Greetings -

When I began this journey, I thought to myself, "What could I accomplish if I ran the P90X program for 90 days?" I've never really been much of a fitness junkie. Sure, I'm in shape from skiing, and ice-skating, and biking, and hiking, and swimming, and all that. But ever since my hockey-ending injury 2 years ago, I've been noticing my overall fitness and physique has been in decline. Actually, I guess that's not totally true. My PHYSIQUE has been increasing, just in areas that I'd rather not see it grow.

I began P90X on April 4th, 2011. At that time I was gainfully employed, busy as ever with kids activities, and scouts, and church, and blah, blah, blah. Fastforward 90 days, and I find myself no longer employed, enjoying the summer activities with the kiddos, and having a great time in the sun (hence the darker colored skin tone in these images).

It has been a tough journey, that's for sure. I have missed a few days, and even postponed my workouts for an entire week. I did not do the meal/diet plan. Rather, I chose to cut back on my calories while still enjoying the food (i.e., beer) and other things that I live for. On Sunday morning, we'll still bike into Lowry for a bagel. Yum, yum! This weekend was a tough one, with some great food options to enjoy. BUT - I eat in moderation, and have worked very, very hard to reduce my stomach size, and consequently my appetite. When I snack, I try to eat healthy. But if I'm eating crap food, I try to limit the amount of bad stuff that I eat.

Also, I gave up pop cold-turkey. 90 days is twice as long as any Lent experiment that I've ever done. It was tough (I'm a huge Diet Dr. Pepper fan), but in then end, I think it's all been worth it. I've turned to lots of ice water, iced tea, and coffee. The only thing that suffers from this is the brightness of my teeth. :-)

So here are the stats: when I began, I weighed 191lbs. Now, I'm hoveeing just below 190, usually around 188lbs. I can get down to 186lbs, but it's not a healthy weight. When I started, I was squeezing into my size 34 waist pants and shorts. Now, I have to wear a belt with all of my pants and shorts. 90 days ago, I had 1" inch exactly of belly fat. Now, I have 1/2". That's a 50% reduction (I like this number!) There's a bunch of other unmeasurable changes. I feel more solid. It's obvious that I have greater muscle mass. My shoulders look amazing -- unfortunately the pictures don't really pic up the smaller muscle tone improvements.

Working out is still tough. However, I've discovered the P90x+ routines, which are only 40 minutes a piece. I think I'll start doing these a bit more. My plan is to work out at least 4 days a week, instead of 6. I'll still do the strength stuff, mixed in with some of the cardio workouts.

it's been a fun experiment, one that I will reap the benefits from for the rest of summer. Now it's back to reality, and keeping the workouts going will be a challenge. Still, I find myself committed to this program.

Thanks for checking in from time to time. It's been fun having an audience!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When I started, I could only do 30 pullups (5 sets of 6 each. There are 8 total sets to do, and I could only complete 5). But now I'm up to 15 pullups each set. So that's 120 pullups. Woo-hoo!!