I've been trying to come up with a succinct narrative blog, but I've got a million things to write about and catch up on, so I'm just throwing stuff out there with no semblance of order.

1. P90X is going fairly well. I am currently in my 4th week, but I'm not counting Thanksgiving week (more on that in a minute), which makes it my 3rd week. I really like it, and the workouts are going well. I feel bad that I've cut a couple of them short and skipped/slept through a couple of them during the first two weeks, so I'm trying to stop beating myself up about not being perfect. I'm trying to remind myself that the point is to work out regularly (check!), increase my fitness through higher intensity training (check!), have a step-by-step plan that I will stick to (check!), and have a combination of ST, cardio, and stretching in my regular program (check!). I don't have to have rippling muscles at the end, and it doesn't matter that I've actually gained 2 pounds so far, right? It's probably muscle and starting higher intensity workouts, and maybe I need to reevaluate using the P90X diet. I shouldn't get discouraged.

2. I totally blew Thanksgiving. I had been thinking about it for a long time, and last week proved, that I eat like crazy when I am at my parents' house. There is certainly a connection to my emotional eating habits and being at home. They eat really unhealthy food under normal circumstances, but with the holiday leftovers, it was all too much. We actually wound up leaving early because I just couldn't stand to eat like that anymore, but even though I was trying not to, EVERYTHING was going into my mouth while we were there. This could honestly be the reason why I've gained two pounds, so I can't honestly evaluate P90X using the scale. The good thing is that because I am committed to doing the program, I was able to jump right back into it on Monday, which I don't know if I would have been able to do on my own.

3. A couple of people have asked me what P90X is. Honestly, you don't have to have the program to do it, if you're knowledgeable and disciplined enough to do it on your own. I have found, surprisingly, that I enjoy working out to the DVDs, which is shocking because I was always very devoted to using gym equipment, feeling like I couldn't make myself work out hard enough at home. However, you could certainly put together your own program that accomplishes the same thing, either using DVDs or going to the gym. Here's the gist of the program (workouts are not necessarily in this order, but they change during each phase):
For 3 weeks, do
* 3 days of ST, working different part of the body each time (1 full hour + abs)
* 2 days of intense cardio (>1 hour)
* 1 day of yoga
* 1 day of rest or stretching
On the 4th week, do
* 1 day of core work
* 3 days of intense cardio
* 1 day of yoga
* 1 day of stretching
* 1 day of rest
On the 5th week, start over! All workouts are at least an hour, and the longest workout is yoga, at a full 90 minutes. Supposedly, one of the reasons they say it is effective is because the workouts change every few weeks, so your body doesn't get into a rut. Keep in mind that the workouts are pretty intense, including things like pull-ups and plyometrics (jumping), and the ST sessions are way longer than what I had ever done before, so there is no phoning it in. There is a diet they recommend too, but I'm not all that cracked up about it. Anyway, one of the reasons I like it is because I love that there is a scheduled program, instead of me trying to come up with my workouts on my own. However, there's really no reason why anyone couldn't put a similar plan in place without getting the actual P90X system, so if you're interested in doing that on your own, maybe this will help.

There's other stuff going on, but I'll have to save it for another day. Thanks for reading! I hope you are having a great day!