Saturday, April 24, 2010

Rough Week

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you just felt off? Like completely not yourself? That was me this week. I know it was due to stress, but I haven't had a week like this in a long time. I'm 3 weeks away from graduating from business school, and I'm still trying to work out my future plans. I'm definitely close but it's a huge source of stress for me to be moving from my current apartment in May and not having a place to go afterwards. I have no lease signed and I have no clue when I'll start my job. Pretty much, my life is a huge question mark to me right now. All the uncertainty just killed me this week! I'm sure it didn't help that I fell and bruised my knee to the point that I couldn't run. The marathon training has been the only regular thing that I'm completely in control of in this whole time of turmoil!

So overall, I fell completely off the wagon! I hardly worked out, I ate crap (at least by my standards), and I felt LAZY. It was awful! I forgot what it was like to let stress get the best of me. I guess I have made some strides over the last two years. I've been great at keeping my eating on track and always getting my workouts done no matter how busy or stressed I was. This week was different. Ugh!

At least I've recognized what went on and I'm moving forward. I ran on Wednesday and that went well, so I'm happy about that. I'm getting closer to having things settled for the summer, so that helped as well. I even made it to the gym yesterday to do some cardio on the elliptical and some upper body lifting. I have an 8 mile run to get in this weekend, and then it is only one week till the race. I'm really excited for it to be here!

I can't wait to plan my future workouts post-marathon! Anyone have some suggestions of workout plans for me to try? I can always re-do P90X and Insanity!

Have a healthy weekend! Don't let stress get the best of you, like me! :)

2 comments:

  1. just ran across your blog today while scouring the net for P90X tips and ideas while i begin my second round of the program.

    read a few of your entries and just so you know i lost weight at about the same rate (about a pound a week). in your post you mention other people losing it faster. while this is possible if you really eat very little and workout religiously, it's not too common. also, people who tend to lose weight this quickly are generally overweight and out of shape. the shock to their body puts their muscles into overdrive since they haven't been used and abused like that in a while, forcing some very quick gains early on. at least, that is what i find. and since you can apparently run 20 miles at under a 10 minute pace, i seriously doubt you are in that category and so your weight loss is right on par with a "healthy" (and sustainable) rate of weight loss.

    i've had weeks similar to what you mention in this post - late nights in the office, busy personal life, etc. fortunately, i found that in the end it didn't affect anything, to my delight and surprise. i think once you get your body into a rhythm and your metabolism going well, it seems to make up for the lazy weeks. which is probably why you were able to drink all that wine on vacation and still lose weight!

    two things that i find make the P90X experience better:

    1. Sleep! i have historically gotten less sleep than i should be getting. usually only about 6 hours a night. i was forced to push it to 7 hours for P90X because without it i find that my body simply does not have the energy and/or endurance to do the routine correctly. and i had to up my sleep to 8 hours during the beginning of the program because my body was so sore!

    2. Music! once you have the DVD's memorized like i do they become incredibly boring to listen to. in addition, i use songs with a consistent dance beat when doing some of the exercises. for example - i will use Lady Gaga's Telephone during Kenpo X for as long as i can stand to listen to it because the song has the perfect timing for fast, powerful reps that really get me going. it also stops me from slacking and going slow.

    now that i have completed the program i can say that i have seen a major improvement in my body. i lost 10 pounds (175 to 165) and my weight now hovers here which tells me this is my ideal weight. considering i have put on a solid amount of muscle mass i must have lost much more than 10 pounds of fat - probably more like 20-25, while adding on 10-15 pounds of muscle.

    stick with it! it is most definitely worth it. i look and feel great and plan to continue with this routine indefinitely, making changes as they occur to me.

    good luck in the race/marathon.

    -Turc

    turc1656 *at* optonline.net

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  2. Hey A.
    Okay so it's great that you can see what went wrong and that you hated it so much! We all have slip ups...that's not the ISSUE..the issue is not ever getting back on track! but you my friend are way too strong and determined for that!
    So..it looks like I'm reading this about a week late...so right now you should be about to do the marathon, I believe...!?! How exciting! I can't wait to hear how it goes and see what your gonna do next! I vote INSANITY every other day and P90X every other day! At least that is going to be my "game plan" when I finish this round of Insanity. While I am LOVING Insanity and I know the flab is gonna drop off...I MISS weights!! I don't want to see all that muscle sculpting I've been doing over the past couple of years fade away!
    Your last commentor, Turc, had some great suggestions. I am going to try that next time with the P90X videos and listening to different up-beat music. I agree..I practically have every word on the dvd's memorized now...and it is very boring to listen to...so some good, motivating music would be just the thing to make it more fun. That and if I could somehow make the workouts get over in about 45 minutes instead of an hour! There are tooo many breaks in there for me now.
    Anyway, I'll be watching for your next blog post!
    Remember: DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST! oh and...DIG DEEP! :o)
    love ya!
    J.

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