More catching up...

... on the blog that is =D. We are still brining it!! I have been pretty busy with other things and made time to do other things and have in the process neglected my blog and my fans :) I'm back and I will update you on what has been going on with our workouts. So here we go.

As I mentioned we are still bringing it. Last Friday we went camping and had a blast. We only went overnight so we did "legs and back" workout before we left and Kenpo X on Saturday when we got back. I admit I did not want to do it. I was too exhausted but Tom encouraged me and we did bring it!

This week seemed to go by pretty quickly. We started our Monday with "Chest, Shoulders and Triceps". It is not an easy workout. Lots of push ups and chin ups. I was able to do 3 "corn cob pull ups" (assisted by a chair of course). Tom rocked! He was able to do a few 1 handed push ups.

Here is Tom doing one handed push ups. As you can see from his facial expression, it is not easy and he is struggling yet not giving up.

Way to bring it Tom!!

On Tuesday we did Plyometrics. As you know by now, it is lots and lots of jumping. By the time we were done we were dripping sweat. Our shirts were wet and our faces were red. Cool down was great! I needed it :)

This is what I looked like after Plyometrics. I know, a little scary :) but really, if that is not the face of someone bringing it, then I don't know what is =D


Wednesday we worked on our backs, shoulders and triceps. We felt it too. We woke up late again and we worked out with Jared in the room. Not the easiest to do when he wants to keeps wanting to take our picture constantly.

Here is one of Jared's great pictures that he took while we worked out =D

On Thursday Tom didn't feel well so we did the first 15 minutes of Yoga X and then went back to bed =( In the afternoon we went to Disneyland and didn't take the stroller for Rachel so we walked and carried her around. If that is not a workout in itself then I don't know what is. After we got home and put our children to bed Tom did 45 mins. in the Eliptical machine and then I did 50 minutes on it. I put a movie in and time went by fast. It felt great!

Here Joseph and I are representing P90X at Splash Mountain =D I'm the one in the red shirt and Joseph is in front of me. Not that you couldn't tell by our proud X =D







That brings us to today. Today we did "Back and Legs" My legs were killing me after. My knee has been giving me some problems lately so I didn't use too heavy weights. On most exercises I didn't use weights and did more reps. That helped a bit.

Over all I feel great! Just when I think I am not making the progress I want I either run into people I haven't seen in a while or people around me compliment me on how I look. I still have a long way to go but I do appreciate your support and feedback. I thought only my Mom and my friend Maria were the ones reading my blog but I have gotten a few phone calls from people wondering why I hadn't updated the blog yet and that made me feel good. Don't be shy and say hello from time to time, if not then keep calling me =D I need the extra push from time to time.

Tomorrow we'll be bringing it with Kenpo X!!! Yeah!!!!

Doing some blogging catch up...

I last left off with us reaching our 30 day mark. What results have I seen thus far? Well, weight wise I have not seen much loss. I lost 3 pounds in the 30 days. At first this was discouraging but when I saw how many inches I have lost that was really encouraging. I have lost a total of 6 inches. Yes! SIX inches in 30 days. To me that is cause for celebration, Carrot sticks for everyone!!!

We are doing P90X classic and that is one of the reasons I am not loosing as much weight. But that is ok because I am losing stored fat and that is important to me. I am getting toned and stronger. I am building muscle and we all know muscle is heavier than fat. It is solid! I love the way my arms feel and are starting to look. My legs... not to be vain but I have always had pretty legs. I think they are now getting a little too muscular for my taste so I'll have to tone them down a bit. Tom likes them, but we'll see.

So what have we done this week? This week we have done some new exercises. We did a new upper body routine which I mentioned on Monday. Tuesday we did Plyometrics. Plyometrics were good. We got to do more reps. and more jumping than before. On Wednesday we did Back and Biceps. It was a really good routine. Again it was a new routine for us. It felt really good and I used 10-15 lbs weights on these. On phase one I had been using 5-10 lbs weights. It is nice to see improvement.

On Thursday we did Yoga. We are still struggling there. We love it but at the same time we hate it. It really pushes us to do things with our bodies we don't normally do. By the time we are done with it we are glad that we stuck to it and didn't quit.

On Friday we did Legs and Back. We had to do this one in the afternoon and it is so much harder to do with our children running around and needing us to do things for them. We are just finding it so hard to get up in the morning. We have been getting to bed earlier but we are still sooooo tired in the morning. I think we need to change our diet again and add a bit more carbs. I'll have to go back to the forums and read up some more.

Today we did Kenpo X!! Thanks to Mike and Teesha for letting us borrow their Kenpo X. We cannot find our copy =( We think the kids moved it when they were playing in our room. We got to find it because we'll need it again next Saturday. Today though was good. Joseph got up while we were in the middle of it and he wanted to join us. He did and did pretty good. He did the best he could and forgot the rest =D

Tomorrow is rest day! I am soo looking forward to not getting up early. Although I gotta say that by afternoon time I miss not having the morning workout. Monday our routine starts again and with it, week 6. Bring it!!!

Bringing it baby!!!

I had to add this picture I took yesterday of my Stud Muffin. Yeah!! He is wearing a size MEDIUM shirt, yes MEDIUM and it looks great on him!! (Hehehehehe)

Start of phase 2, day 1...

Today was the first day of Phase 2. This workout was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. The workout was awesome! I wish we had pushed ourselves more so we could feel it more. It was still a good workout but when we were done we both felt like we didn't push hard enough. I don't know if part of it was that it was our first time doing theses exercises and we stopped several times to see what they were doing so we would get the right form. The problem with that was that we didn't rewind to start with them once we got the form. We would just start from there and therefore not do as many reps.

What I noticed about this workout is that everything we did on Phase 1 was to prepare us for phase 2. For example on phase 1 we did many push ups (regulas push ups) Now that we are on phase 2 the push ups are more difficult, yet we are able to do some repetitions on each one. One of the push ups is the single handed push ups. Those I have to do on my knees because I cannot support myself on my feet and 1 hand yet. The other pushups are the ones where you add a clap on the up position. The other is the sliding push up. I won't explain this one, I'll add a picture of this one next week when we do them again.

The weight training was also good. On some I used 5lbs. weights and on others I used 10lbs. weights. We also did some dips. This time around I was able to do about 10 to 15 more than when I first started. It is great that we have to keep a record of what we do in each session because we can look back and see our improvement. We can compare what we did before with what we are doing now and see where we need to push more and where we are doing good.

Tonight I'll go running and then Ab Ripper X. Tomorrow we it is our 30 day mark. We are excited for what we have been able to accomplish and look forward to the next sixty days. Bring it!!!

End of Phase 1!! Pheww (wiping sweat from forhead)...

Talk about an early morning! Today we got up at 4:15am, and yes, it is Saturday. I wanted to go to a sale of scrapbooking materials that was a bit away from home. I knew if I left early without working out I would later regret it. So, last night I asked Tom is he would get up early with me to do Yoga X. Being the wonderful husband that he is, he did. We got up early and did Yoga first thing. After I showered and made it to the sale =D

I'm super happy!! Why? Not only because I got great deals on items I wanted, but because I started out my morning right. Tom and I pushed hard this morning. We noticed that our stretches are getting better and our flexibility is improving. It is really cool to see our bodies doing things that on day four (our first time doing Yoga) just seemed so unatural. You have no idea what a great feeling it is to go from dreading and hating Yoga to enjoying it.

There are still some poses that are not easy to do but for the ones we CAN do it's awesome. The Royal dancer is still on we struggle a bit with. With Royal dancer you balance on one foot, say your left foot, while holding your right foot back with your right hand and extending your left arm forward as far as you can. We are doing better at it from our first time but we still wabble.

The floor stretches for the legs are good. We have both improved how far we can go with our arms. Today I was able to touch my nose to my knees for a few seconds. That felt awesome! Tom was able to hold the Crane position for longer  as well. What can I say? We are enjoying our workouts and love seeing small improvements each time. Tomorrow is our resting day and Monday we start Phase 2 of our workout. Monday, Bring it!!!

Core Synergistics, "I hate it!! but I love it!!!...

Tony many times says that his students hate some of the workouts but at the same time they love them. I have that love/hate relationship with many of the workouts. This morning we got up early so we could do our "Core Synergistic" exercises. It was our second time doing them and we did very good. I was very pleased with the workout and in how much we pushed each other and ourselves.

As you are exercising some of the exercises take so much out of you that you just want to lay down and have the police put crime scene tape around you and call it a day. Thankfully we didn't call it a day and instead we pushed harder, even when we felt spent. 

I've mentioned before that Tom is my rock, he still is. I am amazed at his progress and determination. I have not included any pictures of him because he doesn't want his picture taken yet. I wish you could see some of the stuff he can do. He rocks!!

I have included a couple of pictures of me doing the "reach high & under push ups". I hope you enjoy and that you are able to stay motivated. Tomorrow we have Yoga. Yeah baby!!! Bring it!!!!

For this exercise you start with a push up. When you are up from the push up you turn to your side and balance on one hand and feet and reach your other arm up into the sky....

... you then bring your raised arm down and under yourself as far as you can. As you can see here, I cannot go very far yet or I lose my balance.  From this position you go back down and do a push up and do the other side. You do as many as you can in one minute.

For this routine I was only able to do 3 in a minute without falling over or messing the pose =D Soon we'll be able to keep up with Tony. Bring it!!

Stretching, oooh, ahhh...

Once again we slept in, aghh! We really need to work on going to bed early and getting up early. We worked out in the afternoon and it was hard with the kids around us. Specially the baby, she wanted to be on my mat and she wanted to cuddle to me every time I would go down to the floor. It was hard but not impossible. Oh yeah, the workout today was Stretching... just what the doctor ordered, *peaceful sigh*.

I got to say that I was impressed to see how flexible we have become. As we were stretching I noticed that Tom was down lower, closer to the floor on some of them, on others he was standing pretty tall, which since he is already tall, he looked huge. I of course did not stay behind. I have included a picture at the bottom showing one of the stretches. I was able to reach beyond my foot on the stretch and used a yoga block. Although my head is not yet touching the knee my leg was straight and all the way on the floor. That totally made my day.

As I was stretching I tried to clear my mind as much as possible even though the kids were around us asking questions and wanting our attention. It felt great and I felt very relaxed. After we completed the stretches I felt so relaxed. Now it's been a several hours and my muscles feel so relaxed and my whole body feels so good. I loved the stretching. For those who have not done it yet let me tell you it feels soooooooooooo good. Not as much during as when you are done. I think I am ready to bring it to the next level, which starts next week. But for now I'm heading to bed and I think I will sleep pretty relaxed =D Good night all. Tomorrow... bring it!!!

As you can see, I was able to use a Yoga block to extend the stretch. My foot is pointing up and my whole leg is down. That is my little girl taking a break from distracting us =D                

Countdown to day 30 is on!!!

Yesterday Tom came home from work pretty sick. He could not hold anything down and I was worried today we would have a hard time working out. This morning he was still feeling sick so we didn't workout in the morning. The whole day I felt like it was dragging. I went to the forums to find motivation but instead I found discouragement for me.

Many of the people who were where I am today, meaning on the fourth week, were talking about how they have lost between 8 to 13 pounds. Now these were women saying that. If it had been men I would have thought, well men loose weight quicker and more than women. Since it was women who were saying that I felt a bit discouraged. I have been sticking to the diet and have only cheated twice, I have been working out every day and we have been pushing each other as much as we can and I have only lost one pound!

I do feel stronger, I can see my arms and legs are getting more toned and I can feel the muscles in my arms without flexing too much. I also know that muscle is heavier than fat and I feel that I am putting on muscle, not in a gross way, in a nice way. Tom and I were talking about it and then I also spoke with my Mom about it. I don't feel like quitting, I just felt a bit discouraged.

Talking it out helped. I noticed that on Sunday when dressed for church I did not have to put on my "tummy sucker" on (girdle in English?) I was able to wear my favorite skirt without it and I looked good and felt good. So once I remembered that I started feeling better.

Tonight Tom was feeling much better than earlier so after we put our children to bed we hit "play" and brung it! We did Kenpo X and we pushed each other all the way. By the time we were done we both felt that tonight we pushed ourselves and each other more than usual. I think if we keep this up the excess fat will soon melt away and our new lean bodies will show.

Thank you Love for helping me stay focused and for your support. I love you! =D
Tomorrow is another day and another workout... bring it!!!

Core Synergistics...

Well... I knew it was going to be strenuous but I guess that was not preparation enough for what we got. As the name says it, it is a lot of core workout. There were several exercises I could not do as easily and gracefully as they could but once again we brung it!

Some of the exercises were not too bad so I shouldn't complain it was just hard on my core. Seeing what I have to do now I look forward to Friday, which is when we'll do it again. I felt like I needed to push myself more and sadly I didn't. By the time we were done we were both sweating but not as much as we usually do.

I can list different reasons why we didn't push so hard today. I can say that we are too tired, it was our first time doing this routine, etc. But, the bottom line is those are just justifications for my lazyness today. I could've not been as tired if I had gone to bed earlier. I could've put more effort into doing it better since this was our first time doing this routine.

By the end of the workout I noticed that today I burned half the calories I normally burn. I know this because of my handy dandy Heart Rate Monitor =D. Tonight I will be doing Tae Bo so I can burn more calories and feel like I really did a workout today. Tomorrow is another day and I will push myself harder. Tomorrow is Kenpo X!!! Which by now, if you have been following my blog regularly, you will know it is my favorite workout. So tomorrow I WILL Bring it!!!!

Week 4, Day 1!!!! Yoga X...

This morning I knew I had to get up and push my hubby because he has pushed me soo many times. We got up and go on with our workout. Since this is recovery week we will be doing more stretching and cardio exercises from I have seen in the forums. What are my thoughts on Yoga X after three weeks?

Well, I am really psyched about it! Today I pushed myself harder than on Saturday. I think that there were some poses where I goofed on the posture, which is the most important part of it, but still got it done. Next time I will try and concentrate more on clearing my mind and focusing on getting good posture.

I don't love Yoga yet, but it has gained my respect. Today I was able to hold the stretches longer and lower than the first time I did it. I still struggled on the crane but I know it's just a matter of time before I can do it and feel great about it.

The first half I would say is the hardest. It's a lot of leg and arm work. The last half of the workout is better. More standing up poses and stretching of the arms and back. I can see why they say that those with back problems should do Yoga. If you are doing it right it feels great on the back.

Well, that is all for today. Thanks for stopping by to read my updates. Bring it!! Click on the link below for an awesome explanation of Yoga by the Man himself, Tony Horton!!! =D

Tony explaining the importance of Yoga.

End of week 3!!

Yesterday, Friday, we did legs and back workout followed by Ab Ripper X. It was very good. I have been wearing my heart rate monitor to make sure that I am pushing myself. I notice that whenever I don't workout first thing in the morning I find it hard to workout later in the day. We still do workout but the day I just seem to drag until I have had my workout.

I am still struggling with doing the pull ups in the bar so I am still using the chair. As I mentioned in one of my previous postings I feel stronger and with more stamina so I am not losing courage. I just wish that I was able to do at least one unassisted pull up. I know in time I will. In the meantime the leg workout and the shoulder workout feels great! After I'm done it feels great to see that I have accomplished a whole hour of workout.

The Ab Ripper X is also great. It is very strenuous yet I am getting better at it. In some of the exercises I am able to do most of the reps, on other exercises I am still doing the best I can and the reps are not as many but little by little they are increasing.

Today we did Kempo X. We got up bright (or dark rather since it was still dark out) and early =) and did our workout. It is still my favorite but today I was very sore. For some reason I was not able to do as many reps because my arms were hurting from yesterday's back exercises, or at least that's what I think it was. It was good to complete our third week. Next week we start recovery week. From what I hear and have read, recovery week is not at all what it sounds like. It is pretty much lots of cardio workouts and then the following week we start a new series of routines. Bring it!!!

Yoga X baby!!!!

This was day 4 of week 3. As you may know by now I was not too happy with Yoga. Even yesterday I called it "the dreaded Yoga", today I'm happy to be singing a different tune. It was super duper hard for me still, but I followed a friend's advice on some of the poses and holds and it helped greatly.

I did my best and I noticed that I am starting to get a bit more flexible than last time. Tom did his best and pushed himself hard. Seeing his motivation, dedication and perseverance made me push myself too. What really made my day was seeing Tom do the Crane pose for the first time. For those not familiar with the crane, it is a pose in which you crouch down with your hands on the floor and slowly bring your feet up above the ground. It was awesome to see him do that and not fall. It motivated me to keep trying. Hopefully next time I'll be able to do it too =D

I am looking forward to next week. It is recovery week and that means lots of cardio, stretches and Yoga. Yeah baby!!! But for tomorrow we have legs and back. Bring it!!!!

Another day of Bringing it!!!...

Today we pushed ourselves hard nonstop since the alarm clock went off. Since we worked out last night we felt pretty tired and didn't want to get up. We pushed ourselves out of bed and got on with our Shoulders and Arms workout followed by the Ab Ripper X. I was insane and after that I went for my 30 minute run (Couch to 5K Program).

I enjoyed the workout this morning. I was able to increase my weights. I mostly used 10 lbs weights this time. I know it might not seem like much but for someone who was hurting with the 5 lbs weights, this was fantastic. There were only a couple of exercises were I used the 5 lbs weights. I felt so exhausted afterwards and that made me feel good emotionally. I knew I had pushed myself!

After we were done Tom suggested we left the Ab Ripper X for tonight. I knew if we did I would not push myself as much because my body would be cool. We pushed through and did it this morning. As I mentioned Monday, I kept track of how many repetitions I was able to do of each routine, well today I did the same. On Monday I did a bit over 100 and today I did over 200!!! That felt great! I then went running and paced myself. By the time I was done I was ready to collapse. Tomorrow we'll be doing the dreaded Yoga. I am trying to stay positive and I got great tips from a friend who has taught Yoga for several years. I will try her suggestions tomorrow and see how it goes. Bring it!!!!

Plyometrics...

This morning we slept through the alarm and we didn't get to workout first thing in the morning. That was hard on me. I don't like working out at night because I already feel tired from my day's tasks. Well, we sucked it up and did Plyometrics after we put the children to bed.

I was used the heart rate monitor today for the first time (something the Easter Bunny brought me =D) It was good to have it on because I kept checking it and pushing myself harder whenever my heart rate went down.

I noticed that although I was pretty tired at night I was still able to improve on my form and endurance from last week. I gotta say that I have never sweated as much doing other workouts as I am with P90X, the exception is the Tae Bo advanced.

I feel very happy to see my progress. I am still struggling but I can see it is worth it. I still don't look ripped but I have already lost 1 inch off my waist. That to me is great news! Tomorrow... Shoulders and Arms... Bring it!!!

Week 3 here we come!!

This is going to be a great week!!! I started out my morning with Chest and Back exercises, moved on to Ab Ripper and tonight I will be going running. In the DVD Tony tells us to keep track of our reps and weights, etc so we can see what we did the previous time. I love that! Today as I was putting in my information I noticed that my reps are increasing, not by too much, but I know that every little bit counts.

When we were doing the Ab Ripper X, Tom and I pushed ourselves more. The total amount of reps is over 300 by the time you are all done. No wonder people get those abs of steel =D. Well, I'm not near there yet but I am closer than I was when I started. I decided to keep track of the number of reps I can do and by the time I was done I was a little disappointed to see that I did less than 200. On the other hand I realized that it was much better than the amount I did on the first day (which was less than 100)

I will admit that this morning I did not want to get up and I think that if Tom had not gotten up out of bed I would have probably stayed in bed too. I feel grateful to have a wonderful husband and exercise buddy to help get me out of bed and keeps me going. I was very glad that I worked out instead of sleeping in. I feel great! My 3 year old saw me lifting some heavy furniture today and he said "wow! Mom you wock!!" (translation:"Wow! Mom you rock!!" Totally made my day. Tomorrow we do Plyometrics, Bring it!!!

End of week 2

I love Saturdays!!! Why do I love Saturdays? Because on Saturdays I get to do Kenpo X. It is my favorite of all the workouts we've done so far. Today I noticed that I was able to do all the jumping jacks without taking breaks and then moved on to the "X Jumps" and did them all. That is more than I was able to do last week =D That of course makes me very happy.

Yesterday we didn't get to do the Ab Ripper X so today we did it after Kenpo. I am still struggling with the Ab Ripper. I push myself but I still cannot do all 25 of each. I did however do more this time than last. I have noticed that I have been increasing my repetitions little by little. I am hoping by the end of next week to be able to do even more of the Ab Ripper X exercises.

My goal is to be able to do all the exercises in the Ab Ripper by day 90, especially the "Mason Twists" As of now those are my least favorite exercises. Anyway, tomorrow is our resting day. Stay tuned for my next update on Monday. Bring it!!!

Still on week 2 days 4 and 5

O.k. So, I'm late bloging today. Yesterday I didn't get to blog about my workout because we went out of town. We were supposed to go camping but we had to cancel the trip due to a death in our group. We decided to drive down to AZ instead, but before we left we did the dreaded Yoga.

Yoga was not as bad. I think in part it was because we didn't finish =( We did about half of it and then we had to go. We took the DVD with us to finish at night but were unable to finish. Next week we'll have to push ourselves more.

Today we came back from AZ. It was a long drive!! We ate dinner, got the children ready for bed and after they were all asleep we got ourselves ready for our workout. Wow!! it is not as easy to workout at night for me. I was tired because of our trip and then on top of that to do pull-ups and legs felt like murder!

I feel good that we worked out tonight. Both Tom and I were sweating like crazy. My legs were screaming several times during the workout. I gotta say though, after spending several hours sitting down in the car driving, it felt really great to stretch out my legs.

Tomorrow is my favorite workout, Kenpo! Bring it baby!!!!

Week 2, Shoulders and Arms...

Good morning all! Today Tom was off of work so we slept in. We started working out around 7am. I don't think we will do that again. It is hard for me to workout when the kids are up and wanting to be right there with us. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that our children see our example and want to follow, that is great. Unfortunately, our living room is not big enough for all of us.

I noticed today as we were working out that I was able to do more repetitions than I did last week. At times I felt like I could not do one rep. but Tony encourages us in the DVD to go and do one more and so I did. I also noticed that on some I used the 10 lbs. weights for the first set and then 5 lbs. for the second set because I could not do as many reps. I will have to go to the forums and find out if by the time we get to the second set of reps. it's ok to still use heavier weights but less reps than the first set.

Anyway, after the workout I went running the "couch to 5k program". It felt great! This time I concentrated on my breathing and pacing myself. I did not get any side cramps and that made me feel good. By the time I was done I felt like I had accomplished something.  Tonight we'll do the bonus workout and the ab ripper since we didn't have time =(

Tomorrow we'll see how we do with Yoga. As of right now I don't like it but I want to give it a chance and not quit. Bring it!!

Plyometrics...

We are on week 2, day 2. Today was our second day. I feel great!! Today I was able to do more of the workout than I did last week. That made me feel great since I am a very impatient person and I like to see results right away. I know that I need to be patient and although I don't see it physically, I can feel the physical change. I don't know if that makes any sense, but what I'm trying to say is that I felt more endurance during this workout. It is by no means an easy workout, but the endurance is getting there =D

Tomorrow we go back to shoulders and arms... I am ready! Let's bring it!!!

Week 2 =D

Hello support group!!! Today was the beginning of week 2. We worked our shoulders and arms this morning. We did the same routines as in day 1 but with improvements in our part. In one week we were able to increase our endurance and quality of some of the exercises. I say some because I still did the push ups on my knees. On the plus side, I did all the pull ups and chin ups using just the bar instead of the resistance bands. Of course I had to use the chair for assistance because I still can't pull myself up without it.

The only thing I did not do as well was the ab ripper. I feel like I could've pushed myself more. I also skipped a couple of the exercises that required me to lay on my back and then bring myself up. On those it felt great just laying down =( I will have to push myself harder next time.

Tonight I will go running with my gal friends and tomorrow more P90X... BRING IT!!!

Day of rest...

Today was our resting day! I gotta say that it is a good feeling to miss not working out. I thought I would love not working out today but in reality I missed it. I guess tomorrow I'll probably be singing a different tune. We'll see =D Bring it!

Day 6! Woot woot!!

Today was day 6. We slept in and got up at 6:30am, got ready and our children were up running around. We told them we were going to workout and they were welcome to join if they wanted. Once we got started... they didn't want to =D

Today's workout was Kenpo. I loved it!! It was awesome. I think it has been the most enjoyable workout I've done all week. Don't get me wrong, I by no means mean to say this was an easy workout. I was still hurting (but it was a good hurt) as I was doing it.

Kenpo was alot of kicking and punching and horse stances. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much is because I have done Tae Bo before and I love it. It was a bit like the advance Tae Bo, which is what I was doing before I started with P90X. Only I was doing Tae Bo on and off and not consistantly since I was doing it alone.

I was feeling really sick this morning and it is why I didn't get up when the alarm went off. Thankfully Tom pushed me off the bed and I had to get up. Just kidding, he woke me up and reminded me of what he and I talked about last night. I have been feeling like I am going to get a cold or something and we decided that we will workout even if we are sick and do the best we can. So, this morning my throat was sore again and Tom encouraged me to get up and do the best I could. Did the workout and afterwards we did the Ab Ripper we missed yesterday due to lack of time.

Tomorrow is REST DAY!!!!

Day 5!!! Back and legs...

Today is our fifth day working out. It was fun!! We worked our backs and legs. I admit that although some of the exercises are not easy and we hurt physically, emotionally we feel great!! I already see some improvement in my endurance and that for me is cause for celebration, celery sticks for everyone!!

Today I noticed that I was able to do more reps than at the beginning of the week. I also tried the bars today for the chin-ups and pull-ups instead of the resistance bands. I didn't use the bar the whole time we did bars because right now we only have one bar set up and Tom uses it. Tom encouraged me to try the bar even if I had to use a chair for support. I did and it was amazing the work it was to bring myself up above the bar.

We have another pull up bar that Tom is going to set up so we can both use one while we workout. I now see that although the resistance bands are great and easier to use, it is not the same. In part I think it is because one of the bands popped on me on day one that I have not pulled hard enough on them since then for fear of having another one pop. In the end I know the bars will be better for me and I will feel great when I am able to pull myself up without assistance =D

Tomorrow we will be doing Kempo. BRING IT!!!  In the mean time I will leave you with this "before" picture along with other pictures of my workouts this week. (These pictures are just for you Paul. I hope you enjoy ;-D )

In this picture you will be able to see my before picture and what I will look like on day 90.  You can also see each one of my workouts for the week. I could not draw a pony tail on my hair so picture one instead of the flowing hair  =D

Because some times picture speak louder than my typed words.

Day 4, Yoga

Today was hard to get up. We have been trying to go to bed earlier since we are getting up early to workout. Mornings are better for us since at night we are too tired from our day's labors that we find it too easy to postpone or not do. Last night we went to bed pretty late and this morning we paid for it. My throat was sore and I felt very tired. Tom is my rock and he got me up.

We set up for our first ever session of Yoga and got started. HOLY COW!!! It kicked my butt big time! The poses were not natural for us and I will admit to feeling discouraged. Bless my sweet husband who still supported and pushed me through it. Again we did the best we could with our bodies and look forward to being able to bend and hold and balance as easily as Tony makes it look in the DVD. We are not giving up! We want this and we know it is not going to be easy at first and the results will all be worth it.

What made my day today was that I was feeling really discouraged earlier in the morning after not being able to hold the poses for as long or as graceful as the people in the video and Tom sent me a text. He asked how my day was going and how I was feeling. I told him I was feeling PLOM (Poor Little Old Me), discouraged and upset that I was not able to do some of the exercises right. He replied saying "Neither could I. Remember, this is extreme. It is going to be hard. Plus we were really tired. I'm proud of you for diong it this morning!" What can I say after that? Needless to say I cried and felt very grateful for his encouragement.

What can I say? I love my hubby! He is not perfect, but neither am I. He IS wonderful in many ways and the best is that he is wonderful in many ways I need. Today I will go to bed earlier and hopefully tomorrow will be better. Honestly, keeping this blog/journal of my progress is helping me now. I feel much better now that I have vented =D. For tomorrow... BRING IT!!!!

P90X Day 3

Good morning!! Today we did Chest and Arm exercises. We had to break it down and do most of the video in the morning and the bonus and Ab Ripper exercises we finished in the evening. Once again we got up, got ready and dove into our workout session. Today we used mostly the weights. We worked on our chests and our arms. Many times throughout the workout my arms were screaming!!!

I was using 5lbs weights and found they were too light for me. I could not find the 8lbs weights so I did more repetitions with what I had. Tom on the other hand only had 25lbs. weights and although for some exercises that was the perfect weight for him, for other exercises it was too much for him. We did the best we could with what we had and stopped right as the Bonus workout was about to start.

Tonight we went to get more weights so we could use the appropriate weights we need for the exercises. I went running with my neighbor, who my hubby recruited to accompany me so I wouldn't go by myself. It was fun running and I was able to use it as a warm up. When I got back Tom and I did the Bonus exercises and the Ab Ripper. Again we did the best we could and went for quality rather than quantity. It kicked our butts!!

Tomorrow we move on to Yoga. I have never done Yoga, but I keep hearing how wonderful it is. I hope people are right. BRING IT!!!!

Day 2 of P90X

Ouch!!! I woke up this morning and I could not believe I was feeling sore. Yesterday I felt great and was not sore, today it was different. I was feeling it in my upper chest, armpits and my shoulder blades. I also sneezed and realized I forgot to mention we also did the Ab Ripper yesterday as well. I felt it in my abs when I sneezed, can you believe that?!

Well, on to today. We got up and got dressed and got on with our next workout, Plyometrics. Wow! We did lots of jumping today and squatting. Our legs were screaming throughout the sets of exercises and we looked forward to every water break we got and also the stretching. It felt great to stretch!

After we were done my legs were sore and I felt very grateful that I ran yesterday and not today =) Bring it!!!

P90X Day 1

Ok, so I started P90X with my husband today. For our first workout session we did Pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, and all kinds of ups. Wow!!! I could not believe this was for our first workout. I have never done a single pull-up in my life. This was more strenuous than I thought it would be.

I used the resistance bands instead of the pull-up bar. It went ok until one of my bands popped and I had to manage with just one. The push-ups were also not very easy for me. It was a good thing that Tom, my hubby, was working out with me. He kept me motivated and encouraged. We went for quality rather than quantity and that was helpful too.

We followed the DVD and felt encouraged by Tony's optimism and encouragement. It is amazing how easy they make it look. We know as we keep at it we'll be able to complete the workouts without screaming in pain every now and then =D

I have to be honest and say that after we were done with the workout I felt great. I was in pain and I was dreading having to pick up my kids after this workout. Thankfully we stretched a lot throughout the workout that it made quite a difference. During the day I was able to lift my children without pain.

Tonight I went running too. I started a program called from "The Couch-To-5K", that a friend from church introduced me to. We have been running on Monday evenings for about 30 mins., and then I run on my own two more times during the week. It is an easy program I'll have to discuss later.

For now this is what I did today as far as workouts. I hope I feel as happy and motivated tomorrow. BRING IT!!!!