Good morning, Shaun

Monday moring, 0500...Astoria, NY...alarm sounds

Little man in my head: "man, this is the most comfortable bed EVER...and it's cozy under the covers! Just cuddle with Jimmy for just one more hour."
Me: "nope."

Off went the covers and on went the workout clothes! Jimmy and I walked to the gym, laptop and water in hand, at dawn. (sounds like we're going to duel! well, we were...kinda!) Still sleepy-eyed and trying to get in the right mind frame to get our butts kicked!

We set up the laptop in the corner of the gym studio and pressed play.

I can't tell whether I like or hate that it starts out so fast. I guess it's good - sure wakes you up quickly so you can get the hard work goin'. Nothing like a heart rate of 175 within 20 minutes of waking up!!!!!!!!!

We were dripping - sweat was flingin' and our hands were so sweaty they were sliding all over the floor for the floor sprints! Serious DNA removal going on!

The little man...now awake and pissed off from being woken up at an ungodly hour, was just a fussin' at me. I literally was talking out loud to him during this workout. "KEEP GOING. I CAN DO THIS. I AM DOING THIS."

We made it to the end - not too bad - we took breaks and were huffing and puffing - but there was no vomiting or nausea today! I realized that I need to get some workout shorts - most of the pants that I wear to workout are usually capri length. By the end of the warmup, my pants are stuck to me and my shirt's come off (I'm in a sports bra...get your mind out of the gutters!!!!). Sweaty mess doesn't begin to describe it.

I make sure to wipe up the sweat puddles before we leave. Need to bring a camera to capture it one morning!

Got home, had Shakeology, prepped food for the day, got ready and came into the office. My mood was IN-CREDIBLE! I felt like I was on Cloud 9. Endorphins were kickin'!!!

So far soreness hasn't been bad. I feel it in my calves and the underside of my butt (Jimmy calls it where your butt smiles!). Lots of pushups today, so I'll see how my chest feels tomorrow - so far, so good!!! Recovery drink during this is a life saver!!!! But I feel like Bastian from The Neverending Story..."not too much (recovery drink)...we still have a long way to go!!!"

I've tried to up my calories for the day. I need to sit down and look at the food guide tonight - says I should take in 2130 calories to maintain my weight (which is what I'm trying to do!). That's almost double what I normally take in. So it will be an adjustment.

Had chocolate shakeology w/ soy yogurt, nut butter and almond milk for breakfast #1. Oatmeal w/ 10 grain cereal, protein powder, nut butter, chopped almonds and frozen berries (this was a BIG bowl of goodness!!!) for breakfast #2. An apple and almonds for AM snack. Leftover pasta w/ red sauce for lunch. Then I have celery and nut butter for my PM snack and will probably have salmon and brown rice and maybe a salad for dinner. And then I'll put in my food, and see if I need a little something before bed. I feel like an eating machine! But I need to - with this program I will be a lean, mean, eating and fighting machine!!!! ggrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

The amazing thing is that I don't feel tired at all. Yes, getting up at 5am wasn't all sunshine and roses, but I can't tell you how great it felt to tackle that first thing! Such an amazing way to start the day. And to have Jimmy there to tackle it with me made it that much better! But I feel so great right now that I'm going to hit up Power Yoga tonight!!!!

I think I'm going to take weekly progress pics - and then pics on the fit test days. My abs feel tighter already and my whole body feels strong. Looking forward to being able to see improvements as I go through the program. Taking less breaks, jumping higher, squatting lower - things like that. I know there were moves from the Fit Test that I can improve on form wise - and so my numbers from the Fit Test might go down, but now that I know proper form, there's no cheating!!!

Jimmy's travelling the rest of the week, so I'll be on my own. But I'll be up and at 'em at 5am every morning. It's like ripping off a bandaid - better to do it quickly than to make the anticipation drag on. Get it done first thing - then the rest of the day will be smooth sailing!!