as cozy as spring

P90X - Halfway

Note: I wrote this as part Fitness Fridays at Betty Beguiles

I finished the first 6 weeks of the P90X program.  A little fitness background:

1. I've pretty much always worked out.  I find it not just helpful but necessary for my mental well being.  Most days, I run.
2. I like to bake (and I prepare a hundred thousand meals a day) so I'm rarely a skinny person but most of the time I'm at a healthy weight.  Not look-great-in-a-bikini healthy but my-doctor-isn't-worried-about-my-heart healthy.
3. I gain weight every winter.
4. I've never lost weight without cutting waaay back on the calories.  I can run for hours a day and the scale won't budge until I start regularly going to bed hungry (and dreaming of cookies).  I think, by definition, losing weight has to be uncomfortable.  

So, I was not terribly shocked to see such high numbers on the scale in February (+7 to be specific).  It happens every year.  I got right to work, figuring the weight would come off when I started working out regularly again.  It didn't happen.  On April 1, I started P90X.  I loved it right away and have done at least one workout 6 days a week for the past 6 weeks.  I've lost about 3 pounds so far.  I think I could have lost a lot more, but April and May have been very cake intensive.  Cake cake cake - every weekend a party with leftovers.  As I said above, unless I strictly limit and count every calorie, I will not lose weight.  So that's what I'm working on right now. It is, by far, the trickiest part of the equation for me.

Back to the P90X DVDs - I'm still loving every minute.  Most of the workouts have become - dare I say - a little easy (except for Core Synergistics - I hate that workout).  Even though I'm not getting the spectacular weight loss I hoped for, I'm in far better shape.  I'm much stronger, running much farther, and feeling really good.  I care a lot less about those last few pounds because I'm more confident about what I can do.  

But I still want to lose the last 4 pounds. :)  

(Not proofreading!  Must make lunch for my children.) 

Bring It.

Last June I was sitting poolside with my sister-in-law.  She was clad in a pretty two piece swimsuit looking fit and tone with her 6 month old daughter in her lap.  Could she be any more obnoxious?  I kid, of course.  I'm quite fond of my sister-in-law.  I asked how she shed the baby weight and she mentioned some gibberish about P something-numbers-letters.  It didn't really register.

Just recently I read Danielle's review of P90X and it all came back to me.  I was able to borrow a set of the DVDs from a friend of my brother's and began working out on the April 1st.  I'm not sure how to organize my thoughts in a post, so forgive me if they come out jumbled.

Firstly, I found Danielle's comparison of Tony Horton to Michael Scott dead on.  I think if I had not read that post first, I would find Tony obnoxious.  Actually, I agree with a lot of what Danielle wrote.  These workouts are very challenging.  I've been a runner for over 20 years and while not super skinny, am in decent cardiovascular shape.  I was very sore for the first two weeks.  But that's what I love - I know I'm not wasting my time with these DVDs.  This is the #1 reason why I'm still at it.

These workouts are also addictive.  I am an unbearable grump if I miss a day.  My family is pretty insistent that I prioritize my workouts because they don't want to be around me otherwise.  Even on scheduled days off, I'm out biking or sneaking in an Ab Ripper. I can manage morning workouts during my daughter's piano practice while my son draws nearby. Warning: I have accidently kicked a child or two during the Kenpo X workout.  Make sure they give you enough space!  

I've never really been able to enjoy working out to a DVD because I'm easily distracted thinking that I should be vacuuming or dusting.  Funnily enough, another attribute of the P90X program are the breaks.  Thirty second breaks here and there are enough for me to dash to the washing machine to switch out loads.  I also keep a cordless vacuum nearby so when I am in plank position, staring at all those crumbs under our hutch I can make a quick sweep while Tony's setting up for the next move. 

Results.  Well, that's a little bit tricky to assess.  I've lost just a pound or so in the last four weeks but I keep finding all these weird lumps in my legs and arms.  I think they are muscles (I can even see ab muscles!) Regardless, I feel so good about what I've accomplished that I fully intend to continue.  I'm not only finishing most of the workouts now, but adding more weight, reps, and some days even a second full workout.

My favorite workouts are the Cardio X and Legs and Back.  My least favorite is Yoga X. I've never been able to get excited about yoga.  I have some wrist issues, so spending a good chunk of time in Downward Dog is a real problem for me.  I am so not getting into the debates over Catholics practicing Yoga.  It's enough for me that my wrist prevents me from doing it.  The end.

So that's my two cents.  It's definitely the best at home workout I've ever tried and the only one I've ever consistently done.  

Sunday Morning TMI

While I normally shy away from personal discussions of hygiene, I cannot resist publicly praising Amy's deodorant recipe.  I whipped a batch up because I'm stuck at home and happened to have the ingredients on hand (though I only used shea butter).  Not expecting much except the odd gritty feeling of baking soda under my arms, I was shocked, shocked I say, to discover that this is the best deodorant I have ever used.  And frankly friends, I live in Texas.  I'm a runner.  I'm a gardener.  I sweat is what I'm saying. So even though I'm currently attaining speeds of only .01 miles per day, limping is quite the workout.  My particular limping style is working stomach muscles I didn't even realize I had and my hip area should be quite firm when I get back to regular walking.

Anyway, back to the deodorant.  It was easy cheesy to stir up, only a tiny bit gritty, and while I haven't taken a survey, my own personal investigations into the matter always end with me saying, "Wow, I still smell good!"  

My father will be so proud upon discovering this entry.  Sorry Dad!

Part Two of 'I Just Broke My Toe'.

Thanks for the pity party, internet friends!  Y'all rock!

The rest of the story is that no doctor wanted to see me yesterday, even though I was literally crawling from place to place because any amount of pressure on my foot was excruciating.  At 6:00 exactly, as soon as all medical offices closed for the day, it became unbearable.  Enter my husband. 

After a cursory examination, he determined that my toe was probably broken and dislocated.  We could go to the emergency room or (the cheaper option) fly in my brother, who was trained to treat soldiers in Iraq, from California.  

"You have to do something." I whimpered.

After extensive research on the condition, including a Yahoo! Answers page and a You Tube video (there really is a You Tube video on relocating (?) a toe), he prepped the table for the procedure.

"Do you want something to bite on?", he asked.  Really he did.

"No, but I need a bucket and a cold rag.", I replied, for I throw up over any little thing.

Snap, crack, pop.  

"Well, that helped, but I don't think it's all the way in."

So he tried again.  

And again. 

The last attempt had me employing every natural-childbirth-pain-management technique I could recall.  

There didn't seem to be much improvement last night, but this morning I can walk and move my toe and it's not quite as crooked as it was yesterday.  Yay for my husband.  Yay for You Tube. 

I Just Broke My Toe

How annoying.  There is no doubt that it is broken, for it is overlapping my pinky toe right now.  The cause of all of this is my old fashioned (corded) phone.  I was sprinting down the hallway to grab the phone and took the corner too widely, smashing into my daughter's practice balance beam that sits in the hallway.  

And now I'm stuck BY that very same phone waiting for the nurse to call me back.  She said there's not much you can do for a broken toe but it's very very crooked.  My husband is very happy about the prospect of snapping it back into place tonight, should I call upon him to do it for me.  I'm not so happy about this.

Anyway, since I'm stuck here at my desk, I thought I'd share my sad tale with the internet and drum up some sympathy.  Pity me, pity me.  

I'll spare you a photo but only because my daughter was the last one to give me a pedicure.

External

Remember waaaay a big long time ago (does anyone else begin to talk like their children?) when I talked about losing weight?  Ha.  I eliminated about 20,000 different foods from my diet wishing I could be like one of those people who just eliminated soda and dropped 75 pounds - Unfortunately it seems I can maintain my ideal weight + 6 eating only popcorn - I lost about 4 pounds for all my efforts.  Really!  So I ran and ran and ran and ran.  And ate less and less and less and still.  Nothing, except fun muscles in my legs that had apparently gone on vacation for awhile.  So I kinda got sick of stepping on the scale seeing my ideal weight + 6 or so.  Then I took a little break which brings us to this morning.  I tried on my gauge shorts from 1996 - and they fit.  Sort of.  I didn't exactly get the top button entirely closed, but they are size 2s people, give me a break here!  I could theoretically wear them out with a long enough shirt.  Don't worry, I won't actually do it. 

What's the point to all of this?

Since becoming a mom I have had intense struggles with body image.  In my first year of motherhood I would flip through the pages of Parenting etc. looking at cute little moms with perfect hair and perfect bodies at the playground.  I was convinced in a very real way that my daughter would not love nor look up to me if I wasn't thin.  A few extra pounds caused some very serious problems for me.  I ended up losing it and being in the best shape of my life by my daughter's second birthday.  But I wasn't healthy.

I'm over that a little bit.  It bothers me now, but I don't obsess as much.  I can't, which is part of the reason why this baby weight has stuck around for longer.  I cannot allow myself to get as wrapped up in it as I used to.

Again, what's the point?

This morning I didn't feel particularly thin or good about myself until I tried those shorts on.  And if we were playing "Guess what number I am thinking of?" you can bet it would be ideal weight + 10.  The number on the scale and the number on that tag (2!) are almost sole determinate of how I feel about myself.  That's just a little bit sad.  But I don't know any other way to be.

I'm trying.  I try to think positively, thinking that my body has produced two healthy kids, that I am able to clean my home and care for my family, that I can run 6 miles now.  But I still want ideal weight + 0.  Or even - 10. 

We never, ever, use the words "fat" or "skinny" in our home.  We talk about healthy.  But I know I can't hide my preoccupation from my daughter entirely. 

No final thoughts.  Pressing save before I change my mind.

What a grump

I felt awful yesterday!  And I've been around for thirty years but I am rather slow about making connections.  For three weeks now, I have been "training" for a 10K.  Because I am an "athlete".  Anyway, the "training" has been remarkably successful and I am regularly running 5-7 miles at any given time (even when I'm tired!  And it's hot!). Then I complain about how tired I feel the next day.

I am also still eating a (largely) vegan diet.  I admit to sneaking a bit of cheese in from time to time and one entire pint of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream Ice Cream(oh my goodness it was the best ice cream ever.)

So why in the world would I not be feeling all that great?  Because with all this added in, I completely stopped taking any of my vitamin supplements, most notably iron.  I am always amazed at how great I feel when I take iron supplements.  And inevitably I stop taking them a week or so later.

So if there's anyone out there feeling a bit lethargic lately, take a look at what may be missing from your diet.  It really does matter.

Daily Garden Photo:

               

The sneaky little guy built a chrysalis.  It has been amazing to watch.  He kind of curled up in the tear drop shape under one of my spinach leaves.  I'm so pleased we've finally been able to see development to this stage.  Here's a little activity the younger kids may enjoy.