P90X + LEANGAINS RESULTS – TWO YEARS LATER
***UPATE – JULY 3rd 2015 – 3 YEARS LATER RESULTS AND UPDATE HERE***
***UPATE – JULY 2016 – 4 YEARS LATER RESULTS AND UPDATE HERE***
IF YOU FALL OFF THE HORSE GET BACK ON
This past July 4th (07.04.2014) marked two-years exactly that I finished my first round of P90X…and, because I shared my one-year-later results last year, I thought it only fitting to share my two-year update.
BUT, this two-years-later post is about more than proving you can maintain results – this two-year update is about showing that once you fall off the horse YOU CAN GET BACK ON – sooner than you would think.
For me and my family, this past year has been a bit more than just hectic – it has been a bit of whirlwind. From going full-time in my own business while keeping a second part-time job to getting ready for baby number 3’s arrival, it seems like this year has been non-stop from the get go…and it only got more and more hectic as the year progressed.
As is normally the case with my family, the months leading up to the new baby were the most hectic and busy time of the year (and this was especially true with baby number three’s arrival). Ella Sofia was born on January 4th 2014 and the months leading up to her birth were filled with tons of both work and personal deadlines, holiday planning, cooking, decorating, Christmas shopping, and lots of celebrating…not to mention moving kid number two in with kid number one and having to repaint the entire house (including the baby’s room because the baby girl couldn’t have the neutral green…she’s gotta’ have pink).
Well, longer story shorter, with all this going on in our lives I truly found myself with little to no time to workout.
During this time I did my best to fit in at least 3 workouts a week, but even that seemed unattainable or too stressful to actually do. Exercise, which was something I do to become less stressed was actually stressing me out more because while I was working out all I could do was think of all the other work and personal obligations I needed to be doing before The Deadline (That Deadline being Ella).
So, before I even noticed there I was…16 pounds heavier and only gaining weight.
2011
240 pounds
Start P90X
2013
167 pounds
End of P90X2
January, 2014
181 pounds
Start of P90X3
MY HORSE WAS P90X…BUT P90X3 CHANGED THE GAME
There I was…letting The Funk take control of me and my life.
I found myself depressed, stressed, not exercising, throwing healthy eating to the wind, and losing control of my weight.
Yeah, I was working out and I was still Intermittent Fasting, BUT I WAS ONLY WORKING OUT ABOUT 3 DAYS A WEEK, NOT RUNNING AT ALL, AND EATING ONLY ONCE A DAY…and we all know I’ve tried the Spartan Diet before with no results.
So, right at my most depressed and stressed moment, there came Tony Horton like an angel from above (bit dramatic?), claiming that 30 minutes a day was enough time to get it done.
“30 minutes a day?!” I thought to myself. “No Way! 30 minutes is not enough time…but then again…Tony’s never steered me wrong…?”
And, after about a 30 second internal debate, I decided to give it a go. Right then and there I made a commitment to start P90X3 immediately after getting home from the hospital with our brand new baby Ella….and that’s exactly what I did.
After arriving from the hospital, the very next morning, with new baby in hand, I got up at 4:30 am, and for the next 90 days, hit play and got back to my own personally modified Intermittent Fasting approach to the LeanGains eating style.
You see, yeah, I was still busy with work and home life, but no matter which way you skin the cat, I was saving an hour off my workout daily…and I don’t know about you but I can get a lot of stuff done with that extra hour…so much stuff done that I was no longer thinking about my stressful life while trying to destress via putting my body through an even more stressful 30 minutes…makes perfect sense right?
SAME HORSE, NEW GAME
At the end of P90X3’s 90 days I was back on the horse but in a whole new game!
I now know 30 MINUTES A DAY IS ENOUGH…so no longer do I have to skip a workout because I don’t have time!
Hell, the last day at the beach a few weeks ago I was laying in the sand with nothing to do. My kids were all asleep and my wife was falling asleep herself…so, with a bit of energy and nothing else to do, I hit play on my iPhone and did Isometrics right there – on the beach before my own sleeping family even noticed.
The point is that though P90X3 may have gotten me back on the horse it did something much more important – P90X3 GOT ME IN A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME!
You see, with the power of knowing 30 minutes done right could work wonders I got back on track, and, when a bit more time freed up, I went back for my 3rd round of P90X2…and what I noticed shocked me big time!
THE NEW HYBRID + SHAKEOLOGY
As you all may already know (if you’ve already read my P90X3 review), I truly believe, speaking from personally experience, that P90X3 got me better prepared for P90X2 than P90X did.
I don’t know how to really express this in words but after completing my first round of P90X3 my body felt better than it had ever felt before. My injured shoulder felt, well, perfect, my two bum knees felt like brand new, and I was running faster and longer than ever. The only drawback to P90X3 was a bit of a drop in overall arm mass.
So, with my newfound fitness I decided to step it up a notch!
Soon after finishing P90X3 I started my own X2/X3 hybrid (which includes throwing in some X3 doubles on P90X2 off days) but that’s not all that I changed. After being scared straight by Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (a movie about The American Diet and the importance vegetables play in our body’s overall health), I also tried out Shakeology for the first time ever. Though I’ve known about Shakeology for over two years now (if you’ve done any Beachbody program there is no way you don’t know about Shakeology…it’s pretty much everywhere Beachbody is) I never tried it out because I really don’t believe in taking supplements anymore, but after realizing Shakeology is not really a supplement but more like a meal, and after watching Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead, I decided I needed to up my vegetable intake game.
So, I started taking Shakeology (in place of one meal…still within my 6 hour feeding window) 30 days ago and can honestly say I noticed a pretty huge difference in my energy level, soreness, digestion, and overall feeling of well-being by day 3 (not to mention a visual change in my size and body composition just two weeks into taking the meal replacement shake)…but more about this on a later post. I am actually going to write a full review on Shakeology soon so please be on the look out for that if you’re interested in learning a bit more about the product and my thoughts on it.
RECAP – UPS & DOWNS, BUT THAT’S LIFE
So, if there is one thing I can take from this year is that, though we may have some ups and downs this year, we should try not to stress over it too much because that’s life – and as long as we have more ups than downs then there’s really nothing more we should be asking for anyway.
And with that final statement, without further adieu, below is the incremental visual results of what my own personal ups and downs did to my physical body over the last 2 years.
VISUAL RESULTS OVER TWO YEARS?
INCREMENTAL VISUAL CHANGES OVER THE PAST 2 YEARS
HEALTH/WEIGHT STATS OVER THE PAST YEAR
January, 2014
181 pounds
X/X2, 3 Days/Week
April, 2014
165 pounds
End of P90X3
July, 2014
169 pounds
Hybrid (X2/X3) + Shakeology
Vincent Ho
Aug 6, 2014 -
Hey Rolando!
Really love the site, and you are truly an inspiration to me. Right now I look exactly how you did in your before pictures. I recently educated myself with Lean Gains and barely got a hold of p90x3 yesterday, and I was just wondering if you stuck to the Lean Gains philosophy of eating more carbs/less fats on training days and more fats/less carbs on rest days? I’m just kind of confused since if i’m going to be doing p90x3 everyday then everyday would be a training day? So how did you divide up your macros? Thank you so much and i am excited for my journey!
Rolando Rodriguez
Aug 9, 2014 -
Hello Vincent,
Sorry for the delayed response – this week as been more than crazy.
Nonetheless;
First and foremost, thank you very much for your kind words!
Secondly, as for the LeanGains eating philosophy during P90X3…I personally did a modified version for a number of reasons, one of which you mentioned above (training everyday).
So, during P90X3, I cycled both my calories and macro nutrients during my normal 6 hour fed state. I cycled calories differently every day/week (depending on when/if I was planing treat days) but I stuck to high carbs / lower fats the days before cardio-based sessions (i.e., CVX, MMX, The Warrior…) and lower carbs / higher fats the days before more strength-based or recovery sessions (i.e., The Challenge, Total Synergistic’s, Isometrics, Yoga, Dynamix…).
Hope this makes sense and please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, or comments concerning anything at all.
Best wishes on your journey and GOOD LUCK!
Hope to hear from you soon and take care.
Rob
Dec 1, 2014 -
Wow, amazing results..and very cool of you to go out of your way posting what you post. You’re an inspiration to alot of people I’m sure.
I’m just starting X3 now and just learning about intermittent fasting. My goal is weight loss, and I can see you and I have the same body type. I have about 20-30lbs I’m looking to lose, however I’m so clueless on diet with this program. Lately I’ve been eating very low carb and higher protein which translates to about 1200-1500 cal/day. Some fruit, some veggies, no breads, some fats, lots of chicken, eggs, tuna and water. Now I’m reading about leangains. Would you be able to give me some fasting diet advice based on these foods and p90x3? My metabolic rate is around 1800-2000cal/day.
Hope to hear from you and keep the posts going. Thanks, Rob
Rolando Rodriguez
Dec 2, 2014 -
Thanks for the kind words Rob – always good to hear!
As for dieting and X3…I’d say if you’re interested in the LeanGains approach to Intermittent Fasting then calculate your Macros (here’s the calculator I use as a starting point from which I make adjustments as needed) and fit those Macro Nutrient targets into your weekly average of 1,200 – 1,500 calories a day. BUT BE SURE TO CYCLE CALORIES and Macros (check out some of these posts if you haven’t already done so).
If you’re able to fit your target caloric intake (1,200 – 1,500 per day) into a feeding window time of 8-6 hours/day I think you’ll see great results. If you’ve never fasted I’d start with a 12 hour fast and 12 hour feeding state for a week…then work your way up to an 16/8 or an 18/6 approach. I think I may have actually started with a 10/14 (10 hours fasted / 14 hours feed) but was able to go 12 hour fasted the next day with it taking a few weeks to work up to the 18 hours fasted state….which I have been doing for 3 years now.
In terms of carbs, what I think you’ll find, if using the Macro Nutrients approach is that you’re probably eating way too little carbs right now…but that’s just a guess.
Finally, if you do start intermittent fasting make sure you pick a time that works best for you. I love going to bed full and my will is much stronger during the day so I’ve always fasted from 9 pm to 3 pm or for a full 24 hours. But I have some clients that fast at night instead of eating at night because they think they get a better workout with some fuel in the tank…But, because I workout perfectly fine fasted and my will power disappears after the sun goes down, a day fast has always been my thing…even though breakfast was, and still is, my favorite meal of the day.
FYI – I have found that, for me anyways, if I stick to my weekly caloric target while calorie cycling daily I don’t have to stick too close to my Macro Goals.
As an overall rule of thumb; keep your proteins and veggie intake high, cycle your carbs and fats, and be sure to cycle your daily calories (making sure to meet your weekly daily average).
Nonetheless, please let us know if you have any more questions and please keep us in the loop with your progress.
If you’d like to e-mail me directly hit me up at rolando@x-gains.com
BEST OF LUCK!
– Rolando