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.