P90X + LEANGAINS (INTERMITTENT FASTING) RESULTS, THREE YEARS LATER



CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO BE BETTER

3 years ago I found P90X , LeanGains, and Intermittent Fasting and never looked back!

In early 2012 I decided I had had enough! I found myself nearly 100 pounds over my ideal weight with a shoulder and two knees that needed surgery (I had a completely torn right labrum and needed a lateral release on both knees). So, as you may or may not know, I traded in my gym membership for P90X and never looked back. Then 45 days into my first round of P90X a dear friend of mine introduced me to intermittent fasting and LeanGains…and my life changed forever.

For the last 3 years I have followed a modified LeanGains approach to intermittent fasting (eating from 3pm – 9pm and fasting from 9pm – 3pm the next day) while training every single morning at home with Mr. Tony Horton. And, though the initial 90-days started it all, the last 3 years have seen nothing but incremental gains in mass, health, and strength. I never had my surgeries (and as a matter of fact tore my left bicep tendon a few months ago…and was back at it 4 days later) because I decided to try physical training and exercise instead…and it worked!

These last 3 years have had their ups and downs but I’ve managed to make fitness an everyday part of my, and now my wife’s, life.

Yeah, sometimes it’s tough to make it happen, but if you can make it happen more often than not, exercise will do nothing but make you better from head to toe.

3 YEARS – COMMITTED, MOTIVATED, ON TRACK

As I approach my 3 year mark since finding P90X and Leangains, I find myself writing more and more about the tips and tricks we can all use when trying to stay committed to exercise, fitness, and overall health because, whether or not you actually believe it, even I find myself, from time to time, in a “is exercise really worth it” type of mood. So, as I approach my lifestyle-change-3-year anniversary, I find myself looking, yet again, for a bit more motivation than I had last year to stay on track.

As you might have recently read, I workout at least 5 days a week because I am committed to exercise (i.e., exercise is an actual daily habit of mine), not necessarily because I love to exercise and/or because I am motivated to work out, and at the start of this year, I realized, as evident in the photos in this post, that I had taken a bit of an advantage of my winter “bulking” phase.

So, at the start of this year I found myself a bit unmotivated and unhappy with myself. But it was okay! You see, I saw myself in the mirror and just thought to myself in a calm relaxing voice, “I will just hop back on the ‘cutting’ train and get back into shape over the next few months.” Well, the next few months turned into the next few weeks – the next 3 weeks to be exact…and I found myself needing a new form of motivation to keep me going.

MOTIVATIONS, PARTNERS, OR GOALS

MOTIVATION:

On January 4th of this year I started the 21 Day Fix / X3 doubles in hopes of getting back into shape over the coming 3 months but, at the end of the 21 Days, when I found that I had gotten into “shape” in just 21 Days, I found myself a bit at a loss as to what I was going to do next. I mean hell, the last two years it had taken me 3 full months to “cut” from my “bulking off season.”

In other words, at the start of this year I found my motivation and as soon as I had found it (i.e., get in shape over the next few months) I almost immediately (21 days later) needed a new motivation…a new goal if you will.

PARTNERS:

Luckily for me, Niña was there to provide the motivation I needed for the next 21 Days. You see, she had started the 21 Day Fix with me and wanted to do another round. AWESOME! Niña wanted me to be her workout partner and that was enough to keep me going. You see, if you can’t get motivated for yourself try getting motivated for other people…and if you can’t get motivated for other people to succeed then I hope you have enough self respect to be accountable to show up if your exercise partner is doing the same for you.

So, we did another round of the 21 Day Fix (without the 21 Day Fix eating plan) and at the end of it all, I found Jaclyn was finally committed and motivated to exercise…BUT I found myself simply going through the motions as they say.

GOALS:

I mean, yeah I was still working out…and working out hard….hell, I had a partner I needed to support! And, though I was hitting my doubles every day, I felt very unmotivated…that is until I found my new motivation – a new goal.

GOALS OR CHALLENGES – CHALLENGES!

Right as I found myself a bit lackluster in the motivation department Niña came across my next challenge – The 21 Day Fix Extreme program…and, for the sake of full disclosure, throw the word “Extreme” into the title of any workout regimen and I get a bit excited…so I decided we’d give it a go…I mean, I had seen great results with my 21 Day Fix / X3 hybrids…why not give the Extreme version a try? And, more importantly, since my workout partner was down for the challenge so was I.

So, going into the 21 Day Fix Extreme program we really had no goals set. Instead of goals we had decided to challenge ourselves to finish the program…and challenging yourself to do something can be, as long as you stick to the challenge, just as good as having a set goal…if not better!

Challenging yourself can provide even more motivation than a goal because if you don’t succeed at a challenge there is a lot less baggage than if you don’t reach your goal.

Think about it for a minute. If we fail at reaching your goal we get down and depressed…

….BUT IF WE FAIL AT OUR OWN PERSONAL CHALLENGE WE JUST GET A BIT PISSED OFF AND GIVE IT ANOTHER GO!

Now, to be perfectly honest, when starting 21 Day Fix Extreme I was in pretty good shape and close to my target body fat percentage from finishint the original 21 Day Fix and P90X3 doubles. So, I personally challenged myself not only to be able to do all the “extreme” exercises by the end of the 21 days, but to also gain a bit of mass and definition…and this was all the motivation I was lacking!

My new personal challenge of gaining mass and definition had me engaged from day one because, to gain mass and definition, not only would I need to learn the new moves while trying to keep up with the new routines’ pace but I would also have to focus more on my eating plan and up my weights.

This meant that for the next 21 Days I’d actually be engaged and excited to exercise again!

CHALLENGES MAKE CHANGES

So, for the next 21 Days I focused on getting enough calories, working out harder than ever, and staying motivated and focused on meeting my challenge.

“Did you do it?”

Short answer, NOPE! BUT THAT’S OKAY!

“Why is that okay?”

Well because I went in for round two and failed again!

“Really…you failed again…guess you stopped after that right?”

NOPE!

I went in for a third round and BOOM – it happened!

I was able to complete all 3 weeks with no exercise modifications and finally gained noticeable bit mass and definition. Yeah, I changed Autumn’s eating plan a bit, added a bit more protein and played with my eating times, but that’s okay because fitness is not a one-size-fits all deal. Fitness is about taking what works for most all of us and making it work for you. So, if you have to adjust or modify a workout, then do it! If you have to adjust or modify an eating plan then do it! Do what you have to do to make it work for you….

…AS LONG AS YOU GIVE 101% everyday fitness will change your life!

THAT 1% IS ALL YOU NEED!

No matter what others might tell you, what I have learned over the last 3 years is that fitness is about challenging yourself to be just 1% better than you were yesterday…because if you can be 1% better each and every day you’ll be 364% better by year’s end!