P90X3 Review – Approach In Action

P90X3 Review – Block 1 In The Books

So, Round 1, or, as it’s properly referred to in the P90X3 Program, Block 1 of P90X3 is in the books.  This means I’m about 1/3 of the way down with the program…and what do I got to show for it?

Well, in my opinion, a very good start.  But before we get into specs and before/after pics, I’d like to share what I’ve been up to the last four weeks.

From days missed due to sickness to my diet to my cardio training, below you’ll find how my first month of P90X3 went down.

For a synopsis of my approach in Block 1 of P90X3 check out “P90X3 Review –  5 Steps To Starting P90X3.”

THE DIET

A Modified LeanGains Approach To Intermittent Fasting

So, after months of following the Spartan Diet’s approach to Intermittent Fasting I got back on my personal modified version of LeanGains’ approach  to Intermittent Fasting.

My Intermittent Fasting Approach

5 DAYS A WEEK – 18 Hour Fast / 6 Hour Fed

2 DAYS A WEEK – Full Day Fast (i.e., I fast from Dinner to Dinner)

Calorie and Micronutrients Cycling

As noted a few times now on this site, I truly believe that a major part of weight loss, and sticking to any diet really (more on that at a later post), is calorie cycling.  So, during Block 1 of P90X3, I cycled my calories daily while making sure the weekly average hit the total number of allotted calories for that week.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CALORIE CYCLING? CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS POST.

The Menu

The menu for the last month included a lot of variety.  While chicken, pasta, and salad are the go to low calorie meals, this last month included home-made Chinese, Cuban (which is what I normally eat about 4 days a week), Italian, and even Irish meals.  Niña has actually been cooking a lot lately but that doesn’t mean I don’t work in the occasional Mexican or Costco treat.

As seen below, I calorie cycle pretty drastically from day to day but I always keep a watchful eye on that caloric average.

Total Calories vs. Net Calories

(My P90X3 Food Diary During Block 1)

Cheat/Treat Day

Low Calorie Day

As seen in the highlighted examples above, one day I might go all out at IHOP while another day I’ll eat salad and “clean” meats only.  In reality I eat “bad” about once or twice a week and eat “good” the rest of the week, but no matter if I go “bad” or “good” I stay within my weekly calorie goal.

VIEW MY ENTIRE FOOD DIARY FROM BLOCK 1 OF P90X3

THE CARDIO

Just like I did with P90X, and I do whenever I need to lean up a bit, I decided to add post-runs 4-5 days a week during my P90X3 Program.

Each run, depending on intensity and distance, burns about 250 – 400 calories per run and allows me to eat a bit more that day…OR LOSE a bit more.

There is actually a little trick I use in terms of my Cardio workouts and counting them towards my net caloric intake.  I actually think this trick/tip is about 70% responsible for my results and, more importantly, the maintenance of those results.  But that is a topic for another post – got to keep y’all coming back somehow.

To be perfectly honest, getting back in the run game took about a week and half to two weeks, but once I got back the weight started flying off and the energy level started peeking.

IF YOU’VE TAKEN SOME TIME OFF FROM RUNNING CHECK OUT THESE 5 TIPS TO HELP GET YOU BACK IN THE GAME. 

As seen below I vary my run distances, pace, and days.  On average I try to stay under a 10 minute mile and try to run 4-5 days a week.  By the end of the program I hope to be running about a 9:00 mile and hitting 5-6 days a week.

TWO BUMPS IN THE ROAD

In Block 1 of P90X3 I found myself sick twice and ended up missing 2 days which I made up by pulling doubles the same week I got better.

 

“But When Should I Do Doubles As Make Ups?”

This is actually a very important question to ask yourself.

You need to make sure you have a game plan to make up lost days, especially if you are truly committed to the 90 days.

My personal approach was, and will most likely be, to do a double the day X3 Yoga is scheduled.

So, for example, one of the times I got sick was a Friday evening and I had to miss The Warrior workout.

I DID NOT do The Warrior that following Monday BUT INSTEAD I stuck to that week’s regular schedule.  Instead of just picking up where I left off I actually postponed the make-up day until after that week’s scheduled X3 Yoga.  This means that on that week I did The Warrior twice – once after X3 Yoga and then again on its regularly scheduled day (which are Saturdays for me).

 

Committing to a 90 day transformation requires having backup plans to make sure you can adjust to whatever life throws your way…see if my backup plan worked tomorrow when I share my review of P90X3’s Block 1 (with before and after pictures of course).