Bring It: P90X Day 64

P90X promises results. In just a short 90 days, it guarantees you will be in the best shape of your life. It is an extreme workout, but you need to be able to push yourself. If you don't give it your all, you won't get the results promised.

P90X was created by Tony Horton based on the concept of muscle confusion. The harder you push it, the more you switch it up, the greater your results will be. The P90X program consists of 12 DVDs. There is definately enough variety; but in that variety you will find workouts you despise as well as workouts that you will love. The idea is to do all the workouts so you have to take the good with the bad. In the end, the results will far outweigh the bad.

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.

Feel free to leave your comments below. I love hearing from you and it really has kept me motivated through this entire process. This is the final stretch of the series and will most likely be the hardest with the holidays in full swing. Together we can keep each other motivated to maintain or lose during this difficult time.

It's Monday! Now who isn't motivated on a Monday? Ok - seriously, the better question is probably who wants to stay in bed and sleep Monday away! Well not me! I have come into Monday with a positive outlook. This past weekend was full of bad decisions and a cake pan full of brownies (that yes - I ate almost the whole pan! My husband who wanted them ate one!)

So look at Monday in a positive light. It is a fresh start. The sun has come out on a brand new day and the start of a brand new week. If you had a bad last week or maybe an overindulgent weekend (like I did!), this is the time to start over. Bring it like you never have before. Kick those calories and bad decisions into the past.

This is the motto I am living with today. It is a new day and time for a fresh start. Not to mention it is my favorite time of the week. It is results day! We all love seeing results. I have tried to stay away from the scale with the exception of today so I don't become obsessive. However, when Monday comes around I am anxious to get to my results.

So that is what I did... I measured and then I pushed play. Today was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps from P90X. It is a killer workout and thankfully there is not a single pull-up included. However, I still am having a hard time feeling my arms right now. But it is a new day! And the burn feels so good. Things keep getting switched up this month so now is the time to push it harder than I have in the past. We want maximum results for Day 90 and this is the phase to get the magic happening!

After the first few weeks of P90X, I started dreading Monday weigh-ins. I just couldn't bare revealing that not a pound was dropped from the scale. I would have loved to say I hit a plateau, but in reality, you would have had to start losing weight to have hit a plateau, and my weight-loss slide hadn't even begun.

Lately I joined a website called MyFitnessPal. This site has been instrumental in my continued weightloss. It has taught me I wasn't giving my body enough fuel to be doing this harsh of a program. The result was a lack of results. Now I wasn't intentionally starving myself, I was starving myself by trying to make healthy choices. But without counting calories, I wasn't actually understanding how many calories I was actually consuming. However, since I have started using MyFitnessPal, the pounds are starting to show on the scale and I no longer hold my breath hoping to see results. Instead, I know they will be there because I have combined exercise and diet and I am doing it the right way!

There are many ways to measure your success. You can measure it by the pounds lost on the scale, how much your body fat percentage drops, a lower BMI (body mass index) and the number of inches lost. These are concrete - smudging the numbers proves to be difficult so these are the ones we like to see. However, you can also measure success by what you see in the mirror and how you feel.

I like to take all of these measurement tools and combine them. Alone they don't tell me much, but together they give the bigger picture of the whole journey.

• Weight lost: 9.8 pounds (this week I dropped 1.8 pounds)
• Body Fat percentage: down 2.4% (this week a change of .4%)
• Inches lost - total of 12 inches (I have been on a stalemate with inches the past 3 weigh-ins)
• BMI points - total of 1.5 points down (this week minus .3 points)

Now I find these to be pretty outstanding numbers. Now the inches aren't changing much recently so this month, and I hate to say it, I am actually focusing on the scale. Normally I wouldn't encourage this behavior since we all know the scale can give false readings based off muscle mass. But, knowing I am on a weight-loss journey, I need to start losing the pounds and slimming down that weigh. Especially since the inches have me in check for the time being.

Success can also be measured in how you feel, and that is sometimes the biggest accomplishment. The looks people give you because they see the change; the way your clothes fit (or don't fit), and the extra energy that you didn't even know was possible. These are great feelings and only something truly appreciated by someone going through the journey.

Right now, I am at a point other people are starting to notice. During Thanksgiving, I was visiting family and some didn't even recognize me. Granted, it might have been awhile since they have seen me - a few months - but I have lost so many inches and enough weight to completely change the way I look! This was an outstanding accomplishment. The fact that I have changed so much to make myself unrecognizeable is just jaw dropping. This was more of a compliment than I can ever fully admit.

In addition, I have mentioned this before, but my clothes are starting to get too big on me. My workout clothes are getting big (which makes jumping jacks difficult since my pants keep falling down!) But on a better note - I actually went and bought myself a new pair of jeans. These jeans were 2 sizes below what I was barely squeezing into before. Now I have never liked shopping but this might be a game-changer. I think my husband needs to work a little more overtime so I can revamp my wardrobe!

The energy is probably the most noteable difference. Now I have always been a busy bee but the added energy has got me bouncing off the walls. I can keep up with my kids; I look forward to going for a daily walk. I have always stayed busy before, but I don't lose my burst before noon now. This is a great feeling. I fully credit P90X for this because I am truly healthier than what I was when I started.

There are many other ways to measure success as well. It is up to you to decide what is a victory of the numbers or what is a NSV (non-scale victory.) The way I feel tops the charts. The fact that people are noticing makes me blush. Yet, it is the small victories every single day that make me smile. The little further that I can reach past my toes; my increased self-esteem, the feeling of just being stronger than I was when I started the program.

Whatever your successes have been - don't forget to remember them all. That is what will keep you motivated!

Jump to it by clicking here to read about day 65.