I am a sporty, artsy outgoing Geek, born in Switzerland, have lived in Greece for 7 years and now moved to Norway with my wonderful Norwegian boyfriend.
Bringing it with Yoga X
It seems that P90X is still mostly considered a weight loss program by many. Before and after stories still get the most attention if you can see a huge drop in weight. I am honestly a bit annoyed about that fact. It reduces an amazing fitness program to the bare bones. Of course the weight loss is really important to a lot of people and I can understand that but on the other hand it really does sell the program short.
I myself was quite thin to start with but I admire everyone who does lose a big amount of weight with P90X. I am not sure if I had the willpower to push through if I didn’t have a certain amount of fitness to start with.
I am coming however from a different background. One which you don’t really hear about that much because you can’t really show it in before and after progress pictures:
Besides the fact that I was toning down, I mostly love P90X because it taught me a new lifestyle and gave me a huge boost in overall living quality. My knee pain I used to have during other workouts has been going back steadily to the point where I don’t have to worry about it any more. I am positive that this is mostly due to the Yoga workout and the fact that it does work on the muscles I normally don’t use. Funny enough, I always knew that not eating breakfast is a bad thing..a lot of things I DID know but I never really saw the difference it makes if you START doing all those things and the positive changes that come with it. It taught and showed me why you should do all those things you hear about but maybe never really decide to start doing.
It gave me control over my body back. Something I was seriously missing after my first Multiple Sclerosis Attack three years ago. Since then I have been in the hospital 4 times, had huge troubles with my balance and chronically felt tired and without energy. I constantly felt cold, overwhelmed, stressed and like I had cotton in my brain. Not to mention every move felt sluggish and delayed to me.
During these 90 days I have learned why Yoga is important, what resistance training does, the different type of muscles and fiber types, why drinking enough water is essential, how you eat healthy, that people get educated wrongly by reading magazines that tell you, you can lose your saddle-bags with specific exercises only (right..), why both cardio and strength training are important, how your body works during exercises and after and why sleep is indeed very important. That you shouldn’t freak out when you gain a bit of size as a girl when you first start out to exercise and how to properly work with my hyper-extended legs. Lots of additional things you hear daily but it just does make so much more sense if you actually experience it yourself. It’s just sad that despite my athletic background with competitive sports at younger age, it took me almost 35 years to realize and believe in all this knowledge. All this due to the program itself and the communication with people on these boards.
Since I started P90X I improved from being able to do 2 normal push-ups to 20 normal ones. I went from 0 pull-ups to 3 unassisted ones, I went from 0 seconds of crane to 20+ seconds, I went from not being able to put my fingertips to the floor during standing hamstring stretches to almost completely contracted, from not being able to touch my toes during seated hamstring stretches to needing a yoga block for additional range. From not being able to go through one whole set of moves in ARX to being able to do the whole routine with only a few pauses here and there.
More importantly, I went from being scared to walk down the stairs to not having to worry about it. From being overly tired and unmotivated to very energetic and adventurous to the point where everyone around me gets exhausted before I even consider stopping. From not being able to properly paint, back to accepting freelance commissions again. Or in short, I went from being a MS patient with several impairments that seriously hindered my day-to-day life to feeling the best I have ever felt before – including any time before my diagnosis.
I went for several runs recently while enjoying some vacation at my parents place including a 10km run I didn’t even know if I can make it through. I did, without problems and I went running out of my own initiative which never EVER happened before. Just thinking back to that makes me water up because I never thought I would feel that feeling of being in control over my body ever again.
My before and after pictures will never look as amazing as some others but people around me, friends and family can clearly see the progress I made and the changes I went through. That’s all that counts for me. (Except my tummy – I love my tummy definition and hope to further improve with my current Insanity journey 
)
WOW! Congrats! Im on my 30 days of Insanity, and Love it! Keep up the Good Work!
Hey Khristal
I visited your blog, looks like you are doing great with Insanity.
Right now I am in the recovery week (which oddly enough I find quite tough because of the slow movements. Faster ones are kind of easier :p).
I’ll be checking back once you upload your day 60 pictures.
Very cool! So awesome! My husband and I and our team do P90X and Insanity. They are great programs and have changed the lives of many – myself included. Great work and love your site! Love you for spreading the word of fitness. We all need to help make the world a healthier place to live…
Hey Elle, thanks for stopping by!
They sure are. I just read your blog and story and I love that there is someone else out there who doesn’t have the typical weight loss improvements but rather life changing improvements you can (sadly) not show as obviously. So, right back at you
Very inspiring!!!! I was diagnosed with MS last April right at the end of my first phase of P90x and I gave it up but decided in February that I wasn’t letting this disease get me either and I feel great. I just started insanity as well. LOVE YOU SITE AND IT IS NOW IN MY FAVORITES!!!!!
Tera, I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It’s important to keep your spirit up. After all it could have been something much worse (or lethal). It’s easier said then done but a positive mindset really works wonders
It’s great that you decided to start working out again and I personally really really think it’s of the greatest importance for us MS sufferers.
I found that working out has not only given me a goal but also increased my whole quality of life. My doctors are still totally surprised as to how well I am doing and are now firm believers that healthy eating and working out is of high benefit for patients like us.
I mentioned it somewhere but not sure if it was on a forum or here on my site: I love doing KenpoX particularly since I imagine I am punching and kicking the illness itself in the face and all the aggression or bottled up anger I have at the situation get turned into something positive.
I am off to do Back and Legs later today, almost done with my third week of my second round. I also ordered Asylum but I am not sure if it will be too hard. In any case, if something is too hard for us we can always modify and start were slow. There is no need to go crazy over-board from the start. Improvements will come automatically as long as we keep pushing play
Keep rocking!
[...] My story [...]
I am so glad I stumbled upon this site this morning! Very inspiring! I was told yesterday that I have MS, and that they have to do the brain MRI to find out what kind. The symptoms started when I was in my fourth week of Insanity, and they told me to stop. I did PT and nothing worked. So on to MRI world. I’m so glad to see that with this disease you’re able to do these workouts. I just want to get on with it, and get back to Insanity! Good for you!!!!
Brande
I am so sorry about the diagnosis Brande. It can be quite scary at first but rest assured it’s not a death sentence.
Until you know what your body can take I would be careful with working out. Stress of any kind CAN exaggerate symptoms and in extreme cases trigger a relapse. If the symptoms really started during working out then I would be double careful with starting again. I personally would probably begin with something lighter that includes Yoga and some light resistance training and only after you have recuperated from all the new information and whatever came with your new diagnosis.
Tascha, I was hoping things would turn out well for you and that you would find some help/cure/feeling better with the MS. I’ve loved your site; its taught me a multitude about digital art. If you visit my site, you’ll see what an influence your photography and digital work has been. I check in from time to time – only this time to see none of the artwork. I do see, however, a healthy, beautiful, and happy Tascha – for this I am so glad! Though I have to ask, while you are an extremist as I am and this is an understandable change of interest, have you hung up your Wacom tablet? Henning has some outstanding work but it is different from yours, obviously.
When can we see some more Tascha originals, even just personal work?
Thank you dearly for all your help and beautiful visuals over the years. May you continue to be blessed in your recovery. We love you, Tascha!
Best,
Tanya
Wow Tanya sorry, it seems I totally missed your post.
I am also doing some freelance illustrations currently (which I can’t talk about though). I also plan on finishing my current “Snow White” piece but I have some serious time managed issues at the moment. Still trying to settle in and get used to the different schedule and rhythm here.
First of all, I am about to get my portfolio back up
Thanks so much for the encouragement <3