Day 82: Yoga X

It had been a while since I did Yoga X, given that I skipped it a couple of times even before my accidental week off, so I was a bit apprehensive this morning about how it might go. I skipped the plough shoulder stance and Yoga Belly 7 due to time constraints, but the rest of the workout was relatively easy (or maybe manageable is a better word). I’m starting to challenge myself by keeping my knees off the floor during upward dog, although the pushups in between asanas are still not happening. Maybe when I get to Classic. Then again, maybe not.

Day 81: Core Synergistics

So, I decided to face the music today and get on the scale. I spent our entire elopement weekend eating carne adovada burritos, chocolate croissants and pizza, so although I avoided Krispy Kreme (Tony’s true nemesis), I did my fair share of carbohydrate-related damage. Or so I thought. Despite having eaten the world last weekend, I am three lbs lighter than I was when I left and six lbs down overall. WTF? I think it proves my theory that if I’m going to lose weight while exercising like a mad woman, I need carbs. Atkins is great if you’re just sitting around on your couch – hell, I lost 60 lbs by being lazy and eating bacon. Wait. Remind me again why I’m exercising?

Anyway, Core was as annoying as ever tonight but I was able to add weight/reps where appropriate, so I guess that week off didn’t hurt me too much. I am seriously dreading Yoga X tomorrow, though.

Day 80: Kenpo X

More confessions – but at least I have a semi-decent excuse this time! The Fiancé became The Husband on Sunday! We took off for a little elopement vacation on Wednesday evening. I had the best of intentions regarding P90X and even took the videos with me, but we just didn’t find the time to workout while we were away. We got back late Monday, and were playing catch-up Tuesday, so since I had missed almost exactly a week of workouts, I decided to do a sort of re-start today (Wednesday) – I’ll be doing the three missed workouts from Thurs-Sat of last week (which was week 11), and then moving onto week 12. So, it’s going to be P97X for me!

Anyway, Kenpo X – it actually wasn’t too bad despite the week long break. My left hamstring wasn’t happy, but otherwise I did about as well as I usually do with this video. Core Synergistics may be more of a struggle tomorrow, we shall see.

Day 71: Shoulders and Arms

Okay, confession time – I fell off the bandwagon a bit last week. I felt like I really wasn’t recovering from my cold and all I wanted to do was sleep, so in addition to subbing a short and easy yoga video for Yoga X, I skipped Kenpo X entirely and waited until Sunday to do Core Synergistics, which gave me two full days off in a row (three if you count the day I half-assed yoga). Bad, bad P90Xer. Whatever. It seems to have worked, since I’m finally feeling halfway healthy again. I brought it to Shoulders and Arms this morning, too. I was bored by the idea of doing my usual 15 reps of everything, so I added a lot of weight, just to see what it was like to be exhausted at eight reps. Um, it’s painful! I’m seriously glad I’m not a dude, because that is not cool! No time for Ab Ripper X today, but I will try to fit it in tomorrow.

Day 67: Yoga (not X)

I woke up with a sinus headache AND screaming sore pecs and shoulders from yesterday’s marathon Chest, Shoulders and Tris workout, and I simply could not summon the mental energy to face Zen-Tony and the Yoga X minions. I wanted to get in some type of workout, though, so I decided to do one of my old favorite yoga videos, one that used to be a nice challenge for me. Heh. I am happy to report that my fitness level must have improved, because this workout was no longer a challenge in any way (except for stretching my sore hamstring). Better than skipping yoga altogether, though, I suppose.

Day 64: Back and Biceps

I was right, Chest, Shoulders and Tris just wasn’t happening today. So, The Fiancé and I went for our first run of Back and Biceps. Wow. There are a LOT of bicep exercises on this video (duh). My left arm in particular felt like Jello by the end. The Fiancé was in heaven and now keeps pulling up his shirt sleeves to show me his bulging arms. Pullups continue to suck but I did appreciate that there were quite a few non-pullup back exercises here, and I worked some back muscles that I hadn’t touched in previous workouts. Ab Ripper X? 283!!!!!!!!!!!! And that’s with a sore throat and head cold!

Day 63: Core Synergistics

Okay, so I’m sick AGAIN, thanks to The Fiancé AGAIN. Summer colds are the worst and this is my 2nd in 3 weeks. Unacceptable. That said, I really struggled with Core today and actually skipped the bonus round for the first time ever. I had to play fast and loose with the schedule this week due to time constraints and such – not sure if that had any impact on how FUCKING HARD Core was today or not. But it sucked. And given that I just did all the Core pushups today there’s no way I’m going to be doing the scheduled Chest, Shoulders and Tris video on Monday. Maybe I’ll flip it with Back and Biceps. Or maybe merciful death will take me before I have to do another Tony Horton workout with a headful of snot.

Day 60: Shoulders and Arms

Ah, Shoulders and Arms – how I’ve missed you! This continues to be my favorite workout in all of P90X. After a six week hiatus from it, I was curious to see how things would have changed, so I carefully consulted my worksheets before deciding on weights for today’s workout. Lo and behold, I was able to add weight on every exercise, and on the few where I didn’t add weight, I added reps. I also scored an all-time high of 272 on Ab Ripper X.

Unfortunately, I’m two months into a program called “Lean” and I still haven’t lost any significant weight – about three lbs, depending on the day. My clothes don’t seem to be any looser either, although they do look better – less lumpy softness underneath. Still, many women report that their biggest changes come in the last 30 days, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Knowing my body the way I do, though, I have a feeling that all this cardio is NOT helping with my weight loss. I am looking forward to starting the Classic program in a month in the hopes that the extra resistance workouts get things moving!

Day 57: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

First off, I have a confession to make: I skipped Yoga X on Saturday. And I don’t feel the least bit guilty! The Boyfriend became The Fiancé on Friday night and we had better things to do this weekend to celebrate. So suck it, Tony! I enjoyed the extra day of recovery and I think it might have actually helped my sore left hamstring. Not sure it helped me with Ab Ripper X though - I banged out 264 reps, 3 shy of my all-time high.

So, today was my first go at Chest and Back, and it was certainly a challenge. The under-the-fence pushups, OMFG. Not to mention the diamond pushups, decline pushups and military pushups. I soldiered through, but wasn’t able to do many reps of anything. I do feel that my pullup strength is improving – I did them with just one foot on the stool for most of the workout. Could just be that my squat strength is improving, though. Anyway, as difficult as the exercises themselves are, this video isn’t so bad – it’s only 50 minutes, there are multiple water breaks built in, and Tony and his new minions aren’t terribly annoying. I may hunt him down and punch him in the face if he says “Krispy Kreme” in one more video, though.