He who has never cheated on the diet can cast the first stone!!

Don't sweat it...we all fall off the horse. In fact, I personally believe that it's a good idea to build in a cheat meal or a cheat day periodically. I've spoken with several dieticians who counsel dieters at all levels and they do the same thing.

It isn't a chance to gorge, but with time you'll find that you don't blow it as big as you think and you'll stay more motivated on those days where you commit to the diet.

We're all human. Just get back on it and keep pushing play!!

Kevin

P.S.: I love X-Stretch, too! I could do almost all of the moves the first time through!

Chest & Back, my favorite! I'm going to miss seeing that group, esp. Marene (sp?) Increased my no-knees pushups by 20 (58 total), and chair assisted by 15 (56 total). I still add more reps by doing knee pushups and bands (50lb black) to failure. Still can't do an unassisted one, but so what! I'm getting stronger, it's only a matter of time.

I used a storage box to do decline pushups, I felt a little more control, managed 7, then 4. Heavy pants and lawnmowers I am up to 20lb! I only have hex dumbbells through 20, but I also have some cap "adjustable" dumbbells with little collars and plates, so I can go higher. I can make pairs of 24lb, 34lb, and I think 44lb. I think I can make at least 1 of 29lb. I seem to only have 2 2.5lb plates. Otherwise I'll have to buy additional plates.

Plyometrics, I improved, got a little more height, paused a lot. I increased my reps of the hot-foot by doing 4x crosses, then switching feet in round 1, 3x crosses per foot in round 2. Getting a little lower in squats, but not as low as they go most of the time. Maybe by Week 12 I will be able to do everything without pausing.

Had to do S&A this morning because I had to work today 1-9PM. Increased my weights to 8-10lb for most exercises. Used 15lb for the Alternating Shoulder Presses, which was pushing it, but I was ambitious! Managed 20, then 19 side tri-rises on my right arm! Only 7, then 4 on my left. I'm aspiring to be tricep girl.

I'll do ARX this evening when I get home.

Yoga is tomorrow, I had to skip it last weekend, and the first week I did 1 hr, so this will be the first time I do the entire video. I'm going to do it in the middle of the day to make sure I have 2hrs to do it, I'm sure I'll pause a lot!

I finished the tape! Yoga Belly 7 was way too difficult, I could only do a few of them. I think they are very advanced ab exercises. I had to pause the tape less often, and my stance in the Warrior poses was not low enough, but with time it will improve.

I am having trouble with the Frog pose/stretch. I think I will have to have my kids come in and tell me if I have a 90 degree angle on my legs.

Legs & Back today! Looking forward to increasing my reps for the pull-ups. I'm going to miss doing the resistance routines. Does everyone really do no pushups/pullups etc during week 4?

Had to laugh when I reviewed my post, I meant finished the DVD! I'm dating myself with that tape comment.

Forgot to mention that ARX went well on Saturday evening. I definitely got more reps in because it was not right after another routine, but I suspect I burn more fat when I do it with one of the resistance routines. I decided to do the Oblique V-ups anyway. Last time I did the ARX and did supermans instead of the Oblique V-ups after Chest & Back, I could feel my back muscles during Plyo getting a little stressed, so maybe that's why there are no back exercises in ARX! I can't get my feet off the floor for the Oblique V-ups, so I just did the upper body part.

I did all the required exercises except for Ffeiffer scissors (18, and that was with 2 pauses!), V-up rollups (13, again with multiple pauses), and I modified the Oblique V-ups. I did all the Mason Twists, but my knuckles don't touch the floor. I have to try it when I'm not doing the routine, to see if I can really reach the floor or not. I think my chest is getting in the way (LOL). The trick there is really to go as fast as they do, because if you go slower, your legs are in the air longer, and you run out of gas. Speed is your friend!

Hey Ken here,

Watch Core Synergistics before you do it if you haven't already. It takes push-ups to a whole new level. How many ways are there to do push-ups Tony?

Get Ready Cause it's a coming.

Ken

BTW, thanks Ken for the tip about the Core Synergistics video, I will definitely take a peek at it.

Yuck! I started my routine later than usual, so my protein/carb bar and snack expired, so to speak. Then I had two spoonfuls of baked beans that my kids were eating before I started. I felt nauseated through a lot of the routine. I guess I "bonked". I had to stop in the second half of L&B in the middle of pullups and tossed a spoonful of sugar in my mouth. I'm definitely not going to start my routine that late again! I didn't even get to eat dinner until 10PM, because I was so draggy, and the routines probably took longer than usual with all the pausing.

In spite of all that, I increased my reps for my assisted pullups from 72 last week to 97 this week! Sadly I still can't do one on my own.

Completed the Kenpo X on Tuesday, that went fine. I tried to concentrate on form, since I was a little more familiar with the routine now.

X-Stretch last night, which I enjoyed. Now it's the start of Recovery Week! Yoga again tonight, then Core Synergistics tomorrow.

Doing better, although with my two kids arguing and commenting during the routine, my mind was not as clear as I would have liked! Still struggling with the Yoga Belly 7 exercises. Managed to do Crane for 3 sec. It takes me so long to find the right position to get into it. My arms were tired from all the attempts to do it.

I popped in the Core Synergistics dvd this morning, to take a peek. YEOW! Looks exciting, but tough! I am looking forward to it. I may go all the way down to 3lb, since if Dreya is using 5lb, that may be high to start with. On second thought, I'll try the 5lb, why go light if I don't have to?

There's a lot more resistance moves in the routine than I thought, I don't have to worry about doing any add'l stuff, since there are plenty of pushup and other upper body exercises. I think I'll try to do a chinup this week though, just for fun!

Core is a great workout, but it's a gasser!! I did it last night and I'm still tired!

Don't shy away from it just because it's tough. There's a treasure trove in it! You'll get a great workout and you'll be sore in places you didn't know you had.

Kevin

Friday I did Core Synergistics. What a wake-up call! I did 0 for the Sphinx pushups, and 0 for Dreya, Plank to Chatarunga Iso, and Table Dip/Leg Raise. I did use 5lb dumbbells, and felt fine. We'll see how I do today.

Saturday I walked for 2 hours, so I skipped Kenpo X, figuring I got a cardio workout, and I just wanted to have a day of rest.

Sunday I helped a friend with her apartment, and put together bookshelves and carried boxes up a flight of stairs, so I had a workout there too. I skipped X Stretch. I cheated and had a burger and cherry pie and soda after we finished, but had mashed turnips instead of french fries. I think I stayed within my calorie limits anyway. Certain I looked fine in the mirror this morning.

Back to Core today!

Congratulations on reaching the recovery week...enjoy it. Monday will be the start of a new ride.

I improved a little bit. I modified, so I didn't have any 0s this week. My lower back tweaked a bit during Banana Roll and Superman/Banana, so I did the Banana part with my legs bent in the air, same for the Bow part of the Bow/Boat. For the Sphinx, I pushed off on the left arm a bit before the right, I guess that's better than nothing. Started with too much weight on the Squat X Press, had to go down from 10 to 8 to 5. A little too ambitious there. I still can't push off properly on the Dreya Roll, not sure why. Is it possible my feet are too close to my butt? I get stuck, and have to assist myself up. I did manage to do the last Table Dip/Leg Raise.

Yoga tonight!

Good job on modifying the positions, that is SMART. I the two time i did the Dreya roll, i used my hands to get off the floor, but i still felt the best burn ever, so don't get down on yourself...next recovery week, you'll be jumping off the ground.

I did 1/3 Yoga X on Tuesday, then another 1/3 on Wednesday, and skipped Yoga Belly 7. I ran out of time both days due to various activities. Yoga is SO LONG, that's why during regular weeks it's on SUNDAY (Day 4) when I have lots of time.

Anyway, I posted my "30 day" pix (actually 28 days). My measurement changes are:

Day 1 Day 30
Chest 35.25 36
Waist 30.5 29.25
Hips 38 37
L Thigh 20 19.25
R Thigh 20 19.25
Body Fat 21.38% 19.73%
Weight 140.5 142.5

My daughter helps me with the Body Fat Calipers, so I'm not sure how accurate the measurements are, but there is a difference. My pants are definitely looser.

For you ladies, you'll understand this: Bra band is on a tighter hook, I can see they are a little smaller, but cup size is the same. The pecs are pushing them out! Can't complain about that.

I'm switching out today's and Saturday's workouts, as I will be in a hotel on Saturday, so today I will be doing Back & Bicep. Phase 2 has begun!

Day 29, Back and Biceps! I enjoyed this workout, upped my weights on lawnmowers to 24lb! Did extremely well on ARX, but I'm sure that's because I had to take several breaks to help my kids with dinner, so I had extra rest!

Day 30 nothing, travel day.

Day 31, Plyometrics. Blah! I fell off the diet wagon, had Oreos, Ritz Crackers, a Croissant and Good & Plenty. Felt AWFUL! Had a lousy workout. I did manage to increase my reps in the Hot Cross before I switched legs.

Day 32, CS&A in the morning. Once again had a weird workout because I had 15lb bands and nothing lighter. I used a soda bottle (full, glass) for some of the exercises. Next time I will make sure to have 2, and also get a larger set of bottles for added weight. I'm going to buy a bottle here and weigh it to see what I was lifting. Not much I'm sure. I was unable to do one-armed pushups, so I did some diamond pushups from knees. I did 6 clap pushups! OK, on my knees, but I didn't land on my face!

Skipped Yoga again, because of travel. Legs and Back this evening.

I was jet-lagged from my trip, but I did my best and forgot the rest!

I was able to maintain or slightly increase my reps for most of my exercises. I fell short in the Balance Lunges, and had one less switch grip pullup on the second set this week. I felt fine during the chair salutations and the wall squats. It's amazing the how much I've improved from the first week, when I had to break up the squat into 3 segments of 20 seconds each! The One-legged squats are still tough, though I was able to increase my endurance from a 7 count hold to an 8 count hold, I guess about 8 of the seconds instead of 10 they are doing. I tried to improve my form as well, I went lower during the Sneaky Lunge.

I skipped ARX, I didn't finish L&B until 9:30pm, we got home late, I will try to do it today after Kenpo.

Great Job!

That's the way to push yourself and stay on track. It would have been very easy just to skip it all together. It is obvious to see how a non-stop lifestyle, which so many of us have can throw you off course. It takes alot of will power and determination to hit play after a long day. If this was easy everbody would do it. Keep it up and stay motivated.

Enjoy Kenpo

Ken

I switched to X Stretch last night, I got hung up at my mom's, we ate, and I didn't get home until 8:30. X Stretch went well, I enjoyed it as I always do. Did not do ARX. I will try once again tonight, after Kenpo X.

I finally finished Week 5! I did ARX before Kenpo, so I couldn't be lazy and skip it. I did all the reps (several pauses for 2 of the exercises). I think it took me 30min, not the 18min of the DVD. I still can't lift both legs on the Oblique V's, so I lifted one leg up after I switched to the right side. I'll do that tonight again on both sides.

Kenpo went well. I still get sloppy on some of the kicks.

Chest Shoulders & Tri today, with weights. I used bands last week, so I'm looking forward to seeing where I am at really.