T25 reflection 2 weeks in: My biggest workout obstacle

T25 at the end of 25 minutes

Before T25

It was p90x - I really enjoyed the results I had with p90x, although I personally found it difficult to keep up with because the workouts were often too long and I didn't have as much motivation. Within the two weeks that I had kept up with the 90 day program I saw the biggest transformations: better energy, I lost inches off my waist line, toned out everywhere and I felt athletic - keeping up with the "strong guys" during team sports exercises like beach volleyball. It was liberating and empowering.





Why I stopped p90x - I fell off the p90x bandwagon pretty quickly, and it actually was not related to motivation. Three weeks into p90x I went to my family doc complaining of fatigue, sleeplessness, inability to concentrate in class. I actually found it harder to keep up with p90x with time, despite sticking with the regiment.

The diagnosis? Overtraining, "physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness" - Wk Bummer. I think a big contributing factor was that I didn't adjust my diet to fit with the new exercise regiment. So my body burntout pretty quickly.

Since then I've been dabbling in different exercise programs - Body Revolution by Jillian Michaels, hitting up my local gym, etc.

Low weight, higher BMI: 

One of the fitness trainers that I follow on Instagram posted progress pictures of before and after Shaun T's Focus T25 program. She talks about a term called "skinnyfat" where you may not be overweight; but you have a higher percentage of body fat.

Apart from the impressive "tonage" I saw on the progress pictures, I decided it was worth the try.

Leah is the same weight in both pictures.

Starting T25

When I first heard of T25 exercise program, I was intimidated. I was worried it was “too hard” to keep up with based on reviews I was reading online. The program is only 25 minutes long and has three phases: alpha, beta, and gamma; with each phase getting progressively harder.

First day was the hardest - When I started and completed “cardio”, the very first workout, I could not believe how heavy my limbs felt. It was frustrating to not be able to move my body at the speed and form the way that I wanted to. Now, I am into week two of the program and I just finished my 9th workout.  I can now get through cardio in a breeze.

The "physical" aspect of working out wasn't the hard part - The physical pains and aches are temporary. The biggest In the first week, every time I was trying to get myself to commit to a workout, I couldn’t believe the number of excuses or reasons why I shouldn’t workout came up. The most common excuse I made? “I don’t have enough time.”

So I decided to try something different. For the first time since I started working out at age 19, I decided to move my workout to my morning. Normally I spend 25 minutes just hitting the snooze button my alarm. This is no exaggeration, I actually snooze it 6-or 7 times before I wake up, which has been shown to actually enhance sleep inertia and leads to daytime sleepiness. There are also many successful entrepreneurs whose most productive time of the day is in the morning. I’ve adjusted to sleeping earlier so I can wake up earlier to do the workouts.

Week 1 & 2:

T25 workout schedule, I just finished Friday's Double Day" . I've blanked out the "stats". 

What positive changes have I noticed? By implementing this, my mood has improved, I’m actually getting MORE sleep because I make the conscious effort to do what I can to wake up early. I have more alertness and energy in the morning, my mood has improved and I have a more rigid routine.

Next Steps - The next thing I have to work on: diet. I have been eating my regular (unhealthy) diet while doing T25. I still feel that “salt/processed sugar” bloat, and admittedly am indulging in bad foods. A lot of this comes excuses like, “I don’t have time to make dinner”. Again, TIME.

Hopefully I can give an update in a few weeks.

 

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