The Fitness Project: Phase 1 Wrap-Up

3/7/2018

Cam and I are now one month into our fitness project and we have moved into Phase 2 of our program!

The most notable changes with this transition are a few new workouts and even more calories in the diet... but before I get into that, I want to share some of my reflections and insights from the journey so far.

Current Physique, one month into training (comparison photos below)

PROGRAM SUMMARY (PHASE 1)

*I'm sorry if you've been following along and this part is old news to you - feel free to skip ahead!*)

The Routine
P90X (yep, the old school original!) 6 days per week in our home gym, as well as at least an hour of yoga daily. P90X is a strength training program that incorporates body weight exercises, weight lifting, plyometrics, and yoga, and works mainly on the premise of muscle confusion (ie mixing up the areas you're training, as well as the methods, with the intention of getting the most out of each exercise.) It's known as a fairly advanced program and some of it has been really challenging for me, but I've also surprised myself with the improvements in my strength, and I'm able to do so much more now than I was able to when I started just one month ago. I'm thrilled that I've maintained my yoga practice; in fact, I've amped it up in recent weeks! It feels like even more of a necessity, now that I'm dealing with sore muscles and tension in my body pretty much all of the time.

The Diet
Plant-based, nutrient-dense, mostly-vegan ~ *balanced*. I originally planned on eating around 1,200 calories per day but I quickly found that wasn't nearly enough, so I've been eating about 1,600 calories daily, but I'm trying to eat even more (around 1,800) for this phase (2) of the program. My main challenge with the diet is simply eating enough; in my previous post I discuss some of my digestive quirks (euphemism for sure), and while my guts seem to have adjusted to this new diet for the most part, it still feels like a bit of a struggle to deal with the increase in volume, at times. I haven't really been eating eggs for the past couple of weeks, so the diet has been almost totally vegan, with the exception of a little bit of honey in the mustard for our meatless strips. (Why does that sound like a lyric in a country song...?)
I started out recording all nutritional information for every single thing I ate, and while that was definitely a worthwhile exercise for the week-or-so that I maintained in, it simply wasn't manageable in the long run; I feel like I'm eating way too much to have to keep track of it all like that! The main considerations in my diet are the macros: protein, carbs and fat. But I also keep an eye on sugar (I try to not have any refined sugar at all), as well as fibre and sodium. Overall, I'm very happy with the diet... but I still miss wine!

Physique Comparison: February 5 - March 5, 2018 ~ Front and Back

Physique Comparison: February 5 - March 5, 2018 ~ Side/Diagonal

PHASE 1 - RESULTS + REFLECTIONS

My weight started to dip down around 106lbs in weeks 3 and 4, so I've been trying to eat even more than originally planned. I've been a fairly steady 108lbs (give or take a pound) since then and I'm thinking (hoping) I'm going to start to actually put weight on soon; I don't have a goal weight, but I do want to add more muscle to my body and I understand that doing so will likely make my weight go up. I'm really not concerned about this number though, and I found the changes in my measurements a much more interesting indicator of the transformations within my body; I was pleasantly surprised that I lost an inch in each thigh and gained 0.25" in each arm! The graphic isn't super clear, but I've lost a total of 4.5 inches and 4 pounds in the last 30 days. What you don't see in these numbers is greater and more consistent energy, better skin, nails and hair, and improvements in strength and stability that are translating to both my yoga practice and my everyday life.

I'm so happy that I made these changes a month ago and I'm feeling more motivated than ever to continue improving my health and wellness.

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