Phase II

Things are going well right now in Houston. I'm enjoying my time away from Galveston, and my new car with low mileage. I have only filled up once in the past week and a half! Amazing!! I know that has more to do with the fact that I'm not commuting as far and little to do with the gas mileage of Susan, but whatever....it's a plus in my book.

I have also been trying to get a little more writing done, as I don't have very much actual work to do right now. I really slacked off on the writing, but I've got some good ideas and I'm trying to solidify them and get them down on paper. We'll see how that goes.

I'm officially in phase II of p90x, today is day 30....60 more to go! I am really enjoying the workouts, although I have to say it was difficult to keep the momentum going during my "rest" week last week. The rest week has a lot of yoga in it, and I'm still not finding that enjoyable. It also introduced the core synergistics workout, and I may start substituting that in place of yoga. As much as I know my balance and flexibility needs improvement, I am still pretty flexible....able to reach well past my toes in stretches, and I can curl myself into a pretzel pretty easily. My balance should improve as I work on my core, which is what the core synergistics workout is all about.

I started phase II last night, with a shoulders, chest, & triceps workout. It was intense, but I am seeing a lot of improvement. I can now do several pushups, without dropping to my knees, and I can go further down than when I started a month ago. I'm still going to my knees on certain ones, but I know its only a matter of a couple of weeks before I will be able to do everything from my feet. My shoulders are sore, and a bit tight today, but its no where near the pain of that first week. I also did Ab Ripper, which continues to be a challenge, but I'm noticing improvement there too. I'm even starting to see some definition in my abs.

Overall, I have lost about 4% body fat (still have a ways to go with this), and a couple of lbs, but I feel stronger and have more endurance. I'm sure after the next 60 days, I'll be unstoppable. :)

Meet Susan

I have decided that next time I decide to buy a car, I'm making someone else do the shopping for me. I really didn't enjoy the process this time (probably because I did more this time than simply point and say "give me"). I've had my fill of pushy salesmen (Mazda was AWFUL).

I did purchase a new vehicle. Her name is "Susan the Fusion" and she is a Ford Fusion. I call her "Susan" for short. I decided to stay away from the hybrid, for the maintenance fears alone, but liked some of the options that the 09 Fusions had (I was trying to keep the $$ down, so I gave up my leather seats and navigation. I'll miss the leather seats, but portable GPS devices are so inexpensive these days that I couldn't justify getting one for the pretty display. I stayed away from the 2010 Fusions and the Hybrids because while I had good luck with the Mariner, and no real issues, I don't want the idea of having to replace one of those batteries hanging over my head again.

I also test drove the Mercury Milan (I liked the dealership, and they were offerering a pretty good deal, almost better than Ford, until I got them to come down quite a bit) and a Mazda6. Out of the 3, I liked the way the Mazda6 drove the best, but the car was a base model (and had a standard transmission) and the asshole salesmen wouldn't come down far enough on the price. The Mercury was nice, but it ultimately came down to Ford giving me a better offer that met all of my qualifications.

So, anyway, that's the story.

Urgh

Um, I'm thinking about trading in my hybrid for a new car. This makes me queasy....excited queasy and am-I-crazy queasy.

Here's the deal.

My hybrid currently has about 67K miles on it. Being a hybrid, they don't really know what happens to the main battery when it reaches its life expectancy of 100k miles. The replacement cost runs around $6,000. I have a warranty on that battery until the 100K mark, but my extended warranty on the rest of the car's working parts is almost up. I'm very concerned that I could have an expensive breakdown once the extended warranty is up. I understand and agree with the idea that you should run a car into the ground before replacing it, however, I'm concerned that this car may be in the ground before I finish paying it off.

I am scheduled to be on my Galveston project until the end of the year. At that point, i will have been there for 3 years and I think I can fight like hell to get put on something different at that point (fingers crossed). Hopefully something traveling, where i can park my car at an airport for weeks on end. So, if I do get a new car, it will have some mileage on it by the time I'm done with Galveston, but it won't be 100K miles (fingers crossed).

In addition, if I buy something slightly less expensive than the hybrid, I can lower my monthly car note....it's like a re-financing deal, but with a new-car benefit. I'm looking at a Mercury Milan (think Ford Fusion). It's economical, but loaded with cool features and options (like leather and sync). It does have a 60/40 fold down seat, so i can still fit my bike in the trunk.

I'm looking at the Mercury for a couple of different reasons. 1) They have some great rebates going on right now....i can get about 6K off the MSRP, 2) I like the feature of key-pad entry....I have to stick with something made by Ford so that I can keep that, and 3) I like the dealership I bought the Mariner from. Knowing that I'm a repeat customer can help me get an even better deal.

Anyway, that's it. Do you think I'm crazy?

Day 16

I have successfully completed 16 days of P90X....only 74 more to go!

I have to say, the second week was much better than the first. Not only was I able to complete the videos and (to some extent) keep up with the pace they maintain in the videos, but I was able to push myself to complete full sets of reps. I also wasn't as sore as the first week....that was hell. I still feel like i'm getting a workout, and I have little twinges of discomfort of soreness, but I can actually sit up in bed without having to pull my body up by climbing the headboard. I am keeping track of everything that i do (well, not the cardio days) and I'm striving to push myself further each time I work out.

Working out in the mornings has worked well for me. The only day it doesn't work is Yoga day, but only because the video is a half hour longer than the other videos. Yoga is also a good relax-the-mind workout and I think it will work better in the evenings anyway....I won't have to worry about watching the clock and then rushing to work. For the days that I also have to add Ab Ripper X, I get more out of both workouts if I wait to do Ab Ripper in the evenings. There are still a couple of exercises on that video that I don't like, but I'm getting better at all the others. I use the pause button quite a bit (which they encourage), but I can do all the reps I want when I'm moving at my own pace.

This morning's workout was Plyometrics. I struggled through it....for some reason my heartrate was going sky high, but i pushed myself until i felt the burn in each exercise and I'm happy with that. My legs feel a bit tired right now, but they should loosen up as the day goes on.

In terms of results, I have noticed some changes. I haven't lost any weight, but my close are fitting looser, my stomach is flatter, and my thighs are slimmer. Two weeks in - you can't complain about that. I'm not necessarily concerned with losing weight. I think Weight Watchers put me at a weight that's manageable. I also know that I'm building muscle, so I'm perfectly content with allowing the number on the scale to stay the same, as long as the body fat % continues to decrease. These aren't big changes, but I've noticed them and that's all that I need to stay motivated.

Big News!

The long anticipated release of Au Pair III is finally here! I know some of you won't want to miss tonight's broadcast on ABC Family....check your local listings!

:)

Vacation Recap

I have decided that next time I take a week off, just to stay at home and lay on the couch, I'm telling the folks at work that I am touring Europe or staying in a cabin in the middle of the woods, completely cut-off from civilization (that's right, just me, the bears, and the vampires).

I took a week of vacation last week, that actually really kinda sucked. I worked all day Monday and most of Tuesday (from home, in my PJs, but still!), got an eye exam on Tuesday afternoon by a really cute ophthalmologist that makes me want to purposely ruin my 20/20 vision so I can go back for another exam, was on house arrest on Wednesday waiting for the fire-place repair men (who didn't show up until 5pm), under room-arrest on Thursday, trying to avoid my sick roommate, and had a flat tire on Friday, while trying to find a bike shop that apparently doesn't actually exist.

There were highlights to the week (in addition to the cute doctor): $15 mountain bike shoes from REI, a new windshield, and the flat tire was easily fixable (and free!). I also started and completed my first week of P90x. Today was day 8, and I worked out this morning before work. It's going to take me a while to adjust to waking up early for workouts, as I was ready to pass out at my desk this morning around 9:30. So far, everything with that is going well. I'm able to do more during this second round through the videos and I'm not as sore as I was last week, although I did pull a muscle in my abs last night doing push-ups (in addition to the calf muscle i pulled on Thursday), but it feels a lot better today, so I don't think that's going to stick with me for long.


Essentially, I need a vacation, and I really want to get away, away from everyone and everything and just relax. Is there a place like that in existence? Isn't there someplace in Montana I can go (in the summer, of course)?


UPDATE: I meant to also mention that while my week sucked, my weekend was pretty great. No, I did not have a random run in with a sharp pencil giving me an excuse to go back to the cute doc, or a random run in with the cute doc himself, but I did have a good weekend none the less. My sister came in from Germany for a visit, and I spent a good part of Saturday & Sunday driving through parking lots and catching up with her. She brought her dog, which was a treat, because he's a sweet, sweet, dog. In comparison to our other poodles, Justice has always seemed big (he's a miniature poodle, but with long legs), however, in comparison to the 50 lb boxer at home and my other sisters 100 lb lab, he's incredibly tiny (and a big-ole fur ball right now). It was good to see both of them, and I look forward to another quick visit with her next weekend before she heads to DC and then back to Germany.

3 and then a 4

Days 3 & 4 went pretty well. I ended up doing my workouts a little late, at a time that I would be doing them if i waited until after work. While that may be good for releiving some of the stress of work, I don't think its going to work in the long term. I get too keyed up working out and would probably have issues sleeping if I did that on a regular basis. I am on vacation this week, so I am able to figure out what works best. I think, for me, early morning workouts will be my best bet.

Day 3 was Shoulders/Arms and Ab Ripper. I really liked the shoulder & arms workout and I enjoyed the Ab Ripper a little more this second go through than I did the first day. I was able to take my time and complete the full reps of each exercise courtesy of the pause button. I still have to take breaks, otherwise its too painful. The exercises are intense, to say the very least.

Day 4 was Yoga. I've done a lot of pilates in the past few years, and I figured it would be similar to that. I have to say, for me, I didn't really enjoy the yoga. I like pilates because it has variety, whereas Yoga (or at least this video) goes through the same motions, adding to them in each round. I understand its benefit though, so I will continue to do it each week. My sister said it was her least favorite workout of the bunch and I have a feeling that it may be mine also. We'll see as it goes along.

Today is Kenpo, which is billed as a kickboxing type workout. It is supposed to be pretty fun, so I've got my fingers crossed that I will really enjoy it.

wish me luck.

p90x: Days 1-2

Several months ago, my roommate purchased the P90x. If you haven't seen the infomercials, then you may not know what I'm talking about, but its a 90 day exercise program that works off of the idea of muscle confusion. It has 12 different workouts, everything from chest & back work (lots of push and pull ups) to plyometrics (jump training) and yoga. If you google the program, you'll see before and after photos of normal people completely transformed into the physically best shape of their lives.

My sister and brother-in-law purchased and started it about a month ago, and they both love it. Since the only thing my roommate was doing with his copy of it was collecting dust, I decided to brush it off and try it out. One complaint I've always had about my own fitness is my lack of stregnth...I am very week and I'm interested in doing some basic weight training, combined with cardio, that will allow me to build muscle and stregnth. Plus, it's lent, I need a lenten promise.

So, I started the program on Sunday. The first day included the chest and back workout combined with their abs program. The chest and back wasn't bad. I wasn't able to do everything that they did, and it may be a while before I'm able to do the number of reps that the folks on the videos do, but there wasn't any move that I flat out couldn't do in some shape or form. I can't do a full out pull up to save my life at this point, but with the assistance of a chair, i'm at least able to do the motion and do a pull up type action. The ab workout was just flat out difficult, but only because I had been working my abs doing push ups and pull ups for an hour before I got to it. My sister says that she will do the first work out earlier in the day, then come back at night to do the abs. The break in between will probably help.

The second day was Plyometrics, which was like jump training. I had heard that it was the most difficult workout of the bunch, so I went into it a bit worried. Most of the workout was lunges and squats (you jump up in the air a lot too). It really wasn't bad, although I am not coordinated enough to do some of the exercises, I have no doubts that I'll improve as I go along. The only time I yelled at the TV was when they told me to jump on one leg while moving in an X formation on the ground. Its so sad how difficult it is to jump on one leg. All in all, the video wasn't as bad as I feared, and several of the exercises were a lot of fun.

I was sore yesterday, and I'm sore today, as my body has been reminded of several undeveloped muscles that it prefers to ignore. From what friends and family have told me, I should be sore most of this week, but it will get better as we go along. The soreness isn't too bad and its nothing I can't handle.

I'm not doing too well sticking with the diet aspect of it, although I have enough weight watchers training so that I'm not eating poorly, just not always as they recommend. The diet changes as you progress in the program, and its similar to weight watchers in the sense that you trade off what you eat. It focuses on high protein through out it, but it does allow you more carbs as you go through. I haven't eaten too far from the plan, but while they recommend veggies like green beans, I'm pretty sure they didn't mean for them to be battered and fried a la TGIFridays.

Anyway, that's day one and two for me. I won't update this every day, but I will periodically post some info on here. It should be fun to track the progress as I go along.