Laguna Beach, CA

Well, I went from golfing in 60 degree weather to getting smacked in the face last night by 3 degree weather and some freezing ass wind. Ahh … what a feeling. It is good to be back in the cities, though. Got a busy week ahead of me. While in California, I met with a hairstylist in the Newport Beach area and he and I are in the early stages of developing a line of hair care products, so on top of working out, playing in my first indoor soccer game and some other stuff, I have some exciting business related things going on.

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I continue to “thin out” and lose more and more body fat. The bad news is that 90% of my pants don’t fit me anymore. For those who know me, that’s a lot of pants. The world’s greatest belt won’t even help. I went from wearing roughly 36″ pants about 6 months ago to now wearing 32″ pants. It’s a good thing my feet don’t shrink – I’d be broke if I had to buy all new shoes (I have a lot of shoes, too). It’s a good problem to have so I’m not complaining.

By the way, I posted my week 1 photos. You can check them out here. I don’t think there’s a huge difference after just 1 week, and all the traveling didn’t help things, but I can still see an improvement. Plus, I have to remind myself, you can only do so much after one week. Still lots of work to do.

I ran a hard mile this morning at the fitness center in my apartment and I must admit, it didn’t compare to running along the ocean. But it felt good to run again after my day of travel yesterday. I also have the chest and shoulder routine to complete later today, as well as abripper x. So lots to do, lots to do!

I ran the same 4 mile loop that I ran yesterday, and it seemed a bit easier today. Still gorgeous as ever … tonight I ran when the sun was going down over the ocean and it was spectacular.

It’s only been a week, but I’ve come to realize that P90X is more than just getting in incredible shape. Sure, it’s one of the major reasons to embark down this crazy journey, but when push comes to shove, it’s more than simply working out the muscles in my body. I believe it’s more about teaching myself to commit to something while believing that the end result will somehow be worth the hard work. Having the discipline to see something through…

I realize I’m “here” doing this program for a very good reason. In looking back over the past few years, it’s quite obvious that I got complacent with many areas of my life. In many ways, I let myself go and didn’t try to stop it. Sure, I’ve always been fortunate when it comes to having a job and money, and I have great friends and family, but I definitely got too comfortable with life, and inevitably stopped working for a better future. In the process, I lost certain things that I never wanted to lose.

I can justify, rationalize, and try to excuse myself until the day I die, or I can face the truth and realize my choices are what brought me to where I am today. I believe the second option has a more promising future.

Conan O’Brien said this on his last night hosting The Tonight Show, and it’s one of my new favorite quotes…

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you are kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

I believe that statement to be true. So while it’s only been one week of P90X, it’s been a good week. I will post my week 1 photos tomorrow.

Dear Diary,

I’m just kidding, but I do get that feeling sometimes. I woke up early this morning to go for a run along the beach, which wasn’t part of my P90X plans, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. There’s really nothing like running by the ocean; I don’t know that I have the words to even describe the feeling. I ended up jogging about 4 miles, which is more than the 1-2 miles I usually run. It felt really good, though, and I look forward to doing it again sometime later this week. I think running 4 miles for me is like a normal person running 20 miles!

I also did the abripper x exercise today – once in the morning and again once at night – and then also did yoga. I didn’t really care for the yoga, but I will continue to make the best of it. It’s 90 minutes of breathing and stretching and yea … just not really my thing right now but I’m not giving up on it entirely. I know it’s good for you, and I can appreciate its benefits.

At some point soon, I want to talk about the food aspect of P90X and how difficult it is to maintain the strict standards the program requires of you on a daily basis. It’s almost impossible to follow it to a T.

So maybe tomorrow I’ll talk a little bit about that, as well as some other things I’d like to express regarding P90X and life in general. Man, this really is turning into my personal diary. All in all, today was really amazing. Life here is so different than the life I’m used to back home, and while the cost of living here is crazy, it’s fun to dream of a life on the ocean in southern CA. I do like the Midwest, though.

I plan to publish my week 1 photos on Friday, so we’ll see if there’s any noticeable difference after just a week. I would expect there to be … but we’ll see.

I’ll be visiting the San Diego area tomorrow through most of the week, so I’ll have to adapt my routine slightly in order to continue making scheduled progress with P90X. It shouldn’t make things that much harder except for the days that require weights, and then I’ll have to get a day pass at a local gym, so hopefully there is one close to where I’ll be staying. I suppose I should get that figured out before I get there … either way, I’ll finish my first week of P90X while in California, so I’ll post my week 1 photos a bit later this week from da beach. Normally, I would use this trip as an excuse to take an extra couple days off, but I’m really trying to stay on track as much as possible so my results aren’t diminished. I will admit that is easier said than done. Take for instance tonight: my abs are already extremely sore, and I’m supposed to do the abripper x again before I go to sleep. But that was to be expected before I even started.

Yesterday (Day 3) was Biceps/Triceps/Back and it was 60 minutes of arm exercises. It was tough, and it made me realize my 20lbs dumbbells were actually too much weight for some of the arm exercises, so I’m planning on getting 10lbs and 15lbs dumbbells when I return from California. I know what you might be thinking: 20 lbs isn’t that much, but I assure you, some of the exercises aren’t your typical exercises, and even Tony Horton (the trainer on P90X) was using small weights, so cut me a little slack! haha

Today (Day 4) is 60+ minutes of extreme Yoga and then the insane Abripper X, so I have a fun night ahead of me, but I’m looking forward to making even more progress.

More later this week…

Throughout my 90 day adventure, I don’t think I’ll be able to update this blog every day, but I will try to update it as often as possible. I think it’ll help keep me even more motivated to get all my workouts finished – and on time – if I know I have to write a post about my experience.

Today’s workout was 60 minutes of plyometrics – and what a workout it was! It basically consisted of jumping up and down for 60 minutes, and by the time it was all finished, I was laying on the ground – covered in sweat – trying to catch my breath with a pounding heartbeat. Plyometrics is supposed to be the hardest of the 12 workouts within the P90X program, and although it was very hard, I must admit I felt the chest workout (pushups/pullups) and even the abripper x was a little bit harder. I think the reason for that is due to the amount of cardio I’ve been doing the past 2 months. Instead of doing much weight training, I’ve been focusing on losing weight, primarily with the stair master and running everyday. So while I’m in pretty good shape, I definitely need to gain some muscle.

It’s only been 2 days of P90X, but I can already tell this program is going to deliver the results I’m looking for. My body aches, my face is thinning out, and my weight is already dropping – and it’s only day 2! I can’t wait to see my updated photos each week. I believe there will be a noticeable difference in each set of photos, but you can judge that for yourself.

I must say it feels good, though, to finally be doing this. It is a lot of work, but I’m in it for the long run. It’s been an interesting year – some of it good and some of it not so good, but the past is the past, and this is the beginning of an improved me. P90x, for better or for worse, it’s me and you baby.