Video Updates and More

I know it's been a long time since I last updated my Blog....You'll have to bear with me, but life and vacations got in the way. Here's some quick updates. I did get through my 90 days, but as part of the chaos that is life as a Father, Baseball Manager, Husband, Exercise Junkie, and Manager at work, pictures fell to the wayside.

BUT, have no fear, I will take some updated photos from the NEWEST round of P90X that I've started. There was no way that I was going to take time off. I just can't afford to do that. That's when I lose fitness, and end up starting from Square 1. So to me, P90X isn't just a 90 day program, it's something that I'm going to incorporate into my everyday life. In fact, in this round, I'm going to introduce a new training into my P90X workout regiment. Beachbody just release the newest in it's Insanity Franchise called Insanity Asylum. For those who are regulars on the P90X circuit, Insanity is regularly combined with P90X into hybrid workouts. Well, I knew that BeachBody was coming out with a new version, and I ordered it today. I can't wait to get it and work it into my current Round of P90X.

Something else that I also added into my regimen, is Shakeology. I've heard coach after coach talk about the benefits of Shakeology as a meal replacement, but I had shied away from it as I really wanted to stick to the P90X diet principals. Well, 2 weeks ago, I took the step and added Shakeology to replace a meal, and I have to say first hand, that it does what EVERYONE claimed, and I will have specific data to prove it via blood work. I can say this, it does suppress my appetite. That is one of the claims made by each and every coach, and I can confirm this. I would ALWAYS be raging maniac hungry by about 10:45. That's after eating a breakfast at 6am. That was when eating a large protien packed breakfast of egg white omletes. Then, life got in the way, and I didn't have enough time to make the breakfast and I switched over to Slimfasts. Well, 10:45 went to 10am. That didn't hold me over 1 bit. So, I bought Shakology and I don't even start thinking about food until 11:30 or 11:45ish. Then I have a nice sized lunch. I can totally tell the differences. Today, I actually brought a breakfast and will have Shakeology for lunch. It will be interesting to see how my mid afternoon hunger is. With that, I'll be getting concrete proof as to what the effects are on my Cholesterol. I got my blood tested last Thursday free at work, so I hope to have some good results there.

Finally, I've started videoing all my workouts and I'm going to put together some minute and a half accountability updates with footage of me doing the P90X exercises (good and bad). I ultimately started videoing the workouts so I can see where I need to work on form. My hope is that I'll get better on each and every exercise with a push towards perfect form!!!

So Click the video link below and tell me what y'all think!!!!



P90X Shoulders and Arms - Week 1

P90X 60 Day Update

So, my 60 day update is finally here. I'm ofically 2/3rd done withmy program. I have to say that I feel absoltely AMAZING! I'm getting stronger. I'm running faster. My performance is gaining by leaps and bounds. But, I do have to say, that when I took my pictures, I was a little bit dissappointed. Sure, I'm down 18 pounds overall. I've lost over 2.5" in my waist. My arms have gained a half inch in size. My clothes are fitting better then ever. But the part that gets me, is that when I took my 60 day pics, they don't look much different to me then my 30 day pics. I think that I can see a difference in my belly fat are. Sure the round ballness in the gut area isn't as round. But I fully expected to see some more definition then what I'm seeing. I'ts really kinda weird it you ask me. I'll let you take a look for yourself, and post in the comments what you think.

But, have no fear....I'm definitely going to keep pushing play. I'm definitely going to continue to push myself HARDER NAD HARDER every single workout. It's truly amazing how much stronger I am then I was 60 days ago. In week 1, I barely sqeezed out 15 pushups. In round two of the week 1 workout, I barely got 8, then did 10 on my knees. Well, in week 9 I did 25 in round 1. And in round two, I pushed out 19.5 with NONE....yes I said NONE on my knees. Actually, the only push ups i have to perform on my knees so far are the diamond pushups. I am absolutely TERRIBLE at those ones.

And Tony.....FYI.....I did 26 Side Tri Rises......When can I expect you for dinner.....

#BRING IT!

P90X: Week 8 - No Rest for the Weary

As with any good training plan, it's always important to schedule in a rest week. That's where I am today, coming to the end of what will be a great "rest" week. You're probably wondering why I put the word rest in quotes. Well, P90X is extreme. That's what the X stands for. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination. And even rest is taken to the extreme. For one, you take a week off from the extreme weight workouts that you've been mastering over the past 3 weeks. For me, I actually add in more cardio during this time so that I can get the extra calorie burn. And the workout you do twice during the week is Core Synergistics. There's also 2 days of Yoga, a day of legs and back, and two days of stretching. All of these are integral pieces to the puzzle. It allows your muscles to recover after taking a beating.

But you know me, I modify things to fit my ridiculously hectic and crazy schedule. Here's a recap so far:

Monday: 5am run with my running partner Paul. We went out on a different course then we normally do. We headed out 2 miles up the new Twin Peaks interchange. It's a really steep hill, and was a nice increase to our normal flat 3.5 miles that we normally do.

Tuesday: This was my first double of the week. It started out at 5am with a Hill workout with the running group. About a dozen crazy individuals getting together to suffer as one. And suffer we did. The workout was 15x300 up a consistent grade. My target times for each set of five was decreasing at 1:28, 1:25, and finishing at 1:23. Let me just say....OW OW OW OW......1:28 seemed easy, I totally butchered and ran the next 5 too fast at 1:23. I then told the guy I had the same targets as to go ahead and I would try and keep up. And keep up I did, and I hit 4 of the 5 target times. The workout ended up at 5.9 miles on the Garmin and a little over 900 calories of fat SHREDDED. My second workout was Core Synergistics. That's an hour long Cardio Weights workout. OMG. Talk about another round of SWEAT drenching workouts. Over 1200 calories later, I was totally wiped out. So, 2100+ calories for Tuesday was a good P90X "Rest" day.

Wednesday: Well, I screwed this day up. Perhaps it was because I destroyed over 2100 calories the day before. Dunno. I was RIDICULOUS tired. So tired, that I never heard my alarm. I either didn't set it the night before, or subconsciously turned it off without even knowing it. What did that mean?? Well, it left Paul out in the cold. I always give him a hard time for missing, and it was my turn to take the ribbing. It also meant that I had to adjust my schedule. Normally Friday is my day off. Well, thanks to sleep in Wednesday, I am now going to run on Friday instead of sleeping in till 6am. No worries, I'm flexible.

Thursday: BACK to the grindstone of running with the group. I didn't sleep through my alarm and made it to the group run at 5am. Today's workout looked easy on paper. Well, that's the only place it looked easy. It was 4 sets of 800m, 400m and 400m. A total of 4 miles of HARD running. My target times were 3:50 for the 800s and 1:50 for the 400s. I have to say, I hit ALL but 3 of my target times. My first 800 was 3 seconds slow. I had 2 of my 400s 3 seconds slow. But, on the flip side of that, I had 3 800s that were all 5 seconds fast. So in the end, that all washes out. When you add in the warm up and cool down, I ended with 5.5 miles.

So, that leaves Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Right now I have a total of just over 15 miles for the week. Last week, I ran 22 miles. So, I am on track to easily run more miles then last week. Tomorrow I intend to run another 4 miles of the same course I ran on Monday. I may even make it 5 miles. That would take me to 20. Saturday, I'm going to run a 2 mile time trial. The group is running it at 6am, but I may have to run it before or later in the afternoon since we have the early football game. That will be a minimum of 4 miles. That would take me to 24. Then Sunday, probably 8-10 miles. That will take me over 30 miles for the first time in a long time. I also plan on adding in a Core Synergistics or Saturday and a Yoga on Sunday. I really love Yoga. It's such a great workout. You do SOOOO much without doing anything but move your body around. And the stretch at the end is such a relaxing end to such a great workout.

Finally, on the weight front, I did gain a couple of pounds from last weekends binge eating. By a couple, I mean 2 pounds. Not much, but still not the direction I wanted to go. I can say that those 2 pounds are gone. The scale is back where it should be, and I have just a little over 10 pounds to hit my goal. When I close out this week, I'll be at Day 56. Four days later (one week from Today) I'll be taking my Day 60 pictures. I have to say, there is a HUGE difference. I can see new things everyday in the mirror. I'm starting to see the top two layers of ABs, and I'm really starting to shed that fat. I think I have at least 15 pounds of fat left. I'm FEELING PHENOMENAL! It's incredible how strong I feel. Doing P90X and doing Mamma Micheles running workouts are HARD by themselves. TOGETHER, they're even harder. Some would say insane. But that's INSANITY......A totally different set of workouts that I'll probably take up once I'm tired of this. I actually don't see that happening anytime soon though.
And thank you for taking the time to read my journey. If I can help one person attain their goals, then I'm happy. If you're reading this, and are looking for someone to help you attain your own goals, head to http://www.beachbodycoach.com/kidstallyn. I can provide you with free support to help you attain your goals.
Keep pushing play, and keep bringing it.

P90X: 42 Days to Go

That's right, here I stand typing this blog entry with just 42 days to go to meet my ultimate goal of being not only fit in body, but in mind. Last week was an amazing week. It was my first week of Doubles on 3 days of workouts. On Sunday, I did a nice 5.6 mile run in the morning, and after nice mid afternoon rest session, I did a hard legs, back and AB Ripper X session. I have to admit. Where I am in this 90 day session doesn't even compare to the last. I probably sound like a broken record. But, I am 100% convinced, that my attention to detail on my diet plan has made this the success that it has been to this point. I've built some nice meal muscle, and I'm excelling at every workout that I have been doing. I'm treating the food I intake on a daily basis as fuel, and not just food.

With that, I do have a small confession to make. This past weekend, I cannot honestly say that I did a great job on my nutrition plan. Not that I totally went off the wagon, but I didn't eat the way I should have. Friday night, we took the boys out for their 12th birthday to the restaurant of their choice. They chose a buffet. Well, I did eat too much. Plain and simple. And when we got home, I had birthday cake. Definitely not "Doing" your Best.......I totally forgot the rest. I was a little bit better on Saturday, but even there, healthy choices were replaced with higher fat options. I was planning on smoking a turkey that my inlaws had brought with them, but due to the high winds of a storm system that rolled through, I ended up cooking it inside and lining it with bacon. I gave in to my inner Emeril and Pork Fat won out. And then there was the wine with dinner. I hadn't had alcohol Since Jan 2nd. My tolerance was GONE. Not that that's a bad thing. I'll say this, I was KNOCKED out and slept like a rock Saturday night. I slept until almost 8am. I haven't done that in FOREVER!!! Sunday I was a LOT better, getting back to my "normal" eating plan. I only took in about 1800 calories, and by the end of the day was craving a Yoga Session.

So, I popped in Yoga X and got my groove on. First off, let me say WOW! I hadn't done Yoga in a while. It's not been a normal part of my plan due to the fact I need to do it on Mon, Wed or Friday. I just don't have an hour and a half on those days. I did it at the beginning of this round on Sundays, but that got overtaken by my long runs and double workouts. So I was really missing it to say the least. It's hard WORK! Normally in my workout room, it's usually about 70 degrees. Yesterday, it was about 55ish. Our high was only in the mid 40s which is really out of the norm. Shoot, it snowed overnight. That's totally abnormal for the desert southwest, especially here. What I noticed as I went through the workout is how many people complain about the length. I just laugh at that. Do you realize that when you do one of the weight workouts and Ab Ripper X your doing an hour and 15 minutes. Well, Yoga is really only 15 minutes longer. And the really hard portion of it is really only like an hour long, and it's 30 minutes of stretching. It's the Yin to the Yong as Tony describes it. Also like Tony, balance postures are not my thing. But I keep trying to do them, and I get better each and every time. Finally, I managed to do wheel for a full 30 seconds. I have never lasted that long. My Abs ALWAYS gave out. My new goal is to get through the FULL minute with the leg raise. And, oh, when I decide to put my mind to it, I will get it done! To me, failure is NOT an option.

With 6 weeks to go today, I am rolling into this rest week. I threw down a LOT of calories and sweat last week. My goal this week is to match the number of miles I ran last week, but the running courses change. Time to add in some hills. Today, Paul and I changed the route we run. The normal 3.5 mile loop is flat. Today, we went two mile straight out on the new Twin Peaks Rd. Straight uphill for two miles. Nice downhill on the way back. Each time we hit it, we're going to extend the run. I want to get use to the point where we are 3 mile up the hill and 3 back. Paul may not like that plan, but hey, he's going to have to suck it up. :) So, this is the "rest" that all of us in P90X have come to love. Enjoy the extra Yoga sessions, get your Core Synergistics on, and up the mileage. That's my recipe for success. GAME ON!!!!

Day 45: The Halfway Point in X

So, for me, today is officially Day 45, the halfway point of my most recent P90X journey. I wanted to take the time in this blog update to look back and reflect at where I've come. I have to be honest, 45 days ago, I was a complete mess. Back in November I had gotten sick, and that seemed to be the catalyst that sent me on a downward spiral of overeating and drinking. By the end of the year, I had ballooned myself up to 206 pounds. My Belly had started to look like I had Dunlaps Disease. You've seen that on many obese men, when their stomach done laps over their belt. I know, weak attempt at comedy, but I have to make light of the fact that I was heading down a slippery slope where heart disease, diabetes, and general health problems thrive.

So, I started back onto this Journey on Monday, January 3rd. The first week was ridiculously hard. Seriously. I had to take that do your best and forget the rest mentality. Because P90X beat me up. I didn't even get all the way through the first two workouts. I had to stop about 2/3rds of the way through. It was very humbling to say the least. Ab Ripper X....WOW. Let me just say, I looked like a fish that was just taken out of water, who was flopping around on the shore. It wasn't pretty. When they were getting 25 reps done, I was lucky in some instances to get 5-10. You would have not known that I had actually completed a 90 day session in which I started back in May. It was EMBARRASSING. But, I made a commitment to my wife, and to my kids that I would see this through.

Not only did I take on the exercise portion of the program, I went full on with the diet portion. The last time I did P90X, I thought I was the "Food Expert" and I didn't follow the plan to a T. I made my own recommendations, that I thought were "Good Enough". In reality, they were just sodium packed processed messes that were not nutrition. I'm the type of guy that learns from trial, error, and failure. I learned the hard way, that I was not the expert, and that I really should have taken to heart the diet plan. I spoke to my P90X coach, John Cowart, and others that I know who have had great gains, and my wife and I decided to attack the diet plan, using only the recipes contained in the plan. And WOW!!! Did I see changes. In the first week alone, I lost an amazing 7 pounds. Remember, I added in the workouts, but I was not able to complete them fully. I attribute that initial weight loss to my body flushing out the processed junk, and making a switch to the new diet.

By week two, I added in running. My modified P90X plan is different then what most may be doing. Me, I love being outside and running. I cannot lose that aspect of my training. I love running long and short distances. But I also like moving weights around. So I modified the plan as follows, to not only fit my ridiculously busy schedule, but account for the fact that I love running so much.

Monday: 3.5 mile run
Tuesday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Wednesday: 3.5 mile run
Thursday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Friday: Rest
Saturday: P90X Legs and Back or Run, Ab Ripper X
Sunday: Long Run

I had to modify this schedule due to my numerous outside responsibilities. For one, I coach my twin boys youth flag football team. It's a HUGE time commitment. We hold practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with games on Saturday. I incorporate P90X workouts into their training. These kids, are SUPERSONIC X-FIT! I fully believe that my kids are the most FIT team in the league. We are the only team to have 2 double headers, and in our last one this past Saturday, we only gave up a total of 13 point in the two games. In the past 3 games, we've outscored our opponents 82-13. They're fast, they're aggressive, and they attack the ball. Never before have I seen such progress that I have with these kids. I've been coaching in this league for 6 years now, and I've had 8 of these kids over those years. These kids are getting their first dose of P90X, and they don't really realize it. But I digress.....

Back to my results, at the halfway point. Every single week, I documented every repetition, and pushed myself farther and farther. Week 2, I was able to get through the entire workout. Week 3, I increased number of reps. Week 4, I "rested". I put that in quote, because it was my first FULL week of running, and I managed to get in close to 20 miles in that week. Week 5, we switched form Push-Pull to all Push, all Pull. Week 6.....The dreaded sickness hit. It was just a matter of time, but I stopped the clock, rested my body up, cut the calories down to account for not exercising as much, and gave week 6 a do-over. And here I am in Week 7, officially on Day 45. As I write this, I'm sore. I've had some AMAZING workouts. I did my first double this week. On Sunday, I went out for a 5.6 mile run. I then came home, fueled my body, rested for a few hours, and then later in the afternoon did a KILLER leg workout.

On Monday, I did my standard 3.5 mile run. On Tuesday, I woke up at o'god early and met with my running group. I hadn't met with them in over 6 months. And booy was I lucky to pick yesterday as my "comeback" day. Normally during a weekday run, I never go much more then about 4 miles. Imagine my face when Mamma Michelle, our Coach Extraordinaire, handed me the piece of paper documenting the workout. I had no idea before hand what was in store. Basically, on the schedule sheet, it just said "Short Intervals". Well, here's what we did:

4x200m - 48, 47, 48, 46 ~6:15/mile pace
3x1000m - 4:38, 4:46, 4:46 ~7:38/mile pace
2x400m - 1:53, 1:48 ~7:40 pace
1x1mile 15sec on 15 sec jog - 8:25

All I can say is WOW. My legs today are tired, lacking energy, and SORE. But that wasn't my only workout. I did the Double. I had Shoulders, Chest, Back and ARX on the docket. And let me just say, I nailed it!!!!! ARX, I am no longer floundering like a fish out of water. I'm hammering EVERY SINGLE exercise. Yesterday, I successfully managed 48 mason twists!!! New League Record!!! My weight, I'm down 17.5 pounds. I'm only 14 pounds away from my goal weight. My body has lost CRAZY amounts of fat, built some lean muscle, and is NOT the same body that I was 45 days ago: physically AND mentally. Seriously, it's absolutely AMAZING where I've come in just 45 days, and I cannot wait to see where I am after 90!!!!! It's moments like these, that keep me motivated and pushing myself to new heights.

Remember, KEEP PUSHING PLAY and DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST!!! Progress will come as long as you BRING IT!!!

P90X Week 6: The Incredible Shrinking Man

Talk about complete and total MOTIVATION!!! The say that a picture is worth a thousand words. My 30 day pictures were pretty amazing. And gave me a HUGE motivational boost. But, I'm an engineer. I need numbers and data to make sure that things are going right. I've actually stopped weighing myself everyday. It was driving me insane, and I didn't want to get all over myself for seeing a half pound increase. So, I started a "Biggest Loser" style weigh in. I'm now just weighing myself once per week. Let the weekly drop in weight be a big surprise. I was exstatic when I saw my 189.2 on Wednesday for my last blog post. It's been a really long time since I've been under 190, even if it's only .8 pounds. My ultimate goal is to be around 175 by the end of this round, and have some amazinly ripped abs. I've run a total of 5 marathons, and I can honestly say that every one of them I was overweight, and no where near my goal weight. I want to run another marathon, but I will not do it in the 190s. I won't put myself through that. It means I'm not ready to lay down a Boston Qualifying time.

And I'm well on my way and to get back to the data, imagine how far my confidence soared when I saw these measurements in just 3 weeks.

Measurements in 3 weeks:

Neck 14.5 to 14
Shoulders 46 to 44
Chest 38 to 37
Waist 37 to 35
Abdomen 36.5 to 34! SERIOUSLY 2.5 INCHES!!!!
Hips 40 to 38
Thigh 24 to 23
Knee 15.5 to 14.5
Ankle 9.25 to 9
Arm 12.5 to 13
Forearm 10.5 to 10.25
Wrist 6.75 to 7

To me, it's totally UNREAL how much my body is changing right now. Add up all those measurements, that's 10.25" of fat OBLITERATED off of my body in just 3 weeks. My metabolism must be flyng through the roof right now. Seriosuly, I cannot remember a time where I've made a body transformation like this. All I have to say is that, I cannot wait until until I take those 60 day pictures. Will I recognize that new guy in the pic. Will I have some abs showing through. Who knows, only time will tell and with the momentum I've built right now, there's one thing that's for certain. I will be pushing play each and every day. And I will be dropping some sweat drenching workouts that will obliterate fat. Lookout peepz......The KID IS EN FUEGO!!!!

P90X Week 6: The 'Do-Over'

Well, it was bound to happen. As much as I tried and tried, I ended up getting sick. A wicked head cold that lasted an entire week. I had just come off a high on Sunday running a 10 mile course that was 5 miles out on a steep uphill, and 5 miles back with the downhill. Amazingly, I felt great on the run. I was at the highest of highs. I had climbed that mountain that Rocky Balboa conquered in Rocky 4. I was at the top, yelling DRAAAGO at the top of my lungs. Then, Sunday night kicked in. I got little to no sleep. Twitching away like my legs had some more running to do. Then, on Monday night, even worse. I didn't fall asleep until 1:45am. Needless to day, my running took a huge hit. I ran on Monday, but it was hard, and I felt like crap. By Tuesday, my body had run down, and I had no energy to even consider working out. I had that scratchy feeling in my throat, and I knew it was over then. I started loading up on vitamins and orange juice, but nothing was going to stop the onslaught of misery that would be my next week. My head felt like it was going to explode. On Thursday, I did my Tuesday workout. I pushed my way through it, but it was exhausting. That was it for workouts for the week. Saturday, I coached my football game, and immediately hit the baseball fields to grade talent for the upcoming majors draft, of which I'm one of three managers. By Sunday, I thought I had turned the corner, but I was soooooo wrong. Monday was just as brutal, but by the end of the day I had felt the break I needed.

It was then and there that I made the decision, to completely throw out last week, and give week #6 a Do-Over. In the past, I would have completely gone into a funk of how I screwed up my workouts. Not this time. This time, I have the resolve and determination to KEEP THE TRAIN MOVING FORWARD. You have to keep your eye on the prize. And so yesterday, I re-did that week 6 Shoulders, Chest, Tris and ARX! I did it with passion and vigor. I pushed out more reps on almost every single exercise. And on ARX, my abs have improved so much, that I can not only get through every exercise with good form, there are many where I can do extra in the allotted time!!! I'm absolutely LOVING my progress so far.

Finally, this morning, I was rewarded with a HUGE mental victory. When I stepped on the scale, I had left the 190s, and broken into the 180s. Sure, it's 189.4, but that's STILL less then 190! What that means is that I've lost a total of 17.2 pounds along this journey in 37 days! That's HUGE!!!! It also means that I've only got 14.4 pounds until I reach my final goal of 175!!! Man, that will be a GLORIOUS DAY WHEN I GET THERE!!! AND I HAVE THE RESOLVE THAT I WILL GET THERE!!!!

I'll close with this. I'm not a personal trainer by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to be a fit guy, who has a healthy life. If you're motivated by my story, follow this blog, and don't hesitate to post comments if you have questions. I would love to help you meet your fitness goals.

http://beachbodycoach.com/kidstallyn

P90X Week 5: Muscle Confusion

WELCOME TO WEEK 5!!!! Week 5 is where @P90X takes you deep into muscle confusion territory. After a nice rest week, I've come into week 5 with a completely new refreshed view of my progress. Last week included some pretty amazing milestones.

First, it marked the 30 day mark. @P90X and @BeachBody both tweeted how have you done on your New Years Resolution after a first month. Sadly, you will find a LOT of people who have fallen off the fitness bandwagon. It's where I hope this blog will help those who are wavering, to stay on the program, and Keep Pushing Play. I'm also on a TeamBeachbody message thread, and I've noticed a LOT of people who have left the message thread. And we were just one third of the way through. So, I'm adding to my new years resolution to help others meet they're own goals. So, in my excitement, I tweeted to @P90X, the link to my blog, and my 14.5 pound weight loss! Amazingly, they re-tweeted me, and my Blog STATS went through the roof! Thank you so much for all of you who made comments or sent me feedback. First off, yes, I am a TeamBeachBody Coach. Yes, I know ALL about Shakeology. I am a part of an AMAZING team called Team Sixpack, and we are ALWAYS looking for people who are interested in helping others meet their fitness goals. For me, my Coach John Cowart (@JohnDCowart on twitter) has really helped me in areas where I've been lacking. For me, that's ALWAYS been nutrition. For everyone NOT seeing huge weight loss, and getting frustrated, I would first do a deep dive into your daily caloric intake. I can say first hand, I thought I was doing it right, but in the end, everything I was "choosing", ended up being processed and full of sodium. These foods are NOT on the list, and they are going to compromise your results. Sodium is one of the HUGE killers of any diet plan. In fact, the FDA has implemented new guidelines regarding how much sodium is recommended, and I think they're even double what we should have. I've tried to keep my sodium intake around the 1200mg levels, and I am seeing amazing results so far!!!! Just take a look at my week 4 post that includes my 30 day comparison pics from week 1. 14.5 pounds over the first 30 days is pretty amazing.

So, this week we went from PUSH/PULL to ALL PUSH, ALL PULL. Muscle Confusion. Your muscles have no clue what's coming up next. My chest....WIPED OUT. My arms......BLASTED. My ABS.....OMG! On Thursday I had my best AB Ripper X session yet. First off, I did 45 Mason Twits. HUGE goal of mine is to be able to get through them all, including the OT that Tony does. But, what I'm proud of most, is the fact that I was able to get through 23 of 25 of V-Up Roll Ups with perfect form!!!! Those have always been my Achilles heal. I finally got to the point in week two where I could come up on the pulse up. From there, it was my goal to increase the number of pulse ups EACH AND EVERY TIME. It's that personal goal setting that's going to get you through each and every workout.

Finally, I had a SIGNIFICANT amount of running during this week. Monday and Wednesday were great days. I managed to get my running partner to get his butt out of bed and meet up for that 5am run. Thursday, in 19 degree record setting cold, I bundled up like the stay puffed marsh mellow man and did my 3.5 miles. FINALLY, what I'm most proud of, on Sunday, I met up with my old running group and went out for a 10 mile run. This run was like no other. In our neighborhood, we have a new road that opened up a few months ago, and it included a 5 mile paved running path that's off the road. From where we start, it's 5 miles of uphill fun. I knew that I needed to get 10 miles in, and I knew that if I didn't running 10 miles by yourself was going to be really difficult. So, I set out with my group, and when I got to the top of the 5 mile hill I was absolutely AMAZED at the pace I was able to keep. Basically, we ran about a 9:11 pace heading up the hill. WHA WHA WHAT! And this was no easy uphill! This was a CRAZY Supersized X-HILL!!! For your reference, here's the GPS track of the out and back course with elevation.

And let me just tell yahs......DAAAAYYYYUM!!! My legs are MEGA sore today!!!! But, you know.....It hurts so good, because I know that I'm making progress and dropping pounds of fat with each and every workout I do. Last week, I lost ANOTHER 1.9 pounds, and am down a total of 16.4 pounds after completing Week 5. So, if you ever need motivation, send me either a message on Twitter (@kidstallyn), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kidstallyn) or email (kidstallyn@gmail.com). I may not know everything in the world, but I have made enough mistakes to know quite a few thing NOT do do.

Keep Pushing Play and Stay Motivated!

P90X Journey Week 4: To Rest and Recover

So, for those who follow P90X, we all know how important those rest and recovery weeks are. After three hard weeks of going balls to the wall, it's a really good idea to take a respite, and let your muscles recover. That's what my last week was all about. Let me qualify this though....It doesn't mean that you should go out and totally forget those new eating habits that you've worked so hard in establishing. It doesn't mean that you become a couch potato for a week and sit there surfing TV channels while downing a bag of chips, beer and Pizza. That's not what it is at all.

P90X has designated workout rituals specifically made for that week. Two rounds of Yoga. Two Rounds of stretching. Cardio. And two rounds of Core Synergistics. Honestly, I'd totally forgotten what a great workout Core Synergistics actually was. And so did my abs.....my arms....and my shoulders. Just call it Cardio Abs.

To follow onto that, I added what would be my longest week of running mileage to date. After my 8 mile Sunday run, I logged a total of 22 miles for the week. I also enjoyed the loss of another 1.8 pounds. Making my grand total fat shredding for the month of January, 14.5 pounds!

Talk about a HUGE motivational factor. To see the scale down to 192.1 pounds was an absolute MENTAL victory. It totally showed that when you follow a plan to a T, you can make gains. Furthermore, I have so much more energy then I have in the past. My runs in the morning are strong and fluid. My times, are coming down in average per mile. What I used to run in 34-35 minutes, I'm now consistently doing in 31s.

I'd figure I'd leave you with a little picture of my progress, down 14.5 pounds. Don't mind the horrifically white skin. It's 19 degrees outside in Arizona as I write this, so I don't see myself getting any sun anytime soon, but this is my day 0 vs Day 30 photos. I really wish I had taken measurements on Day 0, but I totally spaced it. I did take them for Day 30, so when I put of the Day 60 pictures, I should have an accurate measure to what I have shed to date.

P90X Journey Week 3: I Am Ironman

Week 3 for me wasn't the mental test that week 2 was. On my last update, I posted about the mental challenges I was going through with respect to all of the evil negative diet influences. Seeing all of those beer and pizza commercials during the Football playoffs were killing me. Seeing my favorite candy on sale for buy one get one free, could have put me in a sugar induced coma where I'd be lying on the floor with drool coming out of my mouth, and maybe a lemon head friend stuck to my forehead. But it didn't. I made it through the week. I conquered. I overcame. And I made HUGE strides. When I woke up and saw that email from my running partner telling me that he wasn't going to show up at am for our run, I made a point to go out there and run harder. I ran 8x400m interval sprints up a pretty nice hill. While he was deep into slumber, I was out there working my ass of to get stronger.

Tuesday I did my final Chest and Chest workout for phase 1. Looking back at the workout logs, it's pretty amazing how far I've come in 3 weeks. I look back at week 1 were I couldn't even finish the entire workout, to where I was Tuesday night, totally drenched in sweat. I'd managed to up my push ups in ever single category. I'd done more Lat Pull downs then the previous 2 weeks. And I got back to LOVING the burn. And then I sat down for a little more motivation to watch Biggest Loser. And seeing the Twin brothers gain 9 pounds EACH totally made my hard effort even that much better.

On Wednesday I convinced my running partner to quit slacking and get out for that 5am run before work. When it came time to make the decision to turn for the 2.8 miles, or extend to 3.5 miles, I casually looked at him and said.....we're going longer today.....He grimaced at me, but then quoted in true fashion that it was his punishment for wussin' out on Monday. With a little laugh, I said.....how he had read my mind. But when we were done, he felt better about his efforts, and I managed to keep up to my goals of increasing my mileage each and every week.

Thursday came to my most favorite workout of the week. I absolutely LOVE anything that has to do with biceps. Tony Horton calls it the glamor muscles. I 100% agree. And I totally BROUGHT IT. I upped my curls from 15 to 17.5 pounds, and still did the 15 reps, with the last 3 being pushed to failure. By the end, I was totally wiped out. I could barely lift my arms.

With Friday being my designated off day, I rolled into a busy Saturday that started with my sons Flag Football game, of which I'm the coach. This is the point of the blog where I get to divert attention from my goals to my sons. We started off our season 2-0, with two very impressive wins in our double header debut. We had some high hopes going into week 3, but we fell quite a bit short against the best team in the league. We didn't have our A game going on, and it you want to beat the best, you have to up your game and play your best. So, at 2-1 we came into Saturdays game against a team that we lost to last year, but a game that was by far the most exciting game I'd ever coached. Last year, down by 6 points, we had the chance to score the winning TD with about 45 seconds to go. We fell short that day, but the kids sure played their hearts out. This year, as if deja vue, we come down to the final 45 seconds of the game with 1 last ditch chance to tie the game. But this year we had the inner fortitude to move the ball down the field, methodically and score a the game tying TD with 11 seconds left on the clock, on our FINAL down. After failing to convert the extra point (pass called incomplete by the refs) we went through not just one but 2 overtimes. the 2nd overtime is a 2 point shootout. You get one play in an attempt to score. Our defense came up HUGE and we shut them down in their opportunity. When it came time for our chance, I called a quick timeout to talk it over with out offense. I made a crucial switch in personnel that ended up being key. I split up my two best receivers to opposite sides of the field. This split up their double coverage. I used my best player as a decoy, and had my QB pump fake to him. Everyone bit enough on the fake, that it gave my son Dylan the extra step he needed to clear his coverage. My QB made amazing throw and my son Dylan made a catch, outstretched on the sideline of the end zone to complete the catch for the win. I couldn't believe we pulled off the victory!!! It was HUGE!! There had to be 150 people watching the game at that point. The next teams who were to take the field, all their parents. All our parents.....Random people at the park. It was AMAZING. And to be honest, I credit P90X training giving these kids the strength to get through a game like that. I incorporate P90X moves into their practices. And it's helped with speed and focus that's for sure.

So, coming off a high like that, I went out for an AWESOME 4 mile run that afternoon. I was still so jacked up, that each mile split got faster and faster. My final mile split was 7:45. We finished off the night with a little Super Hero action of Ironman. And after a game like that, and a run like that....I truly felt like I was Ironman!

Sunday I went out for a nice easy 6 mile run. Managed to get in 17 miles for the week. I'm slowly ramping up the miles each week, so that when my 90 days are over I can roll right into half marathon training. I want to be lean and strong when I get there in April. Can't wait to get there. Larry Fitzgerald lives by three words. Faith, Focus, Finish. I've adopted these three words to help me get better each and every day.

So, until next week: Work hard, and Keep pushing play!

P90X Journey: Week 2 In the Books

P90X week two is officially in the books after yesterday. Week one came in kinda like a lamb with the workouts, but week 2 I really kicked up the intensity. As you may remember, in week one I was unable to actually complete the workouts in full. Talk about epic fail. If it weren't for the fact that I had lost 7 pounds, it may have been a major setback in my mental aspect of training. And that's what really fueled me for the week 2 road ahead.

As I started into week two, coming off the emotional high that I had lost so much weight, I was really looking forward to so good hard workouts. Monday, was an early morning 3 mile run. I took that one pretty easy, but even in that, I marked each mile and got subsequently faster on each split. Tuesday was chest and back day, for this one I really worked hard. So hard, I went to complete exhaustion. I lowered the weights, and went for total quality on each and every exercise. Focusing on form. The same held true with AB Ripper X. Did get the full 25 on several exercises, but my form was good on the ones I was able to do. And mason twists, my arch enemy exercise.......30. I had to stop at 23, but I was able to bang out 7 more after a little rest.

Wednesday, I got out for my morning run. I set the tempo nice and easy, but found myself going faster and faster. It was weird. Negative splits again. ended up running around 8:15/mile by the end of the run. Not sure where that was coming from, because lately it's been a struggle to get the legs moving at anything but a slow speed. Maybe it's the decreased weight loss that's making me faster....who knows. All I know, it's really hard to get out of bed in the AM, but I'm still doing it.

Thursday was shoulders and arms. One of my personal favs in the P90X library. I absolute love working biceps. Big fan here. Again, I worked to exhaustion. I push so hard, my arms were screaming for a little Results and Recovery drink post workout. Well, they got their wish because they earned it.

Friday was my designated off day. Slept in till 6am, and that was such a nice reprieve. Saturday I did another 3 mile run. This time, the splits were even faster then the previous 2 runs. Again, not sure where this is coming from, but I like it.

Sunday is my designated longer run. Sunday morning, I didn't feel all that great. Not sure if it was too much coffee or what, but boy....My body was having some disagreements with me. So, needless to say I didn't run in the morning. By 2pm, I was totally dreading lacing up my shoes. But I went ahead anyways. My son was really pushing me to get going because he wanted to ride alongside. So lace up the shoes I did and we started out on the 3 mile loop. Once I got going my legs really felt in tune, and my body started to feel better. Totally crazy! At my normal turning point of the 3 mile loop, I made the decision to take it a little longer....and so I lengthened my run, and turned up the speed while my son road on home. I cranked up the gear to about an 8 min/mile pace. In all, I ran 3.8 miles. Not as long as I had initially intended on the grand schedule, but longer the the 3 miles my brain had settled upon. And when I got back and took a shower afterwords, I felt like a million bucks.

And that takes me to this morning. I got up at 4:15am to get ready for my 5am run with my running partner. Well, shocking news here, my running partner decided to bag the workout (again with another lame excuse) and not show up. So, what did I decide to do....Well, I kept it close to home by doing quarter mile hill repeats. The uphill segments I ran in around 1:45s. The downhill back, I ran in 1:41 as my fastest. Yeah, that's between a 6:40 and 7 min/mile pace. HELL YAHS!!! I kept telling myself during the workout, as Paul slept in, I was getting stronger, with each and every step. And I kept throwing in there, LAST CHANCE WORKOUT!!!! Yes, yelling at myself Biggest Loser Style!! Why??? Because today is day 15. It's weigh in Monday to see how much weight I had lost over the last week. And with each beep of the scale I kept wondering in my head if I could trhow down another 7 pounds. Well, it wasn't a 7, but it was an equally good 3. Today I weighed in at 196 pounds. That's a total weight loss of 10.4 pounds over 2 weeks, or 5.2 pounds per week. Not too shabby in my mind. And let me just tell you, this was a difficult week in training my diet. Holy crap have I been having cravings!! Probably one of the worst weeks ever. Seriously, I think that pizza commercials were put on TV to torture me. And then there's all the beer ads during football playoffs. DAMN YOU!!! And wine.....COME ON MAN!!! And finally, it was that late night run to Walgreens to get the kids some poster board to make fund raising signs for a community garage sale. Seriously....did EVERY candy have to be on sale that night. Well, I passed the test. I didn't buy any candy. I didn't buy any beer or alcohol. I didn't eat a truck load of pizzas. Not even a single whiff. It was a huge test in what I'm going for. It just means that when I get to where I want to be, that I will have earned it. But in moderation. Right now is no time to take steps backwards. Right now I the time to keep taking steps forward. Progress to the body that I know I can have. I have to make short term sacrifices if I want to make long term goals. Yes, I can have Pizza again someday. But not right now. Yes, I will be able to throw down a cold one or a glass of wine. But not right now. I need to cleanse my body of all the daemons that got me to where I am. It's all about being healthy.

As I close this out, I remind everyone.....Do your best and forget the rest.....and BRING IT!!!!

2011 Is a New Year: P90X Week 1 Complete!

That's right, 2011 is a New Year with new goals. One of my goal is to take this fitness stuff serious. Why is it that I continue to let my mind take over and rule my non-activity? I don't know. But that's how the year ended. Making up all kinds of excuses as to why I shouldn't work out. I was at a high point closing out October, and was on a roll in November. But that sickness at Thanksgiving threw me a one two punch where I took several steps backwards. Mentally, I shut down the workout routines and got plain and simple lazy. Everything that I had worked so hard for the previous year, totally wiped out. I ate all of the wrong things, drank lots of alcohol, sodas, and started back onto the candy routine. My weight rapidly increased and I stopped looking at the scale. My wife saw the spiral that I was getting into, and she basically said enough is enough. You've got to get back into the habits and routines that you'd tried to establish before. She talked to another friend of mine who was doing P90X and he mentioned that, when you follow the diet religiously, that you will have amazing results.

Now, I love P90X. The workouts are amazing, but the diet for me, was really hard to follow. I didn't use any of the recipes, and I thought I could do it myself being the super smart engineer that I was. It's just food right. Well, my wife, after her talk with Jason, was dedicated in helping me achieve my goals. 206.4 was not anywhere either one of us wanted me to be. My problem is, when I'm inactive.....I gain weight. I look at a doughnut, I gain 5 pounds from the smell of all those carbs in it. That's just how my body rolls. And speaking of rolls.....well.....Yes, I was starting to get that fat belly. Not cool in a bathing suit. So, on Saturday Jan 1st, my wife and I sat down and we went through page by page of the Nutrition Guide. We first determined my daily calorie calculation. We settled on the low end of Level 2 for phase 1 which was 2400 calories. We used the portions to come up with that first week menu. Sure it was a lot of work. But when we went through all of the ingredients to build a shopping list, we were pretty surprised at how much we already on hand. Sure I didn't have egg whites, things like that. As I said before, I followed the diet, but I used my engineering judgment. Instead of doing 8 egg whites, I use 4 eggs. Volume is about the same. Unfortunately, the fat count is NOT!

So January 3rd, I started my next round of P90X with an emphasis of leaning out and losing about 30 pounds. I want to go from that nasty looking 206.4 to somewhere around 175. Honestly, that would be a GREAT weight for me. It's not near my lower threshold of being "healthy", but it's where I think I will be the most comfortable. I really don't think I will ever see that 143 number that comes up in calculations. But, 175 is also something I haven't seen win WELL over 20 years, and it's 3 pounds below the 178 upper range. So my first goal is to start there. When I get there, I know everyday things will be so much easier. Carrying 30 less pounds will have that effect.

That's where I come to the Week 1 results. Let me preface this by, WOW. It's amazing how much fitness you can lose in a 6 week period. Or should I say...DAYYYUMMMM!!!! I lost a LOT! Push-ups were hard. Pull Downs on my Bowflex dropped 20 pounds from where I was before. I didn't even make it through my first two workouts, and I was ridiculous sore after both of them. And as for running. I didn't get in as many days or miles as my mind had planned for. But with that, I followed the diet. Measuring and weighing EVERYTHING! I ate a hot breakfast of 8 egg whites with some varying flavor every morning. Spinach Scramble HIT. Cheese Scramble HIT! Every single recipe from the P90X library was AMAZING last week. Hunger cravings, non existent. I didn't come home and go through a half bag of chips. It's not on the plan. So it's not going into my body. I didn't have that nightcap of Cran-Apple Juice and rum, or wine. I haven't had a single soda. I've logged everyone of my meals and followed it to a T. And I am so happy to report that after week 1, my weight loss was damn near Biggest Loser Esque! I went from 206.4 to 199.0 in the first week! A whopping 7.4 pounds or 3.6%! That's HUGE!!! It's a major victory for both Body and Mind. So much so that I have totally ramped up my efforts in week 2. Hit both target runs so far. ROCKED my chest and back workout. ROCKED AB Ripper X afterwords. I totally cannot wait to see how the weight loss progresses for week 2. Will I have that dreaded Week 2 Biggest Loser curse with a low number, or will I pull through and continue with the home run that I knocked out of the park last week. Stay Tuned!!!!