P90X - Day 90 Video Post

Below is the YouTube video that I made on Day 90 of P90X.  Enjoy.

P90X - Final Results - Weight and Body Measurements

Below are my final weight and body measurements from P90X and the 17 Day Diet.  Note:  I continue to follow the diet, and will (hopefully) continue to follow it for the rest of my life :-)

Here are my Day 90 measurements from the Weight Watchers scale on Saturday March 31st:

• Weight: 210.9 lbs  (lost 29.7 lbs!)
• 61.7 lbs of Body Fat (lost 18.6 lbs of fat!)
• 29.3% Body Fat (lost 4.1% body fat)
• 51.6% Water
• 7.9% Bone
• 30.5 BMI (down 4.1 points)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 14.75" (gained 0.25")
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5" (same)
• Chest: 42.5" (lost 5" across my chest)
• Across belly button: 41" (lost 5")
• Hips: 39" (lost 3")
• Mid-thigh - Right: 23.5" (lost 3/4")
• Mid-thigh - Left: 23.5" (lost 3/4")
• Calf - Right: 15.75" (lost 3/4")
• Calf - Left: 15.25" (lost 3/4")

For reference, here are my measurements from Day 60 (Thursday March 1st):
From the Weight Watchers scale

• Weight: 223.6 lbs  (lost 17 lbs!)
• 69.8 lbs of Body Fat (lost 11.5 lbs of fat!)
• 31.2% Body Fat (lost 2.2% body fat)
• 50.2% Water (did not capture this in my "before" measurements)
• 8.0% Bone (did not capture this in my "before" measurements)
• 32.4 BMI (down 2.4 points)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 15.0" (gained 1/2")
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5" (same)
• Chest: 44.5" (lost 3" across my chest)
• Across belly button: 44" (lost 2")
• Hips: 40.5" (lost 1.5")
• Mid-thigh - Right: 24" (lost 1/4")
• Mid-thigh - Left: 24" (lost 1/4")
• Calf - Right: 16" (lost 1/2")
• Calf - Left: 15.25" (lost 3/4")

For reference, here are Before my measurements from Monday January 2nd:
From the Weight Watchers scale

• Weight: 240.6 lbs
• 80.3 lbs of body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 33.4% body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 34.8 BMI (don't know much about BMI, but my scale measures it, so I'll track it for now, and learn morea bout it as I go on)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 14.5"
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5"
• Chest: 47.5"
• Across belly button: 46" (again, disgusting!)
• Hips: 42"
• Mid-thigh - Right: 24.25"
• Mid-thigh - Left: 24.25"
• Calf - Right: 16.5"
• Calf - Left: 16"

P90X - Day 90!

DONE!  I can't believe I did it!  What a great experience!  I am so happy, and so proud of myself for successfully completing P90X!  I weighed in this morning, and I'm down to 210 lbs!  I lost 30 lbs in 90 days!  Awesome!  I'll post my final body measurments either later today, or early tomorrow.

P90X Yoga X
I like Yoga X, but I don't like the fact that it is over one and half hours long!  Today, I could have cared less... my last workout in P90X... it could have been 3 hours long and I would have done the whole thing... there was no way I was going to give up... I had a hard time doing the Ohms today, as I couldn't wipe the smile from my face!

I felt so good that after Yoga X, I went for a 7 mile hike... afterwards, I treated myself to some pizza and a glass of red wine!  Back on the diet tomorrow!

P90X - Day 89 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 9

1 day to go!

P90X Core Synergistics
I did Core Synergistics first thing this morning.  I felt so good today, that I decided to do another short run on the treadmill.  So after work I did a nice easy run for 22 minutes.  Felt great!  Can't believe I only have to do Yoga X tomorrow, and then I'm done with my first round of P90X!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 9

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites w/ 1 link of spicy Italian turkey sausage, hot peppers, low-fat cheddar cheese; apple; coffee
• Snack: Kefir Smoothie
• Lunch: Cut up veggies and yogurt dip
• Snack: 4oz of Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Spicy black bean garden burger on Ezekiel english muffin with relish, onion, low-fat cheddar cheese, low-carb ketchup; side of pan fried potatoes (from 1 small potato, fried in a very small amount of oil in a non-stick pan)
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit (later this evening)

P90X - Day 88 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 8

2 days to go!

P90X X Stretch
Easy, relaxing workout today... so I ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes prior to doing the stretching... just want to start to get used to running again.  Broke out into a nice sweat.  This was my first run since last September... good times.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 8

• Breakfast: 6 oz scrambled egg whites, salsa, low-fat cheddar cheese; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ berries, green tea
• Lunch: Salad with tuna, olive oil, red wine vinegar
• Snack: 4 oz of Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Blackened talapia (from new 17 Day Diet Cookbook), steamed broccoli
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit (later this evening)

P90X - Day 87 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 7

3 days to go!

P90X Kenpo X
Another great Kenpo X workout

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 7
Breakfast: 6 oz of scrambled egg whites w/ 1 link of spicy Italian turkey sausage, hot peppers, low-fat cheddar cheese; apple; coffee
Snack: Yogurt w/ berries, green tea
Lunch: Spicy black bean garden burger w/ onion, relish, low-carb ketchup, low-fat cheddar cheese on an Ezekiel english  muffin
Dinner: Tandoori Chicken (from new 17 Day Diet Cookbook)
Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 86 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 6

4 days to go!

P90X Core Synergistics
Love this routine!  Did great today!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 6

• Breakfast: Rolled oats, blueberries, cinnamon, truvia, sliced almonds; coffee
• Snack: Apple; green tea
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegard; very small amount of potato salad (no mayo)
• Snack: 4oz Breakstone Live Active Cottage Cheese
• Dinner: Leftover Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 85 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 5

5 Days to go!

P90X Yoga X
My next-to-last Yoga workout!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 5

• Breakfast: 6oz scrambled egg whites w/ tomato and low-fat cheddar cheese; pear; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ peaches
• Lunch: Cut up veggies and chicken w/ spicy yogurt sauce
• Snack: 4oz of Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Spicy black bean Garden Burger on Ezekiel english muffin with onion, low-carb ketchup, and low-fat cheddar cheese; cut up veggies
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 84 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 4

I traveled home today, and had to eat on the road.  I stopped at my favorite deli, and get two awesome breakfast sandwiches. But after that, I got back on my diet for the rest of the day, so I feel pretty good about that.  I also did the Kenpo X routine that I missed yesterday, instead of today's scheduled rest day.

P90X Kenpo X
The Kenpo X routine felt great today.  I totally kicked ass.  Having a day's rest before Kenpo X really gave me a lot of energy during the workout.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 4

• Breakast: 2 breakfast sandwiches - Bacon, egg and cheese on a hard roll w/ ketchup; coffee
• Lunch: Apple
• Snack: Cottage cheese
• Dinner: Salmon, steamed broccoli
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 83 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 3

I was away this weekend, and not able to workout on Saturday.  So I am going to do the Kenpo X routine on Sunday, instead of taking a rest day.  Unfortunately I ate very poorly this weekend due to my travels.  I could have planned my meals better, but I was kind of looking forward to this weekend to have a few cheat meals.  Unfortunately I had a work lunch come up on Friday, which led to another cheat meal.  Definitely need to get back on the diet come Sunday evening!

P90X Rest Day
Spent 6 hours driving... then just rested the rest of the day.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 3

• Breakfast: Big breakfast from a diner during my travels: 2 eggs, 2 slices bacon, 1 sausage patty, 1 pancake (w/ butter and syrup), 2 slices of toast with butter, coffee
• Lunch: Pear
• Dinner: 4 slices of pizza (yuk)
• Desser:  Chocolate chip cookies

P90X - Day 82 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 2

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
My last Legs and Back routine! My last Ab Ripper X routine!  Hard to believe...  All that remains is a Kenpo X routine tomorrow, and then a Rest and Recovery week, and I'll be done with my first round of P90X!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 2

• Breakfast: Rolled oats, sliced almonds, cinnamon, truvia, blueberries; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ blueberries
• Lunch: Cheat meal - work lunch for departing coleague.  1 crab cake, Turkey Ruben sandwhich (turkey, cheese, saurkraut, 1000 island dressing on rye bread), pickle, cole slaw, slice of key lime pie, coffee
• Snack: Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Chicken Vegetable Soup

P90X - Day 81 / Seventeen Diet - Cycle 3, Day 1

First day of Cycle 3 of the 17 Day Diet!  Awesome!  I can finally eat bread and pasta (whole-grain) again (in moderation). 

To close out Cycle 2, I weighed in this morning.  I'm down to 214.5 lbs.  I've lost 18.9 lbs since starting the 17 Day Diet 34 days ago.  I've lost 26.1 lbs since starting P90X on New Year's Day.  I've lost 30.5 lbs since Thanksgiving... awww  yeeaahhhhh!

P90X Yoga X
Finally... I completed a Yoga X workout... the first one in a few weeks (last week I skipped it entirely, the week before, I only did the first 30 minutes)... good workout!


17 Day Diet - Cycle 3, Day 1

• Breakfast: Homemade Egg McMuffin: Ezekiel english muffin, fried egg, 1 link of turkey sausage (split in half), low-carb ketchup; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ blueberries
• Lunch: Leftover Turkey Black Bean Chili
• Snack: Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Oven barbecued chicken (from book)
• Snack: Yogurt with Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 80 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 17

I am so glad I took yesterday off!  I feel so much better today.  I really think I have been over training.  The warm weather has simply been too irresistible, and I felt I had to get out and go hiking, in addition to the P90X Doubles.  I still feel that way, but I really only have one more really difficult P90X day after today (Friday), and I will not be able to hike on Friday due to a family commitment... so I think the danger of over training is past.  That being said, I did go and do another 6 mile hike with my son right after my P90X workout today.

Also, today is the last day of Cycle 2 of the 17 Day Diet.  The diet has been going very well, but I can't help feel that I'm leaving this cycle on a bit of a down note.  Not only did I not workout yesterday, but I also cheated a little on the diet... and that was after a cheat day this past Saturday.  I definitely lost a good deal of weight during this cycle (will weigh in tomorrow morning), but I think I probably could have lost another 2 or 3 lbs if it were not for these few missteps these past few days.  Looking forward to starting Cycle 3!

P90X Back and Biceps + Ab Ripper X
The workout felt great today... and I'm sure that's due to the fact that I missed yesterday, and was very well rested.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 17

• Breakfast: Rolled oats, cinnamon, truvia, blueberries; coffee
• Snack: Pear; green tea
• Lunch:  Super Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar;  green tea
• Snack: 4oz of Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Dinner: Salmon and steamed broccoli

P90X - Day 79 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 16

I did not feel well today.  It's hard to tell if I'm sick, or if I simply have no energy because I'm not eating enough, or perhaps I'm over-training.  I'm enjoying the hikes that I've been doing the past week, but I think I may be over-doing it a bit.  Anyway, I did not work out today, and will go to bed early tonight.

P90X Cardio X
Skipped workout

P90X Plyometrics
Skipped workout

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 16

• Breakfast: 8oz scrambled egg whites with hot peppers; coffee
• Snack: 4oz of Breakstone LiveActive cottage cheese
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with natural peanut butter and pollander all fruit (not on diet, but I tried eating something different to see if I would feel better... didn't work)
• Dinner: 2 spicy black bean garden burgers with low-fat cheese and salsa
• Snack: 4 "healty-brand" toaster pastries (bad idea, but was craving something different)

P90X - Day 78 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 15

In addition to the 2 P90X workouts today, I also hiked 6 miles with my son this evening.

P90X Cardio X
My last week of P90X Doubles!  I'm going to try and do all 4 Cardio X workouts this week, but will be sure to do at it at least 3 times.  This morning's workout was great.  Will try and continue to do this workout, even if I'm not doing another round of P90X.

P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
My last Chest, Shoulders and Triceps routine.  I had to skip the Ab Ripper X routine, as I had a commitment I had to get to, and could not spare the 15 minutes to do that routine.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 15

• Breakfast: Rolled oats with blueberries, cinnamon and truvia; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ peaches; green tea
• Lunch: Leftover turkey and black bean chili
• Dinner: Salmon and green beans
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All-Fruit

P90X - Day 77 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 14

P90X Rest Day
Instead of taking a complete rest day, I hiked 10 miles with my son.  We hiked a total of 18 miles this weekend, so I don't feel so bad about skipping the Kenpo X workout yesterday.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 14

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with hot peppers; coffee
• Snack: Apple
• Lunch: 4oz Breakstone Live Active Cottage Cheese
• Snack: 2 Clif Bars (high in calories, but I needed these while I was on the 10 mile hike)
• Dinner: Backed chicken breat with low-carb marinara sauce and broccoli

P90X - Day 76 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 13

P90X Kenpo X
Skipped the workout today.  Instead I hiked 8 miles with my son as we prep for our thru-hike of the Vermont Long Trail.  I really wanted to do the Kenpo after the hike, but my legs were wasted.  Instead we went out for pizza (for the 2nd time of the day - yikes!)
17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 13

• Breakfast: Rolled oats with cinnamon, truvia, and fresh blueberries; coffee
• Lunch: 2 slices of pizza (planned lunch out with friends)
• Dinner: 3 slices of pizza (unplanned -today turned into a cheat day!)
• Snack: Cheesecake (uh-oh)

P90X - Day 75 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 12

P90X Cardio X
First thing this morning I did Cardio X, and I killed it.  Wanted to make up for missing Yoga X yesterday.  I managed to get in 3 Cardio X workouts this week. Very happy about that.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Legs and Back was great, as was Ab Ripper X.  Not much else to say, other than I feel great!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 12

• Breakfast: 6oz scrambled egg whites w/ ground turkey, green pepper, onion; coffee
• Snack: Kefir Smoothie
• Lunch: Spicy black bean garden burger with salsa
• Dinner: Chicken / Vegetable stir fry
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All-Fruit

P90X - Day 74 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 11

P90X Cardio X
I got up at 5:30am and did Cardio X.  This is the earliest I've gotten up to do this workout, and it still went great.  I'm always a bit concerned about working out in the morning, because I find that my will power is weakest at that time, but today was great!  I did the workout, had a great breakfast, and got to work early.

P90X Yoga X
Sigh... I skipped the Yoga workout today.  I went for a 6 mile hike with my son after work, and was just wiped when we got home.  I'll get back at it tomorrow.
17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 11

• Breakfast: Oatmeal, blueberries, truvia, cinnamon; coffee
• Snack: Apple, green tea
• Lunch: Super Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: Spicy black bean garden burger with salsa
• Dinner: Lettuce Wraps (with chicken, from book)

P90X - Day 73 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 10

I got up this morning and weighed myself.  I'm down to 217 lbs.  I'm down 23 lbs since starting P90X back on January 2nd. I'm already 3 lbs past my goal of losing 20 lbs during this round of P90X.  Truth be told, I have at least another 20 lbs to lose, but I am very happy with my progress thus far!

P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X
My last time doing the Shoulders and Arms workout.  I glanced back over some of my numbers from the first time I did this routine, and I have come a long way.  The exercise I'm most proud of is the chair dips. In January, I could only do 7 reps.  I am now doing 12 reps.  I think that's a significant increase, and I know it's a result of the combination of me gaining strength and losing weight!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 10

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with tomato and low-fat feta cheese; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt with fresh blueberries
• Lunch: Salad with tuna, olive oil, and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Salmon with broccoli
• Snack: Yogurt with 1 tbsp on Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 72 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 9

Back dated entry.  In addition to Plyometrics, I also hiked 5 miles with my son today on the Rail Trail.

P90X - Plyometrics
Today was my next to last Plyometrics workout.  This is definitely one of the more challenging P90X workouts, but I have grown to love it.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 9
I stuck to the diet today, having all Cycle 2 meals and snacks.

P90X - Day 71 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 8

Back dated entry.  In addition to the two P90X workouts today, I also "hiked" 7 miles on a Rail Trail near my house.  The rail trail is very flat, so it's not a very challenging hike... the way to make it challenging is to add distance... and I'm pretty pleased with doing 7 miles today.  I was totally wiped by the end of the day, but it felt great.

P90X Cardio X
Got up at 6am and did the Cardio X.   Felt great!

P90X Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X
My last time doing this routine... well for this round of P90X at least.  I used to hate this routine, but I really like it now.  I've come a long way in the last 11 weeks.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 8
I stuck to the diet today, eating all Cycle 1 meals and snacks.

P90X - Day 70 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 7

Some more back-dated entries on the way.  I've been sticking to P90X and the 17 Day Diet, but since the weather has been nice the last few days, I started doing some hikes as well... and I've been exhausted in the evening... too tired to blog.

P90X - Rest Day
First warm, sunny day of the year, so I did a quick 2 mile "hike" around the neighborhood.  It was great to be outside

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 7
I stuck to the diet for all meals except for dinner.  We had been planning a family dinner/celebration for several weeks.  We went to a really nice restaurant, and I induldged a little bit... and then we went for ice cream, and I broke down and had a big ol' waffle cone of Ben & Jerry's... oh well, can't be perfect all of the time.

P90X - Day 69 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 6

I did not do the extra Cardio X workout this morning.  No worries, I'm not going to be beat myself up about it.  Oh my! I just realized... only 3 weeks to go!  Definitely gonna make it this time!

P90X - Kenpo X
Not much to say.  I love the Kenpo X workout, although at this point I don't find it particularly challenging anymore.  That said, it's still a great workout.

17  Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 6

• Breakfast: 8oz of scrambled egg whites with salsa, hot peppers, and low-fat cheddar cheese; coffee
• Snack: Orange; green tea
• Lunch: 4oz Breakstone Live Active cottage cheese
• Snack: 4oz Breakstone Live Active cottage cheese
• Dinner: Low-Carb Primavera Delight (from book, made with spaghetti squash!)
• Snack: Yogurt w/ Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 68 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 5

I skipped the Cardio X workout again this morning... that means I only did it twice this week, when I really wanted to do it at least 3 times.  Tomorrow is Saturday, and I may try and do a Cardio X in the morning, and then Kenpo X in the evening... just to get in a 3rd Cardio this week.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Up to 16+ reps on most of the exercises where Tony and crew do 25.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 5

• Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ cinnamon, blueberries and truvia; coffee
• Snack: Apple; green tea
• Lunch: Super Salad w/ olive oil and vinegar
• Dinner: Talapia with steamed broccoli
• Snack: Yogurt w/ Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 67 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 4

I had very little energy today.  I skipped the Cardio X this morning, and I only did the first 30 min of Yoga X this evening.  I don't think I ate enough today, which led to my lethargy this evening.  Losing weight is great, but I need to make sure I eat enough in order to make it through my workouts.

P90X Yoga X
Only did the first 30 minutes.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 4

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites w/ low fat feta; coffee
• Snack: Pear, green tea
• Lunch: Salad w/ tuna, olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: 4oz cup of Breakstone Live Active Cottage Cheese
• Dinner:  Pad Thai from local restaurant.  Not exactly part of the diet, but fairly healthy just the same.  I felt so much better after I ate.

P90 X - Day 66 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 3

I forgot to blog for this day, so this is a back-dated post.

P90X Back and Biceps + Ab Ripper X
This routine went very well today.  I've upped my weights and lowered my reps. 

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 3

• Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ blueberries, cinnamon, truvia; coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ peaches, green tea
• Lunch: Turkey and Bean Chili
• Dinner: Leftover Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Snack: Yogurt w/ Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 65 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 2

P90X Cardio X
This routine just keeps getting easier, which makes it a little more bearable to do first thing in the morning.  I've done it twice already this week... two more times to go, this week.

P90X Plyometrics
Defiitely not as easy as the Cardio X workout, but I'm still improving on just about every exercise.  Only two more Plyometrics workouts in this round of P90X!  The end is drawing near!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 2

• Breakfast: Kefir Smoothie
• Snack: Pear, green tea
• Lunch: Super Salad w/ olive oil and red wine vinegar, green tea
• Snack: Breakstone LiveActive Cottage Cheese (threw in an extra snack so I don't bonk during Plyometrics workout)
• Dinner: Salmon and steamed broccoli
• Snack: Yogurt with Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 64 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 1

First day of the 17 Day Diet Activate Cycle - bring on the carbs!

P90X Cardio X
First thing this morning I did Cardio X... great way to start the day, and the week!


P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps + Ab Ripper X
Great workout today.  I upped my weights and reduced my reps.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 2, Day 1

• Breakfast: 6oz scrambled egg whites w/ black beans, salsa, and low fat cheddar cheese, coffee
• Snack: Yogurt w/ peaches
• Lunch: Leftover lettuce wraps (small amount), plus 1/2 cup oatmeal w/ cinnamon, truvia, and blueberries
• Dinner: Oven Barbecued Chicken (from book), w/ steamed asparagus and carrots
• Snack: Yogurt w/ Pollander All Fruit (later tonight)

P90X - Day 63 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 17

Last day of Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet!

P90X Rest Day
I would have loved to have done the X Stretch today, but I had so much to do around the house, and had to prepare for a very busy week, that I decided to skip it. Back at Doubles tomorrow.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 17

• Breakfast: 6oz scrambled egg whites w/ browned lean ground turkey and low-carb ketchup; coffee
• Snack: Orange
• Lunch: Lettuce Wraps (w/ chicken, from book)
• Dinner: Talapia w/ side of green beans
• Snack: Yogurt w/ Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 62 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 16

Almost through the first cycle of the 17 Day Diet!

P90X Kenpo X
Great workout today!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 16

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with tomato and low-fat feta cheese, coffee
• Snack: Kefir smoothie
• Lunch: Salad
• Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan (from book)
• Snack: Yogurt with Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 61 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 15

I skipped the Cardio X workout this morning.  I'm not going to beat myself up over missing that workout, as I did manage to get it in 3 times this week, so I'm happy about that. Next week, I'll try and get all 4 Cardio X workouts in.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
The workout was great today.  I upped the reps I did on all of the leg exercises, so I'm almost doing as many as Tony and crew.  I continue to do 20 reps for each of the Ab Ripper X moves.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 15
Breakfast: Yogurt w/ berries, coffee
Snack: Apple, green tea
Lunch: Super Salad
Dinner: Salmon, green beans
Snack: Yogurt w/ berries (I screwed up.  Not supposed to have fruit after 2pm.  I meant to use jam instead of berries, but put the berries in the yogurt w/o thinking... oh well)

P90X - Day 60 Video

Below is my latest P90X video:

P90X Day 60 - Weigh-in and Body Measurements

Day 60!!!  Two-thirds of the way through P90X. 

I weighed myself and took body measurements first thing this morning.  I've lost 17 lbs since starting P90X 60 Days ago!  I am very pleased with this result.  My goal was to lose 20lbs doing this first round of P90X.  I now have 30 days to lose 3 more lbs. I'm sure I'll do that and more.  I also lost significant inches across my chest and belly button (awesome!)... but still have a long way to go. I have to admit that I believe that my improved diet over the past 3 weeks has been a major factor in my weight loss.  P90X is great by itself, but it absolutely kicks ass when combined with a healthy diet.

I used a Weight Watchers scale to weigh myself and get my body fat measurements.  I don't know how accurate the scale is for measuring body fat, but I have noticed that the readings appear to be consistent (if I weigh myself mutiple times in a row), and if I'm working out and eating well, the numbers seem to go down.  So I'm going to track my body fat using this scale, as it's the best option that I have.

Here are my Day 60 measurements from the Weight Watchers scale on Thursday March 1st:

• Weight: 223.6 lbs  (lost 17 lbs!)
• 69.8 lbs of Body Fat (lost 11.5 lbs of fat!)
• 31.2% Body Fat (lost 2.2% body fat)
• 50.2% Water (did not capture this in my "before" measurements)
• 8.0% Bone (did not capture this in my "before" measurements)
• 32.4 BMI (down 2.4 points)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 15.0" (gained 1/2")
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5" (same)
• Chest: 44.5" (lost 3" across my chest)
• Across belly button: 44" (lost 2")
• Hips: 40.5" (lost 1.5")
• Mid-thigh - Right: 24" (lost 1/4")
• Mid-thigh - Left: 24" (lost 1/4")
• Calf - Right: 16" (lost 1/2")
• Calf - Left: 15.25" (lost 3/4")

For reference, here are my "before" measurements from the Weight Watchers scale on Monday January 2nd:

• Weight: 240.6 lbs
• 80.3 lbs of body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 33.4% body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 34.8 BMI (don't know much about BMI, but my scale measures it, so I'll track it for now, and learn morea bout it as I go on)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 14.5"
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5"
• Chest: 47.5"
• Across belly button: 46" (again, disgusting!)
• Hips: 42"
• Mid-thigh - Right: 24.25"
• Mid-thigh - Left: 24.25"
• Calf - Right: 16.5"
• Calf - Left: 16"

P90X - Day 59 / Seventeen Day Diet Cycle 1, Day 13

P90X Shoulders and Arms
I upped the weight that I use for most exercises by 5lbs today, and I'm happy with the results.   I had been doing 12 reps for most of the exercises, but now I'm dropping down to the 8 to 10 rep range that Tony recommends for building size.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 13
Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites, pear, coffee
Snack: Yogurt w/ berries
Lunch: Salad with Tuna, olive oil and red wine vinegar
Snack: Breakstone Live Active Cottage Cheese
Dinner: Chicken Vegetable Soup (from book)
Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 58 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 12

2nd Day of P90X Doubles Hell.  Note: Day 60 of P90X is fast approaching.  For Day 60 I'll be taking full measurements and doing another "Confessional" video... stay tuned.

P90X Cardio X
I got up at 6am and did the Cardio X... 2nd day in a row... proud of myself!

P90X Plyometrics
I was a bit worried about doing Plyometrics this evening after doing Cardio X this morning, but I killed it... a great plyo workout!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 12

• Breakfast: Yogurt w/ berries; coffee
• Snack: Apple, green tea
• Lunch: Lettuce Wraps (with Chicken - from the book)
• Snack: Breakstone Live Active cottage cheese.  I usually don't have a snack between lunch and dinner on this diet, but I really needed it today, especially since I was doing Plyometrics tonight.
• Dinner: Turkey Chili (from the book) w/ small side salad w/ fat free dressing
• Snack: Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit (will eat later tonight before I go to bed)

P90X - Day 57 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 11

Today starts the 4 Weeks of Hell for P90X Doubles.  As mentioned previously, P90X Doubles is the P90X Classic program with additional Cardio X workouts in the morning on certain days for a subset of weeks.  For the next 4 weeks, I'll be doing Cardio X on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings... yikes!  That being said, today's Cardio X was awesome, and I have a great deal of confidence that I am going to pull this off.

P90X Cardio X
As I said, Cardio X was awesome this morning... bring it!

P90X Chest and Back
This routine hasn't been on the schedule since Week 3.  I used to hate this routine, but now I love it.  I started out in week 1 doing about 10 to 12 reps for each of the push up exercises.  I'm now up to about 16 for most (some of the more challenging ones, I'm stlll at about 10 reps).  My goal is that by the end of P90X, I'll be able to do close to 20 reps for each of the push up exercises.  My new band is working out well for the pull ups, but I think I need to buy a stronger band.  Will try and get that this week.

17 Day Diet

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with onion, tomato and low-fat feta cheese, coffee
• Snack: Yogurt with fresh berries, green tea
• Lunch: Salad with tuna, olive oil and red wine vinegar, green tea
• Dinner: Oven Baked Barbecue Chicken (recipe from 17 Day Diet book... the homemade Barbecue Sauces is awesome!)
• Snack: Yogurt with 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 56 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 10

Note:  Back-dated post... trying to catch up on my blog entries

P90X Rest Day
I was hoping to do the optional X Stretch today, but was very busy with family obligations that I was unable to get to it before 8pm, and since Doubles start again tomorrow, I decided to just get a good night's sleep instead.

17 Day Diet
I stuck to the diet today (Sunday), but since I'm writing this blog post on Tuesday, I can't for the life of me remember what  had to eat :-)

P90X - Day 55 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 9

P90X Yoga X
2nd Yoga X workout of this rest and recovery week.  It's been a great week, but I'm itching to get back to the more strenuous routines. 

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 9

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with crumbled low-fat feta cheese; an orange; coffee
• Snack: Kefir Smoothie
• Lunch: Leftover Taco Salad
• Dinner: Turkey burger w/ no bun, steamed green beans
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X Day 54 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 8

Yesterday marked the end of my first week of the 17 Day Diet.  So I weighed myself first thing this morning, and I've lost 7.4 lbs since starting the diet.  How sweet is that?   I'm down a little over 14 lbs since starting P90X...  well on my way to my goal of losing 20+ lbs during P90X.

P90X Core Synergistics
Love this program.  The Lunge-Kickback-Curl-Press is my favorite!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 8

• Breakfast: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 cup of fresh berries; coffee
• Snack: Apple, green tea
• Lunch: Cold salmon on garden salad w/ olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Dinner: Taco Salad (no taco shell; recipe is from 17 Day Diet book)

P90X Day 53 - Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 7

Finished up my first week of the 17 Day Diet.  This diet is great!  I have not cheated once, and that is mostly due to the fact that this is a completely sensible diet, and it keeps my appetite at bay. 

P90X X Stretch
Since I only had to do the X Stretch routine today, I waited until the very end of my day.  I finished the program at 10:30pm, and now it is time for bed.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 7

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites, with mushrooms and tomatoes; coffee
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 cup of fresh berries, green tea
• Lunch: Super Salad, green tea
• Dinner: Chicken - Vegetable Stir Fry

P90X - Day 52 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 6

I feel great today!  Lot's of energy.  Lot's of motivation.  I am so happy with how well P90X and my new diet are going.

P90X Kenpo X
Not much to say.  Just another great Kenpo X workout.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 6

• Breakfast: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 cup of berries, coffee
• Snack: Apple, green tea
• Lunch: Lettuce Wraps (with Chicken, grapes, scallions, celery)
• Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan (from 17 Day Diet book), green beans
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 51 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 5

Several things conspired against me today (long day at work, late meeting caused me to leave work 1 1/2 hours later than usual, a rotten eggplant, etc), but I still managed to stick to my diet, and do my P90X workout today... so all in all, today was a good day.

P90X Core Synergistics
I think this was the third time doing the Core Synergistics workout, and I'm really starting to like it.  I finally have a grasp of how to do all of the exercises (some of them are a bit unusual), and I really got a lot out of tonight's workout.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 5

• Breakfast: 6oz of scrambled egg whites with tomato and feta cheese; pear; coffee
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt with sliced peach; coffee
• Lunch: Super Salad
• Dinner: Sesame Fish with broccoli
• Snack: It's already past my bed time, so I won't have a 2nd snack today.

P90X - Day 50 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 4

I'm still chugging along.  Al is well... only 40 days to go!

P90X Yoga X
Today was the first day of the second rest and recovery week.  Great Yoga workout today. 

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 4

• Breakfast: Kefir Smoothie, coffee
• Snack: Apple, green tea
• Lunch: Leftover Chicken Vegetable Soup and small side salad w/ olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Roasted Turkey Breast w/ steamed asparagus and steamed carrots
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt w/ 1 tbsp of Pollander All Fruit

P90X - Day 49 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 3

Both the new diet and P90X continue to go well.  I'm definitely starting to see some results!

P90X X Stretch
I was busy all day today, and seriously thought about skipping the X Stretch, but I'm glad I didn't.  I was a bit sore all day today, and now after stretching I definitely feel better.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 3

• Breakfast: 6 oz of scrambled egg whites with tomotoes and feta cheese
• Snack: Kefir Smoothie
• Lunch: Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Dinner: Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Snack: 1 cup of yogurt

The new diet is going well.  I slept in late today, and didn't eat breakfast until about 10am.  Then I got busy painting my bedroom, and I didn't have the Kefir Smoothie (which was great, btw) until 12:30pm.  Then back to painting until almost 3pm.  I then started making the Chicken Vegetable Soup, and that was ready to eat at 4pm...  so I didn't eat lunch until 4pm today!  So I scrapped making the dinner that was on today's menu, and instead had another bowl of soup for dinner at 8pm.  So even though my timing got a little thrown off today, I still managed to stick to the diet.

So my first 3 days on the diet have successfully been completed, and I'm definitely commiting to 3 more days.  At this point, I feel pretty good, and feel confident that I'll be able to complete the first 17 day cycle.

P90X - Day 48 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 2

The 17 Day Diet is going well.  Today is Day 2.  I spent a lot of time today planning the meals for the upcoming few days.  I made a grocery list, and my wife went shopping for us. So we're pretty much set through Day 6 of the first cycle.

P90X Kenpo X
Kenpo X continues to be one of my favorite workouts.  Typically I find it to be a fairly easy workout (well, at least compared to the other P90X workouts).  I did struggle with it a little bit today, however.  I definitely had very low energy when I started.  But I stuck with it, and I modified the workout slighthly, in order to get through it.  I did not do the X-Jacks today.  That gave me an extra 15 second rest period 4 times during the workout.  Definitely helped.

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 2

• Breakfast: 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt w/ 1 cup of strawberries and blueberries, coffee
• Snack: Apple and green tea
• Lunch: Super Salad (salad with a wide array of veggies + 2 hard-boiled eggs) with olive oil and red wine vinegar, green tea
• Dinner: Baked Salmon seasoned with lemon juice and dill, steamed broccoli
• Snack: 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt w/ 1 tbsp Pollander All Fruit (optional - I may eat this later tonight if I feel hungry)

P90X - Day 47 / Seventeen Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 1

I'm attempting a new approach to my diet.  I'm going to try implementing the 17 Day Diet.  I've read the book, and it seems like a pretty sensible diet.  I am a little concerned about the low-carb nature of the first "cycle".  I completely understand the reasoning behind the low carbs, but my fear is that I will run out of energy during my P90X workouts.  A few years ago I gave the Atkins Diet a whirl, just to see what it was like.  I was also exercising a lot at the time.  After about a week or so, I just bonked!  I had absolutely no energy.  I was unable to workout, and was unable to continue with the diet (which is probably a good thing... I definitely do not recommend the Atkins Diet).

So for now, I'm commiting to do the 17 Day Diet for 3 days.  If I still feel good after 3 days, then I'll commit to another 3 days, and so on.  If I don't feel like I have enough energy, then I am just going to modify the diet a little... and not give up on it completely.  I'll just add a few complex carbs from Cycle 2 of the 17 Day Diet.  In theory this will slow down my weight loss, but it will be better then giving up on the diet completely.  Well, that's the plan, anyway.

For those that don't know, the 17 Day Diet actually consists of 3 cycles of 17 days. So it actually takes 51 days.  Cycle 1 is the most restrictive, Cycle 2 a little less so, and Cycle 3 even less restrictive.    After Cycle 3, if you haven't yet achieved your weight goal, you go back and repeat Cycle 1 or Cycle 2... your choice.  If during any cycle you achieve your goal, you can skip ahead to Cycle 4, which is the maintenance phase.  Again, it seems pretty sensible.

P90X Cardio X
Doubles continue.  Did the Cardio X at 7am this morning... felt great.

P90X Back and Legs + Ab Ripper X
Today I installed my new exercise band in the "rafters" of my basement, and it made the pull-ups so much better.  I'm very happy with the $10 investment in the new band!

17 Day Diet - Cycle 1, Day 1

• Breakfast: 6 oz of scrambled egg whites, apple, coffee
• Snack: Pear, green tea
• Lunch: Salad greens with tuna, 1 tbsp of olive oil, red wine vinegar, green tea
• Snack: Green tea
• Dinner: Lemon-dill seasoned grilled chicken w/ mushroom and onions on top, side of steamed green beans
• Dessert: 6 oz of fat-free plain yogurt w/ 2 tbsp on Pollander All Fruit

P90X Day 46

I'm now on the downhill side of P90X...

P90X Yoga X
Keeps getting easier.  Really enjoying the yoga workout.

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 6oz scrambled egg whites, 3 turkey sausage links, Ezekiel english muffin; coffee
• Snack: Apple
• Lunch: Salad with tuna, olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit

  

P90X Day 45

Today marks the halfway point of my P90X journey!  I am very pleased with the progress I'm making, but once again I have to comment that I need to be better about my diet.  I am definitely eating better than before I started P90X, but I think if I ate clean all of the time I would be making even better progress.  I still have 45 more days to go, so I'm not giving up on the diet... and I'm certainly not giving up on P90X!

P90X Cardio X
P90X Doubles is great!  I got up at 6:30am and did my cardio workout.

P90X Back and Biceps + Ab Ripper X
I love this workout.  The biceps exercises are phenomenal!

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Egg white breakfast burrito, homefries, fruit; coffee
• Snack: Corn muffin
• Lunch: Small salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit; Kashi Autumn Wheat with blackberries and almond milk

  

P90X Day 44

P90X Plyometrics
I was completely wiped out when I got home from work today, and I did not want to workout... but I went down into my basement and I "just pressed play", and I am glad I did.  I had a great workout.  I don't think I've ever sweated more!  I was really dragging during Football Heroes, but I finished the entire routine.

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Floretine Breakfast Bagel (scrambled egg whites, low-fat cheese, spinach on a whole grain bagel); coffee
• Snack: Mixed fruit salad
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: 3 small slices of Hawaiian Pizza

P90X Day 43

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 bagels with cream cheese, coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: Banana, 8 almonds
• Dinner: Salmon, broccoli, 2 glasses of red wine

P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps + Ab Ripper X
Today's workout was great.  As with the past two weeks, I opted not to do the Cardio X this morning, as working out on Monday morning's just doesn't work with my schedule.  I always have early morning meetings on Mondays.

Anyway, all is well.  I'm very happy with my progress so far.  And I'm back to posting to my blog on the same day as the workouts.  (The past 4 or 5 posts I had to back-date, as I was unable to keep up with the blog, even though I was keeping up with the P90X).

P90X Day 42

P90X Rest Day
I took the rest day option today, instead of doing the X Stretch.  I travelled home today, and after unpacking, etc. I didn't feel much like doing anything... even the X Stretch.

P90X Day 41

P90X Kenpo X
I did the Kenpo X routine in my hotel room today.  This may be the perfect hotel room workout :-)

P90X Day 40

P90X Cardio X
Doubles is still going well. 

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
I'm proud of myself today.  I'm away from home this weekend, and I actually got myself to workout in my hotel room as soon as I checked in.  I brought the P90X DVDs with me, but I had my doubts as to if I was actually going to workout after working and traveling today. 

The Legs and Back routine calls for four different types of pull ups.  I have a band, but no way of attaching it to a doorway or ceiling.  So instead of the four types of pull ups, I did the following:

1. Push ups
2. Bent-over rowing (with band)
3. Push ups
4. Upright row (with band)

I'm sure these substitutions didn't work the same exact muscle groups, but it still allowed me to "bring it" during the entire routine.

Note:  I have subsequently bought a new band with a door adapter, so next time I should be able to do the pull ups.

P90X Day 39

P90X Yoga X
My best yoga workout yet!

P90X Day 38

I'm still doing P90X!  I haven't missed any days recently, but I've been very busy both in my personal life, and at work, and I was away this past weekend, which kept me from keeping the blog up to date.

So I'm going to back date a few blog posts just to keep the sequence in proper order.  These "catch up" posts won't be as detailed, but I'll still put them out there, for posterity's sake.

P90X Cardio X
Got up at 6am and did the Cardio routine.  I'm loving the "doubles".

P90X Back and Bicepts + Ab Ripper X
Back and Biceps is my favorite routine at this time.

P90X Day 37

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Kashi Autumn Wheat with blackberries and almond milk; coffee
• Snack: 8 cashews, apple, green tea
• Lunch: Leftover turkey chili w/ blue corn sesame chips
• Snack: 8 almonds, 1/2 banana
• Dinner: Salad with avacodo, tempeh, sugar-free low-fat italian dressing

P90X Plyometrics
Plyometrics went great today.  Love that routine!

 

P90X Day 36

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Florentine Breakfast Bagel (scrambled egg whites, low-fat cheese, spinach on a whole-grain bagel); coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner: Salmon, asparagus

P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Even though I am trying to do the P90X Doubles, I skipped the Cardio X workout this morning.  I was up late last night celebrating the Giants Super Bowl victory!  And I had to go to work early.  And...  I know, I know... nothing but excuses.  Anyway, I think I may skip doing the Cardio X on Mondays.  That would mean for this round, I do the extra Cardio X two times per week (Wed and Fri), and during the next round I'll do the Cardio X three times per week, instead of the prescribed four times.  I think that might work for me. 
 
I did do the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout this evening.  It was my first time doing this routine.  There are a lot of push-ups in this routine, and it was pretty challenging, but I really liked it.  Unfortunately, I skipped Ab Ripper X again... that makes two times in a row (this past Friday and today). I need to stop doing that!

 

P90X Day 35

I ate well on Day 35, Sunday Feb 5th, 2012.  I also did the X Stretch routine and I felt great afterwards.

P90X Day 34

I've been keeping up with P90X and my diet, but I have not posted any blogs for the past few days.  So today I am going to catch up, by posting a few short blogs.

On Day 34, Saturday February 4th, I ate pretty well, and I really kicked some butt (pun intended) on Kenpo X.  It was a good day.

P90X Day 33

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Vegetable fritata omelet w/ side of home fries and rye toast with butter; coffee
• Snack: Assorted fruit salad (cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, grapes)
• Lunch: Apple, 8 cashews, green tea
• Dinner: Salad with tempeh and no-sugar italian dressing

I ate way too big of a breakfast this morning, but I was starving after doing my Cardio X (see below).  I also ate some fruit at around 10:30am primarily because it came as part of the breakfast I bought at work.  Needless to say, I was not very hungry at lunchtime, and had little more than a snack for lunch.

P90X Cardio X
Continuing on with P90X Doubles, I did Cardio X at 6:15 this morning... proud of myself!

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper
Legs and Back went well, but I kind of bonked toward the end.  I was hungry and a bit worn out after doing Cardio X this morning, and a really long week at work.  So I decided to skip Ab Ripper X.  This is the first, and hopefully last time I skip the ab workout.

P90X Day 32

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon, low-fat cheese on a whole-grain bagel; coffee
• Snack: Mixed fruit (canteloupe, honeydew, grapes)
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: Banana
• Dinner: Turkey burger on Ezekiel english muffin with Djon mustard, onion, tomato, and pickle; blue corn and sesame chips; seltzer

P90X Yoga X
Today was my best Yoga X workout yet!  I even did push-ups during the transition from Plank to Downward Dog.  I feel great after this workout.  I've eaten really well the last 2 days, so I think that has something to do with it too.

P90X Day 31

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Florentine Breakfast Bagel at work cafeteria: scrambled egg whites, spinach, low-fat cheese on a whole-grain bagel; coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner: Salmon and broccoli

P90X Doubles
As mentioned in my last posting, I'm going to give P90X Doubles a try.  P90X Doubles adds an extra cardio workout (Cardio X) three or four mornings a week, starting in Week 5. I'm hoping this will help me lose more weight. I should have done a Cardio X workout this past Monday, but I was sick and didn't workout at all on Monday.  Anyway, I got up and did the Cardio X at 6am today, and I felt great!  I usually have a hard time getting my butt out of bed early to workout, but it worked today.  I'm really going to try and stick with it!

P90X Back and Biceps + Ab Ripper X

Today was the first time I've done the Back & Biceps routine, and I really liked it.  My biceps definitely got blasted.  I continue to improve at Ab Ripper X.  Today, I did 20 reps for all but 2 of the moves.  Love it!

P90X Day 30

Note:  Be sure to check out my latest YouTube video summarizing my first 30 Days of P90X at the bottom of this posting.

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin, hashbrown from McDonalds; coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Sushi

P90X Plyometrics
The plyometrics workout went great.  Today was the best I have ever done with this routine.

Summary of the first 30 days
All in all, I think I'm doing very well with the P90X program. The workouts are going very well.  I've only missed 3 workouts in the first 30 days: 2 Yoga X days, and yesterday's Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout (I was sick yesterday).  Actually 2 of the 3 misses were in the last 4 days!  So I started off really strong, stumbled a little bit, but am now ready to make another push foward, and have as few misses as possible. 

My biggest obstacle to success is my diet. I've been saying for a while now that I really need to focus on it, and I do.  I'm just not quite there yet.  Eating better will definitely be a main focus over the next 30 days.  Hopefully by Day 60 my struggles with the diet will be a thing of the past.

I am also toying with the idea of doing the P90X Doubles program.  In case you don't know, P90X Doubles adds an additional cardio workout in the morning, 3 or 4 times a week, starting week 5 (the first 4 weeks of P90X Doubles is exactly the same as P90X Classic).  I think adding the addtional cardio workout will definitely help me lose some more weight, and I think I'm physically capable of taking on the extra workouts.  I'm just not confident I can get my lazy ass out of bed in the morning to do the extra workouts.  We'll see.  I'm going to give it a try.  Worst case scenario is that I can't find the time to do the extra workouts, and I end up sticking with the P90X Classic.  There is no downside to at least giving it a try.

My latest YouTube video... enjoy!

P90X Day 29

Sick Day
I did not feel well today.  I was going to try and push through it and today's workout, but I decided against it.  I'm going to get some rest, and get back at it tomorrow.

P90X Day 28

I was supposed to do Yoga X today, since I missed a workout on Friday.  Unfortunately I didn't feel up to it, and ended up taking a rest day today.

P90X Day 27

Eat Clean

• Not

P90X Core Synergistics
Today was supposed to be Yoga X, but since I skipped Core Synergistics yesterday, I decided to do that workout today, and tomorrow I'll do Yoga X.  This was my second time doing Core Synergistics, and I absolutely love it.  I think it is the best all round workout in P90X.

P90X Day 26

Today was a bad day.  I ate terribly, and I did not work out.  Don't want to make excuses but this was a tough week.  I'm going to call today a rest day, and then do today's routine tomorrow, and Saturday's routine on Sunday.  Definitely not something I want to make a habit out of, but I'll do it this once.

P90X Day 25

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Low-fat blueberry muffin; coffee
• Lunch and Snack: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Dinner: Cheese burger, fries and beer - night out with the wife... much needed after a really tough week (that isn't over yet) 

I didn't eat all of my salad for lunch (it wasn't very big), but I finished it at about 3pm in place of a snack.

P90X X Stretch
X Stretch is both relaxing and energizing at the same time.  I love it.

 

P90X Day 24

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Florentine Breakfast Bagel from cafeteria at work (egg whites, spinach, low-fat cheese on a whole grain bagle); coffee
• Lunch: Blueberry muffin and fruit, green tea
• Dinner: Ham and cheese sub with small bag of Sun Chips, water

Not a great lunch or dinner... and I hate to make excuses, but I had a really long and crazy day at work.  I worked for over 13 hours today!  I'm just glad I didn't skip the workout!

P90X Kenpo X
Kenpo X went great today.  This recovery week is going very well... feeling energized, and can't wait to start pushing myself again next week.

P90X Day 23

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 Egg McMuffins and a hash brown; coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: 8 almonds, green tea
• Dinner: Turkey chili with tortilla chips

Breakfast was bad, but I ate well the rest of the day... perhaps I have turned a corner with my diet?  Maybe?

P90X Core Synergistics
Today was my first time doing Core Synergistics, and WOW!  what a cool routine!  I really liked it.  I struggled a little with some of the exercises, but that was mostly because they were new to me.  I get to do this routine again on Friday, and I can't wait!

P90X Day 22

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Pancakes with butter and pure maple syrup; 1 1/2 hash browns; coffee
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner: Cheese and crackers

Today was a weird day, food-wise.  I didn't eat very well, but I also didn't eat very much.  I felt a bit out of sorts today, so I didn't have much of an appetite, and when I did eat, I ate whatever I seemed to be craving (i.e. the cheese and crackers).  Oh well... at least the exercises are going well!

P90X Yoga X
Today was the first day of my first "recovery and ab focus" week.  So instead of Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X, Yoga X was on the agenda for today... and it went great!  I wasn't really looking forward to it... it is such a long progam, but as they say, I simply "pressed play".  I dragged for the first few minutes, but after I started working up a sweat I really got into it, and it was a great workout.

P90X Day 21

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 fried eggs over potatoes, spicy turkey sausage, and onions; 2 slides 12 grain toast with butter; coffee
• Dinner: 2 PB&J sandwiches on 12 grain bread

P90X Rest Day
Rest Day. 

Week 3 Summary
I purposely skipped weighing in today.  I'm doing great with the exercises, but not so good with my diet.  I think weighing in would have been discouraging and demotivating.  So I'm going to keep plugging along with the exercises and try to improve my diet.  I'll weigh in again on Day 30.

P90X Day 20

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 fried eggs over potatoes, spicy turkey sausage, and onions; 2 slides 12 grain toast with butter; coffee
• Dinner: Crab cakes for an appetizer; Surf & Turf: 6oz Sirloin + 6 shrimp, mashed potatoes; 2 glasses red wine
• Dessert: Cheese cake, coffee

I went out to dinner with my wife tonight.  We had this planned for a few weeks, so I knew today was going to be a cheat day.  I had hoped that I would have eaten really well this week, to minimize the impact of this cheat day.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  But like I said, I'm not going to give up on improving my diet.

P90X Kenpo X
Good Kenpo X workout today.  Pretty much kept up with Tony and crew.

P90X Day 19

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 3 whole grain waffles with butter and real maple syrup, coffee
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit.
• Dinner: 4 very small slices of homemade pizza with turkey sausage and onions, 2 beers

Still not on track with my diet yet, but I will NOT give up.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Back on track today after my first miss yesterday.  Legs and Back went well, as did Ab Ripper X.  I think I actually had more energy today, so taking an unexpected rest day yesterday was probably a good idea.... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

P90X Day 18

Eat Clean
Breakfast: 2 bagels with cream cheese, coffee
Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
Snack: 8 almonds
Dinner: Ezekiel muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit

P90X Yoga X
My first miss!  I could not complete Yoga X today.  My heart wasn't into it.  I was tired.  I had a tough day at work.  I tried to do the program, but stopped after about 15 minutes.  I am not going to get too down on myself over this.  I'm going to go to bed early, and then tomorrow I'll just push play!

P90X Day 17

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 egg w/ cheese biscuits and a hashbrown from MacDonalds, coffee
• Lunch: Small chicken quesadilla w/ cheese, salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips, unsweetened iced tea
• Snack: 8 whole, raw cashews; banana
• Dinner: Jasmine rice with General Tso Chicken and broccoli

I did ok on my diet today, not great, but ok.  Obviously I have to stop going to MacDonalds for breakfast, but I ate fairly well after that.

P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X
Today's workout went great!  I really like this routine.  Still at 18 reps for the Ab Ripper X exercises.  I think I'm going to be at 18 for a while :-)

P90X Day 16

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Pancakes w/ butter and real maple syrup, turkey sausage links, coffee
• Dinner: 3 slices of frozen pizza w/ pepperoni, beer
• Dessert / Late night snack: TBD

I did lousy on my diet today.  I said I was going to really focus on my diet this week, and I have not.  I really need to pick it up.

P90X Plyometrics
Today's Plyometrics work out went great!  I did not have to pause the DVD, and I kept up with Tony and team on many of the exercises.  The rest of the exercises I did between 10 and 12 reps, which typically would take about 20 seconds, which left me with an extra 10 seconds to rest before the next exercise.  This is the best I've ever done on the Plyometrics routine.

P90X Day 15

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 3 organic whole grain waffles with butter (bad) and real maple syrup, coffee, vitamins and supplements
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit, banana
• Dinner: Salmon, asparagus, whole wheat couscous
• Dessert: If I have any type of dessert or late night snack today, it will most likely be low-fat vanilla yogurt with fresh berries

P90X Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X
Chest and Back is definitely not my favorite P90X routine.  The push-ups tend to be pretty difficult for me, but I did really well today... and I don't have to do this workout again for 6 weeks!!!  How sweet it that?  Ab Ripper X is still going well, 18 reps per exercise.

P90X Day 14

Eat Clean:

• Breakfast: Slumgullion: scrambled egg whites with potatoes, spicy Italian turkey sausage, hot pepper, onions; toast made from leftover organic whole grain french bread; coffee
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner:  Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit, apple, seltzer

P90X Rest Day
Even though last week I stated that the X Stretch would not be optional for me, I decided to take a complete rest day today.

Week 2 Weigh-In Results

• Weight: 236.3 lbs (down 4.3 lbs from Day 1)
• Body Fat: 77.4 lbs (down 2.8 lbs from Day 1)
• %Body Fat: 32.8% (down 0.6% from Day 1)
• BMI: 34.2 (down 0.6 from Day 1)

Week 2 Summary
I have to admit I'm really disappointed with my weigh-in results this week.  I had a great week exercise-wise, but I only lost a 1/2 lb.  Granted that's better than gaining a 1/2 lb, but considering how much weight I need to lose, I should be losing at least a few pounds each week.  I had way too many cheat meals this past week.  For the upcoming week, I am really going to focus more on my diet.

P90X Day 13

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Go Lean Crunch cereal with almond milk, banana, vitamins and supplements
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner: Homemade pizza on an organic whole-grain, locally baked french country bread
• Late evening, small meal: TBD

I slept in this morning, and didn't eat breakfast until almost 11am.  I therefore skipped lunch, and ate an early dinner.  I'll probably have a small meal around 8pm this evening, just to make sure I don't walk hungry and craving something in the middle of the night.

P90X Kenpo X
I love me some Kenpo X.  'nuff said.

P90X Day 12

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 6oz of egg whites scrambled, Ezekiel english muffin, coffee, supplements (mutlivitamin, vitamin c, potassium, fish oil omega 3, b-complex)
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter and Pollander All Fruit, apple
• Dinner:  Cheat meal at 99 Restaurant with my son - 1/2 order of potato skins as an appetizer; fillet mignon, fries, asparagus, Sam Adams Winter Lager; ice cream sundae for dessert 

I finally got around to taking my viatmins and supplements today.  Still need to tweak what I'm taking, and I need to make it a habit so that I take them every day!  My son and I had been planning dinner out for the past few days, so I worked this in as one of my cheat meals this week.  Even though I did slip up a few times this week with my diet, I still allowed myself this cheat meal.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X

Today's work out was great!  I had struggled with this program in the past, but I did really well with all of the exercises today.  The wall squats are still very difficult, but I try my best and hold them for as long as I can.  Today I did 18 reps for EVERY Ab Ripper X move.  I am so happy!

 

P90X Day 11

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 2 Egg McMuffins and 1 hashbrown from McDonalds (yuk), coffee
• Lunch: Salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar
• Snack: 8 almonds, banana, green tea
• Dinner: Salmon, couscous, broccoli
• Dessert/snack: TBD

I really went off track on my diet for breakfast, stopping at McDonalds on my way into work.  But I think I recovered well, and ate very clean the rest of the day.

P90X Yoga X

Yoga X was a bit of a struggle today.  I was a bit tired when I started... then my DVD player crapped out on me after about 15minutes, so I had to deal with technology for about 10 minutes before I could get restarted.  After restarting, I struggled a little during the first half of the program, but the second half went pretty well.  I got through it all, so I'll chalk that up as a victory.

P90X Day 10

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 6oz egg whites scrambled, Ezekiel english muffin, coffee
• Snack: 8 almonds, banana
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter (just peanuts) and Pollander All Fruit
• Dinner: 3 small slices of homemade pizza w/ turkey pepperoni
• Dessert/snack: TBD

Was going to have fish for dinner tonight, but was lazy and decided to have some leftover pizza that my wife made for the kids.  A bit of a slip up, but I'm not going to kill myself over it.

P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X

Of all of the P90X routines, the Shoulders and Arms program is the easiest for me.  Which was a good thing, 'cause I was a little worn out before I worked out today.  But by the end of the warm up I felt energized and breezed through the program.  Ab Ripper X went great as well.  I'm up to 16 reps in just about all of the moves.

P90X Day 9

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Rolled oats with hot water, protein powder, walnuts, raisins and maple syrup; coffee, Vitamin C, multivitamin
• Lunch: Left over turkey chili, baked black bean tortilla chips
• Dinner: Homemade squash soup (very clean, vegan), salad with grilled tempeh, Kikkomen Ponzu lime dressing
• Dessert/snack: TBD

I don't think I mentioned this in any of my previous posts, but I also drink a lot of water each day. I have a 40oz stanless steel Klean Kanteen, and I probably fill it 2 times a day with filtered water.  I also drink black coffee with breakfast each morning (no cream, no sugar).  I'll typically have one or two cups of green tea each day, and occaissionally a flavored seltzer water (just carbonated water and natural flavors).  It's important to stay hydrated, and I adhere to the adage:  Do not drink any calories!

P90X Plyometrics
Plyometrics went great today!  I was able to increase the amount of time/reps that I did for each exercise, and I only had to pause the tape twice.  I definitely pushed myself a little harder today, and I still feel pretty good.  My guess is that in a few more weeks, I'll be able to  keep up with Tony and crew.

P90X Day 8

Week 2 is off to a great start!

Eat Clean:

• Breakfast: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter (just peanuts) and Pollander All Fruit, coffee
• Lunch: Banana, 8 almonds
• Dinner: Turkey chili, sesame blue corn chips, seltzer
• Dessert/snack: TBD

P90X Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X

Day 8 went well.  The Chest & Back routine was a little easier this time through. I did a few more push ups on some of the sets and I'll be increasing the weight I use on the "Heavy Pants" exercise next week.  I also continue to improve on Ab Ripper X.  I'm now doing 16 reps per exercise; up from the 12 I did on Day 1.  Onward and upward.

P90X Day 7

Note:  See the bottom of this post for my latest P90X YouTube video.

Eat Clean:

• Breakfast: Pancakes w/ butter and pure maple syrup, coffee
• Lunch: Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter (just peanuts) and Pollander All Fruit, 2 hard-boiled eggs (just the whites)
• Snack: 8 almonds
• Dinner: Ezekiel cereal with blackberries and almond milk

P90X X Stretch
I finished up my first week of P90X by doing the optional X Stretch routine... for me, X Stretch will not be optional.  It was wonderful, almost relaxing. After doing the stretches, I feel GREAT!

Week 1 Weigh-In Results

• Weight: 236.8 lbs (down 3.8 lbs from Day 1)
• Body Fat: 77.5 lbs (down 2.8 lbs from Day 1)
• %Body Fat: 32.8% (down 0.6% from Day 1)
• BMI: 34.2 (down 0.6 from Day 1)

Week 1 Summary
I did not miss any workouts this week, and I feel that I ate pretty well.  I still have some improvement I can make with my diet, but I'm pleased so far.  I've lost almost 4 lbs, which is great.  I know I have a LONG way to go, but my body is starting to feel tighter, which is a great feeling, and is very motivating.  But the thing I am probably most pleased with, and most excited about, is that I am still soooo motivated to keep this up.  I can't wait until tomorrow's workout!

P90X Day 6

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Homemade breakfast sandwich - 2 eggs over easy with 3 turkey sausage links, 2 slices of American cheese, ketchup on a sesame bagel, coffee
• Lunch: 2 slices of "tropical pizza" (toppings: ham, bacon and pineapple)
• Dinner: Hot (spicy) turkey sausage, peppers and onions on a hoagie roll

I had a lunch planned with several friends, so I knew today was going to be a bit of a cheat day as far as my diet was concerned.  Fortunately, I didn't go crazy and binge on a bunch of junk food... I cheated just a little... so I don't feel so bad. I also weighed myself early this morning (official weigh-in for the week will be tomorrow) and I'm down 3 1/2 lbs since starting P90X, so I'm feeling pretty good about my progress so far.

P90X Kenpo X
Kenpo X is great.  I trained in the martial arts for over 10 years, so I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for the type of training on this DVD.  Once again, since this is my first week back on P90X, I took it a little easy today.  Many of the exercises in this program are performed for 30 reps.  I did 20 reps.  At the end of the routine I was not completely wasted, so next time I'll step it up a bit!

P90X Day 5

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Scrambled egg whites, spinach, low fat cheese on whole grain bagel, fruit cup, coffee
• Snack: Green tea
• Lunch: Chicken parm sandwich on whole grain chibatta roll (w/ lowfat mozarella cheese and fresh basil), carrot sticks on the side (instead of french fries)
• Snack: Yogurt with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and small amount of almond granola
• Dinner: Salmon, 1/2 sweet potato, broccoli

The cheese and bread in my breakfast and lunch were not the cleanest things, but I was pressed for time and had to grab breakfast and lunch at the cafeteria at work.  These were two of the healthier choices.

I've been neglecting to take my vitamins and supplements.  Need to get back on track with those starting tomorrow.

P90X Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Day 5 was great!  I was a bit worried about today's session, as during my previous attempts at P90X I struggled with these leg exercises.  So I took it a bit easy today (but not too easy).  I did 12 to 15 reps on many of the exercises where Tony and team did 25 reps.  For the wall squats I did 45 and 30 seconds respectively... so not too bad.  I continue to improve on Ab Ripper X.  Today I did 15 or 16 reps on most of the moves instead of the 12 I had been doing during the first two days of Ab Ripper X.  Before I know it, I'll be doing 25 reps like on the DVD.

P90X - Day 4

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 6 oz of egg whites scrambled, 3 turkey sausage links, coffee
• Lunch: veggie-chili/rice leftovers with sesame blue corn chips, 12 oz can of seltzer
• Dinner: Hot (spicy) turkey sausage, peppers and onions on a hoagie roll (the roll was not clean), seltzer
• Dessert / late night snack: TBD, probably cereal w/ almond milk or Ezekiel cinnamon raisin toast.

P90X Yoga X
Yoga X is awesome!  I have done it few times before (during my previous attempts at P90X) and struggled with it, but I really enjoyed it today. At 90 minutes, it's a bit long, but it is well worth the investment of time and effort.

So far this round of P90X is going great.  I know it's only Day 4, and I have 86 more days to go, but I'm feeling very motivated to stick with it!

Namaste!

P90X - Day 3

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 4oz of egg whites scrambled with spinach, black beans and cottage cheese, Ezekiel english muffin (no butter), coffee (black)
• Snack - Banana, 6 raw unsalted cashews, green tea
• Lunch - Ezekiel english muffin with peanut butter (just peanuts) and Polland All Fruit, apple
• Dinner - Can of Amy's Vegetarian Chili over rice*, sesame blue corn chips on the side, 12 oz can of seltzer (carbonated water, natural flavors)
• Dessert - TBD

*Only ate half of the chili/rice dish.  Will probably have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X
I love the Shoulders and Arms workout!  My arms need a lot of work, and I think this program is really going to do the job.  Very motivating!  Ab Ripper X went well... better than on Day 1.  Still sticking to 12 reps per exercise (instead of 25).  Will think about upping that number a bit during week 2.

P90X - Day 2

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: 4oz of egg whites scrambled with spinach and black beans, 1/2 of an Ezekiel English Muffin (no butter), coffee, multi-vitamin
• Snack: Banana
• Lunch: Ezekiel English Muffin with peanut butter (just peanuts) and Pollander All Fruit, 2 hard boiled eggs (just the whites)
• Snack: 8 almonds, 2 prunes
• Dinner:  Baked salmon, broccoli, sweet potato
• Dessert: TBD (but will be clean)

P90X Plyometrics
The plyometrics workout went great!  It is definitely one of my favorites.  Most of the exercises last for 30 seconds each.  For about 1/2 of them I am only able to do about 20 seconds.  But that just gives me a 10 second rest before starting the next exercise.  Over the coming weeks I'll look to improve on these exercises and do the full 30 seconds for each one.  There are several 30 second rest periods (5 I think) in the program.  I paused the DVD during each of these for an additional 30 seconds of rest.

At this point, I am not feeling at all intimidated by P90X.  I still have my concerns about the amount of time commitment it is going to take, but I will make this the number 1 priority in my life for the next 3 months.

P90X - Day 1

Day 1 of P90X is in the bag... and it went very well.

Eat Clean

• Breakfast: Go-Lean Crunch with almond milk, coffee (black, no sugar)
• Snack:  Banana
• Lunch: Ezekiel English Muffin with natural peanut butter (just peanuts) and Pollander All Fruit
• Snack: Apple
• Dinner: Turkey burger with pickles, onions, and dijon mustard on an Ezekiel English Muffin
• Late night snack / dessert:  TBD (maybe some cereal with almond milk or Eziekiel cinnamon raisin toast)

P90X Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X
I did well on all of the exercises, and did not have to pause the DVD at all. I still have a lot of room for improvement on the push-ups, but I'm not worried.... I'm sure in about 3 or 4 weeks I'll be up to 20 reps per push-up exercise (currently around 8 to 12 reps).  For Ab Ripper X, I did 12 reps of each exercise, instead of the 25 on the DVD, but again, I'm sure I'll improve on this in the coming weeks.

Below is a "P90X Confessional" video that I made on YouTube.

P90X - Before Measurements

Prior to starting P90X today, I took my "before" measurements.  I also took "before" photos, but they are pretty gross.  If I'm successful in this endeavor, and I get into great shape, and my "after" photos look good, then perhaps I'll post the "before" photos... or maybe not...

I used a Weight Watchers scale to weigh myself and get my body fat measurements.  I don't know how accurate the scale is for measuring body fat, but I have noticed that the readings appear to be consistent (if I weigh myself mutiple times in a row), and if I'm working out and eating well, the numbers seem to go down.  So I'm going to track my body fat using this scale, as it's the best option that I have.

So here are my "before" measurements from the Weight Watchers scale:

• Weight: 240.6 lbs
• 80.3 lbs of body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 33.4% body fat (oh my!!!! disgusting)
• 34.8 BMI (don't know much about BMI, but my scale measures it, so I'll track it for now, and learn morea bout it as I go on)

I also took other body measurements that I wish to track:

• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Right: 14.5"
• Upper arm (middle of bicep) - Left: 14.5"
• Chest: 47.5"
• Across belly button: 46" (again, disgusting!)
• Hips: 42"
• Mid-thigh - Right: 24.25"
• Mid-thigh - Left: 24.25"
• Calf - Right: 16.5"
• Calf - Left: 16"

Wish me luck!

What Happened to the 4-Hour Body?

About 6 months ago I tried following the 4-Hour Body program by Tim Ferriss, and quite frankly it did not work for me.  To be truthful, I honestly believe that the program does work but it was too difficult for me to stick with it.  I was able to follow the program for 2 weeks and lost about 8 lbs, but the lack of variety in the diet made it too difficult for me to stick it out any longer.  The promise of the weekly cheat day was not enough to keep me motiviated.

Over the past few months I've been eating fairly well, but not as good as I should and I've been exercising fairly regularly, but am now ready to kick it up a notch.  I know, I know... this probably sounds like a "New Years Resolution" thing... but I have some additional motivation that I'm hoping will help me stick with it.  During this coming summer (2012) my son and I are planning on thru-hiking the 273-mile Vermont Long Trail (see my Long Trail Blog).  This is an undertaking not to be taken lightly, and I have to be in shape before that trip.

So I'm using the Long Trail hike as motivation to eat better and get in shape.  I will not be following the 4-Hour Body, but will Eat Clean by following the recommendations in Tosca Reno's books.  For exercise I'll be doing P90X.  P90X is an extremely rigourous exercise program.  I've tried it in the past, and managed to stick with it for 4 weeks.  This time I have to complete the entire 13-week program!  The most difficult part of P90X is the time commitment.  It's approximately an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, 7 days a week (day 7 is an optional flexibility routine).

I'm starting today (January 2, 2012) and will try to post to this blog each day.  I have to admit that the blog postings may not be the most interesting things to read, but I've created this blog to publicly commit to completing P90X, and to Eat Clean.  So, please, please, subscribe to this blog, and post some comments to help keep me motivated.

Thanks for following my story.  Be sure to check out and subscribe to my YouTube Channel, and follow me on Twitter @farmer_diddley.

Steve