Back in the Saddle Again

Well, it's back in the saddle again, starting today!  Finally I'm over the 'break' of not working out.. ... 'bout time!!  The No Motivation Gremlin has been visiting for too darn long. Just had to get my mind back to right on it I guess. I saw/friended a gal on facebook that made an amazing transformation (and continues to) using Beachbody products, more recently P90X - and she completely jump-started my motivation! She's got so much energy and drive and frankly, she's extremely motivational to me.  :) Thanks Kim!

Though today is Day 1 for P90X I actually started again yesterday with a run. The weather was AMAZING so I couldn't pass it up!  I find it absolutely amazing that I haven't gone running for at least 2 weeks and yet I didn't struggle or seem to have lost stamina/conditioning. Same distance, even mixed it up and ran more of the big uphills than usual. .... . and no worse for the wear than if I had just gone last week, so wonders never cease!

So. Stepped on the scale this morning to get my 'beginning' weight. (Like many women, I don't really have a positive relationship with the scale.) I really do try to set my mind positively when I prepare to step on the thing, but it's a battle, considering my disappointments in past! However, for once I was pleasantly surprised!  I am down about a pound and a half.  *Woohoo!!*  Note; even though I have been slacking on the working out, I HAVE kept up with the no refined sugars in my diet, so I believe that has something to do with it. After my initial 9 lb drop (losing the sugar bloat) when I first cut out the white poison and its affiliates I was plateau'd for a while. . . .which, in part, let the NMG (No Motivation Gremlin) in. ..... . but now I'm down a bit from what I was 'stuck' at before.  This could very well be due to losing some muscle this past month ( :< ).  BUT I hope the majority of this is the continued lack of white poison etc. 

It's a fact that too much sugar in the system keeps the body from burning stored fat for energy (among many other things that work against you in efforts to lose weight). .... which I'm convinced was one of the factors working specifically against me in the past. So now that that has been corrected, I fully expect this round of  P90X will bring about the changes that were infinitesimally small on my first round!!  

I also discovered Michi's Ladder, which is all about eating clean - I am trying to stay in the top two tiers on this, definitely for the first 30 days of P90X (fat shredder phase), if not longer. This kind of stuff tends to becomes a habit, to a degree, so once I get going I have a feeling it will 'stick'. Yay!!

I am soooooo ready to BRING IT again!!!!  Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X tonight!!

Hmm.

Okay, I have been slacking big-time.  At some point about a month ago I just started getting away from the P90X workouts. I can't say what brought it about or what the problem is - a combination of events getting in the way of working out and then I didn't get myself back on track. It's not that I don't want to do it anymore, I just kinda hit a wall I guess.  Not sure why. Not sure when I'll get that inspiration back. . .. .

I'm the first to admit that I had a tough go of it, and big challenges (emotionally) when my body refused to respond to all the hard work and effort.  It was harder than I can articulate, and more frustrating also, to keep up the 'good work'  when nothing much was happening. I would see these great transformation stories .. . .but it seemed I was doomed to toil away the same as everyone else without any transformation!  I expected results!  And my stubborn body wasn't having it.

In the time since wrapping my first round of P90X I also learned something new in regard to my hypothyroid condition & my metabolism... . after a blood draw and analysis, it turned out that I was deficient in a certain area that can affect how the body utilizes protein to build muscle, among other things weight and metabolism related .... . . and I've been on an additional medication to correct this.  Coincidentally to this (at about the same time, that is) I also cut out refined sugars. Both of these have been going on for a month now.. ... but while I got these two things under control, the will to work out has been flagging. Greatly.

Who knows what my problem is. Maybe I'm not good at doing more than one thing at a time? Doing no refined sugars produced a loss of weight (all that bloat, I'm sure) at first, but now I'm plateau'd on that even. Not only b/c I'm not paying as careful attention (other than eschewing refined sugar) but also because I'm not working out so much.  So maybe now that I'm used to the no sugar changes it's time to hit the 'gym' again (by gym I mean the P90X gym).

I really have a hard time finding my motivation lately. But I am loathe to get back into 'old' habits. ... aka: eating while watching tv in the evenings ( which =overeating without thinking about it) and snacking too much at night. It's sooo much easier to just. ... well, do nothing versus do something (exercise). ... but the catch to that is that then I feel bad about it (doing nothing). So there's nothing to gain there (except weight, and that's obviously the last thing I want). What's holding me back?!?!

I'm hoping that blogging about it will help me discover my motivation again.  Ugh.. .

Motivation?!?! Motivaaaaaaaaaaation.. .. . .. where ARE you?!?! Please come back. Soon!!