P90X: "It's Not About Looking Good, It's About Feeling Great" Day 81 of 90

There are no mirrors on a mountain peak.  That’s all I can say.

For many of you who are in my current age group, you may be looking at P90X or any other Beachbody product (Insanity, the Brazil Butt Lift, Thirty Minute Power , etc.) and thinking that having a body that looks like those people on TV is not that important to you.  And it probably isn’t.

So, based on that rationalization, you may simply think about the program and immediately dismiss it.  I need to say this right up front.  The value of this program is not that it will make you look good.  The value is that it will make you ultimately feel great.  You will be putting yourself physically in a position to live happier for the rest of your life.

There are no mirrors on a mountain peak.  As I spent last week hiking and climbing, the only thought that went through my mind was, “I feel great.”  No kidding.  I didn’t go look in windows for my reflection and say, “You look mahvelous!”

The marvelous part of the experience was that, as a thirty degree mountain incline was sitting in front of me, I felt so strong that I could trot up the hill.  All I could think of was the time spent doing plyometrics and the power it had given my legs and hip flexors.  I was literally flying up the hills.  At one point, I passed someone and heard them say, “Show off.”  It was in jest of course, it wasn’t malicious.  But as I looked back at them, they were younger than me and had obviously spent time doing the things I used to do.

How did they feel?  I knew.  I used to feel that way.  Tired.  Sweaty.  Wondering if I could do the next hike.  Wondering if I WANTED to do the next hike.  Hoping I had another clean and dry shirt in my pack.  Wishing I had brought less stuff cause the pack was heavy.  Too exhausted to actually look around and focus on the awesome spectacles I had come to see, and not inspired to lift my camera.  Wondering where I had put the life insurance policy and whether my wife knew where it was.  Wondering why there were no gravestones on the hill and where they could bury me if I collapsed.

Okay, so maybe they didn’t think all of those things.  But they thought some of them.

The bottom line is, you are never too old to put your physical shell back in shape.  You may have done some damage to your body along the way.  Maybe that was your ‘ah hah’ moment that made you consider a better physical condition.  Let’s face it, aching joints, muscle pulls, back issues, acid reflux…those are actually the common ones.  If you have spent a lifetime of largesse, maybe you are dealing with some more complicated things.  Type Two Diabetes, cholesterol levels that require drugs, high blood pressure, hip or knee replacement, and, believe it or not, the list can get worse.

If you have none of these things, consider yourself blessed.  But you should also consider that we all, in the forty to fifties age group, are looking these things dead in the eye.

What are you doing about it?

You can stop many of these things.  You really can.  I know you can, because I did.  I am not special or unique.  I just did two things.  I recognized my condition for what it was and then took action to correct it.  It was really that simple.

Why did I do it?

So I would feel great.

So, when you see these infomercials and see all the beautiful people, don’t think that you have to look like them.  You should be thinking, I want to feel like them.

Will you look good when you are done?  I’m not going to kid you.  Yes, you will look good.  At the very least, you will look better.  It will start, though, with the new smile on your face because you feel better.  Your stomach will shrink and your thighs will 'lean' out.  You may see some muscles in places you don't recognize.  Your posture will improve.  You will lose weight.  If improving those things make you look better then, yes, you will look good too.  You will have more energy.

But looking good is a byproduct of feeling great.  So, that’s one of the thoughts I came away from the mountain with.  There were no mirrors.  It wasn’t ‘how I looked’ that had me stoked.

Don’t NOT do a fitness program because you don’t care to be beautiful.  If you do NOT want to do it, let it be because you are already fit.  If not, you should consider doing it.

 Let’s face it.  We have a long way left to go.  Right?