Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

2010 was a great year for me. I reconnected with many friends I had not seen in a while (over ten years for several), climbed six mountains, received a nice promotion at work, and had the pleasure of watching colleagues succeed at work and transition from military to civilian careers. More than anything, I enjoyed spending lots of time with my immediate and extended family, most of whom are within 1.5 hours from me where I now live.

Unfortunately, there have been costs, and I really did fall "off the wagon" with regard to my exercise regime and especially diet. My sleep patterns, especially, have been out of whack with increased responsibility and workload. Lots of late days and playing catch up between overseas travel, and lack of motivation for pushing play. Fortunately, the mountaineering and climbing, and all the prep involved, kept me on my toes and provided meaningful goals, and I paid much closer attention to diet, but after my last trip in Oct I really slowed down and relaxed on the effort. I have the scale and a few pairs of trousers to let me know how far I've come. I gained 7 lbs and 1.5 in to my waist, and I have certainly lost muscle mass. I'm not the heaviest or thickest I've ever been, but it's been two years since I have felt like this. That was also a time of change, pressure/stress, overachievement at work, and feeling out of balance between work-fun-health-relationships.

That said, I am happy to report that I am indeed ready to dig in, kick it up a notch (Bam!!), ramp up, get back on the horse, bump up the throttles, and "light the cans." Since Sep, I have jumped back into the groove with our local orienteering club for meets every second Sun, and I am already seeing improvements there. I am making plans now for an Apr/May climbing trip out west. I have also been plotting with an ambitious friend and climbing partner who is organizing a sprint distance adventure race in Sep 11. Some other goals include completing a 12-hr adventure race; climbing 4 peaks (including Kilimanjaro); completing a metric century; and 2x three day kayak tours. As you can see, it's going to be great! It will definitely take some planning; fortunately, two of my sisters gave me calendars last week.

To get where I am going, I will be mixing it up a ton, but will use P90X as the bedrock for base fitness, starting with Day 1 on Tuesday. Add in cycling to work, reinvigorating my bikram yoga practice, weekend rock climbing, orienteering, x-country skiing when we have snow, after work paddling, and some overnight bike trips, and I think I can get there! For me, it really, truly, is not about the "beach body" as much as it is feeling fulfilled on a daily basis, satisfied that I am making the most of life, sharing as much of it as I can with friends and family, and giving back to the best of my ability. Pushing myself in outdoor endeavors, even when not competitive (as in racing), does more to clear my mind, connect me to the world and its people, and think expansively and creatively than anything else I have experienced. Of course, having the foundational fitness to make it happen without injury is going to be key. That's why pushing play, daily, will be back in my habit pattern, as will cooking great meals and making the right nutrition choices, even when faced with variety of tempting treats when out with friends or solo.

I am looking forward to working on this transformation, getting off the couch, cleaning up my diet, and leaning on friends, family, and workout buddies to make it happen. I'll update here, probably at the 30/60/90 marks for the X.