Day Eighty-Seven

I worked out for another 2 hours today... making that big push the last weekend before my day 90 weigh-in on tuesday. Im so beat, which should help me sleep better, which will be good since I wanna get up early tomorrow and get a hike in before my regular workout.

Day Eighty-Six

I'm gearing up for the next phase of my workouts... I had to get some new running shoes, a heart monitor, a medicine ball, etc. I can't wait till I start running! The weather's perfect, it'll be great to get outdoors and great to change up my routine. For now I have to figure out the specifics of interval training and the best way to get in better shape to run a half-marathon in 8 weeks.

Day Eighty-Five

I put on size 36 pants today! I havent been size 36 in at least 3 or 4 years! I started at size 42 so this means Ive dropped about 3 sizes already!

WEEK TWELEVE

Day Eighty-Four

What a nice day off! Both from work and my workouts...

Ive noticed something odd over the last few weeks. My pants have been getting looser but my weight has stayed the same. Clearly I'm losing weight but gaining in muscle mass. Once I make the transition off P90 and into a lifestyle I want to make sure I keep my muscle mass, I think if I scale back my weight training to 2 days a week I should be able to keep what I have, drop more weight and not bulk up. 

Day Eighty-Three

My workouts lately have been getting tougher, although I am finding it easier to do things like pushups and squats. Last night just for the heck of it I did 100 squats, it killed me! But again I felt great. I can't wait for my last day off before I make the big push for the last week.

Day Eighty-Two

I worked out for about an hour and a half today. That's the longest workout I've had in weeks. I did the 35 min cardio routine 3 times. I'm exhausted but I feel awesome! After the first cycle I felt good and decided to push myself for another cycle. Then after the 2nd I hit the wall but I thought if I'm really gonna push hard this last week I need to go all the way, so I pushed through the wall and did a third cycle, and afterwards I felt proud of myself. No to keep pushing, for the last week and for the rest of my life.

Day Eighty-One

My sleep cycle still a bit screwy, but I worked out at a decent time. I did weight training today... Since the beginning of the program I've liked strength and hated cardio, but over the past couple of weeks I've found that reversing. I'm getting more into cardio and strength seems to be kicking my ass. But I fight through it and keep goin!

Day Eighty

Ten days to go! My sleep cycle had been all screwy since the festival... During the fest I didnt get enough sleep and for the past week I've gotten too much! I fell asleep early (around 9pm) without having worked out, but I got up in the middle of the night (around 3am) and decided to workout then. I got my workout for the previous day in, but then I couldn't go back to bed! I gotta get back on schedule!

Day Seventy-Nine

I got fired today (officially). And I dont care one bit. I can finally have time to concentrate on school, and most of all P90! Speaking of which I was so busy with my internship and then meeting various people afterwards (mostly to congratulate me) that I didnt get home until very late, but I still did my workout. Nothing (not even getting fired) is gonna keep me from P90!

WEEK ELEVEN

It's been a rough and tumble week! I had the horror/scifi festival, I was fired than maybe not than for sure, I got bogged down in school work and other things, but all the while I kept working out. I haven't had as much time as before but now with work out of the way I can make the big push for the final 2 weeks.

In some ways these last two weeks are gonna be the toughest of all. Maybe I've gotten bored of doing the same thing everyday for the over 70+ days but I'm looking forward to moving on. I thought by now I'd be easier but I see now that fitness and health is a lifelong struggle, I have to commit myself EVERY day to make the right choices, I have to live by the recovering alcoholics' creedo of "one day at a time". Some days will be easy, some days (like the last few) will be tough and I'll have to push myself extra hard to exercise or to stop eating when I'm full, but either way I have to keep at it. I've already lost over 30 lbs, that's the most I've ever lost before, but I have to stay focused otherwise it'll be for nothing, and I'll gain it all back like I always did and my story will be just another story of failure. I REFUSE TO LET THAT HAPPEN.

After I'm done with this P90 cycle I'm gonna start running and training for the PF Chang's half marathon, which is in the middle of January. That gives me 2 1/2 months to prepare, more than enough. My focus will be on more cardio, to lose weight, but I'll keep up with the weights so I don't lose the muscle mass I've built up (plus more muscle means a higher metabolism). And I'll incorporate more fun stuff like hiking, racquet ball, swimming, whatever just so I don't get bored.

I'll still have my goal of losing 10lbs a month which will put me at 50lbs lost by graduation, another goal of mine. And then after the half-marathon, I'll start another cycle of P90X and hit that hardcore. But as I've said all along my main goal is to get healthy, make better choices and live a healthier lifestyle. I don't wanna be fixated by the scale and by numbers, I really want to transform my life and then the weight will take care of itself.

I'd say 2 weeks to go, but really this is just the begining, I have my whole life to go!

Day Seventy-Eight

Cardio felt good today, as I'm catching up with homework I hope to work back up to 2 hours a day. But for now the 40 minutes of the program is good... less than two weeks to go!

Day Seventy-Seven

Day off today! Which is good, a day to regroup and recommit myself to P90 and get ready for the last 2 weeks!

Day Seventy-Six

Spent most of the day catching up with my sleep from the festival... This always happens after a festival or long shoot. But the good news is that since I dont have a job I have all the free time I need to get all my workouts in. So, I'll wokout in a bit for 40 mins or sso and then later tonigh I can get another workout in. Hoepfully I can really hit it hard this week and get back to my 2 hours-a-day workouts!

Day Seventy-Five

I got up a little late (I was up so late) that I didnt have time to work out before the festival, but today's the last day and I know I'll have time tonight. It should be an early night tonight.

We were done by 10 and I got home early, but I was so beat I went to bed for a quick nap. I woke back up around 1 am and worked out. It did feel good to get my workout in, even if it was super late! But I did it! 74 days and I havent missed one yet!

Day Seventy-Four

Got up early to work out early, I know I'll have no time to workout later tonight. So, I forced myself to get up extar early this morning, finish some homework and bang out my workout for the day.

And, sure enough I didnt get home till almost 4, so no way I wouldv'e worked out that late!

Day Seventy-Two

Horror/Scifi festival starts today, and I still found time to do my workout.

I had Subway for lunch, a footlong chicken breast sandwich, afterwards I was stuffed. There was a time where I could eat 1 and a half footlongs easy and still have room for chips and soda. But now a footlong is too much! For the last couple of weeks I've been so busy that I really only eat one big meal like that a day, I usually just eat snacks throughout the day (some fruit, a fiber one bar, a cup of yogurt) and that's it, just the one 'regular' meal a day. It keeps me at about 1500 cals which is 800 less than what my body needs, on top of that I burn 500-750 cals in exercise, so that ends up being 3 pounds a week, which is what I've been averaging.

Day Seventy-One

Today was the first time I was able to get in a nice good long workout, the kind I used to do before things were crazy. It felt so good! I was dripping in sweat and I just felt like a million bucks! I can't wait to get back into the groove of things.

I met some people for lunch yesterday and was forced into Peter Piper Pizza. OMG, it was soooo fucking bad! It ruined the rest of my day I was sooo sick! Never again will I eat that crap! I didnt even want it, I tried to eat salad, but it was drenched in dressing so I had no choice but to eat some pizza.. ugh!

WEEK TEN

Well they finally fired me! I'll post more about when I can, but I honestly don't care, it was only a matter of time and for now I can focus on school, my internship at the Museum and most of P90!

The last couple of weeks have been so crazy that I haven't had as much time to workout and there were more than a few days where I ate late, ate too much or just plain ate junk. So I weighed myself and I've lost 31 pounds! That's better than I thought. I seemed to have stalled around 27 pounds but I kept going and now that I've passed the 30 pound mark I can say that this is the most weight I've ever lost and I haven't been this weight in at least 2 years. Despite having a rough 3 weeks, I'm still on pace to lose 50 pounds by graduation and way ahead of my goal of 10 pounds a month.

Now it's time to get re-energized, refocused and make the big push for the final 3 weeks!

Day Seventy

Looks like I got fired today! I'll post more about when I have time, for now it's off to get things ready for the horror/scifi fest. Even with losing my job I still don;t have time today for a workout, Tuesday will be my off day this week.

Day Sixty-Nine

My sleep cycle has been all out of whack, so I'll just haveta work out tonight. It's not ideal but I'm still stick to it!

Day Sixty-Eight

I'm pretty much done with all the work I've been doing for the horror/scifi festival, so I'll finally have more free time and can get back to working out in the morning like normal and get my extra workout at night. I'm also caught up with school and mid-terms so I can use the next week to refocus on working out and eating better. Then I'll make a big push for the final 3 weeks.

Day Sixty-Seven

Was so busy today that I had to make today my off day, I'll workout tomorrow.

Day Sixty-Six

"I pushed myself a bit harder yesterday thanI have been recently, maybe to make up for the last week or so of not really itting it hard. Well, I'm paying the price today. My back is killing me! I need to get my good workouts in but I gotta be smart about it! I don't wanna get hurt and lay myself up for a week, what good would that do? Anyway, time to hit a warm bath w/ epson salt, hopefully that'll do some good. Ironically, the only thing that usually helps is when I work out some more! Hair of the dog that bit me, type thing I guess!

Day Sixty-Five

I violated one of my rules, I weighed myself again. I feel like I fell off the wagon a bit, even though I've been keeping up with the workouts, I haven't worked out as much as I've like and I haven't been as vigilant as I should be with my eating habits, including eating a "grease-burger" for the first time in a long time and eating late. So, I was curious how the last 2 weeks or so have affected my weight. I was glad to see that I didn't gain anything! By all accounts I should have gained alot more, but I think the 40 min workouts and my increase in muscle mass have compensated for a bit of that. Of course I'm not happy that I'm stuck at 30lbs down, but all in all it could have been worse. I just gotta refocus and get back to work!

Day Sixty-Four

Momentum! Working on these two festivals have zapped all my time and zapped my momentum. I've been so busy building and editing the shorts programs for the horror/scifi fest that I didn't start working out until after 3 in the am! I was so focused that I had to stop and force myself to workout again. It feels like I've lost a bit of the momentum I've built up n the last 2 months, but I haven't completely stopped, so that's good, I'm just not as focused as I once was. I've also done some "stress eating" as the last couple of days have been insane. Hopefully after this weekend everything will calm down a bit and I can get some workout time in and refocus my energy on P90. After the festival in a week or so I'll really be able to hit it hard and make a big push for the last 2 weeks of the program.

WEEK NINE

What a crazy week! I spent most of my free time at the Scottsdale Intl Film Festival, on top of this I had school, 3 assignments, a midterm, work, starting my internship and I'm gearing up for the Horror/SciFi Festival. But I still managed to find time to work out. And the next few weeks promise to be just as hectic, but the only thing getting me through is my workouts, it keeps me energized and my stress level in check.

I may not be able to workout as much as I would like but despite everything I'm sticking to the program, NO EXCUSES! No matter how busy I get P90 has to be my top priority, 'cause a healthy life is my number one priority, everything comes from that. 4 weeks to go! Time to do work!

Day Sixty-Three

Tuesday and Thursday are my crazy days, I have my internship early and then I go to work. So i'll have to workout tonight when I get home, not ideal but its what I have to do. I think im gonna switch my off day to Thursday that way I can workout on sunday when I have more time and not worry about cramming in a workout on one of my hectic days.

Day Sixty-Two

It was a crazy end to a crazy week! I had a proposal due, a midterm, a weekend at the festival, gearing up for another festival and Mondays are always horrible at work, but again I made sure that despite all that I found time to workout. And I think its the only thing that's getting me through the whole thing,giving me energy reducing my stress, etc... I can't wait for things to calm down a bit so I can get a serious workout in, go for hike or start running!

MONTH TWO

Its been a great month! Working out went from being a chore to something I really look forward to! It went from something I had to force myself to do to something I had to force myself to take a break from. I've lost alot of weight but more importantly I've gained the other benefits of a healthy lifestyle: more energy, sleeping better, and im sure my cholesterol and blood pressure have improved. And probably the biggest benefit: a healthy outlook on life. My stress is gone im happier and I don't think its a coincidence that things at work have calmed down and in the last week I managed to secure a great internship that could lead to tremendous opportunities down the road. My life's changed so much in the last 2 months and I owe it all to a litle hard work, some dumbells and P90X.

Day Sixty-One

Had my weight in this morning... I've lost 27 lbs! My weight loss has slowed slightly, which is no big deal I did more strength this week than cardio and with the festival didn't have much more time than just doing the regular routine no time for extra workouts. But im way happy with how things are going, i originally thought id probably lose 10 pounds a month, im way ahead of that so im happy. 30 days to go!!!

Day Sixty

another busy day at the festival, but again I found time to workings. Again not as much as I would've liked, especially with my weight in tomorrow, but I did it. I've been noticing that it's time to increase my weights again, its getting a bit too easy with the ones I have.... gotta step it up!

Day Fifty-Nine

Didnt get a chance to blog yesterday since i was at the museum most of the day and then i went to the opening night of the Scottsdale international film festival... although I didn't have time to blog I did have time to work out, not as long as I would have liked but I still did it. I proved that no matter how busy I get I can still find time to workout. The last time I was working out and a festival came up I got so busy I stopped and after the fest was over I never resumed. I resolved that I wouldn't let that happen again. So far so good!