Day 2- The Beginning of a New Beginning

I mentioned in my last post that there are several areas I plan on improving this year. Here's the short list:

• improve my personal fitness through both diet and exercise
  
• redefine my budget and take control of my finances
• make my rounds at the doctors' offices (for the first time since I've had health insurance)
• improve my church attendance and research volunteer opportunities
• clean out my closet of both clothes and other assorted junk

For now, I'm focusing on that first bullet point. I'm proud to say that I have already taken several steps that will help ensure an active lifestyle for at least the next 3 months, if not longer.

Tomorrow I will be starting P90X Lean. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, this is a 90-day program that focuses on all of the basics- cardio, strength training, nutrition, etc- and is based on the theory of muscle confusion. (You can learn more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P90x and here http://www.p90x.com) The "Lean" part of it just means that I'm doing a version of the program that focuses more on losing weight and toning up than it does on bulking up. I'll be doing 1 hour workouts 6 days a week with the 7th day being either for rest or the stretching routine.

The variation that comes with the muscle confusion approach is one reason I'm so excited about this program. I think it will really help keep me interested/motivated. I can say with certainty that one of the reasons I've dropped out of other workout programs is the repetitiveness. When I get to a point that I know a workout routine really well, it gets dangerous for 2 reasons. First of all, I get bored. This is never a good thing. Secondly, I start to dread what I know is coming next. Not necessarily because it's a hard move, but just because I know I stiiiiillll have x minutes left before I'm done. I personally need to keep things fresh. Some people thrive when they know exactly what they're doing. And there's probably something to be said for being able to pace yourself when that's the case. But I need to keep things upbeat and exciting and new. When I feel myself starting to get comfortable with a routine and settling into it, that's the beginning of the end for me. With this program, each routine only gets recycled every 7 days. And even that only lasts 3 weeks before it gets switched up again.

I originally chose to start tomorrow because 2 girls in my church small group were going to be doing it with me and they were getting their copies today, but it turns out they won't have theirs for a little while longer. I have decided to go ahead and start anyways and hopefully they'll be able to start soon and only be about a week behind. The more I look at the workout schedule though, the more I think starting on a Thursday is going to work out better than I planned (as opposed to starting at the beginning of the week as I probably would have done if I hadn't been trying to coordinate with others). By starting on a Thursday, it means that my long workouts (some sort of strength training paired with the ab routine) is going to fall on Saturdays when I have plenty of time. Yoga will be on Sundays, which seems like a good way to unwind and prepare for the coming week. And Wednesdays will be my rest/stretching day which is when I have small group after work and am normally pressed for time.

So tonight after small group I'll be taking my official "Before" pictures and all my body measurements and recording them in my worksheets. I've ordered a few supplements to help with the workouts: a protein recovery shake to be taken within 60 minutes of each day's workout, a meal replacement drink to be used as part of a 2-day fast to help jump-start my diet, and a 2-part supplement program that's meant to help me burn more fat during my workouts.

Team Beachbody (the parent company that P90X is sold under, along with all sorts of other workout programs and equipment) also has a huge online support network that I've linked into. You build a profile, post your before and after shots, log your workouts and progress, etc. Anytime you get online there are guaranteed to be other people online working out at the same time as you. You can schedule workouts together and touch base afterward to help motivate each other. It's just one more way I've found to hold myself accountable. I've already made some connections that have led to great advice and resources, and I've scheduled my first month's worth of workouts!

In addition to P90X I've signed up for a 12-week 10K training program (http://www.active.com/running/atlanta-ga/atlanta-10k-training-program-2010). I made a New Year's resolution to run 1 5K a month in 2010 and asked one of my good friends to join me in this and she suggested we sign up for this program in lieu of Jan-March runs. As I would be running more for less than it would cost to sign up for 3 5Ks this sounded like a good plan for me. So starting this Saturday I'll be getting up for an 8am run every Saturday until March 27th. It also sounds like we will have "homework" runs to do during the week. Between these runs and my P90X workouts, I'm thinking that some days I'm not going to have any time to sit on the couch! Which is a good thing!

I get paid on Friday, which means I'm going shopping after work then! First of all I need more groceries. Time for my pantry makeover. I was going to do that earlier this week, but ran out of time and funds. And as I'll only be on the the second day of P90X at that point, I won't have done much harm before then. I'm sure I have SOMEthing healthy at home to get me by until then. The other thing I have to go get is some cold weather running gear. I normally just wear guy's running shorts and some sort of tank top, but I don't think that's going to cut it in the current temperatures! So I'll be getting some dri-fit running tights, pants and long sleeve shirts. I also need a headband to cover up my ears and some running gloves. And a running jacket if I can afford that after everything else.

So that's what I've got coming up! I've got a few other things already in the works for farther out, but more on that later. As for deadlines, my family has a trip to St. Thomas planned for early June. So I have approximately 6 months to get in shape to where I feel comfortable once again in a bathing suit. If I get really motivated, that almost gives me time to do the P90X program 2 times through!

I can't wait to update yall on my progress with both these programs! Wish me luck!