Has anyone done p90x?

[bdm860]

Well I just finished my 90 days of p90x, and I’m excited so I want to talk about it. 

First a little background:

1.   I’m 30 years old and have been skinny all my life for the most part.  I was about 5’11” in 8th grade when I stopped growing, and weighed like 140 all through high school and college, and up until about 2 years ago I was 150-160 for most of my 20’s.  Sometime last summer I got up to about 185.  For someone who has always been skinny, it was a shocker when I looked at the BMI index and it said I had just crossed over into overweight.  Still skinny though in my arms and legs, all the weight was around my belly.  Pants that a couple of years ago were too big on me and couldn’t stay up without a belt suddenly were too tight.  Started wearing sweats often because all my other pants fit too tight and were very uncomfortable.

2.   Ate terrible for the most part.  We’re talking pizza, burgers, and sugary breakfast cereal for practically all my meals, and a lot of junk food (cookies, chips) too. No alcohol, but a lot of soda.

Noticing my pants were getting tight, I tried to make small changes:

3.   Only very casually worked out, always took the stairs, live in a downtown area so I often walked to places, went to a spinning class once a week, and maybe did an elliptical or treadmill once or twice a week too.  Just making sure I get some exercise.

4.   Tried to slightly improve my diet, made my own juice all the time (I’ve always loved my juicer), cutback on how often I ate pizza, and ordered less from McDonalds (only 1 double cheeseburger instead of two).  Added a few more fruits, and veggies, and whole grains.

As you can imagine, didn’t really see much of a change, stayed in the 182-185 range for like 6 months.  Was getting married in 110 days, time to get serious.  Started p90x about 90 days ago…

5.    Figured I need to go hard or go home.  Bought p90x, weights, pull up bar, yoga mat, protein shakes (EAS not Beachbody), supplements (GNC not Beachbody).  I hate wasting money, so I was trying to set myself up for success.  Thought the bigger investment I made, the less likely I would be to quit.

6.   Totally cleaned up the diet and stuck to what p90x recommended.  No soda, pizza, burgers, candy, ice cream, or junk food for the last 90 days.  Measured portions, weighed food.  I’ve eaten the same breakfast (wheat toast with PB) almost everyday, had either tuna or grilled chicken for lunch and dinner every day. Protein bar, protein shake, fruit, and vegetables made up the rest every day.  [I worried about the diet part, one thing about me is I’m a very picky eater, but have no problem eating the same thing every day (like pizza!).  So the diet part I just needed to find a couple of things I could handle then I could just eat that every day.   First week was tough, but then I adjusted and grew to really enjoying what I was eating.

7.   Started 185 in January, just weighed in at 158 this morning, and you can definitely see defined muscle on me for like the first time ever!  Best part, 11 days till my wedding!


Some tough times though:
1st week was tough.  Very sore.  Was ready to quit if I didn’t see any progress that first week, stepped on the scale and was under 180! Woohoo, No longer overweight according to the BMI!

About 3 weeks in, I was driving home on the weekend, felt bloated, my pants still felt tight, I thought when I step on the scale tomorrow if I don’t see big improvement I’m going to quit.  Stepped on the scale, down to 175, I was pumped.  Never really thought about quitting again.

Easter was tough.  I made sure I ate before I went over the relatives’ house, brought a protein bar for a snack too.  But there was this huge dessert spread.  Tons of candy, cookies, pies, cakes, etc., and everyone gave me a hard time about not eating.  But I stuck to it.

Had a cake tasting for my wedding.  (And the next piece of junk food I ate I wanted to be my wedding cake).  Wasn’t sure what to do, so I ended up putting a little piece of cake in my mouth, tasting it, then would spit it out lol.

That’s my p90x story.  Stuck to the diet, stuck to the workout, and now 27 pounds lighter than when I started with some new muscles too.  After about the first week, I pretty consistently lost about 2lbs every week. Now after I get back from my honeymoon I can start to get fat again 

[fairweatherfan]

Congrats BDM! Glad you were able to be so committed, and saw such great results.  And congrats on getting married too!  Just be careful about not completely pitching the diet post-wedding; look for a good moderate place where you can have those bad foods once in awhile while still keeping up your good habits.

I've done a p90x workout here and there but never as a formal program.  Did Insanity which is p90's predecessor for awhile on the side, and that was pretty fun, though the dog's not a fan 

BTW, how is 185 at 5'11" obese?  I'm right around 185 myself and a couple inches shorter, and our BMI calculator just has me toward the higher end of overweight (I'm <10% bodyfat so I don't sweat it either way).

[bdm860]

BTW, how is 185 at 5'11" obese?  I'm right around 185 myself and a couple inches shorter, and our BMI calculator just has me toward the higher end of overweight (I'm <10% bodyfat so I don't sweat it either way).

Ha, good catch.  I meant overweight.  For a person who always used to be skinny, I'm used to thinking of overweight and obese as synonyms.

[fairweatherfan]

BTW if anyone's looking for workout recommendations I had very good results just switching my regular weightlifting routine to high reps (3x20 for most things, 3x25 for legs and lower back, varying higher rep stuff for abs).  Drop the weights down and focus on slower, controlled form too.

Did this for 3 months, then switched back to either 15/12/10 or 12/10/8 pyramid sets in January and found after a week or so of adjustment that I was a lot stronger - breaking personal bests everywhere, which is tough to do with ~13 years of lifting under my belt.  I try to switch things up regularly but nothing's worked as well as sticking with the higher reps for awhile.

[dark_lord]

Well I just finished my 90 days of p90x, and I’m excited so I want to talk about it. 

First a little background:

1.   I’m 30 years old and have been skinny all my life for the most part.  I was about 5’11” in 8th grade when I stopped growing, and weighed like 140 all through high school and college, and up until about 2 years ago I was 150-160 for most of my 20’s.  Sometime last summer I got up to about 185.  For someone who has always been skinny, it was a shocker when I looked at the BMI index and it said I had just crossed over into overweight.  Still skinny though in my arms and legs, all the weight was around my belly.  Pants that a couple of years ago were too big on me and couldn’t stay up without a belt suddenly were too tight.  Started wearing sweats often because all my other pants fit too tight and were very uncomfortable.

2.   Ate terrible for the most part.  We’re talking pizza, burgers, and sugary breakfast cereal for practically all my meals, and a lot of junk food (cookies, chips) too. No alcohol, but a lot of soda.

Noticing my pants were getting tight, I tried to make small changes:

3.   Only very casually worked out, always took the stairs, live in a downtown area so I often walked to places, went to a spinning class once a week, and maybe did an elliptical or treadmill once or twice a week too.  Just making sure I get some exercise.

4.   Tried to slightly improve my diet, made my own juice all the time (I’ve always loved my juicer), cutback on how often I ate pizza, and ordered less from McDonalds (only 1 double cheeseburger instead of two).  Added a few more fruits, and veggies, and whole grains.

As you can imagine, didn’t really see much of a change, stayed in the 182-185 range for like 6 months.  Was getting married in 110 days, time to get serious.  Started p90x about 90 days ago…

5.    Figured I need to go hard or go home.  Bought p90x, weights, pull up bar, yoga mat, protein shakes (EAS not Beachbody), supplements (GNC not Beachbody).  I hate wasting money, so I was trying to set myself up for success.  Thought the bigger investment I made, the less likely I would be to quit.

6.   Totally cleaned up the diet and stuck to what p90x recommended.  No soda, pizza, burgers, candy, ice cream, or junk food for the last 90 days.  Measured portions, weighed food.  I’ve eaten the same breakfast (wheat toast with PB) almost everyday, had either tuna or grilled chicken for lunch and dinner every day. Protein bar, protein shake, fruit, and vegetables made up the rest every day.  [I worried about the diet part, one thing about me is I’m a very picky eater, but have no problem eating the same thing every day (like pizza!).  So the diet part I just needed to find a couple of things I could handle then I could just eat that every day.   First week was tough, but then I adjusted and grew to really enjoying what I was eating.

7.   Started 185 in January, just weighed in at 158 this morning, and you can definitely see defined muscle on me for like the first time ever!  Best part, 11 days till my wedding!


Some tough times though:
1st week was tough.  Very sore.  Was ready to quit if I didn’t see any progress that first week, stepped on the scale and was under 180! Woohoo, No longer overweight according to the BMI!

About 3 weeks in, I was driving home on the weekend, felt bloated, my pants still felt tight, I thought when I step on the scale tomorrow if I don’t see big improvement I’m going to quit.  Stepped on the scale, down to 175, I was pumped.  Never really thought about quitting again.

Easter was tough.  I made sure I ate before I went over the relatives’ house, brought a protein bar for a snack too.  But there was this huge dessert spread.  Tons of candy, cookies, pies, cakes, etc., and everyone gave me a hard time about not eating.  But I stuck to it.

Had a cake tasting for my wedding.  (And the next piece of junk food I ate I wanted to be my wedding cake).  Wasn’t sure what to do, so I ended up putting a little piece of cake in my mouth, tasting it, then would spit it out lol.

That’s my p90x story.  Stuck to the diet, stuck to the workout, and now 27 pounds lighter than when I started with some new muscles too.  After about the first week, I pretty consistently lost about 2lbs every week. Now after I get back from my honeymoon I can start to get fat again 

this is awesome!  congrats kid   you have any before and after pics, or pics during ur progress?  just curious, u dont have to share if ur not comfortable.

[birdwatcher]

P90X, Insanity, Crossfit, MRT, they all work--they are all very, very hard. The good thing is, your body adapts to the intensity (but not the routines as all these programs are designed to change from week to week). Some of the crossfit WODs are simply for superhumans, and gives you a unique perspective on just how incredible olympic and some pro athletes truly are.
The diets, as some have said, don't always work with what you do. I too stick to a predominantly paleo-like diet, and it can be hard to generate enough fuel to get through these workouts 5-6 days a week without carbs. You need to eat a lot of fruit & veggies to get close to the energy you need, at least in my case. Now I carb load on weekends and that has been much better.
Anyhow, if you aren't a gym guy, P90x & insanity can both be done without or with few weights, so go with it, especially if you are disciplined enough to work out at home.
If you do like the gym, download a crossfit app on your phone and look through the workouts and try one that seems achieveable to you. Or go online and find some MRT workouts, you'll only regret it the next day

[Moranis]

anyone tried p90x2?