Seems my P90X-2 diet has been a bit too lean...

After looking at my Day 30 progress for P90X-2 thus far, it seemed that although I am clearly getting in better shape (probably much more quickly than when I did P90X the first time), my diet hasn't quite matched my fitness goal of gaining muscle mass.  I mean, as hard as I'm working my muscles, it shouldn't be the case that my body is trimming down even further to look more like a cross-country runner's than a swimmer's.

My daily dietary routine on the whole is fairly health-conscious.  Katie and I both are pretty astute at ball-parking calorie counts in foods just by looking at them, and some of our ongoing meal staples are things like morning green smoothies, lean chicken and veggies, etc.  The problem is that although I generally do a good job making the right food choices from meal to meal (or snack to snack), I have been paying zero attention to how much I've been consuming overall. 

Today was the first time since my very first round of P90X (when I was pretty regimented about this stuff) that I decided to actually calculate out what my calorie intake should be based on my exercise intensity, age, BMI, etc., and to count up how much I am actually eating on a daily basis.  Well, today may have been a little on the lighter side in terms of snacks, etc., but after dinner this evening I was still a whopping 1,300 calories below my target of 3,000ish per day.  I had no idea, and it's no wonder I haven't been gaining much definition!  

The problem is that eating those extra 1,300 calories could actually be pretty easy.  Throw in some dessert, a few beers, and I'd be there in no time.  However, consuming the right number of calories doesn't equate necessarily to eating the right kind of calories.  I need to be hitting the right mix of carbs:protein:fat, and I think in order for me to do that efficiently it might be time for me to bring back out the 'ol supplement powders, etc.  Obviously, eating whole and raw foods would be optimal, but it ends up being a LOT of food you're eating if you go that uber healthy route.  Looks like there might have to be some compromise.

Fortunately, I have an old stockpile of Optimum Nutrition protein powders to help me get back on track.  Not particularly as fun as eating an extra pint of ice cream every day, but, well, much more effective :)

Protein/Nutrition Bars: "Filling in the Gaps"

(Originally posted on April 13, 2009)

As sort of an addition to my earlier note on the supplements I took during P90x, I figured I'd also do a quick entry on my experience with various protein/nutrition bars during the program. First off, as to the importance of taking these sorts of bars, their real role lies primarily in filling in the nutritional gaps during your day. Since it's best to eat every 2-3 hours so that your body doesn't go into starvation mode (and start storing fat), nutritional bars can be extremely helpful since it's not always easy to make yourself a snack that's actually healthy AND filling.

Anyway, here're the ones I've tried:

1) P90x Peak Performance Protein Bars (3 flavors are WildBerry, Mocha, and Peanut Butter): I used these at first simply because it seemed to minimize guesswork since these are the official P90x bars.
TASTE - (8/10) Pretty good, but I think they're a little sweet for the most part. I like the Peanut Butter probably the best, but it has a slight after taste
PROFILE - (7.5/10) Solid, but the sugar/carb content is kinda higher than I'd like. Also, the protein content, which is strong at close to 20 grams, seems to mostly be from soy sources (I'd prefer whey for a number of reasons). 
VALUE - (7/10) Average to a bit expensive at around $2 per bar at retail

2) CLIF BUILDER BAR (can't remember which flavor....maybe chocolate chip?)
TASTE - (5/10) Hated it. It has a weird "crisp" in the middle of it that funks up the texture. Leaves peculiar after taste
PROFILE - (9/10) Like all CLIF stuff, it's mostly organic which is a big plus. A little high on the sugar and calorie side but it packs a strong 20 grams of protein. 
VALUE - (7/10) Pretty expensive at around $2 per bar retail (sometimes more I believe)

3) Power Bar ProteinPlus (Chocolate Peanut Butter)
TASTE - (10/10) Loved it. Was like a better version of the P90x Peanut Butter Bar...and no after taste
PROFILE - (8.5/10) Moving into the realm of meal replacement, this thing packs the most protein I've yet encountered at 23 grams. Solid nutritional profile in general. However, seems to use a few more unnatural ingredients than I'd like, including High Fructose Corn Syrup.
VALUE - (7/10) Expensive at around $2 or more per bar

4) ThinkThin Bars (Fudge)
TASTE - (7.5/10) Pretty good, but left a slight after taste
PROFILE - (9/10) All organic, which is great. Around 15 grams of protein. 
VALUE - (7/10) A bit expensive at around $2 , and I wish I liked the flavor a bit better

5) ThinkGreen Bars (Blueberry Noni flavor, and Peanut Butter Chocolate)
TASTE - (6.5/10 and 9/10). The Blueberry Noni flavor looks a bit like dog, um, stuff. And it's taste isn't that much better. The Peanut Butter Chocolate on the other hand is pretty delicious.
PROFILE - (9/10) All organic. Not as high in protein as the other bars I've used, but these are "superfood" nutrition bars, filled with all sorts of nutritional goodies, including a serving of veggies. Great for when you need a snack without mega amounts of protein
VALUE - (8/10) a bit expensive at around $1.50. But I've found that "superfood" bars tend to be fairly expensive no matter what, and these actually are reasonably priced compared to their competition

6) Balance Bars (pretty much ever flavor)
TASTE - (9.5/10) Have liked every one I've tried
PROFILE - (9/10) great profile, 15 grams of protein, relatively low cal compared to other bars. The only problem for me is that some of their bars have a few more unnatural ingredients than I'd prefer...although not as bad as the Power Bar
VALUE - (10/10) I seem to be able to find these at Kroger pretty consistently for around $1 a bar...as a result these are becoming my nutrition bar of choice!


*Another snack suggestion. a serving of roasted (unsalted) almonds. delicious, high protein, and filled with "good" fats. 

Supplements I Took During P90X Round 1

(Originally posted April 8, 2009)

Here's a little mini-review summary of the supplements I took with P90x. In the end, it's probably impossible to know how much these may or may not have affected my final results, so I'll primarily focus on things like taste, nutritional profile, etc.

FIRST HALF OF THE PROGRAM!!

CtyoSports' EVOPRO protein powder (As my before-bed protein): 
-This is a combo slow-release & fast-release protein (uses both whey and casein) found in MuscleMilk branded drinks, which is good for right when you go to bed to provide muscle-building protein that lasts through the night...unlike something like Whey which is faster absorbing and better during the day or before/after a workout. 
TASTE: (9/10)...mine was chocolate
MIXABILITY: (6/10)...lots of clumps when mixed with water
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE: (8/10)...not bad, but overall a fairly unnatural beverage. Has "hidden forms of MSG, as well as artificial sweetners, colors, etc.

2-Methyl C (A Nitric Oxide pre-workout supp in pill form):
ENERGY: (7/10)...not super noticeable
PUMP & VASCULARITY: (9/10)
OVERALL: (9/10) could definitely tell when I used it....my reps would go up noticeably from the time before beyond what they would have otherwise. Don't use for cardio though!! 

P90X Peak Recovery Formula (my recovery/post workout drink):
This helps in muscle repair, energy replenishment, etc. 
TASTE: (10/10) taste like an orange julius
MIXABILITY: (8/10) not bad, but still clumps a little bit
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE: (8/10) pretty good. Has a carb/protein ration of 4 to 1 as well as some other goodies. There are other, better drinks out there with even more goodies, but this is a solid choice. Especially taste wise!

P90X Peak Health Vitamins (my daily multi):
* Couldn't tell much difference while taking them?



2ND HALF OF THE PROGRAM:

Optimum Nutrition's Natural Gold Standard 100% Whey & Natural Gold Standard 100% Casein (for my pre-bedtime protein supp):
-Would combine these two in about a ratio of 3 to 1 (Casein to Whey)
TASTE: (7/10) chocolate; pretty good once you get used to it, but not near as good as the EVOPRO
MIXABILITY: (9/10) much better mixability than EVOPRO 
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE: (9.5/10) great, plus it's natural with no artificial crap in it

Universal Torrent (recovery/post-workout supp):
TASTE (5/10) don't really like it at all. smells very chemically and taste like some sort of melted chemical popsicle
MIXABILITY: (6/10)
NURTIONAL PROFILE: (9.5/10) awesome profile, one of the best out there. EXCEPT that it's got a whole lot of unnatural additives in it.

Controlled Labs' White Flood (pre-workout supp); still took the 2 Methyl C's from time to time:
-I did NOT like this the first few times I used it, but like it much better now at least for Cardio workouts.
TASTE: (7.5/10) mine is "electric lemonade". very strong bite to it.
MIXABILITY: (10/10)
ENERGY: (8/10) pretty good for cardio...will sweat a lot, but I liked it!
PUMP/VASCULARITY: (5/10) couldn't tell much of anything on this front
OVERALL: (7.5/10) haven't seen it provide much performance benefit for my resistance workouts, but I like it a lot for straight-up cardio stuff like Kenpo

Optimum Nutrition's Vassive CE (proprietary creatine supp):
TASTE: (9/10) "blue raspberry"; good, pretty sweet
MIXABILITY: (10/10)
OVERALL: (5/10) couldn't tell much difference perfomance wise after taking it a while


*About to start taking my 100% Whey with Optimum Nutrition's GlycoMaize for my new recovery drink after I finish up my Universal Torrent. Also, about to start swapping in Optimum Nutrition's CGT-10 for my creatine supp (as well as a good source of amino acids), and Optimum Nutrition's Opti-Men as my daily multi.

New pre-workout supplement I'm trying: White Flood

(Originally posted March 8, 2009)

Ok, I guess I'll keep this short, but for those of you who might have any interest here is a little mini-review of a new preworkout supplement I just started trying. I had been using the pre-workout supplement that Beachbody makes with pretty good success (it's made up of green tea and a few other herbal-ish things to give you energy and stamina so that you work harder during exercise), but I decided recently to try for something with a little more fitness world street-cred. So... after doing a bit of research and looking at products like NO-Xplode and a few others, I decided to go with Controlled Lab's "White Flood." A lot of folks seem to have really good results with it--better focus, endurance, pumps, energy--and it uses a little less caffeine than some of the alternative supplements out there. 

Well after using it the past 2 days, I have to say I am deeply disappointed with it so far. Although my Beachbody supplement that I've been using makes me sweat a little bit more than I would otherwise, the "White Flood" has me pouring sweat to the point of just being annoying. I was doing Yoga yesterday and kept slipping on my mat because my hands would get too slippery, and I could barely see because of the sweat dripping into my eyes. Also, for both yesterday's and today's workout I just got incredibly tired...the exact opposite of the effect I'm supposed to get! Instead of being able to work out harder and longer, I actually wasn't even able to finish my yoga workout yesterday (which is the first time that's happened) and I had to take lots of breaks during today's Total Body Plus+. All in all, I think that Beachbody's pre-workout supplement is much better, at least for me. From everything I've read, everyone may react differently to these kinds of things. Still though, "White Flood" sadly does not get my recommendation.