Almost three weeks of glorious P90X workouts have already gone by. The fourth week is sort of a recovery week; there’s less emphasis on muscle building and a greater emphasis on total body workout. I’m not looking forward to it; this coming week will include two yoga sessions. Why did it have to be yoga that would repeat twice in one week? Couldn’t it have been any other workout? Really, any other workout at all would have been preferable. Read more

I’ve survived the first two weeks of P90X. 14 days. More than 15 hours of workouts. More protein than I usually consume in a three month period. How do I feel? Pretty good about myself. I think, with these kinds of extreme workout/diet programs, if you don’t bail out after a few days, you’re probably going to stick it out. Read more

What’s the hardest part of P90X? Is it the dieting? Is the exercise programs? It may be that the hardest part of the program is not breaking it, at least not while trying to lead a normal life. This past week we had house guests: my wife’s cousin, her husband, and her two young boys. Now, as you may know, when you have guests over, you don’t usually tend to eat as well as you normally do, you certainly don’t worry about your usual fitness routine, and you probably don’t concern yourself with your eight hours minimum sleep every night. But I had to do all of those things. Read more

So, how can I sum up day two of P90X in one word? Plyometrics.

What’s plyometrics? It’s jumping exercises designed to make you burn calories fast, improve performance and sweat buckets.

And boy did I sweat. It sounded like someone turned on a faucet and let it pour over my exercise mats. Every time I bent over, a river of sweat rolled down my head and face and onto the floor. To put this into perspective, I was working out in my cool, dry exercise room located in my basement; I don’t sweat this much when I’m running a 5k outside underneath the sun. P90X builds in 30 second water breaks approximately every ten minutes in this 50 minute long video, and thank god, because without them, I’d be passed out somewhere between minutes 16 and 17. Read more

For those of you who haven’t seen the infomercials, P90X is a home exercise system designed by Tony Horton in conjunction with the health/fitness company, Beachbody. The program places great emphasis on a full body workout plan coupled with a strict nutritional guide. I’ve been curious about this program ever since I saw the ads on TV a few years ago. The results looked amazing, and unlike a lot of other exercise programs out there, the makers of P90X don’t pretend it’s going to be easy. It has always seemed to me that the average workout video is made by the snake oil salesman of the fitness world: promising incredible results with minimal 30 minute workouts. Read more

I enjoy a lean turkey sandwich. It’s tasty, delicious, low in calories, and it gives me a boost halfway through the day. Substituting the mayo for whole milk plain yogurt is a great way to give the sandwich that extra kick.

Kip’s Turkey Sandwich

Prep Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

2 oz. of turkey (preferably homemade turkey breast that’s been cut up, but lean deli meat will do)
1 slice of cheddar cheese
2 slices of whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons of whole milk plain yogurt as spread
several leaves of spinach
pepper for seasoning

Directions

It’s a sandwich. I think you can figure it out.

Nutritonal Information

Calories: 315 | Protein: 16g | Total Fat: 11g

Every morning, I make myself a power shake. I don’t buy any protein powders or anything. I just make it with natural ingredients. It’s loaded with healthy, essential fats and proteins.

Kip’s Power Shake

Prep Time: 5 min.

Ingredients

1 large banana
1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Drink.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 545 | Protein: 28g | Total Fat: 30g

Variations

If you’re looking to lower the fat, swap out the whole milk for a low-fat or non-fat plain yogurt. But stick to plain, otherwise, you’ll be giving yourself too much sugar. The natural sugars in the banana is enough.

Instead of bananas, try a fruit high in fiber like raspberries or blueberries. They also pack less calories and less sugar than a banana. However, if you’re not used to plain yogurt, the shake will probably be more sour than with a banana.

Yogurt is one of those great foods for you, but have you noticed when  you go to the store now you can’t get anything but no-fat or extremely low-fat yogurt? Are people still convinced that fat in foods leads to being fat? Whole milk plain yogurt is better than no-fat yogurt filled with sugar. That’s the thing. All these no-fat, low-fat remedies are filled with sugars, and sugar contains processed carbohydrates that will tack on the pounds. People should realize that something like whole milk plain yogurt which has healthy fats in it is a better food for you than a low fat yogurt containing sugar.

And what about foods like weight-control oatmeals? Regular oatmeal with nothing added in it, no extra fake sugars, no junk, is one of the absolute best foods on the planet for you. Cook it up with some fruit and nuts, and you have a terrific breakfast. Avoid those instant oatmeals loaded with sugars. Avoid any oatmeal with the word “diet” or “weight” in the title. Just buy your basic, run-of-the-mill oatmeal. It’s filled with essential fiber, slow-burning carbs and proteins. It’s a perfect food. And instant or not, you pop it in the microwave, and it’s done in no time at all.

99.9% of breakfast cereals are a waste of time. All the weight control and so-called “health” cereals either contain sugar or don’t contain enough good stuff to make them worth. The key to a successful diet is simplicity. Keep that in mind. Basic shredded wheat is fantastic. Look at the list of ingredients. You’ll be amazed. There’s only one: wheat. When was the last time you bought a cereal with only one ingredient on the box? Add some sliced banana or raspberries to it, and once again, you have an amazing breakfast.

As a general rule “diet” foods or “low-fat” foods don’t necessarily equal “good” foods. Too many of these diet and weight-control bars are loaded with sugar; they are practically candy bars. Granola bars are often loaded with chocolate chips or sugary substitutes for wholesome ingredients. Next time you see a “low-fat” food and the equivalent food without the fat reduced, check out the amount of sugar on each label. I bet you 9 times out of 10, the low-fat food actually contains more sugar than its fattier equivalent.

The body needs fats. Monosaturated and polysaturated fats are essential to maintaining health. They’re found in an assortment of good foods like almonds, fish, yogurts and olive oil. They will usually mean those foods are higher in overall calories than  your low-fat foods, but don’t flip out over calories; if you’re eating a really healthy, good food, you can afford an extra 50-100 calories. It’s going to benefit you more in them long run.

Did you know that even moderate exercise such as walking 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes at a time can help boost your immune system? The increased circulation through your body means that blood cells that do the job of protecting your body from viruses can better do their job. Exercise has been shown to improve the body’s resilience and response to the influenza virus. The more fit you are, the better equipped you will be to fight off deadly infections.

It doesn’t seem like rocket science when you stop and think about it. But how many people sooner turn to vitamin supplements or other pills to help boost their immune system, when it’s been proven that moderate exercise is better than any pill? I guess there’s too much money invested in advertising vitamins and immune boosting pills, and there just isn’t enough money in people getting outside and taking a walk through the neighborhood.

Medical experts equate inactivity with smoking, overeating and other contributors to heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. Even if you’re thin, even if you have a good eating plan, if you’re not exercising, you’re doing irreparable harm to your body. The muscles are the root to a healthy life, and the muscles need bloodflow, and the best way to give them bloodflow is to be active.

Just remember, dieting alone won’t make you a healthy person. Thin does not equal healthy. Experts agree that even thin men and women who are not active have a higher risk of heart disease than those who are active. Keep that heart healthy by at least performing moderate exercise 3-4 times a week. Walking, jogging, weight training, jumprope, pushups, situps, whatever it is you want to do, just do it so you can stick around a long time.

I’ve started keeping a food journal. Well, not really a journal so much as a spreadsheet on my computer. But it serves the same purpose. I’m able to track all my calories for the day. Furthermore, I’m able to see exactly what I ate, so I can tell if I’ve hit the amount of protein I need for the day or healthy fats or slow-burning carbs.

Without the food journal, who knows what I would eat? I have a tendency to eat when I’m thinking. It’s just a habit like tapping my foot or biting my nails when I’m nervous. I’m not really thinking. I’ll drift off, get a snack, and I’ll be halfway through eating it before I’ve thought about it. The food journal is a constant reminder of what I’m eating. Any time I think about food, I can check my calories. I also check the last time I ate. I try to space out my meals about 3-4 hours apart, and I try to have about 4-5 meals a day. The more meals I have, the higher my metabolism goes. The smaller the meals the better.

I’ve been thinking back on how I was eating before the food journal, especially around the holidays. With cookies and fudge and a variety of freshly baked breads in the house, I was nibbling constantly. I would eat four or five cookies, drink some milk, eat a piece of fudge, grab a piece of bread. All of those extra, wasted calories. If I wasn’t a naturally skinny person, I’d probably have become obese by now, instead I’m just overweight.

Well, here’s to no more nibbling.

Kip