P90X: "...I have to diet too!?" Day 38 of 90

I have seen real progress in thirty eight days with P90X.  I am doing all the exercises regularly and really embracing the workouts.  Embracing the workouts is important because the physical fitness improvement really only comes with the consistency of the workouts and the work you put into them.  I think I have that one down at this point.

I am sure at some point the workouts will become boring.  Not to confuse this with my reasons for upping to P90X Classic from Lean…that was just wanting to get more out of my 60 or so minutes I am investing each day.  The workouts still weren’t boring.  I’m also not tiring yet of Tony Horton’s same old lines…which can’t be avoided since you use the same DVD’s!  So, the workouts are creating progress.

The progress one sees in this program has two sides, however.  The other side is DIET.  You would think that doing the exercises would be the big change that people have to incorporate into their life.  It is true, the exercise is a big change.  But once it is built in with a schedule, exercise is not really a big deal to most.  Believe it or not, the biggest challenge is the diet.

Over the past four years, I have modified my dieting to accommodate a certain level of weight maintenance.  I did it by eating very much the same way every day.  I don’t just eat the same way, I actually eat almost the exact same thing every day.  I will be the first to admit, I don’t know anyone else that eats with the eating habits that I do.  Believe it or not, I think it’s because I'm lazy.  I don’t want to think about what I am going to have to eat…I don’t want to have to make different choices.  I just want to eat and be done with it and know that I ate healthy and well enough.  Again, I am odd this way.  I don’t know of anyone who does this that doesn’t have to.

My diet hasn’t been completely disciplined.  There have been spots in it where a bad eating habit or two ended up plugged into my daily eating routine.  There was a time when I was having a cup of ice cream with coffee every other day as my between lunch and dinner snack.  Now keep in mind, I was speed walking about 4 miles a day while this was going on.  I didn’t do this when my metabolism was constantly low due to lack of exercise.  Ultimately, there comes a time when you realize you have formed a bad eating habit or two and then have to reinforce cutting that/those piece(s) out of the diet.

I also have had my fair share of rationalized cheating on weekends when the daily schedule is kind of messed up and out of whack.  Family gatherings, holidays, football season...all really good ways for me to rationalize putting the unhealthy but tasty snacks into the tank.  I can usually count on five regular workday schedules to put me back on track.

You might ask, “How did you end up eating like that?”  Well, I have always been a creature of habit.  I have a routine, and I just go with it.  When I went on the Optifast liquid diet in 2008, I had to drink three 8 oz juice box sized drinks each day and have one meal that consisted of 6-8 oz of lean meat, a vegetable (starch-less if possible), and a fruit.  I adapted to that diet a lot quicker than others in the Optifast class.  At some point, you go back to real food.  During the diet, I had seen the benefit of eating disciplined and then applied it to my approach for regular food.  It made the transition easier, and I decided to just eat that way from now on.  The only challenge I have is dinner and weekends when it comes to deciding what I would eat.

Now I completely realize that, if I were selling my personal diet plan to folks I would be a very poor person.  My style is not for everybody, maybe not for anybody.  The one thing I know is that if you apply consistent dieting rules to exercise, you will see excess weight come off of your frame and you will see your fitness improve.  You don’t have to take the extreme method that I take every day, but you can consistently eat well with a little planning and a little thought.   

These days, it is very difficult to keep your diet consistent with the ever changing food choices we have.  The hard thing about dieting through those choices is that the choices are difficult because they are loaded with unhealthy food that has to be sorted through and looked at.  Most of the food has artificial sweeteners, real sweeteners, lots of grease and fat, etc.  It is really hard to eat a healthy diet.  It is mentally hard.  You get tired of thinking about it and just end up eating whatever is in front of you…and 85% of the time it will not be very healthy.  Some people adapt different rules to help the mental process like (a) nothing processed, or (b) no white bread or flour created food, or (c) nothing with High Fructose Corn Syrup.  A few nuts like me will go overboard.  But, whatever works.

The best advice I can give is to try to make your eating as easy to plan and disciplined as possible.  It will help tremendously if you are also doing an exercise plan.

Exercise is one thing, diet is the second.  No surprise there though, right?

“How do you lose weight?”

“Eat right and exercise.”

Way easier said than done.  Good Luck!

[later that night]

Tonight was a 'Tale of Two Cities.'  It was the best of times and the worst of times.  I did Back and Biceps.  My biceps are burnt.  My back, which gets done using pullups, was for crap.  I need to get more out of my shoulders.  I can literally only do a pathetic amount of pullups.  Because of the intensity of the workouts, the shoulders get gassed early.

I need to ask some coaching advice...what do I do here?

Help!

P90X: "From Lean to P90X Classic" Day 37 of 90

Last week I discovered that the workouts were not challenging me enough.  I have been doing the P90X Lean workout.  It is slightly less rigorous than the Classic workout and is designed for weight loss and lean muscle mass.  The workouts were going really well, but it felt like they should be harder.  After much thought and consulting with my Beachbody coach, I upped the routine to Classic starting yesterday.

When I woke up this morning, after yesterday’s Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, my back felt twinge-y.  It was tight in some places.  I obviously worked something really hard yesterday and my body was reminding me that it needed some pampering.  I stretched pretty good today prior to the workout.  Today was Plyometrics.  It would have been Cardio X, Plyo is the next step up.

I have to say, I am proud that I made it all the way through and did all the reps.  It was one of the most demanding routines I have done so far.  I was sweating like crazy, breathing heavy and just really worked out.  Like you just rung out a towel.

THAT was the workout I was looking for.  I can’t wait to attack this week and see how it goes.  Also, if I mess something up, I have my two week chiro visit…he can fix me.

Have a great week everyone!

P90X: "Finding Happiness, Part 3, Last Part" Day 36 of 90

Again, this is just me writing down my thoughts…and my disclaimer.

Warning!!  This is my opinion.  It may have validity…it may not.  If it does anything, I hope it inspires thought and maybe even prompts some debate.

Part Three: Growth

Part One of my theoretical approach to happiness was priorities.  WHAT do you need in your life and what is its order of precedence?  Which comes first, and which comes last?  Once you have given that a lot of thought, you then have an idea about your personal priorities…and their order.

Part Two was about control.  I believe that one of the foundations of happiness is the amount of control you have over your needs.  If a person has a group of needs being met, but thinks that their list of needs can disappear with a moment’s notice, it is hard to achieve happiness.  The more control you have over your own priorities and needs, the happier you will be.  The better your relationship and standing with those people or organizations that control your other needs, the happier you will be as well.  Control is one of the driving forces of happiness.

The last part of my theory is growth.  Once you know your priorities, you have your map of destinations.  Once you establish that you need to take responsibility and control, you have the wheel and are ‘driving the bus.’  Now, you need to hit the gas pedal.  That’s the last step.

As you make sure your priorities are buttoned up, bottom to top, are you planning the next step to tackle the next available need?  As you look at food, shelter, clothing, safety…what’s next and how are you approaching that?  Are you managing your affinity needs well?  Things like family, friends and business colleagues…are they healthy and where they need to be?  How about career?  Is that where you wanted it to be?  Can it be better?  Are there things you always wanted to learn but never did?

Where is your passion?  Are you shooting for it?

Maybe though, you are at a point where you say, “Enough.”  I am happy right where I am.  I don’t need to move my bus one inch.  I get that one, I really do.  Life is long and the work is hard.  Finally you get to a point where you feel that just sitting down would be nice.

Here is where I have to come clean.  I have to admit that my theory may not work for everyone.  As I said, it’s a theory.  The problem with MY theory is that it comes from me and is based on my own drives and desires.  So, this may not work for everyone. 

My theory, nonetheless, is that we all have to be growing in some way, shape or form.  As humans, we grow.  We evolve.  That is what our existence is about.  I believe that true happiness is accomplished when we are growing in a pattern that fits our priorities and we can credit ourselves with the achievement.  It can be spiritual, emotional, intellectual, or physical…but achieving personal growth is essential to reaching happiness.

When you realize that you want to fill a career need, and you work extra hours or put in time to acquire a new skill, you are growing.  When you work through a personal crisis and you learn that you can survive it and maybe even be better for having endured it, then that is growth.  When you really work to improve your communication skills with your kids, because you know it’s not your strong suit…growth again.

Everyone I have ever met in my life, when telling me of an accomplishment they had, tells me with a smile.  It doesn’t matter if it’s as big as climbing the Matterhorn or whether they just shot a personal best in golf that day at the club.  When people achieve, they beam with pride.  Ever ask someone, “So what’s new?” and then hear, “Oh, Nothing.”  Did that person ever say that with a smile?  Even if you just became a Grandparent for the first time, it may not be something you did personally, but it is something new in your life that will bring new moments and new opportunities…and you are growing a family.

I think that the minute we stop putting challenges in front of ourselves and stop trying to achieve them, we become static.  We lose the ability to really be the drivers of our own happiness.  We then are forced to just sit back and endure all the little things that we have given up control over as they rush towards us.  I can’t be happy doing that.

Maybe everyone else can.  I guess that’s the question to ask yourself.

What does HAPPINESS and P90X have in common?   For me, P90X is my next challenge.  I have found over the past four years that I love reaching for something I didn’t think was possible and then trying to make it happen.  Just the attempts make me happy…because I always know I will give it my all.  I also don’t mind the risks.  Really, what have any of us to lose?  I have always loved learning and new ideas.  I particularly like to try things I know I can be passionate about.  Writing is actually one of those things in the past four or five years.  But right now, P90X is going to occupy the next ten weeks.  I want to see, if applied, if it can work for me.  I know this much, it has so far.

So ends my little dissertation on Happiness.  It’s how I believe it happens.  I would love to know how everyone else approaches happiness.

Thanks for reading along.  Sincerely.

[later that day]

Today I shifted from the P90X Lean workout to the Classic workout.  Did the P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps today.  I had the right equipment this time.  I got the pushup bars and had my Frisbee for the sliding pushups on the rug.  I improved over last week definitely…always love to see that improvement.  I did every routine until burnout and once again, the one-handed pushups were not even able to be done.  I did them on my knees and adjusted by holding the wrist of my one pushup arm.  I did, like, three.  I don’t mind having things in here that I cannot do…it’s the work that burns the calories and drives the improvement.  That was my reason for bumping up to this routine.  See you tomorrow!

P90X: "Finding Happiness, Part 2" Day 35 of 90

Again, just to repeat yesterday’s Introduction to this…

I like challenges.  I like when I have to work to see if I can do something, whether that something is put in front of me by me or by someone else.  This challenge is my own.  I don’t know why, but lately I have been asking myself a lot, “Why is it that some people are happy, and others are not?”  In order to answer that question, the next obvious question is, “What makes someone happy?”  Because I don’t think there are people in this world who are sad…I think there are people who have an absence of happiness.

But isn’t happiness an emotion?  Yes, it is.  But any emotion is a physical response to a set of circumstances, conscious or unconscious.  Did you ever ask someone why they are sad and hear, “I don’t know?”  I believe them.  They don’t know.  But I believe you CAN know.

I have thought a lot about the subject, and even did a little psychology research on the web.  I am going to take a shot at this in three consecutive posts.  Who am I to think I can define this?  How do I know…really.  I am chuckling here.  It’s my theory…I like to think about this stuff.  I also do research and read a lot, so I may have given this more thought than most.  I am nobody really.  Just like everyone else on this planet, when you think about it.  Now I am really chuckling to myself, you just can’t see it.

Warning!!  This is my opinion.  It may have validity…it may not.  If it does anything, I hope it inspires thought and maybe even prompts some debate.

Part Two:  Control

Part One of my theoretical approach to happiness was priorities.  WHAT do you need in your life and what is its order of precedence?  Which comes first, and which comes last?  Once you have given that a lot of thought, you then have an idea about your personal priorities.

Part Two is about control.  I believe that one of the foundations of happiness is the amount of control you have over your needs.  If a person has a group of needs being met, but thinks that their list of needs can disappear with a moment’s notice, it is hard to achieve happiness.  Reread that last sentence.  I used the word ‘thinks.’  If a person ‘thinks’ their list of fulfilled needs can disappear.  I believe this perception accounts for much of the happiness or unhappiness in the world.  Control is one of the driving forces of happiness.

If the most basic needs of food and shelter are being provided by someone else and are out of your control, the only way you can be happy is to be able to trust that whoever is providing for you will do so consistently.  After that, you can move on to fulfilling your next need.  If YOU are primarily providing food and shelter through a stable job and routine income, then you feel more in control.  If someone else is providing those things, you need to focus on maintaining that relationship.  That becomes the foundation for fulfilling the primary need.  If that relationship or support is tenuous, then your control, and resulting happiness, will be less.

The extent to which you control the fulfillment of your own needs will affect how happy you are.

This concept of control is easily explained at the lower levels, but what about when you get to Social needs?  You can’t really control your friendships and relationships…can you?  Yes, you can.  You have choice.  They are not easy choices as they all involve personalities and emotions.

How were your social relationships formed?  Did you go out and find friends or did they find you?  Are you in the social circles you are in because other things in your life just kind of dropped you there?  Do you feel like an important part of that circle…are you actually welcome in it?  You can control how this works in your own life.  The best book I have ever read on this is ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’  I even made my kids read it.  It is a great primer on acquiring and maintaining your social relationships.

Socially, there are also things like family situations that carry assumed etiquettes and protocols…like holiday visits where you ‘have’ to be together.  There are work situations that may need to be endured because the job is needed for you to control the most primary of your needs. 

This is meant to be a short set of thoughts, so there is no real room to go into family and social dynamics.  Just ask yourself the question, “Who controls what goes on in the Social areas of my life?”  Am I choosing or am I letting others dictate this for me?  If the answer to that question is that others are responsible for whether or not that need is being met, it may affect how secure you are in meeting that need.  It will affect your overall happiness.

Social needs become so complex that many actually will say, when choosing the order of their personal needs, they come after such needs as money and success.  Money and success are typically needs which go with career type needs…but this is an example of how your priorities may dictate your needs hierarchy.

So in the end, my theory is that it all comes down to control.  The more control you have over your own needs, the happier you will be.  There will always be something that can pierce that veil of perception you have about how well you are controlling things, but for the most part, control over these things can better dictate how generally happy you are.

Tomorrow…growth and how it makes the final determinant of your happiness.

Workout schedule…

Today is my off-day.  We launched our bank today, http://www.smarterbank.com

Also had a company celebration.  Didn’t do a damn thing for P90X except try to keep all snacking as clean eating.  Tomorrow, I upgrade my P90X from Lean to the more rigorous Classic.  Will let you know how it goes!

P90X: "Finding Happiness, Part 1" Day 34 of 90

I like challenges.  I like when I have to work to see if I can do something, whether that something is put in front of me by me or by someone else.  This challenge is my own.  I don’t know why, but lately I have been asking myself a lot, “Why is it that some people are happy, and others are not?”  In order to answer that question, the next obvious question is, “What makes someone happy?”  Because I don’t think there are people in this world who are sad…I think there are people who have an absence of happiness.

But isn’t happiness an emotion?  Yes, it is.  But any emotion is a physical response to a set of circumstances, conscious or unconscious.  Did you ever ask someone why they are sad and hear, “I don’t know?”  I believe them.  They don’t know.  But I believe you CAN know.

I have thought a lot about the subject, and even did a little psychology research on the web.  I am going to take a shot at this in three consecutive posts.  Who am I to think I can define this?  How do I know…really.  I am chuckling here.  It’s my theory…I like to think about this stuff.  I also do research and read a lot, so I may have given this more thought than most.  I am nobody really.  Just like everyone else on this planet, when you think about it.  Now I am really chuckling to myself, you just can’t see it.

Warning!!  This is my opinion.  It may have validity…it may not.  If it does anything, I hope it inspires thought and maybe even prompts some debate.

The three parts will be: Priorities, Control, and Growth.  And so I begin…

My personal opinion is that the first step to happiness is Priorities.  It’s understanding what’s important to you and putting things in the right order.  Many approach life without knowing or thinking about what their priorities are.  A lot of people do this…I see kids doing it all the time.  A lot of people also let other people establish their priorities, and never actually understand what is important to THEM.  Bottom line, you have to spend a little time on personal introspection and think about this for yourself.  

What matters to you in your life?  Not WHO.  WHAT matters?  WHAT do you need?  Every one of us has a unique set of answers.  We are all different.

A long time ago, in a Psych 101 class…far, far away…, we all learned about Maslow and his hierarchy of needs.  It basically says that we all have needs starting from the most basic (placed at the bottom of the hierarchy pyramid) to the higher level needs (at the top of the pyramid).  The only way to get to the top level is to fill, and keep filled, the lower levels.  You can’t build a solid house on quicksand, it needs a solid base.  The minute we lose a lower level, we have to fill it before we can move on.  It’s pretty basic.  Old as the hills.  Which is why many people think it has merit…so who am I to argue?

The pyramid of human needs (according to Maslow) goes like this, and I am putting this in order from advanced (highest) needs to the most basic so that the pyramid looks right.

5. Self Actualization

4. Esteem

3. Social

2. Safety

1. Physiological

It makes sense when you look at it.  The thing I never liked about Maslow’s conceptual theory, though, is that beyond showing these levels, Maslow then defined what things in a person’s life should go on each step.  He thought he could tell you what a Safety Need was for you.  Or an Esteem Need.  What I have found is that there actually is NO set definition for that.  Everybody, based on the ‘WHAT matters’ and ‘WHAT do they need’ question, fills these five steps with their own unique way.  Everybody’s recipe is different. 

People are experiential creatures who perceive their current needs based on their past existence.  If you grew up without a roof over your head and little to eat, you may have a heavy focus on just having food and a place to live.  But if you have always had those two things, you may never even conceive or consider life without those two items...so they don't get a priority placement.  They are simply taken for granted...which can cause issues later (but that is in Part 2).  If you have had physical illnesses, being healthy is huge.  So, people will define ‘WHAT matters’ based on their own set of priorities, many of which are driven by things they have always perceive they lacked in some way, shape or form.

The pyramid has a logical pattern.  How are you filling these levels?  WHAT matters to you?  What are your priorities and at what level, on this pyramid, do they sit for you?

I believe that each level must be satisfied in order, but the “WHAT matters” answer at each level is the true personal order for you.

I will give you an example of a need that changes steps for different people.   Physical fitness.  Given today’s society and the statistics on overweight and obesity, I don’t think this is a level one need in most people’s lives.  Should it be?  It is all over the map for many.  If your physical condition is something you take for granted, maybe you don’t have it as a priority at all.  If you are an actor and your physical appearance is part of your career, maybe it is in the Esteem level.  If your physical condition is thought by you to affect your social situation…maybe you wish certain people found you attractive…it might be a Social level.  If you have high cholesterol or blood pressure, it might be Safety, and if you have a heart attack or another life threatening event…it may actually be at level one.

It’s the same for your other needs…maybe you think your career is a Safety need, so you put it there.  So, to my point, everyone fills the steps of the pyramid based on their own recipe.

One more thing, the needs you have in your life and the step you put them on can change.  Nothing is permanent.  Something could drastically alter those priorities.  As I stated earlier, we are experiential beings and our current needs stem from our past, which could be as recent as the job you may have lost yesterday.

So, the first step is to know your priorities right now through personal introspection.  Think.  Dig deep.  What is important to you and what is the order of importance.  Then put those things on each level.  Look at them and understand them.  Know they can change.

Most of all, begin to understand the framework and patterns of your life.  I think this is the first step to happiness.  Every journey has a map and every map has an order of milestones you have to pass to get to your destination.  These are the milestones to your map.  WHAT matters to you?

TONIGHT’S WORKOUT: Kempo X!!!

TOMORROW’S BLOG:  Finding Happiness, Part 2 - CONTROL

P90X: "Balance" Day 33 of 90

Life can get really complicated.  Keeping all the balls in the air requires concentration and skill.  What if, though, the balls could change shape at any moment?  How many of us are so skilled at juggling and adapting that we could do that?  It is almost impossible to ask anyone to try.

The funny thing about life is that it behaves exactly that way.  Just when you have your rhythm and flow, life throws you a curve.  One of those balls goes from being a tennis ball to a bowling ball in seconds.  Ever seen the jugglers do that?  The whole bowling ball juggling with the smaller stuff?  No one ever tosses in another bowling ball.  The main difference is that if the juggler drops everything, people still applaud the effort.  It’s just a bunch of objects.  No harm, no foul.  Nice try, though!

In life, dropping all the balls can result in more bad stuff.  And there are people, relationships, jobs, etc. in the balance.

So sometimes, when the tennis ball explodes into a bowling ball, you have to gently put the smaller balls in your life gently down, and take care of the bowling ball.

That’s today.  So the blog is short.  But hopefully still effective.

Legs and Shoulders later!

[later that day]

Did the Ab Ripper X...knocked that out.

Also did the Legs and back.  Made some real progress here...could do the pullups.  Also did the wide pullups.  Not full, still not strong enough to do that, but used the chair and my toes to put as much pressure as I could handle.  I was really trying to listen to my body.

The hip was fine.  That injury is healed.  Completed  the whole routine.  I am happy with my progress tonight.  Kempo tomorrow!  

P90X: "Adapting" Day 32 of 90

The first week of every P90X phase is called the Adaptive week.  It’s a wake up call.  Unless you are in week one, the adaptive week follows a recovery week.  It’s like in the Army when they sound reveille each morning.  It can be that jarring.

Last night I did the Chest, Triceps and Shoulders for the first time in the program.  After four weeks, I was pretty confident of my ability to do many of the exercises.  Actually, very confident.

Then, there I was dying on the floor doing many of the exercises.  One after the other…shoulders, then triceps, then chest, then shoulders again…burn.  I got to the one arm “Rocky” pushups and could not do one.  Not ONE.  On my knees….not ONE.  My body was trashed.

If I hadn’t plowed through Ab Ripper X first (successfully) I would have been even more depressed.

I had to rethink my approach.  Adaptive.  That was what Week One was.  That first week when I did so poorly at almost everything.  I was happy back then when I got to Kempo because I was able to finish the reps!  I have to keep remembering that this is another adaptive week.  I also have to remember how well I am doing the other routines after doing so miserably that first week.

There are places in my body that are really sore today.  I have come to realize that those are the muscles that weren’t used a lot in Phase 1 (the first four weeks).  I also feel like I have some kind of cold coming on.  This is like déjà vu.  The first week, after the Arms and Shoulders workouts, I got a pretty good cold too.  I am starting to think that this first level of physical activity taxes my body so much that other areas take a hit too.  Or it could be coincidence.  Either way, I am going to slightly raise my calorie count and plug in a little more concentrated Vitamin C.

Every new challenge in life, P90X or not, has an adaptive phase.  I watched both my kids go through the process of adapting to High School these past two years.  More homework.  More activities.  Better time management.  Social demands.  It was painful for them.  They seem much better now and they will be much better off for going through it.  Is their life more simple now?  No.  They are just used to it.  They adapted.

It will happen all through life.  New job.  New home.  Children.  More children.  Grand children?  I said in yesterday’s blog that what we are going through in P90X is the same as the Life-Cycle.  Life never stops putting challenges in front of you.  This part is no different.  In life, the day you say, “I’m done, I’m right where I want to be,” is the day life moves on without you.  That’s called ‘getting old.’  Life is about adapting…evolving.

Just ask Darwin.

I am going to keep today’s blog short so my arms can recover!  Yoga tonight.  I know, it’s long workout…but it goes by fast!       

[later that day]

Yoga X tonight went well, completed all the exercises.  Actually got into the crane for about 5 to 7 seconds.  Did the back arching thing after the bridge for the first time.  You would think I could remember the names at this point but I just listen to how I am supposed to move my body and then do it.  So I could do more, but it felt like some of the exercises were off, particularly the balance exercises.  I thing the rigor of last nights exercises threw some stuff off.  All the ab stuff is really coming along though.

Okay...tomorrow brings the infamous exercise that ripped my shoulder and minor hip flexor.  This should be interesting!

P90X: "Momentum" Day 31 of 90

Every journey with a goal has two critical points where 'quitting' becomes a serious threat.   

One place is at the very beginning.

In the beginning, everything is hard.  Your existing situation may look hopeless.  The journey looks long and the destination is so far away it may not be physically or emotionally visible to you.  It takes a lot of courage to plow through that point.  There is a lot of hard work, a lot of learning and a lot of faith.  At those times, the milestones come quickly and it is very obvious that you are progressing.

Why is it obvious?  Because the journey is so foreign to you that every day brings something new.  As you pass each new point, the journey is very conscious.  You can also, at this point, see your own progression as you learn and change.  Every journey begins this way.

During that first part of the journey, if anything messes up those milestones, the towel could get thrown in at any moment.

The other place in a journey where 'quitting' becomes a threat is about one third through it.

Why?  There are a few reasons. 

First, nothing about the journey is really new anymore.  There may be some slight changes to the process, but not like at the beginning.  Monotony sets in.  It feels like you are doing the same thing day in and day out.  You want to feel what you felt in the very beginning.

Second, you can see how you improved.  You see results, but not the overall result you were shooting for.  The monotony starts to speak to those first sets of results and tell you that you have done enough.  “Let’s try something new,” it says to you.  “Maybe this is as good as it gets,” it echoes into your brain.

Lastly, the goal you originally set is still over the next horizon.  It still looks far away and you can’t see it.  Like a traveler in the desert who comes upon the first oasis, maybe there IS no more water.  Do I really need to go on?

In P90X, this is where I am (and if you are reading this blog while you “X”, you too) right now.  Thirty days have passed.  Four weeks and two days.  I have looked at my workouts for Phase 2 and they look pretty much the same.  Some things are slightly changed but they will be pretty much the same…same DVD, same people, same reps.  Same, same, same.

I have seen definite improvement.  It has been noticed by many around me.  I also see some of the same stuff hanging off my body as when I started.  In truth, there is less, but it didn’t disappear.

I am still sixty days away from the goal.  What was the goal?  I forget.  Just kidding.  It was to give this thing ninety days and not quit.  “Maybe I overshot the runway on that one?” says your brain.  I still don’t look like Tony Horton.  Probably never will.  In your own mind, you begin to sound like Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh.

WHAT DO YOU DO??

You need to stay motivated.  This is your “one thing” right now.  Don’t throw it away and look for the next thing simply because right now it feels like you are pushing a big rock up a hill and there is still a ways to go.  When you get past THIS point, you will have achieved something very special and I can share with you what that is because I have been at the point many times.

When you beat this part of the journey you will have given yourself a gift that no one else can give you.  It is something only you can give to yourself and it cannot be taken away ever.  Everybody who ever achieved a goal had to make it through this.  When you do, your journey will NOT be over.  But, you will be at a point where the destination is in sight.  The really hard stuff will be over and you can push hard to the finish line.  You will have learned how to motivate your SELF.  I said many passages ago that this is done “alone.”  Well, this is the part of your success story that you write yourself.

This is not just a journey to fitness.  This is a life experience that you can and will take with you to all other aspects of your life.  Pass through Phase 2 here and you will have conquered every part of the success lifecycle.  When you take up that next goal in your life, and you get to this point, it will be very familiar to you.  You will KNOW with certainty that by perseverance and discipline, when you come through this part, you are moments away from the finish line...and you WILL be successful.  You will know because you have done it before.

If you quit now, you will never be able to say you did this.  If you quit now, the next time you are trying to achieve something, this part will be there waiting to challenge you one more time.  It will have beaten you before, it will be waiting to beat you again.

You have MOMENTUM.  Use it.  Cruise with it.  This part of the journey requires nothing more than dogged determination and persistence.  And FAITH.  A word I learned the real value of last year.  Some of you will get that, I say to myself with a smile.

Give yourself this gift.  You will never regret it.

Tonight, a new DVD.  I will let you know how it goes…as always.   

 [later that day]

Okay, I had forgot what the first time of a new routine feels like.  I remember now.  My muscles crashed so many times during that routine my insurance rates probably went up.  I am a little disgusted and depressed.  I should have also remembered to look at the DVD first to ensure I had all the equipment.  The push up handles would have come in handy and I could have avoided the Scavenger Hunt in my garage for a frisbee to do the pushups.  It didn't matter.  The breaks did not help my endurance at all.  Tomorrow, I will be hurting for sure.  One arm pushups, on my knees....ZERO reps.  I tried twice but my face kept getting dented from smacking the floor...so I marked zero on the sheet.  There were a couple of very light rep exercises because I just couldn't budge a muscle.  I also didn't do well the last phase in the first outing of weights because it takes at least one round to baseline your reps and weights.  I did the Ab Ripper X first and did the full workout...so that was the redeeming quality.

Will let you know in the AM how stressed the muscles got.

P90X: "Changes - Level 1" Day 30 of 90

Today is kind of a two edged sword.  I want to see the changes in the last 30 days.  I know there have been many from performance, to endurance, to visible looks.  Many people have commented over the past couple of weeks...so I know it's not just me.  That said, you look at these pictures, and it is not easy to SHOW the dramatic changes.  I'm not trying to sell something here, I KNOW this is working.  The pictures, however, are not showing the changes as vividly as I am feeling them.  That said, let's take a look.

I did not have a comparison shot for the one to the left here...but I did not look like this.

As I said before, I am looking for the changes.  Before we get started, I should mention that my back issues, which I am seeing a chiropractor for, are much better but my posture is awful.  I need to make some adjustments to my daily sitting at the computer and to how I sit in the car.

Alright, here goes....DAY 0 shots on left....DAY 30 shots on right.

Now, the changes are a much straighter posture.  My chest is better defined.  My middle is shrinking, though not as much as I can see when I move around and look.  My stomach is much more rigid and becoming more defined.  If you look from my rib cage to my belt line, the 'tire is moving down and the lines are becoming more vertical.

The side shot is not so bad.  You can definitely see tricep definition, stomach muscles pulling in, and better chest definition.  The fat tire around my waist is absolutely shrinking.

My back is a mess.  If Day 90 is a sculpted down version of the badly positioned muscles, I might be able to sell the pictures to a chiropractor magazine.  That said, there are areas of clear improvement, even to my rotten shoulder region.

So there we have it.  Thirty days of P90X.  Let me say this though.  In thirty days, I have come a long, long way.  The pictures are not staggering, but change is evident.  This is not a short term thing...it takes a long time to get a body into the out of shape condition that I was in a long time ago.  This journey to fitness will be one that has many steps.  60 Days from now, I am sure there will be very radical differences.

Thanks for following....see you tomorrow!

P90X: "Consistency" Day 29 of 90

Today was a very busy day and really different for a Saturday.  We had to be somewhere at 10:30AM and I knew the day would be really busy in front of me.  I wanted to get my workout done early.  Ate my bowl of oatmeal and had my two cups of coffee.  Then five minutes later, I rocked into Core Synergistics.

Bad idea.

Okay, not totally bad...I did the whole workout.  I also worked harder than usual on intensity now that I have the forms down, the exercises memorized and the energy/strength to get through all the reps.  The bad part?  I have never felt so much like I was going to lose my meal during a workout!  I should never have gone into this routine so close after breakfast.

Superman/Banana was brutal.  The prison pushups were also kind of tough.  The pushup position runs wiped me.  So I really pushed it...and I felt it.  Then, when I finished, I broke again from my norm.  Typically, I have a large 32oz cup of water, lemon juice, sea salt and a dab of pure maple syrup and wash down my vitamins.  It makes a great recovery drink, usually followed an hour later by my shakeology when I use that as a lunch replacement.  None of that happened today.  I found myself feeling very odd later at the event I went to.  A little dizzy, and very hungry.  Empty tank, low electrolytes and fluids were probably the culprit.  I am learning how tricky it is keeping your system balanced.  You have to pay attention to your body's needs.

I am going to shoot for a little better consistency in the execution...particularly the timing.  These P90X workouts are not to be taken lightly.

Keeping it short tonight, pics and Cardio tomorrow.  Keep it up!

P90X: "My Secret...Full Confession" Day 27 of 90

I have to make a confession.  I have a secret.

While it is true that I do all my P90X workouts alone, I would be remiss to mention the group I interact with on a daily basis.  This challenge is being done in a group setting on Facebook.  We have a team of four and two support coaches.  We also have the coach of a coach overseeing as well.  Each coach comes with their own experiences with P90X and Beachbody as well as varying experiences in marathon training, body building and personal excellence.

We interact daily as a team and share our workouts and issues.  There aren’t many issues really.  There is a lot of cheerleading (and while that sounds trivial, pushes are not only welcome but sometimes necessary) and guidance.  It also helps to hear how everyone fits the program into their day.  Are they morning workout people?   Nightly workout people?  Diet is essential, so we hear what everyone is taking in as fuel.

I think for many, the team and coaches are ‘training wheels.’  I use that saying when my family goes on vacation.  “I don’t decide where the bike is going, I just follow along behind and make sure it doesn’t fall down.”

This, however, is not my secret.

There is one other, and to this point undisclosed, member of my team.  His name is Dr. Terrence Aussant.  He is my chiropractor.  He is an invaluable member of my team.  Why?  First of all, as a chiropractor, he is a trained professional on the recovery and rehabilitation of muscles, joints, ligaments and limbs.  Second, he works with athletes and physically conditioned people, helping to keep them in optimal condition.  Last, and most importantly, he does P90X.  That last one is big.

As I have openly blogged about this experience, you all know that I am fifty years old and that I have tweaked a few things along the way in this P90X program.  Getting support from your group is important to your effort, for sure.  But when you pull a muscle, over-stretch a ligament, or traumatize a joint, nothing replaces a professional inspection and opinion every two weeks to let you know what your situation is and how you should treat it.

Because he has done P90X, when I discuss my tweaks with him, I can tell him what exercise in the program I was doing and he can instantly translate that exercise into the muscles used to perform it.  He then can ask me questions about how the injury occurred.  P90X has become our common ground on explaining the incident (accident?), and also has become his method for telling me what I injured and how to avoid it.

We discussed my shoulder last night.  He fully inspected it and worked it out.  There is some looseness and tenderness in the joint, but nothing was permanently damaged.  I may have pulled a particular muscle, which I can’t rename for you, but there was no long term damage.  Pulled muscles take 4-6 weeks to heal.  It has been two for me.  He wants me to continue but not do the one exercise that pulled it, and to restrict the other shoulder exercises.  Because he has done P90X, he could give me other options.  He also tested the rotation and flexibility of the shoulder and we worked on stretching it.

We also looked at the hip, which I messed up last week.  He believes I pulled a minor hip flexor.  That one was not as pulled as the shoulder and, due to its normal lack of use, will heal quicker.  Do the exercises, but stay aware of how it feels.  Hydrate, extra stretching and ice after the workouts.  Incidentally, I had been putting the hot Ben Gay on my muscles post-workout.  It felt good.  Me, the expert.  When you have a pull, it’s ICE after the workout, and when you are getting ready to workout, it’s heat.  You probably know that.  I didn’t.  Forty years of dedicated observation of professional Football and Baseball down the drain.  For years I have watched pitchers and quarterbacks with the ice packs on their shoulder after the exertion of the game…duh!!!  It didn’t click when I was self-diagnosing.

The one last thing I get from the Doc is an attitude that I shouldn’t stop just because something popped up (or just plain popped).  Some General Practitioner doctors might tell you to stop for two weeks, get an MRI, etc.  This would derail your program.  They have to worry because their lack of specific knowledge in this area, especially for the general practitioners, gives them a blind spot that makes them be over-cautious with you.  Just as a side note, I also have noticed that GP’s in general are not as physically fit as my chiropractor.  They probably can’t relate as well to what you are experiencing.  At least that is my own biased perception.  My Doc’s specialty is getting athletes back in the saddle.  His perspective is that everything is fixable.  THAT is an indispensable point of view when you are doing this program.

That’s why the Doc is one of my most valuable team members.

He is my secret.

Workout again tonight.  I hope it’s taxing.  Stretching was boring.  Necessary…but boring.  Happy Birthday to my wife...she joins me today at 50!!

[later that day]

Did Cardio X tonight.  I have to be honest, it is a lot easier than the first weekend that I did this.  No breaks, just blew right through it.  I felt so good, I tacked on Ab Ripper X and then did two miles speed walking at 4.5 mph.  I think that I assumed the same level of exhaustion I felt in that first week would be how everything continued to be, except that I would be doing more reps.  I have caught up real quick.  I can't wait for next week.

Goodnight!

P90X: "Time?" Day 26 of 90

Anything can be an excuse for not doing something else.  If you let it, an excuse will always happen.

Sometimes, the mindset becomes such that we actually like it when life provides valid excuses.  We are off the hook for our other commitments.  There have been times when I have seen something happen to someone that would normally derail someone’s day or project.  To my surprise, that thing then becomes completely embraced by them because it was an excuse to buy time in other areas.

The bottom line is, if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen.  If you want to NOT do something badly enough, you will find a way (consciously or unconsciously) to make that happen too.

I am the former.  I want to make things happen.

There are realities of life, for certain.  You shouldn’t be sacrificing things of value.  That said, you are as important as everybody else in your house.  If you are mad because you have no time…and then find that your time was used making lunches, cleaning the house, washing dishes, washing clothes…while your kids are watching TV and playing on the computer…you are your own enemy.  If you are doing things for everyone in the house and being left behind, that is bad.  And, I might add, your kids aren’t learning to use their time wisely nor are they becoming self-motivated and responsible people.

Someone asked me last week where I get the time to workout, blog, do things with my family, do my normal job…etc.  I thought about that quite a bit.  I didn’t see it as all that difficult.  It is true that my kids are now fourteen and sixteen year old teenagers…so they manage themselves pretty well.  My wife gets out of work at 2PM each day (give or take a busy work schedule) and she ferries the kids from place to place until dinner.  She makes sure the homework is getting done.

I have a pretty disciplined schedule.  Here is how my typical Monday through Friday go.  Wake up at 6:15AM.  Make the coffee for the house and make my oatmeal for breakfast.  Check dishwasher to see if it should be emptied.  6:50AM, to the shower.  Dressed and out by 7:15AM to make the 7:32AM train.  Blog (this blog) on the train from 7:35AM to about 8:20AM when the train pulls into Boston.  Begin my work day.   Salad for lunch at noon.  Same salad, same place.  Check personal email etc. through lunch.  Work until 5:30PM…take 5:40PM train home.  Catch up on eMails, call home to see how the events of the day progressed, maybe do some finish work leftover from the work day…this is about an hour of catch up time.  Home by 6:45PM, make my dinner shake and have some fruit.  Hang out and catch up with family from 7PM to 8PM.  8PM to 10PM, exercise and shower.  10PM to 11:30PM…do any laundry I need to do (I do my own), rinse dirty dishes in sink and drop in dishwasher, drink my salt/water and vitamins, apply the Ben Gay (these days!!).  I catch up on my blogging and then wind down for sleeping.  Use this time to finish my P90X blog and to do any bills that need paying.  Watch Chelsea Lately and anything on DVR that I want to catch up on.  In bed by 12:30AM…up at 6:15…recycle.

The morning train and evening train was where my book was written last year…I wasn’t blogging as much.  When you read the last paragraph…it is pretty stuffed.  It is also easy to get thrown off, because there isn’t a lot of wiggle room.  You just have to draw the line at what justifies a disruption and what doesn’t.  “Not just any excuse will do,” as my old army buddy Kevin used to say.

I have no idea if the daily schedule I wrote is ‘busy’.  You may think it is.  You may think it is a walk in the park.  I don’t complain about my tight schedule.  Number one, I have no idea what anyone else’s day looks like relative to mine.  I am not them.  The big reason I don’t complain is mainly because I made it up myself.  My workouts can be adjusted, and have in the past quite often, but I am being more rigid right now because the P90X requires more discipline.

There are many people who, after doing a lot less during the day, will complain about time.  It’s as though they are being chased by time.  I rarely complain about time, mainly because I am always chasing it.

An interesting observation that I have made is that there are people who complain about not having time, and most of them have plenty.  There are also those who do not complain, and have very little to spare.  The ones who complain actually think that the ones that don’t gripe actually have more time to give.  Just because you complain you “don’t have enough time” does not mean you are the busiest person on the planet.  It may just mean that you have no ability to manage what you have.  It may also mean you just like to gripe.

One other observation…there is a big difference between having a schedule and living by a schedule.  If you live your life around a clock, but fail to perform to it…that one is on you.  Procrastinators LISTEN UP here.  When you have to be somewhere by 7PM, that does not mean 7:15PM.  Trying to make something as unyielding as time bend for you will fail every time.  Sorry McFly…this is the real world.

We all have to remember to manage our time wisely.  Don’t let your feelings of obligation to others become your excuse for not taking care of yourself, be that time to exercise, relax, or recharge.  They have an obligation to you as well, which is: they are largely responsible for themselves.

Time.  Remember what my army buddy Kevin said, “Not just any excuse will do.”

Stretch X today.  I’ve never done this one.  Feels like I am shorting the workouts this week.  I am putting a little extra into each one and doing extra Cardio.  Can’t wait to go back to the tough workouts next week.

Have a great and well time-managed day!

[later that day]

I did Stretch X tonight for the first time, but the exercises were all familiar.  They have been done in part in many different routines that last three weeks.  When I got done, I felt bad.  Like I had wasted a night.  I did the treadmill for 45 minutes at 4.2 mph.  I just don't feel like I got enough out of tonight.

When I ski, I sometimes divide the cost of the ticket by the number of runs.  The goal is to get the cost per run to be as low as possible.  When I work out, it becomes work per hour spent.  I try to put everything into all the workouts.  Tonight felt off.

I have to trust that this is what is necessary at this point.

Okay, see you tomorrow!

P90X: "Fear...of Failure" Day 25 of 90

I always set my goals publicly.  I tell people when I intend to make an attempt to do something.  Why?  I realized long ago that if I am doing something all by myself, and if the only person being held accountable is me, and if I am the only one who even knows that an attempt was made, that it is all too easy to quit.

The other thing I learned was that if you publicly set a goal, then people think twice before getting between you and it.  Some may even help you!

So when I set out to do something, I let people know.  I mark the goal.  I want folks to know that I have committed and am holding myself accountable to get it done.  I have been practicing this for a long time.  There are two sides to this practice.  If you succeed, everyone knows you did something you set your mind out to do.  You become known as a driven and determined person.  If you fail, you fail publicly.  Everyone knows it didn’t work out.  It may be a mark on your character, but that all depends on how you handle it.

I have been doing this for so long that it stopped occurring to me that anyone would approach the task of goal setting and achievement any other way.  The thought of setting a private goal and covertly going after it never occurred to me.

I first encountered this when I did the Optifast diet four years ago.  I did this because I had gotten myself past the point of ‘no return’ and needed medical help to get the weight off.  It is a special program designed to help the exceptionally large and obese people lose weight and change how they think about food.  Two critical aspects to this program are weekly classes on behavior and nutrition.  There is an exercise element as well but in my humble opinion, it is not stressed nearly enough and is one reason for some of the personal failures in the program.

On this diet, you weigh in every week.  You know how well you have done in the short term.  You have a target weight objective in the program, so you know where you are supposed to be going in the long term.  The diet is so meticulously measured that, if followed, you have to lose weight.

From the first behavior class, it was obvious to me that at least 85-90 percent of the class would not say on a weekly basis how much they lost.  They always said, “I did okay,” or “I didn’t do so well.”  It was completely arbitrary.  I can still remember asking on that first night, “What does okay mean?  How much did you lose?”  You would have thought that I murdered someone.  I got rotten looks, hurt looks, indignant looks…it was really confusing to me.  I made my own personal statements of how much I was there to lose and I was ready to go!  I hadn’t even started the diet yet, I was still holding my 8 oz. 150 calorie sippy drinks.

As I went through the program, the ones that were very open to setting their goals and talking about their progress in a real way were losing weight.  Every week I openly spoke of how much I had lost, what I had done right and what I may have done wrong.  In week three, a man I used to sit next to was ready to graduate to normal life again.  He had lost about 95 lbs.  He took me aside after class because he knew I was frustrated by the contempt being shown to me and the defensive postures of most of the class.  He told me to just keep doing it the way I was doing it because I would be successful.  He wished me luck and just disappeared.

Week after week I sat there listening to stories about doing ‘okay’ and the lack of progress for most of them.  I listened to the therapist coddle them.  The more I listened the more I kept hearing the fear creep in.  Then one night, I asked the question that opened my eyes.  I asked one woman, “Doesn’t your family and friends know you are on this medical diet?”

“Oh, no!  I haven’t told a soul.  The last thing I need is for them to know that!”

Just by looking at the faces around the table and the nodding of heads, this was a prevailing and reinforced point of view.  They were afraid.  Afraid of being judged but also letting themselves off the hook for accountability.  These closet eaters were trying to be closet dieters.  The program was allowing this by telling them that they were accountable to no one but themselves.  So then, why do this in a group?  At least be honest and accountable with the group.  I truly believe that the program did not want to lose participants and that they wanted a high attendance.  So they let some people simply cruise along.

I understand now how much courage it takes to put yourself out there and publicly state a goal.  I also think that without that declaration, there is very little accountability.  Accountability is important because when you have to make two choices, one supporting the goal and one thwarting it, accountability may help influence your choice.  The other thing not usually stated is that there are very many who NEVER TRY THINGS.
They will applaud the fact that you even tried.

The bottom line here is that you should not let your fear of failure keep you from openly pursuing your goals.  Take some risks and put yourself out there.  It will help keep you on track when you feel like drifting.  Put your goals in a place where you are not the only one who sees them.  Don’t be afraid that not reaching the goal is a failure.  The only true failure in this life is not trying.  So let that publicly stated goal help you…let it influence and guide your decisions because you feel accountable for achieving it.

I know this one is hard.  Best of luck!!!

[later that night]

Did Yoga X tonight as scheduled. I have to agree with Melissa, this is not really in Tony's wheelhouse. Has anyone else noticed that he short cuts the left side? Always faster than the right...I know his left knee is bad and when he has to support the lunge on the left leg, it must be painful. But he whips through it too fast. I am going to have to figure something out. Three weeks ago, I couldn't keep up. Two weeks ago, I was fine and didn't even notice. Now that I am disciplined and counting the reps, I even notice when they short the routine. I just keep going. I am really enjoying this. My berry skakeology came today!! I am about two shakes away from opening it.

See ya in the AM!