I need some P90X input and advice

[TripleDigitRide]

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I've allowed my physical health to get way out of control. As of today, I'm somewhere over 500 pounds, and in the last several months I've actually noticed it's beginning to take a toll on me. I MUST do something to better my health ASAP. I'm 6'3", so I guess I carry the weight slightly better than someone who's of the same weight and only 5'8", but obese is obese.

I was thinking that P90X may be a bit much for a beginner, but I'm not one of those immobile fat guys who's confined to his bed. I actually work every day and have a fairly physical job. Although I'm a truck driver, I do climb (from the ground) in and out of the trailer several times a day. I also have to manually unload product on a fairly regular basis. I guess, for a fat guy of my size, I can get around pretty well.

I don't have any particular questions about this program, but am looking for any input or advice I can get from those who've used it.

Based on what little research I've done so far, I think it's safe to say that I'll have to slightly alter some of the excesersises until I'm in a better physical condition to do them as intended.

Thank you in advance for any input you're willing to share.

[Guest Ceolas]

Not strictly P90X related, but we're doing something fairly simple in our household that has helped a lot.

We're trying to completely stop eating anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup.

In just a couple of months, weight is down a bit and I feel better overall with no other changes. Not eating HFCS has cut out about 50% of our processed food intake.

Did a lot of reading and there are a few diets out that really hit on HFCS as the basis for bad health in the US. Diabetes, Cancer, ADHD, etc.

Next step for us is cutting out all processed foods. That should be even more dramatic.

[Guest bkelm18]

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I've allowed my physical health to get way out of control. As of today, I'm somewhere over 500 pounds, and in the last several months I've actually noticed it's beginning to take a toll on me. I MUST do something to better my health ASAP. I'm 6'3", so I guess I carry the weight slightly better than someone who's of the same weight and only 5'8", but obese is obese.

I was thinking that P90X may be a bit much for a beginner, but I'm not one of those immobile fat guys who's confined to his bed. I actually work every day and have a fairly physical job. Although I'm a truck driver, I do climb (from the ground) in and out of the trailer several times a day. I also have to manually unload product on a fairly regular basis. I guess, for a fat guy of my size, I can get around pretty well.

I don't have any particular questions about this program, but am looking for any input or advice I can get from those who've used it.

Based on what little research I've done so far, I think it's safe to say that I'll have to slightly alter some of the excesersises until I'm in a better physical condition to do them as intended.

Thank you in advance for any input you're willing to share.

I too am very out of shape. I've packed on probably 100 lbs since I got out of the Navy 4 yrs ago and I can definitely start seeing negative health issues starting to crop up. My issue is I have no room to work out at home (very small apartment), no money to join a gym, and I hate, HATE walking or running. I'm still on my search to find something that works for me.

Not strictly P90X related, but we're doing something fairly simple in our household that has helped a lot.

We're trying to completely stop eating anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup.

In just a couple of months, weight is down a bit and I feel better overall with no other changes. Not eating HFCS has cut out about 50% of our processed food intake.

Did a lot of reading and there are a few diets out that really hit on HFCS as the basis for bad health in the US. Diabetes, Cancer, ADHD, etc.

Next step for us is cutting out all processed foods. That should be even more dramatic.

I wouldn't buy into all that anti-HFCS hoopla. Most of the evidence against HFCS is anecdotal at best. Your body doesn't know the difference between HFCS and regular sugar. It uses/metabolizes HFCS exactly the same as any other sugar. You've likely lost weight simply because you're eating fewer calories by omitting HFCS. The reason it causes "bad" health effects and gets a bad rap is because it's "snuck in" to common everyday foods like sodas, etc. If you were to omit the HFCS but consume an equal amount of regular sugar, you'd still see the same health issues.

Edited April 23, 2012 by bkelm18

[daddyo]

My son is currently using that program. After about 30 days, the results are beginning to show. He looks fit, and has gone from a 34 waist to a 32. He says it's pretty intense, but when he first started it, he didn't try to do everything, just what he could. Now he can do the entire one hour workout.

I have been thinking about doing it myself.

[Smith]

Come by the shop and talk to Brock. He's doing it and droped a lot of weight.

[xRUSTYx]

While P90x is a great tool, like the old saying goes, 90% of what you look like it what you eat.

Meaning - To Accomplish Said Goal - 90% is due to diet, while 10% is due to exercise.

Cut carbs & total caloric intake. If you can dial in a good diet, the weight will literally fly off without doing much exercise. I would skip P90x to start, and along with diet, just start walking ... then half walking/running. Get that heart rate up ... Get your diet dialed in ... so on & so forth.

Before any strenuous exercise, make sure you go & get a full physical from the doctor and ask him for some recommendations

Good luck!

Edited April 23, 2012 by xRUSTYx

[TripleDigitRide]

Before any strenuous exercise, make sure you go & get a full physical from the doctor and ask him for some recommendations

Good luck!

Yeah, I'm currently looking for a doctor who does general practice and weight loss. I haven't been to a doctor in several years.

[monkeylizard]

Do the test at the beginning to see if you're ready for P90X. It's important. Get a heart rate monitor if you start it, especially for the cardio stuff.

I can't stress this enough...go slow at the beginning. No matter how easy you think you're taking it, you're probably still overdoing it the first few times. Tony Horton is a great motivator. He'll make you want to push out more reps, espec. when the girl in the video is doing more than you are. DON'T DO IT. Give it time. After my first run at the first video (chest and arms), I slept for maybe 2 hours a night for about 3 or 4 nights due to the pain in my triceps. I really thought I hade torn something, but it was just extreme tightness from over exertion.

The nutrition is very important. I'd reccomend starting the nutrition plan 3 or more days before trying the first workout. It will help get your body properly fueled for an intense workout. You don't need their expensive supplements/shakes/etc. Do some googleing to find some DIY mixes that are a lot cheaper and have the same/similar content.

For example:

http://muscleathome.com/p90x-recovery-drink-alternative/

[Jonnin]

I do not know a thing about the p90x system. But I can tell you a little bit about our experiences at weight loss.

my wife was a big girl, over 300 for a long time (and right at 6 foot). She is now about 150. What finally worked for her was gastric bypass, but the surgery only works if you change your lifestyle. She works out and does not eat much at all --- a typical night out at a restraunt and she has enough left over for me to eat lunch the next day.

Stuff that has worked well:

low carb diet. Its amazing what eating nothing but meat and veggies will do for you. Bread and sugar are converted almost directly to fat, apparently.

exercise: even a little bit every day makes a big difference.

portion control: this is what the surgery really did for her. Portions in america are huge, and eating out is a recipe for getting big in a hurry. Eating more than 1/2 of what is bought at any restraunt is probably too much food, and to boot, most of that stuff is ultra high calorie.

If you combine these 3 ideas --- portion control, low carb, and a bit of exercise --- you will drop some weight. You can even eat a pretty good portion of low carb foods and work on the portion control bit slowly as you get used to eating less, and still shed pounds.

After it is all said and done, I do not recommend the surgery. It helped, and it may be a good idea for people as a last resort, but at the end of the day it is a painful and traumatic way to do the things I said. It does reduce your calorie intake by taking away the abilty to absorb so much from your food, so its more than just enforced portion control, but its a last resort.

Just going along with my wife's diet and exercising with her, I dropped 20 pounds and sit at 180 or so. Which is probably still a litttle high, but its 20 pounds better than it was.

[Jonnin]

HFCS is just a concentrated carb. See my comment on carbs. Its not evil, but it is overused and when you consume pounds of it daily (its in almost every ready to eat food, including most sauces, soft drinks, and microwaveables, as well as many restraunt dishes) you will gain weight. Its like eating a tablespoon of pure sugar at every meal -- empty calories and worse, the short road to diabetes.

This is one of the most difficult parts of a low carb diet, is to stop eating stuff full of HCFS. But it really does help, a LOT. If you are doing an INTENSE workout program or lead a very active lifestyle, do not reduce your carbs too low, you need a few!

[10-Ring]

After getting a doc's go ahead you can try P90X, just do what you can. Max yourself out on each exercise and don't quit. As the others have said get on a nutritional plan. You don't want to diet, you want to change your lifestyle. Pass the fried chicken, have grilled instead. Cut out the potatoes. Have turkey burgers instead of beef. Two things that I've found that make eating healthier easier are 1) Don't eat out, it's hard to get good nutritional food at a restaurant. This might be especially difficult with your occupation. 2) Let's face it healthy food is not usually tasty food. But, you can use a variety of spices to make it taste better. For example I will grill turkey burgers and season them with McCormick grill mates hamburger seasoning. Yes, it does add a little sodium but it's still not as bad as all that fat you would have gotten from a beef patty.

Don't be tempted to jump on the Atkins bandwagon either. Yes, excessive carbs are bad. But the Atkins diet is bad for you and certainly not meant for long term use. Do try to cut out carbs to an extent. Some carbs are good for you but don't over do it.

To get you started I would suggest daily...

Breakfast- Oatmeal or cereal.

Midmorning snack- Granola and fruit or yogurt.

Lunch- Turkey sub or sandwich but watch the dressings, condiments, etc. Maybe a few pretzels or fruit on the side. Or a salad instead of the sandwich.

Afternoon snack- Try something like peanut butter and crackers.

Supper- grilled chicken, steamed veggies. Any meat that is lean and grilled is good. Pass on desert.

Other considerations... Have a bigger meal at lunch then a small one in the evening, the earlier the better, no need to load your body up on calories right before bedtime. A salad or something light would be good around 6pm. Beverages, cut out the sodas, period! Home brewed green tea is a good alternative, if you can't drink it without sweetner add 3/4 cup of sugar per gallon. Cut the sodas, chips, desert foods, potatoes, fried food, and just make good choices and you will notice a difference both in your weight and how you feel within a couple of weeks.

If you decide not to go the P90X route, just do something, anything, physical, for 20 minutes per day. Don't count work related activity, we'll count that as bonus points. Walk, swim, just whatever to get the blood flowing. Best of luck!

[wewoapsiak]

I did two months of P90x a while back, it does work but like everyone says it's about what you eat. And I ate a lot of eggs, chicken, and salad. It became a pain after a while so I quit, but I did lose weight during it. The predecessor to P90x, Power 90 is a "easier" program I think and might be up your ally if P90x is too much. If you go to their forums on beachbody.com, you'll see some hybrid programs out there that are less intense to begin with.

[MacGyver]

If you decide to go the p90x route, be very careful with the plyometrics and kempoX workouts. They are high impact, and can exacerbate joint issues, especially when some extra weight is present.

I think you might be better served, at least in the beginning by another program. Having done both, you seem like an ideal candidate for Body for Life / Eating for Life. Both programs take a commitment, but Body for Life is better suited to someone who isn't already in good shape.

I can say that one of the 90-day body for life challenges I've done over the years was with a coworker who was morbidly obese. He made the commitment in the kitchen and the gym, and he's the closest example of fat literally melting off that I've ever seen. Dude couldn't stay in clothes. There were several weeks where he lost double digit pounds and had to adjust his belt multiple holes. He kept that belt, and after a year on the program, that belt went around him twice.

[peejman]

Yeah, I'm currently looking for a doctor who does general practice and weight loss. I haven't been to a doctor in several years.

This is step 1, and very important. Strenuous exercise could do more harm than good at this point. Controlling your diet is the key.

[Oh Shoot]

... If you are doing an INTENSE workout program or lead a very active lifestyle, do not reduce your carbs too low, you need a few!

Actually, the human bod doesn't need any carbs whatsoever. Zero.

Almost impossible to avoid getting some though -- even the strictest part of Atkins, the initial induction phase, is 20 net carbs per day.

- OS

[Guest Torrin]

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I've allowed my physical health to get way out of control. As of today, I'm somewhere over 500 pounds, and in the last several months I've actually noticed it's beginning to take a toll on me. I MUST do something to better my health ASAP. I'm 6'3", so I guess I carry the weight slightly better than someone who's of the same weight and only 5'8", but obese is obese.

I was thinking that P90X may be a bit much for a beginner, but I'm not one of those immobile fat guys who's confined to his bed. I actually work every day and have a fairly physical job. Although I'm a truck driver, I do climb (from the ground) in and out of the trailer several times a day. I also have to manually unload product on a fairly regular basis. I guess, for a fat guy of my size, I can get around pretty well.

I don't have any particular questions about this program, but am looking for any input or advice I can get from those who've used it.

Based on what little research I've done so far, I think it's safe to say that I'll have to slightly alter some of the excesersises until I'm in a better physical condition to do them as intended.

Thank you in advance for any input you're willing to share.

I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. I have been moderately successful managing my weight in the last 2 years, but I had to find some basic keys:

1) Log what you eat, before you eat it. I use myfitnesspal.com, it is great, has an iPhone and Android app with a barcode scanner. If you can log your food, your own embarrassment on what you are eating and how much you are eating will help you lose weight

2) P90x and all other gimmicky programs generally fail long term. Go for a 30 minute walk everyday at a pace that is a fast as you can comfortably maintain.

Assuming you are ~40 years old, your body naturally burns ~3800 calories a day! If you eat 2500 calories a day (600 more than I eat at 6' 235), you will start losing 2.5 pounds a week. If you keep doing just that, you will drop 100 pounds a year. You will have to add other things as you lose weight, but it is generally simple to do.

The most important exercise to do? The two handed push back from the table.

[Guest bkelm18]

2) P90x and all other gimmicky programs generally fail long term.

Not really. The good programs (like P90X (or any of the Tony Horton programs), Tae Bo, etc.) will teach you to maintain a fitness regimen and promote a positive lifestyle change which will greatly help you in the long run. Anything can fail. Walking can fail if you don't stick to it. The problem is that you have to understand your body. Doing too much will burn you out and you will fail. I did Beach Body (one of Tony Horton's first programs) and Tae Bo for about 8 months before leaving for boot camp and I lost about 60 lbs and kept it off for a good couple of years until I just got lazy again which was a failure on my part, not the programs.

Edited April 23, 2012 by bkelm18

[monkeylizard]

Agreed. P90X switches from 6 days a week to (IIRC) 3 once you have reached your target weight/tone/BMI. And I think they are shorter workouts, but I'm not sure. It switches from change mode to maintenance mode.

Power 90 us indeed less intense. It's Power90 then P90X, then P90X2. I hear that X2 will punish even P90X graduates.

[Guest mcgyver210]

We have both the Original P90 (Less Intense) & P90X & they do work as any good exercise routine will if you actually do it that is.

The P90 is better for a beginner IMO since P90X is pretty intense. We still use them but prefer our Total Gym XLS.

Really though, I have never been very over weight I can say Getting fit is more than exercise it really requires a change of lifestyle & habits.

Edited April 23, 2012 by mcgyver210

[analog_kidd]

Whenever I go to a yard sale that has a treadmill for sale, I always ask the seller "How many shirts does this thing hold"? They always look at me funny at first, then the light bulb comes on and they know what I'm talking about, because they always end up in the corner with a bunch of junk piled up on them. Like BK says, you have to stick with it.

I find that what works for me is to find a sport/hobby I'm passionate about and do that. I can't imagine life without whitewater kayaking. I go to some river nearly every week. It's not an every day kind of exercise thing, but I do get a pretty good workout from it. The point is, since I love it so much, I can go out on the river and paddle all day long, getting a better workout than I ever would from the gym, and I don't even know I'm exercising.

Having a balanced diet, and a exercise program will work, but if you hate the exercise you will give up soon.

[kieefer]

I'll add my two cents and say the most important tools you need will be these

1) willpower and discipline.

2) diet and exercise.

Actually don't you need a program or equipment to motivate you if you have #1, start walking and stretching for your exercise and cut the fast foods for a start.

Any of the advice above sounds good too.

[Guest Torrin]

Not really. The good programs (like P90X (or any of the Tony Horton programs), Tae Bo, etc.) will teach you to maintain a fitness regimen and promote a positive lifestyle change which will greatly help you in the long run. Anything can fail. Walking can fail if you don't stick to it. The problem is that you have to understand your body. Doing too much will burn you out and you will fail. I did Beach Body (one of Tony Horton's first programs) and Tae Bo for about 8 months before leaving for boot camp and I lost about 60 lbs and kept it off for a good couple of years until I just got lazy again which was a failure on my part, not the programs.

The issue with most of these programs is there is a definite END. Most of my friends have done P90x, and most of them had good results, and ALL of them have stopped doing it, and they back slid (some to even worse then before they started). Your last sentence is the most important, it is about personal discipline. I have lost over 80 pounds TWICE, but that was always the destination, this time, I am focusing on the journey. I don't always eat great, but I generally do and I do the exercise that I enjoy (Hockey and running). If I get bored running, I ride my bike. This time I am down 45, but it took me over a year, I plan to lose another 20-30, then I will be done, but I will not change my lifestyle when I hit a goal weight.

[Symbolic]

You don't need a gym or P90X or any program to lose weight and get in shape. Like others have said previously: It has a lot to do with what you eat (or what you don't). To lose weight you need to burn more calories than what you take in. Use this calculator to determine how many calories you should eat in order to reach your desired goal. http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goal.php

The best thing to do to lose weight and keep it off is to eat healthy. The best exercise to lose weight is running. You can eat healthy. If you can't run, walk briskly 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes. After that becomes easy, work on lightly jogging 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes. It will take time, but don't give up. This has to become a part of your life from now on or you will gain the weight back.

[Alleycat72]

I've been though P90X twice and Insanity once. Insanity cuts weight faster, but a beginner will not be able to do it. P90X lean is what you want to do and if you only get 20% of it done every day you'll be felling better. I gained about 7 lbs on P90X Classic. It's a very well rounded program.

[Curiousgb]

Just my 02. I have a physical therapist friend that calls P90x "job security". Mainly because too many people, who have been sedentary and are overweight start it and hurt themselves. If you have been sedentary and are overweight start slow. Map out a healthy diet and exercise plan. I would suggest starting with walking or better yet biking. Until you can work up to the rigors of a P90x. This will be a long term (life) fix. There are some great programs online for diet. Check out the Livestrong site.