Below is a embedded Google Document of my results so far, up until yesterday, January 24, 2010.

*** You can open the Google Spreadsheet by right clicking and opening up a new tab to see on a full screen.  To navigate, you can click on the tabs “Chest & Back”, “Plyometrics” etc to see the results for each workout.

As promised, here is my progress so far. I will be posting my results
on a daily basis after each workout.

A more detailed post on my nutrition plan, mindset and strategies
taken will be up in about a week’s time. I’ve decided
to ease up on the noise I’m creating on the Twitter and Facebook
channels. However, I’ll continue posting videos after each workout on
YouTube. I’ll post a video for Phase 1 once I get my new MacBook Pro
so I can integrate cool shit into my videos like pictures and music
etc.

For brevity’s sake, I already wrote notes under each areas of focus.
Keep in mind that Phase 1 comprised of only: Chest & Back,
Plyometrics, Shoulders & Arms, Yoga, Legs & Back and Kenpo. The other
pages are for Phase 2 & 3. As of writing this post, I’m hovering
around 149 – 150 pounds – down from 158 pounds.

I’m enjoying the process so far, and I’m definitely glad that I’m
heading into my recovery week. I damn well earned it! Phase 2.. here
I come BRING IT!

You can check out my YouTube Channel for the videos I’ve posted to this very day.

Just some thoughts after taking a little over a month off of P90X. Besides screaming like a little girl, my thoughts on it is that getting back into the swing of things to match the fitness level you’re at before is tough.. but all it takes is focus, discipline and well.. you’ve done it before already so it ain’t all that bad!

If you’ve followed through on at least Phase 1, and fallen off of the program remember that you at least built up the habit to take on the workouts consistently, so getting back into it should be challenging – not impossible. Just focus on one workout at a time rather than beating yourself up over not being able to follow through on all 3 phases of the program. It’s a huge commitment, but it’s worth it to stick it through till the end.

Since this is my third stab at the program without being able to do the entire 90 days, my key areas of focus are to stick to a diet using ingredients that are closely aligned with “Michi’s Nutrition Ladder” Guide that comes with P90X. In addition to that, I’ll watch my portions and eat until I’m not hungry, and not full as well as not eating 3 hours before I head to bed.

I noticed that having a nice flavoured rooibos tea while reading before I go to bed helps distract me from my hunger.

I also picked up my own copy of The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, where I’ve tried out some of the recipes found in the cookbook with some deliciously healthy results.

Besides that, I’ve been carefully scrutinizing everything I eat and I even cut back on my favourite food right now… tasty tasty burritos..

I’ll try and put some real work and mash together video of my progress so far (with effects and music) with Adobe Premiere Elements when I install it.

What are you doing to stay active nowadays?  Let me know!  Any recommendations on what I can take on after I finish P90X?

I recently did a bi-annual review of the “General State of Things” in my life and concluded (like the majority of people) that I wasn’t entirely happy with the way things are.

Perhaps it’s the high standards that I have set for myself and consciously decide to adhere to. In anything I’m highly interested where I choose to devote my time and energy, I dive into it and go as deep as possible. By my diving into a particular interest I may have (say public speaking), I aim for not only competency but mastery.

However, after doing my bi-annual review, I noticed a pattern that I caught on that went unnoticed for a while being my tendency to dabble to the point where I:

1) Completely burn out and never go back

2) Drop the interest for one reason (or excuse) or another

Some of the interests that I’ve picked up and amassed over over the years lay in the areas of: improvisational comedy, public speaking, salsa dancing, tea, running, P90X, blogging, philanthropy and meditation.

After picking up on this pattern, to say that I was extremely upset with myself would be an understatement. The reason for my being upset is that the standards were of my own choosing; where I consciously thought them through knowing that they’re challenging enough for me to grow and learn. I realized if I violate my own standards, it really is a blow to my own self-concept. Despite that I constantly stretch myself to reach that ideal equilibrium of practicing what I preach and following through with the promises I make to myself in taking on interests that I’m truly passionate.

After careful reflection, I’ve decided to pick up on the interests that I’ve left on the wayside over the last two years or so being: Public Speaking, Blogging, P90X (or any form of physical exercise) – these being more so lifelong interests that I want to continually hone and improve upon.

What I really aim for these while on the path of mastery are practicing the fundamentals consistently and aligning it with my purpose and long-term vision of who I want to become.

What are your thoughts on being an unconscious dabbler versus striving for mastery? Do you find yourself continually trying out new things and dropping them or do you align your interests with a long term vision for yourself?

Okay, so it’s been QUITE some time since I wrote my last Fitness Update, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been hitting the gym as often as I could.

I finished Phase 2 fresh off the heels of Phase 1, and to be honest, I didn’t really follow through with the “recovery” week. I did maybe Core Synergistics and Plyometrics just to stay consistent with the cardio portion of the program. I also indulged in an order of filthy/greasy wings and two pints of Keith’s to wash them down … I earned it!

Adding on to my previous Fitness Update, I bought some new equipment to increase the intensity and effectiveness of my workouts, tried a new cookbook and some supplements as well.

Equipment:

Nike Push up bars - I bought these at Sportchek in Eaton Centre for about $25 Canadian, which wasn’t too bad. They give you about 6 more inches of depth and can really add more definition to your arms, chest and back when you’re pumping out those military pushups

 
Nutrition:

One major addition to my diet was the “Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook” by Tosca Reno. This awesome cookbook is chalk full of healthy and guilty free recipes that break down the nutritional info for you, which might be helpful to some who are calorie-counters.

Nutrition Supplements:

MuscleTech NitroTech Hardcore - I was thinking of switching it up but decided to get the larger tub out of convenience. If any of you have recommendations that would be comparable to NitroTech, I’d appreciate it.

MuscleTech Cell-Tech Hardcore - Buying MuscleTech’s Cell-Tech was probably the worst of my decisions in terms of what supplements to experiment with.   The loading phase was the worst!  In fact, I couldn’t even get past it because of the chronic diarrhea and constant trips to the washroom.  Definitely not cool.

Vitamins – I picked these up to round out my diet and helping muscle recovery.

Apart from vitamins, I’m thinking about picking up some Glucosamine to help speed up muscle recovery, but I don’t know if it’s really that beneficial. (Anyone try or know??)

Thoughts on Phase 2:

If Phase 1 was for trimming the fat and becoming leaner, Phase 2 is where I noticed more definition and bulk. The workout components of Phase 2 were:

• Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
• Ab Ripper X
• Plyometrics
• Back & Biceps
• Yoga X
• Legs & Back
• Kenpo X

Each of these workouts weren’t entirely different from that of Phase 1, but different enough in order to take advantage of “Muscle Confusion” in order to keep you from reaching a plateau and staying there in order to spur muscle growth.

To be honest, I went a bit easy on myself here as I was starting up school so I needed to find a balance between the crazy 6 day workout schedule, working and studying, so I decided to cut out Yoga X and Kenpo X. If I was really pressed for time, I’d cut out Legs & Back as well, which could be an explanation why my legs and back weren’t a defined and my growth wasn’t as drastic compared to completing Phase 1.

I did the same for Phase 3 pretty much, but had to stop half way through this Phase to buckle down for exams.

After reflecting on my experiences with on my modified “P90X Lite” program, simply put, if you cut out some workouts if you’re pressed for time, you’ll STILL get results, but they won’t be as dramatic as you might have originally hoped.  Apart from leading a healthy lifestyle, I would have to say my confidence has definitely increased and my posture has definitely improved.  Also, I’ve noticed that my body language reflects these changes as well, whether conscious or unconscious. 

Now that I have the time, I’ve decided to give the entire P90X program another spin and start from the beginning, this time without skipping out on any workouts like Yoga X, Legs & Back and Kenpo X.  I”m excited to see what results I can yield and will take a pic after each of my workouts to keep track of my progress.  My progress pics are up to date as of this blog post.

Before I continue, I will selfishly say that I’m writing this for me and only me to keep me accountable for what I’m mapping out for myself over the next year.   This will be for me to reflect upon for years to come, so this is warning in advance that this will be a LONG post, but if you want to check out what’s happened in my life over the last year you’re more than welcome to take a peek. Oh yeah, read on for a major announcement as well

Now that I got that disclaimer out of the way,  I can boldly say that I’ve made leaps and bounds in my personal growth and understanding what I am truly capable of.    At the beginning of 2008, I was fresh off of Tony Robbin’s Personal Power II program and I wrote a post on New Year’s Resolutions versus Dedications, which entailed being conscious of the language that we use as an indication of our internal dialogue and what we say to ourselves, how we rationalize and justify our choices and opinions in whatever it is we’re facing in our life situations.

For the purposes of skimming, I’ve provided links to my year end reflections of my failures and successes this year.

YEAR END REFLECTIONS

FAILURES

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.’  - Napoleon Hill

There is a lot to be learned from failures no matter how painful, traumatizing or heart-breaking they may be.  To me, failure is to be unconscious of the invisible forces that lead us to failing in the first place. As long as you go about living your life with courage and consciously dissect your failures and break them down to find out what the major contributing factors were, there are major breakthroughs to be had when you make it a habit and perservere every single day in your life.

School

Second City Conservatory Program

Completing Toastmasters Competent Communicator Track

Reading 30 books on self-actualization

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.  – Thomas A. Edison

• Belief and respect in myself and others
• Being grateful for everything I have
• Implementing and refining better solutions to problems that arise in my life – constantly
• Nurturing my ‘inner world’  
• Celebrating all of my victories and the micro-distinctions I’ve made – no matter how small or seemingly insignificant

Running a Marathon

Journaling

Affirmations

Transforming for SickKids Initiative 2008

Blogging

Credit Card Debt

Sculpt My Body Like Bruce Lee’s & P90X

Moving In With My Girlfriend

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

Back on December 19, 2008, I wrote down all the things I wanted to turn into reality without judgment by December 31, 2009. I whittled all the “goals” I have for the year into seven different categories being:  

Health, Wealth, Relationships, Creativity, Career, Contribution and Exploring the World.

These are my New Year’s Goals for 2009:

Health:

• Run a Marathon in under 3 hrs 45 mins by Oct 31, 2009
• Complete P90X and P90X+ programs
• Allow only ONE day per month to consume alcohol (not including the preparation of meals like risotto)

Wealth:

• Plow through the remainder of my credit card debt and burn half way through my OSAP loan
• Make $200 per week in passive income

Creativity:

• Finish my Competent Communicator and Competent Leader tracks for Toastmasters
• Write on a consistent basis (4 times weekly) to become a better writer
• Read at least 26 books on anything (one book every two weeks)
• Finish improv classes at The Impatient Theatre Company

Relationships:

• Be an even BETTER boyfriend in 2009
• Devote more quality time to family
• Be the central hub to a fantastic group of friends (current and new)
• Appreciate as well as give and add value to all of my relationships in any form possible

Career:

• Finish up Accounting degree
• Get into CMA Accelerated Program for Sept 2009
• Get a new job

Contribution:

• Take my Transforming for SickKids Initiative to the next level

Exploring the World:

• Travel to at least 2 countries outside of North America

It’s a lengthy list and definitely challenging – but if I turn any of these Resolutions into reality, I’ve already won. That’s all! FINALLY eh??

I can’t wait to see how 2009 will stack up against an amazing 2008!

My parting words to those who have skimmed or read this entire post is to have a fantastic 2009 and may it eclipse 2008!

What are your resolutions?  In a year’s time, what kind of person do you envision yourself becoming?  Let me know in the comments

P90X Phase 1

So it’s been a little over a month and now I’m on my recovery week after finishing Phase 1 of the P90X program. If I were to sum up my past month in one sentence, it would be “You get what you put in”.

A common misconception is that “anyone” can do this program (especially with their slick infomercial) and come out with stellar results and a six-pack abs.

For those who are thinking of following through with their fitness goals and whipping themselves into shape without any prior physical activity or some sort of training the task might be more daunting than originally envisioned. It took me about 4 times before I built enough momentum after training for my half marathons – it really is mind over matter with this program.

Don’t get me wrong, P90X is a fantastic workout program, but only for those who are already in “okay” in shape where you can run 5 kilometres without passing out and doing at least 1 assisted pull-up, possess a “killer” never-give-up psychology, and backed enough with compelling reasons of why you want to follow through on this 90 day commitment to your fitness and health.

In order of importance here were the things that were the most important in the P90X program.

Nutrition: depending on your point of view – this would be the easiest or the hardest of the P90X program.

I realize when it comes to nutrition, you’re fully in control of what you eat and what you don’t eat.  In my case, I cut out 98% of my junk food intake, with the hardest obstacle being my craving for potato chips, which I eventually got under control after kicking that habit after training for my half marathons.

The P90X program suggests that break down the times you eat to 5 times a day – Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and then dinner, with the point being to keep your blood sugar levels at a consistent level so you’re not as tired and better manage your energy ups and downs throughout the day.

With respect to hydration, 90% of the time I drank filtered tap water, along with soy milk and the occasional glass of wine or beer with a meal.

As for the Recovery drink, I was a bit sketchy about these at first, but I eventually caved and bought a recovery drink myself through a recommendation of a close friend of mine. I ended up picking up a tub of MuscleTech “NitroTech” product in vanilla flavour from my local GNC, which is actually pretty tasty.

I’ve noticed a small amount of definition, even after using it for only two and a half weeks.

I can admit that I’m a bit neurotic when it comes to the food that I eat, but this is for the purposes of fulfilling this 90 day goal – I’ll reflect on whether or not I want to continue my obsessive vigilance of sticking to a healthy meal plan to the point I won’t even look at a donut… which is tough up here with Tim Hortons’s on every bloody corner of the city. Lol.

The Equipment: the most important things you should get are free weights and a pull-up bar. Luckily the facilities at the condo I live in has free weights in its gym so I didn’t have to spend any money, which leaves the pull up bar. I picked up a DoorGym pullup bar made by Forza Equipment from Fitness Source here in Toronto, which set me back about $50.

It’s a great piece of equipment that requires minimal assembly and hooks to your door very easily and in under 3 seconds.

The Workout Schedule: you’re hitting the gym 6 times a week with the last day being a rest day or for their “StretchX” program. The first week is always the toughest, and generally where most people give up. Like I said before, this is my forth try in trying out this program, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re thoroughly worn out after doing any one of his P90X routines. I reminded myself that it was okay, and I could always give it another try.

How I fit this program into my schedule was immediately after work I’d hit the gym with my pull-up bar in hand. I made it one of the priorities in terms of areas of my life and pen it into my trusty PocketMod.

Final Thoughts:

While it was definitely challenging and uphill climb at first, after you push past that first week, the second week a little bit easier, and the third being even easier and so and so forth.   Like I said, you get what you put in.

Like Tony Horton says in his videos (which can be a little annoying but hits the nail on the head),“You’ve got to BRING IT” to get the most out of the program and keep on pushing even further than you did before to get the maximum results.

So far I’m happy with the results, but I’m not complacent.   Onto Phase 2!

For those of you who are curious, here’s a photostream of my progress on Flickr

Although the amount I raised was 10% of what I had raised compared to last year, I am still VERY happy and satisfied with the results as well as my performances for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon as well as the Toronto Half Marathon in September and October respectively.  I feel I have planted the seeds for something much greater by the time the Transformers 2 movie hits theatres next year.

After some careful reflection on what made me follow through with my intention to run two half marathons, I found these to be the main reasons for picking up momentum that helped me build a solid foundation to reach my fitness goals:

Having Compelling Reasons:

Reasons come first, answers come second. My own reasons for doing this were to transform my Transforming for SickKids Initiative from a one-off phenomenon that was tied to the 2007 Transformers movie to something that was yearly in order to raise funds for my cause – the Hospital for SickKids.

In addition to that, I wanted to do it for my health and get rid of the beer gut I accumulated over the years as well. I wanted to prove to myself that I could follow through on my word, because to me – if you’re not a person of your word, you’re not a person of integrity – one of the virtues that I swore to live by at the beginning of 2008. Simply put, when you have enough reasons to want to do something, you’re more likely to follow through.

Signing up for a Running Room Clinic (or any other running clinic):

Since I first started to seriously pursue amateur running back in December 2007, I simply picked up an old pair of running shoes and some winter running gear and started running outside. Sounds simple and it worked – for a while.

Long story short, I ran to the point where I had chronic shin splints and started complaining to my friend who was training with the Team In Training (for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and suggested I sign up for a clinic because she could clearly see what I was doing wrong compared to what she was learning in her clinic. I took her advice into consideration and after a 2 month hiatus from running, I signed up for a Running Room clinic back in June 2008.

The clinic cost about $70 Canadian, but was worth every penny in terms of what they teach, the in person support they give as well as online. I had made new friends and colleagues, all of whom I highly respect for committing their time and energy to improve their health as well kicking ass while terrorizing the residents and motorists alike in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto

When you have a solid support network, one that won’t let you off the hook if you “skip” a running session, you’re bound to get all the encouragement and support in order to help you reach your fitness goals.

MapMyRun.com

I found MapMyRun.com to invaluable in helping me map out my runs and pretty much keep track of everything when it came to how many kilometers I ran per session, how many kilometers I put on my shoes, as well as having a great forum for runners from every corner of the world giving you the ability to connect with people who are experiencing the same problems you may encounter during running.

It’s great to have everything easily accessible on the web, as well as having their Training Log displaying all the runs you’ve put in during the month in a format that shows you how much progress you’ve made month-to-month.

The best thing about it is that it’s FREE!

Financial commitment

It’s human nature to value something which we’ve personally invested in otherwise we consciously or subconsciously perceive it as “low-value” or “low priority”. Let’s say you plunk down a wad of cash ($100 give or take), you’ll be more committed to following through and getting value for your money. On the other hand, if you get something for free or close to it, you’ll be less committed to it because it was something that was pretty much given to you.

With this basic understanding of human nature, I put my money where my mouth is and plunked down the cold hard cash to buy my running gear, bought a place in my Running Room Clinic as well as registering for two half marathons, that added up to a hefty amount of cash. All of which I was more than happy to pay for because I knew it would help lead me to accomplishing what I had set out to achieve.

Public accountability

Here, I took a page from Leo Babauta’s advice about making a statement on your blog (or in my case via Facebook as well) making your goals public to harness the power of positive public pressure. I did this for a few things (failed but learned a lot) as well as training for a half marathon to run it on behalf of the Hospital for SickKids – something that was very close to my heart where I would not back down on my words.

This did wonders with my weekly updates on Facebook (plus Twitter). I received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement from loved ones, friends and colleague in helping me follow through.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Four months in the making that helped me build a solid foundation for my fitness. I ran a respectable 1 hr 59 min 3 secs for my first half marathon on Sept 28, 2008 where I eclipsed my original goal of 2 hrs 15 mins and ran 1 hr 52 min 28 secs for the Toronto Half Marathon – the race that I had been training for all along and fell short of my goal of running it under 1 hr 50 min due to a mid-race washroom break.

Although my legs are sore as hell after running the race against the time I set for myself as well as for a cause beyond myself, I don’t regret the abuse I took on my legs and feet took.

These past few months I’ve spent in terms of running towards my fitness goals were nothing short of empowering. I’d like to thank my instructors Dave Emilio as well as Julie Petten in running a fantastic Half Marathon Clinic out of the Running Room by the Beaches. The lessons I’ve learned will definitely flow to other areas of my life as well as helping me raise the bar higher for my next set of fitness goals … my first Marathon as well as six-pack abs by next year’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon

You know the saying, “hindsight is 20/20”? Why not “foresight is 20/20”? I mean, of course we all can look back and say “Yes, I can clearly see that it happened, well.. because it happened!” and then reflect upon it. But why not use foresight or the use of a Compelling Vision in order to make sense of where we want to take our lives, reflect, measure and see what our progress is? That’s where to goals upwards to 20 years comes in with timelines attached.

So back to the title of this blog, what’s this talk about New Year’s Resolutions versus Dedications? What does Resolution mean exactly? What about Dedication? The definitions of both words according to Dictionary.com are:

Resolution

1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group
2. a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
3. the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
4. the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

Dedication.

1. complete and wholehearted fidelity
2. a ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purpose
3. a message that makes a pledge [syn: commitment]
4. a short message (as in a book or musical work or on a photograph) dedicating it to someone or something
5. the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; “his long commitment to public service”; “they felt no loyalty to a losing team”

From the two definitions you just read, which feels more powerful? Which definition would you attach yourself to if you were to make a New Year’s Resolution versus a New Year’s Dedication will ultimately lead you to following through reaching your resolution? The resolution is more so being aware of a problem that you want to “resolve” and figuring out a course of action that you would embark upon, and having a mental state of “firmness of purpose”. But nowhere does it say anything about holding yourself accountable or “binding yourself both intellectually and emotionally to a course of action”. So when you involve and commit yourself to a Dedication on different dimensions and relate it to your own life and how it will benefit you, with enough reasons you can find a way to do justice to your Dedication.

So those were my thoughts with respect to using a Compelling Vision to where we want to go. So on to my New Year’s Dedications!

• Complete my improv training at The Second City and get into their prestigious Conservatory Program.
• Finish a full-marathon
• Sculpt my body just like Bruce Lee’s
• Wipe out my credit card debt and start on my OSAP debt
• Get a job in my field and get into the CMA Accelerated Program in order to fill in the gaps of Accounting knowledge that I haven’t retained through years.
• Give Marvel Comics a chance (I’m a DC comics fan
• See my eligibility for enrolling in a part-time degree in Sociology at UofT
• Read at least 30 more books on self-actualization

Keep in mind that each and every one of these Dedications is something that I’m truly passionate about. From my understanding with past changes to my life, you MUST be passionate in order to keep on going at whatever it is you’ve dedicated yourself to and never have failure be an excuse to not follow through.

If you start using any of these ideas and concepts, you’re well on your way when you JUST DO IT! So this year, instead of making a New Year’s Resolution, make a New Year’s DEDICATION.