So, I'm doing everything I can to boost this thing called Metabolism. Again, I have to state that I am no expert in the area of Metabolic rate or how your body processes calories...but here is the official definition according to MedicineNet.com:
Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within an organism. Metabolism consists both of anabolism and catabolism (the buildup and breakdown of substances, respectively). The biochemical reactions are known as metabolic pathways and involve enzymes that transform one substance into another substance, either breaking down a substance or building a new chemical substance. The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.
Long definition short...how your body takes the food that you ingest and transforms it into usable fuel for your body.
Over the years, I've noticed that youngsters have "crazy-high" metabolic rates...and as we get older, unless we are regularly active, it slows down. I've seen students eat huge amounts of disgusting food and never gain an ounce of weight. Before P90Xing (I love changing the usage!), if I ate the same thing as those students I would definitely gain weight. I've also seen people eat once a day without being able to lose weight at all. I'm guessing the thought is that if you eat once a day, your body uses up fat stored in your body?!? I've been in that camp before...not really fun at all!
So...clearly...the key to successful weight loss seems to be all about boosting your metabolism. In the limited research I've done, here's what does it: eating often and exercising.
Through the P90X program, they encourage eating 5 times per day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. I break mine up even more. I tend to eat about 7 times a day. By doing this, my body is in the habit of breaking down food regularly and the steady consumption of food increases the metabolic rate. If you add in a steady workout program, like P90X, then your metabolism becomes "crazy-high". When your body is used to processing food and exercising, then when you have a cheat day, it doesn't hurt you. In fact, I found out that some body builders actually believe that having a "cheat day" when you eat large amounts of food will supercharge your metabolism for a brief amount of time. These bodybuilders believe that a regularly built in "cheat day" helps to keep their metabolic rate up. I have to research this more to know what it's all about. If you have any insights into this topic, please share. I'm interested in working towards keeping my metabolism up.
Not sure what topic I'll cover next...feel free to submit ideas that might be on your mind! Have a great night!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Results Are In!! - Day 14b
Here it goes! Somehow, I've lost track of time. I didn't mean to be late with my results posting. Instead of posting again in 6 days, I'm going to wait until day 30 to post. Also, I didn't have a great week last week in terms of strength building. I didn't do it at all, but I did manage to get the running done that I've added to my plan. This may mean that I extend phase 1 of the workout plan again...however, I'm not sure yet.
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
October 13th - 263.4 (Day 80 of P90X)
October 24th - 257.6 (Day 91 of P90X)
November 14th - 257.4 (Day 14b of P90X)
November 14th - 257.4 (Day 14b of P90X)
Total loss to date: 35.6 pounds since July 14th.
Going back to the phase 1 nutritional plan was harder than I expected. I grew accustomed to having 5 servings of carbohydrates in my diet and only 4 servings of protein. I'm happy to boost up my protein, but eliminating the carbohydrates has hit me a bit. I've really been pretty good about adhering to the diet but, since I'm repeating P90X and there is no documentation for how to do this relative to diet, I may jump to phase 2 early and hang with that until phase 3. That allows me to have 3 servings of carbohydrates and 8 servings of protein.
Anyway...these are my thoughts for right now. I'm back on the strength training wagon again and hope to see some results soon. It's pretty amazing how my mind messes with me. I took a week off and feel like the muscles are "withering away". Not sure how fast that happens, but probably not much of a difference after a week.
Also...I am starting an "AB Ripper X" club in my school. Anyone that wants to go through 16 minutes of pure Joy 3 times per week with me can do it. If you're a student, we're starting next week!
Feel free to offer up any wisdom if you're reading this and have thoughts! Oh....one more thing, if you drop me a comment, try to do it here if it's beneficial to other people. I'll make sure I get the comment posted.
Thanks! More later!!
Going back to the phase 1 nutritional plan was harder than I expected. I grew accustomed to having 5 servings of carbohydrates in my diet and only 4 servings of protein. I'm happy to boost up my protein, but eliminating the carbohydrates has hit me a bit. I've really been pretty good about adhering to the diet but, since I'm repeating P90X and there is no documentation for how to do this relative to diet, I may jump to phase 2 early and hang with that until phase 3. That allows me to have 3 servings of carbohydrates and 8 servings of protein.
Anyway...these are my thoughts for right now. I'm back on the strength training wagon again and hope to see some results soon. It's pretty amazing how my mind messes with me. I took a week off and feel like the muscles are "withering away". Not sure how fast that happens, but probably not much of a difference after a week.
Also...I am starting an "AB Ripper X" club in my school. Anyone that wants to go through 16 minutes of pure Joy 3 times per week with me can do it. If you're a student, we're starting next week!
Feel free to offer up any wisdom if you're reading this and have thoughts! Oh....one more thing, if you drop me a comment, try to do it here if it's beneficial to other people. I'll make sure I get the comment posted.
Thanks! More later!!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Here We Go Again...
For me, Halloween meant the eve of the 2nd round of P90X. It's been a week since I last posted and I've had a pretty decent week. I missed a few workouts, but I realized that there are just going to be weeks that I am not going to get 6 workouts in. Mentally, it has taken me a while to let that sink in. I always beat myself up when I take a day off, thinking that I'm straying from my program. That change in my approach to working out also has impacted my dietary choices. I've mentioned before that I enjoy the little "treats" life has to offer from time to time. I ALWAYS would think that I was "cheating" the diet, but I don't feel that way anymore. If I eat something that isn't healthy, I don't make a big deal about it, I just make sure that I stay on track. It has never, to my knowledge, had an impact on my road to fitness. I still step on the scale everyday and I see gains and losses, but the weekly trend is always a loss or at the worst, no weight change at all. Pretty cool...apparently I have a pretty rockin' metabolism!! My next post will deal with metabolism changes, but that's for another day!
I had a doctor appointment yesterday and he took my blood pressure. It was 98/72. Now...for many, that is probably no big deal...but my average blood pressure was anywhere from 126/88 to 118/82. Never have I been in the 70's for the bottom number in my adult life. The doctor made a pretty big deal about it. Another thing we talked about at the appointment was the opening in the back of my throat. Seems kinda weird, but he is an ENT guy. He asked me if I snore and, of course, I don't really know the answer to that question. So, I asked my wife and she said I snore less now than I did before, but never a lot unless I'm sick. Doc said that the tongue is one big muscle and showed me the opening in the back of my throat with a little camera that he shoved down my nose. Looked pretty cool! He said my opening was a little on the small side and if I gain weight, it'll get smaller, causing me to snore more. This leads me to believe that if I keep losing weight, then it'll get larger, right?? I'm not sure why people use machines to help with sleep Apnea, but if it's at all related to the throat size and air pressure keeping it open when the tongue relaxes, this creates more motivation for me.
Thanks for reading! I was pretty amazed when I noticed that I was over 2000 hits on the site. I was excited early on when I crossed the 40 hit mark. I really appreciate all the comments, suggestions, and inspiring remarks. I'm really committed to this and knowing that people read this blog pushes me forward...and...of course...helps me push play!!
I had a doctor appointment yesterday and he took my blood pressure. It was 98/72. Now...for many, that is probably no big deal...but my average blood pressure was anywhere from 126/88 to 118/82. Never have I been in the 70's for the bottom number in my adult life. The doctor made a pretty big deal about it. Another thing we talked about at the appointment was the opening in the back of my throat. Seems kinda weird, but he is an ENT guy. He asked me if I snore and, of course, I don't really know the answer to that question. So, I asked my wife and she said I snore less now than I did before, but never a lot unless I'm sick. Doc said that the tongue is one big muscle and showed me the opening in the back of my throat with a little camera that he shoved down my nose. Looked pretty cool! He said my opening was a little on the small side and if I gain weight, it'll get smaller, causing me to snore more. This leads me to believe that if I keep losing weight, then it'll get larger, right?? I'm not sure why people use machines to help with sleep Apnea, but if it's at all related to the throat size and air pressure keeping it open when the tongue relaxes, this creates more motivation for me.
Thanks for reading! I was pretty amazed when I noticed that I was over 2000 hits on the site. I was excited early on when I crossed the 40 hit mark. I really appreciate all the comments, suggestions, and inspiring remarks. I'm really committed to this and knowing that people read this blog pushes me forward...and...of course...helps me push play!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Results are In!! - Day 97 (Graduation Day)
Here we go...."Sophomore Year" is done! Monday starts my junior year. Saturday and Sunday is my summer vacation! I'm gonna have a ton of stuff in this post...tests and measurements before and after as well as pictures and a video. Enjoy! My wife sees a big difference, I don't see it nearly as much...not until I look at my belt holes. I went in 5 belt holes...when I move it out to the 2nd hole and see the space between it and my waist, I see a significant change then! I feel a lot better too!
Here are the "Day 97 Pix"
Here's a video of each pose for Day -1, 30, 60, 97.
Ok...enough of the multimedia presentations. Here are some before and after statistics:
Before and After Body Measurements:
Resting Heart Rate: from 92 to 76
Weight: from 293 to 258
Chest: from 51.5" to 47"
Waist: from 54" to 47.5"
Hips: from 48" to 44.5"
Right Thigh: from 25.5" to 24.5"
Left Thigh: from 27" to 26"
Right Arm: from 17" to 15.5"
Left Arm: from 16.5" to 16"
The Fit Test was done the day before I started P90X. There are 2 numbers for each activity. The first is the Pre-test. The 2nd is the Post-test.
1. Pull-Ups: 0, 0 (but I can at least lift myself a bit and I can do a bunch with the aid of a chair)
(Pretty straight forward here...)
2. Vertical Leap: 10.5", 19"
(Standing position, bend knees and leap straight up in the air)
3. Push-Ups: 20, 30
(Do as many standard push-ups until you fail)
4. Toe Touch: 2.25" beyond toes, 5" beyond toes
(Seated with legs straight and together, reach as far past toes as possible)
5. Wall Squat: 1:15, 2:01
(Bend knees to simulate sitting in a chair, knees at 90 degrees and hold as long as possible)
6. Bicep Curls (30 pounds per arm): 20, 32
(Pretty straight forward here also...)
7. In & Outs: 30, 41
(Lying on your back, feet about 6" above ground, move legs in and out without touching the floor)
8. Heart Rate Maximizer:
(2 minutes of jumping jacks with last 30 seconds as fast as possible first, then take heart rate 5 times)
Immediately after jumping jacks: 162, 146
1 minute after stopping: 134, 114
2 minutes after stopping: 118, 110
3 minutes after stopping: 116, 108
4 minutes after stopping: 112, 104
Hopefully this was all clear...I know it's a lot of info, but I wanted you to have a pretty complete picture. I'm looking forward to the progress I make between now and day 187. Have a great day!! Thanks for reading...another exciting 3 months ahead!!
Here are the "Day 97 Pix"
Here's a video of each pose for Day -1, 30, 60, 97.
Ok...enough of the multimedia presentations. Here are some before and after statistics:
Before and After Body Measurements:
Resting Heart Rate: from 92 to 76
Weight: from 293 to 258
Chest: from 51.5" to 47"
Waist: from 54" to 47.5"
Hips: from 48" to 44.5"
Right Thigh: from 25.5" to 24.5"
Left Thigh: from 27" to 26"
Right Arm: from 17" to 15.5"
Left Arm: from 16.5" to 16"
The Fit Test was done the day before I started P90X. There are 2 numbers for each activity. The first is the Pre-test. The 2nd is the Post-test.
1. Pull-Ups: 0, 0 (but I can at least lift myself a bit and I can do a bunch with the aid of a chair)
(Pretty straight forward here...)
2. Vertical Leap: 10.5", 19"
(Standing position, bend knees and leap straight up in the air)
3. Push-Ups: 20, 30
(Do as many standard push-ups until you fail)
4. Toe Touch: 2.25" beyond toes, 5" beyond toes
(Seated with legs straight and together, reach as far past toes as possible)
5. Wall Squat: 1:15, 2:01
(Bend knees to simulate sitting in a chair, knees at 90 degrees and hold as long as possible)
6. Bicep Curls (30 pounds per arm): 20, 32
(Pretty straight forward here also...)
7. In & Outs: 30, 41
(Lying on your back, feet about 6" above ground, move legs in and out without touching the floor)
8. Heart Rate Maximizer:
(2 minutes of jumping jacks with last 30 seconds as fast as possible first, then take heart rate 5 times)
Immediately after jumping jacks: 162, 146
1 minute after stopping: 134, 114
2 minutes after stopping: 118, 110
3 minutes after stopping: 116, 108
4 minutes after stopping: 112, 104
Hopefully this was all clear...I know it's a lot of info, but I wanted you to have a pretty complete picture. I'm looking forward to the progress I make between now and day 187. Have a great day!! Thanks for reading...another exciting 3 months ahead!!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Pizza, Pastry, and Pie: Poison?!?
Throughout the workouts, Tony does his best to be motivational and while he's doing that, he makes the comment about certain foods being poison. Donuts, pastry, etc. are on the "poison list". These foods are NOT P90X friendly and because of that, Tony says...NO GO! He, frequently, talks about soups on his cool down sessions by doing "pot stirrers". When his "workout buddies" mention a soup that could be dairy based or not whole wheat noodles, he quickly replies with comments like "with whole wheat noodles, right" or "I hope it's non-dairy". While I really enjoy the workouts and Tony does really help a lot...what kind of world are we living in when we can't enjoy some of the simple, unhealthy, flavors of life? If, to be ripped, I can never eat a piece of pizza, pie, or cake, I don't want to be ripped! It's just that simple! Now...my approach towards those foods has changed significantly in the last 90+ days. I am totally cool with eating 1 or 2 pieces of pizza with a large salad for dinner. Before, I'd eat 6-8 pieces of pizza and be too full for salad. This has been a good shift. Also, I will not deny myself a piece of birthday cake at a celebration. Again...differently than before...a small or medium sized piece with a tiny bit of ice cream does the trick for me. Before...big piece, 2 scoops of ice cream....then seconds the same way. I haven't skipped out of eating these foods, I just limit the quantity. The cool thing for me is that I don't consciously decide to eat less, I just don't really want any more that what I eat. 2 pieces of pizza is really enough. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. Before, if I ate 2 pieces of pizza for dinner, I'd be looking, longingly, at the pizza all night long. Now, I don't really give it much thought. I made a dessert for my wife and her friend yesterday. When it was baked, I tasted a small square of it. Before, I'd have eaten about 4 of those squares and then eat what they didn't when their evening was all over.
Are you sensing a pattern here? I do my best to stick with the P90X diet on a daily basis, but on a special occasion, I will break free from it a bit. I also try to compensate for it in my daily allotment of food...for example: I usually count 1 piece of pizza as a carbohydrate, dairy, fat and condiment. That is only a guess, but I figure it keeps me thinking along the P90X diet plan. Now...I must mention that I don't eat those things daily...they are done sparingly...not regularly.
The other thing that I noticed is that on days when I eat the non-P90X foods, I don't see any trend in weight gain. Since I exercise and eat about 7 times a day, it seems like the metabolism is working pretty hard. That's my guess anyway...
Well...that's my thoughts for tonight...the next post will be my results for the 1st round of P90X. I'm pretty excited for the fit test. I want to see how I've changed! Anyway....g'night!
Are you sensing a pattern here? I do my best to stick with the P90X diet on a daily basis, but on a special occasion, I will break free from it a bit. I also try to compensate for it in my daily allotment of food...for example: I usually count 1 piece of pizza as a carbohydrate, dairy, fat and condiment. That is only a guess, but I figure it keeps me thinking along the P90X diet plan. Now...I must mention that I don't eat those things daily...they are done sparingly...not regularly.
The other thing that I noticed is that on days when I eat the non-P90X foods, I don't see any trend in weight gain. Since I exercise and eat about 7 times a day, it seems like the metabolism is working pretty hard. That's my guess anyway...
Well...that's my thoughts for tonight...the next post will be my results for the 1st round of P90X. I'm pretty excited for the fit test. I want to see how I've changed! Anyway....g'night!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Results Are In!! - Day 91
Here we go...another "bench mark" on the road to weight loss!! Soon, I'll be graduating my sophomore year and ready to move to my junior year of P90X!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
October 13th - 263.4 (Day 80 of P90X)
October 24th - 257.6 (Day 91 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 35.4 pounds since July 14th.
This should be the end of my first round of P90X. I extended it by one week when I had a pretty bad week at one point in the program. So...I am beginning my recovery week now. On either Saturday or Sunday, I'll take all the measurements, pictures, and do the fit test again to measure my progress. That will be a fun post for me!!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
October 13th - 263.4 (Day 80 of P90X)
October 24th - 257.6 (Day 91 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 35.4 pounds since July 14th.
This should be the end of my first round of P90X. I extended it by one week when I had a pretty bad week at one point in the program. So...I am beginning my recovery week now. On either Saturday or Sunday, I'll take all the measurements, pictures, and do the fit test again to measure my progress. That will be a fun post for me!!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Weight Loss...The Great Rollercoaster Ride!
People ask me on a regular basis how much weight I've lost. Truthfully...that's a tough question to ask. Through this workout program, I've stepped on the scale every day. I learned, early on, that the number on the scale is very temporary and will fluctuate greatly in a day or two...hence the title of this post. Many times throughout my life when I've endeavored to lose a bit of weight, the rule of thumb was to step on the scale weekly, not daily. I understand this completely because we, of the "biggins" variety, tend to need to see positive change. It is better to step on the scale weekly than to do it daily and risk seeing a gain. In fact, when I did the Weight Watchers thing, we were encouraged NOT to exercise until we lost some weight first...I think once we got to the 10% of your body weight goal, we could add in exercise. This was a while ago and I don't think Weight Watchers takes that position now...but back then, it was weird to be told NOT to exercise. I've always understood the concept that muscle mass weighs more than fat. You could lose fat, gain muscle, and register a gain on the scale while, in all reality, getting more fit. This could certainly be disconcerting for the person that really needs to start seeing some changes. The scale is the easiest way to do that early on.
What I'm most concerned with is the pattern of lower numbers vs. higher numbers on the scale. I'm going to start an experiment where I log how the weight registers daily and compare that to the workout the day before. If I were to come up with a hypothesis, I'd guess that the day or two after a strength training workout, I'll see a gain. The day after a "rest" day, will register as a loss on the scale. I don't know how long it takes for the body to rebuild, but this seems logical to me. Also, I'm going to consider the size of the muscles in each muscle group being worked. For example...if I destroy my legs in the "Legs and Back" workout, I suspect there will be more weight gained than when I'm working the "Chest and Back". Not sure how this will end up, but it seems like fun to me.
Ultimately...the "10 day" numbers seem to register a loss fairly consistently so that's a good thing. Comparing body shape....8 years ago, before my wedding day, I weighed in at 239. I still have the same belt I used during that weight loss session which was the Atkins diet with no exercise. I now weigh in at 260.8 and am only 1 belt loop away from when I weighted 239. That has to be the result of muscle mass development.
OK....well, enough for tonight...I'll be back on soon...hang in there! Keep reading!
What I'm most concerned with is the pattern of lower numbers vs. higher numbers on the scale. I'm going to start an experiment where I log how the weight registers daily and compare that to the workout the day before. If I were to come up with a hypothesis, I'd guess that the day or two after a strength training workout, I'll see a gain. The day after a "rest" day, will register as a loss on the scale. I don't know how long it takes for the body to rebuild, but this seems logical to me. Also, I'm going to consider the size of the muscles in each muscle group being worked. For example...if I destroy my legs in the "Legs and Back" workout, I suspect there will be more weight gained than when I'm working the "Chest and Back". Not sure how this will end up, but it seems like fun to me.
Ultimately...the "10 day" numbers seem to register a loss fairly consistently so that's a good thing. Comparing body shape....8 years ago, before my wedding day, I weighed in at 239. I still have the same belt I used during that weight loss session which was the Atkins diet with no exercise. I now weigh in at 260.8 and am only 1 belt loop away from when I weighted 239. That has to be the result of muscle mass development.
OK....well, enough for tonight...I'll be back on soon...hang in there! Keep reading!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Results are In!! - Day 80
Short post tonight...I just got home from a band function and wanted to make sure to get the stats up....
Drum roll please.......
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
October 13th - 263.4 (Day 80 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 29.6 pounds since July 14th.
Interestingly enough, weight loss is a big roller coaster for me. I lose several pounds, gain a bit back, lose a bit more, etc. I was over 31 pounds weight loss 5 days ago....it must be the whole muscle development thing...I have a lot more to say on the topic, but will save that for another post. Time to "hit the sack"!
Night, Night!!
Drum roll please.......
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
October 13th - 263.4 (Day 80 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 29.6 pounds since July 14th.
Interestingly enough, weight loss is a big roller coaster for me. I lose several pounds, gain a bit back, lose a bit more, etc. I was over 31 pounds weight loss 5 days ago....it must be the whole muscle development thing...I have a lot more to say on the topic, but will save that for another post. Time to "hit the sack"!
Night, Night!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Tools of the Trade
It has taken me a long time to get into any type of routine for preparing my meals for the next day. One of the things I'm pretty proud of myself for is the dedication to the dietary side of the program. P90X is very specific in terms of amount of servings for each food group. Then, within the food group, there are specific foods that are and are not allowed. Weighing and measuring is the only way to guarantee that you are eating the right proportions. There's a book that helps you determine the portion sizes based on everyday products. A 3 oz. serving of protein is roughly the size of a deck of cards. A serving of vegetables should be roughly the size of a DVD case, etc. For some, I guess that works, but for me...I need something more tangible. When I was a member of weight watchers years ago, they drove into your head the notion of weight and measurement. It used to drive me nuts because the scale at my parents house was small and you had to zero it with a little knob on the back. When I didn't live with my parents, a food scale was an unnecessary purchase.
So, in the spirit of progessing through the P90X program, I went on the search for a food scale. I went to Walmart and found 3 scales. The first was like the one my mom had years ago. It was a dial scale with a measuring cup on the top to put food in. It cost less than $10.00. The 2nd that I saw was the middle of the road scale at approximately $14.97. This is the scale that I purchased (picture below). What I really liked about it was the flat top of the scale....and that it was digital. The rest of "bells and whistles" were discovered the first day of use. Because it is a digital scale, the numbers can be clearly seen. Also, by pressing one button, you can scroll through different units of measure. Mostly, I measure things in ounces, but from time to time I have to switch to grams. The other great feature is that you can set a plate on the scale, hit the zero button, put your food on the scale. Then, hit the zero button again and put more food on the scale. You can weigh each individual food item on the same plate by zeroing between each item. Fewer dirty dishes and more precise measurements. It's really revolutionized my mealtimes.
The other thing that I've learned to do is prepare regular items days in advance. In a previous post, I mentioned that I'm a creature of habit. I eat almonds, jerky, and whole grain goldfish daily as a snack. When you prepare your lunch, snacks, and supplements every night, you can spend hours in the kitchen. When I find that I have some extra time, I take my trusty scale and a box of baggies and "go to town". I measure everything out and put it in baggies. I usually do 8 at a time since the package of jerky I use is 8 ozs. That has saved some time. I do that with salad for lunches also, but you can't do that too often as lettuce does tend to get a bit weird if it's in the refridgerator too long.
I know I covered this in a previous post, but my next tip is the Blackberry notebook application has been helpful. Once I know what I'm eating, I put that into the notebook on my phone. Then, when I get home from dinner, I know exactly what I have left to eat so that determines how much of what dinner item I can eat.
By planning ahead and having a pretty cool food scale, I've been able to keep pretty good control of my diet. On a sidenote, I've actually increased the times I eat a day. Meals are "normal" sized and the snacks are small. Here's the breakdown:
1. I eat a small snack after my morning workout.
2. I eat breakfast (right now, it's 3 cups of oatmeal with 1/4 cup of sugar-free syrup).
3. I have a snack (usually a serving of almonds).
4. I eat lunch (salad with some form of protein and a piece of fruit).
5. I have a snack (jerky and a piece of fruit).
6. I have dinner.
7. I have my last snack for the day around 8:00 PM (usually 2 Pure Fruit Bars from Breyers)
Truthfully...I never get hungry. This is a plan that works for me! Preparation is time consuming, but worth it. I just don't trust myself when I have to "guess" how much a serving size actually weighs.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Junior Year of P90X - A Restructuring...
So, as I mentioned before, I am always looking ahead to what's next. I've referred to this 90 days as being my sophomore year in "Fitness High School". What I'm learning through this process is that the workouts tend to get a bit on the repetitive side. Which makes total sense since you're using the same workout videos day in - day out. I've come up with a plan that involves modifying P90X. Here's what I'm proposing:
1. I will maintain the same dietary regiment as before. I'll revert back to Phase I eating.
2. I will continue with the supplements, protein bars, and recovery drinks.
3. I am going to do the regular day 1,3,5 workouts. I've been referring to them as strength training workouts.
4. I'm going to start, on days 2 and 4, running on a treadmill in the morning. Nobody can deny that running is a great cardiovascular exercise and I enjoy it. It also provides me with a break from "pressing play".
5. Saturday will be dedicated to doing plyometrics one week and either yoga or kenpo on the other day.
6. Sunday is going to remain a rest or stretch day.
7. Ab Ripper X has, admittedly, fallen short in my workout...I'm going to do that workout after school 3 days a week. In fact, there are a few students that said they'd come down 3 times a week and do Ab Ripper X also. I figure, why not...more motivation. I'll be in the back of the band room, hiding behind the timpani so nobody else can see me struggle! We're going to call it the Ab Ripper X Club. I know...really creative...wonder where that title came from!
Assuming phase 2 goes well, I may try one of the other workouts for phase 3....like the doubles workout.
For now...I'm still doing the schedule as much as possible. I miss workouts from time to time, but I'm not sweating it...that's going to happen.
Well....enough for now...enjoy your weekend and look for more next week!! Later!
1. I will maintain the same dietary regiment as before. I'll revert back to Phase I eating.
2. I will continue with the supplements, protein bars, and recovery drinks.
3. I am going to do the regular day 1,3,5 workouts. I've been referring to them as strength training workouts.
4. I'm going to start, on days 2 and 4, running on a treadmill in the morning. Nobody can deny that running is a great cardiovascular exercise and I enjoy it. It also provides me with a break from "pressing play".
5. Saturday will be dedicated to doing plyometrics one week and either yoga or kenpo on the other day.
6. Sunday is going to remain a rest or stretch day.
7. Ab Ripper X has, admittedly, fallen short in my workout...I'm going to do that workout after school 3 days a week. In fact, there are a few students that said they'd come down 3 times a week and do Ab Ripper X also. I figure, why not...more motivation. I'll be in the back of the band room, hiding behind the timpani so nobody else can see me struggle! We're going to call it the Ab Ripper X Club. I know...really creative...wonder where that title came from!
Assuming phase 2 goes well, I may try one of the other workouts for phase 3....like the doubles workout.
For now...I'm still doing the schedule as much as possible. I miss workouts from time to time, but I'm not sweating it...that's going to happen.
Well....enough for now...enjoy your weekend and look for more next week!! Later!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Where's the Motivation Here?!?
I'm now in Phase III of the program. It's been a pretty hard road with many bumps along the way, but I'm coming through it and see the "light at the end of the first tunnel". Lately, I've been really considering WHY I'm doing P90X. The end result is that I don't have a definitive answer....or....perhaps more accurately, I have several definitive answers.
My main reason is to be healthy and show my children what leading a healthy lifestyle is like. I want to lead by example and not just words. Too often I see family patterns where the parents lead a sedentary lifestyle and that "way of living" rubs off on their children. Unfortunately, our family has been tracking that way. For me, an enjoyable evening was hanging out with the kids doing a puzzle, reading, playing the Wii, or something that didn't involve a lot of "body movement". If I continue down that path, it seems like statistics would predict my children would lead down the same path and I don't want that for them. Since I started P90X, I've been more willing to do active things when time permits...unfortunately, those times are few and far between since I am "knee deep" in the marching band season. One of the few exceptions to this (and I need to remind you that this is my opinion based on limited observation) is students that are active in sports. In that case, I'm guessing they form different habits through peer interaction and extrinsic motivation in the form of a coach and competition. My son seems like he will have the tendency to be on the "larger" size. If we don't instill good dietary and exercise habits when they are young, it may be harder for them later...again, just my opinion not based on fact or research.
I suppose another reason is that I want to be stronger. I've always been considered a "strong" person. Most likely, it is because of 2 reasons. The first is when you carry a lot of weight, your muscles tend to be bigger, even though you may not see it. The second is that if you lift intelligently, you can lift more weight than you might be able to handle if you were, for example, trying to dead lift the same weight. I've been pretty successful with moving things by myself using balance points and putting my body into it instead of only one muscle group. I bet the people that consider me a "strong" person would be surprised to see how much weight I could lift in a gym...meaning LESS than they might think. That's a different type of lifting that usually only targets one muscle or group of muscles. Someone once told me that a man reaches his peak at the age of 25. Well, I'm 41 and if that's the case, I've got a good start down that hill! I remember when I was in high school, my band director turned 40 and my mom as well as a few other band parents threw an "over the hill" party for him. As a high school student, I thought...man....that dude is old! Now that I'm a year older than he was at the time...it doesn't seem too old now...I guess it's all perspective!! ;) I know my body is going to decline...everyone does, BUT I'd like to start in a better place so the decline is a lot slower. As a father of a 3 month old, I want to be able to "act young" when she's in high school and I'm in my 35th year of teaching. While there are older parents than me with newborn children, I'm sure I'll be on the "older end of the spectrum" at PTA meetings.
Yet another reason is that I want to look good. That seems so egotistical, but that's not how I mean it. My entire life, I've lived with this thought of how people perceive me. Yes, I realize that much of that is in my head, but I can't help but think that when I buy a candy bar, does the checkout person think "dude, fruit is in aisle 1, put the candy bar down, you don't need it!" Crazy thought, I know, but when a very fit person buys a candy bar, they may as well model the candy bar...people in line think "if he's in shape like that and eats a candy bar, surely it can't be bad for me." I've always been self-conscious about my physique. I've come to terms with it and, to a certain point, accepted defeat...BEFORE I started P90X. I tend to joke about my weight and it is really an open topic with my friends, family, and even students. Most people say...no Bob, you're not fat, you're big, but healthy....then they'd say that you're big boned. Yeah...that's me...big ole jiggly-boned Bob!
My wife asked me if I wanted to be "ripped" and I don't really know what to think about that. Having a chiseled look is certainly a picture of fitness, but is that a realistic goal for me, a father of 4 with a job that keeps me busy? I suppose it is, but at what cost? I do like to do things other than P90X. To look like those "insanely built" people on those videos, I'd have to give up a lot of time keeping it up. Again, I'm looking to be in shape and when I am there, I'm going to want to maintain it...but ripped...not sure...PLUS since I tend to be a fairly yeti-like person with more hair than any one person should have (sorry for the image, but you've probably seen the pix), how much "rip" are you going to see anyway?
One thing is for sure...while I carefully consider my reasons for doing P90X, it is NOT because I intend to stop, but rather, to reinforce my reasoning...AND to consider what will come next...after P90X.
Thanks for reading!
My main reason is to be healthy and show my children what leading a healthy lifestyle is like. I want to lead by example and not just words. Too often I see family patterns where the parents lead a sedentary lifestyle and that "way of living" rubs off on their children. Unfortunately, our family has been tracking that way. For me, an enjoyable evening was hanging out with the kids doing a puzzle, reading, playing the Wii, or something that didn't involve a lot of "body movement". If I continue down that path, it seems like statistics would predict my children would lead down the same path and I don't want that for them. Since I started P90X, I've been more willing to do active things when time permits...unfortunately, those times are few and far between since I am "knee deep" in the marching band season. One of the few exceptions to this (and I need to remind you that this is my opinion based on limited observation) is students that are active in sports. In that case, I'm guessing they form different habits through peer interaction and extrinsic motivation in the form of a coach and competition. My son seems like he will have the tendency to be on the "larger" size. If we don't instill good dietary and exercise habits when they are young, it may be harder for them later...again, just my opinion not based on fact or research.
I suppose another reason is that I want to be stronger. I've always been considered a "strong" person. Most likely, it is because of 2 reasons. The first is when you carry a lot of weight, your muscles tend to be bigger, even though you may not see it. The second is that if you lift intelligently, you can lift more weight than you might be able to handle if you were, for example, trying to dead lift the same weight. I've been pretty successful with moving things by myself using balance points and putting my body into it instead of only one muscle group. I bet the people that consider me a "strong" person would be surprised to see how much weight I could lift in a gym...meaning LESS than they might think. That's a different type of lifting that usually only targets one muscle or group of muscles. Someone once told me that a man reaches his peak at the age of 25. Well, I'm 41 and if that's the case, I've got a good start down that hill! I remember when I was in high school, my band director turned 40 and my mom as well as a few other band parents threw an "over the hill" party for him. As a high school student, I thought...man....that dude is old! Now that I'm a year older than he was at the time...it doesn't seem too old now...I guess it's all perspective!! ;) I know my body is going to decline...everyone does, BUT I'd like to start in a better place so the decline is a lot slower. As a father of a 3 month old, I want to be able to "act young" when she's in high school and I'm in my 35th year of teaching. While there are older parents than me with newborn children, I'm sure I'll be on the "older end of the spectrum" at PTA meetings.
Yet another reason is that I want to look good. That seems so egotistical, but that's not how I mean it. My entire life, I've lived with this thought of how people perceive me. Yes, I realize that much of that is in my head, but I can't help but think that when I buy a candy bar, does the checkout person think "dude, fruit is in aisle 1, put the candy bar down, you don't need it!" Crazy thought, I know, but when a very fit person buys a candy bar, they may as well model the candy bar...people in line think "if he's in shape like that and eats a candy bar, surely it can't be bad for me." I've always been self-conscious about my physique. I've come to terms with it and, to a certain point, accepted defeat...BEFORE I started P90X. I tend to joke about my weight and it is really an open topic with my friends, family, and even students. Most people say...no Bob, you're not fat, you're big, but healthy....then they'd say that you're big boned. Yeah...that's me...big ole jiggly-boned Bob!
My wife asked me if I wanted to be "ripped" and I don't really know what to think about that. Having a chiseled look is certainly a picture of fitness, but is that a realistic goal for me, a father of 4 with a job that keeps me busy? I suppose it is, but at what cost? I do like to do things other than P90X. To look like those "insanely built" people on those videos, I'd have to give up a lot of time keeping it up. Again, I'm looking to be in shape and when I am there, I'm going to want to maintain it...but ripped...not sure...PLUS since I tend to be a fairly yeti-like person with more hair than any one person should have (sorry for the image, but you've probably seen the pix), how much "rip" are you going to see anyway?
One thing is for sure...while I carefully consider my reasons for doing P90X, it is NOT because I intend to stop, but rather, to reinforce my reasoning...AND to consider what will come next...after P90X.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Blasts From The Past....
This has been a great week of people "reconnecting" with me. A high school buddy of mine sent me a message via Facebook and shared his success story with me. He lost over 50 pounds and "has his 20 year old body back". He even mentioned that he's starting to really see the six pack. This is his 3rd time through it and he's doing great!
A former student sent me a message to give me some words of encouragement and to tell me that she is getting married. Her "husband-to-be" and his best man are going to do the workout too. Great for them! Tony Horton has said 1000 times that doing it with a friend yields the best results because you tend to push each other! Good luck guys and congratulations again on the engagement!! She's a great girl...take good care of her!! It was great hearing from you!
A dear friend of mine is considering getting into P90X and she asked me why I decided to do this instead of something else like Beach Body's Power 90. Truthfully...I'm a sucker for infomercials. I saw it and was intrigued...I asked around and my buddy did it, so I figured if he endorsed it (and he's a pretty healthy 50 year old) I have to give it a shot! I mentioned this in a previous post a long time ago...P90X isn't a magical workout or anything super special. It's just common sense...exercise a lot, eat right, and lose pounds as well as inches. I don't care what exercise program you're on...www.beachbody.com or other, stay with it and you'll see results. The results motivate you to keep moving on. You will hit low points regarding motivation for sure, but push through them and focus on what you've already accomplished. You don't want to fast forward 2 months down the road and think "man...if I'd have only stuck with it, I'd have 2 months of getting into shape under my belt...now, I'm just fat". Been there, done that, don't want to go back again. Set small goals for yourself and from those successes, build some momentum to help you get to larger goals and, ultimately, your "end game". From time to time, I think of what life will be like in April, but more often, I focus on getting up each day and getting through the week and seeing the results every time I start another workout.
Sorry I got all "motivational" on you...I just think it's so cool that through this blog, people are reconnecting with me. I type this stuff not really thinking that many people actually read it...I always get a big grin when I get a comment or a Facebook message from someone I haven't heard from in a while. Pretty cool stuff!
Take care all and I'll write again soon!!
A former student sent me a message to give me some words of encouragement and to tell me that she is getting married. Her "husband-to-be" and his best man are going to do the workout too. Great for them! Tony Horton has said 1000 times that doing it with a friend yields the best results because you tend to push each other! Good luck guys and congratulations again on the engagement!! She's a great girl...take good care of her!! It was great hearing from you!
A dear friend of mine is considering getting into P90X and she asked me why I decided to do this instead of something else like Beach Body's Power 90. Truthfully...I'm a sucker for infomercials. I saw it and was intrigued...I asked around and my buddy did it, so I figured if he endorsed it (and he's a pretty healthy 50 year old) I have to give it a shot! I mentioned this in a previous post a long time ago...P90X isn't a magical workout or anything super special. It's just common sense...exercise a lot, eat right, and lose pounds as well as inches. I don't care what exercise program you're on...www.beachbody.com or other, stay with it and you'll see results. The results motivate you to keep moving on. You will hit low points regarding motivation for sure, but push through them and focus on what you've already accomplished. You don't want to fast forward 2 months down the road and think "man...if I'd have only stuck with it, I'd have 2 months of getting into shape under my belt...now, I'm just fat". Been there, done that, don't want to go back again. Set small goals for yourself and from those successes, build some momentum to help you get to larger goals and, ultimately, your "end game". From time to time, I think of what life will be like in April, but more often, I focus on getting up each day and getting through the week and seeing the results every time I start another workout.
Sorry I got all "motivational" on you...I just think it's so cool that through this blog, people are reconnecting with me. I type this stuff not really thinking that many people actually read it...I always get a big grin when I get a comment or a Facebook message from someone I haven't heard from in a while. Pretty cool stuff!
Take care all and I'll write again soon!!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Results are In!! - Day 70
OK...so I know it's been a while since I've posted....I'm working on that. I'm kinda going through a "writer's block" kinda thing...give me some time...I'll hop back on the soapbox pretty soon here! For now, here's the latest!
Here's the "skinny":
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 27.6 pounds since July 14th.
Again...more of the same...I'm feeling pretty good. Today I wore a suit coat to church today that I haven't worn in a while. Before I started P90X, I could get it buttoned but it was "unsightly". Now, there's plenty of room. Belt holes...almost 4. 3 is starting to feel loose, 4 is still just a bit too tight. This week's workout mirrors the 2nd phase of P90X which, in my opinion, are more fun workouts. Kinda looking forward to it actually!
Sarah, my 2 year old, was the "guest of honor" at her birthday party yesterday. We had a ton of food, and most of it was not P90X sanctioned! I didn't measure or weigh my food, but I did control what I ate. I still tried to fit in the proper servings for the day. The preparation of the food was much less healthy than I've been doing, but it was a birthday party so I "let loose" a bit. I even had a piece of cake and ice cream. Of course...I felt that later. Bad carbohydrates don't seem to like me too much these days! I suppose that's a good thing! Anyway, I made sure I stuck to the portions today and got back into the routine.
In the next day or 2, I'm going to post about some comments I've read from people that I haven't seen or talked to in a long time. It'll be a nostalgic post for me...If you're not into that, you may want to skip that one!
Have a great night every one! Bigboy out!
Here's the "skinny":
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
October 3rd - 265.4 (Day 70 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 27.6 pounds since July 14th.
Again...more of the same...I'm feeling pretty good. Today I wore a suit coat to church today that I haven't worn in a while. Before I started P90X, I could get it buttoned but it was "unsightly". Now, there's plenty of room. Belt holes...almost 4. 3 is starting to feel loose, 4 is still just a bit too tight. This week's workout mirrors the 2nd phase of P90X which, in my opinion, are more fun workouts. Kinda looking forward to it actually!
Sarah, my 2 year old, was the "guest of honor" at her birthday party yesterday. We had a ton of food, and most of it was not P90X sanctioned! I didn't measure or weigh my food, but I did control what I ate. I still tried to fit in the proper servings for the day. The preparation of the food was much less healthy than I've been doing, but it was a birthday party so I "let loose" a bit. I even had a piece of cake and ice cream. Of course...I felt that later. Bad carbohydrates don't seem to like me too much these days! I suppose that's a good thing! Anyway, I made sure I stuck to the portions today and got back into the routine.
In the next day or 2, I'm going to post about some comments I've read from people that I haven't seen or talked to in a long time. It'll be a nostalgic post for me...If you're not into that, you may want to skip that one!
Have a great night every one! Bigboy out!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Phase III AND Supplements...What a Deal!!
So...I was perusing the web today and thought that I'd check the Vitamin Shoppe website to see if there were any deals that I could take advantage of...and...low and behold...there were!! My "coupon clipping" friends would LOVE me for this one!! Here's the deal:
1. Go to www.vitaminshoppe.com and, if you want the Ultimate Man Daily Pak, select the quantity you want.
2. Automatically, there is a "buy 1 and get the 2nd at 50% off" deal that is applied to your order.
3. As you continue to checkout, there will be a place for you to enter a coupon code. Enter 2464 in that box and you'll save an additional $20.00 on an order of $100.00 or more.
4. End result...I ordered 6 boxes (6 month supply) of the Ultimate Man Daily Pak for $95.40. That means that each box cost me $15.90 instead of the listed $24.99 on the site...which is $34.10 cheaper than the P90X supplements PER MONTH. Cha-ching!!
If you are considering the supplement route, this is a great way to go and it's very economical. That's not much more than buying a single bottle of One-A-Day Men's Health multi-vitamins. I now have enough vitamins to take me through the rest of my "3 times through P90X" program.
OK...now to Phase III of P90X. This phase is one week longer than the previous phases. It changes weekly. Week 9 and 11 are the same and then week 10 and 12 are the same as well. At the conclusion of those 4 weeks of working out, I will go through a "recovery week" again. The diet is labeled the "endurance maximizer" and the servings change quite a bit:
Here are my serving maximums now (previous serving quantities are in parentheses):
Protein - (8) 4
Vegetable - (3) 4
Fruit - (2) 3
Dairy - (2) 1
Fat - (1) 1
Carbohydrates - (3) 5
Snack - (2) 1 double, (0) 2 single
Recovery Drink - (1) 1
Protein Bar - (1) 0
Condiments - (3) 4
Yeah...I know...still a lot of food, but I'm still a big guy! The protein is going to be the biggest adjustment. I've become very "protein minded". My default is to pile up the meat and now I have to switch gears. For example, I usually have a protein shake every morning with 3 servings of protein in it. Tomorrow starts a new routine that involves me eating a serving of oatmeal and some sort of carbohydrate. I'll figure it out. Another killer is the dairy. While 2 servings don't seem like much, 1 is devastating to me! I either get 1.5 ozs of cheese or 8 ozs of milk....oh, the choices!!!
Overall, I'm pretty amped to get into phase III...I've lost a total of 27.5 pounds at this point. Referencing my children, that is Sarah, my 2 year old. I've now lost her...figuratively, of course!! I was carrying her up and down the steps today thinking...well, my legs are feeling what carrying all that weight was like 2 months ago. I feel great...no pain, I feel stronger, more flexible and have an amazing attitude about diving into phase III. I'm really going to push myself and see what I can get done as well as really try to "up my score" on the post-test.
Also...a pretty exciting bit of news...I just found out that a former student just finished her 1st month of P90X. She's dropped 2 dress sizes and is really excited about her results! Her "tip of the day"...add a bit of lemon to your water to "shave an extra pound a week." I plan on trying it...I'll let you know! Hang in there, girl!! I'm pulling for you!!
If you are doing P90X and just kinda "lurk" in my blog...send me your success stories...I'm happy to share them! My mom reminded me of a quote I said (actually, I don't remember saying it, but I trust my mom's memory way more than mine!!)..."It's a life change with weight loss as a benefit." Not to "toot my own horn", but that sounds like a T-shirt slogan if I've ever heard one!!
Well, enough for now...have a great week! I'll get back on here in few days and keep you apprised of my progress!!
Later!!!
1. Go to www.vitaminshoppe.com and, if you want the Ultimate Man Daily Pak, select the quantity you want.
2. Automatically, there is a "buy 1 and get the 2nd at 50% off" deal that is applied to your order.
3. As you continue to checkout, there will be a place for you to enter a coupon code. Enter 2464 in that box and you'll save an additional $20.00 on an order of $100.00 or more.
4. End result...I ordered 6 boxes (6 month supply) of the Ultimate Man Daily Pak for $95.40. That means that each box cost me $15.90 instead of the listed $24.99 on the site...which is $34.10 cheaper than the P90X supplements PER MONTH. Cha-ching!!
If you are considering the supplement route, this is a great way to go and it's very economical. That's not much more than buying a single bottle of One-A-Day Men's Health multi-vitamins. I now have enough vitamins to take me through the rest of my "3 times through P90X" program.
OK...now to Phase III of P90X. This phase is one week longer than the previous phases. It changes weekly. Week 9 and 11 are the same and then week 10 and 12 are the same as well. At the conclusion of those 4 weeks of working out, I will go through a "recovery week" again. The diet is labeled the "endurance maximizer" and the servings change quite a bit:
Here are my serving maximums now (previous serving quantities are in parentheses):
Protein - (8) 4
Vegetable - (3) 4
Fruit - (2) 3
Dairy - (2) 1
Fat - (1) 1
Carbohydrates - (3) 5
Snack - (2) 1 double, (0) 2 single
Recovery Drink - (1) 1
Protein Bar - (1) 0
Condiments - (3) 4
Yeah...I know...still a lot of food, but I'm still a big guy! The protein is going to be the biggest adjustment. I've become very "protein minded". My default is to pile up the meat and now I have to switch gears. For example, I usually have a protein shake every morning with 3 servings of protein in it. Tomorrow starts a new routine that involves me eating a serving of oatmeal and some sort of carbohydrate. I'll figure it out. Another killer is the dairy. While 2 servings don't seem like much, 1 is devastating to me! I either get 1.5 ozs of cheese or 8 ozs of milk....oh, the choices!!!
Overall, I'm pretty amped to get into phase III...I've lost a total of 27.5 pounds at this point. Referencing my children, that is Sarah, my 2 year old. I've now lost her...figuratively, of course!! I was carrying her up and down the steps today thinking...well, my legs are feeling what carrying all that weight was like 2 months ago. I feel great...no pain, I feel stronger, more flexible and have an amazing attitude about diving into phase III. I'm really going to push myself and see what I can get done as well as really try to "up my score" on the post-test.
Also...a pretty exciting bit of news...I just found out that a former student just finished her 1st month of P90X. She's dropped 2 dress sizes and is really excited about her results! Her "tip of the day"...add a bit of lemon to your water to "shave an extra pound a week." I plan on trying it...I'll let you know! Hang in there, girl!! I'm pulling for you!!
If you are doing P90X and just kinda "lurk" in my blog...send me your success stories...I'm happy to share them! My mom reminded me of a quote I said (actually, I don't remember saying it, but I trust my mom's memory way more than mine!!)..."It's a life change with weight loss as a benefit." Not to "toot my own horn", but that sounds like a T-shirt slogan if I've ever heard one!!
Well, enough for now...have a great week! I'll get back on here in few days and keep you apprised of my progress!!
Later!!!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Recovery Week...perhaps not...
The nice thing about recovery week is that it is a break from the monotony of the three previous weeks. The recovery week is designed to get your body all set for the next series of exercises. This does not mean that it is an easy week...in fact, quite the contrary. I've outlined it before, but here's the breakdown:
Day 1 - Yoga X
Day 2 - Core Synergistics
Day 3 - Kenpo X
Day 4 - X Stretch
Day 5 - Yoga X
Day 6 - Core Synergistics
Day 7 - Rest or X Stretch
Aside from the days where you stretch or rest, each day is a real "calorie burner". Yoga X is 92 minutes of joy. When I do it, I am completely soaked from head to toe. It's a major workout for me and, I suspect, for many others as well. I can tell a major difference in my performance from Yoga X during week 1 to now, though. I feel like I am able to control my breathing better, relax through the moves/poses easier, and am stronger and more flexible. While Yoga X tore me up the first time I did it, it is not that much of a shock to my system anymore.
Kenpo X is a lot of fun, and you are so busy punching, kicking, and blocking, that the time goes by pretty quickly...again, a calorie burner.
X Stretch is not too complicated to understand...you stretch out everything possible on your body from head to toe...and...in that order. By the time you are done with the workout, according to Tony, you "feel like a million bucks!". Well...not sure what a million bucks feels like, but I will say that if I am in pain before it, I feel much better afterward. Also, I am noticeably more flexible than I was before.
Lastly....I want to talk about Core Syngergistics. In a previous post, I prematurely gave my opinion of this gem in the P90X workout DVD library. I had a very difficult time with it during my first recovery week. This time, I hesitate to say it, but I actually enjoyed a lot of it. Tony claims that it is designed to help you protect yourself from getting hurt in the real world. The workout focuses on your core muscles (a term I wasn't familiar with until P90X). These are basically, your "mid-section muscles" which involves you abs, butt, upper legs, etc. These are the muscles that you use when lifting, pulling, etc. By exercising these muscles and creating habits of using those muscles, you lower your risk of back strain and, ultimately,
injury. So...long story short....it'll get you sweating too!
Now...with the brief description of each day above, clearly, recovery week is no walk at the beach. It's hard work, but a break from the rigors of muscle development. Truthfully...I much prefer the workouts to the recovery week. Maybe that will change when I do P90X the 2nd and 3rd time...not sure.
Overall, the week has been good...I've been staying on track. Weight loss is slow, but differences are noticeable. Monday starts Phase III. Each week of Phase III changes and it is a week longer than the previous phases. After 4 weeks of workout, I'll go through my final recovery week and then do the post test, measure, and take more pictures. So....there's the plan...hope you hang around for it!
Have a great weekend!!
Day 1 - Yoga X
Day 2 - Core Synergistics
Day 3 - Kenpo X
Day 4 - X Stretch
Day 5 - Yoga X
Day 6 - Core Synergistics
Day 7 - Rest or X Stretch
Aside from the days where you stretch or rest, each day is a real "calorie burner". Yoga X is 92 minutes of joy. When I do it, I am completely soaked from head to toe. It's a major workout for me and, I suspect, for many others as well. I can tell a major difference in my performance from Yoga X during week 1 to now, though. I feel like I am able to control my breathing better, relax through the moves/poses easier, and am stronger and more flexible. While Yoga X tore me up the first time I did it, it is not that much of a shock to my system anymore.
Kenpo X is a lot of fun, and you are so busy punching, kicking, and blocking, that the time goes by pretty quickly...again, a calorie burner.
X Stretch is not too complicated to understand...you stretch out everything possible on your body from head to toe...and...in that order. By the time you are done with the workout, according to Tony, you "feel like a million bucks!". Well...not sure what a million bucks feels like, but I will say that if I am in pain before it, I feel much better afterward. Also, I am noticeably more flexible than I was before.
Lastly....I want to talk about Core Syngergistics. In a previous post, I prematurely gave my opinion of this gem in the P90X workout DVD library. I had a very difficult time with it during my first recovery week. This time, I hesitate to say it, but I actually enjoyed a lot of it. Tony claims that it is designed to help you protect yourself from getting hurt in the real world. The workout focuses on your core muscles (a term I wasn't familiar with until P90X). These are basically, your "mid-section muscles" which involves you abs, butt, upper legs, etc. These are the muscles that you use when lifting, pulling, etc. By exercising these muscles and creating habits of using those muscles, you lower your risk of back strain and, ultimately,
injury. So...long story short....it'll get you sweating too!
Now...with the brief description of each day above, clearly, recovery week is no walk at the beach. It's hard work, but a break from the rigors of muscle development. Truthfully...I much prefer the workouts to the recovery week. Maybe that will change when I do P90X the 2nd and 3rd time...not sure.
Overall, the week has been good...I've been staying on track. Weight loss is slow, but differences are noticeable. Monday starts Phase III. Each week of Phase III changes and it is a week longer than the previous phases. After 4 weeks of workout, I'll go through my final recovery week and then do the post test, measure, and take more pictures. So....there's the plan...hope you hang around for it!
Have a great weekend!!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Results are in!! - Day 59
OK...so Day 59 isn't an incredibly round number...I'm guessing I won't have a chance to post tomorrow night so I'm getting it done tonight!
Here's the "skinny":
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 24.4 pounds since July 14th.
I've been struggling a bit lately, but this week has been my "regroup" week and it's gone pretty well. Core Synergistics wasn't even the drag that I remember it being...I kinda enjoyed it! Not much to say in this post...I'm going to post some "day 59" pix and then I'm going to attempt to put up a video that I made with each of the 5 poses scrolling between day -1 to day 60.
Here's the video! Enjoy...I think...
Here's the "skinny":
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
September 22nd - 268.6 (Day 59 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 24.4 pounds since July 14th.
I've been struggling a bit lately, but this week has been my "regroup" week and it's gone pretty well. Core Synergistics wasn't even the drag that I remember it being...I kinda enjoyed it! Not much to say in this post...I'm going to post some "day 59" pix and then I'm going to attempt to put up a video that I made with each of the 5 poses scrolling between day -1 to day 60.
Here's the video! Enjoy...I think...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Recovery Week - Week 8, er...week 9
I just completed my 4th week in phase II. Technically, last week should have been my recovery week, but I extended the workout by one week...so, this week will be my recovery week. This means that I get to rest my muscles (sort of) and do 2 days of Yoga X, 2 days of Core Synergistics, 1 day of Kenpo, and 2 days of X Stretch. The last recovery week kicked my butt...BUT...I believe it delivered what was promised. I felt ready to move on to Phase 2. This week will mark the end of phase II and the beginning of Phase III. In a few days, I'll be at day 60, which means I'll post more pictures. I am more curious for these picture than the previous because I think I'll see a pretty big difference from day 1 to 60 vs. day 1 to 30. That is only logical, but I was a little bummed when I didn't notice much change...not much though...just a little!
The other pretty significant change that I'll undergo is the dietary requirements. My protein is cut in half. I'll certainly make it through, but I don't think I'll be able to do the protein shake every day...or at least not to the degree I was doing it before! Maintaining the diet has been pretty easy to do. Yeah, I know...I'm a creature of routine, but I've been pretty disciplined in that area. When I eat an unknown food, like Pizza for example, I loosely try to figure what I would count it as and then round up so I err on the side of conservative with my portions.
So my post the other day was more or less about this "funk" that I've been in. Recognizing it for what it, I realize that now, more than ever, I have to keep pushing on. This is the "OK, I've done this for a while and am ready for a change vibe." I go through this every time I commit to some significant life change pertaining to exercise or diet. If I push through this, I'm going to come out on top...I know this. I just have to keep posting, eating right, and pressing play. I'm gonna get this done! In a month, I will have successfully completed my sophomore year of P90X. I won't graduate until I look like a P90X graduate.
Not much else to say right now...I will post more often this week. I'm struggling a bit for topics, so if you are reading this and have something that you'd like me to use as the subject of one of my posts, let me know...I'll be happy to oblige!
Thanks for reading!
The other pretty significant change that I'll undergo is the dietary requirements. My protein is cut in half. I'll certainly make it through, but I don't think I'll be able to do the protein shake every day...or at least not to the degree I was doing it before! Maintaining the diet has been pretty easy to do. Yeah, I know...I'm a creature of routine, but I've been pretty disciplined in that area. When I eat an unknown food, like Pizza for example, I loosely try to figure what I would count it as and then round up so I err on the side of conservative with my portions.
So my post the other day was more or less about this "funk" that I've been in. Recognizing it for what it, I realize that now, more than ever, I have to keep pushing on. This is the "OK, I've done this for a while and am ready for a change vibe." I go through this every time I commit to some significant life change pertaining to exercise or diet. If I push through this, I'm going to come out on top...I know this. I just have to keep posting, eating right, and pressing play. I'm gonna get this done! In a month, I will have successfully completed my sophomore year of P90X. I won't graduate until I look like a P90X graduate.
Not much else to say right now...I will post more often this week. I'm struggling a bit for topics, so if you are reading this and have something that you'd like me to use as the subject of one of my posts, let me know...I'll be happy to oblige!
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Hitting The Wall...Old Habits Revisited
So, here we are, Day 53 and things are going well in the results department, but not so well in the motivation department. If you recall from my previous post, I decided to add a week to phase 2 because of a "hit-or-miss" week last week. That was a good idea...I imagine my body should feel like it needs to recover before I go into recovery week....3 days last week didn't do that. This week, I made myself promise to stand firm and get through 1 week of hard work. I was all pumped to do this when I went to bed Sunday night...then the alarm went off at 5:00 AM...I hit the snooze and instead of going back to sleep for 10 minutes, I stayed awake, considering reasons why I should take the day off and still get a good workout week in. So...I fought the need to stay in bed and got up. I wearily began my descent to the basement where I was all set up from the night before. I sat on the couch to get dressed and took a minute to wake up a bit. Well, the opposite happened and I lost my battle to exercise and went to sleep. Feeling pretty annoyed that I gave up the battle for that day and slept, I let it weigh heavily on me all day long. That night, I made the promise again. Tuesday morning came and I, even though I felt the same way as Monday, did the workout. When I was done, I felt great as I always do when I actually "press play". I was back in it! Wednesday morning...lost the battle again! Today, won the battle and I have no intentions on losing the battle tomorrow or Saturday.
What you are reading is a window into my weight-loss past. I push forward and am consumed completely...then, after a few months, I start to break down. I make excuses and start to "drift away" from the current program of exercise or diet. It's ever-so-gradual and I'm an expert at quitting when the routine starts to get monotonous. This is where I am right now. There are 2 things keeping me going:
1. I WILL NOT stop this program because I have to keep blogging...it was a motivational goal for me and hopefully decent reading for anyone else interested. If you notice, posts have been few and far between too...I think there's a positive correlation between the two!
2. For me, it is a big deal for my kids to not have a lazy dad. I have much more energy than I have in a long time. I feel stronger, lighter, and faster. This is how I want them to see me, not the lazy dad that I was before.
I think the big reason why this is getting tough for me is that it is a DVD workout in my basement while I am by myself. I have no interaction with anyone except Tony who says the same stuff each time I do the workout. I am at the point where I know what he's going to say. That's not a bad thing, but it definitely is a contributing factor to the monotony. I'm going to keep going. Really! I'm just in an exercising funk. Each day I push myself to push play, I feel better after the workout. For me, this is a critical time in my new life of fitness. Assuming I will keep going, I will probably look back at this time as a "funky phase". If I bail on the program, I can just expect things to go back to the old way.
I'm going to get up and I'm going to post more often. I will reach my goal. I'm going to finish out this week, do the recovery week and go full steam ahead into phase 3.
OK...enough rambling...I'm going to bed....I'll post more in a day or so. Take care!
What you are reading is a window into my weight-loss past. I push forward and am consumed completely...then, after a few months, I start to break down. I make excuses and start to "drift away" from the current program of exercise or diet. It's ever-so-gradual and I'm an expert at quitting when the routine starts to get monotonous. This is where I am right now. There are 2 things keeping me going:
1. I WILL NOT stop this program because I have to keep blogging...it was a motivational goal for me and hopefully decent reading for anyone else interested. If you notice, posts have been few and far between too...I think there's a positive correlation between the two!
2. For me, it is a big deal for my kids to not have a lazy dad. I have much more energy than I have in a long time. I feel stronger, lighter, and faster. This is how I want them to see me, not the lazy dad that I was before.
I think the big reason why this is getting tough for me is that it is a DVD workout in my basement while I am by myself. I have no interaction with anyone except Tony who says the same stuff each time I do the workout. I am at the point where I know what he's going to say. That's not a bad thing, but it definitely is a contributing factor to the monotony. I'm going to keep going. Really! I'm just in an exercising funk. Each day I push myself to push play, I feel better after the workout. For me, this is a critical time in my new life of fitness. Assuming I will keep going, I will probably look back at this time as a "funky phase". If I bail on the program, I can just expect things to go back to the old way.
I'm going to get up and I'm going to post more often. I will reach my goal. I'm going to finish out this week, do the recovery week and go full steam ahead into phase 3.
OK...enough rambling...I'm going to bed....I'll post more in a day or so. Take care!
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Results Are In!! - Day 50
WEIGH IN DAY!!! AKA...DAY 40!!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 22.8 pounds since July 14th.
While the results are there, I didn't have a great week of working out. I only worked out 3 days this week. Not what I would consider "bringing it" as Tony would say. However, I did get caught up on some much needed rest and I'm pretty sure the total house cleaning I did for 3 hours on Sunday counted as some sort of cardio-burn!! When reading the fitness guide, it is suggested that if you have a bad week, extend the workout phase by 1 week. That's what I plan to do. This would have been my recovery week, but I'm going to hold off and repeat phase 2 for one week...recovery week, then finish up strong in phase 3.
Thanks for the food suggestions for those of you who posted. I look forward to trying some different foods!
Steelers won...and I thought Dennis Dixon did just fine...despite what the "experts" would say!!
More later....
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
September 13th - 270.2 (Day 50 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 22.8 pounds since July 14th.
While the results are there, I didn't have a great week of working out. I only worked out 3 days this week. Not what I would consider "bringing it" as Tony would say. However, I did get caught up on some much needed rest and I'm pretty sure the total house cleaning I did for 3 hours on Sunday counted as some sort of cardio-burn!! When reading the fitness guide, it is suggested that if you have a bad week, extend the workout phase by 1 week. That's what I plan to do. This would have been my recovery week, but I'm going to hold off and repeat phase 2 for one week...recovery week, then finish up strong in phase 3.
Thanks for the food suggestions for those of you who posted. I look forward to trying some different foods!
Steelers won...and I thought Dennis Dixon did just fine...despite what the "experts" would say!!
More later....
Saturday, September 11, 2010
P90X vs. Football...Friends or Foes?!?
"Are you ready for some football!!" A cry that will forever be burned into my head thanks to the NFL and excellent marketing schemes!! The season is upon us for sure and with that comes food, food, food, and more food. Then there are games and parties with food too! Pretty much everybody I come into contact with knows that I am doing P90X, but inevitably, I am always offered something not on my list! It isn't a big deal, but it does cause me to think about outings and gatherings and how I will handle them.
There seem to be 2 prevailing thoughts within my circle of friends/family:
1. Allow yourself a day to "cheat" the diet a bit each week.
2. No matter what you do or where you are, stick to the plan as much as possible and if you have to modify, do so conservatively. In this case, it isn't what you do one time, but the habits that you adhere to daily.
The latter is what I tend to subscribe to. I know me and once I start down that road, it's a hard one to recover from and get back on track...at least for me!!
Over the next several blogs, I'd like to post some recipes that would be great to put out if you are hosting a party or to take to a friend/relatives house. We are looking for lower carb, low fat foods that can be measured and implemented in the P90X diet.
If you know of any recipes, let me know and I'll post them. If you are an avid experimenter or "food scientist", see what you can come up with. Could be kinda fun! I'm gonna roll my sleeves up and dig in too!! For me, the biggest challenge will be to come up with a healthy alternative that doesn't taste like it was modified too badly.
If you have a winner, send me a pix of the culinary treat with the recipe and we'll get that on too! If you can't take a photo or don't want to...no biggie, just send the recipe!
Since I am a native Pittsburgher and reside in Steeler Country, Go Steelers! Sunday at 1:00...take a newly created dish and let me know what the party guests think!
Good luck! - bigboyp90xer out!
There seem to be 2 prevailing thoughts within my circle of friends/family:
1. Allow yourself a day to "cheat" the diet a bit each week.
2. No matter what you do or where you are, stick to the plan as much as possible and if you have to modify, do so conservatively. In this case, it isn't what you do one time, but the habits that you adhere to daily.
The latter is what I tend to subscribe to. I know me and once I start down that road, it's a hard one to recover from and get back on track...at least for me!!
Over the next several blogs, I'd like to post some recipes that would be great to put out if you are hosting a party or to take to a friend/relatives house. We are looking for lower carb, low fat foods that can be measured and implemented in the P90X diet.
If you know of any recipes, let me know and I'll post them. If you are an avid experimenter or "food scientist", see what you can come up with. Could be kinda fun! I'm gonna roll my sleeves up and dig in too!! For me, the biggest challenge will be to come up with a healthy alternative that doesn't taste like it was modified too badly.
If you have a winner, send me a pix of the culinary treat with the recipe and we'll get that on too! If you can't take a photo or don't want to...no biggie, just send the recipe!
Since I am a native Pittsburgher and reside in Steeler Country, Go Steelers! Sunday at 1:00...take a newly created dish and let me know what the party guests think!
Good luck! - bigboyp90xer out!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
There's An App For That...
OK...so in an effort to try to maintain a proper diet, I am using the notebook feature on my Blackberry to track portions. It is not very complex, I just created each category and add a lowercase letter "l" for each serving consumed. Here's what it looks like:
Protein (8) - l l l l l l l l
Dairy (2) - l l
Fruits (2) - l l
Veggies (3) - l l l
Fat (1) - l
Carbohydrates (3) - l l l
Snack (4) - l l l l
Bar (1) - l
Recovery drink (1) - l
Condiments (3) - l l l
I start out my list in the evening when I go through the ritual of preparing my post-workout drink and homemade protein bar, breakfast, and lunch for the next day. So, as the day goes on, my checklist is already updated so I can quickly see what portions I have left when I get home from work. I would like to add a line for water and supplements to keep track of that too, but the other categories fit so nicely on my Blackberry screen that I don't want to change it. Crazy, I know, but that's how I roll!
This system works much better than a traditional pencil and paper since I always have my phone with me. NOW...what I really want is a fancy little program that keeps track of that as well as what I eat too. I searched for that, but haven't had any luck. This would be quite handy for many other diets like Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, etc. Can anyone help with that or does anyone have a friend that writes programs like this?
Oh, I forgot to mention the other part of this deal is that I'd like it to be free...remember that I am trying to do this on a budget!! Can anyone help? I'd be happy to post an official thank you and even let you have the "braggin' rights".
Feel free to let me know what you think or to "leak" any information that may lead to the acquiring of such a useful program!
More soon!
Protein (8) - l l l l l l l l
Dairy (2) - l l
Fruits (2) - l l
Veggies (3) - l l l
Fat (1) - l
Carbohydrates (3) - l l l
Snack (4) - l l l l
Bar (1) - l
Recovery drink (1) - l
Condiments (3) - l l l
I start out my list in the evening when I go through the ritual of preparing my post-workout drink and homemade protein bar, breakfast, and lunch for the next day. So, as the day goes on, my checklist is already updated so I can quickly see what portions I have left when I get home from work. I would like to add a line for water and supplements to keep track of that too, but the other categories fit so nicely on my Blackberry screen that I don't want to change it. Crazy, I know, but that's how I roll!
This system works much better than a traditional pencil and paper since I always have my phone with me. NOW...what I really want is a fancy little program that keeps track of that as well as what I eat too. I searched for that, but haven't had any luck. This would be quite handy for many other diets like Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, etc. Can anyone help with that or does anyone have a friend that writes programs like this?
Oh, I forgot to mention the other part of this deal is that I'd like it to be free...remember that I am trying to do this on a budget!! Can anyone help? I'd be happy to post an official thank you and even let you have the "braggin' rights".
Feel free to let me know what you think or to "leak" any information that may lead to the acquiring of such a useful program!
More soon!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker...
OK, so the title is a bit of a stretch. I tend to consume a lot of meat and now, since I'm broadening my culinary horizons with new ways to consume "legal" carbohydrates, the title seemed fitting. I'm not planning on making any candles...wrong kind of post...perhaps Omelet Maker would have been more appropriate! BUT..this weekend I plan on experimenting with a new P90X recipe...Blueberry Muffins. I know...big flip...but for me, exciting territory!
Here's the recipe:
The Ingredients
1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (is this different from whole wheat flour?)
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup powdered fructose (I've never heard of this...any idea where to get this?)
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (I plan to use skim milk)
3 egg whites
1 cup thawed blueberries, reserving juice
The Process:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and fructose
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg whites and 2 TBSP of reserved berry juice.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine.
6. Stir in the berries.
7. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, mounding slightly.
8. Bake until lightly browned, which should be about 20 minutes.
Serves 12 muffins. 1 muffin = 1 serving of carbohydrates
If you give it a shot before I get a chance to post, I'd love feedback. We are making a family trip to Walmart this afternoon. Mom, dad, 4 kids...it WILL BE AN ADVENTURE!!
On another note, regarding recipes...I have a very good friend that is buried in some secret kitchen/laboratory working on a special, P90X, recipe. I feel I can disclose that it is a Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe. I don't want to say much more than that. If her experiment is a success (and I am HIGHLY optimistic that it will be) I may be able to share that with you also...however...I make no promises! This could be along the lines of the famous quote from some book or movie, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!" I will happily be the guinea pig for that recipe!
If you know of any recipes that would work nicely with the P90X nutritional plan, feel free to share. I'll happily post them for others to enjoy!
Well...enough for today...
Here's the recipe:
The Ingredients
1-3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (is this different from whole wheat flour?)
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup powdered fructose (I've never heard of this...any idea where to get this?)
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (I plan to use skim milk)
3 egg whites
1 cup thawed blueberries, reserving juice
The Process:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and fructose
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg whites and 2 TBSP of reserved berry juice.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine.
6. Stir in the berries.
7. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, mounding slightly.
8. Bake until lightly browned, which should be about 20 minutes.
Serves 12 muffins. 1 muffin = 1 serving of carbohydrates
If you give it a shot before I get a chance to post, I'd love feedback. We are making a family trip to Walmart this afternoon. Mom, dad, 4 kids...it WILL BE AN ADVENTURE!!
On another note, regarding recipes...I have a very good friend that is buried in some secret kitchen/laboratory working on a special, P90X, recipe. I feel I can disclose that it is a Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe. I don't want to say much more than that. If her experiment is a success (and I am HIGHLY optimistic that it will be) I may be able to share that with you also...however...I make no promises! This could be along the lines of the famous quote from some book or movie, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!" I will happily be the guinea pig for that recipe!
If you know of any recipes that would work nicely with the P90X nutritional plan, feel free to share. I'll happily post them for others to enjoy!
Well...enough for today...
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Results Are In!! - Day 40
WEIGH IN DAY!!! AKA...DAY 40!!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 18.6 pounds since July 14th.
So...I feel pretty darned good! There are many physical positives to the last 40 days. The biggest change that I've noticed is approximately a 15 - 20 beat change in my resting heart rate. I'm told that's a really good thing. Also, playing with my children on the floor is much easier. Getting up from the floor used to be a bit of a process and now it isn't a big deal at all. Another change that I noticed is that I used to pop a lot of Excedrin Migraine medicine. Headaches happened a few times per week with me. Now, they are virtually non-existent. The positives keep rolling in...there is one negative. It's actually pretty embarrassing to mention, but I feel I must to maintain the integrity of the blog. I tend to look at myself in the mirror more and feel for muscle growth pretty often. I guess I'm kinda like a kid at Christmas time...excited to see the change, but too anxious to just wait out the results!!
OK...enough embarrassing confessions...I'll post again in a day or two. Have a great Labor Day Break!!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
September 3rd - 274.4 (Day 40 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 18.6 pounds since July 14th.
So...I feel pretty darned good! There are many physical positives to the last 40 days. The biggest change that I've noticed is approximately a 15 - 20 beat change in my resting heart rate. I'm told that's a really good thing. Also, playing with my children on the floor is much easier. Getting up from the floor used to be a bit of a process and now it isn't a big deal at all. Another change that I noticed is that I used to pop a lot of Excedrin Migraine medicine. Headaches happened a few times per week with me. Now, they are virtually non-existent. The positives keep rolling in...there is one negative. It's actually pretty embarrassing to mention, but I feel I must to maintain the integrity of the blog. I tend to look at myself in the mirror more and feel for muscle growth pretty often. I guess I'm kinda like a kid at Christmas time...excited to see the change, but too anxious to just wait out the results!!
OK...enough embarrassing confessions...I'll post again in a day or two. Have a great Labor Day Break!!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
"Hard Habit To Break" - Chicago
So, the other day, a good friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook regarding exercise, losing weight, and P90X. While I was considering how to respond, I started thinking about my journey so far. I still plan on completing the program 3 consecutive times. I still am enthusiastic about getting the results. I still think P90X is a great program to "whip you into shape". What I considered all day was the spirit behind workouts. When you see ultra fit people exercising, it almost looks glamorous. It looks like fun and they usually make it seem easy...THEN...I get into my workout and I really don't ever want anyone watching me workout because I suspect it's a grizzly sight. How do they get to that point? Will I get to that point? Will it ever seem fun? This is what I mean about the spirit behind the workout.
Is P90X the answer? I suppose the only real answer is...perhaps. There are a ton of workout videos out there. I don't really think it matters what one you do as long as you set your mind to the task at hand and do it. For me, it is a simple solution, but hard to execute. Break old habits and create new ones. The problem is that, for me, my regular habit is to come home from work, take care of the kids, deal with "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, and then sitting in front of the television for a few hours while snacking on anything available...healthy or not. Since I started P90X, that routine has changed drastically...well...that....AND the addition of a new family member. My new routine is to get up in the morning and do the workout, go to work, come home, take care of kids, do "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, breakfast/lunch preparation for the next day, and then...sit on the couch for about 45 minutes before falling into a pleasant slumber...Zzz... Of course, there are other responsibilities, but that is the basic outline of my day. While I've been doing it for almost 40 days, it still isn't habitual to get up and exercise at 5:00 AM. Every morning I struggle with getting up. Usually, exercise wins, but admittedly, extra sleep does end up the victor from time to time. I rationalize extra sleep by saying that I have a long day, or my body is recovering or some excuse like that. EVERY TIME I lose that battle, I make sure that I don't skip the next day and I usually make up for it some other way throughout the week. Most often, I end up not taking off Sunday which is scheduled as a stretch or rest day. Someday, I expect it to become habit, but I don't really know...in fact, if I weren't blogging and posting pictures of myself, I may not have even made it this far. When I start to get down because I "blew off" a day, I remind myself that I am definitely not in the same physical arena as the "psycho-healthy" people in the videos and that I am still way overweight. I push hard, but I am more into the habit development than missing a day at this point. My wife helped me with that mind-set.
P90X is NOT a miracle workout video series. It is a healthy dose of eating right and exercising. The difference between P90X and many other workout videos is that it is a "total body" workout without the use of expensive equipment. If you like it, then by all means, do it. If not, try something else, but stick with whatever you decide. You'll thank yourself later! In the meantime, I'll be here breaking bad habits and hopefully, creating new ones.
That's it for today! Next post will be the 40 day results post. Excited? I am!! BigBoyP90X out.
Is P90X the answer? I suppose the only real answer is...perhaps. There are a ton of workout videos out there. I don't really think it matters what one you do as long as you set your mind to the task at hand and do it. For me, it is a simple solution, but hard to execute. Break old habits and create new ones. The problem is that, for me, my regular habit is to come home from work, take care of the kids, deal with "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, and then sitting in front of the television for a few hours while snacking on anything available...healthy or not. Since I started P90X, that routine has changed drastically...well...that....AND the addition of a new family member. My new routine is to get up in the morning and do the workout, go to work, come home, take care of kids, do "kitchen clean-up" duty, bathing duty, bedtime routine, breakfast/lunch preparation for the next day, and then...sit on the couch for about 45 minutes before falling into a pleasant slumber...Zzz... Of course, there are other responsibilities, but that is the basic outline of my day. While I've been doing it for almost 40 days, it still isn't habitual to get up and exercise at 5:00 AM. Every morning I struggle with getting up. Usually, exercise wins, but admittedly, extra sleep does end up the victor from time to time. I rationalize extra sleep by saying that I have a long day, or my body is recovering or some excuse like that. EVERY TIME I lose that battle, I make sure that I don't skip the next day and I usually make up for it some other way throughout the week. Most often, I end up not taking off Sunday which is scheduled as a stretch or rest day. Someday, I expect it to become habit, but I don't really know...in fact, if I weren't blogging and posting pictures of myself, I may not have even made it this far. When I start to get down because I "blew off" a day, I remind myself that I am definitely not in the same physical arena as the "psycho-healthy" people in the videos and that I am still way overweight. I push hard, but I am more into the habit development than missing a day at this point. My wife helped me with that mind-set.
P90X is NOT a miracle workout video series. It is a healthy dose of eating right and exercising. The difference between P90X and many other workout videos is that it is a "total body" workout without the use of expensive equipment. If you like it, then by all means, do it. If not, try something else, but stick with whatever you decide. You'll thank yourself later! In the meantime, I'll be here breaking bad habits and hopefully, creating new ones.
That's it for today! Next post will be the 40 day results post. Excited? I am!! BigBoyP90X out.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Expanding the Menu
If you know anything about me, I am TOTALLY a creature of habit. If I find something I like, I will eat it until I'm sick of eating it. When I did weight watchers a long time ago, I figured out a meal that worked for me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I stuck with the same 3 meals for weeks at a time! It was easy...not the best for me, I'm sure, but easy. Then, when I got into the Atkins diet, I was pretty simple there too. I ate a lot of meat, cheese and a bit of vegetables. Cheeseburgers without the bun was the standard fare in my household then. Now, on P90X (since I'm taking the portions approach), I find that I slip into the same habits. I eat a protein shake for breakfast, almonds for a snack, salad with some meat on it for lunch, jerky for snack and then whatever for dinner. Usually, dinner ended up being a 10-egg white omelet with whatever I still needed to consume cooked inside it. I would leave myself 1 snack to have a couple pure fruit bars at the end of the night, but try not to wait too long so I'm not eating within 3 hours of going to bed. I do vary from this plan a bit, but never really a far departure from the daily routine of food consumption.
To give you some perspective on how other people do things, my in-laws (a few years back) made the decision to change how they ate. They switched to a doctor-suggested nutritional plan that was pretty low carb/high protein. My mother-in-law, the whiz-cook that she is, comes up with these ridiculous recipes that taste amazing and fall within the requirements of their nutritional plan. Now...they do have their "staples" that they rely on each day...I'm pretty sure quiche was a regular food item for them for a while, but they have a big variety in what they eat each day.
So....long story, not quite so long, it is my NEW goal to try and dive into the world of P90X recipes. They look good, but I just haven't taken the time to make them. Yesterday...that changed! Since I'm now in Phase II of the diet plan, I have been granted the blessing of more carbohydrates. SO...I flipped through the P90X recipe book and found a recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes. I wasn't sure what to expect...I knew they would taste "healthy" and sometimes that isn't always a favorable taste. But...since I'm the type of dad that treats Saturday mornings as "breakfast with dad" days, I thought I'd give a new recipe a chance. Usually we either do pancakes, waffles, French toast, or my own creation...French pan-toast (which is taking a thinner pancake batter to dip the bread instead of an egg wash). I'm not going to lie...I was a little scared. My twins weren't around since they were with my parents, but my biggest food critic seems to be my 2 year old (Sarah). If the pancakes weren't a hit with her, breakfast would become a challenge. As it turns out, it was a pretty enjoyable experience. I actually let Sarah help me with the ingredients. She had a good time and we had some pretty cute daddy-daughter moments. When the pancake batter was mixed, I felt a bit more comfortable...it looked almost like "normal" pancake batter...a bit chunky, but relatively normal. I was excited, she was excited...plan was going well. When we were done with cooking the pancakes, we sat down and enjoyed them. They tasted really good!! We don't introduce too many sweets into our children's diet until they are a bit older, so Sarah doesn't know what syrup is yet. She eats pancakes alone and is usually pretty happy. Yesterday, while eating pancakes, we shared a 1/2 cup of all natural (no sugar added) applesauce. We used that as pancake dip and the meal was a hit. The nice thing for me was that I could eat 4 and only use one unit of carbohydrates. I ate 6. She at almost 3 of them. My wife, Bekah, tried them and she liked them also, so they may become a new addition to the "breakfast with dad" menu. I'm sure Beachbody, Tony, and anyone else affiliated with P90X will be angry with me, but I'm sharing the recipe below. If you give them a shot, know that they make 16 pancakes per batch. I'd love to get feedback from you on them!! I think you'll enjoy them.
I hope you have a great day! If you are into reading blogs, a good friend of mine, Chris, is also doing the P90X program with his wife and he is blogging too. He's about a month behind me, but I'm sure he'd appreciate people reading his blog too! Here's the link to his blog: http://p90xcurryfamily.blogspot.com/.
Thanks and keep reading...and I'll keep "pressing play"!!
Oatmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg whites
1 T canola oil
2 T brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
I varied the recipe to utilize the ingredients that I had in my kitchen. Here are the changes:
1. I used Old Fashioned Oats instead of the suggested Quick Oats.
Before attempting the recipe, soak the oats in the milk for about 15 minutes to soften them. Then add the entire mixture to the other ingredients. When spooning the batter onto your griddle (or whatever you use), use 1/8 measuring cup. That will yield 16 pancakes about 4" in diameter.
To give you some perspective on how other people do things, my in-laws (a few years back) made the decision to change how they ate. They switched to a doctor-suggested nutritional plan that was pretty low carb/high protein. My mother-in-law, the whiz-cook that she is, comes up with these ridiculous recipes that taste amazing and fall within the requirements of their nutritional plan. Now...they do have their "staples" that they rely on each day...I'm pretty sure quiche was a regular food item for them for a while, but they have a big variety in what they eat each day.
So....long story, not quite so long, it is my NEW goal to try and dive into the world of P90X recipes. They look good, but I just haven't taken the time to make them. Yesterday...that changed! Since I'm now in Phase II of the diet plan, I have been granted the blessing of more carbohydrates. SO...I flipped through the P90X recipe book and found a recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes. I wasn't sure what to expect...I knew they would taste "healthy" and sometimes that isn't always a favorable taste. But...since I'm the type of dad that treats Saturday mornings as "breakfast with dad" days, I thought I'd give a new recipe a chance. Usually we either do pancakes, waffles, French toast, or my own creation...French pan-toast (which is taking a thinner pancake batter to dip the bread instead of an egg wash). I'm not going to lie...I was a little scared. My twins weren't around since they were with my parents, but my biggest food critic seems to be my 2 year old (Sarah). If the pancakes weren't a hit with her, breakfast would become a challenge. As it turns out, it was a pretty enjoyable experience. I actually let Sarah help me with the ingredients. She had a good time and we had some pretty cute daddy-daughter moments. When the pancake batter was mixed, I felt a bit more comfortable...it looked almost like "normal" pancake batter...a bit chunky, but relatively normal. I was excited, she was excited...plan was going well. When we were done with cooking the pancakes, we sat down and enjoyed them. They tasted really good!! We don't introduce too many sweets into our children's diet until they are a bit older, so Sarah doesn't know what syrup is yet. She eats pancakes alone and is usually pretty happy. Yesterday, while eating pancakes, we shared a 1/2 cup of all natural (no sugar added) applesauce. We used that as pancake dip and the meal was a hit. The nice thing for me was that I could eat 4 and only use one unit of carbohydrates. I ate 6. She at almost 3 of them. My wife, Bekah, tried them and she liked them also, so they may become a new addition to the "breakfast with dad" menu. I'm sure Beachbody, Tony, and anyone else affiliated with P90X will be angry with me, but I'm sharing the recipe below. If you give them a shot, know that they make 16 pancakes per batch. I'd love to get feedback from you on them!! I think you'll enjoy them.
I hope you have a great day! If you are into reading blogs, a good friend of mine, Chris, is also doing the P90X program with his wife and he is blogging too. He's about a month behind me, but I'm sure he'd appreciate people reading his blog too! Here's the link to his blog: http://p90xcurryfamily.blogspot.com/.
Thanks and keep reading...and I'll keep "pressing play"!!
Oatmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg whites
1 T canola oil
2 T brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
I varied the recipe to utilize the ingredients that I had in my kitchen. Here are the changes:
1. I used Old Fashioned Oats instead of the suggested Quick Oats.
2. I used Olive Oil instead of Canola Oil.
3. I used 1 cup of skim milk instead of 1/2 cup skim and 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
4. Since I only used skim milk, I omitted the baking soda and increased the baking powder by 1 tsp. Not sure what that does, but I read it in an old cookbook and just kept doing it through the years...
4. Since I only used skim milk, I omitted the baking soda and increased the baking powder by 1 tsp. Not sure what that does, but I read it in an old cookbook and just kept doing it through the years...
Before attempting the recipe, soak the oats in the milk for about 15 minutes to soften them. Then add the entire mixture to the other ingredients. When spooning the batter onto your griddle (or whatever you use), use 1/8 measuring cup. That will yield 16 pancakes about 4" in diameter.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Joshua Tree Principle
Sorry, fellow readers, for the long hiatus between posts. As a band director, there are busy times in my life and band camp tends to be one of them. I will say that I have successfully completed band camp (side note: I have an amazing group of staff and students...which helped a ton!) AND stayed on track with my P90X plan. Honestly, on occasion, I did take a day off, but made it up some other time during the week and made that my rest day instead of Sunday. Not what Tony had in mind, I'm sure, but worked for me and my schedule!!
I want to say just a tiny bit about the progress that I've made and then I'll move on to why I chose "The Joshua Tree Principle" as my title. First...I was pretty juiced to find out that I have moved in 3 belt holes in this last month!! This has me excited for 2 reasons...the first being that IT'S 3 BELT HOLES, and the second is that I've done this before, but after much more weight loss which suggests to me that I am developing more muscle and burning a lot of fat rather quickly. I'm now at a point where people are noticing...people that didn't know I was trying to become more fit. Feels pretty darned good...remembering to tell a fat man that he's looking better when he's trying to GLF (Get Less Fat) is kinda along the same lines as remembering to tell a lady that she looks good!
Note: if you recall from an earlier post, I mark my weight loss by how much my children weigh. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I lost the equivalent of my youngest daughter (a little over 8 pounds). While I have not caught up to my 3rd child (25 pounds), I have lost the equivalent of my youngest daughter while in a Chicco KeyFit infant carseat. As I was carrying her down to our van today I wondered what that weighed and much to my surprise...it equaled my total weight loss (18 pounds). So...if I ever want to consider what life was like 30+ days ago...I just need to haul Sophia (the youngest) around in a carseat...pretty cool!
Now...to the significance of the title. A long time ago, I took a Graduate Level Class which required me to read the book, "The Non-Designer's Design Book". Within the body of that book, the author describes this principal. I don't remember the story exactly, but it goes something like this. The author wanted to do some landscaping in her yard. She wanted to be unique with the type of plants, trees, etc. that she used in her yard and found a tree that really fit the bill. It is called a Joshua Tree. As I'm sure you'll agree, this is a pretty interesting type of tree.
She believed that it would set her property apart from the rest. Very shortly after her new Joshua Tree was given it's new home in her yard, she went for a ride around her neighborhood to discover that almost every yard in her development ALSO had Joshua Trees in their yard. As many times as she had driven around her neighborhood, she never noticed them until she had her own. I can relate to that story every time I buy a new car...I tend to notice all of the other ones similar to mine on the road, where I didn't pay any attention before.
P90X has been my own version of the Joshua Tree Principle. When I considered doing this program, I thought that I was the only one around that knew anything about the program. Then I talked to my wife (Bekah) about it and she said "yeah...I talked to you about this program a while ago and you didn't think it was worth the money...I think our friend is doing it, give him a call and see what he thinks." And then it began...P90X graduates and enthusiasts started coming out of the woodwork. As I've been blogging, I'm hearing more and more about it. Relatives and friends that were considering doing it tell me about it...friends that are P90X graduates contact me telling me about their success stories, etc. The list goes on and on and on...
So, in conclusion, I never thought I was in this alone...many people are supporting me as I progress through the program, but WHAT A BONUS to have a core of friends and family that have done it, are doing it, or have graduated from it.
On a side note...I've never really been one for getting tattoos...but I told Bekah the other day that if I get good and ripped...I want to get a big tattoo on my shoulder/upper arm. She snickered in a "yeah right" kind of way...knowing of course, how I feel about tattoos. Well, then I talked to a buddy of mine and he suggested that I get a tattoo of my weight before P90X. Neat idea...any artists out there?!? If so....send me some pictures of designs with the number 293 in it! Oddly enough, I'm actually considering it...not seriously, but not totally dismissing it either....
Thanks for reading...TTYL (Type To You Later - I'm getting the Blogging Lingo down!!)
I want to say just a tiny bit about the progress that I've made and then I'll move on to why I chose "The Joshua Tree Principle" as my title. First...I was pretty juiced to find out that I have moved in 3 belt holes in this last month!! This has me excited for 2 reasons...the first being that IT'S 3 BELT HOLES, and the second is that I've done this before, but after much more weight loss which suggests to me that I am developing more muscle and burning a lot of fat rather quickly. I'm now at a point where people are noticing...people that didn't know I was trying to become more fit. Feels pretty darned good...remembering to tell a fat man that he's looking better when he's trying to GLF (Get Less Fat) is kinda along the same lines as remembering to tell a lady that she looks good!
Note: if you recall from an earlier post, I mark my weight loss by how much my children weigh. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I lost the equivalent of my youngest daughter (a little over 8 pounds). While I have not caught up to my 3rd child (25 pounds), I have lost the equivalent of my youngest daughter while in a Chicco KeyFit infant carseat. As I was carrying her down to our van today I wondered what that weighed and much to my surprise...it equaled my total weight loss (18 pounds). So...if I ever want to consider what life was like 30+ days ago...I just need to haul Sophia (the youngest) around in a carseat...pretty cool!
Now...to the significance of the title. A long time ago, I took a Graduate Level Class which required me to read the book, "The Non-Designer's Design Book". Within the body of that book, the author describes this principal. I don't remember the story exactly, but it goes something like this. The author wanted to do some landscaping in her yard. She wanted to be unique with the type of plants, trees, etc. that she used in her yard and found a tree that really fit the bill. It is called a Joshua Tree. As I'm sure you'll agree, this is a pretty interesting type of tree.
P90X has been my own version of the Joshua Tree Principle. When I considered doing this program, I thought that I was the only one around that knew anything about the program. Then I talked to my wife (Bekah) about it and she said "yeah...I talked to you about this program a while ago and you didn't think it was worth the money...I think our friend is doing it, give him a call and see what he thinks." And then it began...P90X graduates and enthusiasts started coming out of the woodwork. As I've been blogging, I'm hearing more and more about it. Relatives and friends that were considering doing it tell me about it...friends that are P90X graduates contact me telling me about their success stories, etc. The list goes on and on and on...
So, in conclusion, I never thought I was in this alone...many people are supporting me as I progress through the program, but WHAT A BONUS to have a core of friends and family that have done it, are doing it, or have graduated from it.
On a side note...I've never really been one for getting tattoos...but I told Bekah the other day that if I get good and ripped...I want to get a big tattoo on my shoulder/upper arm. She snickered in a "yeah right" kind of way...knowing of course, how I feel about tattoos. Well, then I talked to a buddy of mine and he suggested that I get a tattoo of my weight before P90X. Neat idea...any artists out there?!? If so....send me some pictures of designs with the number 293 in it! Oddly enough, I'm actually considering it...not seriously, but not totally dismissing it either....
Thanks for reading...TTYL (Type To You Later - I'm getting the Blogging Lingo down!!)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Results Are In!! - Day 30
WEIGH IN DAY!!! AKA...DAY 30!!
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 17.2 pounds since July 14th.
30 days have gone by so fast...I can't believe that this month is done already and I'm completing my 2nd day of phase 2. Below are some pictures for you to check out. Not a ton of change yet, but I feel a lot better. Today, when I put my shorts on, I noticed that I was in 3 belt holes from July 14th. Pretty cool!!
Enjoy the pix...
July 14th - 293 (Pre-P90X)
July 26th - 290.6 (Day 1 of P90X)
August 4th - 285 (Day 10 of P90X)
August 14th - 281.8 (Day 20 of P90X)
August 24th - 275.8 (Day 30 of P90X)
Total loss to date: 17.2 pounds since July 14th.
30 days have gone by so fast...I can't believe that this month is done already and I'm completing my 2nd day of phase 2. Below are some pictures for you to check out. Not a ton of change yet, but I feel a lot better. Today, when I put my shorts on, I noticed that I was in 3 belt holes from July 14th. Pretty cool!!
Enjoy the pix...
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Phase II: The next 30 days...a new adventure begins!
This will be a short one...or at least I think it will be. Tomorrow marks the beginning of phase II in the P90X program. I get to test out a few new DVDs and will probably post my opinions to these new workouts. When talking to my P90X graduate buddy, he admitted that the 2nd month was a lot more fun than that 1st one. While I did enjoy the first month, I look forward to some more variety in the workout. This is my last day of the recovery week. Yep...I feel recovered. Although...core syngergistics didn't make me feel as though I was supposed to be recovering!!
It is amazing to me to know that I've completed a month of this training already. In a few days, I will post the 30-day results and probably a few pictures to compare to my "before" photos. I'm excited to see if I can tell any difference when I compare the 2. Again...as in my previous post, in the mirror, I can't tell a difference, although my clothes are beginning to "loosen" on me.
The other "motivating" thing that I consider is that I kept pressing play for a month...I got past my lazy tendencies and kept rolling along...some days hurt, some days felt great...some days I had a ton of energy and some, I could barely pick myself up off of the floor. Through it all, one resounding thought cuts through all of my emotions...I AM SO MUCH BETTER OFF, PHYSICALLY, FOR DOING THIS!! I have made sacrifices...my wife and family have supported me and have made sacrifices also. I hesitate to think of what kind of shape I'd be in if I just didn't do it or gave up part of the way in the 1st month. If you sit on the couch long enough, you can ALWAYS talk yourself out of exercising...GET UP and GET MOVING....you'll thank yourself later. Sounds corny, I know...but I'm a corny guy...what can I say?!?
I am going to bed tonight actually excited to get into another month of P90X. Tomorrow is a new workout as well as my old buddy, Ab Ripper X....great times are ahead!!!
Check back on Tuesday...that's my results post...keep reading!! Later!
It is amazing to me to know that I've completed a month of this training already. In a few days, I will post the 30-day results and probably a few pictures to compare to my "before" photos. I'm excited to see if I can tell any difference when I compare the 2. Again...as in my previous post, in the mirror, I can't tell a difference, although my clothes are beginning to "loosen" on me.
The other "motivating" thing that I consider is that I kept pressing play for a month...I got past my lazy tendencies and kept rolling along...some days hurt, some days felt great...some days I had a ton of energy and some, I could barely pick myself up off of the floor. Through it all, one resounding thought cuts through all of my emotions...I AM SO MUCH BETTER OFF, PHYSICALLY, FOR DOING THIS!! I have made sacrifices...my wife and family have supported me and have made sacrifices also. I hesitate to think of what kind of shape I'd be in if I just didn't do it or gave up part of the way in the 1st month. If you sit on the couch long enough, you can ALWAYS talk yourself out of exercising...GET UP and GET MOVING....you'll thank yourself later. Sounds corny, I know...but I'm a corny guy...what can I say?!?
I am going to bed tonight actually excited to get into another month of P90X. Tomorrow is a new workout as well as my old buddy, Ab Ripper X....great times are ahead!!!
Check back on Tuesday...that's my results post...keep reading!! Later!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
P90X For Life!
As I type this post, I am lying (or laying...I always screw that one up! My mother-in-law is an English teacher and I always have to defer to her for the correct usage.) down in a tent with my son, his friend and his father. We are at the tail end of our first camping experience. Last night, some very good friends joined us by the fire but didn't camp out. It was an "all-dude" camping trip so it started with swimming with 4 fathers and their sons, ranging in age from college to just turning 6 today. The fathers "waded" and talked while the "boys" all played water basketball...which was a hoot to watch! As all the dads watched, we talked about a ton of stuff including P90X and fitness for life. One of the dads is a P90X graduate and I talked to him for advice about starting the program over a month ago. He mentioned that he noticed some differences in me and we had a discussion about staying fit for life. It really caused me to think about the P90X thing. From the very inception of the idea of doing this program, I set my mind on the fact that I will be doing this more than 90 days. I went so far as to plan on it being more like P270X (3 times through the program)...but I never really considered what would happen after I have reached my goal. I've always assumed that the Phase 3 part of the program was what I would do to maintain the work that I've done throughout my life, but truthfully, I'm not really sure. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but with all the work I've done and will continue to do, I can't imagine wanting to let myself slip into old habits. And let's say that I stick firm to my goal and want to maintain good physical fitness....this brings up a ton of questions...here are a few:
1. How do I know when I really "get there" and achieve my goal? There was a time in my life when I lost a ton of weight without exercising and dropped to 170 pounds. Basically, I starved myself...anyway, while I didn't fit into any of my clothes, when I looked into the mirror, I still looked the same as I did before I lost the weight. Will this happen again?
2. Is the current diet plan what I will be adhering to for the rest of my life? When I say this, I mean Phase III of P90X. Am I destined to say goodbye to pizza, egg yolks, chocolate cake, and a whole host of other things that I love to consume? Or is this a quantity thing...as I get smaller, I eat less and ultimately create new dietary habits? I know that my body doesn't like when I consume a lot of carbohydrates. I found that out the other night when I was at a friends house and ate pasta. My "tummy" scolded me!
3. I am currently exercising 6 to 7 days a week as long as my schedule allows. Is this what "normal" fit people do...or is it what people do when they are trying to continue to improve themselves?
I'm not really stressing about these things, but my conversation with my "buds" did get me thinking...so...why not share my thoughts!
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know your thoughts on the questions posted above...I'd love to hear what you think!
More later...
1. How do I know when I really "get there" and achieve my goal? There was a time in my life when I lost a ton of weight without exercising and dropped to 170 pounds. Basically, I starved myself...anyway, while I didn't fit into any of my clothes, when I looked into the mirror, I still looked the same as I did before I lost the weight. Will this happen again?
2. Is the current diet plan what I will be adhering to for the rest of my life? When I say this, I mean Phase III of P90X. Am I destined to say goodbye to pizza, egg yolks, chocolate cake, and a whole host of other things that I love to consume? Or is this a quantity thing...as I get smaller, I eat less and ultimately create new dietary habits? I know that my body doesn't like when I consume a lot of carbohydrates. I found that out the other night when I was at a friends house and ate pasta. My "tummy" scolded me!
3. I am currently exercising 6 to 7 days a week as long as my schedule allows. Is this what "normal" fit people do...or is it what people do when they are trying to continue to improve themselves?
I'm not really stressing about these things, but my conversation with my "buds" did get me thinking...so...why not share my thoughts!
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know your thoughts on the questions posted above...I'd love to hear what you think!
More later...
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
"That one time at band camp..." - American Pie
So...as the summer dwindled down and I was getting all amped to do P90X, there was this distant thought in my head...how am I going to make this happen while going to work. Well...band camp is here and we've finished day 2. I've been steadfast in my quest for athletic excellence and have managed to pull my tired body out of bed to start working out by 5:15 AM. Monday was Yoga and today was Core Synergistics. This is the schedule for "recovery week" for phase 1. The week looks like this, at a quick glance:
Monday: Yoga X
Tuesday: Core Synergistics
Wednesday: Kenpo X
Thursday: Stretching
Friday: Yoga X
Saturday: Core Synergistics
Sunday: Stretch or Rest
I've heard Tony talk about your "core" but I didn't truly understand that until this morning!! What a bundle of joy that was!! I got to roll around like a banana, pick up boxes and put them on a high shelf, play "boat", act like Superman, and a whole host of other things to get my core in good shape. According to Tony, having a solid core is protection in the real world. This set of exercises teach you to pick up, bend over, etc. the correct way. If you get in the habit of doing it correctly in Core Synergistics, when you get to the real world, proper habits transfer to daily life...keeping your back safe (as well as other sensitive parts of your body, I guess). In the end, I got a good workout, but I'm pretty sure I could have pushed myself a bit harder. Knowing this, I will "bring it" tomorrow and let today go without dwelling on it.
So, being a high school band director, I am in charge of running a band camp. In the past, I've had my student leaders take care of morning stretching and calisthenics. I chose to run them today. Yep...you guessed it, it had P90X written all over it. The kids had a good time and I had fun sharing what I've learned with them. The nice thing about teaching P90X to students is that I see their problems and identify if I'm doing the same things. By helping them, I'm helping myself as I do my own workout. They LOVED the calf raises!! I think I'll do them again tomorrow...nah...I'll hit them with something else!
I was expecting to have a busy few days with camp, family needs, etc. so I knew I wasn't going to blog daily...I'll get a post in every other day or so until things calm down and we settle into a routine. Rest assured...I am "pressing play" and have pushed past the 3 week "cold feet".
Sorry for the short post...enough for now...keep reading...have a great day, er, night!!
Monday: Yoga X
Tuesday: Core Synergistics
Wednesday: Kenpo X
Thursday: Stretching
Friday: Yoga X
Saturday: Core Synergistics
Sunday: Stretch or Rest
I've heard Tony talk about your "core" but I didn't truly understand that until this morning!! What a bundle of joy that was!! I got to roll around like a banana, pick up boxes and put them on a high shelf, play "boat", act like Superman, and a whole host of other things to get my core in good shape. According to Tony, having a solid core is protection in the real world. This set of exercises teach you to pick up, bend over, etc. the correct way. If you get in the habit of doing it correctly in Core Synergistics, when you get to the real world, proper habits transfer to daily life...keeping your back safe (as well as other sensitive parts of your body, I guess). In the end, I got a good workout, but I'm pretty sure I could have pushed myself a bit harder. Knowing this, I will "bring it" tomorrow and let today go without dwelling on it.
So, being a high school band director, I am in charge of running a band camp. In the past, I've had my student leaders take care of morning stretching and calisthenics. I chose to run them today. Yep...you guessed it, it had P90X written all over it. The kids had a good time and I had fun sharing what I've learned with them. The nice thing about teaching P90X to students is that I see their problems and identify if I'm doing the same things. By helping them, I'm helping myself as I do my own workout. They LOVED the calf raises!! I think I'll do them again tomorrow...nah...I'll hit them with something else!
I was expecting to have a busy few days with camp, family needs, etc. so I knew I wasn't going to blog daily...I'll get a post in every other day or so until things calm down and we settle into a routine. Rest assured...I am "pressing play" and have pushed past the 3 week "cold feet".
Sorry for the short post...enough for now...keep reading...have a great day, er, night!!
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