Day 36 - Virus-laden

I didn't post last night either. And I can't blame it on the internet.

But, I'm sick. When I posted yesterday morning all I had was a tickle in my throat, and last night it had progressed to full blown cough, headache and fever. I felt antsy, laying on the couch all night, so Chris suggested I attempt some X Stretch. It helped with my restlessness and it felt really good, but I won't be doing it again today. I'm too sick today. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon so I'm hoping she'll know what I have, if it's a cold, flu or strep. I don't think it's a cold because of the nonproductive cough and the fever, but we'll see.

I've also switched my diet, and am more focused on eating things I can get down. So far today that's consisted of two glasses of orange juice and a bagel.

And, today is Christopher's birthday. Worst timing ever. :(

Day 27 - Internet FAIL

I'm so sad. This is the first time in 27 days that I missed a day posting. And it's not even my fault - my internet was out all evening last night!! Booo... So, this is yesterday's post, today. Still moping about it. :(

Day 27 was Yoga day, and I must say that I'm seeing huge improvements in my yoga form. My balance is definitely getting better, but there's one move that I still can't master, and it's because we're in a deep lunge for about two minutes and my leg burns too much. I'm really hoping that will get better with time, because it's really disappointing to have to come out of a yoga pose!

Depending on how well I do at the end of the 90 days with the Yoga, I might join a yoga class in the city. I can see how it builds strength and tone, which is what I want, and it helps with flexibility, too. Speaking of flexibility, I can do my standing hamstring stretch now with my palms on the floor (!!!), and I can touch both toes sitting down!! I was something like five or six inches away when I first started P90X, and now I can reach past my toes! I'm SO excited about this!

Also along those lines, today is X Stretch day, which I'm looking forward to. I'll be back later today to post about that!

P.S. Phase Two is almost here...!

I can reach further than he can! :)

Day 14 - Two weeks in!

It's hard to believe it's been two weeks already! I can honestly say that I've improved over the last two weeks, definitely physically, as well as having better form during the workouts. It's been hard at times to find the time for the workouts, but it means a lot to me, so I squeeze it in every night before bed. Being in school, the time constraint is the hardest part for me. The workouts are fine, the diet is easy, but it's the time that the workouts take that is the challenging part.

Today was rest/stretch day, and I would feel guilty not doing anything, so we did Stretch X. I have scoliosis, and just tonight I discovered that there are some stretches that I can't do because of my back, like plough. I really have to be careful, so I plan to swap those ones out for easy ones like cat stretches. I don't think Tony will mind!

That's all for tonight. Not much to say, I know! Thanks for reading.

Day 7 - Only 83 days to go!

Mondays are my rest days. I use the word "rest" loosely here, because there certainly wasn't any rest in my day. We did the X Stretch workout tonight, which felt really good. Chris found it boring, I found it relaxing.. To each their own. (He's the one out running 5k while I eat frozen yogurt!)

As much as I tease him, it's really great to be doing this program with Chris. First of all, we live together so it's ultra-convenient. Secondly, it's a huge bonding experience since we're supporting and encouraging each other. And third, he's great at motivating me; when I feel like I can't possibly do any more in's and out's, he just says "good job sweetie", and I can magically push out five or 10 more.

Plus, he's a great cook, which comes in handy when I'm feeling lazy. :)

I'm still in love with the Kenpo workout, and I can definitely feel which muscles I worked and where. My biceps and my forearms near my elbows, for example, are very sore. This is because in Kenpo you're not supposed to snap your joints straight, but keep them supported and a bit flexed. Obviously, I was doing that correctly.

So today marks SEVEN DAYS! Seven days of strict diet and exercise every day! I'm definitely keeping this up, I've never been so determined to finish something as I am with P90X. And, I can now touch the floor during hamstring stretches! This is big news because I'm very inflexible. I'm also close to touching my toes in a seated hamstring stretch, but it's not quite there yet. Almost. Stay with me!

Someday!

Day 6 - Kenpo, whoa!

Of all the workouts in the Lean program, Kenpo takes the cake for making me sweat the most. Ho-ly cow. Kenpo X is based on a form of martial arts, and, according to the fitness guide, is "a raw streetfighting style" that gives "a high-intensity cardiovascular workout". Before we started, we were reading all these discussion threads with people saying it doesn't work, they didn't feel anything from it, it hardly got them sweating, etc etc etc, so we didn't know what to expect. 

Well, I'm pretty sure that a constant stream of sweat in your eyes and a heart rate of 160 means it's working. I loved it! It felt great, I felt great, and I can still feel it in my upper arms. It definitely is a high-intensity workout.

Earlier, despite the pouring rain, Chris and I headed to the grocery store since he failed to tell me that we were out of eggs. You really can't run out of eggs when following the nutrition plan, so off to Superstore we went. Chris mentioned a few days back that we should compare prices of a dozen eggs versus a carton of egg whites, since we throw away the yolks anyway. Turns out, 500ml of egg whites (which is equivalent to 16 egg whites) was $2.69, which was a little cheaper than a dozen eggs, plus, we got 16 instead of 12. So we bought two cartons.

On that same food tangent, Chris made supper tonight - turkey meatloaf! I don't know why, but I'm crazy about meatloaf. I love it, and turkey meatloaf was no different. It was delicious! The recipe is in the nutrition guide that comes with the program, so if anyone has it, I recommend it. Along with the Island Pork Tenderloin. Mmmm..

It's hard to believe I'm on day six already. Tomorrow is rest day, which means I can either rest and not work out, or do the Stretch X workout. I think I'd feel like I was failing Tony if I didn't do ANYTHING, so I'm going to do the Stretch workout. I hope it feels as good as it sounds, because this sore body could use a good stretch.

And now, a picture of me, immediately post-Kenpo workout:

Beautiful, glorious sweat!