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 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 7 – GIGGIDY GIGGIDY

WOOHOO!!!  I made it through week 1!  And what a week it was! 

I thought the weekend was going to be a lot harder to get through without completely breaking the diet.  Minus the bengals game, I did pretty well.  I stuck to the diet with no sweets – no pops – no “unneccesary” snacks.  After a week you start to really get the hang of it so no more “oh shit” store runs!  Not to mention, every lunch break at work I had to leave to go to Kroger or Trader Joe’s for something…that got old like the second day! 

I woke up Sunday and started my day off with a Protein shake.  It was something easy that I could do with Isaac in my arms and enough to fill me up till my 1030 protein bar.  I got smores this time….yummmm!  I’m pleasantly surprised that these don’t taste like turds…not that I would know what a turd tastes like, but if I had to guess I would assume pretty gross.  I’ve had some “healthy” bars in the past and each bite was either like I was chewing on the cow fat or had a mouth full of molasses…either way they were disgusting!  For lunch I decided something quick and easy was the way to go as I was heading out the door…mmmmm 2 balloons left!  I was going to dip the balloons in some hummus but then I wasn’t sure how gross that would be so I just did hot sauce and washed them down with some water.  I don’t think I’ll be trying those again, however I did buy Veggie sausage patties for the morning…I’ll let you know how those go…

I had some nuts for my 330 snack – ate almonds – finally, for dinner we had Tuna Melts.  I highly suggest the Herb and Garlic pre-made tuna, cuz it’s delicious and you don’t have to add mayo or anything!  I closed my week out with some KenpoX (which is kind of like Tai-Bo).  If anyone tries to mess with me I’ll start ball-side-and-back kicking you!  I have the whole claw – jab routine down!  JAB,CROSS,HOOK UPPERCUT!  I felt like I was in Punchout with some awesome combos!  I must have been racking up the points….I was sweating hardcore after this because it is just a go go go go go workout – I really enjoyed it.  I definitely think Pylo is the hardest workout I’ve done so far, but again I get to really feel the burn so I can’t complain! 

I’m a day late on this blog so I’m going to shut it here and start on Mondays! 

Thanks for reading – P90Xpect

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?

Day 2 – Pylometrics

Wow!  That pretty much sums up Day 2′s workout! 

The morning started off much better…all I had to eat/drink was a protein shake!  Protein powder, a banana, raspberries and skim milk make a very yummy start to your day!  Even though the shake seemed to make about 100oz I drank it all and was getting pretty hungry around 9:45.  I held out till 10:30 and chowed down my protein bar.  Lunch was supposed to be some veggies and shrimp stir fry…no time to make either so I checked my book and went to Kroger to get a substitute.  3 Veggie Dogs and some V8.  If you’ve never had veggie dogs, unless you have to, don’t try them!  If you want to simulate eating a veggie dog you can go ahead and blow up a balloon then chew on it for a little…pretty much the same thing!  EW!  At least I got to wash them down with some V8.  Ok, I confess…it’s not really V8, it’s actuall Kroger brand vegetable juice, but guess what…TASTES THE SAME!  After buying groceries for dinner, day 3′s lunch and day 3′s dinner I decided that in Week 2 I’m changing up the diet.  There is no way I can keep buying all this shizznit or I’ll be spending close to $200/wk and after 13 weeks I’d be broker than MC Hammer!

Dinner was turkey breasts with butternut squash soup and asparagus – again really good!  Here is my big problem…once dinner is over I like to have a treat of some sort – and it’s really hard to not walk over to the pantry and grab that cookie, but then I think of day 91 and how cool that’s going to be and say “NO” to cookie monster!  Abbey and Isaac went to bed and it was time for me to start sweating…

I started the video and immediately had flashbacks of the last time I tried Pylo - my legs were shaking (and giving out on me) – my thighs were on fire and I only made it about 20 minutes (that includes the 10 min warmup)!  Nothing like one hour of lunges and squats to put a smile on your face!  It’s actually a really good workout and even though at times it seemed like I wasn’t going to make it, it wasn’t all that bad.  Some stuff I couldn’t go 100% (rockstar jump) where you jump up pull your feet to your butt and strum the air guitar (swinging your arm in a large circle).  You see, I work out in the room under Isaac’s bedroom and if I did do that and other “high” jumps 100% I’d probably loosen all the screws on his crib – not a good thing!  Abbey was also very tired so I was trying to not make her wake up to a mini earthquake…all in all I got a really good workout.  The final three exercises were “sports” related and one of the was pitching (baseball – for those of you are confusing it with criquet).  I’m right handed and I pitched a little back in the day so it was very natural…till they made me use my left hand.  I’ve thrown a ball with my left hand…and while it may not be the prettiest thing in the world I can still do it.  It’s a lot different PITCHING with my left and with no glove or ball.  I felt like 3 year old girl that had never touched a baseball before…like the kid in the sandlot before he met all the sandlot baseball players…I felt weird. 

Throughout the day today my legs have been on and off…off when I’m trying to walk and on when I’m sitting…not very convenient.  I also told myself no elevator at work in 2010…today was not a great day for that.  Hopefully it will get better, and if not, I’ll be living in pain for the next 88 days! 

Thanks for reading…time for Shoulders and arms and Ab Ripper…WOOHOO!