p90x 30 days down

karamae

I'm at 30 days today and WOW, up 7 pounds from when I started. People keep telling me it's mostly muscle but as a girl, you're supposed to watch your weight not worry about muscle! So I'm trying to change my thinking about this. I took day 1 pictures and tonight day 30 pictures and I thought I looked chubbier. My boyfriend however, saw changes in my stomach and bum. I guess that's a good thing! I've been really great about staying around 1200 calories which means I should lose 1 1/2 pounds a week. (So technically I should be down a total of about 7 1/2 pounds since I started p90x! But I'm up 7!?!)

Anyone gone through this? I'd love to hear that I'm doing the right thing but feels like I'm not since I'm gaining!

Think positive...think positive...thing positive...

GreenieBean

I keep seeing p90x...

what does that mean?? Or what is it??

teetee1281

Are you doing the lean or classic version? The classic is really about bulking up which would definitely result in muscles. The lean version required more reps so you would lean out instead of bulk up. I started P90x for 2 weeks, then I slacked for a second due to work obligations (during and off) but I am picking right back up this weekend after my ball. In the 2 weeks I did it, I have not gained anything at all.

GreenieBean: P90x is a BeachBody program by Tony Horton (think I spelled his last name right), it's a 90 day program that has you switching your workout each day so that your total body gets a workout. It is really a great program and you can search through out the sight for before and after pics.

GreenieBean

OOoo sounds interesting, I may have to look into that! Thank you!

karamae

I'm doing the classic but the difference is I do more reps with less weight than low reps with heavy weight so I should still be leaning down. Also, I've always had a leaner body type, not so much muscular so I'm not really worried about bulking up too much. Still so frustrating though!

Let's just say I'd never get this good of a workout at the gym. It's definitely full body!

peejer

I've just finished my first 30 days as well. I'm 40, M and started at 202lbs. I've lost 12lbs. But I'm doing the lean program and following the nutrition plan closely.

I think if you are gaining weight then I would look at the ratio of your calories. Did you input your age, wt, etc., info into the workbooks to calculate your calorie needs as well as your level?

Also have you checked your body fat %. If that's gone down then your wt gain is likely muscle mass which is good, but I can dig where you are coming from.

Edit: I agree with Scarcrow which is why I suggested you go back to the nutrition book and recalculate.

scarecrow41

Its physically impossible to gain 7 pounds of muscle in 30 days at 1200 calories per day. Contrary to what the previous poster said you can't "bulk" up unless you eat at a calorie surplus.

I'm guessing here, though it is an educated guess...that your body isn't getting enough calories. I'm thinking you are going into starvation mode and your body is storing fat because you aren't feeding it enough.

On days like plyo you could be burning 600-900 calories from the workout alone. If you are anticipating a 1.5 calorie/week loss I'm guessing you are eating at a 750 calorie defecit. Which means you've calculated your BMR at 1950 calories a day. When you add in a 700 calorie burn on top of that that bumps it up to 2700 calories burned. That puts you at a 1500 calorie defecit each day. that means starvation mode...for sure.

Try upping your calories...I'm betting you'll see results.

karamae

I'm eating a net of 1200 calories. I always eat my exercise calories and altogether I probably eat on average a bit more than 1200/day. I take weekends off most of the time and just try and eat well. I also know how many calories I burn every workout because I'm using my HRM.

I've also been told that your body will have quite a bit of water weight to protect your muscles but I would have thought that would be gone by now. I guess I'll give it a few more weeks and see what happens. If I still don't notice any difference I'll try upping my calories, but I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. I know I'm eating enough.

whyflysouth

Are you taking the supplements? If you're taking creatine then it's most likely water being stored in your muscles due to that. Also take care to read some of the ingredients, body fortress protein has approx 6 grams of creatine in each scoop even though it's a protein drink with protein written all over it.

Aside from that, there are only a few logical explanations and those are the ones suggested by everyone else. Still 7 lbs in 30 days is allot of weight so I'm inclined to believe it's mostly water and temporary in nature. From what I've read, the water is retained until the muscles adapt to the stress that's being put on them, but considering that one of the main aims of P90x is "muscle confusion," it looks like the muscles should never fully adapt and that may be why retention is extended...dunno.

betskev

1200 calories is too low!

mworld

Hi - you said you are eating 1200 NET. Are you using the 600 calorie figure from the P90x guide (edit: or are you getting around this figure or higher on your HRM?) for the calories burned during your workouts? During your rest week did you do anything different diet wise?

I too would be skeptical if someone said you gained 7lbs of muscle in a month...its usually not that easy to gain that much muscle from my experience.

edit: also, for cheat days/meals you need to understand how much you cheated by.... because going over by 300 calories isn't quite the same as eating out at TGIF or something like that and exceeding by 1000 or more. I think some people don't record their cheats which is why they don't understand their results ultimately.

Also, most HRM give you total calories burned and don't factor out the calories you already accounted for on MFP when you put your lifestyle in (sedentary etc). So you may possibly be double dipping if you aren't accounting for those... for instance if you left your HRM on you all day long you wouldn't go and add in what it shows you burned as exercise and eat those back etc.

nolan_84

Yes 1200 for P90X is much to low! There is just no way that you're getting all the protein, carbs and nutrients you need. You have to figure in that you are burning at least 450 to 500 calories a workout in this program, if not close to 600 depending on your weight and how hard you workout. You should up the calories to 15 or 1600 at the lowest... I know it sounds wrong, but your body's metabolism works best eating 5 or 6 smaller meals a day about every 2.5 to 3 hrs apart.

If you want to lose weight, you cannot be in 'starvation mode' which is prly what your body is in due to the low amount of calories.

And to whomever asked 'what is P90X? Do you live under a rock? haha, jk... its probably the best and more popular home workout program of all-time. Check it out at beachbody.com

karamae

mwworld - TOTALLY agree with you. I definitely am not going over by 1000 on my cheat day. I figure if I average ALL the calories consumed in a week it would probably total around 1500/day net. I am using my HRM to record the calories. But even if I'm double dipping I wouldn't have gained 7 pounds from that. 1200 is what MFP says is what I need to consume to lose 1.5 lbs/week. It doesn't suggest I go lower. I truly don't believe I'm eating too much or little. And I know I didn't gain 7 pound of muscle. The only thing I can think of would be that I'm still retaining some water weight...which I'm fine with.

And I am not taking supplements. Other than a multivitamin. So no protein or creatine. Nothing that would cause me to gain a ton.

Thanks for all your help everyone! I really appreciate it. I'm sure I'll figure it out within the next 60 days! lol.

mworld

O_0

if you don't see movement downwards within the next two weeks, i would really take all your data to your doctor and make sure there aren't other issues (thyroid etc)

btw, second phase is where most ppl (including me) see the biggest difference.