Too sore to be bendy

Yoga X today. This is probably right behind Shoulders and Arms X in terms of my favorite workouts. It's been a while since I did this on a Sunday morning, and I forgot how nice it can be to start out the day like this. I'm still really sore from the Plyo workout, and it makes it tough to be as flexible as I like. But still, experience has taught me that I need to ride out these first couple of weeks in order for it to feel natural. You know, it's funny how I have to remind myself of these little things. At least I am not doing that set of mental gymnastics that I put myself through the first time where I would see the infomercial on TV and hopefully think 'Now, that is going to happen to me too, right?' It will again... because it has before.

That's my little meditation for the workout. :)

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Yoga X
TODAY'S MENU:
Breakfast --> banana, 8 oz. skim milk with a scoop of whey protein and about six strawberries, coffee

The word I want to use rhymes with "quick"

The interesting thing about being in Los Angeles now is that you actually see and sometimes meet people who appear in the movies and videos you've seen. It's happened many times since I've been here. Luckily, I am not one to fawn over these people, but I do notice. As circumstances have fixed it, I see one of the people from the P90X videos on something of a regular basis. We've met, and while this person proved to be very nice at first, some time has passed and he has proven to be something of a consummate jerk. Ordinarily, I wouldn't care, but seeing this guy in today's workout left a real sour taste in my mouth. The sad thing is that it's my favorite of all the P90X workouts... or was. Luckily I finished it all the way through, but I had to turn away from the TV and set the video for "music and cues." Call it stupidity if you wish, but hey I'm only human. I still took action, and I still brought it. Once again, I'm seeing that all the obstacles are in my mind. And they are, but this one was particularly odd. I certainly never expected to run into it.

C'est la vie. {shrug}

Anyway... combined the weights and the bands today. Want to use the dumbbells more than the bands, but I do want to also be mindful of my limitations. Why cause myself harm, right?

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Shoulders and Arms X, Ab Ripper X
TODAY'S MENU:
Breakfast --> spinach omelette, banana, coffee w/ skim milk
Lunch--> power bar, glass of milk, banana
Snack--> small slice of pumpkin pie (I know I know)
Dinner--> 1/3 rotisserie chicken (white meat), spinach salad, about six forkfulls of stuffing.

ZOMG

I don't know what he Z stands for, but I know it puts OMG a step up. And that's how I feel. I sure would lie to attribute my fatigue to the fact that I was sick with a fever last week, or that I am getting older, but the fact is, I don't know what's to blame. I'm even having trouble finishing the workouts this time around! It makes me mad!

Even so, I am not dogging it. I am indeed doing my best... just wish I could forget the rest right now.

Even though the flesh is weak right now, I am glad that I didn't overdo it last night at the Thanksgiving day table. I actually had only one helping and ate a reasonable sized portion. Aunt Sadie makes a wonderful brisket! Thank you m'dear! And huge thanks to my family in the OC who had me over last night. It was a fantastic night!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Plyomertics X

TODAY'S MENU:
Breakfast: Honey Nut Cherrios and 8 oz. skim milk, coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2, half a bottle of Tropicana orange juice.
Lunch: leftover turkey, stuffing, corn, slice of pumpking pie (I'm sorry but I can't let that go to waste!)
Dinner: 1/2 rotisserie chicken, a couple of forkfulls of stuffing, corn

Okay folks, here we go again....

I've slacked off long enough. I was really good about this for a few months in the beginning of the year and got great results... till an injury stopped me dead in my tracks. After I lost my job last summer, I was back in the basement where it was nice and cool, pumping it out with Tony & Company... Didn't blog, but as doing the work. Even so, I fell off again after moving to LA. Guess I was hoping that access to USC's facilities and all the eye candy in the form of Division I athletes was going to keep me motivated. It didn't. Eye candy is nice to look at, but it still provides absolutely no structure.
This has worked in the past... injury or no injury, job or no job. Time to get back to what kept me going, working hard, and excited about what I was doing and the results I was getting. I'm even going back to blogging about it... it kept me accountable. So, tune in... I'll be writing again every day and waxing eloquent about the workouts and about life.

The magic question, of course, might be: "Is it a coincidence that you are picking Thanksgiving (i.e., the "eatingest" holiday of the US calendar) to start again? It is... entirely. Either it's going to be today or it will be never. This is less a pre-emptive strike against the upcoming holidays as it is a pre-emptive strike against that endless cycle of saying "Oh, I'll do it tomorrow" and knowing deep down inside that tomorrow never comes!

So... back to Tony's rather impotent humor, Dreya's enviable abs, Adam's seemingly unachievable torso, Dominic's bounciness, and Pam Ba-BLAM! And back to the accompanying hard work....

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

TODAY'S MENU:
breakfast --> egg salad sandwich, banana, coffee
lunch and dinner --> everything on the Thanksgiving Day table! (heh heh)

So far, so good!

While Plyo X wore me out (as it always has) yesterday, today's workout was the real acid test for whether or not I was ready to get back to it.... shoulders, biceps and triceps. Guess what? I PASSED! Granted I used the bands instead of the weights, and lightened the resistance on the shoulder exercises, but I think we're back on track here... I feel great! I'm so happy to be getting back to this. It's like a little structure has come back into my life.

Because there is no time like the present...

Why wait for Monday to roll around? Might as well get going now, right? That's what I said today. It was either start back again today, or maybe not start again at all. Oddly enough, today was supposed to be the day that I finished my first round of P90X. Instead it turned out to be the day I started again. Ironic, but hey... that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

So after a while of not dong this, I am doing Chest and Back for what feels like the very first time. I'm still amazed that this workout has the capacity to make me nauseous, but it also today made me feel like I was starting anew again. I did baby my shoulder a bit because this was the workout that caused the injury in the first place, so my reps and my intensity weren't as high as I would have liked for them to be. I'm going to trust that there is room for improvement and try to remember that it's really critical that I not hurt myself again.

It was also surprising to see that Ab Ripper X was not the same experience as it was almost three months ago. If muscle has memory, them much of the memory must be in my abs. I was not as fast as I was at the end of the first sixty days, but I also am surprised to see that I am not taking breaks in the middle of it like I used to when I first started, and that I am able to keep the rep count up to at least 25 of each exercise. That was great news.

All in all, it was a good workout. I'm glad to be back on this again. It sure will be nice to not only see results again, but also to have this piece of my structure back in place. Thank God for second chances!

Ready to get going again

It's been a successful "try-and-see" week. I seem to be over my shoulder injury and I am ready to get back into doing this like I was meant to do it! It's probably not necessary to start at Square One again, but I think I want to do so, just because it'll be like starting fresh again. It's also good for the humility I think.... I don't wanna get into the whole thing of "Oh, So-and-so who started this with me is now ahead of me." Please. This is supposed to be fun, not a contest. And if there is anything that I have learned from my first sixty days with P90X it's that my main competition is myself and the barriers are all in my mind.

HERE WE GO!