Take THAT Week 1

Week 1 of the P90X is in the books! Aside from a few small stumbles, both literally and figuratively, I think it went well. I'm not going to measure or weigh in, so I can't really say that there are any visible results, but I do notice some changes. I'm already noticing a substantial increase in energy throughout the day. I don't feel sluggish nearly as often. It is probably a result of sleeping better since the workouts are long and rather intense. I'm not at the point yet where the workouts are an energy boost in and of themselves. Instead, they're extremely tiresome, and I normally just want to go straight to sleep after finishing.

So, I already posted about Core Synergistics last Wednesday. On Thursday, we did Cardio X. Surprisingly, it was comprised of segments that I wouldn't normally conisder to be cardio, like lunges and yoga, but it really did get my heart rate up and made me sweat. It was also only 45 minutes, which was nice compared to some of the other much longer workouts.

On Friday, we did Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X. This one hurt. I'm much better at core work and cardio than I am the strength training. Still, it was nice to find a workout that The Hunk enjoyed. He doesn't like the cardio stuff like I do. The Ab Ripper X was also quite painful. It's sixteen minutes long, so you think, "Hmm, how bad can it be?" But in that sixteen minutes you do 330-something reps. OUCH!

Saturday was Legs and Back with another round of the Ab Ripper X. Again, ouch! Tons and tons of lunges and pull-ups. I cannot do a single pull-up, so I am going to use resistance bands. My goal is to be able to do one stinking pull-up by the time the 90days is over. I have NEVER been able to do one. Honestly, I was yelling at this chick named Dreya on the TV because she was doing pull-up after pull-up with ease. I hate her. I started to get really discouraged and genuinely pissed off at myself for letting my lack of upper body strength, but The Hunk helped me figure out something to do since we didn't have bands yet. He also gave me a giant encouraging hug when I was just about in tears because I'm so weak.

Anyway, my legs felt like spaghetti the next day, and my shoulders were so sore that I had to bend down to put my headphones on. LOL On a positive note, I managed to do more of the Ab Ripper the second time around. Small victory. Another small victory is holding position on the wall squats longer than The Hunk, which felt kind of vindicating after whole pull-up mess. HA! TAKE THAT! So you are against the wall, sitting in an imaginary chair...and then you put one leg out. Sounds like it should be easy, but it is painful, especially since you do this for 90 seconds.

Next was Kenpo, which is a mix of kickboxing and Americanized karate. I wasn't sure how they expected me to kick anything with my noodle-y legs, but I gave it a shot. :) I really enjoyed this one. Some of the combination moves are a little tough to grasp at first. I think it's important to note that the purpose of the workout is to burn calories and sweat. You don't have to get every move down perfectly in the beginning. At least that's my take... The Hunk and I got a little off-kilter for a moment when he got a little frustrated and paused the DVD. I, in turn, got frustrated at him because it's hard to keep focus and the heart rate up with a paused DVD. Hehe. In the end, he pushed through it, though he was still mad afterwards because "it isn't even real martial arts." Men. ;) It may not have been, but hey, I was seriously sweating at the end of the hour.

I wanted to do the Stretch X workout last night, yet my schedule just didn't allow for it. I may try to fit it in next week, either in the morning (HAHA, yeah right, like I'm going to wake up at 5:30) or after class, which would require me to be awake until 11:00 or 11:30. Yuck. But it's interesting that I felt LAZY not working out last night.

In addition to the intense workouts, we've been eating a lot better over the last week. I've cooked almost every night! What's more is I've actually enjoyed it! We tried a lot of new recipes, and some of them are going to become favorites, like the chicken and black bean salsa. Oh so good!

There are just two things I need to try to work on - water intake and limiting caffeine. I'm having such a hard time drinking enough water, mostly because I don't enjoy water. I'm going to go get some Crystal Light or something. And I'm trying to cut out the soda and coffee, but it's really hard. I'm down to one caffeinated beverage a day, which is better than about three per day.

All in all, I really enjoy the program so far. It's structured very effectively. Yeah, I may yell at the tv. Yeah, I may fall over because I'm just not that coordinated or graceful. Yeah, I may get discouraged because I can't do a stupid pull-up to save my life. But as the trainer on the dvd says, "Do your best and forget the rest." I'm trying to do just that.