This time I decided I'd stick to one thing - diet - because I hated changing my diet less than exercise. And, with a few road bumps, I've done pretty well. I'm now confident I can and will stick with the diet aspect whether or not I manage to stick to exercising, because I know it works and I don't want to gain the weight back!
That said... man, I am not looking forward to exercising.
I started P90X today. I'm sure it's overkill, but I have two reasons for choosing it:
- I'm going to be in a bathing suit at the end of April, which is almost exactly 3 months away. This is very motivating for me to find a high-impact program and stick with it no matter what, at least till then. Ideally, I'll continue working out forever, but, like dieting, I need to get over the initial hump and make it a habit.
- I need to see results to stick with it, which means walking 5-10 minutes a day isn't going to do it. If I can't tell anything has changed within ~30 days, I'm going to be ridiculously discouraged. I have the free time to spend on the workouts, and I'm going to keep telling myself "Just try it for 3 months, look awesome in your swimsuit, and then go from there."
So, we'll see. Some of the exercises I can barely do (I did not know that many varieties of pushups existed, holy crap), but my goal is to do modified versions as much as I can. I'm keeping track of reps and weight in the P90X app as well, so I can carefully watch progress, and I'll be taking all my measurements and "Day 1" pictures this evening. I've also figured out how to do a push-up like move with bands and am adding a few reps of that each day, so hopefully I'll be able to handle more 'real' pushups soon.
Anyway just thought I'd post here for a little accountability... and maybe as a human interest piece for other folks who are thinking about starting P90X from scratch.
A little more about me:
- I've never regularly exercised, and I work at a desk job.
- I've lost 55 pounds in the past 1.5 years, exclusively through dieting, and am just inside a "normal" BMI for my height.
- I'm in my late 20s.
- I'm using bands (3-piece mix and match set from Wal-mart) and 2 pairs of weights (5lb and 10lb) for all exercises, so my equipment costs were pretty minimal. Under $25 I think.
Post-Day 1 Report:
My arms feel very weak. I had trouble opening a push-door (just kinda rammed it with my body ). Also while driving I just gripped the steering wheel and let my arms hang there. But, nothing horrible. No pain or anything, just weakness.
I am letting myself 'pause' in the middle of the videos for now. This may be considered a bit of cheating but I really cannot do 10 different kinds of pushups in a row. It's all close enough to the same muscles that after about 2 kinds, I'll just be lying on the floor. So today I worked through DVD 1 in 3 sections. 1/3, went and did some other things, came back 2 hours later, did second third, went out and grabbed dinner, couple hours later finished up final third.
I'm now starting on Ab Ripper but about 3 exercises in I had to pause it because my thighs were burning so badly. Not entirely sure why I'm feeling the burn in my thighs instead of my abs unless I'm doing it wrong (I do carry a lot of my weight in my legs, so maybe that is why?), but I'll keep on keepin' on. It doesn't feel like bad pain, just like it's not working my abs. But I suppose my thighs can use the workout too. I'm going to finish up Ab Ripper after this post.
Anyway, I probably won't check in EVERY day. But I'll post my thoughts, and progress, and maybe eventually progress pics if it happens. And sometime in April I hope to be buying the first swimsuit I've purchased in over a decade...