Days 21-23 – Picture Pages…

Second week of class (last week) we were assigned a group project due this week!  Granted we each only had to write a page, but still!  The reading, writing and structuring of it all combined with watching TV and working out really got in the way of my blogging…LOL! 

I’ve decided that no one really cares to know what I ate unless it’s something out of the ordinary – I eat a lot of the same stuff with some minor changes.  Hmmm…this is going to make my posts a lot shorter!  Wow, Sunday was so long ago…I can barely remember it.  I know I watched the first half of the Colts game and was pretty surprised by they Jets’ performance.  I made some porkchops to have for lunch throughout the week and WOW!  There is a recipe in the P90X nutrition guide called Island Pork Tenderloin…I used chops and it worked just fine!  So the rub consisted of cinnamon, white pepper, seasoning salt, cumin seed and cayenne pepper.  I seared each chop in a little oil on the stove then put them all on a roasting pan.  The glaze on top was brown sugar, tabasco sauce and garlic cloves.  Talk about a flavor explosion!  When I took them out of the oven I wanted to eat all of them right away…instead I put them in their proper containers and threw them in the fridge to eat for lunch.

Abbey and I had to do Legs and Back on Sunday since we had messed up the schedule so we went for it.  I was really proud of myself when we had to do the wall squats.  Last week I struggled, to say the least, at sitting for 15 seconds against the wall.  We both fought through the time going from 90 degrees to 45 degrees and after the last 90 we both shot up like someone had lit a bottle rocket that we were holding in our butt cheeks (I don’t make this stuff up folks…http://www.spike.com/video/bottle-rocket-out-of/2710372).  The new bands worked great – I highly recommend them if you want to work out.  A set of three different tension bands with handles for $20 from Target. 

Monday morning came very quickly – especially since Isaac didn’t really want to sleep through the whole night!  I didn’t do the last minute of the cool down on Sunday night and WOW did I feel that in the morning.  Although they aren’t that hard, calf raises really work your calves and if you don’t stretch them out afterward…watch out!  I felt like someone had been using my calves as punching bags while I was sleeping (or not sleeping).  I’ve never really been someone that has needed a lot of sleep, but I think all this exercising is really helping me and giving me more energy throughout the day.  I feel like I don’t really hit the walls that I used to hit – and I’m not using 5 hour energy! 

Time for my mini-soapbox…Females, sorry you probably won’t be able to relate unless you are in the stall next to Amazon Woman.  Let me paint the picture for you…In men’s bathrooms, sometimes there are dividers between urinals.  These are nice, but not common practice.  I walk into the bathroom where there are two urinals and one was occupied.  The occupant has his arm resting on the divider – that’s fine, not really necessary, but ok when no one else is there.  I walk up, get into place and he leaves his arm there.  So now I have a divider on my left with an arm intruding my personal space and a stall wall on my right so my space is much smaller than normal.  I contemplated aiming a little higher and hitting his arm…”Oops, I lost control; guess you should have stayed on your side!”  Bottomline - when in a public restroom be mindful of your space.  Thanks, mgmt!

Monday night rolled around and since this week is recovery week I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to be doing.  I checked my schedule and it was Yoga so I decided to go ahead and do it.  I got about half an hour into it, lost 10 pounds of water weight, and had sore hands…again…Yoga on hardwood blows!  I have Yoga on the books for Saturday and I’m going to do the entire 1.5 hours.  After that one half hour I definitely could tell how an hour and a half of it could be a pretty damn good workout so I’m looking forward to getting it done!  After working out I started doing homework while Abbey was watching the Bachelor.  DAMN THAT SHOW!  Needless to say I got ZERO work done while the show was on because it just sucked me right in.  He got rid of 4 girls in one episode, I guess he really wanted to shorten the season.  The show finally finished and I was able to concentrate on my project, I stayed up till after midnight to gather my thoughts and decided to write it on Tuesday night.

Ahhhh, Tuesday.  To be honest with you, I don’t have much to report.  Because of the UK game Abbey and I decided to use Tuesday as our rest day.  So, instead of reporting about my day I’m going to give you an update on my status…

With 23 days down I am weighing in at 234 (a 7 pound difference).  I’m starting to see definition in my arms and my legs are getting harder (they were pretty strong before my P90Xperience).  I’ve made it to uncharted belt hole territory so I guess something in the midsection is shrinking – just not seeing the exact results I thought I would after 23 days.  I’ve gone 23 days without a coke or any kind of soda.  My only dessert has been some raspberry sherbert the past few days and I’ve amazed myself with the willpower I have shown.  I’ve tested my kidneys and stretched my bladder by drinking ungodly amounts of water and quite frankly, I’m feelling pretty good! 

Without further ado…

PICTURE PAGES, PICTURE PAGES, TIME TO GET YOUR PICTURE PAGES, TIME TO GET YOUR CRAYONS AND YOUR PENCILS…
Man I loved that show!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I  don’t know about you, but I don’t see much change…I just know something is happening.

Until the next post…P90XXX

Days 17 & 18 – Bye bye bands…

Ahhhhh Wednesday – the first day to sleep in all week (sleep in meaning 6:55am)!  I woke up refreshed got ready and made my breakfast for the day…4 veggie sausage patties and one english muffin.  I also enjoyed an apple on the way to work.  Let me take a moment to say one thing about apples…WHEN THE F DID THEY START COMING IN SO MANY DIFFERENT VARIETIES?  Growing up we had Granny Smith and Red.  Were we too poor to afford the other kinds?  Did our local grocery stores just not carry them cuz everyone was afraid of them?  Now we have Granny Smith, Red Delicious (they are delicious), Gala, Fiji (or is that the water?), Jazz, guagua (or something like that) and MANY MANY MORE!  It’s flippin’ ridiculous!  Who names apples?  Why do all the apple’s stickers have fish on them?  Isn’t that kind of contradictory like putting a picture of a butt on a lollipop wrapper; would you buy that?  Obviously, it hasn’t stopped me or the rest of the public from buying apples, but still….

I actually wasn’t feeling sore at all after a night of Plyometrics.  I felt a little stiff Tuesday night, but was fine in the morning.  Muscles must be developing, right?!  For lunch I enjoyed using my George Foreman and had chicken breast with romaine lettuce and sweet corn.  These chicken breasts that I bought from Kroger must be from the Dolly Parton Chicken House!  It’s great though because they really fill me up.  I have to say, I’m pretty amazed at the cooking of the Foreman and I don’t know why I never used it at home.  The only thing I don’t like is the tough skin it puts on the outer layer of the chicken, but I deal with it!

The day went fairly quickly and before I knew it, dinner was upon me.  Abbey had the day off, well she was home with Isaac all day, but she made stuffed peppers for dinner!  I thought I was going to eat two of them, but one ended up being enough.  I snacked on some carrots a little later, after our shoulders and arms workout.  So, to the workout…I had previously broken the red and the blue bands that I had been using (I guess my massive strength is enough to snap anything!)  All I had left was the green band (the highest tension) and I surprisingly did pretty well with it.  There was only one exercise that I couldn’t do and it was the behind the head trap thing…impossible with the green…maybe in a few weeks, but not yet!  Towards the end of the video I acatually snapped the green band…I know what you’re thinking “he gave up and quit for the night.”  Maybe the old Jeff would have done that, but not this determined Jeff!  I started using the bands without the handles…just grabbing the rubber bands hoping they didn’t fly out of my hands.  It worked, not perfectly, but it worked!  Abbey and I caught up on some TV..mainly The Biggest Loser and then I had to stay up and work on homework for my class.  Nothing too hard, but had to write a one pager and read a lot.

Before I get into Thursday I want to say something about Tiger Woods.  Ever since I heard he was going to rehab for a sex addiction I have had the same thought pop in my head…over and over again…ARE YOU F’ing SERIOUS?!  On the radio today I heard a good comparison…Tiger Woods saying he has a sex addiction is like me saying I have an Ice Cream addiction, I eat it cuz it’s around.  I agree!  Know what would stop his addiction right away?  If he is a sex addict that means he likes all sex…sex with with women, sex with men, bondage – so I say lock him in a room with “Tiny” from the local prison and say “ENJOY!”  Tiger would run out of there so fast you’d think he changed his name to Cheetah…oh wait, he already did!  Glad that’s off my chest, lets continue.

I woke up this morning not feeling any pain at all.  I’m starting to wonder if I’m doing the exercises wrong since I’m not really feeling anything anymore.  That or I’m just numb to the pain…I don’t know.  I weighed myself this morning and I’m still stuck around 236/235.  I keep saying I’m not worried about the numbers, but that seems to be a good way to guage how I’m doing…one would think anyway.  Then, I go to work and with shoes and all my clothes on I am down to 246.5 (I started at 255).  It’s very odd, I don’t really trust the work scale though…maybe tomorrow I’ll venture to the plant during lunch and use their 99.9% accurate bulk scale…I’ll let you know!

This is how I want you to picture the morning I had…think of a sitcom where a Dad has to take care of the baby and dog in the morning (maybe for the first time)…that was me!  I needed to move my car so Abbey could leave (she was with Isaac since he decided to wake up at 6:20).  I showered and did bathroom duties before she left put on my boxers, a t-shirt and my work shoes and ran outside to move my car.  Once Abbey left I finished getting ready for work and hung out with Isaac.  Everything was pretty hunky dorey till it was time to leave.  The dog was anxious and couldn’t wait to go for a car ride so I had him on his leash (restricted so he didn’t yank me), Isaac in his car seat, and my protein shake.  I thought MAYBE I could hold the shake in my mouth and as I tried that dipped my nose in my smoothie.  I had to put the smoothie down, clean my nose and then I was on my way.  I got outside, locked the front door, then realized I didn’t have my car key….YEAH!  I unlocked the door, reached in to grab my car key then started walking to my car.  As I got to the car I opened Isaac’s door and then BAM – his blanked falls to the road.  Now, on a normal road this wouldn’t have been THAT big of a deal, but since our road looks like woodstock it was pretty gross.  I was finally on my way till I realized I still had only my boxers, shirt, and work shoes on…JUST KIDDING, but that would have been hilarious, RIGHT?! 

I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch today that was coming in town from Cleveland for an interview, but his potential employers took him out instead so I was reduced to CHICKEN!  Today I only had chicken and vegetable soup (the best in the world), shot the shit with some co-workers, then back to the grind!  Dinner was two english muffin sandwiches (one ham) (one turkey) then off to class.  It’s Thursday so I don’t workout because I use it as my rest day (instead of Sunday).  It figures that on my rest day I decide to eat the most calories of the week, but oh well.  I came home from class and was starving (this hasn’t really happened to me yet) so I ate some carrots and hummus.  We watched “The Deep End” (aka Grey’s Anatomy with lawyers) and I’ll give it a thumbs up for a pilot.  During the episode one of the girls had a ton of cupcakes delivered to her and as she was eating one my mouth just started watering and I could actually taste a moist cupcake in my mouth…mmm…it’s watering now!  After the show, Abbey went to bed and I decided to do this…yes, just for you!  I was still hungry so I ate some salad.  I hate to snack at night, but if I’m going to do it at least it’s something healthy.  I actually feel guilty eating after dinner and really it shouldn’t matter if I eat the right things and not a lot of them. 

So that wraps the past two days.  I did promise to contineu with my segment so here it goes.  Down here in Cincy there is a place called Yagoot (PinkBerry of the East).  They have a sign around town that reads “The first 500 million spoons are on us”…
DO YOU THINK….that they will start charging after the first 500 million spoons?  If they did would people eat the yagoot with no utensils?

What’s really funny is that after everything you read in this blog…next time you are at the store you’re going to notice all the apples (and the fish) and laugh.

Until tomorrow or whenever…P90Xcitebike

Days 15 & 16 – Manic Monday/Tiring Tuesday…

Instead of doing two different posts I decided to be lazy and just do one.  Have no fear though, I’m doing my exercises! 

I started Monday by waking up at 5:15 with Abbey – she got ready for work…and I worked out.  The chest and back workout sucks in the morning…just to let you know.  I feel like I regressed for this workout because it seemed to feel like I couldn’t do as many push-ups as I did the week before.  I hopefully solved my problems by buying a set of push-up grips from Target.

For breakfast I decided to go with a protein shake then off to my parents to drop Isaac off.  Don’t you hate it when you get in the car, you’re feeling good, ready to have a good day, you leave on time and then you look down and realize that the whole weekend passed and you NEVER filled your gas tank…DOH!  Thank God Isaac was pretty tired so he was just chillin in his seat while I put in $15 of gas…When you need the pumps to go quickly does it always seem like you get the slowest damn pumps?  Is it Murphy’s Law that you get stuck behind slow people when you’re in a rush or is it just that you are moving so quickly that everyone else seems to be in slow-mo?

I didn’t have time to pack my lunch on Monday so I went Krogering and bought a baked potato, some tuna, plain yogurt (for sour cream…it’s pretty good), and a salad.  Afternoon snack was pistachios, yum.  Dinner rolled around and Abbey and I decided on Salmon – she made it with some simple seasonings and we ate it with veggies…it was a great dinner!  I made another batch of the veggie soup and packaged it all up so Abbey and I could take some for lunches or whatever we want to do with it!  The house behind ours caught on fire and I was so into what I was doing I didn’t notice till I was leaving to go Krogering.  I know they have been trying to sell it for awhile and I don’t htink anyone lives there so I’m pretty sure no one was hurt, but I’d like to know what started it and how bad the damage was.  From my view it doesn’t look that bad, but maybe it was all in the front?!  I have to say it was really nice not having to workout at night, but I did feel like I was forgetting to do something or that I ate everything I ate and didn’t actually burn it off.

It’s Tuesday now and after staying up late to write my day 14 blog and catch up on Hoarders I slept in a little till 6:20am!  I got ready made 6 scrambled egg whites with seasonings and 4 pieces of turkey bacon..I like my breakfasts a lot more than the damn MEAL plan.  6 egg whites is so much more reasonable than 8!  I became a hero at work today because I brought in a George Foreman grill for our kitchen.  In the 3.5 years or so that Abbey and I have been living together we have used the thing once so I’m glad to get it out of our house!  I bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts and put them in the freezer at work so now lunch is going to be a chicken breast and whatever else I want.  Today was a breast, corn, string cheese and veggie soup.  The soup was AWESOME!  In Abbey’s words “fabulous!”  She said this one was better than the first batch – so we did something right…WOOHOO!  We talked about dinner over IM and decided that we were both going to be on our own…she was happy with cereal and a banana…I was just going to have ham and turkey sandwiches on english muffins. 

So…I had mentioned in a past blog that I had used The Daily Plate so this evening I decided to pop in everything I ate today and see just how many calories I consumed.  THEN I wanted to compare that to an average day when I was “trying” last year.  It amazes me that I thought I was “eating right” by staying under my alotted calories for a day.  The problem was that with everything I ate I was focused on hitting that calorie mark not on what I was putting in my mouth.  I remember always feeling hungry and wanting to eat, but it was because I was eating the wrong foods that weren’t going to keep me full!  Just check out the stats below…it’s nuts!  The July 22 was a decent day, but the choices in food affected a lot (also the lack of exercise didn’t help).   The 27th was a day full of all kinds of goodies including some beer!  MMMMMMM…beer!  Pay attention to not only calories consumed but also the other stats…you’ll be blown away how much they change!

Below is a pie (mmmm…pie) chart of my calorie breakdown for each of the above days…notice a trend?

  

It’s almost midnight on Tuesday and if it were July 22 or 27th there is no way in hell I could be typing the blog because I would be so famished my hands would be busy stuffing some sort of food in my mouth   I’m starting to sound like a health nut…and I’m not.  Once I get to day 45 – I’m going to reward myself with Chipotle and I can’t wait!  I know what I have to do to combat what I eat!  For this to be a lifestyle change I can’t NEVER have Chipotle again…it just won’t happen.  On that note…

Plyometrics was tonight and it kicked my ass!  I don’t know if I’m working harder because Abbey is in the room with me, but I’m probably going to be feeling it in my legs tomorrow…thats fo shiz!  I’ve realized that with the videos the first 30 minutes seem to take FOREVER, but the last 30 minutes seem to fly by - always a good thing! 

I have so much more to talk about, but I’ll save it for tomorrow’s blog…EXCEPT this one story.  After work I had to go to the Post Office and then meet Abbey’s dad to pick up the goods (Isaac).  While at the PO I had to PEE!  Of course the guy in front of me had 1 million packages so I waited and waited and waited…finally another “teller” clerk..what are they…was available so I mailed my shiz!  I went to the gas station to fill up since $15 only lasted me for one day and MAN did I have to PEE!  After I finished pumping I walked inside and stood in line behind large marge’s motorcycle riding brother.  Of course right in front of me was the little debbie snacks and they all seemed to be saying EAT ME!  Why are the little debbie snacks in front of the bathroom?  I waited FLUSH…ahh sweet ….FLUSH…ok, here we go!  FLUSH…hmmm I’m getting worried…Hugely Davidson left saying “jesus christ” and I decided “this guy can’t take tooo much longer in there, can he?”  FLUSH – anyone that needs 4 flushes (unless you are playing poker) is having some serious issues and there was NO WAY in hell I was going to be the poor soul to enter that bathroom next!  I left went to PetSmart and almost used one of their Oops bags in the parking lot before thinking they would probably have a bathroom inside…they did!!!

Until tomorrow…P90Xtasy

Day 14 – Another weekend in the books…

Why the hell do weekends go so quickly?  I know time flies when you’re having fun, but DAMN!  Sunday’s breakfast was 4 veggie sausage patties (morning star) with one english muffin and a glass of milk.  I had another epiphany today – I know, you’re thinking, “wow, Jeff has a lot of epiphanies…he must be really smart!”  Well, my friend…you are right!  It’s actually probably just more of a thought about the whole P90Xperience…I started following the menu and switched to the portion plan at Level 3 because that’s what the book told me to do.  I thought I was going to keep track of exactly what I ate (protein servings, veggies, fruits, etc) but really I’m just doing it in my head.  I don’t think I’m actually at the Level 3 of eating, but really, I just can’t EAT that much.  There are a few different things that were included in the P90X files – the P90Nutrition guide and the beachbody guide just very so much that if you follow one you should be eating 1500 calories…if you follow the other you should eat 3500.  I told Abbey that I just can’t eat 3500 calories, however, I very easily could – if I wanted to be on next season’s biggest loser!

Abbey, Isaac and I made a trip to Kenwood Mall to pick up a few things and of course you can’t go to Kenwood without a Smoothie King!  Malls…malls are just very interesting places to go.  You get to see all kinds of people when you are malls, but Kenwood you get a lot of rich people or people pretending/wanting to be rich.  Abbey and I were walking around the mall with our brand new $30 stroller and Isaac was loving it – but was everyone criticizing us because our child wasn’t cruising in a Cadillac Stroller?  They also have this crazy booth – you know those booths where they give you head massages or they buff your nails (by the way…why buy the nail stuff if you can just go there once a week and have them do it for you; it’s like free manicures!)  Well, they have a booth that sells prostitutes…at least that’s what it looked like the lady was selling…

We ran into a couple friends while at the mall (trying to figure out if they are rich or pretending to be rich – ) and Britt told me a story about his P36Xperience…he said that he dropped about 9 pounds and felt like he was in pretty decent shape…he’s a little guy anyway, but that’s encouraging!  He then said that a few guys at his work are in their own little P90X club and after 90 days they all lost pretty much 22 pounds and you could see a noticable difference – even more encouraging!  I really can’t wait till it’s over, just to see the results, not to end the workouts.  I got a chocolate protein smoothie with no turbanado from the King and enjoyed it, but I don’t know that mine isn’t much better…for WAY cheaper!

We got home and decided it was nap time.  After our little nap (much needed) we got ready and headed off to Virgil’s for Abbey’s parent’s anniversary dinner.  They have a very small/limited menu so my decision was not all that hard…I got the pork tenderloin and double vegetable medly instead of brussel sprouts and (this hurts me to say) some sort of potatoes that sounded like they would taste GREAT!  Ho Hum   Dinner was fantastic and I’ve said it before…I’ll say it again…if you want some damn good food and nicely poured drinks head over to Virgils on route 8 in Bellevue, KY. 

Once Abbey and I got home we put Isaac to bed and then started our Sunday workout…CardioX.  Cardio is a really big mixture of a lot of the P90X videos – for the second day in a row I sweat through a shirt (how badly did you want to know that?!)  I am loving the way I’m starting to feel and am being encouraged by people’s words!  Abbey said my face looked thinner, her mom said the same thing, my mom the same thing, my little sister “WHOA!” and my dad also the same thing.  I don’t see it, but I’ll take their word for it because I know that’s the first change you notice on Biggest Loser!

Until tomorrow….P90Xmen

Day 13 – HiiiiiiiiYA!

KenpoX took place in our home today and it was a great workout.  Isaac went down for a nap and Abbey decided she wanted to continue her P90Xperience with me; even though she was feeling a little sore from legs and back.  We took on the  60 minute exercise and showed it who was boss.  We looked like two BAMF’s (for those of you not fluent in Dane Cook a BAMF is a Bad Ass Mother F’er).  I’m not going to lie…it’s a little more entertaining to work out with Abbey because it means that I have someone to talk to and more importantly laugh at Tony D-bag!  If we had a camera on in our house people would think we were training to be extras in the new Karate Kid movie…yes, they are remaking it – Will Smith’s son is the student and Jackie Chan is Mr. Miagi.  On a side note, I also heard they were remaking Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – two classics that will just not be the same…

I started the day with a Protein Shake since I knew Abbey and I were going to work out soon after eating.  Just incase you were wondering and want to make your own protein shake here is my recipe:

1 cup of skim milk
1 cup of ice
1 cup of frozen fruit
1 banana
5 tablespoons of protein powder (I use chocolate)

When I blend the shake I tend to let it get pretty frothy, but I like that way and it seems to fill me up for longer.  (That’s what she said).

We worked out, showered (indvidually), then I helped myself to one of my new PowerBar Protein Bars.  Chocolate peanut butter was the flavor and it was just OK.  I’ll be going back to S’mores; that’s for sure!  Lunch rolled around and I heated up my two leftover porkchops and added some frozen corn.  For those of you that like corn…the birdseye steamers individual corn packets have a ton of flavor – I highly recommend them.

Around 2 we headed over to Abbey’s parent’s house to watch the UK game (scary) and eat dinner.  They were having chili so I went with it because really it’s just beans, turkey meat and veggies.  At the last minute they added cornbread to the mix (not in the chili, just on the table) and I wanted a piece, but I told myself I would take this seriously and that’s what I’m giong to do.  I’m really surprised at my willpower so far in these two weeks! 

When we got home and after we did the nighttime routine with Isaac Abbey and I watched the Grey’s/Private crossover special.  Can it REALLY be considered a crossover if one person from Private is on Grey’s for 10 minutes and one person from Grey’s is on Private for 25 (if that)?  I know WHY they market it that way, but really…who cares!  Crossover Specials only worked when Erkel ”jetpacked” into Step-by-Step!  Now those were the days…TGIF!  Has there ever been a better 2 hours of tv as there were on Friday nights?

I really enjoyed working out earlier in the day and not at 10pm.  I felt like it freed up my night (obviously) and also gave me more energy throughout the day.  Work kind of prohibits me from working out in the afternoon so I guess that will just be a weekend thing.  I stayed up till a little past 11 (I know I’m a rebel) ate a couple pickles and a banana.  I don’t have too much more to put into detail.

Until tomorrow…P90Xpedia.com

Day 8 – A new look

It’s Monday, Day 8 and I feel pretty good.  My arms a tiny bit sore from the Kenpo, but I’ll get through!  With Chest and Back tonight I better get through cuz all I’ll be using is my arms!  Breakfast was another protein shake – I really can’t believe how good these things taste - I should work at smoothie king!  Speaking of smoothies if you live anywhere near a Planet Smoothie I highly recommend the chocolate elvis or whatever it is…peanut butter, chocolate protein, banana…PURE AWESOMENESS!  MMMMM…good thing it’s lunch time!  I had one last chocolate peanut butter protein bar left so I ate that for my 10:30 and for lunch I had a chef’s salad.  The great thing about buying my ham and turkey from Kroger is that everytime I purchase one pack I get a free tupperware!  Those are great for freezing soups when I make a ton and want to portion them out for myself!  Chicken is marinating at home for dinner and we’ll have some asparagus to boot.  While I’m on asparagus…anyone know what the “man code” is if you are using a urinal right next to someone and you have asparagus pee?  I mean, do you apologize?  Do you look at him in disgust as to put the blame on him?  Do you start sniffing and freak out once you realize it’s coming from you?!  What’s a guy to do………

I got a message on facebook from a guy I knew in High School that mentioned he did P90X last year for 180 days (overachiever) – and he said he got amazing results.  I don’t know that I’m dedicated enough to follow the meal plan for 180 days, but I definitely could see myself sticking with the workouts.  They really don’t take up THAT much time – less time than going to the gym!  I asked Casey if he had any tips for the food portion of it and he said a lot of chicken and broccoli, yogurt, string cheese, and carrots with hummus.  I like carrots, I love hummus, but the thought of the two of them combined turns my stomach more than when I see Fergie’s armpit hair.  My wife says it’s really good and I am willing to try anything so we’ll see! 

I spoke to Mandy, John’s wife, last night while John was doing his workout.  She said that it’s hilarious because she wasn’t watching it, but could hear it and it just sounds like a porno.  Shortly after that convo I started my Week 2 Chest and Back and I started turning everything into some sort of a sexual comment.  It was hilarious!  For those of you reading this and starting to have your own P90Xperience you will start to crack up as you listen to what they are all saying more closely.  I think Tony’s name on Jersey Shore would definitely be “D-bag…in a nice way.” 

YES!  My sister got Abbey hooked on Jersey Shore and when Abbey watched two episodes at home I couldn’t pull my eyes away.  How do these shows do this?!  Of course if they just filmed really fat people I’d watch…oh wait…I do!  I have not watched an MTV show in roughly 3 or 4 years and now I’m going to be stuck on Jersey Shore.  I heard it’s a gateway show…it leads to other crappy MTV shows…I’m in deep – real deep! 

SUCCESS!  I can’t really see a difference yet, but I can feel a big difference!  Doing Chest and Back this week I was actually able to do some push-ups!  It was amazing!  I also figured out a way to do opposite pull-ups using the bands and all the same muscles.  I immediately felt the difference in the overall workout!  I went upstairs to take a shower and my loofah was roughly 100 pounds.  (yes, I use a loofah and body wash…what’s up?!)  I’ll post some pictures, even though they look the same, tomorrow.

As promised…the Vegetable Soup Recipe -

10 cups fat-free chicken broth, low sodium
4 red potatoes cut into 1 inch squares
4 cups onions, quartered
1 cup carrots, sliced 1 inch thick
3 cups celery, sliced 1 inch thick
2 cups zucchini, sliced 1 inch thick
8 ounces tomato sauce, canned (I highly recommend Kroger brand Hot Mexican Style)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (didn’t use)
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped (didn’t use)
dash black pepper

1. In a large stockpot, combine the chx broth, potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 min.

2. Add the zucchini, tomato sauce, garlic, parsley anc cilantro.  Reduce heat tomedium-low and cook for 10-15 min. more, or until the zucchini is just tender.  Season to taste with black pepper.

Makes 18 cups

The new weekly segment….

DO YOU THINK…..
Do you think Taco Bell’s dental insurance can be so expensive that she can’t afford to do something about this?  Why do they have her at the drive-thru?

 

Until tomorrow – P90Xpert

Day 3 – Almost there…

Head, shoulders, arms and abs…arms and abs

Head, shoulders, arms and abs…arms and abs

You know the rest, I don’t have to write it for you!

Day 3 breakfast was back to eggs – 8 of them to be exact, but this time scrambled with chicken and cheese – a lot easier to eat than the omelet…that’s fo shizzle!  Imagine being at Thanksgiving dinner, seeing that large bowl of mashed potatoes and thinking “ahhhhh yeah, I’m gonna tear dat shit up!”  Just as the mashed potatoes get to your mouth it turns to a bowl full of scrambled eggs…that was my breakfast.  I was also supposed to eat some turkey bacon and fresh squeezed juice (no juicer here).  I ate the eggs on the way to work and had some turkey jerky once I got there.  You see it’s impossible to follow this diet to a tee because you ALWAYS have to be prepared.  Imma let you in on a little secret…I flunked out of cub scouts so I’m NEVER prepared!

Lunch was mighty fine!  I made some chicken salad (delicious…a little mustardy, but I can fix that for next time), I made some vegetable soup (which is DAMN good and I think I could bottle it – call it Jeffro’s Vegetative State…what do you think?) I finished it off with some salad greens…I actually had the chicken salad with the greens made for a nice salad! 

Snack was pistachios and cashews.  I never was much of a nut person…now I have nuts in my mouth everyday at work!  Dinner was Mahi Mahi with pesto sauce, wild rice and zucchini.  It wasn’t enough for me so I made a protein shake and life was grand!  I think after this week I might start and finish the day with a protein shake cuz they are DAMN good and it satisfies my sweet tooth.

Shoulders and Arms w/ Ab Ripper X was the workout of the day.  I was pleased with my performance in the shoulders and arms workouts.  I definitely see room for improvement, but that will come.  I’m using the tension bands instead of dumbbells cuz I didn’t want to buy them and my mom had the bands!  I think for the first few weeks they will do ok, but I might have to look into buying some inexpensive dumbbells to get my true results near the middle of the P90Xperience.  I think for one of the workouts I’m going to turn the webcam on and have it take intermittent pictures so I can see the kinds of faces I make while I’m working out.  Have you ever been at the gym, staring at yourself in the mirror while you lift weights and instead of concentrating on the weights you worry about what faces you’re going to make?  There are certain lifts that make my top lip curl up like Elvis.  It’s the weirdest thing, but I can’t control it – when I see myself do it I can’t help but laugh and that’s never a good thing when you have Steroid Greg standing next you with arms the size of a Geo Metro (yes, a shout out to the Metro since I just saw it in a movie)! 

I did the bonus round of S&A’s then moved on to Ab Ripper X —- I’m going to go ahead and admit that I’m not at Ab Ripper status just yet.  You see, when you have a beer belly it’s awfully hard to maneuver all over the place while “crunching” your belly (aka fat).  I’ll probably try it every time it comes up in the schedule, but I won’t expect too much!

John, my cousin, decided to start the P90Xperience with me (minus the diet) because his work is having a Biggest Loser contest.   Mandy, his wife, and I finally convinced him to give me his before pictures!  Although John is not doing the diet he is watching what he’s eating and being smarter about his choices (WAY TO GO JOHN)!  It will be interesting to see how our results vary or if they are relatively consistent.  It’s nice having someone to discuss the workouts with – someone who talks back anyway

I have a conundrum…Saturday the Bengals are in their second playoff game in almost 20 years, I have tickets and I want to tailgate…do I drink and not eat shit or do I just go to the game and enjoy myself with my diet and day 91 on my mind?

Reality TV

When it all first started I was definitely against Reality TV – little did I know that in 5 short years all that would be on TV is Reality, Doctors, or police shows.  Every season I seem to get sucked into a new reality show (mostly because my wife is a borderline junky), but I watch one episode and can’t resist!  Here is a list of the shows I was guilty of watching this year:

Real Housewives of New York – I’m ashamed of this one, but it is nice to see how the other half lives sometimes

Real Housewives of New Jersey – Noticing a trend here?  It blows my mind how catty women REALLY are…there is a reason they don’t have Real Husbands of (fill-in city here) – you know how boring it would be?!  Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, wake up, go to work…blah blah blah….hahaha someone has to pay for the housewives spending habits!  Plus, there would be no drama…the guys would say “Fuck it” and move on – the girls talk behind each other’s backs then it all comes out in a huge explosion at the end.

Million Dollar Listing – this is actually a really cool show because you get to see a lot of really nice houses in CA, but it pisses you off because these guys are in my age range and making triple what I make in a year on one sale (in some cases) – it saddens me!  This is also 1 of many “home” shows that I got addicted to…

Property Ladder – A great show about flipping homes…I don’t think they have done any new episodes in quite some time so I have lost interest, but when it was in full swing I was ready to invest and flip…just need that investor
Property Virgins – Finding your first house doesn’t seem like it should really be as hard as they make it to be on this show – this one is truly scripted though!  EVERYTIME a couple likes a home and are deadset on it – someone has an offer in and they don’t get it.  Magically, by the end of the show, they get a call from Sandra saying “I have good news, can we meet up?”…what do you think the news is?!?  THE OTHER OFFER DIDN’T MAKE IT THROUGH ESCROW! Lame, but yet I continue to watch every week.

Survivor – I got into this one because of a contest at work.  I watched one season and thought it wasn’t all that bad.  I did the contest at work again for this last season and watched about 3 episodes…I had no desire to see it anymore cuz it was just REALLY boring to me and the challenges were not very exciting.

American Idol – even though I say I only watch the “funny” auditions somehow I always end up seeing the whole season.  It will be worth a watch this season because of Ellen, but other than that I’m not sure why else I would watch

Bachelor/Bachelorette – I REALLY don’t want to watch these, but Abbey does and rather than spend two hours by myself I sit through them with her while surfing the net or reading a magazine…by the middle of the season I find myself watching the TV more than anything else and by the end I know everyone’s story and have someone I’m rooting for…WTF is my problem?!

Hoarders – truly one of the best “reality” shows out there!  I don’t know anyone with this disorder, but if I did I would just randomly throw shit away.  I can’t believe that people actually keep some of the shit they keep (and I literally mean shit).  It blows my mind that even though people have gone 15 years without seeing what is in the pile of stuff in the bedroom that they think they might actually need it…guess what, if you haven’t used it in 15 years I’m guessing it’s not a necessity!

Paranormal State – My sister turned me on to this one.  They had a mini-marathon last week so I DVR’d like 15 of them, but have only watched one so far.  It’s interesting, but I could do without the “exorcism” parts.  Also, it could very easily be scripted – but well scripted!

Biggest Loser – I love this show…I watch every episode (fast forwarding through commercials and BS) and make every 2 hour show, just under an hour.  There is definitely scripting involved on this one, but it’s not as dominant as others because the people do have to lose the weight…can’t script that.  The one thing I CAN’T stand is everytime they come back from a commercial they repeat the last 5 min. from before the commercial…argh.

So, it seems like I am the biggest loser because apparently all I do is watch TV, but with the advent of DVR it really cuts back on TV time and makes it easier to watch what I want, when I want, and as quickly as I want (ie fastforwarding through crackhead Abdul’s rants on AI).