I was in a big fight yesterday.

 It was with myself.

 It was during my run. 

I’m not sure there was a winner. 

I sort of fell off my P90X wagon about 2 weeks ago. I was loving P90X! I still love P90X! But sometimes, life gets in the way. It was my birthday on April 16th but I think I’ve been celebrating it everyday for the past 3 weeks. There has been lots of “D’s”- dinners, desserts, and drinks! 

Did you notice the “s” at the end of Birthday? That’s how I roll- my birthday isn’t just one day! 

Birthday beer, DQ cake & dinners out

But all the celebrations have taken a toll on my work out schedule, my eating plan and my body. 

The 4 weeks prior to my Birthday I was super committed to P90X. I didn’t miss a workout. I was devoted to Tony Horton. I followed the P90X program to the letter! I even did the Yoga X which is one of the hardest workouts I have ever done! It’s tough physically but it’s the mental toughness you need to get through 90 minutes (yes an hour and a half!!!!) of a workout DVD! Working out at home was a big change from going to a group fitness class at a gym. There is a feeling of freedom that I’ve come to associate with working out at home. The workout starts whenever I’m ready- I can start my workout at a time convenient to me- not some scheduled time at the gym. The gym I belonged to had very limited class schedules so if I couldn’t make that 5:15 class on a Monday then I was out of luck. I love working out here at home since I don’t have to drive anywhere or scramble for a babysitter for my daughter- she is happily Rainbow Looming in her room while I’m busting out some push-ups in my room. I’ve also saved a ton of money! I did already own weights and the P90X program but even if I had to make an initial investment in equipment I would still end up ahead. 

Is it all roses and rainbows working out at home? Nope. I miss the friendships and the social interaction I had at the gym. On low motivation days, all I had to do was walk through the door and the instructor and the other ladies in the class would make sure I would get a great workout. At home, some days I have to fight the urge to press stop or fast forward- all the motivatating is my job. I can’t justify buying new, cute workout wear. It seems pointless since who is going to see it? Also, there are lots of distractions at home! The phone rings, my kids fight, there are full laundry baskets, a window with a view of the lawn I should rake… none of these things are at the gym. And at home there is Boyd….

Here is Boyd encouraging me through tricep dips. Sometimes his snoring drowns out Tony Horton! Boyd is NOT HELPFUL during my workouts- sometimes he sleeps through my workout and all I want to do is crawl in beside him and cuddle. Other times he is hyper and he bites at my weights while I’m lifting them or he licks my face during Ab Ripper X. He’s not overly supportive of my workout plan! 

So a little bit of my Birthday and a little bit of a busy home life have derailed my workout/eating plan- hence the fight I had with myself yesterday during my run. My run seemed to suck (in my head anyway). I felt heavy and slow. My Garmin was telling me I was slow. My run time has slowed significantly the last few weeks- which is perfect timing since I’m running a 5k race in 6 days (yes that was sarcasm lol). I spent the last few kilometres beating myself up (and yelling at Boyd since he was running right under my feet). I went home after the run tired, frustrated and depressed. I thought about it the rest of the day and I’ve come to realize that being hard on myself won’t accomplish anything so I’ve decided just to start again. It’s really all I can do. Just keep going. Refocus on my goals. Press play and welcome Tony Horton back into my home. It’s a new month after all- Birthday Month is over! 🙂

I ate the best food this month- in restaurants and at home. I’m super behind sharing recipes but here is the favourite thing I tried this month. My friend Nicole sent me this recipe for Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa. Both her kids and my kids give the recipe two enthusiastic thumbs up! You will need:

• 2 lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp salt (I cut the salt by half)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• for the Avocado salsa:
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1-2 tbs finely chopped cilantro (depending on how big of a cilantro lover you are)
• You can find the directions here. 
• I made it twice- the first time for my birthday meal with my hubby and then last night where I actually made double the rub and seasoned both salmon and steak. The avocado salsa was excellent on both the salmon and the steak.
•  
  

  Birthday Salmon!

   
  
•  
  

  Steak and Salmon

   
  

A perfect meal to help get me back on track! 

Choose happy 😀