I have always had issues with weight. Back when I was a kid I black mailed my sister into telling me where the key to our freezer was so I could enjoy all of the Little Debbie Zebra cakes I wanted. (She had had boys over when my parents were out to dinner. This was a no-no). Today, at the age of 29 my arms and back are paying the price.
I first heard about P90X from my neighbors and childhood friends Keith Callahan and Kim Parker. I would hear them talk about this amazing work out that changed their lives. "Yeah ok," I thought.
Then on October 2nd, 2010 I finally saw Kim and was able to talk to her. Turns out she and I had a similar story. She always had weight issues, never thought she could be in shape and resigned herself to the fact that she'd always be big. As she was talking I took in her new physique. She looked great! She had lost 68 inches from her body and she looked fantastic. I baraged her with questions: how long are the work outs? Are they hard? (YES!) How much room do I need in my apartment? I can't do a chin up to save my life, how do I do the work out if I can't do a chin up?
Kim answered all of my questions and I figured if she can do it with two kids then what is holding me back? My overloaded DVR? After work drinks? No. I needed to change. I'd lost weight before on Weight Watchers but the second I moved to Hoboken I gained it all back and then some. I mean what do you do when you move to a new place? You go out! You eat a lot, you drink a lot. You don't make smart choices.
It was time I started to make smart choices.
The following Monday I ordered P90X. I was so excited! When it arrived I ripped open the box and drank in all of the information. What I liked about the P90X book was how it was written; informative but also with a bit of humor! It made an easy read and even though I knew this program was going to be hard as hell it put me at ease.
I started Week 1 on October 13th. After talking to my coach, Kim, I decided to start with the Lean Program. So first up? Core Synergistics.
I stood in the middle of my living room kind of whimpering. I was nervous to start. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of the work out.
What I immediately liked about Tony Horton was his demeanor. I liked how he made it OK if you needed to take a break or stretch your legs or rest.
But that's where it ended. Once we started doing Superman/Bananas I wanted the man dead; straight up murdered.
And the Dreya Roll? Is HE FOR REAL?! I tried to do it once, fell over then tried to do it again and couldn't hoist myself up because my spare tire (aka stomach roll) got in the way. And I was supposed to bang out 16 of these?
Ya. Sure.
With 20 minutes left the folks doing the workout with Tony were sweating and moaning. These people had 0%-2% body fat and they were struggling. I was a heap of sweat, snot and Lulu Lemons on my living room floor.
I was a hurting unit the next day but it was the good hurt. I powdered through Cardio X. Yes I had to pause the DVD a lot and No I couldn't do a lot of the moves that Tony and co. could do but I tried at least every move. It took me a long time to realize that it was my first week! I'm not expected to be able to do every single move.
By the end I was punching through Kenpo X and actually enjoyed it! It's a fun work out and reminds me of my days with Billy Blanks and Tae Bo :)
I'm not going to lie. I was dreading week two. But read on to see how much easier it gets!