Preview: P90X3 -My 2014 Fitness Program Adventure!

Well. . . Look, no excuses. I started this blog on an excited whim and let the helium of that excitement balloon diffuse into the atmosphere. The most I have done with the blog is jot down "cool ideas" to write about. Writing, not so much. False starts are part of life, especially in fitness and change.

Seven months later and I make my second entry into this blog. I am not proud of this, but it is what it is. Today's entry is actually one that will push me to do several more, so I have that going for me.

Today I write about starting the newest workout program to the BeachBody arsenal of extreme fitness: P90X3.

I have done P90X, the first in this series about two years ago. The results were amazing. At the time I was thin (having gone through what my hairstylist called the "Divorce Diet") and I wanted to tone up for the summer. Weight loss wasn't my plan, but my ex-husband was doing the program and the results he was having were great. So I do the program and lose 5 lbs and a few inches off the ol' body. I lost the fat from the bra strap area right under my boobs (something I didn't know what possible - yay) and gained some sweet definition in my triceps. I even got more than a few of the coveted "You're too skinny" remarks to which I enthusiastically replied, "Really? Thank you!"

Me: Before (3/10/12, 129 lbs) and After (6/7/12, 124 lbs)

Fast forward two years later: I am in an extremely healthy and loving relationship with my boyfriend, James. Unfortunately, due to being happy and having a boyfriend who tells me how beautiful I am while eating Five Guys, I have gained back all the weight I loss and then some. Needless to say I am not currently happy with myself and my body's appearance.

Program Overview:

In December, P90X3 came out on the market. The program consists of sixteen 30-minute videos that uses the concept of "muscle acceleration" to get people into shape. Like its predecessors, the program is 90 days long that breaks up the 90 days into "three phases" consisting of 3 week of a 6 day workout plan followed by a transition week to set you up for the next phase. The point of doing the program in phases is so the body never "plateaus" and weight loss and muscle building continues.

The concept for P90X3 is derived from several studies that state that tested time and intensity of working out in relations to people remaining committed and calories burned. One study found that after 30 minutes of the body's ability to respond to exercise beings to decrease resulting in diminishing returns. So, unless you are a super athletic, if you do 30-minutes of intense exercise, that should be enough to loss weight and get fit. This is what the P90X3 Fitness guide tells us. Having done P90X, I am going to take this at their word for now.

There is a second part to this program which is the nutrition guide. The nutrition guide is really just a common sense approach to healthy eating. It works off a 40% carbohydrate-30% protein-30% fat model of nutrition. Of course this doesn't mean you get this ratio via a meal at In-N-Out. The guide has a infograph style ranking of "healthy to healthiest" carbs, proteins and fats. For example, kale is your healthiest carb whereas a corn tortilla is your least healthy carb. The guide also gives you a 4 question nutrition quiz to figure out your caloric intake baseline. There are a few recipes for spice blends and vinaigrettes and suggestions for healthy meals and snacks. The guide is pretty idiot proof.

In contrast, P90X has a three tier eating and meal system that followed each of the three phases of the workout program. The first phase involved an Atkins-like diet, the second resembled a South Beach-style diet and phase three was highest in carbs. What I liked about this nutrition program over nutrition program over P90X3s is that you were able to plan your day using portions. For example, the first phase gave you 5 portions of protein, two dairy, one carb, etc. It was easy for me to just count portions and figure where I wanted to use my calories and food types throughout my day.




I got the P90X3 Challenge Pack through an old high school friend who is a current BeachBody Coach. The pack came with a basic package of the P90X3, a extra workout, a 30 day supply of Shakeology and a month free subscription to the $2.99 membership. The only draw back to this package is that you get automatically put on their auto-direct program and they will charge my credit card unless I cancel it with them. I don't like that, but I wanted to try Shakeology at a discount so I went for it.

I have had two problems so far with BeachBody. First, I ordered chocolate Shakeology and somehow when my order was processed, it said I requested vanilla. I got vanilla in the mail. I sent an email to customer service to see if I could remedy the problem and first received a ridiculously generic "we're sorry and here is an answer similar to the question you asked" response. In their second response it actually sounded like a person wrote the email and there wasn't a way to just return my vanilla for a chocolate. They were only able to change my account setting to chocolate in my next auto-direct order. My second problem is similar to the first one. I sent them an email asking how to start my free trial membership and got a generic response that did not answer my question at all.

BeachBody has mixed customer service reviews when I google'd them. So far, my experience with them have been more bad then good. I will probably have to call in directly when I go to cancel the membership and possibly the Shakeology if I decide it's not worth the $129.95/month cost.

Overall, I am looking forward to doing this program. I have sampled some of the videos so far and really like them. 30-minutes goes by so fast! I will be doing my fit test with my reluctant partner in sweat, my boyfriend James. Future posts will include his achievements, failings and results as well as mine.