Week 2 P90X2 Complete!

Week two of P90X2 is complete and on to week three! I think its going very well. Each time I do each DVD I am doing more reps and my form is getting better. Like Tony Horton says "Time. Practice.Patience". I already did my workout for the day which was Plyocide. And Tony likes to call that 'Death by Jumping'. Uhhhhh. What? He says he is kidding.... I have my doubts. Its a 'shorter' workout BUT its high high high intensity. And its not that I am not used to that kind of workout because I did do 100s of hours of TurboFire. Its that I have to get going. I literally drag myself to get started. Draggggggggggggg........ BUT once I started I really have fun. Tony is entertaining. And I have difficulty with boredom. So far there has been zero boredom. Actually because you do a different DVD each day its hard to remember each exercise is what. Even though I have done many of them on different workout DVDs from other trainers. They just have different names! The only routine I have with P90X2 is which DVD is which day! LOL At the end of this week I decide if I do another week of the 'foundation' (Phase I) or onto 'Strength' (Phase II) Will I be ready? Do I need the additional week? Each phase is 3-6 weeks. I want to keep the plan 90 days BUT I don't want to move forward if I am not ready.

But I don't give up. I keep going. Take a break keep going... Because.......


Ciao
USMCdaffy

P90X2 Week 1... And Time?

Week one of P90X2 complete. I am alive and uninjured! It went well. It was HARD. Yet it was FUN! I know I know. It sounds totally insane even when I say it myself! I learned two things. One there are lots of exercises that I have already done in other workout which is comforting. The second thing is that I love this workout! I know its only week one and I have weeks and weeks left but.... Its so FUN and Tony Horton is great! He's not only motivating but he makes you feel like you are there with him and the kids! I forgot how funny and enjoyable he is in his workouts. Also everyone on there is sweating like MAD! All of them including Tony. It can be intimdating with the level of fitness they ALL have but you see every person on there sweating and breathing hard because it's diffult workout for them too. I modify a lot and my goal is to do at least half the reps. I am so glad I did TurboFire and Chalene Extreme before I attempted P90X2. I did Power90 years ago with Tony Horton but never did P90X. So this all really new to me and I had no idea how exactly these workouts would pan out. My shoulders are always sore! Other parts are a little sore but my shoulders are always the tightest & most sore! The Yoga X2 was the HARDEST yoga I have ever done, its 67 minutes vs the P90X Yoga X which is  90 MINUTES! HOLY!!!  I could barely do the 67 minutes and I took A LOT of breaks. Tony says its okay to take breaks and since he is in charge.... ;o) So far I love it and I start of week two tomorrow! Oh and Sunday. I rest.




Time. The thing with time is that it slips away. It something that you can't get back. Time is everything. You have to MAKE time to do the things you want. You have time to tweet. You have time to Facebook. You have time to blog. You have time to watch TV. Then you certainly have time to exercise. You might not have an hour (which is the average P90X2 workout time) but you have 10 minutes. Or 15 Minutes. It adds up. I don't go to the gym anymore because I cannot fit that time into my day and since my days change around the best thing for ME is to workout at home. So Beachbody programs work for me and well a lot of other people too! LOL Interested? See my site www.beachbodycoach.com/usmcdaffy

Ciao
USMCdaffy

P90X2 and.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WORK IT OUT!!

Today is the day. Day One. Of  the 90 day program. Today I started P90X2. I never did P90X but I did do Power90 (on VHS mind you!) many years ago and I always loved Tony Horton! He's funny and charming as he beats you down! :o) I did X2 Core. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be! There is NO DOUBT it was HARD! I was sweating. I was breathing hard. But! But it was do-able. Yes, folks! It IS do-able. It IS attainable! I had to modify and I couldn't do all of the reps of everything AND there is one move I cannot do. Yet. I think it was a successful workout. Next week I am going to add some bonus cardio. Usually the first week of a new workout I go slow because you never know how things are going to go with a brand new workout. I also preview the workout BEFORE I start them so kind of see what I am getting myself into first thing! I also want to mention that I think the reason Core X2 was not as harrowing as I thought is because TurboFire and Yoga prepared me! I was prepared and HIIT workouts make everything easier! Yoga helped with my balance! I have good balance and I am fairly strong. Food is really my weakness soooooooo... I went back to my old friend www.myfitnesspal.com. She keeps me ON track which has been seriously lacking! Lacking on the tracking people!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!

So have you done your New Years Resolutions? I don't call them that.... I call them goals. I wrote 15 down yesterday. I also sent them to ONE person in email so I can be accountable! HA! I like to have a variety of goals. Not just weight loss and better eating but things that force me out of my comfort zone. I also gave them TIMES! Yes! I gave myself dates to achieve these goals. And I have already begun to implement these goals. I started my NEW workout today but I started changing my life yesterday! This year, 2012, is gonna be my best year. Why? Because I am telling myself that EVERY day.

And remember its never too late to make a change.

Ciao'

USMCdaffy 

Dukes of Hazzard?

I was flipping through the channels relaxing the other night and I stumbled across the Dukes of Hazzard. Now its been on & off the air for quite some time (like THIRTY YEARS). I used to make fun of it a couple of years ago. I find myself flipping back to these old episodes. Its easy to notice the silliness within the show and the numerous coincidences but there is a lot of interesting things about it. I call it the "Mysteries of the Dukes of Hazard"... I started noticing little things. First off I started to watch it again because I noticed the Bo & Luke always wear the SAME shirts. Uncle Jesse wears the same thing. The only person that gets new clothes on the episodes is Daisy! Of course!! (Hello?? Daisy Dukes... Heard of them??) Except for yesterday's episode #110 in 1983. Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrain was a basketball coach in the begining and his outfit is something that must be mentioned. He was wearing white sweatshirt, white sweatpants, his official sheriff cowboy hat AND his duty belt including his gun! Well folks, lets just say that no one is attractive in sweatpants. Another things I noticed was when Bo & Luke picked up Daisy & LuLu (Boss Hogg's wife) they picked them up in the General Lee. Now if you are familiar with LuLu Hogg she is well... A large lady. And if you're familiar with the General Lee you know that its doors are welded shut. Yet she & Daisy were sitting in the back seat waiting for the boys! Apparently in Hazzard County they also defy the laws of physics.

Yet I am drawn to this show! Its got some realistic points. There is always road construction in Hazzard County just like HERE! There are lots of backroads that they use at a high rate of speed, just like here! People on this show pull out onto the road without looking! I really think I am drawn to it because I can remember watching this show with my family in 1983. I also think people are drawn to this show because everything was solved in the 60 minutes, they always had popular musicians on there, AND it was always exciting! It was a simple show with this idea of family and helping each other including strangers like that southern hospitality. Good looking cousins as best friends, good looking female cousin, a wise Uncle Jesse to keep cool heads! No cussing and very little violence, plus there was a very obvious line between good & evil. And of course good always wins! Even if the bad guy is two gorgeous female twins!

Then there is the General Lee. The show used 256 different cars. One was used per SHOW! The show made that type of car so popular they started have difficulty finding them and started building them on site The General Lee was in every episode but one. And in the end very ending they had to use remote controlled cars for some scenes & used jump shots from previous episodes.

There is Dukefest! YES! DUKEFEST!! I wouldn't go but I am sure there are still LOTS of people that go & enjoy the festivities. LOL It was organized by Ben Jones (Cooter!!) He has a website www.cootersplace.com and its the official headquarters of Hazzard Nation. And there is www.hazzardnation.com which has pics of the most recent Hazzard Nation gathering.

Its always fun to go back and watch old shows from when you were a kid. It brings back memories. I'm not saying you should plan your annual vacation around the Hazzard Nation festival every year but just watching a silly show like this makes me laugh because it was a long time ago & it brings back lots of good memories!

Ciao

USMCdaffy

30 Days and counting....

Its been over a month since my ankle injury. Its not broken but sprained which is 6-8 weeks to heal. I wish the first doctor would have said that rather then getting my hopes up by saying 7-10 days. That time frame is a DROP in the bucket compared to the OTHER diagnosis. SO it is getting better just slowly. It is a difficult injury because you have to use your ankle to do EVERYTHING! And I have a long commute and of course driving makes you sit your leg at an odd angle. Not straight but not really bent which puts stress on any injury. It was the same for my knee when I tore my meniscus. I didn't really notice how long it took for that to heal because I was not really working out. I wanted to but I was not working out at the level I was during TurboFire.

I didn't realize how much being unable to exercise has effected me. For 58 days I did TurboFire, six days a week. Then all of the sudden I was forced to stop. I was feeling so good and I was actually FINALLY seeing progress. FINALLY! The stress relief that I got from working out was amazing and I didn't realize how much it helped me deal with the stress. And then in one moment I was forced to stop. It was tough and I was angry. Then I got totally paranoid about losing muscle because I could not work out like I did before. I know from after two weeks you start to lose flexibility & muscle by NOT working out. So I started over by really watching my food intake & using www.myfitnesspal.com to log calories. I really had to focus & figure out what I could do instead of what I could not do. It was a struggle.

Pilates! HA!!! Turns out you don't even need ankles or feet to do them!!! I had done pilates in the past. I use the Winsor Pilates DVDs, original ones, www.winsorslim.com and I follow Pilates: From the Inside Out w/ Karon Karter on the www.veria.com After doing TurboFire I actually have better form while doing pilates because I am stronger and more flexible than I was in the past. Pilates is no TurboFire! But its what I could do at the time and I NEEDED to do something! ANYTHING! When even a short walk was painful the pilates was able to give me a workout without additional pain or reinjuring myself.

I have now officially moved back to yoga. I still am wearing my ankle wrap (no gel cast for me!!) during the times I am away from home but I also wear it during yoga. The wrap gives me support but flexible enough that I am not fighting against the support it gives me. I am only on the second day of yoga and I do it every other day so I don't do more harm then good! It's very easy to get over enthusiastic about working out on an injury..... So I modify a lot of moves and I am definately slower then before. There are some poses I just cannot do right now. I am not having significant pain in the ankle and I am definately getting a workout. It does make me happier and allows me to relieve stress.

So the moral of this story is when dealing with an injury you MUST let it heal first otherwise you run the risk of extending waiting period for your injury to heal. Then start back slowly and being injured is NOT the end of the world even though it does feel like it at times...

Ciao

USMCdaffy

The websites listed in this blog (and future blogs) are my favorites and I am not being paid in any form to promote them. :o)

HOLY! A brief update. Happy New Year!

Last post, September 18th. WHAT?? I thought it had been a while since I posted but its literally been MONTHS!! So I guess I should do a bit of an update.

Round 1
I finished Round 1 of ChaLean Extreme. The first 90 days I didn't see weight loss. I admit I was disappointed. But I know that in just 90 days doing just weight resistance is not the best way to lose weigh and I have more then a few pounds to lose! I did notice that I was stronger and more flexible. My yoga has improved greatly. It is all incorporated! :o) I took a 1 1/2 week break. I did some cardio and yoga but no ChaLean Extreme. I even worked out while I was in Las Vegas.

Round 2.
I finished week seven with full/heaviest weights. YAY!! Uh oh. My shoulder..... The pain was so bad that I even went to the doctor. UGH!!!! She was nice but she said I strained my shoulder. *sigh* Good news!! I guess.. Under her recommendation I dropped all the weights to half of what I had left off at for week seven. AND I decided that no cardio and yoga instead. Seemed like it would work. I thought it would work. I stopped after eight weeks. It was not feeling like it was not healing. I did get a new workout from Christmas (thanks, Heather!) called Jackie Warner Extreme Time Saver Trainer. WOW. I would do that DVD one day and the next was yoga. NOW! I am doing the Kurt Johnsen 30 DAY Yoga Challenge! Yoga for 30 days in a row. I have completed DAY ONE!! My arms are sore... :o)

Kinect.
Holy!! We got the Kinect for XBox360 for Christmas. Sweaty and floppy-that was Chris & me!! We both drank a whole water bottle and can only play for an HOUR! I know!! This is the new age of gaming! WE LOVE IT!! We got the car game and that makes you hop and flop around too!

Food.
Food is my downfall. Snacking is my issue. A new goal for the NEW year.... Chew my food completely and enjoy the taste. Today instead of dipping crackers into hummus I dipped more veg! YUM!! Working on portion control. More Shakeology! Well more consistent Shakeology!

Well that is all for now!
Chao
USMCdaffy

The Fair! Shakeology and Coaching

I made it through the Fair. Yes I brought my own food and no I didn't eat clean the entire time! I did watch what I ate and picked the best of what was available. I did drink TONS of water!! I also worked out EVERY day! YES! I didn't skip not once and I really wanted to sleep in. Its one of my favorite things to do! But I DID get up EARLY and worked out even when I was tired and didn't want to get up! I think that I am more changed then I thought. For the BETTER!!

So I FINALLY got my Shakeology! I got the Greenberry because I just could not see myself drinking a chocolate drink EVERY day. I am not into chocolate that much. I do LOVE fruit smoothies. I could drink them every day. What?! I AM!! LOL!!!!! At first I thought that I should make a drink from a recipe. And the first day I did. But then I started thinking. What if I just tossed in a cup of fruit and a 1/2 cup of fruit juice with 1/2 cup of water and just blended? Nothing fancy. Nothing to look up. Just the basics. It was delicious. And simple. And perfect. I find that frozen fruit works the best because it makes it really thick drink and no need for ice. I do want to get a set of chocolate packets to change it up from time to time. I have heard they are coming out with vanilla. Hmmmm... I like vanilla better then chocolate so this is really great for me. YAY Shakeology!

Ok. I decided. I am signing up to be a coach at Beachbody.com! I am doing it October 1st! I am just been thinking about it. And thinking about it. And more thinking about it. This is my nitch. My friend D. told me ( a VERY long time ago) that I should get into fitness or nutrition. She could see that it is my passion. She saw it before I saw it myself. I LIKE to help people. I did have some reservations about it because I am NOT at my idea weight. My Coach Brenda (go girl!) said that she is not at her ideal weight but sometimes not being at your ideal is more motivating to people then a fit person! I never thought about it like that. Super fit people can be VERY intimidating! Plus I get the 25% discount on ALL products! WOOT WOOT! I have already been welcomed by Brenda's trainer Francee. Everyone is SO nice! There is TONS of training. This stuff sells itself anyway. Its gonna be good. I feel.

Things are good. I feel good too. And posting my workouts everyday is certainly keeping me accountable. It feels great! Eight hour shifts certainly help! ;o)

Ciao

USMCdaffy