Day 89 - Done with my first run through P90X2

Well, I've survived the first run through this extremely demanding workout routine and I'm happy with the results.

Day 1                                      Day 90

After 90 days

Tonight I get to celebrate with a dinner that I've been craving for a while now.  Cheeseburger with a fried egg on top.  Okay, maybe a bit weird, but I saw it on Man V. Food and I NEED IT.  Next week I plan to get back to work to continue the workouts.  Round 1 done and round 2 coming.  Can't wait to see the results on second run through.  This is taking a lot of work, but it's worth it.

Day 88 - X2 Yoga

Every time I do this I get more out of it.  I love it.  I also threw in 2 sets of 10 chin-ups just for fun.

Day 87 - X2 Shoulders and Arm & X2 Ab Ripper

Some days I look in the mirror after working out and think "I'm almost there".  Other days what I see makes me think "Nope, not yet".  Today is the latter.  Almost at the 90-day mark and the clothing fits great and I've definitely lost weight, but I have to wonder how much weight loss it's going to take to shed the stomach fat.  Right now I'm staying at 158, so I guess 150 is about right maybe.  Wow, that would be a lot of weight off from where I started.  Arms are feeling good and so are abs, but the fat has to go.  It's no longer welcome.  :-)

Day 86 - Rest Day (well, sort of)

I started out thinking I was going to do the Recovery and Mobility DVD, but about 2 minutes in I got completely bored with it, so I decided to do Ab Ripper, Pushups and Chin-ups.  It went like this:

Ab Ripper
10 Chin-ups
40 Pushups
7 Pull-ups (hands facing)
35 Pushups
Chin-ups - 6, 4, 3, 3, 3

Day 85 - Plyocide

Wow, I actually enjoyed Plyocide tonight.  I didn't have to take as many breaks and I did some chin-ups at one point during a break.  I'm now up to 10 chin-ups without having to take any breaks.  Woohoo.  I'm still wondering what it's going to take to lose the flab around the middle, but I guess that is about the last spot to lose the weight.  I keep thinking by now that I should have rock hard abs, but I guess that's a bit optimistic for one pass through considering where I started.  The progress is slowing, but is continuing.  Just need to keep at it.

Day 84 (start of week 13) - Chest and Back and Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

Today marks the start of the last week for this first trip through the program.  While this week marks the end of the 90 days, it doesn't really mean much to me because I still have a long way to go.  I have yet to get to phase 3 and I am still coming up short of reps for a lot of the workouts (especially the pullups and chin ups), so I'll take a picture and then onward I go.  I was trying to get dressed this morning and I realized that I have very few pants that really fit any more.  1 pair of jeans and 2 slacks.  That's it.  I have some shorts from a long time ago, but It's still March, so looking forward to getting some new pants soon.

Day 83 - Rest Day

Having a nice relaxing Sunday. 

Day 82 - Base and Back & Ab Ripper

Wow, doing Ab Ripper after doing Base and Back is murder.  I was wiped when I started Ab Ripper, so by the time I was done I didn't have anything left in the tank.  Who's idea was it to put these two together on the same day?  Not a nice thing.  I was very glad to get some protein in me after that workout.  I did improve on the Plyo portion of Base and Back today, so that was encouraging.

Day 81 - X2 Yoga

I started out the workout tonight less than motivated because I had just spread lawn fertilizer and had been doing a fair amount of sweating out in the heat.  But, once I got started I was fine and was able to get a good workout in.  After the workout Kristi and I went to Chik-fil-A for dinner.  I had a sandwich and the salad, so not a terribly nutritious meal, but could be worse.  We also had some popcorn at the movies, so overall not a great day on the calorie front.

Day 80 - X2 Shoulders and Arm & X2 Ab Ripper

I loved the workout tonight.  I didn't get a lot further in reps than I did last week, but I sure did get a lot out of the workout.  After my workouts I usually take a look in the mirror to see how things are progressing and I continue to see good results.  With only 10 days before I hit the 90 day mark I will likely not be at the point I would like by the end of 90 days, but no matter.  This is all about the journey and it's a good one.  Believe it or not I'm actually starting to enjoy Ab Ripper.  it was a killer when I started it, but now I like it a lot.  It's only 15 minutes long, but it does a lot for toning the muscles.

I probably ate a bit to much today (around 1800 calories including the protein shake after workout).  I need to be more careful about overdoing the calories for breakfast and lunch. I had an egg and cheese wrap from Wawa for breakfast today and that was a bit much.  I'm pretty much holding steady on the weight at 158, but I am seeing increase in muscle, so I don't care too much about what the scale says at this point.

Day 79 - Rest Day

The only exercise I did tonight was some chip-ups to see how many I can to before maxing out.  I'm now up to 9 good chin-ups before the arms give out.  That's a far cry from the two I could do when I started P90X2.  I'm already looking forward to getting back to working out tomorrow night.

Day 78 - Plyocide

Today I got a little extra exercise by playing beach volleyball during lunch.  The guys at work take it pretty seriously, so I actually got a pretty good sweat going.  I then hit some golf balls after work before heading home to do Plyocide.  I pushed it pretty hard tonight, so I was sweating pretty well by the time I was done.  I continue to make progress on the reps on the things that I've found to be difficult, so it won't be long before I won't have to modify at all.  I had some of my protein drink with some frozen strawberries in it.  Yum.

Day 77 (start of week 12) - Chest and Back and Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

I enjoyed the workout tonight.  It went by pretty quickly since I was focused on getting the most out of the workout.  I went out and bought a whey-based protein called "Nature's Best " that has a higher level of protein per serving, so I'm interested in seeing if it makes a difference.  It sure does taste better and it mixes up pretty well in water.  It has 50gm per serving, so I like that.

Day 76 - Rest Day

I weighed in this morning and am now down to 157.  Today is two weeks from the end of the 90 days.  Almost every day I think about how grateful I am that I decided to do this.  It all started with thinking about what I wanted for Christmas and somehow thinking about P90X because a co-worker I know has been using the program.  One little thought and a few months of determination and  now here I am having lost more than 30 pounds and feeling great.  Go figure.

Day 75 - Base and Back & Ab Ripper

Wow, I'm tired.  I played basketball for almost two hours this morning.  Then Stephen and I went out after lunch and hit golf balls for close to an hour at the range.  I came home and did my workouts and had dinner.  I'm ready for a nap :-)

I tried Shakeology for the first time today and honestly am not very fond of the greenberry flavor.  I plan to try the chocolate soon to see if I like it any better. I stuck to the diet pretty well today.  Shakeology and banana for breakfast.  Turkey breast lunch meat and some crackers for lunch.  Chicken breast, Salad and Protein shake for dinner.  I'm starting to wonder if the remaining fat around my mid section is more skin than fat.  Hopefully it will tighten up over time.

Day 74 - X2 Yoga

Wow, again so much sweating while doing yoga.  It was great.  I just got a sample of Shakeology to try out and am looking forward to trying it tomorrow morning after basketball.  Only a little over two weeks until I hit the 90-day mark for the program.  I am seeing the results, but I suspect it will take longer than 90 days to get to where I want to be.

Day 73 - X2 Shoulders and Arm & X2 Ab Ripper

I felt pretty good tonight while working out and was able to up the reps on most things (including intensity on Ab Ripper).  Before showering I was looking in the mirror and noticed blue lines on my chest.  It freaked me out for a second until I realized that I was seeing the veins in my chest.  I'm not used to seeing them since I've always had a moderate layer of fat covering them up.  I guess it would help a bit if I got some sun.

Day 72 - Rest day

I spent the night with the family.  We went out to Shady Maple smorgasbord for dinner. I was pretty good considering the temptations.  The only dessert I had was some melon and pineapple.

Day 71 - Plyocide

Wow, I hate this workout.  I still have to take plenty of breaks throughout and the workout to the legs is a killer.  No doubt it is helping, but wow.  No fun.  Today I got plenty of protein. 

• Breakfast - Protein bar and apple
• Lunch - Chicken breast and baby carrots
• Snack - Orange
• Dinner - Chicken Lomein and then protein shake after workout

This totalled out at just over 150 grams of protein while keeping me at around my 1500 calorie mark.

Day 70 (start of week 11) - Chest and Back and Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

It's hard to believe that I've been at this for 10 weeks now.  Time is flying by and with only 20 days left I really need to focus on losing some pounds or my efforts to build muscle won't even show.  Next two weeks I'm really going to watch what I eat so that I can try to get at least another 5 pounds off.  As it stands I will likely continue with phase 2 through the end since I am still working at getting the reps up to where they need to be.  I can start phase 3 after I get through the 90 days.  At least that's my current thinking.

Day 69 - Rest Day

Today was a beautiful day as far as weather goes.  After church I spent the day driving out to Lancaster with my brother to look at a car for my niece.  On the way back he decided we needed to stop at Fuddrucker's for a burger.  I didn't argue much since I was hungry, but that certainly didn't help my goal of trying to lose some weight.  In spite of poor decisions like that I did find this morning that I dropped another pound, so now down to 159.  Yeah.

Day 68 - Base and Back & Ab Ripper

Phew, that sure is a good workout.  My arms feel like jelly from all of the chin-ups.  I also played basketball this morning, so I was already a bit winded from that.  I'm looking forward to a rest day tomorrow, but fully plan to not relax on what I eat.  I'm holding steady at 160, but need to find a way to drop the next few pounds. 

Day 67 - X2 Yoga

As always, I really enjoyed the Yoga workout.  I was sweating buckets by the time I was done and felt really refreshed.  As far as seeing a change lately, I'm not seeing as much.  I keep thinking that I should still be losing some weight, but I'm holding steady at 160 right now and the bit of fat around the abs is still very much there.  I am hesitant to cut back too much more on calories because it would make life kind of miserable.  Then I came to a realization.  The goal of being in perfect shape at the end of 90 days is not really what I am trying for here.  The 90 days of P90X2 is really just about setting the foundation for a life change.  Over time the changes will continue to come and I need to just relax about everything happening in 90 days.  I really am enjoying the journey and hope to continue to for a very long time.

Day 66 - X2 Shoulders and Arm & X2 Ab Ripper

Good workout tonight.  I did less modification on Ab Ripper and I sure can feel the difference in the muscles.  Won't be long until I won't need to modify for Ab Ripper.  I'm still not losing much more weight, so time to dig deep and find the motivation to eat more appropriately.

Day 65 - Rest Day

No workout tonight since I had other commitments to be at.

Day 64 - Plyocide

I spent most of the day in the car with my brother driving to Long Island and back, so when I got home I had little to no motivation to workout.  I forced myself to get started on the Plyocide workout and once I did I was fine.  Also, on the ay back we stopped in Brooklyn to have lunch at a place called Brennan and Carr that I had seen on the TV show Man v. Food.  They have a roast beef sandwich I wanted to try that is dipped in beef broth.  Tasty.  I'm not losing any weight lately, so I need to be more diligent in watching what I eat.  Easy to say after I just ate a roast beef sandwich and some onion rings for lunch ;-)

Day 63 (start of week 10) - Chest and Back and Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

I sure do love this workout.  I keep making incremental improvements in reps, so I continue to be encouraged.  It will still take me a long time to get to the reps on pullups that these guys are doing, but I'm not too concerned about it since I plan to be in this for the long haul. As Tony says, "Do your best and forget the rest".  Works for me.  All I know is that I was doing a lot of grunting tonight pushing out the last rep for different workouts, so I brought it tonight.

Day 62 - Rest day

Nice day off today visiting my Dad and taking him to church in Pottstown. 

Day 61 - Base and Back & Ab Ripper

I played some basketball this morning and then went to hit some golf balls with my son (wow is that hard on the lower back).  I then finished the workouts today with my normal X2 workouts before having an early dinner of baked pork chops, mashed potatoes (small amount) and peas. I then had a protein shake and a fruit bar after dinner.  Good day of working out.  I'm still at 160 according to my scale and I've concluded that I have at least another 10 pounds to lose if I plan to get rid of the belly fat, so I can't let up on controlling the calorie intake.

Day 60 - X2 Yoga

Good but abbreviated workout tonight because I needed to get done to make it to dinner in time with my brother's family.  I posted Day 60 pictures on Teambeachbody.com.  The transformation is noticeable.  I just need to keep at it.  I still have a ways to go.

Day 59 - X2 Shoulders and Arm & X2 Ab Ripper

Good workout tonight.  I loved the Ab Ripper workout tonight.  I could really feel it working.  It's hard to believe I'm pretty much 2/3 of the way through.  Tomorrow I get to upload new pictures to the BeachBody site to show progress.  I definitely am seeing progress when I look int he mirror.  I wish I had the determination to do this years ago, but I'm glad I am doing it now and not finding excuses to give up.  By the way, there is zero chance of me giving this up any time soon.  I love this program.

Day 58 - Rest Day

I did some pushups on my day off.  I went 40-35-35, but that's it.  Otherwise, just chilling out today.  Back at it strong tomorrow.