P90X – 100 days later

As promised, a short update on how things are going 100 days after we finished P90X.  You may remember that I had lost a bit over 12 pounds over that rough journey.  I hoped to keep that off, maybe lose a bit more, and be in a regular exercise routine.

Well, like any classic weight loss story, the dreams didn’t quite make it up to reality.  I gained it all back plus a few pounds since then and am lazier than ever.

Really?  You believed that?  I mean, things aren’t going to be a fairy tale ending here, but you think it was going to go that bad?  Messed up dude.

In reality, I gained about 3 pounds back, which isn’t so bad.  I didn’t work out all too much since then, though we just joined a gym and went to my first class today.  Also, I’ve been running a few times this week.  You may have recalled from previous posts that the thing that really made P90X work for me was the no-thought nature of it.  Pop it in and “keep pressing play,” as Tony Horton likes to say.  I’m much more hopeful that this week will be indicative of what the next 100 days will look like.  I’ve got classes that are easy to drop into and a wife who’s joining me through all of that.  We’re also signing up for a 5k in a few weeks that’ll provide just a little more incentive to get back in shape.  All in all, after a really slow start, I think things will be starting back up here.

So thanks again all for those who kept up with this blog.  No promise for any future posts, though I may update when I feel like it.  If you see me, feel free to bug me and ask me how things are going.  Otherwise, see you at the gym!

Chance to win a table saw?

Heck yeah!  That definitely warrants its own post.  The things I’d do (top on the list is to make a room divider).

Enter for yourself here!

http://www.curbly.com/posts/show/11286

P90X: The Final Results!

That’s it!  I’m done!  90 days ago, I was just a lazy guy trying to get in just a little better shape and so started down this journey.  Now, 3 months later, I’m a less lazy guy looking back on how I got in a little better shape.

Before I get started, a quick shout out to the 30 or so of you who have been keeping up with this blog over the past few months.  It was really motiviating to get words of encouragement when things got hard and requests for more updates.  It’s a lot easier when I know there are people keep me accountable for the whole thing.  So all of you, much thanks!

So lets start off with the numbers…I know it’s what you want to hear about and it’s an easy way to measure how things have changed.

weight: -12.4 pounds

waistline: -4 inches

toe touch: 4 inch increase

1 mile time: est. -3 minutes

There were some other modest gains here and there (a few more push ups and pull ups, slightly larger arms, more endurance), but really what it comes down to is that I feel a lot better than I used to, I fit into my clothes better, and I think I can keep it up!

I now understand a key component of the Biggest Loser.  I don’t want to diminish or trivialize their weight loss.  They obviously are making much more diffiicult mental, emotional, physical, and dietary changes than I ever will need to.  But they get the benefit of making weight loss their job.  No stress of a job or a family life or keeping after yourself.  No out of town trips or tempting moments eating out with friends.  Nothing to do but to lose weight.  But life gets in the way.

So it’s a bit of a lie to say I did P90X.  I really only did the workout and ate right about 4 days of the week, so I’d rather say I did P51X.  That’s mostly because I don’t want to cheat the program out of anything if random people ran across these posts.  Conservatively speaking, I’d probably have lost closer to 20 pounds and gotten much better gains and a much slimmer body if I did all 90 days.  But at the end, that wasn’t the point.

The point of doing this workout wasn’t about getting washboard abs or huge man breasts.  It was about jumpstarting a more active way of life and beginning to lose some weight in a healthy way.  On both accounts, I’m there!  I think I can keep exercising 4 days a week and I now have a better diet than I have in my entire life.  After 90 days, those things are a lot more normal.  It’s normal for me to now pick something healthier at a restaurant.  It’s easier to say “no” to the 11pm box of mac and cheese.  It’s easier to get out and go on a run.  And that’s ultimately what will be the most useful thing for me.  So I declare it now:

I will post again in 100 days.

Octoboer 22nd, 2011, I’ll post again about how things have went.  That gives me 10 days to chill out and just be lazy and a second round of 90 days.  In 100 days, we’ll see if what I just said is true and I’m keeping up with staying healthy.  Until then, thanks again my friends for supporting me over the last 3 months!  Here’s to healthy living!

____

Okay…mabye not quite finished.  Some of you probably wanted to see before and after pictures.  I have them, and I’m not showing them to you.  That’s mostly because while you can notice the difference, it’s not really that impressive all said.  It’s not the inspiring P90X pictures you’d expect to see and again, I don’t want to cheat the system.  But if you must see a picture of my face and some washboard abs, here you go:

P90X: Day 69 – The first 10 pounds down!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated.  There’s generally not been anything surprising to report, but there’s been some really great moments.

The headliner first…I’ve officially lost 10 pounds!  The trendline on the graph showed some slowing, but it’s still going down.  In fact, this last week showed a bit of accelerated decline as I’ve been a bit more regular about working out.  This week we’re out of town, so it’ll be a little harder to keep up the trend, but hopefully it won’t stop.

I also feel a bit thinner and healthier.  I’m able to do more and more of the workouts.  My shoulder is still a little injured, but I can do most of the workouts now.  My mile time’s gone down by a few minutes.  And the best, my wife seems to be liking the improved body.

There’s not all so much more to report.  Thanks for everyone who’s been keeping up with the blog so far!  I’ll try to report a bit more often.

 

P90X – Week 6: One Notch Down!

If you look carefully at the picture above, you’ll notice that there was a distinct worn in spot around the 2nd notch in (from the right).  That’s where my belt normally rested.  At the worst of times after a particularly heavy meal, it would go as far as being on the 1st notch.  What you can’t see is that where it’s resting in the picture (the 3rd notch) is also very well worn in.  That’s because this is a particularly old belt and I used to be that thin.

And now I am again.

This week for the first time in many years, I put on my belt and I was a whole notch down.  That’s literally an inch off my waistline.  And man does that feel good.

If you look at the chart at the bottom, my weight loss looks like it’s taking a nice logarithmic curve downward, so I don’t expect to have lost 3 inches in waist size at the end of this all, but another inch is not at all out of the question.  Which means keeping my skinny jeans all these years might actually pay off.

As for the workouts, it was just another week as they always have.  Crazy sore butt from the legs workout.  Disappointment from my continued shoulder injury and thus my inability to do anything having to do with arms.  More running and cardio in the mix.  A day or two where I didn’t work out when I should have.  It’s turning into quite a routine, really, which is why I didn’t even break it up into days this week.  I wasn’t really saying anything new.  So here’s to another week or workouts…hopefully there’ll be more to report next time.

P90X – Week 5

Day 29 – Core Synergistics – Back To It!

Weight: -5.6 lbs from start

Back to core!  Staring this month, I’m really trying to do more than keep up.  I’m trying to instead push myself harder and harder each time.  So today was about doing each workout while keeping my core flexed the whole time and doing whatever I can with more weight.  For example, I pushed really hard to try to keep up with the 40 reps of the Mason Twist at the end even though I was pretty tuckered out at this point:

Day 30 – Running – Take the Easier Route

Weight: -5.8 lbs from start

I’m replacing the Cardio X workouts with a run instead.  I find it to be a bit of a better cardio workout, plus I want to try to run a half marathon sometime in the next year, so this is a good way to start.  The first time I did this, I ran about 3.8 miles, but wasn’t sure where I was going.  The route turned out to be a steady uphill for about the first 3 miles and then downhill for the last mile.  I turned that roue around this time and it was a TON easier.  I’ll flip it back once it gets too easy…either that I’ll add a few miles to do a longer workout.

Check out my route here: http://www.runningmap.com/?id=275222

Day 31 – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X – Darn You Tendonitis!!

Weight: -5.4 lbs from start

I started this workout, but stopped about 3 moves in because of the Tendonitis I’ve been developing in my shoulder.  I’m going to have to take at least the next week off of arm workouts, which is a drag.  Gonna probably replace it with some cardio instead.  I did do the Ab Ripper X exercises.  I’m beginning to like these more as I’m getting better at it.  I want a six pack!

Day 32 – Yoga X – Date Day/Night

Weight: -4.8 lbs from start

I took Jenny out to Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA and then we had a little date night, having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and watching the Fast Five.  So no workout today, but just a nice day of quality time together.

Day 33 – Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X – How I Met Your Mother

Weight: -3.4 lbs from start
Ab Ripper X completion: ~330/349 reps

Skipped the pullups because of the tendonitis, so no update there, but a good workout otherwise.  I’m getting close to being able to do all of the ab ripper exercise, so i’ll try to keep track of that.

Today the wife decided to sit out, so while we were watching our Netflixed disc of How I Met Your Mother, I had the workout muted on a laptop, so it made the time pass a bit faster.

Day 34 – Running – This is gonna take a while

Weight: -4.6 lbs from start

I think my pace slowed down compared to the last time by a minute or two.  That was mostly because I was insanely sore from the Legs and Back workout.  And that’s the way it should be…I hope for some part of me to be sore most of the week, though that’s not always happening.

Day 35 – Rest X – All time low weight!

Weight: -6.4 lbs from start

It’s all incremental, but suhweet!

P90X – The End of Month 1

Week 4 – a.k.a. Reflecting on the First Month

So I got really lazy about blogging last week, so instead of talking about the week’s workouts, today will be a review of the first month.  First, some stats:

Weight: -6 lbs
Body fat %: -1% (a highly suspect number given how I’m measuring…I think it’s probably more like 3 or 4 %)
Resting heart rate: -16 bpm
Waistline: -3 in.

I’m particularly surprised by the resting heart rate number.  It wavered in the +/-2 bpm for the first 10 days but has been going down pretty steadily since.  I think this is a huge win…my heart’s getting stronger and cardio is getting easier.

Reading through the last month’s bloggings, I realized a few things:

1) I’ve learned as much about living a lifestyle that promotes activity as much as I’ve done the workouts themselves.  The amount I can do the workout is highly dependent on how the rest of my life is going.  This includes getting enough sleep (8-9 hours really), eating right and enough to have enough energy to do the workouts, and creating a schedule so I can do the workouts every day.  I didn’t set out to do this to begin with, but it sort of worked itself out that way.

2) Do as much as you can with no apologies.  I know a few people who have started things like this and decided to stop at the first bad meal or the first day missed.  I’ve tried to have the attitude of keeping up with the program as best as I can, but not feeling bad about it when I don’t.  I’m sure if I was more exacting with how I kept up with it, I’d have lost more weight and could do more of the exercises, but if I tried to be more exacting, I just wouldn’t do any of it.

At some point, I stop caring a little bit more means doing it not at all

In rertrospect, the first month was really about trying to learn to work out again.  Pushing myself didn’t really mean feeling a lot of burn in my muscles, but more about pushing until I didn’t have any energy left in my body.  I’m excited for month 2 to instead make max reps about pushing my body to do harder workouts.

P90X – Days 20-23

Day 20 – X Stretch Legs and back – a.k.a. Making up for a lost day

Weight: -4 lbs from start
Real pull-ups: 3 (goal of 10)

Today was supposed to be the stretch day, but I decided to try to make up for not being able to do the workout from yesterday.  I was running out of time but I got through about half of the workout.

Pull-ups are really hard for me.  I used to be able to do 7 or 8, but when we started I could do about 3.  There are 6 sets of pull-ups during this workout, so what I’m trying to do for each set is do one real pull-up and do the rest assisted by my foot on a chair.  While at the time, I feels like I’m doing 70% of the work in my legs, by the end of the workout, my arms and back is dead tired, so it must be working.  My goal by the end of the 90 days is to be able to do 10 un-aided underhand pull-ups in a row.  I’ll start reporting on that every workout we do pull-ups.

Day 21 – Kenpo X – a.k.a. FINISHED A WHOLE WORKOUT!!

Weight: -4.2 lbs from start

That’s right.  Every Rep.  Every Set.  Every bone crunching punch and kick to my invisible opponent.  Some of them might have been a little sloppy, but I did all of them.  It makes me wonder when I’ll be able to do all of another workout.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been trying to positive with the workouts and my reaction to them.  This isn’t really a conscious effort to do this, but it’s really helping.  A friend of mine told me once that in sports, it’s important to use whatever state you’re in at halftime to get yourself going for the second half.  You’ll always hear athletes and coaches do this.

“The other team played a great first half but we’ll make some adjustments and come back strong in the second half.”

“We put out a lot of energy and heart during the first half and we’ll ride it through the rest of the game.”

I guess I’m learning how to do that with these workout as well.  Thanks to all who’ve been doing it from the stands!

Day 22 – Yoga X – a.k.a. The Start of Rest Week

Weight: -4 lbs from start

Every fourth week is a “recovery week,” meaning no strength workouts and an extra day of rest/stretching.   Mind you, we’re still doing 5 workouts this week and there’s a lot of cardio involved.  Plus Yoga is still pretty brutal.  It’s gonna be a while until I can stand on one leg for over 5 minutes straight.  But the slight slowdown is welcome.

Day 23 – Core Synergistics – a.k.a. I thought this was a recovery week

Weight: -5.4 lbs from start

There aren’t separate recovery week and non-recovery week versions of these workouts.  Ah well, do it as well as possible, right?  As Tony likes to say, “Do your best and forget the rest.”  True words…but he still is a bit of a tool.

P90X – Why I like it

I thought you all might want to know what I think of the program at this point, now that we’re a few weeks in.  Overall, I really like it.  There’s not going to be a “why I hate it” post since there’s really not much I hate.  Of course, it’s a hard workout and I miss carbs deary.  And while Tony Horton (the trainer) is a bit of a tool (he will constatnly call one of the other workout people “Blam” instead of “Pam” and makes up words like “blastactic” as a combo for ballistic and static), he’s more towards the “overly excited gym teacher” rather than the “John Mayer” end of the scale, cheezy, but bearable.  But all in all, I realize I like the program for three reasons.

1) It’s an honest program

You work out hard, eat well, and get fit.  There’s no quasi-useful device that’ll get you rock hard abs in 5 days.  There’s no “all liquids that came from the earth” diet.  It’s all things you’d do if you were making up your own program.  The workouts involve pushups, pull-ups, lunges, lifts, crunches, Kenpo…just a lot of activity.  The diet is about eating lots of veggies, a bit of lean protein, and going low on the carbs and fat.  It’s no gimmick, just healthy living.

So why not just do it myself?  That takes us to…

2) Takes all of the thought out of it

The thing that stymies me from creating my own exercise program is that I don’t really know what are and aren’t good exercise habits, outside of exercising regularly.  I’m not sure how long I’m supposed to rest what muscle group or what combo of workouts covers the best muscle group or how much cardio v. lifting.  I’m sure I could go research, but that would take a lot of time and still involve a lot of thinking.

Same with the diet.  I have a pretty good idea of what healthy eating looks like, but translating that into actual means is a bit difficult.  I don’t know good recipies, good meal plans, good foods…again I’m sure I could figure it out, but it would take a while.

P90X gave me the answers with very little thought.  The exercies are pre-canned, so all I have to do is show up.  they give you a week’s worth or recipies for each Phase of the diet, which was a great start and made portion control much easier to understand once I got bored of those recipies.  All in all, it took a lot of the guesswork and the prep work out and let me just jump into a healthier lifestyle.  But what about those days that I can’t quite keep up…

3) I feel comfortable being flexible about it

There have been a variety of days that I couldn’t keep up with the workouts.  Some days I was just too busy to do the workout for the day or had back pain or not enough sleep, so I skipped the day.  Some days, I would get half way through the workout and realized that I was pushing too hard, so I stopped.  Some every day so far, I haven’t been able to keep up with the whole workout (in terms of weight, reps, or time) and Tony makes me feel like it’s all right to do it as best as I can right now and not to worry about it.

I’ve had fast food 5 times and eaten out 3 times since we started.  Some days I have too many carbs or might be a little too full for my own good.

But in the end, I never feel bad about it.  I never feel like I’ve failed and need to just quit the whole thing.  I always feel like it’s all right to do as much as I can and then move on.  That’s the the most helpful thing about the program…do as much as you can as often as you can and don’t get down about not going 100%.

I’m sure I could get better results of I followed the plan strictly, but who really has time to do that?  I’ve got a job, a wife, and a life to speak of.  So while it’s been a pretty intense program, I’m feeling really great about the amount of time and effort I’ve taken and don’t feel like it’s taken over my life.

P90X – Days 17-19

Day 17 – Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X – a.k.a. A Threshold, A Massage, and Ab Workout

Weight: -5.6 lbs from start

Another great day!

First of all, at -5.6 lbs, I’m now below 1×0 lbs!  I’m sure I’ll be back over the line at some point, but it’s a great psychological motivator.

Second, our friend Rachelle is a masseuse works at the InSpa in Redmond.  For our wedding, she gave us some free massages that we finally cashed in on today.  Man, after all of the workouts, this was a wonderful treat.  (You all should make an appointment with her!!)

Third, I finally felt like I was working out my abs!  As I sad in my last post, I didn’t think I was working out my abs enough during the ab workouts, but today, I finally did.  I’m not sure if I”m going to be sore or not, but still, for once I felt the pain in my abs, and it was wonderful.

Day 18 – Yoga X – a.k.a. Pretzel Day!

Weight: -3.2 lbs from start

Take your left arm and put it behind you.  Now bend over, stick your right arm under your right leg.  Now clasp hands behind you.  Now do it while balancing it on one leg.  Now take a book and balance it on your head while doing the whole thing.

No, I will never be able to do some of these moves.

Day 19 – Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X – a.k.a. Back Pain

Weight: -4.2 lbs from start

Another day off due to back pain.  Gonna try to do this workout tomorrow.