this makes me smile...

Day 1 - Core Synergistics

After a bit of consideration, I decided I would give P90X another try. I'm still a bit apprehensive and worry that my commitment to the program might falter again, but I'm going to try and stick with it. 

This first session has a basic idea of working your core muscles to make your entire body stronger, since all your limbs are branches from your center.

The DVD starts with a warm up then quickly moves into stacked foot/staggered hand push-ups. This consists of placing one hand underneath your body like in a regular push-up and the other infront of you. You then do five reps, switch hand positions, and continue with another five reps on each side until the time runs out.  The thing about this exercise is that I have pretty much no upper body strength. Like, none. So doing this part of the workout was extremely difficult and I decided doing more reps with girl push-up instead of only two real push-ups in total was an acceptable compromise. 

Next was banana rolls. Now, I love bananas, but absolutely LOATHE banana rolls. You start off on your back with your arms and legs extended outward and raised in the air, like the shape of a banana (how convenient) using only your core muscles to keep your limbs up. Then you roll onto your left side and hold the position for however many seconds you're required to do, and keep the sequence going until, again, the time runs out. I love/hate this exercise for a few reasons.  I love a great ab workout anytime, anywhere. I love the burn and like to feel my waist on fire. I hate this exercise because doing it on a yoga mat on hardwood floors wreaks havoc on my pelvis and I always end up with bruises like some rape victim. 

The rest of the workout consisted of:

Leaning Crescent Lunges

Squat Run

Sphinx Push-up / Military crawl

Bow to Boat

Low Lateral Skaters

Lunge and Reach

Prison Cell Push-ups

Side Hip Raise

Squat X-Press

Plank to Chaturanga

Walking Push-up

Superman / Banana

Lunge Tricep Curl Press

Towel Hoppers

Reach High & Under Push-ups

Steam Engine

Dreya Roll

Plank to Chaturanga Iso

Halfback

Table Dip Raise

After doing ALL of the exercises, I was exhausted. Exhausted and sore. Exhausted, sore, and pretty proud of myself for getting through the first day. An assortment of squats and lunges, and various push-ups kept this day interesting. 

We'll see how day 2 goes.

This makes me smile

Facts about...ME!

1. I hate Jell-O. Always have, always will.

2. I am allergic to food colouring, but still complain about hives after eating fruit loops or other various candies.

3. My biggest addiction is Chap Stick. I will literally be overcome with anxiety if I don’t have some readily available to me, and will purchase hoards of sticks at the next Costco shopping excursion just so I have a bountiful amount that I can place strategically around my house/car/purse/jacket. Every sweater and jacket I own has a least one chapstick in a pocket. 

4. I love hugs and snuggles and kisses on the cheek. There’s something about the warmth of someone you love that can dismiss any terrible goings on from the day. 

5. I"m a great actress but terrible liar. For some stupid reason, lying makes me either giggle or make stupid faces so it's obvious I'm not telling the truth. 

6. I can remember everyone’s birthday, every anniversary, phone number, and any minute detail about anything, but will forget what I went into a room to do in a matter of seconds. I basically have no short term memory. Pretty sure I need to seek help.

7. I loathe fake people with fake profile pictures on social networking sites. If you’re ugly and obese, painting your face with ten pounds of makeup and using sneaky photo angles to create the illusion that you’re not a total dog just makes you look worse in person. It's annoying, stop it.

8. I hate leftovers.

9. I have the luck of the Irish when it comes to any sort of gambling activities. Except slots. I suck monkey balls when it comes to slots.

10. I like things that smell like coconut. 

11. I have a freckle on my collarbone that I adore. I also have three freckles in the shape of a triangle on my tummy and one on my knee that is pretty awesome too. 

12. I like scrapbooking and making cards. I'm really into Christmas cards right now.

13. I can fit more grapes in my mouth than anyone I know. (the secret is to open up your trachea – you can fit more in ;) 

14. I bought my car on a random impulse.

15. Sometimes I can read minds and predict the future.

16.Fall is my favourite season and so are the colours that come with it. Orange is the best and can actually turn my mood from sour to jovial with the glance of a perfect hue.

17. I have a really hard time singing along to songs because I always hear the music above the lyrics.

18. I don't enjoy chocolate. I love to bake with it, just not eat it.

19. I love sharks. I think they're incredibly fascinating and terrifying at the same time. If a shark and a crocodile were to fight, a shark would totally win. If Megalodon were to fight T-Rex, Megalodon would win. Just saying.

20. I really dislike having baths. I find them to be a huge waste of time and can’t stand stewing in my own filth. Even bubble baths only last fifteen minutes at the most before I go stir crazy. 

21. I’m consistently cold. 

22. Broccoli and Cheese soup is my favourite soup to eat. 

23. I have an intense and completely irrational fear of zombies. I am a candyass when it comes to horror movies, especially zombie ones. People think I'm exaggerating but seriously, SHAUN OF THE DEAD kept me up late in bed, listening intently for any weird sounds outside that might indicate a zombie invasion.

24. For about one week every couple of months I eat an absurd amount of apples. I don’t really know why, just kinda happens.

25. I like to play Blokus.

P90X Adventures

Okay, so here's the deal.

Because of certain circumstances, my boyfriend (and husband to be) and I are doing the long distance thing at the moment. That being said, this past summer I decided it was high time to get rid of those extra "love pounds" I had gained while waiting for our next reunion. I did a bit of research and found that a lot of people had sucess with the workout regimen P90X.

For p90x to be effective, two things need to happen: 

1, you need to have a workout partner equally as motivated as you, and 

2, you need to be able to commit to working your ass off (literally, i guess) for the entire 90 day duration. 

I'm to the point where my skinny jeans just don't fit anymore and that really cute blazer I used to wear to work doesn't button up all the way. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not morbedly obese or have health issues, I just used to be hot and now I feel like i'm tipping the mediocre scales.

So the past summer, after a bit of online research, I purchased the program and felt confident that I was on my way back to a tight ass, toned thighs, and rock hard (yet feminine) abs. I faithfully completed each approximately one hour session, six days a week, and somewhat improved my eating habits. Things were going great. After the first month I started seeing results and could feel the endorphans rush through my body after each work out. About three quarters of the way through the 90 days, life started to get in the way. Suddenly, I found that the time I had devoted to each day was being consumed with other seemingly more important goings-on and I was missing workouts with promises of "going harder" the next day. Oh boy, that DID NOT happen. With about three weeks left in the course, the workouts came to an abrupt stop. 

No rhyme, no reason. Just stopped.

So here's my dilema. I'm considering starting the program again, but have ZERO motivation other than not wanting to feel like a fatty. The cardio was fun, the hour and a half of yoga was fantastic, and oh god, the sixteen minute "ab ripper" is exactly what it sounds like. I loved every minute of it, yet can't seem to find the stamina or motivation to get the party started again. 

I'm not entirely sure if I'll give P90X another go or if I'll try and find something else that works, either way, something has to be done.

We'll see how it goes.

My first Blog!

So, apparently blogging is all the rage these days.

We'll see how that goes...