P90x Day 1

Today I started my P90x 90-day challenge.

About this blog

I hope that this blog will help me stay accountable to myself and maybe others in the cyber world who happen upon my blog. If you have advice or are on your own fitness journey, please leave me a comment.

Here I will discuss my progress and I will post pictures chronicling my success. I will post my first round of photos starting after the first month. This first set of pictures will include weekly benchmark photos.

Who I am

I am a female who is in her 20s and although I may look in shape to the naked eye  while I am hiding under a coat I do not work out, I have never been on a diet, and my cardiovascular system is a mess.

When it comes to health and fitness I am just an average American girl who has high blood pressure and no sense of portion control--or a true idea of what a normal portion size is. I am used to indulging in sweets, carbs, and fried food daily.

I gave up most sweets for lent and have started to see a difference in my body already. I have naturally bigger arms and shoulders so I really want to work on my bottom half. Before that I realize I need a stronger core. I cannot do one full sit-up unless my feet are held down... sad, I know.

Why I am starting P90x

I always use the excuse that I don't have time to exercise; however, I find myself with plenty of time for reality television, eating out, and shopping. So, since there is no time like the present, I am starting P90x mid-week already cutting out my other usual excuse that usually I'll start exercising on the beginning of the next week.

I have had the P90x program for over 2 years with only one prior use. The one time I used it I was bummed that I was unable to do as many pull-ups or sit-ups as I had done during my first wound so I gave up. Then, I met a woman this last weekend who told me about her success with the program and how she started off being able to do only a handful of push-ups and can easily pump them out now. When I googled before and after pictures I saw many people who started off even double my size and showed cuts by the after photo. Since I have always had a dream of being a fitness competitor (at this point I will settle for just entering a competition without even placing last) I am hoping that P90x will show me results that motivate me to continue towards this goal.

Day 1 review

I am going to do the classic program option, so today I started with the Chest & Back dvd followed by the Ab Ripper workout. I am keeping track of my progress through an excel spreadsheet.

I was able to do many of the pull-ups without the assistance of a chair (although most were with the chair) but I discovered that at this time I cannot do any unassisted closed hand overhand pull-ups. As to the pushups, the diamond pushups were a great struggle for me.

But I got through the workout and had the added benefit of getting more than my normal daily water intake. As a recovery shake I used 1 scoop of Vanilla Pro Complex, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, cinnamon, and water.

I did the workout early in the morning and by the evening I was feeling a fun burn on my arms whenever I grabbed anything over one pound. It felt great!