Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! I have been absent for awhile from my blog. You know what that means... I have done terrible! No P90X in 3 weeks! Now I am trying to decide.. do I begin at Day 70 or do I just start completely over? I have my last two days of work next week, and then I am retired. I can then focus on getting my house in order... meaning my house I live in, and then I house I walk around in. I have been just feeling out of sorts with all this clutter still in my life. My youngest son is home from college for a few weeks, and I am hoping we can get everything out of the attic and go through it, and get rid of stuff. I have lots of projects that I want to complete, but I want to put exercise and healthy living at the top of my list. Okay, I had a few moments this morning waiting for everyone to get here and thought I would finally post. Have a Happy New Year too!

Will I Ever........?

Will I ever return to P90X. Week before last I mentioned I went to visit my daughter and granddaughter, thus missing my workout. Then got home and youngest son was here from college, missed my workout. Then came down with a terrible cold, sinusitis, ackyness (spelled wrong), and just not feeling up to par- tired, rundown. Then the beginning of this week I had some unexpected business to attend to. So there you have it. It has been almost two weeks since I last worked out. And another thing. I dread doing plyometrics... especially since I have been feeling bad. I have been trying in the midst of all of this to decorate, to get ready for my sister and her family to come to town, to buy gifts, and I have just let exercise not be a priority. And that was even after I set those goals. It was like I set the goals of working out 4 times a week, and then I just quit. So I am wondering... am I going to finish P90X? Do I need another change? I only have 20 days to finish it... even though I began it almost 5 months ago. If I get over this mucus clearing of my throat, I may feel better to jump around and sweat. So... don't do like me.... you all keep going... I am so distracted right now.. but I DO plan to get back on track!

Temporarily Disabled

This 55-year old P90X machine is temporarily disabled. I traveled to Frisco to see dd and dgd, and was too busy to do my workout. Then when I got home I was busy with ds who was home for a visit from A&M. Then... Monday, I came down with a cold. It has really bothered me- sneezing, runny nose, headache... even my teeth are hurting. I have continued to work (with a mask of course). What bothers me most is that I am not even gonna finish my 90 days before the end of the year. You know one thing that really stops me is that I do not like the plyometrics or the core synergistics or the cardio X. I think that when i do finally complete P90 X, I will change my workout. I will continue with the leg, shoulder, back, arms workouts, but do something different for the cardio. One thing is that I think that I am getting my heart rate up too high.. hence, burning lean muscle instead of fat. I need to get my heart rate monitor fixed. I think I will get back to walk/jogging and wear the monitor to keep in my target range. Since I am not doing P90X the way it is designed, then it really will not matter that I do not do Tony's cardio DVD's. My boss was talking about a patient that we had come in that looked so good and probably lost 50 lbs. He told me he had been doing P90X. So listen... if you want the results that Tony talks about, then do it the way it is designed. If you want a good workout and something you can live with... then do it like me.. something is better than nothing. I do love P90X- the weights and the bands, and even the pushups. I think one thing that kept me from doing my workout was dreading that plyometrics workout. So... I don't know when I will get back to it- gotta get rid of this cold first.

Day 69-P90X- Chest and Back

When that alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. I have such trouble dragging myself out of bed. My husband remarked about how he did not know how I did that... bragging on me. I have to say, " It ain't easy!!!" It can go either way- I can lay there and talk myself out of it, or lay there and finally say to myself, " Let's do it!" And I don't know what motivates me more- hearing someone say something good like- you are really looking good, or someone say something bad- like you know you are never going to be a small person. Well, I just don't know... until I was 38 years old, I was a small person. But that was a long time ago. However, I still have not given up that idea. Am I crazy? In denial? I cannot measure my success by weight loss or I would have quit a long time ago. I am rarely sick, I take no medication except for thyroid pills, and I seem to be able to keep up pretty good. So back to my workout... I did the chest and back workout today. I did it pretty much the way that I always do- the first set up pushups I do 15 from the feet and 10 from the knee. And when we do the second set, I do 10 from the feet and 15 from the knee. I seemed to have an easier time of it. I also did the decline pushups, but that really seems to put alot of pressure on my back. I did up the weights to 12 lbs when doing the heavy pants, the lawnmowers, and the bent over pullups. I also will add that when doing the pushups, I really tried to make myself go lower. I often wonder which would be better - doing more pushups and not going down real low or doing the opposite- doing less pushups but going lower to the floor. Someone want to give their opinion about this. Today I did not do as well with the water. I was at work, and I seemed to never have a chance to drink any water today. I ate a couple of those bran muffins so I figure I did get my fiber. No Dr. Pepper for me today and I did my exercise. So, I am still meeting my goals each day. I think tomorrow is plyometrics. I need to get to it early because I am leaving to go to big D to see the grandbaby. I missed her so much at Thanksgiving. My daughter and I will try to get in a little shopping. So, I don't know if I will be able to squeeze in any workouts on Friday and Saturday. But I will sure try.

Day 68-P90X-Kenpo X

Yesterday I began my workout early- about 5:45 a.m. The only thing that I skipped on the workout was the routine during the break time. I did not do the jumping jacks, X jacks, etc. I wanted to get finished with this workout without being too "pooped" so I skipped that part. I worked hard with all my punches and kicks. I did complete my goals - 64 oz of water, 35 gr of fiber, exercised, and no Dr. Pepper. However, my lunch was bad- Mexican food, and my dinner was bad- one glass of wine and four little blocks of cheese and two cookies- yeah... I went by an open house after work.. and well.... I was being cordial. Breakfast was homemade bran muffins and coffee.

First Basketball Game

Here is my little granddaughter at her first basketball game.

Day 67-P90X- Legs and Back

I got in the legs and back routine this morning starting around 7:30. I went to thicker bands. I could not tell if these were harder to use or not. I did 25 reps on each back exercise. I did all the leg routine. The one I happened to find the most difficult today was the one where you do about two minutes of walking of your toes and doing those lunges without ever letting your heels come down. I made it through the wall squats- both the two legs on the ground and the one legged ones. I also made it through the squats where you squat and then jump in the air. All in all, I did quite well with the workout. I had to hurry and finish and get out of the house. I had to get to the retirement place in town to pick up my mother to take her to the doctor. This was a regular checkup, but you know how it is the Monday after a holiday. We had to wait over an hour before we were even seen. I had told her I would have lunch with her before I knew we were eating at the retirement center. The company was good because we sat with an older couple that both she and I know. If fact the husband is a patient of mine. However, this place is certainly not know for their fine cuisine. Of all things on the menu- my choice was turkey tettrazine or ham. Excuse me but I was tired of ham and turkey (and I knew that my dinner tonight was going to be a leftover turkey casserole. So I had a hamburger- don't worry, it was far from juicy. Also I had some minestrone soup. This was definitely loaded with fiber. No Dr. Pepper for me. Water and decaf coffee was my luncheon beverage. So I would say by the time the day ends tonight I would have succeeded with my weekly goals.

64 oz of water-check
35 gr of fiber-check
daily exercise-check
no Dr. Pepper-check

So yea for me today!! Now someone please tell me what I did and how to change back to black type.

Day 66-P90X- Rest

I called this rest day because I am trying to figure exactly where I should be. I really should title this post "Neglect". Yes... before Thanksgiving, I was pretty much on a roll. I was meeting Jen's challenge of exercising every day. Well.. almost. I did make it for 6 days instead of the 10 days before Thanksgiving. But with all the food preparation and staying up late, excuses, etc. I just kept missing my workout. And my eating... terrible. So.. here I go.. I am trying to get back on track. So tomorrow I have down as legs and back and it is Day 67. Gosh, I knew I was not going to finish at the end of October which would have been the end of my 90 days.. but I had no idea I would be shooting just to finish before the new year. I have repeatedly stated that I am not your role model for P90X. But... exercise is for a lifetime.. and I keep jumping back in and refuse to give up. If it is not weight lifting, or an aerobics video or yoga.. it could still be moving and packing ( remember me moving my mother), or yardwork, or walking, or doing a pilates video, or a dance video. I so wish that I had the discipline to properly do the P90X as it was meant for because I would love to be able to show you the before and after photos. Right now there is not enough difference.

Here are some of my goals for this week- drink at least 64 ounces of water a day
eat 35 grams of fiber a day
exercise at least 4 times this week
limit my fat intake
no Dr. Pepper

Doesn't sound too tough does it? I also recently read this book by Marilu Henner about living your life. One of the things she talked about was the way you dressed. She asked, " are you all put together when you go out, or do you look like you just threw just anything on and went?" Well, my answer was just that... I would throw something on. That is just kinda how you feel when you are fat. So, this last week, I purposely planned what I would wear when I went to town. Some days I changed out my purse. I planned the earrings, bracelets, and necklace I would wear along with choosing a scarf or a jacket. I did not wear my athletic shoes but instead would wear my boots with my jeans- it would make my legs look longer. My makeup was done and my hair fixed. I had people remark that I was dressed up. Well yeah.. for me. So, I am trying as Marilu says.. to reinvent myself. I am retiring, and I do not want to turn into a real slouch. So...here I go.

Day 65-P90X- Substitution

Yeah... you got that right. I am considering this a P90X because I did a workout that was similar. I just cannot make myself do that hour and a half of yoga. So I did Denise Austin's Pilates workout. I had done her yoga before and did not like it. The pilates was 45 minutes long. She did slow down a little and did not rush through quite as much as she did the yoga video. I do consider that I got a good core workout with some yoga moves mixed in. And I have to confess Jen that I missed the workout on Saturday and Sunday. I got busy with friends and chores. So tomorrow I do not know exactly what I will be doing. I have been busy all day today cleaning out my closet. I also cooked a ham and made some potato salad and cooking beans now for our dinner for tomorrow night. My youngest son got in tonight but did not make it here to the house. He went hunting and stayed out at our deer camp with his dad. But he and dh will be back home tomorrow night for dinner. And... I work all day on Tuesday; hence, cooking supper tonight for tomorrow. We can eat that tomorrow and on Wednesday when I will be preparing for Thanksgiving.

Day 64-P90X-Plyometrics

I have to say that if it were not for Jen's 10 day challenge, I probably would have skipped today. I had to run errands... get all my Thanksgiving shopping done. I was there pretty early in the day, and it was still wild. I started my workout around 1:30. I did do most of it. I quit about 13 minutes early. I was red-faced and sweating and really hungry. There are still some of the moves that I do not do. But I keep moving the entire time. Okay, I am half way through Jen's challenge... 5 more days to go.

Followers and P90X

I finally got my followers list up close to my profile. If you are stopping by and visiting my blog often, please add your name to my list of followers. Thanks to my beachbody coach Jen for helping me figure out how to get my list moved. If you are thinking of getting on board with P90X let me just say... go for it! Yes, it is hard. But hey... I am 55 years old and I can do most of it. I am not doing the chinup bar, but still working with the bands. However, I still get sore and you can see definition in my shoulders even with the extra padding I have. You can be challenged by doing more repetitions or heavier weights. There are about 10 or 11 workouts so you do not get bored. I like Tony more and more when I do my videos. If you are totally undisciplined then forget doing these. If you cannot make yourself go to a room by yourself and do an hour workout, then this is not for you. But if you can do it alone or get a friend to join you, it is great. Your initial cost for the DVDs is about $150. But since my gym fee went up to $100 per month and that was 5 months ago, then I have already saved $350. And the best thing to do is go through Beachbody instead of buying it on Ebay because you can access their website and get an online coach. My coach is Jen, who goes by onetoughgirl. She is very faithful to read my blog, give me encouragement, tips, and keep me accountable. Right now she has us doing the 10 day challenge of working out the 10 days prior to Thanksgiving. Today is Day 5. I still have time to get it in. Well, I just wanted to give a plug for this program. I think it is great!!!

Day 63-P90X- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Well since I woke up so early, I had plenty of time to get good and awake and do my workout. I am not so great with this workout because there are alot of those pushups that I cannot presently do. I don't know if I EVER will be able to do them. But when it is the pushups that are in and outs, or one hand, or clapping... I just do either pushups from the feet or pushups from the knees. I do as many as I can. I don't quit. Although, I think today I did FF through one of the sets. I also was only using 5 lb weights for most of the shoulder workouts. I might could have used the 8 lb. I really need a 6 or a 7 lb dumbbell. I was able to do all the workouts with the 5 lb. I finished my workout feeling worked out. I really need to incorporate the ab ripper X into my routine. So far, I have only done it a few times. It is like I am scared of it and I dread it. I should do some of it anyway. So today I have a hair appointment, and my mother is going with me to get a pedicure. After I finished my workout, I prepared omelets for my husband and me. I had been given some farm fresh eggs that I would call medium size. So sauteed some pico de gallo with mushruooms. I began cooking the eggs, flipped them, and then put the vegetables along with mixed cheese- cheddar and mozarella on the eggs and then folded the omelet up. I need to find where my camera is, and I will start making some photos of what I cook. The omelet looked good and tasted good too. I know the eggs have too much fat, but the yolk is the best part for you. So after my hair appointment, my mother and I will go to eat out for lunch. Hmm... what shall I have? salmon? grilled chicken? shrimp? salad? mixed vegetables? of course nothing fried, no bread, small amount of salad dressing. I will post later about my daily food intake. So... today was day 4 of Jen's challenge. I am with you girl!! I will leave you with a photo of my daughter, two sons, granddaughter and niece and great niece. My daughter went to visit her cousinand her family in College Station and her brother who is a student at Texas A&M. My older son happened to be there for a softball tournament. I loved that my kids enjoyed being with one another. I hope that they can stay connected with extended family too.

Day 62-P90X- Kenpo X

I really have to say that I love Kenpo X. It is not too hard, goes fast, and is just kinda fun. I woke up yesterday morning with plenty of time to do my workout. But what did I do? I kept hitting the snooze button until I accidentally hit the off button, and then looked at the clock and it was too late to do the workout. Hmm... was that a subconscious accident? Well, I went to work, got home to heat up the leftovers and cook more for dh and kept thinking about the challenge that my beachbody coach Jen issued- exercise for the 10 days before Thanksgiving. Darn Jen... so... I got to my room and began and finished my workout. The only thing I did not do was the waterbreak workout- jumping jacks, skipping rope, and X jumps. I FF through those. I am so glad that I got my workout in. My eating was not very good.

Breakfast- toasted oats with cutup prunes ( that's right) and added craisins and sunflower seeds

V8 juice with wheat bran ( yes, I had a problem)

Snack- a few almonds

Lunch- Applebee's side salad with Mexiranch dressing on the side

shared Honey barbeque boneless chicken

Dr. Pepper

Dinner- three corn tortillas with chicken, bell pepper, onions, 1 oz cheese, pico de gallo,

1/4 cup rice

Snack- 1 cup of 2% milk

I woke up very early this morning... before 4:00 a.m. It is almost 6:00. Did some praying, sent some emails, and now I am about to do my workout. I am doing the chest, shoulders, and triceps. I may still be off on my days. Today is day 4 of Jen's challenge. I will leave you with a photo of my little granddaughter.

Day 61-P90X-Legs and Back

Today I met Jen's challenge and got up early and did the legs and back routine. I may be out of order.. I may be on the wrong day... shoot... I am not properly doing P90X, but it just goes to show you that this program is so great that you just jump right in and keep plugging along. I really like the workouts.... well most of them. I love the arms and shoulders that I did yesterday. I love the legs and back routine that I did today. I am planning on doing Kenpo X tomorrow. I love Kenpo X. Last week I did chest and back and plyometrics. I don't love these, but I don't hate them either. So today I brought the wrong tupperware with my lunch. I was supposed to bring chicken with a small amount of cheese and pico de gallo. Instead I had a tortilla with some bell pepper and onions. Well, that just ended up not being enough for me. So I went to taco USA and had a deluxe tostado and .... a small Dr. Pepper. I know... bad..
So here is my food today:
Breakfast- butternut squash soup with crackers
1/2 an apple
snack- wasabi covered almonds
lunch- tortilla with grilled onions and bell peppers
deluxe tostado with Dr. Pepper
Dinner- butternut squash soup
1/2 chicken breast with 1 oz. cheese and pico de gallo
My husband was gone so I could just eat these leftovers.

Day 59 and 60-P90X- Yoga and Arms and Shoulders

Okay, I really wanted to tell you all that I did the yoga yesterday... but, I didn't. And I did not want to do it today.. so I skipped it, and went on to Day 60 and did my arm and shoulder workout. I don't know what was wrong with me this last week other than I feel so bogged down by having all this stuff in my house still. And I have so many projects going. My husband was complaining about not doing his walking/jogging. I asked him what he disliked most about doing it. He said it was the time it took and it hurt his knees. Of course my daughter and I told him to just be consistent and do the walking. I already knew why I put my workout off. It is the time it takes. There are so many other things that I want to do. Are you all like that? So I was busy all day today. I went to town to do my errands- Sam's, Walmart, Goodwill, Recycling Center. I was determined when I got home to do my workout. I did not get to it until 5:00 p.m. But I really did like the workout. I like doing arms and shoulders. I still have difficulty with the tri-raise, but I still keep trying. Now, my coach Jen has issued the challenge to work out every day until Thanksgiving. That is 10 days. Surely I can do this. So I am surely going to try. And she also wants us to work on our clean eating. Do you know what clean eating is? Fruits, vegetables, Good carbs, and lean protein. No processed foods- you know... chips, fast food, frozen dinners, etc. So today I did okay... here is what I had:

Breakfast- egg, 1 ou cheese, and 1/2 c rice
snack-Banana; carrot sticks with 2 T Ranch dressing
Lunch- Church's side dish of dirty rice (couldn't help it)
Snack- small pkg peanuts
Dinner- Homemade Butternut squash soup (want the recipe?)
Grilled chicken with Flour tortilla, pico de gallo, small amt cheese and onions and peppers

Big News

I keep forgetting to post my big news. I am retiring in December. Yea!!! I am so excited about being able to be at home. I know for some people this may seem strange. After all, my kids are grown. There will be no one here at the house with me but ME. But that is truly where my heart is. I never really wanted to go back to work 8 years ago when I accepted this job. Or should I say, I was not looking for a job. One of my dental hygiene friends told me that my current boss was looking for a hygienist and that I should call them. I replied that I really did not want to go back to work even though dh wanted me to. When I saw the office and met all the staff, I was blown away. What a beautiful place to work. Well, the staff has changed somewhat, but my office is still a great place to work. However, I am 55 years old. My hands are tired. There are so many projects that I want to do here at home. I have a granddaughter. I know it was only two days a week, but those two days a week kept me from getting started on some of my big projects. I want to clean out two sheds, the garage, my attic, work in the flower beds, the garden spot, do more sewing for the granddaughter, finish some quilts and start some new ones, learn more from reading, do more Bible study, revarnish my kitchen cabinets, do more with my mother, help my friends with some of their projects, go do more adventure trips, do more P90x, ride my bike, fix up 669 (our hunting camp), try more new recipes, check out more blogs. I have so much I want to do. I am just so excited.

Day 58-P90X- Chest and Back

Gosh, it seems like it has been forever since I did chest and back. I did the plyometrics on Monday and skipped yesterday and so I was determined to get up early today and do something. I was worried that the pushups might hurt that shoulder that I injured last week. Well, I had absolutely no pain getting through this workout. I did the pushups- 15 from the feet and 10 from the knees. On some of them though I had to stop and rest a few seconds after 10, then do 5 more, and then do the 10 from the knees. Puls, I am still not going real far down to do my pushups. I did about 25 of the chest exercises with the bands. I am about to order the chinup bar. I don't know if I will even be able to do one of them, but it is something to aim for. I even did the decline pushups today... only about 10 of them, and not too far down to the floor; but, nevertheless, I did them! The only thing I did not do was the second set of the dive bombers. I just could not make myself do them. And, I did not do the cool down. I left early to head to work because I wanted to fill my car up with gas. It was only 6:45, and I thought... oh my gosh... I have been up for 2 hours!!! I am always so excited when I get done with a workout. How accomplished that makes you feel. So tomorrow is supposed to be yoga. I don't know yet if that is what I will do simply because I do not like the amount of time it takes to do the yoga. I am going to see Ryan Dobson (James Dobson's son) tomorrow night speak for the Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Day 57-P90X- Plyometrics

I was supposed to do chest today, but I did the plyometrics instead because I was scared that I would bother my shoulder from injuring it last Friday. I may try to do it tomorrow, or I may do the leg routine. I just know that doing shoulders or chest... anything that involves pushups might aggravate it. So I did not quite finish the entire plyometrics, but I did almost all of it. I waited until late today... the good news is is that I still did it. I did not even start until after 6:00 p.m., and you know how I usually just blow it off if I work out late in the day. I had company this morning, went and ran errands, and then made an unexpected trip to our deer camp. I will have to post a photo later. We have a two bedroom cabin with a loft. Now mind you... this is a deer camp, not a darling get-a-way cabin. HOWEVER; I have not given up the idea of adding some feminine touches to the place. Dh considers it "his" place... but I want to add a bit of my rustic touch. The loft has four twin beds. A friend of mine had shown me the sleeping porch out of a recent Southern Living magazine. We have several old patchwork quilts.. so I took those and put them on all the beds upstairs. I added some plaid pillow shams that I had that were not presently being used. It looks really cute up there. I may even add some pictures to the walls. I also vacuumed upstairs while I was there. I am hoping to have my unome friends come for a weekend there. Well, I will have more time later to continue making it more female-friendly. Okay, it is good to know I am in the last phase. I hope when I do P90X the next time, I will do it better.

Days 52,53,53,55,and 56-P90X

Okay, so I have been busy lately and I have not posted. I did my recovery week-core synergistics, yoga, cardio X, and kenpo, and a rest day. I just kinda went out of order. And yesterday... I got an injury. Yes, I was doing the core synergistics. I had just done the first set of pushups.. you know where you stagger your hands. I did about 25 of them.. left arm close to body-five pushups, right arm close to body-five pushups. I was fine, and then came the banana roll. It started off okay, but then one of the rolls when I rolled onto my right shoulder with my arm extended over my head, I got a pain. I quit for just a little while and hoped it was just the laying on my arm and that the pain would quit. It did, so I started back, and when I had to do another set of pushups, there was no way.. it hurt.. deep down in my shoulder. I went and got some ice and iced it for about 15 minutes. I am not hurting, but every now and then I can feel it. I don't think I can do any pushups for awhile. And that is what my next workout is supposed to be. I am supposed to be starting phase 3. So, I may just change the order and do the plyometrics and then see if I am healed good enough. I may just have to quit for awhile. I cannot believe I have injured myself- I did all the warmup and everything. What a setback. And to top it off, those 8 lbs that it took me all summer to lose... I have gained 5 back. And I am not overeating. I have really been doing good with my eating. Ugh! However, my daughter told me I looked thinner in my backside. My clothes are not tighter. Well, I may have to just do some walking for awhile. I am not a good example for P90X.. other than I persevere and don't give up.

Happy Halloween

And now I just could not resist posting this photo of my little angel getting spooked!!!!

Tau Kappa Reunion

For those of you that don't recognize the name of this sorority..well, it is not a national sorority. It was a local sorority at Tyler Junior College. Back in the old days you could get an associate degree in dental hygiene in two years. I know you can still get an associates' in 2 years, but now I think most dental hygiene degrees are spread out over 3 years. It was tough going for me back then. I was in the top 10 percent of my high school class, but when I got to dental hygiene school, I was probably somewhere in the middle. It was very hard, and I still wanted to have fun so I joined this sorority. There were not many of us that graduated. We were definitely fun-loving girls. Well TJC had their homecoming along with their annual alumni meeting. One of my TK sisters organized getting us all together. What fun we had seeing each other after 35+ years. That's right, I have been a dental hygienist for 35 years now. We were able to reconnect with information from the alumni office and also through Facebook. I know alot of people think that FB is for the kids, but I have found so many friends via FB. It has been a great tool to keep in touch. I am going to post a photo from 1973 along with a photo from last weekend. Can you find me in the old photo? The photos are of the gals that I pledged with. I don't have the large group photo. There ended up being about 45 of us altogether. Some came as late as spring 1977. I got to meet alot of these fun women. Being in this sorority bonded us together. One of the ladies that was unable to attend had had double by-pass surgery. We gave a love offering either money or gift cards- the money alone ended up being over $800. Another TK had her husband come with her because the previous week she had had a double mascetomy. Yes, there were lots of stories to be told. We laughed, we cried, and we had a great time making more TK memories!

Day 50 and 51- P90X- Yoga and Core Synergistics

Yes, I am still doing it.. but oh the guilt... yes.. what in the world happened to me. I went out of town to a sorority reunion. I did not get much sleep. So I get home.. I am tired.. sleepy.. and still so overwhelmed with all the clutter in my house from my mother's move. I have been working hard on it lately.. going through photo albums, discarding, choosing different people to give the photos to- the high school alumni office, the college alumni office, friends that own an antique mall, Goodwill, trash. I want to finish this job so bad, but there are so many hours in the day- and then I do work part-time, clean house, wash clothes, cook, and wash dishes. And I don't move as fast as I used to. I even just wanted to skip this recovery week since I had definitely been recovering for a week. I talked to Coach Jen, and we both agreed to complete the workouts for week 8. Gosh, when I think I should really be finishing P90X, I feel bad, but then I try to lift myself up by saying, " Hey Dee, just jump back in. You are not going to have the same results, but you are still better off than you were before you began P90X." Just remember I am not a great example to follow as far as being diligent, but you can follow me when you fall "off the wagon". So, I did skip the Yoga. I did the Core Synergistics this morning. I had to modify a bunch of those exercises. I just could not do them. I did okay on the rolls and the superman/banana rolls. I mainly cannot do those pushups the way he wanted them. And I don't hop with both feet. I jump with both feet, but only lift one leg to do it. So I think tomorrow it is yoga again. I probably will do it. I am thinking that I need to do more cardio. The fat is just not coming off. And if I had only walked or walk/run those days that I skipped P90X then that would have been okay. I just know that I need to do something everyday. I think in the future, if I decide to skip because I am just bored or tired of my workout, then I will get on the treadmill or get outdoors, or put on a dance video... just do something!!!! I am going to post some photos of my reunion.

Day 48-P90X-Kenpo & Day 49-P90X- Rest

Okay, first let me say that I did not do my Kenpo yesterday like I had planned. I woke up too late and did not have time. But I did do my Ab Ripper X before work. Gosh.. it is so hard. And when we are supposed to be climbing up our leg.. well I make two grabs, and I am still not reaching my foot. And then I got home, and I so intended to immediately do the Kenpo X. But I got sidetracked. You see I am about to attend my sorority reunion. I have not seen some of these women in 35+ years. We are going to the alumni meeting, then a sorority reception, then meeting at one of the member's homes that evening. That is on Saturday, but I am going tomorrow because I had a dental meeting I need to attend to earn my continuing education credits. But I was on the computer emailing back and forth to these gals, and just ran out of time. I know that is NO excuse. Same ole problem... if I don't work out early in the a.m., then I usually miss my workout.

So back to Kenpo X. I did awesome today. I guess that rest or the guilt or something made me work harder. This time I did not FF the break. I did the running, the jumping rope, the jumping jacks and........tada.... the X jumps!!!! Yes, every time they did them, I did them too! yea me!!! And my face was beet red when I finished. I don't have a working heart rate monitor. I don't know if it broke or the batteries went dead. I want one without the band across your chest. Don't they make those?? So I went ahead and included the rest day because tomorrow I am leaving town at 6:00 a.m. I will be getting up around 5:00 as it is, so no work out for me tomorrow. The dental meeting lasts until about 4:00 p.m. And I am meeting some of the sisters tomorrow night at 6:30. I will be going to my friend's house to spend the night tomorrow night.. she lives outside of town, so I will find her house between 4 and 6. I am going to take my laptop so maybe I can get a workout in the a.m. on Saturday. Maybe just do Ab ripper X. I will have to see... because I do want to visit with my friend (who is not part of the sorority festivities) too. I gotta say that after this workout, I felt so good. I was totally energized.

Day 47-P90X- Yoga

Okay..okay..okay. so I am all out of order. I worked out last Thursday and then on Friday I only did the Ab Ripper X. I really almost vomit when I do it. Then I was very busy on Friday getting ready for my daughter, son-in-law and little granddaughter to come. It was my daughter's 10 year high school reunion. So all weekend I have been on baby sitting duty which left me little time to workout. You know it is just hard to squeeze it in with extra people in the house and finding not only the time, but finding a good time. So I missed Saturday and Sunday and then I missed Monday. Again.. my big problem... if I don't do it early in the morning, I have too many distractions and end up missing my workout. So.. I missed 4 days. That is 4 rest days. So what should I be doing since I rested for 4 days.. should I do the recovery week? I mean... 4 days rest was a recovery week. Should I skip days these last days of week 7 and week 8 and move on to phase 3. Well, I am gonna just pick up with Day 47 which for me was yoga, and day 48 will be Kenpo, and Day 49 will be rest, but not for me. I will go ahead on Thursday and do Day 50. Are you confused? What I did was just rotate some of my routines this past week and rested too much so I am about to be back on track. Remember when I said that P90 X would probably be P120X.. well I think it is going to take me longer than that. If I followed P90X like I was supposed to, I would really be looking good. But since I am not, I am just looking better. How is that for being positive? It does happen to be the truth though. I can tell that my hips and waist are smaller and I can see more muscle in my shoulders, arms, and chest. The legs are not showing it too much. I am going to really work harder with the diet, and I am going to start by trying to incorporate more fiber in my diet. I think that is a big problem of mine. I just don't get enough.

So you know I don't like Tony's yoga video.. it is just tooooooooo long. I am trying out other yoga videos that I have. Today I did a Kathy Smith one. I really liked it. Actually I did one for about 15 minutes before hers with a guy that does morning yoga on the beach. It was not much to it. I am going to scrap it for sure. I liked the Kathy Smith.. not too hard.. she went slow.. she held the moves.. not too long a video. I only did 30 minutes of it because I had wasted my time on the other one. There is 15 minutes more on the floor that I did not do. But since next week is my recovery week, I will be doing yoga more than once I think. I will still keep working at it to find out which one I like the best. I may even go back to Tony's and just fast forward through some of the poses. Okay, gotta get in bed if I plan to get up early in the morning and work out. Oh... let me post a Halloween photo for you.

Day 46-P90X- Legs and Back

Okay, I skipped the yoga. I might do it tomorrow or this weekend. I am supposed to follow legs and back with kenpo, but I skipped the yoga. I am still tweaking this workout. Today I got up early, and as usual did not want to do my workout. Gosh.. will I ever absolutely love getting up and moving? I need to change my attitude. I am so blessed to have arms and legs that move and a back that is not all worn out yet. I have a TV and a DVD player and air-conditioning to work out in. I really am so thankful to God that I can get up and move. So like I said, I need to change my attitude. My workout went pretty smoothe. I did all the moves. I even did those tiptoe lunges that hurt so bad. I did those bend over bows that go into a squat for so long. I did all the wall lunges.. and yes, they did burn. I have a habit of looking continuously at the clock meter on the right side of the DVD screen dwindling down. I am even saying to myself, " well, it says 29 minutes, but that really means only about 24 minutes because of the cooldown." Anything to put in my mind that the time is shorter than what it seems. I can even memorize now what Tony is going to say sometimes. Like, "We tried to hire some professionals.... COULDN'T DO IT!!!!" Do any of you that do P90X anticipate some of Tony's little sayings? So my legs got a great workout. Somehow I need stronger bands or I am going to have to get the chinup bar. Right now I just increase the repetitions. I am doing 25 of althe back exercises. You know when Tony does the soup stirring and he asks everyone in the workout video what kind of soup they are having and he tells what he is having. Well, on the leg and back workout he says tomato basil. I was thinking to myself how good tomato basil soup would be. So that brings me to the rest of the day. I have a couple of friends who own a tearoom. Today they catered the breast cancer luncheon. There were almost 700 guests, and my friends get their friends as the extra help to serve tables. And when all the guests have been served and we are in the back waiting for them to finish so we can do the cleanup, we get to eat. And guess what we had.... tomato basil soup!! Delicious. I even got some to take home, and I had it for dinner tonight. We had some delicious chicken salad (not low fat) and a broccoli salad. And after that leg workout and standing on my feet for about 6 hours, I was pooped. Actually, my legs and feet hurt, and I had to take some Advil. And you know what I just realized. I think when I first started P90X, I was listing all my food intake. And yes, I was so much more accountable. So I am thinking I definitely need to go back to that. Okay, I have a busy weekend. It is dd's 10 year class reunion. And that means that I will be keeping my little almost 8 month old grandbaby. I have a funeral tomorrow. Life is busy and that makes it harder to squeeze that exercise in, but you gotta do. Or as Tony says, "Bring it!"

Day 45- P90X- Back and Biceps

I did this workout on Tuesday. I got up early in the morning and did it before work. It was a hard workout, but one that I really enjoyed. My arms were still kinda sore on my triceps from a few days ago. But I really loved working the biceps. I do think that one some of the exercises I needed to go up on the weight. However, there were some that I pushed myself to exhaustion where I honestly could not lift another time- especially with my left arm. I think before too long I will get the chin-up bar. I am seeing that I really like P90X, but I kinda get disappointed in myself that I don't push harder. I will not get the results that the info-mercial guarantees because why??? because I don't do it properly- not the diet, not the program- too many rest days and not doing the ab workout in case you did not notice. But I know it does my body good regardless. And working out is about being consistent. Well, for me it seems like it is work out 3 or 4 days and then rest.. and then another 3 -4 days and rest. So I might be getting two rest days a week instead of one. I think that is still good. If I can keep that up the rest of my life, I will be happy. And here is the big announcement... I am half way done!!! Yes, Day 45 completed.

Day 44-P90X-Plyometrics

What is it where sometimes things just get harder? I wanted to cry on parts where I am doing the plyometrics. Actually I did pretty well on it though. I just don't do some of the jumping. Mainly it is that jumping right after the ski pole moves.. you know left, center, right, center, left.... and then when you twirl 180 degrees. That makes me dizzy and nauteous. But I did most everything else-the jump squats, the run-stance squats, the airbourne heisman, the swing kicks, the squat reach jumps, the run stance squat pickups, the double Heisman, the circle run. Oh.. the jump tuck- I might have done just a few of these and then I just did leg lifts or something. I did the Mary Katherine lunges, the leapfrog squats, the twist combo. Forget the rock star hop- I for some reason have a hard time bringing my heels to my butt. It hurts my feet when I land. I did the gap jump, the squat jump.. and can I say Yea for the Military March.. I can kinda catch my breath when we are doing these low impact exercises. I did the run squat 180 degree jump switch, the lateral leapfrog (like I said before)and the monster truck tires. The hot foot hurt my foot so I did some other movement. And... I did the bonus round- the pitch and catch, the jump shot, and the football hero. Yessiree... I did get my heartrate up!!

Day 43-P90X- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

So I just finished doing this workout. And I have to say that I was near tears while I was doing this. Seriously.. there were times when I said out loud, "ohhh....ooooo... oh gosh... ohhhhh." I also was thinking that I could not do this, but I never actually said it out loud. As I sit here typing this right now, my arms and chest are quivering and shaking and twitching. And so how did I do? Not good. I was just complaining to dh that I could not do a one-handed pushup and he said, " why would you want to do one of those anyway?" Now that is not a young woman on that video doing all of these, but dang... she did them well!! I want to do them at least as good as her. I had to do most of the pushups from my knees. I will say that I wanted to quit, but I pushed through and attempted every single one, except for the clapping. I knew I could not do that and would fall right on my face. I did try to do the one hand pushup. I would just put more weight on one arm and then switch and put more weight on the other arm. And then on all the exercises I could not do, I just did regular pushups from the knees. I used either 5 lb or 8 lb weights. I mainly did the shoulders with the 5 lb weights, sometimes 8 lbs, and all of the triceps with the 8 lbs. I pushed myself where I absolutely positively could not get another repetition done. So I have started week 3 of phase 2, and I am almost half way through P90X. And my weight... I don't get it... I have gained!! Yes, not stayed the same, but gained!!! argh!!! However, I can tell by my clothes that my waistline is actually smaller. I still have this big huge innertube around my middle. Someone tell me the best way to get rid of this belly fat!!!!!! Okay Coach Jen.. I need help!!!!!!!!

Day 42-P90X- Rest

Well, I skipped the rest day since I have too many rest days as it is.

Day 41-P90X- Yoga

Okay, I did yoga yesterday, but it was not P90X yoga. It was a Denise Austin video. It was 40 minutes of yoga and Pilates. This was my first time to do this. I feel she went kinda fast and did not hold the poses for very long. No sooner did I get this big body into a pose and she was switching to something else. That is one thing I like about the P90X yoga... you get longer to assume the pose before you move into something else. She just went way too fast for me. Somehow I am going to modify the P90X- maybe have the remote in my hand and not do as many of the same poses as they do. So that was my Yoga for the week.

Totally Mixed Up- Day 40-P90X-Kenpo

Okay, I have gotten totally mixed up with my P90X. Somehow, I missed the yoga and just got off. I remember posting that I started the second month wrong.. I did not know I had done two weeks of it wrong. So here is the deal.. I figure if I do Day 41 with Yoga and just call Day 42-Rest, only not do really rest, and then start Day 43 with Chest, Biceps, and Triceps, then I will be back on track. But I did get up early this morning and do the Kenpo. Only I am still kinda cheating when it comes to the break. I am not doing the jumping rope, and jumping jacks, etc. I am just hitting FF and going back to the blocking or kicking. Like I have said, the DVD is just too long. I am still doing the rest of it. I even do the cool down. I do enjoy doing the Kenpo; I just wish I could get through it faster. So today I was done by 8:10 a.m. I love it when I get finished early in the morning. I really wanted to surprise everyone, as well as myself, and do the yoga tonight, and try to catch up.

Day 39-P90X- Back and Legs

I am still trying to finish up that week that I messed up on when I started the second month with the wrong exercise. So today I finally did a workout after 4 days rest. What am I thinking? I am surely not seeing the results that P90X will give because I am not following the program. But like I keep saying... I am logging my days, but after I finally completed the 90th day, it will not be the end for me. I plan to jump right back in and continue. I wish I had the time, the motivation, the energy, etc. to do P90X in 90 days. I started this about 66 days ago. This morning when I woke up, I kept hitting the snooze button. So when I got home from work after getting dinner ready for dh, I went and pushed play and began. I was really bringing it. Yes, I would have to hit pause every now and then, but I did all the exercises. Oh, but I did cheat on the warmup. I fast-forwarded the warm-up.. still doing it, but just not as many things as what they did. So, I did all the lunges, the squats, the calf raises, Groucho walks, skating lunges, tiptoe lunges, side, 45 degree angle, and front lunges and kicks... you name it, I did it. And I did it well!!! I hope I am not so sore I can't walk tomorrow like I was a week ago when I did it. So, I am not even sure what I am supposed to be doing tomorrow. But I hope to get in there early in the morning. What a feeling of accomplishment a person has when they complete a hard workout. I guess it is those endorphins you hear so much about.

On Friday, October 2-P90X

On Friday, I got busy with so many things. I ended up only doing the Ab Ripper X. I was going out of town, and had lots of things to do. I should have done my back and leg routine. That Ab ripper X is so tough!!! I have to keep hitting pause...pause...pause.

Day 38-P90X-Shoulders and Arms

Yea!!! Yesterday I got with it pretty early in the morning and did my shoulders and arms routine. And.. I discovered being in the second month that I really started things off wrong with the chest and back. I was supposed to do a different DVD. Oh well, since I started this week this way, I will continue it. I have still not been writing it down. But I am almost positive that I used more weight on my routine. Before I think the heaviest I did was 10 lbs., and yesterday I used 12 lbs. on some of the exercises. I did have to drop it down on the second round. I even had to use 5 lbs. on one of the exercises. I don't have a 6 or a 7. I go from 5lbs to 8lbs to 10lbs to 12lbs to 15lbs. And that is the highest I have. So, if I get so strong I need higher, then I will have to buy an 18. I was able to complete every exercise. Now, I could only do about 15 of the chair dips, and I had to rest after about 10. I think it was this routine where he gave us permission to quit or go on... or am I thinking of the wrong day. Well, I did not quit. I made it all the way through. But, I am still not doing the Ab Ripper X. And I need this sooooo bad. I need to make myself do this. Today my shoulders and triceps are a little sore, but not my biceps. I need to get in there right now and do my workout, but I am just not wanting to do it right now. I do continue to like P90X. I like Tony, I like the others in the class, I like the routine, I like doing a workout at home, I like that I can pause it to get a drink, or just take a break- you can't do that in a class- no one is going to wait on you. But what I don't like is it is too long. I wish the total workout was about 40-45 minutes instead of an hour. Well, almost an hour. But I am going to keep at it because I am almost half way there!!!

Day 37-P90X- Plyometrics

It is 7:20 p.m., and I have just done Plyometrics.. However, I must give a disclaimer. I only did half of it. Let me back up... I did make it to bed last night a little after 10:00. I was so tired, so sleep came pretty easy to me. I woke up at 3:45.. one of the perks of either middle age or menopause. I easily went back to sleep until my alarm rang at 5:15. Hit snooze.. ring again... hit snooze.. ring again.. turn off and go back to sleep. Yes, I made that decision to skip this morning. So today I went to work, ate terrible all day long. I ate part of my lunch at 5:00 on the way home from work. I had made the decision on my way home that I could still do my workout an hour later. Okay, the beginning of plyometrics which I started around 6:45 (hence, over an hour since eating) gave me plenty of time to have my food partially digested and I heard Tony say, " don't do plyometrics unless it has been an hour since eating." So I got going, and boy was I feeling nauseated. I kept plugging through it, and I thought, " okay, I will be done with this soon." And then... Tony said, " Okay, you are half way through boys and girls." What?!?! I am only half way through! I'm done. I gotta stop. I know I should have kept going, but I really was on the verge of vomiting. And really, on a scale of 1-10, I was probably doing a 7or 8. I still have to modify some of those jumps. I don't do the jump tucks- I either raise my knee up high or do a kick. I don't do the spin around after the left, right, left ski pole moves- I get dizzy and off balance so I do a squat turn. I don't do the Mary-Catherines- I do continuous lunges with my arms up in the air. I do everything else.. or at least everything else in the first half. So here is what I learned:
1. The best thing for me is to do my workout early.
2. If I do miss my workout, and decide to do it late in the day-absolutely do not eat ANYTHING!!!!
3. Get back on healthy eating-write it down, make a plan, stick with it.
So I think tomorrow is arms. I am slightly sore from the back and chest workout. I am just happy to be back in the groove. Maybe I actually will finish P90X before the end of the year!

Day 36-P90X- Chest and Back

Gosh, I had a hard time going to sleep last night. I even ordered a book I saw endorsed on Good Morning America (I think) entitled I Can Help You Sleep. I don't know how to underline on this computer. Anyway I went to sleep around 11:30, alarm went off at 5:15, actually got up at 5:30, began workout at 5:45. I did quite well all through the workout. I have continued to do the bands for the back. I usually do 15 floor pushups and 10 from the knee the first round, and then switch 10/15 on the second round. I could not do the second round of decline pushups or the dive bombers. I was almost nauseated doing the dive bombers. But all in all, I did fine.

For those of you reading this blog and wondering about Jen who posts all the encouraging comments to me- Jen and I have never met. She is my coach that I got from Beach Body. I found her off her blog which I found surfing about P90X users. She and her husband have done more than one round of P90X and are now doing the Insanity program from Beachbody. She has been a great asset to me as I continue this journey of P90X. She is available to be others' coach too. I will post later her blog address and how to find her on Beachbody, or you can do it on a comment Jen. Right now I have to get out the door and get to work. Hope all of you are doing something today to get moving!!!

Day 35-P90X-Rest

Well, I threw this in because this is what you do on Day 35 which I did this weekend. So now I will post the Day 36.

Day 34-P90X- Kenpo

Yes I did it today. I started around 8:00 a.m. I had not had anything to eat or drink. I only had some sips of water before I started and I drank water during the workout. The first break I did do the running in place and the jumping jacks and I even did the X jumps. But the next two breaks I fast-forwarded and did not do these. I did do all the kicks and punches and blocks. I am still kinda uncoordinated when doing the hooks and the uppercuts together. So tomorrow is supposed to be a rest or stretch day, but of course I don't plan to do that since I had three days of rest over the weekend. I think I will do the Chest Workout, but somehow I have to document the rest day as a day so I will call the Chest Workout Day 36. Well, someone else might be confused, but I know what I am doing. I should actually be finishing Day 59 tomorrow, so I am over three weeks behind. Oh well, still going....

Oh...Oh... Ouch...Oh

Yes, those are my sentiments today. I had that great workout yesterday. I did the leg routine so well... did all the wall squats, the Groucho walk, the lunges on the toes... did them all!!! Boy was I hot. I was on a roll. Yes, I needed that long rest. And I was gungho to do the Kenpo today. Then I got or should I say crawled out of bed. I can barely walk. Each step has been painful. To sit down is a chore. I am moaning as I start to get in a squat position.. be it in a chair or on the commode!! My quads hurt. My calves hurt. My hamstrings hurt. No working out for me today. I hope that I can do it tomorrow. It is like it has been YEARS since I worked out. I guess this is just what happens when you get old. And I got on the scales today...oh how I want to get into the lower decade on the scales from what I have been. Still cannot get to that "9", but still on that "0". Still only lost those 8 lbs since June 1. Well, I will continue on. I am not working hard enough on it, but surprisingly, I have not been that hungry. Okay, tomorrow I will try again.

Finally... Day 33- P90X- Legs and Back

Yea for me!!! I finally got in there at 5:00 p.m. and did my P90X. And you know what? I thought it was going to be such a hard comeback. But I think I was actually stronger. I am thinking that I needed the rest. Well, maybe not two weeks of rest, but definitely the rest. I had to pause it a couple of times because I was also finally cooking dh some dinner. I have been gone, he has been gone. I asked him if he finally liked having a home-cooked meal. It was not the lowest in fat, but I still think quite healthy- meatloaf, corn on the cob, and zipper cream peas. And the meatloaf is made with venison mixed with a small amount of beef fat. I think it was probably not good that he ate close to a whole pound of it. But back to my workout- totally enjoyable. I found out I kinda missed ole Tony. I really like him. I needed his motivation. I am so glad I did my workout today. Now, I just have to get back in the habit. I had my workout clothes on all day. I kept procrastinating because there were so many other things that needed my attention. You all know how that is. But what is more important than getting in shape so we can do all those other things we want to do? You lay off one day, then another, then another, and before long, you have missed two weeks. I must say that is the most I have missed in working out in the past 6 years. I just have one word to say about this ....HABIT!! You must make working out a habit. It must be something that you schedule in and you plan to do everyday. I almost had this fear about going back to it. I think I was just thinking.. oh this is going to be so hard. But like I said... maybe I just needed this long hiatus. So tomorrow is one of my favorite workouts- Kenpo. So wherever you are...jump back in and get moving again. If you get tired.. pause or rest and then continue on. Or do it in sections. Do what you need to do to get yourself moving. Tomorrow I am sure will have many things demanding my attention, but I just have to meet back up with you tomorrow.

Still Here

Yes... I am still here. But P90X.... well, I feel so guilty I have had to put it on hold. But to keep my sanity and not become totally worn out, I have postponed my workout for now. This move has consumed me for the last month. First it was moving all my mother's clothes, lamps, and paintings, along with all her kitchen items. Then the movers came. Then it was dispensing all the furniture and some household goods to family. Then it was getting every drawer, cabinet, closet, shelf cleared out from inside upstairs and downstairs, outside from the patio, garage, and courtyard. Getting the house cleaned, and then all the left overs to friends and Goodwill. Helping family members get their stuff moved. Moving all the plants. I had someone remark to me a couple of days ago, "are you still doing P90X?" to which I replied, " well, I have been moving my mother to another place." And they said, " Gosh, it sure seems like it is taking you a long time to do that." There are only so many hours in a day to do everything you need to do, and only so much energy that this 55 year old grammy has! But I can say now that I am almost done. I have a dining room table and chairs at the house that I had tried to sell that will need to be moved, and a terra cotta planter that I am bringing home that is too heavy for me to lift. Everything else is done. In fact we are moving up the closing date to this Friday instead of the following Thursday. But there is alot of mental stress with all of this. My mother is leaving this house of 22 years. This is the only house my kids remember of their grandparents. I finished up inside the house today, and I walked back in the master bath. I thought of all the times I have come into that bathroom and used that shower or tub or vanity to put my makeup on. Remember I live out in the country so I would come after my workout and cleanup at my parents' house. I walked into the master bedroom and thought about the last time I had seen my father in that bedroom. He died in that bedroom with me being the only one in the room. I walked upstairs and thought about staying in that bedroom so many times when I stayed the night at their house. And I just thought about my very vibrant active parents that moved into that brand new house on the golf course and all the company they entertained and all the fun times they had. It made me sad that that time is over. That soon... before I know it... I will be making that same transition. But I want to be like my mother, and not look back, and just move forward to this new stage of life. P90X? Yes, I plan on getting back as soon as I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally ready. Maybe tomorrow!!!!

Day 31- P90X- Back and Biceps

This was my first day to do back and biceps. I woke up at 5:15, and again began my workout around 5:30. One good thing is that this workout is about 9 minutes shorter than an hour. I really did like this workout. I think it is because it is not as hard as the chest workout or the cardio workout. I used the bands- no pullup bar for me yet. I still have not been writing down my workouts. I do need to get those workout sheets printed up. I will say one thing- my triceps are sore today from my Monday workout. My sister has arrived, and the plan is to get more work done at my mother's house getting stuff cleared out. I am very sleepy right now, so I hope to go to bed soon. I am supposed to do yoga tomorrow, but I may do the kenpo instead.

Day 30- P90X- Plyometrics

Yes, I did get up and do Plyometrics before work. Oh it was hard. Waking up at 5:15 and beginning my workout around 5:30. I continue to modify some of the exercises because I am not able to do alot of that jumping. But I continued on and finished it all.

Day 29-P90X- Shoulders, Chest, and Triceps

Well, I don't know if I should say I did it, or I half did it. I was fine with the shoulder and tricep exercises... but what happened to me with the pushups? Did I lose that much in a week? Or is this workout just such a big step up? One arm pushups, moving from side to side pushups, pushup and clapping in between. I definitely am going to have to do one of two things- get a whole lot stronger or lose a ton of weight! I would try to do some of these and I would fall on my face. And most of the pushups I was having to do from my knees. I am going to have to get back to eating healthier too. Almost the entire last week I have had a Dr. Pepper every day. Seriously, I had to have a boost to be able to do everything and not drag. I know that I should have waited on my sister to help me, but I jumped in and worked like a Trojan because I want to get this done. I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, and I just work better when I am doing one thing at a time. She will be here this Wednesday. There is still work to be done, but with the two of us working together, we should be able to knock it out pretty quick. I want to have the house totally ready to be moved into before she leaves. Then I can move on to what the next business at hand will be. I have been a driven woman!! I am soon going to the hunting camp where I will swim in the river and eat fried catfish. Yes, I know... but I have not had any fried fish in about two months. I ate some peanuts for breakfast and I had a taco salad for lunch- no cheese, just lettuce, meat, and Catalina dressing. I hope that when I get home tonight I will have energy to do the Ab Ripper X.

Day 23, 24. 25. 26. 27. and 28- P90X

Okay, I am going to skip these days because they were my recovery week, and I did none of these days. But during this entire week, I have been moving my mother to her independent living facility. I have gone up and down stairs. I have lifted boxes. I have moved boxes. I have done lots of bending, reaching, and twisting. I have to get back on track, so I just made the decision to skip these days. I will now be in the second month of P90-X. I am sure I am not getting the results that I should with the program, but I am going to jump back on Day 29. I am thinking when I complete the P90X anyway, that I will start over and begin it again. So it really does not matter to me. With my lifestyle the way it is right now, I just have to adjust the best way I can. It has been quite a physically exhaustive experience cleaning out a lifetime of household goods. I have cleaned out an attic as well as several large closets. My mother made many decisions on what she could take and what she had to get rid of. Then I am going through things... knowing that we need to keep some of this stuff- it has been in the family so long. And then being realistic with the fact that I only have so much room at my house. So along with the physical work is the mental exhaustion combined with the emotional part of knowing you won't be going back to that house. Change.. change... change... it can be emotionally draining. I think that all of this- the physical, mental, and emotional aspect of this move has been what has kept me away from P90X. Each day I have just been too tired to even think about doing it. But today... I plan to go at it. I will report back later.

Day 22 and Day 23- P90X-Core Synergistics

Okay, I put these two together because I did not do Day 22. That is right, I skipped Day 22 because it was the yoga. I did not do my workout on Saturday or Sunday. And today I wondered would I do it or not. Because, I was scheduled to meet the movers at my mother's house at 8:00 a.m. But I got up, and I did it. Or shall I say I attempted it. Tough workout!! and when Tony said that we could quit or go on with him? what do you think I did? That's right.. today I quit! That banana roll.. oh my gosh.. banana, superman, banana, superman, ban, sup, he went so fast, he almost didn't finish the word. I was doing all that rolling and just a grunting. And then the one where you roll back and then come back and pop up on your feet... no way. I am so bad at this. I had to push myself with my hands to try to get up, and by the time I was struggling to get up, they were already on their way back down. Anyone watching me today would have really had a good laugh, or maybe a good cry because they would have laughed so hard they would have been crying. I don't even know what tomorrow is because in the morning, I don't plan on doing anything. I did not finish with the moving until after 6:00 p.m. and I had to come home and take three Advil and soak in Epson Salts. My legs, my feet, my back, my butt, all of it ached. I am so tired, and I have to work tomorrow.... so, it is off to bed for me!!!

Day 21-P90X- Ab Ripper X

Yes, Day 21 is supposed to be a stretch or rest day. But I do about 2-3 rest days a week, and I am not doing the AbRipper X like I supposed to. I know I should be more on course with this, but surely doing it my way is still good, right? So this morning I knew I had another full day of moving boxes; therefore, I opted to do the Ab Ripper X instead of starting week 4 with the yoga. And like I said... an hour of yoga... please.. someone help me. I am going to try to do yoga tomorrow since tomorrow will be Day 22 and that means the start of my recovery week. So I have a few yoga DVDs that are probably 40-60 minutes long. I am going to do one of those tomorrow. And then I supposed to do the Core Synergistics on Sunday. That looks tough!!! And then I think it is Kenpo X. I must say that today when I was doing the Ab Ripper, I struggled because my quadriceps were so sore.. you know where you have to keep your legs up. I think that kick-boxing really made me sore. And then it is yoga again and kenpo X again. And Sunday for me will also be making sure everything is ready for the movers to come. Monday is moving day. So, I will just have to see how I hold up. And about the diet... Dr. Peppers have been very stimulating for me to get through all this. I think when I settle down a little, I might go back to Spark people. I just seem to do so much better with tracking my calories this way. I do like drinking the protein shakes and the recovery drinks though. My weight kinda went back up. So since June 1... I have only lost 6 lbs. It was 8 lbs. But I have not measured, and I really think I am losing inches. I may not be posting those "after photos" until a couple of P90X semesters. Okay... yoga.. tomorrow!!

60th Birthday Party

One of the photos of dh opening one of his 60 gifts. He got some nice gifts too.

My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

All my kids- son-26, son-21, grandaughter-6 mos, daughter-28, and son-in law-28

My sister-in-law is included in this photo.

So here is how the birthday party played out. First let me just say that my husband does not like being the center of attention. He does not like giving gifts, nor does he like getting them. He would just as soon all birthdays just breeze on by. So when his 60th birthday was approaching, I asked him if he would like to have it with friends, and he said no. Usually for birthdays, we always either go out to eat or he fries catfish for everyone. He is the best fish fryer in the whole wide world. But we couldn't have him cook on his birthday. So we decided that it would just be family, but I did ask his sister and her husband to come. He did not want them to go to all that trouble to make the trip from north Texas. But they were thrilled to come. My mother who lives here in town also joined us. I told him that I knew he did not care about this birthday party, but I was not doing it just for him... I was doing it for our kids. Each time I told this story.. whether it was to him, one of the kids or a friend, I would choke up.... I said, " listen, I am not just doing this for Daddy, I am doing it for all of you. I remember my daddy's 60th birthday, and it is a great memory that I have of him. And when your daddy is gone from this world, I want you to have this cherished memory too." So my daughter came up with the 60 gift ideas. We knew this would rock his world since he hates opening gifts. So we all laid out one gift on the coffee table. After he opened those gifts, I had kept asking him how old he was. And so I said, " how old are you?" He just gave me this puzzled look, like what have you been smokin'? I said, " I don't think that is all... you are 60... and then we walked in with a big box of gifts. He was saying, " Dee.. no.. Dee... uhuh... no... quit... no." But we were all relentless with him, and made him get with it. Pretty soon, he got into the spirit of it all. There were joke gifts.. fake look-a-like Viagra ( blue M&Ms), wipes, fleet enemas... and then some good gifts- athletic shorts, T-shirts, polo shirts, lawn chair, fishing stuff, hunting stuff, cigars, etc. We then went to the meal

Since we were not going out, I decided to do the meal like we WERE going out to a very nice restaurant. Now, this country girl has never cooked beef tenderloin. But have no fear, I have a great friend in the catering business, and she came through for me. She told me how to prepare it. I had my youngest son be the waiter. The first course was salad and bread. Then they had baked potato casserole, Italian green beans, and the beef tenderloin cooked in wine sauce with mushrooms. It was all delicious. We have dimmed lights, pretty china, candles, and flowers. I forgot to mention the appetizers before dinner- hummus dip and brie cheese with homemade blueberry sauce, and red and white wine. We finished the dinner with a Marble Slab strawberry cake. We had the Hawaiian theme mainly to just dress Hawaiian. That will be our Christmas card photo. My husband told me and then emailed everyone and told them, " This was the best birthday I ever had." I think it might be the best birthday dinner I have ever been to... but then I am quite biased... I had my family here and we all had a wonderful evening!

Family photo for the Christmas card.

This is a photo of the poster my daughter and my sister-in-law did with a tour of dh's life of 60 years.

Day 20- P90X- Kenpo X

I am so tired right this minute, but I did want to get this post done. I got up early this morning.. at 5:00 a.m. I went ahead and did two days of Bible study, and then I got busy with my Kenpo X. I really do like doing this. Am I cheating if I skip the break.. only the break is not really a break.. it is jumping rope, running in place, and doing those jumping jacks on the ground and jumping in the air doing jumping jacks. Yes, I fast forward through that. But I really like the blocking, the punching, and the kicking. It is over before you know it, and you are doing the cool down. I am still not doing too well with being consistent with the Ab Ripper X. And in case you haven't noticed, I have not been posting my meals. I am not doing well.. why? because you must plan better with your meals, and right now I don't know if I am coming or going. I have spent the days I am off packing and getting my mother ready to move. Today I got her clothes ( a massive amount) moved along with boxes of dishes. I packed up more boxes. I may move them tomorrow. I just don't want them to be in the way when the movers move the furniture on Monday. I may just move her paintings and lamps tomorrow. The plumbers and the air-conditioning man is coming to do the amendment work for the buyer. I still have to call and get her cable changed to the new address. Details.. details...like I said... I am sooooooooooo tired. But I am still working to get my P90X in. And soon I will be more focused with my eating. I think I will go and take a couple of Advil. GOOD NIGHT!!!!

Day 19-P90X- Legs and Back

Yea!!! I got up early (5:15) this morning. I was doing my leg and back routine at 5:30. I am doing most of the exercises.. only a few I still struggle with. I planned to do the ab ripper X when I got home, but I had friends over for a spur of the moment dinner. I still need to get busy with the Ab ripper. I have two more days and then I start the recovery week. I did a preview of Core synergistics, and it looks really tough. I am also thinking that I might forego Tony's yoga, and do one of my yoga DVD's. The P90X yoga is just too long. I still want to blog about the birthday this weekend, but not tonight. I am on my way to a hot bath and going to bed.

Day 18- P90X- Yoga

I will talk about today before I post about the weekend. Or I guess you will be reading about the weekend first since this post will appear below the Weekend post. Okay.. this is Day 18, almost 3 weeks into this program even though I have been at it almost 4 weeks. I knew when I began that I was not going to finish in 90 days. I just hoped that I would FINISH!!! And yes.. I certainly plan to. Today began with the sluggishness that overcame me when I awoke due to ... you guessed it... lack of sleep. Last night, I don't know if it was all the excitement of the weekend, the fact that I kept dozing in the afternoon, or the pressing thoughts that crowded my mind. You see... last night I was thinking about a certain young man.. he is 22, one year older than my youngest son. Since I began having children, I have worked two days per week as a dental hygienist. My youngest has had a few child caretakers, but the last one was the one my older two had. One of the children there was this certain young man. He came to my son's birthday parties and played baseball with ds. Last August this young man decided with two of his buddies that it would be really cool to rob this person closing down a local restaurant. Long story short.. the other two robbed the woman.. shot her in the foot.. her boyfriend was with her and he had a gun.. more gunfire, and the boyfriend was dead. A robbery is now a murder. And this young man is now going to prison... sentenced for 35 years and not eligible for parole for half of that time. Oh I am not excusing him. I wanted to.. but as my co-workers admonished me.. you don't go in a robbery with a loaded gun unless you are planning on shooting someone if need be. So last night.. I just kept thinking about him and so I prayed for him, his family- mother, father, sister, aunt, grandmother.. I knew all of them. And then I just had to get up and write a note to the mom. So I know I am chasing rabbits, but I probably went to sleep around 2:00 a.m. I woke up at 6:30, and I really intended to skip the yoga and do the legs and back routine. But by the time I was dressed and ready at 7:00, I knew I would not have enough time to meet my mother at her house to take her to the doctor. I had even told her to go alone. Yes, she can drive and go alone, but my mother's problem is her hearing. She absolutely cannot hear what the doctor has to say to her, and then she is still not clear what the doctor means. So.. I skipped my workout, got to her house, went to the doctor, went by her new living facility, went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and then back to her house where I stayed ALL DAY LONG packing up boxes. I got home at 5:15. I needed to get the back part of the house cool so that I could do the workout. But boy was I hungry. I went ahead and ate my dinner (leftovers), fixed dh a big salad, washed and folded clothes, and decided somewhere along the way to do the yoga instead. The yoga is not exhausting.. it is hard.. I cannot do all the poses.. I fall sometimes.. but, I am seeing improvement. I really think that I am stretching myself further. Forget the crane.. I don't think I will ever be able to lift myself off the ground like that . I did fast forward a couple of repetitive poses, but all in all, I did the routine. Yes.. an hour and a half. I do not like doing yoga for that long. But one thing I did learn is that I do like to do it in the evening. I was not feeling as anxious to finish as I was the day I did it before work. I did not start it until close to 7:30. I finished it, and went and had a snack, soaked in a hot tub, and now here I am typing this post. So now tomorrow the plan is to do the legs and back. I am also seriously considering ordering the chinup bar. Okay, it is after 10:00, so my weekend post will have to wait..... stay tuned.

In Memory of Randy

I cannot figure out how to get this photo larger. This was taken in 1969 when we were in the 9th grade. This was me with my first boyfriend, Randy. He was the cutest boy in the whole wide world. We were on our way to a country club dance. When we were much younger... like in the fourth grade, he was so shy. He wore a baseball cap and would practically pull it down over his whole face when he had to talk to my father. It was so endearing. Last month I found out that Randy was very ill. I knew that he had a respiratory condition, but I did not know it was that serious. It had been several years since I had seen Randy. But whenever we got together we shared our fondness for each other... good friends... old friends... childhood friends. I had just read the email from a prayer chain telling of how ill Randy was, and I got a phone call from his best friend from our hometown telling me that Randy had died. I was unable to make his funeral service in Marshall. So in a way, it still seems like he is not gone. But when we have our next class reunion, it will certainly become real to me then. I will not see Randy again here on this earth. I just had to make a special post dedicated to my dear childhood friend.

Day 17- P90X- Shoulders and Arms

Did you notice that I did not post yesterday. I got up all ready to do the P90X, and like always a million things to do here at home. So.. I got busy with laundry and working in the house and cleaning up the garage... I was so tired. I missed my workout. And you know I really should have done it because to me shoulders and arms is one of the easier workouts. So today I got busy again around the house. Here is another problem. It is either get busy and do the workout right when I get up, or I am going to have to wait a couple of hours. Why? Because if I wait for 30 minutes or an hour, I am going to be hungry. And if I eat, I am going to have to wait to do the workout. I don't get hungry immediately when I wake up, but in that first hour I do. I guess it was about 8:45 when I began my workout. I also wanted to hurry up and get done so I could go to Sam's and H.E.B. before the afternoon. Those places start getting too busy and crowded for me. But it was a great workout. I completed everything that Tony asked me to do. I don't know if I am doing that side tricep pushup correctly. I am going to increase some of my weights next time. I really really like doing this workout. Maybe that is a sure sign that I do need to challenge myself and increase my weights. I am already doing 15 reps of everything. And I am doing all 16 when he asks us to do 16. Oh I forgot... I could only do 10 of the tricep chair dips. I would try to go as low as I could too. Well I don't know if I will be doing my workout tomorrow or not. I have my daughter, sil, and little granddaughter coming tonight. The birthday party is tomorrow. I will post about the menu later. And yes today I was bad again. I have this obsession... I almost HAVE to have a Dr. Pepper when I go to Sam's. So here is what I had:

Before workout- I had a few sips of a protein shake that was my son's. Maybe 1/4 c.

Breakfast- Kinda like a hamburger without the bun- grilled meat, dill pickles, tomatoes, and WW cheddar cheese with mustard, Diet Green Tea

Lunch- I snacked at Sam's- piece of roast beef, chicken salad on a cracker, bite of steakfinger, two baked French fries and.... Dr. Pepper

Dinner- Sheperd's Pie- ground meat, light sour cream, cr of mushroom soup, carrots, green beans, onions, celery, mashed potatoes- about 1 1/2 cupfuls and salad, skim milk

So I leave you with a photo of my little granddaughter because yesterday she was 6 months old.

Day 16- P90X- Plyometrics

Yea!!! Once again I got up at 5:15 a.m. and I got my workout started about 5:30. Plyometrics.....what can I say??? It is tough!! Like Tony says it is the mother of P90X. That could be why some of he stuff I definitely have to modify. I do not do those jumps where you bend your knees and jump high. I do a single leg lift..right..left..right. Jumping like that hurts me. And then I modified the jump where you turned 1/2 way around. I had to put a foot down as I was doing that. I try to do more low impact rather than high impact. Nevertheless...... I was still sweating, had a red face, and totally out of breath. I think I did most everything else. I know I am improving. I continue to work out hard. I go to the finish. I know before the 90 days is up, I am going to be so improved. Today was so busy for me... and you know what that means.... don't do well with the eating. Actually I would say that there has never been one day I have really followed the plan. Hmmm....could that be why I am not seeing weight loss? Here is how it looked today:

Breakfast- scrambled one egg with three egg whites, protein shake with scoop of protein powder, frozen banana, and skim milk.... still was not enough to eat.. I was still hungry.. so I added about 2 oz. of turkey

Lunch- Popeyes- chicken wrap with rice, and then a side order of dirty rice.. and a Dr. Pepper

Dinner- mozarella cheese stick, crackers

Not alot of calories, but definitely not very nuitritious. But all of it hit the spot as far as I am concerned.

Okay, tomorrow is another busy day for me. Getting ready for my dh's 60th birthday. OMG.... that is just sounding too wierd. To think I am married to a 60 year old!!! Hey kids... you'll be there quicker than you think. He is still handsome though. I will post photos later.

Day 15-P90X- Chest and Back

Well, I am beginning my third week. This is my last week before recovery week. I woke up at about 5:10 a.m... right before my alarm went off. So I just laid there and waited for the alarm to go off. I got out of bed, used the bathroom, put on my workout clothes, washed my face and put my contacs in, pulled my bangs back, and I was ready to go!! I got the strap fixed to the door for my cable pullups. I must say that I continue to get better at the chest and back workout. Today the first go round, I did 15 regular pushups, and ended with 10 girl pushups. The second go round I did 12/8. On the bands, I did 25 the first go round, and 20 the second. My biggest struggle is the decline pushups which I think I only did 4 the first time and skipped the second time. I also continue to have a hard time with the dive bombers. I did about 8 of those each time. But let me tell you... they are not pretty. I am having no trouble with the bands. When I finish these 90 days, and I decide to do it again, I am going to get the chin-up bar. But right now, I think this is still fine for me. Also today when I started I was sore. My shoulders are sore from the punching in the kenpo. I also fast forwarded through the water break. On some of the exercises, I would start before Tony gave us the go ahead. I just did not want to waste time. I would skip some of the ballistic stretches. After all, I had to go to work today. So I finished before 6:30, and I was able to get a shower, get to work early, do my Bible study and then put on my makeup there at work. I like to do it that way. I am the only one in the office, and I have no interruptions, and I am not at home to be distracted by all the things that need to be done at home. But right now, it is almost 8:00 p.m., and I am tired. I am about to take a loooooooooooooong bath and relax before I get in the bed. Here is what my food looked like today:

Breakfast- 3/4 c granola and decaf coffee

Snack- 2 T peanuts

Lunch- grilled chicken and broccoli (leftovers from Sunday)

Dinner- 3/4 c leftover chicken enchiladas, mixed green salad, 5 oz. grilled sirloin

Snack- 1/2 c granola, 1 c skim milk

I am still drinking on the milk. I was starving when I got home. When I was about to leave work, my co-worker noticed that my tire was low. After she left, and I got outside, the boss and another co-worker and I all agreed.. my tire was low. We used the air pump, and put some air in it. I called my "tire man" and they told me to come on even though it was closing time. I am so thankful that they got to my tire. I had a nail in it, and they had it taken care of quickly. It is great to live in a small (30,000) town. I got home around 6:00, and ds was cooking the steaks. So tomorrow is plyometrics. Good night!!

Day 13, 14-P90X-Rest

Okay, let me clarify. I have had more than 2 days of rest on P90X, but I forgot to include them as a day. So that is why I am playing catch-up. Yes, I did have to take another day of rest today. Why? ..... well, same ole story. I got busy this morning... I had plenty of time to get my workout in, but I fiddle-faddled around doing laundry, picking up around the house, etc. I had to be somewhere at 11:00, and it takes me more than 20 minutes to be on time. I ended up having to do more errands regarding my mother's move, so I did not get home until after 4:00. I said to myself I would make sure the back part of the house was cool. I would begin supper while my workout space was getting cool. Then I would do the workout. NOT!!!! I got home and dh was shoveling dirt. We just had some great concrete block raised beds made. I have an older raised bed that I had made several years ago. It had lots of weeds in it, and he said if I would pull those weeds up, he would shovel some of the new soil into that bed. Ugh!! But of course I wanted a new bed. He already had the seeds for the fall garden. And this is where the spinach would grow. So, I worked pulling weeds and smoothing dirt for about an hour and a half. Then it was time to get supper ready. Normally, I would not cook.. he doesn't mind a sandwich or a salad, but remember... my youngest son is here for a few weeks, and I really want to have a meal for him. However... if I had known he was not going to eat the enchiladas but instead just have the bean tostados, I could have whipped that out in a hurry. But dh did like the chicken enchiladas. So, by the time I cooked, ate, cleaned the kitchen, and worked the new garden, I was tired!! But... I said to myself, I will at least do the Ab Ripper X. So I got it done. So tomorrow is the beginning of my third week, because tomorrow is Chest and Back. So tomorrow is officially Day 15. I know it should be about Day 18 or 19 or 22... I don't know. And I am still eating too many carbs... I just can't seem to help it. So here is what I had today:

Breakfast- one whole egg and 2 eggs whites cooked like a fried egg in Pam- I couldn't help it, I just had to have a change.

Snack- really it was right after breakfast... about a half of cup of dry granola

Lunch- I was not prepared... I had no food with me and was in town longer than I planned- Taco Casa- bean tostado- tortilla, beans, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream.

Snack- got home at 4:00 and had about an ounce of grilled chicken

Dinner- Chicken enchiladas- about a cupful.. chicken, cr of chick soup, corn tortillas, cheese and a bean tostado (only about 2 T) and fat free refried beans, romaine lettuce, mozarella cheese -1 T, homemade salsa.

Snack- about 6 mini rice cakes and 1 1/2 c of skim milk

So Coach Jen... what do you think? Too many carbs? Not enough calories? More protein? The weight is bouncing around the same as it has been since June. I have lost 6 lbs, I gain, I lose, I gain, I lose... the most has been 7 lb. So, you really think no carbs will do it. But hey... no Dr. Pepper for me yesterday or today.