Day 47 - Donut.. D'oh!

I woke up in a fury at 0615 this morning because I was supposed to be at the hospital to shadow an RN for 0630.. Needless to say, my alarm did not go off. I threw on some scrubs, called a cab, ran a brush through my hair, tossed a couple protein bars and two packs of oatmeal in my purse, and ran out the door. (Then I waited 20 minutes for my cab, but that's another story.)

I ate a protein bar while waiting for the cab, which, I guess, could count as breakfast.. but I still had no lunch. So during first break I went to the horribly overpriced cafeteria and got a turkey wrap, a yogurt, and - for the first time in 47 days - a donut. I was feeling so sooky and sour that I was so rushed this morning, I got the donut as a comfort food. I know, I know, "it's one donut, it's no big deal". It wouldn't be a big deal if this whole program didn't mean so much to me. But, I can forgive one donut. And in my defense, at the time, I purposely chose a glazed donut (honey dip) over the cake donut that I really wanted (sour cream glazed), because I know they're lower in fat.

So there.

I got back on track once I got home. We had pork chops and salad for supper, and I had a second protein bar at 1500 when I'm actually supposed to have one. Speaking of breakfast (well, I was), we don't have any chicken bacon, so I don't know what to do about breakfast. I can have oatmeal, I love oatmeal.. but that's two protein servings lost. I guess I could make egg whites.. Ooooh, I just thought of something: an egg-white omelet with chicken, peppers and salsa. YUM! See, this blog is good for something!

I'll be taking pictures of this breakfast. Can't wait!

Oh, and about the workouts: We did Legs & Back, skipping Ab Ripper again to do tomorrow morning. Chris is a maniac and has started doing intervals on weekend mornings, with his regular workouts in the evenings. I might join him tomorrow, but probably not. Let's be honest here. Anyway, for the chin-ups, Chris was reading that it's really effective to do negative chin-ups if you can't do a lot of regular ones. That'd be me. Negative chin-ups are half of a normal pull-up: the down part. You get your hands in place, stand up on a chair, then step off the chair and lower yourself down. And repeat. It really works, but I was a little disappointed because I had mega strain in my upper abs, to the point where I just stopped because they felt like they might get hurt. Chris says it's probably because it's working my body in a new way, and I hope he's right, because that means it'll go away with time. So I'll keep trying these negative chin-ups, and I'll keep ya'll posted!

Day 46 - No workouts here!

Hi everyone. Today was supposed to be Yoga day, but due to time constraints (read: my sisters' surprise birthday party), we couldn't fit it in. So we switched around some days. Today is now a rest day, followed by Legs & Back and Ab Ripper tomorrow, Yoga Sunday and Kenpo Monday.

Since I have nothing else to write about, I'll post a little story I found online a few weeks back, from The Telegraph.

Craz-E Burger: Americans embrace 1,500 calorie doughnut burger

Consisting of a bacon cheeseburger with a buttered, grilled and glazed doughnut standing in for a bun, the Craz-E Burger puts such fatty delights as the deep-fried Mars bar in the shade. Its 1,500 calories of sugar and saturated fat did not stop it from becoming a huge hit at a major fair in Massachusetts. Organisers of the Big E, which finished on Sunday, said visitors bought around 1,000 Craz-E burgers each day of the fair's 17-day run. The fair's website described it as "classic fair food" but noted: "No single ingredient dominates the burger. They all complement each other with artistry expected from a celebrity chef." It added: "The glaze smooths over the burger and oozes into a foreign but delicious combination with the crisp of the bacon." The burger was believed to have been created by a bar owner in Decatur, Georgia, who substituted a doughnuts when he ran out of buns. The restaurant also serves a hamdog, a hotdog wrapped in a beef patty and deep-fried. The Gateway Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team in Illinois, serves the Luther burger at games, piling on further coronary heartache by deep-frying the Krispy Kreme doughnut used as the bun.

Mmm mmm, smell those myocardial infarctions!

Day 45 - HALFWAY DONE!

I can't believe it - I'm halfway done P90X! I know how cliche it sounds, but it seems like yesterday that we started. Well, maybe not yesterday. Maybe more like last week. The diet has become effortless, I look forward to my workouts, and I feel incredibly accomplished at the end of every day. It calms me down when I'm cranky and it clears my head when I'm stressed. So many things have become easy, like sit-ups, push-ups, and balance and flexibility poses in Yoga. It's hard to believe that I used to struggle with some of these moves.

I'm so proud of myself.. A few years ago I never could have committed to such a huge fitness and diet program, and part of the reason I can is Christopher. He's motivating and supportive, even when he's not even trying to be, and he's extremely encouraging. I love having him as a workout partner. I never would have done this well without him.

And, of course, part of the reason is me. I am so determined to finish this program, and especially now that I've come this far, I'd be crazy to stop now. I'm feeling great, and the best part: people are starting to notice how toned my arms are! I'm so happy with my results, it's hard to believe I'm only halfway done. I can't wait to see what these next 45 days bring!

Me! Tonight! Just now!

Day 44 - A Plyo day

So I did end up doing Plyo tonight instead of Cardio! I'm happy about that because Plyo is definitely a harder workout, and I felt really great afterward. You know it's a good one when you're wiping off your face between every single exercise! I pass on the ones where 180-degree spinning is involved, because last time I tried those, I felt nauseous. Chris does them, so I do other random exercises so my heart rate doesn't go down. Seems to work pretty well for me.

We went to see A Christmas Carol in IMAX 3D today. It was really good!! Starting P90X, I thought going to the movies would be difficult because I'm a theatre popcorn addict. We would always get the full meal deal: huge popcorn, huge pop, bag of candy. I can't imagine how much fat and sugar would be in all that. Anyway, starting out I was scared because I thought I would cave and get some popcorn, but we've found ways around that. I pop a bag of low-fat popcorn at home and take two Ziploc baggies of it with me, with a protein bar and a bottle of water. It's perfect, it's just enough snack, and it's not super bad for me! Win win!

Tomorrow marks the HALFWAY POINT - very exciting! Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Ab Ripper to celebrate! Hooray!!

Day 43 - Turkey day!

We went over to our friend's place for supper tonight, and she cooked an amazing turkey dinner for us. It was so tasty, and there wasn't even any stuffing or gravy to cheat with! We just had turkey, potatoes, squash and salad. No cheating here! I'm sooo sleepy from the turkey, but it was delicious, and we had a fantastic time. :)

I did Core today, and I think Tony should change the name to Shoulders. That workout works my shoulders so hard, it's unreal. The walking pushups, the plank to chatarunga iso, the plank to chatarunga run.. Shoulders, shoulders, shoulders! You'd think by now that I'd be able to tough it out.. Not the case. I can't finish any of those three without stopping for a little break. BUT! I did the whole steam engine exercise - with speed - for the first time, and I realized today that I've been doing the lunge and reach exercise wrong. I changed my footing today, rotating on the balls of my feet and lunging properly, and it gave me a totally different kind of workout. I really felt it working my back and abs! This is exciting because it means it'll be that much more effective.

And I still can't keep my balance very well in boat, but that's coming!

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day, so since we get a day off, we're going to see A Christmas Carol in IMAX 3D. Very excited! And tomorrow is supposed to be cardio, but if time permits, I'll likely change that to Plyo. But we'll have to wait and see!

Can't wait!!

Day 42 - Rest day

Today was rest day, and I actually rested, instead of subbing in another workout. So, not much to write about today.

Except Chris made that delicious Italian Meatloaf from the recipe in the nutrition guide... MMMM, it is SO friggen' good. I'm sure I've said this before, but I'm a total sucker for meatloaf. I don't know why. Pastries and meatloaf are my weaknesses. Obviously, Tony doesn't allow pastries.. So I was ecstatic when we found that recipe, in the P90X nutrition guide, no less!

That's all from me today. Tomorrow is Core Syn, so I'm sure I'll have lots to write about then! And just because, a photo of me and my kitty:

Snuggles!

Day 41 - Cheat Day 2 of 3

Today was a great day. First of all it was Sunday, which means no class, and second of all I had no homework, so it was a real day off! I started the day by eating oatmeal instead of my regular scrambled egg whites and chicken bacon, then I did laundry and Chris did the dishes. When we were finished being domestic we spent some time with his family, then came home and started Intervals. After that we got ready for Christopher's late birthday dinner, and walked there only to discover the restaurant was closed... So we changed restaurant plans and had a wonderful meal together. Starting P90X we allowed ourselves three cheat days: Thanksgiving, Chris's birthday and Christmas. So for cheat day 2 of 3, we went all out, with butternut squash tarts, spinach stuffed pork chops, haddock fillet with apple chutney, apple and cranberry crisp, and wine! Mmmm, it was perfect. I surprised Chris with a bonus birthday gift, and a visit to a comedy bar in town. He was very surprised, and we had a great time.

So, speaking of Intervals, they were brutal! In Intervals, you do 20 minutes of workouts, then for the last 20 minutes you do the same routine but backwards. I found that I was more tired for the first set than the second! I felt like I was dying the first time around, but the second time I literally got my second wind and I finished with a bang. Then we did Ab Ripper, which we were supposed to do yesterday. I did all 40 Mason Twists with my feet off the ground - very proud! After watching some videos of some people doing Mason Twists over 200 times, 40 doesn't seem so hard.. but it really really is, and I'm proud that I can do them all.

That's it for now - I had a busy day and I'm exhausted! How was your weekend? :)