Core Synergistics--Day 45

Last night I came home after work and was so tired I fell asleep for an hour! My body was obviously telling me it preferred rest to another workout, so I indulged. While I've been pretty good about sticking to the P90X schedule, every now and then I take an extra day of rest when my body needs it. Yesterday was one of those days.

I'm not too concerned about getting behind or going longer than 90 days or anything like that. When I set out to do this program, I promised myself I would complete the program no matter what. And that's still the plan...

I was reading yesterday about the P120x plan, which comes from Tony Horton's comments that most women need 120 days before they see results. Apparently it takes women longer to build muscle mass. For the past few weeks I've been thinking about what I would do after P90x. I think I just may try going for 120 days and see how that works. My BF's sister is doing the Insanity program, so I may wait and see how she likes that program and then switch to that after 120 days.

I'm on Phase 2, Week 3, Day 3 today. Because I did a 1.5 hour hot yoga class with my best friend earlier this week, my schedule is a little off. But I decided to do "Core Synergistics" today. I often refer to this program as "core synergistics of death" because the first time I did the workout it was very rough. However, today was tough...but not horrible. Although Tony encourages you to write down your reps of every workout move, I don't really do this. (I know--slap on the wrist!) The only one I've been keeping track of is the prison cell push-ups. On April 12, I could only do 8 modified ones in a row. Today I did 11!!! Success!! It's little things like that that keep me going!!

Core Synergistics (of death) basically consists of a little cardio and then a ton of core workouts for abs, back, legs, arms...almost every part of the body. There are several different push-up modifications and I'm usually sweating hard just 10 minutes in. The workout is about 58 minutes total. This workout is definitely one I will incorporate into my regular workouts once P90x is over just because it's a total body workout!!

Post workout, the BF and I went on a 30 min walk around a local duck pond/trail. Here's a quick pic I took of a HUGE turtle. There were several other turtles around him, much smaller though, that came swimming up to us quickly because they thought we had food.

Note: Bring turtle snacks next time.

Also, here's a couple additional pics of some food I ate this week--nothing too exciting. Some delicious brussels sprouts that I steamed, my favorite faux-chicken product Quorn patties with goat cheese and cranberries, and some homemade Green Chili Stew topped with cilantro and cheese that the BF made. He's from New Mexico so he knows what he's doing!!

I love good news!

Woke up to some wonderful news today!

First of all, my hometown basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks beat the LA Lakers on LA turf in Game 1 of the second round of the Western Conference NBA Playoffs last night. Woohoo go Mavs!! The BF and I went to Game 1 of the first round against Portland and had a great time thanks to some very generous people who gave us their box seats, $180 of spending money on food, drinks, and gear, and free parking passes. That was quite a fun evening!

Second good news, Trader Joe's is coming to Dallas! The paper said they plan to open up a store in Dallas before the end of the year. Let me preface this excitment by saying that I've actually never set foot in a Trader Joe's, but after years of all sorts of food, health and fitness blogs singing its praises, I am just thrilled about this new shopping option. I am very fortunate to have Whole Foods, Central Market, Tom Thumb, and Aldi within less than a 2 mile radius. And for all I know, Trader Joe's could be in far North Dallas and be almost 10 miles away, but still.....it's just one more option :)

And now for a P90x update....I'm now pretty well into Phase 2. I actually finished up week 2 yesterday and have a rest day today. Some quick observations about Phase 1 vs. Phase 2 and my progress:

-I absolutely feel stronger and have more cardio endurance

-I don't feel like I want to die after Core Synergistics anymore (after the first time I did this workout, I laid on the floor in a pile of sweat for about 10 minutes and refused to move)

-I can make it through all the workouts now

-My flexibility has increased. I now have to use a yoga block when doing seated hamstring stretches because my hands reach way past my feet.

-Clothes are still looser, but not sure if I've lost anymore weight or inches

-I no longer dread jumping jacks

-I find humor in Tony Horton...some of the things he says just crack me up

The only new workout that I have in Phase 2 is "Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps" which replaces "Shoulders and Arms" from Phase 1. This workout is HARD. I've built up my arm strength over the years to the point that before starting P90x I could do about 15 regular (no knees) push-ups in a row. Not bad. However, this workout makes my arms shake!! There are a zillion variety of push-ups in this workout and it's not humanly possible for me to do all of them without going on my knees.

For all this work, I better have kick ass arms by the end of 90 days!! Like this--->

Results!

I'm a little behind in posting, but today I'm excited to post about my P90x 30 day results (after Phase 1). When I started on Day 1, I committed to spending the next 90 days following this program. I figured that even if I didn't see results after 30 days, I would still give it my all until the program was complete and then judge the effectiveness of the program at that time.

Well, 30 days have come and gone and I can testify that this program works! There were days when I didn't think I was losing inches or getting stronger, but I guess when you see yourself everyday you don't notice the little changes so I'm glad I took measurements before I started so I'd have some to compare my 30 days. Now granted, these aren't HUGE results, but I wasn't in horrible shape to begin with---I just wanted to tone up before Summer. And with these results after 30 days, I'm encourage about what 90 days will do. I've heard that women doing this program see the most results around the 70-90 day mark.

So here are my results...

Day 1/Day 30

Weight: 126/122.6
Chest: 34/33
Under chest: 29/29
Right Arm: 11.5/11.25
Left Arm: 11/11
Naval waist: 28.25/27
Natural waist: 26/25.5
Hips: 40/39
Right thigh: 22.25/21.75
Left thigh: 22.25/21.75
Right calf: 13/12.75
Left calf: 13.25/12.75
Body Fat%: 23.93/20.49

Encouraging to say the least :)

Because I'm a little behind in posting, I'm actually almost through with Phase 2 week 1. Hoping to be able to do a recap of this week soon......

Done baby done!

Friday was CardioX which is actually one of my favorite workouts in the P90X system. Most of the workouts are at least an hour long, yoga is 90 minutes, and on the days that Ab RipperX is added, that's an extra 16 minutes or so. CardioX is unique in that's it the shortest in time, only about 45 minutes long. The other thing I like about this workout is that it combines 3 of the "cardio" workouts into one. The beginning section is yoga, the middle section is Kenpo (like kickboxing) and the last section is Plyometrics. It's a perfect blend of all three and helps the time to fly by!

I stepped on the scale Friday morning and was down another pound! The weight has been coming off pretty slowly, but I don't have a ton to lose, so as long as it's steady that's fine with me. I average about 1/2lb-1lb loss a week, which is healthy.

Saturday was Yoga X day, which is one tough little yoga workout. It's a full 90 minutes of intense yoga complete with balance poses and "yoga belly 7" which is a mini ab workout (very pilates-esque IMO).

I haven't quite mastered this one yet....and by "quite" I mean NOT EVEN CLOSE!! Crane pose is so hard, but my BF gave me the tip of squeeze in with your knees as the same time you push out with your arms, and that helps!


With the Yoga X workout, I officially finished PHASE 1 woohoo!!! Coming tomorrow are my 30 day measurements...inches lost :)

Rest Day...woot woot!

So as I mentioned yesterday, I'm doing the "Lean" program for P90X. The first three weeks are the same 6 workouts: Core Synergistics, CardioX, Shoulders & Arms + Ab RipperX, YogaX, Legs & Back + Ab RipperX, KenpoX, and then Rest Day (ahh) :)

The 4th week is called the "Recovery" week and includes 2 Rest days, instead of 1 in the other weeks.

This is my schedule this week:

Monday: YogaX

Tuesday: Core Synergistics

Wednesday: KenpoX

Thursday: REST/Stretch

Friday: CardioX

Saturday: YogaX

So I will finish up Phase 1 on Saturday. I took measurements and pictures in the beginning, measurements after week 2, and will take them again after Saturday. Normally I would suggest taking them after the entire Phase, but I decided to take them after week 2 because I wasn't really seeing the lbs drop, however my clothes were feeling looser. I wanted some sort of tangible result that would encourage me to keep going, so I measured and had definitely lots inches all over. Definitely encouraging!

Tonight is my rest day, which I'm taking full advantage of by cleaning, doing laundry, watching a little tv, and settling in bed early so I can read my new book "Reading Jackie." I'm only 1 chapter in, but so far so good!

I'm super excited to find out what my new measurements are though and am looking forward to Saturday. However, I do really enjoy the Cardio X which is my Friday workout and I'll post on that tomorrow...stay tuned...

Take 2...

Whew it has been way too long since I've posted on here. I'm not really sure why, but maybe I just didn't have anything to write about or wasn't clear on the direction I wanted to go. Well, I've been thinking about this blog a lot over the last couple of weeks and I think I still want to focus on clothes/fashion/beauty/etc, but I also want to focus on my renewed efforts to become healthy and fit.

If you look back to the beginning of the blog, you can see I focused on this a little bit, but my desire and energy for exercise trailed off and became almost non-existent during some periods (i.e. last Fall). I work in politics/government, so the campaign season got the best of my workout routine. With a new, steady job for at least the next 4 years I am ready to re-devote some time and energy to being healthy and fit.

For the past few New Years Resolutions, the boyfriend (BF) and I made the goal to get in beach-body-bikini shape by summer. We'd give it a couple of good weeks of effort, and then trail off. I've never really been overweight or out of shape (except for freshmen year of college when I gained 20lbs in first semester due to stress and family "issues"), but I've lost all that and have hovered in the same weight range for almost 7 years now. I've been a vegetarian for almost 8 years, so I eat a fairly healthy and clean diet, granted there's always been room for improvement. Less processed food, less sodium, more cooking...

So here we are, April 13, 2011. About 2 months ago, the BF and I decided we wanted to try out the P90X system. Our friend had just bought the set and was going to let us borrow the DVDS. We were pumped to try something new. Well, that plan didn't work out. A month later, after trying to figure out whether we really wanted to invest in the program and questioning whether we'd stick with it, we found an awesome deal on Craigslist and we were now officially owners of the P90X system. My first day was March 16th!

Over the past few weeks I've stuck pretty closely to the plan. I'm doing the "Lean" program which I think is probably just as intense as the "Classic" program but focuses more on fat loss and has more cardio. I'm looking for that lean beach body :) HA

I finish up the first phase of P90X on Saturday, so figured this would be a great place to share my journey, share my results, my thoughts on the program, and my dedication to that healthy and fit lifestyle I've always dreamed of. So, with that said....starting tomorrow, I'll do my first post on my progress/status so far.

In the words of Tony Horton, P90X creator, "BRING IT!"

Top 5 Emmy's Dresses

Another award season means I've finally remembered to catch up on my blog posts. This is a great excuse to talk about gorgeous gowns from last Sunday's Emmy Awards. There were dozens of gowns that I thought could make the top 5 list, which is why this decision was so hard. But here they are, my Top 5 Emmy Gowns 2010:

5) Emily Blunt in Christian Dior.
Color is classic and fresh.
And the detailing adds interest to what
would be just another one-shoulder gown.

4) Rose Byrne in Gucci.
I really like the structure of this dress.
Very unique, yet classic.
A little Greek Goddess-esque.

3) Eva Longoria Parker in Robert Rodriguez.

It's all about the details of the little black dress.
Details details!
Oh, and Va-va-voom too.

2) Jayma Mays in Burberry Prorsum.
Nailed the accessories and hair.

1) Lea Michele in Oscar de la Renta.
And the Glee gals score top 2!
Simply gorgeous.
And that's how you do ruffles :)