Monday, July 13, 2009

Contrary to Popular Belief

I have NOT fallen off the bandwagon Kayonne! lol, though I must say I am holding on for dear life!!!

I am still keeping with my commitment, but I've been met with much discouragement along the way. I am a whopping 23 days behind in my Bible in 90 day plan. At this point, I think it may end up being Bible in 180 day plan...sigh. BUT....I am not quitting. I think I bit off more than I could chew- 1 hour workouts plus at least an hour and a half reading ( I'm not a good speed reader) and writing a blog. I've learned a valuable lesson here. The race is not given to the swift, but to the one who endureth (India. Arie paraphrasing a part of Ecc 9:11).

P90x has been going well, I have skipped a couple days here and there, but with good reason. My back, elbows and knees are now starting to feel the effects of it. I am going to an orthopedic surgeon on Thursday to find out what in the world is wrong with my knees. I can barely climb stairs, or sit down/stand up from a chair without feeling the pain in both knees. This is undoubtedly a result of my intense workout. My body hasn't seen daily workouts since...well, never actually!

On the bright side, I have lost 2.5lbs and lost a total of about 3.5 inches. I can now do about 4 pushups ( at the start of this I couldn't do one single 'man' pushup). I feel great, I'm breathing better than I ever have. For the first time in my adult life I went biking with my husband. It felt so good to be active without huffing and puffing for dear life. Additionally, I've been working out for the past 2 months or so with my sister-in-Christ who lives a quarter mile down the road. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30am to exercise for 1/2 hour and pray. It's been so great building a friendship, building our relationship with God and building our bodies.

I think one reason I haven't lost much weight is my diet. I have not taken a disastrous detour, but I did find that the P90X was all too rigourous. I mean,who eats 6 egg whites for breakfast? I have made healthy choices and allowed myself to splurge here and there on our date nights. The other reason is that P90X was not exactly designed specifically for weight loss. I need to incorporate more cardio into it to get the results that I want.

So, to all my fans out there - Kayonne! :) I am alive and well, struggling to maintain, but fiercely devoted to doing my best.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Day 5, 4, 3 :) Days Late and a Few Passages Short

EXERCISE
I haven't fallen off the band wagon yet, just haven’t had time to post. Did I mention I was taking a grad level summer class? Finding time to fit everything in has been difficult, but I really am determined to make it work. Today is officially Day 5 and I think I’ve done quite well over the last week. Yesterday was Yoga X. The first half was the most challenging exercise I have ever done. While I didn’t complete all the moves, I did the best I could. The second half was much better, and in fact quite interesting. The once pose I couldn’t stick AT All was the crane. Way too intense for a first time Yoga-er. The day before was Shoulders, Arms and Back. I feel good about my progress in that class. I enjoy the lifting though my arms were killing me all yesterday. Really, the main thing that I need to work on is my stomach. Unfortunately, I missed Ab Ripper X this morning. Hey, it’s a Friday and after Yoga last night, I could barely move. I plan to go full steam tonight though and make sure I squeeze in that 15 minute Ab workout.

DIET
I’ve been pretty consistent in making great choices and eating much more fruits and vegetables. While I am not totally following the P90X diet, I am very happy with the improvements I’ve made. I even said no to donuts at work this morning. I usually have minimal self control, but no sweet processed thing has entered my body since Day One….I did swipe a couple of my husbands Sun chips when he wasn’t looking though…just a few J

QT
Having a relationship with God is hard work, but I am really committed to making this happen one way or another. I am behind in my reading. I should have finished Genesis 50 yesterday, but I only got to Genesis 41. Today, I am scheduled to have finished Genesis and read 15 chapters of Exodus. I should definitely be able to catch up this weekend. Joseph’s integrity is convicting to me. His master trusted him with everything. In addition, he worked so hard that they knew he could handle responsibility. I began to ask myself…could this be said about me at work?

Until next time….

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Day 2

DIET
Breakfast: Cinnamon Toast Crunch (bad bad bad)Snack: Grapes + 1oz String Cheese
Lunch: Leftover Tilapia and Whole Wheat PastaSnack: Strawberries, 8oz of Soy Milk
Dinner: Curry Chicken ( all white meat) w/ green peas, Salad, Brown Rice

Suprisingly, I rarely get hunger pangs and aside from the Cinnamon Toast Cereal, I've been eaten pretty healthy.

EXERCISE
Worked out for 15 minutes with Kelly, our Tu/Th 5:30 workouts.
Cardio X in the evening- I attempted the Dreya Roll this time. I still have to push off my hands though, it's very challenging!Yoga is definitely going to be my challenge. DownWard Dog, Chataranga Iso...man! They are kicking my behind

QT
Read Genesis 17- 28. Ok, is it me or does anyone else notice that many issues began with a woman leading the way. Not to say that is the norm, or that men do not have their fair share of mess ups in the Bible, but it is a noticeable trend....Eve,Sarah, Lot's Wife,Lot's daughters,Rebekah, Rachel.... Interesting.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Day One

Coincidentally, I started the program on June 1. At the end of every month, I’ll end one phase of the program. Here’s the recap of yesterday

QT
The great thing about this is I’ll be able to consistently wake up at 5am and feel energized throughout the day, physically and spiritually.
Genesis 1-16 16 chapters covers a lot, but a couple of things that stood out to me were:
Enoch: He walked with God 300 years and then was no more. How awesome is that? They didn’t mention his father or son walking with God. There must have been a special relationship, a closeness that they shared. This is what I strive for.
Hagar: God sees and hears us when we are distressed and wants to act. Psalm 10:14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

DIET
Breakfast – Mushroom Egg White Omelet w/ fresh salsa; 1 cup strawberries
Snack – 100cal Yogurt ( I HATE yogurt, but I HATE cottage cheese even more so I opted for yogurt instead)
Lunch – Turkey Salad with Lite Ranch Dressing; 1 oz String Cheese
Snack- Soy Milk
Dinner – Cajun Tilapia with Whole Wheat Spaghetti; leftover salad from lunch

EXERCISE - I'm on the Lean program
Ab Ripper X
in the morning. I actually didn’t have to do this…I only found out later. Man, it sounds so easy….11 moves, 25 times. I don’t think I did 25 reps on any of the moves. I need to prepare my mind for ‘bringing it’ every time. I’m finding that there is a mental aspect of it too. When my husband encouraged me, I did more reps than when I was alone.

Walked 1 Mile during my lunch break

Core Synergistics in the evening. This totally kicked my butt. I didn’t even attempt the Dreya Roll. I was soooo tired, sweating like a hog too! I woke up this morning and everywhere ached. That’s a good sign. I must admit I did have fun with it. My favorite was probably the Banana Roll even though I don’t think I totally got it right. Here’s to being able to bring it next time….

Fit Test - Pre-P90X

I have the most incredible husband in the world. Left to my own devices I definitely would not have done the fit test. It was all about the number on the scale to me. Fortunately, my husband took all my measurements, had me do the exercises checked my heart rate as described in the manual.

Turns out I probably just met the minimums for the program. I must say, I banged out those bicep curls though. I did double the minimum and could have probably fit in a few more. On the other hand, I can barely do one male push up. My goal - to do 5 by the end of the program. Hmm, maybe 3 :)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Welcome to P90X and the Bible

Hello World,

If there's one thing I hate ...it's exercising! The word alone kind of freaks me out. In Nigeria, people don't exercise! You walk around all day in the scorching sun and the fat just burns right off of you. :) Couple that with the fact that egusi soup and cassava are not exactly equivilant to a BigMac and fries. Maybe this is why I never had weight issues during my stay in Nigeria. Always loved to eat though no matter what country I was in and never worried about it, but when my size five frame ballooned to 12 I knew it was 'cause of them Reese's peices and Oatmeal creme pies.

When in Rome...you know the rest. So I hopped on a treadmill, ellyptical, bicyle and any other contraption in the gym. I signed up for Biggest Loser at work and won! I quickly gained back the pounds I lost on my starvation diet and I now weigh in at a solid 190lbs at 5' 9".

I have decided it's time to make a change- a real one ;quite unlike 'the Biggest Loser' where my incentive was the competition and the $150 prize. I decided to try P90X, a 90-day program that does things the old fashioned way: good old diet and yes, that dirty word, EXERCISE. 90 days of 1-hour workouts and good eating. I just got the workout CDs in the mail today so my journey will begin sometime this week.

So here's the thing - If I'm spending an hour a day getting my workout on, I KNOW I can spend an hour reading my Bible. Shoot, as my stomach dwindles and I spend more time looking at it ( these are my hopes), I need to make sure I look into the mirror that shows me who I really am. I've decided to also commit to reading the Bible cover to cover in 90days.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. Hopefully with P90X and the Bible, I just might form a lifestyle that will change me inside and out.