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Workouts
Monday I did the usual (for the past few weeks) Striver’s Aerobic Level 2 and 15 minutes on the treadmill. It’s nice that some of these exercises work the core, too.
Tuesday Chest and Back: I completed the entire workout and about two-thirds of Ab Ripper in my allocated 60 minutes. That’s progress, compared to completely skipping Ab Ripper.
Wednesday I completed Plyometrics, with a headache! More about that in “Health and well-being,” below.
Thursday Shoulders and Arms, plus some Plyo squats, and my scaled-down Ab Ripper, in 1 hr 10 mins flat. Historically, this used to be my most time-consuming workout!
Friday I did Yoga X again! For 60 minutes, of course. Still, it’s getting to be a habit.
Saturday Legs and Back: I did both sets this time. No Ab Ripper though. I had to get up early to fit this in today. Because of the early hour, I didn’t use the pull-up bar (which is in the bedroom hallway). Instead, I pulled hard on the resistance bands, as usual.
Sunday No workout today, but I could have used one!
Nutrition
Monday +127 Dinner was a little high because of dessert, but otherwise I did OK.
Tuesday +54 Breakfast and morning snacks were 800 calories? I need to balance my meals better.
Wednesday +628 We had Chinese food for dinner with my parents, who were visiting. We like to use these family reunions as an opportunity to relax our healthy habits.
Thursday +17 I had lunch with my parents at Bertucci’s, but it was a salad with grilled chicken. I can’t recommend too much on their menu calorie-wise (or for the sodium content), but the salads are pretty good. I ate a couple of those dinner rolls, too, which didn’t help.
Friday +597 OK, I fell off the wagon (again?). For our usual Chinese food lunch, I brought leftovers from home, but maybe just a little too much food. I kept my other meals the same, instead of compensating.
Saturday +134 Not too bad, in comparison, and today was a resistance training day, too. Still, I would like to get back to a strict calorie limit, rather than this plus and minus business. Dinner was large (950 calories) but my food choices were pretty good today. I made a “stew” of vegetables I had in the fridge, and I plan to eat that for lunch several days during the coming week.
Sunday +1087!? Really!? Basically, I was on the “see food” diet today. We had the usual Sunday morning goodies, lunch at a sit-down burger place with my family, and what started as a light dinner of “vegetable stew” turned into a buffet of snacks and dessert. Ugh. Not a great way to end my weekly update.
Health and well-being
Monday I started the week with a headache, feeling like someone was stabbing the left side of my forehead. I’m not sure if it’s because of my sinuses, which didn’t feel clogged, or maybe too much caffeine yesterday.
Tuesday The headache continued today. I am wondering if the guarana I added to my protein bars might have been a little too much caffeine.
Wednesday I was still experiencing the headache until mid-afternoon, when I took a nap (and some ibuprofen). All better now! Until I figure out the situation with the caffeine content of my protein bars, I am cutting my portions in half. Live and learn.
Thursday I’m glad the headache is gone! Half a homemade protein bar plus half a Zone Perfect bar seems to be a good combination for a pre-workout snack, too. A little pick-me-up, but not too much.
Friday I’m glad that despite the late night, I got up and did yoga. I keep reminding myself that if I do the first part of the moving asanas, plus Yoga Belly Seven, that’s an ab workout! I like the stretches, too.
Saturday I had to get up early to fit in my workout! I had a 9 AM rehearsal, which is essentially the same schedule I have on a weekday for work. Ugh. I had to cut out Ab Ripper for today.
Sunday I tried to sleep in, but woke up early and rolled around for a while, then slept. I give that a C+ for feeling rested. I should have fit in some kind of fun activity today, and less eating, but oh well.
This week, I decided to pull out the P90X week 1 workouts, with a couple of variations. On resistance workout days, I did the warm up and stretch with Tony and the gang, then I let the DVD run (muted) while I proceeded as quickly as possible. If I needed instructions, I referred to the workout guide, and took a glance at the DVD at the appropriate point. In a previous post, I mentioned a review of P90X that accused Tony of being too talkative, and wasting time during the workouts. When I did P90X for three rounds (almost four) last year, I used Tony’s instructions as recovery time before the next exercise. Unfortunately, when I did my reps for a lot of the exercises, I was not as quick as the DVD, so I needed to skip back, and many times this added 10 minutes or more to my workouts.
My second variation was to change the days of my workouts from the Monday-Saturday schedule. It’s always been harder to psych myself up for a Monday morning resistance workout. I found out with Tony’s book that I liked Monday aerobic workouts better, so why not stick to that? So I am starting the work week with the P90X “Day 6” aerobic workout. For me, it might be the Striver’s Aerobic workout, or extra treadmill time. Then I move on to P90X Day 1-5 as usual, with a rest day on Sunday (between Legs and Back, and aerobic).
If I intend to do the full 90 days again, it can’t be a 90-minute session every day. A friend of mine who was new to P90X described it as her “new part-time job,” and it can become that, I suppose. I want to see how much I can squeeze into an hour, even if it means missing some time on Ab Ripper or skipping a second circuit in a workout.
Here’s an interesting note: I don’t like the updated P90X worksheets on the beachbody.com website. They are designed to be smaller and more portable than the original full-page ones, I guess, but they are harder to write on, and the Legs and Back one has mistakes on it, so you can’t accurately record your reps and weight as they occur in the workout. I’m glad I found the full-page workout sheets mentioned in an old user forum post.
Workouts
Monday: I did the Striver’s Aerobic level 2 workout instead of Kenpo, in keeping with my modified schedule, then 15 minutes on the treadmill.
Tuesday: I finished Chest and Back eight minutes early, a full two exercises ahead of the DVD. That’s not to say I did it as intensely as Tony and company, of course, but I did my best. I was happy to be back to the P90X routine. No Ab Ripper today, due to time constraints.
Wednesday: Plyometrics is difficult to do by myself, or at least it’s helpful to follow along with Tony for this workout. The only time savings I had (and I usually do this anyway) is from skipping certain exercises: Circle Run, and the “Sports Bonus.” I usually add treadmill time at the end, but not too much today.
Thursday: Shoulders and Arms, and the other “glamor muscle” workouts, are the most time-consuming for me. If there are weight changes, or I fall behind during an exercise, then I have to back up the DVD, it adds to the one hour countdown on the DVD. Today I skipped the bonus round, and Ab Ripper, again to save time. I did sneak in some exercises from the “Bring It!” resistance workout: Plyo Squats and Bicycle Crunches.
Friday: According to the modified schedule, today was supposed to be Yoga X, so I did… yoga! What a shock, if you’ve been reading my previous posts! I shortened it by taking out the parts I don’t like so much anyway, to be honest. I did the first 30 minutes, then skipped past the last 15 minutes of moving asanas, and the balance postures, right to the stretches. I went all the way to the end, including Yoga Belly Seven. That took pretty close to 60 minutes, which was my goal. Maybe we’ll see you again next week, Tony! Oh, and I used the “no music” audio track. It occurred to me that the funky music might be adding to my displeasure with the workout, and I was right. Much better this way.
Saturday: My Legs and Back session turned into a “Lean”-style half-session, because I had to get going. Who knew Saturdays could be so busy? I still enjoyed playing with the real pull-up bar, although one of my “issues” is that my door frame is not high enough for me to hang. When I come down, my feet are on the floor. It’s still a challenge. Bonus round: I did take the kids to the park for a while, at least.
Sunday: No workout today, and no X Stretch either. As I’ve said before, I need to do that more often.
Nutrition
Monday The week is starting well, at -161 calories.
Tuesday Another good day! -298 calories. I had a favorite for lunch: Stir fry vegetables with tempeh (cooked in the microwave with chicken broth, not actually fried).
Wednesday Closer to breakeven today at -47 calories. Gotta love that night out with friends!
Thursday I was slightly below breakeven again. Larger than usual snacks and dinner worked against the calories I burned in my workout.
Friday +149 calories today. My meals and snacks weren’t so bad, but my activity was yoga, which is not a big calorie-burner.
Saturday Whoa Nellie! +569 calories! We met some friends for lunch, which wasn’t too bad, but then for dinner I had a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza, which apparently is not intended for one person. I knew better. Then I washed it down with some cake. Total denial of reality! Tomorrow will be better, right?
Sunday Uh oh, this isn’t much better… +438 calories. Besides the mid-morning coffee time, my wife requested KFC for lunch, which I kept at a moderate 600 calories, and then we had leftover pizza for dinner. Not a very healthy day.
Health and well-being
Monday: As I said in the Workout section, it seems easier somehow to start the week with an aerobic workout. I might be able to hang in there, even on a tough Monday morning.
Tuesday: I did a good workout on a short night’s sleep, but I don’t want to make it a habit. That’s the main reason my previous round of P90X fell apart.
Wednesday: Tonight at our weekly meeting I didn’t totally pig out, so I was actually negative on my calories! On the other hand, I looked so tired that my wife offered to drive home, and I let her. Not an encouraging sign.
Thursday I like doing Shoulders and Arms better than Yoga X in general, but it’s easier for me mentally after a late night/short night’s sleep. Adding a few cardio moves in between sets helps me feel like I working harder, too.
Friday I used to like Friday Legs and Back sessions. I am OK with Friday Yoga X, at least the shortened version. I am getting some of the benefits without getting up even earlier to fit in the whole thing.
Saturday I felt better about today’s workout than last Saturday’s, but I would like for one day of the week (at least) to be the “long workout” day. Maybe next time? Today’s outing with the kids was a nice surprise, on a day when I thought I was just going to be running errands again.
Sunday After church, I spent a while going to the health food store, along with some other errands, and trying a recipe for a homemade protein bar. More about that later!
Workouts
Monday: Recovery week begins! I did the warmup and cooldown from the P90X Plyometrics DVD (from memory, to save a little time), then 30 minutes walk/jog on the treadmill. 340 calories burned, which is not great, but I am taking it easy this week, right?
Tuesday: P90X Core Synergistics. “Talk about getting into shape!” I haven’t mentioned that I can do pushups more easily than ever before. I noticed this a few weeks back during the Striver’s Resistance workouts. Today the stacked feet/staggered hands and sphinx pushups were noticeably easier, and I hung in there a little longer for the plank-to-chaturanga, walking pushups, and a couple of other exercises. I am still not going for the full time on all exercises, or doing the chaturanga run, for example, but Tony’s book has helped me to improve compared to two months ago. P.S. I also walked/ran on the treadmill for a 12-minute mile.
Wednesday: I replaced the P90X Kenpo workout with the now-familiar Striver’s Aerobic Level 2 from Tony’s book. After that I spent 15 minutes on the treadmill.
Thursday: X Stretch. I don’t do this one often enough! Maybe if I figure out a way to do it while watching TV…
Friday: Core Synergistics again. Pretty much the same results as the previous day.
Saturday: Today I did almost no workout at all, due to a family outing. Just a few minutes on the treadmill. Some days are like that, I guess.
Sunday: No workout (again). Hey, I have to catch up on sleep sometime.
Nutrition
Monday: Surprisingly enough, considering my recent bad behavior, I was at the breakeven point for calories. A little low on protein and fiber, but otherwise not too bad.
Tuesday: Another breakeven day. I was doing well until dinnertime, then overdid it on after-dinner snacks.
Wednesday: Uh oh! My wife wanted Chipotle for her birthday (not her official birthday dinner, mind you, which will be over the weekend.) Also, we made our weekly visit to our friends’ house, and there was cake, as usual. +569 calories!
Thursday: Whoa, Nellie! Another bad day for calorie counting. Suffice to say, I ate a lot, for no particular reason except poor planning. One or more meals could have been smaller! +618 calories
Friday: Our usual Chinese Food Day at work. This time, we decided to try a Tex-Mex place, and I had half of a big burrito, with some fresh tortilla chips. Not too bad calorie-wise. I ended the day at a mere +70 calories, which is heading back in the right direction, at least.
Saturday: OK, remember that birthday dinner my wife wanted? Outback Steakhouse. No holds barred, including dessert. Well, I did only eat about 1/3 of my 12 oz steak, after the wings, salad w/blue cheese dressing, and bread… Anyway, +876 calories for today. Happy birthday!
Sunday: Back to sanity today. Even with no additional exercise, and some mid-morning goodies, I ended the day at just about breakeven for calories (slightly over). Maybe I am still recovering from yesterday.
Health and well-being
Monday: I started the week with a decent night’s sleep, which is part of the reason for the shorter workout. If I plan to get back into P90X, I need to solve this sleep time vs. exercise time problem.
Tuesday: I woke up too early today, as in an hour and a half before the alarm was scheduled to go off. I listened to my iPod for a while, then made the best of it by getting an early start on my day. There was no problem fitting in my workout.
Wednesday: I woke up early again. I got back to sleep after about an hour, which helped I guess. I still spent the day struggling with sleepiness.
Thursday: That stretching did me some good! Sleeping a little later helped, too.
Friday: I felt good about my recovery week.
Saturday: I had actually started on the treadmill, realized how late it was, and had to stop dead in my tracks to get myself cleaned up. I didn’t like that at all.
Sunday: I ran a lot of errands, and by the end of the day I was aggravated. Not very restful.
Please let me know what you think of this weekly update format. I know the calendar week begins on Sunday, and I respect all the reasons why. For workout and blogging purposes, I choose to end the week on Sunday rather than Saturday, as my day of rest.
My hope is to blog about other subjects in between, too. Stay tuned.
Workouts
I had no new workout plans for this week, so I stuck with the Striver’s Level 2. Here is a recap:
Monday: Aerobic + 20 mins treadmill
Tuesday: Resistance
Wednesday: Aerobic + 20 mins treadmill
Thursday: Resistance. I fell short on my second set of pushups, because I was tired, but came back and did 20 more at the end of the circuit.
Friday: No yoga (uh, of course?), and I was short on time, but 30 minutes on the treadmill did me some good.
Saturday: Resistance. Today I decided that I need a good old P90X Recovery week! That’s the plan for next week.
Sunday: No extra workout. I worked on some other long-overdue projects instead.
Nutrition
Monday: Not a great day, but not a calorie disaster. Calorie count: +217
Tuesday: Big breakfast, big lunch, then split my dinner in half, so only +75 calories.
Wednesday: Too much food all-around for a fat-burning aerobic day! +300 calories (at least).
Thursday: I was better-behaved, at about the breakeven point for calories (and a good workout too).
Friday: About +100 calories. Not bad for Chinese Food Friday.
Saturday: +225 calories. Panera Bread for lunch and leftover Chinese for dinner. My only saving grace was the usual Saturday schedule, which eliminates a snack or two.
Sunday: +280 calories. Yes, really. There was coffee, and Irish Soda Bread (’tis the season!), and my wife decided she wanted to try her hand at making… ice cream. Ugh. Here’s a tip: Drinking the ice cream liquid (before it’s frozen) might seem like a good idea, until you start to feel dizzy. It’s bad news. But tasty. Don’t do it.
Health and well-being
Monday: My weigh-in showed that I haven’t lost or gained since last week, but my belly is getting tighter again.
Tuesday: Only one cup of coffee, and got to bed at a decent hour. It just so happens I watched a couple of Beachbody infomercials with the kids (10 Minute Trainer, Body Gospel) and jokingly asked them, “So, which one should I buy for you?” They were not amused.
Wednesday: I really need to decide on a calorie limit and stick to it for a while. This is ridiculous.
Thursday: I figured out my calorie intake and burn, averaged over the last seven days. That confirmed my estimate about what my calorie intake should be for a while, at least until I see if it has any effect on my waist.
Friday: I worked from home in the afternoon, and didn’t have access to a second cup of coffee. I tried a vitamin B complex instead. I tried emptying the capsule into a cup of water. Blechh! I guess it helped a little with the afternoon slump.
Saturday: The kids were sick, so we spent a lovely spring day indoors. I helped with some spring cleaning in the basement, at least, and spent the afternoon hanging out.
Sunday: After church, I spent most of the afternoon working on my project again, sitting at the computer. I was a little stir crazy, too, but it was good to get some work done.
Workout
Today was Sunday. The only strenuous physical activity I did was raking the lawn for an hour. Spring has sprung, or pretty close to it.
Nutrition
There were a couple of opportunities to really blow it today, but in the end I managed to break even (or pretty close, at +100 calories). The usual Sunday snacks were light. I did sneak in that cup of coffee. We had salmon fillets for lunch. For dinner, I resisted the urge for a pizza slice (or two), and had the remainder of my chicken veggie soup instead. Once in a while, pretty often actually, I do make the right choices.
Health and well-being
Other than my usual church activities, and the hour outside raking, I took it easy today. I’m not sure if I will get to bed early or not, though, which makes Monday morning pretty interesting sometimes.
Where Do I Go From Here?
In the book Bring It!, Tony recommends the nutritional cleanse for a month, and the exercise program for six weeks. One of the concepts he emphasizes throughout the book is finding the nutrition and exercise plan that works for each individual, even if it is not the one he describes. I think I could have done better with the cleanse, and maybe I will some week or month in the near future, but I am ready to change the exercise routine at this point. Whether I return to P90X or something else is under consideration.
For those of you who are reading my updates as they are released, or in the weeks and months that follow, thank you! From this point I will make weekly updates. The daily format is getting difficult to maintain (as my last week’s posts have been compiled over the course of a few days), and there isn’t much news from day to day. I should do a before and after comparison, but I don’t want to interfere with my weekday workouts, so that might wait for next weekend.
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