P90x: Phase 2 Pics

Soo... I finished Phase 2 and dutifully took my 60 day pictures.


Here ya go, friends.


I still have no idea what kind of face to make when flexing.


So why not just turn away from the camera, hm?


And... I might have tried out a Dreya Webber pose from the P90x booklet...


And... then I might have made it my own.


Finally, I struggled mightily take a picture of "X Time" for you guys.


More on that later... : )

How I know P90x was made by men for men...

No one with breasts would ever schedule (or consent to) jump training the day after Chest & Back.

No one.

With breasts.

Trust me and mine.

And the beat goes on...

Breakfast continues to be the best part of my day.


It's safe to say that it's my most meaningful relationship.


When Facebook wizens up and respects that all love is love, I'm going to declare proudly that I'm "in a relationship with breakfast."


Until then, I'll spam you all with pictures of my lover.


It's only normal, right?

Video Post: P90x Gag Reel

So... last night I finished Phase 2 and decided to make a quick video to highlight some things.

And... it was past midnight. And... I talked a bit more than I meant to.

I figured I'd walk away from the video(s). Yes, there were two.

But... then I watched the videos today and I decided that the only worthwhile bits were the things that ordinary people would cut out.

Since when have I been ordinary people?

Enjoy, kittens. My outtakes, in no particular order:

"You Could Break Your Head"

There is someone out there making P90x videos that are even more bizarre than mine.

I know. I wouldn't believe it either, if I were you.



Yeah... that was Train's "Soul Sister" you heard playing while he struggled to get his legs in and out of those straps.

Just. Sayin.

My death metal doesn't really seem so crazy now, does it?!

BIG Breakfasts

There seriously is nothing better.

Nothing.

Observe:


Oatmeal with flax and a bit of caramel syrup
Leftover burger with feta inside
One egg (overcooked, sadly)
Half a broiled grapefruit (sprinkle of sugar, time under the broiler, sprinkle of salt)


One orange
1 oz of a chocolate Power Bar
Apple cinnamon oatmeal
Portabella veggie burger
One scrambled egg


Kashi cereal with skim milk
Half a broiled grapefruit
Half a two-egg broccoli, mushroom, and white cheddar frittata

See what I mean?

These breakfasts make my day. And... by using my protein leftovers, I can actually whip up one of these breakfasts in a hurry.

Tomorrow, for instance, I'll be starting my day with the leftover frittata, some greek yogurt, an orange, and... maybe toast!

I'm following a 2 protein, 1 fruit, 1 grain, and 1 sweet (or sweetish addition to one of the big four).

And how is the big breakfast working?

Well... I'm down 2 lbs and .7% body fat since I started doing it. So, I think it's working!

Here's to breakfasts! I'll take mine big, thank you.

My name is Amanda and I upcycle.

I love wearing other people's clothes.

I do. I know it's odd, but I love it. Other people's clothes always fit better, feel comfier, and just generally seem better than my own duds.

Friends of appropriate size who leave items in my car or loan me something to sleep in or... you get the idea... should consider themselves very lucky to ever see those items again.

I'm a black hole for your clothing. You've been warned.

I'm not sure that I've ever told April about this, but she must have picked up on it at some point. Because one day while she was doing laundry, she crossed the hall to the kitchen where I was loading the dishwasher and said, "I brought you these pants."


Immediately, I knew I loved the blue, white, and black striped pants. I washed my hands, picked up the pants she'd tossed on the kitchen table and began my inspection. They were broken in without being ragged. They were within my three size range. They reminded me of an old Southern gentleman's suit.

As she continued to sort the wash - jeans over here, undershirts over there - she interrupted my musings to add, "I used to wear those to church."

Well. That did it. I tried them on right then and there in the kitchen.


And they fit.


From the back, one might even say they fit well.

But there was a fly in the ointment that both April and I noticed right away. The hand-me-down pants were... too short?! April's got several inches on me... so... my April-in-church mental image shifted to include extreme highwaters, or at least a shorter, younger version of April. I'm purposefully sticking with the latter.

So... hmm. The pants are comfy enough that they could be lounge-around pants, but they are cute enough that they should see a larger audience. What to do? What to do?

I've been thinking about this predicament for over a month. Probably two, actually.

Well... this morning, it hit me like an Oprah Aha! moment.

Shorts. Shorts are hard to buy, hard to fit, and just generally... not my favorite thing. So what do I have to lose by making pants I can't wear into shorts I just might?

Answer: Nothing!


After trying on the pants again and doing some figuring, I hacked off one pant leg, just above the knee.


I used the reject part of leg one to cut leg two to be the same length.

I tried them on again...


and started to get excited! It was working!

But while Bermuda shorts are nice and have their own time and place, I had something a bit... fancier in mind for April's cast offs. I cuffed them a few times...


and hit them with the iron.

I tzsujed the look by adding jewelry, red lipstick, nude heels, and a coyly sheer white tee.


To say that I'm deliriously pleased with the result would be pretty accurate.

Pin up style shorts from my soft butch bff's church pants. I've been smiling all day.

Now... since April is in basic training at the moment, she has no idea that I took the scissors to her pants. You, um... think she'll mind?

A video is a video?

I may be shooting myself in the vlogger foot with this video; just a warning.

It's that kind of video that you may very well get to the end of and think, "Did I really just spend 7 minutes on that?"

So... you may thereafter be reluctant to watch later, more interesting videos.

But... eh... It's my blog. So there!

Watch if you want. Don't if you don't. Want. If you don't want. To watch.

Dammit.



Also... I ended the video by saying that I don't have anything to show you. But I do. I have a very random thing to show you.

After I finished my video, I prepared the rub for my mahi mahi. When I approached the spice cabinet, I thought the same thing I do every time I approach my spice cabinet: something needs to change.

This is what I'm working with:


But that's not really what I'm working with. Because I took that picture from above my head. This... this is what I'm working with:


Yeah... not so great. I took this next picture to show you that I'm neither kidding nor exaggerating.


Eh... it is what it is.

My spice selection process is a lot like that Memory game that I used to play as a kid. I'm pretty sure the parsley is riiiiight... dammit... k, it's gotta be over heeeere.... yessss!

So... the silver lining to this impossible spice arrangement is that I get a few of those little kid-like yessss! moments per day.

And since I am without counter space, I'll continue playing my spicy roulette until a better arrangement presents itself.

Hmm... maybe I'll think about my spice situation while I'm doing one-armed pushups.

Yeah... I do those in Phase 2 too.

This just in:

I'd like my next career move to be an extreme coupon clipper.

Like a stay at home mom without the children.

I'd just like to maintain the house. And buy $600 worth of groceries for $6.

It would be cool.



(Like a girl with a moustache tattooed on her finger, just in cases.)

Salmon Switch: Dinner and a... Breakfast?

It's easy dinner tiiiiiime!

Yesterday was a mental health day. I chilled. I only put on shoes once and I didn't even cross the threshold of my front door.

Don't get me wrong... I did things. I cleaned up my apartment. I did my P90x workout for the day (oh hey, Kenpo!). I wrote a couple letters. I returned some calls. I also... watched a lot of Food Network.

I think I probably watched three different episodes of Paula Deen shows. It was a beautiful day.

Anyway... in one of those Paula Deen shows, she was in the kitchen with her son, Jamie, making something ridiculously fatty and rich. To balance out that... whatever it was... I honestly don't remember... she made a salmon recipe that her youngest son, Bobby came up with.

Well... I love salmon. And I love Bobby Deen. You know him, right? The one who goes on the show and is visibly unnerved by his mother's liberal use of butter? The one who talks about making the traditional dishes just a little bit healthier? The one who looked like he wanted to die when Paula said, "Rub your meat, rub your meat, rub your meat?"



Yeah... that one.

I kinda love him.

So when he speaks (or rather... Paula tells me a recipe came from him), I listen.

Without any more fanfare, here is the quick salmon bake that Paula shared and I modified...

First, I gathered the ingredients that I had... and the ingredients I was going to make do...


Paula used sage, rosemary, and thyme but said we could use any herb combination we liked. I pillaged the cabinets and decided on basil, parsley, and thyme. It worked.

Paula used a lemon but said Bobby liked oranges. I had a tangerine. It also worked.

The salmon, butter, and house seasoning (salt, pepper, and garlic powder) were all above board. So... let's do this thing:


Step 1: Place salmon on foil, add a little bit of butter, season with house seasoning and the three herbs.


Step 2: Top each piece of fish with three slices of your chosen citrus.


Step 3: Fold up salmon packets of goodness and bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. Couldn't be easier.


Step 4: At 13 minutes, open up foil packaging and enjoy.

This salmon was flakey but moist. The tangerines provided a dynamite contrast to the fish. The butter... eh... didn't add much, perhaps because I use unsalted butter. Next time I'll swap it out for olive oil.

It was a good, protein rich dinner. And... this morning... I shredded and re-warmed the second piece of salmon, pulled the sections out of the tangerine slices, chopped up one hard-boiled egg and threw all of that on a toasted whole wheat English muffin.


Mmmmm... totally delicious.

Again, another big-ish breakfast that kept me happy all day long. I think I'm getting the hang of this eating and working out thing.

Maybe. I still need to figure out what to eat before my early morning workouts. I need the energy without the ew-I-just-ate-and-now-I'm-bouncing-around feeling.

I'll... umm... get back to you on that one. For now it's protein shakes... and that's not bad.