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.