Round 2- Day 17

Days like today make me really appreciate my dance background. Plyo certainly calls for a certain caliber of jump, and I'm grateful that I have such a strong dance foundation that taught me how to jump and land properly. It makes my body so much happier.

I can't get over how great I feel after doing plyo. It KILLS during the process, but right afterward... best feeling ever. Mix that with a hot shower, some great lotion and comfy pj's and you're good to go! Just lay back and enjoy the ride. Best high ever. Much better than eating a cheeseburger and fries ever made me feel. Of course, with the best highs, there is always sacrifice that has to come along with it. Don't get me wrong. It takes a lot of hard work, but it's all worth it in the end. It's something I have to remind myself every day. When those donuts at work are staring me in the face, I have to consistently think about how I'd feel AFTER eating that donut, and not how I'd feel WHILE eating that donut, because those are two very different feelings. Like I said- sacrifice must be made.

I don't want anyone getting the idea that I don't battle the same demons I've always fought. I still fight them every single day, and I'm not always perfect. But if I make a mistake, the best thing I can do for myself is to not give up. Just brush it off and keep going. Start making the right choices from there on out. No need to sabotage myself further. No need to dig that hole any deeper.

I still have to drag myself off my butt to exercise everyday. I still put it off slightly. There are some days when I'm totally pumped, and other days that I'm not. Some days I have to really convince myself that, yes, skipping one day IS going to affect me. Skipping one day IS going to hurt my progress. If I'm not going to totally commit, then what would be the point? The best way to handle this is to just think of the end results. Where to I want to be at the end of today? The end of the week? How do I envision myself a month down the road? A year? These are the things that keep me going.

A new little motivator that I've taken to using on occasion is to write down my starting weight on my hand, the weight I was at on December 12, 2008. The highest weight I've ever been, the weight I never plan on returning to. I got back to school on January 5th, 2009 and changed every thing from there on out. Yes, there were times when I fell out of the good habits I started creating, but the point is that I got away from that number. I started to move away from those old nasty habits. (You know, ordering Pizza Hut and never exercising. You know, never eating enough fruits and vegetables but eating way too many Cheez-Itz.)

That number was 199. One pound away from the big 2-0-0. No, I won't put them together. It makes it a whole lot scarier. Anyways... one pound away from being the same weight as Oprah (at the time). It was scary, but the looks on the faces of family members were even scarier. I was much worse than I had let myself realize. So on days when I am struggling to make proper decisions about eating and exercising, I write down 199 on my hand. Tiny, but big enough for me to see if I go to the fridge and reach for something nasty to eat. It's a good reminder of where I was, and where I will never be again. I'm now down to 174. 25 pounds. I have a long way to go still, but it sure as heck is a lot farther away from 2-0-0 than 199 is. I have nothing to be ashamed of anymore.

So what do you use to motivate you on the hard days? How do you suck it up and get going?

Round 2- Days 6-16

Phew! Just started week three of phase 1 in round 2. Can't believe it! It's going by SO quickly. Definitely making strides. I bought heavier bands two days ago to up the difficulty of the pull-ups (or fake pull-ups I guess, but I'll get to the real ones. One step at a time, friends.) I keep going to Wal-Mart to get 20 pounders, but they're out! It's such a drag, because I really want them. I'm not sure I'm QUITE ready, but I know that in a couple moves I could really use them. I'm still progressing with the 15's, though.

As you know, I'm now doing the "classic" version instead of lean. I've also moved on to doing the 8-10 reps instead of 11-15 because I decided that I'd like a little size. :) I'm definitely getting more results more quickly this way. And I've finally started using the worksheets... should have started 106 days ago, but all well. It is what it is. I've started using them now and it's definitely helping me see where to progress and by how much. USE YOUR WORKSHEETS!!!

Weight Watchers is still going great- I haven't been as hardcore about tracking over the last couple weeks and it's definitely affecting my progress. This week has been much better, though. It's starting to feel more natural, more a part of my life. It's really becoming a life-change. It's just the way I am now. I'm happy to be this way!

Proud moment. I am officially able to do plyometrics all the way through, no additional breaks, with the bonus round. LOVING it. I have to say, I think plyo and legs & back are my two favorite workouts. They really bring on the pain, but even better, the gain! Sometimes I miss that incredibly debilitating pain I used to feel every day in the first month and a half of p90x. I know I'm still working hard, but I'm in better shape now so my body isn't killing itself like it used to. It's something I should be happy about, I know, but that sore feeling was such a reminder of all the hard work I was doing. It was something to be proud of, a constant little reminder of the strides I was making. Today I feel sore, and it makes me happy.

I think after I finish round 2, I'm going to order p90x+! I feel ready for it now, but I want to make sure. Also, I'd like to give Insanity a try as well. I'm already setting goals for the next year! There's a part of me that still can't believe it. I've never been such a workout-aholic before, and I've certainly never looked forward to killing myself doing push-ups every day. But now... I just can't get enough. It's the best feeling in the world! Again, proud moment.

While I definitely don't feel like I have the cardio vascular strength for Insanity, I know I'll get there. I'm so far away from where I was 106 days ago. I know that if I am diligent and that if I continue to bring it, I'll keep progressing. It's a challenge every day. It's HARD. It's TOUGH. But it's not something that I can't do. In fact, it's something that's very within my reach!

So today I woke up and my abs were KILLING me. (Awesome feeling! Totally living it up.) But I was slightly confused because yesterday I just did chest & back. No ab work... didn't make much sense, but I'm not complaining. I know that push-ups can cause your abs to be sore from maintaining form, but so far throughout the program I haven't had that problem. Or rather, that GIFT. It's a beautiful thing! Plyo and Ab Ripper X today. Can't wait!!!!

Got my P90X shirt in the mail last week. Wearing it with pride!

Round 2- Days 1-5

Officially started round 2 of P90X, and loving every minute! This time around, I'm doing the classic version, which I love even more than the lean version. There's lots more strength training, plus, no core synergistics except for the recovery weeks! That's probably the best part. BUT great news! I did plyometrics for the first time since day 2 of round 1, and this time, I totally crushed it! I completed the entire thing, every single rep, to the max! It was amazing. I remember not even being able to finish it the first time I tried plyo. It's truly incredible- this really shows me how far I've come in the last 95 days. I just never thought that I would be the type of person who enjoyed these things, much less the type of person who would be capable of doing something like this! Plyo is a BEAST, it's true, and it's still really difficult, it still maxes me out, but it feels GOOD and I just want MORE!

I've moved up to 15 pounders- can't remember if I blogged that or not- and I think I'm going to have to buy some 20 pouders this week as well. Some exercises just aren't as challenging and I need to up my weight. It's so exciting! I've never been prouder. I finally feel in control of my body. I finally feel proud of my body. But it's more than just the physical strides- it's the mental ones, too. It was hard work to do this every day. It was hard work to push and push and push. It was hard work to keep myself motivated. But I did it! Despite everything, I did it. I highly recommend that others try it out- it's the best thing I've ever decided to do.

Day 83-90!!!!!!

I finally made it! Yesterday was officially day 90! I did the entire program to the tee. I completed it and I feel incredible. I couldn't be happier or more proud of myself. I see the changes in my lifestyle, my body, my attitude, and my state-of-mind. I will be posting my measurements later today or later this week (depending on how much time I have), but even without taking them yet, I can still tell that there's a huge difference. I crave the workouts now and I work my schedule around them, instead of working my workouts around my schedule. It's that important to me. This program has truly changed me and taught me how to take care of myself. Daily maintenance is key. When I take care of my body, it takes care of me! I see that now, and I feel so grateful for this experience. Here I come day 180!!!

Day 82

So I've done some thinking. And I realized that I was missing the entire point: the point of this whole journey is to get into shape, to exercise every day, and not to just complete the 90 program. Yes, completing it is important, but missing two days because I'm sick is not a bad thing. It doesn't make me a bad person. It doesn't make me a slacker. It's not like I just decided to take two days off. No. In fact, I set out all of my exercise things, ready to go, just in case I suddenly started to feel better. It was so hard for me to sit on that couch and stare at my weights, knowing I couldn't use them. Just that fact is HUGE. That says a lot about how far I've come over the past 82 days. Yes, I will finish strong. Yes, I will FINISH. But in 92 days.

But really... is that such a big deal? If I had finished late because I was "busy" (I AM busy. Extremely busy. So anyone who is using that excuse is just lazy.) or because I was "tired" (I AM tired. I get up at 3:50 AM every day! Anyone using that excuse, again, lazy.) then we would be having a different conversation. I would have every right to feel guilty about finishing late if those were the reasons. But they're not. I'm two days late because I got sick. It happens. It would have been unwise to exercise in my condition. I could have hurt myself or made myself stay sick longer than just two days, and then put myself even farther behind. I made a good choice and I'm not going to beat myself up for something that was completely out of my control.

Another thing... I talked earlier about maybe doubling up for a couple days to get back on track. Honestly... what's the point again? The point is to exercise every day! The point is to get into shape! Not to kill myself! Doing doubles could potentially injure me. I know some people do it, but they're in much better shape. I plan on continuing the program into a second round, so in the long run will it really matter that I finished two days late? No. As long as I continue to exercise daily, it won't matter. I just need to focus on doing my best all of the time. If I were to do doubles, I know it wouldn't be my best, and I know that I'd hurt myself and end up even farther behind or end up giving myself some real problems. So where do I go from here? Forward! Just one day at a time, keeping with it with the same diligence as always.

Core synergistics today. It was rough, but it was good. Lovin' those walking push-ups. They're a beast but I can feel myself mastering them. It's a great feeling.

Day 78-81

So... after 80 days of not missing a single day... I got sick for two days. :( I'm just kicking myself! I'm so sad!!!! So now I'm two days behind and am not going to finish in 90 days. It's so sad. I know it's probably not a big deal and that it's not my fault, but it would have been so cool to say that I had actually finished the 90-day program in 90 days. Not 92 days. I think I might double up two days this week to make up for it. We'll see. Since I plan on continuing on to do another round, I suppose it doesn't really matter, but it's just my personality. I really wanted to do this right. Sad.

Anyways... besides getting sick, things are going very well! No complaints, really. I'm officially down 16 pounds, which is very exciting. I'm 4 pounds away from where I was at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Not my skinniest, but it's cool to have a little "landmark" like that. The workouts themselves are going very well. Core synergistics still kicks my butt (I have that one today... ugh.) but it's getting easier. I'm wondering if the weights I use for this workout are too heavy? I use 8-pounders to everything in this one. He says to use light weights- I'm not sure if he means light to him or actually light, like three- or five- pounders. Whatever- the 8's are working perfectly fine for me. I'd rather go too high than too low!

Ab ripper x cannot defeat me! The last ten reps of the mason twist still blow me away, but the fact ultimately remains that I can DO them. It's quite an accomplishment, and I'm very proud. Trying to focus on the positive, here. I'm very discouraged by this two days behind thing. Maybe discouraged isn't the right word... I'm very pissed off about it. Yeah, that's better.

Well, here's to a better week! (My last week!)