Day 10, Arms and Shoulders - More Food Talk

I think both Sarah and I really ramped it up a bit for this arm workout today and let me tell you I could barely lift my Listerine bottle when we finished. Absolutely have all the weights dialed in for this workout now which is good but we only do it one more time before the recovery week. It was still hard to keep up with the DVD while switching all the weights and writing everything down and we had to pause a few times to catch up but I think it was better. My lower back was a little sore on the right side since the workout on Monday and I suspected it was something in the Ab ripper X routine giving me problems. I took it a little easier on that this time and concentrated on good form and Sarah corrected me on at least one exercise, I am pretty sure that was the one giving me problems. This is nothing new for me, every time I have started a new workout since the beginning of the year there has been at least one exercise that bothers me a bit and I just have to find a way to work around it and make sure I don't get myself hurt. I still hit the Ab Ripper X hard just correctly.

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

Day 9, Fried by Plyometrics

Well I started out strong again today with the intention of going as hard as I could and I did but again by the end of the workout I was feeling pretty fried and felt I slowed down a little at the end. I made it through but I need to keep an eye on how I am feeling at the end of the workouts this week. If I am running out of steam it may be time to move the diet on to phase 2 which introduces more carbs back into the diet at the expense of a little protein and veggies, a little more of a long term diet that is probably closer to what I was eating before.

Plyometrics is definitely my favorite of the workouts, but I think it is also the toughest workout. I can't wait to do it again next week, bring it!!

Wake Up:

• Creatine (5 grams in water)
• Whey protein

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal 1 cup
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 1 oz Dried Blueberries

Lunch:

• Taco Salad (Beef/Turkey mix, Lettuce, Tomato, Spices, and Cheese)

Snack:

• 1 oz Spicy Almonds

Dinner:

• Baked Catfish Fillet 9 oz.
• Broccoli 1/2 cup
• Cauliflower 1/2 cup
• Butternut Squash 1 cup

Snack:

• 1/2 Prptein Bar (This was a mistake. This was a new kind Sarah bought and they are terrible which is why I only ate 1/2)

Day 8, Sarting Week 2

Felt good this morning, chest and back workout again. My plan today was to try to do just a little more of each exercise than I did last week. This worked well until I got to the last 2 or 3 of the workout at which point I could not get as many as last time. I guess I burned myself out more early on but I felt good. The Ab ripper X felt good too, still really hard but I was able to keep up through the first 3 exercises before I needed to start taking breaks which is better than before. Sarah did well this morning too and I think we both agree that working out in the mornings is the way to go. We feel much better all day.

Wake Up:

• Creatine (5 grams in water)
• Whey protein

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal 3/4 cup
• 1/2 Pear Muffin

Snack:

• 1 oz Dried Blueberries

Lunch:

• Chicken Salad (9 oz chicken breast, 2 cups greens, 1 cup veggies, balsamic dressing

Snack:

• 1 oz Spicy Almonds

Dinner:

• Taco Salad (Beef/Turkey mix, Lettuce, Tomato, Spices)

Day 7, Off Day

Well every week there is a day that you can either take off completely or do the X Stretch routine. Sarah and I did most of X Stretch before bed and it was very relaxing and felt good. I have improved my flexibility a lot just over this last week, it was obvious when doing this routine and even Sarah noticed it. I am not sure how that could happen so fast but it will be fun to see how much more flexible I get with this over the course of the program.

The real story today was we went to the Skins game and did our usual tailgating and we still stuck to the nutrition plan. It really was not too bad doing it either although a beer might have been nice. I think the next game I go to I am going to have one or two before going in. We made a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker the night before and had pulled pork at the game with raw veggies and it was good.

Also, as Sarah pointed out in a comment my Saturday post had a typo I actually weighed in Saturday morning at 158 not 168.

I almost forgot about the yummy pear muffins Sarah made. The recipe is from the nutrition guide and is actually a phase 2 recipe but we made it during phase one anyway since we are just doing the portion plan and not the meal plan. these things were delicious.

Wake Up:

• Creatine (5 grams in water)
• Whey protein

Breakfast:

• Spinach Scramble (8 egg whites, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1 oz feta, 1 tbsp fresh basil) This was yummy

Snack:

• Pear Muffin

Lunch:

• Pulled Pork 9 oz
• Raw Veggies 1.5 cups (broccoli, red peppers, carrots, cucumbers)

Snack:

• Protein Bar

Dinner:

• Pulled Pork 9 oz
• Raw Veggies 1.5 cups (broccoli, red peppers, carrots, cucumbers)

Snack:

• 1 oz Spicy Cashews

Day 6, Kempo - Week 1 Review, Playtime Is Over

Day 6, Kempo:

Well I am still pretty uncoordinated when it comes to kempo but I made it through. I can clearly tell which side is dominant when I do this workout too because you do everything on both sides. I guess this is a fun workout but I am not too sure yet. I do like getting to yell when I do the punches, YUT-YUT!! I am prettyy sore from yesterdays legs and back workout, feels good.

I also stepped on the scale today after my workout and I am down to 168, lost 2 pounds this week. Does this surprise me? I am not surprised by the amount in a week because before this when I would change my workouts I would see these kind of results the first couple of weeks and then it would taper off. I am surprised by the simple fact that I was able to get under 160 lbs. because even though I had been changing my workouts the last time at least and maybe the time before that as well I was not getting the results any more.

Week 1 Review, Playtime Is Over:

So what do I think about the first week? This is a fun program so far with a wide variety of workouts and they are tough. I had read before hand that you should be in really good shape before starting this program but I disagree. I think you could do this at your own pace if that is what you wanted to do. You could skip some things, pause the DVD, not do it every day, or any number of other things until you built up to being able to do it all. The main thing I like is that I am doing some things that I would never have done if I designed my own program like Yoga for example and I really like the Yoga.

I also have noticed that I am getting sore in very specific parts of muscles, like one day my lower calf will be sore and another my upper calf. I also notice some soreness in some muscle areas I have never really been sore in and I assume that is because I never really worked those muscles like I am in this program. Based on the research I did before this and what I have seen so far from the program first hand I think the exercises are designed to work not just the major muscles but also smaller stabilizer muscles that most people may not work as efficiently in there own program. These muscles being strengthened can greatly increase balance and coordination as well as the strength of the surrounding muscles and reduce the risk of injuries. I am no expert here but I have done a lot of reading and this is my take on it based on what I have seen. I like the trainer, Tony Horton, as well. He is not too in your face and is pretty good about telling people to not get down if they can't keep up just "do your best and forget the rest" is one of his favorite sayings and most people trying this program will need to hear that because you can't keep up with these guys. Even though I can't keep up on everything I am feeling motivated rather than dejected which tells me this guy is doing a pretty good job, of course that is sort of my personality too.

The nutrition plan is probably the toughest part for me. I am trying to stick to it pretty strictly with 2 exceptions, I drink coffee and I don't use their supplements. I drink coffee almost every day but I don't put anything in it and I am not willing to give it up. It is not clear based on what I have read if this is in line with the program or not. The way I look at it there are basically no calories in black coffee so it is just the caffeine. I do take supplements but not what they recommend, their own beachbody products. They want you to take a recovery drink after workouts but I take whey protein and creatine, half the recommended serving, with a pile of sugars and I think this works for me. They also are pushing their protein bars and I am not using them. Aside from that I am eating according to their portion plan. The portion plan basically prescribes what a serving of each allowable group (protein, dairy, carbs, etc.) is and how many of each you are allowed to eat each day. For example I am currently eating 7 servings of protein a day which is 3 oz of chicken breast or equivalent. Bottom line is I have not been hungry generally and have been eating a lot.

Bottom line is I am pretty happy with the program so far and am having fun. I will continue to post updates but probably not much detail until the end of next week other than menu for that day. So why is playtime over? Well as far as I am concerned I now have had time to see all the workouts and it is now time to get down to the real work.

Post Workout:

• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Protein Drink (1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 banana, 8 oz skim milk, ice, whey protein powder)

Snack:

• Protein bar

Lunch:

• Pit Turkey Sandwich minus bread (9 oz turkey)

Snack:

• 1 oz. spicy Almonds

Dinner:

• 1 cup pasta (all this was mixed together with pesto)
• 9 oz chicken
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower

Day 5, Legs and Back

So today was the last weight workout for the week but it does not really use a lot of weights. This workout is really mostly a leg workout with some pull ups thrown in there for the back just to break things up and give your legs a break it seems. This makes sense given the amount of back work there is on Day 1. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could actually do more pull ups today than I had done on Monday so that is good. The leg portion is a lot of lunges and similar things some of which required a good bit of balance and I was about to fall over several times. I had to add a few entries to the workout sheets because I did use some weights on some of the exercises that are not listed on there and I wanted to make sure to keep track, not sure why they did not put everything on this sheet. This weight workout is unique in that it is the only one that is actually done throughout the 90 days (except the recovery weeks), all the rest of the weight workouts change every few weeks to keep your muscles guessing. It was a good workout and I am sure my legs will be feeling it tomorrow, especially my calves after the strange calf raise variations we did. We also did the Ab Ripper X again today which is still hard as hell but a great workout and a lot of fun, I am generally making a lot of grunting and screaming noises during this one.

Sarah was a little hungry this morning before the workout so she had a little bit of banana before we started, we normally do this at 5:30 AM as soon as we wake up. Sean got up and ostensibly did some of the workout with us again this morning, he has his own Yoga mat that he likes to put out right in between Sarah and I. He also did some of my extra stretching with me after the workout which he seems to really enjoy. I definitely am noticing more range of motion and flexibility already, this is very apparent in some of the ab exercises that we do like the leg climb. When we first did this Monday I could not get anywhere near touching my foot and today I was grabbing my foot. I am not sure if Sarah is noticing any differences yet or not but maybe she will have some input this weekend to my week 1 wrap up post with some insight into what she thinks. I do know she does not tend to be as intense about these kinds of things as I am and she says she is glad to have me pushing her a very little bit although it doesn't always seem that way at 5:30 in the morning ;) Last night was a little tough for us too because we both woke up for some reason at 1:00 AM and then Sofia woke up crying for like an hour at about 3:00 AM. I say this was tough on both of us but it was really much tougher on Sarah as most kid related things are. I got to stay in bed being the lazy no good husband that I am but I was still awake with all the screaming. I do like the fact that I am working out at home and getting to do it with Sarah and spend a little time with the kids before work which I was not doing when I was going to the gym in the morning. Looking forward to the kempo workout tomorrow and then stretching on Sunday.

For those of you getting the email updates when I post, sorry about the fact that you get the same one twice. What happens is that when I do these in the morning I don't know what I am going to eat for dinner yet and then the next morning I update it with what I ate so that I will have a record of all this stuff.

Post Workout:

• Whey Protein (26 grams Protein GNC 100% Whey in skim milk)
• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (1 cup)
• strawberries (1/4 cup)
• blueberries (1/4 cup)
• 1/2 banana

Snack:

• 2 low fat string cheese mozzarella

Lunch:

• Tuna Salad (From the nutrition guide not sure what is in it but there looks like lettuce, spinach, carrots, tuna, mayo, etc)

Snack:

• 1 oz. spicy cashews

Dinner:

• ???

Day 4, Yoga X

Today was Yoga, or as Sean said "I need a Yogo block." Sofia thought it was Yogurt but whatever you want to call it this shit was hard. The workout is 1.5 hours with about the first 30 minutes being movement exercises that had me sweating my ass off and I was getting a good workout. The next 30 minutes were balance exercises and I almost fell over a few times. There was actually one point where Tony Horton, that is the trainer that does these, told you to put a pillow or something down where your head will hit if you fall so I did the alternate exercise on that one maybe I will try it next time. The last 30 minutes is stretching type exercises but still tough. If you are thinking of doing P90X and you figure the Yoga day will be a day off, think again. It is not the same kind of workout but it will make you sweat. Sarah has done Yoga before so she knew some of the moves but I really had to pay attention to see what I was supposed to be doing. I had to take a few breaks as well because I could not always keep up. I did not pause the DVD today when I took my breaks because I had a dentist appointment at 8:15 and could not take the extra time. I suspect this will be somewhat easier next time since I will know some of the moves and won't have to keep looking at the TV but man those people on the DVD are crazy flexible and ungodly strong. Tony tells you to concentrate on breathing in and out evenly, yeah right it was all I could do to half way get into some of the positions let alone concentrate that closely on breathing but I did my best. I am already noticing after just a few days that I am somewhat more flexible than I was before and I had been doing some stretching every day but apparently not as much or as focused as provided by this program. I think this workout will be the one where I see the most difference over the course of the program and I think that will be good. Like Tony says, there are things he can do at 45 (I think he is 50 now) that he could not do at 25 not because he can do 1000 push ups but because he does Yoga. I did like this workout a good bit too and I think it will also help with my back in the long run.

I also wanted to mention that although I have not stepped on a scale or anything since starting I already think I am noticing some of that hard to get fat that was still hanging around my mid section is dropping off. I have no concrete evidence of this other than how I look and how it feels but I am pretty sure I am right. If this is correct that is pretty amazing considering I am 4 days in and have been busting my ass at the gym to get rid of that for a while. The big difference for me now is I am being very strict with my diet and following the nutrition guide to the letter with the exception of their attempt to get me to buy all their supplements, bars, etc. (I use my own stuff which I will address later). I have often read in my research that diet is the key to getting that last bit off and maybe that is it. I am certainly not starving myself or anything either, I am actually eating more calories now than I was previous to starting this program and I am feeling good. I think this weekend I will put in a wrap up of this week and include some info on the diet and supplements I am using for anyone who is interested. Looking forward to tomorrows legs and back workout.

Post Workout:

• Whey Protein (26 grams Protein GNC 100% Whey in skim milk)
• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (1 cup)
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 2 low fat string cheese mozzarella

Lunch:

• Asian chicken salad (Sarah's recipe, maybe she will post it as a reply)

Snack:

• 1.5 oz. spicy cashews

Dinner:

• Pork chops 9 oz.
• Green beans (2 cups) this was a lot of green beans but I was too lazy to make something else.