Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

P90X Day 24 was Kenpo X for me.  Today I did a pretty good job at staying in the zone for the first part of the workout (up until the block rotation) and then it always falls off a bit for me.  I drop into the 65-70% range during this time.  Still a good workout but just not as intense.  From what I’ve read this is a good fat-burning heart rate to be in.

Diet was good today minus my afternoon snack which I left at home.  I actually did not even prep it, which is bad for me.  I tried to find something at work that would sub in, but they had nothing great except another piece of fruit (which I almost got but decided against it).

I’ve been reading a lot on the P90X forums and looking at people’s results as well as where I am and where I’m going.

I realize that I have high expectations, but I also have realistic expectations to my results.

Starting out as large as I was, it is going to be really hard to look like Tony Horton or any of the other people who have been through the program in just 90 days.  Think about it:  I would have to go from a 47″ waist to around a 34″ to be even close.  That’s 13″ of waistline that I’d have to remove.

And while I’m pushing for as much of it off in 90 days as possible, I just do not see it happening.  It might, but I’m not setting myself up for disappointment if it does not.

But yet I read post after post of people who are 2-3 weeks in and expecting massive weight loss.  It doesn’t always happen that quickly, and there is no guarantee that you will be where you want in 90 days.  I know better.  I’m already planning a round 2, possibly doubles, after I finish this and we have our third child.

But don’t think that P90X is a guarantee to be where you want to be in 90 days.  Think of P90X as a guarantee that you will be MUCH better off in 90 days that what you were when you started.

That’s my approach.

Be real about what to look for.  Do not use the scale to determine if you are having success or not.  Use inches, not pounds.  In other words, measure yourself.  Are you losing in key areas (waist, chest for men, hips for women, thighs, etc)?  Are your clothes fitting better or even a bit loose?

These are more important indicators than weight.

I have stepped on a scale once since I started.  Yes, I was down some weight, but I have not stepped back on it since.  If I lose inches off my chest and waist and develop inches on biceps, then I’ll be satisfied.  I saw a picture on the forum of a guy who started around the same weight and was only down in the 190′s after 90 days….but his body looked pretty well built.

Be realistic with yourself, set goals, and give it all you have each day to reach those goals.  Don’t let pounds dictate success, and don’t think you are going to be perfect in 90 days.  Just know you are better off than when you started.

Tomorrow is Stretch X I believe.  See everyone then!

Brent P90X P90X, p90x expectations, p90x realistic expectations, p90x weight loss, p90x workouts, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises

Today was the P90X beginning of week 2.  That put me at Chest And Back and Ab Ripper X repeat.  Today, my goal was to push myself harder in Chest And Back than last week (unfortunately I did not have the worksheets to record what I did last week).

So what I did was make sure to attempt every exercise at right form (in other words, no dropping to the knees immediately for the push-ups).  I think I made it through some normal reps of of each before crashing down to the knees.

One scary momen with chin-ups:  I’m still using a chair…and it fell out from under me today!  I kept in control, kept the chair from making too much noise, and kept from hurting myself.

I managed to hit 100% of my diet today…just 500 calories short.  To get even that close I had to take an after-dinner protein shake.

P90X is a lot of fun…and tomorrow brings the most fun:  Plyo!  Lets see how sore I get this time!

Brent P90X P90X, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises

P90X Day 3 was all about shoulders, bis, and tris (biceps and tricepts).

This workout seemed like a breeze after Plyo X yesterday, but it wore me out towards the end.  I kept in an 8-10 rep range on a fairly light weight overall, but glad I stuck with the light weight about half way through.  This was a very, very fun P90x video.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As far as Ab Ripper X, I made progress.  I made better and longer attempts at each exercise and made it through a couple of them (25 reps).  I was pleased, but man it burned!

As they say, I hate it, but I love it!

As far as diet, it was not good today.  No, I did not cheat, I just did not meet my portions the right way today (busy day, hard to plan).

One thing I did learn from today is that if I go to Subway and get a double meat, I have 2 proteins and really close to 1 vegetable.  This will come in handy when the later phases come around and I can intake more carbs (4 proteins, 2 carbs, and almost 2 veggies in one sandwich).  The book would probably disagree, but based on my measurements from previous few meals, I would guess my calculations are right.

Tomorrow is my first Yoga experience.  See you then!

Brent P90X P90X, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises

P90X day 2 was Plyo.  This was a workout!  I chose to use a lot of the low impact modifications they built in, plus my lunges will need to improve.  There was only one exercise that I could not do much of physically.  My heart rate stayed up there for quite a while, so very happy with that.

Now, I’m sore.  Very sore.  But that’s okay.

My day 2 diet was interesting.  My breakfast consisted of 6 egg whites with 1.5 oz mozz. cheese and a protein shake.  I was so full afterwards that I simply could not finish all of my lunch.  Bad thing was, 2 hours later I was hungry.

I’ve learned that my portions may be right but my percentages are not.  This is something I’m going to work on improving in the next few days.

That’s all for today.  More tomorrow at the end of the day with the results of Day 3.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises

Day 1 is officially in the books!

5:45am was early but not too early to get this great workout in.

I learned through Chest and Back just how weak of an upper body I have (and it probably does not help that I am carrying around all this extra weight).  I had a lot of issues doing the push-ups in normal form so I found myself on my knees doing a lot of them.  I made sure to still push myself even though I was on my knees and still get a burn.

Ditto on the pull-ups.  I used a chair for all of them but pushed myself to use the chair only as needed.  I’m hoping over the next few weeks to use the chair less and less.

And Ab Ripper X killed me!  There were many of the exercises I had trouble doing due to a weak core.  I’m going to keep pushing in learing the form and hope to be really, really good at it by the time all is said and done.

The first day of the diet is in the books.  I don’t think my ratios were quite right although I hit all of the parts of the portion plan.

I also missed the 3,000 calorie mark according to the website.  That’s sad, because I felt like I ate and ate and ate!

But here was my meals:

Post-workout recovery drink (alternative mixture to BeachBody’s)
10 egg whites with mozz cheese (which I could only eat about 80% of)
2 tbsp peanut butter on celery
6oz chicken breast tenderloins grilled on a whole wheat pita
2 cups steamed veggies
Mozz chese on both (1.5oz)
Snickers Marathon Protein Bar (never again, was nasty)
1 oz Pecans
8oz Chicken Breast Tenderloins cooked in 1 tbsp of EVOO with 1 cup onion/bell pepper, flavored with 1 tbsp Worcheshire
Protein shake (1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup skim milk, .5 cup strawberries, half a banana, ice)

I’m stuffed and still did not hit my calories…I don’t get it.

Here is my entire diet from myfitnesspal.com.

3-16-09 Diet

I’m going to do some of my nightly marketing, take a hot shower to loosen up some stiffness, and get some sleep.  5:45am tomorrow is Plyometrics!

Brent P90X P90X, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises