Back after a week of no new postings.

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't had a moment to update you all on my status in a little over a week. Life got really busy. My son turned 2 and we had his birthday party, I was busy at work and busy getting my snowmobile ready for the season.

I was also still very busy doing my P90X workouts. I am proud to say that I have stuck with the program and the diet and I am doing really well. I missed two of the ab ripper X workouts due to running out of time but I have made changes in my schedule that will ensure I have enough time to do those workouts on the days I am supposed to.

When I started P90X I weighed 218lbs. My weight on Tuesday of this week was 207.3 lbs. I can't believe the difference in just 16 days.

Today is supposed to be Yoga X and I am not sure if I am going to do the whole workout or do some of it and do some time on the treadmill. I loved Yoga X the first time but didn't care for it so much the second time.

I have stuck to the diet with only one small cheat. I had a piece of ice cream cake on my sons birthday and a slice of the turkey sandwich we bought for the party. This week was hard because I ran out of supplies at home and I didn't have my full meals like I am supposed to. I had no snacks and no protein bars or drink for the past two days. All I had was breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I will try to do regular postings going forward and I will try to make them interesting and fun so you all will want to continue reading.

Day 10! Is it bedtime yet?

It has been a few days since I last posted. Right now I feel like the guy in the picture. I am not sure if I am feeling the effects of the lack of eating carbs or because my daughter becomes the devils spawn when the lights go out or a combination of the two. All I know is I can't wait to get into phase two of the nutrition plan.

I have stuck by the diet right down to the letter. the other night I had two turkey burgers with lettuce and tomatoes but no bun. Today, for breakfast, I had plain oatmeal with a little bit of cinnamon and some fresh fruit. The plain oatmeal is gross. I needed the carbs though this morning. The only real cheat I had was the other night after plyo (more on that in a minute) I HAD to make a pot of coffee at home. I have cut out coffee and I really needed it at the time.
Monday was chest and back and Tuesday was plyo. I am going to tell you right now, I HATE the plyo workout. I had an awful night sleep on Monday night because my daughter woke up what seemed like every hour on the hour crying loudly. When I woke up on Tuesday I knew it was going to be a tough workout.

I didn't work on Tuesday but I came here anyway to use the gym. I pushed through plyo but I still have to pause it a ton of times to keep from collapsing in complete exhaustion or to keep my heart from exploding in my chest. My legs were still sore and weak from last week and some of those squats just kill me. I stuck it out and finished the whole workout though. I keep reminding my self that Tony does this crap for a living and that I shouldn't expect to be able to keep up their pace on my second time through this workout. I am competitive so of course I try to keep up until I feel as though I am going to have a heart attack.

Today was Shoulders and Arms and I enjoyed this workout and I pushed but I still just felt tired. I might throw in a carb with dinner tonight. I weighed myself last night and the scale said 211 lbs. I weighed myself immediately again and it said 210.6. I couldn't believe it since I weighed 218 just over a week ago. I don't know if this is an anomaly or if I really am loosing the weight that fast.

Week 2

Today I start the routine all over again starting with Chest and Back. I am looking forward to today's workout. I feel good today despite having some rough sleeping over the past few nights. My daughter isn't a very good sleeper at night. She wakes frequently and cries and at least once a night still needs a bottle. So every night either my wife or I basically do a zombie sleepwalk into her room give her her bottle while bobbing our heads in and out of sleep and then do the zombie walk back to bed.

This will be a crazy week for me. My company is closing early today because we were picked as one of the top 100 places to work and they are going to surprise the employees and let them go home early. I will still be going to the gym at my normal time even with the company being closed. I have tomorrow off for Veterans day but I have a dentist appointment here in Billerica at 12:00 noon. So I am going to come to work in the morning to hit the gym and get Plyo over with then scream over to the dentist afterwards. I have Friday off because it is my sons 2nd Birthday and we are going to do something fun with him. I may get up early and try to do Kempo in the basement.

I am dedicating this week to the movie 300. When I saw the movie last year I said to myself. Man I want to look like that. So when I am almost crying doing Ab Ripper X this week I am going to remember that movie and that no pain means no gain.

Legs and back, Kempo X and the start of Joe Six Pack

Hey everyone!

I haven't had two seconds to sit down and update the blog since Thursday so this post is going to cover the last couple of days!

Before I go on, I just wanted to say that I just had most of this post all typed up a few seconds ago and somehow I managed to completely loose everything I just typed. Damn computers.

I was able to get Legs and Back in on Friday before I left work to take my two kids to see Play House Disney Live. I was nervous about this workout because my legs were still very tight and sore from Tuesdays plyo workout. I pushed my self and pushed through the workout and gave it my best shot however my legs being as sore as they were prevented me from doing a few of the exercises at full effort. I did enjoy the back portion of this workout however.

The only issue I am having about doing the pull ups at my work gym is the pull up bar. I bought a door frame pull up bar but the door frame in the gym at my work is too big for it. The pull up bar at the gym is way too close to the wall and I keep hitting the wall. Instead I have been using the lat pull down machine as a substitute. I think I am going to see if I can use the Smith press machine tomorrow and set the bar all the way to the top.

Kempo X: I did this workout from home on Saturday in my TV room. I like the workout but my facility was less than to be desired. I didn't have enough room and kept smacking into the daybed and it started to effect me mentally about half way through the workout. This is another workout that made me sweat like Niagara falls. I was soaked.

My 7 month old daughter was in her bouncy chair watching me do this DVD and she was laughing at me constantly. I am sure I did look like a fool doing some of these moves. I did find that I had difficulty with some of the combinations of punches. For some reason I couldn't nail down a few of the sequences correctly and some of my hooks were straight punches and some of my uppercuts were hooks. I am sure that I will get better each time I do this one.

My calf muscles were so sore before and after this workout, can't wait to get the initial muscle soreness behind me.

Sunday came and my calf muscles were wicked sore. I decided to make this day a rest day instead of Stretch X. I did take my kids for a 1/2 mile walk to loosen up the legs but most of the day I was cooking and watching football.

I feel pretty good about my first week. I can actually notice a change in my stomach already. I can see the start of the six pack, WOOOO HOOOO.

I am 1/13th of the way finished. Start all over again tomorrow with Chest and Back and I am going to try to "bring it" even harder this go around.

LOVED Yoga X

Hey everyone!



Yesterday I completed the longest of the P90X workouts, Yoga X. I have to tell you that when I first heard of Yoga being part of the program I was not looking forward to it because I didn't consider it a manly type of workout. Boy was I wrong. I really enjoyed this workout and I found my self sweating a ton for hardly moving.

At the end of the session I felt great. I managed to fully hold a crane which is basically holding my entire body up off the ground with just my hands. Thankfully my gym here at work has yoga blocks because they do assist with some of the movements.

I am amazed at the flexibility of one of the men in the DVD. This guy can flex like I have never seen before. I still have a long way to go to improve my range of motion but for a first timer I felt I did well.

My legs are feeling better today however I am still nervous about today's workout, Legs and back. Hopefully once I stretch out I will feel able to complete this hour long session.

I am still enjoying the diet. Last night I got home later and had leftovers from the night before. I was talking to a fellow P90x disciple and he gave me a good tip on the timing of carbs. He suggested eating a carb earlier in the day so that I could utilize the energy during my workouts. When I restock up with food I will make sure to get some oatmeal and some whole wheat waffles so I can have my carbs earlier in the day

Still Ridiculously Sore

Yesterday I had my first encounter with Shoulders and Arms and this by far was my favorite workout.

Today is the infamous Yoga X. I previewed the DVD this morning and it sure looks interesting to say the least. I am going to try to do it later in the day because of the length of the workout.

I still can barely walk today. My thighs and but are so sore it is crazy. If I sit down for more than 5 minutes the muscles get tight and I am in some pretty good pain when I get back up .

If I am in this much pain tomorrow I am going to face my first road block. I have to leave work early tomorrow because we are taking my kids to Playhouse Disney Live! I am either going to attempt to do my workout at home later that evening or push it off till Saturday. I would prefer to stay on track because I want to stay with the schedule.

I have been sticking to the diet but still confused as to how much I should be taking in.

Day 3 in the books

Well today was Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X. So far this has been my favorite P90X workout. It could have been because when I went to the gym on my own prior to P90X I tended to work on these muscles almost exclusively so they are used to "bringing it".

I was so fired up after the workout I started to put all my stuff away then I saw Ab Ripper X come on and I was like "Oh yeah, Oh No"

Well I made it through Ab Ripper X and only had to pause a few times. This is still a very tough workout and I could not complete all of the V roll ups.

I am very curious to see what Yoga X is going to be like. I may have to do this one after work because it looks like it is 90 minutes long.

I AM NOT looking forward to Legs on Friday because I can barely move my legs due to plyometrics.

Funny thing when I was 3/4 of the way through Ab Ripper X my abs felt so tight and they felt ripped. I kind of liked that felling because for a second there it felt like I had no belly fat.

God I want that six pack.

I can barely walk today!

Yesterday was as Tony says "The Mother of all workouts" and he isn't kidding. This workout was absolutely brutal and it took me forever to get through the DVD. I had to pause the DVD quite a bit because I simply could not breathe and my legs became jello.

The workout was plyometrics and is a series of jumping exercises. I knew I would be in trouble today when I could barley get up the stairs back to my office after the workout.

When I got home last night I had enough energy to prepare today's lunch and that was it. I went up to bed early and crashed. I got up around 3:30 A.M. to feed my daughter and stayed up for about an hour and a half watching the election news. I went back to bed disappointed at the turn out, but that is for another blog.

I am doing pretty good so far with the diet. I have stopped drinking coffee and so far haven't felt any side effects.

Here is my meal plan for today.

Breakfast: Mushroom and Egg white omelet with cheese, 3 slices of Turkey Bacon. and a banana.

Snack: 30 pistachios

Lunch: Tuna topped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans and 2 table spoons of fat free dressing. 12 oz of cottage cheese (I seriously love this stuff)

Snack: Protein Bar


After workout: Protein shake with skim milk.

Dinner: Whole wheat pasta with some marinara sauce


Today is Arms and Shoulders. I am looking forward to this workout however I am not looking forward to the 2nd round of Ab Ripper X which I have to do right after the arms and shoulders.

Sore today....

Last night after dinner I put the Ab Ripper X DVD back into the DVD player and I finished it. It still kicked my but but I was able to get it done. Today is Plyometrics.

This morning I made a protein shake using the recipe from the nutrition guide. The recipe called for 1 cup of fresh fruit (I had Strawberries and Blueberries), 1 banna, 1 cup of skim milk, 1 cup of ice and 2 scoops of protein powder. The recipe made way more than I would be able to drink. I had a full glass and gave Debbi the rest. It was tollerable and filled me up.

I had my morning snack around 9:50 A.M. and it consisted of a protein bar and 1/2 can of sardines. :-).

For lunch I am going to have a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with mustard and lettuce.

My afternoon snack will be 12 oz of cottage cheese and the other 1/2 of the sardines :-).

After my workout I will have a protein shake and some pistachios.


I am really sore today so I hope I can make it through today's workout.

Weight was 216 today.

I have no idea how I am going to make it 90 days

I just finished day one which was chest and back and ab ripper X and I couldn't even finish ab ripper X. First of all I "brought it" but the workout humbled me really quickly. I could come no where near doing as many reps as the people on the DVD and that gets you bummed out right away. I did push my body, so much so that I got really nauseous several times.

The ab ripper x DVD starts immediately after and I seriously gave it a valiant effort but I was just too spent and nauseous to go on. Perhaps I do Ab ripper X later in the day after my main workout.

Take it from me this program is no joke at all. Tomorrow is plyometrics and I can only hope it gets better from here.

Decide...check, Commit......."Let's do this"

Today it all begins. Tomorrow will be P89X.

I ate my first P90x meal this morning and it was more food than I thought. I will be back later to give you my thoughts on the first day.

Wish me luck!

P90X Eve

Today my wife and I went food shopping to get our kitchen in order for P90X. My wife isn't going to be doing the program right now but she is going to try to follow the nutrition plan with me. I said earlier that the diet was going to be the hardest part for me. I have always lived by the simple rule. Eat when your hungry, don't eat when not hungry. While this is very easy to do it has several drawbacks for me.

1. I would get SOOO hungry that I would want instant gratification and that means I would eat something easy, i.e......bad for me. If I was out chances are I was eating a double quarter pounder with cheese and I tended to always get it large.
2. Since I was so hungry I would pig out to the point where I would feel like I would need a wheelchair in order to move.

You should have seen me at the grocery store. I must have looked so out of place. My wife normally does all of the food shopping so I am totally clueless once I am there. This place has so many choices my brain blows a fuse. Thankfully I had brought my P90X nutrition guide with me so I had an idea of what to look for.

Here is just a partial list of what we bought:

• 2 boxes of brown rice
• Fat Free cottage cheese
• Original couscous
• Fresh strawberries
• Fresh blueberries
• Bananas
• Romaine lettuce
• Protein bars
• Several bags of frozen chicken breast
• Pistachio nuts (I can have 30 a day, YES!!!!!)
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes

One of the things I noticed that will challenge me is that allot of the things are plain. I like allot of flavor and the thought of plain old brown rice and plain oatmeal is seriously bumming me out. I guess I can use cinnamon and fresh fruit for flavoring as well as soy sauce so all is not lost but I sure will miss my sugar.

When we got home I prepared tomorrows lunch for my wife and I. I used the nutrition guide to determine the portion size. I made a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled chicken and cucumbers. I was allowed 4 table spoons of fat free balsamic vinaigrette while my wife could have 2.

I then counted out 30 pistachios and placed them in a snack sized zip lock bag. I repeated this until I had 5 bags ready, one for each day of the week.

Here is what my meal plan for tomorrow looks like:

Breakfast: Mushroom Omelet, 1 cup-fresh strawberries, 12oz cottage cheese

Snack: Protein Bar

Lunch: Salad

Snack: 30 Pistachios, 2 string cheese

Dinner: Chicken and veggies with a carb choice