50 is the new......me!

Today is my 50th birthday, and I'm okay with that.  :) For some reason I thought turning 30 was hard, but now, looking back, it wasn't. Life changed for me at 30, I had my first child. My husband and I were "late" bloomers. When others already had two or three children, we were just starting our family. So, that has kept me "young", at least, young-at-heart. :)

However unintentionally, I've given myself a birthday present today. My birthday present started over the last year and four months- since April of 2011. My husband and I began a fitness program called P90X (and went on to complete P90X2, just 'cause we are crazy like that!). We both have changed, in a good way! And this change will help us hopefully be stronger as we grow older. This isn't a "plug" for any specific program, just a story about our journey.

Our son, Ethan, introduced us to P90X. His developmental therapist had showed it to us and had Ethan using it....as much as he could. So, we thought we would support Ethan with his new fitness routine and he could join us. He did for a few weeks, and then he had his accident.
 (It is a long post.  If you click to read it, just scroll down to the "Blessing" part!).

Although we had a billion excuses to stop, we didn't. We continued....without Ethan. (He started a new program this past month). We started for Ethan, but we continued for us. And, if you think about it, we really continued for both of our boys as well.

It was time we carved out of our day to spend together, it was good for our bodies and good for us mentally and emotionally too. And, honestly, I think we really just needed to relieve stress from our lives, and the physical changes were a bonus. So, in the evening, after dinner we workout. Not the best time, we are already tired from our day, but that is the only time we can be together. And, with only one night off a week, we push on.

It wasn't easy however. Lots of interruptions, until the boys understood that this was our time to workout. And, lots of soreness! Working out at our age after years of a sedentary (or semi-sedentary)  lifestyle wasn't easy. Plus, the things that crazy Tony Horton makes you do on those DVDs seemed completely impossible, but after a few weeks of trying,  it's not as impossible as you originally thought.

We've completed P90X three times and since January 2012 we've completed P90X2 twice. We are now doing a hybrid of both. Next, my husband wants to try another program called Insanity....and now, after a year and four months of working out beside him, I don't think he is that crazy to suggest it! :)

50 is just a number and I can do that in push-ups! :)

 If you would like to learn more about the programs we've done you can visit Michelle Sylvia (you may also know her from The Black Berry Briar-link on my sidebar).