Jims Workout Blog

Days 1 to 11

jimsworkoutblog — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:17:28 +0000

Wow, It’s been a really long time since I’ve updated this site. Sorry! Anyway, let me bring you up to speed…

Last week, I “re-started” my P90 workouts. After a week of half assed workouts and missed days and school vacation, I had to begin again. But this time, I moved onto Phase III-IV. Here are my thoughts on Phase III-IV: at first, I was kinda disappointed. It seemed to much like Phase I-II, but with just “a little bit more”. BUT, it turns out that this “little bit more” makes a big difference. The cardio workout makes me sweat now, which it didn’t before. And the weight workout really leaves me tired. But it’s a good tired.

So anyway, last week, Monday through Friday, I was rocking the Phase III-IV workout pretty hard. And it felt good. (Well, it felt good when I was done. I never feels good to start, and there is always a point when doing the workouts when I have to ask myself “why the hell am I doing this”) Then came Saturday. A busy family day. The beginning of the Little League T-Ball season. So, I didn’t have the time to do my routine. BUT, I made up for it and worked out on Sunday, my normal resting day.

Then comes this week. All was good on Monday. but on Tuesday, when doing the weights routine, i was starting to feel light headed and week. Then, when doing squats, I got really dizzy and had to sit down. I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t slept well the two days before, or that I haddn’t eaten enough, but, I had to stop the workout. It’s like Tony says on the tapes, you need to listen to your body. And my body was saying stop, or your going to pass out.

Well, the next day, yesterday, Wednesday, I woke up feeling pretty sick. I ended up spending the day in bed. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I was feeling good again. So, I missed yesterdays workout.

That brings us to today. I woke up, and feel good (though a little tired). I had a good breakfast, and am waiting for my food to settle. Hopefully, in an hour, I’ll push play and get back on schedule.

So, there you have it, 11 days in 7 paragraphs. Sorry, I haven’t kept track of my diet for you, but it relly hasn’t changed. The only “cheat” I had was some movie theater popcorn. I got it without the fake greasy crap they call butter, but I can’t imagine it’s a healthy snack, even when plain. Oh well.

Last Week

jimsworkoutblog — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:00:14 +0000

I need to make up for some lost time here. Let’s see, where to begin…

Last week was spring vacation for my kids. I was home all week with them, which took up most of my time. Let’s see if I can remember the days. I last posted about the Monday before last, so that brings me to Tuesday, April 21st…

After missing my workout on Monday the 20th, (and the previous Saturday), I went all out with the weights on Tuesday. But, the best thing about the work out was that my 5 year old son joined me for the fun. He did all the stretches with me, and even lifted a set of 5 pound dumbbells for some of the exorcises. It was a lot of fun to do this together.

Next came Wednesday, April 22nd. This was not a great workout. First of all, I found that someone had taken my disk out of the dvd player and put a nice big gouge in it. So much so, that it was nearly unplayable. But ya know what, I rolled with it. I took this as a sign that it was time to move onto “Phase III-IV”. I’ve been thinking that the cardio workouts were a bit too easy (other then the ab workout, that still sucks), so I took the leap up to the next disk.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to really give Phase III-IV a go. I was interrupted four or five times by the kids. It seemed that every time my heart rate started to rise and I could begin to feel a sweat begin to break, I had to go and moderate a sibling squabble. Try as I might to lay down the law, I did not get any peace that day. After I was done with the workout, I wanted to give it another try again later in the day, but the opportunity never arose.

Then came Thursday, April 23rd. On this day, I came home from work at 7:30am in the morning, and then we were out the door at 8:30 for a full day of kid oriented events. We didn’t get home untill 4:00 in the afternoon, just before my bed time. These events were repeated the next day, Friday, April 24th. Then, the next day, Saturday, April 25th, I worked a double shift. So, if your keeping count, that is 3 days in a row without a workout. ugh!

Although, I do have to say in my defence, I haven’t given up, and I haven’t cheated on the whole “eating properly” deal. My diet has still been good. I’ve not fallen off of the wagon there, no sir! So, since I went all week with only one good workout, and since I have been force to move to up to Phase III-IV of P90, I am considering myself officially “Starting Over”. So, yesterday, Monday, April 27th, when the kids were back in school, I began again, and I will consider that my NEW Day One!

(more on the new Day One in my next post!)

4 Days

jimsworkoutblog — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:14:42 +0000

Man oh man oh man oh man oh MAN! – I have been BUSY lately. Too busy! Too busy to write, too busy to eat, too busy to walk, and sadly, I’ve missed two workouts! UGH! Shame on me! But I haven’t had time, I’ve just been on the go the last four days or so. I knew that my crazy schedule, and the schedule of my family would/could be an obstacle in my P90 plans. But not to worry, that ends today. Back to the grind! – Though, even with this bad news, the good news is that I have eaten well during this time, even if it hasn’t been enough.

So, let me see if I can remember the last 4 days (the notes below may not be the most accurate, but here they are anyway)

DAY TWELVE – Thursday 04/16 into Friday 04/17

10:30pm – Up
11:15pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran
3:00am – Pizza (left over from Day Eleven. I knew that if I didn’t east the last 2 slices, they would just go to waist)
5:30am – Snack: Protein Bar & Banana
10:00am – Lunch: Breadless Turkey Sandwiches
Noon – Protein Shake
2:00pm – workout: sculpt
3:00pm – P90x Recovery Drink
4:30pm – 4 raw carrots
4:45pm – bed

DAY THIRTEEN – Friday 04/17 into Saturday 04/18

10:30pm – Up
11:15pm – Breakfast: Corn Flake-type cerial (we were out of Raisin Bran)
3:15pm – Lunch: Turkey Sandwich
5:30am – Snack: Protean Bar & Banana
9:00am- Dinner: 5 egg whites, a can o tuna, a big bowl of peas
noon – bed

DAY FOURTEEN – Saturday 04/18 into Sunday 04/19

8:00pm – Up
10:30pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran and PB&J (I finally went out and bought Low-Fat Peanut Putter and Sugar Free Fruit Spread!)
3:30am – Turkey Sandwich
7:00am – Snack: fruit bowl (pineapples, grapes & strawberries) and a protein bar
noon – bed

DAY FIFTEEN Sunday 04/19 into Monday 04/20

8:00pm – Up
8:30pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran & PB&J Sandwich
11:00pm – Snack: 2 hot dogs (97% fat free turkey dogs on whole wheat buns)
3:45am – Lunch: Chicken Breast & big bowl of steamed veggies
8:00am – Snack: Protein Bar, banana & an apple
5:00pm – Bed

Day Ten & Eleven

jimsworkoutblog — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:43:43 +0000

Today is Day Twelve, but I am writing about Day Ten & Eleven. My week has been very busy. So busy that I haven’t been able to go for walks and/or runs, or even find the time to write.

Day Ten was “Sculpt”, aka weights, and I remember it being a hard workout. I really had to work to catch my breath and my arms were trembling at times. I think it was because I hadn’t eaten for the last five hours or so of the previous day. I’ve written before how I am not a big eater, and I still am not. Though, I am trying to eat more. And I am finding that when I do not eat as much as I should, it affects my workouts. This day was an example where I just didn’t have the energy I needed because I had not eaten enough previously.

Yesterday, Day Eleven was “Sweat”, aka cardio. It went well. Rearranging the workout has helped (doing the second half of the disk first, after the stretching and yoga). My shoulders give me less trouble this way, because I don’t have to use them as much right after the power yoga. While yesterday was a good day workout wise, yesterday was a bad day diet wise. (Not that I consider myself on a diet, I am just trying to eat better.)

I had another day where I went hours without food. I was just too busy that the time past with out me noticing it. Then, when it was time to eat, I made a pig of myself. (Well, not really a PIG, but…) Last night was family pizza night. I started out healthy, ordering a large veggie salad with grilled chicken on top, but after I polished that off, I was still hungry, so… I had a slice of pizza. And then a second slice. And then I went to bed soon after. I try not to sleap right after taking in so many carbs; it’s something I really try to avoid. I’m trying to tell myself that this slip wasn’t that big of a deal since the pizza was made with whole wheat crust and low fat cheese, and was mostly veggies on top (other then the pepperoni). Oh well, I’ll work extra hard to burn it off today. But, I felt I should come clean and mention this “slip”. Hey, at least I didn’t get dessert with the kids. Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cookies…. MMMmmmmmmmm…

Another busy day today. I shouldn’t be writing this, I have stuff to do! Gota go!

Wednesday 04/15

7:00am – Awake
9:00am – breakfast: Whole Wheat pasta with half a chicken breast on top, covered in tomato sauce, topped with a generous helping of minced garlic (MMMmmm… I love me the garlic. Yes, not your typical breakfast fare, but I ate it!)
11:00am – Sculpt Workout
Noon – P90x Recovery Drink
2:45pm – Snack: Protein Bar & a bowl of grapes, strawberries and pineapple
5:30pm – Dinner: Left over Easter ham & celery
10:30pm – bed

Thursday 04/16

6:30am – up
7:15am – Breakfast: pb&j sandwich
8:30am – Another Breakfast: Raisin Bran cereal
9:15am – Workout: cardio
10:30am – Snack: banana
10:45am – recovery drink
4:00pm – dinner Salad with chicken, & 2 slices of pizza
5:00pm – Bed

Dancing Away The Cravings

jimsworkoutblog — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:40:10 +0000

I’ve been hankering for a fast food burger lately. With fries. Lots and lots and lots of fries. BUT… I’ve been good and not done it. Instead, I’ve been fighting the cravings by breaking into dance. Why, cuz dancing is a good workout. Here, let me show you what I’ve been up to…

Oh, wait, wrong tape. Sorry.

Day Nine

jimsworkoutblog — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:43:45 +0000

Today was cardio, and it was a good day. I seemed to have broken through the soar shoulder problem was having. You see, on the P90 Cardio (or as they call it, “Sweat”) routine, you do some power yoga, and then into the exorcises. And the first exercise involves lifting your hands high over your head. But, the yoga puts a strain on my shoulders, and it was becoming to painful to lift my arms in the manner required of exorcise after the yoga.

So, what I did was, after I did the yoga, I then skipped ahead to the middle of the routine, and did the second half of my workout first. (The second half of the workout works your lower body, this giving my shoulders some time to recover from the yoga.) Then, I went back to the beginning, doing the first half secondly. And this time, I was able to lift my hands with out so much pain and stiffness. Problems solved!

Also, to pep up my workout a bit, I started carrying 5 pound dumbbells when I did parts of the routine. I figure every little extra bit helps. – - – I’m only in “Phase I – II” on the P90 routine, but I really wanna make the jump to “Phase III – IV” as soon as I can. For my ego, if for no other reason.

The P90 cardio routine is also an ab day. My form today was not the greatest, so I forced myself to go back and do a few extras. N0t too many, but just enough so that I felt better about my workout. I am not a physician or a physiological specialist, so i am wondering, why are crunches supposedly better for you then full sit ups? Just curious.

As for the rest of the day, I didn’t have time to take a walk. This is the third day in a row where I have not had the time to fit in this extra bit of movement. Tonight, I had the monthly Girl Scout Leaders Meeting. This tends to run late; those ladies like to gab. After working all night last night, I knew that if I was going to stay up tonight, I would need a nap during the day. So, I crashed for three and half hours when i could have been outside. Oh well, the sacrifices we make for our kids, right?

I also tried my first P90x Recovery Drink today. The taste reminded me of orange soft serve ice cream. It wasn’t great, but it will grow on my. Heck, I now like the protein drink, and that made me gag my first time.

Monday 04/13

10:15pm – Alarm goes off
11:00pm – Breakfast; Raisin Bran, pb&j sandwich

Tuesday 04/14

3:30am - Lunch: turkey sandwich
7:30am – Snack: protein bar & carrots
9:30am – createan drink
10:00am – cardio workout
11:00am - P90x recovery drink
11:30am – Nap
3:00pm – Awake
3:30pm – Snack: banana
5:30pm – Protean Drink & multivitamin
9:45pm – In bed

Day Seven & Eight

jimsworkoutblog — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:59:36 +0000

Day seven was a day of rest. It was also Easter, and we had a big family diner at lunch time. And because of my crazy schedule, lunch time was towards the end of my day. So, I was faced with a couple of obstacles; how to eat only the healthy stuff and stay away from the not so healthy stuff, including the cards, and how not to seem rude about it. I solved this problems rather easily; I ate salad, lots and lots of salad! This way, the food going into my mouth was healthy (all fresh veggies, no dressing, the fancy types of lettuce as well), and it looked like I was eating many servings. I had a little ham on the side, and small portion of baked beans (I know beans are good for you, but the stuff from the can, made with maple and molasses and brown sugar, well, that can’t be as good, right?)

Anyway, the day of rest was god, but it was tie to get back to work today. Sculpt, aka Weights. I am feeling stronger. I could add ten pounds of weight to the “heavy pants” and “lawn mower” exercises, but I don’t have bigger dumbbells. I can even do 1 or 2 more push ups then I could last week. I don’t see a change in my body yet, but I can feel it. I wanted to do the routine twice, but I’m not sure if that’s smart (I don’t want to hurt or exhaust myself), plus the wife was home from work today so part of my just wanted to get this over with. (I don’t like having an audience, ya know?)

Today was busy, so I didn’t have time for a walk or run, but I’m to too upset. It’s rather cold outside, and windy too, so I’m okay working in the house and running errands today.

Saturday 04/11

10:00pm – Alarm goes off
10:30pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran and PB&J Sandwich

Sunday 04/12

3:30am – Lunch: Big Turkey Burger, an bread, with lowfat cheese, lettuce, and a dab of lowfat mayo
7:00am – Snack: an apple
12:30pm – Dinner: three big servings of salad, ham, baked beans, a glass of low fat milk
2:30pm – Multivitamin, then in bed
10:00pm – Alarm Goes Off
10:30pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran and PB&J Sandwich

Monday 04/13

5:00am -Lunch: can of tuna, salad, steamed green beans
7:45am – Snack: Protein Bar, bowl of strawberries, pineapple & grapes
9:15am – Sculpt Workout Routine
10:00am – Createen drink
11:00am – Snack: Banana
1:00pm – Dinner: 6 egg whites, baked beans (probably more then I should have had)
2:20pm – Protein Drink & multivitamin
4:00pm – In bed

Day Five & Six

jimsworkoutblog — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 11:18:41 +0000

A day (or two) late, but…

Fridays and Saturdays tend to be very busy for me, so I never found the time to update this site yesterday or the day before. And I’m barely finding the time to do so today! (It has taken me 20 minutes so far to type this much.)

Anyway, Friday, sculpt, meaning weights. All week my cardio workouts have gotten better, but my weight workouts have gotten worse. I can’t lift as much weight, and I can’t seem to lift the weight as many times as I could early in the week. And man, my shoulders are sore!

Yesterday, Saturday, cardio. Another great workout. I like cario lots and lots. I am still having trouble with my shoulders after the yoga moves though. I still cant seem to get my hands up over my head easily after doing all of the “downward facing dog”. I’m hoping that this will pass in time.

Anyway, not much to say today, so here are my daily what for what nots…

Thursday 04/09

10:30pm – Alarm goes off
11:15pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran & PB&J sandwich

Friday 04/10

1:30am – Snack: Protein Bar
3:30am – Lunch: 6 egg whites and a bowl of grapes
5:45am – Snack: Carrots sticks and a Banana
9:00am – Snack: an apple
9:45am – sculpt
10:30am – walk: 1.6 miles (cut my walk short, my leg was hurting)
noon – Turkey burger, on bread w/ lettuce, low fat cheese and a dab of low fat mayo (I’ve been trying to stay away fro carbs this late in the day, but I was starving, and a burger isn’t a burger without it being on something!)
2:30pm – Protein Drink
5:00pm – Bed
10:00pm – Alarm goes off
10:30pm – Breakfast: Raisin Brain

Saturday 04/11

3:00am – Breakfast: Baked Chicken Breast and a big bowl of steamed Mixed Veggies
5:30am – Nap on the couch
7:00am – The kids wake up and come down stairs. I manage to stay on the couch and half snooze through Spongebob Squarepants until 8:30am
9:00am – Snack: Protein bar and a banana
12:30pm – Workout: Cardio (I know I haven’t eaten enough today, and I could feel my energy waining as I worked out. But, I pushed through, did it, an didn’t manage to faint!)
2:00pm – In bed (Early, because the weekends are my only time to get a full 8 hours, plus, I volunteered to work a double shift tonight into tomorrow morning to cover for the Easter Holiday.)

Day Four

jimsworkoutblog — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:30:45 +0000

My day didn’t quite go as I expected. I got sidetracked around noon, had stuff to do, and tried to sneak in a short nap. I ended up not finding the time to get in my daily walk, and I went 5 hours without food, which I try to avoid.

Cardio today. It went good, even the ab workout. In fact, I’m thinking that Phase I – II cardio maybe be too easy for me. If I had had more time today, I would have even done parts of it twice, including the abs. (Yes, that’s right, I said even the abs, the exorcise that people seem to hate the most.) However, all that said, the power yoga at the beginning is killing me!

After doing the “downward facing dog” pose, which stresses out my shoulders, the first aerobic activity of the day involves lifting your arms into the air as you jump around. And for some reason, I can’t seem to keep my arms up while doing this! Well, I can get them up 50-60% of the time, but not on every step. My shoulders burn and feel stiff, and my arms feel like lead. HOWEVER, when I try the same movement at the end of my workout, I CAN do it. It’s the yoga that’s killing me man! I’m thinking I simply need to rearrange the order in which I do the routine, so that I’m not stressing out my shoulders. But I wonder, is the arm lifting exorcise is done right after the yoga for a reason, because of this “dead arm syndrome” I am experiencing. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

I could just skip the yoga moves, but that would be cheating, wouldn’t it?

Wednesday 04/08

10:30pm – Alarm goes off

11:15pm – Breakfast: Raisin Bran & a PB&J sandwich

Thursday 04/09

3:00am – Lunch: half a chicken breast & turkey, cheese and lettuce rolls

7:15M – Snack: Protein Bar & a Banana

9:00am – P90 Day Four Cardio

10:00am – Creatine Drink

3:00pm – Lunch: Big bowl of pees and a can of Tuna

3:30pm – Protein Drink and a Multivitamin

5:00pm – In bed

Down At The Pub

jimsworkoutblog — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:15:36 +0000

Okay, this site can’t be all about my workout schedual. I need to share some other parts of my life. For example, here is a video of me and the ladies down at the pub sharing a pint a while back…

Oh, wait, wrong tape. Sorry.