Today is Day 81 of the Power 90/P90X program.
Gold Star
I can't believe that I've made it this far (with AWOL days, and other difficulties, of course). I will be greatly relieved to take a short break (probably 2 weeks) from all of this when I finish the 90th day. I plan to do another 90 day training period completely made of up P90X workouts. The plan is to keep going until I get myself totally "tight and right." I'm much closer to where I want to be than when I started, but there's still work to do. Like I said last week, I'm in this for the long haul.
I press on!
The Awful Truth
I blew off two days of training this week. One day out of sheer laziness. And last night, after having dinner with a friend. I very rarely drink, and I really enjoyed knocking back some Margaritas during dinner. So I ended up feeling full, drowsy, and tipsy when I got back home. I called it a night and went to bed.
What's going on with you? How are your Wildest Dreams (of any type, not just fitness/health related) coming along?
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11 comments:
Hey there Khadija!
Congratulations on making it this close to the finish line!!
2-hand high fives
I don't drink and people think that is because I am a minister but I know ministers who drink so I hardly think THAT was the reason why I stopped. I just didn't see any point in drinking alcohol when I liked so many other beverages.
I haven't had a Marguerita in 18 years!! Do they still taste the same? *LOL*
These reports on your 90-day plan have been truly inspiring!
My wildest dreams? Hmmm....let me think about that one!
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
Hello there, Lisa!
Thank you so much for your encouragement and support. I need every bit of it that I get! LOL!
It's a funny thing. I did a LOT of recreational drinking when I was in college (along with spending a lot of time partying at "Club Rumpshaker"). But, as with so many things, once I became of legal age to partake of the booze, suddenly it just wasn't so entertaining anymore. Since then, it's been a 1-3 times a year sort of thing.
Yes, the Margaritas are STILL tasty! LOL!
You said, "These reports on your 90-day plan have been truly inspiring!"
Thank you, that's what I had hoped for.
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
Khadija,
I, for one, really enjoy your updates on making your wildest dreams come true, especially as it relates to your health and fitness.
I got a SERIOUS kick in the pants recently and have decided to MAKE TIME to improve my health (which also ties into your recent blog about how a lot of us waste so much time). I was making so many excuses about why I couldn't exercise, but NO MORE.
Basically, I found out that I am about 10 pounds into being classified as "overweight" and my BMI is slightly over what it should be. My blood pressure is classified as "pre-hypertension" (this scared me to DEATH because my father, who has always been active, has hypertension and my grandfather died from a stroke). Although I am very tall for a woman and don't LOOK like I weigh as much as I do, it is what is. My clothes don't fit right anymore, I don't sleep very well, and I just feel...heavy.
I am thankful for two things: 1) I'm young and healthy and 2) I am not so far gone that I can't fix this in a matter of weeks/months. In fact, I still have time to get the body I want in time for summer. Dropping only 10-15 pounds would eliminate all of these symptoms I listed above. It certainly won't be easy, but it's doable and is actually a reasonable goal.
I feel like I'm at that point where a lot of sistas start sliding into a routine of no exercise and bad dieting, but for whatever reason, there is nothing there to JOLT them out of it. I know so many sistas who were (seemingly) healthy and fit until about 25...and then kids, marriage, jobs and stress happened and now, some of them are 100 pounds heavier.
Well, I got my jolt. Loud and clear! I've been drinking only water for the last month and it feels great. I've been changing what and how often I eat because my diet is terrible. I got Mel B's (Eddie Murphy's baby mama) workout DVD and that mug is NO PUNK! LOL! I didn't think it would be so intense, but she doesn't look the way she does for no reason.
I also found a New York City Ballet DVD workout that I'm excited about AND some yoga/balance ball workouts (at the suggestion of a physician).
My wildest dream is to live healthy and catch myself before it's too late. I took the first step last night and exercised and whaddya know? I managed to make it (BARELY) and I slept like a BABY!
Hopefully in 90 days, I can report back to you some great news!
Hello there, Enlightened!
YES! YES! YES! Now that's what I'm talking about! {raised fist salute}
I'm so happy to hear that you're "making that move" to maintain your health. High blood pressure is NO JOKE, as you know. And like you noted, these things that can ultimately KILL you (high blood pressure, weight gain, etc.) have a way of sneaking up on people.
I'm so happy to hear that you're taking action at the beginning, and BEFORE you have an "official" problem.
This type of situation is another concern I have with the Western style of medicine. They tend to wait until an indicator is in the "officially" BAD range before talking to the patient about it.
For example, I've had to quiz my doctor at each visit about my cholestorol levels. It's been slowing rising over the past 10 years. I'm still in the "healthy" range, which is why she doesn't initiate conversations about it. I want it back to where it was 10 years ago.
You said, "I got Mel B's (Eddie Murphy's baby mama) workout DVD and that mug is NO PUNK! LOL! I didn't think it would be so intense, but she doesn't look the way she does for no reason."
{laughter} I hadn't heard of her or her dvd. I'll have to check her out. Your comment brought back memories from college. Some of my friends had bought Jane Fonda's exercise videos and made similar observations. In fact, they called her Jane "F%^& You Up" Fonda! LOL! {chuckling}
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
Khadija,
I'm happy to hear about your success. I am in the process of deciding how I'm gonna go about this full body makeover thing. I'm going to start walking, but I also need to find a resistance and l cardio-training program to tone my body, especially my stomach area.
As for my other goals, I really enjoyed myself in NYC. This time I tried to be more like a local than a tourist. I can't wait to live there!
Peace and solidarity,
Tasha
Hello there, Tasha212!
You said, "I am in the process of deciding how I'm gonna go about this full body makeover thing. I'm going to start walking, but I also need to find a resistance and l cardio-training program to tone my body, especially my stomach area."
YES!YES!YES! Onward and forward!
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
Hello All,
I just wanted to give you all my support in all that you are doing with the weight loss goals.
Khadija you are awesome. You are so determined!
The next time you drink if you haven't already you must try a mojito - done the real way- none of this watered down mess. The mint must be muddled- not chopped or just thrown in the glass. All mojitos are not the same. There is a fine art to making a good mojito.
A good mojito walks that delicate line of being not too sweet and not too alcohol tasting - it is just right and all the flavors just dance over your tongue. The crispness of the mint, the slight hint of sweet from the sugar cane syrup, the tiny twinge of citrus from the lime - it is like drinking a refreshing glass of limeade- only a million times better, but you must be careful. They are tasty, but because they are so tasty and you don't taste the alcohol - they will sneak up on you. Mojitos were the first and only drink that ever got me cut off in an establishment.
Now if you are already familiar with the joys of the mojito then I highly recommend the caipirinha. Now it is pricey and not many people know how to make it at all forget about making it well, but if you have the chance- partake because it is like heaven on earth. There are so many varieties - you can have a lot of tasty fun with that.
Enlightened, sorry to hear of the health scare. The ballet DVD sounds fun. I did a little belly dance/hula for a while.
Tasha, glad you liked NYC. I was planning to have my birthday bash there this year. You can get a good work out from walking. It is easy and free.
Aphrodite said:
Enlightened, sorry to hear of the health scare. The ballet DVD sounds fun. I did a little belly dance/hula for a while.
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The New York City Ballet officially kicked my butt. The DVD is comprised of the workout the dancers do BEFORE they rehearse for performances...much like Mel B., they are NO JOKE. LOL!
I was interested in getting a belly dance DVD! Did you like them? I love the NYC Ballet workout, but there's not very much cardio at all. It's EXCELLENT for building back, leg, arm, and abdominal muscles but there wasn't much to get your heart rate up. I was hoping a belly dance DVD would be able to provide at least 20 minutes of cardio.
I went for a 3 mile walk yesterday and it felt awesome to have my blood pumping so I'm trying to find a dance DVD workout that will do something similar.
I think if I have a variety of things to do, I'm much more likely to stick with it.
Hello Enlightened,
I agree with you on the variety. I get bored too - the times I have worked out.
I think that you can get a really good workout cardio wise if you do any kind of salsa/dance/belly/hula/bollywood/polynesian workout.
Salsa, hip-hop dance, bollywood, egyptian, are a lot like aerobics in that there will be tons of hopping, skipping, jumping, bouncing, traveling steps- definitely move the furniture.
Polynesian, hula, and belly dance also can give you good cardio and I might venture to say can really tone your whole body. They are all deceptive in that they look easier than they are and they all require concentration.
Both belly dance and polynesian use your feet as the basis for all the moves. If you are moving your hips the movement almost always originates using the balls of your feet combined with knee movement to make your hips move - even for the shimmys- whereas hula hip movement is all about the hips. Although, in polynesian you can lead with the hip in more complex moves.
Both belly/polynesian use a lot of isolation of body parts. The typical standing posture in bellydance is with your stomach sucked in, chest thrust out, shoulders back, and ribcage slightly elevated.
You must learn to isolate and move your ribcage across your waistline without dramatically moving your waist/lower body. Try doing that slowly taking about 10 seconds to do so while holding a head posture and simultaneous arm movement and see if you don't sweat.:)
You learn to isolate hip movement from the rest of your body - move your hips separate from one another, move parts of your abdomen in sections....
All three dances belly/polynesian/hula have their own head movements, arm movements with hula being the most vigorous and polynesian coming in second IMO. I now understand why some hula/island dances incorporate those guttaral shouts- they were not war cries, but cries of pain.
Polynesian and hula seem to use less floor space than belly with some polynesian routines having you in one spot including turns and shifting positions.
Generally those three dances are low impact in that you don't bounce around but you still sweat from concentrating/coordinating/holding. There are some traveling steps in belly dance- but if you have ankle, knee, or back problems I would be very cautious as you can put a lot of stress on those parts.
Some DVDs are better than others. Some say they are for beginners, but the instructor/planning of routine are just really poor. Also I don't like that some instructors don't take heath issues into consideration.
I used to be a good dancer in that I could watch someone do something an mimic it exactly, but when the DVD instructor will go into a pre workout advanced yoga pose to stretch I just think - wow what if I had back problems or blew my knee out in nam or something?
So you have to shop around.
I have decided to lose weight. I am pissed at that post Jallimaster made about the BM trainer. I can't stand folks.
Since my mothers health issues we have already been eating more organic and a lot less salt and sugar- less beef, rarely pork- for about a year. She has had dramatic changes in her health -decreased and eliminated meds and she has gone from obese to overweight from the diet alone and it hasn't been a year yet.
I just need to get my plan together.
Hello there, Aphrodite!
The first step is to make a decision; as you have done. You're on your way! Onward and forward!
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
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