Shocking

I'm visiting some old friends today and tomorrow, and of course, that means dining out and stuff. For dinner, everyone wanted Chinese food (haha, remember my Panda Express sentiments?). I chose mu shu chicken, thinking it was less bad than most other stuff on the menu, and resisted the egg rolls everyone else ordered. Then, after dinner, we had a little chocolate treat, and I thought to myself, well, it is a special occasion, so I won't worry about cheating. Not to mention that lunch was out today at Souplantation with DH. But guess what?? After everything was input into FitDay, it still met my goals! Woo-hoo. I can't believe it. Resisting that second muffin at Souplantation and only eating half my order at dinner really did help. It's basically like a miracle that I get to count today as perfect, but I'm definitely not complaining. :D

Challenge
Workout: Baptiste Journey Into Power Yoga 2
Food: 2002 Cal, 47/29/24
Consecutive Perfect Days: 3
Total Perfect days: 11/39

Being a picky eater sucks

I don't mean picky like I was when I was a kid, but picky like particular about what kind of fuel I will give my body. DH and I went shopping today and of course, I didn't bring a snack with and got ravenously hungry while we were out. We were at the mall, and they have a food court, but there was absolutely nothing that I was willing to eat. I couldn't find a single choice that had protein without gobs of fat and sugar attached to it. The old me would have just gotten some mandarin chicken from Panda Express and been happy, but the new me is all, "hmm...it's coated in corn starch, fried in oil and then dipped in sugar. Is that even close to being worth it?" I think not. So, instead, sweet hubby that he is, cut our trip short and drove me home so I could have a nice, healthy snack.

Going out to eat used to be one of my favorite things to do. Now, it's a chore. It's so much easier to eat at home, where I don't have to guess what I'm eating. :(

Challenge
Yesterday's workouts: TJ Cardio Party 2 (am), Legs & Backless, Ab Ripper X (pm)
Yesterday's food:1248 Cal, 38/36/28 (hehe, sounds like measurements)

Today's workout: Cathe's Cardio Kicks
Today's food: 1458 Cal, 40/34/26

Consecutive Perfect Days: 2
Total Perfect Days: 10/39

Back to zero

Well, I guess I had it coming with all that talk about being perfect. I had my cheat meal yesterday, and it wasn't that bad, but usually I try to keep my meals really good the rest of the day before I cheat. However, yesterday was just okay, not great (before the cheat) and then we went to Pat and Oscars. But it was so worth it! I love those breadsticks and I haven't had real pizza in a long time. Yummy! So, my consecutive count is back to zero. But I'll be good from now on, I promise ;) I have always said that it's only worth doing if it doesn't make you miserable doing it. That's why I allow myself cheat days in the first place: if I really want something, then I should be allowed to have it. Just use moderation!

Challenge:
Thursday's workout: Shoulders & Arms, TJ Cardio Party Remix, Ab Jam
Thursday's food: 1649 Cals, 47/36/18

Friday's workout: rest day
Friday's food: 2383 Cals, 43/23/34

Consecutive Perfect Days: 0
Total Perfect Days: 8

A perfect week

There's something really personally motivating to me to have a challenge to meet. I have had no problems meeting my goals at all for the past 7 days. If I get tempted to skip my workout because it's so freaking hot, I just think about how I don't really want to mess up all the great work I've done so far and I just suck it up and do it. I think it's kind of like grades in school. I always wanted to be the best. Not really because I enjoyed learning (I did, but that wasn't it), just because I wanted to get the highest score. This challenge is like that for me. As long as there is a "perfect score" I'll do my best to earn it.

So I did Low Max yesterday instead of Plyo. I've never done that workout in its entirety before. It's a real leg killer and I have never been so sweaty in my life during a workout. Part of it is because I refused to close all the windows and turn on the a/c, but also, it's a very tough workout. I'm surprised my legs aren't sore this morning, since you do about 500 squats and lunges during the blasts. Anyway, it's an excellent sub for Plyo since it has all that leg intensive stuff.

Challenge
Workout: Low Max Blasts 1-6 (avg hr 133, max hr 165, 573 Cal)
Food: 1648 Cal, 42/36/22
Consecutive Perfect Days: 7
Total Perfect Days: 7/39

So I've been finishing a side table/cabinet that I started building last spring break. It was in the garage for like a year. And it was practically finished. I have no idea why my momentum in working on it tailed off. I think spring break ended. So, I've just about finished it now. I added trim along the bottom edge and made the doors. I put one coat of stain on it and will do the others tomorrow. I also put one coat of stain splotches on my right leg, but not my left. Weird. I'm so excited to be finished with it. I know it's silly, but I feel like I made a big accomplishment. It's going to be a nice piece of furniture to add to my house and hopefully something that people will say, "You made that??" when they see it. It's meant to match the desk that DH and I built for our den. (Well, the desk was made to match this, but the desk got finished first.)

I'll post a pic when it's all finished.

Challenge
Yesterday:
Workout: rest day
Food: 1514 Cals, 40/35/25

Today:
Workout: TJ Fat Blaster (am) / Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X (pm)
Food: 1392 Cals, 47/33/20

Consecutive Perfect Days: 6
Total Perfect Days: 6/39

A feast

My friends W and E came over for dinner tonight, and we literally had a grilled feast. They brought eggplant, onion, mushrooms, asparagus, and red bell peppers and we had NY strips and zucchinis. We had to grill everything in 3 shifts, even though our grill is a decent size. It as one of the yummiest meals I've had in a while. And really great for me, too. I love our grill. It's so easy to use and cooking with it is always delicious. It's healthy, easy to clean, and fun.

Today was my last day of my recovery week before starting into phase 3 of P90X. I can't believe how fast this is going. I'm really happy that I decided to do this program. DH and I were discussing how much we really think it's worth, especially compared to other things people pay for fitness-wise. It cost just under $110 with discounts, and we both agree that it is worth much more to us than the $600 bowflex sitting in our garage gathering dust. It's certainly more convenient than schlepping to the gym and back and definitely costs a lot less than membership fees. We agree that, knowing what we know now, we would not hesitate to spend $400-500 on it. But would we have been willing to spend that much without knowing? I guess that's the dilemma that companies like beachbody have to balance out. Once you've already bought into the program, it's easy to say it's worth so much, but people in general are not likely to spend more than $150ish on an infomercial product, no matter how many excellent reviews and before/afters they show you.

Challenge
Today:
Workout: Baptiste's Journey into Power 2 (yoga)
Food: 1607 cals, 37/37/26

Yesterday:
Workout: Core Synergistics
Food: 1634 cals, 44/30/26

Consecutive perfect days: 4
Total perfect days: 4/39

Cheating

Ok, not really. I still fell within my goals, but I did have a planned cheat meal at my favorite cookie 'n' ice cream place: Diddy Riese. Fresh cinnamon sugar cookies wrapped around butter pecan ice cream. Yum! This was after being extremely good at the Olive Garden, where I had scoped out ahead of time and ordered the Apricot Chicken. I highly recommend this dish. It's low fat/high protein and is yum yum yummy! I had half, and DH had half, but did we just order one and share? Of course not. So now we both have lunches in the fridge. We're so cute, all the same but different.

Challenge
Workout: rest day
Food: 1752 cals, 39/30/31
Consecutive perfect days: 2/2
Total perfect days: 2/39

I'm a copycat

So when DH and I started P90X, we found Maggie Wang's Blog. I've been reading it periodically, and the other day I came across a thread she had started on another fitness board that was a motivational check in. Instead of checking in to list all the things they did wrong, she made it a challenge to list your goals and then rack up as many perfect days of meeting them as possible. I love this idea, so I'm copying it. Here are my goals, and I'm going to count consecutive perfect days and total perfect days out of the 39 remaining days of P90X. I'll post a daily accounting of how I'm doing.


Workouts:

• complete the rest of this P90X rotation in its entirety, including doubles workouts
• ok to sub other steady state cardio for KenpoX, other power yoga workouts for Yoga X, and Cathe Imaxes for Plyo

Food:

• maintain daily macronutrient ratio of 40-50% carbs/30-40% protein/20-30% fat
• keep daily caloric intake between 1400-1700 calories, cheat days may go up to 2000
• eat 5-6 meals/day
• allowed 2 cheat meals/week

Misc

• no buying new workouts until the end of this rotation
• no eating just because I'm bored while being off for the summer

So, for today:
workout: Turbo Jam Kick, Punch, & Jam (instead of Kenpo X)
food: 1405Cal, 43/35/22
number of consecutive perfect days: 1
total perfect days: 1/39

Soft Dinner

My friend Pablo just got braces, so he can't eat a lot of foods. Since he's coming over for dinner, I had to think of something "soft" to feed him. Here's what we're having:

Simple Chili
2lbs ground beef, extra lean
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, diced
1 c good quality wine (I used white zin from my wedding)
1/2 c Heinz 57 sauce
1/3 c chili powder
2 T cumin
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t salt

Brown the ground beef and onions, then rinse off the fat. Add all remaining ingredients and stir. Cover and simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. This would also work well in a slow cooker.

Top with plain yogurt and grated low fat cheddar cheese. Yummy!

Sweet Corn Muffins
1/2 c applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4 c splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 c egg substitute
1 15oz corn, drained
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c cornmeal
2t baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 can diced green chilis (optional)

Preheat oven to 300F. Mix all ingredients until well-combined. Grease or line with papers 12 muffin tins. Fill tins 2/3 full of batter and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


Today's workout
AM: Turbo Jam Fat Blaster (30min, avg hr 121, peak hr 161, 267Cal)
PM: Yoga X (Standing asanas only)
Fat blaster was fun, but I have definitely realized that Chalene is a bad cuer. She usually shouts out the next move as she does it. I guess that's one reason predicable, repetative workouts are ok from her :) I like fat blaster, but it's too short for a real workout. Pairing it with a Cardio Party would make a nice, hour-long workout for a true cardio day. On its own, it's ok for an add on, but I'd rather have a 45min session. I've decided that I'm only going to keep the Turbo Jam maximum results workouts, and sell all the others. They're fun, but they will not become one of my workout staples, unless I suddenly stop working out and lose all by strength and cardio capacity. Maybe a good set to use during pregnancy.

I realize that it's summer and that it is getting really really hot these days, but while I did Yoga today, I felt sweat dripping down my torso. ???I didn't feel like I was working that hard??? I was finally able to do the right angle pose and the twisting triangle pose without falling over and feeling like my chest was going to split in half. Woo-hoo. I did pushups between each up dog/down dog transition. I think this yoga workout is growing on me. I can tell that it's a really great sequence and very thorough now that I can compare it to Baron Baptiste's Journey into Power 2 that I've been using sometimes. I like Tony's workout much better, but I wish it were just a little shorter.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

More like a muffin than a cookie, but still yummy. Makes 6 servings.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins
Per Muffin: 251 Cal, 8.8g fat, 27g carbs (3g fiber), 15g protein
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c almond meal
3 scoops protein powder (I used vanilla)
1/2t baking soda
1/4c + 2 T splenda brown sugar blend
1/2 c applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4c egg substitute
1t vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325F. Blend everything but the chocolate chips in a mixer until well-combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir. Pour into 6 greased muffin tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the centers are set.

2nd Recovery Week

Well, I've already made it through 7 weeks of P90X. That is 49 days of hardcore pull ups, push ups, heavy weight lifting, and crazy jumping around. This week I'm starting my second recovery week, which means I'm almost 2/3 of the way through this program. I'm surprised at how fast it seems to be going. But I'm already itching to do something different: my short attention span is getting to me. I'm cheating it a little by subbing in some other, equivalent workouts sometimes. The strength work is all Tony Horton and I'd never sub for that, but I have subbed Cathe's Imaxes for plyo a few times, and I always skip kenpo and do either Cathe step or recently turbo jam. But I'm still doing the spirit of the P90X workouts, right? :)

Plus, I bought Slim Series from a fellow Ya Ya and should be getting it in the mail in the next few days. I'm on a BeachBody binge, I guess. I'm so happy that I found some other advanced workouts that are as fun for me, and as challenging, as Cathe. Not that I'll ever leave Cathe, it's just nice to have variety. But I really shouldn't be ordering new workouts in the middle of a rotation like this. It just tempts me even more to stop and try the new stuff. But I will resist! I read about a fun sounding rotation of the beachbody forums: SSXy rotation (haha, get it?). It mixes up Slim Series and P90x. Sounds like fun, can't wait to try it. But there's this other Cathe Get Ready For Summer Rotation that looks fun too. Ack. Too many decisions. I'd better just stick with my remaining 6 weeks of P90X.

Today's Workout: rest day

Protein Pumpkin Bread

I adapted this recipe from Carolyn's protein banana bread. The original banana bread has become a staple, but I don't want myself or my DH to get burned out on it, thus, the pumpkin version. Enjoy!!


Protein Pumpkin Bread
per slice: 168.5 Cals, 2.7g fat (.6g sat), 21.1 g carbs (2.2g fiber), 13.2g protein

1/2 c apple sauce
1/2 c egg substitute (or 4 egg whites)
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c canned pure pumpkin (not pie filling!)
1/2 c splenda brown sugar blend

1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c almond meal (you can grind your own in a food processor)
5 scoops protein powder (I use vanilla flavored)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325F. Combine the first group in a bowl and mix until blended. Combine the second group in another bowl and blend. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9"x4" loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan before removing. Makes 10 servings.


Today's workout: Turbo Jam Cardio Party 3
(48 min, avg hr 127, peak hr 153, 423 cal)
This workout is (IMO) almost identical to the other Cardio Parties. The warm up is exactly the same, the cool down and stretch is exactly the same. This on has one more segment than CP 1, making it about 5 minutes longer. The songs are different. I don't really see a place in my collection for more than one or two of these workouts. I guess the "mix" in the title really does mean that. It's basically the same workout with a slightly different order and soundtrack. I'll probably keep CP2 and 3 and sell CP1 and Remix. I do think this is a fun workout, though, I just don't need 4 copies of essentially the same one taking up space on my workout shelf. Hopefully, Kick, Punch, and Jam is different enough to warrant keeping it.

"Healthy" Blondies

I'm obsessed with desserts. I'm also obsessed with being healthy. Obviously, the two don't mix well. Here's one attempt:

Blondies
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c splenda brown sugar for baking blend
1/4 c egg substitute
1t vanilla
1/2 whole wheat flour
1/4 c almond meal (you can grind your own in a food processor)
1 scoop (1/3 cup) vanilla protein powder

Mix all ingredients until moistened. Spray an 8x8 square pan with non-stick spray. Bake at 325F for about 18 min. Cut into 9 squares.

Nutriton info: 119cal, 2g fat, 18g carbs, 1g fiber, 6g protein.