p90x results for chronic dieter

Options
Hello awesome MFPers!


I feel that i have been stuck at a plateau and thinking of other options. I do eat pretty clean, and lift heavy and have not seen results. I just feel like a fat blob. Have anyone with a similar past seen results with following p90x and thier diet plan? What kind of results did you see? How long did it take/how many rounds did you do? let me know! Thank you!

Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    I feel that i have been stuck at a plateau and thinking of other options. I do eat pretty clean, and lift heavy and have not seen results. I just feel like a fat blob. Have anyone with a similar past seen results with following p90x and thier diet plan? What kind of results did you see? How long did it take/how many rounds did you do? let me know! Thank you!

    So a plateau is for 3 weeks no inches lost in many spots measured and no weight loss while following the same diet and exercise routine?

    Do you do hard cardio after a heavy lifting day, or day before? You aren't getting full benefit from lifting then, not what you could.

    P90X definitely advocate eating more for the program, it's intense and you need it. For those that follow it without trying to add more stuff at the same time, works great.
  • believeandtry
    believeandtry Posts: 64 Member
    Options
    I plateaued for a year and have recently decided to try to change that and increased my caloires. After about 8 months of eating 500/cal a day (my TDEE), i gained about 22 lbs. so I went from 145 to 167lbs. I Crossfit, and do not do hard cardio after heavy lifting.

    thanks for your advice!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    I plateaued for a year and have recently decided to try to change that and increased my caloires. After about 8 months of eating 500/cal a day (my TDEE), i gained about 22 lbs. so I went from 145 to 167lbs. I Crossfit, and do not do hard cardio after heavy lifting.

    thanks for your advice!

    So eating 500 extra per day I guess you mean from what you were eating, and gained 22 lbs? Or there is a figure missing there. ;-)

    Either way, you were obviously eating over TDEE on avg. So literally, 22 lbs if fat only means 22 x 3500 = 77000 / 224 days = 344 extra calories above your real TDEE for whatever was your avg level of activity.

    So whatever you ate on avg, subtract 344, there's your TDEE for whatever the level of activity was. Now, that 22 lbs would have actually increased your TDEE so I'm guessing more at first and slower gain later on? Just the opposite of weight loss.

    So that was too long to stay on program hoping for metabolism reset or something, unless things were far from consistent in there.

    And is that the level of activity you are going to keep maintaining now, or the P90X a whole other level?
  • believeandtry
    believeandtry Posts: 64 Member
    Options
    I got a fitbit and i ate at 2200 which was my average burn (took a week and divded by 7). About 2 months ago, started eating 2000. I think its not that I am eating above TDEE but my metabolism is ruined from my years of dieting. You are absolutely right. more gain at first and slower later on so must have increased my TDEE!

    I thought staying on reset longer would help my body stabilize and get used to eating more....I am just starting to "cut" and am thinking of eating 1500 cal four times a week, and 2000 three times a week.

    I am debating wheter to just start cutting,thereby focusing on nutrition ORRRR

    whether I should stop crossfitting, and dedicate nutrtion and exercise to p90x for 3 months. I just want to stop feeling fat and at least get down to 145, my weight before i started this tdee thng, and maybe make it down to 130-135ish. The reason I am thinking of doing p90x is because the ladies actually look strong and feminied after completing it. Some of the crossfit ladies look a littlemanly... of course i could stick with crossfit and try paleo, but I don't think restricting carbs is a good idea..

    You rock heybales! you respond so quikcly! thanks for all your advice and keep it ocming!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    I got a fitbit and i ate at 2200 which was my average burn (took a week and divded by 7). About 2 months ago, started eating 2000. I think its not that I am eating above TDEE but my metabolism is ruined from my years of dieting. You are absolutely right. more gain at first and slower later on so must have increased my TDEE!

    I thought staying on reset longer would help my body stabilize and get used to eating more....I am just starting to "cut" and am thinking of eating 1500 cal four times a week, and 2000 three times a week.

    I am debating wheter to just start cutting,thereby focusing on nutrition ORRRR

    whether I should stop crossfitting, and dedicate nutrtion and exercise to p90x for 3 months. I just want to stop feeling fat and at least get down to 145, my weight before i started this tdee thng, and maybe make it down to 130-135ish. The reason I am thinking of doing p90x is because the ladies actually look strong and feminied after completing it. Some of the crossfit ladies look a littlemanly... of course i could stick with crossfit and try paleo, but I don't think restricting carbs is a good idea..

    You rock heybales! you respond so quikcly! thanks for all your advice and keep it ocming!

    Sadly, the FitBit bases it's calories burns on your BMR, Harris specifically, based on age, weight, height.
    Your more accurate Katch BMR estimate based on weight and bodyfat% could be 200-400 lower, which means eating at inflated TDEE while having a suppressed metabolism, which the FitBit would know nothing about.

    I think the cut should not be a block of calories, but by %. You could probably do 30% on rest days, 10% on lifting days. Very valid program if lifting and cardio is walking.

    And ruined metabolism or not, you keep gaining weight (outside water weight of course), you are eating above TDEE, by definition.
    Metabolism may be hurt, but probably not ruined.
    Could be lower than expected of course, by loss of LBM before it's time.

    Or do the P90X, but recalc what best estimated TDEE would be and take appropriate deficit and eat that daily. And it's heavy cardio, not lifting traditional style.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

    Spreadsheet linked in that full blown topic. Since you know BMR and TDEE ideas, you can skip to bottom, skim over the section on what it can do.