I've always been pretty self conscious about my body, so it's somewhat difficult to even share this on our family blog, but I want to memorialize this accomplishment in some way, so here it goes.
I don't remember when, but at some point this January, I looked in the mirror like I'd done countless times before, but this time was different. I said to myself, "You know, I'm getting a little puffy." I'd also noticed that my back would ache often when I returned home from school. When I would play football with the guys on some Saturdays, I was the slow one. (Well, uncoordinated too, but that's a whole different story.) I didn't consider myself fat and didn't think I needed a diet, but looking at myself, I realized that it's not going to get any easier to get into decent shape. What better time than now to do something about it? I want to have a long, prosperous career in dentistry and in order to do that, I need to protect my body from injury the best I can.
First, I needed direction. My dietary habits were horrible. I drank Pepsi on a daily basis and was terrible at late night snacking while watching TV. In addition to that, I was living a relatively sedentary lifestyle. I was, however, biking to school everyday, so at least I was doing something. Were it not for that, I'd be roughly the size of a baby elephant seal.
I had heard about P90x and did some research and it seemed that it really did work for people. I wasn't so naive, however, to think that it would be easy. It wasn't. My friend Willie was kind enough to let me borrow his P90x DVD's, so at the end of January, I began my 90 days of hell.
P90x comes with a diet plan and it is extremely strict. I be honest, I didn't follow their meal plan. I wanted to be able to actually finish the 90 days. I did, however, make healthy dietary changes. I stopped drinking sugary soda and reduced the late night snacking. I also chose healthy alternatives to the crap I was eating. For instance, one of my favorite post work-out snacks was non-fat plain greek yogurt with granola topped with fresh strawberries. I'm not a super health nut diet freak, but these small changes made it manageable to complete my 90 days without going crazy.
Well, without further ado, the results:
(please don't judge me too harshly on the Day 1 photos :)
Holy Hannah Montana I was weak sauce!
Loser! Winner!
Mmmmmmmmmmm, yummy love handles
Goal: Get a stronger back. Check!
Pretty embarrassed about that Day 1 pic. Yikes.
Day 1: 153 lbs, not much muscle
Day 90: 143 lbs, getting stronger
Bottom line: I feel stronger, leaner, and all around better.
My verdict: P90x works. I could probably gotten even better results had I followed their diet plan better, but I am very pleased nonetheless. This isn't the end for me. If I'm not careful, I'll be right back where I started. My plan is to continue with P90x until graduation and then I'd like to switch and try 60 days of Beachbody's "Insanity" workout. I figure I'll never get this chance to be in great shape again and it will be much easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle than try to recover from poor habits. If you have any questions about my 90 day journey, let me know.
PS... This is Tara, now. :) I just wanted to give my 2 cents. I'm super proud of Tyler for doing this! When he told me about it, I didn't think that he would stick with it. BUT he has! He has done such a great job and is more healthy! In no way did I think that we was fat before, but seeing the difference over the past few months is amazing. I thought that he was already in pretty good shape from bike riding (his thighs are like boulders!), but he's eating more healthy and feels better physically. So, good job Tyler! I am proud of you! You've done good! You're hott! :)
