Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

[Farmboy05]

I don't want to start this as another "need to lose weight to join the military thread", it is my goal to join the National Guard, but my main goal is to live a more healthy lifestyle. Currently I am 24yrs old, 5' 11" and 275lbs. I work constuction and farm. I just received P90x from a friend who gave up and am looking for input as to meal ideas and such to go along with the system. He doesn't have the meal guide, so I was wondering if I needed to order this? Also, I've read several reviews that suggest you need your own cardio routine to go along with P90x, so what should I do? I know I might not get down to the 189 pounds on the military weight chart but know I can get below the body fat percentage. I would love to get down to 15-18% body fat and maintain this by changing my lifestyle. I would love input as to the lowest caloric intake I can maintain and still lose weight, meal ideas, cardio ideas, and general support in this area in greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance!

farmboy05

 

[mattmansacto]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

I had same problem years ago but I was 300 lbs and 5ft 9. I used weight watchers, cardio, and weights. It took about a year and some change and I entered at 178!! If you would like pm me for some different tips. Best of luck to you.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

When I was in I weighed 178 at 5'11 1/2". When I started working out really hard to gain more muscle mass I got to 185 and had to be tape tested for the weigh ins. So at 5'11" you should be more like 175 lbs.

As far as calorie in take you need to figure out what amount of calories your are bring in now. After you know that you can start lowering you calories. You can do this without starving yourself. For example a piece of bread is 100 calories if you remove this amount every day for a week you loose 700 calories.

You should remove in increments of 100 calories until you get to the amount of caloric intake for your desired body weight. If you drop all of the calories right a way your body will go into starvation mode and you will find it hard to loose weight. In other words your weight loss will plateau.

P90x meal plan has three stages the first stage is a low carb stage to help loose fat quicker. As the program goes on you get more carbs. My brother did this program and likes it a lot. I think I might try it this coming year. Diet is were you will see the most results.

At 275 lbs I wouldn't start running as this may hurt your knees in the long run. P90x is something you should probably wait to do too. I would hit the bike at the gym and do some cardio to help remove some of the fat. Do that until yo hit 220 lbs. and then try the P90x. For getting ready for the PT test I would put off running until 200 lbs, so not to strain your knees; unless you feel comfortable running before you get to 200 lbs.

Remember diet is the key to weight loss. Also, eating 6 smaller meals a day will help keep you from being hungry. Try to introduce more vegetables into your diet as they will help to add fiber and they don't have a lot of calories. In other words vegetables give you more bang for you caloric buck. Keep a caloric log book this way you are able to track your calories and it will help you see what you are taking in. It will help you to keep on track too.

Good luck,

Jamie

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

Also, at 5'11" you should weigh 172 lbs with a BMI of 25. To reach this you need to bring in 2814 calories a day with moderate activity. To get more information on BMI calculators you can check out this link:

http://www.prosource.net/content/calculators.htm

Jamie

 

[uscbigdawg]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

With regards to cardio, if you're doing P90X correctly, you won't "need" cardio. With that, if you're looking to add something in addition to that training, looking into the website "Couch To 5k". It's a great running program that I did before joining the Army.

On dieting/weight assessment, understand that information like the BMI, caloric intake requirements by the FDA, etc. are all dinosaurs. Keep it simple and you'll be fine. Have a protein with a carb. Serving size is about the size of the palm of your hand. Eat plenty of fruits and veggies to control the sweet tooth and water is your friend. At 5'-11", a gallon a day, not counting meals will do the trick.

Good clean protein sources after workouts (within 30 minutes) will help in muscle recovery and stimulate gains. Look at good clean sources of whey protein. Don't go nuts with mega doses of protein shakes as your body can generally only uptake 35-45g of protein at a time anyways.

Variety is the key. I dropped 30 pounds in about 3 months before I left for basic and killed it. I've helped a number of soldiers get to their APFT goals in very short periods of time healthily and in the end, simple is best.

Rich

 

[bcw1284]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

I've been pretty close to where you are now at the same age. I'm 5'10" and at the heaviest in my life I was 255... why? college. stress, shitty food, etc. I'm older now, a bit lighter, and a lot less screwed up than I was. You'll get there... hell, i'm still not there. Time is a major factor, and so is job stress. If you have conflicts with either, you may need to re-evaluate what is up.

I did a citrus & subway diet for a while and lost about 20lbs, so I can confirm that those things will help you out if you do it right. I was commuting 2 hours a day at the time and didn't have alot of workout time. Most meals were "in the car" and that is why I decided to hit the drive in subway instead of the burger king. You're gonna have to cut all the bullshit from your diet, but i'm sure you know that. I rarely ever drink alcohol anymore, and I don't drink ANY regular soda anymore (do drink DIET coke on occasion). That is another thing that has really helped me, and besides that shit is just basically poison...

At your weight, I think I'd concur with Jamie when he says to delay the program. One thing I can confirm is that trying to run a lot as a heavy guy will 99% fuck your knees up. Walking is good, fast pace is great. I tried running a little but it hurt my knees too much so I backed off on that. I highly recommend a resistance bike, see if a local gym has cheap memberships and use theirs. I dropped close to 15 pounds in roughly a month just hitting the gym for basic weights and bike. I mixed weights & bike 4-5 days a week for about 5 weeks and saw pretty decent results. Something like this for a month or two would be a good prep for p90x, and you could keep doing it a few days a week even in addition to X.

If you are going on P90x right away, then you should follow their plan to the letter. I believe that there is some literature about it that comes with the discs. maybe your buddy did not give it to you? I am going to start X in a month or so once I can free up a little more time for it. Like I said, time constraints are a workout killer, but i've gotta break this friggin plateau somehow. We'll both have to check back in on this thread from time to time and see how it is going!

No matter how much you want to quit, don't. Modify your workout to accommodate problems or injuries, but don't ever stop or you will have trouble getting back on the horse. BTDT.

Best Regards,

 

[Guest]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

Farmboy,

For a diet, you don't have to go crazy when it comes to slimming down. There are a few basic steps you can take first to help your numbers

1)No booze (especially beer)
2)No soda
3)No fast food
4)Replace snack junkfood with quality food (fruits and veggies)

You would be surprised at what a difference that can make. If quitting cold turkey is too much, cut your intake in half every week until you no longer require it.


You also have a great opportunity to get in shape in addition to your planned program. The biggest and strongest I ever was was when I farmed and worked construction in the winter/summer months. You already have a lot going for you on those respects. You have more opportunities than you realize to help yourself out.

For example, one summer, we patched some lanes with gravel. We would fill up several 5 gallon buckets with loose gravel. I made it a point not to park the truck too close when loading/unloading the buckets so I could get more out of that experience.

Be creative. You know darn well that there is plenty of heavy lifting and grunt work on the farm and in construction, be safe, but don't shy away from it.

 

[TimK]

Re: Need diet and cardio plan to go with P90x!

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, get the free app "Lose It". It's simple, easy to use, and best of all it works. Every single person I know who's tried it has had success. My sister has lost 94# to date with it. I'm down 30#, as far as I need to go.

The cookbook that goes along with the Body for Life program has numerous good recipes that are relatively easy to make and perfectly balanced for what you're trying to do. Here's one we've made literally thousands of times:

Pancakes

1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup oats
6 egg whites (I use 7 or 8)
vanilla
cinammon
sugar free syrup

blend in the blender and cook as usual. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and get 12 pancakes. This makes 2 servings of 6 each.

They're excellent right off the griddle, but pretty crappy even after 5 minutes.