Bring It: P90X Day 36

P90X is one hard core workout. It was created by Tony Horton in an attempt to confuse the muscles so when people use the program they no longer have to worry about those dreaded plateaus. Of course, when I first so the advertisement on TV for this program, I was quick to get online and order the entire DVD series. I had to see if this was the magic solution I was looking for. Initially, I tried it out and lasted a week. I came down with a cold and never looked back. Now, I am once again on my very own personal journey. I need to see for myself if this program truly does work. Along my journey, I am recording every step of the way, so you too can see if this is worth the investment.

If you would like to start from the beginning of this series, please click here. If you want to read about my previous day with P90X, click here.

Please leave your comments below. I can't stress enough that YOU guys are my motivation. Without your support, I probably wouldn't have made it as far as I have. I still have a very long journey left to go, and I am hoping you are here for the long run. So, feel free to leave just a word of encouragement or share your health and nutrition advice with the rest of us. It is always a pleasure to hear from you!

I was looking forward to today's workout just about as much as I would be looking forward to having a hole drilled in my mouth. Since I am not a sadistic person that looks forward to mouth-driling holes, I guess that means today my motivation was lacking. I got my workout clothes on and that was when I was ready to call it a day. Why you may ask! Because today's workout was Chest, Shoulders & Triceps.

Normally this would be my kind of workout, especially since it means no pull ups what-so-ever. That is a whole lot of YEAH coming from me. However, that just means a whole lot more of different kinds of push ups. Besides the pull ups, push ups are probably one of my most hated exercises. Today, I wasn't looking forward to them at all, particularly because I have really bad wrists and today, they were acting up - ALOT.

So what did I do? I pushed play. I sucked it up and I drove on. Sure, it was a little painful, and my reps probably suffered for it, well, at least in the push up aspect. I just made sure the parts with the weight-lifting were given 110%. It paid off - my arms are feeling it today. And then, to make up for the lack of push ups I was able to do, not only did I add in a nice little abdominal workout, I also spring cleaned about a quarter of my house. I mean - scrubbing baseboards, scrubbing walls, scrubbing floors and generally getting all the dirt and grime out of my eyesight. I even contemplated using Q-tips for those pesky spots I couldn't really reach with a rag.

Needless to say, my gunho cleaning spree gave me plenty of time to think. What did I have to think about - results. Yep, that is right... today is Monday which makes it result day!

Today is another day, and even though I have been really good majority of the week, I am not seeing the results like I want. I would only assume the fat would start melting off of me by now, but it hasn't. I have put in an entire 5 weeks and I haven't even lost an average of 1 pound a week. To me, this is a bit discouraging, hence why I spent a lot of time cleaning today - I didn't want to be a downer when I wrote this so I needed to come up with a positive spin.

So, from last week to this week, I lost an additional pound, as well as one-tenth percentage of body fat. That means overall, I have lost 4.3 pounds, 1.2% body fat and 11 inches (most of which have come from my thighs - take that squats and lunges!)

I know losing less than what was hoped for can be a bit discouraging, but I had to put this in perspective. Compared to five weeks ago, I look and feel great. People have started to notice and since I am frankly not standing on the scale for them and showing off the numbers, the amount of weight I look like I lost is far more important than the actual number on the scale. (Even though I still secretly but not so secretly wish it was a bit higher!)

So, this is going to be my philosophy from here on out... it is about taking small steps forward. A pound lost is better than a pound gained, and frankly, it is advised to lose weight slower anyway. I have often times heard that a person who loses weight slower is less likely to gain it back. This means you are making a positive change in your life; this means hopefully you won't revert back to bad habits.

A person who loses an excessive amount of weight is more likely than not trying a fad diet (or starving themselves before a weigh-in) just to see the results. Now, I am wise enough to know that 90% of my weight loss in hinged on my nutrition habits, the other 10% on my exercise. Since I haven't really tried to strictly change my eating habits, I am hoping the exercise will give me the boost I need. This has proved to me the process is really slow. However, since I am not eating like a rabbit (in eating hardly nothign at all or only eating lettuce), I know the weight won't come back on when I finish P90X just because I decided to indulge in a nice, juicy cheeseburger and fries.

So from now on, I am encouraging you all to remember the small steps your taking. Did you do your workout? Did you get in some extra reps somewhere? Did you try to eat those fruits and veggies before indulging in your kid's Halloween candy?

Keep taking those small steps and thinking positively and the changes will come!

Get ready to Jump To It by clicking here and reading about Day 37!