Working out and stuff

[Inbred Chocobo]

So yeah, I got ahold of that P90X workout system, and have decided after a while its time I changed my diet from fast food and soda to something a lot more healthy. I don't think a simple minor tweaks here and there are going to be enough for me to stick, so I'm going to try radical changes and see what happens. I'm not really here for diet and nutrition facts, nor exercise tips, its why I have a hold of that system, but I do have a few questions for you NPF.

For you peeps out there, I am curious about a couple things. One, has anyone else every tried that P90X system? I've heard its rough, but I've talked to a few people that have done it... and wow, they really do show some crazy muscles. Two, I've got enough stuff in my life to motivate me to stick with this plan, what I think my troubles are going to be are resisting temptations like sodas and desserts and fast food, does anyone got any tips for that? Or how about this, how many 20oz bottles of coke can someone drink in a week and get away with when trying to do some working out? I figured less it better but knowing my antics, I'm still going to want one or two.

[Azisien]

The more you work out, the more Coke you could drink. A bottle is usually like 200-300 calories? So work out for like an hour and you're good.

I was going to say radical changes tend to fail, and it's better to slowly phase out temptations like soda and fast food, but if you like radical change then do whatever works for you.

[Magic_Marker]

There are all kinds of ways to get fit, and healthy. This is just one suggestion: do it slow but steady. It worked for me to lose over 50(ish) pounds. Adding on progressive life changes (god that phrase sounds self-helpy) works.

It takes roughly a month for a habit to be set in stone, with that in mind.

Food:

Spend three weeks switching over to water over soda. Only juice is one glass at meal times. Spend the next three weeks learning to cook 2 out of every three meals per day, minimum. Maybe adopt an Oatmeal/SaladorSoup/Whateverthefuck meal plan. In general avoid complex sugars and carbs. Only eat sweets on either Saturday or Sunday and then only occasionally. No more than a pint a day.

Excercise:

P90X will kick your ass. It will kick it hard and you will be vomiting. Maybe not, but you'll want to. If you think you've got the resolve to suck for a long time before feeling like you probably aren't going to die then P90X is one of the best structured ways to get in shape. You may keep going but sources say people who vomit tend to not stay with excercise. Go slow, enjoy yourself and track your progress. After any regimen, be it running, lifting, cycling, or bodyweight training, becomes force of habit (roughly one month) then work yourself harder because your body has become used to the routine and if you made it one month without quitting, you aren't going anywhere. In order of weight loss effectiveness: Diet/Lifting/Cardio. If you want fast results get your house in order, in that order.

Good luck to you. It's a hell of a lot of work but very worth it.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Food:

Spend three weeks switching over to water over soda. Only juice is one glass at meal times. Spend the next three weeks learning to cook 2 out of every three meals per day, minimum. Maybe adopt an Oatmeal/SaladorSoup/Whateverthefuck meal plan. In general avoid complex sugars and carbs. Only eat sweets on either Saturday or Sunday and then only occasionally. No more than a pint a day.


Avoiding sugars I can mostly understand, but you really need carbohydrates if you're going to be working out.
No carbs means no fruits, breads, rice, beans, potatoes, cereals. Which means no peanut butter and banana sandwiches. You're going to need that energy if you're going to be doing real strenuous activity.

[Magic_Marker]

Like I said, opinions vary. You generally want your carbs immediately pre or post workout but mostly you should avoid it because while they are useful when you are exercising most simply ingest too many.

[pochercoaster]

No matter what you're doing if you vomit when you work out it means you're doing something wrong. You either ate/drank too much or too little or you're doing too much too quickly.

It's not abnormal to feel nauseous when you start working out but LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you feel like you're about to puke, then SLOW DOWN. Trust me, if you do anything consistently there is NO need to push yourself extremely hard when you start out- your body conditions itself rather quickly anyways. You will not perform your best when you're starting out, but that's fine because the goal is not how much you can lift or run or whatever, the goal is to get yourself in shape and you do not do that by working out so hard you puke. Throwing up does NOT improve your workout (obviously) or mean you were working out correctly. If you throw up you are depleting yourself of valuable electrolytes and damaging your body.

You will eventually be able to detect that sweet spot between challenging but not so challenging you're going to throw up. Don't worry if you can't find it right away, it takes time to understand your limits. Don't let your ego get in the way.

There is also no need to completely cut out carbs, or any other food group (fats, protein, etc.) for that matter. Every kind of food serves a purpose and is necessary. Carbs give you easily accessed energy, fats help you absorb vitamins, protein helps you get the amino acids your body can't naturally synthesize.

There are "good" and "bad" kinds of each food. A banana is much healthier than a coke, obviously, and a small amount of raw olive oil is much better than a McDonalds burger. It's all about balance.

...That said, carbs really do pack on the fat easily. Magic Marker is right when he says that most people over consume pre and post workout. It's very easy to overestimate how much you should be eating. As a rule of thumb the closer you are to pre/post workout the "simpler" a carb can be (i.e. white bread instead of whole wheat bread.) Personally, I just drink a coffee with some sugar before I work out and eat a banana with some raw almonds afterwards. I consume water during my workout, of course.

I don't know what the P90X system is but whatever you're doing, make sure you have the correct form. You need to have the correct form to prevent injury, of course, but the correct form will also ensure that you get the most benefit from it.

http://www.exrx.net/ This is an excellent website that lists almost every exercise conceivable and its correct form. You can also look up body weight exercises to supplement your program with because eventually you'll want to change the kind of exercises you're doing.

Now, as to how much coke you can consume? You need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. So you create a deficit- for example, 500 calories a day to lose a pound in a week. You can create the deficit by restricting your diet or exercising, or a combination of both (best option, obviously.) So look at how many calories are in a bottle of coke and then budget it in with the rest of your diet. Certainly, I would try to avoid daily consumption, however if you're very addicted to them (you didn't state your current consumption) you may want to gradually phase them out.

Don't burn 300 calories and then drink a 300 calorie coke unless you want to cut something else out of your diet, because then you're not creating a deficit. It's kind of pointless.

And, you know, as to doing something gradually vs. doing something drastically, it varies from person to person. Some people can quit smoking cold turkey, others do it gradually. Do what you think works best, and if it doesn't work, try doing it another way. No matter what you're still going to need willpower to resist junk food. Sugar is EXTREMELY addictive (it's not much different from alcohol, really) and it's in everything. So just be cognizant of how much sugar you're consuming in food besides take out.

...Sorry if that contained more information than you wanted. However the part about needing to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound should help. It really just come down to eat less, exercise more.

[Azisien]

P90X gives all the nutritional information you need to do the P90X program. That's sort of why it's a program in the first place.

Puking while working out? What the hell? Did you eat two bowls of pasta and then go try to squat twice your body weight?

[Seil]

There's lots of advice in this thread. (http://nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?p=1080159)

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I've been doing track for a while so I feel qualified to give a little advice.

Load up on carbs the day before you work out. Lots of pastas and bread coupled with some good sources of protein. It'll give you a lot more energy during your work out and will go a long way towards curving your diet.

Don't be afraid to go running in addition to the P90X, which I've heard great things about since a lot of the people on my team have been doing, because it'll really be great for your legs muscles and will give you some pretty solid abs. Even without P90X you can get a solid six-pack from running. If you're going to go running often, find some good routes around town to go through. If you're feeling up to it, go for a long one and if you aren't then you can take a shorter one. Don't run on a track. Having a destination in mind does a lot for you mentally.

On stretching, don't overdo it. Too much stretching really works against all of the exercise you do. Start with a light stretch, do your work out, then do a deep stretch to prevent soreness.

That's about all the advice I have to offer. Good luck!