( End of Phase 2 pics )

I'll be the first one to admit that this phase was not a good one for me. I had to redo two or three weeks thanks to sickness and traveling, and with Dan being gone, that effected things quite a bit as well. I was depressed, so I wasn't as motivated, and I wasn't eating nearly as well as I should have been. I didn't do measurements or anything like that, but weight-wise I'm still fluctuating between 188 and 191, so I'm pretty much holding steady. I think the pics reflect that as well, and truth be told, I'm happy at this point to just be holding steady.

I have to admit that I'm getting a little tired of the P90X program at this point, only because I've been doing it for 7 months now and still have another month to go. I still think the program is fantastic, but I'm definitely drinking less of the Kool-Aid than I was when I first started. I think just the way my brain works, I need a bit of variety... so just five more weeks with this, and we're off to attempt the Insanity program. I hope I can handle it, but we'll see in a little over a month :P

Obviously the majority of this came from Dan, but who cares? We're counting it as a joint venture. Obviously with less than 3 weeks away I'm not going to hit 5000, but as I said in a conversation with someone on FB... it's more to get my ass out there and take pictures, rather than increase the number for volume's sake.

( Pics )

I'll admit, I slacked off more than I should have this phase. The first two weeks I was really pushing it hard, but then it all fell apart - first the strep throat, then the trip to France (I tried to work out as much as possible, but the apartment Dan's in is NOT conducive to a good workout), then being depressed after getting back and honestly half-assing it. Anyone got a good way to kick me in the ass?

Didn't do anything in the way of measurements (since it's nearly impossible for me to do it alone), but weight-wise I'm hovering around where I was when I started. While in France I dropped down to about 187, but I'm in the 190-191 range right now. I fully blame myself for that - the crappy eating and half-assed workouts.

All I know is, I better get on the ball.

Dan's weekend trips while in Europe and my recent visit have certainly put a dent in the number for this year, but I know 5000 isn't going to happen. At the same time, though - I don't want to reach 5000 just for the sake of doing it, so whatever I reach, I reach.

I'll try to blog about the trip sometime in the next few days - tomorrow is going to be pure hell with work, so the time to sit down and blog may not be for a while.

My apologies for the quality of these pics - Dan has the good camera so I used his point-and-shoot, and the noise quality on that thing is ridiculous. Plus I've never been good at self-pics.

( Start of Round 2 pics )

I didn't do any of the fit test or measurements, since I figured I can just use what I had at the end of Round 1.

I've decided that this time I'm going to try to go for bulk, as opposed to the "lean" lifting I did during the first round. Since I know all the exercises, it'll be easier to pile on the weights since I know the form. I did start with Chest & Back yesterday, and I pushed myself a lot harder than usual - actually felt a little bit nauseous by the end of the workout.

I am going to try for 100% accountability with no skips this time, with the possible exception of a couple of days during the France trip - I'll work out while there, but probably not count it as a "real" week. Besides, adjusting from the flight over there will likely take a day or two anyways. The real challenge for this round is attempting to stick with the nutrition plan - we pretty much threw it out the window the first time, but it very well may help me shed some pounds. Being on the road all the time for work sucks, though, since basically all I can bring is a sandwich (nowhere to heat anything up while I'm driving), and the temptation to stop by that McDonalds or wherever for a snack is still there. I may just have to not bring my money or debit cards with me whenever I go out :P

( End of Round 1 comparison pics )

( Measurements and fit test results )

I do have to say, it's encouraging seeing the pics in the comparison style above, since I thought there was little change from day to day when I was looking at the pics individually. Looking at them together, though, there are clear changes from when I first started. Unfortunately, pretty much all of Phase 3 was a bit of a backslide - with all of the life stressors happening at once (the car accident, Max, Dan's mom, etc.), the workouts got pushed back and the eating habits took a SERIOUS decline. Honestly, though, I think we did pretty damn good, considering.

Right now, we're doing a makeshift recovery/maintenance phase, since Dan doesn't want to start up with Round 2 until he's in France and has had a couple of days to adjust... and rightfully so. So, we're just mixing up things like Plyo, Yoga, Cardio X, and Kenpo with some days of just Ab Ripper X... we may try Insanity's Cardio Abs, too, just to see how it is.

For Round 2, I plan on mixing it up a bit just to keep things fresh. I do NOT like Kenpo X or Core Synergistics, so I'm going to try to mix those up with equivalent things from P90X+ and Insanity to see if I find something more palatable. I'm also going to try to switch Plyo with Insanity's Plyo Cardio Circuit... since I'd like to try the full Insanity route after we finish this round of P90X, it'd be better to ease into it, I'm sure.

And also... I need to get a LOT better on sticking to the nutrition plan. skeelig and I pretty much threw it out the window after a couple of weeks the first time... but since I'll be cooking for myself and only myself, perhaps it'll be easier? I can only hope :P

Well, I'm finally finished processing the SF pics :P I admit that I got a little lazy towards the end with the last couple of sets, but that usually happens with me - I go all-out in the beginning, then by the end my brain is so overwhelmed that I just want everything else done and out.

I've also learned I've forgotten a LOT of my Photoshop skills since I started using Lightroom 95% of the time. I think I need to break out my books again and keep practicing. I know these pics could've been far better.

Anyway.

People

Telegraph Hill

Bay Cruise

Alcatraz

Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Park

We've made it back, and it was such an amazing trip I can't explain it. Like I said in one of my tweets, it really is the people who made the visit to San Francisco great. For those of you we met... thank you so much. For those of you we didn't meet (which is a lot - I didn't realize how many San Francisco folks I have on LJ/Twitter/Facebook), my apologies.

I actually learned a lot about myself on this trip... I think there's going to be two posts forthcoming in the next week: the usual what we did on vacation post, and another one working out the stuff I've discovered.

Of course, we took a ton of pics... I hope to have the "people" pics up on Facebook by tomorrow at the latest, and will be posting others to Flickr in sets by location.

And we've made a pretty good dent in the 5000 pictures goal with this trip... though this time we were more content to just enjoy where we were, as opposed to the PacNW trip where a camera was attached to one of our hands pretty much at all times :P

Obviously I'm WAY behind as we're now approaching June and I haven't even broken the 1000 picture mark, but I'm hoping the next month or so chips away at it. I'm sure the San Francisco trip will help :P

And I usually post links on Flickr/Facebook, but in case you're not on there, some of my sets from this month:

Tinker Nature Park

Dan & Alan at Lower Falls

Lilac Festival '09

Tulips at Highland Park

Way behind, obviously, but getting there slowly. The month of May should help with progress considerably.

This is cool - one of my pics on Artfire - Daddy, I'm Tired! - was selected for a weekly contest. If I win, I move on to next week's Weekly Challenge. If I win that, I get free promotion for my studio on Artfire :)

So, if y'all could, go here and vote for my photo :P

All the pics are uploaded on Artfire to sell, and now the portfolio website is up and running! And not to sound too desperate, but if you really like a print, please consider purchasing one... I just want to sell one print this year. That's all.

And... does anyone have any good ideas for marketing this damn thing? :P

OK... anyone ever use this lens?

I'm strongly considering getting a new wide-angleish lens for the upcoming trips... I loved the one I rented for the trip last year, but it's made for crop sensor cameras.