P90x 2014 SC - Injury!

I know my entries have been sporadic, but as of yesterday, I was only 2 days behind.  Now I'm going to fall at least a week behind.  I pulled my hamstring/glute yesterday....badly.  I've done this once or twice before and it takes at least a week to start feeling better.  I'm going to try being a bit more aggressive in my treatment based on some research I've done.

Hopefully I'll be posting back here shortly.

How did I do it you ask?  My brother had a giant slip and slide setup for his party.  After 20 plus runs, I just pulled up lame.  You'd think my then I would have been warmed up.  So it goes, and yes, it was worth it.  So much fun.

P90x 2014 SC - Day ?? What happened?

I missed a couple posts and then I missed a couple days!  I worked hard to catch up.  Yesterday I pulled a double with Triometrics and Back/Biceps.  It was brutal, but that left me one behind.  Today I managed yoga.  I wish I had done more of it.  It feels so good afterwards.

Tomorrow will be something legs related, either Legs/back or eccentric lower.  We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning.

Week 3 of any phase is so rough.  Your body really struggles to keep up the intensity and commitment.  I'm trying hard to make Recovery week NOT be make up week....because phase 3 is an extra week in length.

Theme for today:  So what if you missed a few days, get back on the horse and bring it!
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P90x 2014 SC - Day 40 Eccentric Lower

I missed yoga yesterday because of a group of 7 and 8 year old's sleeping over.  Hopefully I can find a day to make that up.

My elbow was still pretty sore today, so I did something smart again....I listened to my body and did a legs only, Eccentric Lower workout.  I must be getting old.  Anyway, it's another P90x3 workout.  I didn't get the sweat I usually get with legs/back, but my legs were spent at the end.  I should be sore in a whole different group of places tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to MMX tomorrow for the great sweat I usually get.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 38 Back & Biceps

Once again, I wasn't looking forward to this workout as these are traditionally my weakest muscle groups.  That being said, once I finally pressed play, I rocked it today.  I used a mix of 30s and 35s for the bicep exercises and wrapped it up starting with 40s(!) for the strip set.  Amazingly, my biceps aren't too much of a mess right now.

The real fun of the day is the 5 7 and 8 year old's sleeping over for my little one's birthday.  If I wasn't tired from the workout, I'd certainly be now.

I was impressed with how much weight I was able to push around today.  I really didn't expect to be able to do much with the 35s, never mind use 40s for the strip set.  I guess some days, I can impress even myself.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 37 Triometrics

I missed yesterday's post, which was Triometrics.  I did get it done yesterday.  I think my subconscious has decided it doesn't want to do Plyo.  I don't use an alarm clock, just get up when it's time.  Not on Plyo day, I consistently oversleep enough that there isn't time for a 60 minute workout.

My brother did point out that once you strip out the excessive warmup and cool down in plyo, It's only about 10 minutes longer than triometrics.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 36 Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Yesterday was rest, so I didn't have much need to post anything.  My legs were shot from the day before it was an uneventful day.

Today was another story.  I was still dragging a bit from staying up too late a couple nights ago, but I was up in time and after a bit of procrastination, pressed play.  This is the most brutal workout in P90x.  I believe I said that last time.  It just keeps hammering you at every turn.  In Shoulders/Arms during phase 1, I could do 20 dips and 20 side tri-rises without that much effort.  In this workout, Dips is the FIRST tricep exercise and I struggle to get 20.  I don't even want to talk about one armed push ups and clap push ups.

I didn't show much improvement throughout this, despite pushing pretty hard.  I went up minimally in most exercises and actually went down in the last push up one.  Did I do my best?  Yes I did, and that's all that matters.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 34 Legs/Back or Kenpo

Yesterday I just couldn't get legs and back done in the morning.  Ultimately, I had a very busy afternoon carting air conditioners and such out of the shed.  I called it a decent substitution for MMX.  Which left me with legs and back today.  Tony always says to modify as needed.  Usually he's talking about moves, but sometimes, you've got to modify the schedule to fit your life.

This morning's legs and back workout reminded me how  much I enjoy working out in the winter.  I don't think it had hit 70 outside, but there was definitely a bit of humidity in the air and it definitely made this workout that much harder.  On top of that, my biceps were still sore from Back and Biceps a few days ago.  Once I got on the bar, they loosened up pretty quickly and feel good now.

My legs suffered as I used 20's for most of the optional weight exercises.  I still had a great workout.

I guess today's theme is don't be afraid to modify...the schedule.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 32 Yoga

I'm definitely sporting some nice preying mantis arms this morning.  Fortunately, yoga helped loosen them up.  Upward dog sure hurt to start, but felt much better by the end.  Speaking of yoga, this morning I tried something new.  I felt like I needed a slightly different focus than any of the P90x yogas offered, so I did my own thing.

I was able to focus on the really stiff/sore parts and loosen up quite a bit.  I still like the formality of doing it with a lead video, but today I definitely needed a different focus.  It was very similar to P90x3 in regard to the moves and time, but I held some of the moves longer and missed some of the other ones.

Feeling so much better.  Don't skip yoga!

Happy Father's Day to all.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 31 Back and Biceps

This morning was another new workout for phase 2.  Back and Biceps.  These are not my favorite muscles to work.  For whatever reason, I prefer and do better with Chest and Triceps.  That being said, I brought it, setting the bar pretty high for myself next time I do this.

All the biceps exercises were with 30s, except for 21s...I stuck with the 25s for those.  For the strip set at the end....35->30->25->20.  I'm in for a serious case of praying mantis arms tomorrow.

This is a great routine, 52 minutes, 24 exercises.  Two back in a row followed by 2 biceps.  Tony calls this the glamour muscle workout.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 30 Plyo/Trio

30 days...1/3 of the way done.  Wahoo!  My elbow comes and goes, but the weakness in my shoulder has pretty much been absorbed by all the supporting muscles, so it doesn't bother me much.

This morning was supposed to be plyo.  With the soft pitter patter of rain and the leftover tired from CST, I overslept a bit.  So I subbed in P90x3 Triometrics again.  It's a really good workout and even though it's 30 minutes, I suspect I'm getting pretty close to the calorie burn of Plyo.

There are so many combination moves that require balance, strength, focus, and even flexibility.  Warrior 3 squats....what a leg torcher...and you do them for a minute...on each leg!

Anyway, the theme for today is Do Something, even if it's not what you plan...get something done.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 28/29 Chest, Shoulders, Triceps(CST)

I couldn't get my act together to do Yoga yesterday, which I'm regretting...especially since I'm the guy who said, "Don't skip yoga".

Anyway, today starts Phase 2, which brings new weight routines.  Today is the worst, I mean hardest, of them, CST.  Three muscle groups that you constantly use in conjunction with each other.  When you do a push up, you think it's chest, but you're also using Tricep and Shoulder.  This routine is 24 exercises in 55 minutes.  It's rough, it moves fast, and it starts with Slow Motion Push Ups!

After the joy of that start, it all becomes a blur as you do your best and forget the rest on shoulder presses, dips, clap/plyo push ups, tricep extensions, and even one armed push ups, on my knees thank you very much.

It's a huge pump, and don't sell yourself short, there's always one more push up in there somewhere.  Clap push ups are the second to last push up exercise.  I got down on the floor and didn't think I'd be able to hold myself up.  I finished with 12 or 14 clappers....and at the end, yes, it is a challenge to see just how fast your hands can move.

Enjoy the pump!

P90x 2014 SC - Day 25/26/27

You're probably thinking I slacked off because it's recovery week.  Maybe a little.

Day 25 was Stretch day.  I had intended to do Dynamix, which is the P90x3 stretch replacement, but my elbow wasn't feeling particularly good, so I bagged it.  My body appreciated the rest.

Day 26 should have been Core, but yesterday morning my allergies were so bad there was no way I could workout.  My nose was plugged up and running, but worse, my chest was so tight, I would have passed out trying to breathe.

Today, Day 27, Back on the horse.  I made up Core this morning.  It was rough, but I raised the bar a bit and felt great doing it.  Wiped out now.

Tomorrow I plan to make up today's yoga, and be back on schedule for the start of phase 2 on Thursday.

Don't forget, it's never too late to get back on the horse!

P90x 2014 SC - Day 24 Kenpo/MMX

I love the middle of Recovery Week.  Not crazy hard, but still a great sweat.  I went with MMX over Kenpo again.  The more I do this workout, the more I realize just how good it is.  I know it's the sprawls that really raise the intensity level.

30 minutes, or 2000 steps on my pedometer, and I'm a bucket of sweat.  Feel great and I'm happy to have gotten it done.

Enjoy the beautiful day.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 23 Core Synergistics

What a great workout this morning.  There wasn't a dry spot on my shirt.  I forgot just how much fun prison cell push ups are.

I did catch myself about 1/3 of the way into the workout slipping back to the "good enough" funk I had been in before starting this round.  I fixed it, pushed hard, and did great.  Today's theme is don't sell yourself short.  You're capable of amazing things when you put your mind to it.

I will admit to feeling guilty about skipping yoga yesterday.  Maybe I'll make it up by doing Dynamix(P90x3) and Yoga on Stretch day.  Still an hour, but lots of good stuff in there.  We'll have to wait and see.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 21/22 Rest and Yoga

Yesterday was rest day for week 3 and I forgot to do this post.  Not a big deal.  It was a real good first few weeks and I feel much stronger and fitter.  It was also pretty tough on my elbow that has tendinitis as that's pretty sore this morning.

I'm trying to do the smart thing and rest my elbow for the day.  It's yoga, which usually makes the rest of my body feel great, but I think resting my elbow is better.  I really want to do Core Syn tomorrow.

I guess the moral of the day is listen to your body and do the right thing.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 20 Kenpo/MMX

Wow, doing this after legs day really kicks up the intensity level.  Your legs are tired and sore and that makes you have to push so much harder to keep up.  The sprawls are pretty much burpees without the push up and there are lots of them.  More than any other exercise, the sprawls make this workout.  I bet if you put random sprawls into Kenpo, it'd be a real workout as well.

I was a little slow to press play again today, but got it done and feel good.  For those keeping track, the 30 minute P90x3 MMX workout netted me over 2200 steps.  That's really impressive for 30 minutes of working out.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 19 Legs/Back

I rolled over this morning hoping I had another hour of sleep, but knowing deep down inside, it was 4:30...yup, 4:30.  I dragged myself out of bed, pressed play and even after a ton of yard work yesterday, put on a great workout.

I don't use dumbbells for all the exercises, but I went up from 15s to 20s for the exercises I do use them in.

Recovery week is around the corner and I can't say how much I'm looking forward to it.  My right elbow definitely needs a rest and this morning I tweaked something between my right shoulder blade and spine. That is a very typical injury for me.  I do it almost every time I do a workout a program.  It's definitely one of my weak spots.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 18 Yoga

I woke up and my lower back was really tight today.  With minimal procrastination, I pressed play and the 30 minutes of X3 yoga flew by leaving me feeling ohh so much better.  I felt good today doing it.  Balance and flexibility were pretty good.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Don't skip the yoga.  Yup, it's hard, but worth the effort.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 17 Shoulders/Arms

We're closing in on recovery week and I'm starting to feel it, which is typical.

The tendinitis in my elbow was acting up a bit this morning, so I took it a little easy, looking to maintain or improve just a little.  Which I did.  Still a good sweat.  This workout used to not make me sweat much, but this round of P90x, I'm definitely pushing hard and finishing with a wet shirt.  Feels good to not slack off and just maintain.

For those wondering, I did press play on Ab Ripper.  I hate that workout.  I realize it's necessary, and I'm not abysmal at it anymore, but I still don't like it.  Which is ironic since you do it more than any other workout.

Enjoy the weekend.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 16 Plyometrics/Triometrics

Today's theme is press play.  For whatever reason I am dragging a boat anchor today.  I think my chest is really tight from all of yesterday's pushups and my allergies are kicking in.  No get up and go this morning, more like drag myself out of bed.

I procrastinated enough that I didn't have an hour for the full plyometrics routine.  So I reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out P90x3 Triometrics.  I might have been better with regular Plyo.  My legs are beat and I'm a bucket of sweat.  At least I know I worked hard.  The upside of mixing up all these workouts is my body never knows what's coming so I have to work that much harder.

For those from work who care, 1600 steps in 34 minutes..not bad.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 15 Chest/Back

Today's theme is Lofty Goals.

After yesterday's Day of Gluttony, I really wanted to Bring it today to make up for some of those calories.  Last week I had good gains at 37 more than week one.  Week three usually shows minimal gains for me, but I wasn't prepared to accept that.  I had 259 last time and wanted 300(!) this time.  I Dug Deep, all the way to China and hit....305!

I'm fairly certain that is a personal best as I don't remember ever topping 300 in the past.  I also think I might have done more than the guys in the video.  If not, I'm really close to their totals.

Don't sell yourself short, dig deep, work hard, and you can do anything(for thirty seconds).

For the record, P90x Chest/Back gave me almost 1600 steps for my corporate challenge.  I can't wait to see what Plyo gives me.

Set High Goals, and Surpass them.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 14 Rest/Stretch/Dynamix

Today is the end of week 2.  Another rest/stretch day.  I stayed up too late again last night with some friends, so this morning came crashing in way too fast....that immediately equals less will power.

On top of that, we had a summer event at work today.  A truck came and made pizzas for us.  Did I mention there was also hard cider and beer?  I had a very light breakfast and might not even have dinner, but it was definitely a day of gluttony.

The irony is we started a 10,000 step a day contest at work today.  I would need at least a 100,000 step day to even come close to working off lunch.

And yes, it was that good.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 13 Kenpo/MMX

As with last week, I subbed MMX from P90x3, in for Kenpo....I'm going to say that will be my new standard going forward...it's a much better workout in half the time.

After eating and drinking way too much yesterday, I did not pop out of bed this morning.  There was also the obligatory procrastination from sore legs.  Apparently I ate so much salt that I could barely get my wedding band off to workout.  But what a workout.  With all that extra baggage, I put in a good enough performance that I can almost ring my T-shirt out.  I'll take it, now if I could only go back to bed.

Have a great one folks.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 12 Legs/Back

It's Memorial Day, so I didn't have to hustle to get this in this morning.  That equated to almost an hour of procrastination before pressing play.  But I did and I got it done.  It's a bit muggy, and allergy season is oppressive for me to the point my shirt was drenched at the end.

For the second time in as many scheduled workouts, I pressed play on AB Ripper.  This is so much more challenging for me than any other workout.  I'm not sure if it's because it's at the end and I'm out of gas or I'm just BAD at it....likely some of both along with my gut getting in the way.

Happy Memorial Day to all.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 11 Yoga

I'm definitely feeling yesterday...I've got a bit of preying mantis stiffness.  For those who don't know, it's when you work your biceps so much, that your arms won't straighten out unless you force them to.

Yoga felt good today.  I was definitely looser than last week's effort, which isn't surprising considering that was week 1.  I did P90x3 yoga again.  It moves so fast, that I think you really need to do P90x yoga, at least the first half, a bunch of times, so that you're familiar with the moves.

I really want to get back to trying P90x yoga, but the 30 minute run time of x3 yoga is far too enticing.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 10 Shoulders and Arms

I felt good this morning so it was time to lift BIG.  35's for the shoulder press exercises, 40's for the upright rows, and 30's for all curl exercises.  My upper body is beat now, but feels great.   I'm afraid I won't be able to lift my arms later.

Today was the first time I really had time for Ab Ripper X.  I'm notorious for missing this workout all the time because I just don't have time in the morning.  I got it in today...struggled hard.  My abs even cramped up a bit halfway through.  I should be able to squeeze it in Monday(Memorial Day) since I have the day off.

Enjoy the weekend folks.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 9 Plyometrics

My body is finally starting to move without soreness, which is a big bonus in the mornings.  Yesterday I gave blood at work.  In the past, I've done that and done plyo the next day.  Those are really ugly days.  More like hideously ugly days.

This morning I wasn't feeling 100% so instead of being young and stupid, I did something older and smart.  I throttled back a little and did the 30 minute P90x3 Agility workout.  I'm still a bucket of sweat, but at least I only saw stars at the very end instead of halfway through.  I also skipped the plyo push ups at the end to rest my elbow a little more.

I will admit, part of me is pissed off about not doing plyo today, even though I know this was the right choice.

Have a good one.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 8 Chest/Back

Ahh, the start of week 2.  Despite staying up too late last night trying to catch up on Game of Thrones, I dragged myself out of bed at 4:30 and pressed play.

Like I said yesterday, I usually show good gains in week 2, so I decided to set the bar high for push ups...3 addition ones for every set.  That's an increase of 36 push ups...that's a lot.  Did I make it?   Yes I did.  The bar is set high for the rest of the group, I actually did 37 more for a total of 259 push ups.  I needed to take a knee a few times for a mid set break, but I pushed through.

My elbow and shoulder were definitely feeling it.  Hopefully that pain was weakness leaving my body as the areas get stronger, but I will definitely take it easy on those body parts today and tomorrow.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 7 Rest/Stretch/Dynamix

Rest, glorious rest.  It's been a rough first week.  More difficult than usual as I've tried to really bring it to every workout.  I was hoping to get Dynamix in today, but that's unlikely...just too much going on this evening and last night I was up way too late, so I had to sleep in a little.  Believe it or not, 4:30 in the morning comes pretty darn quick when you stay up a little late.

With the first week down, time to give myself a report card:
Workout effort:  A-  I did well, but can always do better.
Nutrition:  C+  I did well in avoiding most refined sugars, but definitely ate too much several times and didn't always make the best choice.

Plans for Week 2.
Keep the intensity up.  I know week 2 usually shows some good gains on almost all fronts, so I'm going to make sure that is the case
Improve my nutrition.  This is the big one for me.  I really need to buckle down and work on this, I'm working too hard physically for this to be my downfall.  With Memorial day weekend and the pizza truck coming to work next week, my work will be cut out for me.
Ab Ripper.  Those familiar with P90x know that Ab Ripper is scheduled after every strength workout.  So far, I'm 0 for 3.  When I have to get up around 4:30 to get the workout in, adding another 15 minutes to it just hasn't been in the cards.  Even on Saturday, by the time I pressed play, there just wasn't another 15 minutes at the end.  We'll see what I can figure out, but I do want to add it in.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 6 Kenpo/MMX

As I feared this morning, the toilet seat was very uncomfortable on my glutes.  All those lunges yesterday has my glutes sore and tight.  Sitting for more than a couple minutes causes them to tighten back up.  Should be a long day in that regard.

The P90x schedule calls for Kenpo today.  I'm not a big fan of that workout.  It's just not hard enough.  So I subbed in MMX from P90x3.  It's the same style punch/kick, but there is a great deal more intensity with sprawls and scrambles thrown in.  That addition, along with the mess that is my lower body has left me a sweaty mess.

The workout was hard, but I feel much better now.  Time to hit the showers.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 5 Legs/Back

This is one of my favorite workouts.  It ALWAYS gets the job done.  When I was doing P90x for the third straight time a couple years ago, my legs still hurt every time I did this workout.

Getting up this morning, my body was still tired and legs a bit stiff.  3 minutes into the warm up, and I was ready to go.  I used weights for most of the exercises and was panting by the 4th exercise.....I'm in for some pain tomorrow.  As it is, when I sit for five or more minutes, my glutes are already yelling when I get up.

Almost through week 1 and loving it.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 4 Yoga

Yoga, glorious yoga.  Yup, it's hard, yup, can't do half the moves well, yup, I feel miserable doing it.  But you know what, at the end you feel like a million bucks, compared to how you started.

A lot of people skip yoga, but experience has shown me how good it is for my body and today, one of the sorest days I've had in a long time, was no different.  I feel so much better now.

Don't skip yoga!

I will admit to doing P90x3 yoga, which is only 30 minutes, instead of P90x yoga.  Next week I'm planning to get to the longer workout, but that is only so much time in the day and today I overslept so I did what I could.

Hopefully I can get back on track with my eating today.  At least I'm still avoiding refined sugars.

Have a good one.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 3 Shoulders/Arms

I'm still a day behind on posts.  I did this workout yesterday.
This is the workout that I'm most afraid of as it works both my sore shoulder and elbow.  I was careful, but still had a great workout.  I even dragged out the 30's and 35's for some exercises.

On the other side, my body was killing me.  Glutes and Hamstrings hurt so much that I could barely bend down to pick up some of the dumbbells.  I once read or heard that 40 or 50% of people quit P90x after the first 2 days.  The only advice I can give it don't.  It gets better.

Last night was definitely the OMG Night.  My body could not have been more tired or sore.  Throw a couple beers in the mix and I slept like a dead man.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 2 Plyometrics

I'm a day late on this post, but did do Plyo yesterday.  What a great workout.  One of the really bad habits I've developed is stopping a tough cardio exercise when there is still 3-5 seconds left.  One of my mini-goals was to break this habit and push through all the exercises.  Other than blowing my nose and missing a few seconds of rock star hops, I brought it and cranked through them all.

While you can do anything for 30 seconds...it's still feels like a long time.

Diet wasn't as good as day 1.  We have bagel Fridays at work, so I had a whole wheat bagel.  Lunch was ok, and dinner was homemade pizza.  It could have been a far worse day...I managed to avoid refined sugar which is the number 1 rule on my diet rules, so I at least didn't fail there.

Upper body is tired, but not insanely sore....my brother texted me and said, "My upper body is paralyzed."  At least I'm not that bad.

P90x 2014 SC - Day 1 Chest/Back

Ahh, so good to get back to it.  I just love this workout...probably because I can do a lot of push ups.  I might have to add a goal of 3 pull ups(at 0 now) and 5 chin ups(at 2 now), by the end of the 90 days.

I felt good this morning.  For the record, I will end up doing the bulk of my workouts around 5 am, so it's a very early start.  I set a goal of 20 push ups per exercise.  I made that for the first 4 push up exercises.  I didn't make it for diamonds or dive bombers.  Being a big guy, I still need the chair for all the bar based exercises.

Second round, I dug deep and brought it, pulling out more push ups than the first round...total of 222 for the workout.  I also picked up some of my bigger dumbbells using the 40s and 50 for heavy pants and lawnmower.

It always amazes me how I think I've got nothing left and then get on the floor and find some sort of push up groove and crank out 15-20.

Today's eating was good.  Omelet for breakfast, chicken, broccoli, and brown rice for lunch with some grapes for dessert.  A handful of almonds for a snack and then some chicken and quinoa for dinner.

P90x 2014 Summer Challenge

This morning, a group of us are started a round of P90x.  It's been a long time since I've done just P90x.  I haven't been sitting around doing nothing, having completed several P90x/x2 hybrid rounds, P90x3, another round on Insanity, and then Asylum vol 2.  I've had a couple weeks off to recover and get fat.  Having taken a cruise and then gone to Universal for a few days definitely didn't help. 

I've been giving a lot of thought regarding my goals.  Lately I haven't had any...I've just moved from workout to workout and program to program.  I haven't focused enough on my eating and haven't been giving my workouts 100%, more like 75.  So here are the goals.

1.  Be the best I can be.  Yes, I could put some nonsense about losing 20 lbs here, but that will come if I can be the best I can be.

2.  Eat right.  I've never been able to eat right AND workout at the same time.  This will be a high protein, low carb diet.  I'm thinking Atkins meets Paleo....very little processed food.

That's really it....2 simple goals.  I expect if I follow those, I'll need a new belt and pants because the current ones will be falling off me.

This will not be without its challenges.  The two long term ones, that will likely haunt me the whole time, are some tendinitis in my right elbow and something not good in my right shoulder...I suspect it's a small tear.  I've had it for years and it usually stops bothering me a few weeks into a program as the supporting muscles help stabilize it.  The elbow I will have to listen to and occasionally tone down exercises.

I know there will be a few very challenging days with it comes to eating right.  The first already rears its ugly head next week...my company is bringing in a pizza fire truck for lunch.  In the past, self control for just about everyone at work has gone out the door.  I expect to not be happy with myself that evening.  The second is my brother's birthday at the end of the month.  We're tentatively going to see the new X-Men movie and then for beer and wings.  He's also a member of the challenge group, but I suspect I will be paying for this afternoon the next day as well.