Day 333 - X2 Yoga

Love it.  Love it.  As always I really enjoyed my Yoga workout tonight. It seemed like most of the moves were not overly challenging for me, so I guess I'm continuing to get a bit better at it.  Tonight I even worked on transition from Crane into a hand stand.  I'm not there yet, but I did a bit better than I expected, so I'm hopeful that I will eventually get it. I haven't been able to get a run in yet this week, so I'm hoping to maybe go tomorrow morning if the temp allows it.  Today I ordered an UnderArmour top so that I can get out and run in cooler weather.

Day 332 - X2 Shoulders + Arms & X2 Ab Ripper

Shoulders and Arms was a bit tough tonight.  I tried to make sure to hold good form throughout reps which meant a few less reps, but less chance of straining a muscle (which is good).  I really focused on muscle isolation during Ab Ripper and felt the difference from doing a bit more than usual.  Abs are feeling tight tonight.  I'm doing very well on eating today.

Day 331 - Plyocide

Feeling good after that workout.  I didn't add in any extra breaks and I did a good job of keeping up the pace throughout.  I worked up a good sweat.  I really am starting to enjoy this workout.

Day 330 - Rest Day

Well, I had things to do this evening that kept me from being able to workout, so my rest day comes early this week, but that just means "no more breaks for me".  Eating well today and looking forward to Plyocide tomorrow night.

Day 329 (Start of week 48) - X2 Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

One month to go until I hit one year.  The workout tonight was good, but challenging.  I enjoyed taking my time to try to get the most out of it.  It's hard to believe that a year ago I was more than 50 pounds heavier than I am now.  I weighed in this morning at 137.

Day 328 - Rest Day

I just woke up from a nap on this awesome rest day.  Church this morning, watching football and a nap in the afternoon.  Perfect.

Day 327 - P.A.P. Lower

Going into the workout tonight I knew I was in for a challenge because my legs were still feeling the effects of the run from yesterday.  By the time I was done tonight my legs were screaming bloody murder, but I got through the workout.  Next week it's back to phase 2 for a week after a nice rest day tomorrow.

Day 326 - P.A.P. Upper

Well, today was definitely not a rest day.  I started to day with a 4 mile run and then did P.A.P. Upper.  I decided to do Upper because I didn't want to overdo it with the legs after the run, so I'll do Lower tomorrow.  I really felt it doing Upper today.  Abs and arms were screaming, but I guess that's a good thing.  I wore my size 29" pants yesterday and they fit great, so I'm pretty happy about the fact that the transformation continues.  Fortunately my weight is not decreasing, so that means I'm increasing muscle mass.  This program rocks.

Day 325 - Rest Day

Happy Thanksgiving.  I played some football this morning with the gang from church.  I had a great time and didn't get hurt, so I'm happy.  My only other goal for the rest of the day has been to not overeat too much.  I went over my calories a bit, but not by that much considering I got to enjoy a fabulous dinner including pumpkin pie.  Tomorrow it's back to working out and eating right.

Day 324 - X2 Yoga

I got out for a run at lunch today and ran 3.5 miles.  I didn't time it since my main goal was to just enjoy the run.  It was really nice weather, so it was great.

Tonight I did my X2 Yoga and it helped with my legs after the run today.  Eating was okay today, but we had hamburgers tonight for dinner.  It;s been a while since I had a hamburger and I enjoyed it, but that put a hit on the calories today, so I had to scale back on other eating after dinner.

Day 323 - P.A.P. Upper

Another good workout is in the books.  I can tell that my continued devotion to working out is paying off because the workouts are getting to be easier over time.  I really focused on the moves today and felt it a lot especially during the Plank on a Med ball.

I weighed in this morning and I'm at 140 according to my scale.  That's a couple of pounds more than before, but my waist size continues to stay stable (actually even decreased to 29" now), so I'm not concerned by the couple of extra pounds.  I suppose it means an increase in muscle mass or a host of other things that can contribute. 

Day 322 (Startof week 47) - P.A.P. Lower

Aint no thing.  I didn't need any extra breaks tonight and the workout felt pretty good.  I brought it a bit harder than normal, so progress continues.  I got plenty of protein today as well, so recovery should be okay.  I'm hoping to get out for a run twice this week to help with the cardio since I need the help in order to prepare for Asylum after January.  I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Day 321 - Rest Day

As usual, it's a rest day today since it's Sunday.  I took my Dad to church and now am enjoying watching the Eagles game on TV and taking a bit of a nap. 

Day 320 - Base + Back & X2 Ab ripper

I played some basketball this morning, but that really wasn't much of a workout.  It used to be, but at this point running up and down a half court gym isn't really much of a challenge.  As usual, Base + Back kicked my butt.  That mixed with Ab Ripper really took the starch out of me today.  But, no pain, no gain.  Nicole will be home from UConn this week for Thanksgiving break, so I'm hoping we can go indoor rock climbing sometime during the week. 

Day 319 - X2 Yoga

Well, another enjoyable evening of folding myself up like a pretzel.  Ha.  X2 Yoga is awesome.

I bought a pair of pants today and they are size 29 waist.  Hard to believe I'm down 8 inches since starting.  I think the last time I fit into 29 inch pants was when I was in college.

I also had my Dr. Appt. today for my blood pressure medication re-check and he is suggesting I monitor my blood pressure to see if I may be able to get off of it since I'm getting down to numbers like 118/65 at times.

I was hoping to go for a run today as well, but I got too busy at work and then by the time I was able to go for a run it was getting dark already.  Oh well, I'm looking forward to some basketball in the morning.

Day 318 - X2 Shoulders + Arms & X2 Ab Ripper

Well, I learned yet another valuable lesson tonight.  I was using the 30 lb. dumbbells for the Arnold presses and was having to lean to get the last few reps in and I strained my lower back as a result.  Luckily it's not so bad that I couldn't finish my workout or anything like that, but it really helped to remind that form is important.  Tomorrow I go to my doctor for my medication re-check so I'll be able to get a more accurate idea of my weight (clothed and after eating, but still helpful).  According to my scale I'm still at 138, so holding steady at 50 lbs. less than when I started this blog almost a year ago now.

Day 317 - Rest Day

I enjoyed a night off from working out tonight.  I attended my son's Scout court of honor where he received his Eagle Scout award.  It was a privilege to be there.  It will be back to working out tomorrow.  It was not easy to eat well today.  We had a potluck lunch today at work and then lots of snacks after the court of honor.  I did pretty well considering.

Day 316 - Plyocide

I had a good workout tonight.  Not much to report other than a whole lot of sweating going on.  I'm getting pretty used to this workout now, so it's not really that bad.  Lunch was pretty big because it was served as part of a meeting I was in, so dinner was just some eggs and a piece of toast. 

Day 315 (Start of week 46) - Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

Good workout tonight.  I got a bit of a late start, but I didn't rush through the workout.  I took my time and got a lot out of it.  I got another compliment from someone that I haven't seen for a long time.  I guess the changes are somewhat noticeable at this point.  I'm glad people aren't saying something like "do you feel okay?".  It's usually compliments like "You look great".  Very encouraging.

Day 314 - Rest Day

I'm having a nice relaxing day today after getting home from church.  My only plans for this afternoon are taking a nap and watching the Eagles game.  On Monday it's back to Phase 2.

Day 313 - P.A.P. Upper

I had to take my Dad to a Memorial service for a friend of the family tonight and I didn't get home until about 8:30, so I was debating whether I should workout or not.  I started to rationalize that since I already did 5 workouts this week that it would be okay to take today off.  After sitting there for a while I started to feel like I was slacking, so I decided to get the workout done.  Now that I've finished I am very glad that I did.  I feel good.  The other good news is that I ate pretty well today.  I tried on some pants today.  The smallest size they had were 30" waist and they were a bit big, so I was out of luck.  Luckily not all 30" waist pants run that big, but it is getting hard to find pants in my size.

Day 312 - P.A.P. Lower

I went for a 5k run during lunch today.  I didn't time myself since I couldn't locate my ear buds and didn't want to carry my phone if I wasn't able to listen to music.  So, I just enjoyed the peace and quiet of a run around the park on a fairly brisk day.  There were only a few people out on the path, so it was nice.  My legs felt a bit like lead weights after the workout last night, so my pace wasn't great.  But, it felt good to get the run in for the week.  I need to consider how I will replace running once the weather turns colder.  Maybe a gym membership.

P.A.P. Lower tonight was a bit tough because my legs were like Jello from running.  I got through it, but I think I'm going to pay tomorrow.   Luckily no basketball tomorrow.

Day 311 - X2 Total Body & X2 Ab Ripper

Tonight is supposed to be a Recovery & Mobility night for me, but since I'm doing X2 Phase 3 this week I thought it would be nice to get a workout in that works the core some.  Earlier today I was looking back through the blog to the first few weeks of doing X2 back in December & January and I started to feel nostalgic, so I decided tonight I would go back and do a workout from phase 1.  I decided on the Day 4 workout (X2 Total Body & X2 Ab Ripper).  I even broke out the old worksheets from when I last did it in January so that I could compare my reps and weight and I had a great time.  Two realizations came from this:
1) I have progressed quite a bit in my abilities since January
2) Phase 1 still has some good challenging moves as long as I increase weight and reps
I've decided that I need to find a way to get phase 1 back into the mix on occasion because I got a lot out of the workout tonight.

Day 310 - X2 Yoga

I really enjoyed the workout tonight.  I went into it with the goal to just enjoy the overall experience of doing the workout and not worry about form or how much time was left etc.  It was really nice to just "enjoy the journey".  My hamstrings were really tight, but my muscles are recovering from the workouts I did on Monday and yesterday.  Less soreness.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day and the weather won't let me run, so I'm hoping to do something (maybe Ab Ripper).

Day 309 - P.A.P. Upper

Ouch, my glutes hurt after the lower body workout from last night.  I'm glad I've decided to get back into switching between phase 2 and phase 3 for the remainder of this year.  Including more of Phase 3 should also help me better prepare for Insanity: The Asylum 2.

Eating was not great today because I decided to be involved in a group at work that ordered some wings for lunch to celebrate it being voting day.  I only had 5 pieces, but that's still about 500 calories from almost nothing.  Oh well, every day can't be perfect.  Dinner was also not exactly healthy, but I don't control that.

Day 308 (Start of week 45) - P.A.P. Lower

I decided to get back to alternating between phase 2 and phase 3 so that I can better prepare for Insanity the Asylum vol 2.  The workout tonight went pretty well.  The only extra breaks I took was in the last two rounds of the second half right before doing side bridge leg lift.  I probably could have skipped the extra breaks, but I like a bit of a breather before that leg lift.  Everything else was pretty good.

I weighed myself today and I'm back down to 137, so recovery from the vacation didn't take long.  In fact I heard from a co-worker today that I need to buy some new pants that fit because my Khaki's are too big.  They are size 30, but I noticed the same thing.  Too much material in the backside area.  I don't have much of a "caboose" any more.

Day 307 - Rest Day

Once again having a nice Sunday by going out to lunch with my Dad.  No workouts today, but I'm eating right and giving my body a chance to recover.  I got over 10 hours of sleep last night, so really enjoying the chance to rest and get ready for another busy week.

Day 306 - Base + Back & X2 Ab Ripper

I started off the day playing an hour of basketball.  Not terribly strenuous because it's a half-size court.  We had our main dinner at 1PM today, so I decided to workout before eating.  As usual, Base + Back is a brutal workout, but I got through it okay.  By the time I got to Ab Ripper my legs were pretty much shot from running and yoga yesterday and basketball and the cardio portion of Base + Back.  I got through most of it, but was not able to do Abrinome because my left quad was cramping. I modified and did some leg lifts instead.  I sure am grateful that tomorrow is a rest day.

Day 305 - Run & X2 Yoga

I went for a run today during lunch and got in 5k in 26:51 which is a new best time for me.  It was only about 45 degrees out, so I wasn't exactly sweating a whole lot by the time I was done. I was going to use my heart rate monitor, but it appear the headphone pass through doesn't work well since it only gives me music from one side, so I had to abandon that idea and just use the running app.

Tonight I did my X2 Yoga workout and felt the burn.  I also have some sore muscles from shoulders & arms last night, so I know it was working.  Very good workout day.  I also did well at eating today, so I'm making up for the indulgence last week.

Day 304 - Shoulders + Arms & X2 Ab Ripper

I finally got some 30 pound dumbbells and was able to put them to use tonight.  It was nice because with 25 I was having to do too many reps to get results for some of the moves.  I was feeling it by the time I was done.  Also, I determined to really put the effort in on Ab Ripper tonight (no slacking) and it paid off.  I could feel my abs burning throughout the workout.  I got a wireless heart rate monitor in the mail today and got it hooked up to the app I use on my iPhone called Runtastic, so I'm looking forward to trying it tomorrow during lunch.  I didn't run today because I needed to run out to get Kristi her birthday present from me.  So, plan is to run at lunch and then do Yoga tomorrow night.  Should be another good workout day.