Monday, April 26, 2010

Glass Houses and Such

The sad part of procrastination is that one day the piper must be paid. I had this discussion with my son just the other day about getting into and paying for college. You can have all the fun you want in high school but all it ends up doing is increase the cost of the next phase of life. For him that meant he had reached the 100% point of putting his paycheck towards college. If he continues to waste time that would mean he will need to forgo his freshman year and work fulltime. I am alright either way but I wasn’t sure he was. I guess time will tell.

But this post isn’t about him, or his choices, that is his story to tell. I have procrastinated my health so long now that I crossed over the 100% line. Not taking care of your health as a young(er) person just means you will be less energetic, tired, and overweight; but definitely not anything dangerous. But I am forty now, the dangers for me are legitimately scary. I am easily old enough for a heart attack or a stroke. I am hitting most of the risk factors pretty solidly.

So I was sitting in a hotel the other day getting used to live television and I ended up watching infomercials, specifically Tony Horton and the P90X system. I am always doubtful of infomercials, especially when it comes to my health; but this looked pretty straightforward. Plus I have a few friends who have successfully used the system, so I know it can be helpful. After a little online research I was pretty sure it could help for three reasons. First I already had the equipment I need to do the program at home. Second it seemed to integrate a lot of bases; strength, fitness, and flexibility. Third, and probably most important to me, it is highly structured and visual.

I also realize the results shown on the commercial are not really within my reach at this time given the amount of weight I want to lose, but I have seen enough evidence to feel confident that two rounds would be pretty dramatic, so a P180X so to speak. My goal for this first round of 90 days will be to lose 30-35 pounds, be able to keep pace with the videos (more on that later), and generally to be ready to get super intense for round two. I realize some might feel I should be “intense” from the get go, but trust me at 50 pounds overweight and generally not exercising (besides the bike) for the last two year I am more concerned about not injuring myself until the rust falls off.

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