Hi Nancy,
 
I am doing P90x.  I love it so far.  I am 225 lbs and 4'11".  That's why the guck has got to go.  I have been doing intervals since January and they are wonderful.  I'd like to still do them two or three times a week but I'm trying to figure out how.  Also on June 19th I will begin training for my 6th 4 miler.  That is September 4, 2010. 
 
I am trying to figure out this food thing.  I have started eating more proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables.  I used to do Weight Wathchers so it's a lot different.  I was reading your blog yesterday so I went to CVS and bought some Whey Protein Powder.  My first drink was this morning.  It was not as bad as I expected but I'm hoping to find a better one.  I appreciate any help you can give me.  I know I have probably left something out.  So feel free to ask me anything.  Do you really eat just anything on cheat days? 

Thanks,
 
LaTonya

Hi LaTonya,

Yes I really eat whatever I want and as much as I want on my cheat day.  I have at least one thread here where I listed out what I actually ate one Sunday but I can't find it at the moment.  But to put it in perspective, I'll start 'cheating' around 10AM and eat high carb and high fat foods with little to no health value all day long.   I tend to stop eating on cheat day by 8:30 because there is so much junk in my system I need a couple hours to digest it before I go to bed.

If the family decides we want to go to a movie, we'll do that on Sunday so I can get a bucket of buttered popcorn and enjoy it.  If I want fast food, Sunday is the day to indulge.  One Sunday we had fried chicken, french fries and biscuits with butter for dinner.  How bad is that?  Another Sunday our morning 'snack' was Pillsbury cinamon rolls and bacon. Trust me, after a day of stuffing yourself with junk, you'll feel sluggish and bloated and you'll actually want to eat well the next few days after a cheat day.

To commit to a healthy lifestyle for the long run I'm of the belief you need to have cheat days.  They are good for you psychologically because you always know you will have a day not too far off that let's you eat anything your heart desires so the immediate temptations that hit you everyday are far more easily ignored.  And the cheat day keeps your metabolism from getting too efficient and making do at lower calorie levels which will halt your weight loss.  It seems odd that be eating BIG one day of the week will actually help weight loss but for long term calorie restricted diets, cheat days really do help weight loss to continue.

Don't overdo on the exercise.  P90X is an intense workout program and your body needs time to recover.  On the run you want to start training for, I'd push the start of your training back to the beginning of July or later.  The thing is that while doing P90X even though you are not running the body conditioning impact of P90X will make running easier.  Too much exercise will spike your body's cortisol levels which will slow or even stop your weight loss and impair your body's ability to build lean muscle.  More is not better when it comes to exercise!

Nancy

P.S., did you catch my list here on the protein powders I like?  You can find them at http://www.pressplayfitness.com/members/forum/#topic/Protein-Powders.htm.

Nancy,

I'm having a hard time with the caloric intake and converting that to the proteins, carbs and fats.  I am 225 lbs and 4'11.  I am also 35.  I take a One A Day vitamin, a fish oil, a flax seed caplet each daily.  I also take Chromium Picolinate daily.  

LaTonya,

Are you journaling your foods?  If not, this is a vital part of figuring out your protein/carb/fat ratio.  For at least 1 week, write down every single thing you eat and also write down ALL of the nutritional information for everything you eat.  This will give you a detailed analysis of what your eating.

Once you do that, report back to this thread with what you ate and we'll be able to give you a better idea of how you should alter your diet.

Also, plan to eat!  If you plan to eat, you will always know exactly what your eating and you'll never get really hungry.  What I've realized is that if you don't have your meals planned out, you will almost always eat something your not suppose to eat, especially when 1st starting out.

I know this may sound daunting but it becomes allot easier as time goes by.  It took me 6 months to get in the rhythm of planning my meals and knowing exactly what I need to eat to fuel my body.  But now it's a whole lot easier and just apart of my daily routine.

-Coach Toni

Hi LaTonya,

I can be a bit much to have to calculate everything.  There are a lot of tools out there to help you.  One I use is Beachbody's Meal Plan.  This is accessible to Club members (I didn't check to see if you were a Club member) but to give you and idea of how that works, here's a view of the 1700 calorie low/limited carb diet:

Then you can click on the menu item for each meal/snack and get the recipe:

If you don't like an item or meal, you can click on the Edit link and change it.  You can add custom/favorite foods to the list and create entire recipes.  So if you don't have Shakeology (I highly recommend this product) you can exchange it for, perhaps some cottage cheese and an apple.  And for any day, the calories and macro nutrients are calculated for you and are adjusted if you change menu items:

And finally you can see your week's progress as well.

I am using these tools regularly and find them really helpful to keep me on target.

Nancy

This is the menu mailer I joined.  She has menus for just about everything.  This is one of her Body Clutter menus.  She also sends the dinner ones.

Body Clutter Menu-Mailer for Two

Hi LaTonya,

I don't know how the Body Clutter diet is set up.  My guess is that it's based solely on calories because the carb counts will be higher than what I recommend based on the sample eating suggestions you sent.

I love to eat starches and grains but they just don't work well for those of us looking to lose weight and have a significant amount of that come off our abs.

Nancy

Gotcha, that's what I was worried about.  I will look into the Club membership.  Will it breakdown the Carb/Protein/Fat ratio once I put in my details?

Thank you This has been very helpful my biggest problem is food. I either eat to much or to little, Thanks Coach Nancy I should have join with you months ago.

Vivian

Hi Vivian,

I can't tell if you are eating too much or too little without more information.  Can you tell me more about yourself, what workouts you are doing, height, weight and goals?  Thanks.

Nancy