Prior to P90X, I was a regular at the gym: M-F from for about an hour usually around 9:00am. (I'm a SAHM so am fortunate to have the luxury to go during the workday.) But with P90X and our commitment to each other, Hubby and I now had to find time to workout together. Our choices: 1) 7:00 pm after we put the baby to bed or 2) 5:00 am before Hubby goes to work. I wasn't sure what was going to be worse; giving up my relaxing baby-free evenings or waking up 2 hours early every morning to WORKOUT! You should know I'm NOT a morning person. But I sacrified... and we agreed that a morning workout routine would be best. We get the workouts in before baby wakes up, we get our metabolism going earlier which helps burn more calories, and hubby and I still have the evenings to ourselves to read, watch tv, or go to sleep earlier because we have to get up at 5am (lol). I also love knowing that my workout for the day is DONE before 7:00 am!
On March 12, I weighed in at 139.5lbs (31y/o 5'5") and then started my first ever P90X workout (Chest & Back). I also made copies of the portion control nutrition plan outline and pasted it on the fridge.
We got in a week and a half of workouts and diligently stuck to the nutrition plan, but then left for a week of vacation in Utah. Fortunately, the vacation included 4 days of snowboarding so it's not like we took the whole week off. Anyway, returned from Utah and quickly pushed ourselves back into P90X workout and nutrition routine. Next, we had some family visit from out of town. It's not easy to stay on plan when you have visitors, but we did our best (forget the rest!).
About a week and a half ago, I got frustrated that I wasn't seeing the number on the scale go down. I could see differences in my waist, my arms, my legs, my butt... but the scale wasn't moving. And I know the sayings, "muscle weighs more than fat" and "your muscles are holding water" blah blah blah... truth is, even if I'm 2% body-fat... I just don't want to be a buck-forty woman. Ya know? No judgement, I just have a goal, a number in mind that I'd like to attain.
I took my frustrations to the web and searched "women not losing weight on P90X" and what do you know? I came across this exact page Women: Not losing weight on P90X. My energy was renewed... I wasn't the only one feeling this frustrated. And the posts I found were VERY helpful. I decided to reduce my caloric intake (from 1800 on Tony's plan to 1500 including an estimated 300 calorie burn during workouts). I'm netting around 1200 calories a day and decided to continue with Tony's recommended proportion of protein, carbs, and fat (50%, 30%, 20% respectively). (Thanks to Smurf for replying to my question.) I started logging every morsel of food (and beverage) at Myfitnesspal.com. It's easy, very similar to WW but free, and the iPhone app makes recording my foods super easy.
What happened? I've lost 5 pounds since I started counting my calories (11 days). I don't expect the weight loss to be this drastic as I continue, but I'm SO excited to be seeing the changes now on the scale AS WELL AS to my body. Today, I weighed in at 134.5 lbs. (Actually, after completing Tony's Core Synergistic workout today I weighed in again and I was 134lbs but I'm not officially counting that weigh-in - and yes I know I'm a little obsessed with the scale.)
Now, I'm not ready to show you my pictures. Come on! It's only been 30 days. And I'm not putting myself in a bathing suit on the internet for the whole world to see. But I have to tell you that I can see the biggest difference in my belly. So here's my compromise: I've cropped my day 1 belly shot and my day 30 belly shot to share with you. I hope you can tell the difference... I certainly can. (These photos are both post baby belly... my little boy will be 1 year next month!). My belly button is flatter, my waist is slimmer, and the outline of my obliques are more defined. Remember... it's only been 30 (P90X) days (recall that week vacation and weekend "off.")
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| Day 1 Belly shot |
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| Day 30 Belly shot |
Something else I've noticed in the above pictures (and our others)... the tone of my skin. Hubby and I both commented this morning on how we thought we looked tanner in the pictures we took this morning (than those we took 30 days ago). Yet, neither of us have been to the pool nor have we been sun-bathing out back. So how can we account for this change? Well, just so happens that I read an article in WellBella (the magazine from GNC on women's health) about Nature's Bronzer. Could this be? We've been eating a ton of vegetables: tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, squash, romaine. Interesting, huh? Maybe it was just the lighting but just in case...Bring on the veggies!
So what happens now? Hubby and I have just completed recovery week and are anxious to get started on Phase 2. But of course Life has it's own plan (I'm not complaining... life is really good). We've got a busy week of travel, work, family, and fun this coming week. We won't be together to workout each day and neither of us wants to continue to Phase 2 without the other. So we are pledging to be active and to stick with the diet. Then we'll reconvene next Saturday.
My plan: I'm running this week. I haven't been to the gym in over a month, but I'm going to return to visit the treadmill. On my last visit to the gym, I ran 5 miles (which was huge for me - I'm not really a 'runner.') The plan is to burn the same amount of calories per day as I was with P90X. I will be taking one day off while Hubby and I do something fun away from home.
P90X has opened my world in other ways, too. I opened a Twitter account to start tweeting my progress with P90X. The intention was to hold me accountable and to help me stickwith it. In tweeting, I've 'met' some other P90Xers out there and have been motivated by their experiences. I have also learned more about this blogging business and decided to start my own blog. So I'm shouting out a huge THANKS to @FitnessFatale, @BirdUponTheWind, and @backngroovemom for inspiring me to "bring it" and blog. Thanks Ladies!
