Continuing week 2

Well week 2 continued today with Tabata Power, revisited. I did better than last week, so that was a plus. But, especially with strength workouts, I find that the better I do in the first half the worse I do in the second. I pushed and pushed and just was absolutely drained by the end. Add in the fact that we're doing on-the-back ab movements, and the temptation to just collapse got the better of me more than once or twice.

Still, I'm calling this a good workout. I feel good and came away sweaty.

No updates on the Spanish front, other than I still have not missed a day.

Lunch wasn't super healthy. I went to a marketing conference at an Italian restaurant, which meant pasta. Fortunately there was a nearby mall and I had a little time to kill, so I went for a pretty good walk at lunch. I'm thinking that helped a little.

Did not weigh myself this morning, totally forgot. Still hoping to hit my goal weight tomorrow. I'll let you know.

That's all the blog I have in me today. Signing out!

Let's get Week 2 started!

Well, week 2 has begun.

Let me start out by saying I feel good. Saturday was a push/pull workout, my only real true resistance workout, and it went really well. It was The Challenge from P90X3. I actually did pushups. Thus far in my program (only one week) I've done every single pushup on my knees. Truthfully, I couldn't even get through a full pushup. But on Saturday, I figured I'd give real pushups a shot, and I got them done. All in all, just over half of the pushups in the workout (about 100 total) were real pushups, which was a hell of a victory. Goal for next week? Up the number of real pushups, and maybe up the number of pushups I go for too (this is a "pick your numbers" workout).

Sunday I did the Bas Rutten all around workout. For those not in the know on my old old blog posts, this one's an audio workout, and Bas is calling out both punching/kicking combos AND exercises. So, pushups, situps, shadowbox, etc. These pushups I did on my knees so I could crank out a few more. Next time I have this workout (in two weeks) I'll go for real pushups. Overall this one went well. I lost some gas at the end and slowed down a lot. The final move is truly soul crushing - jump as high as you can, knees to chest, for 1, 2, 3...10. Yup, you do a lot of those in the final few minutes. I skipped sets 7 and 9, I was just too gassed, but pushed through for the rest. It felt really good to be able to push.

And then there's today. This morning I revisted Cardio Challenge from Insanity Max 30. This thing still kicked my ass, hard, but I did 1000% better than last week! Not too much that I can say about it that's new. Same workout, but I was able to push harder and longer. I was pretty soaked at the end.

So, now the bad news. I'm feeling good, yes, but weight wise I am not good. That Fat Free Jew is very much a Fat Jew right now. I got on the scale this morning, and I've decided that the number is not worth sharing. I thought I was about 35 lbs over my goal, but it turns out I'm more than 50 lbs away from my goal. Ya, that's a lot. The diet's been good for a week (minus a Saturday cheat day, but even that wasn't as bad as I was in December) so I'm thinking I was even heavier a week ago. But ya, it's pretty high.

So, ok, just means more work ahead of me. I was planning on getting into a bit more weight exercises after my 8-week challenge, but I might need a little (a lot) more cardio after this. Also I'm going to put some of the reading on hold for the moment (normally done at lunch) and focus on adding in a 30 minute walk at lunch listening to educational podcasts instead. I tried that out today, and this could totally be sustainable.

Best weight loss system I know (aside from diet and working my ass off, of course) is to try to lose .5 lbs every two days. How's it work? Well, I know what I weighed this morning. Goal now is to weigh .5 lbs less than that on Wednesday. I'll weigh myself tomorrow to make sure I'm on track (and if I'm not, it'll nag at me all day so I don't eat too much). And then, if I blow the goal out of the water on Wednesday (fingers crossed), goal for Friday is .5 lbs less than the Wednesday actual weight. I've tried this before, and it worked well. So, I'll let you know if I hit my weight goals or not, but probably will keep the numbers to myself until they're at a place where I can stomach them (no pun intended).

Alright, that's my jam right now. Still rocking hard on the Spanish. I'll see if I can figure out a time to read in there as well, but priorities are important and exercise and physical health need to take the priority right now if I want to set a good example for my little girl.

Until next time readers, adios!

Wrapping up week 1

I'm back. Boom! Told you I wouldn't be posting every day, and I nailed it. Yesterday was a busy day between meetings and a lunch event, so no blog post. But here I am, blogging like nobody's blogged before.

Ya, in a weird mood today, if you couldn't tell from the opening paragraph.

Anyways, yesterday and today were not excellent workouts. Yesterday was Tabata Strength. Just like Tabata Power, except more strength than explosive. And my strength is pretty diminished these days. I'm going to give the workout a D+, because at the end of the it that's the grade I decided to give myself, and then I never blogged about it.

Today? Today was Friday Fight, and I lost the fight. Hey, it's the challenge workout, and it's the end of the first week. I didn't except to be that great anyways. This thing kicked my ass though. It's basically Pure Cardio from the old Insanity. I think there's one break in here, for thirty seconds, but other than that it's 30 minutes of 30 exercises, 1 minute each. But for me, it turned into 20 seconds of exercise, 20 seconds of flailing in a motion that somewhat resembled the actual exercise, and 20 seconds of huffing and puffing. The latter two increased in the second half of the workout.

I was dead this morning. It was another D+ workout (C-, maybe) but I did it. And I was still soaked after. Just gotta look for improvement in week 2.

Part of my goal for 8 weeks, no breaks, just for 8 weeks. So tomorrow, which normally isn't a workout, is another round of P90X3 The Challenge (so, chest and back). Should be fun.

Diet's going well. Portion control, no fried foods, no sweets. Had a salad for dinner last night. I have another one planned for lunch today. Some protein shakes (powdered peanut butter in coffee) and a bowl of oatmeal too. All good stuff. Even the luncheon yesterday, I had a scoop of mashed potatoes and a steak. Pretty healthy, and again, portions.

So ya, probably weighing myself on Monday. Wish me luck on that one. Have a great Friday folks!

Sweat Intervals, and other fun things

I'm going to open with nutrition, because it's lunch time and I'm eating a salad. I'm currently munching on spinach, beans, tuna fish, black olives, dried cranberries, bacon, cheese and ranch dressing. The last three in moderation, of course. So far, so good today. I did have a snack, a small portion of leftover mac n cheese with a little bit of bacon in it. Yes, I love bacon. It was bacon bits by the way. Point was, when I was leaving for work this morning I knew I'd need a snack before lunch, and this is what we had. Portions are the key there, I guess. Also I had a coffee/protein shake for breakfast.

Last nights food was a tasty pasta bake my wife made. Not on the healthy side, but I had a single serving and no seconds. Again, portions. Tonight is leftovers, and I plan on the same. Again, so far, so good.

So you're probably wondering about the workout. Go ahead, ask me about the workout.

::waits patiently to be asked::

How was my workout? Well, thank you for asking. It was meh. I'll give it a C+. That's college passing, and the only reason I'll give it that high is because I did, in fact, sweat. Not so much in intervals, as the title (Sweat Intervals) suggested, more of an ongoing, profusely sweating thing, but if you saw me afterward you'd definitely know I had worked out. Sleep was rough last night. We went to bed later than normal and the baby wasn't really digging the sleep thing (which means no one gets to sleep). 5.75 hours later, my alarm goes off. I got up, baby got up, and we got her fed and got her day started. She ate like a champ, and then she watched me work out.

So, this workout is basically just like Cardio Challenge, except different moves. I think....I can't remember the format from Cardio Challenge all that well, it may have been 3 minute intervals instead of 5, not sure. Anyways, this was 5 minute intervals with 30 second rests included. The warmup was the same warmup as Cardio Challenge, and I got through it with moderate struggles. That's about where I knew my energy was dragging, but I kept going. After that it was 3 moves, each for 30 seconds, repeated 3 times.

I did like (not sure if that's the right word) the up and down. I think every set of 3 moves, one of them was on the ground. Not that I can do as much as the folks on screen, but I've learned from other workouts that constantly going from standing to floor to standing is an excellent way to kick your own ass.

Finished a little later than normal thanks to a late start. Got some work done, then hit the shower and headed into work. Passing morning, but not the effort I wanted.

I'm considering adding in an energy pre-workout drink. It would have to be literally the first thing I do in the morning, but it could work and might help me get an extra boost on my workouts. Right now I'm taking a fat burner, but that's it.

Spanish practice is complete (the other half of my lunch today). All in all, good, but I'm finding there's more and more words I'm forgetting. We're venturing past what I learned in high school and getting into the wilderness of the language unknown. Good times.

Also I didn't start my new book today, because I forgot it in my wife's car. That's ok, I decided to spend most of lunch writing this blog/practicing Spanish, and the rest I'm going to spend watching a taped webinar on global economics. Yup, I'm super cool, you can be jealous.

Adios Internet stalkers. See you tomorrow probably.

Day 2, I guess - I did Tabata Power today

Ya, the title's weird. Is today Day 2? It's the 5th day of the year, the 4th day of working out, the 2nd day of the official Insanity Max 30 schedule, and the second blog post. Screw it, titles are made up on the spot from here on out.

This morning, decent workout. Not great. Not bad either. Woke up groggy. Baby kept us both up. It happens. She also woke up in the perfect time for me to feed her. I'm totally cool with this, she just needs to wake up within +/- 15 minutes of 5:30am. She did. So I got her changed, got the bottle, and she and I sat in my office/gym watching Bloomberg News while she drank her bottle.

Side note - day trading is a goal hobby for 2016, but I want to learn a lot more before I open that door. Hence, Bloomberg. No, this wasn't the first day I've watched it. I've been studying for a few weeks. Especially after the big hit on Monday, though, I want to research a lot more. No time crunch.

Anyways, back to the mission at hand. Exercise. Baby finished her bottle, got strapped into her chair, and she watched me flail around with Tabata Power for 30 minutes. This is the first time I've done this workout, and overall I wasn't ready. My explosiveness and endurance are both out the window, not to mention my strength is super super lacking these days. All of those skills are what you need to get through this workout.

The warmup was good. Different than the other warmups, felt more like a quick wakeup than it did a normal Insanity warmup. The actual thing though, I guess I just got gassed quickly. It's on for 20 seconds, off for 10. Almost all of the exercises are strength/power related, like jump squats, jump/switch lunges, jumping pushups (just, jumping pushups), and overall I just wasn't ready. But I did my best. It ended up being a blend of the modifier exercises and the actual exercises. Slightly more modifier toward the end.

Hey, however it went, I was still pretty sweaty afterward. Having the baby in the room (who fell asleep in the second half....lazy bum!) helped me stay on track a bit. Remember, this is about being a role model for her, so if that's what it takes to squeeze out that extra 1 or 2 reps (and believe me, it was hard enough to get that many more) then that's what it takes.

Nutrition today has been decent. It would have been great (protein shake for breakfast, black coffee, granola bar for snack and tuna salad for lunch, so far...) except it was my boss's birthday and I indulged with peanut butter pie. Just gotta keep it clean the rest of the day.

Spanish practice at lunch was good. Learned a bit more, refreshed some skills. Also I finished my book, Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard. Excellent read, I'd definitely recommend it for anyone with customers (which, admittedly, is everyone). That's one book down for the month. One more to go, even though I'm thinking a third this month might be in order considering we're still only 5 days into the month/year.

Alright, that's enough fat-free-jew ramble for the day. Talk at you soon Internet world!

Ok, 2016, let's do this.

Well, you can see a clear change in commitment from me over the last four years. Back in the day I was doing P90X, Insanity and other programs like it was no one's business. But since then, I've gotten busy. Life, work, life again, work again...it's a lot.

So, I'm starting this blog, again, but no promises. I'm going to do my best. That's all I can do. But I'd like to think, on this 4th day of the new year, that I can do it. Let's go for 8 weeks. And no daily blog posts - just frequent blog posts. Fingers crossed for me.

Alright, first update, and most important: I have a baby girl! She's amazing and I love her. With my amazing wife and amazing daughter, life is in a good place. Also I'm in a new position with a company that actually allows me some time to focus on myself (big change from past years), and with that in mind, I want to better myself. Physically and mentally. And yes, I'm doing this for me, but I'm also really doing this for my daughter. I want her to have healthy habits, good work habits, understand the importance of hard work, of committing to a goal, and especially the importance of being physically fit (something I was not during my youth, and still majorly struggle with now).

Now, limitations. Commitment wise, I can only give myself 30 minutes a day to working out. That's not bad, but it's not what I used to do. Fortunately, BeachBody has released several programs focused on 30 minute workouts. Which brings us to the current workout plan. Today I started Insanity Max:30. It's exactly what you'd think, Insanity, but only 30 minutes. However, me being me, I'm adding on two additional workouts per week, making it a 7-day/week program instead of a 5-day/week program. The two additional workouts are P90X3's upper body stuff (because I still like doing some lifting) and a Bas Rutten workout on Sundays (because any reader of this blog knows I love those workouts). I'll probably post the full schedule on here someday, but for the moment here goes:

Saturday, I did pushups and pullups. The pushups I was on my knees and the pullups involved the help of a bench, but I did it. My upper body felt good and still does today.

Sunday, I did Bas Rutten's kickboxing workout. Good times. I really like shadowboxing and Bas gives a great workout. I did all 10 rounds, but after round five my "bum bum bum bum" became "buuum buuum buuum buuum" (do the workout, you'll know what I mean). Hey, something to get better at, right?

Today, Monday, I did Cardio Challenge from Insanity Max 30. It was an Insanity workout. Not much to say about it, other than it was really really hard, just like all of them. I really enjoyed it though. It's go go go, you never do the same moves too many times, and I think I did ok for the first time. I've tried this workout a few times (I did some prep in December) but never really went all in like I did today. I was pretty gassed by the 15-minute mark, but I'll get there.

Up next is the diet. I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with this, mainly focus on portion control I think and cut out the sweets, but we'll see. The holidays were rough and my office has had a lot of baked goods in it. But I'll get moving on that this week, too. Baby steps.

Oh, I'm also going to keep a few other updates on life going in this blog. A few other things I'm working on, I'm trying to get some freelance marketing work going (a few good leads in the fryer), and I'm doing some cool volunteer marketing work around town as well. One of my projects is coming to fruition this week, which is pretty exciting.

I'm also reading more. My goal is two books per month. Right now I'm reading Raving Fans, a Ken Blanchard book. I really like his stuff. It's super short, and I'm halfway through. I'll give a review at the end, but overall I'm super impressed with his take on customer service and how it impacts bottom line.

Finally, I'm also trying to teach myself Spanish again. I'm using Duolingo, and so far I'm really enjoying the program. I'm not sure how to really post an update on progress on that, but I feel good about it. More updates to come.

Alright, good first post. See you when I see you Internet world!

Shoulders!!!!

I'm super pumped this morning because it was shoulders day. I haven't lifted, legitimately-spent-time-doing-a-lifting-program lifted in literally years, and my absolute favorite day is always shoulder day. Today was the first of many of those days, and it was great!

Body Beast loves its shoulder workouts. It's the only muscle group that gets it own day consistently throughout the program. Shoulders separate all of the muscles from each other - chest to arms, chest to back, biceps to triceps....all of it has to pass through the shoulders, and if you have huge shoulders, everything else naturally looks huge too.

So today's workout was pretty great. My numbers were lower than they were a few years ago, but hey, that's expected. But I can say my shoulders are feeling excellent today, and I can't wait to feel those DOMS in the next day or so.

Tomorrow I have Beast Cardio, but I think I'm going to replace it with a different cardio workout. Cardio is not my focus this round, and I don't want to follow DVDs anyways, so instead I think I'm opting for the old Bas Rutten CDs. Might be a game time call though - we'll see. I'm also considering MMX from P90X3, the MMA-style workout. Any readers of this blog know I love martial arts workouts, but I need to still be mindful of my ankle (hence Bas Rutten, which I can do without any legs).

Game time call coming tomorrow - expect to read about it in the blog.

Bring it!