Week 4 Les Privelage

I spent the week in France nestled in one of the few major cities inside the Alps. Although I have been coming to this place for nearly a decade I never grow tired of snow peaked mountains, the coffee, the bread, and my favorite restaurant Les Privelage. It’s a stark contrast from the wide open spaces of the midwest and enjoy immersing myself into the culture and French way of life.

After nearly 24 hours of planes, trains, and automobiles I arrived about 7:00 Sunday night wary from the journey and ready to have a beer and a few thousand calories of du pain. Instead, I reluctantly pressed play on the Kenpo X that eluded me Friday and squeezed in ARX too. I struggled each step digging deep into energy reserves knowing that it would be a defining moment in my P90X journey. I wrapped up the night with a protein shake and the lo-cal oatmeal I had packed. It was perfect, and made certain to get in a quick prayer that night thanking God for strength that was clearly beyond my own.

The rest of the week was spent sleeping, working, and working out. Each day started with P90X breakfast and ended with running about 7 miles gazing into a majestic mountain landscape. I even skipped my ritual of eating at Les Privelage, which I have done on every visit since my first. They have the most amazing calzone in the world, but you have to ask for it "sons oeuf", or you will have a yolk filled surprise when you get half way (yes, in France it is common to have an egg in the middle of a pizza!).

With very little to eat beside my protein shakes and low-cal oatmeal I was well under my calorie targets each day, which explains why my pants became very loose by end of week. This helped me to wrap up my 30 day review with over 2 inches off my waist and roughly 12 to 15 lbs lost.

That leads me into this mornings phase 2 workout of chest, back, tri, or should I say try. What fun I had slamming each lift trying to “bring it” to the next level. That was until Tony went medieval asking for a round of applause in a pushup drill then acting like you only need one arm!! I am a right and left team player when it comes to push-ups! I am excited and anxious to get enough strength to master this workout.

The 30-day review is too short to become reflective about experiences and progress, other than I am here, pressing play, and seeing results. The biggest feat is that I am equally pumped to start Phase 2 as I was on day 1. That is the difference when you defy your comforts and make a defining decision to press play when you have a 1,000 reasons why it’s OK not to. This was a wonderful “God moment” and feel incredibly blessed knowing His strength is always there when mine has run out.