The Couch

I moved this sweet little couch into my bedroom over the weekend.  I thought it would make a great spot to sit, relax, and sip tea while I worked for the Mittenmaker, however; someone else thinks I moved it in for her.!!

Definition of Cute

View through a window!

What a lovely view it is! I can't wait to look out our window's and see horses in our field!

(Taken at Rockies Golden Acres)

Levels

There are three different levels to this eating plan. The difference is simply more or less food. For example if you are eating the Chef Salad, level one is 3 oz of fat free turkey breast, 3 oz of ham and 1-1/2 oz of fat free mozzarella cheese, level 2 is more meat, 4 oz turkey, 4 oz ham, and 3 oz of cheese, and level three is even more 5 oz of turkey, 5 oz of ham, and 4 oz of cheese. Obviously ,Scott would eat more protein than I would. He is working all day doing very physical work, in the cold I might add and he is bigger than I am! I'm in a warm house doing physical work, but not to the extent he is! (I'm so thankful for my Hubby) His body is going to require more protein so he doesn't get light headed and hungry in an hour. All the recipes are Level one right now, but Scott and I may need to bump up to level 2 this week!! I'll keep ya posted!

People have been very interested in the P90X. The best thing to do is go to the web site and read all about the program, and how it works with your muscles, and what role your diet plays in all this. I can only tell you it does work, and if I can stick this out for 90 days, I will feel the best I've felt in years, physically and mentally!

~ P90X ~

Lemon Dill Sauce

~Lemon Dill Sauce~

(From P90X Cookbook)

• 1/2 Cup of shallots, chopped
• 2 Cups of White wine (You can use a veg. broth or chicken)
• 2 Tbl. of Arrowroot
• 2 Cups of Fat Free chicken broth, low sodium
• 6 Tbl lemon juice
• 1 tsp of lemon grass (didn't have it, didn't use it)
• 1 Tbl of fresh Dill (used a little dried)

Coat a saute pan with cooking spray and saute shallots until soft (not brown) moistening with wine (or broth) if necessary.

Dissolve the arrowroot in 1/2 Cup of chicken broth. Set aside

Add remaining wine (or broth) to shallots and reduce by half. Add remaining chicken broth and reduce by half again.

Add the arrowroot mixture. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. (Cool it down a little first to prevent volcanic activity in your blender...experience talking here :)

Return the sauce to the pan. Add lemon juice and lemongrass and simmer over low heat for about 30 min until thick. (I don't think I simmered for this long. I just watched it, when it looked like sauce, I took it off!)

Strain out the lemongrass (another reason I would omit this!) and stir in the dill.

Note: This is really good! I would put this on chicken and maybe even steak!!

Menu Wk 1

The first three weeks of P90X are called the "fat shredder" weeks. Scott is going by the diet and working out here and there when his schedule allows him to. He is already seeing results and this is from just eating the food! I am doing both the workout and the food. Here is what is on tap for the whole family today (with small modifications here and there) ..........

Day 1
Breakfast

• Mushroom Omelet (Kids are on their own during breakfast,but they do have the option to eat whatever they want off our menu)
• 1 Cup Fresh Strawberries
• 8 oz. low fat cottage cheese 1%

Snack

• Protein bar ( I eat Cliff bars, they are very good!)
• Recovery Drink (This has been hard to replace due to my reaction to sucralose, but Jillian Michael's to the rescue!! Walmart 12.00, all natural, no sucralose!)

Lunch

• Chef Salad

Snack

• 2 oz. of soy nuts (you can replace with ONE of the following~ 1 oz dried fruit, 8 oz. cottage cheese, 1 frozen fruit bar, 8 oz. frozen sorbet, 12 mini rice cakes, 1 Tb peanut butter with celery sticks, and 1-1/2 oz of string cheese) There is alot listed that you can have these are just a few of our favorites!

Dinner

• Salmon with Lemon Dill sauce (Hubby doesn't like Salmon so we modify with chicken or cook a steak, easy enough to modify, and keep the Lemon Dill Sauce :)
• 1/2 cup asparagus
• 1 cup of wild rice
• 1 cup of Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Here are the rest of the recipes I have made and will continue to make. Sorry no pictures, maybe in the future......

Mushroom Omelet

6 egg whites
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup of mushrooms (modify if you don't like them, with another veg.)
2 tbl of green onion
1/2 Roma tomato
1-1/2 oz. of low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

In small bowl mix egg whites salt and pepper.

Coat pan with olive oil or cooking spray, add veg, and cook till tender.

Add egg mixture and cook until set on the bottom. Sprinkle cheese over the top, fold omelet in half and cook a bit longer.

Note: Mine doesn't always come out looking like an omelet. It sticks to the pan sometimes and looks more like a scramble. Taste great though!!

Balance

(Image used from beachbody.com)

I thought I had very good balance. Yesterday was day 4 and that meant Yoga. I have done Yoga before, but not like this!! Ouch! One thing that has been clear through these past few days is ~ I have no balance or very little. I am so happy I am doing this. There are times during the workout that I don't know whether I want to scream or cry from the pain, only to have Tony say, "Ok, let's repeat that whole sequence." I hate those parts, but I am already seeing differences. Here is a short video of what Tony likes to put you through.....

~Yoga~

~ Roasted Red Pepper Soup ~

~ Roasted Red Pepper Soup ~

(from P90X cookbook)

• 2 Cups of white wine (you can use chicken broth instead)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 5 roasted red peppers ( I used the ones in the jar)
• 2 Cups of celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 cups fat-free chicken broth, low sodium
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme ( WAY WAY too much, next time I will use a tablespoon of basil)
• 1/4teaspoon each ground white pepper and ground cumin
• dash of salt

Heat wine (or chicken stock) in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, red peppers, and celery. Cook and stir for 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook for 2 more minutes, adding more wine (or chicken stock) if necessary.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Puree soup in a food processor or blender. Return to the pan, add seasonings, and heat through.

Today is day 4 for me, and I have one word to describe how I feel.......Sore!!

Food glorious food!

Yesterday A.M breakfast was a "Chicken Scramble".
6 egg whites
chopped chicken
fresh basil
low fat Parmesan cheese

WOW!! Was this good. I halved the recipe for me (the first days omelet was too much) ......BIG MISTAKE! The first day the food was way too much for me, but within 24 hours of this diet and working out, my body needed yesterday's breakfast full recipe! So today and from here on out I will be eating the full recipes.

Lesson learned ~ eat what they tell you to and the amount they tell you to. They know what they are talking about.

What you see above was the "Shrimp Stir fry" (This was supposed to be lunch, but we had to modify and eat it for dinner)
red onion
mushrooms
pea pods
broccoli
water chestnuts
red pepper
shrimp
made using a little chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger, and rice vinegar. The serving is 14 shrimp with a ton of veggies per person! That is alot of shrimp! I was hungry when it was time to eat and I had a hard time eating all this but I did it ( due to the above learned lesson).

The kitchen, again, smelled so good. For lunch yesterday, I was visiting friends, so I just ate using the portion approach. What I really love about this exercise program is you are able to modify so much and stick to the diet. For example you are able to eat at fast food places. Yes, you read that right! In the back of the nutrition booklet they give you all the fast food places you might stop at and what would be a good CHOICE! It's all about reaching for something and saying, "Is this a good CHOICE?" There are also frozen foods you can buy on those nights you need something quick, and foods that would be very easy for you to cook on a "short for time" evening. Some things on this diet I was surprised about~

• You can eat chicken with gravy (2 Tablespoons, but hey it's something, and it's good)
• It appears you don't eat any bread during the first three weeks, then right in the middle of the week.......SURPRISE whole wheat english muffins! (See your not totally deprived!)
• A few of the recipes call for brown sugar! (Not totally deprived there either!)
• Later in the diet you are eating whole grain waffles with peanut butter and bananas!
• Low fat (flavored) yogurt is introduced later on..
• Muffins
• You can have skim milk
• Oatmeal
• Potatoes
• Whole wheat pita pockets
• Feta cheese
• Pure fruit jam

The first three weeks seem to be the most limited, but really not enough to make you feel deprived of everything! I even went to Starbucks yesterday and got a non fat mocha latte!

It is a very well rounded diet and I really haven't been hungry (except when I halved that recipe!). I don't miss anything because I'm not missing anything!! I drink my coffee in the am with low fat or fat free creamer and a little agave nectar. The one major thing that isn't present is sugar. The diet has you eating a protein bar in between breakfast and lunch. I eat a "Cliff" bar. They taste just like brownies or cookies, so that has really been taking care of the "sweets" for me. I am very happy and satisfied eating this way!

Plyometrics ~ Day two

So last night was my "Plyometrics" workout, an entire hour devoted to it. Here's what I learned

• I have very little strength in my legs (and I mean very little, I'm surprised I'm up and walking on my own).
• I do NOT have good balance.
• Working out with Acelia is fun.
• My children want me to succeed at P90X.
• I can do the entire hour (though not perfectly, but kept doing the moves for the entire hour)!
• Modify, modify, modify
• I like Tony's motto ~ "Do your best and forget the rest!"

I was very nauseous after this work out! With the help of my coconut water, I was feeling much better in minutes. Sore again today, but feels good!!

Coach

Scott and I thought he would be our coach, cheering us on....No, he just flops on the tread mill and watches with an expression of......"You guys are so stupid....why are you doing this to yourselves when you could be laying down enjoying life like me" type of look. He really intimidates me into thinking he's right!! Not to mention how he really gets involved in my "scissors" exercise, which takes all my concentration to pull off. He grabs my legs and bites my ankles!!! In his helpful way, he then comes along during push ups to get underneath me and lie on his back and play with the strings on my sweat pants! Most helpful he is!! PUNK!!

Smells From The Kitchen

The smells from my kitchen have been amazing. Sunday night I cooked up the "Lemon Dill" sauce for the salmon, and I must say my house never smelled so good (until breakfast)! Breakfast yesterday consisted of a mushroom omelet (6 eggs whites!) with scallions, fresh tomatoes, and cheddar cheese, served with a generous (way too much for me) scoop of cottage cheese and some fresh sliced strawberries! Lunch was a huge chefs salad with ham and turkey, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, hearts of palm, avocado, and mozzarella cheese, topped with low fat ranch dressing. Dinner was this amazing "Roasted Red Pepper Soup" you see simmering above, wild rice, salmon with Lemon and Dill sauce, and steamed asparagus! I cook lunch and dinner P90X for the entire family because it is so healthy (and keeps things easier on me)!

One of the things I have had to modify on this exercise program is the "recovery drink". The one I purchased has sucralose in it. I'll spare you the details of my "allergic reaction", but I have swapped this out for coconut water (which in my opinion is WAY better for recovering muscles). So far so good, I am sore today, but pressing forward!! Only 89 more days to go!

P90X Day One

So I learned a few things doing this P90X....here they are......

• I can do way more push ups than I thought I could.
• I can lift more weight than I thought I could.
• My endurance is pretty good.
• I have absolutely no strength in my abs.
• I have a violent allergic reaction to sucralose.
• Cats love to watch exercise videos while mocking you by laying on the treadmill and dozing off (like we're the stupid ones).
• Exercising with Scott is fun.
• The food you eat on this diet is incredible and way too much portion wise for me.
• I'm not as sore as I thought I would be this morning
• Modify, Modify, Modify