P90x3 Challenge Kickoff

With the death of the Xbox Fitness Challenge and a New Year upon us, I’ve been searching for a new form of motivation to get in shape and eat healthy. I think I’ve found the next step: It’s time for the P90x3 challenge.

My wife had bought me the P90x3 DVDs a few years ago as a birthday gift. I had tried countless times to go through all 90 days, but always ended up quitting early for all the normal reasons: illness, injury, too busy. It’s time to give it another go in 2017. So why do I think things will be different this time around? Because I’ll be working out with other people. I’ve found a small (but mighty!) group of coworkers who are interested in going on this P90x3 journey with me. My hope is that we will all be able to hold each other accountable and motivate each other to show up. We’re already a week in. 6 days down, 84 to go.

The exercise part is fairly straightforward: Do the P90x3 program 6 days a week (1 rest day) for 90 days (although it’s probably unreasonable to expect not to miss any workouts). However, much like knowledge with G.I. Joe, exercise is only half the battle. The other half is nutrition, and this is where I plan to go the extra step. I’m hoping to cut back on desserts and replace most of the ones I do eat with Halo Top. Sugary drinks and alcohol are often a big source of empty calories, and so I will be working hard to limit myself to one sugary beverage a week and drinking alcohol less than once a week. Most importantly I plan to be even more strict in tracking (and attempting to hit) my nutritional goals using MyFitnessPal. I’ll be tracking my results every week to try to get as close to the following nutritional goals:

• Calories: 2,200
• Carbs: 45% of calories
• Protein: 25% of calories
• Fat: 30% of calories

As with the Xbox Fitness Challenge, here are my starting measurements:

• Weight: 192 lbs
• Body Fat: 20.3%
• Muscle Mass: 37.5%

I’ve taken a “before” picture, but it’s so embarrassing that I am holding off on publishing it until I have a favorable “after” picture to pair it with. Until then, you’ll have to content yourself with a picture from their promotional material of the type of transformation I’m hoping for.

See you in a month for the first check-in.

Paul Essen

Founder and Chief Discourse Officer at Rampant Discourse

Proud geek. Trekkie. Browncoat. Entil'Zha. First human spectre. Hokie. Black belt. Invests Foolishly. Loves games of all types and never has enough time to play as many as he wants. Libertarian who looks forward to the day he votes for a winning presidential candidate. Father to two beautiful daughters.