Up to the final stretch of phase 1 ( core synergistics was surprisingly difficult)... week four's almost over.

Results are insubstantial. If I compared two before and after pics up
till now, it would truly be hard to differentiate them.

Is it normal? Naturally, I couldn't keep up verbatim with most of the workouts, but I feel I progressed nicely. But many P90X students, both larger and smaller than me, have arguably achieved better results, according to the 'Before and After pics' section.

Will I notice visible results by the end of phase 2?

Have any of you P90X grads experienced similar issues?

You are your own worst critic.

Also, its only phase 1. Some people see results, some people don't. You yourself said that you progressed nicely, so be happy with that. Just because you didn't drop 30lbs or start curling 50lbs doesn't mean you didn't improve.

P90X is not a quickfix program. It does get you in shape faster than many other programs, but it does it PROPERLY. Its a lifestyle change. If you were pretty far out of shape prior to starting, it may take awhile to really get into the groove.

Also, if you are so far out of shape that you aren't able to stick with the crew for anything, results will be slow. Once you are able to stick closer and closer to them, you will start to see results quicker.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you might have fat in places that you don't normally look at every day. Almost all of phase 2, I didn't physically change much if I looked in the mirror. What happened? I had lost fat on the backs of my thighs and arms. Looking in the mirror didn't show me anything, neither did the camera, however the tape measure showed me my progress.

Don't beat yourself up about it. Do your best and forget the rest. If after 90 days you still don't feel you "barely got ANY results" show your before and after pictures to show us. I would be very surprised if what we see is the same as what you perceive.

dirty, you never mentioned your diet. how's that half of it going? my first round, i completely ignored it. and well, it showed in the results. so that may be a factor.

but to support what TomC was saying. i recently compared pix from Round 1, day 75, to Round 2, day 90. and the difference was astounding. because i was so far out of shape, my day 75 photos still looked like i hadn't spent a day working out.

and as TomC said, its only been 30 days. thats not enough to make significant changes. some people are just blessed, to see more changes in 30 days. some arent. just keep at it, do your best and forget the rest!

A few points:

1.) Diet - You HAVE to eat clean. On phase one you need 50 - 40 % protein and you need to eat solid food and not microwave meals. Example lean chicken fish fresh vegetables.
2.) Intensity - You need to "bring it" on every workout.
3.) Time - If you are like most people it took a lot longer than three month (90 days) to get out of shape and it will take longer that 90 to get you back in. The p90X is just a jump start to a life time of fitness. It does not end after 90 days, in fact that is where it really start for most people. After 90 days you might have achieved some level of fitness. You can then improve upon or increase that level. But you still need to keep a clean diet and regular workouts from then on.

To answer you question - Yes it is normal not to show any weight loss after 30 days. If you give me your stats like height, weight, age, sex, body fat and measurements it would be easier to answer.

dirty, I am in the same boat as you. My husband and I are almost done with week three and we haven't seen much change. We have mostly kept up with all the workouts, im doing about 15 chair assisted pull ups every set and can do 20 reps on almost all of the ab ripper sets. We are both dieting pretty well, egg whites and chicken, fruits and veggies, etc. So like the tom and coco were saying maybe it'll just take us longer. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's only been 20 days, there are 70 more to go, and it can only get better. Plus I plan on keeping up the lifestyle afterwords, so it's something that just needs to become routine. I will probably post my day 30 pics, so that someone from a different perspective can view them. Keep it up, and good luck!

I just finished day 3 of Week 4, recovery week as well, and I'm in the same boat as you, dirtmcgurdy.

I have lost weight, but my pant size is still the same, my belly and love handles are still there, though my wife says they're gone down.

My diet has been completely overhauled since starting P90X, much healthier than before, no soda, no sugar, rabbit food, as my wife and I like to call it. I'm also drinking much more water than before, and I'm getting a workout from the stairs I have to take to get to the restroom.

I have seen gains in other places, such as my back muscles, they're much more stronger than when I started, which is a big deal for me, as I was prone to lower back pain after a round of golf. My wife also says my arms are starting to get toned but I think she's being nice. I've got more energy, though I try to get in bed by 10PM to wake up at 5AM to workout.

I didn't take day 14 and day 21 pictures because I didn't see any change, but TomC is right, we are our worst critics. My body is sore from doing Core Synergistics yesterday, and I will say that my Kenpo this morning was my best effort at it. In the past Kenpo sessions, I was trying to figure out which arm did uppercut and which arm did the jab, but my muscle memory finally kicked in and it was a pretty good workout. Yoga and Plyo are still my favorite, though Core Synergistics may get up there as well. I have yet to try Cardio X.

I hope that as we get into Phase 2, there will be more physical change. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm a size 40 waist size, and after 90 days, I'd like to get back down to a size 36. We'll see if that happens, but at least my lifestyle will be healthier.

This post on MSBNC.com helped too!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31832558/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

Keep pushing play, next week we start Phase 2! Keep it up dirty!

If you don't mind, i was browsing the posts and saw this one and had to comment. I am Just finishing my recovery week for phase II, and all i can say is hang in there, eat the right foods, push play everyday, and you will begin to see results. I am now just starting to notice the change in my body. i remember sayng to myself the same thing you guys are, and it was a little frustrating....The program works, just be patient. I am going to be 42 next month, and i can not believe that I can actually see the beginnings of a six pack.. Keep pushing play, and feel proud that you have done something wonderful for your health..

Another point that I tried to hit before but seemed to have missed it is this:

Think of your body as a locomotive. It takes a long time to do anything. Once you get it moving though, and keep fueling it, it will keep its momentum for awhile.

The reason I mention that little analogy is because most of our bodies have been "sitting in the station" for quite some time. We are out of shape, and we want to get the train moving. Can we shake it from a complete stop in a day? No. Can we expect it to be at full power burning calories in a week? No. Should we expect to see it zooming down the track with grace in a month? No.

You are building your momentum for a good 2 months. Depending how out of shape you were when you started, you may see glimpses of what is to come. You may see your belly shrink a bit, or hit a few more reps than before, or notice your waist getting smaller, but those are just things to keep you pushing play.

Once you get the train to full speed? Everything changes. Once your body gets up the muscles it needs to keep your body goin? You will start burning tons and tons of calories. So many people that I know who have done this program, including a lot on this board, saw a majority of their results coming from either phase 3, or their second and third cycles. Did they change anything? Doubtful. Its the fact that their body is finally in fully functional shape and it starting doing its job. Your body isn't trying to decipher fat cells from muscle cells anymore. Your body isn't burning calories from the large surplus you have. It starts really shaving down the last bit of fat you have and "toning" starts to happen.

Sorry this is long post, but I have another little analogy that might also explain it.

Think of a pool filled with random stuff. Fill the pool with water. What does it look like? It looks like a flat surface. Start draining the water and you probably won't see anything. Keep draining and you might see something sticking up after awhile. Once it gets lower and lower, more things will start showing up until the point where EVERYTHING is showing. The water in this little story, is your bodyfat.

Thanks everyone. All your comments were much appreciated.

Special shout-out to TomC - you answered practically all my threads with invaluable info. Thank you for the encouragement!

chew44 wrote:

QUOTE:
If you don't mind, i was browsing the posts and saw this one and had to comment. I am Just finishing my recovery week for phase II, and all i can say is hang in there, eat the right foods, push play everyday, and you will begin to see results. I am now just starting to notice the change in my body. i remember sayng to myself the same thing you guys are, and it was a little frustrating....The program works, just be patient. I am going to be 42 next month, and i can not believe that I can actually see the beginnings of a six pack.. Keep pushing play, and feel proud that you have done something wonderful for your health..

This is good encouragement, going into Phase 2. I start tomorrow and I'm really excited about the transformation.

I just finished day 1 of week 5. My 30 day photos are not until Wednesday though.The bad thing is I started the program and did my day 1 pics during PMS week and now its PMS week again anyway,I gained 1 pound but my arms back and legs are toned so Im happy about that.I do not follow the diet but I do eat clean.
Plyo tomorrow!

I too finished day 1 of week 5 and my shoulders are sore! During Phase 1, my pant size never went down, but it got a bit loose. I started at a size 40, lost 14 pounds but I wouldn't squeeze myself into a size 38 just yet. I'm happy that those 14 pounds are going somewhere else. My wife says my love handles have gone down so that's a plus. My shoulders have gotten bigger, but I feel like my belly hasn't really shrunken. Oh well, that's what Phase 2 and Phase 3 are for too, right?

@mahbles, have you taken pics or measurements? its a strange phenomenon. my gut has gone from 42" down to 35", you can clearly see in the pictures that its shrunk considerably. but when i look at myself in the mirror, or even go grab my gut, it seems like it hasn't changed at all. so a lot of it can be in your head! i know it is for me. so as much as people can keep telling me that i no longer have a gut, i'm still not happy with that small fatty gut that i still have...haha. nothing a third round of the X wont fix...

I haven't taken photos since day 0 and day 7, but I will on Wednesday when it's day 30. I hope you're right about the photos. I didn't do any measurements prior to starting, but just by pant size, I was a size 40 when i started, still a size 40 now, but eh, I'm trying to be patient.

Honestly, I think measurements are 100% more important than pictures are. Unless you have a good camera or a nice backdrop, the photos can be useless.

I took my day 0, day 30, and day 60 pictures but you couldn't tell THAT much difference because the lighting was bad and couldn't see any definition that was there. The only real thing I could see was when I took the side shot so you could really see the gut shrink.

Then you look at the measurement differences and WOW! Between pictures I couldn't tell a difference besides maybe my gut. Between measurements and you would think the person would look a lot different!

Day 0 vs Day 60 I lost 14 lbs, 6" off my waist, 2" off each thigh, arms stayed same because they lost fat and grew muscle. So I love my results, but I still don't like the pictures. I like the mirror because I can see them in greater detail, but the camera shots we have are just terrible.

BIG AGREE!! with TomC

I was feeling really blue after we did our 30 day weigh in. My husband had lost 16 pounds and I had only lost 2. Even though I swear I felt better, stronger and had noticed things were a bit looser. Not like fall off loose, but still, just a nice feeling.

Well then we got to the measurements.

BAM, Husband lost 11, and I had whittled away 7.5 inches in just the first 4 weeks. With only a 2 pound loss. Which just goes to show you the importance of those inches. Little shifts here and there, and those small numbers make you feel very proud

Take your measurements now, even if its day 30, take them, write them down and when you compare again, in 60, 90 and beyond. If you have been pushing it and bringing it, you will see some great achievements that way.