P90X: "...I have to diet too!?" Day 38 of 90

I have seen real progress in thirty eight days with P90X.  I am doing all the exercises regularly and really embracing the workouts.  Embracing the workouts is important because the physical fitness improvement really only comes with the consistency of the workouts and the work you put into them.  I think I have that one down at this point.

I am sure at some point the workouts will become boring.  Not to confuse this with my reasons for upping to P90X Classic from Lean…that was just wanting to get more out of my 60 or so minutes I am investing each day.  The workouts still weren’t boring.  I’m also not tiring yet of Tony Horton’s same old lines…which can’t be avoided since you use the same DVD’s!  So, the workouts are creating progress.

The progress one sees in this program has two sides, however.  The other side is DIET.  You would think that doing the exercises would be the big change that people have to incorporate into their life.  It is true, the exercise is a big change.  But once it is built in with a schedule, exercise is not really a big deal to most.  Believe it or not, the biggest challenge is the diet.

Over the past four years, I have modified my dieting to accommodate a certain level of weight maintenance.  I did it by eating very much the same way every day.  I don’t just eat the same way, I actually eat almost the exact same thing every day.  I will be the first to admit, I don’t know anyone else that eats with the eating habits that I do.  Believe it or not, I think it’s because I'm lazy.  I don’t want to think about what I am going to have to eat…I don’t want to have to make different choices.  I just want to eat and be done with it and know that I ate healthy and well enough.  Again, I am odd this way.  I don’t know of anyone who does this that doesn’t have to.

My diet hasn’t been completely disciplined.  There have been spots in it where a bad eating habit or two ended up plugged into my daily eating routine.  There was a time when I was having a cup of ice cream with coffee every other day as my between lunch and dinner snack.  Now keep in mind, I was speed walking about 4 miles a day while this was going on.  I didn’t do this when my metabolism was constantly low due to lack of exercise.  Ultimately, there comes a time when you realize you have formed a bad eating habit or two and then have to reinforce cutting that/those piece(s) out of the diet.

I also have had my fair share of rationalized cheating on weekends when the daily schedule is kind of messed up and out of whack.  Family gatherings, holidays, football season...all really good ways for me to rationalize putting the unhealthy but tasty snacks into the tank.  I can usually count on five regular workday schedules to put me back on track.

You might ask, “How did you end up eating like that?”  Well, I have always been a creature of habit.  I have a routine, and I just go with it.  When I went on the Optifast liquid diet in 2008, I had to drink three 8 oz juice box sized drinks each day and have one meal that consisted of 6-8 oz of lean meat, a vegetable (starch-less if possible), and a fruit.  I adapted to that diet a lot quicker than others in the Optifast class.  At some point, you go back to real food.  During the diet, I had seen the benefit of eating disciplined and then applied it to my approach for regular food.  It made the transition easier, and I decided to just eat that way from now on.  The only challenge I have is dinner and weekends when it comes to deciding what I would eat.

Now I completely realize that, if I were selling my personal diet plan to folks I would be a very poor person.  My style is not for everybody, maybe not for anybody.  The one thing I know is that if you apply consistent dieting rules to exercise, you will see excess weight come off of your frame and you will see your fitness improve.  You don’t have to take the extreme method that I take every day, but you can consistently eat well with a little planning and a little thought.   

These days, it is very difficult to keep your diet consistent with the ever changing food choices we have.  The hard thing about dieting through those choices is that the choices are difficult because they are loaded with unhealthy food that has to be sorted through and looked at.  Most of the food has artificial sweeteners, real sweeteners, lots of grease and fat, etc.  It is really hard to eat a healthy diet.  It is mentally hard.  You get tired of thinking about it and just end up eating whatever is in front of you…and 85% of the time it will not be very healthy.  Some people adapt different rules to help the mental process like (a) nothing processed, or (b) no white bread or flour created food, or (c) nothing with High Fructose Corn Syrup.  A few nuts like me will go overboard.  But, whatever works.

The best advice I can give is to try to make your eating as easy to plan and disciplined as possible.  It will help tremendously if you are also doing an exercise plan.

Exercise is one thing, diet is the second.  No surprise there though, right?

“How do you lose weight?”

“Eat right and exercise.”

Way easier said than done.  Good Luck!

[later that night]

Tonight was a 'Tale of Two Cities.'  It was the best of times and the worst of times.  I did Back and Biceps.  My biceps are burnt.  My back, which gets done using pullups, was for crap.  I need to get more out of my shoulders.  I can literally only do a pathetic amount of pullups.  Because of the intensity of the workouts, the shoulders get gassed early.

I need to ask some coaching advice...what do I do here?

Help!