This post was originally intended to be my transformation story of a guy 5’11″ weighing 240 lbs to slimming down to the low 200′s. NOPE! “No soup for you!” This post has now been repurposed into showing you just how hard and how committed you really need to be in order to complete the P90X workout system. The main challenge is that this system requires you to switch gears and work out every day for 90 days. I don’t know about you, but going from the status of not active sitting on my butt playing Xbox to training for a triathlon is insane.

Besides the workout system (which is damn good), the nutritional portion of this system is well laid out, but hard to follow if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. I’m running a struggling business, I have three kids, a wife, and a full-time job. I’m grateful that they put so much thought into the nutritional manual, but a lot of those required you to make sauces and supplemental things from scratch. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about things from scratch, but I nor my wife had the time to prepare them.

What that means is that when I do start it up again; I’ll need to really put a game plan together for eating properly. I noticed that if I eat every three hours and drink lots of water then my body is regulated. Changing your mindset to eat the right portion size is a killer as well, but we that diet know about all this stuff. Read my failed attempt below. One thing you’ll notice is the gap in days as I continue through the program.

Day 1

Monday, March 28, 2011 – Since this was my second attempt at the P90X system I knew what was in store. It felt nice being able to do most of the moves, but I was still far from doing them with the same intensity. My plan at this point is to simply learn the form and pace myself. I’m guessing that as I continue to get my body back into the routine of being active I can then keep up with the workouts. Just like many folks we didn’t fully prepare for the system. With that said; my diet has changed a little. I did have an eight egg white omelet for breakfast. Wow; I didn’t realize that egg whites could make a decent omelet. I normally have about two or four egg whites and I’m laughing at how dismal it looks, but eight was MORE than enough.

Day 2

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 – The workout went pretty well. Some of the moves that we did yesterday weren’t as hard to execute this time. I did feel some strain in my lower back when doing the Banana. The Wife and I were a little cautious of the time, at first, and was thoroughly relieved when we saw that we only had three minutes left.

Day 3

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 – I started out very sore, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday trying to get out of bed. We were rushing to get out of the house so I couldn’t make a protein-filled breakfast. I ate some raisin brand cereal with 2% milk. It got bad when I got to work, I was really hungry and ended up eating a Hershey’s bar someone gave me the day before.

The Workout

So; the Wife and I haven’t done much research, which means minutes before we workout we read what type of workout we’re going to do. To our surprise Day 3 called for two workouts. When we put in the first DVD our mouths dropped to the floor when we saw that it was roughly 50 minutes long. We thought, “How long is the other one then!?” In the end; we had a great time. Some of the moves were easier to do than the first day, the Ab video was only 15 minutes, but very intense.

Day 4

Thursday, March 31, 2011 – I ended up going to bed around 1:30 AM, which doesn’t help me when I have to wake up for 5:00 AM.

Day 5 – Yoga X

Friday, April 1, 2011 – OMG; the Wife and I nearly died doing yoga. Who would have thought!? I think we did the first 20 or 30 minutes of the hour and a half minute routine. I was simply amazed with how long they were holding the positions. We both opt’d out.

Day 6 – Kenpo

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 – Unfortunately; we took a couple days off from the workout routine. Yoga nearly killed us and life was a little rough over the weekend and Monday. So; it was nice to get a break and let our bodies heal, but it was a little scary to know that we might not be ready for the next video.

The Diet

At this point I’ve decided that I’m probably not going to be able to follow the diet plan as instructed so I’ll try to eat more protein and less carbs and only snack twice a day. That roughly means that I’ll eat every three hours or so.

The Workout

We normally start the workout around 20:30. Lucky for us the kids went to bed on time so I was able to play a little Full House Poker on my Xbox while dinner settled. Around 20:30 it was time to put down the games and get into the workout routine. I looked at the P90X manual and saw “Kenpo”. My mind immediately flashed back to one of the previous videos I didn’t like. I thought to myself that this wasn’t going to be fun. To my surprise I really enjoyed it. It was certainly fast-paced and I worked up a good amount of sweat.

I was truly happy to see the results. I was able to bounce around without feeling so heavy and in the middle of the workout I was able to sort of play with the kenpo moves jokingly. THAT was extra energy I didn’t know I had. I’m very excited.

Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

Sunday, April 10, 2011 – I was pretty determined to get back on the P90X wagon. I felt like crap all weekend and I was really upset with myself for skipping so many days. It’s the same cycle, you feel tired because of a busy day and you don’t want to do the exercise. Yet keeping your body active helps to give you energy. It’s a “chicken or the egg” kind of thing and I keep roasting the chicken and boiling the eggs.

Day 8 – Core Synergenics

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 – Yes; this is getting ridiculous. I ate too much that day because I was hungry and didn’t care about the results. Yet again I realized that food is a comfort mechanism for me and I have to get it under control. We did the workout, but I barely finished or did it with as much intensity as the first time. The food was gurgling in my throat and I could feel that I was over exerting myself. So; I stopped.

Day 9 -

[I don't remember what happened on this day.]

Day 10 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X

Monday, April 25, 2011 – Again; this is not how the program is supposed to be followed. There were a couple of times where I tried to get going, but I was beat down by the day or my neck and shoulders hurt. Whenever my neck and shoulders hurt a throbbing pain in my temple is sure to follow. Ironically; working out (or being active) is what my body needs so that my shoulders aren’t so stiff yet I was having a hard time “being active.” After days of failed attempts to start up the P90X routine I finally dug deep and knocked one out.

I’m not sure why it surprises me each time, but the workout wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. This particular video the music was dubbed much louder than Tony’s microphone so I did the routine without music. To be honest I liked it a lot better. It felt more like a private session than a workout video. I was able to stay focused because I was a little more familiar with the routine so that helped a lot. I still don’t have any weights or resistance bands so I’m still working on form.

Even without using weights I could feel the skin wrapped around my arms tighten and my shoulders were indeed worked out, but my form felt loose. I had a great time and I look forward to tonight’s session. I had a great night sleep and it felt good to wake up at 5:15 AM instead of crawling out of bed after 6:30 AM.

Day 11 – Yoga X

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 – I hate yoga, I hate it I hate it I simply hate it! Why do I hate it!? It’s because of its sloth-like speed and difficulty. When we were teens my brother showed me that if I do a very slow push-up that it’s a lot harder than the regular super fast push-ups we were doing. In disbelief I tried it and I only did a quarter of my normal reps. Ever since then I knew slower was better, but a lot harder.

April 27, 2011 I stopped working out. I tried again a month or so later. I tried to adjust it to my schedule which was three times a week. I got through the first two videos and didn’t go back. It’s now July 2011 and I’m inspired to try this again. For pete’s sake I did buy this product, I need to use it. I’ll need to setup my eating pattern to support this change in activity. We’ll see how it goes.

I will say that when I was active, I felt a big difference in my body. I could sleep in my bed without having shoulder problems. My legs wouldn’t be so stiff and achy while sitting at my desk at work, and I had far less headaches than normal. This knowledge is very important to me. I got a glimpse of what it is like to be healthy again. It’s pretty sweet and this knowledge is what’s motivating me to keep trying until I get it right.

I know I’m not the only one that’s crashed and burned the P90X system. Add a comment so we can all have a big laugh… or comfort one another, which ever floats your boat!

Hey folks, I just wanted to give an update that another wave of “I need to get my health in check” came crashing into me yesterday. No real health scare, but I know I need to take the bull by the horn on me losing weight, etc. So; I went to see the doctor and of course – nothing to report. Everything is the same and I spent $42 for him to tell me that – awesome!

When I got back home, I did feel the need to create a “Health” calendar in Google and really map out what I should be doing to lose  half a pound a week (that’s the healthy weight loss number). I’m currently 5′ 11″ weighing 240lbs. My goal is to be 6′ 2″ weighing only 210lbs. Well I might not reach the 6′ 2″ goal, but getting to the low two hundreds is very doable. With my crazy, responsible life, my only forms of exercise are the Tae Bo DVDs I bought a number of years ago and walking/running around my neighborhood.

My schedule is to do Tae Bo everyday except Sunday and Wednesday. Also; to walk three times a week. That’s been my goal since a couple months ago. So; I thought I’d take care of that one (it’s about time!). Besides that, I can walk instead of taking the elevator, campus shuttle, etc.

Eating Healthier

I am pretty proud that we haven’t had any startch in our dinner for about a week or two. It’s been more vegetables and we’re trying to ride that wave. The veggies are fresh – meaning it increases the prep time, but it tastes so much better.

At the end of the day I feel very, “empowered!” Boy does that sound gay! It’s the truth though. My wife and I bought a lot of fruits and vegetables at the local Korean market and I’m starting to become more comfortable with having vegetables and other non-grain items as a snack. With that said, I realized just how much carbs are in my diet. It was mostly through snacking. Since I’ve become aware of that, I made the mental note to find anything but Animal Crackers, Gold Fish, and Granolla Bars for my in-between meals.

A Milestone Weekend

So; we’ve been eating better, this weekend, and dinner was considerably healthy.  My wife cut my hair (thank God, I’ve been grizzlin’ it for too long) and even though I was tired, I popped in a Billy Blanks Tae Bo DVD and went at it!  I am captivated by these aerobics folks and I’m also intrigued by my own focus. One – I’m simply trying to get my body to become more active. I’ve become a drone to sitting at my desk handling web requests eight hours a day, driving or sitting on the transit, patrolling the kids to then sit at my desk to do more work on the computer.  That doesn’t sound like an active body, thus I’ve become like the Tin man – very stiff and my joints need lubricant.

Any More Focal References!?

Two – is to lose weight, getting some of this pressure off my heart and muscles. And three – to have my body be as responsive as these skinny people in the workout video. I was amazed at how unresponsive my body was when it came to the fast-paced activities.  In my mind, they seem pretty simple, but in execution – I was having a hard time. So; while I was correcting my hand-eye coordination, these “kids” where jumping up and down, moving left and right, kicking and hoping with great ease. I realized that their they had good muscle tone and they didn’t have a lot of weight or fat to move around.  So; I’m the type of person that uses his passion in order to complete goals. My focus, with aerobics, is to lose the weight so my body can be responsive.

I’m no superhero, but I often think about what it would be like, if I had to protect my family. If robbers ever came into the house or if we were “run up on” while on the street. In my mind, I can quickly disarm the fiend and end his life with his own vile weapon.  In reality, I know it would be a totally different outcome. So; anything I can do to guarantee my family’s safety is a priority with me.

I’m not certain where I am on the health train, traveling in Atlanta. My first week’s goal was to establish a walking routine. I actually snickered while I wrote it down, thinking, “This is easy, how can I mess this up.” As of date, I’m still not consistent with exercising. One would think it was easy, but I’ve proven to myself that I need to put more effort into it. I think since I’ve started I’ve walked 3 times and did Tae Bo 3 times. It’s been a couple of weeks so that’s not going to work.

Zombified

On another note, I got some high-blood pressure pills from my doctor. They do have one side effect, which is causing me to walk the earth among other zombies! This pill is making me more drowsy than I normally am, so I called my doctor (to my surprise I was actually able to talk to him) and he told me to stay off the pills for 3 days and see if my symptoms change. This is day two off the pills and I already don’t feel as drowsy.

I’m normally tired at the end of the day and drop asleep around 21:30. Some times I go to sleep with the kids at 20:00, but while taking those pills last week, I was dozing off around 19:00. It affected my work, I noticed that I was being as productive. I think it was in the middle of the week that I associated it with my new high-blood-pressure-controlling/blood-thinning drug.

Eating

“Eating healthy is hard!” There I said it! The concept is easy, but putting it into action has proven to be more difficult than I expected. My whole life, I’ve eaten like a Jamaican – lots of startch, heavy on the meat, and “what the hell are vegetables doing here!?” So; my biggest challenge is eating the proper portions. The trick is with eating proportional meals, I have to have snacks in between and I’ve noticed that a lot of snack ideas are NOT appealing to me. How many times am I going to comsume assorted nuts!?  Oh well; I’m officially 240 lbs, so I need to get that weight down and the key, for me, is eating the proper proportions and exercising.  Time to get myself back on track.

It’s about time I took my health into my hands and work on habits that will keep me around for a much longer time. I already made some changes, but now my dad is really concerned and checking up on me daily. I can credit that to social media. I posted a status update on Facebook the other day about my eyes being blurrier than normal and he caught whim of that. We have high blood pressure (HBP) in our family and my parents, my brother and I have it as well. My brother and I are straddling Stage 1. Lucky for me, I work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and last year or so, I took a “Mastering Weight Management” course. It was eye-opening to me and I never looked at my diet in the same light again.

So; what do I do now!? I have a binder from that weight management course, which breaks their lessons down into weeks – so I’m going to start there. Yesterday; I started a food log, so I know what I’m eating and what to change, and I started an exercise program. Nothing big, it’s just walking for 15 minutes (5 min warm-up, 5 min of brisk walking/jogging, and 5 min of cool down). The goal is to make sure I can schedule at least 3 walking sessions a week – after I get more comfortable with walking I can increase the intensity of the exercise, etc.

My Own Electronic Medical Record

I’m using Google Docs to keep track of my health data. The course, suggested I keep track of the foods I’m eating, some realistic goals, and my weight. I’ve added a few more worksheets because of my HBP. I usually don’t have a problem sharing my personal information with the Internet, but for some reason… this day-to-day data of my personal habits seems a bit more valuable than “status updates” and “blog entries”. Here’s a general overview of the worksheets though:

• Overview (dashboard)
  I’ll put fancy pie charts of each worksheet here.
• Goals (goal, type of goal, due date, date accomplished)
  Make sure your goals are realistic. Also it’s best to start out with goals you can reach by the end of the week and then work your way to monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual goals.
• Food Log (date, time, food item, amount, food type, location, audience, mood, hunger level, notes)
• Blood Pressure (date, time, systolic, diastolic, pressure category)
• Exercise (date, start time, end time, duration, type of exercise)
  Note that any exercise is good, but it’s also good to get some light weights into your pattern. Lifting weights helps to burn fat that walking or jogging alone can’t do.
• Weight (date, time, weight, difference)
  This should be done on a weekly basis. It’s too stressful, on your mind, to weigh yourself daily, weight fluctuates too often. When you do weigh yourself, though, make sure you weigh in at the same time as you did last week.

BMI… You Liar!

The next thing on my list is to make an appointment with my personal physician, even though I haven’t seen him in over a year. The last time I saw him, he gave me some sample drugs that should help lower blood pressure and he suggested I lose some weight. I started taking the pills, but I haven’t lost much weight – so I avoided him after that. My body mass index (BMI) states that I’m in the obese category. Compared to the average obese individual [pictures], in America, I’m far from obese, but according to my height and weight – I should be 178 lbs. Yah, I’m about 235 lbs – big difference. I got a lot of work. Personally; with my muscle mass, I think 190-200 lbs would be ideal.

In the end I really hope I can make this habitual change stick. I noticed that I take care of everyone else (wife, kids, work, business, etc), but I don’t look out for myself. It’s about time I became a little selfish (in that area). For the record, I am selfish in other areas, but who isn’t!? Let me know what you think about the way that I’m going about changing my health. Are you in the same boat? Are you and BMI friends?