Confessions of a Tea-Addicted Geek

Yesterday my eyes were so sore and irritated to the point where light hurt them, I had a piercing headache and was heading straight into migraine territory. So I wound up exchanging my Sunday rest day with yesterday, not much more I could’ve done about that one.

So today was Shoulders and Arms, ARX. I worked from home in the dark with my monitor brightness turned down low, lol. Can’t wait for my eye dr appt on Sat, this seems to be a once every other week thing now and it’s getting to be a bit too much.

I’m sure people are awfully curious as to how a vegan is fueling her P90X, so here was my day’s worth of meals while at home:

Breakfast: 2 scoops chocolate flavored Vega Whole Meal Optimizer, 1 cup light chocolate soy milk, 3/4 cup of frozen strawberries, and 1 TB melted coconut oil in a blender. Yummy.

Lunch: 1 scoop Sunwarrior vanilla flavored protein (rice based like our upcoming vegan Shakeology, yay!), 1 cup lite unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 3/4 cup mixed frozen berries, vanilla stevia, and 1 TB almond butter–the freshly ground stuff, nothing else added. Pure. Awesome.

Dinner: leftover eggplant casserole, consisting of tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms, eggplant, mashed tofu and garlic.

When I’m at work, it’s usually veggie burgers and salads, sometimes I’ll bring a cucumber, slice it up, and just eat it. I love cucumbers!

Sunday’s workout will be Saturday’s in the morning and Stretch X in the evening. I figure that should do the trick.

Chest and Back, plus ARX! Some nice triumphs, as here’s what I can do now versus last week:

Classic pushups: 10 reg, 12 modified
Military: 3-4 reg, 10 modified
Wide pushups: 12 reg, 12 modified

I could barely choke out one reg when I first started working out, and last week barely managed three.

Heavy pants now at 15 reps at 15 lbs, lawnmower at 15-20 reps at 20 lbs. I don’t have a heavier weight than 20. Decline pushups went up from 10 to 30. I’m doing them slightly modified so I’ll have to adjust so I’m on my toes like the big boys and girls as I can now clearly handle it. I used to HATE decline pushups, figured I could choke out five before collapsing. Now I’m starting to love them.

ARX, made it all the way through the Mason twists.

Not bad, for the start of week two. Next day is Plyometrics, and…I hate this workout. I hope I can learn to love it….

Since my dad was over and we were going nuts with house errands, repairs, and what-have-you, I switched the rest day on Sunday with Saturday’s workout.

And I gotta say, I LOVE Kenpo X! It’s a really fun workout, reminds me a lot of the TurboFire workouts I did. I am still sore from Legs and Back on Friday, so it was a good chance to work those muscles. I wore weighted gloves (yes, I’m nuts!) to give the arms some extra resistance.

Been pretty good with the diet, all things considered. Went out to eat with my dad on Saturday night and went for the veggie black bean burger, no bun, with a side salad. I had a couple of fries, but that was it. I also tried my hand at making raw “healthy” vegan brownies tonight, and damn they were tasty. I used Vega chocolate protein mixed in with a bit of water, raw cacao powder, two ripe bananas, slivered almonds, dates, almond butter, and some agave nectar. I based it off of this recipe online.

Otherwise, the usual Vega breakfast smoothie, lean veggie proteins for lunch with some veggies, that sort of thing. I definitely am eating more calories than I used to and surprisingly I am so far at the very least maintaining my weight. I have dropped some inches since I started, however–so this is definitely working. I’m far more concerned with inches than pounds; I’m already at 126 and wouldn’t want to weigh less than 120 anyhow. Goal is fit into rest of clothing (and not much more of it to go) then carve out lean, healthy looking muscle. Nothing crazy.

My dad did compliment me on my appearance and said if I lose any more, he’s feeding me chocolate and fries.

Tomorrow is Chest and Back with ARX. And I’m crazy enough to look forward to it….

Something I know from past experience: “sneaky lunges” mean sneaky muscle soreness anywhere from 12-24 hours later. You better believe I was tackling the VegaSport recovery accelerator later. I never feel the Legs and Back workout in my calves but oh yes, do I feel it later in my glutes.

I LIKE this workout, both in terms of its exercises and the results I get. If I pair this up later with Brazil Butt Lift, there’s absolutely nothing stopping me. Seriously.

A bit more processed food today than I’d like, more starches too. Had a company lunch meeting and had two small very thin crusted veggie pizzas with no cheese plus my veggie burgers. So not TOO bad but I’ve been in the habit of avoiding bread, pasta, and rice and will continue to do so. Sugars I eat in extreme moderation too.

My father is in town so I skipped ARX (Ab Ripper X) that eve and plan to tack it on either after my Kenpo X workout on Day 6 or for my rest day on Day 7. Rest days are for either yoga and/or stretching, that’s my humble opinion.

Anything new to report? Well, I’m nearly done with week 1 of P90X. Don’t start cheering until I start clearing the 30, 60, and 90 day marks, however.

Bring it!

“Do your best, and forget the rest.” -Tony Horton

I absolutely love that phrase, probably my fav of all of the Beachbody trainer catchphrases. Another one I find myself repeating as a reminder to me as I work out (especially during stretches!) is “It’s not about pushing, it’s about allowing.” Thanks to Leandro Carvalho for that one!

Last night was Yoga X. Thankfully I love Yoga X! I know others feel differently, probably because it’s an intense 1.5 hours of yoga and if they’re not used to yoga, it’ll suck. I’m VERY used to yoga, been doing it on and off again for years, so much of the flow comes a bit more naturally to me than a beginner. The one thing I stumble on and just ignore is the extra plank after the upward-facing dog into down dog. Why? I’m not used to it. I’m far more used to the classic sun salutation moves: plank, yoga pushup, upward facing dog, then down dog. Nothing too complicated there.

My triumph of the night was being able to be in crane for even a millisecond! I can’t recall the last time I could do that. I also can do a full bridge, something which I could never do prior to joining Beachbody.

What workout do I hate the most in Yoga X so far? The last balance pose. I can do tree, royal dancer no prob.

Food intake, I declared yesterday protein day and took in quite a bit. I just had a craving! Nothing too fancy, and nothing I’d do all of the time. I really feel much better when I’m taking in a nice balance of raw and cooked foods.

Side note: VegaSport recovery accelerator kicks ass. Seriously. I went from uber-sore to not feeling any pain the following day. Thank you Sequel Naturals!!

Day 5 is Legs and Back, and I gotta somehow fit it in while my father is in town. No skipping workouts! I’m staying in this.