My motivations to lose weight are many (to allow me to be more active again; to have a greater amount of energy; to better be able to serve both God, the church and the community; to be more attractive - Lord willing I should ever meet Miss Right; etc.), but the greatest motivation - being a man who has suffered many injuries, especially to my knees, and who has a family with a history of diabetes and heart problems - is that of health. I want to do my best to ensure that my body is not what prevents me from being a good steward of the gospel. I also want to have great health for my family; to be a motivation to my mother, grandmother and sister to look to and follow; and to be healthy for my own family, should the Lord see fit to ever bless me with one, because if I have kids one day, I truly want to be able to play with them and enjoy their company. [No one wants to be the father that's too brittle to throw a ball in the backyard or shoot some hoops at the park.]
Nearly two weeks ago, my roommate, Mike, and I decided to go in on a fitness program together. We had already been exercising together in the meager apartment complex gym, but our results were inconsistent and, to be honest, we really had no direction. We were clueless. A lot of people, both that I had met in person and had seen on television (ESPN and other sports networks) had been raving about P90X. Mike and I looked into and, upon investigation, we determined that it was too advanced for our level of fitness, but we liked the consistent positive reviews and the documented results that it had yielded for others. In reading up on it (on the Beachbody website) we found that P90X had a entry-level predecessor, Power 90, which we ordered.
We started the 90-day Power 90 fitness program 11 days ago. The workouts, which alternate between sculpting and toning the muscles and doing intense cardio, have been great. Unfortunately, results have not been positive since beginning. This is due to two reasons, which we are correcting. 1. We had not, until today, committed ourselves to eating healthily. 2. We, in retrospect, should have started with the 6-day Fat Burning Express program and diet (which comes with Power 90), as it is beneficial for jump starting the metabolism to ensure positive workout results.
Today, technically day 11, we began Day 1 of the 6-day Diet and Fat Burning Express program. This morning saw us start with the workout, which was very intense, 40 minutes of non-stop fast paced movements. The workout was taxing on the knees, especially for me - having one bad knee, but I wore my brace for support and got through it okay. The level of intensity was good enough that I continued to sweat 10 minutes after having completed the ending cooldown and stretches. For breakfast, a protein-whey and strawberry smoothie, followed by a couple multi-vitamins and some fish-oil. For the rest of the day, walnuts and almonds for snack. Spinach, mushroom and turkey salad for lunch. Apple for snack. Finish the day with chicken for dinner. And, of course, water, water and more water - all day.
