I just started Week 4 today and weighed myself. Although I feel stronger and healthier, I still have not lost any weight yet. Below is a sample of what I have been eating on a typical day:

Breakfast -
EAS Whey protein shake (2 scoops) with 1 cup skim milk. (after morning workout)
1 cup hot oatbran cereal or egg beater omlet w/ 1 slice american cheese.

Morning Snack -
Zone Perfect Nutrition bar

Lunch -
Tuna salad sandwich with fat free Mayo or Chef Salad with lite dressing or 2 -98% Fat Free hotdogs w/ low cal bun
Raw vegetables and/ or fruit (nectarine, apple, or other similar)

Afternoon snack -
1/4 cup peanuts or 1 serving of pretzels or 6 oz can of tuna (no mayo)

Dinner -
Stuffed Pepper (made w/ - lean beef, brown rice) or
Sweet & Sour Meatballs (Made w/ lean beef) or whatever my wife makes.

My one vice -
Diet Coke ( I probably drink aboout 4-5 20oz bottles/day.

So far I have been doing the workouts first thing in the morning @ 5:15 am during the week and 1 day on the weekend. Sometimes I have been substuting the weekend cardio workout for 30 - 40 minutes of running. I would perfer to work out later in the day, but unfortunately I don't have any free time until after 8pm (Can't sleep if I workout too late). Anyway, I was curious to see someone else's opinion on what I have been eating and the timing of my workouts. I was also curious to see if anyone knew if it is more beneficial to ingest higher amounts of protein or lower calories with this workout program. It is difficult for me to follow the P90x nutrition plan exactly because my wife does most of the cooking and has completely different food tastes than me (she can pretty much eat anything she wants and gains no weight).

BTW I am apx 5'11 and weigh 190lbs. Thanks in advance!

Remember that muscle weighs more than fat does, I am on the same schedule as you. I also started week 4 today and I don't think that I have really lost any weight yet either, however my clothes fit better and like you I am feeling stronger and healthier. I think that you are eating reasonably and the workout is subjective to the person. I can't workout in the mornings so I do it at night usually around 8-9pm. Don't get discouraged, btw how much weight are you looking to loose?

Thanks for the reply Medikman. The one thing I have noticed is that my clothes are slightly looser than normal. I was hoping to drop 15 - 20lbs. I don't know if loosing 15 - 20lbs in 90 days is realistic (or healthy), so I though that extending the workout longer would help me reach my goal. The hardest part of this workout for me has been the diet.

Does anyone know if diet soda has any advrse effects on workout performance/results?

I think 15-20 lbs in 90 days is very realistic, and healthy. Look at it this way that goal is to loose 1.25-1.6 lbs per week, not a bad goal at all.

As far as the soda goes, there is a lot of debate and myths concerning soda and exercise, but the only thing I can verify is that the caffeine is a diuretic, so if you drink too much and don't have enough water you can get dehydrated.

Thanks medikman. Do you (or anyone else) know how many calories are burned during the P90x workouts? I am am sure you burn quite a bit w/ Plyo, but what about the other workouts? I did some searching on the web, but couldn't find any specifics relating to calories burned. Any thoughts?

Hey Paul-

I'm a week ahead of you...just started Phase 2 and also work out in the AM. Not sure if this will help...but just some suggestions...

I know it is hard sometimes to follow the plan especially when you work and your wife does the cooking. I have found it EXTREMELY helpful to follow the portion approach. I have lost about 5 lbs (i'm also doing doubles), plus my clothes fit better and I do feel stronger (I followed the diet pretty good...I do however have a love for chips/dips and alcohol...so I cheated sometimes). With that said...

You would fall into Level II (based on your weight) and I would say you would do fat shredder since you want to drop some lbs. I would go back and read over the nutrition stuff. But just looking at what you eat...it seems like (based on P90X portion plan)...you are eating too many carbs and not enough protein. Technically, you are given "one carb" serving...which would have to be either the cereal, the hot dog roll, pretzels, or the brown rice. Not all four. So just based on what I do...to answer you question...I do think it is better to eat more protein. Just a thought. I would try following the portion approach...it's actually pretty easy and they give great examples in the book. It's healthy to lose 1-2 lbs a week, but like my man Medik said muscles is more than fat, so as you get fit the scale might not change.

Do you drink enough water? I would say...I know it's tough...but you are drinking way too much diet soda. The fake sugar that is in that tends to make people bloated and a recent study suggest that it actually makes you crave fatter foods! I'm not saying you have to give it up completely...I myself love some diet sunkist (it's so good...yummmm)...but I only get one can a day and follow it immediately with 8oz of water to help flush it out.

I have suggested before...don't know if you are into tea...but I make my own ice tea...and it's awesome...I just get a pitcher with some hot water toss in like 8 tea bags (may I suggest Bigelow's Pomegranate Pizzazz...all natural and caffeine free) let it sit, pull those bad boys out, add some liquid stevia (an all natural calorie-FREE sugar..you can get it at health stores usually), and toss in the fridge. It's good.

Sorry I wrote so much in your blog! But just thougth I would share what has helped with me. I have a tough time shedding lbs myself!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Hi There,
I have just started my 4th week and have seen a major difference in weight since I have stopped drinking Diet Coke. I was drinking 6-8 20 oz a day. My body feels lighter and it shows on the scale. Once you have stopped the soda give it a week or two and you will see a difference. I struggle with the soda thing and the carb thing everyday but since week 2 I have been following the nutrition plan very strictly and seen a noticable difference. It has a lot to do with the carbs you are eating because once you drink that diet soda it still entraps any fat or carbs (sugar) you have eaten within the hour. Hope that helps you!! Good luck and BRING IT!!

check your body fat and measurement

This a lot of good information!

chub*rock thanks for the tip on the Pomegranate Pizzazz. I will try to pick some up tomorrow. I have to say that reducing the diet soda will be difficult, but definately worth it. Tomorrow I will start reducing the diet coke and post back how my results are affected. I also think that I don't drink enough water. As far as the the carbs go I will work harder to monitor my intake. Just curious, how mugh weight did you loos during Phase 1?

tc1675 Thanks for your input. How much of a difference did it make once you stopped the soda?

Les I will check my body fat and track my measurements.

I'm going to bandwagon on tc1675 and chub's comments a bit. I'm also doing Phase I (Fat Burner) and am a Level 2. I don't have a lot of actual weight I want to lose as far as the scale goes, but do need to drop some padding and replace it with more lean muscle mass (i.e. gain weight). I'm just starting week 2 at the moment.

Regarding the carbs, with only one serving per day, I like to break that up into half portions or even quarter portions, to spread them out over the day. It gives a little extra variety to each of your meals, and helps to keep your energy levels more steady. Just be sure you don't go over the portion sizes, and things so work out well.

Regarding the soda, I haven't read much in the way of studies on diet soda in particular, but that's the sort of thing you can subject to a pretty simple analysis tool--so long as you're willing to be completely honest with yourself. Simply ask yourself the following questions:

"Would I be healthier if I continued to drink lots of diet soda every day? Or not?"

P90X is all about change--and they're all good changes!

when checking your body do a least a 3 points check

Hi Paul

The first time I stopped drinking diet soda I lost about 5-7 pounds but I didnt pay much attention to it. This was before I started P90X so of course as you know it is not easy to stop drinking diet soda so I started up again. At the time I was running 4-5 miles a day 6 days a week and noticed a BIG difference on how my body responded. I started P90X and was still drinking 6-7 sodas a day and finally talked myself into stopping again. On week two of no soda I noticed 8 pounds gone and my body felt lighter (not as bloated). I don't think I noticed how bloated I was from soda. I had to use black tea as my support to get me off soda, but only allowed myself 2 a day. Now I'm in week 3 of no soda and I feel great. You will totally feel a difference so hang tough because I aint gonna lie its hard!!! Good Luck and I hope I helped you out!!

Toni

Hi Toni, I made it through the entire day yesterday with only 1 diet coke. That is a pretty big accomplishment considering how much I normally consume. To take the edge off I wend to the store and bought a few sugar free drink pouches that can be added to water. This greatly helped! Today I am going to try to make it through without any soda.
I can't believe that quitting diet soda allowed you to loose that much weight. That is truly amazing.

Ya soda tends to do that to people. It bloats like crazy and doesn't help in the weight department at all, even diet ones. I'm really happy that I wasn't brought up on the stuff and that I've never drank it much. I drink it on occasion, maybe once every 1 or 2 weeks. I stick to water. I drink anywhere from 2 to 5 litres a day. Love the stuff Keep up the good work though, you seem to be doing great! My girlfriend's also trying to quit on soda and she's doing pretty well too. Keep it up!

***Diet Coke Update***
Last Monday I weighed myself before stopping the diet soda. I weighed 192. I haven't had a diet coke (or any other soda) in a week and weighed myself this morning. Amazingly I lost about 7 lbs in a week by just stopping the pop. To make this weightloss more amazing, I didn't eat very healthy over the weekend!

On a side note, I did the Core workout this morning for the first time. Has anyone else felt totally uncordinated and weak when doing the Core Synergistics workout the first time? I was sweating like crazy, but couldn't do as many reps as I though I should be able too. The running pushups really killed me! Good work out though..I think it may be my new favorite...

Good job on quitting the soda! I'm only on week 2 of my routine so I haven't had the chance to do the Core Synergetics workout, but the way you describe it it seems pretty harsh. Can't wait to try it and see for myself! Keep up the good work!

Hey Paul CONGRATS!!!!

Its amazing how you just see instant results. Im really happy for you and stick to it man your doing great!!

On the core workout the first time I did it I felt the same as you but the second time I felt much stronger and not as clumsy. It is a great workout!!

Thanks for the reply he4dhuntr. The Core workout is very different than the others. The workout moves don't seem very difficult, but they seem to work other muscles that are not used as much (at least for me).

tc1675, I couldn't believe the scale this morning. I actually needed to tighten my belt!

Thats so awesome for you I know you must have been feeling frustrated before so I'm happy I could help you out!!!

Toni