Day 1 & 2

Things are going well so far.  Everyone knows their body well enough to notice changes and in day 2, I already can see a change in my face which is the first place all my fat goes to!  This is what I've done so far:

Eating Habits


I've gone back to my low Glycemic Index (low sugar, low carb) eating habits so I'm eating lots of veggies, protein and cutting back my sugar to diabetic levels.  A sample of my meals include:

Pre Breakfast - 2oz of organic grape juice
Breakfast - 2 egg whites with vegetables and 3 slices of turkey bacon or turkey slices and 2oz of fruit
Snack 1 - assorted nuts or trail mix
Lunch - simple salad, no dressing w/ 3oz diced grilled chicken
Snack  2 - Turkey Jerkey or Fruit
Dinner - 3 oz lean meat or chicken, salad, steamed jasmine rice or veggies
Late Snack - 1cup of cheerios with skim milk or 2 sugar free popsicles

If you are not used to eating this kind of food, your body might feel off for a day or two, but eating this often keeps your stomach full and you avoid over eating at core meals.

Workouts


As soon as I woke up, I did a 20 minute cardio workout such as what I posted yesterday from youtube.  Here is what I did the rest of the day:

Mid morning: Office pushups and tricep extensions on my chair
Lunch: 30 minute stationary bike
After work: Resistance Band full body
Late night: Dumbbell chest workout

Every day I intend to do a morning cardio session as well as a lunch time cardio session while training different body parts every day with home weights.  I'm also incorporating 3 gym sessions to the week where I'll focus on Circuit Training to get my body moving and my metabolism up.

So far, I feel great. I woke up this morning feeling lighter and was able to sleep better last night.  I know 2 days isn't a lot of time to shout victory, but as I mentioned, everyone knows their own body best.  You will know when things are working and as of today, this is working for me.  One of my biggest challenge was my work from home day today when I usually enjoy a happy hour with wings at the end of the work day.  Today, I was able to push through that and instead incorporate a solid workout and a nice wholesome meal.  Next two challenges will be a day off on Friday and of course, the dreaded weekend (see: Weekend Weakness)

I'll keep you all posted in a few days and let you know how things progress.

Until Then,

J

P90X Day One: Chest & Back

P90X Day One – Chest & Back

Equipment used: P90X Disc 1, Iron Gym Pull-Up Bar, PerfectPushups handles, PowerBlock Dumbbells, Chair.

P90X Day One is in the books!  Man I am tired but I feel GREAT!  However, after not working out for two complete weeks, I have to admit that this workout was the hardest I’ve endured in a very long time.  It’s amazing how your body can eat its muscles and fibers when you aren’t feeding it the right way.  I noticed that my strength was not where it was three weeks ago so it made it tougher to start big.  I had to start like a beginner which is not bad because I get to really start from scratch.

Areas I struggled in:  Wide Front Pull-ups, Decline Pushups and Dive bomber pushups.

Wide Front Pull-ups: I felt a twitch in my lats which told me I need to work that muscle out more in order to have more strength on my pull-ups.  Perhaps later I will incorporate some gym time to build up this muscle. 

Decline Pushups:  proved to be harder because of the stress you put on your outer pectoral muscles.  For me, this was possibly due to my chest muscle fibers not being stretched and loose as they used to be when I was doing Bench Presses.  Quick fix will be to do some additional chest workouts and get that body part conditioned again which I’m incorporating into my work out tomorrow. 

Dive bomber Pushups:  Since I was 16, I’ve had a nagging baseball lower back injury that comes and goes.  Over the last month, I noticed that I’ve been very sore on that region and it’s been hurting for a good 3 weeks.  Doing these pushups puts a lot of strain on the lower back so I was only able to do about 10 with good form and 5 on my knees. I am making an appointment with a Chiropractor soon to get adjusted.

Overall, the workout was a great one.  I do have a lot of work to do, but I hope by next Monday, I can surpass some of my initial reps for each exercise and get my body conditioned to kill the next 3 months! 

Notes:

• I was not able to complete Ab Ripper X after the workout (because I was exhausted!) but I will move it to my evening workout so I can complete all the reps with good form and stamina.
• Also, it depends on your style, but I noticed I don’t like to hear this guy talk anymore.  Hearing him count off on his pushups or talk to others can sometimes ruin your rhythm and make you try to catch up with him instead of working on your form.  
• Next workout, I’m going to use the “Cues only, no music no talking” option.

Sore areas: Arms!!

I finished with a 52g protein shake!


How was YOUR first day??