Week 4: Day 1

I made it to recovery week. At least that's what my brother calls it. I am not happy that there is yoga twice. =) My rest day was awesome. I had a good day of eating healthy and getting stuff done for myself. I even got a new P90X worthy hair cut. I had to chop it off because I was having to wash my hair every day since I sweat so much in P90. My husband loves that I finally sweat during workouts.

Today was interesting. It was supposed to be Yoga, but somehow I misread it and did Core Synergistic.Wow, that thing was tough. I again, couldn't do a lot of it well, but I still managed to burn 400 calories. So, I was pleased with that. I can do a plank push up finally. I've had to do push ups on my knees this whole time. That is exciting.

For breakfast I had coffee with organic vanilla creamer;70 calories (which I have every day) a mini Cliff bar; 100 calories and a banana;100 calories. For lunch I had a yummy spinach salad with tuna, pineapple, almonds and balsamic vinegar. The whole salad was 240.The only bummer is, I went to dinner with some girl friends and the restaurant we went to did not have their calories listed. It was a healthy restaurant with locally grown produce called Tender Greens. I figure my meal was anywhere from 700-900 calories. So, even if I went over, I would have only gone over about 100-150. That is nothing to go crazy about. I ate a normal amount and did not over stuff myself. I think right there is key to keeping this lifestyle up.

This blog is not very well written today. Between my daughter breaking her wrist for the first time ever, packing for a trip this weekend and dinner out with friends, I am wiped. Tomorrow I am headed to my parents and it will be interesting to find time to exercise, but I have to make it happen.

Week 3: Day 6

I have lost 5 pounds! I got on the scale this morning and low and behold I lost 2 more pounds! So in 5 weeks I have lost a total of 5 pounds. Next week I will measure. I'm kind of excited about that. Today was Day 6, Kenpo. Oh how I love Day 6. I worked extra hard today in Kenpo and burned more calories than last time. My lower back is hurting due to all the twisting. But I think it will feel better with icing and sleep.

I do have to say I am quite proud of myself. I mentioned in yesterdays blog I was worried how I would squeeze exercise in. I take my kids to school and usually come straight home to exercise. But today I had to clean a house, eat lunch and pick up the kids. I cleaned and came straight home, did my Kenpo and then ate lunch and had just enough time to get to the school to pick up the kids. It was a good thing I did that, because my afternoon got very complicated with my husband needing me to pick him up for our son's game. I am so glad I for once made use of my time and chose exercise first (I even showered and got cute before the game).

My meal plan today went smoothly. I had a big calorie breakfast, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and coffee totaling 390 calories. Normally I would put banana on top of the toast, but I was out. For lunch I just repeated dinner, pork loin and wild rice, 250 calories. I didn't have any spinach to make a salad. I was a little bummed about that. For snack I had a Chiobani Greek Yogurt. Those are so tasty and have 14 grams of protein in them. For dinner, since my son had a 5:00 game we swung into El Pollo Loco. I had 4 oz of chicken thigh, 2 flour tortillas, 1/2 C black beans and green salad. My entire meal was 500 calories and it was very filling. The best part is, I had over 200 calories left. I chose to have a glass of wine with my husband. I don't know if  Tony Horton would approve of that one. =)

Tomorrow is rest and I can now officially say I completed 3 weeks of P90x! Bring it!!

Week 3: Day 5

Well, it's official, I have lost 3 pounds in 3 weeks! I am trying not to be discouraged at how slow that is. But I am grateful that I can finally say that the pounds are coming off. I have been in a bit of a funk these last 2 days. Yesterday I struggled with the level of difficulty in Yoga. Today I struggled with intensity during Legs and Back. I just couldn't seem to push myself today. I tried, but my body just didn't want to cooperate. I usually burn over 550 calories during Legs and Back, but today I burned just shy of 400. Yikes. I did well during the Ab Ripper X. I am getting somewhere with the core work, thank God.

My food today was nothing exciting or out of the ordinary. I am getting better at staying within my calories without having to think too hard about it. Dinner was really tasty. My husband made a pork roast and I used the P90X Chile-Honey Sauce on top of it with Wild Rice. So tasty. 

I hope I feel better tomorrow. I do know that fitting in my exercise will be a challenge. I have to clean a house in the morning, pick up my kids from school and then take my son to his baseball game and somewhere in there exercise and make dinner. Hmmm. Oh and did I mention I do not do 6 am? So, we'll see how I squeeze it in. Thankfully it's Kenpo and only an hour. 

Week 3: Day 4

Yoga. I feel like that's all there is to say about today...because if I say anymore it will just be a negative rant. I will say this, P90X Yoga is just ridiculously hard.

As for food I had an interesting morning.  A sweet little lady invited me over for coffee. So, I didn't eat breakfast knowing I couldn't turn down her offerings. I left the house without my water on accident. Then when I had coffee, she offered girl scout cookies and strawberries. They weren't Shortbread cookies, which would have been doable. They were thin mints and samoas. I stuck with the thin mints, I think those are 5 cookies for 300 calories. I had 2 cups of coffee and still forgot to drink water. By noon I had a splitting head ache. I usually only drink one cup of coffee a day and try and drink 40 oz of water by noon. I really enjoyed my coffee date, I just wish I had been better prepared. I ate well the rest of the day.

I look forward to Legs and Back tomorrow. I am not looking forward to the fact that next week I have to do Yoga twice! Oh boy.

Week 3: Day 2 and 3

I completely fell asleep last night without writing my blog. I was wiped. Yesterday was Plyo and it was kind of weird. I burned 568 calories, when last week I burned 600 calories. But even though I burned less, I felt I did more of the exercises correctly. I think I just was a little slower and more intentional. So intentional, that I couldn't get myself off the floor when it was over. I worked super hard. I had to ice my knees, my back and take a bath with epsom salt. It was that bad, but I felt good. So bizarre and not normal for me. It's amazing how much this system makes me try harder than I ever thought I could.

In terms of food and meal plan, I stayed on track. I made yummy strawberry pancakes for breakfast. Usually I have chocolate chip pancakes, but I wasn't willing to add the chocolate and then have nothing left over at the end of the day. For lunch I had a delicious Subway Turkey and Black Forest ham sandwich. It was only 280 calories. And then for dinner we had chili. It was 400 calories and it was really hard for me to not put sour cream and cheese on it. It didn't help that my hubby made it pretty spicy. But again, the extra calories just aren't worth it for me right now.

Today for exercise it was Shoulders and Arms. It was kind of an off day. I had church this morning, then we came home, had lunch and I helped my daughter with her homework. I then felt a nap coming on, so I laid down for 30 minutes and took a good nap. When I woke up it was time to get dinner going. So, by the time I got exercising it was almost 5. Then I had a lot of interruptions. It was really tempting to just say, "Oh well, it's too late today. I'll just not work out today." But once I got going I was good and I worked hard. I did 6 V up/Roll ups on the Ab Ripper X. One more than last time and I was able to do 5 on each leg of the leg up sit ups...or something like that. One thing I noticed this morning is I wasn't that sore. I usually wake up after plyo and I can hardly get out of bed, or my body is just really tight. But when I got up I was tight, but not too bad and by the late morning I wasn't feeling anything.

Food today, was again, pretty easy. I had Starbucks for breakfast, I had their Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Gouda along with a skinny vanilla latte. It's only 320 calories, but a Skinny vanilla latte is 90 calories. I made a tuna melt for lunch and a spinach salad with balsamic vinegar. And dinner was way yummy. We made Melissa D'Arabian's Stuffed Bell Peppers. She is from Ten Dollar Dinners on the Food Network and we love her recipes. Instead of Bulgar I used quinoa since it has more protein and I didn't use meat because I try and make one meal a week for dinner, meatless. It is really tasty and filling. Since dinner was 250 calories I decided I deserved a treat. So I made a banana split. Yummo! I still have 90 left. But I think I'm good.

I still can't tell if I'm losing weight. I was 164 this morning, but like I've said before, I'm not going to get excited until I am under 165 for a few days in a row. If I am 164 tomorrow morning, then I can safely say I've lost 3 pounds. I'll keep you posted. Til tomorrow.

Week 3: Day 1

Yesterday was my day of rest. I didn't post because there was nothing really to post about. Except that I had a cheeseburger for dinner because my son's baseball game was during dinner. It was a horrible burger and not a very healthy dinner. So by 10pm last night I was literally starving and only had 40 calories left. I tried to brush it off, but I was actually hungry, not just feeling snacky. So, I made hot green tea and had a cup of popcorn. Only 50 calories. It's amazing how much you don't want to eat bad because you know your calories can go so much father with better choices.

Today I am in Week 3 of P90X. I honestly can't believe that I am in week 3. As of yesterday on my rest day I was feeling somewhat discouraged. As of yesterday I didn't feel like my clothes were any more lose nor do I look different. I know I am only 2 weeks in, but I thought for sure my jeans would be more lose by now. But today that discouraged feeling went away. My jeans felt a little loser this morning and I could do way more in my Chest and Back dvd. I upped all my reps of pull ups by 2 and all my push ups by 5 and the most AMAZING thing I did today was the V-up/Pull up for the Ab Ripper X. 2 weeks ago I could not do a sit up from a complete lying down position. Today I did 5. I also did a few more of the exercises on the Ab video that I couldn't do last week. It feels really good to be getting somewhere.

I'm staying within my 1500 calorie range. And I am feeling satisfied as long as I make wise choices in food. I am actually a little excited for Plyometrics tomorrow. I'll be curious if I can jump a little higher. =)

Week 2: Day 6

Wowza am I sore today. That Leg and Back dvd is just nuts. I think the wall squats is what makes my behind so sore that any type of bending, sitting, or climbing just kills! I had a fun conversation last night with my  brother lamenting about the Leg and Back dvd. He even encouraged me that by the 3rd week of this thing I will be amazed at how much I can do in terms of the yoga and the Kenpo.

Speaking of  Kenpo, that was today's exercise. I was really surprised at how much better I did than last week. I burned a 100 more calories than last week during Kenpo and I felt a lot less ridiculous. And not once did I have to stop. I fell a few times or didn't do as many because they were faster than me, but I never stopped.

In terms of food and diet today, I feel a little more back on track. I had the same breakfast and still am in need of protein at breakfast time. But it's whole grains and fruit, so I am at least doing that part right. I used the hamburger patty that I accidentally got out of the freezer last night for lunch. Beef makes the calorie level a little higher, but I haven't had beef since I started this thing, so it was a nice change. My entire lunch was 544 calories, it included a 1/4 lb hamburger with a bagel thin for my bun topped with spinach, mustard and white cheddar cheese. I also had a cup of roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup. I usually try and stay within 400 for lunch, so I have a good amount to get me through the day, but I just can't do a burger without cheese. =)
Dinner ended up helping me make up for lunch. We went to Pei Wei for dinner and their Ginger Broccoli dish was 290 calories. Along with the brown rice, it totaled 390 calories, but I could only eat half. It was a lot of food. So, now I have a 200 calorie lunch for tomorrow.

This evening I purchased Protein powder. I am only planning to take it once a day. I have been told it will help me recover faster. I hope that is the case. Tomorrow is my rest day. I am so glad my 2nd week is over and that I survived. I wish I could say I will have time to get into a hot tub, but being a wife and mom of 3 means tomorrow will be my catch up day on laundry, errands, cleaning, baseball games and anything else that comes along my way. But at least I don't have to squeeze in exercise for one day.

Week 2: Day 5

I totally woke up today thinking it was day 6. Man was I bummed to find out it was day 5. I do however enjoy the Leg and Back dvd. It is really hard and makes me want to vomit. But for some reason that one is somewhat exhilerating. And it amazes me that it is a strength training video and not a cardio per say, and in 58 minutes I burn 522 calories. Compare that with my 600 calories in an hour on Plyo day, I would say 522 is pretty awesome. I did 2 extra pull ups today and I increased my length of wall squats. Last week I completely fell on my butt. Not this week. I am still really struggling with the ab video. But I am at least doing my best.

Food today was tricky. I had a good breakfast but I ran out of time for lunch and grabbed a banana before heading out the door. I then forgot to eat my banana on my way to my appointment. So, when I got out at 3, I went to eat my banana and it was pretty smooshed. I ate almost half, but I couldn't do the smooshy part. I know, so lame. =) After picking up my kids from school I was starving and my son had baseball. So, I swung into McD's, I know, I know! I had a kids meal of chicken nuggets and fries. My lunch was only 380 calories. I didn't think that was too bad considering the source. It gets worse though. After baseball practice, I go into the kitchen at 6:15 to make chicken thighs, quinoa and broccoli. Well, somehow I read the bag wrong in my freezer and pulled out two thighs and a hamburger patty. I didn't have time to defrost more chicken and cook it. So I made the chicken for my kids and found a small chicken pot pie in my freezer that only took about 25 minutes to bake. So, I had the quinoa and a mound of broccoli. I felt I had to make up for not having a salad for lunch. I ate just the filling of the pot pie and only a little bit of the crust. I was sad that my food plan today felt like a bust. But even though it wasn't the best of choices, I stayed pretty well within my calorie range.

I will say that even though this blog may be boring to the reader and I don't know if I'll ever have the nerve to post pictures; if I didn't have this blog to write at the end of today I think I would have either talked myself out of exercising or I would have had a 600 plus calorie lunch at McD's. Or maybe even with dinner being a bust I would have just said "Oh screw it" and made myself a Sunday. But because I know my family, my husband and friends are reading this and encouraging me, I felt like I couldn't let them or even myself down. I may have to repeat P90X twice to get back to a size 6. But I have to keep taking it one day at a time and do as Tony Horton says, "Do your best and forget the rest."

Week 2: Day 4

Today was Yoga and today was sucky. I really hate the yoga dvd. It is so long and so difficult and so uncomfortable. I need to ask some fellow P90 graduates and get their feedback on the yoga. Because at this point I am tempted to go back to other videos until I am more flexible. It is a very discouraging video.

I did, however, really well with the Meal Plan today. I am not a fan of eggs or oatmeal. So that makes the Meal Plan for breakfast tough. I found a cereal from Cascadian Farms (it's Organic). It is granola with raisins, cranberries, sunflower seeds and almonds in it. A serving with milk was 250 calories. It is very tasty and very filling. The only puzzle piece I was missing was protein. So, I will have to figure that out. Maybe I will have to add turkey bacon or Canadian bacon to the meal next time. For lunch I had a delicious salad. I made it with romaine lettuce, spinach, cutie orange, a sliced strawberry, turkey and ham. My dressing was balsamic vinegar, orange juice (fresh squeezed from my cutie) basil and thyme. I also had a cup of Red Pepper and Tomato soup along with a slice of whole wheat toast. It was a very satisfying lunch and only 400 calories. For dinner I had tacos-about 600 calories. And I had to sneak in a dark chocolate brownie(160 calories). It was small and so worth it. My calorie intake goal is 1500 calories a day. That's lower than the P90X Meal Plan, but I am convinced his calorie intake is set up for a man.

I am hoping by the end of this week I will see some progress. I have not measured myself. I weigh myself everyday but I fluctuate 1-2 pounds daily, so until I see 2 or 3 pounds stay away I will not get excited. Until tomorrow.

Week 2 Day 3 (sort of)

It is Week 2 and Day 3 of the P90X exercises, but due to a hamstring strain I had to skip 2 days of exercise. I am very glad I listened to my body. I was doing Plyo and half way through I felt a twinge in my right hamstring. As the night went on it got really tight and painful. Per instructions from my dad who is very athletic, I iced it. I did that off and on all night. It really helped. The next day was Friday and my daughter's birthday. I was limping pretty good and could not fully straighten my leg. Since it was my daughter's birthday and my day to volunteer at their school I knew I couldn't get in for a massage. So, I did that the following day and planned on getting back at it. I ended up doing a one hour massage and I am so glad I did. I was a mess! I was so full of knots, my ankles felt bruised, my hamstring was tight and even my sciatica was really hurting. In case you don't know what Sciatica is, the definition according to Wikipedia: it is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots that give rise to each sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, or various parts of the leg and foot. In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, pins and needles or tingling and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg. Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body. My sciatica issue is something that began with the twin pregnancy and was sometimes so painful I would have to stop what I was doing and breathe through the pain. It comes and goes and since I have been more consistently active it hurts less often and less severely. I honestly didn't realize I was in much pain til I had the hour massage and the pain was relieved. Once I left the spa I felt that it was smart to take one more day off and fully recoup.

Today I am back at it and I feel awesome. Today's exercise was fun. I know, I just said fun! The 8 pound dumbbells are still a challenge and sometimes I can do 12's, even a few exercises caused me to use the 5 pound dumbbells. I am still not able to do all of the Ab Ripper X exercises or at least all the reps per exercise.. The V-up Roll up is just so hard. I do a Pilates 100 instead. I try and keep my legs and body in a V shape. If  I am faltering, I put my legs in table top position just to get to 100.

The last thing I want to mention is the P90X Meal Plan. I have been trained over the years that 3 oz of protein is a serving size, especially for women. In Tony Horton's meal plan that is not the case. One of the meals that I planned to make for Friday night was 8 oz salmon, 3 T lemon dill sauce, one cup of Wild Rice, 1 C Asparagus, 2 cups Red Pepper soup and 2 T Protein Powder. Holy cow that is A LOT of food! I could never eat a half pound of salmon or any other protein. I decided to do what was comfortable for me. The meal that I had that night was 3 oz of salmon, a 1/2 C qiunoa (I had already had wild rice and wanted to try the quinoa), 1 C asparagus and I skipped the soup altogether. I have yet to get Protein powder. I would like to do that this week. And another thing with this meal, the recipe for the Lemon Dill sauce called for 6 Tablespoons of lemon juice. My gut told me while making it that that was a lot. But I put it in anyway. Well, I was right. It was soooo sour. I had to go back and add more chicken broth and then some raw honey. So, if you make the Lemon dill sauce go easy on the lemon juice til you get the right flavor.

Last night I had pizza and a huge serving of salad. My kids requested it and after a slumber party and day of shopping I was too tired to make dinner. Tonight I am making another fish. I am making Haddock in replace of the Halibut in the meal plan. Halibut was not on sale, but Haddock was. I also bought Pesto sauce instead of making my own. Pine nuts are just so expensive, it wasn't worth the cost.I made sure to buy a brand low in sodium and no added ingredients. The meal was delicious. And the best part about the P90X Meal plan is that all the dishes are normal and the rest of my family enjoy them as well. So I am not stuck with making 2 separate dinners.Tomorrow I plan to do better at incorporating the Meal Plan in my entire day. So far I've only used recipes for dinner. I am not a fan of eggs, so that makes it tricky.

Week 2: Day 2

Today was Plyometrics, "Jump Training". And this is the one that last week I was sure I wouldn't make it through. Well, I made it through and I burned roughly the same amount of calories as last time, 600 in 60 minutes. I was jumping a little higher and squatting a little deeper. I felt a twinge about half way through in my hamstring but just thought I was putting too much weight on that leg, so I adjusted. But by the time I had cooled down and started fixing dinner I could tell I had tweaked my hamstring. I can't say I pulled it, but it was feeling close. So, I called my dad who will always be my coach and asked him what to do. He said ice it. So I have for 10 min every hour since this evening and it is definitely helping. I am going to take tomorrow off. I am a bit bummed about it, but I would rather take a day and get it better than do something really stupid. Plus, the next workout is upper body, then Yoga, so by day 5 when I do Legs and Back I should be good to go.

One new thing today, I decided to try and cook from the P90X Diet. I think it's assumed everybody does the diet and supplements, but it seems the more I talk to people no one really buys into all of that. I eat fairly well already, but I struggle with breakfast and sometimes making time for a good lunch. So, I thought I'd go for it. My focus today was dinner. I made a delicious chicken breast with the P90X Chile-Honey sauce. Wow, was that good. And my entire family tried Wild Rice for the first time without it being from Rice-A-Roni. I'll eat brown rice, but none of them will touch it. Well, they all ate it and loved it. I made it with low-sodium free range chicken broth and it needed absolutely nothing on it. My husband was also out of town and he is a great cook, so he usually takes on dishes with sauces. But tonight I was a lone-ranger and pulled it off. It was delicious and quite easy. Tomorrow night we are having salmon and quinoa. We'll see how the kids go for that one. 

Week 2: Day 1

Well today is day one of week 2. I really enjoyed my rest day yesterday and was anxious yet nervous about today. Today was Chest and  Back. I was proud of my progress. I added a pull up to each set and using the 12 lb dumb bells on some of the moves proved to be difficult, but there was one exercise that 12 was not as hard as I thought it would be. So, that means I'll be buying 15 pounders by next Wednesday. I don't feel any different going into my 2nd week except that I was able to do the exercises better.

Even the Ab Ripper X did not bring me to tears and I only had to modify 2 of the exercises when before I was modifying at least 4 of them. Some moves I can't do all 25 reps, but at least I am doing them. And as Tony Horton says, "Do your best and forget the rest"

P90X Day 7

REST!!! Awwww....I have never looked forward to the 7th day in all my life. I had visions of sitting in a hot tub and soaking away the pain and getting my muscles back up to par. Well, that isn't how it went. My 7th day landed on a Tuesday and my eldest is turning 11 this Friday and asked for a slumber party. So, I had to clean 2 bathrooms, the kitchen, my room and vacuum the entire house. It wasn't relaxing, but it felt good to have the whole day to clean and not try and fit exercising into the mix. It definitely went way too fast and I don't feel ready for it all tomorrow. But at the same time I am kind of excited to see how it all goes. Til then....

P90X Day 6

Well that was awkward. Today was Kenpo X. It felt very similar to Taebo if any of you did that in the 90's. I hated Taebo so much and I am feeling similar to Kenpo. It was extremely awkward and I was frustrated that I only burned 355 calories in an hour. I just couldn't do their speed or get my feet off the ground like I wanted. I know it will come in time, but it would be much more helpful if I had a slick surface to move on. I am anxious to see how I do on this same video a week from now.

Today is the first day I have not awoke to completely sore muscles. I am still sore and certain muscles I didn't know I had I am feeling now. But I am surprised that at Day 6 I am feeling better.

P90X Day 5

Today I woke up feeling much more loose than I have all week. Yesterday's yoga really seemed to help with that .

Today's workout was Legs and Back. I went on a decent bike ride with my family earlier and then spent some time shopping. I bought myself 12 pound dumbbells. My 8's were not doing jack on some of the excercises. So, by the time I got home to do the video my legs already felt a little jello-y. I also had a pretty decent sized snack about 30-40 minutes before.

Well, the video proved to be tough. So tough that my snack wanted to come back up and visit.(mental note, eat a snack more like 2 hours prior to video) I didn't throw up, but more than half way through I wanted to. Having the 12lb dumbells definitley helped with intenisty. My pull ups are improving too. Before P90 I could not do one. Then by the time I started I could do 4, now I'm almost to 7. I still use a chair mind you, but it is getting easier. I really didn't think it would.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow, because it's day 6 and then after that, a REST!

P90X Day 4

When I woke up this morning I was still pretty sore. I decided to take another 30 minute brisk walk. I walked to my son's baseball game and did some stretches when I got there. I was going to walk again when the game was over, but I just felt plum tired. Plus, we planned to go bike riding, so I thought I should take it a little easy. It turns out we didn't bike ride, but we ended up walking a lot at a local Farmers market, so I'm glad I didn't walk home from the baseball game.

Today's workout is Yoga. Oh how I love yoga. I found a video on Netflix streaming a year ago put on by Crunch. It is very tutorial and really helps a beginner learn yoga, the breathing, the lingo and of course flexibility. Well, Yoga X is not a tutorial or a learning tool. It is a video that makes you feel like the most unlimber slob on the planet. It is an hour and a half long, which totally threw me. All of the videos up until the Yoga are 60 minutes. And boy was it hard. During some of the moves I was just laughing at myself because I knew I looked ridiculous. I was very grateful for my Crunch video though during the Yoga X dvd, because if I hadn't used the Crunch video when he said words like Viniasa, Cat or child's pose, I might have been extra lost.

I wish I had watched the Yoga X video the night before. I didn't and had to pause a lot. I have viewed the other videos the night before and it helps move things along. Well, at least I can say I did the entire 90 minute video and I'm really hoping I feel a little less tight tomorrow.

P90X Day 3

As I woke up this morning I remembered my sister in law Megan telling me that when she does P90X she can't sit down for days...well today is the beginning of that for me. Any type of movement where I had to get up from a sitting position or bend over was almost excruciating. Going down my stairs this morning was a challenge and I needed my husband's help. My knees are a little sensitive and tend to get fluid in them so they were pretty puffy and tight. Nothing icing and ibuprofen can't cure, but they are definitely hurting. I think it's going to be a long day of pain.

The workout for today is Shoulders and Arms. My husband asked me to wait til the evening to do it so he could help me with some of the ab moves and see if we could figure out some alternative moves until I get stronger. I did the work out and was bummed I still hadn't bought heavier weights yet. It was difficult, but some of the moves I was doing 20 reps when Tony says to do 12-15 and the last 3 should be hard. But I was still burning calories and getting used to everything. After the video I took a 30 minute brisk walk. I had to do something to break up the lactic acid from the Plyometrics workout. It helped a lot.

When Jon got home I began the Ab Ripper X. I could do the first 5 or 6 moves, but then it got ugly. So, my husband (who is very athletic and has worked with professional trainers) helped me modify a few of the exercises so that I could strengthen those ab muscles. Most of the exercise went back to Pilates for me. I came to tears a few times because that darn incision tends to burn and twinge. But I thankfully got through the video and felt pretty good.

P90X Day 2

It's Day 2 and I didn't think I would be that sore after yesterdays Chest and Back workout. I was of course wrong. I woke up this morning and the middle of my back and my biceps were so tight. It made me kind of scared for today's workout. I really didn't know what to expect.

It is the Plyometrics dvd. Which Tony says is jump training. Again with the issue that having multiple children makes jumping awkward, so I remembered the words of my wise sister, "Put on a pad and bring on the pain!" I put on my heart rate monitor and got to jumping. I made it through the video AND I burned 600 calories in 53 minutes. I have to say, at this moment I can still walk and I'm quite proud. I am concerned about living in an upstairs condo and how much it will hurt tomorrow. But I am feeling a little more empowered that even though I couldn't do the exercises as hard as Tony and his team, I was at least able to do them.

P90X Day One

Today is the day, day one of P90X. I dropped my family off at work and school and got home, cleared away my coffee table and got to it. As I said in my previous blog that when I first got my kit, I could not pass the fitness test. Well, I was surprised to see that I was able to do 4 pull ups with a chair. Before I could not get myself up even with a chair. So, wow, that's cool. Then with the weights, I was surprised to know that an 8lb dumbbell was cake. I will need to go buy a 10, maybe even 15 lb dumbbell. That is very cool.

Now, push ups. Well...I can do push ups on my knees. Again, in my fitness test I could do 2 or 3. Now I can do 30. I could not for the life of me do the decline push ups. I just sat there upside down, because if I tried to do the actual move I would fall face flat. But just sitting there in the decline push up position was hard and my lower abs burned. At the end of the dvd I was feeling kind of proud. I burned 400 calories in an hour, which is low for me, but it was not a cardio workout, just weights and chin up bar. Since I wasn't able to do it all I can only imagine how many more calories I will burn when I up my weight and can actually do a dive bomber.

The next step was the Ab Ripper X dvd. I put it in and was thinking it would just be a lot of reps of core exercises I already knew, nothing I hadn't done before. Well, I was wrong. ALL of his moves had to do with the lower abdominal. And some were moves I have never seen or tried before. By the 4th exercise I was almost in tears. Partly because I was angry that his moves were using muscles I don't have right now and part of me was mad that my body was this broken. All I could do was do a few Pilates moves I learned that help strengthen those lower stomach muscles while he and his crew kept going on.

I am nervous for tomorrow, but I am looking forward to how my body will respond a month from now.

P90X

Preface to P90X:

I have had the P90X Dvd in posession for the past 6 months. When I received it, I read all the success stories and was extremely pumped about trying it out. But I could not pass the fitness test. My husband assured me I would get better if I just got going. Physically I was not in my best shape. I have been pregnant the last decade, literally. I birthed 3 children of my own over a 3 year span. Then 4 years later I became a surrogate and carried a baby girl for a family as well as twins for the same family 18 months later. The twin pregnancy was the toughest. Not only was I older, but I had a Cesarean Section with the birth of the twins. The pregnancy itself was not only a heavy load on my body (the babies totaled 10 lbs when they were born 8 wks early) but the surgery just killed my lower abdominal muscles. So here I was 15 months later and I could not for anything do a sit-up. I use to do Pilates and can still remember the proud day of doing a full roll up.

Instead of doing P90X, I got back into the gym and started running again, biking and ab work. I did the Slim in 6 video Tony Horton recommends to get yourself to the point of being able to succeed with P90. Recently I read Tim Milburn's Leadership Starts With You, and the author of this book is a P90X graduate and encourages his readers to commit to an exercise program. Since Tim had survived P90X, I felt his book encouraged me to stop talking about doing it and actually do it. I think it was now time to begin. My biggest challenge with this program is it is not female friendly. And I mean that in the sense of a female that has had multiple births, c-section and even someone that is not incredibly athletic. I am beginning this program with much hesitation and even a little angst towards Tony, since he includes A LOT of jumping jacks and any woman knows after kid #2 jumping jacks are not our friend. But I am bound and determined to lose these 30 lbs from all these babies. Ok, here goes nothing.

Introduction

My name is Kelly Miller. I am 33 years old, a wife to my amazing husband of 12 years and the mother of our 3 children. I was a track athlete in high school and held the record for the 800 meter for a few years. I have always enjoyed being outdoors hiking, swimming, biking and sometimes running, mostly walking. My family has always been active in some way or another. My Dad and sister have both run a marathon and completed triathlons. My brother was a basketball athlete in high school and is a graduate of P90X. My husband Jon is also a great athlete in tennis and basketball. He was also my fitness buddy in high school. It may not seem like it, but exercise has never been my first choice of activity and because of that right now I am not where I want to be physically.The biggest reason for this is that I have been pregnant for the last decade... I'm not kidding.

I became pregnant with our first at the age of 22. We had our 3rd when I was 25. 3 years after having our 3rd I decided to pursue the dream of being a surrogate. That dream came true just after my 29th birthday. I was able to carry a healthy 10lb baby girl for our couple. The process was so successful they asked me to do it again. So, we did and the 2nd pregnancy was just 16 months later and we conceived twins. I carried the twins to the 32nd week and the babies totaled 10 lbs. Because they were early and baby B was sideways, I had a Cesarean Section. After my first surrogate baby I got a trainer and got in the gym and lost 15 lbs and looked and felt great. With the twin pregnancy I gained a healthy 28 lbs but it's been almost 2 years since they're birth and I can't seem to get my stomach to not look 4 months pregnant, or to get these 30 lbs off of me. I have even gained 8 lbs from when I gave birth to them. So at this moment I am the heaviest I've ever been in my life outside of being pregnant.

A year ago, almost to date, my sister and I were able to do a Sprint Triathlon. I hadn't exercised once since the 5th month of carrying the twins. It took me a full 6 months after the birth to feel myself. At that point in January I started the training and I remember having a panic attack outside my in laws house while trying to run for 30 minutes. I didn't know how in 3 months I was going to be ready to swim a 1/4 mile, bike 15 miles and run a 6K. When the time came for the triathlon I did finish under 2 hours and during the process I lost 13 lbs. I was so relieved. I didn't feel broken anymore. But as soon as the pressure was off from the triathlon, I completely stopped. I felt frustrated because I wasn't strong. I wanted to lift weights but I didn't know where to start and I was quickly gaining the weight back and felt helpless in the process.

The purpose of this blog is two fold. I want to use this as a tool for women out there who have had children or who are extremely out of shape and see that it can be done. The other part is that by doing this blog, for me, the fear of failing will be greater than actually quitting. To know that once I begin and post this blog then I have no choice but to finish through. I guess you could call it attention, but it really it is more along the lines of accountability. If I have only myself to answer to then I will think of a million excuses. But if I have a dozen or so friends to answer to, then the heat gets turned on.

This is where my story stops and P90X comes in. Now that you are familiar with my story, who I am and how I got here I hope you will enjoy reading my journey.