I’m especially excited about the new Challenge Group because the February Challenge Group has far surpassed my expectations!  I can’t wait to see what the March Challenge Group brings!

There are only a couple spots left in the March Challenge Group, so contact me ASAP to reserve your spot!  I need to hear from YOU by February 27.  The March Challenge Group will begin on Monday, March 5.

Here’s how to get signed up:

1. You click JOIN and create a profile (for free!) at www.beachbodycoach.com/ablossomhead  (this will make me your coach!).  If I’m already your coach, just sign in to your teambeachbody profile.
2. Once you’re signed in, return to my www.beachbodycoach.com/ablossomhead page and click Take the Beachbody Challenge on the right side of the screen.
3. 

   Challenge Pack Options

   Register for the Beachbody Challenge.  [[[Here, you'll have the option to purchase a "Challenge Pack" that includes the Beachbody program you want to use (P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, Hip Hop Abs, Slim in Six, etc.) PLUS a month's worth of Shakeology (the healthiest meal of the day!) at a discounted price.  FYI - Combining your workout program with Shakeology guarantees optimal results.  ]]]  NOTE:  You do NOT have to purchase a Challenge Pack.  This is simply a money-saving option.

4. Fill out your teambeachbody profile info.  Then take your measurements, “before” photos, and one of the Fit Tests.  Record your results on your profile.  (only you can see your measurements and fit test results.)
5. Get ready to get fitter and healthier!

Once you commit to the Beachbody Challenge, you’ll do your workout program of choice, drink Shakeology (optional, but recommended), and you’ll post about your workouts/struggles/successes/etc. on a special private team group page on Facebook and/or your very own blog.  Your Challenge Group, previous Challenge Groups, and I, as your coach, will be there to support, help, motivate, and encourage you throughout your program!  We want you to succeed!

Commit.  Work.  Succeed.

BRING IT!

P90X:  Day 31 was a week ago.  My week has been all messed up with me trying not to get sick.  It went something like this (sorry if it’s too much whining and complaining):

• Tuesday, Feb 14:  P90X Day 31
• 

  My Owl Towel. Not as cute as Breann's though!

  Wednesday, Feb 15:  I was supposed to have my endoscopy this day, but I cancelled it because I didn’t have the money for the down-payment of the procedure.  Being a sickly girl is very costly!  I had already gotten Micah to sub Zumba for me, so I just stayed home.  In the evening, I ended up doing an owl tea towel craft project with my best friend Breann.  Then, it was late and we were supposed to do Yoga X, but I was exhausted and made every excuse in the book.  :(

• Thursday, Feb 16:  I started feeling icky.  I was going to get my workout in anyway, Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X, so I logged into my teambeachbody.com Supergym and clicked “workout now.”  Then I went to change into my workout clothes, but the bed invited me to lay down for a moment.  I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until the morning.  Workout FAIL.  :(
• Friday, Feb 17:  I taught my Zumba  class and then did Ab Ripper X.  I had intended to do my missed Legs & Back workout too, but I was not feeling good at all.  That afternoon I took the boys to the CityArts Cooperative for Free Art Friday.  Then we had my niece and nephew over for a sleepover that evening.
• Saturday, Feb 18:  This was officially our “rest day” and we took it.  We spent the majority of the day helping my best friend move, then we dropped our boys off at my sister’s house for a sleepover.  (see how we traded kids?)  Sushi with my hubby followed, as well as some good times with our friends that evening.  Since I’m having tummy troubles, I completely avoided any alcoholic beverages.  My mom would be so proud of that.
• 

  Goodbye, wallpaper!

  

  Hello, grey walls!

  Sunday, Feb 19:  After we picked up the boys from my sister’s house, we decided to tackle a home improvement project:  paint the dining room.  We spent all evening pulling off old wallpaper, cleaning the walls, baseboards, painting.  Needless to say, we were too beat to do our workout, plus I was feeling puny.

• Monday, Feb 20:  The kids didn’t have school, so we just hung out at the house all day until it was time for me to teach Zumba.  I really didn’t feel like it, had a sore throat all day, and threw up part of my lunch, but I saw several people had posted on Facebook how much they were looking forward to going to class.  I couldn’t disappoint them!  It was supposed to be Plyometrics day, too, but I figured that my Zumba class would be a suitable substitute.

And that brings us to today:  P90X Day 32:  Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps + Ab Ripper X.

The day started great, except for my sore throat and mild nausea.  That pesky sore throat continued to get worse, and my sinuses plagued me with runniness and, ultimately, more nausea.  Lovely.  

I was all set to call today yet another P90X FAILURE, BUT, just then, I was inspired to get my butt off the couch by a comment that one of my coaching clients made.

Kim wrote:

After a few set backs I almost threw in the towel.. so instead on Sunday I went to the gym and gave myself a fresh start. 6 miles on the elliptical, abs, and 10 minutes on the stair climber. Monday I picked back up on Brazil Butt Lift, and today I walked 2.5 miles, did an hour of Zumba and my high&tight workout.(bbl) I had to remind myself it may take time, but if I give up I will never reach my goals.

What a great post, huh?!  I love it when I’m inspired and motivated by my coaching clients!  They all are truly amazing!

Anyway, even though I was totally NOT feeling like working out, this was the first time we made it all the way through Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps + Ab Ripper X!  Last week we only made it a little over half way through C,S, & T before going to Ab Ripper X.  This was a toughy, no lie.  I literally couldn’t do one more push-up by the time we were done.  But, you know what???  I felt AMAZING for having done it!  

So, now I feel like we’re getting back on track!  :)  We’ve lost a week, but at least it was only one week and not two.

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!

I don't need no stinkin' food treat! Give me a little pampering instead!

As a reward for completing a whole entire month of P90X, I treated myself to a hair makeover today.  Thanks to Amber at Vibrance Salon, Inc., I am now rocking black with purple highlights, and am free of split-/dead-ends!  I absolutely LOVE it!

Tonight, I made a rotisserie chicken, baked sweet potato fries, and steamed broccoli for dinner.  So healthy!  (I was trying really hard to make up for my lunch of fried chicken, black eyed peas, and turnip greens at Po’ Folks.)

Once the kids were in bed, hubby went to the movies with a friend to see Star Wars in 3D.  I cleaned the kitchen and considered pulling out my drawing utensils for more doodling… BUT as I was checking Facebook, I noticed that Stephanie had posted this:

One side of my brain keeps whispering excuses to me as to why we should skip Plyo tonight. “You just ate.” “It’s Valentine’s Day.” “Yesterday still hurts.” But the other side is screaming, “Just do it and get it done. It’s just an hour! Do it! Do it! DO IT!” I like what the whispering side is saying, but I know the yelling side is right. Let’s do this!!!

Well, that’s all I needed to get my booty off the couch, slip into my workout clothes, and BRING IT big time, even if I was doing it all by myself!

It was P90X Day 31:  Back & Biceps + Ab Ripper X.  It was my first time doing the Back & Biceps dvd.  I really loved it!  It’s only 50 minutes long, including the 10 minute warm-up.  So, that’s only a solid 40 minutes of actual hard work.

And work hard I did!  At a couple points I physically could not complete one more repetition of a particular exercise.  It was weird, though, because my muscles weren’t burning… I actually couldn’t really feel them… but I couldn’t lift my arms either!  haha!  

For Ab Ripper X,  I was really concentrating on using my abdominal muscles to the best of my ability.  And they did, indeed, burn.  Felt so great!

As an after-workout snack, I made up a half serving of chocolate Shakeology.  mmmm!  Just what I needed to help my muscles recover.  One day I’ll invest in some P90X Results & Recovery Formula, but until then, half a serving of Shakeology will  have to do!  :)

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!  

"Tree Girl"

Feeling much better today.  Woot!

I taught a super sweaty Zumba class and decided that that was a sufficient replacement for P90X Day 30:  Plyometrics.   But that didn’t stop hubby from doing Plyo all by himself.  ♥  I’m so proud of him!

While he did Plyo, I got out my pencils and doodled this drawing… I am not sure what to call her, so I just dubbed her “Tree Girl”.  How did I think of that???  lol

Hubby and I decided that we wanted to move our P90X “rest day” to Saturday, instead of Friday.  This will work out much better for me when it comes to teaching classes.  Now, on the three days per week that I teach Zumba classes, we will either be doing Plyometrics, Yoga X, or Kenpo X.

So, tonight was our P90X Day 29:  Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps + Ab Ripper X.  Honestly, I was dreading it all day because I wasn’t feeling well at all.  My body was weak and aching.  I knew going in that I would be struggling… perhaps I psyched myself out a little…

One Arm Push-Ups were among the numerous Push-Up exercises on tonight's DVD

Oh, Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps…  This was a TOUGH workout.  It would have been tough even if I was feeling 100% well.  There were tons of different types of push-ups.  Those were the most challenging exercises.  The tricep and shoulder work wasn’t bad at all.

I ended up only being able to do a little over half of the dvd, then hubby agreed that we could just move on to Ab Ripper X and be done for the night.  So, that’s what we did.  I feel guilty for not completing the entire workout, but I’ll get it all next time.  :)

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!

Coming in for a landing! *CAW! CAW!*

Hello, rest day!

I started my “rest day” by teaching Zumba.  Not much of a rest but I always have a good time with the awesome people that attend.  :)

Now it’s the evening.  The kids are in bed.  Hubby is aimlessly walking around the house.  He says he doesn’t know what to do with himself on a “rest day”.  He’s so used to us having to workout in the evening.  haha  Poor guy.  (He is in the kitchen right now wiping down the counters!  He’s obviously bored.)  I told him we could do X Stretch later if he wanted.

I’m registered to run in the Mardi Gras 5K Run tomorrow morning at 8:00, but something HORRIBLE has happened!  :(  The weather has decided to turn cold!  Why, oh, why?!  We’ve been having such nice spring-like weather lately, too;  70-ishº by noon.  And now this?!  Frak!

Oh, well.  I will just have to grit my teeth and run like the [freezing] wind!  On the plus side, the frigid temperature may cause me to run a little bit faster simply so I can be done quicker.  hehe

Tomorrow night is the beginning of P90X Month Two!  Time flies when you’re having fun!  Can’t wait for more big Pterodactyl Arm Circles *caw!*, Frog Poses, Jab-Cross-Hook-Uppercuts, Congdon Curls, Pull-ups, and Push-ups!

Tony Horton better BRING IT in Month Two, because I know one thing for sure:  We will!!!  

Downward Dog: It makes my calves feel so good!

Yoga X.  Just what I needed!

I’ve been looking forward to this workout since, well, the last time we did it!  lol

Since my calves were killing me last night at Zumba, the Downward Dogs we did tonight really felt great.  Finally some relief!

My mission tonight, though, was to get into Crow pose.  I’ve been unsuccessfully attempting it for the entire time we’ve been doing P90X!  Tonight was the night, though!  Inspired by the efforts of my P90X Challenge Group, I had no choice but to succeed!  And I did!!!  Yay!

Okay, so, I couldn’t hold it the entire one minute, but I held it for a few seconds several times.  A big improvement for me.

I think I finally figured out what I was doing wrong.  I wasn’t engaging my arm muscles enough previously.  Sounds weird, but I’m pretty sure that’s the reason.  Anyway, now I can only continue to improve upon my time up in the pose.  Hopefully I can hold Crow for the entire one minute by the end of the 90 days.  :)

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!  

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!

My P90X Challenge Group is off to a fantastic start!  It’s only Day 3 for them and they are already BRINGING IT big time!  I’m so proud!

The next Challenge Group that I organize will be starting on March 5th.  So if you or someone you know want to join, contact me.  Join my team for free at www.beachbodycoach.com/ablossomhead

In the meantime, watch this great video about the BeachBody Challenge:  http://youtu.be/oNeZt21qmGQ

Or this video of BeachBody CEO Carl D. and P90X Trainer/creator Tony Horton on the television show The Doctors:

http://www.thedoctorstv.com/main/home_page?init_type=Feature&init_id=5974%3Fl%3Da18f49ed-a1e5-46cb-87e8-b4793c01dfc3

Check out Dreya's abs! So strong!

Whew!  Core Synergistics tore me up tonight!  I was already worn out from teaching a pretty high energy Zumba class, so we waited 4 hours before we started our P90X workout.

Like I said a few days ago when we did Core Synergistics for the very first time, this workout is no joke!  Honestly, I wanted to quit right after the warm-up.  But I started thinking about my little P90X Challenge Group (Russell, Bernadette, Breann, Brandi, Angela, Brian, Krystina, Bethany, and Brittney.  And Stephanie and Ricky, even though they’re not in my group.) and how hard they’re all working.  I’d feel guilty — perhaps even hypocritical — if I didn’t give it my all.  So I’m really glad we stuck with it right down to the end.

I noticed that my plantar fasciitis didn’t act up very badly at all during Core Synergistics tonight.  The past few days it’s been really painful whenever we workout.  Maybe last night’s X Stretch has something to do with that… Probably.

We do Yoga X tomorrow, so I know I’ll be getting some of those awesome stretches in.  :)

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!

I love Bow!

Tonight was P90X Day 25:  X Stretch!  

Oooooh, baby!  We have found our new favorite P90X workout!

Think of all your favorite stretches from the warm-ups and cool-downs of the other DVDs, combine them with the best stretches from Yoga X, and —  BOOM!  – you’ve got X Stretch!

One of my favorites, which is also on Core Synergistics, is the Bow Pose.  It makes me feel like a bird… don’t ask me why.  But that is what I envision when I’m doing it.  lol

Frog Pose.

Need I say more???

Tony Horton makes some amusing remarks during X Stretch.  I am sure that some people find him annoying, but I like his weird humor.  Some of his jokes are repeats from other DVDs in the series.  This doesn’t bother me.  I rather enjoy hearing the same joke over again.  (Can you say, “Downward Dog Magazine”?)

Another of my favorite stretches is Frog… It’s, a, umm, rather suggestive (???) position to be in.  lol  I love it!  Fortunately, it’s on at least 3 of the dvds in the P90X series.  Hubby and I giggled when Tony said something like, “Get sexy with it” on X Stretch tonight.  We’re obviously easily amused.

Do YOUR best and forget the rest!  And BRING IT every time!  :)