I am still here, and still going strong in doing all the routines – just have not been blogging!

I am keeping my diet around 1,200 calories a day, which is pretty difficult when you live with roommates who eat fast food for every single meal and are in classes until 7 or 9 at night…

Classes started on the 25th for the semester, which is why I have been not blogging much – super busy, but still getting all the workouts done in the morning before classes and work. Hopefully I can keep going strong, though I must point out that I am now past the halfway point and have still lost 0 body fat % and only 2 pounds – in almost 7 weeks. Needless to say, I am not going to give the greatest endorsement to P90X once this is all over

That’s all the update for now, going camping over the long Labor Day weekend so will probably get lots of hiking and physical activity in. See you all when I get back!

Core Synergistics was fairly nice today, smooth and calm again, I didn’t really push too hard because my legs are sore from hiking all over this weekend, but I finished the whole thing (didn’t do the bonus moves) and felt good and strong.  Hopefully I can get some more sleep tonight than I did last night and bring it more for Cardio X.

Yoga X:

Today was surprisingly easier with Yoga.  The whole vinyasa/warrior pose/etc hard part really did not seem as long as usual, and I wasn’t horribly beaten when it was over.  I did very good and was relaxed and calm the whole time.  Hopefully it stays that easy and comfortable from now on…

Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X:

Same story again!  Legs and back last time I did it totally broke me and I only got halfway through.  I think it had something to do with lack of sleep and not eating enough beforehand more so than probably the workout itself, but it still felt good to get through it so easily today.  I moved back a little further away from where I usually kneel to make pulling the band harder, and I equaled or did more reps on almost every move than I have before.

Ab Ripper was also pretty easy.  I was just going to skip it because I had forgotten I had to do it until the very end of Legs and Back, but then decided ah it’s only 15 minutes, so I went ahead and did it.  It was almost fun, and I hurt a lot less than usual and moved a lot smoother than usual.  My legs are starting to get really noticeably straightener for some of the moves in these routines.  I am doing good I think

Today was my first time ever doing Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.  I did not know what to expect and the amount of push-ups right off the bat scared me.  I’m fairly sure the reason the older lady was in the video was to break not only the stereotypes that only the young and supple can be fit, and also the stereotype that women have puny upper body strength – and this one I admit I feel victim to right away.  I was sure I wouldn’t be able to do more than half of this workout if the amount of push-ups kept up!

However, I am happy to admit that I could do every single move except for the one-hand push-ups I just barely did, and the clap push-ups I cheated on but still got done.  I also did a lot more reps on all the exercises than I thought I would, and even switched out for a higher weight a couple times.  Overall, this workout definitely worked some parts of my arms that have been dormant for many years I could tell because they feel all tight and tingly in spots where I’ve never felt anything before.  I think I am going to like this one, and I hope it starts to build up some extra arm muscles for me which I’m sure it will!

I also did Ab Ripper X today, and surprisingly after a week off still got 25 on each move and did not feel as burny as usual right away until about 3 moves in.  So today was a good day.

I did Cardio X yesterday and forgot to blog, not much to say about it, did good, no problems, now gearing up for super long yoga tomorrow

So, I didn’t give up Even though I haven’t lost any weight – I am choosing to keep going anyway, because I figure weight loss isn’t the only measurement of health and I am really doing this for health overall anyway so I should just keep going for my own good. I definitely need to keep working on my diet part of this life change, as someone posted in one of my comments, and I will start looking into the P90X diet plan.

Also, I was so annoyed yesterday that I went and got some body fat calipers at GNC just to double check and be sure (I had been using the digital scale in my bathroom before), and turns out I did not gain an extra 2% body fat as my scale told me, I am still just the same as when I started. And my scale reflected that when I weighed again this morning as well. Guess it was just off kilter yesterday

So Today I did Core, as usual, and I am pleased to report that this time I even did some moves I generally skip over! Banana Rolls seemed a little easier than last week, and I used a weight on Leaning Crescent Lunges and Squat X Press, which I usually don’t. I still can’t really do Side Hip Raise or Reach High and Under Push Ups much at all, but I did the Bonus Round moves today! Obviously I did not get as many reps as the people in the video did but this was my first time not just being burnt out and skipping them altogether so that was nice.

In conclusion, I clearly need to make some diet changes since I am exercising my butt off compared to my sedentary lifestyle before, and I am definitely getting stronger so maybe the lack of lost weight and looser clothing is because I am just building muscle mass. Thanks to all who commented last time and good luck to all of you too wherever you are in the program!

Well, 28 days over, 4 weeks over, Part I over….and I was correct about my prediction.

Absolutely no change atll. A month of hard work and absoltuely nothing to show for it.

Lost 0 pounds, 0 body fat %.

So Whatever.

Today was Yoga X. I honestly didn’t think I would have time to do the routine today because it is the weekend and weekends are kinda shady for me as to whether I’ll have free time to do exercise or not. Luckily, my roommate had a project to work on all morning, so I had the living room to myself with nothing to do. I did everything except Crane and Shoulder Stand, as usual (I do try them, just to see if I can do them yet, but it’s a no every time). Each time I do this routine it gets less and less annoying and less and less on my nerves, so that is good. Today it was almost fun.

Tomorrow will be my last day of part 1 of P90X Lean Routine. I am excited to weigh in and check measurements and stuff but I am trying very very hard not to get my hopes up because…last summer I did the first 3 weeks and weighed in and absolutely NOTHING at all had changed. I am thinking maybe I just lost fat but gained lots of muscle so that’s why it seemed I hadn’t lost any weight? Like they cancelled each other out? I have been eating better this summer than I was last summer too so I hope that helps…I need to just convince myself that even if nothing has changed tomorrow (cuz judging by my clothes, doesn’t feel like anything has), that I should keep going and not give up anyway.

I’ve read several blogs online though where people chart how much they lost in part 1 and it is never “nothing.” All the blogs I’ve read say they lose something after 4 weeks…I suppose maybe something is drastically wrong with my metabolism/health if I don’t lose anything and I should probably make an appointment with a doctor or nutritionist. We’ll see. Wish me luck.

Since this is the rest week, yesterday had X Stretch as the routine. There aren’t any weight training routines this week, though I would gladly have done them. In my opinion they are way more easier and fun than the non-weight training routines.

Anyway, X Stretch was good…I was expecting it to be a little more original, but most of the moves are stuff you already do either warming up for other routines or moves you do in Yoga X. There are a few totally new original moves but not enough for me It was fun, seeing how flexible I am, but I still can’t do shoulder stands

Today was Cardio. Again, I only like this routine because it is so short. I can bend a lot further down on the hamstring stretches than I could before and that is fun to know. I attempted the Dreya Roll today but have to push off awkwardly to get up at all, and I do it much slower than the people in the video.

I have been doing my Food Pyramid diet good for about 4 weeks, but sadly have grown sick of it. I baked the other day (though with Splenda and wheat flour at least), and that wasn’t good. I am sick to death of salads and yogurt so I got a wheat pizza last night for dinner. As you can see, food part of this fitness plan is breaking down and not going so well this week. Hopefully I’ll start getting that fixed and not let myself down like I always do…

That’s all for today.

Well I got through core yesterday.  Skipped a lot of moves that I still cannot do, but otherwise did good.

Today was Kenpo, was lots of fun as usual.  Knee started to hurt at one point but went away.  Still lovin this workout, tomorrow is stretch…haven’t done that one yet…I did it last year though and I remember it being pretty easy and fun to see how flexible you are.

Today was Yoga X.  I was dreading it all day yesterday because it is the longest workout and because I had just done it on Thursday!  However, I ended up doing much better than I thought I would.  I concentrated a lot and wasn’t as anxious for the Vinyasa/Warrior poses to be over as much as I have been inthe past.  I am hurting less on the half moon poses, and doing much better in balance postures.  I still cannot do Crane and can’t really do the Shoulder Stand yet either…but someday…

This is a long workout so I’m looking forward to the relatively short Core tomorrow   Didn’t do too great with eating this weekend as I went to a festival with my family and ate out for almost every meal…but I always get back on track during the week.  Looking forward to finishing the final week of part 1!