P90X: A Commentary

As I mentioned in my last post I started P90X on Saturday. I am loving it.  That may sound strange to you if you have heard anything about this video series.  Essentially, it’s a set of 5 DVD’s that take you through 13 weeks of hard core, and when I say hard core, I mean hard core training.  It incorporates strength training, plyometrics, kenpo, core exercises, and yoga.  It’s just the diversity I was craving in my exercises and the right kind of cardio for me.

My diet has shifted a little bit, I need to take in more calories now and the diet that they suggest was a bit different than the one I was using before, but I am really enjoying it. You can learn more about the nutrition plan at http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM.  I found this website extremely helpful in finding out what I can eat and when I can eat it. It gives me a list of foods  I can and cannot eat and then a worksheet to track what I am eating.  I also use my “Lose It” iphone app to track my calories.  It’s been great and only required a bit of an adjustment, but I feel like I am eating even healthier becuase I am able to have more veggies on this plan than I was on the other.

Example Day of Meals:
BREAKFAST
Smoothie:  1 c. nonfat yogurt, 2 c. strawberries, 1 scoop of protein

MID-MORNING
6 egg whites
4 slices of turkey bacon
(sometimes I have a whole wheat english muffin)

SNACK
Protein bar/almonds and cranberries mix/pb with celery

LUNCH
Grilled chicken on 2. cups of lettuce with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing or
Lean meat burger with veggies

MID-AFTERNOON
3 oz. of chicken and veggies or protein shake

SNACK
12 small rice cakes

DINNER
3 oz. steak with veggies or baked potato or sweet potato

SNACK
protein shake/4 oz. of frozen yogurt/string cheese

I find it much easier to plan this way and I enjoy having a worksheet to fill out. 

Now, for the exercises.  These are not for the faint-hearted.  They are tough, intense workouts and definitely devised for people who have been working out for a while and want a new challenge.  If you begin this workout without being even a little bit in shape, you will want to take it slow and you’ll also want to be okay with not finishing the videos.  Some of them are really lengthy and can be difficult to complete. But if you feel ready and up for the challenge DO IT.  Every person I have talked to, whether they have followed the diet or not has seen results.  I’ve only been doing it for five days and already I can see changes in my body.  I feel leaner, stronger, and more fit.

 

There is an app for that

Before I tell you about the app that I am now using on my iphone, let me share with you about how my day went.

Got up at 5:00am with Sawyer.  He was so pleasant today.  I gave him some breakfast and then stuck him in his jumpy.  He enjoyed watching me torture myself to Holly Perkins yet again this morning.  The backs of my legs are still killing me and it’s 8pm.

I then made myself some breakfast.

Breakfast
3 egg whites
2 pieces of turkey bacon
1 c of milk

I got in the shower and afterwards stepped on the scale.

Zero.

Not my weight, but rather the pounds that I lost and the pounds I also didn’t gain. UGH!

I was pretty frustrated. But once I regrouped, I decided that this was all worth it and perhaps I may have lost inches rather than weight. I’d be okay with that.

So I texted my friend, the trainer, and shared with her what I’d found out.  She said we’d come up with a strategy, that I may need to be eating more calories.

So now I am doing a 60/20/20 method.  60% protein, 20% carbs and 20% fat. We’ll see how it goes.  So how do I track this you ask?

Well, there’s an app for that called “Lose it!”

I’ve had it on my phone for awhile now, used it once before but now it’s going to come in handy again.  I can record everything I eat, search for calorie information, it calculates the nutrients of the food according to what I select, and it sets my goals.  We’ll see how it goes, but it has been helpful to know how many carbs I am eating, even though I haven’t had any bread, pasta, or other snacks today.

Speaking of, what I did eat today:

8am meal
oatmeal – 1 instant packet

Snack
10 almonds

Lunch
salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinegarette

Mid-afternoon snack
1.5 c carrots
1 tbsp hummus

Dinner
grilled eggplant – 4 slices
grilled tomatoes
1/4 c of ricotta cheese with garlic powder

NOTE: Dinner was a Bobby Flay food network recipe and if you like eggplant parmagna this is a great spoof on it. It’s absolutely delicious.

I then ate a tbsp of peanut butter to try and up my calories. But I finished the day with 1136 calories. Not high enough. I am supposed to be at 1455. Hopefully I can get there tomorrow.

Sunday evening review

Wow.  I have not been a good blogger this weekend.  It’s almost 7:00pm on Sunday evening and although I caught up on Saturday about my Friday, I didn’t get the chance to blog on Saturday to share my day.

Saturday

I worked out in the mid afternoon to 30 day shred at level 2 which kicked my butt. I felt it all day long and into Sunday.  But that’s the way a workout should be right?

Things went well with my eating.  I had yogurt and berries for breakfast, some nuts for a snack, a cucumber and tomato salad with ricotta cheese and balsamic vinegar and for dinner we went to Whole Foods and I got some sushi.  Wow, my whole day wrapped up in two sentences.

Sunday

I slept in today, thank you Sawyer.  He didn’t get my up until 8am.  It was great.  I got him some breakfast and then we headed back to bed.  I love the weekends because I get to spend so much concentrated time with him. It was a beautiful day outside so I knew whatever exercise I did, I wanted to do it outside.  I texted a friend and we decided we’d take our boys for a walk, her’s is just about to turn one.

Breakfast
2 eggs
3 pieces of turkey bacon

As I was getting ready to go walking I had some cucumbers and humus and guacamole for a snack. Two dips I am trying out from whole foods. Haven’t fell in love with either of them but they are something different right now. I also had a few grapes and then I ate a banana before I went walking. Bananas are a great energy booster but they metabolize into sugar.

Tip: Eat a banana before you work out for energy, and it will metabolize quicker.

I had a great walk with my friend. We walked about 2 miles and the back of my legs and back are still hurting. It felt great, though my back is still paying for it.

Dinner
black bean soup
1/4 c. greek yogurt

I tried the greek yogurt tonight because I was making a turkey chili recipe that I was trying to remember by Ellie from Food Network. Yeah, I didn’t get the recipe right, though I did get some of the ingredients. I tasted my version and not bad. At some point I’ll have to try her’s.

I had a dessert tonight, skinny cow ice cream sandwich.  I figured I didn’t consume as many calories as normal, so I’d allow myself some ice cream.  Yummy.

Catching up

My apologies.  I owe you a couple of posts.

Thursday, March 4

My day finished off well.  I had a conversation with a friend who is a fitness instructor and competes in fitness competitions.  She suggested I go another route with my diet.  I’m going to give it a shot and see if that helps any.

Stacey’s suggestions: no red meat, nothing white: sugar, bread, pasta, rice, potato, etc.  No fruits that are high in sugar: no red apples, pears, pineapple, oranges, etc. No whole wheat bread or pasta. No processed foods.  I can eat yogurt and berries, lean meats, low calorie dairy foods, nuts, beans of all sorts, veggies (think green) but I can eat others if I want, brown rice, sweet potatoes.

I am going to need to do some food shopping to make that happen but I am going to give it a go. I trust Stacey, she loves me and she wants the best for me.  She may be one of my biggest cheerleaders in getting fit.  I’m still supposed to watch my calories, though I think it may be a bit more difficult for me.

Dinner:
part of a lean pork chop
1/2 a baked potato

Friday, March 5

Sawyer got me up at 4:50am to eat. I was glad to see my “alarm clock” was working again. I fed him and got into my workout clothes. I decided that I would try a little experiment. I wanted to see if I would weigh more or less after I worked out. So I got on the scale, still 148.8

It was time to push myself a bit more so I did level 2 of the 30 day shred. OH MY GOODNESS! Now that was a workout. I forgot what it felt like to be pushed that hard. I did feel my sciatic nerve a bit this time, when i was laying flat on my back, but the rest of the time it was fine. My heart rate was up, I was flushed in the cheeks when it was over, and my body ached. Now that is how a workout should feel. Before my workout I ate a banana for some energy, and I think that really helped.

After my workout, I made myself some breakfast and got in the shower.

Breakfast
2 eggs
1 tbsp of salsa

After I got my shower I got on the scale again. 146.8. What in the world??? I am apparently lighter after I work out and eat breakfast. So now I know. I’ll still be weighing in on Thursdays, but this time after I workout, eat, and shower.

On my way to work, I felt myself get a little hungry so I ate some cashews. I think the one thing I have to be careful of if I am going to consume nuts, is the salt. I really like salt on my nuts, and I am going to have to watch that.

Mid-morning breakfast
bagel
salmon cream cheese (1 tbsp)

I went to Whole Foods for lunch and got a VERY tasty meal. I also picked up some fruits, couple of veggies, some humus and guacamole spreads that I can eat with my veggies. I love Whole Foods. It’s a great place for anyone who is trying to eat healthy. Though you do have to be careful with that, because not everything there is good for your waist.

Lunch
grilled salmon (small piece)
grilled veggies: squash and zucchini
green beans

Around 3pm I found myself hungry again so I grabbed my snack out of the fridge. I think I’m supposed to be eating more of a meal at this point, but I love my carrots and cherry tomatoes snack. It does fill me up and it’s tasty too.

Snack
1/2 c of baby carrots
5-6 cherry tomatoes

Last night was date night, so my husband and I went out for dinner. Ruby Tuesday’s was his pick. It was pretty good and they have a good selection on the menu.

Tip: Look for items on the menu that are not processed, lean meats and fresh or cooked veggies. Ask for substitutions, in this day and age, they are used to it.

Dinner:
2 mini turkey burgers sans the bun w/ tomato, lettuce and pickle slices
grilled mushrooms
salad from the salad bar with balsamic vinegar
grapes

We headed home and called it a night. Sawyer was fed dinner and then off to bed. It was about 9:00pm when I felt myself drifting off as well. Long day.

Routine Revised

It happened again today.

Sawyer got up at 4:54am and was wet and ready to eat.  I think it may be because we are putting him down a bit earlier at night.  Today, I was ready for him though.  I got him changed, fed him breakfast and got him back into bed all by 5:30.  I then found a yoga program to do today on ExerciseTV.  It was taught by Shiva Rae who is apparently a professional yoga trainer.  The program was said to be geared towards beginners and an overview of how to do yoga.

It was definitely different.  There was a voice over of her while she did the various yoga moves.  After I got over that, I was able to concentrate (somewhat) on the moves themselves.  What I found most difficult about it was the way my living room is configured.  It did not allow me to always be looking a the TV once I found myself in a yoga pose.  I also found the voice over difficult to follow at times, and so I wasn’t quite as relaxed as I probably should have been by the time I was done.  Oh well.

After I showered, I grabbed a quick breakfast and was out the door.  By the time I got to work, I was so tired I felt the need to grab some coffee from the kitchen.  I went for the good stuff:  a Latvia latte for 46 calories. I realized later that was 46 empty calories that I hoped didn’t bite me in the butt later in the day. But it was good!

Breakfast:
egg bagel toasted (150 calories)
1 tbsp salmon cream cheese (45 calories)
1/2 c of lite chocolate soy milk (45 calories)

Mid-morning snack:
cappuccino latte (46 calories)
almonds (100 calorie pack)

Lunch:
Leftovers from last night
1/2 tilapia filet (45 calories)
1/2 sweet potato (90 calories)
Entenman’s multi-grain cereal bar, chocolate chip (150 calories)
water

As you may have noticed my mid-morning snack was not as hefty as it normally is.  I went from one meeting to the next and had no time to make my english muffin and peanut butter so I grabbed what I could from my purse.

Tip: Always have healthy snacks in your purse, diaper bag, or gym back so you aren’t tempted to purchase something from the vending machine, grab something from the kitchen at work, or head to a fast food or gas station.

Oh, Sawyer

It was a rough start to a morning.

Sawyer woke me up before my alarm at 4:54am.  Close enough, right?  I thought it was a blessing in disguise.  Usually when he wakes up that early it’s because he realizes he lost his pacifier and if I pop it back in his mouth he’s off to sleep again. I tried that this morning and went to the living room to turn on Exercise TV.  Found out very quickly that “On Demand” was not working today.  Great.  Good thing I picked up the 30 day shred DVD.  My husband had worked out to it the day before (I’m starting to rub off on him) so it was ready for me in the Xbox.  I got almost all the way through it before Sawyer started having a fit.  Apparently he decided he was hungry at 5:30 in the morning.

I was really tempted to wake up my husband and have him take care of him so that I could finish working out, but the good wife that I am, I instead paused my video and got him up.  Poor guy was soaked down the front, so I did a quick diaper change and brought him into the kitchen.  He was a needy little fellow this morning, so with one arm I made his bottle and his oatmeal with peaches.

Sawyer’s Breakfast:
4 oz. bottle
1 tbsp of oatmeal and a tbsp of peaches

Note: Better to feed starving baby then to wake a grumpy husband.

Once Sawyer was fed I put him back down to sleep and I went back to my DVD to finish up my workout.  I figured better to complete it then not to do it at all.  The workout went pretty well today.  I feel like I am starting to conquer level 1 of this DVD.  It’s split into 3 levels if I haven’t mentioned that before.  I am considering moving to level 2 this week. I did have some pain in my sciatic nerve again, but I pushed through cause Jillian told me I was strong and I could do this!

After my workout, I made myself some oatmeal and a couple of turkey sausage links.

My breakfast:
1/2 c. oatmeal with a cap full of vanilla, 1 packet of sweet n low, some cinnamon sprinkled on top and some milk poured on top.  (180 calories)
3 turkey sausage links  (110 calories)
Large glass of water

I couldn’t believe it, on the way to work I started feeling hungry again.  I’ve always heard it said that you should eat some oatmeal in the morning and it’ll stick to you longer.  My oatmeal apparently wasn’t sticky enough so I popped a piece of gum in my mouth in the hopes of my hunger pains disappearing.  It totally took my mind off my hunger and it wasn’t until about 10am that I realized it was time for a mid-morning snack and time to spit out the gum that had now hardened in my mouth.

Mid-morning snack:
1 english muffin (100 calories)
2 tbsp of peanut butter (140 calories)
glass of water

Around 11:30am I started feeling hungry again so I finished what I was working on and started making myself some lunch.

Lunch:
left over whole wheat pasta from night before
salad from two days ago
glass of water

No idea the calories, my guess: around 200 for the pasta and another 100-150 for the salad.

Tip: Don’t waste your food, eat your leftovers until you can’t eat them anymore.  Then make sure you make less the next time you cook that meal. I always try to eat my leftovers the very next day, cause if I don’t I more than likely never will.

So now I have another couple of hours of work to get through.  Sometimes it feels like I go from one meal to another.  I need to figure out how I break the cycle of dreaming of my next meal.  There has got to be more to life.

Sunday afternoon reflections

The rest of my Saturday went well.

I had a salad: green lettuce, tomato, red onion, pine nuts, and a little bleu cheese crumble with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing and I heated up some bbq chicken breast that I had in the fridge.  I had a bit of a sweet tooth so I decided to enjoy a skinny cow ice cream sandwich, only 150 calories.  The rest of my day included doing some work around the house and I realized that I have much more energy when I work out to get things done than I do when I don’t work out.

We went on to church and then had to make a trip to Target and to Sam’s Club.  Therefore, not only did I get a work out earlier in the day, but I also did quite a bit of walking through the evening.  While I was at Target I picked up some 2 lb weights and a Jillian Michael’s DVD.  I had been considering buying her 30 day shred on-line for $12.98 but I wanted to see if I could find it anywhere else cheaper and low and behold, Target came through for $9.00.  I like her 20 minute workout because it circuits through 3 minute strength training, 2 minute cardio, and 1 minute abs.  It’s good diversity and just when I feel like I can’t go on, the exercise changes and I am using different muscles.  It also makes me sweat and I just feel good afterwards.  Oh and before I forget I had a Subway turkey sandwich (no cheese) red wine vinegar on the roll, lettuce, tomato, onion, and banana peppers with a unsweetend ice tea and bag of low-calorie lays chips for dinner last night. In between lunch and dinner I ate a Protein Meal Bar to make sure I wasn’t starving since I knew we’d be busy for awhile before we ate dinner.

Sunday has been a lazier day.

It was the first time I was able to sleep in since before Sawyer was born and it felt SO good, thanks to my wonderful husband.  But when I sleep in like that it almost makes me more tired.  But I got myself up, ate a brunch of lender’s bagel (140 calories) some lite salmon spread, lox, tomato and onion.  It was delicious.  I also had an 8 oz glass of lite Soy chocolate milk.  D-lish!  After some time with Sawyer, I handed him over to his father for a nap and popped in the Jillian DVD.  For some reason my knees were bothering me a bit more this time. I wonder if it’s because I wore sneakers this time rather then doing it in socks.  Interesting.  As a quick snack after my workout I ate a Kellogg’s Protein Meal Bar and I’m consuming a large glass of water.  I don’t drink enough water on the weekends, for some reason I do a much better job drinking water at work than at home. Probably because I am up moving so much on the weekends and at work I am at my desk most of the day or I take my water with me to my meetings.  I also find that I do a better job of  eating small meals during the week than I do on the weekends.

Well, it is 3:15pm and the men’s USA hockey team is about to play.  I’ll be enjoying the game while researching some new recipes on Food Network.  I am planning on eating some grilled Salmon (we have an inside grill pan that I can put on my stove – wonderful) litely seasoned, some brown rice and some more salad from what I made yesterday.  I am actually excited for dinner because I love grilled Salmon.

I need to go grocery shopping today and I find that researching my recipes first and then making my list can be helpful.  Which reminds me, I had bought the ingredients for a lite turkey chili that I found online, I’ll have to make that this week.

Day One blogging, week two getting fit

It’s a saturday morning so I decided to sleep in a bit today, Sawyer had me up around 8:30am.  After I got Sawyer fed and back down for a nap I put on my exercise clothes and began exploring my options for a workout to do for today.  As I surfed Exercise TV, I decided to do, what I thought was a 22 minute Biggest Loser cardio burn, by some of the folks who have been on Biggest Loser. Once I got to the workout, she mentioned it only being a 10 minute cardio burn.  I decided to go ahead with the workout and figured I’d find something else to supplement it.

The workout was quick and fairly intense.  After working out with professional tv trainers all week there was a comparable difference between their style and the young woman directing me through my cardio burn.  But what I liked most about working out with this crew was that they were all different shapes and sizes and I kept thinking if they could do it, so could I.  To be honest, it wasn’t easy and I definitely worked up a sweat.  It was a great motivator and even though it was sometimes to follow the young woman’s lead I will probably give this one a try again.  I then did a ab workout for another 11 minutes.  This was a standing ab workout and to be honest I am not sure I really got my abs working.  My abs most certainly are not what they used to be and so it’s difficult to even find them anymore, I think I’ll have to stick to the floor routines for now.

After I exercised I decided to get some water and something for breakfast.  I had purchased some Grape Nuts and wanted to eat those with possibly some yogurt. However, the box said that a 1/2 a cup of grape nuts equals 200 calories so I mixed that with a 60 calorie yogurt.  Yeah, I would not suggest that for a meal to anyone, unless you are wanting to punish yourself.  Too many oats and not enough yogurt makes for a fairly dry and untasty meal.  I know I am eating to live and not living to eat, but some taste is nice. I am not out to torture myself.

It’s now 11:48am and since I just started working on the blog today I am starting to feel my stomach growl again. I normally would have had another small meal before lunch but spending time on setting up this blog took my mind off the clock and apparently my hunger and I didn’t even realize that it was almost 12pm until I got some hunger pains.  I’m off to find something to eat for lunch.  For me and for Sawyer.