now):



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Okay....so we've introduced the plan, the prep and the people. Now the countdown begins to the 1st of February when we will begin what is the P90X program!! (Yes, I am shaking in my boots! And here are my boots!!!)