Week 3, Day 1

Yeah, I know there should've been a picture post, but I'm actually going to wait another couple of days to post them. Why? I'm bloated/retaining water.

Well, I missed both Friday & Saturday's workouts because I opened all last week. It was kinda weird - and boring - since most people show up at night. I also made no tips except on one of my birthday parties on Saturday... What's that? Get to the point? This kind of droning belongs on Happy Salty? Fine, then. ANYWAY, the point is that when I made them up on Sunday morning (which is normally my rest day),  I was really exhausted. Let's face it: if I hadn't been reading that book, I would've fallen asleep on my way to the IMAX.

I'm tearing up Ab Ripper now, but those push-ups are still hard. So hard, in fact, that I think I might be getting worse at them while getting better at everything else. Also, "Sweat" is a very appropriate name for my Tues/Thurs/Sat workout because I'm tired and sweaty by the time we finish Power Yoga. Speaking of Yoga, isn't it supposed to be relaxing? I keep waiting for that experience my dad had that one time he did Yoga: falling asleep during the routine.

Next post is going to be pics.

Week 2, Day 1

Like before there isn't much to tell. I'm still struggling with push-ups (even the "chick" ones), but my dips have gotten better...as long I modify them like I'm just sitting. What? I didn't explain what dips were last week? Man, I must really be slacking.

So what are dips? Well, Jerry Nelson - whose blog Jerry's Journey is much more interesting than mine (seriously, go read it now) - describes them as "reverse chair push-ups from hell," and I can't really think of a more accurate assessment. This is an illustration of them. Mind you, Rachel is doing P90X so she gets to use two chairs, but the concept remains the same.

1. You sit in a chair.
2. You fight the urge to pick up the remote and turn off the DVD.
3. You place your hands behind your hips and slide off the front of the chair.
4. You use your arms to raise and lower yourself for 8-15 reps or until you just can't anymore. Whichever comes first. 

I know I haven't posted in a few days, but...

There isn't really much to post. I still hate push-ups. In fact, yesterday I did 4-3-4s instead of 7-7-7s. I've gotten better at Power Yoga, but I'm still struggling with going into Runner's Pose/Warrior after raising one leg in the air over your head. Shoot, I actually DID fall over today! I kicked the heck out of the air, and no amount of stretching is probably going to change the soreness in my legs. And my lateral X-work has gotten better, probably because I actually put an "X" on my floor Thursday.

What? I didn't mention an "X" on Tuesday? Well, when you start Sweat, Tony (or as like to call him, "Broke Down Jeff Probst") asks if you have your X. At first, I had no clue what he was talking about until I looked at the floor on the screen. In front of Tony and each of the kids was an X (well, actually it was a cross, but we're going with Tony terms here). Basically, you jump in and out of the different quadrants. Tuesday, it was difficult to keep up because I had no X. Thursday, I found some tape in the back bedroom and put one on the floor in front of my TV.

Speaking of the back bedroom, I moved my Sculpt workouts there because I have more room for the lunges. More room = better form because I can actually straighten my leg out.

I have to say this, though: if someone had told me on Tuesday - or ever in my LIFE - that I would do 100 crunches (ie. make it through Ab Ripper), I would've told them that they've lost their natural mind. So I guess I can call it a win. -_-

In other news, ONE WEEK DOWN!!! Well, okay, six days, but I AM finished with workouts for the week. Only 84 days left to go. I hope that by September 11th, I'm like the chick in the new J.J. Murray book: pericolosa curves. Before then, I'd like to have an experience that she had near the end of the novel: working out so hard and burning so much fat that my sweatpants just fall off and I have to finish the workout in my underwear.

Also, check out this website: http://excelworkouttools.com/. This guy's spreadsheets are well worth the few dollars that he's charging for them. So far I've received the P90 from a friend and bought the one for ChaLEAN Extreme, which is what I'll be doing between Rockin' Body and Turbo Jam. I just wished he had written one for Master Series (between Turbo Jam & Turbo Fire). And, yes, I've planned my workout schedule that far in advance.

Power 90, Day 3

So today was a Sculpt day, and I decided to try it with the resistance bands instead of my usual weights. Why? I just thought that I'd change it up a little, and since the resistance bands are actually part of the package, I might as well use them. I can honestly say that I understand why a lot of people are all about the bands these days. I think that I might've gotten a slightly better workout with them. They were certainly more difficult to use than the weights. I also had to pause and rewind more than I did on Monday - not because I was any more tired, but because I had issues trying to get my bands in the proper position, especially on things like heavy pants and back-flys (which I STILL don't see and/or feel the difference between).

In other news, I still suck at push-ups. Worked out around 2:30 PM since I got up late, and then it was time for lunch. I was so slow and sluggish that those 7-7-7s were more like 3-3-3s.

Power 90, Day 2

Did Sweat 1-2 & Ab Ripper 100. It's cool that even though Ab Ripper is a separate workout, it's built into the Sweat workout as well so that it launches right after your cool-down & stretch.

I learned that I was wrong yesterday: there IS something worse than push-ups, and they are called crunches. Ab Ripper is brutal. Tony downplays it at first by saying "Yeah, it's 100, but it's only 10 reps of 10 moves. You can do that, can't ya?" He's gets you all confident that you can do it...and then comes the pain! I made it up to position 6 before I started crying out because the obliques on my right side hurt so much that I was having problems breathing for a few minutes.

On the 1st Day of P90, the Mirror Said to Me...

"You're really, really, really, REALLY fat!"

This (the sports bra and swimsuit shorts) will be the outfit that I will take all my pictures in from now on. This should give the picture posts some consistency and cohesiveness.

So I lied...

The next post will actually be the new picture. This update is actually about Day 1: Sculpt 1-2.

What should I start this entry with? Decisions, decisions. Oh, I know...PUSH-UPS. So, yeah, push-ups. I hate them! So, of course, Power 90 is chock full of them. This morning I had to do between 8-15 regular push-ups, 8-15 wide-stance push-ups, and a 7-7-7 (7 wide-stance, 7 close-stance, and 7 regular). Thankfully, I knew to expect that (thanks to the FANTABULOUS community at the TBB website) and bought the Perfect Push-Up last week at Target (the Target website says that they don't don't sell it in stores, but it's a lie. They also had an adjustable/speed weight that I wanted for almost 1/3 the price of its sister site Amazon). It improved my form a little, and my wrists didn't hurt NEARLY as much as they usually do when I do push-ups. However, by the end of the workout, my shoulders were killing me. I wish I could say that I made it to failure within the 8 to 15 reps, but it was actually earlier. Oh, I DID 15 push-ups, but my form stopped being good around number 5. Seriously, push-ups are the bane of my workout existence. If I didn't exercise at 5:00 AM when I'm fresh, I'd probably say screw 'em.

Stats on 6/13

So I start my first round of Power 90 tomorrow, and I'm feeling a little dejected. My measurements weren't as good as I'd hoped. I did lose weight, but I know better than to trust an arbitrary number on the scale. Here's hoping Tony can straighten me out.

Weight - 220 lbs
Waist - 45.5 in
Hips - 47 in
Chest - 49 in
Right Arm - 14.5 in
Left Arm - 15 in
Right Thigh - 29 in
Left Thigh - 29 in
Body Fat - 51.36%

I don't know how in the heck my boobs and arms got bigger, but it's gotta quit happening. Especially the chest area. Yeah, we Laughinghouse's have some big ta-tas, but I'd like to be under a 40 again sometime this century.

Also, I just got off work and my feet are killing me. But, at least, I'm moving A LOT in this job instead of mostly staying in one place like I did for my last job. Because, clearly, I need the extra cardio.

Next update will be a picture post and will be up sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Between HHA levels 1 & 2

Introduction

This is a short entry because most of the personal things you need to know about me, you can read on my profile. Basically, I started this blog because I wanted to get serious about losing weight and figured that if I tracked my progress publicly (and by "publicly," I mean "for my Team Beachbody Coach and my workout buddies"), then it would force me to stay on track. After all, Internet humiliation sticks with you for all time.

So my physical stats on May 16th, 2010 were:

Weight - 227 lbs
Waist - 46 in
Hips - 49 in
Chest - 48.5 in
Right Arm - 14.3 in
Left Arm - 14. 5 in
Right Thigh - 30 in
Left Thigh - 30 in
Body Fat - 42%

I'm going take pictures every two weeks and measurements every 30 days. Next post will current picture which will be followed on June 13th, 2010 with updated picture and measurements. I will be finishing a FULL rotation of Hip Hop Abs (that means both Hip Hop Abs and Hip Hop Abs Ultimate Results) on June 12th and starting my very first rotation of Power 90 on June 14th. I hope you enjoy the ride and are hopefully inspired to start your own transformation.