Sunday, May 30, 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Day 76: KenpoX

"...otherwise get your knees up. Get your friggen' pants up!" -Tony Horton- KenpoX

KenpoX, always a great way to wind-down the last exercise of the bunch. I actually did kenpoX in the morning, a rare thing for me. It was okay, I struggled a bit getting out of bed. Thankfully, kenpoX is short, one of the shortest P90X workouts.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, I'm not quite sure how fitting in the workouts will go, perhaps Sunday I will fail to do the chest/arms workout due to lack of equipment, but Monday should be okay for Plyo. All I need is the video and some shoes, which I will have both.

So the weigh in this morning was 149.0lbs. I've clearly dropped again. This is now the lowest weight I've been in a very long time and I still have a few weeks left of phase 3. I hope to put on some muscle mass and gain some weight back, but I need to be careful not to put back any fat weight.

I forgot pictures last week, so I'll be sure to note that in my photo update. But I expect to take one tomorrow and post it (like the others).

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 75: Legs and Back

"He's from Belgium, it's cold up there all the time" -Tony Horton- Legs&Back

Today was TOUGH! Legs and back is a demanding workout, and I haven't done it in 3 weeks... and looking at the numbers from 3 weeks ago, I wanted to perform at least close to where I left off. Nope. Not happening. Infact, I tried to match my 24 chinups out of the box, I fell short by 8. The next set was no better, falling 10 or more behind. And I was so drained I skipped the first round of switch grip, and did not jump during 80-20's. For my performance during today's workout, I give myself a C+. Much like homework, I did it, finished most of the problems with the correct answer, but just took the hit on the hard questions and either left them blank or just half-assed it.

On the bright side, yesterday was a FITNESS EVALUATION at work. It's about enrollment time for health/dental/optical benefits, so they are offering free fitness exams. They measure things like grip strength, lung capacity, body fat %, BMI, cholesterol, glucose, bloodpressure, flexibility, and a few other things. Overall, quite the gambit of tests. But the one that shocked me the most was body fat %...

I was expecting perhaps 10%? (which is on the low side of an average 27 y/o male). Turns out I am 4.6%. WTF when did that happen? I almost wasn't on the chart. I was in the Very-Very Low (VVL) category (of 7 total brackets VVL, VL, L, Avg, H, VH, VVH) which bottomed out at 4.2%.

So I guess the name of the game for me now is to start building some muscle.

And the rest of the fitness evaluation was delightfully average (with the exception of my freakishly low blood pressure 90/58 - which I'm already aware of).

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Random Post (bored at work)

Okay, hopefully my manager doesn't see this... but I was browsing a bit on the internet (specificially cars) and I came across this advertisement for losing belly fat and becoming a sexy-swimsuit model:



Only two steps will make a big - overweight girl (left) look attractive and model-esque (right) without any stretchmarks? Without clicking on the link... let me see if I can decipher those two steps below:

1. Take a photo of a person wearing similar clothes to you and who has a desirable body.

2. Remove both heads from the photo (and any discernable body marks) and place them side by side.

Voila! You've now just gained a flat-tastic stomach!

But there's plenty out there. I love things like this; "Lose your baby fat" or "Drop 3 dress sizes in 3 weeks" or "Eat all you want and lose weight!" or my personal favorite "Lose 20lbs overnight"

Yeah... lose 20lbs overnight! You heard right. 20 lbs overnight. I hope the disclaimer says something like "Warning... results may vary...Participants must have two functioning legs, once of which must be removed via chain-saw." But you know what - it means we are in a society that wants to lose weight, but nobody wants to work to do it.

MAN-UP PEOPLE!

Day 74: YogaX

"You should feel this in your shoulders and biceps... I know I do" -Tony Horton- YogaX

Wow, yoga felt good today. I actually completed the ohms and silly corpse pose at the end. I had a lot of energy and excitement getting up ontime and putting in a solid hour and a half of yogaX. Who would have thought?

So I'll save you all the trouble of having to figure out how many pushups we do in YogaX... it's 27 (if you do the few extra that Tony decides not to do). I really thought it was going to be more than that, because by the 25th or so, you're thinking "My poor arms from all these vinyasas!"

Good day, or at least the start is very good. Tomorrow I'm going to move my chinup bar back into position and get ready for Legs and Back... the one exercise that has so many Tony quotes in it, it makes my head spin.

On mornings that I don't have time to cook eggwhites, I eat a power bar on the way to work... Originally I bashed powerbars for having too many carbs, but now that I am in phase 3, I don't think that should be a problem. I believe 1 bar has 11% carbs for the day. I still keep the carb-count low, but I'm not as strict as I was in phase 1 or 2 (being basically 0% carbs with the exception of my yogurt and apple).


Okay so here's some insight I obtained from The Biggest Loser (of all places). I don't watch the show...I heard the winner weighed in at 257lbs - after losing more than 50% of his body weight (do the math - that was one hefty fellah). But I heard on the radio that some of the contestants, once the cameras are off, return back to their normal size/shape. So I think, in the back of my mind, it's absolutely necessary to continue with my eating habits and exercise habits to ensure I don't just grow back to my plain-self. Which potentially means round 2, 3, 4? Who knows. It might be a bit early to declare my devotion to a 2nd round, since I still have almost 5 weeks left... but you know what - it's good for me. The key to good fitness is not entirely the program you're on so much as being disciplined and STICKING TO THE PROGRAM! So that's what I'm going to do, even after it is over.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I'm BACK!

"No Heels! I'll come to your house if your heels hit the deck!" -Tony Horton- Legs and Back

I'm back from Spain. Some of you might be wondering "So what's the damage?", "How much did you gain?", etc. etc. Well as the scale tells me this morning, I weigh 152lbs, which is actually 1lb less than I weighed before leaving for Spain. In all honesty, I know it's muscle mass... but knowing I didn't come back 165lbs or something atrocious, is quite appealing.

I'm sort of back on my schedule, Sunday I didn't have a pullup bar so I Kenpo'd instead... probably not the smartest substitution ever... but I think this week is going to be a bit discombobulated. Today I am doing Arms/Shoulder and I will be doing it at the gym, we'll see how that goes. I shouldn't have had any problem waking up at 5:00am today, the Jet lag should be working in my favor, but I was just generally tired from working 12 straight days.

Highlights from Spain (in bullet form):
* Plaza Mayor
* Pinto Punto
* Madrid Palace
* Iberian Jamon
* Tortilla (Spanish omelet)
* Tapas
* Paella
* European Coffee

I look forward to being back on the P90X band-wagon. But I need to be warned... Starcraft 2 looms out in the horizon, I hear it is a goals & productivity murderer and will stop at nothing to prevent my completion of P90X.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Day ???: Picture Update

Watch me slowly get fat eating out every night and neglecting exercise! WOOT WOOT! It's not that bad (at least not yet, one more week to go).


Friday, May 14, 2010

Day ???: Jamon (not PETA / vegetarian safe)


I don't know what P90X day I am on, I guess I could look at my calendar and figure it out... but when I create a new post the calendar goes away. It's my 4th day in Spain! I'm having a good time, but I need to get a lot done. Every night is an adventure, the plant personnel take the liberty to escort me around Madrid or Pinto and have fun showing me different sights/foods. I'm glad they come with me, because without them I would have no idea what I am ordering - OR - I would end up ordering things I understand like "hambourgesa" or "papas fritas" which is clearly hamburgers/fries.

Some of the more interesting things I've eaten are: Tortillas (not Mexican tortillas, but Spanish ones, made from eggs and potatoes.) If you can eat two tortilla's you should try out for an eating competition - they are about the size of an apple pie. We split one as an appetizer 4 ways and I was almost too full to have the entree.


I've had JAMON (they say Ham-on... I say Jamon, sometimes Jamin') twice now. I guess dried ham is a delicacy in Spain. It's quite peculiar. They are in very thin slices (think bacon), but uncooked. Heavily salted and dried for many months (think beef jerky). The combination is very unique and quite delicious. But the true delicacy is Iberian ham (I don't know if I am spelling it correctly). It's a type of black-pig that is fed only acorns. And the pork meat is very dark red. I guess a typical leg costs about 300euros ~$500 USD. I was lucky enough to be a part of a plant celebration (one of the managers is having a child, and so it's tradition to buy this food and share it with your co-workers). But I was more than just lucky to eat it... he gave me the opportunity to cut it! And some of the other operators were very excited that I was able to take part in this Spanish celebration. (see picture below)

I am having a great time! But all this heavy eating is going to set me back big time!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Spain Day 1: Landed

"Look at the teeth, WHYY? She's studying to be a dentist. Look at those teeth, unbelievable, off the charts, like chicklets going across...beautiful!"
-Tony Horton- PlyoX

Flights from the US to Europe are a bit strange... you leave late at night and arrive early in the morning... the only problem is, you'd expect your traditional 8-10hrs of sleep. Except, due to the time change (and because you're bouncing around on an airplane), you only get about 30mins of sleep, if you're lucky. I wasn't so lucky:

Due to the volcanic ash cloud (from Mt. howthehelldoyoupronounceit), we had to fly an alternative route, which took us up and above Great Britain. However, our plane did not have enough fuel to make the trip without stopping. So we had to do the plane version of a Chinese fire-drill in Glasgow, Scotland. Once topped off, we were back on our way. Except the plane arrived about 3 or so hours late. Oh well, all I planned on doing today anyway was orientation/safety meeting stuff.

My rental car is a Skoda. Confused? So am I. What the heck is a Scoda? I'm a car junky and I don't even know what the heck one is. Turns out it's a Czech car company, which instantly made me think of the great old Mr. Plow Simpson's episode where Homer is buying a car and the salesman says "She'll go 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene!" I have a feeling if I said that, people might actually take it seriously.

But things look good so far. I'll scout out a place to eat dinner. It's already 6:00pm, turns out the plant personnel leave around 7:00pm, so that'll likely be when I head out too!

I think I might do ab-ripper in the hotel room. Its only 15 mins and I know it by heart. That way I can keep my mid-section in shape for beach-season. ;-)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 56: Week 8

**UPDATE 5/10/2010 (forgot quote of the day**
"Sounds like a bird in here." -Tony Horton- Legs&Back

If you ask me sounds more like Dreya faking an orgasm.

Before I talk about the up-in-coming week #8, I need to talk about week #7. A friend and I were talking about working out and getting results and how seeing results reinforces working out, and working out generates results, rinse and repeat into infinity. Which got me thinking. In a world heavily geared towards "Negative Feedback" (a process by which an action causes a reaction that prevents the first action, example: When the temperature of your room starts falling below the thermostat setting, the furnace kicks on - furnace activation prevents the action of the falling temp. When you get a headache, you take an Advil. When you get hungry, to eat a sandwich... etc etc.)...sorry about the tangent... In a world heavily geared towards negative-feedback, we see this prime example of a positive feedback. So it makes you think...

Q. why doesn't everyone workout and get into the positive feedback loop (workout, get results, results prompt more working out, getting even better results...)?
A. Insert week #7

Let me explain. Although positive feedback loops are great... there is one intrinsic problem. Once you hit a bump in the road, so to speak, you can throw the cycle off it's harmony. And most of us WILL hit a road bump, even myself (a Hum-V with a suspension designed to just soak in the harsh roads)... I got sick. And unfortunately for me, I got sick right before a big Spain trip, which I have to admit will be more like a Detroit sized pot-hole than a little bump. But that's okay. I understand what's happening. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know what I need to do when I return. And for any of the readers that have managed to get this far into my post, if you ever find yourself off of the positive feedback cycle, you'll need to do the same as me. GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, TIE UP YOUR SNEAKERS, HIT THE GYM, HIT THE PAVEMENT, AND GET BACK TO WORKING OUT!

Okay - everyone still with me?

Week #7: I had my brother up from NH this weekend. Not fabulous for the diet, but I had a great time. Here are some of the bad things I ate: The Keg restaurant, wine, Buffalo wings (can't have someone come to Buffalo and not have Buffalo wings), wine, Cake (he brought as a gift), wine, lots and lots of coffee, and on ya, did I mention wine?

Week #8. Today I leave for Spain! Adios amigos! As you can probably imagine, the frequency of posts will likely drop to an abysmal level (perhaps once or twice a week). I apologize. It's not my intent to leave everyone hanging while I put back on 15lbs because I'll be eating out 100% of the time and exercising 0% of the time. No, it's because I'll be working 12hr days, with a time change, with a language barrier, and wandering the streets of Madrid. So hopefully everyone can accept that. But as I said above, full steam ahead when I get home!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Day 55: Picture Update

**UPDATE 5/10/2010 (forgot quote of the day)**
"Man lives on a boat... I don't get that." -Tony Horton- Legs&Back

Going to Spain next two weeks. I will not be doing P90X, but I will take 2 more Saturday photos for the weeks I am there... Expect big losses. I already see some losses from this week (being sick 4 days).


Friday, May 7, 2010

Day 54: YogaX (to be missed)

"Yoga-belly-seven-time" -Tony Horton- P90X

So, I'm actually starting to feel pretty good! I woke up this morning without a sore throat for the first time in about 5 days. That's a huge improvement! However, I was up late last night playing video games... some of my readers of this blog may be partially responsible for that (the guilty know who they are). But that's okay, I had fun.

But, tonight I will very likely FAIL to complete YogaX. As I have company arriving from the Granite State (NH). So, I don't want to enlist them when there are plenty of things for us to do and things they'll want to see. So chances are I will do YogaX as a "tack-on" exercise at the end of my Phase 3, like I planned on doing with some of the other rest-week exercises from earlier in the week.

Just so I remember what I've missed:
Sunday: Yogax
Monday: Core Synergistics
Tuesday:KenpoX
Friday: YogaX

I'll still hopefully post a picture on Saturday... that shouldn't consume too much time (especially if I do it in the morning).

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Day 54: Core Synergistics / Strep Throat?

"Slap it, slap it, make it feel good!" -Tony Horton- StretchX

So all my co-workers think I have some variant of Strep-Throat. I however still think it's just a particularly nasty sore-throat... It is getting better. But often when I wake up, is when the pain is the worst. So generally by the afternoon: 3-4 cups of tea + 30 lozenges later, I feel pretty good. So today I plan to do my hour of Core Synergistics, just to keep myself on-track. Nothing's worse than finding out you're 3 weeks behind schedule.

Also, I plan to bring my camera to Spain, so the two weeks that I am up there (eating restaurant food and presumably not working out...) I can show you my degradation. Hopefully it's not too bad.

Current weight: 152lbs (down 1 pound from last week).

*SPECIAL NOTE: Where does the abreviation "LB" come from for POUND? Anyone? Without wikipedia'ing it, I'm stumped.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Day 53: Gargle Salt Water

"Fiffer scissors, flex your feet and straighten your legs." -Tony Horton- AbripperX

Now going on 4 days with a sore-throat, I've decided it's necessary to gargle salt water (something I probably should have been doing since the onset of the sore-throat). So after gargling repeated times, I'm still not cured, but perhaps if I do it regularly enough, it'll all go away. I was beginning to freak out a bit because the packaging on my chloraseptic says "If sore-throat lasts more than 3 days, see your doctor." But after looking up some info online, I've been informed that as long as I don't have blisters/puss in the back of my mouth, I likely don't have anything dangerous (IE: bacterial infection). Another wasted morning on the road to recovery.

UPDATE **05/03/2010 @ 2:45**

SCREW THIS SICKNESS. I'm doing stretchX if it kills me. I'm not going to tack on an extra day for a silly exercise stretching day! And who knows, maybe being a bit more active with speed up the recovery process! But I'm not going to sit on the side-lines, for a simple exercise, over a stupid sore-throat. BRING IT BABY!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 52: Sore Throat Remedies Review

"This is P-90-X, it ain't some silly little class..." -Tony Horton- Legs&Back

So, what do we have here? I told you in the beginning I would review products that help me get through P90X. I haven't done a very good job doing that. In fact I think I can only remember reviewing just a handful of things to date. Well, here comes another - even if it's an odd one:

Chloraseptic vs Halls Sore Throat

Both products work, but they work in very different ways. Chloraseptic contains Phenol and Halls contain Pectin. Not knowing enough about the pharmaceutical properties of these drugs, I can only make an assumption that Phenols are more powerful "pain killers" than Pectin. I'm saying this only because I notice the relief immediately with the spray than from the lozenges. But lets break it down into pros vs cons.

Chloraseptic (spray)
Pros:

Immediate relief
More powerful pain-reduction
Leaves you with a euphoric numbness
Tastes like artificial cherries

cons:
Short lived relief
Sometimes difficult to target the back of throat (end up hitting your tongue)
Difficult to carry around with you (unless you have purse)
Can only be used every few hours (says packaging)

Halls Sore Throat (lozenges)
Pros:

Tastes delicious
Lasts significantly longer than spray
Can be used in public/easy to carry

Cons:
Generates lots of waste (individual wrappers)
Only reduces pain, not eliminate
Coats your tongue a delightful red/pink color

Hopefully, this will all be behind me by tomorrow.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 50 + 51: Sore-Throat (Skip)

"...I don't wanna hear no excuses from any o'you!" -Tony Horton- PlyoX

And here come the excuses...

Sunday and Today I have been plagued with a sore-throat. The illness came out of no where and is haunting my P90X routine. My original plan was to bump up a workout week to replace my rest week, but now that I am under-the-weather, I think I might as well just call this my rest week and take it easy. But then my Spain schedule will be altered... but that's okay. Do I really want to be wasting my very limited spare time up in Madrid with P90X? I think I'd rather go see things and explore the city than be in a hotel room doing Core Synergistics and KenpoX. So what you will likely see in the near future will be some additional days tacked onto the end of my 90-day calendar... Currently it looks like I will be adding about 14 days (12 for Spain and 2 for this week... so far). I'll call it P104X, because you know what... not everyone is perfect.