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.

 

Tired, very tired

I went to bed too late last night and 4:50am came way to early.  By body still ached a bit from my weekend work out so I decided to do yoga, 45 minutes of beginner’s yoga.  It was still quite the workout for me but my body feels much better.  I was fighting to keep my eyes open as I drove to work today.  It was pouring down rain and I gotta be honest, it was a bit scary.

I’m going to restart my hardcore workout again tomorrow, probably start with Jackie Warner again.  I really enjoy that workout because when I am done with it I feel stronger and leaner.

I’ve been doing really well with my diet.  I know I haven’t reported much on it but I am starting to hit that 60/20/20 mark a bit better than I have in the past.  I’ve really had to increase my protein intake to make it happen.  So what they looks like for me, typical meals throughout the day is something like this:

Breakfast
Fruit smoothie (organic yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, ice, water, scoop of protein)
Mid Morning meal
4 egg whites
3 pieces of turkey bacon
1 slice of Ezekiel bread
Lunch
chicken/lean beef burger(10% fat)/pork chop/ground turkey/tuna
veggie and/or brown rice
salad with protein
Mid Afternoon meal
tuna with organic mayo
hummus with low carb veggie (cucumber/tomato/celery)
lean meat
Dinner
lean meat
vegetables
brown rice

My snacks consist of:  almonds, veggie sticks, carrots, celery, peanut butter, Laughing Cow cheese
Dessert: Low carb ice cream, skinny cow sandwich

I am usually anywhere between 1100-1400 calories a day.  Once you start getting into the groove it really isn’t too difficult.

Tip: I have found that preparing my food the night before can be really helpful.  For instance, I’ll peel my eggs and take out the yolks and put them in a tupperware container, get my lunches ready, and if I need to decide on dinner, I’ll take something out of the freezer to thaw, if not already thawed.  It can be extremely helpful for me, especially the mornings that I am running a bit late.

Speaking of, my routine is shifting a bit again.  Sawyer is starting to sleep until 8-8:30am so we have decided that I am not going to get him up in the mornings to feed him anymore.  My husband will get up with him.  This way I can work out for 4o minutes a day and not have to rush to get myself breakfast, showered, and the dogs fed.  I think I’m going to miss that time with Sawyer in the morning, but it will help me with not feeling so rushed in the morning.

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.

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.