Mike's Marathon Blog

I have been doing P90X for 3 weeks now. This is my first ‘recovery week’ where there are no strenuous leg or upper body videos, just some stretching and light cardio workouts. I haven’t skipped 1 day and have been eating healthy. I haven’t been dieting per se, but I’ve definitely cut down on my desserts, fried foods and large portion meals (I did eat an entire Hawaiin pizza on Saturday night followed by a Chipburger, but BEFORE Saturday I was eating healthy). Come to think of it, Super Bowl Sunday was a wash too since I ate non-stop from 3 to 10, but didn’t have an actual meal. Oh well, I snowshoed before!

I do the videos to the max. I do as many push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges as I can. I can say with confidence that I am doing each workout to the best of my ability. Even after 3 weeks, I can do more push-ups and pull-ups than I could a month ago.

I want to believe that it’s working so far, but I’m not 100% convinced. Besides the few extra reps, I don’t see any kind of results. Plus, the main reason I’m a little aggravated is that I’ve gained 8 lbs since I started. I don’t think that’s normal!

I haven’t been Spinning and running as much as I planned, but to be honest, I’m pretty beat after the workouts. I don’t even think I could run after a few of the videos, especially the leg days. Everything I read/watch says that you’re supposed to lose weight just doing the videos and following the diet. I am not following the P90X diet, but I know how to do diet. I am not eating many fats or sugars and I’m taking in a ton of protein. Am I not eating enough? I have considered this. I’m currently consuming around 2,200 calories and 85g of protein per day. I could maybe have more protein, but I don’t think that’s the missing link.

Like I said, I know how to diet. I know there are ups and downs and I’m not losing sleep over the lack of results thus far. But it definitely has my attention!

I know if I start running, I will lose weight, but I really don’t want to. My back has been very sore since I started working out again. I have been doing everything I can to take care of it, but it obviously didn’t heal as much as I would have liked. I workout very delicately and even skip a few of the exercises that are not very pleasant on the lower back. There’s not much else I can do. I started doing P90X to help strengthen my whole body and mainly my core, which hopefully takes some pressure off my lower back. Yes, my back felt great during November and December doing absolutely nothing, but that’s not realistic. I got lazy, lost all my muscle and gained almost 15 lbs.

I hated resting during that time, but I understand that my body needed it. I had been training for 2 marathons since last November (with a herniated disc). There’s never a perfect scenario, I suppose. For example, if you’re overweight, running will help you lose weight, but if you’re overweight and out of shape, you can’t run. It’s never easy! I remember running 1 mile, 1 mile! That was my goal, for months, just running 1 mile over and over again until I could do it with ease. Hey, you gotta start somewhere!

I guess I’m back to the ‘1 mile.’ Eating right and working out. It takes time and it wears at your patience for sure. If it was easy, everyone would be thin and fit, right?