Should I use P90X? Or continue my diet?

Question

Well, my boyfriend and I want to lose weight by summer, he wants to lose 40lbs and I want to lose 15lbs but not become a frail stringbean, I actually want abs and muscles. My boyfriend wants a more a more defined muscle tone and get rid of his bear belly.

Right about now, we've been dieting for a few months. It hasn't worked well for me and he's been going up and down in his weight and I could see that he isn't very satisfied with his body because he is overweight. I love him and want the best for him, so I suggested P90X or some type of diet pill, diet plan and causal work out.

Only thing, we have senior citizen neighbors, so we can't make very much noise in the evening because they will complain. We work during the day and school @ night twice a week. We have weekends & Mondays off so what should we do?

WhiteSteve · Accepted Answer

i'm a personal trainer, so I might be able to shed some light on this subject for you.

first off, I'll tell you the first thing I tell all of my clients that have weight loss goals: forget the number on the scale. as you probably know, muscle weighs more than fat you could lose 15 lbs of fat, but put on 15 lbs of muscle. the number on the scale will be the same, but your body would look different. I always say, mirrors are more accurate than scales! obviously you need to watch the scale somewhat, I'm just saying it's not the be all, end all. overall, worry about how you LOOK, not how much you weigh.

secondly, I understand the rush to get in shape for summer. but here's the thing...you need to understand this doesn't happen overnight. I don't say that to discourage you, but rather to start you off with the right expectations so you DON"T get discouraged after a few months and quit altogether. also it's not just something that you can do for a while off and on when you want. you have to approach it as a drastic lifestyle change. one of the most unfair realities in life is how hard it is to get into shape vs how easy it is to get OUT of shape. but it is what it is, and you have to know that once you get in shape, you have to STAY in shape.

so anyway, that said...P90X, diet pills, and diet plans. Diet pills - bad. I'll spare you the boring science behind it, and just tell you in short that they're a huge waste of money. forget 'em and move on... as for diet PLANS...do you mean like Weight Watchers? or just having a plan for eating in general? you want to eat properly spaced out nutritious meals...THAT should be the "plan."

P90X - not bad, but there are a few issues. first things first, you're looking at $140 for just the program. what they don't tell you is that you need to also buy resistance bands and a chin-up bar, which will run you another $90. so this is a fairly costly investment...and it's a TOUGH workout, especially for beginners. it's not impossible, but a beginner is going to have to show some serious dedication and fight through a lot of pain, and a lot will quit. quitting is the worst thing that can happen in fitness. you want to work hard, but if you work yourself so hard to the point that you don't want to do it anymore, then you're worse off than when you started! but I will say that IF you follow the P90X program, you'll see drastic results over the course of a few months. but I'd recommend joining a gym first and teaching yourselves to commit to working out on a regular basis. also, you'll get yourselves in shape to get in shape, if that makes any sense, hahaha.

basically, I'd recommend joining a gym and getting into the routine of going, and buying healthy foods. it's a much better use the money you'd spend on workout/weight loss programs. if you have health insurance, most companies reimburse a good portion of your membership fees, so take advantage if you can! I could go on longer, but I'll stop here, haha.

good luck!

glamphotog · Accepted Answer

If you have been dieting for a few months but it hasn't worked, something was wrong with your diet. Plain and simple.

In order to lose weight, you HAVE to control how much you eat. It won't matter what exercise program you start working on if you can't watch what you eat. What can actually happen is you get bigger because your muscles grow underneath whatever fat you have.

Easiest way to lose weight: watch your calories. Most rewarding way to lose weight: watch your calories and exercise.

rachiee · Accepted Answer

Don't take any diet pills! Trust me, they aren't worth it and cause more harm to your body.

What are you guys currently doing now for your diet?

You do know the P90X is a workout, right? If you both want to lose weight/tone up then P90X will help. But you also need to come up with a good, healthy diet. Otherwise it won't matter how much you workout. I suggest you do P90X for 2 or 3 days a week (to start off with) then the other days you want to do cardio (go for a jog, or even better find a gym and workout there). You really want to workout a total of 5 days a week.

I suggest you guys wake up early and workout in the morning. I know, early mornings are no fun but if you both want to see results you have to make sacrifices. Trust me, it'll be worth it in the end. Also, you could both sign up for a gym that is open in the evenings. You can make as much noise there lol.

Izzy_21 · Accepted Answer

I heard P90x is a very good workout. The entire teambeachbody.com homepage is pretty cool too and all their workouts are also. They come nutrition plans.

I think they will give you a jumb start for losing weight and gaining muscle, but I'm not sure if they are suitable for longer periods than thoses 60 or 90 days, so you may need to find something else after that.

I heard P90X requires you to buy some things besides the workout, which can end up to be quite expensive. Insanity does not and gets you good results too, so maybe try that. I got it for 50 bucks, but it's usually more expensive from what I know. I'm not sure how athletic you are but both programms are probably not for complete beginners.

The Tracy Anderson workouts are pretty decent too

NotJustAnotherGuy · Answer

Muscle is not made in the kitchen. You can eat perfectly and you won't get a muscular or toned body. If you think you're gonna trim your fat with diet and that magically you're gonna have a perfect muscular body that was hidden under the fat, then you're going to be extremely disappointed.

Nothing substitutes consistently working out. If your workouts aren't consistent, you won't see results. Don't whine about how I did my workout most the time, and got no where. If you're not doing it 100% of the time, you're not gonna get half the results, if any.

So commitment is key. You want to lose fat? Sleep an hour earlier, wake up an hour earlier, and jog at least 45mins. You want muscles? Then lift weights. You want both? P90x is a good program for that.

I've not heard many real success stories of people losing weight on diets. Why? Because sticking 100% consistent to a diet is 1000x harder than sticking 100% to a workout regime. If you can't do cardio 5-7 times a week, you can not successfully do a diet plan because it is much harder and much more complicated-- and for someone living in an apartment (? only reason I'd see noise as a serious problem) it isn't all that affordable either.

If you're seriously committed to reshaping your body, get a workout regime and stick to it at all costs. Do not stray even for a day. Each day you skip is a 5 day set back.

100% consistency with p90x for 90 days.. you'll love the results. I love fitness challenges and I've tried a few of the p90x workouts and they're good.

As for bothering your neighbors, just try to do it as soon in the day as possible. Or talk to them about it. And if you can't, well too bad for them. Your health is more important than satisfying your neighbors. And if you can't get that through your head, you've failed motivation 101 already.

Again, the key is following the program 100% for the full 90 days. Your motivation and willingness to trust the program is your only wall. You conquer those two things and you'll make it far. Best of luck.

Oh and as for dieting, just do the warriors diet. Only eat between 5-9 pm. no exceptions Great way to limit your caloric intake without thinking too much or working too hard.

SixStringSeal · Answer

Really cutting weight involves making major lifestyle changes. Changing how you look at food and changing how you value your health is a must. Learn to enjoy getting outside and doing outdoor activities. Parking further away from the store so that you can get a little bit more of a walk in. I've learned to really love getting outside and jogging with my dog and I take a lot of pride in my ability to know what food is best to eat and shop for. That's how you take off weight and that's how you KEEP it off. :)

GymStatus · Answer

I have p90x. It is good if you do not know what you are doing when it comes to exercise. I was working out before I had p90x and I got better results doing the old stuff like Lift/bodyweight, diet, cardio, sleep. There is no secret to lose weight. Everything else is just to make loot. P90x is okay but they to have plyo tranning in it that requires you to jump and stuff thus waking your neighbors. I suggest a gym membership at a 24 hour place or p90x and to the trainning at a respectible time so you do not disturb your peers.

also p90x got stale to me after the 3 week lol. My own routine worked better.

Also do not take diet pills. If you have unknown/undiagnosed/missdiagnosed problems, it can cause injury and or death.

So I say Gym membership at a 24 hour place eat right sleep cardio lift/bodyweight workout...

nightbladex14 · Answer

All of these answers are USELESS.

I do P90x and have a bet to see whether me or my enemy gets more "jacked" and ends on March 17th.

Been doing P90x since November and am in the best shape of my life.

You will be guaranteed a awesome body if you actually stick to the routine. That's the only hard part. But 100% you will be hot. Dieting is kinda part of it, just don't eat sweets, fats, or drink soda and you're good.

martyfellow · Answer

Hit the gym on weekends and Mondays, do a variety of workouts there, and then do some sort of jogging and circuit work outside the rest of the week.

Sign up with Weight Watchers or some other organized diet progam that moitors you, gives you low calorie desserts, and minimizes the effort involved.

You just need a little support and you will both be fine.

beerY33 · Answer

don't use diet pills :( P90x is a really good workout. you probably won't be making that much noise?

noisychicken · Answer

Did you guys consider maybe Zumba my local rec-center and my college both offer classes so see if maybe he's up for it its kind of intense but you get the hang of it eventually.

WeaponZero · Answer

Go to bodybuilding.com and use their 12-week trainer programs.  Kris Gethin's program is awesome for men.

6Paul11 · Answer

It doesn't matter what fitness "brand" you choose. Pick a healthy diet and a healthy and disciplined workout regimen and you will be golden.

candlewax · Answer

No, no diet pills. You loved your boyfriend like you said you do, you wouldn't even dream of suggesting that.

Anonymous · Answer

P90X is kind of a crock. Even if it really works, there are much better (and free) programs.  Just google scooby's workshop for some great ideas and data.

whydogirlsmesswithme · Answer

Well for P90x to work you have to diet too.  You need to work out to have muscles

Anonymous · Answer

You should do the p90X

Anonymous · Answer

healthy diet is the best.

Should I use P90X? Or continue my diet?

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