© Tim Pannell Photography

Well……this last week has totally sucked.  Here’s my P90X tip —-Don’t stop your momentum when you’re in a good flow.  You have to stick with it.  Starting back up is always the hardest thing for me.

I was doing really well.  My last post was a week ago and if I remember correctly….I did P90X Kenpo X with my wife and played 2 hours of racquetball right after that.  I actually played another 2 hours of racquetball that night as well.

I was on a roll and feeling great.  The next day was my niece’s wedding and we had a ton of family in for that.  Friday we all got together and goofed off for the day.  Saturday came along and I didn’t feel so well so I took the day off.  Sunday……well, I never work out on Sunday.

Monday I had lots of work and my youngest son started football practice that afternoon at 4.  He has practice everyday from 4 – 6 and I’m helping out as an assistant coach.  The next thing you know is today’s Thursday and I have yet to workout this week.  I haven’t even played racquetball and my attitude, at least as far as fitness is concerned  sucks to say the least.

I’m feeling good about just about everything else in my life at the moment, but I definitely hit a speed bump this week involving P90X.  I’m missing this morning’s workout too because I have to take my 20 year old daughter to a foot surgeon in Salt Lake.  She was a flier on her cheerleading squad in High School and got dropped 3 years ago and tweaked her ankle.  It’s been getting worse and worse as time’s gone on.  They’re having a hard time figuring out what’s wrong with it.  Hopefully today will bring new results.

I’m gonna have to just force myself to get back on the P90X  bandwagon and this time around once I do I have to make sure I stay on it.  It is just too hard for me to get going again…….it’s just not worth losing the momentum and stopping.

P90x Tip – Stick WIth It is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

My P90X review for this week is……..I’ve been a lazy dog until today.  My wife had the day off and she was just the push I needed to pop in the P90X Kenpo X disk and work out with her for an hour.  Yesterday and Monday were just bad days for me…..no motivation…soreness in my right shoulder…..racquetball injury from last week and just a bad attitude in general.

I woke up this morning feeling much the same way as I did the previous 2 days and if Kim wasn’t there to prod me along, it would have been 3 lousy days in a row.

I actually feel great right now.  The workout went really well.  Kim hasn’t been able to do any P90X for a couple of weeks now so Kenpo X was just the right workout for her to start up on again.  She did really well in spite of her sore back.  Her lower back has been pretty tight lately, but this workout is easier than most of the P900X series….at least in my opinion.

I know there’s a point in the workout when Tony has his heart rate up in the 165 region and I can’t even get close to that.  The most I’ve been at with Kenpo X is about 135.   I keep worrying that I’m dogging or something, but I am in that heart rate zone pretty consistently whenever I’m doing Kenpo X.

This P90X workout is pretty easy on my joints and the torn shoulder muscle I have didn’t get aggravated by any of the routine either.  I felt well enough after the workout to go and play 2 hours of racquetball with my 17 year old son.  He hasn’t been playing that long so I have to take it a little easy on him so he doesn’t get too discouraged.  He’s made a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks as he has been able to play more and more with his brother as well as me and Jon – my brother in law.

He moves around the court like a jack rabbit and like most really young guys thinks that’s how you win games.  He’ll eventually figure out that his speed will only benefit him if he learns how to play with good positioning.  In any case….it was fun to play him this morning and I feel so much better after 3 hours of working out.  My attitude is better and I’m ready to make things happen again.

It’s funny how I can manage to at times avoid the very thing that makes me feel so much better and make me so much more productive.  These are the lessons I’m learning as I continue on my P90X journey and become fit once again.

Life is good!

P90x Reviews Kenpo X and My Wife is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

The end of week #4 with P90X has come and gone.  I missed most of the week because of a photo assignment out in LA.  I finished up the week doing P90X Shoulders & Arms with my wife – Kim, brother in law – Jon and my 8 year old nephew Levi.

It went pretty well and was fun having a bunch of other people to workout with.  I played racquetball last night for 1 1/2 hours as well.  I played like crap though….never really got into any kind of rhythm.  I also aggravated the torn muscle in my shoulder/ triceps.  It feels like crap today and I’m worried its gonna give me problems for a long time now.  I’m just getting into a nice groove with P90X and don’t want to get out of the habit again.  The best thing for it is probably to back off for several weeks, but I can tell you right now….that’s not going to happen.

I really want to get this extra weight off once and for all.  I’m sick of lugging it around and not feeling as well as I could if I just lost it.  I have to do better.

I’m still at -9 lbs. so far for this round of P90X and expecting to lose at least 20 more pounds before the next 2 months go by.

I’m taking today off….let my body rest up a little bit and then I’ll start back up on Monday morning.

P90X Review – End Of Week Four is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Here I am at the end of 4 weeks of P90X and the results are in.  I’ve lost 9 pounds total from day 1.  I still have a long way to go.  I lost most of that weight early on in the month….gained some of it back…..(bad eating habits) and then lost it again.  I still want to lose over 60 pounds.

I am stronger than I was at the beginning of the month.  I have better stamina.  My knees are still wishy washy, but I’m moving tons better on the racquetball court.

This week I had a photo shoot in LA and was unable……or unwilling to work out.  Our shoot schedules are always pretty full and it really is next to impossible to find time to work out unless I want to only get 4 or 5 hours of sleep and that puts my assignment at risk.

I did P90X Chest & Back Monday morning just before my flight out.  I got home last night….Friday and played racquetball for 2 hours.  When I came home, my knees and feet were extremely sore, so I iced everything. My gorgeous wife gave me a foot massage and today I feel pretty well.

Today Kim and I will end up doing P90X Shoulders & Arms with my brother in law Jon.  He’s one of the guys I play racquetball with.  His wife is the one that did P90X with us for the first 3 months out of the year.  She just finished her radiation treatments for lung cancer and is doing well.  She qualified for a new clinical trial that is over 80% effective at shrinking and destroying tumors.

We expect her to come through this and manage this ridiculous disease and live a long and productive life in spite of the current setback.

I will recommit to my P90X routine and do at least 5 workouts a week…..preferably 6.  I will also play racquetball at least 3 times a week for at least 2 hours a session.  I will be eating less meat than usual and I will be cutting back on everything that is not really healthy for me.

I started drinking diet sodas again during the last month and need to get back to only water.  No more daily ice cream binges…I’ve done much better with this over the last 4 weeks, but need to pay attention here……it’s my Achilles heal.

My overall goal for the next 4 weeks is to lose 15 pounds.

“Do my best and forget the rest.”

P90X Results After One Month is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

P90X Shoulders & Arms © Tim Pannell Photography

Week # three  has been an interesting week to say the least.  We have lots of family in town again visiting my sister in law and I’ve been doing P90X with another brother and sister in law the last couple of days.  It’s been fun.  He does a lot of mountain biking and has a bunch of buddies where her works that do P90X so he was curious about the workouts and the results.

I started him and his wife out on P90X Shoulders and Arms and then went to P90X Plyometrics.  They’re both in decent shape and enjoyed the workouts.  Both of them were surprised at the intensity……especially with Plyometrics.  We have 3 sisters and their families staying with us this week and one of the others pooh poohed the workout saying that she does aerobics all the time….blah, blah, blah.

I’m sure there are other workouts out there that can kick people’s butts as much or more than P90x……but I like these P90X workouts and I believe they’re pretty effective.  It’s also really easy to say we’re whimps and sissies and criticize  from the comfort of one’s jammies eating cereal at my dining room table.

There is also a big intensity difference between doing step aerobics and doing jump training.  In any case…..my “exercising” brother and sister in law seem to like the P90X routines and will probably buy into the program.

I was really tired  and lethargic yesterday for whatever reason.  Maybe I’m just overwhelmed having 3 other families in my house with all their kids……who knows.  I love having people visit and we definitely have people visiting at the moment.

Everybody that’s here with us is pretty cool….even the one that’s critical of my P90X Plyometrics workout.  I wish they were here for a different reason…….it sucks that Melanie has cancer.  She is doing really well though and just recently found out she qualifies for a clinical trial with the Huntsman Center that is over 80% effective at destroying tumors.  She just finished radiation treatment yesterday and will start the trial in 4 weeks as long as there is no more trace of cancer in her brain.

She’s become extremely weak from the radiation and the hormones they’ve been giving her.  It’s hard to believe she’s the same person that was P90X’ing in my living room everyday and looking pretty buff just 3 months ago.  Cancer is just crap!

Today I’m debating on doing P90X Kenpo X or doing another Chest and Back workout.  Maybe we’ll do Yoga X……I guess I’ll see what interests them.  I’ll be playing racquetball for 2 hours after this workout so I don’t want to be exhausted after it…..Kenpo X is one of the easier routines for me to do….so I’m leaning that way.

My weight is about the same as last week, perhaps I’ve gained back one or two pounds……not happy about it, but we’ve been feeding an army and I’ve been eating more than is wise at this point.

My arms are starting to bulk up again which is nice to see.  I gained at least an inch on them at the beginning of the year and then watched 3/4 of it disappear during the 2 months that I took it easy because of my elbow.

I did my all time best at the side tri rise exercise………30 each arm…….lets see if my naysaying sister in law can crank that out.

P90X Reviews – Week Three In The Can is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Here we are at the beginning of week # 3 with my  P90X Workouts.By the end of last week I had lost somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds. In just 2 days time I’ve gained back 6 of it somehow. That makes no sense to me….there’s no way to eat that much crap to gain that much weight in less than 2 days.

As frustrated as I was when I got on the scale, I still managed to do my P90X Chest & Back DVD. I’m glad I did it, in spite of how bummed I am about the weight issue. I’m hoping its just some kind of fluke and that tomorrow I’ll get on the scale and the numbers will make sense again. I guess I’ll have to wait for tomorrow to see if that works out.

Today’s workout didn’t feel very strenuous. I did all the different exercises for the entire workout, but I didn’t get the normal workout “buzz” that I usually do after finishing any of the P90X routines. My assumption is that because of my mood, I just wasn’t into it like I normally am.

I’m doing my best to just take one day at a time. I know that if I let the discouragement get to me then I will definitely fail to reach my goals. I’ll play racquetball tonight and get up in the morning and crank out a session of P90X Plyometrics…..ugh! I wish I looked more forward to that workout, but it is definitely a mother for me.

I’ll be in a better frame of mind tomorrow and I’ll get back on the weight loss train.

My youngest son started football camp this morning so he’ll be doing that every morning for the entire week…….it’ll be nice for him to be running around again.

He’s used to playing soccer all year round in Arizona and up here there hasn’t been anything for him to get involved with soccer or football wise. They say it’s too hot in the summer for the regular league teams to play…….are you kidding me!?!?!?!?!?

Anyway…..it’s nice to see him having something to do between now and when the regular football season starts. He was going a little bit stir crazy.

I’m struggling to believe that August is almost here….it still seems like April to me. I inner time clock hasn’t come close to catching up yet.

This is a pivotal week for me with the P90X workouts.  I have to make sure I get through them each day to be able to move forward and continue believing in myself.  Slow and steady progress is just fine with me at this point…I can’t let any disappointment upset what momentum I have.

Starting Week Three P90X Workouts is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

P90x © Tim Pannell Photography

I just finished doing P90X Shoulders & Arms today and feel great. I’ve lost a total of 6 pounds from the beginning of last week and I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about succeeding with my fitness goals.

I have to admit that I fully expected to have lost all my excess weight by now and have struggled to believe I can actually do this at this point.  The only thing that keeps me going is that I’m a lot stronger now than I was a year ago and I know that I’m better off being my size doing P90X regularly than being my size and not doing p90X at all.

After last week and the last couple of days, I do believe I can make this work and reach my overall fitness and weight goals.

I went to the chiropractor today and had him readjust my back as well as my neck and it’s the best I’ve felt in months.  I’m looking forward to a couple hours of racquetball tonight.

210 lbs…….here I come.

P90X Results is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Ok….my P90X review of this last week is……..it was a good week even though I didn’t lose the kind of weight I wanted to.  I did 5 straight days of P90x and played racquetball 4 times for over 2 hours each time.  Here it is the 2nd day of my 2nd week and I’m feeling pretty good right now.

On Monday this week, I did P90X Chest& Back. I was pretty sore, I’ve still got a pulled muscle in my right shoulder as well as my right tricep.  I got through everything but the military push ups.  I could only do a few of those without really hurting those pulled muscles.

My wife insisted I go to a Chiropractor that day to get worked on for the rib issue I’ve been having.  It’s felt as though my lower ribs have been out of place for several weeks now…mostly it just keeps me from taking a full breath.

The Chiropractor was great…I can breath again.  The last time I played racquetball last week….Saturday…..I really had a hard time breathing and bending over because of the pain in my ribs.  The doc said I was ridiculously tight in my thoracic region.  He cracked and popped away and I could feel the tightness subside….at least mostly.

I played racquetball Monday night and was looking forward to being pain free…..instead my left knee decided to be a problem.  It was pinched all night long , making it really difficult to step into any of my shots or run hard and stop quick to swing.  I really struggled and by the time I went home…..I was as hammered as I’ve ever been.

I could barely walk into the house….pathetic.  I didn’t think I’d be moving at all for a day or two, but to my surprise I woke up yesterday and didn’t feel too bad.  I had a submission deadline for a bunch of images I’d created over the last couple of weeks so I didn’t end up doing P90X Plyometrics with my wife. I skipped it…..missed it, but played racquetball last night so at least I didn’t go an entire day without some form of exercise.

To my surprise, I felt great last night when I played.  I was breathing well and moving pretty close to pain free.  The knee was a little tight, but none of the pain was there from the previous evening.  I played for a couple hours….played really well until the last 15 or 20 minutes when I could tell I was running out of gas.  I was up 5 games to 2 at that point, but lost the last 2 games.  LOSER!!!!

Today I’m gonna pop in the P90X Shoulders & Arms DVD and see how my tricep and shoulder respond.  They don’t feel too bad just sitting here typing away.  I think I’ve turned the pain corner with this round of P90X.

I’ve been pretty sore most of last week, but am moving around much better today.  I go to the chiropractor again today at 10.  That should take care of the last couple of issues in my back and neck.  Now I just have to really concentrate on my eating habits and get this weight off once and for all.

P90X Reviews Week Two is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Today is the last day of Week #1 on the P90X workout program.  It was a good week all in all.  I did 5 straight days of P90X.  I ended up playing racquetball yesterday instead of doing a round of P90X.  I just didn’t have time to do both.

My wife, Kim and I did P90X Kenpo X on Friday and it went well.  The only workouts I struggled with this week were Plyometrics and Yoga X.  I just couldn’t get through the entire workouts.

I have a lot of soreness in my elbows.  I have a pulled muscle in my right shoulder as well as my right tricep and that has caused me some problems with the P90X Shoulders & Arms routine.  I pulled the muscles playing racquetball.

I played racquetball 4 times this week for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours each session.  I have a couple of ribs out of place as well, so I will probably take a trip to the chiropractors this week.  The problem with ribs is always one of breathing.  I just can’t get full breaths all the time.

In spite of the ribs keeping me from getting full breaths I am breathing better when working out.  I’m not sucking air playing racquetball quite as badly as I did a few weeks ago.  The problem I’ve had with racquetball this year is a lack of consistency.  I’ll play a couple of days and then miss a couple of weeks.  I just haven’t played enough to get my legs back under me or get my arsenal of shots back to workable numbers.

I have to admit that being 49 years old seems to be a big pain in the butt.  It seems as though some part of my body is always in pain.  Usually it’s my knees, but when they feel good typically some other body part rises to the challenge and makes fussing noises for good measure.

I believe that once I get a handle on my weight that a lot of this day to day pain will go away……lets hope I’m not wrong on that one.

So to recap…..I did 5 straight days of P90x Monday through Friday.  I played racquetball Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

I lost a total of just 4 pounds from a week ago.  It really does seem that I should be able to lose more weight when I’m working out this hard, but I just have to continue being consistent and see what happens.

I am a lot hungrier when I’m working out this much, so I know that I have to be extra careful with what I eat and I don’t always make the wisest of choices in that arena.  One of my biggest problems is staying up too late and eating something just before going to bed.  I guess my will power is just pathetic.  I have to do better with this during the upcoming week.

For the most part it was a pretty good week.  I lost a little weight, I’m breathing better in spite of displaced ribs and my attitude is better.

I’m looking forward to week #2 of P90X and to the results.

P90X Reviews – Week One is a post from: Losing weight with P90X



© Tim Pannell Photography

Today my wife and I did the P90X Chest & Back workout together.  We both love it!

It has been a rare occurrence for us to be able to do P90X together . Her work schedule has been really difficult this last month.

She has to be at work by 6 am so she hasn’t been able to do any of the P90X workouts for over a month.  I haven’t been able to consistently workout for over a month either.

My big problems have been health related for the most part.  I did have 2 weeks when I was shooting photo assignments and was away from home and did a poor job of staying on top of my workouts.

I did push ups and crunches , but that was about all.

Once I got home i tried getting back inot the flow, but struggled this last week.  I finally went and played racquetball on Tuesday night just to try to jump start myself back into doing something physical.

It was fun to play again, although I pushed myself too hard and pulled a muscle on my right side.

It felt better this morning so I decided to put in the P90X Chest & Back DVD and do it with my wife.

Her sister can’t workout for a while since she just had her gall bladder removed.

It was nice to be working out with my wife again….it just makes the whole thing more fun to do.  We both noticed a drop in our ability to do the exercises.

My numbers dropped off by about 25% on half of the exercises and stayed the same on the rest, but I was a lot more out of breath than I was a month ago when I was doing P90X on a more consistent basis.

I know I will be sore tomorrow, but it’s a good sore.  I love feeling the muscles in my body and these workouts really do bring that about.

Kim might be changing jobs in the next week and we’re looking forward to being able to do P90X together every morning.

It helps us both with our overall attitude and well being.  We both have better outlooks when we’re working out and the benefits show up in just about every aspect of our lives.

Stress is reduced, we get some valuable time to spend together and everything else seems to fall into place.

I’m looking forward to next week……I really do love the P90X workouts!

P90X – Chest & Back – I Love This Workout is a post from: Losing weight with P90X