Other Supplements

Besides, my workout drinks, protein bars and shakes, I also take 1 women’s multi-vitamin every day; 1 Omega 3 / Fish Oil supplement twice daily; and 1 Maximum D3 vitamin D supplement once a week (vitd3.com).

As far as the multi-vitamin, there’s been a great deal of press lately about whether or not to take a multi-vitamin, so I’ve been considering not buying more when I’m out, but I’m not sure yet. When I see my general practitioner, I will ask his opinion on the matter. I'll let you know what he says.

Save your hands

It occurred to me this morning during my workout that I should share some valuable information about protecting your hands during pull ups.

When I first started doing pull ups my hands really hurt - the skin near my fingers really pulled and pinched during pull ups. I tried gloves, but they didn't give me the padding where I needed it most.

So, after lots of searching, I finally found these grips at www.newgrip.com. They work awesome. I bought a pair for me and a pair for my husband. I haven't done a single pull up without them since. They really saved my hands.

Getting enough food…Snack Time

So, breakfast is out of the way, but now I need to come up with some snacks to get me through until lunch and then again mid-afternoon. This is what I keep out and readily available at my house for snacks.

I love raw almonds from WinCo’s bulk section or Costco (actually cheaper per ounce). I also enjoy walnuts (cheaper at WinCo), dry roasted peanuts (unsalted) and occasionally I will rotate in some others (soy, pistachio, cashews (unsalted), etc.) for variety. WinCo’s bulk section is my haunt.

For store bought protein bars, I buy at Costco. They have the most protein per serving and they taste fine and the price isn’t bad for the amount of protein per serving. They are Premier brand and are just called “Protein” bar. These bars have no High Fructose Corn Syrup, so they are pretty “clean”.

I also have fresh fruit readily available and I always have carrots & celery cut up in the fridge. Celery and peanut butter have saved me from total starvation a few times. OK, so not total starvation, but I was hungry!

I have also used a protein product called Egg Whites International for supplemental protein in our diet. I really like the convenience & versatility of this product. The only problem is we go through it so quickly… it’s hard to keep enough on hand. I buy this from their website eggwhitesint.com.

Let's talk breakfast

OK, so now we get to talk about the good stuff! Food!

For breakfast, I will either have a protein shake, steel-cut oatmeal or an egg sandwich. Just depends on what I feel like.

For the protein shake I take 8 oz of OJ, a few ice cubes, a tablespoon of ground flax seed (WinCo in the bulk section), a ½ scoop of protein powder (EAS or Muscle Milk at Costco), a palm full of frozen mixed berries and ½ a banana. Mix it all up in the blender. Occasionally, I will also add a tablespoon of peanut butter.

There are so many different things you can add to a protein shake - yogurt, all kinds of fresh/frozen fruit, even veggies. I sometimes add avocado or a hand full of fresh spinach leaves. Try it! It all gets whipped up and blended with all the other flavors. You’d be surprised how good it is! You should also try out some of the stuff in your spice cabinet. I’ve used all the usual suspects like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.; but I’ve also tried a bit of chili powder. You’d be amazed how yummy chocolate is with just a hint of chili powder.

The steel-cut oats are so good. I buy mine at Winco in the bulk section. I use ¼ Cup of oats to 1 Cup of water. I spray the bottom of my pan with cooking spray. I use a deep pan because this stuff boils over easy, so I like it to have plenty of room. I bring the water to a rolling boil, then add the oats. Once it comes back up to a boil, I reduce the heat to low. I let it sit there and simmer on low for about 30 minutes or more (while I’m doing other things like getting ready, etc.) You may like yours creamier, like normal oatmeal. You can experiment with this by just cooking it with a lid on it and at a higher temp for a shorter amount of time, etc. I eat mine with milk and a bit of honey. You can add berries or cut up a frozen banana. Experiment with different things.

Quinoa is another really great grain for a warm cereal. I’ll write about Quinoa in another post.

Now, for the really satisfying, filling breakfast! The egg sandwich – my dad use to make these when I was a kid, but his version wasn’t in the least bit healthy. I make my egg sandwich in the microwave. I use a whole-grain English muffin. I buy the Franz brand at Walmart. I like to toast it so that it is really crunchy. And… here it is… you may think me bad, but, yes, it’s true… I use a bit of butter on my muffin.

I am a believer in “real” butter. I don’t use margarine. Margarine is just a few particles away from being plastic... well, I read that one time and I don’t know if it’s true, but that imagery has stuck with me. I grew up on butter. Butter is real. It wasn’t developed by scientists in a lab. Look at the ingredients list of margarine and the ingredients in butter. I know what it is I’m eating & I can pronounce it & it tastes good! I use a little bit and not everyday on everything. All things in moderation! OK, off my soapbox and back to the sandwich.

I include one slice of turkey bacon. I use to buy the regular bacon, the stuff that is pretty much already cooked and you just finish it in the microwave, but on a whim I decided to buy the turkey bacon and guess what? I actually like it, so that’s what I use now.

I cook the bacon inside a folded over paper towel directly on the microwave turntable. 1 strip is cooked for 1 minute.

For the egg, I spray a small plate with cooking spray. You know those little saucer plates that are suppose to be for tea/coffee cups? They are the perfect size for the egg-to-muffin ratio. I’ve also seen people use a ramekin, which would give it the perfect egg ‘McMuffin’ look. I crack the egg on my plate, put a little salt & pepper on it and then I take a fork or knife and stir it around a bit to break the yolk. I put the plate in the microwave and cook for 1 minute. Assemble the sandwich and yum! Very filling and satisfying.

Helpful Tool

When I first started P90X, I used the portion control method and cut back on the amount of carbs I took in. I tracked my calories using mydailyplate.com. It is a helpful website because it already has so many foods (both restaurant and grocery) listed in there and it gives a pie chart of protein to carbs to fat ratios. It was an eye opener. My carbs slice of the pie was huge while the protein was pretty low, surprisingly. Using this site also helped me be more cognizant of my food intake because I had to write down everything I put in my mouth.

I don’t track that anymore, but I found it extremely helpful in the beginning. Plus it was kind of fun to compete with myself over the ratios and calorie count.

It was also nice that I could configure and save homemade stuff, like my oatmeal or my egg sandwich. I could select how much of the oats I use and how much sweetener I put in, etc. It would calculate the fat and calories, etc. from there and then save it for me to select it again on another day’s intake. Pretty slick!

Supplements for the Girls

When I first started my P90X journey, there wasn’t much out there regarding supplements for women, so after some trials and two years of work - here’s what I like and continue to use. I hope it helps others on their journey!

My supplements:

In the morning, before my workout, I take a ½ scoop of BSNs N.O. Xplode mixed with water in a large tumbler. I mix it with about 16+ oz of water; which is quite a bit, I know. You can take yours with less water… about 6-8 oz.; depends on your taste. I think it’s important to drink plenty of water when using this product.

• I buy this at bodybuilding.com. They have the best price I’ve found. You can buy this online or at their various store locations (we have one here in Boise on Milwaukee).

• This drink gives you energy and focus for your workout. I would start out slow on this to see how your body reacts to it. I started with a ½ scoop and worked my way to a full scoop. Recently, I backed it down to a ½ scoop again – for no other reason than it just lasts longer and I do just fine with ½, so why not keep it there.

I also started adding a teaspoon of Glutamine powder to this drink. This helps with muscle soreness and aids recovery.

• I buy this at WalMart. It is located in the health food section, with the protein bars and shakes, near the pharmacy area. Don’t confuse this with Glucosamine. That is something entirely different.

It takes me about 20 minutes to drink this. I work out about 10 minutes later.

On resistance days (when I’m lifting), I also like to take about a ½ a scoop of BSNs Volumaize (or some other Waxy Maize product – there are a few brands to choose from) mixed with about 10 – 16 oz. of water and drink this “during” the workout.

• Again, start slow with this (1/4 scoop) and build up. Also, as with the other drink, test it with the varying amounts of water to your taste.

• This drink gives you more focus and drive during the workout & helps with blood flow to the muscles. I find that I try harder. Instead of just giving up at 5 reps, I want to push myself to get 8 reps (as an example).

• As with anything, there are mixed reviews for this product. I’m just writing about what I like and what has worked for me. Also, I think it’s important to note that it is recommended to go off these products for 6 to 8 weeks at a time. I drink plenty of water and follow the instructions carefully.

On my cardio days, I just drink plain water during the workout.

After each workout, I drink about 6-8 oz of fat free (or 1%) chocolate milk with another teaspoon of Glutamine powder mixed in as a recovery drink. There are other products out there specifically for recovery, but I’ve found that this is a very effective recovery drink. You can’t get much simpler than good old chocolate milk.

Check back tomorrow for information on my breakfast staples, calorie counting and other vitamins/supplements I take regularly.

Other future topics: My clean-eating journey, recipe hits and misses and other nutritional finds.

Welcome to my blog!

If you would've asked me two years ago if I needed to lose 30 pounds, I would've said, "no, maybe 10 pounds, but not 30". I didn't think I had 30 extra pounds to lose. But, guess what? I did! Have you ever heard of P90X? It totally changed my body and slowly, but surely, my mind (how I think about food & nutrition) has changed as well.

I heard about P90X from my Pilate instructor (I had never seen those infomercials). I bought the program because I wanted to tone up & maybe get back down to a size 8. Now, I didn't consider myself an exercise novice. I worked out regularly; 5 days a week for about 30 minutes or so, plus I did Pilate's once to twice a week. I thought I was in good shape, but whoa was I in for a shocker. During the first week of P90X, I realized I hadn't been working out hard enough with the right mixture of exercises and I definitely wasn't eating very clean. I'm a "foodie". I love food. I love to eat it. I love to talk about it. I love to share it. I love to prepare it. Food is actually a big part of my life and my personality, but I digress.

So, what does all this mean? After two years of P90X and P90X Plus and cleaning up my diet and portion sizes, I am down from a size 12 jean (& 169 pounds) to a size 4 jean (& 137 pounds). It has been and continues to be a journey. Mind, body & spirit. I have changed the way I look at food. I have researched and gleaned information from books and other sources. I have changed the way I cook and how I nourish my family - it has been trying at times, but mostly its been fun and healthy.

I started this blog so I can share information I have learned, to inspire, to swap food stories & recipes, and to pass along supplement, vitamin and other nutritional information. I love food and cooking and that has been a huge part of my journey. I hope I can help you on yours.