Day fifty out of ninety-seven [50/97]

When the going gets tough, where do you go?

I ask this because this past week's needs for my time, was brutal. Between a difficult economics exam, extra-curricular commitments and finalizing my capstone project, I literally had no time on certain days to squeeze in a work out.

You know what though? That's an excuse. I did P90X to begin to get myself out of that mind-frame where I would ignore working out because I was so busy. The frustrating thing was that I know that I did have some time here and there, but didn't  do it because I was so exhausted. I have to get into the habit that I need to do this for myself when that situation comes up again to "Just bring it" and do solid work during the 60-90 min commitment, per day.

So in any case, as part of my "punishment" :) for only doing 3 workouts last week, I will be re-doing week 3 of phase II this week and extend my "quest for ninety" to a quest for ninety-seven days, haha. It's okay to have a little road bump, but I gotta keep it up for the remaining half of the program. Speaking of which, it's day fifty! Which means that I'm officially over half way down with the entire program. Woo!

For dinner today, I'm having lean chicken with vegetables! This is an early dinner(early 5pm ish)

 

 So today, cooked a standard meal that I normally cook. Lean chicken + lots of veggies! as you can see, mostly fresh broccoli and some green beans. I had half right now and saving the other half to eat in the labs in a few hours :)

Anyway that got me thinking, to my two readers, haha.. what are your favorite fruits and vegetables?

For vegetables: Definitely broccoli, or spinach. (weiird, i used to hate these)

For fruit: easily mango, probably because I like how sweet it is. or watermelon.

Day forty out of ninety [40/90]

No post for the last couple days! I apologize. I've been far too busy with informatics capstone and busy with classes that I haven't had the chance to post. Regardless, I've still been able to make time to do my workouts this week. I was able to push myself harder this week compared to last week and increased my reps pretty well.

This is the second week of phase two and all, been feeling pretty good. I've started to get used to working out so frequently and hopefully I can keep it up for the next fifty days. Forty days today marks an upcoming milestone: forty-five. That will officially be the half way mark and about 15 days away from another "performance picture" =). Definitely have to keep it up and make sure to stay on top of my game. Working hard, but only half way there.. here we go! Fifty more!

For today's workout, I definitely pushed myself hard. I did all the routines and even saw myself increase anywhere from 10-20% on a lot of my reps. However, I didn't push myself all the way due to the fact that it was Legs & Back workout today and I will be going snowshoeing for a few hours tomorrow. So tomorrow shall be a substitute for Kenpo, unless I'm feeling super good and decide to do Kenpo on Sunday.

In any case, time for the food! (for you, Yena!). I read a post from someone on a forum on p90x that said that the hardest part about p90x, is the nutrition. I don't remember what he said verbatim, but I'll paraphrase. Essentially, to get effective results, it starts in the kitchen, not in the gym. You definitely won't be losing much or getting results if you're eating wrong and unhealthy. Pretty simple right? But a 90 day commitment is tough to curb the bad eating habits and I believe is the most challenging portion of p90x. After all, the mental commitment for the workout is 1hr-1.5hr per day, but the mental commitment to eating healthy is 24 hours, all day, for 90 days.

In any case, I'll definitely do my best to hold myself accountable to eating right, and forget the rest. For dinner tonight, I kept it simple. I had a vegetable mix from trader joes, and combined that with some broccoli. After it was well seasoned and fried a little, I added two eggs into the mix and made it into a nice stir-fry. I'm not sure how "healthy" this is, but eggs are a great form of protein and I tried to keep everything as healthy as I could be. Next, I had some chicken as well as some soy meatballs. Heated it all up and ate dinner! I also committed to only eating half of it for right now, then eating the other half in a few hours :) trying to eat smaller portions.

One other thing I wanted to ask my readers (which are you two, you know who you are :) ).. 

What motivates YOU to work out?

For me, it's about getting in a healthy lifestyle while I am still young. I've seen far too many people put off getting physically active and reap the repercussions down the road. I've had far too many family members pass away too early and I want to do all that I can to curb bad habits early on. Also, I definitely think by being healthier physically, it'll lend to being sharper in many other aspects of life. 

Day thirty-six out of ninety [36/90]

Woo. Happy Valentine's Day.

Day thirty six. Annihilated! Killer workout. Chest, biceps and triceps are definitely a favorite due to its brutality. About 6 exercises in (out of 24), I could definitely feel my arms getting more sore and the beads of sweat rolling off my forehead.

I am either keeping up with my previous week's progress or doing at least 1-2 reps higher on each exercise. I definitely hope next week to do a solid effort on the one arm pushups. I was able to do more this week compared to how dead my arms were the first time around.

Overall though, I'm happy so far with the p90x progress. While I'm definitely not at my goal yet, it has gotten me to think healthier as well as being physically active for around 6-7 hours consistently a week from 0-1 hour a week in fall quarter. While I'm repairing a lot of the damage done to my body in 2010, I hope to continue this positive flow of energy this year!

Day thirty-four out of ninety [34/90]

Almost wrapping up my first week of phase 2 and man, what a difference.

In terms of the effort that is. I'm starting to move into non-assisted chest moves, without the chair and making some good progress. Definitely hope to improve on them as the weeks progress. Also, I really ... really am not feeling Yoga. Gave it another shot yesterday and was really bored half way through. Sigh.

Today though, I definitely felt the burn in Legs & Back. While this week has had a few harder exercises, I think that I've not been getting enough sleep and my muscles are more so as the days roll by. I am also pushing my self harder earlier on in the workouts and notice that I can last longer. But regardless, my arms and legs definitely still feel sore from previous workouts.

Just gotta keep it up and see how these next few weeks progress. I am optimistic though that my habits are changing pretty well. I do have to recognize that if I am working out 6 days a week, I really need to get 8~ hours of sleep every night in order to heal my muscles up before tearing them in the next few days. Today, my knees felt really weak during the earlier portion of the workout and I was near on the verge of giving up. But just as I was almost thinking of turning the video off around 1/4 in.. I hear Tony saying "Do your best... and forget the rest." That made me think of all the times before in the first few weeks where I almost gave up half way through the workout but just gave it my all and powered through it. After it, I felt great. So I did the same today and definitely don't regret it.

Valentine's day is coming up... hope I don't indulge too much in not healthy foods =)

Day thirty-two out of ninety [32/90]

Wow! How fast time is flying. As I typed out 32.. it hits me that 45 isn't too far away and that is almost half way with the program :)

So anyway to recap what happened this week... I fell sick on Tuesday night after my workout and doing some work on campus for my capstone. Not good. But I took nyquil that night. and took two doses of dayquil throughout the next day, stayed in and skipped classes and took nyquil that following night. I also didn't do p90x (For obvious reasons) and recovered by this morning, thankfully.

So all in all, I decided to "use" my one free day on wednesday and keep my regular routine. So, hopefully this doesn't throw me off all week.

On to the workout, wow what a workout! Today was biceps and back and what a mooother of a workout. My biceps/arms never felt more dead by the end. As I sit here on my comfy couch typing, just raising my hand causes some soreness to appear :) It feels good but it also sets the tone for Phase two.

This ain't Phase One. I really gotta bring it every workout session and continue to improve. It was certainly a strong workout and I hope to do even better next week. I'm going to try not using the chair starting next week as well for most of my pullups, unless necessary. Ab ripper was great too, I'm starting to see myself last longer, which is even better. I am taking less frequent breaks and am able to push myself harder, woo. Just gotta keep it up.

Also, I recently took pics of myself for day 30 mark and compared them to day 0. Wow haha.. while the notices are subtle, they are still there. I am really glad that I am doing this program and whipping myself back into a healthy level of fitness. All last year was devoting to getting me a great job and since that's complete, on to my next goal of 2011: Conquer ninety days of P90X. Looking great and feeling great will hopefully come naturally. I'm excited to push myself for the remaining 60% of the program as I did hear that a lot of the results seem to stem from phase2/3 as phase 1 is the phase that just "settles" you in.

As far as what I'm eating today... I'll be eating a chicken ceasar salad and maybe a snack afterwards around 9pm or so. Pics coming soon!

Day thirty out of ninety [30/90]

You have no idea how happy I am to say this:

Officially, I am 1/3 done with P90X :D

Haha, okay, got that out of the way....

Great workout today. Decided to squeeze Plyometrics in between classes and a long group meeting today.

Breakfast: Had a protein bar on the go along with a bag of pop chips.

Lunch: Had a late lunch after Plyo (since it's recommended) and got a salad from By George. Spinach, Mix Greens, Kidney Beans, Garbanzo beans, olives, chicken, eggs, and some sesame seeds. Also, while salads are regarded as a healthy choice, the one factor that makes them pretty unhealthy is the dressing. I opted to go with a small bit of olive oil and salt&pepper. Good to go!

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All of that content above was written by me on Tuesday, before I fell sick later that night!

On to today's post :)

Day twenty-nine out of ninety [29/30]

...And Phase 1 is complete.

Huge apology for the lack of updates. Honestly, I really didn't like the second half of Recovery Week. I was really bored with Stretch X, and Yoga X. I just haven't gotten into it yet. I'm still giving it a shot but the 90 minutes don't feel that great to me, at least.

In any case, Phase 1 is complete and I'm moving onwards with Phase 2!

Today, I did Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. Man, it's been a while since a non-cardio working like that has kicked my ass so hard. I definitely got beat down hard on certain moves, one in particular being the one handed push up. I may need to pace myself better as I was going stronger on the earlier moves and not saving enough energy near the mid. Regardless, I kept through the entire session and was able to finish it successfully. I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to next week's session as I know what to expect on some of these moves and how to pace myself better. Ab ripper X was also great. I can definitely see some improvements here and there. I could do all 25 reps on certain moves and slowly getting better at ones that knock me out usually. I at least hope by the end of all 3 Phases to keep up the entire time with Ab Ripper X =).

Great workout nonetheless, it gave me hope to "Bring It" always after being a little de-motivated from the Recovery Week. I looked ahead, and the Recovery Week for Phase II is pretty similar. I may end up switching in more cardio activities such as more Core Synergetics or Plyometrics into this Phase's Recovery Week in a few weeks..

Anyway on to food: Today I decided to split up my portions. I've noticed that I would cook a good amount of food, which ends up stuffing me by the end of it. So since I was eating around 530pm, I decided to store half of the cooked food in a glass bowl in the fridge and just have it a few hours later.

Broccoli, Cauliflower & mixed vegetable Stir fry

Seasoned chicken from a frozen chicken breast, fried!

1/2 portion of dinner, eaten hot off the pan!

Saving half for later.

I actually ate the other half about 2 hours ago, and it was delicious. Also, I was feeling full after the first 1/2 portion that I am really glad I saved the other half for later. Spacing them out seemed to be the right call as I didn't feel too overstuffed immediately after dinner. In any case, I'm going to try and do this more often!

Food report: 1400 calories, 183g protein

Day twenty-three out of ninety [23/90]

Onwards to the final week of phase 1!

Can't believe it's already here. Some great work thus far and this week looks really  fun.

I just finished the Core Synergetics workout and it's one of my favorites, definitely.

It has you doing really cool moves that involve the entire body and overall, gave me an excellent sweat throughout the workout.

Yesterday was Yoga and I'm feeling pretty meh about that specific routine. While I definitely do think its valuable for any athelete, some of the moves are still pretty difficult and definitely doesn't have me sweating as some of the other workouts. I'm sure though that it's at least helping with flexibility and balance. I'll keep at it, and im hoping it'll be better eventually.

Tonight, I'm cooking a brocolli + vegetable medley with a chicken breast and soy meatballs

Raw chicken breast that I thawed. Sliced halfway through for easier cooking, and I also plan on cutting it down into smaller pieces after it's done. I make slits in the meat and seasoned it with some garlic powder and Johnny's seasoning!

After that's done, I grill and fry the veggie mix and chicken breast until it's fully cooked and ready. All the cooking probably took about 15-20~ mins.

Ta-dah. All done. Soy meatbals, Veggie mix, and chicken with a bottle of water and protein shake in the back. Yum.

Fresh chicken is always so much tastier. This was a pretty heavy meal but I hadn't eaten much at all so it's all good =)