"Do your best and forget the rest!"

Mr. Horton says this in just about every video of the P90X series. I'm starting to realize "the rest" in my case are all those mental gymnastics I was putting myself through last night about the infomercials.

Nothing more profound to say. Time to do the laundry.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Yoga X

TODAY'S MENU:
BREAKFAST - 2 soy sausage patties, whole wheat english muffin, 1 Polly-o string cheese, coffee, glass of milk.
LUNCH - can of Progresso Lite Southwest Chicken Soup, protein shake with berries
DINNER - "Saturn" salad from Liquid Planet, bottle of OJ
INDULGENCE - slice of pumpkin cheesecake at Starbucks.... and I regret it not!

That's me too.... right?

It's later today on Saturday, January 23rd. Just spending some quality time with the dogs, and watching some TV with them. And of all things, the P90X infomercial comes on TV, and I'm watching it again with the same amount of hope that I had when I was someone who didn't own the DVDs. It's so weird to me that even today when I am already well into this program that I can see those infomercials and think "What if that were me..." The truth is that it is me... I'm becoming a part of that now. But the trouble is that even though I am doing this and loving it, my mind keeps insisting that I can't believe everything I see on TV... or even on these videos! Even so, I just would love to love the results that I get as much as the people on the dumb infomercials appear to do. I know that when I started this program I was not terribly out of shape, and I was never ashamed of the way that I looked (nor had I any reason to be). But boy it sure would be nice to have that kind of evidence (at least for myself) to see that commitment paid off and paid off handsomely.

I keep thinking back to the early days of my sobriety, over 13 years ago... I was 21 years old and had such a bad attitude at meetings. I'm lucky that anything anyone had to say to me got through to me at all! Back then, I was always afraid that someone was going to tell me that I was too young to have it.... that I really needed to go back out there and suffer some more with my addiction before I was really ready to get this. That fear always drove me to work harder in my sobriety. Yet even as negative as I was back then (and as driven to succeed as I was in spite of my bad attitude), I was still hopeful in the same kind of way that I am now. I really wanted to be able to laugh at stuff that had happened in my past like I saw other people in meetings doing, and I really wanted my painful past to become the kind of experience, strength, and hope that others were sharing with me. And yes it did eventually happen, but it took a lot of time and effort. And although I know that this is not exactly the same thing, in a weird way it is... for some stupid reason, I keep thinking that the benefits won't be mine to reap or that I won't "get what I am promised for playing the game." And yet it's driving me to keep at it. I know that's a rather selfish attitude, but hey... I'm trying to be honest.

It's moments like this that I kinda wish I had a "P90X sponsor" the way I have one to "coach me" in my sobriety. Hell, there are times I wish I could talk to Mr. Horton himself and ask him just one little question: "I'll still want what I have and be happy with it when I am done, right?"

I hope a P90X graduate somewhere reads this and knows what I am talking about... If you're out there, please say something.

P90X-periment

While Ab Ripper X today was it's usual 16 minutes of masochism, today's round of Shoulders and Arms X was a good time to experiment with weights, reps, and bands. Here are the results of said experiment:

1.) Though I really wanted to try it and succeed, increasing weight and decreasing reps was not the answer... back to what I did last week.
2.) The black resistance band indeed proved to be as heavy duty as the box says, and it gave me a hell of a good workout... first time I ever tried using one!
3.) pushing myself to do more reps with the same weight was a success... actually increased the number of lying tricep presses that I did last week.

So, there you are... Moral of the story? Don't mess too much with something that works.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Shoulders and Arms X, Ab Ripper X

TODAY'S MENU:
BREAKFAST - spinach omelet, 1/2 banana, 2 slices of turkey bacon
LUNCH - leftovers from last night's dinner
SNACK - protein bar, whey protein in skim milk
DINNER - leftovers from last night's dinner
SNACK @ MOVIES - unbuttered unsalted popcorn, can of Fresca

JUMP for my love!

Please note the change in attitude... two weeks since my first Plyo X and I've gone from being "hopping mad" and exhausted to jumping for joy because this time I was right on pace! I still tough on the knees and my balance isn't very cat-like, but I'm so glad I didn't wuss out and do just the regular Cardio X like I was thinking I might do this morning (see that? told on myself people...).

TODAY'S WORKOUT - PLYOMETRICS X

TODAY'S MENU:
BREAKFAST - protein shake, 1/2 a banana, coffee
LUNCH - grilled chicken salad, protein bar
SNACK - glass of cranberry juice
DINNER - 2 grilled pork chops (small), steamed broccoli, brown rice
DESSERT - chocolate-banana shake (cup of skim milk, chocolate flavored whey protein, 1/2 banana)

The numbers are in...

... AND THEY'RE UP FROM LAST WEEK! Wooo! Getting in at least three more reps in each exercise of the Chest and Back X workout! I just love seeing progress! Still a bit nauseated halfway thorugh the workout from all the up-ad-down motion, and I have to take a longer break mid-workout so that I don't ralph, but I am just thrilled to see and feel a difference since Day 1.


Ab Ripper X tonight... you know how I feel about that workout. Man, I'd better be able to bounce a quarter off my tummy by the time this is all done!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
CHEST & BACK X - between 12 and 15 reps on 24 exercises, using chin up bar in door frame for pull-ups, dumbbells for heavy pants and lawnmowers, and small tension band for back fly
AB RIPPER X - complete, but tough

TODAYS MENU:
BREAKFAST - mushroom omelet, 1/2 grapefruit, banana, coffee
LUNCH - 2 Boca Burger patties, handful of baby carrots, 1 serving of raw snap peas, 2 tbsp of plain hummus
SNACK - protein bar
DINNER (out at Chinese buffet) - crab maki sushi (6 pieces), veggie maki sushi (4 pieces), egg maki sushi (2 pieces), 1 serving of chicken and broccoli, 1 small bowl of cherry Jello

Week Two Complete

So far, so good.... I seem to be on the right course, and enjoying both the exercise and the blogging. So, in the usual fashion, here's the best, hardest and worst of this week:

BEST - This week saw a significant improvement both in attitude and in performance. I'm getting used to following the diet with some modifications, of course. I am also seeing that when I do this in the morning, I'm (oddly enough) more relaxed at work and tend to move at a more reasonable pace... all good things.

HARDEST - Remembering that this is going to take time, and trusting that the hard work will get me results.... that's the real hard part. I still want to see overnight change, which is unrealistic. However, I am at least able to "catch myself and bring myself back" when I go there.

WORST - Ab Ripper X is getting increasingly harder. I'd like to think I am just pushing against a threshold here, but I genuinely dread the days that it is part of the training despite the fact that it's the shortest of all the workouts. Hoping at least for a better attitude there next week.

Anyway, that's it.... X Stretch tonight and back to the the grindstone tomorrow morning.

TODAY'S MENU -
BREAKFAST - cheese omelet, 2 strips of turkey bacon, 1 banana, 1 cup black coffee
SNACK - protein bar
LUNCH - grilled chicken salad with lo-cal Italian dressing, 1 Polly-o string cheese
DINNER - 1 cup snap peas, handful of baby carrots, 2 Boca burger patties

Ka-POW!!

Kenpo X this morning. My form was better; Master Kim would be a little more pleased with me today, I believe. Mr. Horton, on the other hand, might think I was dogging. Any of you P90X graduates find his pace on this workout a little too fast, or is it just me?

No Adam... it's just you. Heh heh heh...

Here's hoping for a better Tuesday!

TODAY'S MENU -
BREAKFAST - protein shake, 1/2 banana, 1 cup black coffee
SNACK - protein bar
LUNCH - grilled chicken salad with lo-cal Italian dressing, 1 Polly-o string cheese
DINNER - 1 cup carrots, 3 Tbsp hummus, 2 Boca burger patties
DESSERT - scoop of chocolate-flavored whey protein and 2 strawberries in 8 oz milk (blend in blender...YUM!)