Sneezing is Dangerous!

This morning, the sore back I had last night turned terrible after a sneeze. I was bent over washing my hands in the sink when the sneeze hit & left me unable to straighten up. I finally made it to where I could lay down & then had to call Jeff and ask him to come home from work to take care of me (and the kids). I'm still in horrible pain from throwing my back out . . . yes, due to a sneeze!

But that's really not the worst of it. When I was pregnant with my first child, I sneezed one morning while sitting in bed. It resulted in a trip to the emergency room, several days in the hospital, and a month of bedrest due to the placenta having torn away from the uterus!

Is it just me? Do I have extremely violent sneezes or is it just old age creeping up on me? Or do these kinds of things happen to other people too?

P90X Review . . . day 15 . . .

Tonight was one of the worst workouts . . . no, let me be honest, it was THE WORST workout so far. It was the "core" workout. You'd think that our 3rd time around with it (we're just starting week 3!!!) would be easier, but I think it was harder & after only a few push-ups (which I HAD been getting much better at) my shoulder started bothering me. I've had problems with bursitis on & off for years & the pain kicked in really bad tonight. I did what I could but all push-up kinds of things were out. By the end of the workout, I had a twinge in my lower back as well & now it is killing me.

Okay, lets just move on, right? At least we get to do a different workout tomorrow night . . . and its cardio which is one of my favorites.

On a positive note . . . TONS OF ENERGY LATELY! I know its due to the workouts, vitamins & healthier eating -- love the way I feel during the day!

P90X Review . . . days 12, 13 & 14

I was sick on Friday & Jeff has been battling a back injury, so we decided to take the day off from our workout. But we got back to it on Saturday & it felt great . . . I'm so addicted to this stuff! My favorite workouts so far are the Cardio & Kenpo workouts. Overall, this week was so much easier than the first which shows how much we've improved in just 1 week. Also, the routines that were so confusing in the Kenpo workout the first time around came pretty easily the 2nd time doing it. I was actually able to do the entire workout (I sat out the X Jumping Jacks) and am so proud of myself for it!

We have a friend from high school that is following these posts & he reminded me how important the food aspect of this was, so we are trying our best . . . thanks, Farnsworth!

The first week, I had a 4 pound loss & then a one pound gain & no loss this week. It has been discouraging for me because I have a long way to go & want to see quick results for my efforts. Jeff had to remind me that gaining at the beginning means I'm gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat and that in a couple of weeks the losses will start to show up. I know he's right - that's been my experience my whole life (although usuallly, I gain about 5 to 7 pounds right off with a new exercise plan, so a 3 pound loss is pretty good for me!). Its just hard to be patient!

Our Very First Pets . . . and a Fishy Problem

First, the problem . . . because I'm hoping someone out there will have a solution for me: Despite a new, larger fish tank with a larger filter, the water in the fish tank is murky after only 1 day! Any experienced fish owners out there have a solution for us?

Now, on with the story:
After being married for nearly 13 years, we finally got our first pets! A friend called & was trying to get rid of the goldfish that her kids got a year ago since they weren't taking care of them anymore or even excited to have them. I agreed to take them (on a trial basis), feeling like maybe we could actually take care of pets since we now have a house & have managed to keep our 2 kids alive & well!

After a 2 week trial period, we decided to keep them. The only problem was that we were having to clean out the tank every couple of days, despite the filter. So, Jeff set out to the store yesterday & came back with a larger tank & larger filter & some pretty things to go inside (of course, he didn't call them "pretty"). It was at this point that I realized he had grown to like the fish even though he had given me a pretty incredulous look when he came home & saw them that first day. I also realized that it was a great time to pitch an idea!

My parents breed miniature Dachshunds and they're so cute that I've always wanted one, even though I'm not an "inside pet" kind of person & would require it to be outside. We've never lived somewhere that would accommodate an outside pet, so it was out of the question. Soooo, it was finally time that he might say "YES" to a dog, so I asked! He did say yes & in fact told me to call my mom right away & "reserve" one of their newest litter . . . a female dapple dachshund. Oh, she's just adorable & it will be so much fun to bring her home either at Christmas or later in the spring!

P90X Review . . . day 11 . . . burned out on food

Its only been 11 days & I'm burned out on limited food choices. We ate out for both lunch & dinner today, though we did stick with the eating out choices listed in the back of the food plan. I don't know how strict I'll be from here but going to try to at least stick with the premise of the meal plan: higher protein, very limited carbs. The amazing thing is that I've been able to get rid of the junk food without really craving it because there are so many good foods that I can eat with this plan, so its been really good to get that stuff out of my system. I'm just hoping I can limit it during the holidays when it there will be lots of it around!

P90X Review . . . day 10 . . . unofficial measurements

So, you're not really supposed to measure again after just 10 days, but we were feeling rather great after our workout tonight. Jeff measured just his biceps & had gained 1/4 to 1/2 inch . . . sweet!!! And I measured just my waist & have lost 1 inch!!!

We are feeling great, loving the workouts & surprised at how much more we can do than when we did the same workout last week!

P90X Review . . . day 9 . . . the addictions

I'm starting to get addicted to these workouts! Yes, that's a great thing! I get so excited when its time to start the workout, even though I know its going to be soooo hard & I love the way I feel when its all over, even though I know that after I've been sitting for a while it will be hard to get up!

Last night was the 2nd time with the Cardio dvd. I think its my favorite. It takes "routines" from several of the workouts so you're really mixing it up. My favorite part is the Plyometrics --- such fun moves! Very intense too, though. I don't know that I could do a whole workout of just that which is good since it hasn't been one that we're supposed to do yet.

The jumping jacks are still so tough for me, but I was able to do virtually everything else. I think I'm going to start doing jumping jacks every morning . . . as many as I can, gradually building up to where they are easier for me.

Something Fun Every Day . . . #26

Invest in some great music cd's that your kids will love. We have a few but were listening to the same things over & over again. So, we stopped by Target to check out their selection the other day & found some great Disney cd's. The one we ended up getting was music from the cartoon Phineas & Ferb - even my husband is excited to listen to this in the car since this is a cartoon he & Chase enjoy watching together. The kids & I had fun jamming out to this cd during breakfast today & I know we'll have fun listening to it while we're out driving around.

Some other music we really like: Primary Colors by Inside Out and I Have a Song for You by Brite Music

I think we'll pick up a couple more Disney cd's maybe the Imagination Movers or even some Disney classics in the next couple of months. I love the spirit that good music brings into our home!

P90X Review . . . day 8 . . . the "childbirth theory"

Okay, I'm back, which means I decided to stick it out. I felt terrible yesterday . . . lost my voice, sore throat, head cold that just left me feeling "icky". But I figured I'd "do my best & forget the rest" when we turned on the dvd for last night's workout. It was a repeat of last Monday's workout & I was amazed at how much more I could do (even feeling like I did) than I did last week.

So, here's my thinking. The premise of this workout is that you do a different dvd workout each day so your muscles don't get used to the same thing & you are continually building strength. I call it the "childbirth theory": when you give birth, you forget over time how painful it was so that you'll be willing to do it again & when you're in the middle of it again you suddenly remember that it really was like that the first time. So, last week we did our first workout & it was so hard but as the week went by it seemed like every workout was harder than the one before it & I forgot how hard that first one was. Coming back to it a week later, I realize that it was every bit as hard as the others we did through the week but I had just forgotten. If I had had to repeat that same first workout every day, I probably wouldn't have kept with it for a week, but having a week to "forget" about it, made me willing to do it again!

P90X Journey . . . Days 6 & 7

The Kenpo X routine on Saturday was fun but tough -- of course, this is P90X, so everything has to be tough! Sunday was supposed to be "rest & stretch". There's a "stretch" dvd that we put on but when we saw that it was 57 minutes long we decided that we weren't going to do it since we really try to keep Sundays as a day apart from the rest of the week & a 57 minute workout - even if it was "just" stretching - just didn't seem to fit for us.

The real difficult thing right now is that I've been fighting off a cold so I just am not working at full strength. And we've had sick kids that are up & down all night (last night I was up 6 times between the 2 kids). So, when I weighed in this morning & found myself up 1 pound since Saturday I was discouraged & just ready to forget it. So, my first official weigh in comes at 3 pounds down in our first week. And you'll know by whether I post tomorrow morning or not if I found the strength to keep going . . .

P90X Journey . . . day 5

"Date Night" last night was spent working out while the kids slept! It was legs, back & abs last night & I can't tell you how many times I saw what we were supposed to do next & said, "you've got to be kidding me!" I mean, really . . . one legged wall squats???!!!!

Despite the hard workouts, I feel pretty good when I'm done. My lower back has been sore but a little bit of painatrate cream eases some of that pain. And by the next day I'm sore but not so sore that I can't move.

And the best news of all was found on the scale this morning . . . I've lost 4 pounds since Monday!!! I found out my sister's husband did P90X in the past & he lost 8 pounds his first week -- I was sure I wouldn't have similar results, but my first weekly weigh-in won't officially be until Monday morning so if I can keep it up & have a great weekend . . . who knows?

Our P90X Journey . . . day 4

I've done yoga before, but tonight's yoga workout was KILLER! I think its been the toughest workout so far. Really hard & even though I was pushing through my feet were cramping up and I had to take several breaks. This workout was an hour & a half long & the repeated yoga combination over & over again felt like it was lasting an eternity. About halfway through, they switched to some different poses that did more balance work, so I was grateful for that!

Really started having some carb cravings today! The diet plan that I'm on only allows for 1 carb serving a day and as I fix meals for the kids, its really hard not to give in & enjoy what they're eating. I love my bread, potatoes, and especially pasta! I'm sticking pretty closely to the diet stuff, but probably not eating the right # of servings of veggies & proteins. Life is so busy that its hard for me to keep track . . . so my next project needs to be coming up with a good chart that is easy to mark.

P90X Journey . . . day 3

Last night's workout was arms & shoulders. I've had bursitis in my shoulder on & off for years so I have to carefully build my strength here. I did lighter weight & sometimes just the motion with no weight or bands at all. Felt my shoulder popping from time to time & just didn't want to re-injur to the point that I wouldn't be able to do anything. Amazingly I'm not having problems this morning so I must've done something right even though I definitely didn't get as hard of a workout last night. However, the ab ripper workout that went with it was definitely a killer -- I've never done (or I guess I should say "attempted") such a hard ab routine in my life.

I've decided to go with a protein shake for breakfast each morning. It doesn't taste too bad when mixed with bananas and fruit & is definitely better than eggs every morning since I'm not a big egg person. And I LOVE that turkey bacon is on the list of approved proteins! Honestly, I could be happy eating 12 pieces of turkey bacon a day to fulfill my protein requirement --- but I'm trying to be a little more diverse than that & only eat a couple pieces a day :)

P90X Journey . . . day 2

Last night was our day 2 workout . . . we're doing the lean program so it was cardio time. Even though I was sore throughout the day, I was looking forward to the workout. I was able to do more of it than the first workout & it was fun, though very intense. It was also a little bit shorter (maybe 10 min or so) than the first workout which was great since I didn't get home until later in the evening.

Did our shopping for the Fat Shredder meal plan on Monday night. I remember hearing somewhere that when you go shopping, 90% of what you get should be from the outer edge of the store with only grabbing a few things from the inner aisles. Well, for the first time ever, that really is what my grocery shopping experience was. Tons of the fresh stuff with only a couple things from the "inside" aisles. As we prepared Jeff's lunch & snacks to take to work, he was skeptical and thinking that he would be hungry during the day but he came home saying, "that was a LOT of food".

Our Journey with P90X . . . day 1

Okay, so we started out the year great . . . I lost all my baby weight & then some & then all sorts of stuff hit including my husband being gone on business for 2 months and some health problems. Fast forward to now & all of that weight I lost at the beginning of the year is back. Ugh! We've been working for several weeks to try to get back into shape but we've been half hearted about it & have experienced ZERO results.

So, while we were trying to figure out how we could both fit in workouts with busy schedules & 2 little kids, my sweet husband came up with a brilliant & sadistic idea. He had seen the commercials on tv for P90X and said we should do it together. I was thrilled with an idea that we could fit in (doing it in our own home after the kids go to bed) to our lives & even though I hadn't seen the commercials I went ahead and agreed.

OUCH! I should've seen what I was getting myself into before I agreed! Seriously, though, its a really tough workout & eating plan (which we're going to be pretty good with but allow a little leeway -- since we are of course doing this through the holidays). But I like the philosphy of "do your best & forget the rest". Day 1 of the workout was crazy intense & I definitely couldn't do all of it, but I did what I could which was more than I thought I could (if you can follow that). I was definitely sore afterwards but also felt good . . . & more of the same today. Even though I'm very sore, I am definitely looking forward to tonight's workout & to our results 90 days from now on January 28th . . . we'll keep you posted!!!