Getting Started:
•A yoga mat. Obviously for yoga, stretching, and other exercises that require you to be on your back or stomach. Trust me.
•A water bottle. Get in the habit of drinking more water. Maybe even get a huge jug and mark it with times so you know how much water you're to drink by a certain time of day. Me, I just freeze some water over night, defrost it and refill it when it's empty or low.
•Weights. I have tens and fives pictured here, but I also have some two pound ball weights. I had to work my way up to tens, and still favor fives sometimes.
•A yoga block. This is possibly optional if you know you're already flexible and awesome at yoga. I discovered that I was not, at least not this series of yoga. Didn't help that I was really out of shape anyway.
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| Good thing Michael's had this since he was like fifteen. |
•A stool and/or chair without arms. I relied heavily on this to set my foot on to do pull ups, and you need a chair for chair dips and a stool for swing kicks. We have a stiff pleather futon that I ended up using for chair dips, and high stools for our table.
•Push up bars. Another optional tool we didn't have. I used to be able to do push ups, but I was so out of shape I had to build my strength up all over again. I did knee push ups and more reps. I'm just now able to do normal push ups again.
How to get P90X: You can pay for it and get the full program from beachbody.com for like $90 and up, or you can cheat like Michael and I did and use the internet. Got Vuze or UTorrent? Hint hint. We still got digital copies of all the documents and separate videos of each work out. Sadly we didn't have a printer to print out the exercise sheets, which I recommend.
Which P90X routine? There's the classic P90X, lean, and doubles. I chose lean, because there's no Plyometrics (lots of jumping and stuff that makes my heart feel like it's gonna explode) and it has more cardio to slim down. If you go for the classic, and you seriously feel like it's not enough, try doubles! I guarantee you'll get something out of it if you really want to.
What's it like? There are three phases, each one harder than the last, and each four weeks long. Three weeks of different workouts and a recovery week. Yes it can start to feel a little repetitive, but it's not bad. Plus, each phase had a workout I hadn't done yet. You're led by Tony Horton, who really seems like a genuinely nice guy. He doesn't yell, he encourages you all the way, and is really laid back. He's like someone else's really nice (really buff) dad.
But you've got to do more than workout. I realized this immediately and after taking a look at some of the nutrition guides and seeing the other stuff that you can get with P90X, like protein bars, recovery formulas, and shake mixes. My diet was awful. We ate out all the time and I ate tons of pasta and junk. It made me feel sluggish when I worked out. I knew I had to fix it.
Changing your diet: Don't think of the word diet as a bad thing. It really just means what you eat on a regular basis. And the change doesn't necessarily have to happen overnight. It's hard to do. I had to really consciously tell myself to make different choices (especially if we went out to eat), to replace some foods and cut out other foods as much as possible. I discovered I knew what to do (thanks to my mom and the internet), I just had to implement it.
Good:
• Veggies whenever you get the chance. Salads (little to no dressing), carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and corn are what I find myself eating a lot or putting into other things. I've also had the occasional bamboo slices in curry* dishes and jicama as a snack. (*Side note, spicy food is known to help your metabolism.)
•Protein bars, like Pure Protein or Zone brands. Great for after workouts, as you need something with protein to help build muscles you work on no later than half an hour after you exercise.
•Raw nuts! Especially almonds, those are probably the best choice, honestly.
•Fish; just cook it wisely! Don't slather it in too much stuff. A simple sauce, baked or grilled, maybe a little bit of sea salt but no table salt.
•Fruit. All kinds! Makes for a fantastic snack or dessert. Just no whipped cream or whatever. Fresh fruit.
•Smoothies. Use Greek yogurt to thicken it up, add some kind of protein powder and look up some recipes online! Seriously so good. Yummy after workouts.
• Light snacks like rice cakes and health food store type stuff. It's actually better if you have a snack every few hours to keep your metabolism going.
• Heavy red meats. We eat pork ribs sometimes but I don't like steak or most beef products in the first place. Instead of regular greasy bacon, I now eat turkey bacon, and I still like it.
•Alcohol. Wine might be okay, but most of the time it's sugary or yeasty and not so good to indulge in too often. We drink occasionally but I always feel terrible when I do.
• Fried stuff. Obviously. No more french fries, or mozzarella sticks, or fried ravioli (sad face), or any of that junk.
•Heavy pasta dishes and other bad carbs. Sometimes having simple ravioli once in a while is okay, and most menus tell you healthy options anyway. If you have a hard time giving something up (like me) just try to really cut down on how often you eat it. Once or twice a week maybe, and not too much.
•Sugar. I love candy, so sometimes I really can't help getting some, but I stick to plain things like licorice or swedish fish, low fat stuff and try to make it last. I stopped eating chocolate so often, or getting something sweet at the store every time we went, and it goes without saying that soda is a no. I don't like to drink soda anyway, unless it's like a holiday maybe. Always always always water or tea. I've really liked coconut water too.
•Chips. Not a good snack to have all the time. Try pita chips, or popcorn (no butter!). I like something crunchy I can mindlessly eat, I think a lot of people do. Just make sure it's light.
Some things I just really couldn't do. I still drink regular milk, I still go to Taco Bell sometimes, I still indulge cravings for things I know are bad once in a while. But overall, I discovered that the better I ate, if I tried to go back to eating things I used to (in large amounts, too) I felt terrible. Slowly, I got used to eating better. I try to eat slower, and less, but also a little more often since frequent small meals are more recommended than just three big meals a day.
Does it work? Absolutely, but it's all about your attitude, and you get out what you put in. If you skip a workout, don't give it your all, and eat pizza instead of course you're going to be set back and disappointed. The great thing is, even if it's hard in the beginning, you get better, and can do more, and it becomes this snowball effect and by the first month you'll start seeing your body changing. Maybe only a little, but you'll see it, and that's what's so encouraging.
Dealing with procrastination and lack of motivation. There have been plenty of days where I didn't feel like working out; I was in a terrible mood, or tired, or a little sore, I didn't feel like getting sweaty etc. There are a few ways I dealt with this:
•Just fucking do it. I knew I'd feel worse if I didn't, both inside and out. The more I put it off and felt sorry for myself the worse it was going to get. And lo and behold, I almost always felt better once I started working out. I usually had a certain time I'd try to get it done by, but just get it done, even if it's late. Do you have an hour? Then you have time for P90X.
•Think of something you'd rather do, and make that your reward. I said to myself, I'll play this new game after I work out, and only if. I'll watch that movie and get lazy after I work out.
•Think of yourself in perfect shape, exactly how you want to look, and remember that if you keep working out you will look like that. Or, look at pictures of fit people on Tumblr and get inspired. Check out tags like fitblr, P90X, health etc. If you find yourself getting jealous and sad and thinking I'll never look like that remember you have your own body, and you can at least look the best your body is meant to look if you just get up and workout.
Things I didn't do I wish I had:
•Taken more before and during pictures. They recommend you take six pictures in different stances before and at different phases of the 90 day work out. I didn't want to/forgot after a while. Still, I can see the results myself. Muscle definition, clothes fitting better, feeling better etc. I have pictures of before I started P90X and it's obvious I've changed.
•Written things down. Measurements, exercises and what I did, when I started using heavier weights and all that jazz. I couldn't print out the chart everything came with, and Tony tells you to write things down in like every single workout, I started to feel guilty. And yet, I could still feel myself being able to do more and pushing myself to do it; I know for a fact I improved. But I would've liked to have seen it on paper.
•I stopped doing Yoga X altogether after about a month and three weeks. I don't know why, but it was so frustrating. Maybe I could do it better now that I'm stronger, but I sorta wish I'd managed to stick with it. Still, I'm doing something in place of it I feel is a decent substitute. More cardio!
Other tips:
•Tony is always right. He may say cheesy things and you may think he's wrong, but he's not. He knows what he's talking about. "Do your best and forget the rest, don't forget to breathe, engage all your muscles" Tony has a tip for every workout and if you listen to him and really think about it it can be helpful.
•More reps=lean, less=buff. That didn't make sense to me at first and I still don't know how to explain it but it's true. 8-10 for buffness, 12-15 (or more) for lean.
•Set a minimum goal for yourself. Do at least __ reps. Set the bar higher as you go on, two at a time, but if you're feeling tired always try to push for that minimum. Don't skip an exercise unless you really think you're gonna hurt yourself.
•If you want awesome abs, you actually have to work on everything else first. You've got to burn fat on top, not by doing crunches but by doing cardio, because other wise you're just building muscle behind fat and pushing it out. It makes your torso thicker. Thankfully, as long as you follow your workout, you should be fine. Don't abuse Ab Ripper X.
•When your sweat starts to get cold, and your skin is cold to the touch some time during your workout, I learned that means you're burning fat! It's a really satisfying feeling.
•Taking breaks is okay, but make them short. You do have to watch your heart rate, and it might be a good idea to get a monitor, but generally it'll probably be obvious when you need to stop and catch your breath. But don't go sit down and get distracted! Don't sit down at all. It's even worse for your heart and lungs if you sit. Stretch or walk slowly around the house for 15-30 seconds, maybe no more than a minute if you really need it. Then get right back to it!
•If it seems like things are going by too fast when you start, and you have no idea what's going on, don't freak out. Watch it first, pause or rewind. It's a video, you're in control of it.
•Celebrate small victories! I put a tally on my white board each day, and for some reason it was really satisfying.
I only missed one full day out of the whole plan so far. I thought I might quit early but I guess I wanted it just the right amount to keep me going.
I hope you learned something, and maybe want to start P90X. It's hardcore, but it's doable, even if you're starting from scratch like I did. As the slogan goes, Bring It!
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