P90X3 - Who's with me?!

Morning All
So I've had the virus and flu and haven't worked out in almost 2 weeks due to my incessant cough ( made it difficult to breathe properly when working out.

I was at Block 2, Week 1 when I stopped. Can I just resume from Block 2? This is the first time I took such a long break from a program and wondering how badly this would affect me?

Any advice appreciated.

I just finished block 1 today, and I have a bit of mixed feelings.
I Am getting stronger, have more stamina, mor flexible etc. Although I generally do not like cardio, CVX and the warrior were my fav workouts of block 1 , and agility x and the challenge we close seconds. I think when it comes to cardio p90x3 is actually much better than the original p90x . I did/ doing classic version of both, but the fact that p90x3 have great variety in cardio is very refreshing. I loved the pylo workout in p90x , was not a big fan of kenpo. Anyway p90x only had those 2 cardio rotating over and over and over for the entire 3 months and got old after a while.
I really like that in p90x3 has 3 different cardio on regular week , plus a 4th one on the transition week, and block 2 start with an entire new cardio schedule. I LOVE the variety.

Unfortunately when it comes to strength training, p90x3 is not even close to the original p90x, and not just because the shorter workout. The challenge is a nice simple pull- up push up routing, but total synergistic is really not hard core even for me . I really hope that block 2 will pick up the intensity when it comes to strength training.

My main complain is that I didn't lose a single pound. I started at as 204 lb obese (bmi=31) female with 42% bf, so i have a LOT to lose as i am nowhere near to ideal weight.i did the workouts, eat clean , went with the nutrition plan recommendation and nothing. i think the nutrition plan is way overestimates and the number of calories. Now as i think of it, what it gives you is probably the maintanance calories instead of the calores you supposed to eat . I gained 2 lb on the first week ,1 lb on the second week, 3 rd week no changes. At that point I kind of freak out an reduced my calorie intake with almost 300 calories for the 4 the week, and the last 3 days I went for tobogganing for an hr each day( almost 700 calorie burn) and now I am finally almost back where I were when I started. It is kind of disappointing that all that hard work went for nothing because I was overeating by following their guide. I hope this reduced calorie level and the increased intensity in block 2 will get me some result.

So, you may have heard this elsewhere before, but just in case you haven't - throw away your scale.

Weight on the scale is just a single data point. If you have taken intro to statistics you know that a single data point tells you pretty much nothing. If you go into a new workout program, that's challenging different muscle groups than you're used to using, and working you pretty hard one of the things that will always happen is an adjustment phase. During that adjustment phase your body retains water as a part of its process to heal the damage you're doing with the workouts and to adjust and adapt to the new stresses. That water retention will always make the number on the scale go up.

Always. This is why we take measurements on the last day of recovery week. That gives your body time to shed that water weight and bloat.

At minimum I tell anyone I'm working with to weigh themselves no more than once a week, and if that starts to discourage them, put the scale in the closet and only bring it out for your 30 day weigh in.

With regard to the resistance elements of X3 vs. P90X - they are going to be as tough as you make them. Use the heaviest weight you can handle while still doing the exercise with proper form. I'm using 25 and 30 lb. weights on most of the moves on Total Synergistics and I'm getting a lot of DNA removal going on. That said, this isn't a follow-on or graduate program from X. It's supposed to be a bit easier. I'm doing it in order to have personal experience with the program and to see what I can do with it. I did X2 previously and that's a lot more challenging - although in a different way.

What most of the BB coaches recommend to people who want a more focused resistance training program is Body Beast. I'm going to give that one a shot next, but I do think that X3 is a more well-rounded program than X. When Tony designed X he was all about iron, and at the time that was a radical departure for home fitness programs. Everything else that was available when X came out was focused on being the next version of Jane Fonda's aerobics program. Putting weights into people's hands was revolutionary.

Since then Tony has become more interested in longevity and overall athleticism. Both X2 and X3 reflect that change in philosophy. From a marketing standpoint I also think that Crossfit has kind of swallowed the neophyte iron monger's demographic. There's also no point in making a new version of P90X. It exists and they still sell it.

I agree that the variety of X3 is a bit better. What I found overall though, after 3 rounds of X, is that you really have to embrace the individual workouts that you hate. I loathed KenpoX, so I did it, but I did it halfheartedly, so I got nothing out of it. When I decided to put as much energy into mastering the moves in that workout as I had the moves in PlyoX or Chest & Back, I found that they got easier, and then I started to enjoy it, and by the end of 90 days it was one of my favorites (and also was giving me the highest calorie burn of all of them).

Now, with regard to the nutrition plans - I'm not an enthusiastic supporter of any of the nutrition plans in any BB programs. I'm too much of a nutrition geek and I want more detail and nerdy science stuff out of it. That said, I like the X3 plan better than any of the others I've seen because it's simple.

It's still possible that it has you eating too much though, or too much of the wrong things (a bit more likely). When I calculate my calorie needs based upon the X3 guide it gets pretty close, although I'd say it's about 100 calories on the high side. The best way to tell if you're eating too much (or too little) isn't necessarily the scale though for the reasons outlined above. It's how you feel. If you feel like you're carrying a brick in your gut, (or even a small rock) then you're eating too much and you should probably scale it back. If you're feeling tired, cranky, fatigued or mentally slow, you're probably eating too little. Again, adjust up a bit and see what happens.

What I never advise anyone to do is eat what MFP's automated goal calculator says. It will nearly always calculate anyone who is trying to lose weight into too steep a deficit. If you want to run your formula to get your BMR it goes like this:

For women-
(age x 4.7) + (height in inches x 4.35) - (age x 4.7) + 655 = BMR
Take that number and multiply it times 1.2 to factor in a typical sedentary lifestyle and there is your weight maintenance calorie goal. Eat that while doing X3 and you'll lose weight.

-Tex