P90X--Bring it on!

So... way back in about May I decided it was time to get serious about shedding my extra weight.  A friend told me about My Fitness Pal, so that's where I started and things went really well...and 25 pounds later I am still using it (that's 25 pounds down, not up...)  I've been doing my much-loved water aerobics in addition to other things, but last week I decided to commit to something different and much harder... P90X.  So far it's been quite a ride.  I had decided to blog the whole experience...I've been slow to start, but here goes...

First of all, let's just say a few words about getting ready to start.  I read through the book and decided that after five years of consistent exercise I should be in good enough shape to actually do it.  My next step was the Nutrition Plan book.  I knew going in that this was going to be a problem.  For one thing, I don't eat anything green (unless it has sugar and tastes like mint or it's Jell-o) and unfortunately this eliminates almost all vegetables.  Unless I want to eat carrots every single day and eventually end up looking like one, that is definitely not gonna work.  The other issue is the high amount of protein and the low amount of carbs.  I am an admitted carb junkie.  Sure, I like protein okay, but I prefer my protein wrapped in a carb (i.e. buns, tortillas, donuts...just about anything that can be baked) so even if I could manage to get all that protein in, I'd be upping my carbs at the same time.  After looking over the list of acceptable foods and realizing that sugar, hot dogs and butter aren't even on the list I decided that I was just gonna have to tackle the nutrition plan in my own warped way. So on to the workout...

Day One... Chest and Back.  I knew it would be a hard one for me because I have a pretty weak back, but overall I felt pretty good when it was over.  It was SUPER hard, and I pushed myself and managed to do the whole workout.  I do have to say, though, that I can't do chin ups.  I have never been able to, even when I was a kid on the playground.  When they suggested getting a chair, I assumed it was for me to sit on and wait them out...then I'd continue when they were done.  But they had a modification with bands, so I participated.  I was dripping with sweat but it was successful...right until the second workout "showed up" and suddenly there was the Ab Ripper X....349 crunches for your abs and core.  As Tony says..."this is not Ab Ripper 100 or Ab Ripper 200, this is Ab Ripper X"...and yes indeed, it is!  As I laid there on my mat sweating and watching (yeah, that was the part "in between" the ones I could do) I wondered if I'd ever be able to do them all.  I also wondered who had snuck in and glued my heels to the floor, because no way were they coming up again.  But I did the best I could, and I felt okay about it.

We all know that the soreness from a workout usually sets in the next day but the pain from this workout didn't want to wait that long.  By the time I got out of the shower I was wondering if I needed to go to the hospital.  I had to rest my elbow on the counter to dry my hair because I couldn't lift the hair dryer high enough to stand up straight.  I discovered that I have muscles in my armpits...who knew?Later on I was driving Dylan to work and my arms were quivering like Jell-o when Dylan said "are you sure you should be driving?" and to be honest, I wasn't at all sure that I should.

Day Two... Plyometrics.  First order of business, find out what plyometrics is.  Jump training!  This one really sounded promising considering I have knee and foot injuries that I have to worry about.  But I'm determined, so I decided to follow the girl that was modifying and keep the jumping to a minimum.  The funny thing is, I couldn't have done it will all the jumping anyway.  I have far to much flab that bounces around with me as I jump and I didn't need to be slapped by my own fat for 58 minutes.  Modifying worked great and I got through it, but I do believe I sweat off every drop of liquid in my whole body and I'm surprised I didn't end up a quivering heap of withered prune when it was over.  I managed to down an entire bottle of water DURING the workout and give myself a bit of a stomach ache, then followed that with another bottle of water when I was done just to get my skin to get back it's elasticity.

This really awesome and terribly hard workout would have been hard enough without the soreness I was still dealing with from day one.  By the end of the day I had sore muscles in places I didn't know I even had muscles...the backs of my knees, the flappy skin on the bottom of my arms, my armpits still hurt, and I can't be completely sure, but I think even my hair hurt.  Then off to Young Women's where they expected me to line dance when I could barely lift my feet off the floor by two inches and there was NO WAY I was jumping again.  By the end of the night I could barely move.  I took four ibuprofen and went to bed at 9:30.  I don't actually remember laying my head on the pillow.  I think I fell asleep halfway down.

Day Three... Arms & Shoulders.  This one should be easy for me.  I have strong arms from lifting Braden, plus I've been working them hard lately...so I had a lot of confidence going in.  Lucky for me, this one was the easiest so far, but still hard...however, I need to get some heavier weights before next week.  I was relieved that I could do this workout, but then, at the end...here comes that damned Ab Ripper X again!  Considering my abs were still sore from Monday, it was a wonder I could even manage to lay down and get up, let alone work through the whole program.  I actually did better than the first time, so I am encouraged.  However, I'm changing the name of this workout to "C-Section Scar Ripper" because I thought for sure when I was done that scar from having four c-sections was gonna bust wide open like that guy in Alien and some scary beast would pop out.

The important thing I learned by the end of day three is that I am not allowed to sit down or lounge on the couch for the next 90 days.  Every time I sit down the rigor sets in and I suddenly can't move.  Best not to chance it and just stay moving around the clock for the next 90 days.  I also wondered why my butt hurt, because I don't even remember working that.

Which leads me to today... Day Four... Yoga X.  I am not completely unfamiliar with yoga...I have attempted it in the past, but I must start my stating emphatically that I am the #1 most inflexible person on the planet.  I have never been able to do splits (even as a kid), I can't touch my toes... I can't even lay on the floor and stick my leg in the air and completely straighten it.  Which leads me to say, I probably really need this yoga so I can improve...and how hard can it possibly be, right?

Well, let me just tell you how hard it could possibly be... First of all, it was an excruciatingly long 90 minutes.  The first half is all moving poses, and I was sweating so bad it sounded like it was raining on my mat every time I bent over.  I kept the towel handy, and when I was done and threw it in the laundry room it landed on the top of the washer with a slapping sound--THAT'S how wet it was.  yuck!  When he said we were done with moving poses and moving to balance, I was relieved for about 30 seconds...long enough to realize I can't balance very well.  There was a lot of falling and flopping all over the place, but the good news is, at the end when I did the hamstring stretch I was actually able to hold on to the bottom of my foot!  Yay for me!  I also found my favorite move from all four workouts so far... corpse pose.  I could do that all day.  I also really did the ohms at the end...yes, it's true, I chanted.  I felt ridiculous, but I did it anyway.  And tonight I actually feel pretty good.  I have some residual soreness...everywhere...but it's not as bad as it was yesterday.

So that's my story so far of P90X.  Tomorrow I have to tackle legs and back and...SURPRISE... Ab Ripper is rearing it's ugly head again.  Saturday I get to do Kenpo...kick boxing.  That video is filled with all kinds of yelling, so I think I might like that one.

For now, it's time to get ready for bed and go practice my corpse pose.