P90X Workout Update and How The Hell Did I Get a Hernia?

Eric and I finished our second full round of P90X last week and took our fit test on Saturday. We both had great results and I was super happy with my 2 1/2  pack that’s starting to show! We took Sunday off and I was all set to enjoy watching my beloved Pat’s squash the Jets….well you probably know how that turned out. So, I drowned my sorrows Sunday evening with a couple of my favorite Bud Light Limes and went to bed early.

Monday morning we embarked on day one of our 1st round of P90X+. The first workout was Upper Body Plus – wow! This workout hits every upper body part and each exercise is timed rather than counted for reps. The very first thing is “Double Double Dip’ll Do Ya”; you take two chairs facing each other with space for your body in between, then in plank with one hand on each chair, you do 2 push up, then swing your feet through and do 2 dips, then swing back for 2 push ups. You continue this craziness for 90 seconds. If you think that sounds easy – please – grab 2 chairs and give it a shot….then come back and continue reading. The rest of that 40 minute workout is equally as challenging, but we did it and felt pretty good about our first day. The next day brought Intervals – an insane 40 minutes of cardio where each move is done at 3 stages for one minute; 1st 20 seconds at low intensity, then medium for 20 seconds, then ALL OUT for the last 20 and then immediately on to the next move. It is a fun workout and it really gets your heart rate up. We felt so good, later that day we decided to add in a second workout. This time we did the brand new One on One Recovery & Stretch. Due to time constraints we only did about 35 minutes, but I highly recommend this as a supplement to any workout routine.

That night Eric had a show with his trio at a local bar (the 12 South Tap Room) and I was very excited to go listen to the music and see some friends. The show went great and the crowd really enjoyed the band. We got home around 1 AM and sat up for a little while talking before heading to bed.

Around 2:30 AM I woke up with a minor nagging pain in my groin/lower ab. I tried ignoring it for about a 1/2 hour, but I could tell it was getting worse. It wasn’t a constant pain, but a sharp pain that would last about a second or two, then stop, then come back several minutes later. I got up around 3 and almost immediately the pain starting getting unbearable. I asked Eric to get up and keep me company (which, of course, he did – he is the best). I tried just walking around, I tried Tylenol; but within about an hour we both realized that this was still getting worse and I was having trouble walking. Off to the emergency room we went.

The staff at the ER were just great, they got me in right away and I was in an exam room talking to a doctor within 15 minutes. At this point the pain was really bad and the doctor did an exam of the painful area. Immediately he said “I know exactly what is wrong”! Which was a huge relief to me, all I wanted to was to figure out what was going on and to get it fixed. He said you have an inguinal hernia. A hernia! How could that be? I’m in great shape, I’ve been working out religiously and none of my workouts cause any pain? Apparently this type of hernia is caused by a defect and I’ve had it for years. The problem is, it’s now worse and is going to require surgery 😥

I won’t go off on too big a rant about the state of our health care system; but…..if you don’t have insurance – don’t get sick. I’ve spent the last 3 days on the phone with hospitals, nurses, financial aid offices. People won’t even call me back when I ask for an appointment when they hear the words “no insurance”. I don’t take being told “no” very well, I get, what Eric calls “phone tone” and start insisting that someone do their job (I might have used some stronger terms that that, but that’s not important right now). Finally I got through to the right person and got them to listen to me. I now have an appointment with a surgeon in 5 days.

Unfortunately, I am still in pain off and on and, although it’s not as bad as the other night, I won’t be able to do any P90X workouts for a while. It also looks like once I have surgery I won’t be doing any exercise for several weeks. I’m really upset about this. I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am and I don’t want to lose any of this progress.

I’m going to continue to eat healthy, do whatever activity I can and hope that I can be back P90X+ soon. I’ll try to post some new recipes, if I can get myself to do some cooking. I’m the opposite of an emotional eater. When I’m stressed I have no appetite at all, I find it almost impossible to force down any food.  If it wasn’t for Shakeology, I wouldn’t have had any nutrition at all in the last couple of days!

Thanks for listening (whoever is out there listening 🙂 and I’ll keep you all posted! bon appétit!