Bad nutrition = no (positive) results

When I first decided to start the 90 day journey with P90X, I was a bit worried how I could do it. And now here it is: week number 13: the final week with P90X! My thoughts are going crazy: at the same time I'm excited, sad, happy and nervous. Excited and happy, because I showed myself, that I can commit to a long program and I can finish it. Sad, because this journey is almost over and nervous (and also a bit excited), because I need to choose a new program to start after this one. There are so many good ones to choose from!

Last week I shared my frustration with not getting visible results. I knew that I had no trouble keeping up with my workouts, but nutrition has been my trouble for some time now. I've noticed that since my goal is not weight lose any more, it's easier to let myself have a treat every now and then. . But I also know, that nutrition is the key to any change: you cannot workout enough to make a change, if your eating poorly. That's why I planned to write down everything I eat. I did will the first two days, but on Wednesday I got too busy to write everything down, and then I forgot about it. But as promised, here are my first two days from last week. I noticed right away on Monday, that once you need to write down everything you bite, it makes it easier to avoid all the little nibbling. It's so easy to grab a little something every time you pass kitchen, but once you know, it all goes to the list, you sure don't want to be writing "piece of chocolate, bite of pie..."

As starting with my final week with P90X, I will do what I did the very first time I took part in a accountability group: I printed my meal plan and placed on the kitchen wall. After I had ate a meal from the plan, I made a check on the plan. If I did some modifications on the way, I wrote them on the plan. That way I kept tack what I was eating, but it didn't take as much time as writing each nibble on the paper. And hey, that's why I have the plan: so I don't need to think what should I be eating next!

Here is my meal plan for the final week, wish me luck!

Hitting plateau

I'm running short on my P90X workouts. I've got two weeks left: this week with week 12 routines and next week's recovery week. For the past nearly three months I've been working out approximately 5-6 hours/week, which sounds (and is) a lot. so you would think that by now, I would be in  an awesome shape and you could see lots of result compared to the beginning. True, I've gotten a lot stronger and I can do more push-ups than ever, but still I body looks about the same as it was in the beginning.

Last weekend I came across a study about hitting plateau when working out a lot. Accordingly to the study, it seems that your body easily gets used to the harder workouts and your normal energy burn hits plateau instead of your body burning more energy all the time. This would explain why I'm not losing any weight (not even my intention) and why I'm not seeing much result when looking in the mirror.

So what now? I've been trying to find different ways to recover from plateau. Same things keep coming up: eat right, exercise, sleep. Keep track of all these three for two weeks and see, if you find what's been going wrong. I have been doing my workouts, so that's no problem. BUT I know last week I wasn't sleeping well for several reasons, so that's one thing I will focus on this week. I will head to bed at 10 pm the latest each night. Also, I've had more sugars in my nutrition last couple of weeks and that's something I know I will have to put an end to. So, my challenge for the next couple of days will be to write down everything I'm eating -and I mean everything! And to make this a real challenge, I will publish this list right here in my blog. Getting back to basics is sometimes all you need, hope this also works for me!

Do as I say, not as I do :)

Jet lag is something I've really been getting used to lately!

Flying through 7 time zones is though on your body. Before hand I was really worried about the jetlag I would get when arriving to Finland, I didnät want to spend my Christmas in a blur, so already before hand I decided to do everything in order to get good sleeps and get to the right time quickly. I had read earlier, that working out after reaching your destination will help with jetlag. After arriving to Finland I took a walk in the rain instead of taking a nap like rest of my family. Next morning I went for a slow run to wake up my body. I think those workouts were essential in getting to Finnish time. I didn't really feel tired or blurry at all and I didn't have any headaches.

Getting back to routines: Shakeology for breakfast!

How ever, something happened on our way back, and I just didn't do my workouts the following day of arriving home. Maybe it was because everything had gone so fine going west. And maybe, because I was thinking that I just might wake up a bit earlier in the morning, but that would only allow me to do my workouts early (which would be a good thing). On the first day back home I was active with unpacking and putting things to their own places, but that wasn't enough. At 7 pm I just couldn't keep myself awake and I dozed off on the couch. My whole body felt totally asleep and had trouble trying to get to my bed for a night sleep instead of sleeping on the couch. Luckily I'm a fast learner, so next morning, after waking up at 5 am, I decided to do as I've told others: workout to help with jet lag! So after waking up early, I put on my workout gear and headed down to basement to my fitness area. I did PiYo Sculpt and I've felt much more awake the whole day. And I was able to stay awake until 10 pm! I did wake up again after 5 am on Monday morning, but that was ok. It was anyway time to get back to routines: morning workout with P90X, shower, Shakeology and getting kids ready for school.

Sometimes you just have to do it the hard way in order to get things going the right way :)

Long time no see!

Wow, it's been a really long time since I last had a chance to update my blog!

I was away for three weeks on Christmas time, and I didn't really have a change to do my P90X -workouts there. I used Beachbody's On Demand and did various workouts through that. It was nice to try out different workouts and I was happy, that I could do something even in small spaces and without any equipment! I also did many long walks with my family and friends. What a great way to get fresh air, enjoy good company and keep fit -all at the same time! It was also great to notice, that even though I didn't have a meal plan for three weeks and was not in charge of making the meals on most days, the scale was still showing the same number once I got back.It feels really good to notice that  the healthy habits have began to be routine to me -I know hoe to eat healthy and I want to stay active no matter where :)

After returning back home last weekend, I got back with my P90X. I started this week with week 8, so the last phase is now on! I had some trouble making the meal plan, since all of the sudden I'm suppose to eat a lot of carbs and cut back on protein! I just did my meal plan for next week and I know it's not following the nutrition guide to the T, but I'm hoping to keep getting stronger anyway :) Since my goal is not to lose any weight, I noticed that I'm a bit more relaxed with my nutrition. But of course I want my 90 day photos to show difference to the "before" photos, so I'm going to push hard for these last four weeks!

Meal plan for P90X week 9

Let's get Hammered and Chiseled!

In the beginning of this month, Beachbody launched a new fitness program, the Master's Hammer and Chisel. This week I finally tried it out myself. On Thursday I skipped my P90X yoga and did Hammer's plyo and today instead of Kenpo X I gave Chisel agility a try. Boy, what a pragram!

As you know, I've been now doing P90X for the past six weeks. So when I pressed play on Thursday morning to start Hammer Plyometrics, I got startled and though some stranger had walked into our house, 'cause I heard a strange voice. :) But in a second I realised, that the voice was coming from the tv and belonged to Sagi Kalev and I remembered I was about to get hammered :)

I've done the Plyometrics X now couple of times, but even though Hammer Plyometrics is only half the length, I was totally beaten after that. If you have thought that working out at home is lame and inefficient, think again! My maximum heart rate got up to 175! Some of the moves took a little time to figure out how they were meant to be done, especially since I don't have a chin-up bar so I use a resistance band instead. While doing burbees and chin-ups, I found it hard to get a hold of the resistance band after making a burbee. The pace in this workout is fast, so you don't have time to stay still.

Since it's been way over a month since my last 21 Day Fix Extreme -workout, it was nice to get back to a workout with Autumn Calabrese today with Chisels Agility. I chose the agility -workout for my second try out, 'cause it sounded like something a bit different.  And it sure was! In Chisel Agility you don't need any equipment, so it suits well even when not working out at your own fitness area. Some of the moves required a bit room, but you could also do them in a modified way, not moving around so much.

One thing I have really liked about Beachbody's programs is, that there is so much variety in the programs. I've gone to the gym for several years in the past, but I find that I'm always doing the same things with same equipment, which gets boring at some point (and usually leads to not feeling like going to the gym). The Master's Hammer and Chisel won't let you down on this one either: you do high knees, burbees, diagonal squat jumps and much more. So if you're looking for a new workout, why not give Master's Hammer and Chisel a try? Contact me, if you want more info :)

Transformation Tuesday

So today is my day 30 with P90X. And everyone doing Beachbody -programs knows that it's time for new pictures and measures!I keep telling all my challengers, that don't get disappointed, if the scale hasn't changed or the measures haven't gone done as much as you would have liked. Take pictures, compare them, and then make up your mind.
 
As I mentioned in my earlier post today, my measures hadn't really changed from day 0, even though I can feel myself getting stronger and I know I'm doing the workouts better with heavier weights and more reps than I did on day 1. So, before gettin upset about "not making progress" I took my own advice, took new pictures and made a collage with Day 0. And I don't feel one bit disappointed when looking at the pics (sorry for the bad quality of the pics, maybe Santa will bring a new phone with a better camera ;) ) For the first time ever, I'm starting to see show some abs and I can't believe these pictures are from my own body! This really makes me want to push even harder the next 30 days :)

 

Look back at Phase 1

I survived the first phase of P90X! When I first started with P90X, I was worried about two things: how will I manage the intense, long workouts and how will I be able to follow the nutrition plan.

After doing PiYo and 21 Day Fix Extreme, my workout times doubled with P90X. I started the program with the Lean -version, because the workouts seemed a bit easier. That probably was a smart idea. The 21 Day Fix Extreme had gotten me used to working with weights, so that also helped a lot to get things going. I was happy to see, that each week I could add reps or do the moves with heavier weights. The amount of push-ups was a bit of a shock -they sure are not my favourites!

I really liked that the workouts were quite different including tire runs, whacky jacks and dreya rolls. At the same time, some moves were included in several workouts, which gave me the change to just consentrade on my form instead of trying to figure out what was coming next or what the move was about.

And then the nutrition. I noticed already during week 1, that I really needed to eat enough to be able to push throuhg the workouts. Waking up in the middle of the night do to hunger was something I didn't want to do another time! My goal with P90X was not to loose weight, but to see, if I can do this intense program and to get a but more musscle. I'm not going for a fitness-model type, my goal is to get a healthy, fit body. One thing I feel I failed in my nutrition was the carbs. On many days, I had more carbs than what the guide said I should. The positive thing though is, that the second amount of carbs usually was full rye bread, so even though I was eating a bit more than I should, I made the healthier choises in carbs. Starting now with Phase two: Energy Booster,  I'm really happy to see, that I'm allowed to have two portions of carbs each day :)

As a result, I feel really confident in starting week 5 and Phase 2. I'm proud of myself pushing through the Phase 1 and giving my best everyday to each of the workouts. And my measures? Nearly all my measures were just the same as in the beginning, except I had lost an inch in both thighs and my arms (when flexed) were almost an inch bigger than in the beginning, so that shows that the arms are really getting stronger :)

For Phase 2, I switched to classic -version, since I wanted to try to different workout, especially the Plyometrics. The Plyo was something I first hated in 21 Day Fix Extreme, but with time, I fell in love with it.