Wandering Dawn

A California girl exploring the world

p90x

Holidays and Cheat Meals

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Sunday, February 6, 2011 – Super Bowl Sunday!

Monday, February 14, 2011 – Valentine’s Day!

Two holidays – Different challenges


When the holidays come around and you’re on a diet or strict nutrition plan, you have to ask yourself, “Am I going to cheat?”  I received an email yesterday from my Team Beachbody coach, Nancy Comee, who touched on cheat meals.  I loved her point of view.  Nancy called them “sanity meals” and I agree wholeheartedly.  Eating strict meals 7 days a week can leave you feeling, well, deprived.  When a special occasion comes around or when you need a mental boost, I say it’s OK to indulge in your favorite treat!  For me that might be some chocolate or beer.  It will taste amazing and should be all you need before you get back into your routine.  Just don’t let it turn into a cheat day.  Your body doesn’t need that!

Super Bowl Sunday
We were at a bar for 9 hours Super Bowl Sunday.  How did I cope?  Jeremy and I had protein shakes in the morning and a filling salad as an early lunch before heading to the bar.  I brought protein bars and almonds into the bar for snacks, and that was the only food we had over those 9 hours.  (Incredible willpower or starvation?)  We filled up the rest of the way on beer.  Those were my “carbs” for the day.  I had 3 while Jeremy had more, but we both had a great time watching the game and celebrating with friends!  No one seemed to care or notice that I brought our own snacks.  I guess that’s kind of typical for me since I’m a vegetarian and often have to come prepared.  We finished the night with sushi (mostly sashimi) and one more beer.  Beer was definitely the cheat item of the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday

Valentine’s Day
1 dozen red roses + 1/2 dozen Sprinkles cupcakes = Perfect V-day!

Valentine’s Day was a little trickier because we celebrated twice, the day before and the day of.  Sunday we had brunch at the beautiful Hotel del Coronado.  Their brunch is home to over 200 items, including a selection of all you can eat seafood, salads, cheese, omelets, paninis, sweets and more, not to mention unlimited champagne and/or vodka if you wanted a buzz.  Knowing this would count for two meals and several snacks, I ate a good amount but mostly stuck to items in my nutrition plan.  I found myself wanting healthier items like seafood, salad, fruit, and omelets.  That part wasn’t difficult.  Where I decided to indulge was in the chocolate fountain.  (Cue heavenly sounding music.)  Jeremy and I dipped pretzels, marshmallows, strawberries and more into this ever flowing chocolate goodness.  When the time comes, we are having one of those at our wedding.  It has been decided! That fountain was definitely worth every calorie because we both left with huge smiles on our faces.

Sweet Tooth

Hotel del Coronado

Valentine’s day was on a Monday, so we celebrated after work and a workout.  Since Monday is normally a double workout day, we had to make a decision.  Should we workout from 730-9pm, cook dinner, and have a really late night, or should we push P90X back to Tuesday morning and make that a double day instead?  We opted for the latter so we could spend more time enjoying the holiday.  We had a delicious healthy dinner of homemade sashimi, brown rice, and seaweed salad.  Dessert, however, was a different story!  Jeremy surprised me with 1/2 dozen Sprinkles cupcakes and a bottle of wine.  Obviously we didn’t need 3 cupcakes each, but he thought it would be fun to try a little of each.  We cut less than half of each cupcake and shared a little taste of each kind.  We probably had about 1 cupcake each but got to try all 6!  It was the perfect amount of sweetness, and I was so happy to have a cupcake again.

Sprinkles Cupcakes!

Tuesday morning post V-day the alarm went off at 5am.  After 5 hours of sleep, I couldn’t believe it was happening, but I got us both out of bed and working out by 530am.  Tony Horton was calling my name!  I don’t think he likes it when I have chocolate and cupcakes, but even he has his cheat meals.  What is Tony’s indulgence?  A piece of vegan cheesecake.

Holidays aside, how do I keep my sweet tooth at bay when I’m sticking to my nutrition plan?  4oz of nonfat frozen yogurt!  I know Tony Horton approves.

First Double Training Day

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Monday was our first double training day, meaning a run in the morning and P90X after work. Bring it!

Early Morning Run
My alarm went off at 5am and with a heavy head, I hit snooze.  Jeremy and I got up pretty quickly after that, but it was dark and cold and I was quickly fantasizing about being back in bed.  I was excited to get running, though, so we quickly bundled up and headed outdoors.  We began running at 5:40am and did a 4 mile route.  MapMyRun is an easy tool to plan running routes.  Since neither of us have a GPS watch, we mapped out four miles and noted our start and finish times to calculate our pace.  We are supposed to be doing “easy runs” right now to build our base, so we shouldn’t really be focusing on pace anyway.  The main way to know if you’re running an “easy” pace is if you can hold a conversation while you’re running.  Otherwise, it should be about 60-70% of your maximum heart rate.

How to Quickly Calculate your Maximum Heart Rate:
You can quickly calculate your maximum heart rate by taking 230 and subtracting your age: 230 – age = Max HR.  My maximum heart rate, for example, is 230 – 27 = 203.

Our first run was comfortable.  I just wish we had some sunshine!  It was dark the entire time we were out, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.  We saw about 5 runners while we were out, many of them old men shuffling along.  Our mid-week runs will be around 4-5 miles each day for a while.  Once they increase to 6-8 miles at a time, I’ll re-evaluate to see if we should keep all the doubles workouts, or if we need to cut back…I’m guessing we’ll cut back.

P90X Day 1: Chest and Back
I was ready for day one but a little nervous as well.  When I started P90X for the first time in August 2010, I couldn’t do any pull-ups or chin-ups.  That’s when you put 1 leg on a chair for assistance.  By the time I finished the program in November, I could do up to 6 pull-ups or chin-ups at a time!  HUGE improvement!  I took most of December and January off, even though I incorporated an occasional P90X DVD here and there, so I wasn’t sure how many pull-ups I’d be able to do without assistance.  I found out that, yes, I can still do some without the chair for help!  My wide grip pull-ups were by far the hardest, and I struggled to do any without assistance, but a couple regular pull-ups and chin-ups each round were still happening for me.  I did OK on the push-ups too, but I was nowhere near the strength I had when I completed the program.  Sometimes I had to incorporate my knees, like on the diamond push-ups to get more depth, but otherwise, I do them like a man!

Chest and Back includes two rounds of each exercise:

  • Standard Push-Ups
  • Wide Front Pull-Ups
  • Military Push-Ups
  • Reverse Grip Chin-Ups
  • Wide Fly Push-Ups
  • Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups
  • Decline Push-Ups
  • Heavy Pants
  • Diamond Push-Ups
  • Lawnmower
  • Dive Bomber Push-Ups
  • Back Flys

Doesn’t that look like a lot?  It is.  You do each exercise as “maximum reps,” until your muscles won’t work anymore.  I knew I’d lose some muscle after the program if I didn’t focus on maintaining, but it was scary to see how quickly that happens!  I actually lost some weight after P90X because of losing muscle.  Maintaining my weight during this program is my goal.  I hope to lose some fat while regaining muscle and getting even stronger.  I’m happy that I’m at a solid starting point to make that happen.

By the time day one was over, I was exhausted.  Sunday night we were up way too late grocery shopping and preparing our meals for the week, so we didn’t get enough sleep before our first day.  I don’t recommend working out on 4-5 hours of sleep, but you can push through it if you need to!  Overall, it was a successful start to our training, and I’m really excited to watch myself progress again.  As Tony would say, “Keep pushing play!”

 

P90X Take 2: Day 1 - Not Flexing

P90X Take 2: Day 1 - Flexing

 

 

 

 

My 18 Week Fitness Journey

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Hello fellow fitness enthusiasts!  My name is Asia, and I’m a 27-year-old female living in San Diego, California.   I’m excited to share my fitness journey with you!  My current 18 week plan is two-fold: full marathon training and P90X!  Can you say Type A?  Here’s how I got there…I’ve always loved running but have recently gotten more into endurance training as a new challenge.  I’ve completed two half marathons, but this will be my first full…Yikes!  I completed the P90X program in November 2010 and had such amazing results that I’m going to do the full 90 day cycle AGAIN.  I will modify it slightly to incorporate the full marathon training.  Needless to say, these are going to be an intense 18 weeks!  Afterward, I’m sure I will come up with additional fitness goals for myself.  I never want to stop training!  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay hot and healthy, right?

Ringing in the new year!

Marathon Training
The San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is June 5, 2011, and I’ll be following an 18 week training program (that also includes a half marathon) to get there.  My boyfriend, Jeremy, and two of our close friends are also doing the marathon. We all signed up for the VAVi running club to help keep us on track and prepared for the ridiculous long runs of up to 20 miles at a time.  Our biggest training week is 40 miles total!  At the very least, I’m sure we’ll be grateful for the aid stations our group provides – I’m trying to avoid purchasing one of those ugly water belts if I can help it!  One of my friends just used VAVi for the Carlsbad Half and got her PR (personal record), and I’m ready for mine too!

America's Finest City Half Marathon, Aug 2010

P90X
P90X is an intense exercise program based on muscle confusion.  It has recently gotten a lot of publicity but has been around for several years.  Just catch a late night infomercial!  Tony Horton is the creator and celebrity behind the program.  There are three phases of workouts that map to three phases of nutrition planning – Fat Shredder, Energy Booster, and Endurance Maximizer.  My boyfriend and I followed the entire workout regimen and nutrition plan last year and saw great results.  I became much stronger now and almost achieved a cute 6-pack!  We are doing the nutrition plan again, but will incorporate more calories on the days we have double workouts (running and P90X), and won’t stay on the Fat Shredder phase as long since we don’t want to lose weight.  It’s important to have the proper amount of calories to stay fueled for these workouts.  You definitely don’t want to be calorie deficient because your performance will suffer!  I’ll dedicate more time to nutrition later, but you can learn more about the P90X program here:

 

Before P90X

After P90X

I’m not an expert by any means, but I do plan to learn a lot about endurance running, P90X, proper nutrition, and how all three of these elements fit together.  I’m curious to see how my body responds to all of this!  Hopefully you will learn something new too and share additional insights.

As Tony Horton, founder of P90X would say, BRING IT!