Workout & Diet Plans

Okay, so there are a million different workout plans out there and all of them fit different life styles and schedules.  P90X is great, but damn it's hard to get past the excruciating soreness of week 2 or 3 and an hour and a half can be hard to find when you have young kids.  I've been reading about the HIT (High Intensity Training) plan and I wonder if that actually works or not.  Then are there are all of the little plans that have any where from 3 to 5 exercises in them that are supposed to sculpt your body in 15 or 20 minutes a day.


I've been thinking about mixing things up.  I would do the HIT plan for 3 to 4 days a week with a light workout on off days that included cardio and movements like body weight squats, push-ups, and pull-ups.  I would do that for about 4 weeks and then get into P90X for 13 weeks.  The HIT plan would build and strengthen muscle, the light workouts would boost my cardio and keep me active to reduce soreness, and then P90X would put it all together and get me in great shape.


Of course, with a workout plan, you have to have a good diet.  I have to change my mindset of how I think of food.  Food is no longer a luxury or comfort thing, it is FUEL.  If I take in good fuel, my body will run better, just like a high performance car.  If you owned a Ferrari, you wouldn't put regular unleaded in it would you?  Of course not, you would put the premium fuel in it to keep the engine running well.


Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to only eat tofu and bean sprouts.  I have to be able to enjoy what I'm eating or my diet won't last.  I'll be eating more chicken and fish.  I'll be using more spices, less salt/sodium, and eating good healthy food.  Sure, this means I'll need to cook more, but luckily I really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes.  I especially love using my grills which I can roast or smoke chicken and fish on.  For burgers, instead of ground beef, I'll use ground turkey.  I'll also go ground turkey in meatloaf, tacos, and any other dish that usually has ground beef.  My boys can't tell the difference and my wife enjoys the ground turkey as long as I season it correctly.


Eating out will become more rare for my entire family and we'll mostly do it to celebrate things like good grades on report cards.  Restaurants make life easier for us, but can also be bad for our health.  Sodium in dishes, fat content,  portions sizes, etc., can be much higher than what you cook at home.  We just have to resist the urge of getting lazy and going out for fast food after baseball practice or after a rough day at work.  The extra up side to this is also the money we'll save.


Along with what you eat, you'll need to plan your meals out.  Occasionally I'll plan my entire week's meals, especially lunches.  On Sunday, I'll grill up 3 or 4 different types of chicken breasts (lemon pepper, adobo, teriyaki, barbecue, or jerk) for the week and then put them in plastic storage containers with brown rice and/or frozen veggies.  For dessert, I enjoy having one of the chocolate sugar-free Jello pudding cups that are only 60 calories.  The big lesson I learned here is that planning things out in advance, even if it is only one day in advance, will help you control what and how much you eat.


With regular meals, I also take into account muscle building from workouts, so after my workouts I include a  16 oz whey protein shake.  Add this to a light dinner or make a meal replacement smoothie with the whey protein instead.  If you're going to break down muscle, you need to be able to give your muscle what it needs to fully repair itself.  Also make sure to get some Omega-3's in.  I take flax seed oil capsules with every meal as well to help keep my heart healthy.

There are things that you have to omit from your diet as well.  I'm getting rid of soda's, both diet and regular.  I'm minimizing sugar intake by purchasing reduced or sugar-free goods.  I also have to cut back on soy based products due to kidney stones (calcium oxilates are bad).  I've cut way back on caffeine by cutting out sodas and tea (again, calcium oxilates are bad and tea has high amounts).  What I've increased in my diet is water, water, water and fiber.  I try to get around 30 grams of fiber a day and drink about 64 ounces of water a day, more if I sweat a lot during a workout.


Now, I'm not in the greatest of shape right now, in fact I'm overweight.  I know this and I'm struggling to get back in shape.  Everyone has their own reasons/excuses for being overweight and I have mine too, but no one cares what those excuses are.  The important thing is that I'm changing my behavior and accepting that this is my fault...  no one else's.


Obviously, I'm not a fitness trainer or nutritionist, but this is what works for me.  Everyone has their own needs when it comes to working out and staying on their diets.  Also, make sure your doctor knows what you're doing, so if you run into any cardiac, respiratory, muscular, or skeletal issues your doctor will be aware.


I'd love to hear what you are doing for your diet and/or fitness program.  What foods are you having to cut out of your diet?  Are you struggling?  If so, with what?  I'm always open to suggestions to tweak my plans.