the notebook
Working out with P90X: Part 6
Progress has been steady over the last few weeks. All the exercises I used to find difficult are getting easier. Time to close out the second phase of this round with another recovery week.
Another 2 weeks of P90X are in the can. These last couple weeks have been really tough. I've been pushing myself a lot harder and my body is feeling worn down. Maybe the change in seasons has something to do with my lack of motivation. Even during the recovery phase it was tough to get motivated. For the second time since starting, I actually put off a morning workout. I ended up doing my workout at night though; yoga is definitely not something that should be skipped.
Today, I woke up feeling more upbeat. So for now I'm going to blame my previous lack of motivation on the rain. The last phase of P90X is looking more and more enticing to me each day. Alternate workouts each week instead of doing the same exercises for three weeks will be a welcome change.
Progress? Did someone say progress?
I'm feeling stronger and see a lot more changes in my body. This weekend, I'll be doing some comparison photos and I'm excited to see how they'll look.
Unfortunately, I'm still not stretching each week. The intention is there but I get distracted working on side projects or running errands. I'm paying the price though. Stretching is important and as much as I'm seeing improvement each week, there's a lot of stiffness in my muscles. Stiff and sore muscles hampers improvement. I need to focus and keep up with the stretching and improving my flexibility.
Balance and strength are coming along nicely. I can almost get through the full yoga workout. I can even do crane for at least 30 out of the 60 seconds. The warrior three sequence is still the hardest part. My muscles crap up so badly I just can't do it.
Pushups and pull ups are getting easier as well. At least the first 30 or 40 pushups and the first 20 or so pull ups are. Doing back and biceps on the same day, followed by legs and back two days later seems to have weakened my pull up strength. I'm curious to see how things will go next week when I'm back in a muscle-building phase.
What about the food?
I do my best to continue eating healthily but I'm a sucker for a treat. I probably should have read the P90X food guide before I started instead of thumbing through it. For now I'm just going on what I've learned about nutrition in the past. It seems to be working well so far.
I should have written down notes and printed out some of the recipes. That way I could just buy what's on the list instead of cruising each aisle in the supermarket — and trying not to succumb to my urges. I'll add that to my checklist for the next run-through with P90X.
The end
The end is near! I have a 3-day visit with my parents and some work craziness to get through and I'm going to give it my all. Food will be touch and go over the holiday, but I'll do my best stick small meals instead of pigging out during this gluttonous time of year.
