Day One

Along with promising to myself (and to cyberspace) that I am going to follow the nutritional instructions and exercise programs that p90x tells me to do, I also promise to try my best to update every day. So here we go. Day one.

Workout: Core Synergistics
Brunch: Egg white omelet with tomatoes, Monterrey jack cheese, and avocado. Multi grain toast. Fruit.
Early Dinner: Salmon with lemon-dill sauce, roasted red pepper soup, asparagus.

I woke up nice and early (8:30) this morning and put on my workout clothes, grabbed my water and computer, and went down to my makeshift exercise space in my basement. I put the disc in the drive and sleepily started to stretch my muscles. I'm trying my best to avoid muscle cramps this time around. I did the workout to the best of my ability. So I did probably 2/3 of the exercises full out and the other third I either did half-assed or didn't do at all. But I really honestly can say that I tried my best. And got really sweaty. So I guess that's a good thing, right?

After my workout, I went to a restaurant in my town called Toast with my friend Emily. On the nutritional guide, I was instructed to eat egg whites with cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions and a side of fruit today. When I looked at the menu, I tried to find something that appealed to me and followed the dietary restrictions as closely as possible. I think that what I got was a pretty good option. And it tasted great. Healthy food tastes good. Some Americans need a little wake up call to learn that. Avocado and tomato and everything else I had for brunch tastes a lot better to me than a big mac and fries. Dear unhealthy population of my country, try something healthy some time.

After brunch, I went to the grocery store with my handy dandy shopping list to buy food for tonight and tomorrow. Now the great thing about p90x is that if you buy the package (not just the DVD's) you get an exercise guide and a nutritional guide. And the nutritional guide comes with a meal plan and recipes for most of the things in the meal plan. So I looked at the food for the first two days and decided what I was going to make based on my schedule and wrote down the ingredients I would need to get. I decided on the salmon with lemon-dill sauce and red pepper soup for dinner tonight, a protein shake for breakfast tomorrow, and stir fry for lunch tomorrow.

Let me explain something about me and my appetite. I am on two different medications that both curb my appetite like crazy. I'm on vyvanse for my ADD, which is commonly known to curb appetite, and I'm on welbutrin, which is the only anti-anxiety/anti-depressant medication that doesn't make you gain weight. When I was put on my welbutrin, I was at my heaviest and I specifically told my doctor that he could absolutely not put me on anything that would make me gain weight. Thankfully, in my case, welbutrin was really the only medication that would work.

Because of these medications, my appetite is, on a scale from 1-10, maybe a 2. Looking at the nutritional plan was so intimidating for me because there is so much food on it per day, and for me, eating 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks would feel like I was forcing myself to eat when I'm not hungry. Which is just so so so bad for me because it is something that I used to do when I was depressed. Because I know my body well enough, I decided to just pick two meals per day and plan on eating those. Of course, if I get hungry, I won't prevent myself from eating something on the list of approved foods, but over-eating is just as bad for a person as starving oneself. So I'm just putting it out there that I am not by any means starving myself. Every body is different, and even if you have a diet plan, you have to modify it to fit your needs. And make sure that you are eating a mix of veggies, fruits, protein, dairy, fats, and carbs. Yes, fats and carbs. You need both of those things in order to live a healthy life style. Notice that both of those things are on the food pyramid, and you need to have both of those things in your diet.

Right now, its only 3:45ish, so clearly I haven't eaten dinner yet, but I just finished cooking the soup and the sauce for later and I will be eating around 5:15 because I have to get to rehearsal an hour away by 7. So I am eating around my schedule. Because my appetite is so non-existent, I have to schedule a time for me to eat or I will get into bed at the end of the day and realize that no food has been consumed by me all day. And I have to plan my days and make time for me to eat. For instance, tomorrow I am getting my head shots done in the city at 3 and then I have rehearsal 1.5 hours from the city at 7. Clearly, eating dinner won't fit on the schedule til at least 11. So I am planning on having breakfast and lunch tomorrow and maybe bringing a protein bar with me to rehearsal just in case.

So lesson of the day: plan your meals, use a shopping list when food shopping so you don't buy anything you don't need, and know your body and how much food/exercise you can handle.

And if anyone wants the recipes for anything that I have consumed or will consume in the future, just comment and let me know!