In December I decided that I wanted to lose a significant amount of weight in time for the big three-oh.I don’t usually make resolutions because everyday presents an opportunity to start something new, and my new year happens every March.
I’ve never really been concerned about my weight, but turning 30 and perhaps-maybe-what-if having a baby was in my future (I’m still kinda on the fence about the whole just-cuz-I-have-a-uterus-I-should-have-a-baby-thing), I should really do something about this 20 pounds I gained in the past two years on top of the 15-20 pounds I really didn’t need.
I also hate the idea of counting calories, because we don’t eat calories, we eat food. And I’ve always maintained that since I rarely eat fast food or junk food, I didn’t need to count no stinkin’ calories. (Turns out I was wrong about that)
So when my boyfriend decided to take a cue from a good friend of his and start P90x, he asked me to join him. And I said yes.
What was I thinking?
It’s only been a week, but there have been many revelations.
Not eating enough
I’m not eating enough to sustain my current weight, which is curious, because if I’m not, how did I get here? I did a food diary for a week prior to starting that crazy fitness program and calculated about a 500-900 calorie deficiency on any given day of the week. And then I remembered that your body will put itself in starvation mode if you undereat, meaning it will store food instead of burning it off. I still haven’t figured out how to eat the necessary calories to sustain my desired weight plus the extra calories I’d need for P90x, so I’m working on it.
Not exercising enough
My level of physical activity is severely lacking. When I was living in Brooklyn, I rode my bike pretty much any and everywhere as my main mode of transportation. I was clocking in a minimum of 30 miles a week. Then I moved Upstate to get out of NYC for a while and go back to school. While I wasn’t driving to school but was doing a lot of walking to and from the bus, the amount of bike riding I was doing dropped significantly. I did manage to clock 10 miles each way going to and from school twice a week when the weather cooperated. If I were maintaining a consistent level of physical activity, I might have an extra problem with the undereating.
Hungry all the time
In the very few short days that I’ve been on P90x, my appetite has definitely increased. That has encouraged me to try the 6 meals a day option instead of generally accepted 3 meals a day. That way, I could spread 2000+ calories over the day instead of trying to pack it all in at 3 meals.
I’ve been tracking my P90x experience over at my personal blog.
Did you make resolutions this year?
How’s that been going for you?
I tried to check out your personal blog, but the link did not work. I am wondering how P90X worked out for you. I am a vegetarian, and am interested in doing P90X but am concerned about making the financial commitment b/c Im concerned about the diet issues. I dont like processed veg*n products…and fear that I will need those or lots of protein shakes to make it work… Any suggestions, comments, etc?
I pretty much bombed on P90X. I like that there’s a different video for each day of the week, but I found myself liking some more than others and losing motivation fast. It’s hard for me to engage in physical activity that looks like exercise. I have to trick myself, like going for a bicycle ride, hike, or playing a game like volleyball or something else high energy.
As for diet, I found myself eating a lot more than usual (you have to in order to keep your body from going into starvation mode and storing fat, as well as for muscle development), and I created my own menu plan for my height, weight, and goals.
For anyone, regardless of being an omnivore or vegetarian, you have to spend some time working on a menu and stick to it.
I spent a couple of days working on a menu that would give me enough calories, balance, and satiety. For the 2 weeks I spent on P90X, I drank about 2, 400-600 calorie chocolate hemp protein green smoothies a day, a lot of salads, quinoa, nut butter, and legumes at every meal. I also ate eggs every day.