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You hear the phrase through the P90X videos all the time but, really, is it just cliche?  Something Tony says and doesn't really mean?   I would like to take my personal example and show how I apply this, to my life and situation.  

First, I'm a chronic insomniac.   I've been that way since I've been 3-4 years old and I can remember wishing, at a very early age, that I could spend just a single day not feeling so tired I could hardly move.   Through the years, I've learned relaxation techniques, and other things, to help with this but it hasn't truly gone away.  I have learned, however, to deal with it, and make it my own. 

Second, I work in a high-stress, high-demand, high-tech job.   My company is based in Silicon Valley CA and I live and work from my HOUSE in TX. I have no office to go to. I can't just "pop-in" to someones cube and have a quick chat about something that I need to get information on.   That adds, at times, to the stress of the work I do.

Finally, I own 20-acres, two horses, 3 dogs, and a cat.  My wife and I do ALL of our own work, here.  Landscaping, gardening, house cleaning, cooking, horse chores, dog chores, etc.   The horses are young and we're training them from foundational skills up.  We didn't buy them finished.   I also play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and have a recording studio which I am, currently, remodeling myself, personally, and LEARNING woodworking skills and techniques as I go along.   I maintain our tractor, gator, mowers, blades, wood chippers, horse trailer, pickups, swimming pool and various other things, here, too.   The point is, my "after work chores" constitute close to a full-time job, too.

I make sure that I'm in bed EVERY night, for at least 8-hours. I may not sleep, but I'm there.  My wife and I cook/prepare ALL of our meals from scratch AND we exercise, EVERY SINGLE DAY! 

A few weeks back my wife went on vacation for a little over a week and spent time with her family.   I think that's awesome but it "saddles" me with the entire responsibility of everything, here. I don't take time off work when she goes, I just take on her chores/responsibilities which makes it interesting.

During this years vacation I had two nights where I couldn't/didn't sleep. Not a problem, it happens. However, the next morning when I got ready to exercise I was, well, tired.  Exhausted might be the better word.   So, what does one do?   A lot of folks I know would use the excuse:  "I'm really tired today, so I think I'll skip a day and then do it later..."  Well, "later" never comes and skipping a few days leads to skipping more days and more...

On these days I grabbed my P90X+ discs (yes, X+) popped them into the DVD player and pushed play.  I knew, going in, that A) my reps might be lower,  B) my ability to hold good form might be compromised some, and C) I might need to modify to get through and D) I'm probably going to have to take a few breaks in the middle.   That, to me, is completely OK.   I am, at least, doing the exercise, and recognizing the benefits of it.

When I don't sleep, my muscles get rather stiff and sore so, I did a light warmup and a more comprehensive stretch routine before I even started the DVD.  I felt a little better starting out, and then the warmup and the workout seems to go a bit smoother.   I took a few extra seconds and "lost" a rep, or two, here and there to ensure that I started each exercise with good form, and I slowed down a bit to ensure that I maintained that form through the full range of motion in the exercise.  Then, when I hit my limit FOR THAT DAY, I stopped, rested a bit, restarted and worked till my form dropped, rested, restarted and got through the workout.   Through that, I found that I got into the zone and focused hard and my "burnout" wasn't quite as quick, as my body got into the routine.  Near the end I was close to doing what I normally could and I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be.   Exercise has that way of "energizing" an individual.

In the end, there are times when we're going to get injured, either exercising or doing something else, our bodies are going to hurt from over-training, or over-exerting doing manual labor... we're not going to sleep well, or our sleep will be interrupted, or short, or whatever the myriad of "busy" excuses we get to have, these days.  NONE of these is a reason to avoid exercise and working out - unless the workout would threaten the integrity of the injured site.  There's being smart about it, and avoiding as an excuse.

Do your best, and forget the rest... get in there, get it done, to the best of your ability, that day, at that moment, in that time.   Honestly, for me, some days I can knock out near 20 pullups at a time... other days I'm struggling to get 8 out... on those days, I accept my boundaries, I accept my limits and I accept, and appreciate the fact that I am, and can, exercise.  It's that simple... on the days I get 20 out, well, I can celebrate a bit, cuz that don't happen none to often - if I may use some bad grammar.

There are very few "reasons" why we can't exercise, but there are plenty of excuses.  I think that the key is differentiating between the two, and making the right choice - do your best, forget the rest.  If, truly, your schedule does not allow for a full-routine THAT day, or for a few days, choose 5-10 exercises that get the parts you're struggling with, work through those - so, say you can't complete the entire chest/back routine but you struggle with wide-front pullups and military push-ups... well, head to the gym, or wherever, and knock out some wide-fronts, and militaries, then do slightly wide grip, then normal pushups and give yourself 15-20 minutes of just concentrating on those things.   To help recovery, do a pull-up, then pushup, then an ab move... and leave very little break between each one... repeat, and you'll be amazed at how much can be accomplished in 15-20 minutes working out that way.   Is it a "perfect" workout, no, but it, at least, maintains your gains, helps you work on your weak spots and helps you be consistent with making time, every day, for your fitness and your health.  It's the best you have, at that time.  THAT is what matters.  Decide, commit, ACT and succeed!

Dar

I know that some of you, like me, travel on a frequent basis.  As I clean up my eating habits the food that can be obtained at restaurants, is getting less and less appealing.  As I mentioned in my introductory statements, I still have a few food items that aren’t so good for me that I enjoy quite a bit.  Thus, the restaurant isn’t always my first choice for eating these days.

I’ve been finding that, as I travel, I spend more of my time in the grocery stores.  For me, work travel includes an expense account and I’m allotted some dollar amount for meals.  Many of the cities I travel to have a Whole Foods Market, or an equivalent.  If not, I find that one can do very well even at a normal store, especially if the hotel has a microwave and/or there is access to one at the work site. 

First, I grab the middle-tier P90X eating plan (Energy Booster).  For me, and travel, this phase of the plan is the easiest for me to work with and purchase food.  I make a photocopy of the page with the categorical breakdown of food groups (i.e. dairy, carbs, proteins, etc) and carry that with me into the store.  My days’ shopping is done in the morning.  So, I head to the dairy and grab my two dairy servings… then on to cereals where I’ll grab a box of QUALITY cereal to last the week, or the time I’m there.  I might buy a small box of whole grain crackers…

What to do about meat, veggies, etc?  Depending on the store, you have two choices for the veggies.  Many large chain grocery stores (Safeway, HEB, Kroger, etc) now provide full-service, well-stocked, salad bars in the store.  The array and range of veggies on those bars is quite good.  Yes, they’re fresh and raw but… they’re easy to package, and keep.  I typically grab a little bit of each veggie available and proceed to fill up my salad box.  That works, for me.  Others may want to select a few of the veggies for one meal, and another group for another meal, etc.  

The other option is a prepared salad.  Dressings, thankfully, are placed in little cups and the salad items typically, are not mixed.  Thus, depending on the day, one can fully remove the bacon/cheese from the salad and help with the fat intake, while still enjoying the benefits of the vegetables.   Often, I will grab a prepared salad for my lunch, and a “make your own” for my dinner, with the lunch salad heavy on the greens and dinner more heavy on the veggies.   

That brings us to meats/proteins.   Many stores, now, have a deli where there are many prepared foods and, there are healthy options, most of the time.  When I’m lacking a microwave, I look for foods that I can/could eat cold (chicken, turkey, salmon, beef) if I had to.  About 40% of the time, I do not have a microwave that I can use to heat the food, so this is important to me.  Well prepared, many meats do taste good cold.  Meats cooked in high-fat don’t taste very good, cold.  So, the trick is to find something that works.  If you have access to a microwave even better.

This, of course, assumes that there is a refrigerator at the work place.  If there is not, this is how I handle the day.  On the way home, that night, I grab my breakfast food and bring it to the hotel (the perishable stuff).  Many hotels don’t have a fridge, so I will get a few buckets of ice, clean my sink out well, and load the sink with ice.  I put milk, yogurt, and other perishables in the ice.  This keeps them safely cold, unless you like your room at 90F, until morning.  Wash the container exteriors BEFORE you open the food and, voila, breakfast is ready without having to hit the continental breakfast and grab a Danish.  Most stores, and hotels, have plastic silverware that you can use to eat the stuff.  

For lunch, if I have to hit a restaurant, especially if time/people constraints exist, my fare will be off the light menu, salad, lean meat entrée, etc.  I may order 3-4 things and only eat those things that I need.  Then, for dinner, I hit the store and make that my main meal, with care to focus on those things, from the eating plan, which were “missing” from my lunch.   This may seem like it is hard but, after just a few times it actually almost becomes second nature.  I’m at the point, now, where I can enter a grocery store and buy an entire days worth of meals/snacks within 15-minutes of entrance.  It is AMAZINGLY surprising how much respect you get if you DON’T eat out with the client/customer/vendor.  Many think just the opposite:  “I have to entertain these folks because I’m here and they’ll be offended if I don’t…”  NOT so true.   Personally, when I’m the customer and the vendor wants to take off on their own, it’s a relief and I’m sure that you’ve felt the same way.  The vendor/customer is taking up your time already and you’re Inbox, etc. are all in backlog as a result.  So, taking the time for yourself isn’t always a deleterious thing.  

I always make sure that I bring along a supply of either Beachbody protein bars and/or Greens+ protein bars, for snacks.  I find that, when I’m traveling, I’m less active and personally don’t want a carb-centric bar/snack for both the morning and afternoon snack.   That said, you need to listen to YOUR body and figure out what works best.

I hope that some of you have found this post helpful.   If there are questions / concerns / comments, please ask/voice them.  I will try to address any/all of them.  Also, if you would like more information about eating on the road, let me know. I’ll be happy to post some of the menu items that I’ve dug up and how I creatively maintain a healthy eating program even while I’m traveling for business and working 12-14 hour days.  At some point, I also need to talk about my approach to exercise while traveling.  For me, it has been very successful in maintaining my personal fitness level, and goals.

Till then…

So... as a Beachbody Coach, I have decided and committed to start posting a bit more of my progress, thoughts, ideas, struggles and solutions here, in this blog, so that others, who are facing the same things can read and, hopefully, find some help with their struggles.

I will start off and say that I am completely human.   :-)   For me, exercise and fitness is a daily struggle.  I exercise with an end in mind - I want to be fitter at 42 than what I was at 22.   I want to be able to work with, and train, my horses and be able to ride them better every time I get on them. I want to be able to train young, brim full of energy, horses and learn to direct, rather than shut down, that energy.   So, to that end, I need to be fit, flexible and in-shape.  Those are things that I truly enjoy doing... P90X, P90X+, One-on-Ones, and fitness training, in general, allow for those things.  

I love all the wrong foods.  I like fried chicken (love, more than like), REAL ice-cream (the stuff made with, dare I say it, cream AND sugar), juicy hamburgers and french fries.   I'm partially allergic to veggies (just kidding)... basically, I love fat and carbs...   that said, I can honestly tell you that when I work out, after eating any of these things, I DEFINITELY feel it.  I'm tired, doggy, weak and wimpy.  There's a marked change between eating right, and eating just a SINGLE meal of junk food.  

I also travel a bunch - less now than before.   When I'm on the road, the hardest thing is eating right.   I spend my time in Whole Foods Market, or any grocery store, really, finding foods that I can eat 'cold' in my hotel room and/or heat-up at the work microwave, without compromising my fitness and nutrition goals.   When I first started this, it wasn't easy.  Friends pushed me to go out and eat, grab a drink and a snack... and, finally, I decided enough was enough.  We'll grab a drink (one) and you can have the snack, I'll eat BEFORE I get there.  That way, I arrive full and the drink is all that I have.  

When I started P90X, a few years back, I could not complete Ab-Ripper X.  In fact... well, I had to modify almost everything and I started with 10-reps each move and was nearly dead at the end.   I lacked core strength, in a huge way.   Today, I can do all of Ab-Ripper and I'm feeling pretty good at the end.   I have improved.

I was inflexible - well, that's not even the word for it.  I could barely touch my knees on the standing wide, feet-forward, bend.   The split-leg hamstring stretch made me see stars even before I started bending forward.   Pull-ups made me cry like my kid sister, though, I was able to get some out (usually 2-3) before I had to give up entirely and use the assist on my pullup machine. 

Finally, I had weak shoulders... my shoulders hurt, quite literally, for nearly a year straight... every day in a slightly different spot.   I didn't pull anything, but my stabilizers were screaming for mercy every time I tried to use one.  You never really know quite how much you use your shoulders until they start to hurt.

After all of that... I'm now doing P90X+, and work through an occassional One-on-One.   I can touch my toes, put my hands UNDER my toes, palms on the floor, even use a yoga block when stretching hamstrings.   My shoulders no longer hurt and, at Petsmart, I lift 40-lb bags of dog food with straight arms out of the cart much to the chagrin of the clerks there who struggle with their whole body to lift it...  I can palm the floor with the split-leg hamstring stretch (most days) and pull-ups well, they're not so bad any more.   My shoulders are pain free and have been for a long time, as the stabilizers are strong enough to deal with the push-up.  I can even make it through the P90X+ Abs/Core+.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is... I started out in pretty bad shape, I'm not always perfect with my eating plan... but I was able to actually do it.  I'm not a fan of exercise - I really don't enjoy it all that much, so doing it, for me, is a daily "struggle."  In short, I'm human, I'm not perfect, and yet I was able, through some dedication, to reach my goals and surpass them. Now, I'm ready to move on to the next phase... 

I went from a rather large amount of body fat (not sure how much, but I was pretty "sloppy") to a pretty low amount (I now range from 9 to 11%).   I went from 36" waist to 28" (at one point) and have settled at about 30".   I put on some weight (I went from 145 to 168).   The weight's OK, as it's pretty much all muscle, now.   So, I don't pay attention to weight, at all... I pay attention to size and body fat %...

If I can do it, not enjoying exercise, liking deep fat fried foods and frozen cream and sugar, then pretty much anyone can accomplish... dig in... work hard... commit... it just plain works...

Three weeks off...  WOW!   Hard to "get started" again BUT things are going better. Plyo kicked me, yesterday... Achilles tendon, on the left foot, is a bit sore BUT I landed WAY better, and more even than what I have, in the past.  That's a HUGE improvement.   Usually, both Achilles are sore when I get back into it.

Did Shoulders and Arms, today... I worked out w/ low weights, high reps and REALLY focused on form and breathing.  HUGE changes, there, too.   Things were much better for me.  Next week, it's low reps and heavy weights... I'm SO looking forward to kicking back with Yoga, tomorrow.  I love Yoga and how I feel when I'm done...

Been looking at "Anatomy Trains" and getting a better understand of myofascial balance and structure along w/ muscle balance.   Amazing concept, really... the Yogi's had it figured out 1,000's of years ago and modern science is now just starting to accept and understand it. Funny how long it takes when you don't believe in something...  :-)

Gotta run... 

Three weeks off... two weeks of 6-hours+, per day, of highly active horseback riding... that was a lot of work. Then one week of, pretty much, sloughing off and doing nothing.  That wasn't so good.  However, I'm back on the program, again, and going to work it differently, this time.

Week 1 - Light weights, pullup assists, no pushup bars, HIGH REPS

Week 2 - Heavy weights, no pullup assists, pushup bars, LOW REPS

Week 3 - Light weights, pullup assists, no pushup bars, HIGH REPS

I'm going to repeat that through the workout phase, this time, and see where it takes me.   Confusing the muscle confusion, even more.

Three weeks off is almost too much.   The workout, today, was incredibly hard and I was nauseous through about 1/2 of it.  It'll get better, that's for sure.

Another new goal - balance... making sure that my form is absolutely correct and that I'm working both sides of my body, equally.   I've not done well with that, in the past, and this time I'm going to work that part of the equation quite hard - making good use of mirrors when/where possible to ensure that this is happening.  

Not sure how much I'll blog, here, but we'll see.   Have to take time off work to get this done, here.