Day 97 - The end!

This is it - my final post. I'm not ready to say goodbye!

Today I did Fountain of Youth. I have no idea what I was supposed to do, but I love the yoga so much I wanted to do it! I can't BELIEVE my flexibility. My hamstring stretches are so much better now than they were, even a few weeks ago! Sitting, I can reach around a yoga block at my feet. That's so crazy; I never dreamed I'd be able to do that. The results show it, too: a staggering 11 inch increase in my toe touch. I am so happy with my results I could cry. I posted my before and after photos yesterday, and as promised, I'm posting my final measurements today.

So, I guess this is it! For anyone interested, I'll be keeping a general life blog, which you can find here. To the strangers that have been reading and commenting on this blog, thank you. It's great to know that I am an inspiration for others, and the fact that I do inspires ME. To my friends and family who followed me through these 90 97 days, thank you. Your words and encouragement really did keep me going. I appreciate your support, so much. And to Christopher: my best friend, my motivation, my support and my rock.. THANK YOU. If it weren't for you, honestly, I wouldn't have had the results I have now. I loved your patience, and your gentle but firm reminders to keep pushing through. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

And that's all from me. I'm officially an X grad! Thank you, Tony! Goodbye, P90Xers, and keep bringing it!

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Weight
Day 0: 124 lb
Day 30: 123 lb
Day 60: 123 lb
Day 90: 123 lb

Chest
Day 0: 32"
Day 30: 31"
Day 60: 32"
Day 90: 32"

Waist
Day 0: 27"
Day 30: 27"
Day 60: 26"
Day 90: 27"

Hips
Day 0: 34"
Day 30: 33.5"
Day 60: 34"
Day 90: 33"

Right thigh
Day 0: 19"
Day 30: 19"
Day 60: 19"
Day 90: 20"

Left thigh
Day 0: 18"
Day 30: 19"
Day 60: 19"
Day 90: 20"

Right arm
Day 0: 10.5"
Day 30: 10.5"
Day 60: 10.75"
Day 90: 10.5"

Left arm
Day 0: 11"
Day 30: 10.5"
Day 60: 10.5"
Day 90: 10.5"

Pushups
Day 0: 7
Day 30: 11
Day 60: 20
Day 90: 21

Wide-grip pull-ups
Day 0: 1/2
Day 30: 3/4
Day 60: 3/4
Day 90: 1

Toe touch
Day 0: -5" (5" away from touching toes)
Day 30: +2" (2" past toes)
Day 60: +4" (4" past toes)
Day 90: +6" (6" past toes)

Wall squat
Day 0: 1 minute 3 seconds
Day 90: 1 minute 25 seconds

Chin-ups
Day 0: 1/2
Day 90: 2 1/2

Bicep curls
Day 0: 23 with 10 lbs
Day 90: 20 with 15 lbs

In and outs (the ab test)
Day 0: 21
Day 90: 50

Day 96 - Before and after pics

So! Today, as reported yesterday, was supposed to be Core Synergistics. Instead, we did a workout from Insanity called Max Recovery, and later, a workout from P90X+ called Total Body Plus. Max Recovery started out like fast-paced yoga, and I was really enjoying it. Then it got hard. Everything felt great though, and the 45 minutes went by in a flash. I was shocked when he said "time for the cool down!" It felt like 20 minutes. The Total Body Plus workout was a bit of everything; lots of push ups, squats and lunges. It also flew by. It doesn't feel like I did two workouts today, I feel great!

And on that note, Chris took my 90 day photos today, and I compiled my Day 0, 30, 60 and 90 day photos into one. And voila - before and after pictures! I'm so happy with my progress. I love my abs, and I'm definitely going to work to make them better. My arms and shoulders are so toned it's ridiculous, and I actually have calf muscle definition! Loving it!! We'll be doing measurements and weights tomorrow, so I will post those tomorrow - my last post!! I can't believe it!

Hooray!!

Day 95 - New Years Day

Happy 2010!

Chris and I rung in the new year by going to my sister's party. She had a bunch of friends and neighbours over, and we had so much food it was unreal. I had "my drink", raspberry flavoured vodka and club soda, and a delicious white beer to ring in the new year. We had a great time, and this morning was even better - sitting around in our pyjamas watching movies. Love the holidays!

When we got home, I did Tony's Fountain of Youth yoga. I still love the yoga. Tomorrow is Core Syn. Chris is going to take my "after" photos tomorrow as well. He did his today, and they look incredible!! He's lost 15 pounds over the last 90 days, and the abs that appeared are unreal. I'm so proud of him, for finishing, for getting the body he wanted, and for keeping me motivated. Congratulations, we're almost done!! <3

Amazing transformation!

Day 94 - More Insanity

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but given that it's New Years Eve (read: there will be drinks and snacks), I figured I better do some cardio beforehand. Since Chris does Insanity workouts regularly, I figured I'd try one again and see if it got any easier from last time. Nope. Still hard, brutal and painful. And my feet were aching the whole time, no idea why. But I did my best, and it's done, and now I can go to my sister's New Years party knowing I did some good for my body today!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Day 93 - Crazy crazy

First half of Kenpo, followed by Kenpo Cardio Plus from P90X+. Whew! I was throwing punches a lot faster than Tony and his friends were - and it showed, because I was in a lather and panting like crazy by the time it was over. I could hardly throw any punches toward the end, I was so tired. But, now that it's over, I feel great, as usual!

Tomorrow is New Years Eve. We are going to my sister and brother-in-law's place for their NYE party. I can't wait! Tomorrow also happens to be a rest day, but we're going to do something to help cancel out the drinks and munchies. Not sure what, maybe an Insanity workout? (Unlikely, since I hate them. We'll see.)

In any event, we have FOUR DAYS of P90X left. I'm still thrown off course from Christmas, and I wish we had started a week earlier. But we're back on track now and it's starting to wind down for us. Hard to believe. I get to tell people now that I finished P90X! Crazy crazy :)

Day 92 - I'm officially a Yogi

I. Love. Yoga.

I really can't stress that enough. I love it. I love the stretching, the holding, the pain and the willpower it takes to get through that pain. The shaking muscles, the huge increase in flexibility from start to finish. Love, love, love! I can't wait to start looking into yoga classes in town. I have no idea what it'd be like to do yoga with a room full of other people. Plus, I'm pretty stoked on learning new poses. P90X has turned me into a yogi! This is good since, according to Women's Health, yoga practitioners tend to eat mindfully, eating when hungry and stopping when full - they think it's because yoga teaches calmness in the face of discomfort, which might make it easier to cave in to cravings.

Speaking of Women's Health, their January issue has a few delicious looking soup recipes. I made one tonight, Savoury Moroccan, which has chicken stock, diced tomatoes, zucchini, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, couscous, parsley, raisins, scallions and spices. YUM! I added chicken myself, boiling it and cutting it into little pieces. The end result? To die for. We had it with a delicious Blue Menu whole-wheat baguette. WH says to make sure that whole wheat is the first ingredient (check), it has no trans fats (check), and it has at least 3 grams of fibre per serving (check!). This recipe definitely made the books. I can't wait to try the other four recipes - and I intend to!

This isn't my final result - I stole it from WH!

And a gratuitous photo of me in Warrior Two.

Day 91 - Back to the grind

And by grind, I mean workouts that feel amazing after many days of overeating and underexercising.

Day 1 of our last week was Core Synergistics, and it was great. Definitely a little harder, given the 5-day lapse in workouts, but it felt really great to get moving again. I can't believe the change in my attitude, even from half a year ago. I used to go weeks without working out. Now I don't think I could go a couple days without missing the burn.

Christmas was fantastic, wonderful, and relaxing, everything a good Christmas should be. Chris and I had a great time traveling around between families, get-togethers, dinners and present openings. It sure is nice to be home, though. Sometimes you're on the go for so long, you don't realize it until you stop. That happened to me, and only today did I realize how busy we were over the holidays. So nice to lay around our own home and really relax together.

So, I guess this blog will end up being 97 days instead of 90. But that's alright. Tony will just have to rename it P97X. ;)

DAY 90!

...Not as joyous and momentous as I was expecting. I blame Christmas.

Bring on the last week of P90X - again!

Day 88 & 89 - It's official

Christmas ruined P90X!

Real bacon and whole eggs for breakfast? Don't think that's in the meal plan! What a truly awful time to be finishing this program. But, there's hope - Chris said that, when he gets home, he plans on doing the last week over again. Or rather, doing it properly. I'm going to join him. I don't want these last few days to ruin the momentum of P90X, so I guess I'll have more than 90 posts when I'm all done! I'll also be joining Chris for some Insanity workouts to get some cardio and get my heart going.

It's amazing how crappy I've felt at the end of the day, with not working out and eating like this. I'm not used to it, my body isn't used to it, and my muscles feel like they're wasting away! I miss working out! Hahah I never thought I'd say that, but it's true. I miss it!

We're heading back home today, then back to Mom's tomorrow, and back home the next day. So that day, which would be the 28th, we'll restart the last week. I can't let these 90 days end like this!

Day 87 - Christmas Eve!

Happy Christmas Eve day, everyone! We spent the day with the family again, and I showed Chris around town (not that there's much to see!). Tonight we're going to my step-dad's sisters house for dinner, which is a big tradition in their family. Lots of family to see!

As far as working out goes, well... No workout has happened yet. But, this morning I found out my Mom has a yoga mat, and I have a Women's Health yoga app on my iPhone. I'm thinking I'll attempt some yoga, at least 20 minutes, before bed tonight. Will keep you posted.

I feel like such a mega-slacker. Oh, gotta go, the sugar cookies are calling... ;)

Day 86 - Christmas begins

We spent the day preparing for, and then traveling to, my Mom's place for Christmas. It's so nice to be home with her and my step-dad. My grandfather is here too. So great! We decorated the tree last night and had the fire going while snow fell slowly outside. Doesn't get much more perfect than that! But - no working out happened. It's hard to say "Sorry but I have to leave this nice get-together to go work out". I thought that it would be a breeze wrapping up P90X around Christmastime, but it's not so. However, it does make me feel better to know that we're starting it again in January, so all of my hard work won't go to waste.

And oh, the food and treats...

Day 85 - Curse Half Moon!

We have another fun-filled day today, so our workouts had to be squeezed in in the morning. Legs and Back was scheduled, but I have a really hard time doing strength or cardio workouts in the morning. So, I did Fountain of Youth. It felt great to do it in the morning first of all, and secondly, I did it alone since Chris did Legs & Back, so I found I could concentrate more and I definitely got a better workout from it. I was dripping sweat onto the yoga mat! I also love the hamstring stretches. They feel incredible. I'm falling more and more in love with yoga every time I do it. Except...

Half Moon!! I hate the balance poses! I don't know why, I love Tree pose, but for some reason I have a really hard time balancing in the Half Moon poses. I tumble and stumble and fall all over the place. It's a little ridiculous. But I keep trying! I want to join a yoga class, I think, so I want to try to master these poses before I do that.

Anyhoo, we're on our way out the door to my friends' place. Love Christmas and the get-togethers it brings!

Damn you Half Moon!

Day 84 - Social butterfly

I had a friend over tonight for four hours of talking and catching up. It was so great. It meant I missed my workout, but if there's ever a reason, catching up with friends is it.

Legs and Back has been postponed until tomorrow. Sorry, Tony!

Day 83 - Pouring on the Pounds

Today, I did absolutely nothing. For the first time in months, I didn't leave the house, I had no homework, chores or errands to do, and I didn't even get dressed. And I loved it! It was so great to have a day to do nothing. Mind you, one day is about all I could handle. If I didn't have to leave the house tomorrow, I still would. I'd find something to do. I can't sit around for too long, I get shack whacky.

Chris and I did our Kenpo workout tonight, and we learned why Tony didn't have Kenpo following Back & Biceps. Both of us were grunting and groaning because our biceps were so sore (that may be a slight exaggeration). We did the usual mix, the first half of Kenpo X and the first half (or so) of Kenpo Cardio +. Followed by Ab Ripper. Oh, Ab Ripper. I thought I could master you in 90 days... I thought wrong. I only have one more Ab Ripper workout!!! This means that I either have to a) master it in one go, or b) accept the fact that I won't master it this time around. I'm leaning toward b.

So, my step-mother works for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She (and many others) developed this ad campaign describing the negative effects that soda has on peoples' health. They have a website, a Facebook group, a YouTube video and mass transit posters, and they're causing a stir in New York, in the States and around the world. I highly recommend checking it out (especially the YouTube video!) and passing it along to friends.

Day 82 - Fountain of Youth

Exciting news. Fountain of Youth is awesome!!! It's a little over 40 minutes, and has a lot less jibber jabber than the P90X Yoga. The poses are a lot more fluent and cohesive, and you never hold upward dog for more than 5 seconds (versus P90X Yoga where it's always at least 10). It felt more like a workout than the other Yoga. Needless to say, we're both very happy with it and I highly recommend it if Yoga is too long for you. It's $19.95 and you can get it here.

We did yoga in the morning, and Back & Biceps in the evening. It was quite late when we finished, so we postponed Ab Ripper to today. Usually in Back & Biceps I use 10 lb weights, but this time, since it was our second last resistance workouts, I upped it to 15 lb. Obviously my reps dropped a bit, but it felt great to use a heavier weight. So that's it - no more Back & Biceps workouts!

Our last resistance workout is on Monday, and it's Legs & Back. Then it's our last recovery week, and then we're done!

Day 81 - Total slackers

Today, we slacked. Big time. Not only did we skip our workout (bad!) we also had some not-so-good snacks this evening. Corn chips (reduced salt) and salsa, shrimp, meatloaf, squares.. Yeah. I'm definitely losing the solid discipline I had when I first started out. Where did it go?!

But, tomorrow's a big day. Yoga (Fountain of Youth) in the morning, and Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper (which was actually tonights workout) tomorrow night. I won't feel so bad once we're caught up.

Day 80 - Christmas is coming..

With Christmas a mere 8 days away, treats and temptations are extra-hard to resist. A friend of mine brought by some homemade Bits & Bites and peppermint-chocolate cookies. My mom is in a baking frenzy at her house, having completed three full days of cooking and baking. And it is all sooo tempting! Starting P90X, Chris and I gave ourselves three "eating occasions": Thanksgiving, his birthday, and Christmas. For our Christmas dinner I'm not going to worry, but it's the appetizers and snacks and treats leading up to Christmas that I'm worried about! I'm really proud of myself for passing up snacks and treats for the last 80 days, and I know I won't let that all go to hell by pigging out every day around Christmastime. But still, something inside is telling me that something's gotta give.

I think the best thing is going to be moderation. It's unfortunate, but Christmas celebrations are a lot about eating, and the last thing I want is to a) come off as rude or b) feel like I missed out on the celebrating. So here's my plan: I'll have some Christmas treats, but in moderation. Far, far, far less than I would normally have. I figure that this way, I can relax more and enjoy my vacation, and at the same time, not doom my health and body and my hard-earned abs. (Plus, we're doing another round of P90X after Christmas - back on the wagon I go!)

We made tonight our rest day. Tomorrow will be Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper, followed by Yoga the next day (which will be the NEW Fountain of Youth disc that we received!). So, off I go to rest! :)

Seriously. How could you pass that up??

Day 79 - New protein!

Today's workout was simple, plain ol' Cardio X. I hardly broke a sweat during the yoga and kenpo exercises, I was thinking I was doing great! Then came the plyo section.. I started sweating like hell. But! I enjoyed every single exercise this time around (whereas, in the past, there's always been one that I hated). It's a great workout because it's nice and short - 45 minutes - and it covers everything, from yoga to core syn.

Last night we had a catastrophic incident. We ran out of PROTEIN!!! Okay, it wasn't that bad. But there was only enough for one shake, so we split it, each had half, and shared a protein bar. We were using this professional kind called , but it was a wee bit on the pricey side. So Chris went out this afternoon to WalMart and got a new kind, . I was skeptical because my sister uses protein from WalMart in a vanilla flavour, and when I tried hers, I nearly choked, it was so sweet. But Chris got chocolate (the last kind was chocolate fudge), so I was cautiously optimistic. I had some after my Cardio workout today, and it was tasty! I have to say, I'm very impressed, WalMart. Very impressed.

 

Old protein vs. new protein

Day 78 - Stuffed peppers mmmmm

Our last Chest, Shoulders and Triceps exercise was today! Chris says it's his favourite, and it's definitely one of mine. I'm sad that we won't do it again! Ab Ripper was particularly awesome, with both myself and Chris doing ALL of Fifer Scissors with no breaks! That exercise is brutal, and we finally conquered it! Ab Ripper is slowly, slowly getting easier. Yippee!

A few days ago we found a delicious looking recipe in one of my Women's Health magazines for stuffed red peppers. Chris was determined to make them, so he did! And they were delicious! Red peppers stuffed with lean ground turkey, rice, raisins, green olives and garlic. YUM!!

Mmmmm so tasty!

Day 77 - Kenpo +

Since it was a Kenpo day, Chris and I started out doing the regular Kenpo disc. We stopped once the kick sequences were over, and we switched to Kenpo + from the P90X+ workouts. It's a lot more involved, and a lot more fun. My only qualm is that Tony doesn't really explain the moves, he just kind of.. starts doing them. But I got the hang of it! We only do Kenpo two more times (eeep!) so I'll definitely be doing the Kenpo + workout for those!

Last night for supper I made a fierce pork tenderloin. Chris was MMMM-ing the entire time, so it got his approval, too! I browned the tenderloin in a pan for a few minutes first, then I put it on tin foil and twisted up each corner of the foil so it made a bowl shape. Then I poured in a mixture of chicken broth (1/2c), ketchup (2tbsp), brown sugar (2tbsp), Worcestershire sauce (1tsp), and 4 cloves of garlic. Then I folded over the edge to seal it, put it on a cookie sheet and baked it at 350 for about an hour and a half. And my god. The tenderloin was so tender, it was stringy and falling apart! Delicious! I'll be making that recipe again, for sure.

Next up: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps!