Watching the Weight!

So HI! It's been a while. How have you been? I'm doing alright. My hip is still giving me slight pain, but it's better than it was. Thanks for asking. The workout? Oh... Well... You see... It's just that... Okay, it's like this. I can't do a whole lot because of my hip, I'm unemployed, still overweight, and am taking care of my wonderful boys now during the day. Why don't I workout while they are napping? Well, because that's pretty much impossible. When the oldest is asleep, the youngest is awake. When the youngest is asleep, the oldest is awake. So it makes it very difficult.

It's not like I'm a completely lost cause. I take the boys for long walks at least two times a week and I have to go to physical therapy twice a week. So I'm still getting some sort of workout. Besides not working out, but kind of working out Lois and I have begun Weight Watchers Online.

Now as you have probably figured out from previous posts I am no good at dieting. I am a picky eater and I like to eat junk food. Needless to say I was nervous about this. I didn't want this to be a waste of money. (Luckily the P90X was free.) So we started the program last week Monday. I was given a total of 35 points for the day. (For those of you that don't know how Weight Watchers works here is a quick 411. Based on your weight, your goal, and other various items your are awarded a number of points that you are allowed to use each day. You are also given extra points for the entire week. Usually you use these points so you can splurge every now and then. You also gain points for various activities that you may do throughout the week.Your points do not roll over from week to week or day to day.)

Well I was given only 35 points for the day and also 35 points for the week. I had NO idea how I was going to do this. ONLY 35 POINTS!! Turns out it's a lot easier than I thought. Each day I would struggle trying to actually spend all of my points. It was great! By the end of the week I had earned an additional 24 activity points. So when Sunday rolled around I had my normal 35 points, plus 4 extra points, plus 24 activity points to use. That's a lot of points!!

Well the first weigh in came today. I feel absolutely no different. I don't think I look any different.

I set the scale to 0.

I stepped on the scale.

I read the scale.

I stepped off the scale.

I checked the dial to make sure it was at 0.

I stepped back on the scale.

I read the scale again.

219.

I LOST 10 POUNDS!! IT'S MY FIRST WEEK AND I LOST 10LBS!

Let's hope the following weeks keep this up. 19 pounds to go to get to my goal!!

I'm An Invalid!

Well, today was my surgery. I had right hip arthroscopy and femeroplasty. Basically they poked a bunch of holes in my my right hip, shaved off part of my bone, and tied up a lateral tear.
I went in at 5:45 in the morning and was in surgery by 7:30. The surgery lasted about 2 3/4 hours. They went in and looked around to make sure that everything was good and found the tear. What was happening was that my cam lesion was beginning to tear my muscle. This was something that I was warned about so it didn't come as a big surprise to me. It just meant that it was going to take a little longer during surgery.
I woke up from the anesthetic around 11:30 and was home by 1:00pm. I am now confined to my couch for the next couple of days. The only time I am allowed to get up is to go to the bathroom. As of right now my upper half of my leg (where they actually did the procedure) is numb. It's weird. It aches, but it's numb to the touch. I am not able to move it on my own. I have to have help getting my leg off the couch to get up and then get help putting it back on the couch.
Honestly, I HATE being taken care of. I HATE having people do everything for me, but I am very thankful to my wonderful wife, Lois, and her mother. They are stuck waiting on me, hand and foot, for the rest of this week. Besides having to take care of me, they also have to take care of our 2 1/2 year old and our 2 week old boys. Having Lois is wonderful, but having her mom over for the next couple of days is excellent. She has taken the time to come and help take care of me.  What would I do without them?

Surgery!

So yes, it is set. I will be having surgery. On June 8th I will be having my very first surgery. I met with my doctor yesterday and he looked over my CT scan and my MRI scans and decided that yes in deed I do have a CAM lesion on my right hip.
The surgery should only take about an hour to an hour and a half. He will be doing an arthroscopic surgery. First he will put my right leg in traction so that it doesn't move around during the procedure, followed by my left leg for good measure (to balance it out). Then he will drill anywhere from 3 to 5 holes in my right hip and leg to have a look around. Once he can assess the extent of the damage, if there is any besides the lesion, he will shave off the lesion and that will be that. It's that simple.
After the surgery I will be put in a post-op room to wake up and then they will assess my level of pain. If it's not too extreme and I can manage it well I will be sent home (usually 4-5 hours after). If it's not manageable I will have to stay overnight.
Once home I have to stay off my leg for 48 hours. This should be easy to do with a 2 1/2 year old and a new born. After the two days I will be on crutches for the next 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks are up I should be back to walking unassisted. During this entire time and for the next couple of months I will be required to do physical therapy.
My doctor seems pretty cool. He wanted to get my surgery in early enough that I would be off the crutches by the time I needed to start summer school. Which is something I was worried about because if I couldn't do summer school I wouldn't have any income. If I didn't have any type of income this summer we would be out a couple thousand dollars. So this seems to have worked out well. Thank God summer school is only half days though.

So Yeah...

I suck! I haven't been working out since my last post. So I'm pretty much screwed... I will never lose the weight that I want. I will never be super awesome. I guess I will have to deal with it. I would start up again, but.. who am I kidding I suck. Besides if I start now in about a month I won't be able to continue for a while.

For those of you that don't know I will be having hip surgery. Now, I'm not looking for sympathy (Phoenix), just stating a fact. I apparently have a cam lesion on my right hip.

FAI - Femoroacetabular Impingement

What is It?

• FAI s is a recently understood hip condition which describes a mechanical mismatch between the ‘ball’ and the ‘socket’ of the hip
  
• There are two described types of impingement:
  
  • ‘Cam’ type impingement describes a ‘bump’ on the surface of the femoral head (ball) which jams on the rim of the (acetabulum) socket
    This typically affects younger athletic men (common)

  What are the Symptoms

• FAI often presents as hip and groin pain with restricted range of hip movements.
  
• Symptom onset can be acute, following injury, or insidious after prolonged exertion. It is generally not disabling, except in sporting activity.
  
• ‘Payback pain’ after participating in sporting activity is common
  
• Pain is primarily felt deep in the groin at the front of the hip, more rarely it can be on the side of the hip or the buttock.
  
• Movements can be restricted particularly high flexing and trying to cross the legs.
  
• Pain is often provoked by these manoeuvres, by exercise, or by attempted return to sport and relieved by rest and inactivity.

So I recently had a CT scan and 2 MRIs. I meet with my doctor on Monday to talk about the scans and surgery. My hope is to get have the surgery next month so that my recoup time is only during the summer and then be all set to go when school starts up again.

So yeah that's that. I suck.

I DID IT!!

Alright, after 2 months plus 1 week I finally did it. I worked out! I started over. Today was chest and back man did it feel good. Hard as hell, but it felt good. No more of this whining and just talking about starting I am actually going to do this. It will be done. No ifs ands or buts about it. I may have to take a slight break when Clark Jr. comes along, but that is it.

And Then Life Happened...

So, I suck! My last post was back in January. The last time I worked-out was in January. I suck. I have told myself and those around me that Monday I was going to start working-out again. Well Monday came and went a number of times and here I sit, as not slim and trim as ever.

Before I stopped working-out I think that I was really starting to get results. I wasn't loosing any weight but I could tell a difference in inches and my health. I just felt better. I am still eating better. Not as good as I was, but I have definitely added more fruits and vegetables to my diet.

What made me stop working out you ask. Well I'll tell you. No good reason. When I began working-out I was already a busy person. I had just started student teaching which kept me up late at night making lesson plans and I was a lead character (for the first time) in a musical and had practice 4 nights a week.

So my day normally ran like this. I got up (6:30am), got ready for the day, took Jimmy to the sitter, taught until 3pm, came home worked-out (3:30-4:30pm), made dinner and ate (4:30-5:30pm), spent a little time with the family (5:30-6pm), went to play practice (6-9:30/10pm), came home and worked on lesson plans for the following day (10:30-12/1am).

It was a full day and I started to fall behind in things and was in general just tired from lack of sleep. I didn't always fall right to sleep. So I decided to wait until the play was over to begin the work out again. Well the play ended February 14.

I really don't have any excuse for not starting it since then. I am still student teaching, but I am getting the hang of making lesson plans and it's going easier. I'm still up late some nights working on them, but I still should have time to workout.

So you heard it here. MY WORKOUT WILL START OVER ON MARCH 15! One month after the play finished. Shame on me.

High Maintenance

So, Lois is off to Boston for a breakin' news story and it's just me and Jimmy at home this week. No problem! Except for the fact that my son and I are HIGH MAINTENANCE!

The week started out good. Monday was chest and back. I did that no problem. Then Tuesday was my day of rest (I get one every 7 days). Lois also left Tuesday. No, when Lois leaves it is always sad and we miss her terribly. We miss having her around to play with, to talk with, to have dinner with. But the one thing I miss most is having her laying in bed next to me each night. I never sleep well the first night she is gone.

So Tuesday night I wasn't able to fall asleep until 1:30am!!! That normally wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to be up at 6:00am to get myself and Jimmy ready for the day. So I don't fall asleep until the early morning, then when I'm supposed to be getting up the alarm doesn't go off. Well, it did go off, but I couldn't hear it because Lois had turned the volume off (what good is an alarm if the volume is off?). Luckily I woke up around 6:45am. So I am right away running late. I get Jimmy ready first and then get myself ready. Then after I eat a quick breakfast we are out the door. I get Jimmy to the sitter by 7:45am (normally he is there by 7:30 at the latest). I get into my classroom at 7:50am and the bell rings minutes later. By the end of the day (3:30pm) I was SO completely exhausted I just wanted to crawl into bed.

I can't crawl into bed yet. I have to get in my plyometrics workout and I have to make Jimmy and I dinner, then give him a bath, and then put him to bed. Well like I said, I was COMPLETELY exhausted. Needless to say I didn't get my workout in. I was TOO tired. I know, I know it would have made me feel better, but it took all my energy just to make dinner and give a bath.

So that was yesterday. This is today. I got plenty of sleep and had a good day at school. I had everything planned out. I was going to go get diapers, pick Jimmy up from the sitter, go home, workout, shower, get ready for play practice, take Jimmy to Grandma and Grandpa's house, then go to play practice.

This is how it went down... I went and got diapers, picked Jimmy up at the sitters, spent about 10 minutes at the sitters fighting with him to get his shoes, gloves, hat, and coat on (this NEVER happens), fought with Jimmy in the driveway (I took him out of his car seat and he literally collapsed on the ground crying), fought with Jimmy on the back porch (he would not go in the house, he wouldn't even go up more than 3 stairs), fought with Jimmy to take his coat, gloves, hat, and shoes off, gave Jimmy at time out until he was finished screaming and crying (about 5-10 minutes), then fought with Jimmy about not watching "Noggin."

So, after all the fighting with Jimmy I decided that I needed to spend so quality "Dad" time with him. Since we weren't going to be watching "Noggin" I didn't think it would be fair if I was "watching" my workout. We went into his room and we colored on his easel and in his coloring books, then we played memory. Now he is eating dinner and I allowed him the watch Monsters Inc. while he eats.

The plan for the rest of the night is this. We will finish eating dinner, I will take Jimmy to Grandma and Grandpa's house, go to play practice, pick Jimmy up from Grandma and Grandpa's house, put him to bed, workout, and finally go to bed!

This is a HIGH MAINTENANCE household when Mommy is gone!

Day 6!

Well, yesterday was my last day of "workouts." today is a day of rest. I did the Kenpo X workout yesterday. I was only able to make it through half of the DVD because of my asthma once again. Even though I only made it through half I really feel it today. My arms and legs feel a bit sore. It's great! I actually enjoy feeling sore. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

The diet didn't go so well this weekend. I majorly bombed it. We went out for dinner on Friday night to a place here in town. That was the only place that I did good. I had a salad (which I didn't finish because I added too much salt) and pork chops with bbq sauce on the side. On Saturday we went to Madison to do some shopping. We stopped at another restaurant to have lunch. Here's where it starts to go downhill. I had a hamburger with parmesan garlic steak fries. The burger was alright, because I didn't have my 1 carb for the day and it's okay if I eat meat. But the fries are a big no no. Then on Sunday it just went completely out the window. For breakfast I had 3 pancakes (it's okay here, I can have 3 pancakes) which fills my carbs for the day, then for lunch I had egg whites with mozzarella cheese and a fruit smoothie with whey protein (this filled my dairy for the day), then for dinner I had Jamie's pizza. It had of course a crust (too many carbs), LOTS of cheese (too much dairy), and turkey meat (the only part of the pizza that I could eat)! So yeah, there's my horrible diet for the weekend. I'm back on track today! 

Today's workout is either a day of rest or do the Stretch X video. I figure it's all about stretching, and I can do stretching.

Day 5!

Alright, sorry my days are getting kind of weird. My internet connection has been in and out this whole weekend. Yesterday was day 5 for me and it was back and legs followed by abs. Well, by the time I got through half of the back and legs my legs were complete jelly. So I didn't make it through the workout yesterday. I'm still feeling pretty good though today. I'm slightly sore, but not too bad.

The back part of the workout was ALL chin-ups. We did wide grip, reverse grip, close grip, alternating grip. It gets pretty tiring to lift this heavy butt up. I use a chair, but the door way isn't really high enough for me. I need the bar to be probably about another 8-12 inches higher. I don't know if I'm getting a good enough workout because of this. It wouldn't be a problem switching to a higher door frame, except that the chin-up bar only fits in one  of all the many doorways in my house. Because our house is so old (built 1927) all of the door frames are very wide. I don't know the average width of a door frame, but it is obviously about and inch thinner than the ones that we have.

Today's workout is Kenpo. For those of you that don't know what Kenpo is, it is a type of Karate. This one should be amusing! I am one of the least coordinated people I know. I have long arms and legs, so when I try to do things like this it's just funny to watch.

This was me last night! Or at least will be eventually. Last night was Yoga X. It was an hour and a half of intense yoga exercise.

I am a big fan of yoga and it's relaxing ability. Well I can't say this workout was relaxing. It was very challenging! But that's what I have come to expect form the program. I have done yoga a number of times in the past so a number of these poses were familiar to me. Such poses as Warrior 1 and 2, or Child's Pose. But then they threw in some new and pretty difficult ones like Crane (picture to left) and Warrior 3 (picture below).

It was a great workout and I worked up a huge sweat! I can see this workout easily becoming one of my favorites. It may not have been the most relaxing workout that it should be, but that was mostly because I am still learning the poses.

If you have never done yoga, I HIGHLY recommend it. It works on your flexibility, balance, and can be so peaceful.

On a side note. I purchased the P90X Recovery drink and man is it good!!! It tastes like an orange dreamcicle. MMMMMMMMMM!

Day 4!

The week is getting on now. It's day 4 but really only day 3 because of yesterday's mishap. I think I'm doing pretty good! I'm sticking to my diet, I'm working out on a regular basis. All-'n-all it's been a good start.

Today I worked arms and shoulders and then another round of abs. It wasn't too bad! I realized though that I need to start working out with my shoes on so I can use the bands that I bought, or I need to buy heavier dumbbells. I think the shoes win out. It's cheaper and with this program it is nice to do something that is cheap.

It's not that I didn't get a good workout in. I just had to do more reps because the weights were too light for my MASSIVE biceps... It's hard to stay on track with this program when you have to do extra reps. The way it works is that they do each exercise for so many seconds or minutes and then move onto the next. By the time I am finished with my reps they are half way through the next set.

I still am not able to keep up with the ab ripper x workout. BUT I was actually able to do about 12 wide leg sit-ups!!! If you notice in my previous post on Day 1 I wasn't able to do any. I think that that is a huge feat for me. I still have trouble with the frogy crunches (I think I called them monkey crunches before).

Workout aside, the thing that I am most proud of is my diet. Yes, it's only been 4 days on it, but I'm actually sticking to it. It's not even that difficult! Having breakfast in the morning and then a snack a couple hours later has really helped. Right when I start to get hungry again it's time for a snack. So I eat my snack and am good until lunch. Then when my body starts telling me to eat again it's snack time again. Then dinner time comes and I am just hungry enough to not overeat! It's been fantastic. Even cutting out 9/10ths of my carbs hasn't been that bad. I really don't even notice it all that much. Tonight I had broccoli for the first time ever. It wasn't half bad. I had it in a steak and broccoli stir fry so I couldn't get a real taste of it, but for me that's a good thing.

Another thing with this diet I've noticed, and I know this is going to sound a little weird. I think I have to train my tongue and mouth how to eat fruits and vegetables (quit being perverted!!). Because I haven't ever eaten these things I'm not sure what to expect when I do. Take pineapple for instance. You bite into it and it explodes juice (knock it off!) all over your mouth. I wasn't ready for that. You also have to swallow the juice before you eat the meat (WOW! Could this sound any more perverted?). If you don't you end up with a mouth full of stuff and it's more awkward to get down. Side note: I didn't think strawberries were all that great. I would take pineapple over strawberries any day.

I think the same thing goes for other fruits and vegetables. My common reflex for trying new and potentially disgusting foods is to build up a large wad of saliva in my mouth and then when I take a bite I chew as fast as I can and then swallow. I have found that with the huge wad of saliva it actually disperses the tastes more and possibly distorts it to make it taste worse that it probably is. This process has actually become so common place for me that I didn't even realize I did it until this week. It is a struggle, but I am doing my best to prevent this. When I go to try new vegetables I try to make sure that my mouth is somewhat clear of saliva. Obviously you need some saliva to chew it and then swallow. This is what I struggle with. It is a true fear of trying these new foods. Sometimes I almost get to the point of shaking I am so nervous and scared. It's ridiculous, but I can't help it! I'm trying.

Tomorrow is yoga. This is a workout I am most looking forward to. I LOVE yoga. I'm not the most flexible person in the world, but there is something about it that is just so relaxing. Now, I know that this is the P90X yoga workout so it probably won't be that easy. Besides it's an hour and a half long! But I'm still looking forward to it.

Day 3! BUST!

Well, day three didn't quite go the way that I wanted it to. I figured since I didn't have play practice I could workout after school. So I was able to sleep in until 6am which was fantastic! So things were going as plan i got up at 6, went to school, picked Jimmy up from the sitter, came home, and did somethings around the house.

Once Lois got home from the Daily Planet I was able to begin my workout. I popped the DVD in, got my equipment ready and started. Jimmy really wanted to dance to the music on the workout so he was having a good time with me while Lois supervised.

The next thing I know we are on our way to the ER. No, not for me! I am fine. Jimmy had decided that it would be fun to workout with Daddy. He picked up one of our 8lb. dumbbells and dropped it on his foot! OUCH!!! Within seconds his foot was swollen and black and blue. We get to the ER and apparently it was let's go to the ER night. It was packed!

By now Jimmy had quit crying and was actually in a pretty good mood until you decided to touch his foot. So they took x-rays and it turns out that nothing is broken! PHEW! It is just a big 'ol goose egg and bruise. We even taught Jimmy to say that he has a hematoma.

So my workout was a bust last night. I didn't get one in... I will be doing it today instead. I have decided not to get up at 5am because it just makes me more tired throughout the day. I will workout when I get home from school. I was still able to stick to my diet though. I think I'm making some pretty good headway with that!

Keep It Real!

Day 2!

So as day 2 comes to an end I find myself pleasantly sore. I say pleasantly because I was expecting it to be worse. Maybe it should have been... Maybe I didn't push myself hard enough yesterday... Oh well, tomorrow is a new day!

I actually did it this morning. I got up at 5am (ish). I got up, got dressed (in the dark), turned on the DVD for plyometrics and off I went! I promised to explain better what plyometrics was today, well here you go... HELL!!! I can now see why they call it "The Beast" of all the P90X workouts. It is nonstop movement. It is all based on jumping and squating. When I say jumping, I mean a lot of jumping. It wasn't easy. It was so difficult that I was only able to get through about 20 minutes of it. Not because I was tired or because it was too early, but because of my asthma! I would take a short break and then begin again, but my lungs just didn't want to give it up. Some of you might say, "Well then why did you continue to go at the same pace as them?" To you I say "I didn't!!" I went at my own speed, but at a speed that would still get me results. My body just didn't like it. I actually started to get sick to my stomach and was extremely dizzy. So I stopped. Maybe next time...

The diet is still going pretty good. For breakfast this morning I had a cheese scramble and a banana. It scramble was simply egg whites, a little bit of milk, and some mozzarella cheese. It wasn't too bad. I added a little salt and pepper to give it a little more flavor. For snack today I had lightly salted, dry roasted cashews (MMMMMM!!!!!). Can I just say that I love the fact that I get to double up on my snacks. For lunch I had the same thing I had yesterday. Two turkey burger patties and some more strawberries. Then for dinner I made a lemon and garlic chicken and had another salad. The chicken was pretty good and very simple to make. The salad was another failure tonight. I'm REALLY trying hard to eat salad. I really am! Tonight I got through more of it, though. I had about 3-4 bites. I had a plain spinach salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, pine nuts, and goat cheese. No dressing. I did try everything this time. The tomatoes I guess were okay, I'm not too sure on them. The cucumbers, on the other hand, I had to force down. I only had one and I was fighting my gag reflex the entire time. I know, I know! It's just a cucumber. I don't know why I reacted the way I did. I just did.

That's it for today. I am beat AGAIN! It's so nice to actually be tired at 10 o'clock at night! Tomorrow's workout: Shoulders & Arms, followed by Ab Ripper X!

I think I can. I think I can.

DAY 1!

Alright! I did it! My day is over!! It didn't all go as planned, but I got it all done. The plan was to get up at 5am and workout, then get ready for school. Well that would have happened if I had fallen asleep a little earlier. I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 1-1:30am. So when the alarm went off at 5am and Lois told me to get out of bed and go work out I just rolled over and told her to let me sleep. I did work out though!!! After my long day at school I rushed over to pick Jimmy up from the sitter and then rushed home, changed my clothes and popped in the DVD.

Today's workouts were Chest & Back followed by Ab Ripper X. The Chest & Back DVD ran about an hour, while the Ab DVD ran just over 15 minutes. They weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. Well, at least the first one wasn't. The Chest & Back workout was primarily pull-ups and push-ups. I never knew there were so many different types of push-ups. I wasn't able to keep up with everything that they did, but I was able to do all the exercises. I know that I will be sore tomorrow. I can feel it already.

When it came to the ab workout I struggled so much. Abs are one of my weakest group of muscles. The have me doing some of the weirdest things (monkey crunches) and for the longest amount of reps (25 of EVERYTHING). I wasn't able to keep up with them at all in this workout.

Some of you may be asking, "What about the diet?" Well, I'll tell you. I did it! I started my day with a boca sausage, mozzarella cheese english muffin with a banana. Then for my snack I had two things of string cheese (memo to self, it gives you bad breathe). For lunch I had two turkey burgers, plain and minus the buns. I also had strawberries. Yes, I said STRAWBERRIES! They were okay. Then for dinner I attempted to eat a spinach, cucumber, cherry tomato, pine nut and goat cheese salad with a vinaigrette dressing. I was able to get down a bite and a half. I think it was the dressing. I didn't get far enough to try the tomatoes or cucumbers. I did like the spinach and goat cheese, so that's a step in the right direction. After the salad, Jamie made a REALLY good tilapia with parsley and shredded carrots. I ate all of that! For an after dinner snack I had some turkey jerky. It tastes pretty much the same as regular beef jerky, it's just better for you.

So all-in-all the day went pretty good. I am 100% worn out and will probably go right to bed after I finish this posting. My goal tomorrow is to get up at 5am and workout. It will just be easier because I have play practice tomorrow night again and then I won't have to rush home, workout, eat dinner, and rush to play practice.

The workout for tomorrow is Plyometrics. Plyometrics in simplest terms is cardio. I will define it better after I actually do it. I've been told that this is probably the hardest of the 12 videos. Plus with my asthma I need to be careful, so I will make sure to pace myself.

See you tomorrow!

WARNING!!!! EXPLICIT PHOTOS BELOW!!!!!

So here we go...Warning these pictures are not pretty, and make me a little sick to my stomach. But I am required to take "before" pictures and so I did and now I am going to share them. FYI: I did not think of these poses, they were the ones that they tell you to do.

Along with these lovely pictures I will share my measurements.

Weight: 245lbs.
Chest: 44in.
Waist: 41.5in.
Hips: 45.5in.
Right Thigh: 27in.
Left Thigh: 27in.
Right Arm: 13in.
Left Arm: 12.75in.
Body Fat %: 24

Fit Test Results!!

Okay friends, here it is. For this fit test I had to do a number of exercises. I first had to do a 10 minute warm up to get my blood pumping. After the warm up I began my test. Here are the results:

1) Pull-ups: 1/2 - Minimum requirement 3 for male, 1 for female. But most people when they begin P90X won't be able to do any.
Taken right from the book. I didn't make that up!

1 Minute Rest

2) Vertical Leap: 12 inches - Min. req. 5 inches for male, 3 for female.
I could have done more, but our walls don't go any higher.
4 Minute Rest
3) Push-ups: 17 - Min req. 15 for male, 3 for female.
4 Minute Rest
4) Toe touch: +1 - Min. req. 6 inches from toes (or -6)
This mean I could reach only an inch beyond my toes.
4 Minute Rest
5) Wall squat: 1minute 4 seconds - Min. req. 1 minute
This is a lot harder than it used to be.
4 Minute Rest
6) Bicep curls: 22 reps @ 20lbs. - Min. req. 10 reps @ 20lbs for male, 10 reps @8lbs for female.
3 Minute Rest
7) In & Outs: 30 - Min. req. 25
4 Minute Rest
8) Hear Rate Maximizer: 173bpm, 137bpm, 121bpm, 118bpm, 111bpm - Min. req. be able to finish.
This one was all jumping jacks. You do jumping jacks for 2 minutes. For the last 30 seconds you jump as fast as you can. Once 2 minutes is up you take your pulse every minute for the next 4 minutes.

So those are my results. Because I was able to finish all of the exercises at or above the minimum (I'm not including doing only 1/2 a pull-up) I am able to move on to P90X........Woo Hoo?!?

Pretest Tonight!!!

Just a quick update. As I was reading the Fitness Guide last night (yes there is a Fitness Guide!) I found out that I have to do a Fitness Test before I can start the actual program. The Fitness Test is supposed to be around 40 minutes. It consists of pull-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, stretching and so on. I have to time each exercise that I do and if I can make it through this workout then it is okay for me to do the actual P90X workouts.

So the pretest is planned for tonight. Jamie is going to be my time keeper. I will post how it goes later.

Wish me luck. The diet should be starting on Sunday and the actual workouts will begin on Monday morning at 5am.

The Beginning!

I'm going to say this right off the bat. I am HORRIBLE at grammar. BE WARNED! Many of my sentences may be run-ons or fragments. If you don't like it, then don't read it. It's my blog so I'm not having my wife edit it.

The reason for my blog is going to hopefully center around my upcoming workout and diet program. For those of you that don't know, I am starting the P90X workout. My hope was to begin with the Power 90 (P90) workout first and work up to the P90X. That may still happen.

The reason that I am starting this workout is souly selfish. At this point in my life (30yrs. old) I am in the worst shape I have ever been. I am also the heaviest I have ever been (246lbs.). I know that many of you look at me and think that I am not fat, but again this is not about what you think. It's about me. I have never felt so bad about myself and the way I look. I am very good at hiding my weight. Being tall also helps with the overweight issue.

Anyway, enough of my little pitty party. This workout is going to be intense. It's not just a workout though, it's an entire lifestyle change for me. For those of you that know me best you know that I usually eat like crap. Well along with the 12 DVD set comes a nutrition plan. Inside this plan are recipes and grocery lists and portion control charts. It's very detailed. The only problem with it is that almost everything has fruits and vegetables. I don't eat those things. But because I am DETERMINED to do this and make this change I am going to start. I think the best part about this plan is that tells you how and what to eat. It also changes as the workouts change. Again, this is going to be THE hardest part of this program.

The P90X workout program itself is very intense. It's a 90 day program with workouts 6 days a week for an hour each day. It's all about muscle confusion. You work one set of muscles one day and then a couple of weeks later you change to a different set of muscles. They do this to prevent a plateau. It seems to be very effective. I have done some research on this program and have talked to a number of people about it. I'm not going into this blind.

I'm really excited about this and very nervous. My plan is to post my measurements and photos so that you can see my progress (if there is any). Wish me luck!