I am a P90X Grad!!

I made it to the end. All 90 days came and went. I am really proud of myself. Here are some measurements from Day 1 vs. Day 90:

Day 1/Day 90

Chest 37.5" /34.25"

Waist 30.75" /28.75"

Hips 30.75" /28.75"

Right thigh 22.25"/ 22"

Left thigh 22.25" /22"

Right arm 12.25" /12"

Left arm 12.25" /11.75"

WEIGHT 148 /143

BODY FAT 23.4%/ 21.6%

Pounds of PURE NASTY FAT LOST: 3.7

The pounds of fat may not seem like a lot, but think about a 2-liter bottle filled with pure fat. That is what I no longer have on my body.

Now these numbers don't look very dramatic, I know that. But you have to remember, I wasn't overweight or obese to begin with. I was in the normal range for both body weight and body fat percentage. The biggest change is how my clothes fit and also my body fat. I am most proud about that. I went from a size 8 pants to a loose size 6. My breasts shrunk slightly, but oh well. I feel great in anything I wear. The extra fat around my waist, stomach area and thighs is melting away. I am much more firm than I was three months ago. Not to mention I can do a few pull-ups now. That is something I have never done before. Very proud of that.

Yesterday I decided to let myself eat whatever I wanted and it was the biggest mistake ever. I felt like crap and I still kind of feel like crap today. I don't think I will do that again. Next time I want to indulge it will be in very small doses and very spread apart. I guess my body is used to eating highly nutritious food and the greasy BBQ ribs just weren't going to cut it. Or the piece of chocolate cake or biscuits for breakfast. Hey, just being honest! I learned my lesson there. Once you start eating healthy you just need to stay that way. I absolutely love eating in exact measured portions. You get to eat more often and your stomach never hurts from being too full.

OK, OK, here are some pics. I hate them,I look really horrible. I am usually pretty photogenic and this is just not how I usually take a picture. Oh well, here they are:

Day 1 wearing a black bra and Day 90 wearing a white bra

So there it is everyone. I am going to start a new blog right away with the next P90X round with a new twist. Actually, I have already started so I better get on it!

I want to thank everyone for all their support, you have no idea how much it means to me. It means everything. It was very motivating. Please keep reading and hopefully you can be motivated to getting in the best shape of your life, too! :)

Pros and Cons

I wanted to share a few advantages and disadvantages that I have found with P90X. A lot of people have asked me about it and some people have actually bought the started the program. I feel like my experience can be shared and it could help someone make the decision of whether they want to give P90X a try or not. My recommendation overall is definitely a YES!!





PROS:

• I love that I have a workout schedule to follow that requires absolutely no planning on my part. It is all laid out so all you have to do is "Push Play" everyday.


• I also love having all my meals planned for me. I don't have to spend any time planning and deciding what to eat, it's just all there laid out.


• Speaking of food, the meals a delicious. The recipes are tasty and the meals are well put together.



• I really enjoy working out at home. Who knew?! It saves so much time. I don't have to get all my things together, drive to the gym, go the locker room, lock up my belongings, get my iPod ready, wait for machines, finally workout, then go back to the locker room, get my things and drive home. It probably saves about 30-45 minutes per day.



• I learned to enjoy a lot of new foods. Off the top of my head I now eat broccoli, pecans, mango, swordfish, halibut, quinoa, among many other things I can't think of at the moment.



• I have so much energy. I feel like I can accomplish anything in one day and I never feel exhausted or worn out.



• I need a new wardrobe! I love to shop and I love new clothes so of course this is great. This is also a con, however, so see below.



• I really learned a lot about working out and nutrition. I will have another post in more detail about the things that I have learned from this experience.


• I have saved money from not dining out EVER.

CONS:

• Fat Shredder phase is expensive! It is a very high protein and low carb diet which means a lot of variety of meat, cheese and tons of eggs.



• I spend a ton of time cooking and preparing food. This is not such bad thing, as I am getting used to it now, but at first it was a little tedious and overwhelming.



• I need a new wardrobe. The only reason this is on the con side is because it is expensive buying all new clothes. Especially work clothes. I feel like setting up a PayPal account that people can contribute donations towards my new clothes. J/K!


• It is difficult to plan to go out of town for any period of time. I sometimes visit my mom for a night and so far what I do is work out in the morning, go to visit, and then workout again the next evening when I get home. The food situation is difficult, too. For just one day it is easy to prepare everything and throw it in a cooler, but more than a few days requires a lot of will power to order healthy restaurant menu options. Plus it is not always easy to find them.


• If you don't like to cook, then the cooking would be a con for you. But I like to cook so it's not a con for me personally.

The Final Week!

I finally made it to the last recovery week of the P90X program. It is absolutely amazing. I have to say this is one of the coolest, most challenging and best things I have ever done with my life. I have never felt better than I do now. I have to admit I am completely hooked. I love being healthy, I love working out and I love eating to fuel my body. My energy is through the roof and I really feel like I can accomplish anything. Nothing seems like too much anymore. It really is an awesome feeling.

Don't let the title of "Recovery week" fool you. It is no walk in the park. Tonight I did the core synergistics workout which is pretty intense. I like it though for a change of pace. I actually got up and did Cardio X this morning even though that is not part of the program. That is how motivated I am now. That should tell you something.

Nothing about this program gets much easier. It is a tough program. But my motivation and drive just increases as I go along. I don't quite have the six pack I was aiming for but I have to say, I have great abdominal definition. I will post pics and all my measurements and stats this weekend for comparison.

My plan is to just start over again with Phase one and Fat Shredder on Monday. Yep! I am that into it. Crazy?! You know it! I really want that six pack! I know that I am already the most lean that I have ever been in my life, not to mention I am pretty ripped, too. You got tickets??

My final post will be this weekend but I do plan on starting a new blog for round two of P90X with a little surprise twist to switch it up. Stay tuned....

Drum roll please....

I have a new accomplishment. Before I get to that though, I just got back from a mini-vacation. Didn't miss a beat working out though. Went to the hotel gym, brought my laptop and DVDs and got it all done the way I was supposed to. That is something that I have definitely never done before. Workout on vacation...gotta love it. Anyway, while I was in the hotel gym I decided to try some pull-ups and see if I could do them for real. The pull up bar was really high so I could hang completely down. And then, I did a pull up! A real, live pull up! I jumped down because I was so excited and then I got back up...and did another one!! And another one!! Three pull-ups! It's amazing. I have only done one pull-up one time a long time ago. Back in the good 'ole college days, my roommate and I trained ourselves on the pull-up machine and I finally was able to do one but then I quit training after that. I was never able to do one ever again, until now! I am so pumped. Last night I worked out Back and Biceps which includes a lot of pull-ups. I used the chair for all of them so that I could get higher reps. At the end of the workout, after doing lots and lots of pull-ups with the chair, I actually did one and a half real, no chair pull-ups.

Besides my totally ripped pull-ups...haha...I am almost completed with this entire P90X program. I have to finish this week and next week is recovery week, which is really no walk in the park either. I am looking forward to it though. I have done really great completing the Cardio X in the mornings. I think I have only missed one this phase and that was because of the messed up alarm situation. Otherwise, it has been rather easy getting up early and getting started with cardio and it makes me feel so great all day.

I have to say I am really enjoying the ride of P90X. I have never felt better and I am really proud of myself for taking up and working through a challenge like this. I can't wait to complete it-not that so it will be over, but for the sense of accomplishment.

Well here I go...10 days and counting!

I gotta new move!

Coming to a close on week two of phase 3. I succeeded in all four of my morning Cardio X workouts. I am really proud of that. I totally would have last week if I had set my alarm correctly and I wasn't sick, too. This week I am feeling so much better with that cold behind me and totally kicked P90X in the ass this week. I have gotten so many compliments this week about how chiseled and lean I am looking and it means SOOO much to hear that. It is very encouraging that my hard work is paying off and people can actually notice a difference. Very motivating. Makes me what to keep bringing it!

My new move is the Dreya roll. Not that I couldn't do it before this week, but now I can do the Dreya roll for the full minute and without my hands. Still not at the same pace as the video though. It part of the core section of Cardio X every morning and also part of the Core Synerginics during the recovery weeks. Let's see if I can explain it...from standing position, sit on the ground with your hands beside you, roll back and lift your legs to the ceiling lifting your butt and back off of the floor, roll back down and up onto your feet without pushing with your hands and stand up. And repeat. And repeat...for a minute. So my accomplishment with that is now I can do it without pushing up with my hands. Before I needed the extra little boost with my hands on the side to get all the way back up on my feet. It's really hard and exhausting.

I can't believe I only have three weeks to go and P90X will be completed! I'm excited to compare my pics and stats. I won't get too excited it's still a little way away...

Feeling better!

So I don't think it was allergies now. It was definitely a cold of some sort. But I am feeling better now and it's on its way out. I'm a trooper.

I messed up my alarm Friday morning and didn't set it early enough for Cardio X. That's OK though, I probably needed the extra rest to kick that cold. I busted out legs and back last night along with abs and this morning I got Kenpo completed right away. I figured I would just get it out of the way before I shower so I could just get on with my day. I'm glad I did, too.

I've finally mastered (well like a step below mastered) the "star block". It's a combination of all four blocks, high, cross, side and low, while taking a step forward or backwards each time. It sounds easy but it's not. I mean, it's taken me this long to get it! That was a step of progress today.

OMG today's lunch was so good. It was spicy Chinese noodles. Basically, pasta with a spicy crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce, and honey sauce. It was real thick and covered the noodles. It was great and super easy. Didn't take much time at all. Seems like the recipes and meals this phase are easier and quicker to prepare. That first phase of recipes took up all my time it seemed. Maybe I am just getting better at managing my time preparing the food. Tonight I eat salmon and I found a delicious way to cook it, easy too. I grind up some pecans and garlic with a dash of cayenne in my mini-processor then, after brushing the fish with EVOO, pat the mixture to make a crust. Then I just grill it on my indoor grill for a few minutes and that's it. It's great and very mild for salmon. It is hard to find ways to prepare food without fattening ingredients but that doesn't mean it doesn't come out tasty.

Checked my stats this week. Lost a few more pounds since last time and overall it looks like I have lost 2% body fat. Doesn't sound like much but when it comes to pure body fat, that is a big deal. Imagine 4 pounds of pure fat. Like a 2 liter bottle full of fat. I think that would be about right as a visual. GONE! Melted off my body. Amazing!

Only 4 weeks to go!!

Hanging in there

Half way through the first week. I have done everything so far. Woke up both Tuesday and Wednesday for Cardio X. I am thinking (hoping) that this respiratory thing is just allergies. That would make a lot of sense because I feel fine otherwise. My energy level is up, and there are no aches or stuffy nose. I was talking to someone at work today and he gave me a few tips about how to manage the allergies so I am going to give it a shot and see how that goes. Goes away is what I hope.

I am sore as hell, that's for sure. My quads are so sore it is nearly impossible for me to squat down. My back and chest are pretty sore from Monday's military workout of push-ups and pull-ups. Feeling pretty good though (aside from the possible allergies), and proud. I feel like I am kicking butt. My body feels good and I feel confident. I have gotten a few compliments from people noticing a change but most people see me all the time and it is hard to notice changes on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see some friends and family that I haven't seen for a while and see what their reactions are.

I am really enjoying the menu for this phase so far. That has been a huge "plus" for the program. The first phase was a little tough with all the eggs and protein and vegetables, but everything is great. Well rounded and portioned meals. I'm really learning the portions that I should be eating while being active. I found on beachbody.com they have plan to use when you are not as active. Sometimes I just swap out the vegetable I don't like with one on the list I do like. It's pretty flexible. Like last night I supposed to eat steamed spinach; yuck. Instead, I sauteed some onions and tomatoes in the pan I cooked my blackened fish and added the veggies to my brown rice, making a version of brown rice and it was great. Who knew eating healthy was so delicious?! Love it!!

Quite a few people are getting interested in trying P90X because of me and I think that is so awesome! Anyone who wants to do it should definitely try it. If you don't think you are in good enough shape to even start P90X, then do the Power 90, which I think is like a pre-P90X. However you want to do it, getting healthy and in shape is so rewarding. and it feels SO good. I mean, even with these allergies or whatever, I feel better than ever. I never get that "Ugh I'm so full I could barf" feeling from eating. Let me brag just a little and then maybe it will be a bit of inspiration to others: The other day when I was trying on some clothes, every single thing looked great on me. I had to choose which items I wasn't going to buy because I couldn't afford them all. That is like the opposite of how it normally goes. I never imagined. It was the best feeling ever. Bring it people!