Crystal Madrilejos

Ugh, I hate that saying. So it’s fitting that it’s pretty much the motto of the whole P90X routine. Maybe…no I’m sure, it was created with a dude in mind. A dude that likes to Pump It Up! Not an artsy-fartsy, crafty, designer lady who loves reading Harry Potter and finds inspiration in the quiet of nature. Ah well.

Some of you may be familiar with P90X and it’s funny names for it’s various exercises. Superman Banana and Wacky Jacks readily come to mind. For those that do not know about such things, just visit this site and don’t be scared of the bulging muscles. Don’t worry, that’s not what I’m going for.

I listed the things I liked and disliked in one of my previous posts. I actually missed Monday of this week but that just means I will have to workout on Sunday (the usual day off). P90X is broken up into different phases in which the workouts differ slightly from one phase to the next. This is to promote “muscle confusion” as they call it. Basically, it means: Your body gets used to doing the same exercises over and over, thus the exercises fail to continue being effective. So change it up once in awhile.

Currently I am in Phase 2: Week 3. There are three phases total with each phase being four weeks, with the exception of Phase 3 that has 5 weeks. Soooo, I still have a little ways to go. I’m about half-way done. Ugh.

Tonight, I do “Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps” which is ding-dang impossible. This routine has me doing more push-ups in one workout than I’ve probably done total in my entire life. And not only push-ups, but freaking one arm push-ups that I’ve done a total of 0 in all my attempts. Maybe I’m just not “Bringing It” but no matter how I “Bring It” my arms just can’t seen to handle it.

Tomorrow, Yoga X! I go through phases of loving and hating this workout.

-c.

Ok, I’m a jerk. It’s been a million days since I last posted. I’m the worst blogger in the world. I’m terrible.

Anyway, so my last post wasn’t completely accurate. The title of the post implied that I started this fitness thing on the day that I posted. But in reality I started taking real action at the beginning of February. Feb. 2nd , I think.

So, I had already progressed some by the time I started actually trying to keep track of my eating/weight-loss/fitness stuff. You may be wondering what exactly I am tracking. Basically, I’m trying to stick to these two key points:

1. work out 6 days a week

2. cut out as many carbs and sugars as possible without going overboard and taking all the enjoyment out of eating

And what are my goals? I know that actual loss of poundage doesn’t really tell much about a persons fitness since muscle weighs more than fat, etc. etc. So my main goals are:

1. fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes

2. build up an endurance to run for longer than 12 minutes without feeling like I’m going to keel over. I’m not a runner. I actually hate running but for some crazy reason, I feel like I should enjoy it. Stupid, I know.

3. feel better, in general

You may also be asking how and what I am doing to attain these goals, thus going back to the question of “what am I tracking?” So this is basically it.

I started P90X on Feb. 2nd. It’s so not the type of thing I would normally gravitate towards BUT (I’m going to sound like an infomercial right now) I know real people who have real results to show for it. Ok, so I know one person. Namely, my husband. So I decided to give it a try.

The things I like about it are that I can do it from home, there is a different workout every day of the workout week to ward off boredom, and it doesn’t require a lot of equipment. The things I despise are the fact that it’s really hard, it’s 6 days a week, and the workouts are long. I know, those are dumb things to hate because those are basically all the things that make it work. But whatever. I’m not one of those people that “loves the burn”. I love laying on the couch and reading. I love fresh strawberries. I love watching The Lord of the Rings. These are things to love. Not huffing and puffing and feeling like a failure for wanting the pain to end! Sorry, I just don’t.

So I keep track of every day that I work out. And by keep track I mean, I put a little check mark in my planner. Not very gratifying, I know. But I do feel bad if I don’t check off my requisite 6 workouts a week. Luckily, it’s only been once that I’ve missed a workout.

I am also following the P90X diet, if somewhat loosely. I was using Daily Burn and Livestrong: My Plate to track my daily food intake but that has sort of died off because I eat the same. thing. every. day. It got too redundant. I just wish there was a button or something I could check for “Ate the same things as yesterday”. But there is no such magic. Alas, now I know, in general, how many calories I eat a day and that it suits what I am trying to achieve. I also use Daytum to track my weight because I like pretty graphs and charts. There is a weight tracker in both Daily Burn and Livestrong, and just for the fun of it, I track my weight on those as well. Now my progress is official in 3 places! Yes!

So far in 2011 I’ve lost about 10-11lbs and can fit into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes. When it gets warmer out, my husband and I can see how I’m fairing on goal #2. If there is anything I despise more than running, is running in cold weather. It’s painful, like, literally painful in the body type painful.

Until next time!

-c.

First day of my fitness/weight loss tracking. Wanted to start a record of the whole ordeal because I think it helps me to stay motivated. I also think it may be helpful to see how many calories I’m actually eating and how many I should be eating to lose as much weight as I want.

I don’t normally buy into to the whole notion of calorie-counting and such. It seems so unnatural to me. Normally, I like to think that just eating healthy and being active is enough. Which apparently, IS enough to keep one in shape if one is ALREADY in shape. But I’m not, sooooo here I am, counting calories and such. Well, I figured whatever it takes to get me motivated and keep me from thinking about being hungry has got to help.

I’m actually looking forward to working out tonight. Not for the actual workout part (which sucks! I hate you “Core Synergistics”) but so I can log what I did and see how many calories I burned and I can start tracking my progress. And there isn’t much more that I love at this point than progress.

According to my weight loss goal, right now I can only eat a little over 1,000 calories a day since I haven’t actually logged any fitness activities. There is no way I anyone can eat that little. I would pass out before I got to work.

Also, I realized that I consume many calories in the form of Olive Oil. Maybe I should start thinking about that.

On a positive note, I’m wearing my wedding rings and engagement ring for the first time in awhile. Today was the first day that they didn’t feel abnormally tight and my finger didn’t look like a sausage about to burst out of it’s casing. So, that’s a plus. Also, I’m wearing a pair of stretch pants that I haven’t worn in probably over a year. Awesome.

-c.