P90X Day 28 - Still at it
Yep - I am still at it 28 days later. Its a Sunday, I pulled the short straw and am weekend manager so it is up at 5:30am. So far so good. I am almost through the recovery week and the change of pace is welcome. Week three was the toughest so far. My muscles just seemed tired. Everything was harder to do. But I am motivated to keep it going. I am down 15 pounds which is a great motivator. Two more pounds and I am no longer Obese, just overweight. I guess I should cheer. Only 45 more ponds to go. I am beginning to notice changes in my body. Little definition here, less of a bulge there. I keep telling myself time is my friend. As I am thinking about the process of getting to the point I am at, and were I want to get back to, I realize my real goal is to develop a sustainable strategy of eating and exercise that I can carry on throughout life. I have two and a half years before I hit 50 (scary thought), and my goal is to hit 50 in better shape than I hit 30. That means consistent exercise, healthy eating, solid relationships, and meaningful work. At this point, P90X is a key part in getting were I want to be in life. I'll keep you posted on the battle.
P90X – Starting to feel the Difference, Week 3
I just finished Plymetrics for the third time, so I am now 16 days into the program. I was up way to late last night finishing financials for work so today felt tougher than last week, but I am starting to see and feel the results. First, I am not as sore as I was the first to weeks, I am recovering more quickly after the workouts, I am starting to feel more like an athlete again, the moves are becoming more natural, and the weight is starting to come off. I started at 231lbs. on day one. Now on day 16 I weighed in before working out at 217lbs. That is a 14 pound weight loss. The work outs are long and hard, but worth it. I feel more relaxed, my wife says I have color in my face that wasn’t there, and the bulge is slowly starting to disappear. I am becoming more flexible each day. Kind of cool. My middle son is now doing it as well, I guess he can’t let me become more fit than he is. Also noticed that my blood pressure is coming down. What was 144/98 was 128/77 last week. 12 more days and I am done with the first 30 days. Funny but I can’t wait to take pictures.
P90X Day 11 -
I'll admit it, I have been a couch potato for the last 17 years of my life. I surf a little, I ski a little, some years I try jogging, some years I try soccer. But for the most part, I enjoy tortilla chips, salsa, the couch and the tv. And, I can't forget to mention beer, who could resist all the Oregon Micro Brews. As a result I have made a long climb from 178 pounds in 1985 to 236 pounds at the start of 2011. That is 48 pounds in 16 years, or 2 to 3 pounds a year. It happened slowly, just crept up on me. Actually it surprised me when I really took a look at it. So I decided to take a different path. I realized I needed to do something dramatic to get moving in the right direction. With the gain of weight has come blood pressure medication, the inability to do as much physical activity as I want (even though I am still pretty active, its just not as easy), and a hard time bending over in the middle. Not the way I want to live the next half of my life.
So, after watching a few infomercials, talking to a few friends, and knowing I needed something to kick start by sorry ass, I have begun P90X. I figured extreme is what I needed to make a 180 degree turn in direction (as well as get down to 180 lbs.) As I type today my chest hurts, I feel lame because yoga is not my thing, but I am relaxed and already seeing my fitness improve. I have never done more push ups on my knees, but I am going to keep doing them until I can do as many normal push ups as the guys in the video. I can keep up on the shoulders, I'm not doing pull ups and instead using the bands. Not sure I could pull up 230 pounds more than once if I had to. I almost stayed up for all the plyometrics the second week, and I can tell you it will probably take me all 90 days to get to the point were I can do the yoga and actually bend and balance to the point I feel like I can say I do yoga.
The hardest part so far is the amount of time. Most workouts are more than 50 minutes and yoga is much longer. Lucky for me I started as soon as I got the CDs, without thinking and yoga lands on a Saturday. I have to get up at 5:30 in the morning which is also a huge change in lifestyle for me. But I figure I have 17 years staying up late, sleeping in, eating junk, and basically not doing what I need to do for me. I should probably plan on spending most of the next 17 years working out, eating right, and thinking long term instead of immediate gratification. At this point I am 11 day in with 79 left to go. In this Man's Battle I am determined not to be beat. If you want to partner up for encouragement or to share stories just leave a comment. Here is looking to April 4th, my 90th day.
So, after watching a few infomercials, talking to a few friends, and knowing I needed something to kick start by sorry ass, I have begun P90X. I figured extreme is what I needed to make a 180 degree turn in direction (as well as get down to 180 lbs.) As I type today my chest hurts, I feel lame because yoga is not my thing, but I am relaxed and already seeing my fitness improve. I have never done more push ups on my knees, but I am going to keep doing them until I can do as many normal push ups as the guys in the video. I can keep up on the shoulders, I'm not doing pull ups and instead using the bands. Not sure I could pull up 230 pounds more than once if I had to. I almost stayed up for all the plyometrics the second week, and I can tell you it will probably take me all 90 days to get to the point were I can do the yoga and actually bend and balance to the point I feel like I can say I do yoga.
The hardest part so far is the amount of time. Most workouts are more than 50 minutes and yoga is much longer. Lucky for me I started as soon as I got the CDs, without thinking and yoga lands on a Saturday. I have to get up at 5:30 in the morning which is also a huge change in lifestyle for me. But I figure I have 17 years staying up late, sleeping in, eating junk, and basically not doing what I need to do for me. I should probably plan on spending most of the next 17 years working out, eating right, and thinking long term instead of immediate gratification. At this point I am 11 day in with 79 left to go. In this Man's Battle I am determined not to be beat. If you want to partner up for encouragement or to share stories just leave a comment. Here is looking to April 4th, my 90th day.
P90X Day 2 - Can you say Plyometrics
Ok, sleeping last night was hard. Every time I rolled over or tried to push myself up in bed my arms screamed out. Day 1 was still hitting me. But once again the alarm went off at 5:30 am. Today I found myself jumping, bouncing, basically it was almost an hour of sweating. Wow! I again did my best. I couldn't do it all, but I tried it all, and I did it as long as I could until I could do no more. I would rest for a few seconds and jump back in. I wanted to through up as it all ended. Arms still sore from the day before, and know the rest of me wiped out. Drinking water like mad, sweating it all out, making my lunches and eating according to plan. Two down and Eighty Eight more to go. I found myself walking around the house making the P90X sign with my arms. My wife and kids think I am a nut. I feel like This is going to be a long haul. They say no pain no gain. I am just hoping my arms are ready for tomorrow. Not sure what shoulders and arms will be all about, but my arms are hurting.
P90X Day 1
Its the night before I start P90X, and I am questioning my sanity. Why do I think I can do this, why do I need to do this, isn't life ok the way it is? The reality is I am 231 pounds and fall into the clinical definition of obese. On New Years Day I was 236, but I started working the South Beach Diet plan, which in many ways is not to different from P90X's Phase 1 Fat Shredder plan. I haven't been working out consistently for almost three years, and then it was only for about 5 months. I am 47, and I would say when I was 19 is when I was in the best shape of my life. I hate getting up early, and I like to eat. So it feels like everything is stacked against me.
However, I took the pictures that they want you to take, the front, back and side. When did I get so overweight. I don't see it when I look in the mirror, but there I am in pictures looking larger than life, and definetly larger than I ever wanted to be. I also feel myself becoming less able to do the things I want to do as a result of being to heavy, and to out of shape. Sure I can hike miles, I can do an elliptical trainer, but I want to be able to run with my wife, play a little soccer with my adult sons, and feel like I can sit in a hot tub and not feel shame. So there is my motivation
So at 5:30 am my alarm rings, the disc goes in and I start warming up. Not so bad. I am huffing an puffing but doing it. Soon the workout starts, and we do a few push ups. I listen to Tony Horton say "Do Your Best," and to pace yourself. He asks the people working out how many push ups they are going to do, and they are all in the range of thirty. I think to myself 10, at 10 I am still feeling good and try two more before stopping. Then to pull ups. There is no way I am going to be able to lift this heavy body up and down for pull ups, so I opt for the bands. Then they go back to pull ups, then bands, then pull ups, then bands, and on and on and on. Pretty soon I am only able to do three or four push ups while on my knees, and even then my arms are shaking, but I push through with sweat pouring off me. Of course Tony and company are still pumping out 30 at a time, but Tony states that a few of those on the video when they were newbies struggled like me. There is hope. I Did My Best and Forgot the Rest. Then I realized I was suppose to do the Ab Ripper routine as well. I tried to do the first set with them and realized I would never make it, so I turned off the video and vowed to do it after work.
A few hours later, knowing I had done my best, I couldn't forget the rest. Soreness started to settle in to my arms.. At lunch I was having trouble lifting a glass of water to my mouth without feeling the pain. I hurt in places I didn't know had muscles. In some ways it felt like two a days for high school football. I laughed at myself and again thought, what is a 47 year old guy like me thinking.
I came home and tried the Ab work out. At one point my stomach completely cramped up. The muscles in my stomach were so tight I couldn't move. After relaxing them a minute I went on to the next routine. I did my best, stuck with it till the end. I didn't do nearly the reps they did, but tried all the exercises. I have survived day 1 of P90X.
However, I took the pictures that they want you to take, the front, back and side. When did I get so overweight. I don't see it when I look in the mirror, but there I am in pictures looking larger than life, and definetly larger than I ever wanted to be. I also feel myself becoming less able to do the things I want to do as a result of being to heavy, and to out of shape. Sure I can hike miles, I can do an elliptical trainer, but I want to be able to run with my wife, play a little soccer with my adult sons, and feel like I can sit in a hot tub and not feel shame. So there is my motivation
So at 5:30 am my alarm rings, the disc goes in and I start warming up. Not so bad. I am huffing an puffing but doing it. Soon the workout starts, and we do a few push ups. I listen to Tony Horton say "Do Your Best," and to pace yourself. He asks the people working out how many push ups they are going to do, and they are all in the range of thirty. I think to myself 10, at 10 I am still feeling good and try two more before stopping. Then to pull ups. There is no way I am going to be able to lift this heavy body up and down for pull ups, so I opt for the bands. Then they go back to pull ups, then bands, then pull ups, then bands, and on and on and on. Pretty soon I am only able to do three or four push ups while on my knees, and even then my arms are shaking, but I push through with sweat pouring off me. Of course Tony and company are still pumping out 30 at a time, but Tony states that a few of those on the video when they were newbies struggled like me. There is hope. I Did My Best and Forgot the Rest. Then I realized I was suppose to do the Ab Ripper routine as well. I tried to do the first set with them and realized I would never make it, so I turned off the video and vowed to do it after work.
A few hours later, knowing I had done my best, I couldn't forget the rest. Soreness started to settle in to my arms.. At lunch I was having trouble lifting a glass of water to my mouth without feeling the pain. I hurt in places I didn't know had muscles. In some ways it felt like two a days for high school football. I laughed at myself and again thought, what is a 47 year old guy like me thinking.
I came home and tried the Ab work out. At one point my stomach completely cramped up. The muscles in my stomach were so tight I couldn't move. After relaxing them a minute I went on to the next routine. I did my best, stuck with it till the end. I didn't do nearly the reps they did, but tried all the exercises. I have survived day 1 of P90X.
PX90 - This years resolution
I have been looking for a weight loss program or workout program for over a year now. I have tried South Beach Diet, with really good success, I have a 24 hour fitness membership, but I get going and then I stall. I love to see quick results, but sustaining something over time has always proved the challenge for me. As I realized a long time ago, something has got to change, and that something is me. A few things that I realize as we head into 2011:
Having tried a few things over the past few years, I have listened to friends talk about Medifast, I have watched them bomb out on Atkins Diet. But I have been intrigued by a few people I know who have tried PX90. My son and daughter in law, cousins, etc... I am intrigued at how many complete the program and then go back for another round. Most of them don't talk about the weight loss, although that happens, instead they talk about how much better they feel, their strength and energy. There are many testimonials out there, I have not found any that say it is a sham. So today I have signed up for PX90, asked for my free resistance band, and will start following their diet. Should be here in 5 days or less. If I push I could by half way through my second round by my birthday. I am doing it for weight loss, energy, self esteem, and to feel younger. I'll keep you posted on how I am doing.
- I will be turning 48 this year - that seems really old, but it doesn't have to be.
- I weighed 236 lbs as I stepped on the scale yesterday morning, that makes me obese.
- I know what it means to eat healthy and smart but I chose unhealthy and stupid
- My job is full of stress and it will only increase not decrease
- I have stopped doing some of the things I enjoyed doing because I am out of shape.
- My self esteem is affected by all of the above
Having tried a few things over the past few years, I have listened to friends talk about Medifast, I have watched them bomb out on Atkins Diet. But I have been intrigued by a few people I know who have tried PX90. My son and daughter in law, cousins, etc... I am intrigued at how many complete the program and then go back for another round. Most of them don't talk about the weight loss, although that happens, instead they talk about how much better they feel, their strength and energy. There are many testimonials out there, I have not found any that say it is a sham. So today I have signed up for PX90, asked for my free resistance band, and will start following their diet. Should be here in 5 days or less. If I push I could by half way through my second round by my birthday. I am doing it for weight loss, energy, self esteem, and to feel younger. I'll keep you posted on how I am doing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)