Quick Week 7 Review

I'm in a bit of a rush this morning, so this is going to be a real brief review of week 7:

BEST - Feeling great and seeing some physical changes that I really like. The compliments haven't been too bad either! Oh, and most important, I'm still having a lot of fun.

HARDEST - Watching myself on cam compared to the videos was also a real insightful experiment, but I see I still have some places to work on form. Thank God there's another month ahead where I can continue to improve on that.... and a whole lifetime after that too!

WORST - Nothing really. All in all, it's been a very good week.

I have to admit that I am already starting to think about doing this again a couple of weeks after I have finished Week 13, and I am hoping I have just as much fun next time around. Wonder how I can make Round 2 a little more interesting...

Maybe I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.

Just stretching tonight? Heck with that!

I needed some catharsis after a decidedly odd day. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that after finding that the stolen car I mentioned in another entry turned up completely trashed in Southampton, the IRS Form 990 which had me and the financial agent at work pulling out what's left of our hair, and that the person who is replacing me at my job starts work a week from today, I really needed more than just stretching today. Cardio X preceded that hour of X Stretch tonight.... and that was probably a really good decision.

Anyway, I still can't believe I am almost done with Phase 2... it went by so quickly! Well, the recovery week starts tomorrow. Will be nice to do some Yoga after work, I think. If nothing else it will cleanse out a lot more weirdness waiting on the other side of the night.

TODAY'S WORKOUT - Cardio X and X Stretch

TODAY'S MENU
BREAKFAST - spinach omelet, 3 strips of turkey bacon, 1/2 a grapefruit, coffee
LUNCH - grilled chicken breast with montreal spices, slice of 12-grain bread, serving of green beans, protein bar
DINNER - same as breakfast minus the bacon and the coffee, 1 whole grain English muffin
MIDNIGHT SNACK - I woke up ravenous so I had a couple of handfuls of cashews, a handful of dried cranberries, and a couple of tablespoons of dry oatmeal.

You're so vain, you prob'ly think this workout's about you... don't you?

Well, the workout is indeed all about me, but it was not exactly vanity that drove me to turn on the camera and watch myself today. I will say this much: when you don't have someone watching you while you do this, it's hard to know whether or not your form is good. I suppose it's the same principle that drives every one of these muscle-bound thugs at the gym to stand in front of the mirror while they are working out.... well, in most cases.

Anyway, I decided to run the camera again while I did Kenpo X this morning. No video this time, but I did watch my own form while following Mr. Horton's cues. I was able to see that most of the time my form was good, but surprisingly it was not so good on my side kick. I say "surprisingly" because I always thought it was the strongest of all my kicks... even when I was doing Tae Kwon Do. And it probably was when I was doing it everyday under Master Kim's tutelage (and Master Poos before him). I saw today on the camera that compared to my back kick, which I always thought was the weakest of my kicks, I wasn't getting my knee up enough. It looked more like I was just putting my leg out. Granted, this isn't Tae Kwon Do training that I am doing, but I was taught better than that so I should be doing better than that, right? And hey, had it not been for the camera running at the same time, I wouldn't have caught that and decided to make room for improvement.

So yeah, still feeling good... still excited about the final phase too. Onward and upward!




TODAY'S WORKOUT - Kenpo X

TODAY'S MENU

Looking down the barrel of another recovery week

Well, there's nothing really profound to say today; I think I spent all my creativity on posting yesterday's movies and doing the half-moon pose for Yoga X. All I know is that I am looking down the barrel of another recovery week, and I am hoping that I enjoy it a little more this time around. Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X today... Kenpo tomorrow.

TODAY'S MENU -
BREAKFAST - banana, coffee, protein bar
LUNCH - vegetarian chilli, sliced turkey on 12-grain bread, 1 Polly-o string cheese
SNACK - protein bar
DINNER - Thai chicken peanut sandwich with hummus and puta chips, heaping scoop of whey protein in 8 oz skim milk

There's a moon out tonight!

See this pose? It's called the Half Moon, and I finally did it today! Only took seven weeks of doing Yoga X and continually falling on my face, but I finally did it! Yay!
So yes, everything was right on the money for Yoga X today. My balance was good, my spirit was calm, and my dogs were sleeping (hahaha). Yep, all was well today.

I'm debating spending the money on a yoga block or two, but I have to admit, I get a small kick out of the fact that I use a copy of Homer's Iliad as one. I think it shows that the classics have many uses. Am I right?

TODAY'S WORKOUT - Yoga X

TODAY'S MENU
BREAKFAST - strawberry banana muffin, coffee
LUNCH - protein bar, grilled chicken salad, 1 Polly-o string cheese
DINNER - sesame chicken, stir-fry vegetables, white rice

And here's the video!

Made a video myself today!

Yep, you read that right. I actually recorded myself doing the Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper X workout. I'm still processing and editing it, but you will see that I am indeed doing the work, and that Rodney and Jake are supporting me through it. I'll probably post it later today.

But still, recorded or not, it was kinda neat to have on one half of the screen the P90X video and on the other half a visual of me doing the work. It was a neat comparison shot that got me paying attention to my form and pace a lot more than normal. Made the workout fly by a little faster.... and it also made me push myself a little harder too!

On the topic of visuals, thanks to everyone who has said that the difference between me at Day 3 and at Day 30 is indeed obvious. I'm starting to think so too. But someone did comment that the ligt in te pictures is so terrible that it is really hard to tell the biggest differences. So allow me to re-post the black-and-white Day 3 shots along with some olor pictures taken today (in the middle of Week 7 of 13) in natural daylight. The differences are much obvious now... even to me, and I am REALLY happy about it and proud of myself for keeping up with this:









So there you are! The mot audio-visual intensive entry to date!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X

TODAY'S MENU:
BREAKFAST - Spinach omelet, 3 strips of tukey bacon, 8 oz OJ, cup of coffee
LUNCH - sliced turkey on 12-grain bread, baby carrot sticks, protein bar, 1 Polly-o string cheese
DINNER -