P90X

In March 2009 I was desperate. I was facing a major multi-class high school reunion in October and was in bad shape physically. My neighbor introduced me to P90X as a possible solution. P90X is part of the Beach Body family of products. The instructor, Tony Horton, is about as annoying as a person can get. That being said, he also somehow manages to motivate.

My husband and I did 8 weeks of P90X before our bodies told us to stop. We weren't in good enough shape to start it in the first place, and it is a definite time commitment. As in 6 days a week for at least an hour a day. During the first four weeks I lost overall 10 inches, and in the 8 weeks I lost 16 inches and about 6 pounds. Not the weight loss I was looking for, but, I was happy with the overall size reduction.

I would do P90X again in a heartbeat if I had 13 weeks without interruption. My schedule just doesn't allow it. However, it really takes working out to the next level if you are in decent shape already. I have talked to several friends who have done the program and been happy with it, but most of them say the same thing - if you don't combine the diet with the workout, you won't lose pounds, but you will lose inches and gain overall strength.

The one thing that I loved about P90X was that it has a yoga workout that is done weekly. I had never done much yoga and combined with the other workouts, it really gave me an appreciation for what it can do for me. Tony is a big advocate for yoga as well.

If you decide to try P90X, give yourself 6-8 weeks of regularly working out ahead of time. Be prepared to be very sore each week as you change things up. Accept that you may not be able to do all of the routines and exercises from the starting gate no matter how good of shape you are currently in. You may want to start with Power90, which is also a program with Tony Horton.

Good luck, and if you have had success with P90X, please leave a comment!