Results of Week 1

You know...it's amazing what success...even in small amounts...does to your outlook.

Honestly, I didn't start this program aiming for major change. I want to get fit. I want to feel good. Discipline does pretty fabulous things for your body though (and your mind). Interestingly, I know this. If we get real honest with ourselves, we all know this, and have experienced it in different forms throughout our lives. The trickiest part of discipline is maintaining it. If you're like me, you tend to stick with something for a little while...while it's still fun and fresh and you're still enthusiastic...and then, when it gets hard or painful or embarrassing, or you don't make the progress you think you should make, or boredom sets in, or you get uncomfortable, or somebody says something that makes you throw your hands up and wonder why you bothered...all of a sudden, you find yourself not wanting to get up so early in the morning or pushing yourself to achieve or make a difference like you have been. You decide that all this effort really isn't getting you as far as you thought it would...or worst of all, you think to yourself, "One day off isn't going to hurt my progress. I can sleep in this morning/eat that entire cake/skip reading my Bible so I can get something else done/take a little break from whatever it is I'm doing right and pick back up tomorrow."

For me...that mere thought process is death. Whatever I have achieved suddenly doesn't seem so impressive--or I think, "That wasn't really as hard as I thought it was." Maybe the worst part of that process comes when, for several days, maybe even several weeks after I slack off, I can live off the high that I achieved...I can keep the weight I lost off or maintain the healthy eating habits (mostly) or "feel spiritually full" or look at my muscles in the mirror and still see tone. Sadly, I learned in high school that all it takes is two weeks of inactivity for whatever awesome muscles I (or anyone) built to go back to their state of comfortability (and that applies to things other than physical muscles too, I think). And comfortable...that's what I am continually trying to avoid.

Unfortunately, comfortable is easy. And my body really likes comfortable. I have a "thermostat" or a "happy shape" that I don't have to work at very much at all...and people always tell me when I get down on myself at that shape that, "You look fine, Mindy. Give yourself a break." But see...I know that shape, that thermostat...and I know it's too easy. I mean, if I don't mind heart disease or high cholesterol or diabetes (all of which run rampant in my family) some day...sure...I could just stay comfortable and be happy. And I don't pretend that I will always be as gung-ho and dedicated as I am right now. But taking it easy now means being reeeeaaaaal comfortable when I'm 45 and things start changing with my body...or 55 and things really change. My comfortable shape will very quickly turn into something very much other than fine, because I haven't trained myself to do anything other than be comfortable. I have this awesome mentor/example/preview-of-what-I-will-someday-be in my mother...and I watch her fight "comfortable" every day...she makes me so proud. She is my motivator. She is one of the most in-shape almost fifty-something-year-olds I know (I will not divulge her age... :) ). And I remember, when she was 36, joining her on Saturday mornings as she "felt the burn" with Denise or "stepped" with Joanie. She fought comfortable when she was my age...and she has continued that fight to this day. Every single day.

So, what was I talking about when I got all soap-boxy?? Oh, success. I've had some success over the past week. And I'm thrilled with it. I woke up really not wanting to work out...got through the workout...though my soreness from yesterday has continued to today. I did not perform the workout at nearly as high of a quality as I did last week (remembering it was the same as my Day 1 Routine, Core Synergystics, when I hadn't done anything to destroy my muscles the days prior to that workout), and at the end, weighed and measured all the same stuff I measured last week... :) Even small changes make me happy at times like this. And some of 'em weren't so small. I decided not to take pictures today...I think I would see change, but I really want to notice the big changes after 30, 60, and 90 days, I think. And since I don't intend to publish them anywhere (although watching some of the testimonials on youtube and elsewhere has really encouraged me)...eh. Just boggin' down the hard drive... So, tomorrow, and maybe the next day...I have a feeling I may not struggle quite so much to get out of bed as a result of this past week's successes. And I figured out that the recovery drink I've been drinking isn't helping with my sore muscles for a reason...and have switched to chocolate milk (seriously...proper carb to protein ratio (4:1) and recommended by groups of researchers after prolonged exercise...). I'll let you know how that goes after a few days. :)

Is there something you have striven (I typed strived...really...it's wrong) toward and found success or failure at for prolonged periods of time? What were your tricks for continued success, or your triggers for definitive failure?

P90X, Day 6

Wow. I hurt today. I hurt when I got up. I haven't stopped hurting. Of course, the "haven't stopped hurting" part may have more to do with Kenpo X and an hour of karate and sparring...but whatever. I may need to figure out what to do with myself on days when I'm putting in double workouts so as not to die, but then, I thought the one workout might kill me...maybe I'll survive. :)

You know, those of you who read this blog and know the program really could give me a heads-up. When yesterday, I mentioned not having to go crazy with my legs today as part of Kenpo X (in order to recover from Legs and Back (aka lunges and pull-ups) yesterday), you may have mentioned the fact that Kenpo X would rip my legs apart after yesterday's workout (and I realize that the 15 of you who read my blog may have never heard of P90X before I started blogging only about this bandwagon I have jumped on...sorry. I know you're not just sitting there laughing your evil laugh at me, hoping I suffer. I hope.). I fell over repeatedly during just the warm-up. Now, I have to admit, the year of karate I have under my belt certainly came to my rescue in this workout--the form varies just a bit from Shotokan karate (and I went back and forth between doing it their way and doing it "the right way"), but I think I would have had a much more difficult time doing Kenpo without karate...between balance, and form, and strength. For as little credit for overall fitness as I have given my two-hours-a-week karate workout over the past year...obviously, it has not been for naught. So...tonight...upon attempting to get up from the couch after Where the Wild Things Are with the monkeys...my legs, I swear, nearly refused to operate. If I hadn't missed Sunday's workout, and was headed into actual Day 7 tomorrow, tomorrow would be Stretch X or Rest...I would rest tomorrow. Instead, I do Core Synergystics (and weigh and take all my measurements and pics) tomorrow. Oh, how I would love to rest (especially since today was long, and I would like to be in bed...but in the day's longness, I forgot to dry our bed sheets...becausem yes, we only have one set...the new mattress we got last year is extra deep, and I just never think of another set of sheets when I'm anywhere that would sell them. I know. Dumb.)

We celebrated Reasa's 11th birthday today with lunch at King Buffet...her pick. So fun. We normally do dinner, but Seth had a business meeting with his company's owner this evening, and with our normal sports schedule on Tuesdays, dinner would not have happened all together until after 8pm anyway...so we opted for lunch followed by birthday present shopping together (she chose a bedspread (which she found for a rockin' deal at Burlington), mirror and lamp for her room...we definitely left those adorable little girl years today, folks.). Then she wanted to spend her Old Navy gift card from MeMe and Ompy and some of her money from Mima and Papa Everett...we shopped for FOUR HOURS. Boy, did she find some great deals at Old Navy. Kid after my own heart.

Like there was any doubt of that.

P90X, Day 5

You may notice that I missed a day in there...trust me, it was for good reason. I practically hacked up a lung during the night on Saturday, and did lose my voice for Sunday morning's worship services...meaning that when I was scheduled to fill in for the first two services and lead worship, and sing on the worship team and sing special music for third service...yep...totally let everyone down. Needless to say, when the alarm went off at 5:30 Sunday morning to work out and make it to the church by 7:30...nope. Didn't happen. Soooo...picked up with Day 5 today. This just means that tomorrow, I do Day 6's workout, and Wednesday, I skip right over the stretch/rest day and back into Core Synergystics.

Today...Legs and Back. Legs and Back = lunges and pull-ups for an hour. This was a tough day. I could feel muscles pulling in uncomfortable ways while I did the workout, which means that tomorrow and especially Wednesday...I will be grateful not to be working on my leg muscles so much. We'll see, though. I know what's coming with Core on Wednesday. Still no idea what I'll be doing with Kenpo X tomorrow. :) It's karate of some description. And I have karate tomorrow night. :) :) :). My kind of day.

And in the mix today...I celebrated my boy's 8th birthday with my family...he asked for taco soup for dinner, ice cream at Sunset (he thought he wanted coffee ice cream, got it, hated it, and went for cotton candy...I was all too happy to take his coffee off his hands, though pretty sure I won't be sleeping tonight...), shopping for more star wars legos, and bowling. Sadly, the lanes were PACKED when we got there for open bowling at 9 (with almost a 2-hour wait for a lane), but we rescheduled and reserved lanes (not possible tonight) for Friday evening during their Asteroid Bowl...he's excited.

And tomorrow...Reasa turns 11. Sigh. I say every year that it's going so fast...I think this year the suffering is the most acute so far. She's turning into something other than just a little girl this year...my heart breaks a little every day with the realization of that, as much as I adore the young woman she's becoming. I miss my little girl. I plan, tomorrow, to embrace what's left of that, and love her even more as she continues to become...

Swagbucks

You may have noticed that big banner thingy over there in one of my columns and wondered what I was advertising...I want to fill you in, and...pretty much...encourage you to sign up. Basically, it's free money. What could be better than that? AAAAND, if you sign up for a (completely free, no-strings-attached) account with them through my blog, with that cool-looking banner over there, you help me earn money too. I'm sure it's too good to be true...for somebody...but not for my friend whose blog I follow. Who just happened to pay for her entire Christmas last year with Swagbucks. Think I'm nuts? Well, you knew that already, right? But check it out. Really. If you can find a glitch, seriously, let me know. I'm willing to take the risk by doing free searches through their site (powered by Google and Ask), or buying items form online stores I already shop at anyway through their links...and earning Swagbucks for free...and maybe winning the opportunity to buy a bunch of stuff...for free. In the meantime, sign up. Right through that little box over there. What could it possibly hurt??

:) Let's earn our Christmas money together.

P90X, Day 4

Well, if it's a fluke, it's a long-running fluke. I'm down a pound from yesterday. A pound. Now, if I wasn't drinking nearly a gallon of water every day, I would quickly attribute this to a quick loss in water weight (and I know it doesn't work exactly like that, I'm just saying...). But for whatever reason...here I am. And I want to add here that last night, I had homemade fortune cookies with dinner and triple layer brownies for dessert...after eating full meals, and all my snacks and a protein shake throughout the day. Again...I am still shaking my head.

Interestingly, the cold I blame on my son has settled somewhere between my sinuses and my chest, so the knowledge that today's workout was Yoga X made me very, very happy--not bouncing or lifting or killing myself (and thus coughing or sneezing or snuffling much). He he...somebody forgot to remind me that nothing in P90X is easy or low-key (my sweet friend, Kim, told me that she knew last night, but that she didn't want to burst my bubble...)(thanks Kim!). The Yoga consists of an hour and 30 minutes of hard-core, intense yoga. I have played at Yoga before in other workouts...but this...dang. No playing involved here. Several times, I couldn't even attempt the actual pose--absolutely had to do the modification. They did one where you sit in a warrior pose then lean forward into it and reach to the ceiling, then you reach your front arm down under your thigh, and your other arm behind your back and lock fingertips...you look like a complete pretzel...I could touch my fingertips, and eventually grabbed them, but by that point, had been in warrior for so long that my thighs were on fire. I fell out of the pose, and stood there laughing. My second attempt looked a bit more put-together...but only a bit. What I keep finding so encouraging, however, is the fact that with each of the workouts, I still have an end goal...that by the end of the 90 days, I can come really close to doing what the experts on the screen can do. Today, I just hope that by the end, I can do it without falling over!! :) So far, I'm really, really pleased with the program, and with my "progress," four days in. In other workouts I have done, I have been able to pretty easily accomplish the whole thing the first day I did it. That has not been the case with ANY of these dvd's. :) Love it.

I will add, next time I do Yoga, Seth will not be in the same room. I will do it before he wakes up or something (because it falls on Saturdays all this month). There's something about having him question every term and pose name and reminding me that "hey, they keep their foot up high for a lot longer than you just did, you know that, right?" while I'm looking at the floor in downward dog (and not at the screen) and it's the 50th time I've stepped through to runner's pose and my thighs are screaming, and I keep thinking if Tony Horton says, "look at that, perfect form" one more time when he stands next to Shauna, I might throw something at the television...these things just do not lead to focus and calm for me. :) Ah, the things you learn as you go. No more boys in the family room during Yoga. Or dogs, either, for that matter (Maisie likes to crawl under my legs in warrior, I found).

I know this may not be why you're coming to my blog...for that I apologize...but this is where I'm at, and this is the only way I will write anything down. I promise, in the next few days, I'll get back to writing about something more interesting. This portion of my life is my current obsession, I guess. :) Would love to hear your comments on other things going on in your lives!!

P90X Lean, Day 3

K, well it might have been a fluke, but if it was a fluke, we're on day number 2 of flukeyness. :) Now, with this said, I realize that weighing myself every day may not be your idea of healthy...I will say, everyone has different takes on this. If you listen to someone like Denise Austin, she tells you to weigh once a week...doctors may tell you every two weeks or once a month...Flylady recommends daily...I think it depends where you are. I plan to weigh myself every morning because, frankly, this plan is extreme. I want to see what's happening. I have a feeling I will find myself not thrilled with the results like this every single day...but I also guess that at some point, adding muscle will balance losing fat. We'll see. I still can't believe I'm adding about 1000 calories a day, and losing. Another 4/10 of a pound down this morning. .8 total. And today is day three.

This morning, I did Shoulders and Arms...see, now, when it comes right down to it, what I'm finding is that this workout takes me back to gymnastics in high school...weight training, cardio, flexibility, strength, core...all mixed up into different days; keeps you on your toes, keeps you guessing. I love the idea of "muscle confusion," (the basis of this program) but I think I love it because when I was in the best shape of my life, that's what I did, without even realizing it (thanks to my gymnastics coach). My muscles responded...I felt good. Today, I hurt. My inner thighs and backside are killing me...as in, I could barely walk when I got out of bed...and right now, three hours after this morning's workout, my arms and shoulders already feel tight. But, oh my gosh...incredible. I have to say...I don't ever intend to use the amount of weight the girls are using. I love that I completed this one with low weights...and I look forward to building to higher weights, but not anytime soon. And I need to add, here...I didn't sleep well last night--Bryson was up with an awful cough, and I feel like I'm coming down with whatever it is he and Lainie have...hopefully to a lesser degree. I think, grand total, I slept for about 4 hours. Tonight...I will definitely get the recommended 7 (if Bryson doesn't hack all night!). I absolutely can't wait for tomorrow. Yoga X!! :)

As for Ab Ripper X...woo hoo!!! I appreciate that completing the number of reps right now (at the lowest level) totally didn't kill me...but I still have room to grow with the workout--the modifications offered throughout each video make it very adaptable for future fitness. Also appreciate that he encourages you to take breaks. Oh, man, will I hurt tomorrow!!!

P90X...it begins

I actually would like to update about this daily...but considering I'm already a day behind on that goal... :) This really is how life works though, isn't it??

I have absolutely no intentions of posting "before" pictures here...not that you would ask...but don't. Not happening. But...know that what needs to happen is elimination of squishiness. Don't know what squishiness is? Oh, come now...dig deep. Or, don't dig deep. Deep is where my muscles are. Deeeeep under the squishy parts. If you don't have squishy parts, yay!!! I'm thrilled for you! And there are some squishy parts that may never go away completely (I have carried and birthed three children...skin happens). But. But. Some of them are simply a matter of not doing enough exercise to maintain muscle.

That changes right now.

I started P90X yesterday morning. I'm working through the Lean program, aimed more at toning muscle than at building bulk--more of a concentration on cardio than strength (though serious strength is still involved, I'm learning). Yesterday began with Core Synergistics--I was actually amazed at how well I kept up (thank you Master Powell and a year of karate twice a week!!)--and this morning I did Cardio X...difficult, but not impossible. I got through the whole thing--though it was really tough, and there were times I had to stop before the set was over...but not as many as I expected. Overall...I'm so excited. It's hard core.

I love it.

I'm also incorporating the diet, just to see what happens. I'm not necessarily looking to lose more than 5 pounds in this process...if I do, it will simply be because the exercise works. I am still pretty blown away by the fact that the recommended eating plan incorporates more than double the calories I would normally eat in a day...I'll let you know how that goes. Interestingly, this morning, I woke up 4/10 of a pound lighter than I was yesterday...

I'm sure it was a fluke. :)

Wish me luck!!