DAYS 15-18

The thing that interferes with my journey the most is "life".
Two times this week I have missed my workout because of previous commitments that had me occupied until 11 at night. Plus, I'm not going to put my workout as a priority over my wife and kids, so I just figure I'll have to skip a day here and there.
Plus, it's a busy time at work, so I continue to miss breakfast 2-3 times a week, which stunts the weight loss like nothing else. I bet even a big chocolate cake wouldn't have the effect that missing breakfast does.
Tony Horton always gives his tip of the day. Well, here's mine.
DON'T MISS BREAKFAST!
It's hard to believe that in only 1 1/2 weeks, I'll be 30 days in and moving on the phase 2. Hello carbs! It's not that I don't like protein, but I love bread, crackers, cereal, rice, tortillas, waffles, etc! Even though you only get 3 carbs, still, its a step in the right direction.
Been kind of stuck on a pound and a half loss this week. But I've lost some more body fat, which means I'm gaining muscle mass, so I'm alright without the poundage loss.
Eating all sorts of variety now: Salmon, chicken, turkey, ham, steak. V8 100% vegetable juice is a great way to get those 4 servings of veggies.
Another tip of the day: If you're going out to eat, save your carbs for the restaurant. We're heading out to eat tonight, and I've saved my carbs for something good!

WEEK 2

Weight loss this week was 2.6 lbs and 0.5% body fat.
Grand total above to the right.
I made the great discovery that skipping breakfast halts the weight loss process. I skipped breakfast twice this week because of work, and those were the days that I had 0 weight loss, even though I ate less calories for the day.
Even if you can't eat breakfast, throw down a protein bar or a protein shake to get the metabolism going.
Our moms always said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

DAYS 11-14

Knowing what to eat has become a more natural thought process. I'm able to mix and match a wider variety of foods now, all the while staying within the alotted amount of servings. I bought some V8 100% vegetable juice, 2 servings of veggies in each can. Protein powder and protein bars are a great 'on the go' food for when you are too busy to eat a full meal.
Trying to work out harder and use better form. 2nd week was easier, yet harder. Easier because you know what moves to do and are able to focus on form. Harder because the better your form, the harder it is.

DAY 10

Today for lunch I went to the Chef's Corner Bakery. Had a chicken salad with some good stuff on it for lunch. I think it fit my diet pretty well. There were a lot of veggies, so I probably will finally get all four servings today.
Been stuck at the same weight for 3 days. I think missing breakfast is a killer.
Not so sore from workouts anymore, and they seem easier this week, so I've been working out harder. More weight, more reps.

DAY 9

Funny, I went to the hospital cafeteria today. Instead of looking around and seeing salads, tacos, salmon, chicken, sub sandwiches, burgers, etc., I look around and see protein, dairy, vegetable, fruit, fat, and carbs. I already have the servings list pretty much memorized, I was able to pick out food that I knew fell into the categories I needed.
This is good because in 2 days I have my first eat-out meal since starting. One of the drug reps is taking me out to eat, so I'll be able to see if I can apply my nutrition education to a restaurant meal.

DAY 8

Here we go on the second week. Food's becoming a little easier to prepare and decide what to eat.
This is what I had yesterday:
Protein Shake (ingredients listed earlier) for breakfast
Clif Bar and Yogurt for snack
Sandwich with turkey and turkey bacon, lettuce, and cheese, along with carrots for lunch.
Clif Bar and String Cheese for snack
Chicken and skim milk for dinner and a salad.

Totals.
Protein: 1(breakfast), 3(lunch), 3(dinner) = 7 (2 short)
Fruit: 2(breakfast) = 2
Vegetable: 1(lunch), 1(dinner) = 2 (2 short)
Dairy: 1(breakfast), 1(lunch), 2(dinner) = 4
Carbs: 1(lunch) = 1
Condiments: 2(dinner) = 2
Fat: 1(dinner) = 1
Snack: 2 doubles = 2

So I'm still a little bit short on protein and veggies, but this was pretty dang easy to get ready to take to work, and chicken is simple to grill.
I'm going to try to add vegetable soup to the mix at lunch or dinner.
I don't mind eating the same thing everyday, especially when I see almost a pound a day drop off.

The workout was Chest and Back again today. It was harder today that last week. I think it was because I was really working on the form, trying to make my push-ups perfect and using less chair help on the pull-ups.
ABs were hard. I can do more now on the first 2-3 moves, but then it feels like the first time for the rest. Just gonna keep goin', I'll get there!

FYI - There was a day last week that I missed breakfast. I decided to just continue my meal plan that day without breakfast which meant I ate 500 or so calories less than the other days. Well, guess what, that was the only day of the week that my weight didn't lower at all. Sometimes its hard to eat so much, but eating fewer calories didn't do a thing, I only lost weight when following the nutrition plan!

WEEK 1 - END

In the first week I've lost 5.2 lbs and 1.3% body fat.

DAYS 5-7

Following the diet strictly. Trying to eat more salad to get some of the vegetables in. Still tired during the day, but I still haven't gone to bed at a decent time, so I can't say if it has anything to do with the diet.
One major thing is that my pee stinks! I don't know if its the protein, but it never did before I started this diet.
Workout programs day 5-7 were:
Day 5 - Legs and Back
Day 6 - Kenpo
Day 7 - Stretching
I loved Kenpo, kicking and punching and what-not with the heart rate getting up in the 160-170 range, but I did realize that I need a bigger area for that workout. I guess I'll go outside or something.
Stretching is great for a Sunday activity, you just stand there and stretch pretty much every part of your body.
I can tell already I'm getting more flexible, the first day I couldn't come close to touching my toes, but now I'm down a little further.

BTW - The morning after the Yoga routine, almost all soreness was gone. I guess I stretched it all out.

DAY 4 - 05/13/10

Weighed myself this morning after 3 full days of P90X...down 3 lbs already!

Main problem now is time. I'm getting faster at the menu and meal prep, but by the time I get in my workout at night, meals ready for the next day, and recovery drink, its usually midnight or so before I go to bed. Hopefully I'll learn the workouts and be able to go faster than the video (at least for the lifting ones).
Needless to say, with all the protein and lack of sleep, I get pretty dang tired.

Protein Shake in the morning again. Seems to be the fastest, most convenient breakfast.
Snacks for me are always a protein bar and yogurt.
Went to my stand-by lunch today, turkey bacon and some fruit, because I had to work through lunch and couldn't make anything.
Still having a hard time getting those vegetables in.
I've decided to use my daily carb allotment from now on on bread because it's so much easier to make some sort of sandwich than some of the other things that were on the menu. Had a ham, cheese, lettuce sandwich for dinner tonight.

Workout today was Yoga.
This is by far the hardest workout. They were doing all sorts of stretchy things (I'll have to wear my stretchy pants next time...Nacho Libre reference) that I can't do. But once again, I try every pose and hope that someday I'll be able to do them all.

Chest, Back, Legs, Arms, Shoulders are still sore!

FYI - I use apple juice, protein and creatine for my recovery drink. The protein is flavored vanilla and creatine is flavored fruit punch. Mixing all three together actually produces a very tasty drink, surprisingly!

DAY 1 & 3 - ABS

How could I have forgotten this? The Xtreme Abs workout!
339 situp/crunch type excercise to make those abs ripped and rock hard.
Well, this sucked the first day! They were doing froggy swims and bicycling things all while in a crunch position along with some other stuff that just seemed to hurt my back. I didn't think I was even getting anything out of it.....until the next day that is, and I woke up with a sore stomach!
HURTS SO GOOD!
Day 3 was a little bit easier form wise...maybe because I now knew what to do and didn't have to stop every few seconds to watch the video. It actually felt like it was working the correct spots. I'm sure I'll be sore again tomorrow.

DAY 3 - 05/12/10

I think I'm picking up some tricks for food. With a little imagination, I came up with some things that I thought I would really like to eat...for example:

Breakfast - Egg Sandwich
2 pieces of whole wheat toast (1 Carb Serving)
3/4 Cup egg whites (1 protein
1 oz non fat cheddar (1 dairy)
4 turkey bacon slices (2 protein)
Add a little fat free mayo (1/2 Condiment)
8 oz skim milk (1 dairy)

This was better than any fast food breakfast sandwich!
I didn't get enough vegatables today, which seems like the hardest thing to add to a meal. I ate a bunch of raw carrots for dinner.

Workout today was Arms & Shoulders. It wasn't complicated, just lifting your dumbbells to work differents areas. I noticed that my triceps are the whimpiest part of my arms.
BTW - Legs very sore from plyometrics yesterday, chest and back still sore from DAY 1.

DAY 2 - 05/11/10

Well, I discovered what I think might turn out to be 2 wonderful things:
Protein Shakes & Turkey Bacon
As I said before, I bought a blender to take to work. Last night I measured out my strawberries, milk, and protein, grabbed a banana, and then when I got to work, I threw it all in the blender with some ice and BAMB!, breakfast in a cup!
According to the nutrition guide, turkey bacon is 2 pieces for one protein serving. I got some microwavable turkey bacon (35 calories a slice) and ate like 6 slices for lunch a long with an apple and some peas. Yeah, I know, weird combination, but people put fish and fruit on pizzas, so don't mock me!
Dinner was salmon and vegetable (can't remember which).
Then recovery drink after workout.
I discovered through some research alternate recovery drinks to the P90X brand:

8oz Apple or Grape Juice
1 tblsp Whey Protein
1 tblsp Creatine

I also use clif bars (in place of P90X protein bar) that you buy in a pack from Sam's Club or Costco.
Workout today was Plyometrics. Some of the things were pretty hard, and require more felxibility than I have. I'll get there though. I try to do everything they do on the video as well as I can.
Oh....I must have done a good job on yesterday's routine, cause I'm sore today!

DAY 1 - 05/10/10

WOW! A lot of food!
The workout was pretty hard, but you just go until you can't go and then you rest.
Now the food, that's a whole different ball game. Meal plan for today was this:
Breakfast - Mushroom Omlet
10 egg whites
3 oz cheese
1 cup mushrooms
1 roma tomato
1 tbsp green onions
then 1 cup strawberries
8 oz milk

Snack -
1 Protein Bar
1 Yogurt

Lunch - Chefs Salad
2 1/2 cups lettuce
5 oz ham
5 oz turkey
3 oz mozarella cheese
1 roma tomato
1 avacado chopped
4 tblsp ranch

Snack
1 Protein Bar
2 String Cheese

Dinner
10 oz chicken
1 Cup Brown Rice
1 Cup Asperagus
1 Banana
1 Cup of Grapes

After Workout -
Recovery drink

Of course everything is fat free, sugar freet, lean, light, etc.
This equates to:
9 Servings of Protein
4 Dairy
2 Fruit
4 Vegatable
1 Carb
1 Fat
And the extras (snacks, condiments, etc.)

If you think that is a lot...well, you're right! It was hard to finish it. Plus it took a lot of time last night to prepare to take breakfast, lunch and snacks to work with me.
Workout was Chest & Back today, alternating pullups and pushups pretty much the entire time. I can barely do one pullup and had to modify it with a chair.

The Day Before

I spent a couple of hours shopping, putting together my menu, and preparing my breakfast and lunch for the next day. This was pretty time consuming to put it all together, creating an actual working menu for the day, and buying all the non-fat foods that are suggested you use. Getting excited knowing that the next day was the big start.

Equipment

There are a few things that are necessary for the workout:
- Pull-up bar
- Dumbbells
- Yoga mat
I bought a pull-up bar from walmart that mounts in an open door way. They have a few different types ranging from $12 to $75.
Walmart also has several different types of dumbbells. The best deal for me seems to be to get the $5 dollar Gold's Gym Dumbbell Handle and then you can add individual weights as you get stronger. The individual weights cost anywhere from $3 to $18 but once you have them, you can put them all on if necessary.
I'm going to go without a yoga mat...we'll see.
I also had some extra things already that will come in handy, and I purchased a few things that will help:
- Scale that measures body fat % - $25-$50 (depending on how nice)
- Food scale - $4(standard)-$65(digital)
- A miniature blender (10 oz cup size) - $15
Since body fat is a big part of the results, you should invest in one of these scales. You can buy them pretty much anywhere: Walmart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond.
The food scale was a must for me since I decided I was going to follow the nutrition guide to the T.
The blender was a bonus that I found at walmart. I'm going to take it to work for those days that I want to do a protein shake.

PRE-PROGRAM

I've known people who have done the P90X program and didn't get the results like the "testimonials" on the infomercial. They did get stronger. For example, they went from doing 1-2 pull-ups to being able to do 10-15. But, they didn't get that ripped look like others on the infomercials. I'm convinced that the main problem was that they didn't follow the diet. With this in mind, my pre-program days have been focused almost entirely on the nutrition plan. The trick was incorporating the proportion plan with foods that were not extremely expensive and that I would actually like eating.
They start you out with a high protein based diet for maximum weight loss, then you move to a more balanced diet, then to a carb rich diet for the last 30 days. Just through my study of the nutrition guide, I've learned a lot about proportions, serving sizes and the types of food that fall into each category. I'm sure that by the end of 90 days, selecting foods will be second nature.
The nutrition guide comes with several recipes, which I plan on using. In planning, I have been sticking somewhat closely to the daily menu provided in the guide, with the exception of eating fish 3 times a week. I don't like fish, but I'll stomach the salmon once a week. There are some other things I don't like such as mushrooms and tomatoes, but I'll give them a go too.