Move It and/or Lose It

Surely, when they update definitions in the Oxford Dictionary, this one should be added:

Desk Job/faet' aess/ (n)

1. Work that involves long hours at a desk.
2. An involuntary method of adding flab and increasing one's BMI.

As I sit here typing this, I can grab my gut with one hand, squish it like kneaded dough, lift it off my thighs, and swing it around like Jeter at home plate.

Homer said it best: "Wu-HOO! Lookit that blubber fly!!" (that's a direct quote from The Iliad.) I've been in this uncomfortable place before, misquoting ancient Greeks and playing with my belly fat. The last time was 8 years ago, just before I decided to take action by joining a marathon training program...which resulted the gain of an additional ten pounds.

Yeeeaaaah.

Now, of course, I know better - it's a balance between food and activity, one dependent upon the other. And I know why every fitness and health magazine cover has at least one blaring-red tease touting flatter stomachs and faster weight loss: The real formula for having the body you want - you, individually - is unique, somewhat complex, and a real PITA to figure out.

There are some decent solutions you can throw at the yoga mat to see if they stick, and we've investigated some of them here. But if you're anything like me, you really, really get into it for a while and then after the 100th mile, the 150th salad or the millionth sit-up, you hit the wall. Suddenly, you want every future Sunday morning to be snuggles and lolling instead of heart rate and Clif shot.

I thought that was OK for a while, and enjoyed not measuring my life by zones and tempos. But it wasn't worth the trade - I grow older, and my fitness declines faster with each year. There's no pause button on this machine, you either keep it moving or lose the ability.

So here I am, starting over, as I said I would over the past months but took no action until now. A motivating desire for fitness is just another wall you have to hit. The wall that is sprayed with tags: "The longer you wait, the longer it takes;" "Aging = Stiffness" and "Nothing changes until you change your mind." It's not inspiration, it's reality. The wall says You Do Not Want To Be That Person.

I've been that person. I love my Sunday mornings. But my Saturday mornings are about miles, supplements, sweat and rediscovered joy.

P90X+ Kenpo Cardio Plus

I know I've mentioned before my love for Kenpo X. The punching, the kicking, the grunting... good stuff. I really do love it. So naturally it follows that once Big E and I came whimpering back out of the cave we've been hiding in ever since we tried (and failed) at P90X+ first attempted workout: Total Body Plus, Kenpo Cardio + seemed like a better first pick.

And it was: The workout was shorter than the Kenpo X (probably because Tony takes longer to explain the moves in the first one. In this one, he flips through them pretty quickly) but still action-packed with loads of fun kicking and punching. And this time, it comes with flashy new names, like The Gladiator and Spinning Swords. So much fun!

Overall, I don't feel that I was sweating as much as I was in Kenpo X, though I'm not sure why and part of me did wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I'm not in as good shape as I was when I last did Kenpo X, thus not quite as capable of pushing myself as hard. It could also be that having to understand new moves for the first time kept me from working out as hard.

Regardless, it's a keeper! I loved it and it'll definitely jump into my workout repertoire.