Last week, I would have completed the first phase of P90X. I say "would have" because there were days that I was not as diligent as I should have been with the workout schedule. I stuck to the diet. I am proud of myself for that.
After 28 days of the diet and about two=thirds of the workouts complete, I have lost 23 pounds and I see muscle definition that I have never had in my life. There was nothing easy about it.
Early on, I thought about and wrote about the possibility of getting complacent with the results that I have seen and hoped that I would push forward and continue with the program. I am wondering if that has happened and I am trying to mask it or, more aptly, make excuses for long hours of work and lack of free time to do so.
For the last week, I've stayed with the first phase of the program. I've tried to make up for the missed workouts and I think I have done this. Today, I took a peek at the phase two workouts. Holy Crap!
So, here is my thought process. Have I done my best? I knew going into this, it was going to be difficult. Have I done my best? Upon seeing the next phase of work outs, am I ready for the next level? Have I done my best? I don't think I have.
Maybe it is possible that I am seeing the tougher road ahead and I am questioning whether or not I have prepared myself. Maybe I am seeing this and I am doubting my ability to do it. I recall many times that I doubted my ability to get this far. I got here, but it was not without a few short cuts. Have I done my best?
Hind-sight is 20/20. The phase one workouts have gotten easier to do, not easy by any means. The phase two workouts are going to get much harder.
Deja vu... It is so easy to think back at how we could have done things differently, once we get that glimpse forward. Part of me is considering starting phase one, from the beginning and not making the excuses for not following the schedule as it is laid out. Part of me wants to move forward with phase two, learning from the mistakes that I admittedly made with phase one. The rest of me just wants a bacon sandwich, dripping with bar-b-que sauce and a towering pile of curly fries.
All of me thinks that P90X should include an additional DVD, offering psychological help to people that struggle with things this brings about. I really don't know where to go from here.
End of Phase 1
1983 was a long year for me. In February of that year, I turned twelve years-old. I was so close to becoming a teenager, I could almost taste it. Looking back, I really don't know why it was so important to me to have the title of "teenager". There is really no difference between being twelve and being thirteen or even fourteen. The advantages of being a teenager really do not kick in until you are fifteen and are able to get your learner's permit.
That begins the next long year of a person's life. Knowing that a driver's license is that close, makes each day seem longer than the last.
At seventeen years-old, we want to be eighteen, thinking that we'll be out of school, grown and living the life we've been dreaming about our whole life. At eighteen, I was supposed to be married to Heather Locklear and she and I would live happily ever after on the fortune that we would make owning our own video arcade.
It's difficult to be a nineteen-year old. We feel too old to be called a teenager, but we still are. At some point, as a nineteen-year old, many kids have uttered the phrase; "I can join the army and go to war and be killed serving my country, but I can't buy beer!"
Twenty is a long year, because at that point, you're less than a year away from being able to buy that beer.
After the age of twenty-one, time seems to stand still for a while. And why shouldn't it? We're young and we can stay up all night and go to work the next day on little or no sleep. We can fall down and we bounce back up and we may not even bother to dust ourselves off. We're not scared of anything!
During my twenties, my best friend Tim and I would keep ourselves busy with assorted activities of debauchery. To this day, I cannot see a duck without slight chuckle and thoughts of a weekend in Memphis, TN.
Turning thirty is not a big deal. Yesterday, I was twenty-nine. I'm just a day older. I'm basically still in my twenties. I'm not really in my thirties. I am thirty. There is a big difference. During this decade of ages, some wise-ass thought it was necessary to sub-divide age, going forward. You're not thirty-two years old. You're in your early thirties. You're not thirty-four, thirty-five or thirty-six, you're in your mid-thirties. Your not thirty-seven, thirty-eight or thirty-nine. You're in your late thirties. At this point, we fight it and claim the we roll "old school" by saying that I am still in my thirties...and we'll say that right up until the day of our fortieth birthday. Some of us will continue this for a while longer.
Today is the last day of phase 1 of My P90X. I have stayed with the diet program. I have had to make some adjustments to the workout program just because I did not have the time to do this like it is supposed to be done, every day. I am wondering if I should move on to phase 2 or stay with phase 1 a little longer to make up for the missed time working out. The next phase does give me a bit more food. I can get two more protein servings, two more veggie servings and two more dairy servings.
In the beginning, the diet portion was the toughest part of this. As I got into it, the diet portion got much easier. It was about that time that I would shorten or skip workouts. Slowly, the hunger would start reoccurring at the end of the day, like it had. I wonder if the alterations to the workout schedule has anything to do with this or if my body is just needing the extra food, because of the transformations that have happened. Again, not jumping into any body building contests, but it has been pretty drastic, to me.
However, this is what I can say, at the end of phase 1...even if it is the end of an altered phase 1.
* I need to buy a new black belt. The one that I have had for the last several years has 5 holes in it. Most of that time, I have been able to use the middle one, #3. The #2 hole does show signs of some wear. I call this my holiday hole, as it was most likely utilized between Thanksgiving and New Year, along with the bar-b-que holidays of the Spring and Summer months. Today, I am using the #5 hole and I really need a #6 hole to pull it back farther. with much of the belt wrapped around my waste, it flaps against itself and if I were to run, it would sound like the baseball cards I would put in the spokes of my bicycle as a teenager.
*Yesterday, when I stepped on the bathroom scale, it said 178 lbs. (I have not seen that since I was eighteen or nineteen.) Friends and family have told me that they really don't think I need to loose any more weight, because I was never that big to begin with. What they do not realize is that I have not exhaled since 1993.
*Once I can get up and get going, I just feel like I have more energy and more stamina and if I were to fall down, I really think I would bounce back up like I was in my twenties. Though I would dust myself off. Don't want to be a slob, you know.
*I'm thinking about calling up my ol' buddy Tim and asking if he is up for a weekend trip to Memphis.
That begins the next long year of a person's life. Knowing that a driver's license is that close, makes each day seem longer than the last.
At seventeen years-old, we want to be eighteen, thinking that we'll be out of school, grown and living the life we've been dreaming about our whole life. At eighteen, I was supposed to be married to Heather Locklear and she and I would live happily ever after on the fortune that we would make owning our own video arcade.
It's difficult to be a nineteen-year old. We feel too old to be called a teenager, but we still are. At some point, as a nineteen-year old, many kids have uttered the phrase; "I can join the army and go to war and be killed serving my country, but I can't buy beer!"
Twenty is a long year, because at that point, you're less than a year away from being able to buy that beer.
After the age of twenty-one, time seems to stand still for a while. And why shouldn't it? We're young and we can stay up all night and go to work the next day on little or no sleep. We can fall down and we bounce back up and we may not even bother to dust ourselves off. We're not scared of anything!
During my twenties, my best friend Tim and I would keep ourselves busy with assorted activities of debauchery. To this day, I cannot see a duck without slight chuckle and thoughts of a weekend in Memphis, TN.
Turning thirty is not a big deal. Yesterday, I was twenty-nine. I'm just a day older. I'm basically still in my twenties. I'm not really in my thirties. I am thirty. There is a big difference. During this decade of ages, some wise-ass thought it was necessary to sub-divide age, going forward. You're not thirty-two years old. You're in your early thirties. You're not thirty-four, thirty-five or thirty-six, you're in your mid-thirties. Your not thirty-seven, thirty-eight or thirty-nine. You're in your late thirties. At this point, we fight it and claim the we roll "old school" by saying that I am still in my thirties...and we'll say that right up until the day of our fortieth birthday. Some of us will continue this for a while longer.
Today is the last day of phase 1 of My P90X. I have stayed with the diet program. I have had to make some adjustments to the workout program just because I did not have the time to do this like it is supposed to be done, every day. I am wondering if I should move on to phase 2 or stay with phase 1 a little longer to make up for the missed time working out. The next phase does give me a bit more food. I can get two more protein servings, two more veggie servings and two more dairy servings.
In the beginning, the diet portion was the toughest part of this. As I got into it, the diet portion got much easier. It was about that time that I would shorten or skip workouts. Slowly, the hunger would start reoccurring at the end of the day, like it had. I wonder if the alterations to the workout schedule has anything to do with this or if my body is just needing the extra food, because of the transformations that have happened. Again, not jumping into any body building contests, but it has been pretty drastic, to me.
However, this is what I can say, at the end of phase 1...even if it is the end of an altered phase 1.
* I need to buy a new black belt. The one that I have had for the last several years has 5 holes in it. Most of that time, I have been able to use the middle one, #3. The #2 hole does show signs of some wear. I call this my holiday hole, as it was most likely utilized between Thanksgiving and New Year, along with the bar-b-que holidays of the Spring and Summer months. Today, I am using the #5 hole and I really need a #6 hole to pull it back farther. with much of the belt wrapped around my waste, it flaps against itself and if I were to run, it would sound like the baseball cards I would put in the spokes of my bicycle as a teenager.
*Yesterday, when I stepped on the bathroom scale, it said 178 lbs. (I have not seen that since I was eighteen or nineteen.) Friends and family have told me that they really don't think I need to loose any more weight, because I was never that big to begin with. What they do not realize is that I have not exhaled since 1993.
*Once I can get up and get going, I just feel like I have more energy and more stamina and if I were to fall down, I really think I would bounce back up like I was in my twenties. Though I would dust myself off. Don't want to be a slob, you know.
*I'm thinking about calling up my ol' buddy Tim and asking if he is up for a weekend trip to Memphis.
Take a break, Superman. I got this!
I'm still at it. I had to make a few adjustments, but I'm still plugging away. Life just got in the way and I have to make time for more important things.
I have made a few more discoveries. First of all, it's still working. A few days ago I was in the shower and noticed some muscle tone beginning in my thighs. I told a friend that I had thighs like a comic book super hero. She immediately burst out in uncontrolled laughter. I'll remember that the next time a mad scientist poisons the water supply, turning all who drink it into gelatinous cubes.
Another observation; my face no longer looks like the picture on my ATM/debit card. Yesterday, I went for a hair cut and when I gave my card to the lady, after she cut my hair, she had to look at the picture and then look at me and then back at the picture and then back at me and then asked to see my ID, because it did not look like me. That's cool, I guess.
The haircut is a different story. Every time I go and get a hair cut, I walk out looking like Opie or a Backstreet Boy. Yesterday was an Opie day.
Another discovery. The egg white induced gassing is either getting better or I am becoming immune. I try to be good and I try to be considerate, but if there is no way to leave the room, how do you warn anyone else there, that you're about to "Bring The Pain"? It's usually easier to just wait until someone looks at you and squint your face up and then quickly shift your eyes to someone else and try to pin it on them. Maybe that's my super power!
The last new discovery, I don't know if my house can take much more of this. Every workout video begins with a warm up. Part of these warm ups is a few minutes of jumping jacks. I have learned where to do this and not suffer the wrath of the ceiling fan, but there is a crack that has formed in the ceiling of my workout room. So, another modification is having to be made...no more jumping jacks.
Now, if you will pardon me, the Mayor has illuminated the sky with the image of Howdy Doodie. A super hero's work is never done.
I have made a few more discoveries. First of all, it's still working. A few days ago I was in the shower and noticed some muscle tone beginning in my thighs. I told a friend that I had thighs like a comic book super hero. She immediately burst out in uncontrolled laughter. I'll remember that the next time a mad scientist poisons the water supply, turning all who drink it into gelatinous cubes.
Another observation; my face no longer looks like the picture on my ATM/debit card. Yesterday, I went for a hair cut and when I gave my card to the lady, after she cut my hair, she had to look at the picture and then look at me and then back at the picture and then back at me and then asked to see my ID, because it did not look like me. That's cool, I guess.
The haircut is a different story. Every time I go and get a hair cut, I walk out looking like Opie or a Backstreet Boy. Yesterday was an Opie day.
Another discovery. The egg white induced gassing is either getting better or I am becoming immune. I try to be good and I try to be considerate, but if there is no way to leave the room, how do you warn anyone else there, that you're about to "Bring The Pain"? It's usually easier to just wait until someone looks at you and squint your face up and then quickly shift your eyes to someone else and try to pin it on them. Maybe that's my super power!
The last new discovery, I don't know if my house can take much more of this. Every workout video begins with a warm up. Part of these warm ups is a few minutes of jumping jacks. I have learned where to do this and not suffer the wrath of the ceiling fan, but there is a crack that has formed in the ceiling of my workout room. So, another modification is having to be made...no more jumping jacks.
Now, if you will pardon me, the Mayor has illuminated the sky with the image of Howdy Doodie. A super hero's work is never done.
No idea what day this is.
I often think that the best and most relaxing sleep that I get is that hour that I am hitting the snooze bar on my alarm clock. Who knew that sleep that came in ten intervals of ten minutes each could feel so good? I am doing that more and more.
Imagine how rested and refreshed I would feel if I set my alarm clock to go off at 10pm and just keep hitting the snooze bar until 5am, the next morning.
Something's gotta give.
I am going to have to make the "P" in P90X stand for "Part-Time". There is just no way that I can maintain the pace of this program with the time commitments while trying to keep up with my regular job schedule and travel time required with that as well as the time commitments that I am committed to with my other job with the Fire Department and still keep the yard mowed, the clothes washed, the dishes done, the house cleaned, the dog bathed and everything else.
I am still going to keep with the diet and nutrition portion of the program. I will still be doing the workouts, but I may have to do them every other day or every third day.
I don't like the fact that I have to do this and maybe if things change with my regular job and there is not so much commute time involved, I can go back to the normal pace. Right now, it's just too much and something's gotta give.
I'll still update this blog, as things happen, but the updates will be less frequent.
Imagine how rested and refreshed I would feel if I set my alarm clock to go off at 10pm and just keep hitting the snooze bar until 5am, the next morning.
Something's gotta give.
I am going to have to make the "P" in P90X stand for "Part-Time". There is just no way that I can maintain the pace of this program with the time commitments while trying to keep up with my regular job schedule and travel time required with that as well as the time commitments that I am committed to with my other job with the Fire Department and still keep the yard mowed, the clothes washed, the dishes done, the house cleaned, the dog bathed and everything else.
I am still going to keep with the diet and nutrition portion of the program. I will still be doing the workouts, but I may have to do them every other day or every third day.
I don't like the fact that I have to do this and maybe if things change with my regular job and there is not so much commute time involved, I can go back to the normal pace. Right now, it's just too much and something's gotta give.
I'll still update this blog, as things happen, but the updates will be less frequent.
Day 17 - When the cat's away, the mice will play. What does the dog do?
I am thoroughly convinced that some people just have more than 24 hours in their day. These same people can crawl into their bed and fall asleep as soon as they close their eyes and can spring out of bed in the morning, no matter what time the alarm clock is set...wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.
These people do not give off any kind of body odor, so they do not have to bathe. These people have no digestive system, so they do not ever need to take the time to eat or go to the bathroom. They have cars that run on air, so they never have to stop for gas. It's not like they have anywhere to go, because they are all independently wealthy and do not work. They already have everything they want and need and if something new is invented, it magically appears at their home.
Let's talk about their home, shall we? The kitchens never need cleaning. The floors never need to be mopped. The carpets never need to be vacuumed. Dust never settles on the TV or the coffee table. When they put a dirty dish in the sink, it disappears and the reappears, cleaned and dry, in the appropriate cabinet. The dishes taught this nifty little trick to the laundry.
When a shirt, towel or any other piece of cloth or clothing is worn, removed and tossed on the floor on in a hamper, it also disappears and reappears cleaned, pressed and neatly hanged or folded in the closet or dresser.
They have nothing but time to do anything and everything that they want to do.
I am not one of these people.
I go to bed as early as I can. I am tired and i am sleepy, but I toss and turn because I am trying to figure out what I have to do at work, tomorrow...did I get everything done, today? In the beginning, I was awake before my alarm would sound. these days, I hit the snooze bar more and more. Some days, I don't even make it out of bed to work out and have to do them, in the evening. when I do get up, do not expect much out of me before my send cup of coffee.
I can get pretty funky and not showering is not an option. I have to eat and this diet is such that it takes time to do it right. You can't spell "microwave" with P90X. Most days I drive about an hour to work and about an hour home. I'm at work for 9 hours a day, not counting the 2 hours I am driving.
Let's talk about my home. I can clean my kitchen and a day later, it will look like I have done nothing. It's just me! Laundry seems to pile up in the strangest of places. The bathroom is not at all immune to these oddities.
Now, I have to find a way to create another hour for these workouts.
When I go leave to go to work, Ludwig is usually on the couch, looking so sad. He makes me feel guilty. The shape of his head and face seems to morph into a totally different looking dog that is just so pitiful, it breaks my heart to see. I am thinking this is just an act. When I leave, I am not certain that he is calling the other dogs in the area telling them that the coast is clear. I can imagine them having their party. there are a few in the kitchen, smoking cigars and playing poker. There are a few on my computer watching Youtube videos of cats being startled or doing otherwise stupid stuff.
Maybe one of them uses my shower and is walking around, wearing my robe. They go through my closet and pull stuff out and do the same to my dresser.
They all leave before I get home, but he mess is there and Lud just acts like that is how I left it. I'm sure this is happening. I just can't prove it. How else could my life be consumed with doing chores and duties that keep me from doing anything else? I am beginning to wonder why I am even doing P90X. It's not like anyone will get the chance to notice because I am too busy mowing the yard or cleaning the gutters to see anyone.
These people do not give off any kind of body odor, so they do not have to bathe. These people have no digestive system, so they do not ever need to take the time to eat or go to the bathroom. They have cars that run on air, so they never have to stop for gas. It's not like they have anywhere to go, because they are all independently wealthy and do not work. They already have everything they want and need and if something new is invented, it magically appears at their home.
Let's talk about their home, shall we? The kitchens never need cleaning. The floors never need to be mopped. The carpets never need to be vacuumed. Dust never settles on the TV or the coffee table. When they put a dirty dish in the sink, it disappears and the reappears, cleaned and dry, in the appropriate cabinet. The dishes taught this nifty little trick to the laundry.
When a shirt, towel or any other piece of cloth or clothing is worn, removed and tossed on the floor on in a hamper, it also disappears and reappears cleaned, pressed and neatly hanged or folded in the closet or dresser.
They have nothing but time to do anything and everything that they want to do.
I am not one of these people.
I go to bed as early as I can. I am tired and i am sleepy, but I toss and turn because I am trying to figure out what I have to do at work, tomorrow...did I get everything done, today? In the beginning, I was awake before my alarm would sound. these days, I hit the snooze bar more and more. Some days, I don't even make it out of bed to work out and have to do them, in the evening. when I do get up, do not expect much out of me before my send cup of coffee.
I can get pretty funky and not showering is not an option. I have to eat and this diet is such that it takes time to do it right. You can't spell "microwave" with P90X. Most days I drive about an hour to work and about an hour home. I'm at work for 9 hours a day, not counting the 2 hours I am driving.
Let's talk about my home. I can clean my kitchen and a day later, it will look like I have done nothing. It's just me! Laundry seems to pile up in the strangest of places. The bathroom is not at all immune to these oddities.
Now, I have to find a way to create another hour for these workouts.
When I go leave to go to work, Ludwig is usually on the couch, looking so sad. He makes me feel guilty. The shape of his head and face seems to morph into a totally different looking dog that is just so pitiful, it breaks my heart to see. I am thinking this is just an act. When I leave, I am not certain that he is calling the other dogs in the area telling them that the coast is clear. I can imagine them having their party. there are a few in the kitchen, smoking cigars and playing poker. There are a few on my computer watching Youtube videos of cats being startled or doing otherwise stupid stuff.
Maybe one of them uses my shower and is walking around, wearing my robe. They go through my closet and pull stuff out and do the same to my dresser.
They all leave before I get home, but he mess is there and Lud just acts like that is how I left it. I'm sure this is happening. I just can't prove it. How else could my life be consumed with doing chores and duties that keep me from doing anything else? I am beginning to wonder why I am even doing P90X. It's not like anyone will get the chance to notice because I am too busy mowing the yard or cleaning the gutters to see anyone.
Day 15 - FINALLY!
I wussed out, this morning and slept in. Did my work out, tonight. It took 2 weeks, but I finally made it through a workout without stopping, skipping, skimping or fast forwarding over anything.
Now, I'm going to go cry in the shower.
Now, I'm going to go cry in the shower.
Day 14 - Dog tired
In the last 14 days I have seen some incredible things. Yep, a truly amazing transformation is taking place. None of which I am more proud than the transformation taking place with my dog, Ludwig. Yes, my dog.
Lud came into my life about 5 years ago. He was a rescue dog. He was about 10 weeks old, when I brought him home. Perhaps I should say that was when I gave him my home and he was gracious enough to continue letting me live there.
Two weeks ago, Ludwig was going through a very confusing time. I would try and do these work outs and he must have thought it was play time. This complicated things, to say the least.
Try doing jumping jacks in a room with an 8-foot ceiling, from which a ceiling fan is suspended. I cannot think of a better definition for the word "focus". Add to the mix, a 75-pound black lab that thinks his purpose in life is to be involved in every single aspect of my life. It appeared as though he made the choice to take on the role of being my personal trainer.
In some ways, it was not such a bad thing. Rather than having some muscle-head arching over me, yelling at me, screaming how big of a cream puff I was; he used the popular method of positive reinforcement. For example, after every sit up, I would be rewarded with a cold wet nose being lunged in my ear. When I would go to the floor for push ups, he was right there in front of me...face and front legs down on the floor, butt up in the air and tail wagging. There were a few times that he would actually raise up as I did and lower himself back to the floor. Most of the time, he just raised up and pivoted around in a circle and whacked me in the face with his tail. I guess he was not impressed with my form.
We had our share of accidents. On more than one occasion, I hit him in the face with a flying elbow, while doing Kenpo. He just looked at me with this "What the Hell?" expression.
Now, Lud has assumed the role of a cheer leader. I brought a bedding mat in the already crowded room. Now, I tell him to go lay down while I torture myself. He will run to his mat and lay on it, after he has brought all of his toys into the room. As the workout continues and I grow tired and slow my pace, I hear a sound behind me. It is the sound of his massive tail pounding the surface of the floor.
Many times, I look at this dog and can't help but feel like he knows something that I don't. I wonder if he is thumping his tail on the floor because he sees me slacking and is trying to push me, in the manner of a surrogate muscle-head personal trainer. Maybe he thinks the workout is coming to an end and he will get his dog biscuit treat for being a good dog and staying out of my way. Maybe he just has to go pee.
In any event, he has decided to give me the room to do my thing. Even if it is to avoid being hit with a Kenpo elbow, it is still nice to have the room to work out. It's also nice to think that I have my own personal cheering section, even if he does lick his own butt.
Lud came into my life about 5 years ago. He was a rescue dog. He was about 10 weeks old, when I brought him home. Perhaps I should say that was when I gave him my home and he was gracious enough to continue letting me live there.
Two weeks ago, Ludwig was going through a very confusing time. I would try and do these work outs and he must have thought it was play time. This complicated things, to say the least.
Try doing jumping jacks in a room with an 8-foot ceiling, from which a ceiling fan is suspended. I cannot think of a better definition for the word "focus". Add to the mix, a 75-pound black lab that thinks his purpose in life is to be involved in every single aspect of my life. It appeared as though he made the choice to take on the role of being my personal trainer.
In some ways, it was not such a bad thing. Rather than having some muscle-head arching over me, yelling at me, screaming how big of a cream puff I was; he used the popular method of positive reinforcement. For example, after every sit up, I would be rewarded with a cold wet nose being lunged in my ear. When I would go to the floor for push ups, he was right there in front of me...face and front legs down on the floor, butt up in the air and tail wagging. There were a few times that he would actually raise up as I did and lower himself back to the floor. Most of the time, he just raised up and pivoted around in a circle and whacked me in the face with his tail. I guess he was not impressed with my form.
We had our share of accidents. On more than one occasion, I hit him in the face with a flying elbow, while doing Kenpo. He just looked at me with this "What the Hell?" expression.
Now, Lud has assumed the role of a cheer leader. I brought a bedding mat in the already crowded room. Now, I tell him to go lay down while I torture myself. He will run to his mat and lay on it, after he has brought all of his toys into the room. As the workout continues and I grow tired and slow my pace, I hear a sound behind me. It is the sound of his massive tail pounding the surface of the floor.
Many times, I look at this dog and can't help but feel like he knows something that I don't. I wonder if he is thumping his tail on the floor because he sees me slacking and is trying to push me, in the manner of a surrogate muscle-head personal trainer. Maybe he thinks the workout is coming to an end and he will get his dog biscuit treat for being a good dog and staying out of my way. Maybe he just has to go pee.
In any event, he has decided to give me the room to do my thing. Even if it is to avoid being hit with a Kenpo elbow, it is still nice to have the room to work out. It's also nice to think that I have my own personal cheering section, even if he does lick his own butt.
Day 13 - Eye on the prize
When I was a little kid, I was given an allowance. By little kid, I mean 7 or 8 years old. By allowance, I mean a dollar or two. Living in the country, there were not many opportunities for a kid to spend his (hardly) earned money.
Once a week, the family would drive into town. Mom and dad would go grocery shopping and go to Wal-Mart and pick up what ever items were needed for the week to follow. My brother and I would spend most of that time walking the aisles of the toy department, then we would walk through the candy aisle and then make our way to the magazine section. The magazine section was not my idea.
My brother was, and still is, four years older than me. He would want to look through the magazines. I had to and most of the time wanted to hang with him. I had no interest in magazines at that time, but what's a kid to do?
What does this have to do with P90X? Hang out with me for a bit. I'll get there.
While walking the toy department, I would see some cool toys that I could buy with the few dollars in my pocket. I would also see even cooler toys that I could not buy at that time, but if I would save my money and add that to my allowance from the weeks to follow, I would have been able to buy them. I always caved in and bought the toy that I could afford. I never saved for the more expensive item. I guess I was too tempted for the sure thing...the bird in the hand as apposed to the G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip on the wall. As a kid, it was not that big of a deal and not that difficult of a decision to make.
Here's where I am going with this. There are 2 things that are happening to me, now. There are 2 things that are coming about by the work I have put into this. The first is that I am dropping weight. In the last 13 days, I have lost about 15 pounds. I look better, I feel better and I know I am healthier. These are all great things.
The second thing is that I am seeing muscle tone and definition in my arms and legs. Of course, this also means I am getting stronger and healthier. ...again, great things.
I find that my situation is much like that of a 7 or 8 year-old boy in the toy department with a few dollars in his pocket. I can buy the cheap toy and leave the store with no money saved for next time. I can be happy with the weight that I have lost, feel proud of what I have accomplished and quit working my butt off.
I can save my money and add that to what is to come, later, and get a better toy. I can keep working with this program. I can get stronger, healthier and make a life altering commitment that I can continue for an amount of time that will be much greater than the amount of time that the better toy will last, before I break it, loose it or let the dog eat it.
I guess what I am saying is that it is so easy to be blinded by the drastic result that come quickly. If I allow that to happen, I will never know what I am really capable of doing.
I'm going to keep at it. Kung Fu grip...I am 77 days away!
Once a week, the family would drive into town. Mom and dad would go grocery shopping and go to Wal-Mart and pick up what ever items were needed for the week to follow. My brother and I would spend most of that time walking the aisles of the toy department, then we would walk through the candy aisle and then make our way to the magazine section. The magazine section was not my idea.
My brother was, and still is, four years older than me. He would want to look through the magazines. I had to and most of the time wanted to hang with him. I had no interest in magazines at that time, but what's a kid to do?
What does this have to do with P90X? Hang out with me for a bit. I'll get there.
While walking the toy department, I would see some cool toys that I could buy with the few dollars in my pocket. I would also see even cooler toys that I could not buy at that time, but if I would save my money and add that to my allowance from the weeks to follow, I would have been able to buy them. I always caved in and bought the toy that I could afford. I never saved for the more expensive item. I guess I was too tempted for the sure thing...the bird in the hand as apposed to the G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip on the wall. As a kid, it was not that big of a deal and not that difficult of a decision to make.
Here's where I am going with this. There are 2 things that are happening to me, now. There are 2 things that are coming about by the work I have put into this. The first is that I am dropping weight. In the last 13 days, I have lost about 15 pounds. I look better, I feel better and I know I am healthier. These are all great things.
The second thing is that I am seeing muscle tone and definition in my arms and legs. Of course, this also means I am getting stronger and healthier. ...again, great things.
I find that my situation is much like that of a 7 or 8 year-old boy in the toy department with a few dollars in his pocket. I can buy the cheap toy and leave the store with no money saved for next time. I can be happy with the weight that I have lost, feel proud of what I have accomplished and quit working my butt off.
I can save my money and add that to what is to come, later, and get a better toy. I can keep working with this program. I can get stronger, healthier and make a life altering commitment that I can continue for an amount of time that will be much greater than the amount of time that the better toy will last, before I break it, loose it or let the dog eat it.
I guess what I am saying is that it is so easy to be blinded by the drastic result that come quickly. If I allow that to happen, I will never know what I am really capable of doing.
I'm going to keep at it. Kung Fu grip...I am 77 days away!
Gotta take a water break...A LOT OF WATER break
Well, there has to be a pause to the program for a while. Apparently, there are just too many people in Nashville, TN that's not living right and an apocalypse teaser was thrust upon us, this weekend. Rain started Friday night and did not end until last night.
I was lucky. I lost power for about 15 hours. Things blacked out for me as I was getting ready for the Yoga workout. I tried to convince myself that something much greater than myself was stepping in to tell me that P90X Yoga was an abomination and should be cast aside. At the moment, there are over 11,000 customers that are estimated to still not have electricity.
I was lucky. My house is on a hill. My yard is torn up from the water that ran down that hill. Water seeped into a storage building I may have lost a weed eater and a leaf blower. There are people that have 4 foot or more of standing water in their living rooms.
I was lucky. I have a water lovin' dog with webbed paws. If it had gotten that bad, I could have just tied the end of his leash around my waist and Ludwig could have taken us to higher ground. However, he does get easily distracted and very well could have taken off after a tree limb floating down-stream and we could be screwed. There are people that are still on the top of there cars or on the roofs of their homes awaiting a water rescue.
This morning, one of the local TV stations was showing a movie that was at least 15 years old. I wondered why they were doing that when there was so much going on. I saw the reason being explained as the words were scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Everyone in the studio and in that part of town had been evacuated, during the night and programing was being controlled from another location. I flipped over to another local station that was broadcasting. They were reporting that 6 people had been reported as having lost their lives, this weekend.
I was lucky.
I was lucky. I lost power for about 15 hours. Things blacked out for me as I was getting ready for the Yoga workout. I tried to convince myself that something much greater than myself was stepping in to tell me that P90X Yoga was an abomination and should be cast aside. At the moment, there are over 11,000 customers that are estimated to still not have electricity.
I was lucky. My house is on a hill. My yard is torn up from the water that ran down that hill. Water seeped into a storage building I may have lost a weed eater and a leaf blower. There are people that have 4 foot or more of standing water in their living rooms.
I was lucky. I have a water lovin' dog with webbed paws. If it had gotten that bad, I could have just tied the end of his leash around my waist and Ludwig could have taken us to higher ground. However, he does get easily distracted and very well could have taken off after a tree limb floating down-stream and we could be screwed. There are people that are still on the top of there cars or on the roofs of their homes awaiting a water rescue.
This morning, one of the local TV stations was showing a movie that was at least 15 years old. I wondered why they were doing that when there was so much going on. I saw the reason being explained as the words were scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Everyone in the studio and in that part of town had been evacuated, during the night and programing was being controlled from another location. I flipped over to another local station that was broadcasting. They were reporting that 6 people had been reported as having lost their lives, this weekend.
I was lucky.
Day 11 - Dogs don't make good grocery shoppers.
I have decided to shuffle some things around and push the program back for a day.
There is so much more to this than just lifting weights and doing push ups and reducing food portions and limiting what you eat. This is something that requires so much more of a commitment.
If I were fortunate enough to be so wealthy that I did not have to go to a job and work all day, this would be easier. If Ludwig had opposable thumbs and could do a few things around the house to help me out, that would be enough to make it easier. The last time I gave him a $20 and asked him to go to the store to pick up some skim milk, he came back with a gallon of whole milk and $15.49 worth of Snausages. Thus ended the days of Ludwig’s grocery shopping.
The whole point of pushing everything back a day was to get Yoga on Sunday. Yoga is a workout that is an hour and a half long. All others are between 45 minutes to an hours. Sunday is the only day that I know I will not have to get up early and go to work, so I wanted to have the ability to have a more flexible day for the Yoga workout. Flexible day…Yoga…I made a funny!
That leaves the remaining days of the week looking like this…
5am –
Wake up, force myself to get out of bed, stagger through the living room to open the front door to let Ludwig out, make my way into the kitchen where a pot of coffee should be waiting for me , if I remembered to program the coffee maker the previous night. I do not know if coffee is allowed as part of this program. I do not know if it is a carb or a fat or what, but unless Mr. Horton is ready for a fight, he better not touch my coffee.
5:15am-
Ludwig is back inside and breakfast is being made. This consists of poached egg whites and some type of breakfast meat made out of a turkey. It may be an egg white omelet, for the last few days, I have even been making egg white sandwiches on wheat bread. Let’s go back to the omelet for a second. One morning, I made myself an omelet that had spinach, feta cheese and diced chicken breast. A chicken omelet… I felt like the “Godfather” of poultry. It was like I put a hit out on the Cluck family and I whacked the bird and I whacked its unborn kid. That wasn’t breakfast; that was a vendetta.
5:45am-
Breakfast is over, dog is fed, kitchen is cleaned up, workout is beginning.
5:47am-
Tears are falling, hopes and dreams are shattering, I hear my bed calling out to me, reality is kicking my ass.
6:45am-
Shower. It is at this time, every day that I think about finding a medical supply store, where I can buy myself one of those stools that go into the bath tubs and shower stalls of nursing home bathrooms.
7:30am-
Out the door and driving to work. As if by magic, I am feeling so much better, now.
7:30pm
Home from work and trying to finish up a few things that I could not finish at the office.
8:15pm
Figure out what I have not eaten from my allotted cache of food for the day and create a feast for myself that usually consists of something like an 8oz serving of V-8, an individually wrapped, part skim, string cheese chunk and a 3oz portion of some type of low fat, grilled meat. I wonder what Paula Deen could do with that?
8:45pm
Dinner is over, tomorrow’s coffee is prepared, dog has been out, bed is calling me and I still have a supplemental workout that needs to be done.
10:00pm
Second workout is over, back to the shower, go to bed, lay there and cry myself to sleep. I hate my life!
There is so much more to this than just lifting weights and doing push ups and reducing food portions and limiting what you eat. This is something that requires so much more of a commitment.
If I were fortunate enough to be so wealthy that I did not have to go to a job and work all day, this would be easier. If Ludwig had opposable thumbs and could do a few things around the house to help me out, that would be enough to make it easier. The last time I gave him a $20 and asked him to go to the store to pick up some skim milk, he came back with a gallon of whole milk and $15.49 worth of Snausages. Thus ended the days of Ludwig’s grocery shopping.
The whole point of pushing everything back a day was to get Yoga on Sunday. Yoga is a workout that is an hour and a half long. All others are between 45 minutes to an hours. Sunday is the only day that I know I will not have to get up early and go to work, so I wanted to have the ability to have a more flexible day for the Yoga workout. Flexible day…Yoga…I made a funny!
That leaves the remaining days of the week looking like this…
5am –
Wake up, force myself to get out of bed, stagger through the living room to open the front door to let Ludwig out, make my way into the kitchen where a pot of coffee should be waiting for me , if I remembered to program the coffee maker the previous night. I do not know if coffee is allowed as part of this program. I do not know if it is a carb or a fat or what, but unless Mr. Horton is ready for a fight, he better not touch my coffee.
5:15am-
Ludwig is back inside and breakfast is being made. This consists of poached egg whites and some type of breakfast meat made out of a turkey. It may be an egg white omelet, for the last few days, I have even been making egg white sandwiches on wheat bread. Let’s go back to the omelet for a second. One morning, I made myself an omelet that had spinach, feta cheese and diced chicken breast. A chicken omelet… I felt like the “Godfather” of poultry. It was like I put a hit out on the Cluck family and I whacked the bird and I whacked its unborn kid. That wasn’t breakfast; that was a vendetta.
5:45am-
Breakfast is over, dog is fed, kitchen is cleaned up, workout is beginning.
5:47am-
Tears are falling, hopes and dreams are shattering, I hear my bed calling out to me, reality is kicking my ass.
6:45am-
Shower. It is at this time, every day that I think about finding a medical supply store, where I can buy myself one of those stools that go into the bath tubs and shower stalls of nursing home bathrooms.
7:30am-
Out the door and driving to work. As if by magic, I am feeling so much better, now.
7:30pm
Home from work and trying to finish up a few things that I could not finish at the office.
8:15pm
Figure out what I have not eaten from my allotted cache of food for the day and create a feast for myself that usually consists of something like an 8oz serving of V-8, an individually wrapped, part skim, string cheese chunk and a 3oz portion of some type of low fat, grilled meat. I wonder what Paula Deen could do with that?
8:45pm
Dinner is over, tomorrow’s coffee is prepared, dog has been out, bed is calling me and I still have a supplemental workout that needs to be done.
10:00pm
Second workout is over, back to the shower, go to bed, lay there and cry myself to sleep. I hate my life!
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