Today I made the decision to start the Power 90 program from Beachbody.

As some of you will remember, I previously did the P90X program back in February of 2009, and managed to complete 58 days on the program.  I wasn’t a P90X “graduate” as I didn’t finish the whole 90 days, but I followed the program for long enough to build some decent strength and muscle.

I remember that one of the biggest motivation killers for me at the time was working so hard on the P90X program and knowing I was building muscle, but whenever I looked in the mirror I just looked like I was getting fatter as the muscle I was building just pushed the fat I had out even further.  At least that’s how it seemed to me.

I know if I stuck with it long enough the muscle would have eventually helped to burn all that fat away, but after 58 days I was too exhausted to continue.

One thing I remember deciding right there and then was that if I ever get back on a program like P90X or Power 90 that I would first start off by getting my diet properly organized and lose some of the fat that I was carrying so that when I begin building muscle it wouldn’t feel like I’m just getting fatter.

So this time around, I started my body transformation by focusing on the diet side of things first.

Thirty-six days ago, on October 18th, I started my body transformation at 216.6 lbs at around 40% body fat.

Today, I’m 12.0 lbs lighter weighing in at 204.6lbs.  My last DXA scan on November 3rd reported my body fat % at exactly 38.2%.  I don’t know what it is today as I don’t trust my bathroom scale anymore to calculate body fat %.

With this foundation of finally feeling like I’m getting control over my diet, I’m starting the Power 90 program from Beachbody.

Power 90 vs P90X

All weekend I was trying to decide what kind of workout program to follow.

On one hand, since I have done P90X before I was thinking that maybe I would just do P90X again.  However, from my P90X experience before, I don’t think it is a good program to start with as a beginner.

Beachbody themselves recommend doing Power 90 before starting P90X, and I knew that when I started P90X before but I didn’t care.  I wanted to be a hero and try the “tougher” workout to see if I could survive.  I did manage to do it, but looking back I think it was too much, too quickly for my body to handle.

It’s not just that P90X is a hard workout to start with when you’re carrying 50lbs of excess fat on your frame, but it’s also a very exhausting workout as well when you’re NOT doing the workouts.  Meaning, by the time you finish a P90X workout you’re completely drained of energy.  By the time your body starts to recover it’s time for another workout again.

Also, doing the workouts is just half of the equation.  The second half of the equation, which I would argue is even harder and more energy intensive, is getting your diet properly setup.

That is what I’ve been working on for the last 5 weeks.  It takes time and energy to get your kitchen setup for healthy cooking, to plan your grocery lists, to learn how to cook healthy foods, and to get into a routine / habit of doing this regularly.

Before I started my body transformation 5 weeks ago, my definition of “cooking” was calling out for delivery or going out to a restaurant.  Today I cook almost all of my meals myself and I know precisely what goes into my meals.

Even though I have started to really solidify this habit, I am now very aware of just how much energy / effort it actually takes to plan for, prepare and cook healthy meals.

Being an entrepreneur with dozens of projects on the go doesn’t make it any easier either.

When I was thinking about starting up P90X again on the weekend I just couldn’t see how I would have the energy to do the workouts and the grocery shopping and cooking of healthy meals with my current workload / schedule.

I know that long term, a program like P90X will give you more energy throughout the day, but in the beginning I am well aware that I would feel exhausted and the idea of doing P90X just felt like I was overextending myself and setting myself up for failure.

That is why I have chosen to go with the slightly less intense Power 90 program instead.

At first I was wondering if the Power 90 program would be difficult enough for me.  I wondered if maybe it would be too easy and I wouldn’t get enough of a workout.

Boy was I wrong.

I just completed the first workout tonight and it kicked my butt!

It’s not as intense insane as P90X, but it is definitely a good workout.  It felt just hard enough to challenge me, but I didn’t feel exhausted after the workout like I did with P90X.

I’m only on Day 1 of Power 90, but so far I am really liking this program.

Having done both workouts, for someone carrying +40lbs of excess fat on their frame like me, I think I would recommend doing Power 90 over the P90X to start.  I think this program will give me a solid foundation, and enough challenge to transform my body without over-exhausting it like P90X did.

If you’re already fit, go ahead and try P90X, but if you’re starting out with a body like mine I think it’s smarter to do Power 90.

My Power 90 Goal

My first goal for getting on this program is to follow the program for the next 4 weeks (28 days) straight, completing the workouts as instructed.  That will take me up to December 18th.

On December 19th I fly out to visit my wife in New Brunswick, where I’ll be staying for 3 weeks.  During that 3 week period I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do yet as far as my workouts, but I’m sure my personal trainer and accountability partner Debby will be able to help me plan something out.

She’s been super supportive and has really pushed me to get on some kind of exercise program in addition to the progress I’ve made with my diet.  I’m glad she did because I’m already feeling awesome about this decision.

With Christmas and New Years and all the hooplah around the holidays I may not be able to follow the standard Power 90 schedule during those three weeks but I’m not going to worry about that for now.  For now my focus is simply on the next four weeks.  I’m sure a solution will present itself by then.

Workout Report

I found today’s first workout (Sculpt 1-2) pretty challenging for my first work out.

Overall I think I did pretty well, although just like during my P90X workouts I found the military push-ups pretty challenging.  I had to do them on my knees as my triceps just couldn’t do them regular.

I’m really looking forward to see what my body will change into on this program over the next four weeks and beyond.

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