Day 71

Week 9, Day 5 Triometrics done. Today was tough. I am not sure if not doing this one for a week made it more difficult or the fact that I might be doing more less modifying, which I try to do every time I do it, but my quads were feeling this workout from the get go. I was getting jello legs at the end of it and still a little wobbly.

I like feeling the affects of work on my muscles during the workout, but I wish this workout required us to write down stuff to see how we are progressing in this one. Yes I can do that on my own and I typically do here, so I might have to go back and look at what I was saying the first 3 times I did this one. I won't be going it next week, but I will the week after. I do like this workout (part of Block 2 so no surprise there) and can see doing this in some hybrid workout routine later.

I weighed yesterday and it was a great number for me. I am down to 310 lbs from my starting weight of somewhere in the 350 to 345 range since starting to workout 71 days ago. I started P90X3 61 days ago and when I weighed on day one I was 340 lbs. So since starting the program I have lost 30 lbs and that is great. I have the potential to lose upwards in the 40 to 45 lbs before the 90 days are up. This week marks the typical week that the stress of the workouts begins to lighten up on the body and the cortisol levels drop down which in turn will allow the body to shed weight. So if you are early on in your journey and frustrated that you are not seeing a total body weight change, never fear, for there are many factors that play into the total body weight loss. Maybe we should discuss a few now since I brought it up.

1. Your diet. No not a diet, but your diet, meaning what you eat. If you eat crap you get crap if you eat nutrient dense foods you get nutrients. Along with eating the right foods, you need to not eat too much. Calories in versus calories out will always be the best formula for ensuring weight loss. They need to be the right calories and you have to take into account what you need for daily use which would be your BMR (basal metabolic rate - the rate of metabolic refers to the amount of energy expended daily while at rest) plus the amount of calories you would expend working, playing, exercising etc... This will give you your total need for the day. There are a ton of BMR calculators online and you can look them up and also calculators that can help you figure out what you need with all the activities you do on a daily basis. Calories in < calories out = weight loss. Calories in > calories out = weight gain. Calories in = calories out = no change in weight. It is a pretty simple formula, but it is frequently ignored.
2. Total body weight loss can be augmented by fat lost vs lean muscle mass gains. A lot of people say that you can lose fat and put on muscle at the same time. That in entirely false. If you do resistance work and work the muscles while increasing the amount of proteins and decreasing carbohydrates you can lose fat and gain muscle. This diet plan is a protein sparing diet and doesn't cause the catabolism of the muscles for energy. The process in which a low carb and high protein diet is much more involved than what I will explain here, but you need energy and proteins lack the fuel in the food that carbs have. The body then has to get the fuel so it pulls from the stored fat that we all have built around ourselves and thus an apparent melting away of fat can happen. With this though if you are doing resistance work you will see strength gains which means you are building muscle. Since 5 lbs = 5 lbs you may notice your clothes fitting differently but your weight not changing that much. It's like this, fat is less dense so if a pound of fat would = 1 cup of volume, that same 1 lb of lean muscle would = 1/3 cup of volume. Less space = weight.
3. Cortisol... now the next few lines are from Livestrong.com talking about cortisol. ref: http://www.livestrong.com/article/430239-high-cortisol-and-weight-loss/   Chronic or long-term stress increases levels of cortisol, which plays a role in several hormonal and metabolic reactions that lead to weight gain. It increases your appetite and your cravings for unhealthy foods. Cortisol also reduces testosterone in men and women, which leads to muscle loss. Muscle burns more calories than body fat. When you lose muscle, your body burns calories less efficiently. Also, cortisol increases fatigue, which makes it more likely that you won't exercise to burn off excess calories. 
   Even if you do not have high levels in your blood, the cortisol inside fat cells can still make weight loss challenging. An enzyme called HSD found in these cells boosts cortisol presence inside them, which triggers the fat cells to store more fat and grow, even when blood cortisol levels are normal. Visceral cells deep inside your abdomen contain more HSD than fat cells that lie just below your skin, or subcutaneous cells, a factor that increases the risk of abdominal obesity or weight gain. You can see how cortisol can hamper weight loss, but even more you can see the need for workouts like yoga to help you take that stress away.
4. I will talk about nutrition again as this is important. Eating too little can inhibit weight loss. If you eat too little, your body will think you are starving and reacts to protect the body for the long term and stores fat. Also eating more frequently will stimulate the metabolism to increase and aid in weight loss. Saving your food until the end of the day and have that one big meal at dinner will only tell the body one thing... STORE THIS AS FAT FOR LATER!!
5. Hormonal imbalances such has hypothyroidism and insulin resistance can also hamper that weight loss. This would be something you would have to see a Dr about to one get diagnosed and 2 get on proper treatment regimen. 
6. Your mood or attitude can also be an inhibitor. Depression has become something we talk about and have to deal with every day as a society. Many things can lead to a depressive state, but one thing is common no matter the trigger, feeling hopeless, helpless and unworthy happen. This can impair your ability to concentrate and have motivation to do anything much less workout. This is a tough subject and from personal experience not always one that you can just bounce back from. What I do personally know is that it is possible to change your attitude and your outlook on life. I won't say it is easy, but it is possible. If you struggle with depression I wish you luck on your journey, but know it is possible to live a happy life without medication.

These are a few of the things that can hamper weight loss and by far not the only things. The human body is an elaborate thing along with our brain and ability to think and rationalize. That makes us pretty remarkable and it can make us pretty incredible humans. While I know no one is perfect and not everything goes the way you want it to, you can walk that path to better health and fitness. The goal isn't to be better than everyone else, rather be better than who you were yesterday. I hope some of this helps.