The Start of a new Adventure!

As I embark on P90X2 I am returning to my original P90X blog site. As previously discussed, there is nothing that I am “reclaiming” as such and I hope that this new endeavor will take me places that I have not been before.

If you want to follow along, please join me at: http://joyfulstoves.blogspot.com

Pictures

After taking the "after" pictures my intial thought was, "I'm glad these are also the 'before' pictures for P90X2." Then I looked at them along with the "before" pictures and I have to say that I felt better.

Day 1

Day 90

Day 1

Day 90

Results

So, P90X is a hard 90 days. But, is it effective? I'll answer with a resounding YES! It could've been more effective. I could've paid attention to my food choices. And I think the One on One DVDs gave me more challenging moves, but less intensity.

Anyhow, if you're actually reading to see results you want to see numbers. I lost only 8.4 lbs. That is my sad number. I always tell people that the scale isn't everything and I have to take my own advice. I was really hoping to lose about 20 lbs this round. And I lost like 8 lbs in the first week... so weight loss wasn't the highlight.

What was sweet was that I lost a total of 16.5 inches! This included 4.5 inches off my waist and 3.5 inches off each thigh. So, pants fit a lot better. To get to where I was when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter I have another 3.5 total inches to lose. Not bad. I can certainly do that with P90X2. I have the potential to lose a lot more! Excited to see where numbers end up.

I still can't do a pull up. But I went from doing 25 push ups on my knees to doing 20 regular push ups followed by 17 push ups on my knees. I also nearly doubled the number of bicep curls I can do. And the number of in and outs (an ab exercise) nearly doubled... I stopped on that one when my legs started hurting and that made the wall sit tough. But I still improved my wall sit time by 60%.

Should be taking pictures this weekend. I'll try to get them up before I start P90X2 on Monday.

Day 90!!! – Kenpo X

I made it! Whooo hoo!! Tomorrow I’ll be doing picture, measurements, and the end fit test. Should be interesting to see what progress was made. I feel a lot better than I did 90 days ago, though I know I should’ve made some attempt at following the food recommendations. I plan on doing that portion (at least to some extent) with P90X2. So excited to start that adventure next! I think I’ll read over the paperwork, fit test, etc tonight.

Seems like this last portion has been heavy on the Kenpo X… likely because I haven’t been sticking to the schedule. Doing the hybrid plan really messed me up as far as sticking with the schedule. There were some One on Ones that I loved and others that were annoying for one reason or another. One of the things I look forward to the most with the P90X2 is that the whole program will be polished (and therefore likely really hard) and I’ll force me to stick with the schedule. Or at least it’ll be easier to stick with the schedule instead of letting my head decide that I want other routines. I’m much better at this working out thing when someone else is telling me what to do. I think that’s what I like about the muscle confusion aspects of the P90X program(s). In the past I had a variety of workout DVDs and would vary my yoga, pilates, kickboxing, etc but I would stick with one thing until it was easy(ish) and then move on to another. There was no plan and certainly no scientific reasoning behind which muscle groups I was working. Yay for experts figuring out this stuff for me!

Day 89 – P90X2 Plyocide

Tomorrow is my last day! And yet it was oh so hard to get out of bed this morning. I’m really glad I did, though there were moments when I realized that my stomach was still a little unsure of food and life in general. I probably stopped 3-4 times to take deep breaths and let my stomach settle. So, not the hardest workout today but it was a workout and I felt happy and sweaty afterward. Tomorrow is my last day and I plan on doing Kenpo X. Then it’s time to take the fit test again and see how I’ve progressed. Also time for measurements and pictures. These will serve as both “end results” for P90X and “before” stats for P90X2.

Days 87 & 88 – Sick Days & Reflection

Ugh. I hate that as I near the end I find myself taking off three days in a row (Day 86 was more of a lazy day). Monday I had intentions of working out in the morning. I woke and started the morning routine but before I made it to my workout the rest of the family awoke. Then by evening I was feeling ill and throwing up. I’ll blame the taco salad I had since no one else seems to be ill (thank goodness!). Tuesday morning I woke up and again started my routine but my belly started feeling funny and Plyocide just didn’t seem like a good idea. So, I crawled back into bed and reset the alarm. Hopefully tomorrow will be Plyo day. I’d like to do at least a couple of workouts this last week. But, I won’t be redoing this week like I did the last time I took a week off. Day 90 will be the results test day regardless… I have P90X2 to start!

So, I’m starting to reflect back on this a little bit already. I named the blog “Reclaiming Me” but what am I really reclaiming? I realized about halfway into this that my title is a little (a lot?) misleading. It seems to imply that I’ve lost me and that is definitely not the case. I have two beautiful kids and an amazing husband. I need to improve on reading God’s word, but my kids have deepened my faith and prayer life. Being a mom has given me a whole new perspective on creation, love, and inner strength. For these reasons my relationship with God has changed and that is an exciting revelation. In those aspects the old me isn’t someone I want to return to.

I meant for the title to capture my journey to regain the level of fitness I was at prior to my most recent pregnancy. I think I’m near that goal now, though I still have progress to make to be where I’d ideally be physically. I am not one of those people who gain the minimum required weight during pregnancy and shed it as soon as the baby comes out. I know plenty of people who find that breastfeeding is all they need to drop back to pre-pregnancy weight. Those people make me a little ill. I gain about double the recommended weight and breastfeeding ends up being my excuse to continue to eat more than I should. So, my journey has been one of returning to the fitness level I feel is healthy. I think weight loss goes hand in hand with strength building. My problem with a lot of the advertized weight loss systems is that they rely solely on food choices. Eating healthy is certainly important, and it’s an avenue I need to get better at traveling, but it’s not everything. To me being skinny isn’t a snapshot of healthy. It’s a step better than being obese, certainly better as far as medical statistics go, but it’s not necessarily the picture of health. Something I love about Beachbody is that they combine exercise, nutrition, community, and finances. I’ve seen their plan change the lives of people I know and I know that I’m not taking full advantage of all their opportunities. But, I’m getting out what I’m putting in.

This journey doesn’t really have a destination. Just an ongoing narrative of trying to be a healthy mom for my kids, an energetic wife for my husband, and a friend who can hopefully support and encourage others. Maybe along the way I’ll admire a few signposts of personal accomplishments.

Day 86 - Rest day... oops!

Not how I thought I would start the new year. Instead of Plyocide I slept in after a bad night of sleep. Then the kiddos didn't want to sleep tonight, so I'm beat. A movie is in the DVD player and the hubby's making popcorn and brownies... as long as this isn't the pattern for the year.

On the plus side I did get a 3 mile run in yesterday. So, two workouts yesterday and none today.