21DF Round 2: Day 17

I have failed to post for quite a few days... about 17 or 18 to be exact. I have not failed to workout and eat clean, but posting has been tough. My new schedule has me spinning around in circles so far. I work 10 pm to 7 am and it seems to cause me to lose out on days. Now the last few days I have been feeling bad and missed a couple of workouts, but I will get back to that as well.

When I last posted my "official" weight was 276 lbs. I had dropped 20 lbs during my first round of 21DF and was getting down to a weight that I had not been at for over 20 years. In fact, any weight under the 285 range or so would be the lowest I had been at. My first goal of 235 lbs was getting closer and I was feeling great. I was finishing up my off week on the 27th of April and starting my next round on the very next day. I was doing well with it, but again, with the new job I lost some time daily for one reason (or excuse) or another and I failed to maintain my daily yoga workout along with the primary workout. I am now 4 days to the final day of my 2nd full round and I am down from 276 lbs to now, today, 262 lbs. I weighed today and that is what it showed. That is another 14 lbs lost so far and hopefully I can be under the 260 lb mark by Sunday. I have had some sort of stomach flu or some bug that is going around my house and had to not workout a couple of days and eating was messed up. I didn't go to work 2 days and I left early the other day. I feel better today, but I still feel discomfort in the stomach. I think that I can work through that as well as working through my leg routine. I will also do my yoga today.

I have since my last posting, signed up on IG (Instagram) please follow me @allen_mif .... So you may wonder why my tag is allen_mif well the allen part should be apparent but the mif is something that I have put a lot of thought into. As a beachbody coach we aspire to building a team of people repeating the same thing. We want to help others achieve their goals. It's that simple. We don't want to be hock men/women, salesy or the guy/girl you see coming at you with that determined look of "I'm going to convince them to do what I am doing". Now, if you are helping others achieve their fitness, health and financial goals, why wouldn't you want to multiply that. The business is about people not about numbers.

Whoever helps the most people wins!

That should be the motto of a beachbody coach. Leading by serving, this is not a new concept but it's one that seems to be forgotten by all the people who want that recognition. When you look for what is in it for you, you fail to see the bigger picture. You should be looking at how you can help others and when you do that, you will get what's in it for you. I get off topic too easily. The MIF is Mirror Image Fitness. My team name is going to be Mirror Image. The reason is that you see all these people standing in their bathrooms or in front of some mirror doing selfies with their phones. Most of us who are obese or overweight hate our image in the mirror, so my team will be dedicated to helping you love the image in the mirror no matter the weight or fitness level. Health is not just physical, but emotional and psychological. Now I am no psychologist, but I love seeing how I look now. I love to look in the mirror, where I didn't a few months back. Though I still have confidence and self esteem issues, I am much better than where I was. I like the idea of creating a team of people who love what they see in the mirror instead of dreading of looking at themselves without a shirt on or in a bikini. So my fitness page will be Mirror Image Fitness... MIF and Team Mirror Image... because no matter what, your mirror image is a reflection of you, but not the real you. You start to love you and you will soon love the reflection as well.

Push play and keep kicking ass daily!!

Off Week, Day 7

Today was the final week of my non-scheduled week of working out. I have done yoga after all the workouts except for after Cardio Fix on Friday. It was a time issue that day. I feel like that has really made the difference though. My back is starting to bother me building up this last week. I am sure it's related to my job which can be harsh for my back. I haven't seen a good chiropractor since April of 2013 so my back is sorely in need of a proper adjustment.

Today I did only Yoga Fix and it is not helping me as much as it usually does. The way I slept last night coupled with what I have been doing at work is giving me issues. On a brighter side, my weight today on the scale is 270 lbs. That is 80 lbs lost since Dec 13th which is 4 and 1/2 months or 17.7 lbs per month or 4.25 lbs per week average. The average would be higher if it were to be tracked since mid February when I started using the 21 Day Fix nutrition and portion control. That has been the best part about it and another great thing is that I am not struggling to continue to do this.

Tomorrow starts my 2nd round of 21 Day Fix but nothing will change. I will eat how I have been eating and I will workout the way I have been working out. Nothing will change except my body. For that I am certain. I will go below 270. and maybe be in the 250 lb range before this 3 weeks is up. Once I hit 250 lbs, I will only be 15 lbs from my first goal weight. My pants and belts keep getting too big. I have to alter a new belt already. It is a good thing, but every few days I have an issue with keeping my pants up. Yeah I know, tough problem to have.

The days of going back the way I used to be is long gone. I have gotten down to a point where I see the goal. I can see myself getting down to 235. Before I used to see that as a goal I would get sometime in the future. Now I see it as I will be there in a few months. I don't plan on stopping now, but sometimes like everyone I have a sense of dread before starting a workout. We all get that at some point, but we all have the ability to push past that. It's about building a strong base and changing your habits over time. Once you do that, let the habit take over. If you build good habits the dread and work of doing the daily things will soon disappear.

Off Week, Day 2

I am not on the 21DF 3 week schedule this week. I am taking a one week respite, but funny enough I am still doing the schedule. It's pretty nice that it's the same every week. You can jump in and out of the 3 week schedule as you like. I say I am not doing it because I am not really tracking or counting this week into anything other than my normal life. I am still eating as clean as I can, as I have been this whole time, and I am still doing the workouts with yoga daily. As it really stands this it not a week off of anything other than not being on a "plan".

I have started up my men's and women's clean eating groups and funny as it sounds, I should have just done them together. I really only planned on doing the men's group, but when I stirred up the ire of some of the women, I felt it should have been both, so I did it. The hardest thing is doing the men's meal plan which is larger than the women's which I have done. Adding in the necessary foods to bump up the calorie count by say 500 calories per day was the real challenge. So that is the only challenge, and while I have been doing this every day, I haven't been thinking to formulate a true meal plan. I can go into the kitchen and grab some stuff and eat it and know about what I am doing. I then plug it into myfitnesspal and yeah I was about right, but being responsible for making up a meal plan and shopping list for others is a bit intimidating. I can't wait to get it all posted up on Friday and then the daily meal plans.

I hope everyone gets what they want out of it personally. It's a hard thing to shake the sugars which is the most addictive thing in our diet, even more so than caffeine and tobacco. My goal is to show others that it can be done for a day and then a week. If they can do it for a week, maybe they will stick with it for a month. If that happens, why not forever. We all have issues and hard times and mistakes etc... but we all have the same ability to correct that mistake and move on. I hope that others will see that as well and continue to make better choices both during this challenge and beyond.

The 21DF workouts really challenge my abs. I am also doing an ab challenge this month so couple the two together, and I am getting really sore in the abs this month. I like the 30 day challenge group, but I find I am having more issues with time lately and wanting my body to rest properly is key for making any progress. If you don't you end up like a hamster in a wheel, running and running never getting anywhere. No one wants to be that hamster.

21 Day Fix: Week 3, Day 7

Today is the final day of round 1 of 21 Day Fix. I am pleased with the results. They say lose up to 15 lbs in 21 days. I would have been happy with that. I lost 20 lbs. I am ecstatic with that. 20 lbs in less than one month. If I had lost one more pound, that would have been 7 lbs a week. 2 to 4 lbs a week is great, but 7 is ridiculous. 296 to 276 in 3 weeks. The least amount of weight I have been since around 1995 or 1994. I feel pretty good, but my feet still hurt after being on them all day/night at work. I think that will never change haha.

Today I just did Yoga Fix as this is the one recovery day. I say Pilates Fix is an active recovery day as well. It is mainly abs. I like it and am getting used to it. I still have to finish off my pushups as well. I think I am going to stop doing the challenges for a little while and focus on healing my joints. My elbows mostly have been bothering me and while abs don't bother my elbows, the pushups are starting to. I am no spring chicken and doing workouts is ok as long as I allow those areas to rest properly. I do not want to have issues that require longer lapses in all workouts. I have done well with the pushups and the 3 monthly challenges for the most part. The workouts I am doing daily along with yoga is enough and while I want to add more biking and running into the mix, I have to set my priorities on what is most important. If I had all day like I did to do stuff, no big deal, but now I need to manage my time better. Things in my life are going to be changing, for the better mind you, but changing none the less.

The results were not expected, but very pleasing. I hope that I can continue on this path, probably not at this rate, but this path regardless. I have a goal of 235 lbs by November. If I can focus in on these workouts and nail down my nutrition for 6 more weeks, I think I can be at goal weight by the middle of June. I was shooting for August as my early date. I think I can crush that number. It will take work and dedication, both of which I am willing to put in. I need to nap before work, so I will finish this off with my transition pics from the 21 Day Fix.

21 Day Fix: Week 3, Day 6

Today was the last workout day as tomorrow is day 7 and the "active recovery day" of the 21 Day Fix. I did Dirty 30 and Yoga Fix today. I really have been feeling my back tighten up the past 2 days because I have not done the yoga. I did it today and my back feels better, but I still need to see a good chiro around here. Tomorrow will be Yoga Fix and nothing else, so an easy day. I will also be weighing and doing measurements and taking pictures.

Today I went to the movies, again. I had popcorn and raisinettes, again, and while I know it's not the best thing for you especially the quantity you get at the movies, I don't feel bad about it. I say "what the hell!" I enjoy eating popcorn and a little chocolate at movies. It's ok to have a cheat meal once in a while or even once weekly. I eat clean 90 % of the week, so a little cheat meal once a week is not a huge thing. The part that makes it go south is to do it every day and then let it expand to multiple meals a day. That is when we allow the food to control us and not us controlling our food intake. People say it's not easy. People say it's an addiction. People say it's for comfort. I know this and agree with all those things, but the other thing I also agree with is those are all excuses to allow that behavior and not accept responsibility for what is going on. To make a change, you have to learn to accept that responsibility, own it and make a plan to change your habits. You then have to follow through with it. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it. 

The 7 day clean eating challenge for men is something I am working on now. I want to offer something that is more than 1300 cals for guys. I have a lot more work to do on it, but I will get this hammered out. I want to have it all down on paper so I can start that group up next Monday, April 28th. Just before the summer months come along and give the guys, especially the one's near my size, can have something that they can do and not feel like they are starving. When I get it all nailed down, I will do a daily post here for anyone who wants to follow along with the group I start. It will be an interesting thing to do this.

Since tomorrow is the final day of my first round of 21 Day Fix, I now have to decide what I am to do starting Monday. I am not sure if I want to do another round of this or start back on X3. If I start on X3, I will be on that for 3 months which will put me finishing up a week and a half before August. PIYO comes out in June during summit and while I am not going to summit, I do want to start PIYO as soon as it comes out. I also want to to do this and that and the other thing hahaha. I will have to think about this more, but the countdown is on.

21 Day Fix: Week 3, Day 4

Today is Thursday and for work it's my Friday. Yay me! Today I did Pilates Fix and while I have been doing Yoga Fix every day, I decided to take it off today. Sometimes you just have to go with how you feel. I am tired and while I know yoga to help with stretching and probably feeling better and not tired, I wanted a little more sleep. Tomorrow I will be doing my yoga so I am not worried I am slacking off. One thing you have to learn is not regret a decision to either do a workout or not do one. Sometimes you need a break and sometimes you need to push yourself. Today was the day I needed to back off a little. A tough first week at a physically demanding job and I could use a bit of a break. Hopefully not every week will be like this or I will get used to it.

Pilates is a core intensive workout. It really does work the abs and core, but that is how it was intended to be. My abs get sore from this workout and it typically takes a lot of work to really get the abs sore not just for me, but for everyone. The plank series is pretty good as well. There are 2 different plank series in this workout, 1 in full plank then one in forearm plank. Then the bonus move is forearm planking 10 seconds on and 3 second rest then repeat. This is done for 1 minute and then the workout is over except for the cool down. I like pilates, but it was harder to me in X3 due to the focus on the breathing. While this one she talks about breathing with her, it doesn't seem to be stressed as much. I think that takes the mind out of it and allows you to work on the whole thing without stressing about breathing.

Since today is my Friday, I just have to work 8 hours then I will have 2 days off. I will have one of those days to take my end of round 1 pics, weights and measurements. One thing I did before starting work was to buy some shirts and jeans for work. I bought waist size 44's and I could have gone down to 42's which is a far cry from the 50's I was sporting 4 months ago. I have already gotten down to 278 which is 18 lbs since March 31st. I am hoping to hit the 21 or 22 lbs lost mark. No matter what the final numbers are, I have done good work with this program and I have gotten the results I wanted. Losing 18 lbs in 21 days if I stay right where I am is pretty good. If you lose 4 lbs a week is only 16 lbs. That is a great weight loss per month number. I have done more in less time, so I can only be excited about my results. Anything less is just underplaying the work I put into it and the thing is it wasn't hard. I ate and I worked out. I never "restricted" to the point of being hungry and I cheated with a huge tub of popcorn, a box of raisinettes and 2 large diet dr peppers at the movies. If you do things daily and consistently, setbacks are not really setbacks but rather obstacles or moveable barriers that I have to go around. They don't stop me, they don't slow me down but they do keep me in check so I don't get lax in how I do the small daily tasks.

21 Day Fix: Week 3, Day 2

Today is Day 2 of the final week of my first round of 21 Day Fix and I am down 18 lbs so far this round. I have 5 more days to go and hopefully my new schedule will not be the end of me. Working nights can be a bit stressful on the body and the mind and it always screws things up with regards to how we do things.

We tend to eat more at nights to keep the mind from getting tired. This happens because no matter that we switch our days and nights by either staying up and then getting so tired we sleep, we sleep so much the day we go in at night we won't get that tired and will be tired when we get home. Most people get up in the morning so between 5 and 8 am. Go to work do our daily things. We come home between 4 and 6 pm roughly then go to bed between 10pm and midnight. It all varies on our own personal bedtime and wake time, but those are rough estimates. When we work nights we go to work between 7 and 10 pm and work until 6 and 9 am go home tired and sleep. Some wake up, like me, by 2pm and do stuff, workout etc. or they sleep until 6 pm or even later. They get up with enough time to make something to eat and get ready. Those people sleep more based on their schedule being at night. I can't do that, but I can easily switch between night and day where others are more rooted into their circadian rhythm.

I think the only thing that is messed up is my nutrition. I don't feel I am eating too much, in fact, I don't think I am eating enough. I am close, but I am missing a few things the last couple of days and it's because of my wacky schedule. I hope I can get that nailed down too, but it will take some time. I haven't missed a workout yet and that includes the yoga. The last day I posted was the 10th that was Thursday. Friday I did Cardio Fix and Yoga Fix. Saturday I did Dirty 30 and Yoga Fix. I also did a cheat meal of popcorn and raisinettes at the movies. My dinner was salmon, broccoli and salad with some cottage cheese, so I did really well with that. Sunday I only do Yoga and that is all I did. I also started my night shift routine.

When I came home Monday, I was beat. Exhausted from head to toe and covered in 10 years worth of dust. I just went home and got in bed. I got up around 3pm and did my workout Total Body Cardio Fix and Yoga Fix, which was kind of surprising that my feet were not killing me. They hurt constantly being on them so much. I worked all night last night. I had a much better night last night, but still my dogs were howling when I got home. I did some grocery shopping before I left, but I was still home by 8am. I made my shakes and went to bed. My shake is the only thing that I am not right with. I use it as a recovery drink, and I drank mine this morning and then went to bed. I didn't have a recovery drink after my workout now and I hope I don't feel it later. You get the best benefit of it within the first hour after the workout. I will have to work out this food schedule a bit better.

Ok so for the good news, haha. I have been doing the 21 Day Fix now for a little over 2 weeks. I have 5 days left in this first round and I am down roughly 18 lbs since starting. That is 18 lbs in 16 days. This program works and it works well if you are consistently persistent. Don't give up on yourself. You only need one more step to keep moving forward.

21DF: Week 2, Day 4

Today is day 4 of week 2 and the workout was Pilates Fix. I also did the 10 min Ab Fix and then Yoga Fix. The 10 min Ab Fix is just that 10 solid minutes of abs. There are not real breaks like in the regular workouts. Each exercise is a 20 rep move. You do 2 rounds of the same exercises. So starting with crunches then to something else and on and on for 5 mins. Once you get to that last move of the round 5 mins have passed and you just reload back to move 1 and then rinse and repeat.

My abs were burning pretty good, so I decided to wait on the side plank raises that I have to do. I will do these a little later along with my pushups. The yoga got me sweating again and love doing it every day. I am seeing better flexibility already and I think my weight loss for the 21 Day Fix may be spurred in a bigger way by doing this. Today, if I had the Ultimate upgrade I would have the Barre Legs and Flat Abs Fix. Both of those are 30 min workouts, but I would have done the abs workout today at some point after Pilates Fix. Since I don't have it I decided to do the 10 min Abs Fix and since I am doing Yoga daily, I did that as well.

I think I might add that 10 min Abs Fix on another day. I am not sure when, but I think it would have to be after Upper Fix since I think that workout is not as intense as the other days. I have Total Body Cardio Fix, Lower Fix, Cardio Fix and Dirty 30. All of those are really focused on either total body or lower body and the best time would be Upper Fix. Come on they all get me a good workout in and I feel that Upper Fix is the weakest of the bunch. I am very happy, however, with the entire program or as a whole. It gets me tired and sweaty. I get sore in the legs and abs. The yoga workout is, to me, awesome. The nutrition plan is the most genius part, and most people blow off nutrition or give it a sort of neglect as if it were a stray dog off in the distance. If people would just treat their bodies as well as they treat their cars, we might not be talking about how nearly 70% of people 20 and older are fighting being over weight and obese.

The sad thing is that some people who are not overweight badly or at all take that as a sign of being able to feed themselves with crap, drink heavily or doing whatever bad habit that is "unhealthy".  People like me, we pay for it quite quickly. I eat too much, I gain a lot of weight quickly. That is a product of my Endomorph body type. For me, I gain quickly and lose slowly and look fat really easy. If you don't know the body styles here they are...

Ectomorph:

• Definitive "Hard Gainer"
• Delicate Built Body
• Flat Chest
• Fragile
• Lean
• Lightly Muscled
• Small Shouldered
• Takes Longer to Gain Muscle
• Thin

 Mesomorph:

• Athletic
• Hard Body
• Hourglass Shaped (Female)
• Rectangular Shaped (Male)
• Mature Muscle Mass
• Muscular Body
• Excellent Posture
• Gains Muscle Easily
• Gains Fat More Easily Than Ectomorphs
• Thick Skin

Endomorph:

• Soft Body
• Underdeveloped Muscles
• Round Physique
• Weight Loss is Difficult
• Gains Muscle Easily Like the Mesomorph.

So if you can find your type, you get an idea of how and why you gain/lose or stay the same easier or more difficult than someone else. Obviously we all wish we could be mesomorph, but we aren't. As an endomorph, I have to work really hard to lose the weight and while I love the weight loss, I have to vigilant. The thing that blows me away is the ease at which I am losing right now with this program. I can't possibly explain how effortless this has been. When I say effortless, it doesn't mean I am not working hard. It means I don't have to think about what I am doing. I pick the right foods at the store, prepare some of them for ease of use before hand and then just stay within the guidelines of my daily containers and viola! 12 lbs lost in 11 days. I challenge anyone to lose weight as well as I am and it not be "water weight" or keep it off. What I am doing is not a "diet" it is a lifestyle change. I can continue this for the rest of my life with ease. I can cheat here and there and I have, but I have still lost weight. It is possible to live and enjoy life and lose fat, gain muscle and become fit and healthy all at the same time. I don't hate the world and lost 12 lbs in 11 days. I am eating at least 1800 to 2000 calories a day. Why would this be hard for anyone else. The only thing I can think of is they either doubt they can do it or just don't want to. Both mindsets will stop you from being successful. 

 

21DF: Week 2, Day 3

Today is Day 3 of the 2nd week on my first round of 21 Day Fix. That means I have been doing the portion control nutrition and the workouts with this program for 10 days including today. I started, a week ago tomorrow, with yoga after every workout or at least in addition to the regular workout. So in 10 days I went from 296 to 284 as of yesterday. By the way the scale is acting, I might actually be under 280 by Monday. I don't know how things have started to be so easy. I haven't eaten any different. I have flipped some things around here and there, but nothing to the extent of reducing total cals or adding extra cardio in. The biggest change I have made is doing the Yoga Fix immediately after my daily workout.

Doing the yoga after the main workout for the day has had me sweating so much more for so much longer. I just can't really believe how this affect is happening. The only thing I can come up with is the addition of some very moderate physical activity right after the workout is extending that increased HR from the regular workout and while I am not adding more cardio in, it is acting like a "fat sucker" in my body. I sweat like nobody's business through all the sun salutations and vinyasas up to the point of going to the ground which is another almost 20 mins. I have seen my most consistent movement and feelings of working out this past 5 or 6 days and it has to be from that.

Today I did Lower Fix then Yoga Fix. I don't think I ever used a different band than my green one the whole time, which is my heaviest band (40lbs of resistance). There were a few that I didn't use the band on, but I don't feel like the legs need much help. I mean that working the legs doesn't take that much resistance, not that I don't need to work mine haha. Not even close to that. I do wish there were more calf moves in this, but it's pretty good. I try to really get up on my toes with some of the squat moves to get that extra calf work. The curtsey squats are awkward for me too. While they don't put as much stress on my knees as I first thought the first time I did them, they do make me stumble a bit due to the nature of how the movement goes.

I had to do 125 bicycle crunches and as usual 100 pushups today as well, but I had to do most of that after my first day of work at my new job. I did get in 40 bicycle crunches before I had to get ready and I did miss my hot tub time. I will make up for that tomorrow after Pilates Fix and the other stuff I will be doing. I may sit in the tub an extra 20 mins haha. Late posting today, but that will be something that will be less common in the near future once I start working nights. That doesn't start until Sunday so will see how it feels to workout after work instead of right before.

Some motivation for hump day....

21DF Week 2, Day 2

Today was Upper Fix followed up by, yes! You guessed it. Yoga Fix! I love doing the yoga right after a workout. I said this yesterday, I will say it again today and I will say it tomorrow. That extra time right after the workout doing yoga really extends that fat burning metabolism and it's quite the benefit for my body's flexibility as well.

I had a better time with the transitions between movements with the bands today. I think it's a matter of being prepared more for the next move and knowing which band I will be using instead of just winging it and then pausing while I adjust and starting back. I did have to do that one time, but when it came to the 2nd round of the same exercises, I didn't have to pause at all. I think I will get better at this each time.

Now that I am doing this 21DF and I am doing pretty well (8lbs lost in 9 days) the idea of repeating this or going back to P90X3 or maybe even doing both has crossed my mind. I know, or should I say I am pretty sure I will be starting PIYO when it comes available in June. Now that gives me enough time to do multiple rounds of 21DF, but not a full round of X3. I could do the X3 and get PIYO and start it when I am done with that 2nd round of X3. My goal of getting down to 235 by my birthday is the main goal, but I have set an abbreviated goal of hitting that goal weight by August. When in August is hard to figure just yet. That is almost 4 full months away. That would put me at say starting at the end of April on my 2nd round of X3 and finishing up at the end of July. I know I won't lose another 46 lbs or should I say I don't expect it with my 2nd round of X3, but I want to pull off as much as possible. No matter what I choose to do, I have a fixed goal of November to be 235 and a fluid goal of August (ish) based on how things have been for me nutritionally.

Speaking of nutrition, I think I should start adding that into my blogs. Not so much what I am eating day in and day out or meal by meal, but rather a healthy (see what I did there) dose of information on general clean eating like principles, do's and don'ts and stuff like that. For instance, I see people posting on social media about this hard workout they did and then a few hours later its Mai Tai's and margarita's with some inordinate amount of food involved and usually too much drinking.  Now I am not judging this person, on the contrary, I wish I could go with reckless abandon and eat and drink anything I want and not worry or know I will pay for it in my workout the next day, my waistline over time and my general health if this is more than "once in a while".

I think everyone should allow themselves a cheat meal/day every once in a while. I also think that if you don't do great nutritionally one day it's not the end of the world and you should not be chastised by either yourself or anyone else for that matter. We have all done the "oopsy" meal or decided that I deserve (insert decadent dessert here) and we have it. For me it would be that 1029 calorie extravaganza from Chili's The one and only Molten Brownie Sundae. Can you freaking believe that is 1029 calories if you get the candy coating on the ice cream and the caramel. I am sure if you fail to lick the plate clean where it's ready for the next scoop of deliciousness that you might shave off 50 or so cals, but come on... You probably just ate "I want my baby back... baby back.. baby back.. ribs" and sides for a smooth 890 cals (just the ribs) if you get others they go up EEK! So lets recap this you order the Half Rack of ribs 890 cals.. and you get Sweet Potato Fries (because they are healthier) 420 cal and lets say you have a soda. I will only guess you had to have 1 refill and each 12 ounces is approximately 140 cals so let's say 3 total for 420 cals and then you add that 1029 cal flavor/sugar bomb of the Molten Brownie Sundae. BAM! You just had roughly 2759 calories. That is more than I usually take in in one day. I stay around 2000 cals and a lot of time I am under that by 100 to 300 cals.

What I want to impart nutritionally is not some day killing stats on how enjoying yourself at Chili's is like eating for 2 days in one meal. I want people to learn how to make the best decisions on a daily basis for their health or their fitness journey with regards to nutrition. It is not an easy task when you are so used to pumping yourself full of the toxins we call food. I am not vegan or vegetarian or Paleo or even flexiterian, although I am more associated with the latter than most, but no one has to live under a nutritional label. If you eat clean and healthy, you are eating fresh or frozen produce and veggies, whole grains and lean meats. How much of each will depend on your desired cal count area and if you are trying to lose weight or gain mass or just have more energy for workouts. I have been losing weight or trying to lose weight for so long and at some point you start to give up based on situations and circumstances. We use those as excuses to allow ourselves to really not care about the consequences and we should never do that. Or we say "I could never do that" or "Yeah it worked for him/her, but it would never work for me". Simply put that eating clean and healthy foods and avoiding the toxins that we allow ourselves to take into our diet will change not only your waistline, but your psyche as well. It doesn't take a surgery or a magic pill. It only takes some determination, some consistency and some hard work.

For today, I would like to simply say this with regards to nutrition. You might hear people talk about different kinds of diets and meal plans etc. What you should be focusing on isn't calories right now, you can eat too many calories of healthy foods as well as unhealthy foods. Let's all strive to clean our diets up by eliminating some things that are truly toxic for our bodies. I will post a list of the "toxins" I am talking about and if you take in a good amount of these, don't worry. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were your eating habits. We can work to remove them one or two at a time and make that a habit, then move on to something else.

What to Avoid When Clean Eating:

• Avoid all over-processed foods, particularly white flour and sugar
• Avoid all chemically charge foods
• Avoid foods containing preservatives
• Avoid artificial sugars
• Avoid artificial foods such as processed cheese slices
• Avoid saturated and trans fats
• Avoid sugar loaded beverages, including sodas and juices
• Avoid or do your best to limit alcohol intake.
• Avoid all calorie dense foods containing little or no nutritional value. I call these anti-foods
• Avoid super sizing your meals
• AVOID ANYTHING that contains the following on the label:
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup
  • Aspartame
  • Sucralose
  • Maltodextrin
  • MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
  • Enriched
  • Modified, Genetically-modified, etc.
  • From concentrate
• TIP:  When you see the words “diet”, “sugar-free” or “lite”, chances are it contains artificial sweeteners

While I know some of you will see a few on here and think "I don't do that or that.. " Some of the things we do daily we do without even realizing that they are not that great for you. The easiest thing to change is what we drink. Ditching all sodas, yes even the diet sodas, and drinking water and tea only. Yes you can have your coffee, but as I am not a coffee drinker by nature that is not an issue for me. I drink tea (unsweetened) and water pretty much solely. I will occasionally have a soda when I am out to eat if I can't get unsweetened tea, but again, if you mess up and have something you shouldn't it's not the end of the world. Know what you did was not the best option and do better next time. If we continue with that mentality, we can change our focus from what we are not able to get to see all the options we do have.

A lot of small choices can add up good or bad for us nutritionally. It's not an easy task, but one I work at daily and I fail a lot. Do yourself a favor and start working toward a better nutritional base. Then once you start making good healthy habits, you will see changes in your mood, energy level and hopefully in your waistline as well.

Day 116

Week 2, Day 1 Total Body Cardio Fix and Yoga Fix. I also did 100 Flutter kicks and 50 pushups so far. I still have another 50 pushups to do, but I will do that later. Total Body Cardio Fix is a challenging workout, but as stated before it's the toughest at the beginning and then gets much easier once into the 3 round.

I do like it and I do work up a great sweat. I then did Yoga Fix right after. I think I waited about 7 minutes while I just gathered myself and took off my knee brace, socks and shoes. The one thing I noticed that doing yoga right after a workout seems to really extend my sweating, which in turn I am sure is extending my ramped up metabolism. I sweat much greater doing yoga after a workout than I do when I am doing just yoga by itself. I love the way I feel after the workout and yoga together. It's really like I am doing an extended cool down and stretching routine after a workout.

Today is the day. That may be confusing as you don't know what I am talking about. Just know this, that from this day on, I will be pushing much harder on the business part of my health and fitness journey. I am a Beachbody Coach. What that means? I want to help others become fit, healthy and if they want financially free. Yeah, yeah I have heard all the negative remarks about this type of opportunity before. The best quote dealing with success especially regarding this type of opportunity is this:

So if you see me posting things that don't appeal to you as you think I am trying to "sell" you something, first you are wrong about my intention and second, I can only be successful if people I am attempting to help are successful in achieving their goals first. I may not be the best motivator or leader of people. I may not be perceived as the nicest person out there, but I am working on me more and more, so I can be a better coach. I am trying to look for the bright spots and be better not only for me but for everyone around me.

Day 114

Week 1, Day 6 Dirty 30 and Yoga Fix done. I have done yoga 2 days in a row now along with the scheduled workouts and I am really enjoying it. I was so resistant to working out this morning, for no reason. It felt good to get a good sweat on and get that workout in. Since I did yoga right after Dirty 30, I was already warm and was sweating. I started in on the yoga and the first part is sun salutations and vinyasas so I just continued to sweat. My muscles were really sore this morning as well. I could feel this in the warmup, which was the same as all the others (big shock haha). After yoga was over, I felt pretty loose. I still am feeling a lot of tightness in my lower back, but I think doing this yoga daily I am going to really get that loosened up.

Dirty 30 is closely related to the CVX workout in X3. It is more of a weighted cardio workout, but not as intense in my opinion. She also does the hardest stuff right out of the gate and the last series is more focused on abs. I am beginning to see a trend with her workouts. I don't find fault with it, but I find how a workout is constructed very intriguing. Putting the most difficult right after the warm up when you have almost all your energy and the less difficult near the end where you are most likely more gassed. I think it's great for a bunch of reasons.

1. You have the required strength and energy to do it with minimal issues.
2. You get a greater confidence boost from the workout if you can do it well instead of doing the easy thing first and then the most difficult near the end and feel poorly about how your workout went, this can lead to giving up and not doing it again.
3. Since the hardest thing requires more muscle groups, you can do that first then start to change the moves up that focus on specific muscle groups. Tax them hard at first then give them a little rest before hitting them from a different angle with a more muscle group specific workout.

I had trouble with the bands again, and feel that while you can use the bands, you will have to pause more than you would have to or at all with weights. Struggling with getting the placement right and making the resistance equal will be a definite learning curve even for the most skilled band user. It isn't impossible to do, but it is a challenge. I felt less frustrated with the band use on this workout than I did on Upper Fix, but still I had a couple of times when I feel like I missed out and had to pause and even rewind a few times. All in all, I enjoy the workout. I just need to invest in some #25 dumbbells and I think that would be sufficient for this.

I also got my planking in today for the ab challenge. 4x1 min planks. I wanted to tell everyone in the group that forearm or full planking would work as we are concentrating on the abs and either work the abs equally. I think most will get it or do well enough that I don't need to be that on them. Most that are active in the group are more workout savvy and probably know and if not, they can do which ever and it won't be much difference.

Time to get in that hot tub. Last night I finished up the book Today Matters by John C. Maxwell and while some may not have his views on religion or faith, you can't deny the information in this book as being invaluable. I have grown to like his writing style and the way he puts his points across. He also outlines some particular quotes, mostly by others that he cites, but they are all very worth while to knowing and understanding or even live by. I have another of his books called Failing Forward yet to read. Last night though, I came across several quotes, but this one I think sums up how my thinking has changed over just the last few months.

The only thrill worthwhile is the one that comes from making something out of yourself

The chapter was on growth and it was the last chapter. I think it is something we can all use in our life daily as you are either doing 1 of three things.

1. You grow daily.
2. You do nothing and stay stagnate daily.
3. You decline or go backwards daily. 

Staying stagnate reminds of pond water with scum on it and mosquitoes and flies all around, oh and the smell. Declining or going backwards makes me think of something that will be gone soon enough without any change. I don't ever want to be in decline. Growing daily means you get better and stronger and you are moving forward in a general progression. Which one do you think you are now? If you aren't growing, what do you need to do change that?

Day 113

Week 1, Day 5 Total Body Cardio Fix done. That was swapped out for Cardio Fix which I mistakenly did on Monday. Now I am back on track. I still have to do yoga and pushups today. I am guessing that 2 workouts on 1 dvd didn't come in my kit, so I am curious to see how that is going to affect things and how long before I get the replacements in.

The Total Body Cardio Fix is a bit different than Cardio Fix. The first move is very difficult with my knee banged up. You just go down to one knee then the other then back up one foot at a time. It's ok when I lead with the right leg(first round) but when you lead with the left leg(second round) it is a bit difficult for me and I have to put a hand on the ground to support that knee. She even says the most difficult move is first to get it out of the way. You do 4 rounds 2 moves each round and you repeat it one time. The last round is all abs and well after 3 days of ab challenge plus the Pilates Fix which is a bunch of ab/core work, my abs were already sore. Today was supposed to be a rest day for abs, not for me hahaha.

I am enjoying the workouts so far. I only have 2 workouts that I haven't done that I do have in my house. Dirty 30 which I do tomorrow and Plyo Fix which I assume you can sub out for one of the cardio workouts. I have viewed all the workouts I have and don't really remember Dirty 30, but will see how it is tomorrow. I still have my yoga today and pushups, so I will get started on that very soon.

I did yoga along with the pilates yesterday and while it does take up another 30 minutes, it went by fast and I really enjoy getting that in. Today I was unable to get in at the same time as I had an appointment at 9:30, so I was on a schedule. Tomorrow I will be doing it right after along with my ab challenge work (planking) and the pushups I do. It seems like a lot, but it really isn't and I am finding that I am really enjoying doing more things. I do like to do it all at the beginning of the day instead of stringing it out over the day, but sometimes you have do what you have to do.

Keep pushing and moving forward, otherwise you slide backwards.

Day 112

Day 4, Week 1 Pilates Fix, Yoga Fix, 100 Crunches and 100 pushups done. At some point I think I am going to stop using day ### as my blog post title. I don't know what to do with each daily one I post as a title, but I will figure that out later. Let's talk about today.

Pilates Fix. This one is similar with some of the movements from Pilates X, but it is different than the X3 version. One difference is the breathing. While she talks about when to breathe, she does not really get into how to breathe and demonstrate it like X3 does. There was a lot of core work in this and my abs got really tired. I enjoyed it and I know my friend, would not hate this version as much, because I think he focuses so much on the breathing that it gets into his head. I think he tries to be a perfectionist with the movements and we all want to do it right, but sometimes trying to do it right gets into the way of doing it at all. Yeah I know, having bad form never helps, but if your form is ok and you are very unfamiliar with the work, don't sweat the small stuff. Do your best and forget the rest.

I have talked about the yoga workout before, but as a recap, I like it. This yoga does less of the vinyasas only going into crescent pose once then going into warrior 1 and 2 with chair pose before, in between and after. It seems to go really fast and is not as difficult as the X3 yoga. The next parts are balance poses and it's only 2 of them. Then you do wide leg series that is great for stretching the hamstrings and glutes. After that, it is all ground work until the shavasana (corpse pose) and the end. I like this yoga, it goes more into the stretching part which is what I need, but I still like the X3 yoga as well.

I did my 100 reverse crunches and 50 pushups after the yoga, but did finish up the pushups a little later. Those are my fitness challenges I am doing and do those along with whatever workouts I am doing. I did up to day 24 or 25 on the burpee challenge, but due to my knee I missed those last 5 days. I also did a plank challenge and was not able to get over 3:30 and it was supposed to finish off at 5 mins plus. So 2 months in a row I was unable to finish my 30 day challenge. I am on day 72 or something of the pushup challenge which is a 100 day challenge. I know I will finish the pushups, but I want to do something different. I want to continue to do the pushups, but I want to do a 30 day challenge that requires doing different pushups different days. Maybe I will do that one on my own and still do the 100 per day. I like how my chest, shoulders and arms have responded to the pushups. It can't be a bad thing at all.

My knee is still sore, but I did everything without the brace today, but I feel like I might need to wear it even doing those workouts just for the stability and holding things in place. I hope that the package that I have a tracking number for and should be delivered tomorrow or Saturday is the other dvd's that I don't have for this program. We shall see.

I know we all have struggles with nutrition, workouts and life. I know it is easy to get down and feel like life is crappy and you just don't have a fair shake. Most of us don't really see how anything we say is affecting others, but good and bad it is. I hope that the people who read this will think about that when the put those negative thoughts in the world for all to see how it can affect others and instead look beyond the negative and find the bright spots and put those out there. Example you say... OK. I applied for a job and got an email after the application process, some testing and 2 interviews that I was not right for them. I know who I am and how I am. I know I would be an asset for any company that hired me. Instead of pissing and moaning about it, I moved on. I now have an interview with another company, not my first choice and not the best pay, but it's a job and will have room for advancement. I can be upset or frustrated about job 1 or be upbeat and kill that interview for job 2. I have no idea if they will hire me either. All I can do is be the best person I am capable of being.

Day 111

Week 1, Day 3 Lower Fix done. This workout is pretty good, but I have to limit what I allow my left knee to do. I did get a good sweat going and I got gassed, so I feel like I got a good workout. I pushed deeper into the lunges as time went on to work that knee out. I do feel it, but it's like a rehab pain. Soreness and pain related to that not so much a pain that signifies that I injured it again. Having never gone through a knee rehab program, I can only imagine how tough it is and the pain involved in really pushing after injury. I know that my healing time hasn't been long enough, but I am also not pushing with all I have. I will be laying off of basketball until I feel that I can really do it effectively without causing more pain.

The workout wasn't anything that was greatly difficult, but one thing I did notice after 3 days of doing her workouts. The warmup is always the exact same. That is fine with me, and I am always ready for the next move as I know the sequence and move coming next. The other thing I notice after 3 days is that the bands are more frustrating in this program than in X3. I had to pause a bunch yesterday with Upper Fix. Today I didn't have to pause as much since I used the same band the whole time. I am sure with a bit of planning and practice I can get the sequencing with the bands down and lose very little time. I did notice in one exercise that the switch from one leg to another did cause me to lose some time on the opposite leg. I have a solution for that though. If I start with alternating legs, when I switch I will lose approximately the same amount of time on each leg. So it will be equal for both legs over the course of that set of exercises as you do each 2 times.

I am still feeling my knee and wearing the knee brace, but I have been feeling more pain in my calves, shins and ankles. It feels similarly to how it felt after the 5k, sore and tired. I am happy with what I am able to do physically, but determined to get my knee back into shape where I can do things full throttle.

I saw someone post another Happy video by Pharrell and at the end of it it gives a link to a 24 hour Happy video. I decided to look it over and it is interesting and it plays his song over and over with different people and situations. Check it out. www.24hoursofhappy.com It's worth a look. The video is also interactive so you can look at the different hours of the day, but you can just let it stream on your time of the clock. When you go to the site, you will understand.

Listening to this video elicits an emotional response from me. Why? Because I want to be happy. I posted this quote yesterday:

You can not buy or win happiness. You must choose it.

 I love that quote and I agree with it. I choose to be happy, while choosing that is only the first step, it is the most crucial step.

Day 110

Week 1, Day 2 Upper Fix done. This workout was frustrating, not due to it's difficulty, but rather using the bands with a a couple of exercises were difficult and I don't feel I got the workout I needed in that area. I was able to overcome that issue, but I had to pause and get things all set and the short time in between some of the moves I will have to pause to get all set. It's not the end of the world, but it is a challenge and one that I will conquer next Tuesday for sure.

My knee felt pretty good, but I did feel it and I made sure not to over do it. Tomorrow I will not play basketball and I will think about playing Monday, but it might be good to take another whole week off to really allow that knee to strengthen. It's one thing to have a slight amount of soreness and work through it, but if you do have an injury, you need to really let it heal. Partial healing and re-injuring it is a horrible and vicious cycle to get into and I want to avoid it at all costs.

My coach, Mike Ryan, was on a cruise which he earned. As did all of the people who went on it. They are all Beach Body coaches. It has to be an awesome feeling to go to a free cruise with so many like minded people and better yet, they probably aren't all strangers either. Mike has a great and very large team under him. One of his team members is a highly successful woman named Erin Beckham. She posted a challenge in the team Facebook page and while I am not part of her direct team, she posted this up as a challenge for everyone on the team to do. I have been very slow with how I do the business side of things. I am trying to forge more friendships while expressing my new found love of fitness and clean eating. While I am no expert, I think I am doing pretty good. I have lost close to 60 lbs so far, but what I love better than that is that I have cheated and I didn't emotionally kill myself and give up on what I had done.

The last time I did this Beach Body thing, I lost more weight in my first round than I did this time by 4 lbs. My second round I lost maybe 15 lbs. The third round I gave up and blamed it on my situation. Everyone has situational issues, but they are just excuses. We are prone to allow our excuses stop our progress. It's just easier for us. This time I am doing a second round after doing at least one round of the 21 Day Fix. I am drinking Shakeology which they didn't have when I started the first time. I have no desire to eat junk and I think that is completely due to Shakeology.

Back to the challenge issued by Erin. She challenged people to explain why we do what we do. What do we do? We are coaches. Why is the biggest thing to understand. If you have a big enough why, the how doesn't matter. I see so much more of this around other people outside of Beach Body that say this. It has merit and it cannot be ignored. This is what I posted on my Facebook page.

I get excited when I talk about it, but others don't really understand why. Why? That is the big question. Why do anything? I do it because I love what has been done for me. I want to do that same thing for others. So what am I talking about?   Coaching!

This is what Wikipedia defines coaching as: Coaching is a training or development process via which an individual is supported while achieving a specific personal or professional competence result or goal. Narrow it down abit and you get this.

Coaching is a development process which an individual is supported while achieving a specific goal.

My goal was to lose weight, get healthy and be more fit. Not lofty goals, but very difficult in these times of convenience foods and fast food. I had horrible habits and had to change them. I was also older, not a spring chicken, and old injuries and nagging pains would be there. 

Guess what? I had a COACH.  My development process (working out with P90X3) the individual (me) was supported by my coach (private group on Facebook) to achieve a specific goal of losing weight, getting healthy and being more fit. ( I lost 54 lbs. I now eat more whole foods than I ever have and I enjoy working out beyond my end date of P90X3 and am adding monthly fitness challenges into my daily routine.)

Why do I Coach? I do it to repeat the process that took place for me. I do it for anyone that wants to change what they are into what they can be. I posted my workout blog earlier today with this quote and it sums it up for me. It's from John Wooden.

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."

I want to be that success. I want to help others be that success. This is why I coach. I know how great it feels to lose 50 lbs. and soon enough I will know how great it feels to lose 100 lbs. We all have our own journey to take. For some it will be easier than others. I just want to be there to help the one's who need it. Motivate the one's who get discouraged and inspire the one's who feel hopeless, because there is always hope.

I am associated with an awesome team of people. They support me in all I do and continually challenge me to get out of my comfort zone. (ie this post about what I do and why I do it) I to want show others how this is done and be a mentor to them. I can only take on 2 or 3 people this month, but if you do take that chance, make the leap and be "All In",  you won't regret it.

This may or may not motivate others or inspire others to want to know what I do or even want to be involved with what I do. I do know this... It's honest and it's me. I allowed myself to be open to others in a way that is not guarded or close to the vest. I said what I felt and meant what I said. Yes I poured over this post and changed and altered things but that is more due to posting something that was constructed properly and made sense. I didn't want to talk in circles and sound like an idiot. The only thing I copy/pasted was that quote by John Wooden. The more I learn about him, the more I wish I could have met him. I knew he was a basketball coach at UCLA and called the Wizard of Westwood. I didn't know about the kind of man he was or the kind of leader he was. This I am learning now and it is easy to see how much of an inspirational and motivational person he was. If I could be like anyone, I would want to be like him.

I hope that everyone finds what motivates and inspires them to be better and then takes action to accomplish that.

Day 109

Week 1 Day 1 Cardio Fix. I started originally last Monday, but then I went and played basketball and found out I really was 45 years old and I really did injure my knee back in 08. I also found out that I could sprain the ankle that wouldn't sprain for so long. You just really have to put a whole lot of effort into spraining it again. I re-aggravated my old knee injury which made me not do anything until Sunday when I did yoga.

Today I got up and did my Cardio Fix, and I felt it in my knee. Not bad, but enough to know it is not 100%. I felt pretty good on it though, so I decided to go and play basketball again. Now this would be the test of both how well my knee had healed and how well I understood what I could and couldn't do and be mindful of that. I felt my knee a bit and I probably did a little too much here and there. The problem is remembering that my left knee is the bad one and going to my right instead of my left. However, I was able to play. I wasn't able to play  as well as I know I can, but I played, had fun and didn't re-injure my knee.

I am still doing the pushup challenge and think it will be something that I will continue daily from now on until I just get sick and tired of doing it. I am starting a new monthly challenge with abs tomorrow. This one is a 30 day ab challenge and should be fun. The great thing is that there is something different each day and it varies it up with different exercises. The burpee challenge was brutal and never ending and I would have completed it had my knee not given me so much trouble last week. There were more than a few that didn't finish and to those that did, Congratulations!

No matter what I am happy with where I am going. Even though I took off almost the whole week, I still lost more weight. I even had popcorn, a soda and peanut m&m's at the movies. Not the best nutrition day for me, but not the worst in my lifetime. The great thing is that I just moved on, felt no regret or remorse and did better with the next meal. I know that I can't string several days in a row like that, but if you only do that once a week, it won't be the end of you unless you allow it to be.

I weighed on Sunday at 292(ish) hard to tell on that scale sometimes because my eyes are not what they used to be. If that is the case though, I lost another 4 lbs while not working out. I was sore in my glutes from the Cardio Fix last Monday and hope I feel that again tomorrow. I am excited to finish the whole week this time and see where I can get over the next 3 weeks. I can see the changes in me and how my body is responding. I just need to know my limitations and not try to be a hero thinking I can do more than what I can.

Day 108

Yes it has been a long time.. a whole week since I posted. It was an eventful week starting on Monday. I started the 21 Day Fix by doing Cardio Fix I did burpees before some during as they are in the cardio workout then some after to round out my day of burpees. I then got picked up by my friend Johnny Ray Lake to take me to play some basketball with some other "older" guys. I was introduced to a myriad of older guys ranging what seemed to be mid 60's to 80. There were also a couple of guys in our age range, while I think one was in his 30's.

Let me first say this. It has been since either 2000 or 2001 since I actually played any basketball. I have shot a ball here and there, but not playing any kind of pickup game or even horse since then. I was not physically ready to be played tight man to man on either. The long and short of it is this.

1. I might be working out, but P90X3 modified shape and full court basketball shape are 2 different things.
2. My idea of a friendly game and someone else's idea are not the same.
3. I really did injure my knee back in 08. (that was for my orthopedic doc in RI.. prick!)
4. My ankles can be sprained again.

I played really hard the first game and I went to the ground 2 or 3 times. I rolled my right ankle 3 times and my knee hurt badly after it was over. I played I think 3 more games at much less speed and intensity and by the time it was over I could barely walk out of that gym.

The next day, well let's just say ouch! I was in a massive amount of knee pain and it was difficult to just walk around the house and my knee felt like it was going to buckle on me. My ankle had some mild swelling and bruising. Normally it never swells or bruises any more after all the abuse, but I did roll it several times.

Over the last week I have done nothing iced my knee and sat in the hot tub. I got braces for both knee and ankle and tried to minimize my activity to promote the healing process. Luckily I have a great recuperative process in my body and I am feeling great without the knee brace on. I was able to do yoga today including chair pose, crescent pose and warrior 1/2. I was able to move in and out of the different poses and the only time I even felt a twinge of anything was going from downward dog to crescent/warrior 1. It was minor, but I could feel a little bit of it. I was very careful to be attuned to what I feel and not risk pushing too much too soon.

I felt really good with yoga and tomorrow with the brace on my knee and my ankle I will do the Cardio Fix again. I will get back into the swing of things and allow my knee to heal up. If I feel really good, I will go play basketball again tomorrow as well. I will not injure myself again though. I know what goes on, so I am now prepared.

Day 101

It would seem that the last few days have been my undoing. That is not the case, but I have neglected to post for one reason or another. Just so I can catch up on this blog. Today would be day 91 or finish plus 1 of P90X3. No workout scheduled. Yesterday I did Dynamix and Friday I just did my burpees and pushups. I had another long drive to Little Rock on Friday and we left at 6am. I lost out on that day, but did manage to continue on with the burpees. Yesterday I did the Dynamix, burpees and did 50 pushups after for my final fit test of X3.

I also celebrated with some pizza from Papa Murphy's. We got a large Cowboy and a large Mediterranean Chicken. I really like that 2nd one. I also helped procure a large amount of material for my mom's business which all of that and the other few errands we did took up a big chunk of the day. We got it all done and I did all I needed to get done with my workouts. I took pics, weighed and measured. The pics needed to be redone so that was done today. The measurements looked pretty good and my weight is down to 296. I officially lost 44 lbs on P90X3, but since starting the good nutrition and working out I am down 54 lbs. I don't really look at my inches lost total as I really want to lose weight first and foremost.

Today I did 21 Day Fix Yoga Fix and my 75 burpees. I still have a few pushups yet to do, but that will come. Tomorrow I start the 3 week 21 Day Fix which I might or might not keep doing after the 3 weeks just yet. I want to see how the next 3 weeks go then move forward from there. I liked Yoga Fix and it is essentially the same as X3 Yoga, but there are some differences that I really like. The longer pauses in downward dog are really taxing and I enjoyed that. There is also a lot more static stretching in this and the balance poses were better for me and gave some good tips with poor balance. X3 Yoga is almost like an assumption that you have some balance. I understand that P90X3 is an extreme workout and there needs to be some forgiveness in there for the less athletic and physically fit among us. You can get better with either, but I see how it could be easier for someone using this workout versus the X3 program. All I know is that I did it and I got stronger and lost weight.

What I did isn't a mircale and honestly it really isn't great feat. The best part or greatest accomplishment is that I made a choice. I chose not to let life happen to me and accept that the way things are, instead I decided to change what I was doing because that is the only way to change who you are and what will happen to you in the future. Take charge and be an active participant in your own life, not a spectator.

Day 98

Week 13, Day 4 X3 Yoga done. Today is my burpee challenge rest day (day 20) and then back tomorrow with 65 again. Only 2 days left to reach the 90 day mark. The next 2 days are both listed as Dynamix or rest. Sunday then would be whatever I want to do as the program is over. Tomorrow I have another trip down to Little Rock, so I might actually take the rest day other than doing my 65 burpees and 100 pushups. Sunday I plan on doing yoga again. I can not believe that this 90 days have just seemed to blow right by.

Today yoga felt great! The yoga seemed to go by so fast that it almost seemed like I should have done it again. That is when you know you are really enjoying something and similarly to driving in your neighborhood, you are kind of on autopilot and don't even have to concentrate on the moves. That is exactly how I felt today. It was like muscle memory, poor balance muscle memory, but still the same affect. This just affirms to me that yoga should be a daily routine. I do remember one moment during the yoga that I was feeling the sweat bead up on my forehead. I was doing a vinyasa and thinking about how many calories I was burning and how funny it was that I was barely moving and just starting to get a sweat on. I may not be a yoga master, but I have a new found love of it. I have mini goals to get more flexible and do some of the moves that I really can't even think about. The only way to get there is to do it more often. I can't wait to do the 21 Day Fix yoga to get my first example of some yoga not P90X related.

Between day 30 and day 60 I stopped checking out my weight on the scale. All I did was try to eat like I was supposed to do and get those workouts in. When I finally weighed, I was happy but not completely ecstatic. I was losing weight, but not to the degree I thought I was. Let's be honest. I am using a scale that is rated to 300 lbs. It is one of those spring dial scales and the wheel keeps going over the 300 lb mark, but how accurate is it? I first got on the scale and it registered in the 350 area if you keep marching out the marks equally with the same value as if it were from 0 then it would be 350 to 355. I really thought I was more than that, and I could have been, but I can't make up numbers. All I can do is take the numbers that I see and hope that they actually do reflect the true numbers that I am living with. Just to help me think that this would be the way it is, I went to Walmart and there was a scale that was top end of 330 lbs. It was a dial scale as well. It actually did go around a second time and had the upper numbers over 300 in red on the dial while the numbers under were in black. It was exactly equal on that scale by numbers, so if you were 30 lbs it would be in black and if you were 330 lbs it would be under the 30 in red, and exactly on the same line where 30 was. This gave me the affirmation that I was close to accurate based on my scale. It still might be off, but hey I only have so much to work with.

Today, I stepped on the scale and the reading was between 296 and 298. I got off and on the scale like 10 times to check and recheck the weight. Everyone of the weights were under 300 and all about that 297 to 298 range. I have 2 days until my official weight for the 90 days. I will be glad it is under 300 and it will be a step closer to what my real goals are, but my goal for this round of X3 was to get under 300. I think I can say mission accomplished, but I will wait for the official weight. I know that I have been able to get into smaller jeans that I have and have not been able to wear for a while. I have had to add holes into the belt I use and even trim off the end as it was like 18 inches just flopping around that I don't use any longer. I ran in a 5k last Saturday and haven't done anything like that since the early 90's.

I am achieving goals, not all of them just yet, but some. I will be setting some new goals and adjusting others. I still have my big goals for this year of being 235 lbs by my birthday in November. I also have a goal of competing in a Tough Mudder in early November in Houston. I am not dead set on that goal, but if I don't do that this year, next year I will be doing it and a Spartan Run etc. Those are goals I have. I also want to achieve $1000.00 per week in my BB business. That may or may not happen, it is up to me. A long term goal of mine much farther out than this year is to become a physical trainer or a wellness coach. The mother of all goals is to buy some land here in this small town and create a mud run/spartan/warrior dash training facility. There is a ton of places around here that would easily accommodate such an undertaking.  That will take money, planning and some credentialing and at some point I will see that through. You heard it here first. I think this area is suited for such a place both due to the climate and the terrain. While it does snow here and it gets cold here, it could facilitate training year round. It's a lofty goal and one that I will undoubtedly need a lot of support and outside influence in achieving.

Day 97

Week 13, Day 3 Pilates X done. Pilates is going better and I think I am finally getting the breathing down. I had a lot easier time doing some of the moves and I did something today that I haven't done this entire time with P90X3 is I went into plow. I had been staying out of plow due to my back, but today I decided to give it a try. I had been thinking about doing it and well, today was that day. With that said, pilates seems like an easy workout if you are just watching it, but the core/abs are really engaged and I still feel them right now 2 hours later.

I had to do my burpees after that and 65 is getting up there. tomorrow is a rest day and then on Thursday we go back to 65. I still have more pushups to do as well, but I only have to do 100, so I can do 35 pushups and finish that off. I think since I am not going to be in the car all day today, I will try to bust out at least 50 if not 100 more pushups. I did some diamond pushups yesterday. I had been doing just regular or wide pushups for the most part. Trying to save my shoulder and elbow on the right side from being injured while still getting in the work was the only real reason. I feel my elbow on those closer hand position pushups.

My shoulder hasn't been hurting for a few days now. I almost forgot about until I was thinking why I had been doing the pushups the way I had been doing. Doing multiple physical challenges at the same time could be a bad idea, but so far I haven't been having any real issues other than what I might be popping up due to my age and how fit I have not been over the last few years. My left knee, my right elbow and right shoulder have been the only nagging things that have been bothering me. Only my knee has really caused me any issues, but I never had to alter anything except for a few kicking moves in 2 different workouts. I was able to do the 5k without any problems and my knee is back to the same old feeling since then. Like I said before the shoulder and elbow on the right arm were "tweaked" for a bit, but I haven't had to stop except for taking a day off from everything a month back or so. The only issues during the burpee challenge was right after the run when my legs were wicked sore. That as passed and now I felt stronger in the burpees after pilates. I think I will be extending my sets to sets of 15 instead of 10 after the break. I tried a couple of days ago and got as many as 13 in and my legs were just giving out. I will revisit that on Thursday.

Just a few more days left of P90X3 and I will be done with this 90 days and then starting in on the 21 Day Fix. I am starting a challenge group on FB for 3/31/14 and if anyone that is not on FB with me and wants to join in just friend me FB and send me a msg. www.facebook.com/allen.fox and I will get you all the details. I have only started in on this, but I want to help others end the trend of obesity and living lifestyles that send us to an early grave. I have been a work in progress and to quote Autumn Calabrese health is not a destination, it's a journey. A journey I want as many people to join me on so we can help and support each other.

Day 96

Week 13, Day 2 Accelerator done. This is a great cardio routine and it got me sweaty and tired. I forgot what all was in this one as I think we only have been doing this on transition weeks. It might have been in the first block, but I can't remember and my sheet that breaks down all the blocks is not in arm's reach. I need to get this posted up and get in the hot tub. I have a trip to take and leave in about an hour.  I also got my 60 burpees in after the workout. I still need to finish off my pushups, but that will be after I get back or I may do some when I get where I am going.

I will make this short and sweet today. I have just a few more days left. Tomorrow is pilates, again.... I will do it begrudgingly, but it will get done. I have to buckle down and add another cardio in tomorrow. I am way up in burpees and I am sweating and breathing hard with these guys, so this might be all the extra cardio I need for this week. Either way, I am pushing hard with the workouts, burpees and pushups, if I add in another workout that will even double up my efforts. I will see how I feel tomorrow. My legs felt much better today, but I did get gassed on those burpees.

I like how things are going and excited for Monday as I will start the 21 Day Fix workouts. That will give me a whole week to get all the workouts in at least once prior to the challenge group and hopefully they will be good. From what I viewed of them, they look comparable with less intensity to the X3 workouts. I didn't really listen to Autumn as the workouts progressed, so I don't know exactly how they go just yet. It will be a good transition for me after completing X3. I have to get this finished up first and get my pics sent in for the Beach Body Challenge and my free shirt!

I am already behind 5 minutes... Keep killing it!

Day 95

Week 13 (Victory Week), Day 1 Isometrix done. Balance... Balance... Balance... I felt better with this, but balance will be a weak point for me for a while. I did break a sweat and really felt better after this one, but I wasn't done then. I did 55 burpees after the workout and it really bumped up that cardio. I am curious to see how this week plays out with the burpees on top of the workout and the few days I will add in some extra cardio or road work. My legs are still wicked sore today, so I have decided that the burpees and the pushups will be my extra work today and tomorrow I have a cardio workout and then possibly a long car ride. Wednesday I will add an extra workout in if my legs are cooprerating.

The 5k on Saturday has inspired me to do more. My legs might disagree right now, but that soreness will pass and each time I get on the road and work them, they will get stronger as will my back. In a month there is another 5k/10k coming up and I might have to get in that one. The course is along a pathway and very scenic so not has hard on the joints like the pavement was. It sounds like a good plan, but I haven't committed to it just yet. I did the the one Saturday, so I know I can do it. While I may not run the entire time, I don't think the point is being first for me, but rather moving and finishing what I started. That is on the horizon a bit and I will see and have 4 full weeks before I have to decide. I am still waiting on the pics from the race this weekend, but they are sorting through them and hopefully sooner rather than later I will get one or two sent to me. I will post one here when I get it. I used to run, but didn't do a lot of events. I did a few 5k's and 10k's when I was in the Army, but they were treated the same way back then like they are now. I don't recall there being photogs at the end of the race and making that much of a big deal like they do now. The internet was pretty nonexistent at that time too. I am talking 89/90 when I was in the few races that I did. In fact I don't even remember getting a shirt for the races, but I might have. It's been too long to remember.

Isometrix is a tough workout for me. Balance is the key component. You alternate from some sort of plank balance move to a standing balance pose. The plank ones are progressively harder and I was really feeling them in my back and my ribs of all places. That I know is my core working hard. I like it, but it is tough. The final plank balance move is Bound Dog Leg Lift. You are in downward dog, then place your right hand on your left ankle and then you lift your right leg into the air. You are balancing on your left arm and leg with the right leg in the air and right hand on your ankle. I stumble in this one all the time. Oh I forgot to mention this, all moves last 45 seconds. You alternate between both sides, but you have to do the standing balance pose before doing the other side. So, you do the plank balance then the standing balance then the plank other side and then the standing other side. It keeps you from doing alternating sides without a break and while you are alternating sides it still gives that set of muscle groups a chance to have a small recovery before doing the other side.

I don't really like the Isometrix workout, but after doing it again today, I know why. I don't like it because I just don't do it enough. I suck at balance, but I did much better today. On the plank moves, I only stumbled on the last one. The standing balance poses, on the other hand, I stumble frequently. I just think that I need more work on those balance moves. No one starts out as a master of balance. We all have to work at it and I can, as others have, get batter at it. I am hoping that adding in yoga more often or daily when I do the next round of X3 will help me get better and stronger at balance.

Day 94

Week 12, Day 7 Dynamix done. Today was the last official day of week 12. Week 13, aka Victory Week, starts tomorrow with Isometrix. While I don't care for that workout as much as say yoga, I get why it's there and I do it to the best of my ability. This is the final week of my first round of P90X3 and I must say it has been a fantastic journey so far. I have gotten stronger. I have pushed myself harder than I did with P90X back in 09. I have really focused on nutrition so much so this time that I am right at the 40lb mark with the program and 50lbs since starting this 94 days ago. I added other challenges into the mix and did well with some, and not as well with others. I know that I can hold my head up high no matter what my weight is now or how I look as both are better than when I started and I put all I had of me into this. Yeah, I probably could push harder in some workouts, but I look at what I have done and know there is room for improvement and try to work harder and better each time.

Yesterday was Eccentric Lower, but the real thing that happened workout wise was that 5k I was in. I hadn't run in so long, for good reason, and I was worried what affect this would have on my back. I am happy to say that today I woke up and felt pain, not in my back, but that soreness the day after a really hard workout. My legs were so sore it almost brought a tear of joy to my eye. My back however was not in massive amounts of pain nor was I having sciatic pain (shooting pains down one or both legs). I did feel my back, but well I knew I would feel something, I just wasn't sure to what extent. I did my Dynamix today and I have to say that has been my back's saving grace this entire time. I find the work in this really helps my lower back and have noticed that it actually helped to take away some pain after doing it. I also have a really great Tempurpedic bed which draws you in and keeps you so comfortable it is totally unbelievable how nice this is. I never feel pain in bed like I have sinc 1995. This bed really is the only one to own if you have a back issue. Honestly!

Now that I have overcome the challenge of actually running without pain in my back, I will try to slowly incorporate this into my daily routine. I will probably start out small with a mile or two a couple of times a week. I don't know if I will make an effort to go to the high school track or just run along the road. There are not a lot of sidewalks here and road running can be hazardous for your ankles if you have to move into the ditch. All I need is an injury right before spring or summer. I have goals people, goals that need to be met come hell or high water. So in the very near future, I will look at my situation and try to incorporate some running into it. I will need to get some running shoes as those cross trainers I was wearing yesterday are not the best for long distances. they are great on stability but not for distance running.

I am getting excited and a little anxious for the finish of this next week. It is actually Saturday instead of Sunday, but that makes no real difference. The idea of the victory week is to transition you into whatever you want to do. It gives the body the chance to let the connective tissue and muscles heal up and then you can start in on whatever you want after that. My next project is going to be the 21 Day Fix. I will be starting that officially on 3/31 but I think I will start that Monday the 24th after I finish with those workouts and do a week in prep and see where I can add that extra if I want to do that. All I know is that I will be doing 21 Day Fix then back into another round of X3. I might actually do doubles with X3 and 21DF but I need to see how those workouts are alone before I start adding more stuff into it. I have the fire and desire, but the body may not be quite as ready as the mind. For now, I am happy to say that within 6 days, 1 goal accomplished! X3, yep I nailed it!