By Golly It's Working

So, I forgot whether or not I mentioned that hubby and I started this new workout regime together about a month ago. It's called P90X, and let me tell you, it's INTENSE! We both had seen an infomercial for it at different times and wanted to try it, and when hubs' gym closed, it seemed like the perfect time.

The program is a 13 week long program that involves 6 days a week of 1 to 1.5 hours of kenpo, weight lifting, jump training, yoga (and I'm not talkin' your momma's yoga!), core synergistics, and much more that you do along to a DVD from the comfort of your own home. Hubby and I both thought we were in pretty decent shape, but we are sweating like crazy doing this thing!

The first two weeks we did really good at actually working out 6 days in a row and sticking to the blah diet (it's very heavy protein for the first 4 weeks which is to help you lose body fat and gain lean muscle). The first week I followed the "meal plan option" where they told you exactly what to eat and in what amounts. We HATED it and no longer looked forward to eating; we just did it because you had to. Plus, my grocery bill for one week was over $200! YIKES! That's almost how much I spend in a whole month. The hardest part of the diet for us was giving up the fruit (we were only allowed one a day) and the carbs (only 1 serving of that a day too). Meat for breakfast, meat for lunch, meat for dinner. How in the world does anybody do Atkins? Oh, and there were tons of veggies too, but I really don't like vegetables...give me the fruit! Surprisingly, cutting out the desserts wasn't that hard.

Well, the next two weeks life got busy and our 6 days of workouts in a row dwindled down to one every other day if we're good and we try to stick by the various servings we're allowed, but for the sake of enjoying life, not to mention my grocery budget, I cut back on how much meat we're eating and added in more whole grains than they say we're allowed and an extra fruit a day. Now, it's a little easier to stick to the diet, but I do admit that I no longer enjoy cooking as much as I used to because I can't experiment with new recipes because I have to be so conscientious of how much constitutes a serving and whether we've already had our quota for the day, etc.

So, where do we stand?

Well, I think it's taken us 6 weeks to get through the first "4" weeks of the program and technically we're only halfway through week "4". Hubby is a lot better about getting the workouts in than I am just because of all the different things I must do once getting home from work (i.e. 2 hours of food prep for dinner and the next day's breakfast and lunch, housekeeping) that sometimes by the time you're done you don't feel like working out. I'd prefer to workout before dinner, but hubs is too hungry to be able to wait until 7:30pm when I'm done and dinner's ready, so that's not an option.

I was getting discouraged yesterday when I took my measurements again and noticed that I haven't lost a single inch in one area. My scale has stayed practically the same. I know I've gained muscle tone because I can feel it and my spine feels a lot better and I have more energy, but the six pack abs, bicep vein, and heart shaped calves aren't coming yet (for me anyway...hubs definitely is!). So, why did I say "by golly it's working, then?"

Well, this morning I went to the dr. that prescribed the medicine that can cause my cholesterol to increase. When I saw her last month it had gone from the 174 I started at 4 months ago to 204! She said this was normal due to the medicine. Well, the good news is today I went in and I had my cholesterol back down to 178!!! I can't imagine what it's going to be when I'm not on the medicine.

So, is my body looking any different on the outside from this program? Not that I can tell. But, my heart is definitely thanking me!