Week 2: Day 7: Fat Shredder: Portion Approach

This is our rest day and didn't take any pictures of our food.....

Breakfast: we had the P90X protein shake.

snack: protein bar

In the afternoon we mutually agreed that it would be nice to have a little indulgence since we have been so good for two weeks so we had:
steak, guacamole with tortilla chips (yes we idulged a bit), baked potato with sourcream (yes full fat and no we didn't load it just enough for a taste), caesar salad with croutons. I had a couple handfuls of chocolate chips...I know gross but it was the only chocolate I had in the house....I got rid of all the dark chocolate I had before we started.

Week 2: Day 6: Fat Shredder: Portion Approach

Breakfast: P90X protein shake

afterworkout snack: P90X recovery drink and protein bar.

Lunch:
"Bonk!" It was bonk day, we both didn't have much energy to get through Kenpo so we had a carb at lunch a piece of toast with the yummy mushroom omelet. just a side note....the 4oz of cheese that the recipe calls for is way too much cheese....an ounce or two would be plenty and than you could have a glass of milk with it as well.






Supper: chicken, wild rice medley, spaghetti squash, and P90X coleslaw.

Week 2: Day 6 - Kenpo X - KARATE CHOP!!

Last workout of the week - we are looking forward to the rest day tomorrow. Kenpo is starting to feel more like a workout and coordination seems to be improving now that we have a bit more practice under our belt... practice makes perfect, but we still have a ways to go.

Week 2: Day 5: Fat Shredder: Portion Approach

Breakfast: P90X protein shake

Lunch: greek salad with chicken

Supper: groun turkey tacos

P90x: Legs and Back - Week 2: Day 05 - Starting to "bonk"

This one was tough - I was feeling a bit low in the energy and tired, or as the p90xers call it "bonking". Shilleen informed me that I may need to add a carb to my meal plan. I'm grateful she understands that part of the program; I think it's the hardest part of P90x. What to eat, when to eat, and how much of what... that's way too much thinking for me. I'm much better at just eating what's put in front of me :)

Week 2: Day 4: Fat Shredder: Portion Approach

Breakfast: P90X Protein Shake

Lunch: Spinach Salad: tomato, cucumber, egg, shredded carrots, mushrooms, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs whites, green onion, fat-free ranch dressing with Louisiana sauce added to it and don't forget the fresh ground pepper. Next time I think I'll add some light cheddar to it too.
Afterworkout snack: P90X recovery drink, later on P90X protein bar.

Supper: chicken breast, quinoa, pecans,spaghetti squash, and carrots.

P90x Week 2: Day 04 Yoga x - Clear Your Mind...

Tony's tip of the day was to "clear your mind" of any stresses or concerns and focus on the exercises and movements... that is a good suggestion, but when there are two toddlers running around, it is easier said than done.

So why don't we do something about it? We could lock them in a room, or maybe get a babysitter? Here's our rationale: we both feel that we would like to have our children get into a habit of exercising daily. We don't know of a better time to instill that practice (or any good practice) than while they are young. Wouldn't it be great if they grew up thinking everyone exercised daily and it was a part of normal daily life? To make this goal a reality, we hope that we will be able to put up with a bit more distractions than what most experience - it is a price we are willing to pay for the team.

I must admit, their participation in the exercises has been sporadic, and they are limited in their coordination to do most of the exercises, but they often will attempt the exercises with encouragement from us and even on their own. We aren't out to create the next "Little Hercules", just active healthy kids that will grow up to be active healthy adults.

I was surprised while reviewing the latest video (below) to see our youngest attempting several of the exercises on her own. The exercise both kids like best from yoga x is the last exercise: yoga oms (a vocal hum/chant to "massage the central nervous system") - a little hokey, but the kids never miss it and hum right along.

Week 2: Day 3: Fat Shredder: Portion Approach

Breakfast: Oh yummy, it is what you see. I went all out this morning. The kids love waffles so I made them and yes they are 100% whole wheat waffles. I was raised on theis delicious healthy breakfast wonder. One 100% whole wheat waffle topped with yogurt and 1 fruit portion for the day. So I measured 1/2 C berries and 1/2 banana. No sugar was added and yes it was still delicious. Mike had the same.
Part II of breakfast: We need some portein. So I had two servings of protein. Turkey bacon and cottage cheese since I'm not really into eggs that often and when I am it's usually the P90X mushroom omelet. Mike had a mushroom scramble with turkey bacon to get his protein in for the day.

Afterworkout recovery: Still enjoying the P90X recovery drink.

Here's Lunch: It's called Clean out the fridge salad. Romaine lettuce, leftover coleslaw which served two purposes: one for the veggie content and two for the dressing. I didn't have to add any extra dressing to it. Last, the leftover cooked meat... there was a little of chicken and a little of tenderloin pork. I topped it off with a handful of chopped almonds and it was pretty good. However, I didn't really like mixing the chicken and pork together. They don't really belong together.... oh yes and I always top it off with fresh ground pepper.

Snacks: Well, Mike loves his 30 pistachios and I love cottage cheese, and oh yes the mandatory P90X protein bar....I'm looking for other options because I'm not liking them at all please somebody help??????? What's the best protein bar????

Supper: P90X Mango-Ginger Sauce (mango, tomato, red onion, ginger, lime juice, brown sugar, and vinegar), chicken, asparagus, and brown basmati rice. So this sauce was meant for fish...but I used chicken instead. I sprinkled cilantro on top since this mango-ginger sauce really needed some green added to it. It definitely would taste good on fish and I'm going to modify this sauce next time and use a jalepeno (instead of ginger) to make it a salsa for the chicken. Mike is missing his butter. Tonight at supper, he mentioned that he'd like some butter on his asparagus. Too bad honey, we are fat shredding the fat. No butter.!


Oh what will we eat tomorrow??!!!! I was thinking ground turkey tacos.....with homemade salsa that I've made. yum yum yum!

P90x Week 2: Day 03 Shoulders and Arms

Another day done! We noticed the camera was shaky again during the warm-up, so we had to do a warm-up re-do. This means we actually burned a few more calories on this work out than normal... good work Shilleen!

This workout is a favorite because it doesn't exhaust with cardio - it is "shoulder - bi - tri, shoulder - bi - tri"... although it is followed by the Ab Ripper which drains any strength left... I HATE IT!... still no love.

Fat Shredder Week 2: Day 2 Portion Approach Method

The Portion Approach Method:hip, hip hooray. Now I will pick and choose what and when we'll have our food.

Breakfast: P90X protein shake (1 dairy, 1 fruit, and protein requirement) I tried it with unflavored whey powder and added vanilla. It wasn't that good but I didn't get a headache so I'm on the search for an economical whey powder that tastes good and that doesn't have Acesulfame Potassium artificial sweetener, as it gives me headaches.

After workout recovery drink: Of course the P90X recovery drink. This time we tried putting it in the blender and adding lots of ice..It was yummy if you're up for a super cold drink.

Lunch: BBQ chicken salad (protein, 2 servings of veggies lettuce, tomato, cucumber). Mike had a glass of milk (1 dairy) and I had a yogurt (1 dairy). Last night we had lemon chicken thighs so I took out an extra package of chicken thighs for lunch and put bbq sauce for marinating. This morning I cooked them and they cooled while were working out. We chose to use fat-free caesar dressing and the dressing was not good. It definitely was missing some flavor...so I added extra pepper to my salad to make it somewhat palatable.

Mid afternoon snacks: P90X protein bar. Later on, mike goes for his 30 pistashios and me for a handful of almonds.

Supper: P90X Beef and Broccoli Stirfry ( soy sauce, red onion, garlic, beef, broccoli, sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger, and noodles). I didn't have soba noodles, something I still can't find but I did a little research and found out soba noodles are made from whole wheat flour so voila whole wheat spagetti was a great substitute. I would decrease the rice vinegar down to 1 tablespoon and add some sesame seeds to top it off. I really liked it with noodles. Even the kids gobbled it down like crazy. For me, the taste wasn't spectacular and my taste buds were finding that there was something missing, perhaps fat-free beef broth would give it a bit more umph.....and let us not forget, bring out the crushed red chili peppers. How about Hoisin sauce????hmmm not sure, it might be ladened with sugar.
What food will tomorrow bring???? I know for me..........can you say waffles, it's on the list and I'm going to have one!

P90x Week 2: Day 02 Plyometrics

I apologize for the shaky camera in this video - we had some issues with our makeshift tripod (remember the one made from a 6ft lamp) - it couldn't handle the shockwaves we made on our carpeted concrete floor :( I guess we weren't doing it "like a cat". We didn't notice it was moving until we had finished, and both decided there was no way we were going to do another take! Actually, we had to make some adjustments to the makeshift tripod since we almost had a fire with it (somehow the lamp got turned on with the box on top), so we hope to refine it shortly.

Week 2: Day 1 Fat Shredder Phase Meal Menu Approach

Breakfast: P90X Spinach Scramble, with a cup of milk and 6oz of orange juice. Just a quick note: cook the spinach first then toss the tomatoes just to warm (I added just a pinch of garlic powder) then take them out and make the scrambled eggs then add the veggie mixture and feta last. In the pic below the tomatoes were cooked too long. It had a nice flavor. I just find that most of the recipes have to be tweaked but that's okay. Everyone tends to have their own taste for things.

After workout: P90X Recovery Drink and protein bar.

Lunch: P90X Tuna Salad (shredded carrot, lemon juice, lemon rind, celery, low-fat mayo, green onion, a couple sprinkles of celery seed)and a yogurt. Make sure to add some crushed red pepper to add some heat. The recipe called for too much lemon so try fresh lemon juice to taste. I will make a tweaked version of this tuna salad again because I love tuna salad.

Snacks: My favorite cottage cheese. I had some whole almonds at a different time.

Supper: P90X Lemon-Garlic Chicken, Bok Choy, Carrots and a blend of wild rices. Once again, the lemon recipes seems a little too lemony for my liking, but I have to say I love chicken thighs and Mike and I were a little surprised that they were in this recipe. OH yum, yum, yum!

Week 2: Day 1 - Chest and Back

We were eager to get back to our workout today after a day off. We both felt a bit weak, but made it through. It really helps to have a partner to workout with - especially a wife who will tell you what she really thinks and helps push through when you want to call it a day :)

Here is our latest work - enjoy!

Week 1: Day 7: Fat Shredder Phase: Menu Plan Approach

I'll be glad when we are finished with the Menu Plan Approach. There is just way to much prep and so I'm looking forward to making double the meat at night so we can use it in a salad during the day.

Breakfast: We started off with the P90X protein shake. I had noticed yesterday when I had a protein shake I had a headache probably a couple hours later and the same thing happened to me today. So next time we have a shake I'm going to use the unflavoured protein powder and see if the same thing happens. I have a funny feeling that my body doesn't like the artificial flavoring agent in the chocolate protein powder that we have been using.

Lunch: We decided we wanted breakfast for lunch. So here it is, the P90X Cheese Scramble and turkey bacon I didn't like the cheese scramble. The amount of cheese that it called for in comparison to the number of egg whites, it came out of the pan like a cheese blob, not fluffly eggs and also, it lacked in flavor. So personally if I was to make a cheese scramble I would use a little of low-fat cheddar and parmesan, add a little green onion and salt (probably wouldn't need it because of the cheese) and pepper to those egg whites and voila! yumminess! I'll let you know when I've tried this. Picture of Mike's lunch (1C milk, 1C low sodium v8 juice, 4 slices of turkey bacon and the cheese scramble).

Snacks: I had yogurt with sliced almonds in it. I will definitely have that again. We didn't have any recovery drinks because it's our rest day from exercising.

Supper: P90X Turkey Burgers with P90X coleslaw and leftover quinoa. I like the turkey burgers (ground turkey, bread crumbs, buttermilk, green onions, parsley, dijon mustard, worcestershire and pepper). When I was pan frying them, I noticed they browned quite quickly so be advised to cook them at the highest medium in a pan because it browned quicker then it cooked. They were good though. We will definitely have them again, but the non-fat swiss cheese slices were not good and Mike ended up scraping his off (shown below) and having a glass of milk instead. Then when I cooked my burger I just left the cheese off. The P90X coleslaw (green and red cabbage, jicama, red onion, apple. dressing: fat-free mayo, vinegar, fructose, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and suppose to be caraway seed)was very good..unfortunately I had to use celery seeds instead of caraway seeds. I will definitely make it again!

Well one more day to go with the Menu Plan Approach and then I'll be going to the Portion Approach.

Week 1: Day 6: Fat Shredder Phase: Menu Plan Approach

It's Day 6 to date since we have started exercising and we are on our 5th day of the Fat Shredder Phase. So here it is:

Breakfast: P90X protein Shake.

Afterworkout: P90X Recovery Drink and protein bar.

Lunch: Steak and Arugula Salad. We skipped the Arugula and used Romaine lettuce instead. There's tomatoes, artichokes, steak strips, and balsamic vinaigrette. We both found that the vinaigrette had too much balsamic vinegar in it. All we could taste was the balsamic vinegar and there were other ingredients like dijon, shallots, basil that would have been nice to taste. We will try this again though and modify the vinaigrette.

Supper: Chicken Breast, P90X Honey-Chile Sauce, quinoa, and snap peas with a little corn since I didn't have enough peas. This is the first time I've had quinoa and thoroughly enjoyed it and it cooks so quickly (under 15 minutes). The honey-chile sauce is great and I prefer it warm then cold. We used a little of the sauce on the quinoa and we will definitely make it again. This is Mike's Supper here. This is my leftovers: I'm still noticing I'm not able to finish everything at dinner time. I started off with 6-7oz of chicken, 1c of quinoa and 1 C of veggies. Too much, but delicious!

P90x Week 1: Day 06 Kenpo X

Ready to see some super-sonic kicks and punches that would be feared in any ring or cage? Check out our last workout of week 1: KENPO-X.



This workout consists of fast-paced kenpo kicks, punches and some funky stretch warm-up. Although it isn't the favorite workout for the uncoordinated and rigid (such as myself) - it did make me sweat! It is a much better alternative to riding a boring stationary bike - this one keeps you on your toes.

P90x Week 1: Day 05 Legs and Back

This is an intense leg workout - especially if you add some weight. Some of the exercises feel like cardio - it moves quick. Pull ups are a bit easier (seem to be able to do more of them) than Chest and Back (see day 01) workout. The killer for me is Ab Ripper X - if I am ever going to be able to keep up with Tony, Adam, Audra, and Jason it is not going to be on a legs day! When the legs are dead tired Ab Ripper X performance suffers; the video speaks for itself:

Caliper lesson 101 for Shilleen

So I totally used the calipers wrong when we were measuring the body fat. I wasn't looking at the right guide and surprise I'm actually 30% body fat instead of 35% which I'm a bit happier about but still...I've got a long ways to go.!!!! Hip Hip HOoray!
Bring it! ~Shilleen

Week 1: Day 5: Fat Shredder Phase Menu Plan Approach

Breakfast: We opted for the protein shake. Mike stuck with his berry and banana and I went for the peanut butter chocolate banana. Yes it was good and then I had a side of raspberries.

After workout: 12oz Recovery Drink and 1 P90X protein bar.

Lunch: Island Pork Tenderloin Salad: This was a pleasant surprise. Very colourful and it had a little heat to it accompanied by a cumin vinagrette. Yes we will make this again!

Supper: I had leftover pork tenderloin from lunch so I wanted to use it up. We had tenderloin, potato, turnips and beans. Sorry no picture!

Week 1: Day 04 Speed YogaX

Here it is, 1.5 hours of yoga-x in under 10 min - looks more like cardio!



Good thing you can't hear the sound - there was a lot of painful moans and grunts. As you can see, even in fast forward, we have a ways to go before mastering this workout... ouch!

PS - this video contains an unrehearsed sword fight... Viewer discretion is advised.

Week 1: Day 4: Fat Shredder Phase Menu Plan Approach

Breakfast started off great! Thanks to Mike. He made breakfast today. Turkey Bacon, Chicken Egg Scramble and some fresh OJ. Sorry for the remnant shot, we were so hungry we forgot to take a picture. It was good. We agreed that for Mike's scramble that 4 oz of parmesan was unnecessary so he sprinkled it in the pan and same with mine..

After our mid-morning workout: 12oz of P90X Recovery Drink and 1 P90X protein bar. I'm still liking the recovery drink. Again, the peanut butter protein bar isn't working out for me. I'm just choking it down. Mike has the P90Xchocolate fugde protein bar and I'm starting to sway towards that way. The one thing that is going for that flavor is that it has crunchy pieces in it, which personally I think it has better texture. The P90X peanut butter protein bar I'm chewing away on it like bubble gum. I think I will try putting it in the fridge to see if that makes a difference.

For Lunch: Chicken Salad..It's a keeper. Cut-up poached chicken with low-fat mayo, dijon mustard, green onion, black pepper, some dill and celery...We'll try it again.

Snacks: I personally like having cottage cheese because it really feels like it is filling me up, so that's what I had today accompanied by a yougurt. Mike is alloted two double snacks, he loves pistachios so he picks those from the double list and then he usually choses two single snacks.

Supper: Well it was suppose to be halibut, pesto sauce, wild rice and zucchini ( so when I go to urbanville I will hunt down some halibut and make this supper). I had no access to halibut, so I purchased frozen tuna steaks. Since I was using a different fish I thought tzatziki sauce would work better for the sauce....all non-fat ingredients. I was able to make the vegetable soup and we added the protein powder and my conclusion of bloating when adding protein powder to my soup was definitely witnessed again so from this point on I will not do that. The soup needs some extra spices, so when I make it again...I'll let you know what I did differently. For a carb, we had a whole grain pita, this was the best part of the meal.

All in all, this dinner didn't turn out spectuacular...the tuna steaks were awful, they were very fishy, we couldn't even choke them down. I've had a great tuna steak at a restaurant and it was not like this one at all. So moral of the story, will only buy fresh tuna steak if my husband will let me, which is highly unlikely, because he's not into fish at all and after this experience will probably never want me to buy any kind of fish ever again!!! hehehehhehehe.

Doggy Bags:Mike and I couldn't finish the fish, it really was that bad...it can only get better from here, right?

Week 1: Day 3: Fat Shredder Phase Menu Planner

What's for breakfast? A P90X Protein Shake: skim milk, protein powder, berries, banana and ice. It's good, this recipe is a keeper.

After our mid-morning workout: 120z of P90X Recovery Drink and 1 P90X protein bar. I really like the recovery drink. It feels like I'm indulging it's so good. As for the protein bars, I still don't like them but I'll choke them down because we have them and it's part of the Meal Menu Plan.

Lunch: Shrimp Stirfry: I have to admit right now that I had a little melt down while making lunch..I usually don't ever have to prepare lunch because we always eat supper leftovers for lunch. So for me I wouldn't choose the Menu Planner Method, I would choose the Portion Approach Method. It took me over an hour and a half to make this. I had to cut up all the vegetables for Mike and myself. I had to peel all the shrimp too and to my surprise one bag of shrimp wasn't enough so I had to get another bag of shrimp, thaw that out so that was more time. Also, it's like I'm cooking two different meals at the same time because both of ours require different measurements of ingredients. So I had two bowls one for me and one for Mike when I was prepping and measuring all the raw ingredients. Then I have to cook them separately as well. I ate half of it, then ate the other half about a half an hour later. I'm finding that I'm not eating all the portions so I'm thinking I maybe drop down to Level I or meet into between Level I and Level II. I would make this again for supper with some brown rice or maybe even brown basmati rice. I liked the variety of veggies in it, red onion, broccoli, snow peas, muchsrooms, bell pepper (your choice:red, green, yellow) and water chestnuts but I didn't put them in because I don't like water chestnuts. It had a nice sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and chicken broth. I'd probably put crushed red peppers in it to add some heat next time and use chicken and shrimp for some variety.

Snacks: I have one double snack. I like the single snack options better (so I can choose two)...so I went for the celery sticks and peanut butter and then later 1C of cottage cheese.

Supper: I made the butternut squash recipe as written and surprise it only made two cups....so I gave that to Mike...unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it. The flavor was mellow. I really liked being able to taste the squash. I will make it again because butternut squash is so yummy. The garlic didn't over-power the squash at all. There was some red pepper soup leftovers from yesterday so I was able to eat that. Also, I don't think my body likes have the extra protein powder in the soup. I get really bloated. I just made what was written and I know for fact that the Menu Planner forgot the carb. So for all of you going to make your turkey, gravy, green bean and soup dinner, don't forget to add a carb of you choice from the carb list. Yes we found out the hard way, and we got hungry mid-evening. The gravy....it tasted like something was missing. Maybe it was the fat...ahahahhaha. No really just add some pepper, maybe just a tad of garlic...or maybe just more onion and it would be better. I'll definitely try making it again! I'll let you know what I add.

Week 1 - Day 3: Shoulders and Arms!

Here it is - week 01: Day 03 complete P90x Shoulders and Arms workout! If only we could move this fast in real life - we'd get so much done in a day.



I find in this workout I have to watch my dumbbell weight - if I go too heavy in the beginning, my arms are toast mid-way through. If I pace it right - it is a great work out! The real challenge for me is the 16 minutes of Ab insanity (aka: Ab Ripper X) after the Shoulders and Arms workout. In the words of Tony "I HATE IT, yet I love it"... well, I agree with the first part of his statement, I am working on the second part. I added a new fitness goal to my list: to be able to do all the exercises for the full length of time within the next 90 days! Common, who's with me??

Week 1: Day 2: Fat Shredder Phase Menu Planner Method

Fat Shredder Phase: Menu Planner Method.
We wanted to let everyone know what's it like to follow the Menu Planner Method. This method gives you a nutrition plan for the week with recipes.
It's Day 1 and I was Prepping and Cooking all day. I found that the main meals took a lot of prepping and cooking so I really was cooking all day. Literally I was!

For me I couldn't finish my breakfast....Here's pictures of what I ate today. I tried I really did but this is a lot of food. I'm thinking I'll probably have to adjust the caloric intake for me...come on seriously...I don't need 2400 calories a day.

Breakfast: before:



After:

An 8 egg white mushroom,cheese, and tomato omelet, 120z of 1% cottage cheese, and 1 Cup of mixed berries (strawberries and raspberries. This was too much for me...I really did try.... ***** I will make the omelet again it's a keeper.

Doggy Bag:


After workout recovery drink: P90X Recovery drink. It's worth every penny! Yummy Creamsilcle/orange julius drink. It's good. Make sure to drink it with very cold water. For a super smooth taste, give it a whirl with a hand blender.



I ate a P90X Peak Performance protein bar. I have never been into protein bars. But really, is there such thing as a good protein bar? If there is let me know. I'm on the hunt. ug! The Peanut butter one is alright. I like it because it's not too salty and not too sweet so that's a super bonus! There just wasn't any WOW! factor. Yes disappointing:( I was hoping there would be a wow factor because the P90X Recovery Drink definitely had a WOW factor!

Lunch: Chef Salad: I don't think I'll make this again well with the process meat since I'm not a fan of processed meat and it called for turkey and ham. I substituted artichokes for heart of palm because I didn't have access to them where we live in our little rural town. There was a nice variety of toppings: avocado, tomato, mozzarella, and the marinated artichokes. I would definitely make this salad again but with cooked chicken breast or canned tuna. Oh, and I couldn't finish it again...I'm guessing in a couple days I may have to reconsider adjusting my caloric intake. I have a funny feeling there will be a good chance that I"ll start gaining weight.

Supper: Red Pepper Soup with added protein powder It was good. Just a tip about the red pepper soup recipe is add a bit more liquid like water and either omit the thyme and cumin or add them by taste not according to the recipe because I made this soup a couple weeks ago just to taste some recipes and the measurements for the thyme and cumin were so overpowering, I couldn't taste the peppers. So this time that I made it I completely omitted those spices because I wanted to taste the yummy roasted red peppers. Although it was very yummy, I couldn't finish the 2 cups of soup that I was suppose to consume. Yes I will make this again, it's a keeper.

Salmon, wild and brown rice blend, and green beans. I liked this, it was good. I ended up putting some of the red pepper soup on top of my rice and that was yummy. There was a lemon-dill sauce that was from the menu planner that I made but it was way too lemony so we did not use it. Yes I will make this again! I'm sure Mike is cringing. He's not really into fish but fish is good for you! I'll try not to make it too much. Snack: For level II you can choose a double snack from the snack list. So I chose 30 pistashios. They were good. Looking forward to what Day 2 of the Fat Shredder Phase brings.

Week 1: Day 2: Nutrition Plan for Mike. Level III

P90X Extreme Home Fitness Nutrition Plan
We've decided to follow the menu plan this week and rate the recipes

Mike's P90X nutrition level is: Level III in the Fat Shredder Phase
Check out what he ate today.

Breakfast : before

1 mushroom Omelet, 1 cup fresh strawberries and 12oz of 1% cottage cheese. Yeah that's alot of food. That is a 10 egg white Omelet, enough said. The P90X omelet recipe was delicious...I added some garlic powder and basil and perfecto! Will definitely make again but maybe with a little less cheese.

After:



After workout drink: 12oz of P90X Results and Recovery Formula. Yes it is composed of the 4:1 carb:protein ratio. It's actually quite good. It tastes like a creamscicle. Yummy!



Lunch: Chef Salad: 10 oz fat-free meat, 1 roma tomato, 2oz avacodo, 1/4 C artichoke hearts, 2 1/2 C romaine lettuce, 1oz part-skim mozzarella and 4 tbsp fat-free dressing.

Snack 1: P90X Peak Performance Protein Bar Chocolate Fudge

Snack 2: Pistachios and Mozzarella

Supper: Red Pepper Soup

Green Beans, Wild rice medley, and Salmon. The lemon-dill sauce recipe ( not shown) was not good and we did not use it.

So, why are we video recording our workouts anyway?

That's a good question! It takes a long time (a least for novice video editors such as ourselves) to edit and format the video so it can be posted on the web... is it really worth it? I hope to answer this question below so when I am tempted to curse this camera and back my car over it - Shilleen will be able to point me to this post and perhaps reason will prevail.

Motivation
We couldn't think of any better motivation to ensure we do the exercises properly, consistently and to the best of our ability. Sure, the video is in fast-forward, but you can still get the idea if the technique is correct and or if we are "doggin it". Just the thought in the back of our minds that hundreds of thousands (ok, maybe 10 tops) are going to be looking at these videos and studying our every move -makes us try that extra bit harder.

Proof: We Believe in Showing Our Work
Shilleen comes from a math background where she was taught to always show her work - at the end of this program we what to be able to prove that we did every work out and did it to the best of our ability. Video doesn't lie... unless it is skillfully altered, which skill we don't have.

Remembering the Glory Days
Ok, we are both in our early 30's now, so the real glory days were a decade ago, but I know I'll be saying the same thing when I am in my 40's. At least when I am in my 40's I will have something to look back on, whereas right now I don't have anything to show for my 20's.

Remembering Accomplishing a Goal
By recording our attempt at accomplishing a goal - we hope that we will either learn from the failure, or use it as a spring-board to accomplish even greater goals together.

Report to accelerate improvement
I heard a quote that I believe: "When performance is measured performance improves. When performance is measured and reported the rate of improvement accelerates" - Thomas S Monson. Who would be better to report to than you? We hope we will have some good feedback and encouraging comments. We also recognize that there are some out there that may not be so kind - if this is you, all that we ask is for a generous monetary donation and you can say whatever you want. Encouragement is free, criticism will cost you.

Show Others they Can Do It
By showing exactly what we did with exercise and diet, we hope to help others to learn from our successes, and mistakes - and get even better results than we did. Let's face it, we aren't the typical "gym monkeys" that have all day to work out and look at themselves in the mirror. If we can do it, you can do it too.

Have you ever done something like this? What was your motivation?

Here is today's workout video:
Week 1: Day 02

P90X Day 01 Workout: The Real Story

Why is that whenever I try to accomplish a goal, I can expect the unexpected to happen. We wanted to do this work out regime by the book - doing exercises and eating all recommended meals and supplements to see if it really works. It was a challenging day, but we decided that we were going to start today no matter what.

Here are just a couple of things that happened:

No Supplements
We kind live out in the sticks, so our mail arrives a few days later than most. We had hoped to have them before we started, but after a week - they had not arrived. This is a bit discouraging because we wanted to do everything by the book.

Kids
Shilleen and I have done workouts in the past together - usually the kids hang around, do a few exercises and play with their toys... not today. Check out the video above, we had to take a break mid-way through the workout to referee a cage match between a 1 and 3 year old... it was a good tilt, I must admit.

Head ache
As you may have noticed in the video, I only lasted for about a half hour before I had to bail out with a headache. I know, what a sissy! I don't know what brought it on, but it wasn't getting any better by trying to push through - I'm hoping Tony's voice doesn't have the same effect as Mary Hart's did for that woman with epilepsy... only time will tell.

No Tripod

We recently purchased a new video camera so we could record our workouts, yet we didn't think that we would need something to hold it in place while we worked out. We spent a good 20 min deciding where to put that thing. We finally decided to balance it on some towels (piled on an angle), that were on top of a box lid, that was balanced on top of a 6ft tall lamp. Having a new camera on a tipsy lamp with 2 kids running around... the reasons for my headache are starting to come clear...

Is it just me, or does this sort of thing happen to you when you try accomplishing a goal?

Week 1: Day 1: Toss the Junk! , Chest, Back, and Ab Ripper X

Today,we did a lot of measurements:

Body fat % measured with calipers.
I'm (Shilleen) 35% fat. Yes, I can feel every % of my body fat and I'm ready for it to shred off. I have been like this for four years since the birth of my first child (and since then I've had another baby and I am the same). I've exercised but I know for a fact that my portion control isn't the best. It looks like a realistic goal in decreasing body fat % is 1/2 to 1 percent per month..So, for me, I could drop down between 32-33.5. okay, okay, I will accept this fact. It looks like little by little, the fat will go away. Check out my entry of Calipers 101 I had surprising news.

Recorded our body measurements

Weighed ourselves: I've gained 5 pounds since christmas time. It is true the scale doesn't lie, I can feel it.

Calculated our P90X nutrition level. My nutrion level is level II...I'm a little nervous about that because that's a whopping 2400 calories minumum..I honestly don't think I have ever comsumed that much food in one day, but I will follow what the book says. It says try it and
adjust as needed.

Took pictures of our bodies (oh dear, the camera doesn't lie either).

It was Toss the Junk Day for us!! We will be starting the P90X Nutrition Plan tomorrow. Why? Check out the pictures... we had vasts amounts of turkey dinner leftovers and look at the scrumptious Almond Danish Puff. We wanted to make sure this yummy food was no where to be seen...so it's gone now and we're ready to fat shred our bodies...that's right for me GOOD-BYE dark chocolate (Shilleen's #1 weakness), and goodbye baking (mostly brownies which I probably bake once or twice a month in a 9x13 pan, cookies on occasion) . It's a sad time because I love to bake but I needed a good reason to stop. I have perfected my brownies to the point that it is impossible to stop eating them...I've been baking bread for the last two months and love it because we all know that homemade bread is so much better than bread from the store. Having said all this, I'm ready to BRING IT! I can do something else like sewing instead of baking right?

Good-bye Almond Danish Pastry!

Good-bye Carbs....Well at least for the Fat Shredder Phase.

We welcome the fat to shred off our bodies, pretty please?

P90X Phase I: Fat Shredder: Meal Plan Approach...we want to see if these recipes included in the P90X nutrition plan are any good so we'll try them for a week, and let you know. We'll take pictures and rate them.

Last the workout: Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X

Feeling strong today, sweating like crazy. It was good...of course my divebombers I'm hoping will improve. They are definitely the hardest. My goal is to be able to do 10 divebombers and to do 3 pullups without the chair, and be able to do the whole Ab Ripper X without taking breaks.