Friday, May 31, 2013

Day 515 - X2 Yoga


It's Friday, so I took a "Flex Friday" picture. I don't think the definition is significantly different from past months, but I'm happy that things are not going in the reverse directions.  Yoga was good tonight.  I seemed to have a bit more energy than I did last night, so that's good.  Tomorrow I hope to do Base + Back, so that will really test me some.  It's a brutal workout.  I haven't been out for a run this week because of my ankle and I don't think I'll have tomorrow because of a very busy schedule.  I don't like skipping another week of running.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Day 514 - Plyocide

Wow, that kicked my butt tonight.  I guess my body is not yet back to 100% because that was one tough workout for me tonight.  I was sweating a ton by the time I was done.  In spite of the difficulty, it felt good to not have to skip another day of working out.  I was starting to feel guilty about being sick and not working out, so I'm glad the toughest part of the cold was short-lived.  I REALLY felt it in the legs tonight, so chance are I need to be doing Plyocide a bit more often than I have lately.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Day 513 - Still sick

I'm feeling a bit better today, but not yet to the point where I wanted to push it by working out tonight.  I'm planning to do either P.A.P. Upper or Plyocide tomorrow to get back into things.  We'll see how things go.  I weighed in again this morning and my weight is staying steady at 140 according to my scale.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Day 512 - Sick Day

No workout tonight.  Since last night I've been fighting a head cold that has me using up tissues at a rapid pace.  I felt it starting to come on yesterday, but was hoping it was just allergies.  No such luck.  I'm getting some rest tonight and then will decide if I'm up to a workout tomorrow night. I went way over on calories yesterday ( almost 3000) because of the Memorial Day picnic food we had.  Now it's back to trying to eat right and stay within calories.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Day 511 - Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

I started off the day with a nice mountain bike ride on some pretty steep trails.  It wasn't exactly a huge workout or anything, but it was a lot of fun and got the heart pumping a bit.  I love having the whole day available for working out if I want.  I took my time with Chest + Back + Balance and was able to get a few more reps at some of the moves because I was able to add in more time for breaks.  I'm now enjoying my protein shake before going back to my workouts to finish up with Ab Ripper.  My elbow seems to be doing a bit better because I was able to mix back in some of the wide handed pullups today.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Day 510 - Rest Day

Another week is in the books and the day off today is a welcome thing.  The ankle and back are healing up a bit today so that I can hit phase 2 hard tomorrow.  I'm itching to get out for a run, but I think it may be pushing my luck to get out tomorrow.  We'll see.  Eating healthy today was not easy.  I went out to breakfast with my brother and dad and dinner tonight was fried rice that Kristi made.  As a result, I was very light on protein today (only about 100 grams).

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Day 509 - P.A.P. Upper & Ab Ripper

I got up this morning in hopes of doing P.A.P. Lower in the AM and then Upper in the afternoon.  I got through the warm-up and quickly realized that the jumping around for Lower was not a good idea since my ankle and back are still sore.  So, my plan changed and I did my afternoon round of Upper, took a short break and then did Ab Ripper.

This move is called Phelan Twist.  It's mainly a lot of holding  position while leaning back to the point where your feet start to come off the floor.  It's a monster ab workout.

So far today eating is going pretty well.  I just need to finish out the day well by staying within calories today.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Day 508 - Day off

Well, no workout tonight.  As soon as I got home from work the whole family went out to dinner in Broomall and then we went to the movies together.  So, hopefully tomorrow I can do PAP Lower in the morning and PAP Upper in the evening.  At least, that's the plan.  We'll see how things go.  My shoulder is still quite sore from my fall on the hard floor last night and my ankle still hurts from Monday, so I'm feeling a bit beat up right now.  Dinner was Italian and was delicious, but definitely not the healthiest meal I've had recently.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Day 507 - X2 Yoga

I had a nice round of X2 Yoga tonight.  Only issue is that I fell forward while going from crane into a hand stand and I fell on my left shoulder.  Ouch.  Stability is not quite there yet for going into a hand stand.  Everything else was good and the session went quick tonight. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Day 506 - Rest Day

I'm enjoying a night off, but plan to get my Yoga workout in tomorrow night.  It's nice to have a day off to give some of the aches and pains some time to heal.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Day 505 - P.A.P. Upper

Here is a picture of me doing towel pullups.  I've really come to enjoy doing these.  I skipped doing Superman with weight tonight during the first complex and substituted pushups (25-35 per set).  It turns out that was actually more of a workout than the Superman with weight, but it was a good trade-off since my back was still a bit sore from the last time doing PAP Upper.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Day 504 - P.A.P. Lower

I decided to do a week of phase 3 since it's been a few weeks.  It went pretty well except that I sprained my right ankle at the very end of the workout while doing the Giant Slalom move.  I've hurt my ankle doing that move in the past and I keep doing it, so dummy me needs to learn that it's not a good idea to do that move.  From here on out I'll do a different move that is equally as strenuous in place of that one.  Side bridge leg lift was pretty tough tonight, so It's good that I'm back to phase 3 for a week to give the hips a workout.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Day 503 - Rest Day

Well, another week done and I get a day to rest before starting back up again tomorrow.  My back feels better today, so doing yoga yesterday was a help.  Sleep last night was not all that good, so that issue continues.  According to the blood work everything is excellent.  No issues with my thyroid or anything else that they could tell.  It could just be that I require less sleep these days, but I'm really not sure what gives.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Day 502 - X2 Yoga

I got back from the campout and have been running around all day doing work around the house.  I then got to go to the movies with my wonderful wife, so it was pretty late by the time I got home and got to my X2 Yoga workout.  I was concerned that I wouldn't have time for a workout today, but I found a way to fit it in.  Yay.  I have a very tight muscle in my back, so I'm hoping the yoga will help with that.  Eating was okay today until the movies.  I enjoyed a bucket of popcorn.  It's not a common thing, so an occasional indulgence isn't the end of the world.

Day 501 - Rest Day

I was on a camp out with Stephen, so no chance to workout. 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Day 500 - P.A.P. Upper

Well, I've hit day 500 of doing this workout program.  Now it's on to hitting day 1000 of keeping up with the workouts.  At some point I may include others like Insanity, but for now I am still very happy to stick with X2. 

The move pictured here is called Medicine Ball Pike.  It involves going from laying flat to having the ball touch the toes.  It's not overly hard for me, but it's a pretty good workout all the same.  It was impossible to get a picture me at the top of the move, but this was close enough. 

I had a follow-up Dr. appt. and got the result of my blood work from my annual physical.  This time around was my best cholesterol results to date: HDL = 71; LDL = 80. Thank you P90X2 and thanks to the many people in the Facebook group that help to keep me motivated.  I'm still weighing in at 145 clothed in the middle of the day at the Dr. office, so I'm pleased that the weight is staying off.


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Day 499 - Run & Ab Ripper

I got in a 3.5 mile run during lunch.  I thought I was going really slow today, but turns out I was averaging 8:30/mile, so it wasn't all that slow.  It was pretty warm today, so I worked up a really good sweat during the run.  Tonight I made up the round of Ab Ripper that I didn't do last night, so I'm doing okay so far this week.  I also worked up a sweat doing Ab Ripper.  I can tell I'm not getting that work out in enough because it used to be a bit easier for me to get through it.  My protein today is at 175 so far, so I'm doing well at getting the protein I need to help my muscles to recover.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Day 498 - Chest + Back + Balance

I got through this workout tonight with modifications to pull-ups similar to last week that allowed me to be a bit more careful with my sore elbow.  But, the pushup moves went well tonight.  That was a good workout.  I didn't do Ab Ripper because I took a long time getting through the workout tonight.  Eating is going well again today.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Day 497 - Plyocide

Just like last week, I started the week off with Plyocide in order to give my elbow another day of rest from exertion.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to do Chest + Back + Balance.  So far my eating is right on track for the day.  170 grams of protein and I'm at about 1900 calories for the day so far.  Now I just need to avoid overdoing the snacking tonight.  I have my favorite low-calorie snacks available (petite carrots, apples and frozen fruit bars) so I should be okay. I weighed in this morning and was up to 141.  Not too surprised by that given the way I've been eating lately.  I'm not too worried about it though.  I seem to fluctuate between 138 and 141 a lot.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Day 496 - Rest Day

Well, it's Mother's Day today so my day started with a really nice (but not so healthy) breakfast that the kids made for their Mom.  Eggs, Sausage, bacon and waffles.  Yum.  Fortunately I was pretty good about how much I ate, so I kept calories to a reasonable level.  Rich and I picked up Dad for church.  We had lunch at Friendly's and I got their Asian Ginger chicken platter that is pretty healthy for a place like Friendly's.  Dinner was a get together at Rich's home to celebrate my niece heading on her church mission to the coast of Africa.  We had a real nice chicken meal, so that fit my eating well.  All in all I am happy because it's two days in a row where I've stayed under my 2400 calorie limit. I need to keep that up for a while considering how badly I blew it on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Day 495 - X2 Yoga

I wasn't able to do my workout last night, so I did the Yoga workout today.  My back was pretty tight, so doing Yoga was really helpful.  Today we're heading to dinner for my son's birthday.  I plan to stay within calories today, so I'll be having salad and other healthy items.  As a side-note, my son (our youngest) just turned 17, so that makes me feel old.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Day 494 - Rest Day

I had a social after work, so no time to get a workout in.  To make matters worse the menu was not exactly conducive to healthy eating, so today ended up being a cheat day too.  Yesterday I was over on calories too, so I need to get back to better eating habits.  Tomorrow I plan to definitely do X2 Yoga.  Tomorrow we're going out to dinner for Stephen's 17th birthday, so I need to be careful to not blow my eating yet again.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Day 493 - Hybrid workout

I started out doing the planned workout of Shoulders + Arms, but got about a quarter of the way through it and started to feel it in my elbow, so I switched to P.A.P. Upper and did the last three quarters to round out tonight's workout.  It was a good idea to switch.  Time to ice the elbow.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Day 492 - Run Night

Tonight is my rest night from P90X2.  I had to take Stephen to an activity tonight, so I decided to go for a run while I was waiting for him to finish his activity.  I did 4 miles with an average time of just over 8:30 / mile.  I usually get my runs in either in the morning or at lunch, but I really enjoyed an evening run tonight. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Day 491 - Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper

My elbow feels a bit better today.  I've been icing and massaging the tendon since Saturday and it seems to be helping.  Even still, I modified the workout a bit tonight by making sure to avoid wide-handed pull-ups and hands in over hand pullups.  I stuck with chin-ups and 90 degree pull-ups.  Pushups didn't seem to affect it much, so no changes on those routines.  I took a short break in between the workouts and had my protein shake during the break.  Getting everything done tonight was a real motivator for me and I am very much looking forward to heading into tomorrow knowing that I can take my planned day off without having cut any workouts short so far this week.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Day 490 - Plyocide

I got home nice and early tonight and got the workout in before dinner.  My elbow feels a bit better tonight, but not good enough for Chest + Back + Balance yet, so switching it up and I hope to do that workout tomorrow night.  I did pretty well on eating today.  Protein is at 190 grams.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Day 489 - Rest Day

Well, I strained my elbow again yesterday while doing Base + Back.  I think it was the wide handed pull-ups.  It's not as bad as last time, but it hurts even doing simple things like shaking someone's hand.  I'm actually pretty annoyed that after all of this time of being careful I am now back to having to deal with this again. I'm icing it today in hopes that I can still do the planned workout of Chest + Back + Balance tomorrow.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Day 488 - Golf & X2 Base + Back

I got out for an afternoon round of golf with Stephen.  We played 9 holes and carried our bags.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  I got into the last quarter of the workout and had to quit because my elbow was starting to hurt and I didn't want to push it to the point of re-injury.  I was more tired tonight than normal.  I think part of that was the walking during golf earlier in the day and some of it was that I didn't sleep well last night.  So far the blood tests are not showing any issues that would contribute to my sleepless nights. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Day 487 - X2 Yoga

Legs are feeling a bit sore today after the run yesterday.  I guess I need to get out running more often.  Yoga went well tonight in spite of me being sore and stiff.  Here's hoping my legs feel better by tomorrow before having to do Base + Back.  I'm continuing to eat healthy.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Day 486 - Run & X2 Shoulders + Arms

I got in a 5K run during lunch in a new best time for me of 25:23.  I started out a bit too quick because the last lap around the park was torture.  Tonight I did Shoulders + Arms and it went pretty well.  I kept pace on my reps, so next week I am hoping to increase a couple.  I'm currently at about 2000 calories for the day and I'm at 180 grams of protein.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Day 485 - Double round of X2 Ab Ripper

Today is supposed to be a rest day for me, but I wasn't able to get Ab Ripper done on Monday after Chest + Back + Balance and tomorrow I plan to go for a run during lunch, so doing Shoulders + Arms and then Ab Ripper after doing a run during the day seems like a bit much. Sooooooo I decided to do a double round of Ab Ripper tonight. I did one round, took a break for about 20 minutes and then did it again. Wow, that second round was not fun, but it got the job done.  I'm feeling pretty happy about not skipping any workouts so far this week.  I'm trying hard to stay fully committed.