OT: P90X/Health and Fitness Thread

[Newz]

I did some more reading on it after work.

I've heard your just supposed to go until you cannot anymore. They say that P90X is supposed to be awesome for working out for even more than the 90 days if you cannot finish the workouts. Apparently you can just do them over and over until you finally can do them fully and then you can move up to more intense stuff.

[WRau1]

I did some more reading on it after work.

I've heard your just supposed to go until you cannot anymore. They say that P90X is supposed to be awesome for working out for even more than the 90 days if you cannot finish the workouts. Apparently you can just do them over and over until you finally can do them fully and then you can move up to more intense stuff.

Pretty much. I couldn't do half the stuff fully for like the first month, just do what you can and move on. Now I can do everything they do but not nearly as many reps.

[MickeyDavis]

That's the thing with P90X, you can always make it harder. Add more weight, go faster, push yourself harder and harder. I did it I think 3 full times (can't remember exactly), then I bought some of Tony's one on one workouts to mix in and then I bought P90X + to add more workouts. Plyo kills me as much now as it did when I started. But I'm doing it probably 10X harder than that first time.

[MickeyDavis]

Ok, you guys have all made your points, now move on. This was/is a good thread on P90X and other fitness. Let's keep it ON TOPIC PLEASE. I'm going to delete all the off topic posts from this thread. No one is going to change anyone's minds. Now let's get back on topic please.

[ReasonablySober]

Thanks MD. This thread is directly responsible for my attempt to get in shape and I love that we have a small community of guys trying to do/have done the same thing. The info and support here is awesome.

[bigkurty]

Any of you guys play racquetball? I have been playing about 2-3 times a week for a year and a half now with friends. We play about 1.5 hours each time. I am getting pretty good now but there are some ringers at the gym who are amazing. I have been thinking about hiring a personal coach one day a week to get better faster. I had lasik and it has helped me immensely but now I need to improve my aim, understand strategy better, and how to position myself better. I have heard coaches and actually practicing your shots can help but wonder if any anyone of you is into this game as much as I and have had coaching before.

Oh and btw, its very fun and great cardio if you guys are ever looking to switch it up and try something new.

[Newz]

Any tips on food you guys really like to do while doing the P90X thing? Going to start after Thanksgiving so I don't feel so bad about stuffing myself. Looking for protein and nothing with too much bad fat pretty much.

I was thinking:

Plain Almonds
Unsweetened Yogurt
Noodles with a little bit of low fat butter/spread
Rice
Grilled chicken breast of any kind
Subs with extra turkey/ham/roast beef that have no cheese/mayo and wheat bread
Toast w/ nut butter (peanut/almond/cashew)
Protein shakes/drinks
Protein bars

Any other suggestions you guys have?

[ReasonablySober]

I know you follow the 6 smaller meals a day, but I tried that I didn't get the results I wanted. Three reasonable ones a day worked wonders and I'm pissed I didn't try it earlier. Then again, my goal was losing weight and that's not gonna be a worry for you.

But I love my kitchen and here are few random thoughts.

I LOVE baking my chicken breasts. I get marinated skinless breasts from the grocery store. I use a cookie sheet and put them in a airtight tinfoil tent. 30 minutes on 375 and all the fat renders off. You don't get that grilled char unfortunately but the meat is perfect in soups or other dishes. It's also the easiest way to cook chicken.

I'm a soup guy. I like to find the healthiest ingredients I can, put them in a pot and see what tastes good. My go-to is marinated chicken, ground turkey, onions, peppers, garlic, white beans, corn, stewed tomatoes, a host of spices and chicken stock. Healthy, super tasty, a pot will last you over a week. Hearty soups have been my diet staple. I always have a pot of something in the kitchen. This week it was a red curry chicken thai soup made with low fat coconut milk. So. Ridiculously. Good.

I usually make a shake with some combination of bananas, frozen berries, green goodness juice, carrot juice, orange or grapefruit juice, whole milk and maraschino cherries. I'm gonna try and get more protein in there since I started this p90x program.

[bigkurty]

Fiber one bars are a good snack. I would shy away from the noodles. Veggie's are a must have. Stick with your favorites. Mine are Broccoli,carrots, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and on your subs, ask for spinach if you get them from subway rather than lettuce. Its healthier and you won't notice the difference. Always choose side salads with balsamic vinaigrette dressing on the side and only use half the dressing over fries or any other side unless its steamed veggies. Fruits are an option but pick ones high in fiber to counter act the sugars. Apples are ok as are blueberries but grapes are basically pure sugar so shy away from them. Fish and most other seafood's are good. Sushi is good. Steak is good. Egg whites. Peanut Butter in moderation is good. String cheese is a good snack. Low fat cottage cheese is good. Pickles are low in calories and can fill you up if you need a late night snack but try not to eat after 8pm anyway. Do eat more times per day but less per time in caloric content. Do eat a light breakfast. Caffeine is a good stimulant but don't overdo it. Energy drink can contain 4-5 times the caffeine of a cup of coffee or an iced tea. Becoming dependent on them over time is bad news. I used to drink 2-3 energy drinks a day and developed crazy caffeine dependency and heartburn as I got older. I have weened myself off of those drinks and feel way better now but still like light caffeine doses here and there. Some caffeine definitely helps you work out harder IMO. If you do protein shakes, get some pre-made ones. Mixing them becomes a pain after awhile IMO. Protein bars are also good. Hmm, that's a lot of stuff but as long as you eat healthy and limit caloric content and work out often, you will get in good shape. A good tip is to log all your workouts and food intake in a phone app to tell you if you your net calorie consumption. If its negative, you can lose weight and gain muscle. Oh and the first few weeks, you might not lose any weight since you might gain muscle faster initially. That's good though. Stick with it for at least two months and you will see great results. Good luck Newz.

[Newz]

I would shy away from the noodles.

I thought we had met at one point...

But if not, I am insanely skinny. I need to get my calories from somewhere so that I can at least attempt to put on size.

I know what's going to happen. I'm going to slam down tons of calories and protein and I'm just going to get skinny and toned.

At least I'll be in good shape though.

[bigkurty]

On eating 6 times a day, it works great but you have to be meticulous. One 3 meals you eat no more than 400 calories and on the other 3 meals you eat no more than 200 calories. You always eat breakfast and you never eat after 8pm if you can help it. It will boost your metabolism in theory but you will still never consume more than 1800 calories per day. your energy level will overtime become high all day. All you need to do for drink is water and diet soda / iced tea all day depending on if you feel the need for caffeine. I always drink iced tea or even hot tea at or right after lunch since I get sleepy at around 1-2 pm every day without a boost of caffeine. With pure tea or plain black coffee you get 0-5 calories and they are a slight diuretic so its good to drink plenty of water along with them.

[bigkurty]

I would shy away from the noodles.

I thought we had met at one point...

But if not, I am insanely skinny. I need to get my calories from somewhere so that I can at least attempt to put on size.

I know what's going to happen. I'm going to slam down tons of calories and protein and I'm just going to get skinny and toned.

At least I'll be in good shape though.

Ha, we have met. Yeah you were skinny. I always talk from my POV since I just try to not be fat, haha. I guess if I was you, then I would say the noodles are ok unless you start to get fat, haha. There are crazy ass weight gainer shakes, maybe you need one of them right now in moderation. How old are you anyway? I would have to think your metabolism will slow down eventually. Maybe then stop the noodles,

[Newz]

Ha, we have met. Yeah you were skinny. I always talk from my POV since I just try to not be fat, haha. I guess if I was you, then I would say the noodles are ok unless you start to get fat, haha. There are crazy ass weight gainer shakes, maybe you need one of them right now in moderation. How old are you anyway? I would have to think your metabolism will slow down eventually. Maybe then stop the noodles,

I'm 25. I'm sure it will slow down eventually.

To put on muscle I am supposed to eat about 3,000 calories a day (when working out obviously) though. I think I eat about 1,700 at most right now.

So I am going to have to eat like twice as much food as I normally do while making it healthy. Going to be a challenge for sure.

[WRau1]

I eat about 1,200-1,400 calories a day. Snack on a lot of vegetables, fruit and Fiber One trail mix. I eat a lot of ground turkey, chicken and fish. Metcalfs on State St has ground turkey for like $1.50lb, so I usually go there every other week and get a big 5lb tube of it. Soup is awesome, instead of cutting up veggies everytime, I just keep good quality salsa that I use as a base along with veggie broth/couple cups of water, chicken and corn. Throw some chicken taco spice in there from Penzey's, seasoning to your liking and there's a quick 15min meal. Garnish with a little lite sour cream and reduced fat cheese.

[Newz]

I eat about 1,200-1,400 calories a day. Snack on a lot of vegetables, fruit and Fiber One trail mix. I eat a lot of ground turkey, chicken and fish. Metcalfs on State St has ground turkey for like $1.50lb, so I usually go there every other week and get a big 5lb tube of it. Soup is awesome, instead of cutting up veggies everytime, I just keep good quality salsa that I use as a base along with veggie broth/couple cups of water, chicken and corn. Throw some chicken taco spice in there from Penzey's, seasoning to your liking and there's a quick 15min meal. Garnish with a little lite sour cream and reduced fat cheese.

You are doing most of this stuff to primarily lose weight though, correct? So you already had the weight to tone up in terms of muscle I'm guessing. I have to add it (weight/muscle), so I think I'm going to have to eat more calories and get as much protein as possible.

Curious to see what LUKE23 is dieting like since he's a skinnier guy as well.

My meal plan so far is:

WAKE-UP: Fiber One Bar, Fruit, Yogurt
BREAKFAST: Egg White Sandwich with Ham from Subway
SNACK: Almonds, Dried Fruit, Yogurt, Protein Bar, etc.
LUNCH: Grilled chicken breast, Wheat Bread Sandwich with Extra Meat (no cheese, no mayo), Chicken Soup with Wheat Bread, etc.
SNACK: Almonds, Dried Fruit, Yogurt, Protein Bar, etc.
DINNER: Grilled chicken breast, Wheat Bread Sandwich with Extra Meat (no cheese, no mayo), Chicken Soup with Wheat Bread, Noodles/Rice + Chicken Breast, etc.
AFTER WORKOUT: Protein Bar/Drink/Shake

[JoeyMorgan619]

Newz,

That looks like a pretty good meal plan. I notice you have your "After Workout" at the very end. Do you work out at the very end of the day?

[Newz]

Newz,

That looks like a pretty good meal plan. I notice you have your "After Workout" at the very end. Do you work out at the very end of the day?

Going to work out right after work. So around 5:30 or 6:00 to 6:30 or 7:30. That's about the only time that I have to get it in.

[AussieBuck]

Any tips on food you guys really like to do while doing the P90X thing? Going to start after Thanksgiving so I don't feel so bad about stuffing myself. Looking for protein and nothing with too much bad fat pretty much.

I was thinking:

Plain Almonds
Unsweetened Yogurt
Noodles with a little bit of low fat butter/spread
Rice
Grilled chicken breast of any kind
Subs with extra turkey/ham/roast beef that have no cheese/mayo and wheat bread
Toast w/ nut butter (peanut/almond/cashew)
Protein shakes/drinks
Protein bars

Any other suggestions you guys have?

Dude you are skinny just eat **** whenever possible.

[sotrak1000]

My roommates and I are starting a competition after Thanksgiving...the there are two of us who are around 200 lbs and two of us who are around 160...we have teams that consist of one person of 200 lbs and one of 160 lbs...our main goal is to meet somewhere in the middle by May...so in that case I'm looking to shed about 20 lbs...anyone have any words of advice/tips to help me along?

[blkout]

My meal plan so far is:

WAKE-UP: Fiber One Bar, Fruit, Yogurt
BREAKFAST: Egg White Sandwich with Ham from Subway
SNACK: Almonds, Dried Fruit, Yogurt, Protein Bar, etc.
LUNCH: Grilled chicken breast, Wheat Bread Sandwich with Extra Meat (no cheese, no mayo), Chicken Soup with Wheat Bread, etc.
SNACK: Almonds, Dried Fruit, Yogurt, Protein Bar, etc.
DINNER: Grilled chicken breast, Wheat Bread Sandwich with Extra Meat (no cheese, no mayo), Chicken Soup with Wheat Bread, Noodles/Rice + Chicken Breast, etc.
AFTER WORKOUT: Protein Bar/Drink/Shake

I know nothing about this stuff but if I wanted to put on weight that to me would look healthy as hell, like I'd be thinking I'm actually going to lose weight eating that ****. If wanted to gain weight I'd just be spending half my life at McDonalds drinking thickshakes and making pizzas with marshmellows on them.