Oh, THERE'S my tattoo!

Day 5. If I'm operating on the theory that it takes 7 days to form a new habit(like getting up at 4am), then I've got two days to go - thank God! I struggled again this morning. But, yet again, I talked myself into getting my chubby buns out the door. Today called for Legs & Back and the Ab Ripper X - trust me, I felt them ripping! I really enjoyed today's video, which made me even more psyched that I made it out. There was a good mix of leg workouts and pull-ups. I still have yet to fashion a pull-up bar. One demonstrator used resistance bands attached to a hook on the ceiling. I didn't have a hook so I threw the bands over the rails that the garage door slides on. If I knelt down, it worked just fine! I leaned back slightly with a straight back so I made sure to work my back and not my arms. And the one-legged wall sits were killer! I'm curious to see how bad I'll be hurting in the morning.

After my workout, I headed to the shower but stopped by the mirror before I hopped in. When, lo and behold! My long lost tattoo revealed itself!! I have my son's footprint tattooed on the front of my left hip. Over the past few months, it has, um, bulged and distorted just a tad. Okay, not just a tad, if I look straight down I couldn't even see it! Yowza! But after just one week, it's coming back into view! Hallelujah! Progress!!!

Truth be told, the rapid reappearance of my permanent art is due to diet, not the sweat sessions. I've been following the Portion Plan from P90X. It's strict, but easy to follow and doesn't take a tremendous amount of planning. When I go to the grocery store, I just make sure to get the approved foods and during the week I throw them together in different combos. As long as I eat the right number of each food group, I'm golden. I'm in the much-needed Fat Shredder phase. I get to eat 5 proteins a day! Downside? Only one carb. When I reach into the cabinet, I hear Mr. Miagi's voice saying, "Choose wisely, grasshoppah." I usually try to save my chinsey one stinkin' carb for the best choice from that group. But in a rush, I used it on bran cereal. Laaa-dee-dah. At least I have some leftover baked buffalo chicken from last night (skinless breasts, not the wings)!

I'm anticipating a challenging weekend. The Mister isn't too fond of "diets" and often a pretty bad influence. But he can just think about doing cardio and lose 5 pounds. I'm not getting up at dawn, but I am going to get up fairly early thanks to my three-foot talking alarm clock. I'm banking on the fact that I won't want to eat crappy after kicking my butt in my garage for an hour. Because then, what would be the point? So here's to heavy lifting and healthy eating this weekend! Bring it!

** I'm going to try my dangdest to get some pictures of my workouts up. And if I'm feeling really froggy, I'll even do some videos. Check back soon!