twenty-seventh day!

today was cardio x, but i switched it up a bit. i did about half of it at first, got bored, took a break for a while. then did some random stuff about an hour ago.

i've been losing a lot of motivation lately because i feel like i'm not losing any weight at all. i don't know if it's the scale i'm using or what, but my weight has been fluctuating like crazy. i keep going up and down 5 or 6 pounds every few days. if anyone has any insight as to why this might be happening please let me know. my eating habits haven't really changed the past week and i've been weighing myself at around the same time of day each time and wearing similar clothing. it just feels like all the effort i've put in the past twenty-seven days hasn't gotten me anywhere.

i'm going to try to keep going, though. maybe i just need to put more effort into the workouts or something, but we shall see.

how to get p90x on the cheap.

so i know a few people who want to start p90x but aren't sure how to do it without paying exorbitant amounts of money for it. i know it can get pretty expensive and for those of you who are, like me, poor college students, you don't have a whole lot of expendable income. so there are a few ways to save some money while still being able to follow the program and get in shape.

1) check craigslist/ebay/amazon.

i personally bought the dvds on craigslist. you can buy it through beachbody.com if you really want to spend $120 on 13 dvds, but that's up to you. one thing you have to watch out for is fake copies of the videos. i'm not 100% sure on how to identify those copies, but i've heard that (if you've already bought the dvds) if your set came with the nutrition plan, take a look at the title on the front cover. if the "n" in nutrition is capitalized, then it's real, from beachbody.com. if the "n" is lowercased, it's a copy.

now, my copy of the nutrition plan has the uppercase "n," however, there are quite a few typos in it. also, i've heard that fake copies don't play well. so just do some research and find what's the best way for you to buy it.

another way to save some money is to join swagbucks. it's 100% free, and all you have to do is treat it like google and search. you earn points on some searches and there are codes every once in a while that you enter to get more points. you can join here. once you have a certain amount of points, you can redeem them for things like amazon.com gift cards, decreasing the amount you'll pay for the program if you buy it through amazon.

2) buy the weights, bands, and yoga mat and blocks at walmart or on craigslist.

there's no point buying them at sports authority because they're going to the exact same thing even if you pay $20 less for them. if you're a girl and you can't do pull-ups, bands and weights can be substituted. if you're not very flexible, yoga blocks are very helpful and a yoga mat is essential.

3) follow the portion approach and/or look for coupons.

this is the part of the program that can get pretty pricey. the meal plan approach dictates exactly what you eat at all times of the day and includes a lot of egg whites and veggie or turkey burgers. not exactly the cheapest. so try and follow the portion approach, which means you can eat pretty much anything you want, but only certain amounts of protein, carbs, fat, etc.

another way to save on food and other things in general is coupons. i'm a big advocate for them and once you learn how to use them, you can save a lot of money on a lot of things. there are quite a few websites out there that give you so much information on how to coupon, where to get the best deals, and even freebies. here are a few of the one's i personally follow and are some of my favorites:

Money Saving Mom: http://moneysavingmom.com/

The Frugal Find: http://thefrugalfind.com/

Couponers United (she's from central florida!): http://www.couponersunited.com/

4) don't buy beachbody's supplements or recovery drink.

repeat after me: it. isn't. worth. it. multivitamins are just fine, and any drink with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio will be sufficient. i've heard apple or grape juice with whey protein powder added or non-fat milk with sugar-free (or not) chocolate syrup are good. personally, i go with the chocolate milk. it tastes good and i definitely need more calcium in my diet.

obviously there are several ways to save some money buying p90x and the recommended and required elements of it. do what's right for you!

twenty-fourth day.

so today was supposed to be kenpo x, but i switched it out for cardio x. then i switched out the last 15 minutes of cardio for about 10 minutes of legs and back. i'm just switchin' it up aaaall over the place people.

let me tell you something. when you're not very strong to begin with and you increase your dumbbell weight by even four pounds, you can feel it. i was doing some calf raises and with the 3 lb. weights, i could get almost to the end (about 58 total) without having to stop. this time, with two 5 lb. weights, i think i got to 40. not a huge difference, but man. four pounds makes a difference.

i could also totally feel it when i was doing presses. i did 17 at first, and i used to be able to do about 25 with the 3 lb. weights. but it feels good because my arms are all jelly-ish. i love it!

tomorrow i'm supposed to do x stretch, but i have school all day and then work right after. soooo i'm not sure how that's working out. but i get off around 9ish, so hopefully i can fit it in after i get home. maybe even some ab ripper x? we shall see!

OH.

one of my friend's recently was debating whether or not to do p90x. for anyone reading who isn't sure, DO IT. if you want to lose some poundage or gain muscle or just get in shape, it's amazing. it's intense, but amazing. even if you don't follow the plan exactly, it's great to just pick up once in a while because you know you're going to get in a really great workout without a gym membership or a crazy expensive weight bench.

some people may think that the program is on the expensive side, and it can be. but there are ways to do it on the cheap. that post is coming up soon! i'll show you guys lots of different ways to get the results you want without breaking the bank.

twenty-third day.

i can't believe i'm already over three weeks in. i've lost about 3 pounds total, but i know i can lose more. the one thing i've noticed about getting in shape is that your diet really does make a difference. i can tell that when my weight has fluctuated and gone back up that it's only when i eat junky food and/or not done as much as i could during the workouts. i need to find some more motivation because i know i can do this!

core syngeristics felt gooooood. it was awesome to get back into working out daily and i can feel my strength building. i broke in my new 5 lb. weights and it made a big difference. i couldn't do as many reps as i could have with a 3 lb. weight and now my arms feel a little like jelly. i know 5 lbs. isn't a lot, but for someone who can barely open a pickle jar without help, it's something.

i know this is supposed to be my rest week, and it's filled with two days of yoga, two days of cardio, and two days of x stretch, but i want more! i feel like the last three days were my rest and i can keep going. i might sub a day of yoga for shoulders and arms and a day of stretch for legs and back possibly.

by the way, i never blogged the day i did x stretch last week. it was great. it felt amazing to stretch all the sore muscles i had been working the week before. i may skip one day of it this week, but saturday will definitely include stretch.

tomorrow i might throw in some swimming or bike riding. depends on how homework goes. (yes, i have homework on the first day of school. >_<) and i'm off with the man to straighten out his financial aid at valencia, which may take a while. those people have their heads so far up their butts they have no idea what they're talking about. so hopefully all that goes well. otherwise, i'll just be doing my cardio (in place of kenpo, which, as i've mentioned, i'm not a huge fan of). woo! here's to getting back on track!

it's been a while!

over a week, actually. i was doing pretty well up till friday. a friend came over and we had the most epic of movie marathon's - harry potter! all 6 over two days. needless to say friday and saturday weren't exactly workout days for me. then i cam down with an ear infection friday night/saturday morning, so i ended up going to the clinic at walgreens to get some ear drops. i still wasn't feeling well, so i decided to skip yesterday's workout as well. it probably wasn't the best time to skip workouts seeings as how i ate more junk food and candy than i have in a really long time.

BUT i'm up and at it again picking up where i left off. i've decided to not mess up with the schedule and continue with the workout i'm supposed to do today, which is core synergistics. i'm in my rest week now, so i don't feel absolutely horrible about skipping cardio x, x stretch, and yoga x. i'll make up one of them by doing an extra cardio x on saturday as well as x stretch.

besides the last three days i was keeping up pretty well. trying to more healthy and keep up with the workouts and do the whole thing. it's been hard and i'm starting to lose motivation, but i want to keep up with it. i'm not seeing results like i did at first, but i think that's mostly due to my largely fluctuating stress levels and diet. it's going to be super hard with school starting today and continuing for the next 16 weeks, but i'm planning on continuing with the program past the 90 days seeing as how it's already been 3 weeks and i'm not seeing a whole lot of improvement. :-/

off to my workout! time to step up the intensity, folks.

thirteenth day.

today was kenpo x. i kinda skipped most of it. >_< but i substituted 15 minutes of it for ab ripper x, which i actually did quite a bit of. i'm just really not a huge fan of the whole karate thing. so many punches and kicks and it's all the same thing over and over and over and over again. every other workout has so many different moves i don't get bored at all. but all kenpo x is, is punches and kicks. nothing else. so i think i'm going to do something else on kenpo days. probably cardio x since kenpo is mostly cardio anyway. plus i might do a little of something tonight, i'm just not sure what. jd is sleeping (i know, right?) and i'm pretty bored, so i might just have to work on my fitness a little bit more!

i'm getting better with ab ripper x! i can do more reps of the workouts and i think there was only one move that i couldn't do at all. i love seeing progress and i think it's the biggest motivating factor for me so far. and i was walking into wal-mart today to get some groceries and i looked down and i could have sworn that i looked thinner. and this was when i was in my running shorts that usually result in a muffin top. said muffin top is looking smaller! i'm so excited.

i can't wait for x stretch tomorrow, and i'm thinking of doing a morning bike ride with my man. there's a trail we like to ride that's about 7 total miles. it's not just a level trail, either, it's kind of hilly in some places, so i know it works my legs. i can definitely feel it by the time we get back to the car. if we don't do that, i'll probably ride around the neighborhood and/or jump in the pool for some laps. and i'm going shopping with my mom, so even though it's not going to be as much walking as i could do, it's a little something extra on my rest day.

i never thought i would say this (i mean, this is me we're talking about here), but i love exercise!

eleventh and twelfth days.

i've been slacking. :[ i skipped yesterday (day eleven) because it was kind of a busy day. i know i should have made time for it and i know i could have. i was supposed to do yoga x, but i ended up doing it today with legs and back. i think i only got through about half of yoga. a lot of it ends up being about arm and core strength, which i'm obviously lacking. the whole first half is a lot of downward dog and warrior, which relies on a lot of quad and arm strength. i'm fine in the lunges for the warrior positions, but after doing downward dog 98,031 times, it gets a little grueling to keep your arms in the air for a while. i'm kind of disappointed that i couldn't do more, but i'm glad i did at least some of it.

legs and back wasn't as bad. i did probably 50 minutes of the 60 minute workout. i'm still sweaty as crap and i can definitely feel in my muscles that they were working. pretty much the only thing i couldn't do with all the wall squats. i did some, but not all of them. i think i did about 30 seconds. :P they kill. i couldn't do some of the squats, either. apparently my legs aren't as strong as i thought they were haha. i'm also supposed to be doing pull-ups, but that doesn't work out for me. so i do shoulder presses. i do them the same way the do the pull-ups on the video, but i know it's not quite the same seeing as how i'm not pressing my entire body weight hahah. and the calf raises holy moly. pain.

i was getting super tired so i skipped ab ripper. :[ i was going to skip it earlier this week but i didn't, so i might add it tomorrow or with x stretch on saturday. i'm not 100% excited about kenpo x because i'm not the hugest fan, but i will get through it!

oh, and i dropped 1.7 pounds since three days ago! i know i can lose the weight, as long as i keep my eating habits in check. i'm trying to keep it up!

tenth day!

today was shoulders and arms and ab ripper x. my friend kayla came over and worked out with me, which totally motivated me to do more than i would have alone. i actually did the ab ripper x workout instead of skipping it!! given i didn't do everything, but i did some, which is definitely better than nothing, right? this workout was so much fun because i wasn't doing it alone. i was able to laugh and talk and not just go through the motions all boring-like. not that i don't like the workout when i'm doing it by myself, but for me, it's much better with a friend. :] i think i can safely say that i didn't skip anything in the workout except for 8 minutes of the 75 minute workout, but that was because kayla had to leave and i had to watch my show. :D but i pushed myself harder than last week!

i know i'm going to be feeling it tomorrow, but i'm on such a high right now because i've been eating pretty healthy today and i saw "how to train your dragon" again with my man this morning (for $1!) and i have an interview for an internship tomorrow (yay!) and it's all around just been a good day. i did go out and get that sushi, which was amazing. if you like sushi, definitely check out hana sushi in altamonte springs next to the mall. it's amazing and very, very reasonably priced. and the majority of the rolls are pretty healthy because several of them contain avocados, which are apparently really good for you. i usually hate avocados, but i really like them in sushi rolls.

i'm so looking forward to yoga x tomorrow! kayla's coming over again and we're doing it together! yay!

ninth day!

yesterday was cardio x. even though last week didn't not go well, yesterday was even better! i probably only skipped maybe five minutes because of stuff i just couldn't plain do. it was overall a great workout and i loved the fact that i still felt great afterward! i had sushi for lunch yesterday before i worked out, so no more repeat nausea. (mmm sushi sounds really good now...)

i'm really digging this program so far. like i said before, it's really hard to stay on the nutrition plan for me, so i've just been trying to eat healthier. it's hard when the only healthy things you have in the house require preparation and cooking and you really don't feel like making anything. :P but i think i'm getting better. i weighed in on sunday and i gained back almost three of the pounds i lost, but i'm still down two and a half pounds. it's not the best, but i just need to work a little harder. two pounds in a week is pretty good, but i know i can step it up. i weigh in tomorrow so we'll see how much progress i've made since sunday!

today is shoulders and arms and ab ripper x. not 100% sure if i'm actually going to do ab ripper or not, but i might try. we shall see!

now to go figure out if i want to pick up some sushi...

seventh day!

yesterday i didn't get to do core synergistics till like 10:30pm. i had two graduation parties to go to which was fun, so while jd was at his employee meeting i popped in the dvd and went to town.

core synergistics was a little easier this time. i still don't have a very strong core, but i'm getting better. one move i liked that really worked my core and my arms was running planks. you just punch your knees to your chest when you're in plank. it's not so bad the first few, then my abs started shaking from the exertion. it was fun though. i like this workout because it mixes in so many moves and you're not just working out your core. you're working your arms and legs and abs all at the same time. it makes it more interesting and not so boring.

so this weekend i fluffed up big time on my diet. it was just because of convenience and ease and i know i shouldn't have eaten all that junk, but i did. after i finished core synergistics last night, i laid down on my bed and all of a sudden i felt nauseous. i'm not 100% sure that it was all the junk i had been eating or the chocolate milk i drank as my recovery drink, but i had used the chocolate milk all last week as my recovery drink after workouts and i never felt nauseous, so i'm thinking it was the junk food. it wasn't pleasant, but it's a good way to kick my butt into eating healthier!

oh, and saturday i wanted to do x stretch, but it was just kind of a blah day. i went swimming with my dog and got my heart rate up a little bit, then it started raining, which always makes me not want to do anything. i wasn't sure i wanted to sit and stretch for an hour, so i skipped it. i'll definitely be doing it this saturday, though. i want to see what it's like.

today i have cardio x coming up a little later. i might jump in the pool for another quick swim as well. look for my next post tonight!

sixth day.

sorry i didn't get around to blogging yesterday. but i did get through kenpo x! it was actually kinda...boring? hahah. some of it was alright but it was just lots of kicking and punching whereas i like to do more than just two different things in a workout. i was definitely sweating by the end, but i'd have to say it was my least favorite workout so far. not that it was bad, just not necessarily my thing.

today i can either rest or do x stretch. i got in the pool for about 10 minutes and did some laps. not a whole lot, but it got my heart rate up for a little bit. i probably will go the x stretch in a little while, just because my legs are so stiff. i keep trying to stretch out my calves, but ever since the legs and back workout, they've been so sore that i've just been trying to avoid getting charley horses. my thighs and butt are pretty sore too (tmi? :P) hopefully x stretch can help me out a little bit in those areas.

i made myself lunch yesterday, trying to make a recipe that's in the p90x nutrition guide. shrimp stir fry. i had stir fry vegetables in my freezer that i've been dying to eat, and i had just bought frozen shrimp to try out this recipe. i didn't actually follow the recipe exactly, but i used brown rice like they told me to. cooked everything perfectly, put it all together, put some soy sauce in it, and took a bite.

now, to be fair, it was probably actually pretty good. the vegetables were good, the shrimp was good, but i haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate brown rice. it is disgusting. it shouldn't even be called rice. i wanted to like it so badly, but nope. the brown rice had to ruin it. it soaked up all the soy sauce so i couldn't even taste it. i ate all the shrimp and some of the vegetables out of it and put the rest in the fridge for my mom. sad face. :[

but oh well. i know brown rice is much better for me than white rice, but i can't force myself to eat something i don't like. so i'd definitely make it again, just without the brown (nasty) rice.

anywayz. x stretch, here i come!

fifth day!

so since i had to skip yesterday, i did two workouts today. i don't really know what i was thinking, but i'm glad i did it. i would have hated skipping an entire day and not making it up. sooo today i did yoga x and legs and back. like i said earlier, i was supposed to do ab ripper x, but i didn't want to kill myself. so as i drink my recovery drink (yummy chocolate milk), i'll tell you about my workouts!

first was yoga x, which is a 90-minute workout. let me tell you. this is not the yoga i'm used to. i wasn't expecting hatha yoga, which is more relaxation/meditation than anything, but i was expecting astanga, which is pretty hard core. what i got was way beyond that. i probably couldn't do half the poses. this was partly because i seem to have issues with my right ankle and i can't hold it at a 90-degree angle to my other foot, so i didn't want to push that and injure myself. other poses i just wasn't flexible enough to do correctly, but i tried the best i could. i was definitely sweaty and sore by the time i was finished, though. if anyone is interested in yoga, DEFINITELY check out an astanga class or come do this workout with me. it's amazing.

THEN i did legs and back. i was supposed to do a lot of pull-ups, but i know that wouldn't have worked out very well, even with a chair, so i did shoulder presses. not as much work, but i didn't want to just sit there and do nothing. i had to do a ton of squats and lunges, which i'm not a huge fan of, but i did as many as possible. i'm not super friendly with either one of them, so if i didn't get close the amount of reps they were doing, i probably did about half. then calf raises were last. they weren't so bad the first 15 with my toes pointed out, then i did 10 fast, which is when they started to burn. i did 15 with my toes parallel, 10 fast, then 8 pigeon-toed. that's where i quit. it was crazy. i thought i was going to fall down. :P but it feels so good.

so i'm not 100% sure how accurate my scale is (i weigh a 10lb weight first and alter my weight if it isn't 10lbs.) but if it is accurate i've lost 5.5lbs in about 5 days! i'm really hoping that's accurate.

tomorrow, kenpo x! karate, baby!

le sigh.

so yesterday was crazy. i was at school all day, then came home and wrote the paper that was due today (which i got a 39/40 on, thank you very much). the good news is that i (obviously) got the paper done AND took my final today, which i think went pretty well, and i'm free! no more school for three and a half weeks! w00t! however, it didn't allow me to do my yoga x. :[ i was so excited about it, so i was really upset that i couldn't do it. however, i'm going to be crazy and do yoga x AND legs and back tonight. i'm supposed to do ab ripper x as well, but lord knows how well that went last night. besides, a lot of yoga works your abs as well, so i think i'm kindofalittlebit making up for it. i'm starting yoga x in about twenty minutes, so look for my next post in a few hours!

third day.

today i did both shoulders and arms AND ab ripper x. do i have to say that i didn't do a whole lot of the ab workout? i didn't think so. (for those of you who don't know, me and my abs haven't become friends yet.)

however, i did enjoy the shoulders and arms workout. i had to cut it 15 minutes short because my homework needs to get done, but i know i could have completed the rest of the dvd. i was only using 3lb. weights, so it wasn't like i was struggling through the whole workout, but i can feel in my arms and shoulders that they were actually being worked. my only other option was 10lb. weights, and i tried that. needless to say, that didn't work out so well. i'm thinking i need to invest in some 5 or 8lb. weights and/or a resistance band.

some of the shoulder moves were pretty difficult to complete. there was one called seated shoulder flys, where you swing your arms out wide (like a bird flying), bring them down, lean forward slightly, then repeat the process. i got through 16 total flys twice, but by the 16th rep i was definitely feeling it, especially on the leaning one. i also did some chair dips, which weren't as hard as i was expecting them to be. given, i had my knees bent while three of the other people in the dvd were doing it much, much harder ways, but i got through 14 the first time and 13 the second.

overall the workout wasn't that bad. my muscles are definitely feeling it, but i'm thinking i need to up my weight. craigslist, here i come!

tomorrow, yoga x. YAY!

second day!

whew! today was cardio x. i was expecting to do maybe 20-ish minutes total of the 43 minute workout. obviously since i'm overweight, cardio isn't my strong suit. but right off the bat, i was able to jog in place for a minute and a half! keep in mind this was on a yoga mat on a floor with a mat (of sorts) underneath that, but guys. my whole life i've never been able to jog anywhere for more than 30-45 seconds. maybe it was the low impact helping me out, but that empowered me so much. i got through about 35 minutes of the workout, possibly a little bit more. i took a few couple-second breaks and one minute long break, but i paused the dvd, i didn't skip anything.

the best part for me were the "wacky jacks." it's like jumping jacks for 6-year-olds. you put your arms up and spread your legs wide, then jump from one foot to the other while bringing your elbows to your hips. it sounds a little complicated, which is why there's a video at the end for all you visual learners out there.

there was also a few astanga sun salutations mixed into warm up and cool down, which i love. i can't wait for the yoga workout coming up on wednesday.  other moves were some karate stuff, fake jumping through tires (like football players? anyone? bueller?), and jumping squats.

even though cardio used to be my worst enemy, i think we're up to frenemies now. i really, really liked this workout. i knew i was actually working my body and it was nice to take a break off most of my muscles, because my hamstrings are killing me from yesterday. i felt this little pop in my quads when i was walking today. it freaked me out a little at first.

coming up tomorrow night, shoulders and arms AND ab ripper x. oh lordy.

first day!

i finished the first workout! i couldn't complete every exercise, but i did what i could and pushed myself until i couldn't push any harder.

so the first workout in the first week of the lean track is core synergistics. it's all about your core, but working out every other muscle along with it. so it's not like you're doing a million sit ups and crunches, but stuff that you can actually feel as your doing it. there was a bunch of stuff i couldn't do (push ups hate me i hate push ups) and there's something called chatarunga runs that just didn't work out. but i made through most of everything, even if i did fewer reps than they did. some of it was actually very similar to yoga. lots of lunges, boats, bananas, and planks. their versions of plank though is nuts. you plank, then go lower, almost touching the ground, but not. then plank again, and repeat the process a few times. it's like really slow push ups.

overall, i got super sweaty and nasty and i feel like i actually did something, even if i only got through maybe a total of 35 out of the 55 minutes of video. it was hard, but not impossibly so. so far i'm really enjoying it! the nutrition plan isn't working out quite so well yet, though. i just ate two twizzlers (EDIT: and a mini bag of lays and some sour gummy worms...i probably need to work on this a little bit). i'm sure that's not on the plan.

until tomorrow!