P90X-Getting Back to Basics
Well……now we know why my sister in law was having trouble breathing the last time that she, my wife and I did P90X together a couple of months ago. She was just diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. She never smoked a day in her life, she runs about 8 miles a day….5-6 days a week, lifted weights on a regular basis and taught PE.
The idea of her getting lung cancer is preposterous. She is in good spirits and will give it all she has when it comes to overcoming this disease. The odds aren’t great, but the statistics for this disease are overloaded with people who are 60 + years old, ex smokers, diabetics, drinkers, overweight…basically really unhealthy people.
I prefer to look at her as though she were a female version of Lance Armstrong. She is strong, she is confident and I am convinced that she will find a way to manage this disease and live a long and healthy life in spite of what she’s going through right now.
This does give me pause as I think about how overweight I am and how fortunate I’ve been up to this point in my life to not have any serious health issues…..other than having really bad knees.
I’ve been struggling the last couple of weeks since Mel was diagnosed with this crap. I feel good about her ability to rise above this…..she can do hard things, but I feel lousy about my ability to accomplish much of anything lately. I’ve been playing racquetball for a few hours a couple of times each week, but I keep gaining weight.
I did the P90X Chest & Back DVD today, by myself. My wife’s schedule is still not real conducive to working out together. Eventually we’ll figure it out and get into a routine. I haven’t been sleeping that well lately and have struggled to get up early enough to workout with her.
I’ve picked up more weight over the last month and am feeling again like a human blob….not so much fun, but it is what it is.
Business has picked up a little bit….at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. These days, I have to hold onto whatever little I can find to be positive about. It’s been a rough year and a half……time for things to improve.
I really thought that by now I would have reached my goal of weighing 210, but I’m worse off than I was…that’s discouraging. This last month I’ve dipped into the comfort food and with the added stress of Melanie’s situation it seems like I’m automatically gaining weight.
It’s always been frustrating to me in the past when I would workout out regularly and eat right for several months and not really see any results and then in the space of a couple of weeks of not being vigilant I can pick up 10 to 15 pounds. That’s what I’ve done this month.
I guess at the moment….I’m angry because I’ve gained back a bunch of weight……..but mostly, I’m angry that someone so healthy and fit as my sister in law could be affected by this bastard of a disease. I learned a long time ago that life isn’t fair. My folks getting divorced on my 9th birthday wasn’t fair. I stopped expecting fairness when I was a kid, but this……this just pisses me off. This has no business messing with my sister.
She should be the last person in the world to have to go through this. Her situation does put things into perspective. I have no right to gripe about my struggle to get my weight into a respectable zone. She’s the one with the real struggle. My problems are miniscule in comparison. I have no right to be frustrated about my own situation. I have to take control of myself and make better choices……no one to blame for past failures but myself.
So I did my one hour of P90X Chest & Back……that’s the beginning of my latest attempt.
I cannot fail this time. I have to be strong for Melanie. I have to get back my good attitude. I have to do this for my wife, my kids, my family and for me.
Melanie’s in the hospital right now……she had an operation to keep her chest cavity from filling up with fluid. She hopes to get home in the next couple of days. We’re fortunate to be living in a large home that has plenty of room for all the family that has come and will continue to come and show their support for Mel. I’m blessed to have such a wonderful caring family that truly loves each other. We will all pull together and help Melanie however we can to overcome this cancer.
P90X – Healthy Lifestyle
© Tim Pannell Photography
Again I’m guilty of not writing for a while. I’m making it a habit of not staying up on this blog. P90X has definitely been part of a healthier lifestyle for me, but my wife and I are still trying to get a better handle on her schedule at work and make our P90X routines more………well…….routine.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how random things can be in life and appreciating all that I have to be grateful for. I have a very dear friend who was just diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.
They never smoked a day in their life, run 6 to 8 miles 6 days of the week…religiously, lift weights, teach gym at elementary school, play tennis and eat healthy 99.9% of the time.
I’ve known since I was a kid that there was no fairness in life, but this seems so far beyond unfair. Here I am, a schlubb with a huge weight problem and they get cancer and are in a battle for their life.
They are strong and extremely healthy other than that small mass of cells and I believe that they will beat this thing down into submission.
I think about Lance Armstrong and his very public fight with cancer. He was such a healthy individual and came out on top in the end. My friend will do the same……I’m sure of it.
I know that the numbers of success stories are few and far between for this type of cancer, but the number of extremely fit and healthy people to get this type of cancer is few and far between as well. In the end, my friend is the kind of person that will triumph over this stupid disease.
Today, I’m just grateful for my health, I’m grateful for my amazing wife….my soul mate….my best friend and our 5 wonderful kids. Life is good. I need to make the most of every minute I have. I will be fit again…I will most likely never have the “8-pack” I had in High School and college, but I’ll be healthier and more fit.
If you took a snapshot of my lifestyle 7 or 8 years ago and compared it to today….I have a much healthier lifestyle today and P90X has a big part of that. I’m playing racquetball again several times a week and I’m doing at least 3 rounds of P90X each week. I have a lot of room for improvement so I will recommit again to doing what’s best for my health. My wife and I will find a way to make this more of a routine and get consistent with our P90X schedule.
If any of you have cancer success stories you’re aware of and wouldn’t mind sharing them, I’d love to be able to share them with my friend so they can hear some positive re-enforcement. Thanks in advance!
P90X Routine – Why Do I Do It?
P90X Routine © Tim Pannell Photography
OK, I’m still seriously overweight. I’ve been doing pretty well with my eating habits and p90x workout routines. I’m losing weight, I’m adding muscle and burning fat.
Today I’m taking an account of where I’m at compared to where I was just a few short months ago.
It used to be extremely easy to talk myself out of working out. I could find all kinds of excuses.
The biggest excuse was the lack of results. I was notorious for getting down on myself when the weight didn’t just fly off my body after a few days or maybe even weeks of “being good.”
My attitude towards living a healthy lifestyle was only based on hard data, numbers…….results that could be seen or measured with some kind of tool. Well guess who the “tool” really was.
Living and dying by your numbers alone is a fools game. All the right things for all the wrong reasons. I’ve changed my attitude around completely.
I now workout for the sheer enjoyment of it. I feel better, I have a better attitude about my life, I look at things differently. Sure, I still have crappy days, just ask my sister about my golf game yesterday. I was a schmuck! It felt nice to do a little venting though and now I’ve moved past it.
I am no longer willing to let a few less than stellar numbers keep me from working out and eating more healthy foods. These are rewards in and of themselves.
Who cares if I’m still overweight today? I’m more healthy today than I was 2 weeks ago. I’ll be healthier still 2 weeks from today. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
I’ve embraced the healthier lifestyle for it’s own sake. The measurable results will come at their own pace and in their own time. The real benefits happen immediately as I consistently workout and eat better.
I’m celebrating a little bit today. That statement doesn’t mean today what it meant 4 months ago. Then it would mean treating myself to a Jethro Bodean sized bowl of ice cream.
Today it just means I’m consciously being grateful that I’ve finally found the key for me to get back into shape. I am now living for the process.
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