Get Geared UP!

Lets get geared up for the new year!  This is a perfect time to make a plan and organize your calendar.  This year add health and fitness to your priorities!  Decide on your goals for the year.  Make commitments that can get you there.  Choose your fitness routine, your diet, it's your healthy life!  
The first Step is to look.  Don't just leap, make a plan.  Choose your goals, write them down, then break them into smaller steps.  Baby steps eventually become a full run!  Make workout dates with yourself and your friends and write them into your calendar.  Make weekly meal plans.  Commit to Change.  Small changes lead to big success!
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Ready? Set? GOOOOOO!

Thanksgiving Success!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day!  There is no better holiday, in my mind, than one where the only goal is to get together and have a nice meal.  Generally Thanksgiving is the one day every year when 'no one diets', but we are doing P90X.  We have spent the last month giving our best to adapt our lifestyle to our diet.  -I consider the word 'diet' a little misused, as it simply means 'what is eaten regularly', and everybody eats regularly.-  Vegetarians usually don't eat meat just because it is a 'special day', why should we eat what we know is bad for us?  I planned our meal, and my day, according to what I know to be good nutrition.
The goal was something simple with low fat, low sodium, high protein, and high fiber.  The 'recipes' I used included no butter, no cream/or whole milk, no condensed soups, and added vegetables wherever they fit.
Here's what we had:

• Turkey- 'Foster Farms Natural', stuffed with big chunks of carrots, celery and onion, and roasted in a roasting bag, breast down.
• Mashed Potatoes and Carrots- four organic carrots, four potatoes, and half a red onion, chopped and boiled, then mashed with low sodium, free range, organic chicken broth.
• Green Beans- farmers market to my freezer in October, lightly steamed with dried cranberries, and garnished with almond flakes.
• Gravy- red and white onions sautéed with garlic and mushrooms in just a little oil, added chicken broth to avoid scorching.  I then pureed this with a tablespoon of my mashed potatoes and added it to a few cups of turkey drippings.  I added parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and a little salt and pepper, then stirred and heated to boiling.  It was probably the most complicated and least nutritious part of our meal, but was still healthier than the pan gravy I usually make.

It was all experimental but I told my family they could add salt and butter if they wanted, and I don't think anyone did.  Everything got great reviews, and everyone got stuffed with a healthy meal :)  My husband actually thought we were 'cheating' on our diet.  After dinner everyone but me had some Umpqua Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice-cream.
When my husband had left for work and everyone else had gone home I had a big cup of 'Candy Cane Lane'(Celestial Seasonings) Tea, then did the Plyometrics workout that I had intended to do that morning.  My $12 heart rate monitor said I burned about 1000 calories in that workout.  A perfect end to a great day!  I planned our meal and my day according to the fitness program I've been working so hard to stick to and I succeeded!
Maybe next year I can go with more organics and raw foods.

Kenpo

Alrighty.  Just finished a late Kenpo workout.  I can say that I don't hate it,  I wouldn't choose it for myself but it's not that bad.  My Husband helped me with the moves and form today and that made me more able to focus on 'Bringing It'.  Afterwords we were covered in sweat and ready for our recovery drinks.  Overall, a great workout today!

Love it, Hate it

P90X is a set of diverse exercise routines, including yoga, Kenpo Karate, plyometrics, weight lifting, and cardio.  Because of this there is something everyone can love, and something everyone can hate.  I was surprised that I do not enjoy yoga once a week, but there is good reason.  Yoga X is 90 minutes long, because of this it is very repetitive and tedious.  I love my cardio days, because at the end I am drenched in sweat and am completely drained.  After Cardio X I know I've done my best workout of the week.  Kenpo X is my second least favorite, but that is only because Karate is so out of character for me.  I am not a fighter at all and have very little understand of the vocabulary.  For example, "Jab/Cross/Hook/Uppercut" only means "Punch/Punch/Punch/Punch" to me.  It's a lot to learn and I find it hard to keep up sometimes.  Also, if I were to choose a martial art form to learn it would be Kung Fu, as most styles focus on the movement of energy and, though powerful, in practice can be more like yoga than fighting. 
The difficulty level of all P90X routines is a challenge for me because the program is designed for those who are either a little athletic now, or were once very athletic.  I've seen many success stories of former Marines, like my husband, who wanted to become well oiled machines again, and ended up in the best shape of their life. 
P90X also comes with a complete nutrition plan, in the form of a book about 100 pages long.  It includes recipes, weekly meal plans, tips on light cooking, and many options.  Between my husband and I, he is in charge of making sure we both do our daily exercises, and I am in charge of nutrition.  I'll go into this in much more detail next time..... :)

Beachbody and Us

For my husband's 36th birthday I bought him the P90X workout program.  He is a former Marine, like many he is "not as lean, not as mean, but still a Marine".    We had seen the P90X infomercial many times and they say it is amazing, but they always say that on infomercials, so I was skeptical.  Basically, it seems to say it will get you ripped in 90 days, as long as you are willing to do the work. The wonderful man invited me to try the program with him. 
We are starting week four today.  So far I can say that we got our money's worth.  There are twelve DVDs, each about an hour long, a detailed nutrition plan and a detailed workout book.  The system has lots of room for personalization.  I am doing the "Lean" version, and my man is doing "Classic" but considering changing to "Doubles".  All versions require at least one hour a day, six days a week, of intense workouts.  We are on a strict low carb, high protein diet right now, but next week we will be going to the more balanced "Phase 2".  After week two we couldn't really see results.  Absolutely no weight loss so far, but we have now finished week three and starting to see new muscle tone.  We are optimistic that progress is inevitable.
P90X, I learned is one of many programs offered by Beachbody®.  After perusing http://www.beachbody.com/ I have decided that P90X is not what I would have chosen for myself, but I intend to continue to give it my best.  I have joined Team Beachbody®, and am impressed with the motivational support that is provides.
I hope to find time to share our progress, and setbacks, and hopefully inspire you to get out and do something healthy for yourself.  : )   
It turns out that you can actually sell their products, and get commissions and discounts.  I recently started my own Team Beachbody® Coach business.  I intend to tell it to you straight, but you should know that I do get paid if someone buys product through me.  You can support me by checking it out for yourself.  http://beachbodycoach.com/ElizabethOak or http://myshakeology.com/ElizabethOak