Wednesday, 11th of August 2010 at 12:16:15 AM 
???
Let me tell you a dirty little secret: sometimes, late at night, when I’m all alone in front of the television…I watch something, something with half-naked sweaty men ALL OVER IT. And oh, BABY I WANT ME SOME.
Some P90X, that is. I want it, BAD.
I’m sure you’ve seen the infomercials with that guy, that fitness guru type who trains HOLLYWOOD STARS, which means, of course, that he is rilly popular and ripped.
They have those seductive before and after pictures of men and women. Before: slovenly, doughy sofa-surfer (looks like me!) After: hardbody sex-kitten. Those photos never lie. I refuse to look at any small print that declaims “results not typical.” I want believe this is a magic bullet that will absolutely get me into ninja fighting-shape.
(Regarding before-and-after photos: there is an amusing article in the Las Vegas Weekly about how YOU TOO CAN LOSE 20 LBS IN 2 HOURS just by doing a few tricky things that many before-and-after photo people do.)
But P90X costs $120 (in three easy credit card payments! Order now and 5-day shipping is FREE!) and that’s too much for something that looks hard enough to murder me. And it looks very hard. I would probably lie down until it was over.
Even so, they have people on there saying, “When I first started I could barely do, like, ten percent of what they do on the DVD, but look at me now! Now I can DO IT ALL!” I find that kind of talk hard to resist. I bet I couldn’t do ten percent either! In three months I could look as fit as that girl! Results not typical!
And I want to do it, baby so bad. Have any of our readers done P90X? Did you like it and your results?
I think it’s too good to be true, sadly. My muscles will likely be forced to remain unaddled, to be knowledgeable and to experience clarity.
This plant makes my yard smell SO GOOD. (Heliotrope)
At mile 48 Frodo has taken us on a really crappy shortcut through some wilderness to get to the ferry landing. YES, there were Black Riders behind us, but I’m getting all scratched up, we have seven more miles of this nonsense, and it’s about to rain.
In Real Life, I went two miles in my neighborhood today instead of going to the lake because my kids are out of the house for HOURS and I knew I could get some writing done.
We’re having a cold, cold summer this year, and the fog off of the Pacific hangs low in the morning, muffling and dreary-ing everything into silence. Even my shoes are very quiet. While putting in my road work, I heard a distant dryer running, a child laughing one street over, and birds twittering and rustling overhead.
This is the vacation month. A couple of SUVs sat half packed (or half UN-packed) in their driveways, partially full of bikes, lawn chairs, and suitcases, and several blind and locked-up houses had outdoor lights on in the middle of the day. I saw no one. My neighborhood echoes like a ghost town. I love it.
I love the quiet and the cool drizzle, I love the heavy scent of flowers that hangs low in the still morning air, block after block. I love how in the afternoons the sun appears for a grudging couple of hours and warms my skin while the wind rising off of the bay gives me a cool slap. Dreamy AND refreshing!
Last week I forgot to show you all this excellent tool I use for calculating mileage when I’m walking around. I just click around on the map where I walked and voila, I have a number to add to my trip calculations.
I’m down two pounds, but I don’t trust it. That’s only two pints of water. I’ll believe it when I can see ten pounds gone.
Where do you work out? In your basement? The gym? Your neighborhood? The pool? I wish that you guys could do that here, I want to be inspired. Post some links to your Photobucket or Flickr or something that shows where you work out .
In other news, after reading Joss’ previous post, I went to the produce market and brought home piles of peaches, avocados, tomatoes, melons, etc. I’ve cut portions and am eating more fruits and vegetables, but I still like butter and chocolate too much. Look, there’s an opportunity for improvement!
I do a nice 4 mile walk that includes walking around Capital Lake in Oly and pilates in my living room. Definately looking forward to the warmer weather predicted for the next week, cuz I have not been fond of the cool summer. We only get 2.5 months of summer here so I want them to be real summer. Still better than the summer of 1993…
Good luck with motivation!
In March, my girlfriend gave me a 2 week free card for a cardio kickboxing class that meets at 5:45 AM (yes, am – not pm!). Of course, the studio calls it Kardio Kickboxing which just seems dumb, so I refuse to use it…though I guess I just did…
So — it is 3 days/week. One hour. I thought I’d try it for 2 weeks, then find someplace a little closer to do it. Well, no one else near me (and there are THREE gyms closer to my house) has a class that is early in the morning, and quite frankly, if it’s in the afternoon or evening, it is not gonna happen! So — I’ve been doing it now for 5 months. I have a friend that does it with me and I love it. There are very few people in the class, the instructor is great and you can see that she’s working out just as hard if not harder than we are and so I go. It is hard getting up, but once there, I work out and strive to work hard.
I haven’t lost much weight, but I’ve lost inches in my waist (5) and hips (3) and a bit in my thighs and arms as well. I feel stronger and accdg to some friends (and my mom) I am looking slimmer and I walk with more confidence. Those are two very nice things in my book.
The key, for me, is doing it with someone. I can’t do this stuff on my own. Much as I’d like to say that I have the discipline to do it alone, I just can’t. I need someone to whom I am accountable.
I want to live in your neighborhood. Here it is SUMMER in all it’s full, blazing, ozone warnings glory. I’d love a two mile walk outside in the cool misty morning. That’ll happen in December. For now, I am doing two miles on my elliptical which is located right next to my side of the bed, though I’m trying to get my sweetykins to make over the unfinished “storage closet” at the far back of my closet into a workout room. Ya know, I’m gonna post that on MY blog, so you can look at it there, when it’s up! It’s just an unfinished space above the garage, big enough for the next owners to possibly use it as a nursery if we insulate and drywall and run the A/C and heat to it, it’ll be nice. it’s got a window looking out onto the front street and is big enough for my elliptical, the boy’s weight bench and maybe, maybe enough space for yoga. We’ll see. But much as I like to be outside walking, the weather in The South makes it impossible to do without collapsing of heat exhaustion.
I, too, have been semi-seduced by the P90X commercials. What stops me from spending the money is a) I have no place for a chin-up bar and b) I will not spend an hour every day on this. I know this about myself.
So I got 10 Minute Trainer instead. Those are good workouts (even though they really take more like 15-17 minutes with the warm-up and cool down and the talking). I still can’t make it through the ab routine.
Other than that, I am the world’s laziest exerciser, which is why I bike everywhere.
I am doing P90X right now…am in the middle of week 8. It is hard. It will kick your buttocks from here to next Friday. I have definitely gained muscle and toned up, but I refuse to step on a scale, so I don’t know if I have lost weight. My clothes fit better.
I am not doing the accompanying diet because I love carbohydrates too much to give them up. It’s not a no-carb diet, but it’s low, too low for my general happiness and mental health numbers. I am sure that if I were disciplined enough to stick with the diet that I would lose weight.
I got my copy used off of Amazon for $70. That’s less than two sessions with a trainer, and for that I get 13 weeks of workouts. I think it’s a steal.
I can totally talk about this for hours on end; I am loving it, even though it beats me up continually. I blame the endorphins. So if you have more questions, ask!
I very recently found this blog and have been enjoying reading about your exercising adventures! I started Weight Watchers in January and combining that with almost daily exercise, I have dropped 50+ pounds. I started walking in my neighborhood for about an hour each night in January. Mon-Fri I walked it every night and then one day on the weekends. I live in Sonoma County (where are you? I wonder if we are neighbors?!) and the summer here has been really cool as well. It does make it perfect for exercising outside. In April I started learning to run by doing the Couch-2-5k method. At the same time, I bought a runners watch (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-Receiver-Heart-Monitor/dp/B000CSWCQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1281550782&sr=8-1) to monitor distance, time and my pace. I love it. I can go anywhere and know exactly how far I’ve gone and exactly how much time. I use the pace function a lot to make sure I’m not running too fast or not walking too slow. While training to run I can easily monitor my 5 minute warm up, 8 minutes of running, now 2 minutes walking, okay now 8 more minute running, etc. Now I run about 2-3 nights a week in my neighborhood on a 3 mile course. 2 nights a week I walk a hideous hill in my neighborhood. It’s a great challenge. I used to have to stop 4 times to get to the top or I’d throw up and now I can do it without stopping (and without throwing up!). It’s still hideous but I get it over with much faster.
On the weekends, I’ve started hiking at some of our local regional parks. My favorite is Foothill Park in Windsor. See some pics & a map here: http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_fhill.htm
What I like about hiking is I combine the running and hill climbing during the week into a longer workout. I do about a 5 mile course thereby combining trails from one side of the park to another and then coming back the same way. Some major hills that I walk and some flat parts I run. And the scenery is amazing.
For me, Dog…. okay, I’m not Randy Jackson…I have to do all this alone. I talk all day at work, talk to my kids, to my friends and my family. Walking/running/hiking is MOMMY QUIET TIME. MOM LISTENS TO HER MUSIC TIME. MOMMY LISTENS AND KIND OF DANCES ALONG TO HER MUSIC TIME. I love it. I crave it. I’m constantly downloading new music to listen to while I workout.
This kind of workout helps me twofold: I am losing weight AND it helps me mentally!
Keep up the good work!
That’s AMAZING, Kelly. You’re an inspiration. And yes, we are almost neighbors! I live in the 510.
I belong to a small gym that is on my way home from work. It is just for women and the small size has helped me make “gym friends.” You know, the kind where you discuss the great shoes you got at the Nordstrom sale as you go for a quick run right before your killer class.
I love the Zumba class – this is with sweaty women in T-shirts, not the skinny, half-naked women in the infomercial. The Zumba instructor is fantastic and her enthusiasm is so catching you are smiling and wanting more even though your legs are rubber and you can barely breathe. Like Kristen, working out with someone(s) has made the difference for me.
I hate working out. Ever. Something about sweat makes me feel icky rather than pumped. Still, if I manage to force myself into exercising it takes place secreted away in any room with a moderate amount of floor space and a television to play the video. Cuz the only thing worse than being sweaty is having somebody else WATCH me get sweaty. No gyms for me thanks.
I have the p90X. And when I did it, it totally worked. Like Gwen said, it does kick your booty. I also did customer service for the company that sells P90 a long time ago. They have some other programs that are good too. Check Craigslist. I got my copy brand spaking new for $60. Be warned. You will huurrt. Totally worth it though.
I need to get back on that wagon…
Ooooh, I want to do P90x. You should move down the street and we’ll do it together. There. How’s THAT for making it less rational?
Seriously? I adore you and if we lived nearby oneanother we could SO DO THAT. You would kick my butt, but oh, the LULZ to be had,
Something in my brain makes me read that as the Pox-90. I’d guess that I’m resisting that workout program.
I go to the smalltown Aquatic & Fitness Center in the winter & rainy weather, but run on town streets otherwise. I used to run more out in the uncivilised hamlet where I live, but there are no sidewalks or streetlights, but lots of minihorses, coyotes, deer, and other wildlife, not to mention cowboys in big pickups who don’t like sharing the road with “those joggers.” (Read: bleeding-heart-liberal, granola-eating hippies who probably burn flags.) So now I run in town, around the campus where I work and out on the community trail between towns.
I bought p90x when it came out way back before either of my babes were born. And I have a real life friend who was in one of their early informercials (who honestly lost a ton of weight). It’s tough, but I highly enjoyed it. I used it regularly along with running until I was 8 months prego with my now four year old. Now, I go to the y. Turns out I like to workout with friends and an instructor who knows me by name and will yell lovingly at me if my squats aren’t low enough. Plus, you can’t beat having the childcare. I do still use some of the p90x moves and I’m proud to be a girl who can do pullups.
Also, ages ago I posted to you about my husband and I buying each other the vibram shoes. He loves them. Wears them to run and even wore them in a triathlon. (don’t ask about his transition time that race.) I couldn’t get past the ugliness and went with the Nike frees instead.
Also
I bought the Free’s too!
I love the milage calculator! Thanks!
You are welcome. I can’t for the life of me remember how and when I bookmarked it, but I go there alla the time to use it.