Day 73…

So…here’s what I don’t understand…how is it that blogging can be so much harder than working out or eating right?!  It seems like I got into a routine with the eating and it has pretty much become second nature…working out has become something I just do…but after 30 straight days of writing a blog something in me said “F that shit…it’s too hard!”  Really?  Too hard?!  Man I have problems.  Well, I have problems besides the blogging…the eating and working out.  Kind of ironic that I wanted to start my blog this way since tonight I chose to not work out and just write my blog – beginning my workout at 11pm doesn’t really help matters, but something about sitting on the couch with Abbey and just chillaxin for an evening is SOOO much better than sweating my B’s off in the office! 

Last week I got down to 220 and it was a really good feeling.  Oh yeah, by the way…Abbey and I decided that my official starting weight was 245 because everyday that I weighed myself before I started the P90Xperience I was 245 or 246…at one point, as Abbey kindly reminded me last week, I got up right around 250 and that was the point where I said …whoa!  So, with that in mind I have lost as much as 25 pounds so far….YEAH!  I’ve been a lot less strict about what I’m eating, but still (I think) staying in control.  I’ve had a few “binge” nights here and there, but that’s the real world.  I’m going to eat shit some days and others I’ll eat damn healthy – what I haven’t been good about lately is realizing that if I’m going to eat shit…I need to work out! 

Today, a coworker was talking to me about The Biggest Loser.  She said, “I really think that show needs to be on everyday because how can you NOT workout when you watch it?!”  I said, “Pretty easily..actually while Abbey and I were watching it last night we polished off about half a pan of rice crispy treats.”  Let me just tell you…these were some damn good rice crispy treats.  Like take the best rice crispy treats you’ve ever had…smoke a pound of weed…then smoke one more pound and that’s what these tasted like.  *I’m just assuming that would make them taste REALLY good…you know munchies and all…I’ll ask my neighbor next time – it’s probably what he smokes during his lunch break   Point is this…I told myself…I’m good, we went on a 3mile walk today AND I’m going to do Plyometrics tonight so I’ll really sweat.  Abbey and I caught up on the DVR shows and working out desire went away. 

I DID wake up early and do 20 minutes of Interval X + which is a great workout; but it’s REALLY good in it’s entirety.  It’s really hard to wake up early and workout…especially doing a workout like Interval!  When I got home from work we went for a walk (about 1.5 miles); we cut it short since Abbey had already been on two 3+ mile walks today.  When we got home from that I grabbed the mp3 player, stretched and went for my run.  2 weeks ago I decided that I was going to run the Toyota 10K on Flying Pig Weekend.  A friend of mine gave me a small training schedule which I am loosely following, but my goal is to get up to a 6.2 mile run before the day of the event AND to complete it in less than 45 minutes.  Sunday was my first run…I ran almost exactly 1 mile – and I was pretty winded.  I also did it in just under 10 minutes.  On my run today I wanted to go further…so I did!  I ran to the Remke on Dixie Hwy…through their parking lot and back to my house – a total of 1.79 miles!  Almost an entire extra mile than I did on Sunday…that’s AWESOME!  The best news…I did it in 15 minutes which means that I’m averaging an 8.3 minute mile!  I may have found the beginning of my running mix too…First song – Bedrock “call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bedrock girrrrllll”….Second song – blah Blah Blah “people they talkin like blah blah blah”….I shuffled around found something I had never heard then struggled till I got to my Third song – Rude Boy “come here rude boy boy are you big enough, come here rude boy boy can you give it up” – good stuff. 

Running is so mental…if I can’t hear myself huffing and puffing like Cheech and Chong I don’t realize that I’m out of breath!  If there is music going I block out other noises and tend to think about the songs and anything else BUT the fact that I shouldn’t be able to run 2 miles!  Once I got home I came inside to check my time then went right back outside…the look on my face, Abbey probably thought that I was going to go out and puke…but I just didn’t want to drip too much sweat inside and it was really hot compared to outside.  Needless to say, to quote Michael from the biggest loser, “I was sweating like Tiger Woods in divorce court!”

When I look at pictures from Day 1 compared to this week…it’s a pretty big difference, but still some room for improvement.  My sister and my wife tend to think that I don’t need to lose anymore weight because I’ll lose it in my face and then I’ll look sick, but I disagree.  I have less than 20 days left of my P90Xperience (I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT) and I’m going to try and push as hard as I can to get to my “new” goal weight of 215.  To say that I lost 30 pounds in 90 days without a trainer or gym membership is something that I can definitely be proud of.  I still think 200 – 205 is where I should be and maybe I’ll get there someday, but we’ll see how it works out for me.  People have been asking me…”What are you going to do after it’s all done?”  Well – I’m probably going to eat 7,000 lbs of Chipotle, get a been burrito from Taco Bell and eat some damn french fries!  I haven’t had Chipotle in WAYYY too long and I don’t even know if my drive-in girl still works at TB since I haven’t been in 2010.  Maybe she saw my blog or facebook and got her teeth fixed!

What I’m really going to do is continue what I’m doing now.  I wanted to check out the Insanity videos so I’m sure I’ll do that, but my eating habits have changed.  Even if I have a “bad” night/day here or there – it’s not going to kill me; I just can’t have them EVERY DAY!  For the last 20 days I need to focus on the workouts and really push myself to cross that 220 barrier…I know I can – it’s just a matter of doing! 

I’m sure you just can’t wait to see them so here are my most recent pics compared to week 1…

The six pack wants to come out for the first time in it’s 28 year life.  Always diminished by the 12-pack…then the case…then the Keg!  Don’t know that it will happen, but all I can do is try

Until next time…P90Xcuuuuuuuuuuse me!

Day 45 – Halfway there…

Ok – so how many of you thought that I had actually quit my P90Xperience? You haven’t seen a blog in nearly 2 weeks so I can understand why you would think that…I haven’t even made reference to it on Facebook, Twitter or Buzz (if you don’t know what Buzz is, you need to get Gmail). But here I am, telling you that I’m still going strong!

I’ll be honest with you…the first 30 days I was REALLY strict…no drinking (except Bengals playoff game) and no sweets. For some reason after day 30 I hit a point where I needed to give in a little and so for the past 15 days I have been indulging, but also while working out and still seeing results. I’m not going to be that strict for the rest of my life…especially with Cadbury Cream Eggs basically jumping out of their wrappers everytime I am at Kroger. The other day one was actually out of it’s wrapper just lying there…it was the biggest tease…so I bought one (a wrapped one). They are pretty much the most delicious chocolate candy that exists and the creator should be held on a pedestal. I wonder if they are soooo good only because they are rare..meaning I can only get them one time of the year…THANK GOD FOR EASTER, Literally!

I’ve snacked a bit more at night in the last 15 days and instead of eating just carrots and fruit I’ve actually been eating some jalapeno tostitos (amazing) and hummus. Abbey bought some dark chocolate hershey’s pieces and holy crap they were like crack. I couldn’t keep my hand out of the bag. She didn’t like the way the tasted so I couldn’t let them go to waste…I was able to limit myself on a nightly basis, but I helped her out the best I could. All of 2010 I have been slapped in the face with $10 pizza deals from nearly every single pizza place in the world – today I cracked. I wanted pizza so badly so we got Pizza Hut, thin crust with grilled chicken, tomatoes and onions – it was good – no stuffed crust pizza, but still good. I was surprised that one piece only had 170 calories, which for me is really nothing especially after working out. The snow here has really helped because I’ve been shoveling the driveway (sometimes twice a day) so I’m getting some different workouts in too!

I told myself that on day 45 I would treat myself to Chipotle – I’m debating since I had pizza today, but maybe this weekend…we’ll see. Next weekend I’m going to splurge on my eating since Abbey, the best wife in the world, got us tickets to see Jim Gaffigan in C-bus. We are going up for the night on Saturday so we’re going eat a great dinner and drink a few drinks to celebrate our two years together! What else can I get off my chest…I’ve been sneaking Chips Ahoy cookies since they are in the pantry and taste really good! 2 every other night or so…on average. Needless to say the last 15 days I have fallen off the diet wagon, but I’m still hanging on to the back – dragging in the dirt. Good thing my arms are so much stronger, I can pull myself back up!

The workouts have changed up a little bit since we last spoke…I started doing 2-a-days (3 days a week) with cardio in the morning and the normal workout at night, but that ended after the first week because with Isaac in the morning it was just too hard and too unpredictable. They got rid of Shoulders and Chest and replaced it with Chest, triceps and shoulders. Still a lot of push-ups, but not horrible nowadays. They also got rid of whatever was on Wednesdays and put in Back and Biceps. This is a cool workout, but I REALLY REALLY need to get some dumbells. Using the resistance bands just don’t seem to give me the full workout – I’ve been craigslisting; just hoping someone pulls through for me! John, whom I said was joining the P90Xperience with me, bought a pull-up bar so when I was at his house over the weekend I decided to give it a try. 4. I could do 4 F’ing pull-ups. Are you F’ing kidding me?! I do 15 with the bands and I could only do 4?! Wow!

The other workouts have stayed the same and I still haven’t actually done Yoga (the full way through), but my mom did buy me a nice Yoga mat…THANKS MOM! I HAVE been using the mat for Ab Ripper X which for the past two weeks I have finally been doing MWF (which is prescribed). I don’t know how they do a few of the moves they do, but I guess that’s the difference between having a keg and having a six pack.

I became a fan of P90X on Facebook and found that there are a lot of “success” videos on there. I watched one today and this guy’s 30 day results compared to my 30 day results were pretty different. He is about 2 inches shorter than me and 20 pounds less so that may have something to do with it, but still! I still can’t see the major difference in my body, but I know the change is there. Belts are loose and pants are ready to fall. I’m noticing muscles in my legs and arms that I didn’t know existed and I feel really good. I’ve gotten down to 226 so a loss of 15 pounds in 45 days. I’d say I’ve lost about 3-4 inches off my waist.

Here are my Day 1 vs. Day 43 pictures:

I have a ways to go still, but I’m getting there.  With 45 days left to go my goal is to lose 25 more pounds.  That is just over .5 lbs a day…it’s possible!  I’m not going to do anything dangerous, but I will start to be a little more strict on the snacking and sweets.  I’m very happy with the progress so far and I won’t be quitting anytime soon, so we’ll see what the next 45 days has in store for me!

Until my next post…P90Xfactor