Day 45: The Halfway Point in X

So, for me, today is officially Day 45, the halfway point of my most recent P90X journey. I wanted to take the time in this blog update to look back and reflect at where I've come. I have to be honest, 45 days ago, I was a complete mess. Back in November I had gotten sick, and that seemed to be the catalyst that sent me on a downward spiral of overeating and drinking. By the end of the year, I had ballooned myself up to 206 pounds. My Belly had started to look like I had Dunlaps Disease. You've seen that on many obese men, when their stomach done laps over their belt. I know, weak attempt at comedy, but I have to make light of the fact that I was heading down a slippery slope where heart disease, diabetes, and general health problems thrive.

So, I started back onto this Journey on Monday, January 3rd. The first week was ridiculously hard. Seriously. I had to take that do your best and forget the rest mentality. Because P90X beat me up. I didn't even get all the way through the first two workouts. I had to stop about 2/3rds of the way through. It was very humbling to say the least. Ab Ripper X....WOW. Let me just say, I looked like a fish that was just taken out of water, who was flopping around on the shore. It wasn't pretty. When they were getting 25 reps done, I was lucky in some instances to get 5-10. You would have not known that I had actually completed a 90 day session in which I started back in May. It was EMBARRASSING. But, I made a commitment to my wife, and to my kids that I would see this through.

Not only did I take on the exercise portion of the program, I went full on with the diet portion. The last time I did P90X, I thought I was the "Food Expert" and I didn't follow the plan to a T. I made my own recommendations, that I thought were "Good Enough". In reality, they were just sodium packed processed messes that were not nutrition. I'm the type of guy that learns from trial, error, and failure. I learned the hard way, that I was not the expert, and that I really should have taken to heart the diet plan. I spoke to my P90X coach, John Cowart, and others that I know who have had great gains, and my wife and I decided to attack the diet plan, using only the recipes contained in the plan. And WOW!!! Did I see changes. In the first week alone, I lost an amazing 7 pounds. Remember, I added in the workouts, but I was not able to complete them fully. I attribute that initial weight loss to my body flushing out the processed junk, and making a switch to the new diet.

By week two, I added in running. My modified P90X plan is different then what most may be doing. Me, I love being outside and running. I cannot lose that aspect of my training. I love running long and short distances. But I also like moving weights around. So I modified the plan as follows, to not only fit my ridiculously busy schedule, but account for the fact that I love running so much.

Monday: 3.5 mile run
Tuesday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Wednesday: 3.5 mile run
Thursday: P90X weights workout, Ab Ripper X
Friday: Rest
Saturday: P90X Legs and Back or Run, Ab Ripper X
Sunday: Long Run

I had to modify this schedule due to my numerous outside responsibilities. For one, I coach my twin boys youth flag football team. It's a HUGE time commitment. We hold practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with games on Saturday. I incorporate P90X workouts into their training. These kids, are SUPERSONIC X-FIT! I fully believe that my kids are the most FIT team in the league. We are the only team to have 2 double headers, and in our last one this past Saturday, we only gave up a total of 13 point in the two games. In the past 3 games, we've outscored our opponents 82-13. They're fast, they're aggressive, and they attack the ball. Never before have I seen such progress that I have with these kids. I've been coaching in this league for 6 years now, and I've had 8 of these kids over those years. These kids are getting their first dose of P90X, and they don't really realize it. But I digress.....

Back to my results, at the halfway point. Every single week, I documented every repetition, and pushed myself farther and farther. Week 2, I was able to get through the entire workout. Week 3, I increased number of reps. Week 4, I "rested". I put that in quote, because it was my first FULL week of running, and I managed to get in close to 20 miles in that week. Week 5, we switched form Push-Pull to all Push, all Pull. Week 6.....The dreaded sickness hit. It was just a matter of time, but I stopped the clock, rested my body up, cut the calories down to account for not exercising as much, and gave week 6 a do-over. And here I am in Week 7, officially on Day 45. As I write this, I'm sore. I've had some AMAZING workouts. I did my first double this week. On Sunday, I went out for a 5.6 mile run. I then came home, fueled my body, rested for a few hours, and then later in the afternoon did a KILLER leg workout.

On Monday, I did my standard 3.5 mile run. On Tuesday, I woke up at o'god early and met with my running group. I hadn't met with them in over 6 months. And booy was I lucky to pick yesterday as my "comeback" day. Normally during a weekday run, I never go much more then about 4 miles. Imagine my face when Mamma Michelle, our Coach Extraordinaire, handed me the piece of paper documenting the workout. I had no idea before hand what was in store. Basically, on the schedule sheet, it just said "Short Intervals". Well, here's what we did:

4x200m - 48, 47, 48, 46 ~6:15/mile pace
3x1000m - 4:38, 4:46, 4:46 ~7:38/mile pace
2x400m - 1:53, 1:48 ~7:40 pace
1x1mile 15sec on 15 sec jog - 8:25

All I can say is WOW. My legs today are tired, lacking energy, and SORE. But that wasn't my only workout. I did the Double. I had Shoulders, Chest, Back and ARX on the docket. And let me just say, I nailed it!!!!! ARX, I am no longer floundering like a fish out of water. I'm hammering EVERY SINGLE exercise. Yesterday, I successfully managed 48 mason twists!!! New League Record!!! My weight, I'm down 17.5 pounds. I'm only 14 pounds away from my goal weight. My body has lost CRAZY amounts of fat, built some lean muscle, and is NOT the same body that I was 45 days ago: physically AND mentally. Seriously, it's absolutely AMAZING where I've come in just 45 days, and I cannot wait to see where I am after 90!!!!! It's moments like these, that keep me motivated and pushing myself to new heights.

Remember, KEEP PUSHING PLAY and DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST!!! Progress will come as long as you BRING IT!!!

P90X Week 6: The Incredible Shrinking Man

Talk about complete and total MOTIVATION!!! The say that a picture is worth a thousand words. My 30 day pictures were pretty amazing. And gave me a HUGE motivational boost. But, I'm an engineer. I need numbers and data to make sure that things are going right. I've actually stopped weighing myself everyday. It was driving me insane, and I didn't want to get all over myself for seeing a half pound increase. So, I started a "Biggest Loser" style weigh in. I'm now just weighing myself once per week. Let the weekly drop in weight be a big surprise. I was exstatic when I saw my 189.2 on Wednesday for my last blog post. It's been a really long time since I've been under 190, even if it's only .8 pounds. My ultimate goal is to be around 175 by the end of this round, and have some amazinly ripped abs. I've run a total of 5 marathons, and I can honestly say that every one of them I was overweight, and no where near my goal weight. I want to run another marathon, but I will not do it in the 190s. I won't put myself through that. It means I'm not ready to lay down a Boston Qualifying time.

And I'm well on my way and to get back to the data, imagine how far my confidence soared when I saw these measurements in just 3 weeks.

Measurements in 3 weeks:

Neck 14.5 to 14
Shoulders 46 to 44
Chest 38 to 37
Waist 37 to 35
Abdomen 36.5 to 34! SERIOUSLY 2.5 INCHES!!!!
Hips 40 to 38
Thigh 24 to 23
Knee 15.5 to 14.5
Ankle 9.25 to 9
Arm 12.5 to 13
Forearm 10.5 to 10.25
Wrist 6.75 to 7

To me, it's totally UNREAL how much my body is changing right now. Add up all those measurements, that's 10.25" of fat OBLITERATED off of my body in just 3 weeks. My metabolism must be flyng through the roof right now. Seriosuly, I cannot remember a time where I've made a body transformation like this. All I have to say is that, I cannot wait until until I take those 60 day pictures. Will I recognize that new guy in the pic. Will I have some abs showing through. Who knows, only time will tell and with the momentum I've built right now, there's one thing that's for certain. I will be pushing play each and every day. And I will be dropping some sweat drenching workouts that will obliterate fat. Lookout peepz......The KID IS EN FUEGO!!!!