First off, BRING IT!!! I am super proud to call myself a P90X graduate as of 11:56am Friday morning.
My wife was a super huge cheerleader in the process, and without her support this challenging process would have been a lot tougher.
Though I did lose weight, my particular P90X journey was not about weight loss or getting a "Beach Body". I have done many diets from Atkins to low calorie diets. All have had some success and after a period of time I would go back to who I was and how I looked.
I wanted to take a moment to make sure I actually learned something from this process, thus this post.
I don't have one of those crazy cool success stories like you see from people that make videos on their MAC about their journey of losing 200 lbs, or being scrawny and then getting ripped.
Here is what my story is about:
"CLEAR PATH"
I grew up hearing things like you can't do "X", or you should be like "Y". But rarely did the people that said those things every show me the path to achieve them.
This is what P90X does. It says, "I know you want to be in the best shape of your life, and I can give you the clear path to do it." Unless you were a high school, college or pro athlete your chances of knowing how to get into the best shape of your life (notice I didn't say drop 7 pounds in 5 days) are very slim.
I have worked out 3-4 times a week in some capacity for the last 10 years, but it was more of a check list thing. "Well I did that because I'm suppose to....check!" What I didn't know was what would really work. P90X is proven a zillion times over. There are so many compelling success stories from former ripped dudes getting more ripped to people being 400 lbs and getting jacked out of their mind.
You have to have a clear path to achieve your goals.
"You have to have a GAME PLAN"
You have to have goals. Goals lead to plans, plans lead to motivation, and motivation leads to Action.
Action leads to BRINGING IT!
"It's about FEELING BETTER not being a certain weight"
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| Senior in College - The blood is from falling off of a pier in Bahamas |
Now I look a those pics and think, "REALLY?! I was unsatisfied? I'd kill for that!"
This is the cycle we live in. We have a million things coming our way telling us to look chiseled, or that the standard body weight for 6'2" is 175 lbs. I love Tony Horton's motto of getting in the "Best shape of your life". This is a noble motto. It says nothing about your weight, your curves, your muscles or otherwise.
Now I feel more flexible, I don't have back pain in the morning, and I'm more confident in my physical abilities than ever before.
"PERSONAL CHALLENGE"
I like to push myself. Challenge is adventure and I don't have enough in my life.
Can I climb that mountain? Can I jump off this cliff into the lake? Can I take a job in a field that I know nothing about? Can I be a parent when I've never been one before? Can I workout for an hour+ six times a week for 90 days?
I need to stay challenged to stay sharp. I need to know I can do "it" whatever "it" is when the time comes.
This has been a challenge beyond what I knew possible and I came through it. The confidence in that statement alone is worth it.
"Do your best and forget the rest"
This is something Tony says a lot throughout the 90 days. At one point during the Plyometrics DVD he challenges one guy to do the hardest version of a particular workout. The guy says, "I'll do my best." Tony responds with, "Did you hear that? He said he'll do his best. That's always enough."
It wasn't scripted, it was real and it was a powerful moment you relive 10 times throughout the 90 days.
When I was gearing up for doing P90X, I told a lot of people that I was about to do it and they would ask, "So did you start yet?" and I would answer by saying, "I'm still researching everything. I'm not sure how I"m going to be able to do everything they recommend." Then I talked to my father-in-law about it and he basically said, "Only do what you can do." So I did.
The makers of P90X did a fantastic job of giving you incredibly delicious recipes that are healthy, and diet guides, and, and, and. However, if you've ever tried to eat super healthy it is (not "can"), but is very expensive. Like I said before, I've done many diets only to end up where I was before. So I decided to do only what I could.
Here's what I changed about my food intake:
- Tried not to eat after 7:30pm. I did this really well for the first month and so so from then on. But I never ate after 9pm. (I got to bed between 10-10:30p) I know myself well enough that after 7:30p is when I really eat junk.
- Drank 85-100 oz. of water a day. This wasn't that big of a challenge because the first 26 oz. came during my workouts in the wee hours of the morning. And trust me you drink all of it without thinking. Then I would drink another 26 oz. between 8a-12p, 26 oz. between 1-5p and then have at minimum one to two 12 oz. glasses of water at dinner and after. It adds up pretty quick. If you have a desk job keep the bottle by the keyboard (lids for the bottles are recommended)
- Added 30 grams of protein in the hour after my workout. I used a Gold Standard Whey chocolate shake at $60 from GNC. It had 77 servings in it. This was to help my muscles recover faster and keep soreness to a minimum. It is delicious and I highly recommend it.
- Stopped drinking coffee. If you're actually reading this you probably just gasped. I was a Starbucks barista, so trust me this wasn't an easy decision. However, the caffeine was having bad affects on me. I was drinking 2-3 cups a day. Around the 6th week I started getting really light headed about 75% through the workouts. I felt weak for a few hours after the workouts. This happened for a week, and it wasn't good. So I tried cutting it out as an experiment and the light headedness went away. I still drink it on the weekends, but its one cup here or there. There is actually studies that show caffeine's benefits for working out, but I laid off and it helped me. Could be blood pressure related.
I know there are a million other things I could do, but these felt achievable and things I could pretty easily do for the rest of my life. I figure if I can do these and add one good thing a year or so on to the list then I am headed in the right direction.
MY P90X BEFORE & AFTER STATS
Start Date: April 4, 2011
End Date: July 1, 2011 (Today)
Weight & Size Stats:
Weight Start: 230 lbs.
Weight Finish: 217 lbs.
Waist Start: 41.5"
Waist Finish: 39.5"
Hips Start: 44.5"
Hips Finish: 42.75"
R Thigh Start: 25.5"
R Thigh Finish: 25.5"
L Thigh Start: 25.5"
L Thigh Finish: 25.5"
R Arm Start: 12.25"
R Arm Finish: 15.25"
L Arm Start: 12.25"
L Arm Finish: 15"
If I can do P90X so can you. Take this kids advice...
