So, the other day, a good friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook regarding exercise, losing weight, and P90X. While I was considering how to respond, I started thinking about my journey so far. I still plan on completing the program 3 consecutive times. I still am enthusiastic about getting the results. I still think P90X is a great program to "whip you into shape". What I considered all day was the spirit behind workouts. When you see ultra fit people exercising, it almost looks glamorous. It looks like fun and they usually make it seem easy...THEN...I get into my workout and I really don't ever want anyone watching me workout because I suspect it's a grizzly sight. How do they get to that point? Will I get to that point? Will it ever seem fun? This is what I mean about the spirit behind the workout.
Is P90X the answer? I suppose the only real answer is...perhaps. There are a ton of workout videos out there. I don't really think it matters what one you do as long as you set your mind to the task at hand and do it. For me, it is a simple solution, but hard to execute. Break old habits and create new ones. The problem is that, for me, my regular habit is to come home from work, take care of the kids, deal with "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, and then sitting in front of the television for a few hours while snacking on anything available...healthy or not. Since I started P90X, that routine has changed drastically...well...that....AND the addition of a new family member. My new routine is to get up in the morning and do the workout, go to work, come home, take care of kids, do "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, breakfast/lunch preparation for the next day, and then...sit on the couch for about 45 minutes before falling into a pleasant slumber...Zzz... Of course, there are other responsibilities, but that is the basic outline of my day. While I've been doing it for almost 40 days, it still isn't habitual to get up and exercise at 5:00 AM. Every morning I struggle with getting up. Usually, exercise wins, but admittedly, extra sleep does end up the victor from time to time. I rationalize extra sleep by saying that I have a long day, or my body is recovering or some excuse like that. EVERY TIME I lose that battle, I make sure that I don't skip the next day and I usually make up for it some other way throughout the week. Most often, I end up not taking off Sunday which is scheduled as a stretch or rest day. Someday, I expect it to become habit, but I don't really know...in fact, if I weren't blogging and posting pictures of myself, I may not have even made it this far. When I start to get down because I "blew off" a day, I remind myself that I am definitely not in the same physical arena as the "psycho-healthy" people in the videos and that I am still way overweight. I push hard, but I am more into the habit development than missing a day at this point. My wife helped me with that mind-set.
P90X is NOT a miracle workout video series. It is a healthy dose of eating right and exercising. The difference between P90X and many other workout videos is that it is a "total body" workout without the use of expensive equipment. If you like it, then by all means, do it. If not, try something else, but stick with whatever you decide. You'll thank yourself later! In the meantime, I'll be here breaking bad habits and hopefully, creating new ones.
That's it for today! Next post will be the 40 day results post. Excited? I am!! BigBoyP90X out.
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