Thursday 27 August 2015

4/90 Yoga ... Not Feeling the Namaste

Oh Emm Gee I hate Yoga!

I want to like yoga... I really do but I dread it.

I am flexible.

My balance is not horrible.

This should be easy enough but it is just painful.

I am not a zen person... so I should probably benefit greatly from yoga.

I have crushed the P90x program three times... full rounds and never did learn to like it.

I tried to have an open mind this morning... still hate it.

SIGH

I will keep it in the lineup for the first phase but may choose to sub it out in phases 2 and 3.  I just hate feeling like I wasted my time.  Please don't argue with me yoga lovers... I am trying here.

Anyway, so that is what happened today on the P90x front.  Tomorrow is Legs and Back and I think that I am going to do doubles completing my Kenpo a day early since I am in school all weekend.  My legs will be H-U-R-T-I-N-G but then I can focus on school :)

Diet still in check!

Feeling motivated by the schedule and not letting my hatred of yoga dim my light.

Make it a great day and make it count!


Wednesday 26 August 2015

3/90 Shoulders and Arms ... With Trepidation

Well, good morning!  Hope you all had a great day yesterday!

Mine was marvellous :)  Diet on point, exercise on point and one of my best friends called me GORGEOUS before 8am.  That is the way to start the day!

Enough about yesterday ... let's talk about today's session.

Shoulders and Arms was on the menu and I am not going to lie, I was concerned.  I hate talking about my aliments but this blog is an honest one and I don't hide from them here.  I have had a serious flare-up in my shoulder for the past six months.  YES, 6 months.  I have had 2 shots of Cortizone in the site and still in a lot of pain.  It even hurts to get my coffee from the Tim Horton's drive through in the morning, sometimes requiring both arms!  (Yup, I am a Canadian who has her Tim's daily)

So, naturally, I modified today ... using much lighter weights than I am used to.  I did do every rep for every exercise so I am pleased but there were moments that I considered stopping.  I pushed through and was dripping wet again today.  The humidity and the pain made for a great calorie burn :P  Actually the pain was intense at the beginning but as I worked the joint it felt better and now it is feeling good.  No pain meds used :)

I should also mention that I did not have difficulty waking up this morning... actually woke up just before the alarm but my body still tried to convince me to stay put.  I know that the first month is the hardest.  I will have to coach myself out of bed every damn day ... and you can bet that I am going to!

On another note, I want to talk about my home gym.  When my husband and I built our house six years ago we decided that we would build a space for a gym in our home.  We invested a lot of money but it was well worth it because I use it, a lot!  The problem with the gym is that it gets so warm because it is in our living space and we did not create a different zone in that room (for the radiant heat).  So, it has been discussed for the past two years (more like me trying to convince my husband) that we should redo our garage and make that space into our gym.  Well, after two years of talking the carpenter arrived this morning to get started!   I will take pics when it is done ... I am SO EXCITED about it.  There will be more space and cooler space... yeah me!

Ok, that is all for today... have yourselves a great day and make it count!

Tuesday 25 August 2015

2/90 Plyometrics Pain at 5am

Let me begin by saying that I hit it out of the park yesterday!  Diet was on point!  Exercise was on point and I still managed to do my hair and look like a professional!

I got to bed early and fell asleep with ease; however, when that alarm went off at 4:45 this morning my body was telling my brain to ignore it!  I shut it off and laid there for a couple of minutes with this dialogue running through my head:

Body: Stay in bed... you can do it tonight!

Brain: No you can't ... you have to take Skye to cheer tonight.. you really think that you will have the energy to do it at 9pm?

Body: But... this bed... it is SO COMFY!

Brain: Get your ass outta bed!

Body: You could just wake up your husband and have sex... that could count as cardio?!

Brain: Then I would be UP... so GET UP!

Then I got out of bed, grabbed my clothes that were laid out from the night before and stumbled my way into the bathroom.

I reluctantly washed my face and got dressed and dragged my ass downstairs and pushed play.... and I KILLED the first 1/2 of Plyo today but the last half was pitiful.  BUT ... I damned well did it!!  

And although the thought of morning sex was a good one ... there is no way that I would have gotten this kind of a calorie burn:

So I know that I made the right decision!

Make it a great day everyone and make it count :D

Monday 24 August 2015

P90x ... Third round

WOW, time passes slow when you are feeling like shit!  Making plans are hard, finding the strength and energy to take control of your life following a bad-ass flare up is HARD and committing to health it is even HARDER!

So, where did I disappear to?  I had the unfortunate chance of suffering from an extended flare-up followed by extreme fatigue for months.  It was all I could do to maintain my family/work schedule and the result was full weight gain.  ALL that work that I put into creating a body that I was beginning to be proud of has been tossed out the window.

My mojo took a hike when my body was acting up.

My desire to worry about working my body out and developing vanity muscles had disappeared.

My only focus was managing my family and keeping mobile.

The occasional walk followed by extreme pain was about all I could muster.

On August 17th, my 40th birthday, my friends invited me to kayak down the river.  Since I have spent a lot of time resting these past few months I was feeling strong enough to partake in one of my favorite sports and it was FABULOUS!  That being said, it was also a moment of revelation.  In these past months, with all my weight gain, I realized that I am not longer comfortable in my skin.  I watched as my friends all enjoyed their time in the water, wearing cute bathing suits while, once again, I found myself on the sidelines.  I am tired of sitting and watching life pass me by as I did in the past.  Since my body has had regular Remicade treatments every 5 weeks and got my mobility back I realized what a gift those meds have been.  Now that my body is working better and my fatigue is something that I can work with ... it is time to start living again!

Time to get comfortable in my skin again!

Time to stop standing on the sideline of life.

Time to break out my P90x and start back with the program that kick-started my health journey.

So, this morning was 1/90 and it was GREAT.  I have lost a lot of strength but I am certainly not starting over ... I am stronger than round one.  That was promising.  I know that the muscles are there ... just well protected by layer upon layer of FAT.  Time to build and reveal :)

This round my youngest daughter, Skye, is joining me.  She has recently taken up Competitive Cheer and needs to work on her strength.  This is a great bonding experience plus she is gonna love how chiseled her body is gonna get on this program!  I am just hoping to be her size at the end of it :P  SHe is so cute!

Anyway, I will be sharing my journey as I am still determined to be #fitby40 ... just by the end of 40 now :P

BRING IT