P90X First Impression

Instead of starting the program on Monday, I started it last night. Trey went to a baseball game and I had the house to myself and figured I'd workout. I completed the 50 minute chest and back exercise and later found out I needed to continue with the ab ripper. I'm not sure how long that segment takes, but I'm not sweating it. Earlier that morning, I ran five miles. Pretty sure, I got my exercise in for that day! The Anderson P90X program "officially" starts, next week. 


Equipment 
I didn't realize how much equipment you need to start this program. Yoga mat, normal size chair (not a bar stool), pull up bar and/or resistance bands, dumb bells (again) and/or a resistance bands. There are also other items that are not necessary, but makes life a little easier - gloves, heart rate monitor, and push-up stands. I think our neighbor is going to let us borrow his weights. That would be wonderful. Eventually, I would like to invest in a nice set.


Goals
Like most women, I don't want to get all ripped. My ultimate goal is to get more toned in my abs and build upper strength. My arms are so weak, it's pathetic. Currently, I can only do one unassisted chin-up. How many can you do? I'm sure it's more than one!


Nutrition
I've never cared too much for counting calories, but I figured it would be in my best interest to at least start entertaining the idea, since I'm marathon training + P90X. I don't want to deprive myself of nutrition and I certainly don't want to over eat. Before doing the math, I guessed I needed about 2,000 calories per day. NO. Apparently, I need 2,400! and that's only based on doing P90X that day - that does not include running! GASP! Say I run that morning and do P90X in the evening....I guess I'll need around 2,800 calories. Wow. 


Meals
Later, I'll post pictures of the food we've been eating over the course of the week. The other night, I got my camera out and started snapping photos of my plate. Trey said, "Nobody wants to see that!" And then he encouraged me to continue, since Brandon will most likely start the P90X program. He said, "Yeah, go ahead so Brandon can see all the CRAP he has to eat." Can you tell, Trey is enjoying the food? 

Rainy Day - Window Reading

Yesterday morning, Chey and I met with Krista and her daughter Makenna for a morning walk. We've been averaging around 3 miles per walk. We started meeting once a week back in early spring, but then life happened and our weekly walks turned into once a month walks. Now, we are back on track! Monday, makes it our third week in a row to meet!

We got out early enough and didn't have to worry about the rain, but after Chey and I ran errands and got home, it started to pour. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the house, watching TV, reading books, napping, cooking, and playing. 

A few weeks ago, we discovered our church library. Cheyenne is participating in a summer reading program. She reads so many books and at the end of reaching the goal, she gets a treat from Sonic. Since she can't read, she gets credit if I read the books to her. This is not a problem, since we read at least 3-5 books a night. My little bookworm. 

On the topic of reading, Krista is letting me borrow discs from YOUR BABY CAN READ. Currently, Chey is watching the starter disc. Krista and I plan on swapping DVD's every 4 weeks. Chey gets really excited when she watches the beginning of the disc, but 15 minutes into the video she starts getting distracted. I'll try to capture some video of her while she's watching it. She loves the song breaks and she likes to repeat some of the words. Her favorite words to repeat are nose, mouth, and hi. 

. 

Best Seat in the House

Cheyenne and I are enjoying this rainy day reading books. 

POW!

What did you say to me?

Cross Training with P90X

Say hello to Lemon Parsley Tilapia with Wild Rice and Squash.

Okay, why don't more people around me cook with parsely? Wait, why don't I? This stuff is amazing and oh so fresh. I love it!

P90X workouts start tomorrow and I'm oh so excited! I'm sure you've all heard of it. From what I hear, it's intense. We bought the pack from someone who never opened it, so we got a killer deal. Included in the purchase we got the DVD's, pull-up bar, a resistant band, and a nutritional guide. I found this recipe in the guide and it was over the top AMAZING! I want to stick to the nutritional guide for breakfast, snacks, and dinner. This is the first week, so at the end of the week, I'll step back and determine whether I want to continue this route or not. You should see my fridge, my veggie drawer is overflowing. It's nuts!

There are three different daily calorie brackets:
1. 1,800
2. 2,400 (I think Trey falls in this category...)
3. 3,000

I definitely need more than 1,800 calorie intake per day especially when marathon training picks up, but 2,400, may be too much...Well, to tell you the truth I have no idea. I'm taking the 1,800 calorie approach, but instead of sticking to the lunch nutrition guide...I'm going to eat more carbs than the guide allows that way my calorie count gets bumped up and I get some extra fuel.

This week, I'm not sure how often I will be doing P90X, since I'll be running 23 miles. I will keep you posted. Trey also plans on doing the program, although he may start next week.

8 Mile Run.

Distance: 8.01 miles

Duration: 01:14:57
Pace Per Mile: 09:21

Notes: Watched the movie Timer via Netflix Instant.  Watching a movie, distracted me and helped me forget I was running. I should also mention, the movie was pretty good. I watched the ending after my workout. 

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This is the second weekend, I've had to run on the treadmill. I see it enough on weekdays, I try my best to avoid it on weekends. This time, it was unavoidable. Trey is on call and he left so early this morning. I knew he had a service call lined up and I planned on running before he left, but obviously I failed to get out of bed at 4 am.

So, I resorted to plan b. I ran on the treadmill during Cheyenne's afternoon nap and of course she decided to take a short one. At mile six, she woke up! I paused my workout, got her out of the crib, gave her a snack, and plopped her on the bed (right next to me). She ate her snack and watched me finish my two mile run. I'm glad she let me finish. Thanks Cheyenne! Eight miles done! Who knew the first week of marathon training would be like this?

Side note: Trey is so tired. He's been working so much overtime. We miss him, when he's not around, but we are thankful for his job.

Lollypop Marathon Training Playlist

When I run, I like to keep my energy up and it seems like pop music is the trick. Don't laugh too hard, but yes -- that is Justin Bieber you see on my playlist Haha! Don't hate, appreciate. I go through different music moods, I have another playlist I'm working on that has more of an indie-rock-feel. I'll start listening to that music when I get tired of this one.

8 miler this weekend! By the way, the marathon I'm running is scheduled this winter, so I have several months of training.

MARATHON TRAINING BEGINS

I've thought about it long enough and I've made up my mind to train for a marathon. This is the first week of training and to tell you the truth, it's been okay. I never took a break after the half marathon training, so it seems like just another week of running.

This week, I run a total of 18 miles. Week five is when training ramps up to 27 miles. I'm scared to think about week seventeen....45 miles!

The game plan to have a successful marathon training experience

1. run. Run. RUN. 
   - Over the course of this training I will log over 520 miles
2. Rest as hard as I run
    - Sounds easy. Zzzzz!
3. Strategize my schedule so I can spend evenings with the family
    - Morning runs and by mornings I mean before the sun is up.
4. Eat healthy, but indulge every now and then.
    - Nuts, cheese, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, grains, meat, etc.
    - Have the occasional burger and fries.
    - Start running with snacks.
5. Start planning my long routes now, so I can be better prepared.
    - Google maps I love you!
6. Cross train.
    - In another post, I will go into more details.
7. Create video playlists for those treadmill runs
    - I've rediscovered Hulu. I love it because you can create a video
      playlist so the videos will auto start as soon as one ends.
8. Discover new music and create playlists
    - I'll be sharing those as I build them. Below I posted a song from a band I just discovered. Love it.
9. Focus on distance, not speed.
10. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the journey. I only get to run my first marathon once, so I better make it count.

Garden @ 8 Weeks

I'm ready to eat tomatoes and squash! Patience. Well, the garden is growing and looking healthy. So far, I've been enjoying all the herbs. I wish I could say, I've been eating all those veggies, but they are not quite ready.

A closer look at the tomatoes...

The two tomato plants on the left side are the same type of plant. However, the one on far left I transplanted and used regular top soil and the one next to it, in the raised garden bed, I used compost. What a difference in size!

Baby Girl has a Fever

Today, I'm staying at home with my sick baby. She woke up at 3 am crying. She felt hot so I scrambled and found a thermometer. It took a while for me to locate one because it's been a while since we've had to use it. At the moment she's doing okay. Her fever is slowly going down and she's in her room sleeping it off. 

Wow, staying at home this extra day, makes for a really long weekend. It feels weird. Thank goodness for "sick days" at work.

Father's Day 2010

Trey went on a fishing trip with a few friends from church. He left town Wednesday and got back early Sunday morning. There was no cell phone reception out in the gulf, so I went several days without talking to him. So, when he called and said they cut the fishing trip, one day short, I was very happy. 

For Father's Day, I took Trey to the Love Shack, it's a local burger joint and Fort Worth hotspot. The rest of the afternoon, we spent time with family in Southlake. Cheyenne loved the pool at Uncle Jerry's.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Chey had a chance to see Nanaw




Trey jumping out, from under the water, trying to scare Cheyenne.


We missed Trey so much, while he was away. However, we did stay busy. We went on a group run, we had dinner on the patio at Central market and most of the time Cheyenne was dancing to live music. We also had a blast hanging out with Erin and her girls.

Friday night, I finally got around to watching the Time Travelers Wife. It's been in my Netflix cue for a long time, but I didn't want to put Trey through the torture of having to watch it. I'm glad I watched the movie by myself because it was a tear jerker.

Kiddie Pool

Yesterday, Erin and the girls came over for a summer swim in the kiddie pool. 

It was so hot yesterday, so I'm thankful the girls were in the shade.

Baby, don't drink the water!

Cheyenne admiring Bria's hair

Oh, it's so soft.

Too Cool for School

She's so cool, she wears her sunglasses inside. 

Stress Free Potty Training

Cheyenne is at the age where she is starting to tell me when she needs to go potty. "Mommy, need go potty!" Trey's mom started working with her a few weeks ago and I think it's really paying off. At home, she will tell me when she needs to go. Sometimes she sits on her little toilet and goes and other times she just sits there and smiles. Sometimes she pees on the tile. Great.

She's still in diapers and I don't pressure her or get mad at her when she doesn't make it to the potty on time. I think this is a good approach, especially considering her age. 

I'm excited that Erin's daughter, Bria, is about the same age as Chey. This should help with consistency at home and daycare when she starts working with both of them. So, that's where we are at. I'm hoping that by two Chey will be out of diapers. She is my first child, so I don't know how realistic this goal is, but it's worth trying. I will keep you posted. 

Swimming in Southlake

I think this is the last batch of vacation photos.

Saturday, we went to Jerry and Karon's house and went swimming in their gorgeous pool. Trey did some HVAC work to their unit, that took a few minutes. We ate pizza and all went for a summer swim.

Trey was trying to convince Linda to jump in. She did.

Trey might as well be a fish. That boy loves swimming.

Now that vacation is over, it's time to get back to the routine. Having Cheyenne back in town helps. Vacation was awesome, but getting back to normal life is a good too.

Gaylord Texan

Our trip to a beautiful hotel at the Gaylord Texan

This hotel is impressive.

It's so impressive, the guys took a moment to appreciate it.

The Riverwalk

I felt like I was back in Las Vegas.

Looking up...

Alice in Wonderland Sand Castles

Pretty cool!

Crazy Tall!

An oversized fireplace located in the main lobby.

Linda and I

Cool details.

Linda and Steve

We're Kind-of-a-Big-Deal

Not! 

Linda and I sang karaoke at Hyenas Comedy Night Club

It must have been when I was stepping on stage and grabbing the mic, I thought....How in the world did I get talked into doing this? One name: LINDA!

Okay, it was kind of an inside joke all weekend that Steve would sing karaoke to Linda, since it was their five year wedding anniversary. Which is quite funny, considering he said, "I would rather die than sing karaoke." Since he didn't want to sing, Linda and I sang a duet, in which she dedicated to him. How sweet.

I hope you enjoy this horrible rendition of Mariah Carey's Dreamlover. My favorite part is the beginning of the song when we try to hit a high note. Terrible, but so awesome and liberating. I highly recommend karaoke. Next time, I will be more prepared. Perhaps, I will choreograph a little dance, so it'll be more entertaining.

By the way, you can hear Trey in the background booing. Way to be supportive, honey. :)

I guess the real comedy that night was not the comedians, but our 
poor attempt to sing. It was still fun and I would do it again.

La Madeleine's Basil Soup

Linda and I love to cook and experiment with new recipes. I've had this basil soup that I've been holding onto for weeks. I've been waiting for some fresh garden basil. It was definitely worth the wait. For this meal, I had a chance to use five home grown herbs. Basil Soup, rosemary mozzarella bread, honey cilantro chicken, and lime mint water.
 
We grilled the chicken and bread. We used a multi-grain bread from Central Market and I think Linda fell in love. It was delicious!

Stars Under the Stars

This past week, has been so much fun. Linda and I have been all over DFW - shopping, eating, cooking, and laughing - alot. A few days ago, we watched a movie under the stars at Sundance Square - downtown Ft. Worth.

Linda and I parked our blanket and pillows right in front. It was so cool watching a movie in the heart of COWTOWN.


We watched Where the Wild Things Are 

First Zoo Trip!

Earlier this week, Cheyenne and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was Cheyenne's first trip and she seemed very interested in all the animals.
Snacking on the go.

When she saw an animal she liked, she would lean forward and point. The gorillas and birds were a big hit.