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Okay, so a friend of mine purchased this program back in May and she sent me this link www.P90X.com to check it out for myself.  I watched a couple of the clips and thought - Ha!  No way!  I was totally intimidated.  Don’t get me wrong - I’ve been around the block with the Beachbody programs - Slim in 6, Slim Series, Slim Series Express, Turbo Jam; plus, I’ve lifted weights for years, but something about P90X scared me.  My friend started the program and was having awesome results, so I thought, “If she can do it, so can I!” 

Let me just say - this is the most intense program I have ever experienced and I have used a LOT of fitness videos that would leave anyone lying on the floor, writhing in pain and misery, but P90X is definitely not for the weak of heart.  It is an advanced weight training program, with some yoga and cardio thrown in.  On my first day, I could barely do ANY of the exercises in the Chest & Back video (on day #1, there are a LOT of pushups to do and my upper body strength wasn’t that great at that time), and forget AbRipper X, which is the ab work done 3 times per week.  I could only do about 3 reps out of the 25 done for each move in the video!  Needless to say, I felt like quite the wimp when I first started.

The basis of the program is what is called muscle confusion and boy, does it confuse the muscles.  Thank goodness for my post-workout recovery drink, which helps me bounce back quickly from soreness.  You do 6 different workouts for each day of the week (with 1 rest day) for 3 weeks, then for week four, you have a “rest and recovery” period, which is cardio, yoga, stretching, martial arts.  Then repeat that sequence with different workouts for a total of 90 days.

I made it through the first 6.5 weeks and then I came down with several different illnesses which kept me from continuing for about 3 weeks.  So this week would have made week 9, but I decided instead of picking back up with the week 6 sequence of workouts, I would just start over.  Yeah, I know, I am a glutton for punishment! 

I do want to say that my results for the first 6 weeks were AWESOME!  I reduced my body fat percentage by 4%, lost a lot of inches.  My goal is to get totally ripped from this program and nothing is going to stop me!

When I complete the program in 86 days, I will post beginning and ending stats and before and after pics, so stay tuned!

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Not much going on in the world of weight loss news today, so I thought I would post about exercise.

A lot of people cringe at the word “exercise,” but why?  We perform some type of exercise all the time, don’t we?  We clean our house (you can burn major calories doing chores around the house), we run after our kids, walk our dogs, go swimming, etc.  Those are all forms of exercise, but we don’t think of it as exercise because we enjoy it…except for the household cleaning, of course.  But all of these activities burn calories and are great for our waist lines.  If you want to know how many calories you’re burning doing simple tasks such as mopping or cleaning your windows, check out www.fitday.com Fitday has a calorie burning calculator for everything, right down to how many calories you burn while taking a bath!

So why is exercise important?  First, it lowers blood pressure, improves mental health and well-being, reduces the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, as well as helping us build strong bones and muscles.  For those who are wanting to lose weight, it is a must!  Sorry, but that’s the way it is.  You have to expend more calories than you take in - that is the basis for ANY weight loss program.

But there is good news for those who loathe exercising.  If you exercise regularly for 3 short weeks, you will come to look forward to working out, whether you do cardio or weight training.  It takes 3 weeks or 21 days for an act to become a habit.  So after those first 3 weeks, you will have formed an exercise habit, and like any habit, you will actually look forward to doing it.

Don’t believe me?  Then I challenge you to do a regular exercise routine for 3 weeks and see what happens.  And it doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise - walking is a great exercise that has helped thousands of people lose weight and get in shape.  Riding a bike, stationery bike, jogging, playing tennis or other sport, any activity that gets you up and moving for 30 minutes will have benefits.  Swimming is GREAT exercise that burns a ton of calories and it’s fun!

Give it a try and I guarantee you that after 3 short weeks, you will actually come to love exercise instead of hating it.

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For all you fitness lovers out there, you have got to try Turbo Jam

I just received my DVDs on Friday and started with the suggested video today.  It’s called Learn & Burn and I am so impressed!

Now, I was a tad bit biased going into this because my all time favorite aerobic and resistance workout is Slim in 6.  But I decided I would like to change it up sometimes and since I have heard great things about TJ, I thought I would give it a try.  I thought at first that the perky little blonde instructor would really get under my skin, but she is actually very inspirational and motivating!  There are 11 overall moves that you have to get down in order to do the workouts, but they’re not hard, and I picked up all of them except for 2 or 3 in today’s workout, and I am sure during tomorrow’s workout, I will have them down pat.

And the music - well, music in aerobics videos are usually some generic, upbeat type of music, even in SI6, but with TJ, these are songs that have actually had radio time and yes, they are definitely upbeat and make you want to move your booty!  It seems that we forget the importance of music in our workouts sometimes, but not in TJ!

So what are you waiting for?  Head on over to Beach Body and order yourself a copy of Turbo Jam and get started on a new YOU!

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