Motivation Monday

As part of my January fitness challenge, I weighed in this morning.

Down two pounds. I'll take it! It's not a Biggest Loser kind of number, but hey - two pounds is nothing to sneeze at. I'm trying really hard not to focus on the numbers because that ALWAYS derails me. I could write posts after post about it. Sigh. Actually, I think I have already. A-hem.

Anyway! Moving on. Where was I? Two pounds, yay me.

P90X. Let's do some talking about P90X, shall we? I've dabbled in P90X off and on for over a year. I've done all the weight routines many, many times, but I've had very limited experience with the dedicated cardio. I call it dedicated cardio because in all honesty, if you are doing P90X correctly it's all pretty intense cardio - even the Yoga....err...excuse me..Yoga X. Or as Tony would say, Yoga X, brother.

Tony and I are having a bit of a love hate relationship these days. I love him, my muscles pretty much hate him.

Why is that, you may be wondering?

I'd be delighted to tell you. Push ups. Pull ups. Squats. Lunges. Jumping. Oh how I hate, hate, hate the jumping. Especially when squats and lunges are combined with jumping. Plyo is the devil. The devil that's an hour long. Jumping jacks. Whom ever thought up jumping jacks should have been shot. In the foot.

Seriously though, it's been a week. I lived past the first full week. WOOT! On Thursday, I was so sore I wanted to cry when ever I tried to stand or sit or breathe.

BUT! Today? I was looking forward to the workout. Have I improved in a week? I certainly feel stronger. And six or seven people have told me I looked thinner or smaller in the last week. God Bless all of you, by the way. You made my middle aged self so happy!

Oh - and here's my official "before" picture. We took it New Year's Eve. When I saw it, I wanted to cry. I thought I was further along than this. I guess that just means there's more room for progress, right?

Motivation Monday/Tuesday/When I remember to post it

***It was a pretty busy holiday weekend, which led to Saturday feeling like Sunday, Sunday feeling like Saturday, and Monday just feeling plain odd. I had the Monday post mostly written, but I was engrossed in a book and forgot to post my Monday post on Monday. Lucky for me, my posting/not posting has no real effect on how the world turns. But I do sincerely apologize.***

No change on the scale.  But I only got a workout in on Monday and Friday. I did active things off and on through the week and I was so busy that I kept moving all week and weekend long, but dedicated workouts? Not so much.

However, with my iron level on the rise, at least I don't feel like walking to the mail box requires a similar effort to, say, climbing Mount Everest. Yes, it was that low. Yes, I know that's really dangerous. I'm doing everything possible to fix this...even if it means having to dive into a delicious, thick, juicy yet lean steak once a week or so. It's a hard life at times.

Friday I thought it would be a GREAT idea do do some serious weight lifting. After I got my cardio in, I did three sets of chest presses with 20 lb dumbbells, three sets of chest flys with 15 lb dumbbells, three sets of skull crushers with 15 lb dumbbells, three sets of military presses with 15's, three sets of shoulder raises with 15's, and three sets of tricep extensions with 15's. Oh, and three sets of bicep curls with 20's.

And then I couldn't move without pain until today.

I talked to Dad on Sunday and we had a chat about frustration and 'healthy living' changes. I wonder if results will ever happen fast enough for me. Probably not. But I have to keep trying. I thought eating healthy and working out would get easier over time. In one way that's true (it's usually a part of my every day routine) and in one way that's not true (because it's still difficult and sometimes a real struggle). But all I can do is keep on keeping on. Eventually, something is going to click that has not clicked yet. And when that happens, you'll hear my whoops of joy across the land.