My fitness journey thus far...

Okay, where to start? Why not at the beginning.

I first started to get interested in fitness when I needed it the most. I was in the Navy and I topped 200lbs on the scale one day. I'm 5'10", so that doesn't seem like a particularly obese weight, but I was weak and I knew it. Most of the weight came from the fact that I was working on the mess decks at the time and was eating all the time and not really burning it off. I thought about my family history, which is full of fun things like high blood pressure and heart disease, and saw myself running down the same path. So I decided to follow my father's footsteps and start running. On a deployed Navy vessel, running is fun! So my formula was treadmill, usually 3 miles at a time, at least five days a week, usually more. During those five months, I dropped down to 175lbs and I was hooked on exercise.

After the deployment, I didn't have nearly as much time to run as during. We were in port San Diego and there were always things to do after work which didn't involve sweating (too much). As I started to slowly put weight back on, maybe to 180-185lbs, I decided I needed to fix my diet. So after some thorough research on the internet, I entered into the world of fad dieting and working out. I did most anything feasible: low carb, low calorie, low fat; all of it worked for awhile and then I usually broke down and started eating more. Probably the same as most people that diet. Next deployment came around, and I was more motivated than ever. I ran, I dieted and I did a bit of lifting in there as well. I reached my all-time low since I don't know when: 157lbs. And I still didn't have that six-pack that I had always wanted and dreamed of. Maybe my altruistic goal was to keep myself healthy, but my selfish motivation has always been that elusive six-pack. Anyway, I was in shape but I felt horrible. I wasn't eating well, and I'm certain that I was malnourished. So I rebounded again, up to around 170: still a good weight for me.

After deployment I wanted a balance. So I lifted a LOT, and ran a LOT, until the calories I was eating weren't nearly enough to cover my expenses. My body was in starvation mode and my performance was generally pretty bad. So I cut out weights. I began training for a marathon that I wanted to run in in San Diego in January. Let me tell you this: 12 miles on a treadmill is probably the worst thing I've ever done in my life. It came right down to the wire, and I got surge deployed less than a month before my marathon. Talk about a motivation killer. I was out of exercising for awhile, or at least, exercising with any purpose. I kept about the same weight and all that, and I slowly started doing less and less exercise.

I did a year of land-based (not on a ship) duty in Korea right before I got out, and, despite living next to a gym, almost never worked out. That was the shape I was in when I got out of the Navy. I'd guess around 180-185lbs, but not in particularly good shape. Certainly a far cry from where I was four years before, but still really no closer to the six-pack I craved. I went to college and became a cheerleader. Back then, I didn't need to be in good shape. As I became a better cheerleader, I began to get into better and better shape, mostly in the realm of weights and explosive activity. Now in my third year of cheer, I believe I am currently in the best shape of my life. The six-pack shows when I flex, and I know I just need to push myself over the edge to be in truly incredible physical condition. So I am taking it to the extreme with P90X.

I am two workouts into the X and I am still very excited about it. I am not as sore as I was expecting, honestly. But the soreness I have is the kind of lasting soreness that sticks around for four days or so; the kind of soreness that means your muscles are really effectively building and becoming stronger. Shoulders and Arms (I think) coming up in a few hours.

My thoughts on the program in general so far: Amazing. The diet portion is a bit tricky for me, as I am used to monitoring my net calorie intake but not really proportioning everything in terms of fat, carbs, and protein. Other than Atkins, obviously, but that wasn't a proportioning, it was an "avoid"ing. But I think I've done really well for the first few days anyway. Like many others have said, it gets hard to eat that much. But the hardest thing for me is, since things are split up, I don't usually eat until I'm full. I'm never really hungry, but neither am I full. So it's an odd feeling. But I feel plenty of energy in the workouts, and I guess that's what really matters. I already feel like I'm getting leaner, and I hope I can see it soon! Though I know that is a LOT to ask ;-) All I can do until then is to keep bringing it.

-Bryce