p90x update

ok so it's been almost a week since i last posted (tues the 16th). i have done 3 workouts since then. wednesday i missed, thursday i did shoulders and arms plus ab ripper x, friday i was at my sister's with my mom and took the day off, saturday my mom left and then i spent the rest of that beautiful day outside with mike, sunday i did yoga x, and today (monday) i did legs and back plus ab ripper x. i know i am not always doing the workouts on a daily basis, but i usually go no more than two days without working out and usually i just miss one. and let me tell ya, i feel guilty when i don't do it. but i figure as long as i am doing it, that is what counts. but i am really going to try and stick to it hard core this week (and not miss a day), which will really start wednesday because i still have one more workout that i will do tomorrow that will wrap this week up.

some of it's still tough. yoga is really no joke and kicks my ass. and it makes you sweat profusely. a lot of people think yoga is simple and for wimps, but nothing could be further from the truth.

as you know, ab ribber x sucks big time! i think i will always hate it.

but i am feeling stronger, but i really want to be seeing a difference in my stomach. not there yet. i'll give it a couple more weeks.

anyway, that's all i got today. loving my soy milk, vanilla soy protein powder "recovery" drink after each workout. it is delicious!

now, off to the shower!

music makes pylo so much better....

and i think it may of helped me burn some more calories since i danced in between moves and breaks. plyo still sucked at times, but music helped it go by faster. although at that half way point i wanted to stop again. but i pushed through. and i sweated my butt off. a good thing about the cardio workouts is that you dont have to do ab ripper x after. LOVE that.

now i have a question for anyone reading this (which is probably no one), does your stomach bloat after you work out? mine always does and it makes it hard to find the workout rewarding when i look like a big bloated mess. i have always wondered about this. any insight anyone?

i am anxious to be over with this week and then next week. i want to see some results. i dont have a problem doing the workouts (well a little), i just want the weeks to be over so i can see the difference.

once i'm a few more weeks further, i will tell you whether i recommend the all mighty p90x or not. i am thinking i will, but stay tuned.

p90x update.

ok so last week did not go so well. i got busy and my mom came into town, so i missed some workouts. so i decided to start week 2 all over again. today was again chest and back plus ab ripper x. this is my 4th time doing this workout. once when i was originally going to start p90x (and then didn't follow through with the rest of the week), and then my first official week, last week, and this week again. so my chest, back, and arms may end up being more buff then the rest of my body. haha...:)

but that is where i am. starting the week over. i just as passsionately HATED ab ribber x today as i have in the past. i would capitalize or bold the word HATE more if i could, because i cant express my HATE for ab ripper x enough. but as much as i hate it, the thing i hate most on my body right now is my belly. i want it gone. i had it gone and the winter brought it back to me. so bring it ab ripper, even though i hate you.

i plan to get back into routine this week. i felt incredibly guilty last week on the days i didn't do it. i actually wanted to be doing it. things are getting slightly easier, meaning i can do more reps of some things, or i make moves a little more challenging, etc. so that is good to see, but i am still weak :P. i'll get there.

until next time..... now get up and move!!!

p90x-the last couple days.

well i think i left off where my next day would be kempo. i did the kempo and it wasn't really difficult, it was just a little strange. i didn't love it. it took some coordination and i was a little awkward with it. it probably takes some getting use to. that was the last day of week 1.

monday i did Day 1 of Week 2. the first 3 weeks have the same schedule. so day 1 this week was the same--chest and back, plus ab ripper x. for some reason toward the end of chest and back i was really getting worn out and by the time it came to ab ripper x, well it wasn't pretty. OH HOW I HATE YOU AB RIPPER!!! it sucks! and it really sucked this day. i threw up a little after this workout. whatever. i am not trying to be pretty, i'm telling it like it is.

yesterday i skipped. i got home late from work and didn't have the time. so today i did plyometrics. actually i wasn't dreading it today. maybe since i went through it once already. i dont know. but i really hate working out. especially for an hour straight. all these workouts are a straight hour. and that little timer in the right hand corner taunts me. i look at it all the time hoping we are almost finished. and i look at it and constantly think about giving up right then and there. thinking, "alright i did enough. i'm sweating. i am worn out." but i press on. i may break sometimes and run in place or do an easier version of a extremely difficult move. and tony says that is ok :)

but here i am. i am sticking with it. i know it is going to take some time to see results. it did the first time i lost weight and got in shape. so i hope to see noticeable results at the 3-4 week mark. and at the end of this i better look freakin awesome! i just want a body that i love and if i haven't mentioned it before i want to be in the best shape of my life before i get pregnant. i figure if i am in really good shape than i will have an easier time getting back in shape. and no, i am not getting pregnant any time in the very near future. but anyway, i will be back in a day or two. till then....

P90X Day 5-Legs and Back

Day 5.....oh how i did NOT want to work out today. it took everything i had to put that dvd in. however, i did it and, as one always is, i am glad that i did it. it was very well worth it. it was hard work, but for some reason i don't hate these workouts (lifting weights and stuff like that). i always have said i'd rather lift weights than do anything else, so maybe that's why i don't mind it. the leg stuff even wasn't that bad. some of them really suck in the moment, like the sitting up against the wall exercise (the proper name escapes me right now). wow do those suckers BURN! however, my legs are my least favorite feature on my body and i feel they need the most work.

so i got through it. although, as i started to write this i realized i did not do the ab ripper x. ooops. well i will do it with tomorrow's workout, which is kenpo. it is a form of martial arts so we'll see how that is. and no, i did not finish up the yoga today. i know that is bad, but i'll do it in entirety next week. promise.

with the excetion of tomorrow's workout i know what to expect each day now for the next two weeks. and i love that. because this week i was dreading workouts when i didn't have to because some of them turned out not to be so bad. now i will definitely have the days i dread (yoga x and plyometrics) and then the days i can deal with and maybe almost enjoy. either way, this shit better pay off.

well i finished my workout off with some soy milk and vanilla soy protein powder and i have to tell you it was actually yummy. i may make that a staple in my daily diet. great way to get the protein in.

now, get off your butt and get moving! :)

p90x day 3 & 4

so i have again just finished my workout. i should be on my fifth day i know, but yesterday i worked all day and went late into the evening finishing my national boards stuff. so i didn't end up having time do it. so wednesday was "Shoulders and Arms plus Ab Ripper X" and today was "Yoga X". wednesday wasn't bad. i do need heavier weights. it will make it more challenging definitely. yoga on the other hand was tough. and that bad boy is an hour and a half. i can't do an hour and a half. so i did half and plan on doing the other half tomorrow plus the scheduled workout. ( and p.s. yoga made me sweat more than any of the other workouts).

tomorrow is "Legs and Back plus Ab Ripper X". that is going to suck. i know it. i hate working my legs. it is so painful. and ab ripper x is not my friend either. it's pretty quick though, so that is a plus.

anyway, sorry for such a blah post. i am worn out from that yoga and it's the weekend and i am ready to relax. peace out.

p90x challenge...here i go...

if you have not heard of p90x at this point, then i seriously do not know if you live on planet earth. or at the very least, if you own/watch tv. it is the well-known workout system delivered to you via infomercial. it is a 90-day program that is intense and uses muscle confusion to get you supposedly unbelievable results in those 90 days. i say "supposedly" but i don't disbelieve for a second that if you do it the way you're suppose to for 90 days that you'll have an incredible body and be in unbelievable shape. so me and mike have been wanting to do this for well over a year now (mike still hasn't jumped in on the action). it is somewhat pricey, around $120 and then you have to buy weights and a pull up bar (have not purchased the latter yet), so we never ended up getting it. but mike did purchase me INSANITY, which is another infomercial workout craze and it goes for about the same price. it is suppose to be the hardest workout ever put on video. now that truly lives up to it's name and it is freakin INSANITY, and i really want nothing to do with it. it is basically all plyometrics, which if you don't know what that is, you probably do not want to try it out. it is invloves a LOT of jumping exercises and is basically complete torture.

anyway, back to p90x. friends of ours got burned copies of p90x and they knew we had INSANITY and they wanted to try it, so we swapped workout routines. as far as i know, they pretty much hate INSANITY too. i am pretty sure i got the better end of the deal. anyhoo, i am on my second day of p90x. i started about a week or two ago and stopped, so i am starting fresh. day 2 and i just got done my workout. literally. i haven't even taken my shower yet. yeah i know, i am nasty. first day was chest and back plus ab ripper x. it's hardcore. a lot of push-ups and pull-ups and since i dont have a pull up bar i improvised. my arms were like jello last night trying to wash my hair in the shower, but seriously i rather lift weights and do push ups and stuff like that then pure cardio or plyometrics anyday. but guess what day 2 in p90x was? you got it, pylometrics!! now i dont know if i have gotten in my own head about this and psyched myself out, but i absolutely HATE it and DREAD doing it. but it seriously does kick your ass. so i skipped a few of the exercises in that video tonight, but i did a majority and i broke a good sweat. tomorrow we head into shoulders and arms plus ab ripper x. i don't dread that so much. but a big FU to pylometrics. seriously.

anyway, i plan on blogging throughout my p90x experience. the way i stick to things is by having to be accountable to someone. and if i say i am going to write this blog and report to you guys about it, then i feel i am accountable to you. hey, i need something to get me through and keep me motivated. i need a hot body for our honeymoon to tulum, mexico!!! hey and if you're doing p90x, let me know!

Avatar and stew

so i started this day off with a plan to get some work done for my national boards. however that didn't happen. instead i woke up fairly early and took the dogs on a much needed long walk. link was absolutely ecstatic and was runnning all over like crazy. he plowed face first, at about 100 miles an hour, into my legs in one of his crazy sprints. didn't seem to affect him at all, but it sure hurt the hell out of me. my fat girl maci was even in somewhat of a sprinting mood. they definitely needed and deserved that walk.

after that i came in and went on the computer some and then realized that i was suppose to make my stew that i have been dying to make for the past week. so i got to that. cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, & squash. threw in some corn, lentels, basil, bay leaves, oregano, salt, & garlic powder. top it off with some water, vegetarian "beef" bouillon cubes, & some tomato paste. mixed it all up and put it in the crock pot. set it for low and let it go! (i feel like that could be a ron popeil pitch) :) however, i was worrying throughout the day that it wasn't going to thicken up, so when we left for the movies, i left a crack in the lid, so that it would get some air and not produce so much condensation. this is really when i set it on low and truly let it go. :P

so that leads me to avatar. i really didn't have a strong desire to see this movie, but mike really wanted to see it. i knew people were raving about it and that it was the biggest selling movie of all time, but still i really didn't have a desire. i wasn't opposed to it at all either and knew i would probably see it at some point. but i knew it was one of those movies you should really see in the theater and it being offered in 3-D also, you can't really pass that up. :) and mike went to see new moon with me on my birthday, so i figured i could repay him with this. well as it turns out, i LOVED it. i mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it!!! i am pretty sure i loved it more than mike. it was amazing in so many ways. i mean it really goes without saying, that the digital animation and all the special effects and all that, were incredible. but it was so much more than that. to me the story was so well done and so heart and gut wrenching. to me it just really represented how arrogant and selfish so many humans are. the fact that humans think that they are superior to any other living thing and that they have the right to stake claim on anything they want and then take it without a thought or care of how it will effect others. i truly do believe that as humankind, that is our downfall. we are great and can do great things. however, there are way too many greedy, horrible people in this world that are willing to destroy other life in order to have what they want.

and the same goes for americans. we think we are superior to anyone in this world and think we can take anything we want from anyone. the amount of damage that america has caused in other countries is appalling. we meddle in people's affairs that we have nothing to do with and destroy their countries and kill their people. we just barge in. not a thought about it and we leave without a thought about what we have done. i hate to say "we" because i rather not associate myself with any of that, but i am an american. (and i am very lucky to live in a free country and i understand that, but i do think our goverment is completely corrupt and that we do horrid things to other countries).

with all that being said, avatar was absolutely amazing, visually and narratively. i was moved by the movie and it brought me to tears at times. i strongly recommend seeing it.

as far as my stew, it was definitely thickened when i got home. AND, it was DELICIOUS! so happy. it turned exactly like i wanted!! this was a great day. much needed after my day yesterday. now i am going to relax with mike and a few beers. cheers!!

jack bauer is my hero

yes, i am writing about jack bauer. in case you don't live on this planet or you don't watch what i say is one of, if not the, best shows ever on tv, i am speaking of 24. the man, jack bauer. and he is the most badass m'er f'er around. seriously, i love jack bauer. but if you know me, you know that. a couple years ago i half way completed a shirt that had jack bauer on it, which was going to state, "jack bauer is my hero." as a joke of course, but i did have every intention of wearing it. but i never finished it and that shirt now has a new owner via goodwill or hey, it may still be at the goodwill. because i don't know how in demand a shirt with an unexplained picture of jack bauer on it, is to the general public.

but truthfully, i am not a whackadoodle who is really in love with jack bauer. i do understand that he is not real (just like edward cullen :) ). however jack is my favorite tv character ever. he possesses something that no one else does. and i can really only sum it up as badassness. when you can kill someone by breaking their neck with your legs, you are truly badass. i mean, at times it is very unrealistic (just like every other show). jack has looked death in the face more times than i can count and of course he always gets out alive (he is the star of the show of course!), but he always escapes in such a, excuse me for the redundancy, but in such a badass way.

jack, if you don't know, is played by kiefer sutherland. and to add to jack's greatness, kiefer sutherland possesses one of the most awesome voices ever. this blog has no point, but to say that i love 24 and jack bauer. i have watched since day 1 and have never missed an episode. i highly recommend you rent all past seasons, bunker down for a couple weekends, and enjoy the perfection and badasssness that is 24 and jack bauer.

go vegan

and so starts my quest back into veganism. i was pretty close before. and watching the things below just make me realize that i have to go vegan. it will be a difficult process. not so much giving up the dairy and eggs, but breaking the news to mike and him probably not being completely supportive. and not only mike. everyone in my life. being vegetarian is seems hard enough for people to handle. veganism will really throw them through a loop. but i honestly can't understand how they wouldn't be able to understand after viewing the slideshows and movie preview below. and they are not grusome and horrifying, just factual. of course they made me cry. i dont know how they couldnt make anyone cry. but again, educate yourself. open your mind. learn the TRUTH.

go vegetarian!

i decided for my first blog that i would write about something i feel very passionately about...vegetarianism. go ahead roll your eyes. call me a hippie tree hugger. i am use to it. but at least hear me out. i do not like to preach and to be overbearing and i really do avoid that type of behavior. i understand everyone has their right to do as they please, but it is also helpful to be educated on a topic that effects yourself as well as others.

one of the most common comments made when people want to argue with me about being vegetarian (which i find humorous, because i never preach about being vegetarian, but once people find out i am, they find the need to attack me with their arguments) is that eating meat is part of the food chain and we are meant to eat meat. not true. yes, there was a time when humans had to live on their surroundings because that is all they had. however, today we have alternatives. we are not required to eat meat to get essential protein, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, etc. do not let people, or more importantly doctors, convince you otherwise. in fact doctors, throughout their whole education, receive about 2 weeks of nutrition courses. most doctors are very uneducated about nutrition. yes, animals in the wild follow the food chain because it is instinctual, and they do not have a choice. it is their only means of survival. meat is not our only means of survival. if it was, i would not be alive. :)

most important to me, and the sole reason i am a vegetarian, is the horrifying and appalling cruelty to the animals that are raised for our food. please dont be foolish enough to think that the cow, pig, chicken, or any other animal you eat, is living somewhere happily on a farm. that just doesn't exist anymore. well, i stand corrected. there are places like this, but they are the true EXCEPTION. what goes on in this country is factoring farming. chickens are crammed into cages where they cannot move, are transported in trucks through all types of weather conditions, and they are forced to deficate on themselves and other chickens. they will never in their lifetime be able to do anything that is natural to them. and if you think, "oh it is just a chicken", well then read on: http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_chickens.asp
the same with pigs and cows. both are very intelligent animals and both are very aware of what is happening to them before they are inhumanely slaughtered. and there are many more ghastly and inhumane acts that these animals are subjected to while they are being raised for our consumption. http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_pigs.asp and http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_cows.asp. please go to these links and educate yourself about the cruelty that humans inflict on defenseless animals. i understand it is hard to read and watch, but just because you choose not to acknowledge it, does not mean it isn't happening.

the next reason to be vegetarian is because it is SOOOOO much healthier for you!!! read on and find out the many health benefits of being a vegetarian. http://goveg.org/healthConcerns.asp http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_foods.html
http://www.benefitsofvegetarianism.com/vegetarian-health-benefits.html

and we must acknowledge the damage eating meat causes the environment. for all you green minded individuals: http://goveg.org/environment.asp
and here is a tidbit of information from goveg.org: "According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads."

above all i want everyone to understand the useless and horrid cruelty that these animals must endure. it is the reason i became a vegetarian. i love the taste of meat. LOVE it. it is a battle for me not to eat meat on almost a daily basis, but i could no longer sit around and be a part of something so inhumane. people ask me how i do it. i do it because i have made a conscious decision not to be a part of causing pain and suffering to these animals. i felt the cruelty was thrown in my face continuously. it wasn't until i moved down south that i ever witnessed trucks on the highway transporting chickens who were stuffed in cages so tightly with one another,that you could hardly make out that they were chickens. they just looked like feathers, because they were shoved in so tightly and they weren't able to stand up. and what kills me even more is when i see the trucks that are transporting pigs/piglets and they are struggling to get their snouts out the small openings in order to breathe. and they squeal. they squeal so LOUD that i can hear it as the truck passes me on the highway and my car windows are up. and i have seen both the chickens and pigs transported in the most extreme weather conditions. so hot that you know most of the chickens are dead (and then are cut up and used for your food with disease building up inside their dead bodies) and the pigs are screaming in fear and discomfort (and if i didn't mention it before, pigs are as intelligent as a 3 year old human child).
other people say to me that they want to be a vegetarian because they know how horrible it is to inhumanely kill animals for food, but that they just like meat too much to give it up. well, this is where i will offend people. that thought process, that choice, is a completely selfish and weak choice. you are thinking solely of your satisfaction and happiness.

i just ask you to educate yourself. dive into this a little bit and discover the truths about vegetarianism. if people want to try and disprove the information about the health and environmental benefits, that is fine. but please know this, eating meat is completely INHUMANE and CRUEL to animals. there is no debate on that.

my two main recommendations are to go to: http://goveg.org/index.aspx once your there click the link "free vegetarian starter kit". once you click on it you will see "resources" on your right. then click on "order a print version of the starter kit". they will send it to you for free. it is great information.

my other recommendation is read, Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. It is a MUST read. Very entertaining and very enlightening.

Wow this was a long first blog, but i hope i have at least enlightened you some and made you curious enough to research the topic on your own.

and i apologize for the links not working but i couldnt get them to work, maybe someone could help me with that :)