P90X3 Day 1

April 13th 2014 I have started my P90X3 journey. I still have some weight to get off from my February 22nd Southern Caribbean Cruise. I had the time of my life away on vacation, a little too much fun. We ate, we drank and we celebrated. My boyfriend of 7 years purposed while we were leaving the port of San Juan.

Had to take a pic after he asked! :D

Most of you have heard of P90X. This workout came out sometime ago and in that time, Tony Horton has also put out P90X2. The second P90X was for the people who graduated P90X and looking for more. But just like its name, the workouts are 90 minutes long. I work full time, have a family and I don't think I have 90 minutes a day to set aside to work out. Actually, I know I don't.

P90X3 is not a graduate program. You do not have to have P90X or P90X2 under your belt to start this. And the BEST part, its just 30 minutes long!! I can do 30 minutes. 

Here are 4 options when doing P90X3.  You can do the classic, Mass, lean or Doubles. Classic is the traditional balance of cardio and resistance along with the typical muscle confusion like P90X.  You gain muscle, lose fat and feel amazing!  This is the choice that I am doing!

Lean is for those who prefer a more toned look.  It's not necessarily better for weight loss.  Both lean and classic can work equally well.  But instead of muscular hypertrophy you'll target functionality, mobility, and cardiovascular fitness.  You will still gain some muscle  you'll still lose fat, and you'll still get strong, you'll just stay lean.

Mass is for those looking for bulk over getting ripped. 

Doubles is another niche rotation.  It's not appropriate for everyone and it's recommended you do 90 days of P90X3 before doing this.

I am starting with the Classic. This is where Tony Horton suggests everyone starts out. I am wanting to do 2 rounds of this 90 day program. Start with the classic and then move to the Lean Calendar. I have 1 year to get in shape for my upcoming wedding in Jamaica. 

Who needs a Monday to start a new program?! Not me. The programs I have had the most success with always start on any other day then Monday. I don't know why.

Week 1 Day 1 

Total Synergistics

This workout required some equipment. A towel, bottle of water, a pull up bar or resistance band, light and heavy weights. I am not strong enough to use a pull up bar, so I used a resistance band with a over the door hook up. Light weights 5 lbs Heavy Weights 10 lbs.

Today's workout was 16 moves after a basic warm up

1.) Push-Up/Side Arm Balance 

2.) Crescent Chair

3.) Pull Knee Pull  

4.) Flip Flop Crunch 

5.) Crawly Plyo Push-Ups

6.) Releve-Plie, Weighted 

7.) Chin-Up Circle Crunch

8.) Boat Plow 

9.) Balance Arch Press 

10.) 3 Hop Press 

11.) Glamour Hammer 

12.) Branon Boat

13.) Flying Warrior

14.) Squat Rockers 

15.) Side Rise Punch 

16.) Warrior Squat Moon 

So this is just the beginning of my 12 week journey!  I plan to update you, share my progress, my struggles and everything P90X3!!  So subscribe to my blog on the left to get weekly updates and stay tuned for more fun!!!


If you would like to join me in doing P90X3 , The 21 Day Fix, T25 or any other Beachbody program, I will guide you through the entire program, we will get amazing results and you could have the chance to win $500 if you submit your before and after pictures!

To be part of my next challenge group, fill out my form 

Why I decided to stop the 21 Day Fix

Don't get me wrong, I love the 21 Day Fix. Its 30 minutes so you can get in and get out. Autumn Calibres is a awesome instructor. She kept me motivated, I laughed, enjoyed the workouts and had fun. Autumn showed me that I can still have fun doing Yoga and Pilate's. To classes that I have NEVER enjoyed before.

In the past, I have completed several other Beachbody workouts, Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, Les Mills Combat (twice), T25 and Insanity. The 21 Day Fix for ME is not challenging enough. I saw results, especially in my arms and shoulders. But if I am not lying on the floor, panting like a dog, I feel like I haven't got a great workout in. This is from doing high intensity infernal training for years. So i have not stopped because I was bored, I stopped because after working out for over 3 years, I like a HIIT workoouts (high intensity interval training). And there is one disc that had that for the 21 day fix.

I recommend this program to everyone. Not too sure about portion control, just starting out with your new health and fitness journey or to moms and dads who need a workout with results in 30 minutes. Its just not right for me AT THIS TIME. I am going to come back after I am done P90x3 and complete this workout.

The 21 day fix is easy to follow workouts, PLUS the color containers make meal prep and planning completely fool proof.

Some of my Challengers are on their 3rd Round and some have lost 20 pounds!








Again, I love this program, but I feel for me at this present time, I would like something that is going to push me to the max. So what is it I am going to be doing, P90X3.

I have had P90X3 sitting in my book case since December watching me, waiting for its turn to be picked. I have tried out some of the workouts before and I know I am going to love it.


I am still accepting application for my next two challenge groups, April 21st and May 5. These spots fill extremely fast, especially with summer right around the corner. Apply today

The Scale is the Worst Way to Measure Progress, WHY?!

When it comes to weight loss, the scale can be a good measure of progress, particularly if you have a lot of weight to lose. But if you place too much emphasis on your weight and not enough on your body composition (the ratio of fat to lean muscle), you're only getting half the story. Plus, dreading your weigh-in or obsessing over the number on the scale is unproductive and can lead to unhealthy behaviors such as bingeing or starving yourself. Losing pounds doesn't always mean losing fat. Here's why the scale can be misleading.

The scale doesn't tell you how much fat you have. Your scale does exactly what it's supposed to—it tells you how much you weigh. But in addition to measuring your weight, the scale weighs bone, water, muscle, organs, and undigested food. When the number on the scale goes up or down, it doesn't represent only fat loss or muscle gain. It measures fluctuations in glycogen (stored carbohydrates) and water, and it even measures how much that breakfast you ate weighs.

You may wonder about scales that claim to measure your body fat. These send small electrical currents up one leg, through your pelvis, and down the other leg to determine your body's density. Then a formula is used to estimate your body fat. The problem with these scales is that they're notoriously inaccurate. However, they are usually consistent in their readings, so they can be helpful as a measuring tool. Even though the body fat reading might be off by as much as 5 or 10 percent, if the number trends downward over time, you know you're on the right track.

The scale can't tell if you've gained muscle. A pound of muscle is like a brick, small and compact. A pound of fat is like a fluffy feather pillow, bulky and lumpy. When you gain muscle and lose fat, your body gets smaller and tighter. Building muscle also makes it possible to drop clothing sizes without a big change in weight. Perhaps after a 90-day fitness program, the scale says you lost 7 pounds, which may not sound like much. But what if you actually lost 12 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle? That's a remarkable improvement in your body composition, but you wouldn't know it if you only used your regular bathroom scale to track your progress.

You didn't really gain 5 pounds of fat overnight. You may step on the scale one morning and shriek in disbelief because the number is five digits higher than it was the day before. Stop panicking. Unless you ate an extra 17,500 calories the previous day, you didn't gain fat (a pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories). Your scale is registering water, stored carbohydrates, and food. Also, cheap bathroom scales may have measurement errors, giving slightly different readings even when you're at exactly the same weight.

Your body's water levels are constantly changing. The scale can move up or down depending on how much water you drink, how much salt you consume, how much you sweat, and how many carbohydrates you eat. An average person can see a daily fluctuation in water weight of about 2 pounds, without any changes to diet or exercise habits. These fluctuations do not signify fat loss, and watching the scale move up and down every day can be frustrating for many dieters.

If you're trying to achieve a healthy weight and improve the way you look, you should focus less on what the scale says and more on developing the good habits that will produce results. To get lean and strong, with low body fat and nice muscle tone, there are three things you should do:

1.  Cardio plus weight lifting (or other resistance training). Cardio workouts raise your heart rate to help you improve your fitness level, burn calories, and shed fat. Resistance training builds muscle, which boosts your metabolism and helps you burn even more calories. Fitness programs like P90X®, ChaLEAN Extreme®, and Turbofire, Insanity and Slim in 6. all use cardio plus resistance training to improve muscle mass and burn fat.

2.  Healthy diet. No matter how much you exercise, you'll never reach your fat-loss goals if you don't follow a healthy diet consisting of lean protein, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. The right foods in controlled portions will fuel your body as it shrinks.  80% of your weight loss comes from the foods that you eat.  Trust me, I did an entire month of Insanity and didn't focus on my diet.  That resulted in me losing 4 lbs in 30 days.  Talk about frustrating!!!

3. Track your progress. If you don't use the scale, you need to do something else to check your progress.

• Body fat testers can also be used regularly to track your fat loss. Monitoring your progress with tools other than the scale will give you a more realistic assessment of your weight loss success.
• Hydrostatic (underwater) testing and DEXA (X-ray) scans use advanced technology to measure your body fat with a high degree of accuracy. An Internet search can help you find testing centers in your area.
• Notice how your clothes fit. This is a foolproof way to prove that you're losing weight. If your clothes are getting looser, your body is shrinking, even if you don't see a big change in the mirror yet.
  
  
  Too many people are slaves to the scale. They can't resist weighing themselves, only to feel guilty, angry, or demoralized when the numbers don't move down quickly enough. If you're one of those people whose weigh-ins lead to loss of motivation or a feeling of helplessness, then you need to reconsider using the scale for your progress checks. Success is more than just a number.

• One of the best ways to keep track of your changing body is to use a tape measure. Record your chest, waist, hip, thigh, arm, and wrist measurements in a journal or the guidebook that comes with your workout program. Update the measurements every 30 days to see how your body changes.
• Pictures are also good indicators of progress. Have someone take front, side, and back photos of you every 30 days and keep these with your body measurements.  Watch this video for how to take your pictures accurately