So for those of you not on Facebook, I'm doing P90X

[nailz]

Most of you know I've been battling my weight for a while, and while I'm healthier than I've ever really been, I'm still not losing the weight as consistently as I'd like. I looked great at Progpower 10, so I'm hoping to look even better by 12. To that end, I started P90X on June 1st. I'll complete it at the end of August. That's right on track for Progpower.

I know The Su is busting all sorts of ass in Kickboxing and becoming sexy as hell, so I'd like to put forth a challenge: Progpower is 3 months away. Let's all get into better shape before then. We can be a support group!

I'm on day 3 of P90X. Here's my thoughts so far:

Starting Weight/Fat % - 196.6/28

Day one:
Eating: The meal plan isn't difficult for me, since I've been doing something similar on and off for a while. It was a bit annoying to have to go back but I quickly realized it's still a LOT of food. I eat Phase 1 @ 1800 cals a day plan.

Exercise: Ran 1.5 miles this morning. Then came home from work and pushed play. Today is intro day, and Tony does NOT fuck around. 55 minute workout for Chest and back. What it SHOULD be called is 30 minutes of pushups and 20 minutes of pullups. I have never struggled so hard to complete a workout in my life. Well, yes I did, with my trainer, doing 1000 reps in under 45 minutes. Still, DAYUM. I don't have a pullup bar yet, so I'm adding it to my list. Fortunately, I have a stair bannister and workout bands, which I can use for the modified workout. Oh and then we had to do Ab-Ripper X. That shit is 25 minutes no joke of stomach shredding moves. I think I managed about 1/3 of what they were doing. Pause, pause, pause, pause.

Day Two:
Eating: Kinda hungry. Want more food than they're letting me have throughout the day. Did the workout in the morning, so pretty hungry all day. Metabolism is working. Awesome. Feel good, high energy.

Exercise: Plyometrics day. Roll out of bed, press play, jump-squats. Fuck you, Tony, you're an asshole. Keeping up. Feeling way burned out. 30 minute mark I wanted to quit the workout for the day and try again on day 3. Kept going. Got to do rock jumps (kick your feet out behind you and huge strum a guitar). This is cool, but you are STILL a douchebag. Went and saw my normal trainer for an afternoon workout of Ab/Leg Tabatas. 35 minutes of that shit and I wanted to die.

Chest and Arms are pretty fucking sore from day one. I haven't been sore in a while and I don't neglect weights. My core is killing me.

Day 3:

Current weight/fat: 193.4/27%

Eating: Probably had one scoop of Peanut Butter and a slice of bread for deviation from day 2, chalked it up to an extra workout session that day. Didn't beat myself up. Sticking to the plan but boy do I want some Ramen. Oh... great. Carb cravings. I hate these. Eating every 2-3 hours. Absolutely ravenous by the time I should be eating all day long.

Exercise: Arms, chest, legs, and abs are just on fire. Today is shoulders and arms day. Triceps are going to rebel. Fortunately, I only have 1 10lb dumbell set in my house. Don't worry, getting 15s and 20s this weekend. I need them. Not today though. Today isn't as extreme as the first two days. Mostly. Probably would've been with appropriate weights, but frankly, I needed a breather, as much as this wasn't. Busted through 60 minutes without much issue. A few odd exercises I'd never considered. Cool. Thank Christ tomorrow is Yoga X. I need a good stretch. I don't expect it to be easy or painless. I've done yoga before. Feels fantastic though.

I'll probably journal my chronicles for myself, but if anyone's interested in how it goes, I'd be happy to keep writing here.

 

[Bamafan]

That's great that you're doing this. I think recording everything is a great idea. I started getting about getting in shape on 4/2. Keep us posted!

 

[ApolloFC]

Ive made a deal with the parents that for every mile that I walk I get .50 cents. I don't have a job (would really, really, like one) so this works for me. Since August I've done about 257 miles. That # would be a lot higher if I didn't have a crap afternoon school/activity schedule last semester. Since I've made a $900 purchase on a new super computer to replace my 2004 machine.. I'm basically walking my way towards ProgPower. $120 (was my guess when I started this) for tickets. 240 miles. So far I have done 86 miles for the friday night ticket and I've started walking for ProgPower since December... again crap semester schedule.

In August I was able to average 10 miles a week easily and could complete 2.50 miles in one session no problem. Today i just made a new personal best of 3.25 in about 2 hours.. figure in the heat etc... that's basically my limit at the moment. Oh and I also did stone mountain in about 1hr even though i felt like i was dead before we really started the trail.

My problem is that I'm a -very- picky eater. I'm basically a vegetarian that doesn't eat "any" veggies.. so I just have to watch the amount that I eat. I haven't been to a McDonalds or any other fast food place, with the exception of subway and wafflehouse mostly due to Wednesday night classes and being stuck at campus, in probably over a year or two.

Thats all i got

 

[Reverend Su]

Most of you know I've been battling my weight for a while, and while I'm healthier than I've ever really been, I'm still not losing the weight as consistently as I'd like. I looked great at Progpower 10, so I'm hoping to look even better by 12. To that end, I started P90X on June 1st. I'll complete it at the end of August. That's right on track for Progpower.

I know The Su is busting all sorts of ass in Kickboxing and becoming sexy as hell, so I'd like to put forth a challenge: Progpower is 3 months away. Let's all get into better shape before then. We can be a support group!

I'm on day 3 of P90X. Here's my thoughts so far:

Starting Weight/Fat % - 196.6/28

Day one:
Eating: The meal plan isn't difficult for me, since I've been doing something similar on and off for a while. It was a bit annoying to have to go back but I quickly realized it's still a LOT of food. I eat Phase 1 @ 1800 cals a day plan.

Exercise: Ran 1.5 miles this morning. Then came home from work and pushed play. Today is intro day, and Tony does NOT fuck around. 55 minute workout for Chest and back. What it SHOULD be called is 30 minutes of pushups and 20 minutes of pullups. I have never struggled so hard to complete a workout in my life. Well, yes I did, with my trainer, doing 1000 reps in under 45 minutes. Still, DAYUM. I don't have a pullup bar yet, so I'm adding it to my list. Fortunately, I have a stair bannister and workout bands, which I can use for the modified workout. Oh and then we had to do Ab-Ripper X. That shit is 25 minutes no joke of stomach shredding moves. I think I managed about 1/3 of what they were doing. Pause, pause, pause, pause.

Day Two:
Eating: Kinda hungry. Want more food than they're letting me have throughout the day. Did the workout in the morning, so pretty hungry all day. Metabolism is working. Awesome. Feel good, high energy.

Exercise: Plyometrics day. Roll out of bed, press play, jump-squats. Fuck you, Tony, you're an asshole. Keeping up. Feeling way burned out. 30 minute mark I wanted to quit the workout for the day and try again on day 3. Kept going. Got to do rock jumps (kick your feet out behind you and huge strum a guitar). This is cool, but you are STILL a douchebag. Went and saw my normal trainer for an afternoon workout of Ab/Leg Tabatas. 35 minutes of that shit and I wanted to die.

Chest and Arms are pretty fucking sore from day one. I haven't been sore in a while and I don't neglect weights. My core is killing me.

Day 3:

Current weight/fat: 193.4/27%

Eating: Probably had one scoop of Peanut Butter and a slice of bread for deviation from day 2, chalked it up to an extra workout session that day. Didn't beat myself up. Sticking to the plan but boy do I want some Ramen. Oh... great. Carb cravings. I hate these. Eating every 2-3 hours. Absolutely ravenous by the time I should be eating all day long.

Exercise: Arms, chest, legs, and abs are just on fire. Today is shoulders and arms day. Triceps are going to rebel. Fortunately, I only have 1 10lb dumbell set in my house. Don't worry, getting 15s and 20s this weekend. I need them. Not today though. Today isn't as extreme as the first two days. Mostly. Probably would've been with appropriate weights, but frankly, I needed a breather, as much as this wasn't. Busted through 60 minutes without much issue. A few odd exercises I'd never considered. Cool. Thank Christ tomorrow is Yoga X. I need a good stretch. I don't expect it to be easy or painless. I've done yoga before. Feels fantastic though.

I'll probably journal my chronicles for myself, but if anyone's interested in how it goes, I'd be happy to keep writing here.

BLUSH BLUSH BLUSH BLUSH
oh my word! thank you for the lovely compliment, but alas, i'm a big fat porker

my work-outs:
mondays: kickboxing 45-60 minutes, based in martial arts; ab work; followed by protein shake and 45-60 minutes of brazilian jiujitsu
tuesdays: kickboxing 45-60 minutes, ab work, some weights
wednesdays: same as mondays, or possibly taking the day off...depends on if i think i can make it to work out on saturday
thursdays: same as tuesdays (or off, if i work out on wednesday)
fridays: kickboxing followed by protein shake and slacking off
some saturdays: weights - bench presses, hammies, abs, legs...all weight work

all days have stretching: hip flexors, basic floor stretches, etc

my diet? well, i don't have a "diet"...i watch carbs, fats and calories...i don't really track anything else
i eat 6 times a day to keep my metabolism rocking out
i try and eat more white meat than beef...but, like tonight, a cheeseburger makes me happy

i don't see the changes, but i will take the wonderful love from Nailz

 

[nailz]

You gotta take befores, durings, and afters, only way it works! ... Your workout is definitely more intense than mine, for sure.

 

[Reverend Su]

You gotta take befores, durings, and afters, only way it works! ... Your workout is definitely more intense than mine, for sure.

oh fuck me...you want PICTURES?! :fail:
ok...i will...but ONLY via text or email to you personally!! at least the DURING.

PS - you are one sexay mofo, Pat i'm gonna look like a total lard ass next to you!!

 

[nailz]

Just so everyone is aware, This was the 1337th (est?) thread in this forum.

Also no, I don't want pictures perse, I've seen your glam shots. You're far from a lardass. I did my befores ... oh my god it's disgusting. I'm like a grease pizza right now haha. My point was that it helps to see the differences for your own reference

 

[booB]

oh my word! thank you for the lovely compliment, but alas, i'm a big fat porker

 

[modernwizardry]

I just started P90X as well! I started with Chest/Back and that pretty much killed me too. I've lost 90 lbs over the last 2 years and I'm ready to start working out and get in shape. Good luck!

Oh yeah and that Ab Ripper X is brutal.

Do you record all your calories? I record everything I eat and it really helps.

 

[Cheiron]

P90X is okay. If you stick to it you ought to get decent results. I've heard from a few people on what they gained/lost. But you also need to think about what you want to do afterwards. It is a bit pricey for what you get.

A few weeks ago I ended a 6-week program, where I gained around 12 pounds. I'll be doing another round of it in a week or two.

 

[nailz]

Do you record all your calories? I record everything I eat and it really helps.

Calories no, I simply follow their nutrition plan and measure everything with a postage scale. I could count calories but I feel it'd be redundant.

 

[Yippee38]

It is a bit pricey for what you get.

Really? Isn't it like $150? That's not pricey. Got to a trainer have them make a 90 day workout and eating plan for you and see how much they charge.

Granted, you can do it yourself from free resources on the internet. However, you never know what info is good, what is meh, and what is crap. So you have to sift through that. Then you have to put it all together. P90X works if you stick with it. It's complete. You don't need to do any thinking about how to eat, or what workouts to do because that's all done for you.

NAILZ,

You're doing the eating plan wrong. For your weight you should be eating at level II; that's 2400-2999 calories a day.

Don't dismiss this. I did the same thing when I did P90X. I weigh over 200 pounds (though not by much), so I should be eating 3000 calories a day. I thought, "Well, I really want to lose weight, and level III is SO DAMN MUCH FOOD, so I'll do level II." I did. My results were disappointing. I got good results, but not like you see in the commercials. The reason is because I WAS NOT EATING ENOUGH. The whole point of P90X is to build lean muscle mass. When you do that, it increases your metabolism all the time. That helps you burn off more fat. In order to build that lean muscle mass, you have to eat enough. If you don't, you won't gain the muscle mass, and therefore won't lose as much weight. You are eating as much as somebody who weighs 117 pounds should eat on this program! No wonder you're hungry! Not only that, but you're doing more than just P90X, which means you should be allowing more than 600 calories for your workouts. Because you're doing P90X AND other stuff too, you should bump it up even more.

Seriously, you're a hair under 200 pounds, you should be eating between 2400 and 2999 calories a day. If you eat like that, you will get more muscle (and who doesn't want that?), and therefore lose more weight.

I did it wrong for 90 days and got pretty good results. I did it right for about 3 weeks and people noticed that I got bigger (muscle, not fat).

 

[AeonicSlumber]

^

I have no idea what this plan is, but I just want to disagree with you. If there's any cardio involved whatsoever (and reading Nailz's post -- there is), you burn muscle just as well as burning fat (also gaining muscle isn't about how much you eat, but what you eat. I know people in the bodybuilding scene, and have seen friends spend ridiculous amounts of time on their muscles). So therefore eating a whole lot is actually kind of pointless and just delays things.

Eat normally, avoid fatty foods, red meats, stick to veggies. Treat yourself to an occasional snack, burn more calories or just as much calories as you consume, rinse repeat.

And anyone who tells you to eat 3,000 calories (that is, if you're trying to lose weight) a day should be fired. 2,000 calories is the recommended amount for ANY human being. I could understand if you're eating 3,000 cal and want to slowly go down to 2,000, but you can't actually lose weight unless you burn 3,000 calories per day if that's how much you eat -- and burning that much per day when not being an athlete is very difficult.

 

[nailz]

Eating between 2500-3000 calories daily would cause me to gain an exhorbant amount of weight. I've tried it. It's happened. And it wasn't all muscle. I'm already in above average fitness, so my body is very efficient with food. Eating that much would be a disaster.

 

[Cheiron]

When I gained the weight I was doing around 3000 calories a day.

As for slimming up, you definitely don't need to eat a lot. But you have to eat enough and eat well. You don't need to do cardio to lose weight. You can lose a lot of weight just lifting and eating well.

As for $150, yes that's a lot. The book I used was $20. Tells me everything to do. Though I do pay for a gym pass ($30 a month or so). P90X you can do at home. I have no particular issues with P90X. But most people who I've known to go on it, as soon as they are done, they go way off it and lose a lot of their gains.

 

[nailz]

Oh, I have no problem maintaining weight, that's easy. I have a problem dropping down to what I want to be. P90X is just something to mix up the routine.

 

[spag]

I've heard good things about P90X. I know for myself that I'd be better joining a crossfit place, but the only one around here is a joke. I'm ok weight wise, I just wish my % body fat was lower. I can never get much below a certain weight without losing all my muscle, so I don't stress on that number. I just look at shape.

I've read a lot of things lately that lead me to believe that the eating side of the equation is more important than the working out part. As mentioned above....it's very, very difficult to work out enough to make a big difference unless you're seriously training. Most would be better off cutting most of the carbs/dairy from their diet, and eating primarily protein and vegetables. It's almost difficult to eat 2000 calories a day if you're not eating the caloric dense carbs. I know when I tried eating paleo for a while that I was losing too much weight as I was losing muscle as well. I had trouble getting in more than 1500 calories a day. I was full all the time, and having to force myself to eat additional food.

 

[nailz]

Day Four:

Exercise: Body is sore as fuck today. Feel run down and tired. Have a morning photoshoot that lasts 5 hours, 7-1pm, then a CD release Party to shoot that night as well. Glad that today is Yoga and nothing intense. Trolled by P90X. Yoga X is 1.5 hours long. Groan. Start at 3, finish by 5, do not complete entire thing. Skipped the last 7 minutes because of exhaustion. Felt OK starting out, but Downward Dogs were causing headaches, so I popped a few Tylenol. Arms/Triceps are killing me. Every "Chaturanga" is agony. Tony demands it after every move, and I'm about as flexible as a concrete block on top of it. I used to be good at this stuff. I'm tired, and my body is literally making me feel like I have lava flowing through my veins, I have the AC going, the fans are on, and I'm still on fire. I need to wipe myself down with a cold wet cloth from the freezer every time I come out of downward dog. I can't keep up, I don't even try, I just want to be done with this workout. 55 minutes remain. "Don't do this one." They move into Crane. I'm glad to let them. 45 minutes are left and the poses are less about movement now and more about balance. Whew. Balance I can do. 35 minutes cruise by, and I'm DONE. Besides, hockey is on.

Eating: Not perfect today, but certainly not awful. Extra helping of carbs, probably not enough protein. A small 80 calorie square of oats and chocolate and some honey. Still hungry a lot. Maybe I should add in another protein shake or something.

Day Five

Exercise: Legs and Back. I need a break, I can feel it. Form is suffering, I'm tiring quicker, can't really keep pace with these folks. Lots and lots and lots of lunges. I HATE lunges, but hey, I'm committed. More pullups, 120 or so to be exact, at least that's what Tony tells me at the end of the workout. I should really get that pull-up bar soon. I modify with weights as best I can. Workout goes by pretty quick. I simply can't get jazzed up for it today. Tomorrow is Kempo X, considering skipping it and going for an 800 calorie burn at the gym after work instead (About an hour and 10 minutes of work for me). I did Kempo X once, found it to be kind of a pussy workout and a waste of an hour. I think I dropped 350 calories on it last time I did it. Could use a good run anyway.

Eating: Didn't eat enough today. Failed to eat fruit/dairy/recovery drink/2 protein. Consumed instead theater popcorn. Not a lot of it. Maybe 1/2 a small. I'm ok with that.

 

[Yippee38]

^

I have no idea what this plan is, but I just want to disagree with you. If there's any cardio involved whatsoever (and reading Nailz's post -- there is), you burn muscle just as well as burning fat (also gaining muscle isn't about how much you eat, but what you eat. I know people in the bodybuilding scene, and have seen friends spend ridiculous amounts of time on their muscles). So therefore eating a whole lot is actually kind of pointless and just delays things.

...

And anyone who tells you to eat 3,000 calories (that is, if you're trying to lose weight) a day should be fired. 2,000 calories is the recommended amount for ANY human being. I could understand if you're eating 3,000 cal and want to slowly go down to 2,000, but you can't actually lose weight unless you burn 3,000 calories per day if that's how much you eat -- and burning that much per day when not being an athlete is very difficult.

Ok. If that's what you believe, that's cool.

BTW, just to clarify. P90X is not a weight loss program. It's a fitness program. It is designed to get you in great physical shape. Therefore, talking about eating less calories than you are burning off isn't relevant as it would be if this was a diet or weight loss program. In order to get fit, you have to build lean muscle mass. That increases your physical fitness and your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism is what helps people lose the extra fat. As anybody who's done any kind of bodybuilding; if you want to build muscle, you have to eat - a lot.

 

[Reverend Su]

Ok. If that's what you believe, that's cool.

BTW, just to clarify. P90X is not a weight loss program. It's a fitness program. It is designed to get you in great physical shape. Therefore, talking about eating less calories than you are burning off isn't relevant as it would be if this was a diet or weight loss program. In order to get fit, you have to build lean muscle mass. That increases your physical fitness and your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism is what helps people lose the extra fat. As anybody who's done any kind of bodybuilding; if you want to build muscle, you have to eat - a lot.

i like P90x, but i am one of those people who needs to work out with others, to get the extra push...that being said, for a fitness program, P-X is awesome
i use it during weeks when i can't get my kick on at the dojo

as for "diet"...i prefer to go with the term "lifestayle changes" - diets, as such, aren't sustainable...
changing your overall perspective on life and what you eat and do to burn the calories - making a concerted effort to better your lifestyle? totally sustainable
yes, it's a matter of semantics, but some people hear DIET and they freeze up and aren't able to make it work

me, i changed what and how i was eating...now i'm a 6-small-meals-a-day person and it's working for me
but that's ME...and my lifestyle

speaking of which, time for a snacky meal