I created this blog to chronicle my progress on the P90X fitness program. If my experience helps you out that is great but like most things I do I have selfish reasons. I figure if I blog my progress here and distribute this to various people then I am less likely to cheat or not complete the program. Since I did P90X this has evolved into more of a general fitness blog but may still be useful to some. The P90X stuff is still here but lately I am doing crossfit.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Out with the old and in with the new
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Day 81, Back and Biceps
Day 80 again
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day 79, second time
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Rewind
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Day 80, Last Plyo Workout :(
Monday, December 21, 2009
Days 78 & 79
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Day 77
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Day 76
Friday, December 18, 2009
Day 75
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day 74
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Day 73
Monday, December 14, 2009
Day 71, and 72
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Day 70, Kenpo
Friday, December 11, 2009
Day 68 and 69
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Day 67, Back and Biceps
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 66, Plyometrics
Monday, December 7, 2009
Days 63, 64, and 65
Friday, December 4, 2009
Day 62, Legs and Back
Day 61, Yoga X
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Day 60, Shoulders and Arms
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Day 59, Plyometrics
My wife talked to a couple of people yesterday who are considering trying out the program which is pretty exciting. I am not sure if it has anything to do with us doing it but I am excited to see others try it out and interested to hear what they think as they go through. Looking forward to taking pictures and measurements for day 60 tomorrow.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Day 58, Chest and Back
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Day 57, X Stretch
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Day 56, Yoga X
Friday, November 27, 2009
Day 55, Core Synergistics
Sent most of the leftover food home with others last night so we don't have too much junk here but we did somehow end up with all the pies. We have an apple and a pumpkin. I had a very tiny piece of the pumpkin last night and it was damn good, Sarah can really make a pie. I think Sarah had some of each which is good considering she spent all that time making them. Need to figure out someone to have over to eat the pies soon. Looking forward to a long weekend with nothing to do, should be relaxing.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Day 54, X Stretch
Did X Stretch this morning while some food is cooking in the oven, we are having everyone over here for thanksgiving. It felt good to stretch but I was a little tight especially in the lower back. By the end of the hour everything was loose again though. I can't believe how long it had been since we did this workout, we need to try to start fitting it in again on Sundays. Have a good holiday everyone and remember portion control.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Day 53, Kenpo X
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Days 51 and 52
This morning we got up at 5:30 and did core Synergistics. This is the first time in a while we have worked out in the morning and it felt good to do it. We have had schedule issues that have forced us to do the workouts at night for a while and I forgot how good it feels to get up and workout first thing in the morning, except Yoga. This workout went by pretty fast and I got to sweating pretty good. I lightened up the weights on a few of the lunges because I am still pretty sore in my left groin for whatever reason. I hope that gets better this week.
Nutrition is back on track after the several days of not eating much but man did I drop some weight. I weighed in again this morning and was 150.8. I was able to tell I had lost some more weight just by looking in the mirror because my stomach is shaped a little different and you can really see the muscles in there moving when I move around. Kenpo X tomorrow should be fun.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Day 50 rewind
Yoga was pretty good and I felt surprisingly strong considering I hardly ate for the last 4 days. I even made it through most of the ridiculous half moon sequence, yeah most I still did not get it all the way. For whatever reason my left groin muscle is pretty sore even though I have bee doing nothing for the better part of a week, hmmm??? That soreness and a few of the stretches a little tough but all in all it was a good workout. I was able to get myself mostly back into the nutrition plan today although I was still probably a little light on calories but that should change as the week goes on. Speaking of calories I weighed myself this morning and was a whopping 150.6, wow. It is incredible how quickly you can lose a few pounds when you are not eating much at all. I will probably try to do X Stretch tomorrow night while the wife is out and then we get up Tues. morning to do Core Synergistics again for day 51.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Day 50, Yoga X
As if people need another excuse
The article says at one point "First, the federal government told Americans to exercise for half an hour a day. Then, dietary guidelines issued in 2005 changed the advice, recommending 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise a day. There was an uproar; many said the goal was unrealistic for Americans. But for many scientists, the more pertinent question was whether such an exercise program would really help people lose weight." Well if you are not willing to put the work into losing the weight then you are not going to lose the weight. We were not designed to sit in front of a computer all day and then come home and sit in front of the TV and when we do we get fat. We evolved as hunter gatherers who did a large amount of "exercising" every single day, much more that 60-90 minutes most likely. As far as will this exercise do the trick, not if you keep eating the crap you always do. You can't just go to McDonald's every day and workout and expect that you are going to lose weight. If it wasn't once alive or you can't pronounce any of the ingredients on the package you probably should not eat it more than once a month or so. Better yet, real food does not need an ingredients list.
They then go on to say "Scientists now believe that each individual has a genetically determined weight range spanning perhaps 30 pounds. Those who force their weight below nature’s preassigned levels become hungrier and eat more; several studies also show that their metabolisms slow in a variety of ways as the body tries to conserve energy and regain weight. People trying to exceed their weight range face the opposite situation: eating becomes unappealing, and their metabolisms shift into high gear." Give me a break! By this logic all the morbidly obese people out there must be genetically designed to be at that weight, I think not. If they weren't then as stated their food would become unappealing and they would simply lose weight with no effort so it must be correct. How convenient that is for the person that wants an excuse to not get up off their fat lazy ass and work hard at their diet and exercise. I will again go back to our evolution as hunter gatherers, if you were that overweight in that environment you are very unlikely to last very long. Toady we don't have to worry much about predators but in the past that was not the case and if you were too fat to run away you would not last too long.
Finally, it is suggested that "According to several animal studies, conditions during pregnancy, including the mother’s diet, may determine how fat the offspring are as adults. Human studies have shown that women who eat little in pregnancy, surprisingly, more often have children who grow into fat adults. More than a dozen studies have found that children are more likely to be fat if their mothers smoke during pregnancy." Really, is this so surprising as suggested. Is it not reasonable to think that a woman who eats little or smokes during pregnancy may be more likely than others to not have as much concern for her overall health and perhaps she does not teach her children proper eating habits over the course of their childhood. I am not saying this is the case or that eating little during pregnancy or smoking during pregnancy makes you a bad mother but I am saying that there is no cause and effect relationship that one can draw from the results of a study like this. There could just as easily be some totally unrelated or maybe related factor or factors involved. This is another case of giving people a way to deny personal responsibility. No matter what your parents or society does you are always still free to make your own choices so don't blame your weight or any of your other problems for that matter on someone else. Step up and take some personal responsibility and work hard. Unfortunately too many people want an easy fix, a pill, that will just make all their problems go away.
I know some people might take offense at some of what I have to say here. I suspect most people reading a P90X blog will be OK with it but who knows. This is largely my opinion but is based on my personal experience with gaining weight as well as my observations of others and the large amount of reading I have done over the past year trying to figure out how to lose weight. If it offends you then perhaps you are one of the people I am talking about and maybe you should think about what I am saying.
Days 48 and 49
Sunday we went to the football game and did some tailgating again. Stuck to the nutrition again even at the game. We did not do X stretch because by the time the football game was over I had a hockey game to go to. That was a decent workout and got me sweating pretty good. I am looking forward to being able to do the X stretch routine this wek during recovery since we have not done it in several weeks due to scheduling things on the off day. Can't wait for Yoga tonight.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Day 47, Legs and Back
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Chicken Salad Tip
chicken
almonds
grapes
celery
curry powder
may
yogurt
Adjust it if you want an go all the way with either low/no fat may or yogurt. It is delicious stuff, the curry powder gives you a little kick the grapes some sweetness and the the almonds and celery give you that crunch.
Day 46, Yoga X
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Day 45, Half Way There
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Day 44, Kicked Some Ass on Plyo Today
Keep pushing, it is only a little pain
Day 43
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Day 42, Switching Things Up
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Day 41 , Kenpo X
Nutrition is still going good and I have not been hungry at all. I did have a weird situation the other day though, I went to lunch with someone and I did not have the opportunity to pick the place. I ordered a grilled chicken with potatoes and green beans. When it came the beans were drenched in butter and the potatoes were very greasy as well. I ate the beans but could not force down the potatoes and I felt kinda bad after eating all that butter. My taste buds have without a doubt changed over the last 41 days and I think that is probably good. I have done some reading about changing your eating habits to lose your sweet tooth and it seems there may be something to that and it might not really take that long. I may blog about some of my reading on that some time soon if I can find the time to write it.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Day 40, Nice Round Number
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Day 39
Day 38
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Great Recipe, Easy Too
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple chunks
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
4 lime wedges
Combine pineapple and next 5 ingredients (through jalapeño) in a large bowl, stirring gently. Serve pineapple mixture with fish. Garnish with lime wedges.
Calories: 228 (22% from fat)
Fat: 5.5g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein: 34.9g
Carbohydrate: 11.2g
Fiber: 1.5g
Cholesterol: 85mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 328mg
Calcium: 29mg
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Day 37
Monday, November 2, 2009
Day 36
Day 35
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Day 34, Kempo X
I also weighed in again today and tipped the scales at a whopping 154.4 down from my 155.2 on day 30. I am really not trying to lose weight anymore but am still sort of using the weigh in along with how I look and feel to help me gauge what kind of progress I am making. It should be fun to see what weight I end up at by the end of the 90 days though. I am still feeling a little hungry on the phase 2 nutrition plan and am considering adding an extra snack to my day at some point in the evening but have not yet decided for sure.
Friday, October 30, 2009
30 Day Pictures
No Cool Down Required Thank You
Days 32 and 33
So this morning was Legs and Back. My biceps and back are still sore from Wed and that made the back work a little tough. I actually lost a couple of reps on some of the pull ups the second time around but I did add some weight to most of the weighted leg exercises and I felt like I got a pretty good workout. There are 2 drawbacks to the fact that we are doing Yoga at night now. First we have a late workout Thursday and then have to get up at 5:30 to do legs and back. Second, we do Yoga belly 7 at night and then Ab Ripper X in the morning. I did notice that I am not as good at the Ab Ripper workout on Friday as I am the other days and I assume that is because of the ab workout the night before. I still think this is the way to go as far as Yoga is concerned because I was hating it the other way.
The nutrition is still going well but it is strange to be eating as much carbs as I am. I am still a little hungry but I think the early hunger I had with the phase 2 plan was more just getting used to it. I like the phase 2 workouts so far and I think I am going to see some good gains from it over the next couple of weeks. Sarah is looking in great shape now and also getting better and better at all the workouts. for those of you that get the email version of this yesterdays post had a video embedded and it looks like it did not get sent with the email, at least not to Sarah. I am not sure what will happen with the pictures but I assume the same.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thank You Dreya!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Day 31, Back and Biceps
On another note my legs are sore from the Plyo workout so I guess the fact that it felt easier did not mean much. It is good to feel sore from it because I don't think I did feel to sore the last time I did it. My triceps and shoulders are also sore from Monday but my chest never got sore, guess I will need to make sure to push it harder next week. Looking forward to Yoga tomorrow, imagine that me looking forward to Yoga.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My thoughts after 30 days, and pictures
As far as the program itself goes I am very happy so far. The workouts are interesting and change often enough to keep my interest, I am even starting to enjoy Yoga. The nutrition plan was a little difficult at first but as I said before the more I see the results the more I want to stick to it. I have not cheated at all yet and I don't plan to even though we will be doing this through the holidays. I initially did have cravings for things I shouldn't eat, like sweets, but that has mostly gone away now and I am pretty used to the nutrition plan and it is just common sense. I have no problems now with going out to eat with someone who is eating not so healthy or with being someplace where there is free pizza or something which early on was a little more of a struggle, I don't even want to eat that any more. I was recently at a full breakfast with a bunch of people from work and there were piles of bacon and sausage and eggs and the works. I just waited a few minutes and watched and eventually a huge fat guy went up and started piling eggs and bacon on his plate and that was all I needed to see to be turned off to it, I had oatmeal and a cup of black coffee, motivation for me in this case came in a huge disgusting gelatinous package. This wait for a fat ass to show up technique to staying on track is great because you can practice it any place in this country without having to wait long to be grossed out by some jaba the hut looking slob stuffing their face and usually washing it down with a diet coke, as if that is going to help anything. I really don't think I am going to have any problems maintaining the healthy eating habits once the program is over either, it is amazing how much better you can feel simply by eating the right things. I will not stick as strictly to the eating plan as I am during the 90 days but as I mentioned I don't even want to eat junk at all and when I see some greasy pile of crap that I used to eat it almost makes me sick to think about trying to gag it down. One thing I am noticing this week is that I seem to be more hungry now that I have started phase 2. This seems a little strange to me given that I have added some more carbs but it has also only been a couple of days. I am going to keep an eye on that for the rest of the week and see how it goes. Not sure what I will do if it continues but we will see, any other P90Xers out there have this happen to them and if so what did you do?
Another nice benefit for me has been the smoking thing. I mentioned in my first post on why I was doing this that I had "mostly quit smoking. Well I had quit on January 2nd of this year with the help of Chantix (I highly recommend it to anyone by the way), this was again largely motivated by a desire to get back in shape and more importantly not have my kids see me smoking. Up until starting P90X I had quit except for when hanging out drinking beers with my team after ice hockey games and since starting I have not done that either. My current thought is that if I can go the 90 days of this program without smoking at all I should be off that habit for good. I really don't want to do it at all now that I am eating right and exercising this hard every day, this is similar to the food I just don't want to put that crap in my body any more and I can't believe I ever did.
Finally it has been nice that Sarah and I have done this together. This has been something that we needed I think, to do something together other than sit on the sofa and watch TV. It is hard to do things together with young kids other than things with the kids and this has been helpful in that regard I think. I think it has also made us much less lazy in general if for no other reason than we need to get off our asses and get things done so we can be in bed in time to be up at 5:30 every morning. We now do grocery shopping together some which did not happen much before, as well as meal planning and preparation. This may not seem like much but I think it is good for us in general not to mention we both look and feel better than we used to.
I have recently found a few blogs that appear to be critical of the P90X program claims at success and try to discount some of the things it claims it is doing (i.e. muscle confusion) such as this blog. Well this guy may have all the science down and the facts on his side as far as the latest research goes but all I can say is this program is working for me and my wife and as far as I can tell it is working for a lot of other people as well. When I say it is working I mean we are getting in better shape and eating healthier, spending more quality time together, getting more done around the house, and setting a reasonably good example for our kids. So I don't really care about your science or your studies or if muscle confusion is bullshit, all I know is we are getting a lot out of the program and we are being motivated by it to make some positive changes and that is really all that matters. I have also started thinking about what comes next after this 90 days and I have some thoughts but nothing solid yet. I will post more on that as I come closer to the end.
I still need to put pics at the 30 day mark up and I will try to get that done tonight.
Day 30, Plyometrics
Chest 38" down to 36" on my chest, presumably from the lost subcutaneous back fat.
Waist 35.5" down to 33.5"
I gained roughly an inch in each leg and less than a 1/4 inch in each arm. I took pictures as well and will post them tonight after I get home, I have not really looked at them yet. Sarah is seeing similar results although I have to say I think she looked significantly more muscular when I took her pictures today than she did when I took the day 1 pictures. I am a little scared she is going to kick my ass, better watch myself.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Day 29 - Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
We also had Ab ripper X this morning and both Sarah and I saw some big improvement here following the recovery week. This is still a crazy hard set of exercises but we both were able to do more reps on pretty much everything and Sarah was able to do a couple of exercises she could not do before the recovery week. My core is so much stronger now than when I started this program it is amazing. This is great for me because with my back issues I really want to concentrate on getting that core as strong as possible and it is working.
I am finally feeling better after the flu or whatever last week, figures I would feel better just in time to go back to work. I also got a suggestion from a friend that after this program is over I might want to try the LB4444 workout or some such shit so I checked it out but as far as I can tell it is a scam and does not work, best I can tell it turns you into a whinny little bitch and you start rooting for crappy NY sports teams and worse yet you start taping your hockey sticks with 15 rolls of tape for some unknown reason as if that is going to make you any better (for those of you that don't know Lenny this is not a real workout so don't go looking for it I am just giving someone a hard time).
Day 28
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Days 26 and 27
We drove home today and did Yoga tonight, day 27. I am steadily getting better and better at the Yoga workout and getting a lot more out of it because of that. I am actually starting to enjoy it some, it is relaxing. Don't get me wrong though it is hard as hell and I sweat like a whore in church but it feels good. We stuck to the nutrition plan all the way through the vacation and it was really no big deal. We ate out a couple times and had no problems getting the right kinds of food. I start the phase 2 nutrition plan Sunday, one less serving of protein and veggies and 2 more servings of carbs a day. This should be a more normal diet for me and a little easier to maintain long term. Looking forward to some new workouts this week to start out phase 2 of the exercise program as well, should be fun.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Day 25
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Day 24
Days 21, 22, and 23
We got in Saturday afternoon and just relaxed until bedtime. In the middle of the night I woke up with a 101-102 fever so Sunday we skipped X Stretch. I did forget to mention that I weighed myself again on Saturday and was down to 157 even so still seeing changes. I do think I am gaining muscle mass though so there really won't be a lot more weight loss I don't think. I look a lot different though and my waist is smaller for sure, more on that later.
Monday I was still felling pretty under the weather and was taking theraflu all day. We did do Yoga though Monday night and it felt really good to sweat like crazy. I felt like I was sweating a bunch of the trash out during that workout and felt a lot better after we finished.
Tuesday I was still feeling tired and a little sick. We went to a surf shop to get me a new swim suit because my old one didn't fit any more. I tried on a 32" waist and it was a little lose so I tried the 30" and they were a tiny bit tight but I went with them because I think they will fit perfect soon and they look good now. We did Core Synergystics Tuesday night and spent some time on each exercise trying to figure out what we were doing since this is a new workout. This is a tough core workout but it flies by because you are constantly doing something. It seemed like it was over right after it started. I think we will get a little better workout next time we do it this week because we will know what to expect.
I am still felling a little sick now and have lost my voice, great vacation, but looking forward to kempo tonight.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Day 20
Well we are off to VA beach for vacation, I have my laptop and will try to keep you posted here with how we are doing. Looking forward to the recovery week and then some new workouts.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Days 17, 18, and 19
Thursday night we did Yoga X and I have to say this is my one exception to the not liking the night time workout. The previous times we had done this the kids woke up before we finished and it made it very hard to relax an concentrate which apparently is real important with Yoga. This time I was able to concentrate fully and really get into it and I have to say I think I got a lot out of it and liked it more than before. I think we may do this one at night all the time from now on. The other good thing about doing this at night is that I was very relaxed when it was time to go to bed, of course Sofia woke up for a good long while screaming during the night but nothing is perfect and it was harder on Sarah for sure than me.
This morning we did the legs and back workout again and it felt pretty good. I think both Sarah and I are obviously getting stronger and seeing changes in what we can do in the routines. Abs was the same tough workout as always, as tony says "Ab Ripper X I hate it, but I love it." we switched back to the morning because we are leaving for vacation tomorrow morning so we want to get up and do kempo early. It was not too bad doing Yoga at night and legs and back in the morning, I would not recommend doing the day one workout at night followed by plyometrics in the morning.
We are sticking closely to the nutrition plan and it is working out pretty well. I think Sarah is happy to have me a little more involved in the meal planning and prep as well. I also think that our kids are getting a little bit better diet than they were before although it was not terrible before. We are making sure they get more carbs than the phase 1 diet allows.
On vacation next week for the recovery week and I am looking forward to the change in workout routine even though it has only been 3 weeks. We still do a workout of some sort every day but not as heavy. I think we do Yoga 2 times X Stretch 2 times Core Synergistics 2 times and Kempo once next week. We have not done Core Synergistics yet but we did take the time this week to watch it so we know what to expect next week. It looks like a lot of balance and core stabilization work with a little bit of weight added here and there but not a lot. Should be fun. I am going to try to keep up with the blogging next week on vacation but we will see how that goes.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Day 16
I got a question about how often do we do X Stretch, is it hard, and is it good stretching for my back. If you have read my blog from the beginning you know I have a history of disk problems over the last 6 years or so. The X Stretch is optional during these firsts 3 weeks. The 7th day is either a rest day or you do X Stretch, we chose to do the stretching. It does have stretches for basically your entire body, it is about an hour DVD of nothing but stretching so you hit everything. We did it one week right before bed and that worked out real well, I was relaxed and ready for bed after it. As far as how difficult it is not really. You do need to have some level of flexibility and there are a few yoga moves in there but it is not really a workout just a stretching routine. Maybe next week when I have some more time I will try to explain the workout schedule over the 13 weeks of the program. Next week we get to do a new workout called Core Synergistics. We have not watched this yet and I would like to before we do it on Tuesday but I am not sure when we are going to have time, maybe this weekend. I have read on some other blogs that it is fun so I am looking forward to it.
I am absolutely noticing big changes in the amount of subcutaneous fat, that is fat just below the skin that you can pinch or measure with a caliper. This program is well designed and a lot of fun and will absolutely get you results as advertised. I am not one to go in for the infomercial crap but I have to say this thing is for real. That being said there is nothing about this program that I could not have designed for myself with enough research but my time is easily worth the $120 I paid for the program. There is no magic to this program just sensible diet and hard work during a set of well rounded workouts. Gotta get to bed now but looking forward to bringing it tomorrow for arms and shoulders.
Days 13, 14, and 15
Sunday we did X Stretch again and that feels really good. It is pretty relaxing, although would be better if the kids were not there, and I felt great after it. I had an ice hockey game Sunday night as well and that went good. I was skating better and had a lot of energy out there. I also skipped the customary beers after the game in favor of some whey protein, imagine that.
Monday, and probably most of this week, we worked out at night. this is partly due to the late hockey game Sunday and partly due to the fact that I am in a class at work all week and need to be in a little earlier than I usually do. We really pushed it I think on this chest and back workout and my nephew was there trying to show off how many push ups he can do. He did pretty well. I don't really like working out at night and would much prefer to do it in the mornings. I think we should be able to get back to mornings starting on Friday and I will be glad for that. I don't know if it was the night time workout or what but I felt like I was going to throw up, and actually did a little in my mouth, at the end of ab ripper x, that thing is still a killer. Sarah was pleading with me to stop before I threw up because she is afraid she will never workout again if I spew all over the place.
We have been sticking to the nutrition plan well. Sarah transitioned to phase 2 adding some carbs and dropping some protein but I am still doing phase one until the end of next week. I weighed in again on Saturday and have lost no more weight but I did a waist measurement again, we had done some measurements at the start that I did not post, and I have lost 1.5 inches from my waist from a 35.5 to a 34. For those of you with the big bellies that say I still wear a 36, it is measured around the belly button at that fat point not where you wear those 36 pants that have the belly hanging over them. I am impressed with the results already after just 2 weeks and can't wait to see what happens over the next 11.
I am going to try to keep posting this week but may miss some with work. Next week we are on vacation for the recovery week so that should be fun. We are bringing all the gear we will need to continue the program with us when we go and I plan on holding to the nutrition plan as well.
Not Gone Just Busy
Friday, October 9, 2009
Day 12, Legs and Back
My back/hip (think it might be gluteus medius or hip flexor) was still a little sore this morning but loosened up well after warm ups and throughout the workout. It feels pretty good now and I did ice it down last night which may have helped. I think I may have strained it a little doing some of the leg raise exercises in the abs workout incorrectly. I have corrected the form and was able to do all but one of the ab exercises this morning and I expect I will be back to normal by Monday's workout. The abs workout is still a killer, I can't believe how many reps the people on the DVD are able to do although both Sarah and I are getting closer.
Post Workout:
- Creatine (5 grams in water)
- Whey protein
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal 1 cup
- 1 banana
Snack:
- 1 oz Spicy Almonds
Lunch:
- Tuna Salad (Tuna w/celery/carrots/mayo, Lettuce, Spinach, Red Peppers)
Snack:
- 2 pieces String Cheese
Dinner:
- ???
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Day 11, Yoga X
Post Workout:
- Creatine (5 grams in water)
- Whey protein
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal 1 cup
- 1 banana
Snack:
- 1 oz Spicy Almonds
Lunch:
- Flank Steak Salad (Flank Steak, Lettuce, Spinach, Red Peppers, Cucumber, and Cheese w/Red Wine Vinaigrette)
Snack:
- 2 pieces String Cheese
Dinner:
- Shrimp Stir Fry
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Day 10, Arms and Shoulders - More Food Talk
So I talked to my dad last night and he seems to think I am eating the same thing every day, well maybe but that is not a requirement for the program so I thought I would explain the nutrition plan a bit more because I really think that this is the key to the program. You can work out all day long and unless you are eating right you will not see results. There are 3 levels (relates to how many calories you need on a daily basis) and 3 phases (relates to the percentage of Protein to Carbs to Fat) in the plan. First we will discuss the Level and then the Phases.
Your Level is determined by taking your body weight and multiplying it by ten and then adjusting that up by 20% and add in 600 for minimum required to keep you alive. So I started the program at 160 lbs so (160 * 10) * 1.2 + 600 = 2520 calories of intake daily which puts me as a level 2 as shown below.
- Level I - 1,800 to 2,399 calories per day
- Level II - 2,400 to 2,999 calories per day
- Level III - 3,000 + calories per day
Based on what I was eating prior to this program that is a lot of calories, I was probably around 1800 a day before and I thought that was a good bit. Keep in mind that this is just a starting point and you may need slightly more or less and will have to judge that based on your results. If you are not losing weight that you wanted to the first thing you should try is add more calories, maybe 200 to 250 a day, because too few is usually the reason people don't lose. The body goes into a conservation mode and tries to store energy it thinks it will need later. This calorie thing is tricky because there is really a very narrow range in which you will get the results you want and the hard part is finding that range and staying there.
Now you know where to start off with your daily caloric intake but what do you eat? Well that is where the 3 Phases come in. Each Phase gives a diet that has different percentages of the three things you are concerned with:
- Phase I – Protein 50%, Carbs 30%, Fat 20%
- Phase II – Protein 40%, Carbs 40%, Fat 20%
- Phase III – Protein 20%, Carbs 60%, Fat 20%
As you can see each Phase increases the carbohydrate intake to help you maintain performance. Keep in mind that real athletes are not on Atkins they eat lots of carbs because you need them to give you the energy needed to do intense workouts and you burn them quickly. Also keep in mind though that they should be complex carbs not just sugar. Phase I is basically a cut Phase to help build some lean muscle and drop some extra fat. They also talk about this being a good diet to get you to learn what carbs do for your body. Now there is no one size fits all solution to what Phases you will do and when to switch. The Phases can be run along with the 3 Phases of the workouts but that is not required. If you do Phase 1 for 2 weeks and feel you need more carbs to get what you need out of the workouts you can switch to Phase 2 then. Some people may never get to Phase 3 which is a lot of carbs to allow for really intense workouts so if you are not really pushing it with the workouts you may not need to go there.
Within each Phase the plan provides 3 options you can follow Meal Plan, Portion Plan, and Quick Plan. The Quick Plan tells you what kinds of things you can eat if you have to eat out or travel a lot or something. I am basically skipping this because I think it is more to be used if needed in an emergency and other than that you should use one of the other 2. The Meal Plan provides a one week meal schedule for each Level and Phase that tells you exactly what and how much to eat for each meal and snack with the idea that you just repeat the weekly menu every week. The recipes for the meals are in the book and so far everything I have had has been good. What I am doing is the Portion Plan which defines how many servings of each type of food you can eat as well as what a serving of each is. For example I am Level 2 Phase 1 and my daily intake is as follows:
- Proteins – 7
- Dairy – 3
- Fruit – 1
- Vegetables – 4
- Fats – 1
- Carbs – 1
- Condiments – 2
- Snacks – 1
- Double Snack or P90X Recovery Drink – 1
- Double Snack or P90X Protein Bar – 1
Examples of each type of food are:
- Proteins – 3 oz. chicken or turkey breast, 6 egg whites, 3 oz. lean red meat
- Dairy – 1.5 oz. low fat cheese, 3 oz. Parmesan cheese, 8 oz. skim milk
- Fruit – 1 medium apple, medium banana, 1 oz. dried fruit
- Vegetables – 1 cup of cooked veggies, 2 cups of leafy greens
- Fats – 1 tbsp or 1 serving avocado, canola oil, olive oil
- Carbs – 1 cup brown or wild rice, 3 3.6 oz. pancakes, 1 cup oatmeal, 2 slices bread (whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel)
- Condiments – 2 tbsp lowfat sauces and marinades, fat free dressings, mustard, honey, pure fruit jams
- Snacks – Single - 1 oz. lowfat cheese, 1/2 Protein Bar,1.5 oz. string cheese, 1 tbsp peanut butter w/celery sticks - Double - 1 oz. nuts, 1 Protein Bar, 3 oz. string cheese
Now these are just examples and if you are following the Portion Plan you can eat exactly the foods they suggest or the equivalent but you just limit your consumption to the number of servings given in the guide, I say limit but trust me this is a lot of food just try eating 12 oz of cottage cheese and see what you think. So basically I can go out to a restaurant and eat as long as I know what I am getting and eat what I am supposed to and in the right amounts. The other thing with the plan is you should be eating 5-6 times a day (Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, maybe another Snack). This helps your body to feel like there is plenty of food available which helps increase your metabolism. For drinks you are doing water and that is it, I do have coffee every morning but black. I drink a ton of water all throughout the day, like they used to tell us in the Marine Corps "if you don't have to pee you are not drinking enough water." I cut out most other drinks long ago when I started working out and I can't really drink sodas any more. After going without them for so long they are just too sweet for me. I had been drinking a couple of beers from time to time but I have thus far cut that out completely and plan to continue with that although I may have one at the next football game I go to around day 30, not sure yet.
This may all seem like a lot of work but after the first few days it is pretty straight forward. I tend to eat the same things over and over but that is just me and I did that before as well, like I have Oatmeal and a banana for breakfast almost every day which right now means no more carbs or fruit for me for the rest of the day. I did have egg whites one morning so I could have pasta for dinner but that was just once. After I move on to Phase 2 I will drop 2 servings of protein and 1 veggie a day and add in 2 servings of carbs so that will be a little more reasonable diet along the lines of what I was doing before. Well that is the nutrition plan in a nutshell and if you ask me this is like 75% of what will get you results in this program. You have to work hard during the workouts but cheating on the nutrition part will just kill your results. By the end of 90 days of this you will likely never go back to eating junk, you might have a few chips here or a soda there but I doubt you will want to eat that stuff all the time and there really is no need to.
Post Workout:
- Creatine (5 grams in water)
- Whey protein
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal 1 cup
- 1 banana
Snack:
- 1 oz Dried Blueberries
Lunch:
- Chicken Salad (Chicken, Lettuce, Cabbage, Carrots, Broccoli, Cucumber, and Cheese w/Red Wine Vinaigrette)
Dinner:
- Flank Steak 6 oz
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Cucumbers
Snack:
- 1 Protein Bar