Well, tomorrow is the end of our 3rd week on P90X.  I figured I’d give you guys and any P90X’ers out there an update on how it’s going. 

The Good:

• This week is the first week that I’ve been able to see improvement in my numbers.  We’ve done all the same workouts for 3 weeks in a row now, and starting with week 2, I started writing down my reps and getting a better idea of what I was and wasn’t doing.  Because I’m familiar enough with the videos and the moves, I can really concentrate on my form.  I’ve started using the time alloted to do each different move to my advantage, taking breaks when I need them (as suggested by Tony Horton), and making sure I’m working to the end of the time to get in all the reps that I can while retaining the form.  Writing down the information allows me to make adjustments were I needed to, e.g. using more or less weight when necessary.  When we started the workouts I only had a set of 10lb. dumbbells, but now I’ve expanded to have a set of 8 lb. ones, as well as a set of 15 lb. dumbbells.  I don’t use the 15s very much yet, but I can tell that I’ll be moving towards them for biceps moves and shoulder presses soon.  
• I can see marked improvement in my ability when doing the Ab Ripper X video.  I still always feel like death at the end of the 18 minutes of hell, but I can almost get through the whole thing without having to skip reps and recover.  I go back and forth on this a little bit, because I still have really bad days some days.  How well I perform on the Ab Ripper X video is directly dictated by how well I’ve eaten that day, and how much water I’ve ingested.  If I don’t eat right and make sure I get enough water, I fail during the Ab Ripper X video.  It doesn’t help that we always do that video directly after our other video, so I’m already beat.  I don’t want to change that, though.  My days are so crammed right now, I can’t find a better time to do the videos separately.  Plus getting drenched in sweat 2 times a day isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. 
• According to my scale, I’ve lost 5 pounds.  I’m hesitant to write these numbers online because of several reasons: I don’t want people giving me a hard time about losing weight if they don’t think I need to, and mostly, I’m afraid that writing it on here makes it too real, so if I start to go backwards, it will hurt more.  I can’t see that I will start going backwards, though, unless the muscle gain is so marked that it wouldn’t make any difference.  I don’t see myself gaining a ton of muscle mass because of this.  I’m purposefully doing 12-15 reps of all the muscle building workouts in order to lean muscle instead of building it.  I’m also drinking the protein shake with water instead of milk, which helps avoid building muscle mass.  My weight was an all time high the day that we started this workout.  I’ve gone from 134 to 129.  My clothes don’t fit differently yet, which I didn’t expect.  We’re just a 1/4th of the way through the workout program.  For those of you who are about to flip out on me about losing weight: I’m really not trying to lose pounds.  I’m doing this workout because of my shape, which I’d like to change.  The numbers don’t matter too me as much as my shape does.  I am carrying all my extra pounds right on my waistline, which is one of the reasons I’d like to take care of it.  Not only is mid-section fat purely unappealing, Carrying weight on the waist instead of all over the body is bad for visceral health.  My heart, liver and organ systems will all be effected by carrying extra fat specifically in the stomach vs. all over the body.  So while it’s exciting to see that the scale says I weigh 5 lbs less, what’s more exciting is that the workout seems to be working.

The Bad (or, Confessions of a Not-Perfect Human):

• We skipped Tuesday’s workout this week.  We were supposed to do Plyometrics on Tuesday, but wound up not doing it because I was an emotional wreck.  I hit another speed bump in the road to nursing school.  One of those I mentioned earlier–the kind that dramatically reminds me that I want this Nursing School thing, and I want it BADLY.  I had breakdown after breakdown all evening long that would leave me in a crumpled, teary, snotty mess.  Zack turned on the video right as I was trying to compose a letter to see if I could get the situation rectified, and I hit the mother load of all weeps right at that moment.  Then, adding to the disaster, by the time I finally got the letter finished, I hit send (without saving it first) only to find out that my session had timed out and the whole letter was lost.  I absolutely lost it, and Zack came in and told me that it was okay, we were just going to not worry about doing Plyo that night, worry about the letter instead, and write it together.  (This next sentence really belongs in the “Good” section…) He’s the best husband in the world.  Despite the fact that I was a fantastic and impossible disaster at that moment, he loved me through it, and we wrote the letter again.  I wound up going to bed while he was editing the letter, (exhausted) and he sent it for me after saving it in 4 or 17 separate documents on my desktop.  
• Yesterday I didn’t eat very well.  It’s hard for me to eat as much food as they want me to eat in this program.  Calling the P90X food plan a “diet” is something of a misnomer for me.  I usually eat less calories in a day than they want you to eat for the lowest-calorie diet plan.  Because they constantly warn you against under eating, I’ve been making a real point of eating as much food as they want me to eat.  So I’m eating more, and I’m eating different (I tend to eat carbs, carbs, carbs, [and fruits and veggies] for every meal and every snack.  They want you to eat protein, protein, protein, but no, no, no fat.)  So even though I’m on a ‘diet,’ I have to put a constant effort into eating enough food, sucking down boiled egg whites like they are going out of style.  Friday was a weird day, and I wound up eating not very much food, and by the time we were half-way through Legs and Back, I was wiped.  I had to lay down and drink a glass of juice so that I could finish the workout.  I’ve always assumed that they want you to eat that way for a reason, but last night I felt the very real effects of not eating properly.  Note to self: better effort required.  It’s easier for me to eat correctly on days when I’m home from work.  That’s the opposite of what I thought would be true.  I thought being home all day would tempt me to constantly nibble at something.  Instead, the rush of getting ready for work in the morning, and toting all the food I need to eat to work is the hard part.  I probably spend 30 minutes a day trying to figure out how I can get all the nutrients I need to work with me.  You should see the # of tupperware containers I use in a week.  It’s unreal. 
• The sheer amount of time and effort required for these workouts is insane.  Even though it’s just an hour a day, it is dominating my life.  Every minute I’m thinking about what I’m doing right or wrong.  The cooking, the eating, the grocery shopping and the working out all has to be very well timed.  I find it to be exhausting.  Exhausting, but worth it.

The Ugly:

• After looking at the incredibly hot babes on the screen for an hour a day, and being able to do what they are doing, I start to believe that I look like them.  ”I DID IT!” I think after I get done with a round of Tony Horton Torture, then when I strip away my tee-shirt to workout in my sports bra, I am saddened to find that I am not quite there yet.  I’m always surprised that my love handles have not magically melted away, leaving a sleek and trim midsection behind for me to enjoy.  Unrealistic expectations? Yes. But it’s true nevertheless. 
• Me trying to do a diamond push-up.  That, my friend, is truly ugly.