Life After Day 90

So you've finished your 90 days of P90X. You've gotten awesome results and you're flying high. So what now?

Yoga

The most hated workout in P90X has to be Yoga X. A lot of people love P90X, but can't stand the Yoga. The most common reason is that it's just too long. Indeed, especially for us Americans, trying to stay calm, focused on our breathing, and in uncomfortable poses and moves that are just HARD for a whole hour and a half is difficult to get excited for even if it's only once a week. We'd rather pump weights, jump around, and run for miles.

Supplements

Before I started P90X I never truly got the concept of supplements nor did I think they were necessary. In college the only supplement I really ever used was a cheap whey protein. It wasn't until I got into my fitness craze that I realized the importance of supplements and how they can take our results to the next level. 

100%

One of the alarming facts about P90X is that only 25% of people actually finish the program! So for every 4 people who buy P90X, only 1 person is completing the entire 90 days.

P90X Vs. The Gym

While I’m not here to say that going to the gym instead of investing in an extreme home fitness program like P90X is a bad idea, I would like to talk about the pro’s of doing P90X rather than going to the gym. While many people have had great results going to the gym, there’s also many people out there without the proper workout and nutrition knowledge who commit to a gym, get frustrated because their results plateau, and either stay frustrated or give up working out entirely. I used to be one of those “gym people” with little knowledge and who’s results simply never took off because I had no solid workout routines or guidance. So here’s my take on why investing and committing to P90X may be the best choice over a gym membership.

Shakeology

Heard about Shakeology and wondering what all the fuss is about? Read my in-depth review to find out about all the benefits of drinking Shakeology!

Trust your Program

Have faith that your program will work...read on.

P90X for Women

I've often had talks with women who are looking to get in shape about P90X. Most of the time I hear the same thing, "I think P90X is too extreme for me" or "I don't want to get bulky muscles from P90X". I try to explain that anyone can do P90X and you can tailor the workouts to your preferences so you're not getting bulky but instead toned. I've decided to write a post that goes a little more in-depth as to why P90X is perfect for women and why they should try it.

What is a GMO?

A movement in the U.S. that has started to gain ground is the one against GMOs. What is a GMO? GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism and is "a plant or animal that has been genetically altered by scientists to improve its ability to grow in non-native environments, resist pests, tolerate extreme weather conditions, produce more food (like milk in cows), or show other desired traits. In other words, a GMO is a new version of a food plant or animal created by scientists through genetic engineering (GE) techniques." (www.strongertogether.coop). 

What's the big deal? First off, we're no longer eating nature made foods, instead its something that was created by a scientist in a lab. Think of the example of plants breeding with fish, not possible in nature, but actually happening in labs to help grow plants cheaper and faster. Secondly, there's possibilities that these GMOs could have long term negative health effects, like creating new food allergens that didn't exist in previous generations or even possibly increasing the chances of forming cancerous cells in our bodies.

So why isn't this movement more mainstream? Because of a company called Monsanto. Here's a quick summary about Monsanto from steveedwardsfitness.com:

"Back in the 70s our government in its infinite wisdom allowed companies to patent living things that had been genetically modified. This meant that companies like Monsanto could patent the plant seeds they were tampering with. Alas, if only our politicians had remembered their elementary school biology they may have given pause.

Plants, if you didn’t sleep through this chapter of class like everyone in Washington apparently did, breed by dispersion; their seeds fly through the air looking for a place to prosper. This means that if you genetically modify a plant and don’t keep it inside it will eventually wind up sowing its seed with something natural.

The lawyers at Monsanto, who didn’t sleep through any class except ethics, apparently, saw this as one giant business opportunity. Because as soon as their patented corn would mingle with the neighbor’s natural corn they’d find a patent infringement get to work.

Since lawyers for multi-billion dollar corporations never lose to farmers, even those who’ve done nothing but farm the way their fathers did, and pretty soon Monsanto was forcing these farmers either out of business or to buy their genetically altered seeds. The latter makes them, essentially, indentured servants (another term from elementary school if you remember your Civil War classes) because they are forced to buy Monsanto’s seeds at whatever price they ask. Last year (you know, the one with the world recession that we’re still in), Monsanto raised their corn seeds by 25% and their soy by 28%. I’m sure their farmers are livin’ large."

The first crops to be genetically modified were corn, soybeans, and cotton. Have you read the ingredients of the most common processed food on our grocery store shelves these days? Corn and soy. And Monsanto has fought for these products NOT to be labeled as GMO, so we the consumer, have no idea what we're getting or eating.

So basically Monsanto has prevented the possible negative health affects GMOs can cause us from reaching the masses. Currently they have influenced our government to try to influence the rest of the world to do the same. And they have also had success censoring anything negative about them out there on the internet. For example, the below picture was posted on facebook by a group called the Raw Brahs:

The post was removed by facebook soon after being posted. People have actually had their accounts suspended by facebook for posting negative pictures, articles, or videos about Monsanto. There's a reason they don't want the negative publicity out there, and it's most likely because GMOs are bad for you. There's also been an article released recently how Monsanto will not give their own executives GMOs to eat in their cafeteria. 

So what can you do about it? First off, buy organic. Anything with a USDA Organic seal means that it cannot have any sort of GMO involved. A lot of people think organic = expensive, but just be smart when you shop. Buy in season produce, and try to find nearby farmer's markets. Also, just think about how the money you put into organic food now may save you from health costs caused by GMOs later in life. The #2 thing to do is gain more knowledge about the subject. The internet has plenty of articles, and there are many books and documentaries (Food, Inc) out there that can inform you about GMOs and what you can do. Finally, check out http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/, which will tell you what to buy and what not to buy.

And hopefully my blog doesn't get shut down after this post...if so the conspiracies are true :)

Why Sitting is Bad For You

It's been awhile, but I thought I'd give this blog a go again. Today's topic...the sedentary lifestyle (I would like to give credit to A.J. Jacobs Drop Dead Healthy for some of the facts and info below).

My job, and a lot of jobs out there, require us to sit for 8 or more hours a day. If you didn't know, sitting is not the body's natural position...standing is. Sitting, in actuality, is bad for you. Some people are even saying it's the new smoking. Sitting can put you at risk of heart disease, obesity, and some types of cancer.

Like I said before, we weren't meant to sit. We started as hunters and gatherers, always on the move, and that continued for the most part to our grandparents' generation, when they'd be walking 10-12 miles a day, up hill, both ways, according to their stories. But we've become a sedentary society. TV shows, movies, and video games are the rage these days, and we sit for those. For office jobs, we're sitting for most of our shift. It's a scary thought to think about how much of us sit throughout the day.

Are you safe if you go to the gym once a day for an hour and then sit the rest of the day? According to studies, no.

What's the problem with sitting? The first obvious thing is that we burn less calories. Secondly, when we are marathon sitting, it can change our body's metabolism. According to author and biologist Olivia Judson, a molecule called lipase is crucial to helping muscles absorbing fat. When we sit, we don't produce lipase, which allows fat to deposit itself as body fat or clog arteries.

Here's another study:

- The University of South Carolina compared heart problems of men who sat more than 23 hours a week and men who sat less than 11 hours per week. The men who sat for more than 23 hours a week had a 64% higher chance of fata heart disease. It's important to note that some of the men who sat for 23+ hours did go to the gym.

So how do we combat sitting? Movement. If you started reading this blog and stood up to read the rest, you're on the right course. I am just as guilty of sitting too much, as my work requires it, with office work, and driving. At work now, I try to stand as often as possible. Get a few books, prop your laptop or keyboard on it, and stand while typing. You'll find that standing takes a lot of work, but your muscles in your legs are working, your back's working, and your shoulders are working, which burns calories and energy. If you have to sit, at least get up every 20 minutes and walk around, or fidget...tapping your foot while sitting still can help with cardiovascular fitness.

Some other tips:

- Walk whenever you can. Avoid the elevators, escalators, and those moving tracks at the airport.

- Walking up hills and stairs is better than just flat surfaces.

- Stand or squat when eating lunch (this could be awkward)

- Have a treadmill and are on your laptop a lot at home? Move your laptop to the treadmill and type while walking. They actually make treadmills for this, but they're very expensive.

- Like TV and video games? Stand while watching/playing. Studies show this actually gets you mote into and excited about the games.

After reading this blog, I don't want you to freak out and think about how you sat more than 23 hours last week. Just make a conscious effort to sit less and move more going forward and you will be fine.

One last bonus tip: Don't sit for long on the toilet...this has been known to cause hemorrhoids due to putting more strain on your bowels. The natural position for the human species to take a #2 is below:

 

 

It does take a little balance, but in actuality, feels more natural and you can go a lot quicker. They actually sell platforms online that can help you squat. They're called "Nature's Platforms". Haha.

 

Paleo, Vegan, or Vegetarian?

I would say about 4 years ago I really got into health and fitness. I started working out 5-6 days a week and began eating healthier. But the eating part is something that has taken me 4 years to really start mastering (and I would still consider myself learning about what is best to put into my body, it is an on-going process). I dabbled in different nutrition plans. I attempted a paleo diet (this lasted a week, a little too much meat for me), gone vegan (a month), and vegetarian (a couple months).

I would say for most people nutrition is the hardest thing to nail down when getting into shape, and like I mentioned above it was no different for me. I knew what was bad (fast food, high sodium foods, etc), but there's so many differing opinions out there on what type of diets are right. You have the paleo enthusiasts who think our cave-man ancestors had it right with animal meats and veggies. You have the opposite side of the spectrum of vegans, who think dairy, meat, and animal products can cause multiple health problems and increase the chances of cancer and disease within  the body. Then you have everything in between.

I've backed all these point of views at some point or another, thinking that this diet or that diet was the "right" diet. But after 4 years of tinkering, researching, and trying all these diets, I've come to the realization there is no perfect diet that will guarantee you living until you're 100 years old. Each diet has strengths, but they also have weaknesses, which is why I'm now taking the flexitarian approach and assimilating all these diets into my own diet. I've come to the conclusion that going to one extreme with your diet is not right or healthy for you in the long run. And I mean this in general, because our bodies are so individualized and different from one another that some unique people may be able to live off of one diet extreme their whole lives with no health problems. But for the common person out there, these extremes can hurt you in the long run. I've read about people who were vegans for 15-25 years, and began having health complications because they lacked the nutrients, vitamins, and benefits that certain animal products provided, and are now eating meat. I've also heard about people who ate WAY too much meat and had health complications because of it.

Balance is key. I also think that when we start treating our diets like religion two things happen. One,  we stress the hell out of ourselves to stay strictly to our diet ethics...we start to miss out on things in life (like eating the wedding cake at a friend's wedding because it has dairy) or not eating out with friends because they don't share the same diet beliefs as us. Two, we start to become judgmental of those who don't share our diet beliefs. I found myself doing this while trying out the vegan diet, and it just makes you miserable, and pushes others away from you.

The thing that really drove this new take on nutrition though is reading Drop Dead Healthy (I've mentioned this book before and really recommend it). The author, A.J. Jacobs, wrote about an aunt of his in the book who was an extremely holistic, healthy vegetarian. She did everything healthy a person could possibly do to avoid toxins, disease, and sickness. And what happened at the end of the book? She died from cancer at the age of 63. Another man Jacobs mentioned in the book was Jim Fixx, who helped start the modern fitness revolution who died at the age of 52 of a heart attack after his daily run. These people did all the right things, health wise, and still died (albeit in their fifties and sixties at least). Unfortunately we can die tomorrow by walking across the street and being hit by a car, putting to waste all our efforts in living a healthy life. Death will take us at some point regardless of all we've done to prevent death in the first place, sometimes unfairly, but these examples go to show that a diet like veganism doesn't necessarily protect us from disease. cancer, and death. I don't think any diet can.

BUT, this is not to say it's okay to eat all the processed, crappy food out there that is detrimental to your health. If you want to risk going to McDonalds everyday just because healthy people still die and you're thinking what's the point, then be my guest. I still believe, regardless of whether it's meat, veggies, grains, nuts, etc, that if you eat the RIGHT foods, you're putting yourself in the fast track to a longer, healthier, life. Eating organic, whole foods, will make you feel good, and will put the right fuel in your body to knock your workouts out of the park. Here's some of the things I will eat and will still not eat now:

- I've gone back to eating chicken at least 5 times a week. I still do not like eating any type of red meat on a consistent basis, but will eat it on occasion.

- I eat egg whites now, but not whole eggs.

- For the most part I do not consume much dairy, but have allowed it back into my diet at times, mostly in the form of supplements (whey protein). I will have cheese once in awhile.

- I eat a load of carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and black beans. Fruit wise, 1-2 bananas a day, 1-2 apples a day, frozen blueberries, and raisins. I try to watch getting too much sugar from fruits, although it's way better than processed sugar. I will also juice a bunch of different greens (kale, parsely, cucumbers, collards) every so often.

- And of course I get all my super foods from Shakeology (I will always back this product, it is legit).

Right now, physically and mentally, I feel the best I ever had with this diet. When I was vegan, I felt more energy and awake, but very weak during work outs. When I went paleo (for a week mind you, very small sample size), I felt amazingly strong but like crap on the inside. And I guess that's the point of this post...if you're looking to get in shape and start eating right, you won't get it right the first time. You could follow all the diet plans out there, but remember, those are usually tailored to a large mass of people, and everyone is unique and different. It's going to take time before you get it right, so don't get frustrated if one diet isn't working right away, it most likely means you just need to make some changes to it to get it right.

In the end, do your research before starting a diet. Get both points of views, both the positives and the negatives, and evaluate whether you feel it would be the best diet for you.

And one last tip, if weight loss is your goal, don't use a scale to measure your success, instead use waist size. If you're eating the right foods and working out, you'll most likely be gaining muscle, and the scale won't be a true indicator of your success. So keep an eye on how many waste sizes you're dropping instead.

P90X vs Insanity vs Body Beast

I often get a lot of questions of what Beachbody program I prefer most or which is the best. So I decided to review 5 of Beachbody's major programs and compare them to help those out there looking to get into a program but unsure which one to go with.

P90X

Muscle Building: 8

This is a great muscle building program, where at least 3 times a week you are doing resistance training. It's back to basics, good ol' fashioned, weight lifting, along with some newer modern lifting techniques mixed in. The only reason this didn't get a 10 is because P90X doesn't have a great leg routine...if you're really looking to build muscle in your legs you'll have to look elsewhere.

Cardio: 4

This is where P90X falls flat a little. It's plyo work out is good, but compares in no way to Insanity workouts. The Kenpo is fun the first time but just sort of fizzles out after doing it a few times. And it's cardio work out is just pathetic.

Variety: 9

This is where P90X shines. With P90X you get resistance training, plyometrics, yoga, stretching, and Kenpo. The only reason I didn't give a 10 is because you repeat phase 1 in phase 3 again, and while it was fun to see improvements you've made, it starts to feel like more of the same. But within a weekly basis, nothing beats P90X.

Total Points: 21

INSANITY

Muscle Building: 2

If you're main goal is to gain muscle, Insanity is not for you. Insanity is a cardio based work out program that will melt the fat off your body and get you toned and ripped, but it won't build much muscle, simply because you're using your body weight for all the exercise...no weights involved.

Cardio: 10

This is where Insanity excels...making you sweat puddles and work out til you drop from exhaustion.

Variety: 5

While Insanity has many workouts, the problem is that they begin to all blend together and seem the same. With P90X, you knew what the next work out entailed and how it's different from the rest. With Insanity, if I didn't look at the actual disc name, I probably wouldn't be able to guess what the workout actually was.

Total Points: 17



BODY BEAST

Muscle Building: 10

If you want to get big, this is your program. All lifting, heavy weights, great leg workouts compared to P90X.

Cardio: 2

This program has basically 1 cardio workout...you don't do it much during the program because the goal is to gain muscle and weight. While the cardio workout is good, it doesn't come close to Insanity.

Variety: 7

There are a lot of different resistance work outs in this program, and each one is very unique. However, you're not going to get variety like you do with P90X.

Total Score: 19



P90X2

Muscle Building: 7

P90X2 will build you some muscle, but this program differs from P90X in that it focuses more on functional fitness...in that you're doing work outs that focus more on your core, stability, and balance. Because of this, some of the resistance work outs require you to use lighter weights because your focusing on your stability and balance and also to prevent injury. However, you can tailor the program to help you focus more on building muscle and take away some of the stability/balance factors that prevent this.

Cardio: 3

P90X2 claims it has no specific cardio routines, so this was going to be a low score regardless. There's no Kenpo or any specific cardio work out, but Plyocide will get you sweating, and the other work outs have cardio qualities. But overall, this program can't stand toe to toe with an Insanity workout.

Variety: 10

P90X2 has the most unique work outs out there, and most importantly, are pretty darn fun. Every phase has different work outs (no repeating a phase like P90X or Body Beast), and if you buy the ultimate kit, it adds two other resistance work outs so you can add a 4th phase. The balance/stability aspects they added are great, as well as Phase 1 which is all about building a great core. There's still yoga, they added foam rolling as a recovery work out, and while I wasn't a big fan of PAP workouts initially, they've grown on me, and it really adds another dynamic to the program.

Total Score: 20



Insanity: The Asylum Volumes 1 and 2

Note: I combined volumes 1 and 2 since by themselves they only last 30 days. You can combine the two to make a 60 day program.

Muscle Building: 6

The Asylum workouts finally added weights to the equation. The program is still primarily focused on cardio and speed/agility, but it does add muscle building work outs to the mix. You can build some muscle with the program, but the program's main goal is to make you into an explosive athlete.

Cardio: 10

Like Insanity, this program will make you sweat like no other program, and there's some form of cardio in every single work out.

Variety: 9

Unlike the original Insanity, none of these workouts begin to blend together. Every one is unique and different, and you know what to expect. Also the fact that it combines cardio and weight lifting in some workouts, while focusing on agility, speed, explosiveness, and balance in others, this come close to a very complete program. You're not going to get huge with this program like Body Beast, but all other forms of fitness are represented in this program.

Total Score: 25



And the winner is...The Asylum (Volumes 1 and 2). I've just always loved these programs, and while the volumes individually wouldn't match up with P90X, P90X2, or Body Beast, together they make the best program in my opinion.

At the end of the day what program may be the best for you depends on your goals. Looking to lose weight and get ripped? Insanity is for you. Looking to get huge? Body Beast. Looking to become a better athlete? P90X2 and the Asylum would be best. Looking for a good initial program that adds variety to your fitness...P90X. And of course there are many other Beachbody programs I haven't tried yet (Les Mills Pump, Less Mills Combat, Turbo Fire, 10 Minute Trainer, etc).


Vegan Update:

I know it's been a while since I've updated this blog, but I thought I'd give a quick update on my Vegan experiment. It lasted for a little over a month, and overall I felt going Vegan made me feel more energized. However, since I travel so much, it was very difficult to maintain a Vegan diet, and I started getting stressed out over maintaining the diet. I started to learn you can't treat your diet like a religion, otherwise, you'll just stress out and a good intentioned diet will begin having unhealthy effects. I thinking adding a little meat to your diet isn't a bad thing (the right kind of meat of course; chicken, some fish, NO read meat). I would now consider myself a "flexitarian", where about 80% of the time I eat vegan, but I also add some meat to my meals. I hardly ever will consume dairy now, as I'd like to continue to keep that out of my diet, but I'll still enjoy occasional icecream and cheese.