Rethinking Fitness from 2012 to 2013

If you’ll recall, towards the end of last year, we had been plugging along at our P90X routine, spending and hour to an hour and a half per day exercising.  Our routine was going good until Thanksgiving.  We had so much going on around Thanksgiving that we started missing workouts.  Fitness is important, but it can’t get in the way of more important things.  Here is one of the major downfalls with P90X, there is not really a shorter alternative.  On days when we were short on time we ended up just skipping the entire workout if we didn’t have a full hour and a half to dedicate.

So we missed a few workouts near Thanksgiving, and then we ended up getting busy with Christmas activities…  Decorating the tree, baking cookies, shopping for presents, wrapping presents.   It seemed like we had stuff going on every night of the week and most of the weekends.

We pretty much stopped altogether in the first week of December.

The Results of P90X

The good news is that we made it through the majority of the program, only missing about two weeks at the end.  We are stronger, thinner, and healthier.

I weighed in at the end of the program and found I had lost about 10 pounds.  I also went down about a pant size and a half, from 34 waist to somewhere between a 32 and a 33.  33 fits unless my pockets are full, then I need to ratchet my belt down to the 32 notch.  I also went from wearing large shirts to medium.  My spare tire is much smaller and I can rock a tighter t-shirt without too much pooch sticking out.  I’m a bit surprised actually, after the first month of workouts I bought some medium shirts that fit tight, and now those same shirts are actually a little loose.

Just as important as the new thinner me, is the new me that can run and play with my daughter.  I can actually keep up with her now.  I love playing on the monkey bars and climbing up the fireman pole.  I can also carry my daughter for long distances.  Kids love to be carried, and I want to be able to carry her around for as long as she desires that.  I know it won’t be long before she doesn’t want to be seen with her parents, so I want to make the most of it while I can.  I’m also at the point where I can walk up stairs without getting winded.  I’m really happy that I decided to get healthy and fit.

Diet Changes

Part of the P90X program includes diet changes.  We didn’t follow them exactly, but made an effort to eat healthier.  That meant less bread and pasta and more fruits and vegetables.  We’re doing better on the fruit side, usually having some fruit at breakfast.  We found a good smoothie recipe that is pretty simple.  I’ll share it in case anyone wants to try it.

• 1 cup of vanilla soy milk
• 1 cup of frozen fruit
• Blend in a blender

Super simple and while it’s not super sweet like the local smoothie joint, it is quite tasty for breakfast.  Our favorite frozen fruit comes from Target.  Theirs seems to taste better than what we found at Publix.  The have a strawberry banana mix that works great.  We’ve also done a mixed berry that is good but has a lot of seeds that roughen the texture, and I recently tried mango and pineapple which was good.

Sometimes we eat out instead of cooking.  We found Chipotle to work well while remaining inexpensive.  We usually split a burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans or peppers and onions, mild salsa, and we get our cheese and medium salsa on the side so we could use less than they typically pile on.  We also have a couple of other Tex-Mex places that we like to eat.  Most of the time we can eat for less than $10 for the two of us, and a just little more if Faith is with us.

We’re certainly not perfect, we still grab a greasy burger and fries from time to time, but we have been making an effort to do better, and we are seeing results.

One huge thing we did was to give up soda (or pop, coke, or whatever you happen to call your sugary carbonated beverages.)  After being off of sodas for four months, I can finally grasp how bad those things are.  I feel so much better.  Our skin is looking better also.  It seems like when we drink sugary drinks (especially ones with High Fructose Corn Syrup) we get more of those annoying little pimples popping up.  Drinking water instead has really improved our skin.

Another great thing about giving up sodas… it’s cheaper to eat out.  Soda can be as much as three dollars a glass at some of our local restaurants.  That’s nine dollars for the three of us.  Cutting those out actually allows us to eat out more often.

I think giving up the sodas is one of the reasons I continued to lose weight after stopping P90X.  I actually lost another 8 pounds.  I’m now at a 157, which for my height puts me at a healthy BMI.

The Challenge Ahead

We are planning to get back into the P90X routine and start another 90 day session.  We want to continue the progress we made in the first session.  I’d really like to lose the rest of my spare tire in time for our cruise in April.

We may need to find an alternative on the days when we are short on time.  Maybe we go for a run, or maybe we do half a P90X session instead of the whole thing.  Anything is better than nothing, so I need to get into the mindset that I have to do something every day, even if I don’t have time for a full workout session.

Do you have any fitness goals for the new year?

Tagged as: Fitness, P90X, Rethinking Fitness