Back on the quitting train...staaarting...nowish

As I said in my post yesterday, I unfortunately caved on the quitting and I'm glad to announce I'll be getting back on the train after the one I'm smoking right now. Honestly, I'm not even enjoying this, and I hate like hell writing about it, but here's what I taste.

1) Gross
2) More gross

The main reason I started back up again was after a considerably bad day at work where everything seemed to conspire against me, but the truth is, everything turned out alright by the end of the week, and I had nothing to worry about it. As for the why I turned to cigarettes as a response...I have no idea. Years of a habit tend to have that kind of effect, and it was an almost knee-jerk reflex.

Anyways, once I'm done with this, I'll once again begin the laborious process of destinking everything, and enjoying those wonderful cravings.

Aaaaaand....start!

Still bringin it...

Alright! Almost at day 45 of P90X, and so far I'm loving the results. I just feel all around much stronger and slimmer, and have had a few people notice as much, which always feels good. One thing for sure, it is REALLY hard to fit in every workout, every day, but I'm hell bent on making sure I get through at least one round of this thing. And I get the feeling that once I'm over the hump, it will be way easier to finish it out.

Speaking of getting lighter, I just installed an ultra lite Linux OS on my desktop computer, and holy potato pancakes is it great. Don't get me wrong, Windows will always have a special place in my heart, but the reality is that I don't use my computer for much else other than music and the internet. So, sick of all the wait times, I just got this very simple OS, burned it to a cd, reboot my computer, and now I have little to no lag for everything I do online. It's a dream!

On a sadder note, I fell back into the nicotine habit briefly. And while it hasn't been a total relapse, it's been enough to justify posting. Basically, a few weeks ago I had a rough week, and it felt justifiable to start back up. Completely dumb, but I'll be getting back on the quitting train starting tomorrow morning.

However, on the plus side, I was able to save nearly $300 by not smoking that whole time! And speaking of money, I also need to get back into my regular budgeting...something that summer doesn't seem to appreciate all that much. This is basically going to mean more brown bagging it, which will in turn keep me healthier.

Also got some blood work done recently, and my cholesterol and blood sugar are right where they should be! Not that there was any worry, but it's always nice to know. No HIV either, always a plus :)

Other than that, got some more hiking in, doing about 40 miles in a 24 hour period, which felt insanely badass. Yesterday I took in a bluegrass festival with a bbq cookoff (tasty AND festive). Tomorrow, whitewater rafting to wrap up my Memorial Day weekend! Then back to work.

Anyway, next weekend I'll post my monthly progress towards goals, shouldn't be too much new, but alas, it must be done! Or not...but yes.

Bringin it!

I gotta say...I'm pretty excited by my progress thus far. I'm really setting 2012 up to my best year ever, and to add to it, I'm finally starting to get to more of my tertiary goals out of the way. And one that has been on my board since I started this crazy adventure was getting through a full round of P90X. It's cliche as all hell, but let's face it, when something works, and then becomes popular, cliche seems like kind of a dick label to attach to it.

I don't know for sure that P90X works, I know a few people who have at least started it (I myself did P30X, which is when you do the first phase and then eat pizza and skip working out). But here's what I do know, from my limited knowledge of working out.

1) When you work out, you get more fit (fitter?)

2) When you work out six times a week for an hour+ at a time, you're going to get really fucking fit.

3) Ab Ripper X makes me cry.

There's really no rhyme or reason for my choosing of P90X, it's a matter of already having the system and never completing it before. And besides, after cancelling cable, Netflix, and Hulu+, I have a surplus of time on my hands, one that's only going to increase as my favorite shows end their seasons.

So what do I expect? 


Simply put, I just want to FEEL better. All around, not just in my upper body or my legs. And while I love running, the truth is that it's not a great all around workout, and in fact depends on the extra core work to make it doable. And while I expect to get stronger, I don't necessarily feel the need to look stronger, even though that'd be an awesome side benefit. Also, taking this on has led to another first, but this one unfortunately kind of adds to the cliche....I totally took cell phones in the mirror with my shirt off. That part is just out of sheer curiosity than anything else, but I'll be excited to see if there's a noticeable difference between now and then. I'm about to hit the third week, and I'll be following the diet a lot more strictly to see if I can get the maximum benefit from this program.

Finally, I've pretty much shit-canned the 100 pushup challenge. It's just too boring. I like P90X because at least it mixes things up, which is important when you're dumping all that time, money, and energy into a program. So here's to bringin it!

(on a side note, that freakin Someone That I Used to Know is stuck in my head like crazy)

And why the hell does Maroon 5 have a song called payphone in the year 2012?