Oh, she must be really really short.

5'2"

Because I can speak from experience. I was in great shape, until I ****ed up and got married. I am getting back into shape, but that doesn't negate the points I made in any fashion.

But let me answer the questions you say are fail:

1. why do people not stick with it? Because it's too much of a change, too fast and they are all gung-ho at first them burn out. A lot of people looking for a quck fix, in other words

2. People end up viewing those workouts a chore because of #1.

3. Being in shape or not has little to do with what are very easily made observations.

p90x works. the workouts are over an hour long from start to finish. If youre looking to get into great shape/lose weight and youre wife/gf wants to aswell. join a crossfit gym. Its kinda expensive but some people get insanely addicted to it. Its a great workout, always changing up the workouts and everyone is there to push each other so you always have a great workout. The workouts are also based on time so youre always challenging yourself to get a better time. Its great for people who want to lose fat. Read up about it it may interest you.
Or you could join a muay thai, boxing, bjj, mma academy if any are in your area. All heavy endurance based. Perfect activities to lose unwanted weight and also get better at a hobby/skill.
Sounds like you just want to lose some fat, just do anything high endurance based and try to eat clean. Diet is 80% of the battle.

If you're just doing it to gain cardio vascular health and get in overall better shape then absolutely it's enough if followed.

I used it the first time to help train for Tough Mudder and I found I needed to supplement some running, because P90 alone wasn't to prepare me for the running portion of TM.

Yes, I have used it. It takes a LOT of time. There are TWO workouts per day. One in the morning and evening. It's real easy to fall behind. The best way to do it is to do it in a group. That way you tend to push each other.
I'll tell you a program that is MUCH easier and gets results and is done by the same guy (Tony Horton). It's called 10 Minute Trainer. You can find it at www.10minuteresults.com. The key there is follow the diet and tripple up on the workouts. It works!

There are only two workouts a day if you choose to go with the doubles version, the classic version is just one workout per day.

ROFL More fail. 1. FAIL, 2. FAIL, 3. FAIL.

You are pulling these "easy observations" out of your ass. You don't know what you're talking about because you said you've never tried to follow a program like this. Your assumption that people "never stick with" it is simply wrong. I know a lot of people who completed this program multiple times and then moved on to other programs or activities. I've done it and several other people in this thread have stated that they've done it, too. Not everyone is looking for a "quick fix."

sexercise...

I'm in my 5th 90 day cycle. It's rough in the beginning but I'm down to 15% body fat and am carrying more muscle than I ever have. Not bad for a guy in his late forties. You won't lose much weight because you'll turn your fat into muscle. For me, it's been the fountain of youth. I'd recommend getting a partner to help keep you accountable.

Oh, one other thing. Start tracking your calories religiously. Use Fitday or Livestrong and set a goal. I try to keep it around 2,000/ day during the week and let it go for go for the weekends. I've lost 10 pounds between the two.

It's awesome, just like the Insanity series. But like all of them, it's not sustainable. I've seen people so well with it, have ti work as advertised, then 12 months later realize it's not something they can do forever. Where do they find those empty and large warehouses to do it in anyway? LOL, anyway, I think the slow and steady method works best for those who really plan to change their lives for the rest of their lives - although everybody has slips...

So have fun with it but plan from day-1 what you're going to be doing on day-370, because it probably won't be P90X or Insanity...

Given what you have said, I wouldn't start any type of program just yet. Start off by going on walks with your wife. It's a great way to get exercise and spend some quality time talking to each other without all of the day to day distractions.

From there, you can broach the subject of eating better. Just tell her that you want to lose weight and ask if the two of you can start planning healthier meals. There are two keys that I have found for eating better:

1. Plan out your meals in advance. Improvising meals NEVER ends up healthy. It always winds up being convenience food or eating out. Both are terrible for weight loss.

2. Don't buy junk food. It sounds obvious, but the easiest way to avoid eating crap is not to let it in your house in the first place. When you get bored and look through the pantry, then the fridge, back to the pantry (repeat 20 times) scavenging for food, the best thing you can find is nothing. It won't kill you. If you really want an awesome snack, eat a honeycrisp apple with a little peanut butter. That will scratch the sweet and salty itch without crushing your diet. Also, buy a bag of popcorn kernels and some brown paper lunch bags. You can pour the kernels in the bag, pop them in the microwave, and have perfect popcorn. Sprinkle on a little salt to kill your craving, and you're golden.

all great advice!

I really liked that myfitnesspal website.

and, honestly, I'm nto all that interested in strictly losing weight. If I can gain more muscle in the process and only drop 15 pounds then great.
I guess I'll be more interested in the size of my body rather than weight. I wear a 40-42 waist; so getting down to like a 32 would be awesome I suspect.

hopefully I explained that well enough. I've known people who base everything simply on weight loss; if that mean sacrificing muscle, they didn't care.

Right, that's why this country is the most obese on the planet. I know a lot of people who have completed "programs" or "diets" and 6 months later they are right back to where they are. What you are saying is doing nothing but proving my orgininal point is that it is a lifestyle change.

I never said people "never stick with it". Good for you and those who did this and moved onto other fitness activitives. You have embraced a lifestyle change which was my origninal point.