June 18, 2011--270(ish)-225

- Taken just before Christmas 2010.

Less than a month later, I weighed in at a whopping 300 pounds.

By the way, I'm the one on the right.

- Taken June 17, 2011. I currently weigh 225 pounds.

Early last Saturday--around 4:15 a.m.--I became a graduate of P90X. P90X is an intense at-home program that incorporates resistance training, cardiovascular development, and various stretching techniques to bring a more holistic approach to physical fitness. After 90 days of showing up even when I didn't exactly feel like it and giving it everything I had each and every time I pressed play, I am now in the best shape of my life.

I know a lot of people who have started P90X. I know very few who have completed the program. Those who stop usually do so for one of two reasons. Either (1) it is too hard or (2) they do not feel like they are seeing the results they had expected to see.

My response to the first objection is that it should be hard. Every time I would huff, puff, and have to push the pause button during the first month of the program I would remind myself that if I could do this all the way through right out of the box, it wouldn't be worth doing at all. Easy workouts benefit no one. Hard things get easier with persistence.

To the second, I had no response to offer until I started the final third of the workout. I didn't have any noticeable results to speak of until day 60 and following. But when the results came, they all seemed to come at once.

First of all, 45 pounds in 3 months is quite the result in my opinion. When I started, I was barely squeezing into a pair of 38x32 pants. I am now comfortably wearing a pair of 32x32s. Back in March, I was wearing a tight Big & Tall brand XXL shirt. I now wear a regular XL shirt from a regular store. I am stronger than I have ever been in my life, I am even more confident in my ability to meet and overcome difficult challenges, and I have a newfound respect for yoga!

I have already started a slightly modified P90X round 2. I am continuing on with the resistance workouts while replacing everything else with marathon training. I have my eyes set on the St. Jude marathon on December 3--a goal I plan to achieve a week before I complete round 3 of P90X.

What lofty goals are you setting for yourself these days? It is the only way out of your rut.