As you can see from the charts I lost a ton of fat and weight through P90X, but P90X2 really pushed me to the lowest body fat and weight I’ve ever been since in my teen years (I’m 34).

Sadly, the caloric deficit, which consists of eating 500 to 300 calories less per day then you need was devastating to my muscle growth. The math isn’t perfect, since measuring body fat by averaging what the body fat scale and the fat calipers isn’t an exact science. That said, you can see on the spreadsheet I basically lost all the muscle in 3 months that took me 10 months to build by basically starving myself. So while the chart makes it look like a victory, 60% of the 15 lb weight loss was muscle vs. fat. It took me 6 hard months to slowly earn it back.

So, while I like the way a vegetarian diet made me feel, I don’t think I want to go back to a caloric deficit as my body is quite sensitive to get into a catabolic state (burning muscle vs. fat).

Halfway through P90X2, during a 4 hour Minecraft session I damaged a nerve in my foot by sitting on it on a wooden chair. I got drop foot; basically I could press my right foot down on the ground, but not lift it up. This means I walked like a zombie by either dragging my foot or throwing my knee, but at least I could jump in PAP Lower… just landing became insanely dangerous. I head to wear a leg brace so I could walk. This lasted for 4 months and just magically got better one day. This forced me to do P90X2 using 1 foot. Erik Stolhanske of P90X1 Plyometrics and Broken Lizard fame, who completed P90X with 1 leg, gave me inspiration to go on.

Now that I saw how low I could go, I decided to go the other way and see how big I could get through body building.

Body Beast just wore me out. I couldn’t do my own cardio or yoga on the side; my entire energy was devoted to just doing my best the entire 30 to 50 minutes. They have many high rep progressive sets, and even her majesty could see the physical change in just my face on the 1 week I rested. It clearly exhausted me, but I DID manage to gain almost 6 pounds of muscle so that was awesome. I also learned better form for a lot of moves I sucked at.

However, everything I read said lower reps, compound movements, and more rest. So I built a custom routine, borrowing some moves from Body Beast, some from P90X1 and 2, some from pictures/blogs/YouTube videos I found online, and some in the books I read. I did my own build, bulk, and cut phases over the course of 90 days. I ate till I was about to puke during the bulk phase. The 2 weeks I tracked it on myfitnesspal.com I was getting nearly 3,700 calories a day.

Doing my own cut phase was rough. I didn’t really plan for a reduced routine with increased cardio so basically just worked out for 1 hour and 30 minutes 3 days of the week, and then 1 hour for the rest of the shorter routines. I managed to shed some fat while maintaining my weight which was awesome, but challenging. I failed to do the 50% protein diet merely because I just don’t know enough recipes and got bored eating chicken, beans, brown rice, quinoa, salmon, and yogurt all the time.

Muscle wise, though, I came out on top, undoing the damage my caloric deficit created. I hope to try intermittent fasting and a heavy protein diet this year to see what they do.

Exercise and diet are just like programming: Tons to learn, tons to try and experiment with, and the more I do it the easier it gets to learn more. I’m happy with my results. Breaking my chest plateau this year proved I can break my bicep plateau as well if I just work hard.

I’m happy with the results of my hard work. I hope you reach your diet and fitness goals for 2014. Happy New Year, y’all!

It’s been 1 year since I was sick & tired of being sick & tired and decided to make a change. I also completed P90X2 which is the 2nd version of P90X (sort of). I wanted to share the challenges I had (only 1 of my feet worked), the changes in my life, and what I’ve learned as well as visual progress.

Before & After

First, the before and after shot’s from 1 year ago, after completing my 1st round of P90X, my second round, and my first round of P90X2; a transformation consisting of 365 days of hard work. I’ve lost 28 pounds, stabilized at 140 pounds, my cholesterol is like 58, and blood pressure is 110.

P90X2

I have a short attention span and get bored easily. I wanted to try something new. A friend on Google+ suggested I try P90X because they focus on more core work and it could help me with my running goals. One of my running goals is to significantly reduce my running times, beyond improving my horrible stride, and 2 of the ways to do that are variety in fitness and losing weight. P90X2 provides the variety, and the stricter version 2 diet combined with the exercise provides the extra weight loss.

Overall it was really fun and I’m glad I purchased the DVD’s. I plan to do a hybrid version of it + P90X once I find a combination that others can already vouch for.

Cons

There are a few things I didn’t like about P90X2.

Not Enough Lifting

There are arm, back, leg, and bicep focusing exercises as well as total body that involve them, but nothing like amount v1 had. For someone who struggled with pull ups and push ups to really bulk up the lats and pec muscles, this was a downer for me. There seemed to be a level of expectations that I clearly wasn’t meeting for some of the chest & back exercises. Phase 2’s focus on arms, shoulders, and biceps was barely enough focus.

Phase 1 Confusion

Maybe this was intentional, but I really felt confused in Phase 1 on “what we’re doing here”. Every day seemed just like a different variation of core. Maybe it wasn’t and I was just feeling the muscle confusion early. In P90X1, you do Core 6 times in the entire 9 days. In P90X2, it felt like I was doing a variation of it everyday for a month. Maybe it was structured and I’m just not knowledgeable about fitness to get it.

D.I.Y. Stretching

Upon getting injured a few times running, 2 different Ortho’s I saw criticized me for being extremely inflexible, and that being the main cause for my multiple running related injuries. I felt really bad suddenly for skipping all those X Stretch Sunday’s in P90X1, so started not skipping them. I also ensured I’d stretch more if I needed to before/after working out.

P90X2 doesn’t have a designated stretch DVD; it’s now foam rolling. That DOES reduce the pain, but does not increase your flexibility. You then have to supplement with your own stretching. I wasn’t prepared for having to find the extra time to stretch. Obviously I have to, and again, it’s clear P90X2 is for those who have “graduated”. Being flexible, and knowing how to maintain it, are a requirement of that graduation.

Pros

There are a variety of things I liked and loved about P90X2.

PAP Upper and Lower

PAP Lower basically justifies your DVD’s purchase. That 1 routine of hell alone basically erased any negativity and frustrations I had with P90X2. I was pretty convinced my 2nd round I wouldn’t be doing P90X2 again and would return to v1, but PAP Lower changed my mind… I found out what it was all leading up to.

Same feelings about PAP Upper, although, Lower’s still my fave because it’s the worst.

Shoulders & Arms with Jason Scheff

For a more challenging version of the first, I loved it. Jason is a goof ball and made Tony look like a serious gent, so this routine really helped distract you from the insanity you’re attempting by adding more weight each week and the pain that’s there. #TwentyPiePounds #BadgerlyWentToOrange #TurkeyBurger #HellInAHandBasket

Plyocide

I actually found the former harder, but I did struggle to keep the intensity up since Plyocide is harder and faster than Plyometrics so… different kind of challenge? Either way, it was fun to have a new version.

Phase 2 Overall

I struggled to see progress in Phase 1 because it’s hard to gauge progress with some of the exercises until you actually get good at them and know the form. Phase 2, however, was very familiar with additional challenges. I liked all the new versions or added modifications to make them harder. “Curls on 1 leg? Why not?”. Phase 2, I think, was a small part of what I envisioned P90X version 2 to be. It was nice to have something familiar since I was really confused in Phase 1.

Ab Ripper X2

Easier than version 1. Thank God. P90X2 really ups the intensity, so after a harder 1 hour workout, it’s nice to have to magically conjure more “bring it” for an extra insane 15 minutes.

Yoga

It’s 1 hour instead of 1 hour 30 minutes. w00t! And don’t give me that “67 minutes” crap. Tony talks for like 3 at the beginning, and if you skip the ending corpse pose and single Om, boom, 1 hour. The other cool thing is instead of Core Synergistics  you do it Yoga 3 times during recovery week. This allowed me to actually better gauge progress I was making at some of the moves. I know I’ve made progress over a year of doing, but even just being able to see progress in 3 days, WHILE recovering was awesome.

I also liked how they had Melissa doing the easy versions with Ted doing the insane things I can someday attempt. As others have noted the queues are a lot easier to follow as well. If I ever do P90X again, I’ll most definitely be using this version of Yoga moving forward instead of v1.

Diet Guide

It was… just way easier to follow. I know the first version had fast food options if you were in a hurry, but… well, I don’t think I was learned enough in general diet to even be able to handle both the diet changes in my lifestyle and P90X to even contemplate that. After going through P90X a few times while working on improving my diet, by the time I got to P90X2 I was ready, AND I did not need a fast food option which meant the P90X2 option just fit. More importantly, it had the Grain Free and Vegan options which I’ll talk about.

Challenges: Flu and Drop Foot

I had 2 horrible things happen during my first attempt P90X2. At the end of of my first week of Phase 2, I got the flu. I managed to power through my 2nd week, but it was very clear my performance was being adversely affected by being sick. So, I took 1 week off. I ended up extending Phase 2 to 6 weeks to compensate because I did notice week to week improvement in form and amount of weight.

During the 1 week off, we had my nephews over and had a Minecraft LAN party. My downstairs table has wooden chairs. I must of sat with my right food under my right leg for a couple of hours with those kids + my kids on Saturday, all day. It caused me to have drop foot the next day. I later found out was caused by a compressed nerve. It took 2 1/2 months before I could dorsiflex my right foot again.

What this meant was, I could “jump” for example in Plyocide, but I had insane balance issues. I had to use step modifications a lot. I couldn’t heel walk in PAP Upper and Lower. In Shoulders & Arms I struggled on the right foot balancing, but tried anyway. I tripped a lot, and had to be laser focused on ensuring I didn’t twist my ankle on certain movements.

Worse, my left leg would get really sore over time because I favored it to help compensate for the right. I did my best to ensure the right did his fair share within reason. I did NOT want to injure myself. I felt like it was extremely important that I complete P90X2 WITHOUT getting any injuries WITH an injury caused by playing video games basically sitting around doing nothing. This would really help me in arguments about “working out being dangerous” or people using my running injuries as ammo against me.

The 1 legged Erik Stolhanske of Broken Lizard fame from P90X1 who completed one of the most brutal workouts with a prosthetic leg was a major inspiration to me not giving up. If he could do it on 1 leg, I could do it with 1 working foot.

1 week after I completed P90X2, I started to be able to get 80% mobility back in my foot within a 3 day period. Nerves are strange… and heal waaaayyyy to slowly compared to muscles, ligaments, and bone.

Going Vegan

About 1 week into P90X2, I decided to try the Vegan diet. I’m not sure exactly what the catalyst was. I think the wording in the guide book that went something like “even if it’s not your thing, hey, it’s something new to try”. That struck a chord with me. It also sounded hard. That struck another positive chord with me. Some of the zealotry you read online makes you think Vegan makes you “feel” better… I knew Vegetarian made me feel better than I have in my entire life, so why not? Also “it’s near impossible for vegans to get fat” gave me hope that it’d help me lose more weight so I could decrease my running times.

I was actually really thinking about doing the Grain Free option first, mainly because I had read some literature about it. I even tried to do both for 1 week before I quickly realized that limited my diet way too much. The avenue of Vegan trying new types of food vs. Grain which is limiting a specific set of types of food just wasn’t as appealing, regardless of the possible weight loss and feeling better.

The validation I wanted to do it was the backlash from telling people on social networks I was trying it, and some of the negative reactions from my friends. At that point, I was going to survive without dairy, eggs, meat, chicken, pork, and fish for 3 months or die trying. Every comment about “you’re nuts” or “try X diet instead” just fueled my motivation to stick with it.

For the record, it had nothing to do with ethical/moral issues around animal treatment.

Naturally I became obsessed with protein. Apparently Vegan’s have “problems” getting enough protein. You no problems if you know what to eat, although, there are health ramifications for some people who get too much soy. That, and it doesn’t absorb as fast as whey. That said, it works and you can still get “enough”, even if you’re body building. I was getting, using shakes to help, my daily requirement of 1 gram per lb of body weight to double that; within that range, every day, eating + drinking nothing but plants.

Another thing I started to learn is TONS of food have dairy and/or eggs in it, even the gluten free, organic, and worse “vegatarian” options. I struggled many times to learn about what the contents of what I was ordering/making were and was insanely surprised.

I also learned most people don’t know the difference between vegetarian and vegan. A lot of vegetarian options still have chicken/fish/pork, or dairy/eggs in some capacity that I had to struggle to watch out for.

I made many mistakes in eating things I thought were vegan but weren’t.

The biggest mistake I made was not reading the entire paragraph in the diet book. It clearly stated you need to take supplements to compensate for the lack of nutrients you get from not eating meat & dairy. I was not calorie restricting myself in Phase 1, but did feel pretty tired and dizzy many times. I returned to some normalcy once I started getting on a daily routine of B12, D, Iodine, and Iron supplements.

After going back to a regular diet I can tell you with 100% assurance that supplements do NOT compare to the real thing with regards to feeling good.

That said, I’m only beginning to realize the life changes that going on that diet did to me (ex desiring a higher ratio of vegetables on my plate than whatever else, still liking tempeh related dishes, etc). I’ve fallen in love with Quinoa and Tempeh because of that diet, and a variety of other foods that have made it easier to have a broader set of choices… because I was forced to learn when I was starving and couldn’t eat the easy stuff.

If you want to ensure you “like vegetables” if you currently don’t, want to guarantee fat loss even if you don’t work out, and/or want to learn about additional diet choices I highly recommend it. It’s changed my life for the better. That said, talk to your Doctor first. Also, if you can hire a nutritionist, do so as they’ll be more qualified to give you proper dosage requirements for supplements. No, you cannot eat vegan and be healthy without supplements. Anyone who says otherwise thinks science is optional in life. Ensure you get a blood test beforehand to compare with the end. Guarantee your cholesterol flatlines.

Additional Notes on Supplements

For programmers, think about adding a Vitamin D supplement as most of never go outside, and hang in dark rooms for months on end. Once you quit dairy, your Vitamin D can plummet dangerously low.

Be aware when purchasing supplements most supplement makers know that the measurements they use are new to a lot of people, and especially for the multivitamins, they have a variety of dosages. Thus, they’ll sell you supplements that either have too little, or too much. Either way, it’s wasting your money all at the expense of your wallet and health. Not cool. Ensure before you go into one of those stores, like the Vitamin Shoppe or Whole Foods you document what you need ahead of time WITH the dosage requirements.

Also be wary of multivitamins or shakes. They’ll often put crap in there you don’t need, namely sugar or other chemicals that have little to no science. Some are fine and natural, some are not.

Vegan Smell

The downside to being vegan, beyond the supplements not helping me feel optimal as real iron/B12, is the “vegan smell”. Her majesty would always say while laying in bed together after the kids finally went to sleep, “you smell like vegetables”. I personally couldn’t tell, but she could. This hasn’t gone away since switching back to a vegetarian diet since I still err on the side of tons of vegetables and the same kind. I compensate with more showers and extra Old Spice deodorant.

Calorie Restriction & Macronutrients

In Phase 2, I started calorie restricting myself by 500 a day (so about 1700 a day). You can see the spreadsheet here. I was amazed at how little calories vegetables had, yet how much more nutrients they had. I bought a food weighing scale from Amazon to measure the amounts, and learned all about macronutrients (Protein, Carbs, and Fat), their default calorie amounts (4, 4, 9) which made the math a lot simpler. This knowledge, coupled with doing the measurements of different types of food, looking up their calorie amounts and comparing calories vs. nutrients vs. type of nutrients really taught me a lot.

It was interesting to attempt to balance my fat, carb, and protein needs with the capped calories. “What can I eat today that’ll give me enough protein, but not be the same thing I had yesterday?” It got even more complex when I tried to balance certain vitamins and minerals. It gave me a new appreciation for the diet guide’s food choices as I started to “get” the amount the work that went into it, and the further work that went into simplifying it into the serving point system.

Additionally, it was neat to learn that calorie restriction is the ONLY way to effectively lose weight once you’re already fit. It suddenly made a lot of fitness information utter lies used to prey upon ignorant consumers.

I’m continuing to read and learn.

Foam Roller

One of the 3 new gadgets P90X2 wants you to get, the foam roller, had 2 things I think it’s important for n00bs to know.

First off, using both on your neck is great. They don’t do that in the videos, I guess maybe because it’s not a major muscle group or perhaps its dangerous, but for me, it was awesome, especially with the Rumble Roller.

Secondly, you graduate to the Rumble Roller, you do not start with that mofo. Additionally, there are some days when you want to use the foam roller instead since things are just really tight or painful. It still works and isn’t as brutal as the Rumble Roller is. I’m not saying you should buy both, but I still use both; I don’t just favor the black cactus.

What if I want to work out?

You do NOT have dive headlong into something like P90X. If you like the guided methodology, though, combined with good ole’ hard work, Beach Body has a variety of programs targeted at a variety of demographics. You could start with 10 Minute Trainer, then Power 90, then P90X or Insanity. P90X2 actually has a hybrid of the 2 programs in the back of the manual that’s kind of cool looking.

Regarding diet, I get that it’s hard. Tony has a weekly food delivery service that, while not work out specific, is life changing for some folks. I’ve heard some have had success with Weight Watchers as well. Still others just cut out the processed foods, sugar, cut down or switch to wheat bread/pasta, and just keep their calories in check via My Fitness Pal.

Conclusions

As someone who’s completed P90X 2 times, I really liked P90X2. There is no denying my expectations colored my initial perception of it, and I struggled to keep an open mind. I’m glad I did for Phase 3 was really fun and challenging.

I’m looking forward to finding a hybrid program that blends P90X 1 and 2 exercises together in a 90 day program.

It’s crazy to look at pictures of myself from 2010 – 2012, especially my face. I could see the beer, lack of exercise, and stress about work & the industry piling up into un-healthly-ness in my face in the form of… well, fat face. I was 1% body fat away from overweight. For someone high strung like me, that was pretty irritating and made me angry. I don’t ever want to feel like that again. I like not having to wear white t-shirts under my t-shirts in the summer to “smooth out” my figure to cover my body. I like feeling lighter… and basically not like crap every day.

What’s next? Body Beast. Since my running goals were sabotaged by my non-working foot, I’ll get too bored running and doing maintenance exercises  so… time to gain some weight!

Once again, massive thanks to my business partner Brian Riley for getting me started last year to change my life for the better, and his wife Dee for getting me on the right nutrition & supplement track. And of course her majesty for supporting me. #tagTeamBackAgain

I just completed another round of P90X. It’s a 90 day exercise program for getting “in the best shape of your life”. I’ve now done it twice. I’ve posted about my first 90 days and the resulting positives. I’ve made a lot of positive changes in my life since, and learned a lot, so thought I would share the pro’s and con’s as well as what I’ve learned.

Also, new before / after pictures.

Like my first post, keep in mind Iâ€m still learning, and still donâ€t know what I donâ€t know. Also, Iâ€m not a qualified instructor, nor doctor, so seek out professional advice before attempting any workout routine & diets.

While the changes haven’t been as drastic as Round 1, the lifestyle changes continue to have a profound impact on how I live, and change, my life. And what I focus my time on.

Time & Cooking

I spend an hour in the kitchen, just about every day. Sometimes 2. I used to make fun of the hippie friends I had in Cali who I heard did that… now I do it. Ask any professional programmer to take 1 hour out of their day so they can focus on exercise and another 1 so they can cook: they’ll most likely balk. 2 hours of coding is precious.

If you don’t know how programming works, you basically are learning, practicing, or just building things for fun all the time even when not working. This is part of the many reasons Google has a free day for employee’s on Friday to build stuff. While it’s certainly not required (most programmers I know are like ‘What recession?’) a lot of programmers do it for personal gain, satisfaction, or both. You constantly want to know the latest language, tools to build things, and places to build them such as mobile and TV to be valued high in the market.

For those who are independent contractors or run a business like I do and you already work 60 hour weeks, that’s a costly 6 hours to lose every week.

In my first 90 days, that 1 hour was easier to let go of than I thought. Challenging, yes, but once I started feeling better, seeing results, and realizing I was getting healthy it started to get easier. That, and it became the focal point of my day, unlike work.

Now, I lose an additional hour to food. Whether that’s preparing or storing, I was not prepared for that. However, I feel it was the more important hour to lose for a couple reasons.

Stress Reducer

First, I found out a few years ago that I somehow relax when I cook. I don’t have any formal training, nor influences, I just got bored with my regular food one day and started trying new things and ways to make them. Like blogging, books, or video games, cooking was a way for me to unwind. Now, I ensure I spend at least 5 to 6 hours a week, 1 hour every day, devoting that time to myself to ensure I can release the stress of my day. The more I’ve learned about stress, and how too much is horrible for you, this is just one positive impact on my life. I used to drive to work and assuming light traffic, that was my alone time to process my day alone, and reflect (similar to that mindfulness stuff you keep hearing about). Yes, some days I treat it like a chore.

Dietary Changes: Positives

Second, my diet has drastically changed in the past 6 months. I was originally hoping I could change it in 1 week after reading the P90X diet guide, but even without that, you need to know a lot about nutrition & food preparation before you can just change your diet to something totally different that’s good for you and maintain it without getting frustrated. Thus, as I learn, it’s gradual and continues to be so as I learn more. While it’s not perfect, nor exactly where I want to be, that 1 hour a day spent making food for myself and my family has been probably the single greatest change I’ve made to my life in the past 6 months.

Here’s some real world examples.

No More Stomach Pains

I used to get stomach aches after eating. No more. The ONLY thing that makes me feel sick to my stomach or achy is alcohol or dairy. That’s it. For someone who was a common statistic in northern Georgia to get their gall bladder removed for dietary reasons, and at such a young age (I was 28 at the time, step father was 58 or so and had his out the same week), this to me is pretty eye opening. I ate so much greasy, oil rich, hard to digest foods that I worked that organ to death. The scars on my stomach, wrought not from glorious battle with worthy foes, but with digesting frozen dinners, continually remind me of the dangers of prolonged bad food choices.

(Mostly) No Crashes

I used to get major metabolic crashes throughout the day. I’d feel nauseous before lunch, or get a “food coma” after lunch around 2 where I’d just feel really tired even though my food tasted good. I’d often have mild heartburn around 5 pm some days, or wake up feeling “gross”. I’d often compensate with Dr. Pepper, and when I quit soda’s and smoking at 21, Red Bull, or 5 Hour Energy drinks. Now, I don’t have any of those problems. I ensure have fruit in the morning since it’s easy to digest and full of good carbs/sugars for energy, and snack on healthy things throughout the day to have more “meals”. I’m still working on the “it’s a meal” vs. “it’s a snack” part, heh.

I Learned What “Being Regular” Means

I used to be “not regular”. In fact, I felt quite ashamed about it. My dad used to get confused when I was younger and lecture me about “I have a coffee and got Number 2 every morning, son. It’s awesome!” This never happened to me and into adult hood I just assumed this was how it was for me. I used to get so irritated at those old people commercials talking about Metamucil and such, further making me feel weird and different.

Turns out it was diet related. Antonio Holguin had a similar experience. Part of it was related to the copious amounts of dairy I’d consume which can make you constipated, and other part was just bad food choices that are hard for your body to digest. Some parts are related to stress as well, but that’s normal now vs. an additional problem.

Energy

I now have energy throughout the day. Part of this is cardio related, but also diet as well. I noticed when I attempted to cut down on my coffee intake a couple of years ago I had a more stable, consistent energy supply throughout the day. While I still hate mornings, I just find it’s easier to tackle the day because I now have energy throughout, including when I’m technically “done” at 5 pm or so and start resuming fatherly duties. For a workaholic, this is a major perk for me.

It does NOT solve writers block, nor magically make software bugs easier to solve. Sometimes you just need to step away, even if you feel great.

Dietary Specific Changes

This list changes all the time, but here are some of the line item changes I’ve made, and why.

Remember, my goals are to make dietary changes over time that I understand and agree with and help me feel better, have the energy I need for cardio, and the protein I need for strength training. I need to be able to actually make whatever it is I’m supposed to eat and I need to understand why I’m actually choosing that. Your goals & dietary requirements may differ. Specifically, I want to eat healthier, gain muscle mass, and help my cardio inflicted wear & tear to heal faster.

Red Meat (including pork)

What: I don’t eat red meat if possible. If I get BBQ, I’ll get chicken BBQ instead.

Why: It’s hard to eat red meat in a healthy way. You have to get lean cuts that aren’t high in fat, raised in healthy conditions, and you’re not supposed to eat more than a certain amount a week. Young women and child bearing women, or those with iron deficiencies need it. While I do strength training and need the amino acids and proteins more so than most people because I’m constantly rough on my muscles and joints, I can get it from either chicken, fish, or beans & rice.

Additionally, there are enough studies done that DO show you’re increased in risk for certain diseases such as heart disease. The studies I’ve read on cancer seem pretty bogus (por que ‘control group’?). Either way. Why take the risk when you don’t have to? And you do NOT have to give up meat. If someone fixed steak, I’d totally eat it. Just not every day or twice a week anymore, heh!

If I do eat meat on purpose, meaning, I cook it, I prefer grass fed, free range. I prefer turkey for chili or spaghetti. Same goes for chicken; free range, grass fed, and no growth hormones. The fact that many young girls and boys are going through puberty sooner because of growth horomones in their milk and meat is one reason I’m like, “Uh… yeah, don’t put that shiz in my, or my kids, food, yo!”. Fish is fair game as well, love it.

Dairy

What: Anyone who knew me at a younger age knows I’m a huge cheese and milk fan. I’d put cheese on EVERYTHING, and buy new cheeses at the store to try every week. I’d also heavily dose my coffee with Whole/Vitamin D milk, none of that pansy 2% crap. Sometimes I’d use it with scrambled eggs in the morning as well. No more.

Why: There are 2 reasons I’m no longer doing dairy. The first reason, and only one that really matters to me, is allergies. Even moving up to Virginia from Georgia, I still get congestion. I’ve found not drinking milk with my coffee in the morning, and not eating cheese for lunch/dinner helps me breathe better. If you’ve done P90X or a lot of running, you know that breathing is key.

The second reason is scientists can’t agree if it’s good for you.

That said, I still love and to continue to take whey protein in shakes, I just ensure I keep the vats out of reach of my 2 little girls. For my coffee, if I’m not at Starbucks working, I use almond milk. I don’t like the taste of soy milk.

No White Bread / Enriched Flour

Why: Enriched flour is just a bunch of carbs/sugar/crap you shouldn’t eat a lot of. Worse, compared to non-processed flour, a lot of the nutrients are taken out during processing. They call it enriched because they put some back on. Ghetto fab. If you know anything about American’ food, it’s nothing but carbs. Try not eating white bread for 1 day in any American restaurant; nigh impossible.

Remember, I’m losing 2 hours of my day, 1 to exercise and 1 to food preparation, the last thing I want to do is waste my time eating something that isn’t high in nutrients. Also, my extra carb allotement goes to beer, and beer takes priority, so… no more bread, no more pasta that isn’t wheat, breaded chicken, etc. Additionally, if I’m about to buy something and I see “enriched flour” on the back, I don’t buy it. Same goes for white rice; no more. I try to avoid potatoes, but will eat it plain if someone serves it. I try to hit all of those things (rice, pasta, wheat bread, etc) in the evening.

What: I now eat brown rice and wheat bread. Some BBQ places will have a wheat bun option. At Subway, I’ll get the wheat bread only. At Chipotle I’ll get the brown rice. At noodle places, I’ll get the wheat noodles. If I’m cooking at home, I’ll use whole wheat penne. I’ve tried in vain to find wheat tortilla’s at various grocery stores for making soft tacos; they are brown and have wheat but are mixed with enriched flour to ensure longer shelf life. NICE TRY, SUCKA!

I should also note, this has probably been the most drastic, and challenging part of my diet desires. Everything has enriched flour. It’s insane. I didn’t know until I tried to find things without enriched flour… and then just any flour. I’m still not sure how the French get away with it. My favorite are the organic breaded chicken… w… t… f… I call those “transition” foods. If you can hit that vs. the processed stuff, you’re slowly on your way, and that’s great. Just don’t stay there.

Someday, I may no longer eat wheat. But not today.

Processed Sugar

Why: White sugar. Hard for your body to digest, gives you a sugar high, and for males goes right to your stomach. Sugar gets a bad rap. If you eat a little, you’re fine; it’s the mass quantities are that bad. Considering it’s in a ton of things, that’s where it’s hard NOT to have too much, hence the negative attitude towards it to ensure you don’t get too much if you can help it.

What: I use unprocessed brown (not that maple cooking stuff) for my coffee. My increased fruit intake also has sugar in it. My vanilla almond milk has sugar in it. My beer has sugar in it.

Someday, I may no longer drink coffee. But not today.

Beer vs. Wine

Why: This one has been tough. With the craft beer craze still in full swing in America, there are always many new beers to try. Alcohol is hard on your liver, and most beers are pure sugar that goes right to your belly if you’re a guy.

What: I try to keep wine around, though, since I can drink less of it than beer. Argentina Malbecs and Cabernets are my preference.

Crap

Why: Just to be thorough, I no longer eat crap / junk food. Not all foods are created equal; you can eat one meal the exact same size as another meal, and one can be insanely more nutritious for you. I don’t mean nutritious in the sense that “tons of protein”, I mean everything you need. Thus, eating junk food is bad for 2 reasons:

First, you have to eat more of it to get the same nutritional value. If you don’t, you feel like crap and have health issues. If you do, you get fat and have moar health issues. Lose lose situation. No more Doritos, no more sugary lemonade’s from Burger King, no more french fries, no more gummy bears/twizzlers, no more Sunny D.

Second, you eat more of it to feel full, and thus eat too much of non-nutritious food.

What: I’m still figuring this out. The truth is hard to find on the internet, and some books give conflicting information. For example, everyone agree’s Kale is the best thing in the universe. You can’t eat Kale every day unless you’re a Spartan with no taste buds. Additionally, if you just DON’T eat junk and you were formerly eating junk, you’ve still made a huge, positive impact on your life. Yet, most of those nutritionists I’ve seen who are not Doctors will give you shit for “living a delusion you’re not eating healthy”. So, it’s also hard to get a decent support network from people without agendas. If they mention Mansanto in a blog entry, I know I can usually stop reading if I don’t have the patience, or just have to wade through their agenda to find the good stuff.

Picking healthy food choices is wrought with misinformation, conflicting science, and tons of math. For example, let’s assume everyone is the same gender, has the same fitness goals, and is the same age. There are a certain amount of calories per day you need. Of those calories, a certain  percentage of them should come from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. You need a certain amount of specific types of vitamins per day. You need a certain amount of carbs per day, as well as the different types of fiber. Don’t forget Potassium. Now, take in the fact that different foods have different types of the above things, and combine them together, and you can see how it gets complex really quick.

Worse, some foods are 90% good, 10% bad… if taken alone, else the math gets hard again. It’s kind of like eating in Fallout 3. In the game you need to regain the health… but all the food had varying degree’s of radiation vs. how much health you regained. You were glad you ate it, you needed it, but eventually you had so much radiation debt you eventually had to pay off. Or you could just not eat radioactive food which was hard to find in a post apocalyptic world. I feel Fallout 3’s food system is a great metaphor the American food system. A pimp economy has been built around selling you RadAway.

It’s been easier than I thought, though to keep at it. For example, when I quit smoking 13 years ago, on week 6, I went to the dentist. I was still marveling at the changes quitting smoking gave me (regained my taste buds, could breathe a little better, etc) so was still pretty excited about it and kept telling people. I was still using gum at the time to help control my nervous energy, which is one of the reasons I smoked. My dentist didn’t congratulate me, nor thank for my teeth in 2nd person. Instead, I was berated for chewing gum. Like presidential elections, I get that voting for the the lesser of 2 evils doesn’t make you not evil.

However, I’m pretty sure that:

• 1 of 5 deaths a year in the USA caused by smoking suddenly stopping
• a single person gaining $4,000 back in their wallets from cigarette purchases per year as opposed to $104 for a yearly gum usage. That’s a $200,000 savings over 30 years. Curious how this would impact Social Security in the USA if people put this in their Roth and regular IRA’s?
• removing that 40% increase in health care costs for smokers in the USA might help the healthcare problem (not solve it, duh)
• increase in used car sales revenue since there is an average 9% lower return on smokers’ used cars
• the $10,000 or more of house cleaning / repainting for houses that smell like smoke that can’t easily be sold goes away

Blah blah blah. Every agrees that quitting smoking is good. Replacing it with a gum chewing habit that’s horrible for your teeth and jaw is the lesser of 2 evils. However, in terms of life impact, and economy impact, it’s HUGE! Negative dentist was negative.

Same for eating healthy. I don’t see it as a “doorway” to a new way of life, but more of a path that I’m continually walking and learning about. I see every positive change as positive. I don’t have to make 30 changes to feel better; I feel better already with just a few changes. My feeling good is all the proof I need. Obviously I want to continue to feel better, and stave off any long term health effects that I don’t “currently feel” since I’d love to see my great grand kids… assuming they aren’t part of the android army come to end the human race.

Dietary Changes: The Negatives

Lose of Valuable Time

Yes, there are some negatives. As a business owner and programmer who sells “expertise”, not just experience, I have to be at the top of my field. Writing good prose and speaking at conferences is great, but you have to actually deliver as well. You can only do that through experience and actually knowing how to execute. This requires constant research and practice, and relearning since things change all the time. I used to have 24 hours in a day to do that. Now I have 22.

My kids are older now and require time. All the positive male role models I had would work hard all day, and come home and “take the kids” from the wife to give her a break. It’s hard for me to do that because I’m making dinners for everyone. This doesn’t count making the kids lunches where, if I get suckered into it, I make an attempt to inject healthy items like my mom used to do for me when I was a kid.

Sometimes they want me to play wii games with them, or read a book, or they start fighting… it’s hard to focus on them when I’m cooking. It’s hard for me to divide myself between fixing healthy food for everyone to eat or other meals for myself, and giving the kids attention.

I’ve made eating healthy an important part of my life and eventually my family’s, but holy fish does it have a cost. I can see why most people don’t pay it.

The Price of Organic and Drawing My Own Conclusions

While the science is on going, and organic foods are by no means a silver bullet, there are certain things are seemingly obvious. Again, I try to constantly keep an open mind, and not “look for conclusions” while reading/researching. Examples include certain pesticides that cause cancer in farm hands. While you can wash your fruit off, why take the chance? I’ll just buy organic and hope the natural toxins/pesticides used are safer. I’m aware nature can kill, but there’s more research that says these chemicals are bad whereas the natural ones aren’t.

For example there is currently a spray bottle used for “washing fruits and vegetables before consumption”. A company is specifically profitting on fruits and vegatables having toxins on them that need to be washed off to have the perception they’re safer to eat. As a capitalist, that’s awesome. As someone who likes science, it seems I’ll just logically not buy fruits that have that problem. Meaning, those #’s they have on them, I buy the ones that start with “9” on them meaning they are organic, not the 4 (conventional) or 8 (GMO). Buying organic fruits & vegetables, almond milk, and grass fed/non-hormoned infused chicken is expensive, sometimes twice as much. 60 years ago, 18% of a family’s budget went to food. Now, it’s 9% (half the cost!), yet most American’s are unhealthy. Bad math is bad.

The same goes for growth hormones in the milk I feed to my daughters; that’s a negative Ghostrider.

My Family is Not Me

The price and time issues are exacerbated because family doesn’t eat like I do, yet. Take healthy diets out of it, if you know anything about kids, or people in general, its that they have different tastes. This is NOT just behavioral; it’s genetic. Some bodies have different needs for different types of foods. Just like the 13% of Scotts those with lighter skin evolved from being in more overcast climates for increased Vitamin D absorption, different bodies have different nutritional needs, even if they’re from the same parents. My oldest is carb girl w/a tad of fiber desire in small portions, whereas my 2nd eats a lot of anything… mostly.

Her majesty eats some of the things I make, and sometimes not. She’ll sometimes drink some of the things I get, and other times not. The kids will often not eat what I make. My youngest will try anything, and will eat some of the things I make… but not all the time.

Thus, I make 2 dinners every night. Sometimes 3 ish because the older eats differently than her younger sister. When we go out to eat, I only go to Subway or Chipotle, and sometimes Moe’s, so often I’ll make 2 trips; 1 to their food place of choice, and then 1 of mine. It’s rough and inconvenient. It’s slightly easier now since I know the way that food makes me feel, and I don’t like the taste of it anymore. Still, sucks.

I’m sssllllooowwwwwlllly changing their diet as their exposed to me eating certain things, and see the choices I make, and my disgust for what they eat.

What DO I eat?

My diet usually consists of the following.

1. organic banana every morning
2. coffee with almond milk, brown/raw sugar
3. brown rice (usually), chicken or beans (usually pinto or black), with avocado and vegetables
4. split pea soup or lentil soup
5. I’ll wash and chop the vegetables for #4 and #5. These include:
   1. kale
   2. celery (I try to eat this everyday to help digestion)
   3. carrots (I’m a geek, protect t3h eyes)
   4. red or white onions
   5. green or red peppers
   6. parsnips
6. Sometimes instead of #4 or #3, I’ll just saute things in a small bit of olive oil.
7. organic peanut butter on wheat bread
8. tuna fish on wheat bread (sometimes w/ onions, celery, or kale)
9. Snacks: dried cranberries (f’ing crack), raisins, 1 apple a day with skin, oranges or glass of organic orange juice, almonds, walnuts, or cashews (while the cashews aren’t as healthy as almonds, I read they help in serotonin production). I’ve also fallen in love with shakes. I either make my own using banana’s + blueberries or strawberries + whey protein powder and either almond milk or whole milk (depends on what’s in the fridge at the time) after I work out. Those Naked smoothies are insanely dope too; the Green Machine looks gross, but tastes like fruit; it’s awesome. I have a feeling I should cut down on these things since they taste so good so try to only have 2 a week. I’ve tried the others too, like Odwalla, etc. I’m sure the ones I make are healthier, but omg I love some of these. Muscle Milk is gross.
10. Heavy Snack: I’ll also make avocado dip a lot to get my daily good fat supplement, usually putting celery + avocado + a pinch of organic olive oil, or that + onions with organic (usually unsalted) blue chips. Lot’s of carbs and corn, and sodium/bad cholesterol if I get the salted ones… but so far I don’t feel bad afterwards. When I learn more I may supplement the chips out for something.
11. When travelling to client sites, I’ll get salads with no dressing, and soups from small operations, and usually an apple or orange with the snacks I mentioned above that I bring with me.

That’s it. I’m pretty boring, I know; still learning what else I can make that doesn’t want to kill me. When eating out:

1. Subway: Foot long Wheat + oven chicken + lettuce + spinach + onions + green pepers.
2. Chipotle: Brown rice + chicken + tomatoes + black beans + medium sauce.
3. Moe’s: (no brown rice yet) black beans + chicken + lettuce + gaucomole + tomatoes + hot sauce.
4. Chik-fil-A: grilled nuggets (they’re not breaded), fruit cup, water. The girls love this place, and I used to, but now I just try to supplement with Subway if possible, or use the nuggets on my vegtable concoctions.

Drinks:

1. Water (I constantly need to remind myself to drink more water)
2. Organic Orange Juice
3. Naked Green Machine
4. Protein Shakes (usually whey, but working on mixing soy in in the future)
5. Coffee (<– too much. Yes, not good, BUT caffeine is good for you, so… #justify)
6. organic grape juice (cut way down… used to be 5 days a week, now like once every month)

Supplements. I’m not a big fan merely because the FDA ruled that supplement makers are responsible for the medical research which ensures I won’t believe 99% of what’s written. That said, some of the science they’re based on makes sense, and as long as those I trust recommend them without sounding like zealots, I’m willing to give it a try. The only ones I’ve tried beyond whey protein in my shakes is creatine. When working out, I’ll try to have a protein shake afterwards, and 5 grams of creatine a day.

I found this young kid named Michael Kory on YouTube, recommended by Jason Bustamante, who posts some recipes he has which has given me ideas so things aren’t so boring. His old channel is moving to his new one, so subscribe to both (new – old).

P90X Round 2 Exercise Benefits

That’s enough about diet, let’s talk about physical exercise results. First, my before and after pictures.

A few things to point out. My abdominal muscles (the six pack) feel amazing, yet you can’t really see them in the pictures. The reason is my body fat percentage is around 13 to 17% on my stomach. That’s the last place fat has to hide for guys and every time I drink beer, put coffee in my sugar, and go crazy with the dried cranberries it fortifies its position. If my knee gets better, and I increase my running, it’s so over at the end of round 3.

I was insanely impressed how much larger my upper body felt in Round 2. I’m not sure if the pictures do it justice, but my biceps (my arms), lats (mid back), deltoids (my shoulders), and upper traps just feel… bigger. I swear some didn’t even exist before; like, I never even knew they existed and suddenly these “growths” appear, and I’m like, “holy crap, muscles!”. Her majesty can see it too. While I certainly felt like I had a different body after Round 1, Round 2 I can totally feel different up top. My legs… not so much. A bit, but not a lot.

A slideshow of more before and after pictures. (Click here if you’re on mobile).

Weight

I lost an additional 5 lb / 2.3 kg during my rest week and the week after. For a week I just ate, sat all day, and lost weight. I’ve since stayed steady at 155 lb for about 4 months; I’ll fluctuate, but not widely. My Body Fat Percentage has fluctuated as well based on my diet, but has stayed in the fitness / athletic zones.

Physique

My jeans are loose; too loose. I go all the to the beginning of my belt loop whereas before I started, I was using the last one and it’d still be tight. Shopping for clothes continues to be weird. I’m still not used to being the shape I am now. My upper body gained a lot of size, especially my back and shoulders. Some clothes fit great, others too tight. My legs, too, gained a little bit more size so some jeans are too tight now, which is cool and uncool. More cool. I like having this problem.

Energy

Beyond the diet stuff mentioned above, I generally have more energy throughout the day, both for physical activity, and for any time of day. I’m still tired on days I “sit at a desk all day” and work as well as chasing the kids, but even that is easier. It’s weird, too; I don’t just sit there going “omg, I have tons of energy!”. It’s more of a “I feel good and calm”. Then suddenly, if I have to exert myself, like say unload a moving truck, or move furniture, or just anything physical… I breathe heavy, but I’m not tired; I could do it all day. That’s really cool. It REALLY helped with all the recent moving/removing recently; I could of moved all day!

Running

Towards my 2nd week into Round 2, I was finding that it just… wasn’t enough. I felt like doing more cardio. I started getting a lot of energy and wasn’t sure what to do with it. So I donned my running shoes and figured I’d see how far I could run. Typically I could barely do a mile or so before passing out. I found out I could do 3 miles / 4.8 km jog no problem even after doing an hour workout before hand. A week later I did 6 miles / 9.7 km jog no problem. Even after that 6, I realized I could of kept going long into the night.

Then, one of my clients approved temporary housing in New York, specifically the West Village in Manhattan. I didn’t see the point of getting a gym membership to continue my P90X since I had my family in town and… well, if you’ve ever worked in Manhattan, all you typically do there is work. Therefore, I instead decided to at the recommendation of one of my business partners, Brian, to just do Core week for 3 weeks, putting my P90X on pause (I started over just to ensure I was being fair).

I was only 2 avenues from the Hudson river which has a wonderful bike & running path all along the west side / 1st avenue. Starting from the south, you grit your teeth towards the Intrepid, and then you smile at the Freedom Tower on the way back. I’d basically do Core Synergistics, Kenpo, or Yoga and go running after the girls were in bed; quite challenging in a 1 bed room, small (albeit insanely nice) NYC apartment.

After the first week, though, while I started reading online that while my distances were good, my times weren’t that great. As someone who’s competitive, I ignore my short size as a factor in the long times. I read up on interval training since I heard it helps improve your times, downloaded Interval Running, and made 21 minutes, 42 seconds my new goal based off of my age group and the minimum passing score in the Army Physical Fitness Test. Within 4 days, I beat it, so I then set my next goal at 100. I beat that.

My new goal is getting a 100 on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test, not just for running. That’s 3 miles / 4.8 km in 18:00 minutes. That’s 3, 6 minute miles. So far, I haven’t hit it, even with working out + interval training + regular running. I WILL hit it eventually.

Vibram Five Fingers

In my research, I’ve learned about a few ways to improve my run times, such as stride length, cadence, where your body leans, etc. One is foot strike, specifically fore foot or mid foot striking. There aren’t enough studies, sadly, about as much as programming. The concepts make sense, and a few notable people corroborate it, though, so I figured it was worth a try. No, I haven’t read the Born To Run book yet that spawned this whole crazy thing. Steven Sacks suggested I get myself some Bikula’s. Keith Peters told me to check out this guy’s blog.

Even though I’m working my legs out a lot in both cardio and strength training, my calves were dying the first week. You’re only supposed to run 10% of your distance until your body gets used to changing your stride, such as the one I’ve had for 30+ years. I ignored the advice and did 50%, which I shouldn’t have done, but oh well; now I’m totally fine. My knees hurt less, and I love to use them for general working out.

For walking and Plyometrics they hurt my knees big time. In fact, I’m going back to some [shoes] for the time being in hopes to help my knees feel better as well as seeing if I can correct my foot pronation easier (I land on the inside of my foot too much). For running, though, I love ’em. They’re not that fun on concrete, but softer asphalt, grass, dirt, etc. are uber fun. Overall, wearing them for Kenpo, Yoga, and various other excercises where you need foot stability I believe has strengthened my feet and ankle muscles a bit which is awesome.

Mantra Meditation

I also briefly gave Mantra Meditation a try. There has been a lot of studies (1, 2, 3) that have corroborated each other about the benefits of meditation, and the 3 minute stint at the end of P90X Yoga isn’t really enough. There is an app, Simply Being, that you can use as well for guided which is easier to do + schedule if you have a busy day like me. Given all the insane stuff that has happened this year, even with P90X + diet making me healthy, I found I still wasn’t 100% stress/frustration free and I wanted to fix that.

I’ve also found a ton of YouTube videos that I can use as well in the middle of the work day, usually after lunch. It’s been uber challenging to fit meditation time in amongst working out + cooking. I can feel it’s benefits for AT LEAST 1 hour; I’m just… calmer. Not calmer like BDNF / Endorphin runner’s high, but… almost like a buffer for the stress of the day. Then the kids come home and sap most of it away so I’ve been curious if I made it a regular part of my 6 day schedule, if those benefits could last all day.

I’ve found it’s easier to do on the YouTube videos if I play the ones that have a mantra in them, like Om or some other repeated word. It’s easier to focus. The drone ones are great, but I tend to travel more and not really follow the whole mindfulness thing as much. However, like dreaming, it’s good to de-frag your brain like that, so alternating is good too. I’ve got a general Meditation playlist that has 1 hour+ Om’s, nature sounds, and white noise. They also help for sleep and white noise for younger kids. I’ve also got a Tibetan Singing Bowl playlist which has been tweaked and lasts for hours; I’ll work to this somedays as it helps me focus.  If music and/or melodic drone is more your thing, I’ve got a general Meditations (notice the plural) playlist as well which includes ambient/psy/chill music and drone soundscapes. If you use the YouTube app on your iPhone, you have to keep it running (you can’t lock your phone). I haven’t found a good set on SoundCloud yet which has better app/music support.

Injuries

I’ve been somewhat careful. I’ve ensured I avoid all “bad pain”, and ignore the “good pain”. If something doesn’t feel right, I trust my body and don’t do it. 1 arm push ups on concrete for example; I just use 2 arms and put 95% of the weight on each arm alternatively. I ensure I land the best I can, ensure my workout area is safe, and I only push the exhaustion barrier, not the physical barrier. If my legs hurt in a good way, I grit my teeth through it. If my back starts to hurt in a bad way, I immediately back off. I do push myself, though, as much as possible.

One day I did a jog of 3 miles at 5 am with my sister in-law and a friend of hers down the street, did 1 hour and 30 minutes of yoga over lunch, and felt so good by dinner I asked my brother in-law if I could edge his yard since he was going to mow. I twisted wrong, hurting my knee. I’m still doing the doctor trips to figure out what I did (I suspect a 2nd degree Lateral Collateral Ligament injury), but suffice to say, I barely finished P90X for 2 weeks there, and basically had to stop running. Once I went up stairs, the pain was excruciating. For 6 weeks while waiting for my new house to close, we lived on the 3rd floor, so… it sucked. I looked ridiculous going up and down the stairs, and the pain negatively affected my mood, but we got through it.

I was really impressed that I was able to overcome that much pain, continue my P90X while modifying some of the Kenpo and Plyo moves, and focusing on work. I learned a lot about how you can modify, and with advice online + creative thinking, you can still burn calories, work out, and not make the injury worse. I also learned, and had corroborated, that a lot of injuries can happen for benign things such as using a ladder,  picking up a piece of paper on the ground, or even weed whacking your brother in-law’s lawn. #fightComplacency

I’ve taken 2 weeks off before I start up Round 3, we’ll see what the ortho says.

My First 5K

I also managed to run my first 5k race even with the above injury. If the boy in my daughters Kindergarten class can get through cancer treatment at his age, then I can survive a knee issue whilst running 3.2 miles for a great cause.

What’s Next?

Assuming the doc says I’m legit I hope to start and finish P90X2, hit my running time goal (yes, along with the sit ups + pull ups), and hopefully sign up for Wing Chun here in town (Ip Man 1 and 2 got me hooooooked). … and continually read more about nutrition, it’s all so complex and hard to get facts.

I’m still reading 2 books; when I validate they aren’t crap, I’ll recommend. If you’re looking for some online resources in the meantime, WebMD will sometimes link sources that look legit, and Live Strong tends to have some sources + new food ideas which is helpful.

If you want to get into shape, I highly recommend P90X. Some friends rave about Insanity as well if you just want cardio + losing weight. If you want to look like Thor, do Body Beast like Jason.

Introduction
P90X is a strength training & cardio exercise routine through guided DVD’s that lasts 90 days. I finished my first go around last week. I learned a lot the last 3 months, so wanted to report on what I learned, what I still don’t know, and some tips for anyone else attempting P90X for their first time.

Keep in mind I’m still learning, and still don’t know what I don’t know. Also, I’m not a qualified instructor, nor doctor, so seek out professional advice before attempting any workout routine.

Before And After Pictures

Part of the progress tracking from P90X, a lot of the marketing allure, is the before and after pictures. They alone are what a lot of times sell P90X. You take a bunch of pictures in various poses before or on Day 1, and then pictures again in the same poses on Day 90 to show how your body has changed. Below I’ve linked to mine with a larger version plus a second one posted on Flickr.

What Positives Came About From P90X?

Beyond the above before and after pictures, the following:

• I lost 10 lbs / 4.5 kilos (no clue how much I gained in muscle)
• 3 weeks in, I dropped 2 pant sizes
• I can wear a small t-shirt now vs. a medium. #metro
• I have more energy throughout the day
• I can do strenuous things and not be tired after doing them. I can do this multiple times a day. This is helpful with software programming.
• I don’t get as cold anymore
• my legs don’t fall asleep anymore when coding for long hours. If they do, it’s easy to wake ’em up vs that 10 minutes of limb asleep pain. I no longer get the prickly feeling.
• I haven’t gotten sore from “sleeping wrong” in a long time.
• I don’t look bloated #lolBoomer
• because I work so hard at P90X, it’s easier to NOT eat bad food because I feel guilty
• I don’t feel “bleh” after I eat. I feel good.
• I’ve never looked so fit in my life, and apparently I can look even better if I keep at it. WITHOUT a personal trainer & a gym membership.
• I have to cook more. Cooking allows me to spend more time with my girls since they can help me, and I get them to like good food earlier. Her majesty doesn’t like everything I cook because I usually ignore recipes and experiment. SOMETIMES I get it right and she digs it. I have fond memories of spending time with my grandma helping her cook. Not sure how I haven’t accidentally chopped off one of my toddlers fingers the way she ignores me near the cutting board. Course, I’d rather her risk her fingers stealing carrots than stealing jelly beans.
• I significantly improved my nutrition and am on my way to learning how to be healthy vs. leaving that to CNN.com to figure out for me. Maybe both.
• I have a positive outlet for all the stupid insanity I have to deal with in my business. “Man, I’m tired… I don’t want to work out tonight.” “Hey man, just to let you know, we put Parsley, Cairngorm, and Swiz in your PureMVC code base.” “WHAT!?! TIME TO BRING IT! ME NO TIRED~!!!!!1111oneone”

What Did P90X Not Fix?

• I still have insomnia, no matter how hard I work out. Lack of sleep is a cause of multiple health problems, lack of P90X progress, lack of energy, lack of brain power, etc… so I was really hoping for a fix. #lamesauce
• I still get “disappointed” in some clients, negative software developers, or politicians. Yoga didn’t make the “disappointment” go away. #inb4ragequit
• my gut. At the 6 week mark, it was very clear I made some serious progress attacking what beer had done to me. However, rather than do extra cardio and risk catabolism all for the sake of washboard abs, and cutting down further on my alcohol intake (I’m in software, eff that, impossible), I decided to up the protein and calories. I knew if I hit Ab Ripper hardcore, it’d actually push out the gut more based on what I read because of the increased stomach muscle size. Who cares; I do billions of modified sit-ups and v-ups, etc. #RAWR
• While I learned a ton of new moves and advice from Tony Horton & crew + at the forums and other sites… it’s very clear I’m still ignorant as all get out and have a lot to learn about cardio, strength training, and nutrition.
• strengths and weaknesses. I’ve learned that genetics play a huge role in what you excel in and have challenges in exercise & growth wise. I’ve had to learn to work harder in certain areas than others. My legs, for example, are wonderful at endurance stuff, and my calves are strong… but showing bulk would require gobs of creatine, hah! So, I just have to work at it. Her majesty’s better at some moves and stretches I am, and vice versa. I’m still learning my strengths and weaknesses.
• P90X scheduling. Even 3 months in I still haven’t figured out the best time of day to do it. I fee great doing it around 2pm. However, I can only do this when I work from home AND I don’t have build or some major client milestone due on the same day; usually it’s when the 2 year old naps which helps when her majesty wants to join in (she’s on Power 90). While night is always convenient, when the kids are in bed is when I want me or her majesty and me time. I am not a morning person. I realize this works great for people because they get it “out of the way” and have energy throughout the day because they worked out. Not this guy. When I travel, same thing.

Why P90X?

I know enough to work out on my own, but unlike 10 years ago, I have a lot less time nowadays: I run a business, have 2 kids and a wife I like to spend time with, and spend a lot of my other time researching/learning/playing with new technologies.

One of my partners in my company is a jock I really trust. Anybody who tries to sell anything has an agenda to make money, so I immediately don’t trust their intentions to make you healthier or to look physically better. However, Brian’s word was good enough for me.

I also am still currently searching for a new technology stack to call home. I’m not a jack of all trades; I want to pick something and be the best at it or die trying. While the choices nowadays are better, more prevalent, and easier to learn the industry is in major flux as far as Enterprises are concerned in crossing over to mobile compared to the consumer market. That + there is a lot of misinformation being thrown around as well as insecurity which makes (very intelligent) people forget core software development concepts. This coupled with investment money without a clear ROI countered by statistics that show insane growth and opportunity in the consumer sector… it’s a very confusing time to do what I do at the level I do it.

I wanted to feel better. I wanted more energy. I wanted to look better. Part of my positive attitude towards things is one part will power. The other part is my insane metabolism… which has slowed down a bit since hitting 26. I knew if I could get that back, I could better handle crazy clients, email threads on technology where people have gone nuts, and continuing to further my career by milking every free minute I can get my hands on.

What do you need to do P90X?

The only things you really “need” are:

1. the P90X DVD’s
2. a pull up bar
3. bands or free weights
4. commitment to showing up everyday for 90 days

Everything else is a “nice to have”, some more nice than others. For example:

• bands AND free weights
• a yoga mat
• a yoga block
• heart rate monitor
• blood pressure monitor
• sleep monitor
• Fitbit or Digifit
• supplements
• ch00ns (small, portable, and durable headphones + music player)

Pull Up Bar

My pull up bar was great. While the grip is crap, I use gardening gloves to protect my hands. I had to get the larger one I linked to for my kitchen’s door frame which is 36″ where as most normal door frames are 32 1/4″ or so. It was even nice to take apart when we rented a house in Florida for a week; just required a screwdriver. Yes, I lost the assembly instructions, so it’s pretty simple to re-assemble #5.

Bands vs. Free Weights

I liked the bands for some exercises, but within 3 weeks, outgrew them and needed heavier bands. They were hard at first to get used too, and the grips apparently make a huge difference if you like them or not. If you go on Craigslist/eBay to get cheaper ones than Amazon, ensure you like the grips. Also, if you’re a guy, don’t listen to the weight values; they’re crap. The tension you can increase on them gives each some flexibility, but I find that the weights were over estimated when you compare ’em, even at maximum tautness, to dumbbells of equivalent weight. I even broke one by accident so if you want to ensure you don’t get a welt on your stomach, ensure you get quality and/or read the reviews and/or don’t over do the band.

For other exercises, I like the free weights. Just what it is… but maybe it’ll change. The bands for some exercises just provide continuous tension whereas the dumbbells don’t.

As a frequent business traveler, the bands were a lot easier travel with. They fit well, are light, and durable. Later in the program, instead of buying new bands, I just ensured whatever hotel I stayed at had a gym; most of the non-podunk hotels had a gym with enough free weights in it. The chest/rowing machine is a decent make-shift pull up bar if you’re not over 200lbs. If you are, then you can just use the machine.

Yoga Mat

A yoga mat is helpful for 3 reasons. First, a lot of the stretches and Yoga moves are done on the floor. You want something clean, and easy to clean, on the floor. Second, you want to protect your feet and knee’s. Doing Yoga, or even Plyo (jumping moves) on a soft surface makes a huge difference on the knees and helps prevent injury. Third, some provide grip. For example, in the beginning, I just used our camping tent mats. They provide a ton more cushion than most yoga mats and I don’t need to roll them up for my knees. However, they have zero grip on my hardwood floor whereas the yoga mat does, so downward dog and other moves are impossible, and dangerous, using it.

Yoga Block

A yoga block is just that… a block that can support heavy weight. You use it to make your stretches better if you aren’t very flexible in some moves, mostly in yoga. I used my kids cardboard building blocks. As long as you press on the edges, it doesn’t break and I don’t come tumbling to the floor. If I do, there 40 replacements right under the TV. And another 80 in the garage.

Keep in mind a lot of guys hate the Yoga, and just do the Cardio X option instead, so… keep that in mind if you invest a ton of bling into Yoga equipment.

Heart Rate Monitor

I got a heart rate monitor 3 weeks in. It helped me identify when I was slacking off as well  as seeing progress over time. I could also tell if I just had a bad attitude for the day or was in fact really working hard. It also provided a surprising result for her majesty who briefly started the first 6 weeks with me: she was actually working too hard. At first I was trying to push her, but after the getting her the monitor, we realized she was working uber hard and needed to slow down. For males, you can find your “zone”, or heart rate in which you can build up better endurance… or the best place to lose fat. Same for females, although the cliche for them is the fat burn zone, aerobic. If you read the Wikipedia and other blog articles on aerobic vs. anaerobic, it gets complex quickly and your eyes may glaze over.

Fitbit or Digifit

A got an Ant+ connector for my iPhone and used it with my Garmin heart rate monitor. Put on the heart rate monitor on my chest, plug in the Ant+ to my iPhone, and open the Digifit app. Once it detects my heart rate, I’d start my P90X routine for that day. Digifit is cool in that you can see your heart rate in “mostly” real time. It also tracks the data over time, both in the app and on their website. It factors in all kinds of physical factors like your weight, age, fitness level, etc. The Digifit app itself also integrates with a lot of other tools like Fitbit. It can theoretically track your entire fitness and health.

If you supplement your routine (most chicks do) with extra cardio (sometimes guys have to follow), it has a GPS part that’ll show how far you went, the rate at which calories are burnt per hour, etc. It’s pretty rad. It appears to be lacking a lot of social features that other fitness apps have (what trails are nearby, who run them, who’s burning moooarrr calories near me, etc), but if you just want the data (and as I’ve learned, it’s ALL about the data), then it’s a great extra.

Time For P90X

P90X is 1 hour a day, minimum. Yoga is an hour and a half, but you can do Cardio X instead. If you do Ab Ripper X, it’s an extra 15 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can optionally do X Stretch on Sundays, or just chill.

I didn’t do Ab Ripper the first 2 weeks as I was trying not to die. I only started doing X Stretch on Sundays when I started “feeling” the need for it after 6 weeks in.

With interruptions from kids, getting setup (cleaning up the mess the 2 & 4 year old make every 5 minutes or walking down to the hotel’s Gym), and sometimes trying to learn different moves, it’d often take me 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes total, per day.

Any programmer knows that is precious time to learn and play with new toys to keep abreast in the industry as well as contribute back both in open source, blogging, answering questions, etc.

Any business owner knows that is precious time to… well, continue working.

Any business traveller knows that is precious time to unwind from the day in your hotel room and catch up on other work… or grab some expensive per diem grub.

That time is now gone. It’s devoted to your health and well being. You don’t “find” this time during your day, nor do you “make” it, you simple DON’T do those other things you usually do. It gets easier over time as you start to realize those other things were taking priority over you not staying healthily physically. As you start to feel better, you get a little protective and want continue to feel good. This coming from a guy who sucks at task & priority time planning.

This has nothing to do with the diet portion which can add a significant amount of food purchasing, preparation, and cooking time. While spending cooking time with my girls cooking vs. playing Wii has been rewarding, it is definitely time taken away from other things when cooking was fast & convenient.

While the best thing for my career the past 3 months should have been spent learning more Java & Android programming, I don’t regret for a minute I spent that time instead on my physical and dietary well being. I’d rather try to tackle that whack technology stack feeling the way I do now vs. 3 months ago.

I mean, Hungarian notation? Seriously? In 2012? From the brainiacs at Google? #wtf At least now I have the ability to beat down whoever thought that was a good idea, not to provide some modicum of MVC/MVP/MVVM inside, promote it, AND enough energy to spend the weekend fixing it.

… Not really, but I certainly FEEL like I can, and that is my point here.

Modifications

Before you start P90X, you’re supposed to take a fitness test to validate if you should even start P90X. I didn’t because I knew I wouldn’t pass. Even doing 15 minutes a day vs 1 hour, every day, already makes you a lot better than a large group of Americans who don’t get enough exercise per day. That in itself is awesome and you should be proud of that.

What people forget is that the body is an amazing machine of adaptability. Daily, it gets better at handling it, and you in turn can last longer and do the moves better. While the first 6 weeks was learning all the moves, I’m STILL learning every time I do it to focus on doing the moves right with heavier/specific weight. Control and quality movement is everything vs. throwing yourself and/or weights around.

That said, there is good pain and bad pain. Every exercise I was continually making progress in except for 3 which I outline below.

Plyometrics / Jump Training

On week 2, my knees were annihilated. I could stand, but my knees were in pain. I wasn’t clear if it was bad sore or good sore. 10 years ago when I was 23, I never had knee pain after working out. Plyo ensured I did. Here are some things I did that removed the pain.

First, I stopped doing Plyo on hard surfaces. At my house, I have hardwood floors. I simply got my thick office carpet out and House of Pain’d on that mofo instead. MASSIVE difference the next day. At the hotels, I’d either use soft mats in the gym, tons of stacked towels on the floor in my room (they’ll give you moar if you ask), or even the the bed (I’m short) for rock star hops.

Second, each move can be modified, and many I still do modify. Instead of jumping, just step. They show you how on the DVD. It’s still uber tiring, works out the parts you need to work out, yet doesn’t hurt your knees. This also allowed me to finish the entire workout even if my knees hurt without hurting them further. Also, my landings are more dramatic than others. I really ensure my landings are soft, and I use my whole legs vs. just my toes + feet to land softly.

Third, swap out Plyo with Cardio X. Plyo, to me, is the hardest routine out of all the P90X exercises. While Legs & Back is the ONLY one that makes me nauseous, and I burn the most calories in Kenpo, Plyo crushes me. In the beginning, or even if you don’t feel it, just swap out with Cardio X. Or skip it entirely and just go running/hiking/biking/swimming. Swimming’s a nice change too because it’s low impact.

That said, if you truly are injured, every single piece of advice I’ve read, both form qualified instructors and non, is to take a break, sometimes 2 weeks depending on how fast you heal. Better safe than sorry. Besides, it’s not time wasted at all. Learning the moves, and getting your body’s cardiovascular systems engaged == the hotness. The key is to listen to your body. Sometimes learning to listen actually takes a few weeks of exercise. Therefore, take it slow and easy in the beginning and do NOT think less of yourself; you’ll have plenty of time to up the intensity.

If you’re a guy, I get the hardcore attitude… hence why I came close to getting injured. Let your muscles get stronger and wait for week 6. THEN you can go at that shiz full bore.

Pull Ups

You use workout sheets with P90X to track your progress. There are apps too if you’re racist against pens and paper and killing t3h trees, or just like living in 2012. I really needed these to verify I was making progress. I’d feel like death, be mad at myself for faltering… only to see I was in fact making progress, every day, every week… sometimes a lot of progress. This really helped my self-esteem and made me want to work even harder to see how far I could go.

Except for pull ups.

I’m a small guy. I’m 5′ 8″ and weigh (now) around 155. Back in high school pull ups were easy for me. For whatever reason, back in March I could do 1 reverse chin up, and 0 wide front/close front.

I searched the forums, both Beachbody’s and unofficial, and it’s clear it’s just harder. I started using the bands at first. Over time I did in fact see progress, it was just insanely slower than every other exercise. Getting corroboration online made me feel better that they’re are just harder to get better at compared to everything else. For some people.

Week 3 I started using the bands + chair. I stuck with the chair till the last 3 weeks. Yes, that long. I finally started doing at least 4, 5, 6 and more on my own. On down days, I’d supplement with the chair to keep my reps up.

If you see improvement everywhere except for there, don’t get discouraged. A lot of people have challenges here. It may not be a 90 degree line of improvement… maybe 10 degrees. That’s still improvement over time.

1 Arm Pushups

Yeah, screw that mess. They’re dangerous. Just use 2 arms, and put a lot of weight on 1 arm or the other, using your knees vs. your feet if you have to. Over time you’ll get up. Brian told me this after I busted my face a couple times. I wonder if he did that on purpose? Considering they aren’t done much in the routine either, they’ll take time to get better at.

Nutrition / Food

I did not do the P90X meal plan. The first 6 weeks, my diet didn’t really change except for the following:

• I drank less beer.
• I drank more Cabernet.
• When hitting Subway, I never got chips.
• I stopped eating Gummy Bears.
• I stopped easting Twizzlers (shut up, Mani & Bill)

6 weeks in, I was at a cross roads. I started seeing results 3 weeks in, and didn’t know if I wanted to continue losing fat, or to build up bulk. When I had my gall bladder taken out about 4 years ago, whatever meal plan they had me on afterwards was amazing. 1 week after wards, I stood up, walked to the kitchen, and told her majesty, “I’ve never felt better in my entire life!”. It was very clear that diet alone had a massive impact on my emotional & physical well being.

I was curious if I could start to learn what I could do positively on the diet end, even if just tiny changes. The more I read, the more it seemed diet played a larger role in P90X, and any workout routine, than the actual working out. While it was clear you needed to do both, it was also clear I was ignoring the most important part of it if I wanted to get the most out of my hard work.

Disappointingly, even with the wonders of the internet, there is a TON of misinformation and crap out there. You really have to sort through a lot, verify credentials of those writing, and ensure corroboration is simply not an echo chamber. And even then, you don’t know 100%.

Treating it like learning a new programming stack really helped. The first thing you do is learn the lingo of the community. The second is you find thought leaders in that community, and verify if they are stalwarts or if they have broad consensus. Third, you ask 10 billion questions. Multiple times to hear different answers.

I’m continually horrified at what I’ve learned, and continue to relearn. The re-learning is important, because again, like programming, summarizing scientific statements that fit in a tweet is actually harmful. For example, eating more protein ensures your muscles can rebuild better/faster. However, I could only find 2 actual peer reviewed and publicly available scientific studies on the subject. One was done back in the 40’s; it showed no difference in growth change for high protein diets vs. normal. None of those in the study were doing strength training. *face palm*

The second was for cancer patients going through chemo. Even to a non-doctor, reading through the results was obvious. What wasn’t obvious was what if I’m not going through chemo, am meeting my daily calorie requirements, and my cells are not over-compensating for rebuilding white blood cells, etc… then do I get the same effects? Queue Dinosaur Train hypothesis.

That above paragraph led me down many a blog and forum post, many contradicting each other, many have YouTube quality comments (ie low quality/useless/they be trollllllinnnnnnn), etc. We really need a Stackoverflow site for Nutrition. Worse was the anti-organic sites clearly setup by some unnamed food production/distribution companies in a PR smear campaign. They were on high profile sites, were written well, but did NOT cite any reputable sources. Those they did were not qualified, 404’d, or were completely made up with no supporting evidence of their own.

The opposing camp of fanboy/fangirl organic/vegan/anti-meat counterparts wasn’t any better. A lot of these intelligent, and well spoken blogs on natural/organic nutrition couldn’t help let their agenda come out in their writing, nor obvious bias. The nail in the coffin is when they make counter claims and don’t cite their sources, thus destroying their creditability. Very frustrating.

I get there is a lot of money to be made in unhealthy Americans. Our exploding health sector, our aging Baby Boomers, and all the billions thrown into R&D by pharmaceutical companies some of which could be prevented by “not eating crap” and walking 5 minutes a day. I get there is a lot of money to be made in organic food, non-FDA approved medicine, and spiritual exercise routines.

As a staunch capitalist, I get it. As a business owner, I get it. Our food industry is a razor thin margin industry. Healthier Americans doesn’t suddenly make our GNP rock the mic merely because Whole Foods shows a better quarterly profit. If you were a politician, citing China’s Opium past, and our recent Tobacco past, as examples of why the next step is a healthier America via massive productivity boosts in all sectors, you’d get ripped to shreds. The pharma/food lobbyists would annihilate you. Talk show hosts would discredit you by citing the millions of jobs, both public and private, that would disappear when Americans were suddenly a lot healthier. Opportunists in the health sector would jump on it and say stupid things, thus discrediting the whole movement, thus adding more fodder for those in the counter camps.

That said, even after just 1 hour of reading, there are some obvious things you CAN learn that ARE corroborated by real scientists via peer reviewed studies. I won’t write it all here, and yes it’s hard to find it all, but here some changes I’ve done which will hopefully lead by example.

What I Cut Out

Red Meat

I no longer eat meat. I love meat. If someone were to serve it to me, right now, I’d eat it. I do not, however, buy it to feed myself or her majesty, whether the grocery store or eating out. I currently don’t mind if my kids eat it. There have been enough studies to show that not eating meat makes you live longer. AND they’re hard to find & verify mind you. For example, do a Google search for eating meat live longer, and you’ll find gems like this. Even those in the opposing camp, out of like 16 responses, ONLY ONE actually cites sources vs. anecdotal/qualitative made up bullshit.

You read that, then you read stuff like this study. Great, a scientific published paper. An anecdote from a doctor on CNN, who apparently has rad credentials… or does he? This is the guy who was laughed at on 60 minutes for recommending meditation as a way to reduce stress. Even though it’s scientifically shown that it makes your brain faster, and can reduce stress and help anxiety disorders.

It’s extremely easy to make up a bunch of untruths about someone, publish it with good SEO (search engine optimization, easy to get it in Google Search results), and suddenly detract from someone’s creditability merely because you don’t like what they say. As seekers of truth… how are we supposed to sort through this kruft?

I only know to use corroboration from perceived reputable sources. Which sucks. Examples include here, published reports from the World Cancer Research Fund, and others which are harder to find; like if you’re a chick, you can halve your risk of depression by eating red meat.  Avoid crap like this even if you WANT to believe.

Anyway, I’m still gun ho on free range chicken and fish (both of which are a rabbit hole regarding raising as well, omg). When they aren’t available, I use beans as a protein supplement (black frijoles, pinto, and garbanzo’s). Sometimes I’ll share hummus & wheat flat bread with the kids or organic cashews as well.

White Bread & Rice

Holy fish did I not realize how much bread we Americans eat. A trip to Paris 5 years ago really made an impression on me about how much the French dig their bread as I’d always see the bakery lines in the afternoon, and no one in that line looking surprised the lines were long. Oddly, no one looked fat in those lines either.

When I started reading about what makes white bread white, and the difference between whole grains vs. others and their effects on your health, choosing a replacement became really challenging. Everywhere I looked, both in my house, and in restaurants and chains… had white bread. Additionally, many of the foods used white flour. Then @Talkmster started advertising Wheat Belly. My trips to New York had wonderful places to eat that provided low portions with good ingredients… but had white bread. RRAAAGGGEEE!

When I quite smoking cold turkey 10 days before my 21st birthday back in 2000, my diet drastically changed thereafter. Within 2 weeks I started to get my taste buds back. I didn’t know I had lost them. I started eating more vegatables (SOME, not full bore), salads… sometimes without dressing. All kinds of new stuff. I started to cut down on spicy foods, too, because I could actually taste my food, and spicy foods at the time were the only things that I really liked. At the time, wheat bread was something I started buying/eating more of.

The home wasn’t affected too much, but outside the house… wow. Subway’s easy. Chick-fil-a… not so much. A lot of restaurants are catching on, thankfully. For example, at Jim ‘N Nick’s, who I usually eat at everyday if I’m working at my local Starbucks vs. on-site with a client, I’d usually get a white bun BBQ sandwhich with fries and cornbread muffins on the side. Now, I get it with whole wheat, and get chicken instead.. and eye the muffins with malice. Both it + Chik-fil-A, I replace the fries with fruit.

I’ll still supplement meals with Peanut Butter sandwiches. Now, I just ensure the bread is whole wheat, and the Peanut Butter is organic. For soft tacos, it’s been hard to find whole wheat tortillas, at least at Publix. I don’t live near a Whole Foods, so I’ve debated making my own. For hard shells, they do offer wheat ones now.

For rice, I switched to brown rice. As we all love sushi at this house, it’s been rough dodging the white rice when eating out. Not all places offer brown rice. No, fried rice isn’t brown rice. I’ve really avoided a lot of potatoes and pasta too in fear of too much starch… which has been hard because it goes great with all the veggies I now have in my fridge and has a lot of fiber and carbs to compensate for the protein shakes.

Greens

I’ve committed to eating something green everyday. No, Avocados don’t count, but yes, their good fat gets mega-nom’d in this house daily. I won’t cite the studies, as I’m still trying to understand ’em myself, but apparently eating vegetables is good for you. Daily. With no dressing for salads. If you read the dressing, it’s full of High Fructose Corn Syrup which is good/not-good for you. Or maybe it’s not. Who the eff knows. Not me. Yet. If you read the studies, they’re completely left and right field… like our current useless Congress. Either way, sugar itself is dope for quick energy as most sugar we’re familiar with is pure carbs, but isn’t released slowly enough and you can crash; balance that shiz with fiber for slower release.

I also have been using green peppers & broccoli in a lot of my food when salad isn’t available. I keep meaning to try this kale stuff all the runners rave about. Every week there is some new super food to try… which is usually a plant of some kind. Rich Roll mentioned 10 whack ones I’ve never heard of, but naturally want to try.

Also, Lance Armstrong went all Vegan. Waaaah!?

Fruits

I’ve always eaten fruits, but now I eat more. Instead of snacking on saltine crackers or cheese or something bad, I just snag an apple, organe, or bananna, organic if possible. For the apples, I eat the skin after washing since I read it is good for you and provides more fiber. As a kid it was hard to do this, but now that I’m starving from all the working out, NO problem.

4 to 5 Meals vs. 3, Breakfast, and Snacks

I’ve read that you should eat more meals a day to both lose weight as well as increase your metabolism. It also helps you control portions of how you much eat. I don’t know if any of that is true, but it kept coming up in what I read so I figured I’d go back to it. I used to do that before kids, but once you have kids, you usually shove food in your mouth when you can; sometimes that’s only twice a day, sometimes more. Sometimes you forget, which in turn makes you tired, and more stupid, then you wonder why raising kids is so hard and tiring.

Also, since I was a kid, I’ve heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, coffee has been my breakfast since I was 14. Yes, my mom would make me breakfast if I asked, and often did give me stuff even when I was 20 on the way to college at 5 am… but as an adult post-college, no… just coffee please. I used to do sausage biscuits every few mornings until I did the meat research. That was hard, though, because by lunch I wasn’t hungry, or I’d eat lunch late, sabotaging my dinners with the family, who like to eat early.

I basically force myself every morning to eat a banana. It’s rough… I’m just not hungry, but do it anyway. Also, if I forget to go to lunch till 2 pm, at least I’m not dying like I usually am since I ate something.

I tend to eat a heavier lunch, and sometimes 2 small dinners. I’ve struggled to ensure I don’t eat 3 hours before bed. Often because of work & kids, I have to workout at night. That, and I’m a night owl anyway. This means I’m STARVING at 9:30 pm after a workout. I’ve done my best to force something down, even if just half my dinner 1 hour and a half before working out so I don’t over do it after working out. Sometimes more if the kids at at 5 or 6. However, by week 6 this was really hard; my body clearly was ready for “Phase 3” (basically increased calories of the P90X food plan). I was ravenous. I still struggle with this and do my best to keep a lot of food available in the fridge to easily make meals so I can control portion size as well as save left overs.

When I travel I ensure I have healthy food with me. Some airports are getting better at providing healthier options. Atlanta (not counting Terminal E), not so much, but LGA (New York) & SFO (San Francisco) are definitely tons better in the past 3 years. This includes bananas, apples, hummus & vegetable dips, travel mixes that those mountaineer  people eat, small water bottles that fit in my computer bag, nuts, and organic fruit bars if I can find ’em.

Almost every airport has at least a crappy chicken caesar salad without dressing, while not tasting as good as the chili dog counterparts, are still better for you. Also, some Delta flights (and thus I’d assume other airlines) have some pretty decent healthier box options as well that are only like 5 bucks if you’re dying. They’re all packaged food so if you don’t eat it all, it’s easy to carry with you.

Did I mention I cut down on beer? My god do I miss beer. I mean, Cabernet is ok… but… Merlot is NOT a Stout, know what I mean? Pinots are not IPA’s, etc.

Dairy

I still put milk into my coffee, usually mutha-grabbin-D. I’ve switched to brown sugar at Starbucks and organic brown sugar at home until I figure sugar out.

I no longer eat cheese, my favorite food since I was a kid. Since I’ve been more hyper-aware of how I feel, I can definitely feel my sinuses stress out and be harder to breath after milk and/or cheese. In pollen/ragweed infested in Georgia, this helps. Still, I love cheese. EVERY so often I’ll throw some asiago/parmesan on the pasta/rice + vegetable  concoctions I make up. Then I feel guilty afterwards.

Supplements

The only supplements I started taking 6 weeks in is a protein shake, usually after working  out.

• 1 organic banana
• 1 cup of Silk Vanilla
• 1 cup of spring water
• 2 cups of whey protein vanilla powder

I’ll sometimes I’ll use my kids’ milk (#nsfw) if I’m out of Silk. Sometimes I’ll halve this and have 1 hour before my workout. Her majesty is researching more supplement options. There is a ton of misinformation out there + lack of true information since the FDA thinks it’s THOSE companies selling the stuff to verify it actually works and fund the studies. GENIUS!

“Jesse, do a study to see if you’re a pimp.”

“Done.”

“Wow, that was fast. So what’d you find?”

“The study shows I’m straight pimpin’, man!”

I Want To Try P90X

“I’d like to try P90X, but it seems overwhelming…”

Dude, it’s not. Here’s all you need, just like I said up at the very top:

1. the P90X DVD’s
2. a pull up bar
3. bands or free weights
4. commitment to showing up everyday for 90 days

You do NOT have to finish every work out in the full hour. You do NOT have to do Ab Ripper. You do NOT have to do X Stretch. Even doing half, or less than half, of P90X every day will ensure you’ll pretty quickly get to the point of where you can do P90X every day. Anyone who is negative about it, don’t listen to ’em.

If you’re broke as a joke, you can find the DVD’s on Craigslist, eBay, and sometimes used on Amazon. You find used weights & pull up bars there as well. Additionally, if you have a Play It Again Sports, they’ll sometimes have that stuff there as well.

To ensure you keep #4, I recommend:

• ignoring anyone negative
• using the worksheets or a mobile app. You’ll be amazed through all the sweat and pain you ARE making progress.
• do it earlier in the day vs. later
• don’t do it while writing a book or have some other non-work related, yet non-negotiable deadlines in your daily/weekly life
• if you have young kids, ensure they won’t interrupt you too much, as well as them being safe if you have to work out and watch them. For example, our kids are too young to be left alone, thus, either her majesty or I watches her while the other works out.
• reach out online for support if you need it; it’s there. Many are going through the same thing you are, sometimes at the exact same times.
• some people like to do more than just paper track the #’s; some use journals, both written and with pictures to track their progress.
• Stay positive, you’re awesome.

Conclusions

I’m happy with my results, but not ecstatic. It was a lot of work and I sacrificed a lot of research & personal projects time to get here. Based on what I’ve heard from friends and read, you need to continually work at it fitness wise to get better, develop more, etc. Therefore I’ll probably start round 2 next week and have new pics in August to show… that better be better than what I have now.

I don’t mind being ignorant on the fitness front since P90X can guide me through everything, and supplemental cardio through running, hiking, and swimming is brainless. On the nutrition front, however, I realize I have a lot to learn. A lot of this stuff is often hand in hand with the other. Here’s a list of books I’m slowly reading on the subject:

• TNT Diet
• Starting Strength
• Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great
• The Primal Blueprint
• Leangains
• Brawn

If you have any additional tips, whether fitness, nutrition, or P90X related, I’d love to hear ’em! For the rest of you, I hope the above helps and motivates you to try P90X… or even just Power 90.

Huge thanks go out to Huyen Tue Dao, Michelle Rueda, Joel Hooks, Matthew Fabb, Jim Anders, Steve AutomateYoHouse, and Leonard Souza for advice and support throughout the past 3 months. Also, massive thanks to my business partner Brian Riley for introducing & motivating me to get into P90X as well as letting me know about all the gadgets I’d want to use! Obviously none of this could of happened if not for her majesty doing some with me, helping watch the kids, and supporting me through it all.

Onto Round 2… OH LOOK A BEER!

Why P90X?
I’m a programmer who’s a work-a-holic so I sit for 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week. Recently, my part of the tech industry has gone into major upheaval (change is a constant, but this was crazy), and the only thing I can control about it is my well being to adapt to the change. I always found exercise to be a positive outlet; strength training for the frustration when code doesn’t work or a client drives me bonkers, and cardio for keeping my body warm and not achy from sitting so long. My business partner is a meat head and always raves about P90X that he and his wife do together, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Personal/Life Challenges

• I hadn’t worked out in 4 years (used to do strength training + too much cardio 3 times a week). I couldn’t even pass the test they suggest you pass before you start P90X, but I forged ahead anyway. #growl
• I run my own business so even if I only bill for 5 hours in the day, I still work 14. Being in software, you have to constantly research/read/experiment to stay up to date; this isn’t an option, you just have to do it whether you want to or not (most of us do via our short attention spans). I have to do this in addition to everything else required to run a small business (taxes, paperwork, lead generation, dealing with insane clients, etc). As such, time is in short supply, and valuable, for me.
• I have 2 young kids who are spaztastic like me.
• I’m a beer snob. I like trying new beers every few weeks, from light to dark, foreign and domestic. Water weight.
• I’m not attempting to do the P90X diet. I want to, but not for round 1.
• I’m taking zero supplements, nor shakes. While I’ve found positive results from protein bars when I was younger, nothing of the sort here.
• I’m “not 23”, lulz. I’m 32. My metabolism is not what it was at 18 – 24 where I could eat 10 billion things and show nothing.

Results

So what’s positive that’s happened 3 weeks in?

1. I found some “brand new” jeans from 4 years ago that I could fit into (32/32 vs 34/32). I wasn’t really trying to lose weight, just feel better and bulk up. 3 weeks in, though, clearly my beer stocked stomach is showing results.
2. The first week I couldn’t even use weights. Week 3 I’ve maxed out to the 27lb band (red one) for most work outs, falling back to the black one for some of the harder arm/leg exercises. I’m already having to order heavier bands and maybe a few free weights for some of the leg exercises I’d rather use dumbbells for.
3. Week 1 and 2, I couldn’t finish Kenpo X. Today, I did and only did 18 of the 20 reps on 2 of the exercises. Next time, I know for a fact I’ll finish no problem.
4. First time Yoga, I couldn’t do half of the poses. Now, I’m just getting my tail kicked by Warrior 3 and Half-No-One-Is-Supposed-To-Bend-That-Way-Moon. While all my poses aren’t perfect, it’s insane how quickly I got better at doing + holding just 3 weeks in. I’m uber paranoid about hurting myself so am pretty impressed.
5. Anytime a stretch required me to stand, lean to the floor with my hands and touch it, I’d get my hands to my knees. Now I can touch the floor. 2 years of working out on my own I never was able to do that; it shows just how much repetition + following P90X’s lead can really make you more flexible.
6. I only got a heart rate monitor (+ app + connector) 2nd week in, but already it’s a lot easier to keep my heart rate in the zone. Yes, I do try to raise it, but I’m just amazed at how good I feel even in Zone 3 and 4… (yes, was on the floor week 1 and 2 breathing heavily, not moving).
7. I could only do 1 pull up the entire workout week 1. Using the bands + chair combo sometimes, I can do a lot more, improving week to week. I’m still not happy with my current state, but looking at the worksheets, I’ve seriously improved. I thought it’d take 2 months, but apparently it doesn’t.
8. As I slouch a variety of ways, whether at my desk or at Starbucks (other office), my legs will sometimes fall asleep if I get lost in the code. It used to take 15 minutes for an asleep limb to stop being in pain and wake up. Now it takes 15 seconds. I actually made my leg fall asleep on purpose the other day because I thought it was a fluke. That took me 2 1/2 months to get to back when I was working out 3 days a week even with a personal trainer (who cost bling I might add).

…the other positive thing that’s happened, and I didn’t intend for this, is that some of my friends who were doing P90X, unbeknownst to me, have being inspired to bring it more. Others who were on the fence about trying it have said they’d look into it. Two unrelated people have said the same thing: “The DVD’s have been on my shelf, un-opened for awhile… maybe I’ll try it next Monday.”

Remember folks, this scrawny, beer bellied work-a-holic programmer is getting results in 3 weeks in, feels better emotionally, and I’m only doing 80% of my physical best because of my lack of previous fitness + no good diet + 2 year old hugging me during leg squats + 4 year old falling on me during Yoga + her majesty demanding I do more cardio in addition to my regular P90X schedule. I’ve even switched to more wine vs. beer just because I don’t want to ruin this momentum.

Finally, if you’re still not losing enough fat to visibly see a difference, reading this thread on another forum helped a few people I know feel better.

So good luck and continue to bring it!