Last P90X Workout of Week One

I just finished my last workout of the week. Tomorrow is a rest day and then I will have completed my first week of P90X.

I LOVE IT!!! It is fun, tough, and humbling, but I feel great.

I'm still not sure about how I'm doing with my eating. The exercise alone has been a huge time commitment for me, so I haven't had the time to focus on the food yet. I think I'm doing OK though.

I'll weigh in on Wednesday morning and share my progress report then.

If you are considering doing P90X, here are a few observations I've made so far:

-It's not easy. You need to be already working out and have a basic level of fitness before you start. You might want to work up to this instead of starting here, unless you are crazy like me. : )

- Don't rely on the resistance bands. I think it is important to have weights and a pull up bar. I have the Door Gym that I bought locally. It's nice because it is portable and didn't need any hardware or drilling into my door frame.

- Pray first everyday. I have been really focused on P90X this week, and I've felt myself drifting a little spiritually. I love it but don't want it to become an obsession.

I'm so excited for Day 30 so I can compare pictures and measurements.

I'll be back on Wednesday to let you know how I did this week. I feel like I moved to the Biggest Loser ranch. : )

Three Days into P90X

Wow! I'm loving my new P90X program! It is humbling though. It is a really intense workout, but I really like a challenge.

I'm still in the learning curve phase, especially about how I should be eating. I read the nutrition guide that they provided and it confused me. Because it is a more extreme workout, they want you to be eating a lot higher calories than I am comfortable doing.

Since September, I've been eating 1200 - 1500 calories, running, and doing an occasional workout video to lose the weight, but it has been really easy for me to slip into maintenance mode. With this program, it says I should be eating around 1800 -2600 calories. That is a scary thought and just doesn't sound right. When I was watching the Biggest Loser the other night, though, Bob kept harping (get it Bob Harper, ha ha- OK I know I'm a dork) on his players to eat more, not less. I guess I just need to do some more research and experiment a little. All I'm doing right now is asking myself at every meal, "What would be good fuel for my body?" and then eating the right serving size, and not allowing myself to get full. I stop eating 3 hours before bedtime and I'm drinking a lot of water and eating more protein then usual. I've been so focused on all of this working out these past three days, I haven't had a lot of time to count calories. We'll see how it goes.

I have been really happy without how much energy I'm feeling lately. This is new for me! I've always been somewhat of a slug, but I feel really good and I'm excited about the goals I'm working toward.

My before pictures were a little depressing especially since I've worked so hard all ready that these are more like half way pictures, but it was good for me to have a starting point. I'm not quite ready to share any of them yet. Let's wait until I've made some progress then I might be a little more eager to show you the "before" shots. : )

How are you doing? Any prayer requests? Thanks so much to those of you who read this and encourage me. It means so much to me and keeps me motivated! Don't forget to leave comments.....I'm a comment junkie. : )

I'll give you a progress report soon.

My P90X Has Arrived! : )

My P90X workout system came from the UPS guy today! I've got a lot of studying to do to figure out the plan, and especially the nutrition plan, and some equipment to buy. I'm hoping to get started tomorrow afternoon.

I'm motivated, excited, and scared. : )

Here I go!

Lessons Learned and Something New I'm Trying

You know, I've found it is fun to update this blog when I'm doing really well. As you can see I haven't updated in awhile, so you can probably guess how I've been doing with weight loss goals lately. Ha Ha. : )

It hasn't been stellar. BUT it has been good for me.

From the beginning of this journey, my biggest goal has been to make lasting change. I've learned a lot about myself over the past few weeks that I think were "Ah Ha" moments that will help me a lot over the long term.

First of all, I learned that success can be dangerous for me. I was so excited to lose that first 31 pounds and to be able to mark off my first goal, but then I got lazy. It wasn't on purpose, but the month of April has been a maintenance month instead of a losing month. As I continue to succeed and to reach goals, I need to be on guard for this tendency.

The other thing I've discovered is the food issue is way harder for me than making myself exercise. The more I'm getting into shape, the easier it is to push myself to workout. I really want to do it now. Not always, but in general I'm excited to get out for my runs. But limiting my eating is much harder. I was talking to my mom about it and she said, "Yeah, it is so much easier to make myself do something (exercise) than it is to keep myself from doing something (overeating)."

Self-discipline just isn't easy and denying appetite is really hard. Eating right is the key to my success here, though. The exercise is going great right now, but I still haven't lost any weight. Exercise alone just isn't enough.

OK, third thing I've figured out. Weight loss is not permanent. In the past, I always thought if I could just get to my goal everything will be wonderful, and I will be skinny for the rest of my life. The problem is it is so easy to regain the weight. I don't want to be fearful of this- that will just lead to gaining it faster, but I do want to be prepared to live a maintenance lifestyle.

Over Easter, I noticed I was gaining weight back. This scared me, so I re-focused and lost the weight I gained over again. When I do reach my ultimate goal and am ready for maintenance, I'm going to keep going like I'm going, with treats occasionally, enjoying life, but I have to be watchful (not obsessive) and say I will never gain back more than 3 pounds before I work to take it off again. Three pounds will be easier to take off and less discouraging than being surprised when I'm all of a sudden 20 pounds heavier again.

So, I haven't lost any weight in April yet. I haven't gained any either. I have gained some valuable insight so that is a good thing. And I think the rest has been good for me, too.

Also, I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE! After a year of wanting to do it, I finally gave into the infomercial and ordered the P90X program from beachbody.com

I am so impatient for it to get here. It promises to get me "ripped in 90 days." We'll see!

My First Goal Accomplished

I weighed in this morning and was so happy to see I lost 1.9 pounds. Using a scale that is so precise works to my benefit on those weeks when I can celebrate a point something loss, but this time I would have liked to be able to say I lost 2 pounds, but I couldn't get that .1 to budge for me. Ha Ha.

This loss was significant because it meant I reached two goals! My first goal was to lose 31 lbs. by March 31st. I'm a few days late, but I've officially lost 31.3 lbs. The reason I wanted to lose 31 lbs. was because it meant I had broken into a new "decade" on the scale. Sorry, but I'm not willing to be so transparent that I tell you the actual number on the scale, but I now weigh ##8.7

I'm feeling so thankful! I was starting to slip with my eating. It was easy to grab a little handful of this or nibble on that and pretend like it doesn't count. I had to regroup this weekend and recommit. It paid off! : )

The beautiful spring weather we are having is really helping in the motivation department!

One goal down, four more to go!!!

Goals:
Run 5K race on May 16th
Run 5 mile race in September
Lose 50 pounds by August 14th
Lose 60 pounds by Christmas and then I celebrate!!!

Here's my current stats:
Pounds lost this week: - 1.9 lbs.
Total Pounds so far: - 31.3 lbs.Yippee!

Thanks for all of the encouragement! If you are writing a fitness blog of your own, let me know so I can add you to my "Fellow Climbers" section on the sidebar.

Temptation

I'm feeling particularly tempted to eat tonight. The sugar free gum just isn't cutting it right now, so I thought journaling might keep me from giving in and keep me out of the kitchen. I need to do the dishes, but I'm afraid if I even walk in there it will all be over. : )

I have another temptation to admit: I WANT TO GIVE INTO AN INFOMERCIAL. : )

Since August, I can't count how many times I've been nursing my baby and ended up watching an infomercial for P90X- a workout program from Beachbody. I've usually got a lot of self-control when it comes to infomercials, they really don't tempt me all that much, and we live by a pretty tight, cash only budget, so I'm not an impulse buyer. But there is something about this one that makes me want to give it a try. I've been thinking about it for months.

Then I found out that a friend of mine did buy it. I saw her at church this weekend and WOW! SHE LOOKED SO GOOD! I've been researching ways to get it cheaper online than from ordering it from the company. I don't know....I might have to save up for it and give it a shot.

So, this was a really random post, huh? It worked though. I think I'm feeling a little more self-control and can skip the night snack I thought I just had to have. I might even try going into the danger zone to get a few dishes done now. : )