Walls - Motivation for Pushing Through

At one point or another you will have to push through come barrier during a workout or during your round of P90X. It may be a lack of motivation. It may be discomfort and pain. It could be sore shoulders (HELLO! Week 1-3!!!). You may also have to push through some illness. I just came through a little sickness. I had some sort of head cold/sinus/sore throat/no voice/flem making illness. After a week of teaching and nights of parent-teacher conferences, I was spent. It is rather hard to feel motivated to dig deep and bring it. For moments like this, you need to refocus on your goals. Why are you committed to this program? Why be so different? Isn't it weird to be getting up at 3:45 am everyday to move around some iron, jump, squat, run in place? You need to be careful when letting these questions develop as they can get out of hand. You are doing this to be different! My coach, Wayne Wyatt, posted a great piece about this (a lot of this is coming from him - credit where credit is due!)... Normal is not working! I want to be weird.

What does a normal American have going on? Lousy food. Overly saturated with grease and fat. HUGE meals. Skipped meals. High blood pressure and cholesterol. Meds. New clothes = bigger pants... untucked shirt to try and hide the belly. No energy. More TV. Sound normal? It should, that is what Americans, in large part, have become. It is time to be different. It is time to be weird.

Most people looked at me and thought, some said, well you didn't have any weight to lose. Sure I seemed ok. I was 187 lbs and at almost 6'1", that was spread out. But I had moved up slowly from 32" waist, to 33", and to 34". I was getting ready to move again! I was carrying my weight in my gut. It was thanks to my love of hot wings and home brew.

Enter Round 1 this fall. I dropped 21 lbs. I fizzled out near the end and felt like I didn't give my all. I had skipped workouts. I had completely taken off the "recovery" weeks. It was a hollow victory at best. There were some rays of sunlight, I was down to 32-33" pants and I felt good.

For Round 2, I wanted to be different. I wanted to be weird, crazy, completely committed, no hollow victory this time. Sure there are times when I want to give in. You can skip this move, you could just eat some of that. It wouldn't be that bad. Get behind me Satan! But really, temptation is temptation. Now I am not saying you are sinning if you don't go crazy and see if you can get absolutely ripped. What I am saying is, if you make that commitment, it is a one time thing. You never have to go back and recommit. You are going to workout for an hour a day, six days a week, for 90 days. You will eat only things that fit into your day and fulfill your macro needs. Making that choice once and for all, you remove the thought of breaking your own covenant. Decide, COMMIT, succeed. You can do it.

With 4 regular workouts left, and a week of recovery (very active recovery = Asylum), I am down to size 30" waist. I initially dropped to 156 lbs at 10% body fat, I am back up to 159.5 lbs, with only 8% body fat. I have never seen my abs. Ever. Never in elementary school, middle, high, college.... never. I can say that now, I can see my abs. No more hiding under a layer of fat!

This post was a little all over the place, but be encouraged. Don't get caught up on only the end goals. Do it for today... in your nutrition and exercise. Bring it. You may be sore tomorrow, but we will still be moving forward. I had doubts, but as each week has passed, I noticed changes. My workout sheets showed increased weights and reps. Things in the mirror look different. My pants were loose. I bought new ones. Those got loose again. My mom got me a couple more pairs. Change is inevitable if you stick with it.

May God bless you and keep bringing it!
David