Back to work

Well, it's Monday morning and I'm at work recovering from the weekend. Visiting my parents was fun, emotional, exhausting, relaxing, and needed, all in one. But, now I'm back and things are again regaining their repetition.

This morning I woke up earlier, 5:10 a.m., made it to Power Yoga and proceeded to sweat and balance and lunge for an hour and a half. I've started back up with P90X for a second full round, this time following the program a little more loosely. On Thursday, my official start day, I did the following workout.

P90X Chest & Back:
Standard push-ups 30 x2 (I can now do 25 regular push-ups (then I go to my knees!)
Wide front pull-ups (with band) 20 x2
Military push-ups 20 x2 on knees
Reverse grip "chin-ups" (with band) 20 x2
Wide fly push-ups 20 regular x2
Closed grip overhead pull-ups (with band) 20, 25
Decline push-ups 15 regular x2, then 15 x2 more on knees
Heavy pants 15 x2 (15 lbs weights)
Diamond push-ups 22 on knees
Lawnmowers 15 x2 (20 lbs)
Dive-bomber push-ups 20 on knees (these are HARD, especially at the end of the workout)
Back flys 18 x2 (10 lbs each hand)

Then the marvelous Ab Ripper X. Fifteen moves, 25 reps each, working the core and abs.

And let me tell you, I was toasted. TOASTED by the end of these workouts. My arms felt like they were going to fall off. It felt great. All you need to do is push yourself and results will happen.

Friday I did the Plyometric dvd. Again, a great workout. Saturday, rest day! Sunday, P90X Legs & Back. Ouch, my legs are so sore today. I loooooooooove being sore. It is a sign of pure exercise.

Also, I have added the plank pose to my routine. Every other day I'm challenging my body to hold the plank pose, with perfect form, arms, legs, abs, butt engaged, for extended periods of time. Thursday I held the plank for 3 minutes. Saturday I went for 4 full minutes but ended up dropping at 4:10! Nice! This move works for arms, shoulders, abdominals, butt, thighs, calves, everything!
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During the weekend, the boyfriend and I made a little feast for my parents. The boyfriend, or my Chef, butterflied a chicken and baked it to perfection.

 Poor little guy didn't stand a chance... and his rear was exposed too...

I put together baked butternut squash and brussel sprouts with a vegan rosemary lemon and garlic "cream" sauce. (Tofu can provide wonderful subs for just about anything). The meal was great. My parents absolutely love when we come to visit. I wonder why...

I do like my tiny bit of sauce...

After a filling dinner, what could be better than homemade gluten-free, dairy-free vanilla coconut cupcakes?! These little gems were made from a recipe by Elana from Elana's Pantry for Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting.

Mine was missing the frosting but decided to get comfy with some Coconut Bliss Naked Coconut Ice Cream. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yuuuuuuum.

I sincerely hope that everyone had a fantastic weekend. Time to get back to work.