Once upon a time

There was a time, about a month ago, that I thought it would be a grand idea for Anthony and I to take the P90X challenge. 

So, we are.

Things went well for the first three weeks.  They were a painful three weeks but it felt good.  And finally it was week four, what Tony Horton calls 'Recovery Week'. 

I can't tell you how happy I was to make it to this week.  After three grueling weeks of hard core push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, and a myriad of other painful moves, I was soooo ready for my 'recovery'. 

Recovery week, my butt!

I don't know who this Tony Horton guy thinks he is but I am positive he wouldn't be on Santa's 'nice' list.  Not only is he making us do Yoga ... TWICE (the hardest workout up to this point) but he's also added Core Syngergistics... TWICE (never done it until this week).  Ummm, hi!  Newsflash, Tony.  Core work does not equal nice and relaxing as implied by the deceiving name of week four. 

Let me just say, if you hear the words "banana" or "boat" (not to be confused with "banana boat" ;)) used in the context of exercise, RUN!  Run far away!  Unless I'm talking about the food (which I love), I am not a fan of the word "banana".  

Yes, I'm whining.  So sorry.  

But not really because I'm about to do it again.  

Not only are these workouts hard enough to get through with a workout partner (such as a spouse) but I've had to endure two, yes TWO, of them all. by. myself!  Anthony is just so darn lazy!

I mean, seriously, just because you're training for a marathon, running up to 20 miles sometimes, nursing an injured calf, and getting a chest cold... that is NOT a good enough excuse to take the night off from P90X.  *totally kidding, by the way*

Those two workouts just about killed me off.  Anthony sat on the sidelines and cheered me on.  I needed a cheerleader, I tell ya.  It would have been so easy, and it was very tempting, to shut the DVD off half way through.  But he wouldn't let me, darn those cheerleaders.

And here's where my frustrations lie at the moment.  Here's Anthony, losing TONS of weight, changing his shape and getting awesome results.  And I'm so happy for him.  He's loving the changes. 

And then there's me.  We're only days away from taking our Phase 1 pics and I swear to you, I don't look any different than I did on day one.  My weight hasn't changed, my measurements haven't changed, and I'm eating so much better than I used to.  What's up with that? 

We first set out to change our eating habits and discovered 'clean eating'.  THAT has been wonderful!  Sure, we cheat... a lot more than we should but we feel a lot better and our energy levels are up.  We even started losing weight, without exercising. 

Then, when we started P90X, I started the P90X diet.  Tried it for the first two weeks and felt awful!  Maybe it works for some people but I was only supposed to eat ONE carb per day.  Are you kidding me?

I LOVE CARBS!  Good carbs, that is. 

But not only do I love them, I was so low on my energy levels.  I was falling asleep all. day. long.  And the scale didn't budge. 

So then, week three came and I kind of went back to my old ways.  I ate mostly clean but kind of ate what I wanted as well.  Smaller portions but still...

Besides, that was the week of the birthday party for Anthony, B, and C (details on that later, lots of pics) and I had made THE best cupcakes EVER!  Malt Shop Cupcakes.  They were to die for, I swear, they really were that good.  Maybe it was the fact that I felt deprived of such luxuries with the eating clean thing but they got rave reviews from everyone that tried them.  Mmmm!  I could go for one about now.  I think I ate a total of four that week.  Willpower, no?  The scale... didn't budge.

Anyway, so that was a BAD week.  This week, week four, I have gone back to strictly clean eating.  My energy is back and I feel good again.  I started to lose weight, just a couple pounds, and then Anthony's birthday came and his parents took us to dinner Thursday night.  The blasted prime rib and the rolls with the cinnamon butter... GRRR!  And of course we had to have cake when we got home.  He requested a chocolate one.  It was pretty heavenly as well.  Sour Cream Chocolate.  Yum!  We threw the remainder away so we wouldn't eat it.  Isn't that sad?  Every pound is back. 

Frustrated?  Yes.  Giving up?  NO!  I can't.  I'll finish my 90 days.

I know I'm building muscle, I can feel it, it's all still just hiding under a layer of frosting.  Someday, that frosting will go.  I know it.  And I feel stronger.  Anthony says he can see a difference.  We'll see when we take the pics. 

This may not sound like I'm eating any better than I used to but if you know me at all, you know that I have a major sweet tooth.  Resisting candy and desserts is just about impossible for me.  So truly, this has been a major change for me. 

**I have lots to post about birthdays, etc. but for now I am using Anthony's phone to update until we get the internet again.  His phone doesn't handle the pictures well.**