© 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 – Healthy Lifestyle is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

This was a crappy week for P90X!   There’s no other way to describe it.

I had a number of setbacks this week, mostly soreness in my left elbow and a fair amount of lower back pain.

I did the P90X Chest & Back workout on Monday and the P90X Shoulders & Arms workout on Tuesday.

On Wednesday I could barely move my left elbow.

This type of pain would come around fairly often in my right elbow when I was playing racquetball.

This is the second time I’ve experienced this in my left elbow.  If you’ve ever had tennis elbow…….that is what this feels like.

It got so bad I could barely play any low notes on my guitar without serious pain.

The twisting motion is just horrible.

I decided to take it easy the rest of the week……thinking that it would get better.

Well, it hasn’t really.  The left elbow is still really sore.

I’m guessing I overdid it with any of the bicep exercises in the P90X Shoulders & Arms routine.

I’ve added a lot of strength to my arms and I guess I just pushed it too hard.

As far as my lower back is concerned….I haven’t got a clue.  Throughout most of my experience with P90X I’ve been pain free in my back.

I did P90X Kenpo X yesterday with my wife, sister in law, brother in law and niece.

I figured this wouldn’t hurt my elbow any.  It was more painful than I expected it to be, but not too bad.

This workout actually helped stretch out my back and as of this morning the pain in my lower back is almost gone.

There is still some pressure, but nothing like the last couple of days.

I think this next week I’ll stick to the P90X Yoga X, Kenpo X and Aerobics X workouts to give my elbow some rest.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

P90X Setbacks is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Well, I’m still plugging along with my P90X workouts.

My wife and I just got back from a 5 day photo shoot in Arizona last week.

We didn’t work out at all the last 5 days, with the exception of the running around we were doing for the shoot.

We started back up today with P90X Chest and Back.

It always feels great to get back into the P90X routine.

The 5 days off was actually kind of nice.

My left elbow has been extremely sore lately – it feels like “tennis elbow”.

This 5 days gave it a little time to heal up.

Today the elbow wasn’t nearly as painful as last week.

I’m not exactly sure what the pain was caused by.

No obvious injury or “aha” moment.  It’s just been sore for a couple of weeks.

It’s not the muscle, but the joint.

In any case, progress is being made.

All 3 of us are seeing improvement in our ability to perform all the exercises, especially the ones that give us the most trouble.

Diamond push ups and divebomber push ups in particular.

When I first started doing P90X last year I couldn’t do a single diamond push up.  Not one.

I was just a useless fat blob.

Today I did 2 sets of 25 diamond push ups.  Not a bad improvement.

Now I’m a usefull, fat blob.

My wife, sister in law and I have been doing P90X for almost 2 months now, so it has become what I would call a routine.

We’ve had 2 periods during that time where we missed 5 days.

We’ve gotten right back into the swing of things after those down times.

Having the workout partners has helped make it much easier for me to start back up after periods where I just can’t do the workouts because of work or travel.

If you’re struggling with consistancy try and find someone to do the P90X exercises with.

Trust me…….it’ll work.

P90X – Still Plugging Along is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

P90x © Tim Pannell Photography

Yikes!  I’ve been away for far too long.

I started doing P90X in 2009.  I love P90X.  It has helped me greatly.  My only problem with the P90X workouts was really just a problem with me.

I struggled most of the year with being consistent.  I had typical ups and downs.  It seemed as though every time I got close to following the P90X routine consistently something would come along and knock me off track.

By the end of summer I thought I got a handle on life and then autumn came along.

It was a crazy fall season for our family and many things in our lives were put on hold for a while.

We put our house in Arizona on the market in September.  We had as many as 24 showings a week.

We sold it in December and had to move out on the 28th, just 3 days after Christmas.

We had to put our almost 15 year old Dalmation”Sammi” to sleep on the 29th.

One of my dearest friends in the world passed away on the 31st…………I’m still in disbelief.

We were homeless nomads for 2 weeks until we were able to move into our new house in Utah on the 9th of January.

Thank you to everyone who helped put us up in their homes before the moving truck got here with all our junk.

We are in the new house…..finally……there are still lots of boxes to unpack, but for the most part, we are in.

Now it’s time to get back into shape and leave behind old habits and attitudes that have not served me well over the years.

New Year’s resolutions always seemed hollow to me prior to this year.  This year is different.

My life in 2010 compared to my life in 2009 has changed in so many ways.

The routines of 2009 and prior years are over.  We live in a different home, in a different neighborhood, in a different state.  We have different neighbors and will be making new friends.

The kids are all in different schools, we all are wearing different wardrobe…….we are missing our shorts and flip flops bigtime at the moment.

So…..the beginning of 2010 really is all new and fresh for us.

This is the perfect time for me to create a new routine, a healthier routine.

I made quite a few healthier choices in 2009.  I did better in a lot of ways.  2010 will be about becoming more focused and more consistent.

P90X helped stop my slide into more and more unhealthy living.  I had hit bottom and P90X helped me start bouncing back from that.

I will eat healthier meals 5 times a day and will work out at least 5 days a week.  I will make these things habits that will become as natural to me as breathing.

I want to be able to enjoy life more and make the most of the time I have left with my family and friends.

I have had several years in my life that provided turning points…..forks in the road…..opportunities to shrink or to grow…..move forward or fall back.

I’ve always chosen to grow and move forward.  2010 has provided me with another fork in the road and I am now choosing to look and move forward today.

I’ve been sick as a dog for almost 2 weeks now, but I don’t care.  My home gym is set up, my weights are out, my TV and DVD player are all set up, the recumbent bike is ready to go…….no excuses…..even if I’m hacking up a lung with this stupid unending cough.

Let my quest for good health in 2010 officially begin right now.

So………..I’m off to ride the bike for 30 minutes and pop in a P90X DVD.

P90X – 2010 Healthy Lifestyle Commitment is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

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.

P90X Routine – Why Do I Do It? is a post from: Losing weight with P90X