P90X Back and Arms

Whoa! almost 90 minutes of pull/chin ups, lungs, squats, etc. I did manage to do my fist unassisted pull-up! Yeah for me. The rest I needed a low chair assist. I tweaked my left pec a bit so I didn't do the last set of pull ups. Then on to 16 minutes of Ab Ripper X!!! Non stop, 25 reps of each exercise.
So, drawing to the end of week 2 of P90X. I can do this!
Now it is time for my P90X Results and Recovery formula. I have been looking forward to that all morning!

Anyone want to join me in this?

BRINGING IT!

Kenpo X

Friday. Day 6 of P0X. Kenpo X. I loved it. Very much like my TurboKick and TurboFire workouts but without the music! In the course of 63 minutes I got a really good workout! Great stretching at the start. And a good cool down at the end. I was sweating like crazy and my hear rate was up there. So my evaluation of Kenpo X- great. Looking forward to doing it again next week!
So tomorrow I have a rest day because P90X is 6 days a week. I might do the Stretch X workout though. I really like stretching and since I will be sitting the the gym all day judging gymnastics, stretching will be good and FEEL good.
So far so good with P90X.

BRING IT AGAIN!

Legs and Back

April 19. Day 5 of P90X.
Well so far so good. Legs and Back goes for about 60 minutes. I am fine with the leg workouts. Pretty intense but for the most part I can hang.
The back exercises are PULL UPS! I am currently struggling with Pull Ups. They say for women, pull ups are more difficult because we have a lower center of gravity. I believe it. I was able to do about 3-4 with the help of a step stool to lift me up a bit. But this workout has about 8 sets of various pull ups.
Not that I can't do them. I am struggling with them.
The P90X pull up bar works well.
After the Legs and Back workout, it was time for Ab Ripper X. 20 more minutes. But I pushed through it.
Drank my P90X Results and Recovery Formula and I am feeling great!
Life is good.

Yoga X

Wednesday, April 18. Wow! Yoga X is amazing. I like it. I actually had to do it in two sections because it is a 90 minute workout! 90 minutes! So I did 45 minutes in the AM and 45 minutes in the evening. 

I know why guys hate, don't do, don't like Yoga. It's because THEY CAN'T DO IT!

I can do it. It felt great.

P90X- Are you kidding me?!

So recently I decided to get my certification in P90X. What does that involve? An on-line course that I completed to get "qualified" to enroll in the Certification workshop. My workshop is in a couple of weeks. 


Now I have done a few of the P90X workouts before but I made the decision to actually do the program for real!  So I started P90X this past Sunday. I chose the "Lean" program as opposed to the Classic or the Doubles. Why? It seemed a better fit for me. More emphasis on cardio, a little less on muscle building. 


So far I really like it. It is different from the other workouts I have done. I have been doing Chalean Extreme which does very slow lifting of heavy weights, and minimal reps. P90X is different. More reps, a little lighter, and a little faster. For the most part I am keeping up.


And Tony Horton cracks me up.


So keep checking back and I will keep you posted as to my progress and what I think of the workouts! 
Join me if you want! Let me know and I'll tell you how.

BRING IT!

Time for a Change.

So have I always been into fitness? Well yes, sort of. But 2 years ago I got on the scale and realized I weighed MORE than when I was 9 months pregnant!! What I was doing to try and lose weight was not working. I DECIDED to make some changes. I changed my workout routine. I changed my nutrition plan. I COMMITTED to a healthy lifestyle. And guess what? It worked. Was it easy? Depends. It required commitment. Once I made the commitment, the rest fell into place.
Team BeachBody has what I need to stay on track. Workouts, Shakeology, Support.
BeachBodyCoach.com/txsjd

Love to Cook!

Well I thought everyone knew that I love to cook. Apparently not. I had a nice conversation last week with someone I have know for YEARS. A professional acquaintance. We were talking business and sort of wandered off onto events of our lives. I never knew that she lived all over the world- her dad was in the military. She never knew that I love to cook!

Well anyway about me and my love of cooking. For many years now I have wanted to go to a cooking school in Italy. I actually had made arrangements to go a couple of years ago to a school in Tuscany with my husband and 2 other couples. But they changed their minds and so we (Bryan and I) ended up not going. That always bugged me. So anyway, last year I decided I STILL wanted to go to Italy to learn to cook. Bryan said "great but you can't go alone. Find someone to go with you". Well I did. Bryan is going with me!!

So I have planned this entire trip myself. Went on the internet and found a nice looking school in Modica, Sicily. We will have a week there and a week to tour around Sicily. We decided to spend all of our time in Sicily rather than run like crazy people trying to see everything like Rome and Venice (which I have seen before when I was a kid. But I have never been to Sicily)
Why Sicily? Well because it is someplace different. And my grandmother (my dad's mom) was born in Sicily. In Saint Agata di Militello to be exact. We are actually going to spend 2 nights there at a Bed and Breakfast. How cool is that? My grandmother came to this country via Ellis Island in 1911 at the age of 10. Giuseppa Valore. Along with her mother Maria Antonia Guglielamotta and 4 sisters and one brother. The youngest (Teresina or Tessie) was one year old. The others ranged in age from 4 to 15+.
I remember most of my gram's sisters. Aunt Tessie, Aunt Katie(Concetta), Aunt Genny(Angela), and Aunt Mary(Maria) and Uncle Charlie(Carmelo). I don't remember Biagina. Of course I never met my great grandmother or great grandfather Biagio Valore.

I remember when I was a kid going into New York, Queens or Brooklyn, I'm not sure. But I do remember the wonderful food we got to eat!!! Mama Mia!

I have often wondered if I have any relatives over there. I must. The story is that once my great grandfather got to this country he decided he did not like it. He was a shoemaker and back in Sicily in his town he was an important person. In New York, he was a small fish in a big pond. He wanted to go back! My great grandmother after having traveled all that way with 4 kids on a ship (probably in steerage class or worse!!) told him she would NEVER get back on a boat again and if he wanted to back to Sicily he could, but she was staying in America. So he left!!! That is the story I was told. So more than likely I have distant cousins there.

We leave tomorrow. San Antonio to Dallas to London to Catania. The past 3 days have been crazy trying to get everything ready to leave. Pay bills, take care of gymnastics stuff, put together important papers, instructions, etc. (just in case we don't get back!). But now I think I am all ready. My suitcase of course is maxed out. Just under 50 pounds. I did go back and remove quite a lot of stuff. But not the shoes. My God. You can NEVER have too many shoes. Shoe priority. Took out 3 outfits, a sweater, sweatshirt, snacks, books, and various other items to assure adequate shoe space. NEVER too many shoes.

Cooking school on Sunday. I tried to add a link to the school but now sure if it will show up. But if anyone is interested in where we are going, here is the URL: http://www.lovesicily.com/

So Buon appetito and Ciao for now!