Noob Transitioning from P90X, Insanity, Marathons, etc... page

[waharris007]

Hey guys, I've been lurking on the forums for a couple of months, but this is my first post. I'm excited to start talking with you guys!

Here's my opening question, and I'm sure it's been covered before, so forgive me. I have searched around, but haven't found exactly what I'm after. Here's the deal. I've been eating pretty primal for the past three months or so. I am not completely grain-free, but I keep my carbs at or under 100 a day six days a week. My macro breakdown is generally 50/30/20 (fat/protein/carb). On Saturdays, I eat pretty loosely, kind of adapting Tim Ferriss' once-a-week cheat day. I do that because I still enjoy a good bagel, and having one set day a week to pin that on helps me stay focused throughout the week. I'm sure some of you will dispute the logic in that, though.

I'm 37, male, and have been exercising regularly for the past 2.5 years. For the first 1.5 years of that, I was primarily doing Beachbody workouts. I did P90X twice, then Insanity, then a combo of some of their other programs. Last fall, I decided to knock out some big life goals and ran two half marathons in Oct-Nov, followed by a full marathon in February. I went primal right after the Feb. marathon. My workouts since then have been four a week, with a mix of interval cardio and body weight resistance.

I'm 6'5" tall, 190 pounds, and about 13-14% body fat. I have a long, lean build and every last drop of that body fat sits on my torso (belly, flanks, chest). The overall look of my body hasn't changed at all in over a year, after I lost 30 pounds doing Beachbody workouts. I'm super frustrated that, after all this, I still have a soft gut and feel completely uncomfortable with my shirt off. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, I guess I'm ready to get off the crazy train. The four-a-week Beachbody videos aren't taking me the last mile, so I'm ready to try something new fitness-wise. So, I kinda need your help.

With that background, what do you guys suggest for blasting past my plateau and totally nuking this torso fat? I plan on starting to walk 3-4 days a week, I'm cool with a sprint workout every week or so, and I'm cool with two short resistance days. What should I expect/consider as I get into this? I've read the PB book and have the fitness ebook, but I'd love some real-world tips.

I've been impressed with the awesome community I've been following with you guys, and I'm excited to join the conversation!

[lssanjose]

walking frequently is really important, as I found. Also, taking different classes involving different movement mechanics helps. The only one where I'm busting my butt is cross fit. Other than that, my kickboxing; mma; and grappling pace has been moderate at best. Don't get me wrong, it's still competitive, but I don't act frantically like some of my gym mates do.

[arthurb999]

Tighten up on the diet... bagels are crap. I'd take sausage and eggs over a bagel all day. Abs are built in the kitchen.

Building muscle is your number one priority fitness wise. Need to lift heavy (you can do bw stuff just progress to the harder movements).

Do hill sprints 1x a week.

[squeally dan]

Tighten up on the diet... bagels are crap. I'd take sausage and eggs over a bagel all day. Abs are built in the kitchen.

Building muscle is your number one priority fitness wise. Need to lift heavy (you can do bw stuff just progress to the harder movements).

Do hill sprints 1x a week.

I have to agree. I'm thinking this isn't a fitness/exercise issue. I see people all the time that try over and over to change their body by exercising differently, but don't see anything happen until they change the diet. Maye work on getting the grains out a bit more and replacing w/ fat/protein/veggies.

Having said that, I can relate to the original poster. I was a long distance runner, but ended up lowering my mileage while adding in 3-4 p90x workouts/week. It helped a bunch, but now I am having a hard time transitioning over to something new. Its hard to give up something that worked so well (at least for me).

huntercopelandnutrition

[Daemonized]

My dietary focus is on getting plenty of protein while keeping my fat intake down and cycling carbs. Obviously to be primal the bagels gotta go as a staple, but it's also easy to get too many calories from fat.

[squeally dan]

I actually see people lose weight when they replace the processed carbs such as bagels with fats, as long as the fat isn't coming from processed seed oils (veg. oil, corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, etc.). I tend to not see fat being the issue, but everyone is different.

huntercopelandnutrition

[lssanjose]

I actually see people lose weight when they replace the processed carbs such as bagels with fats, as long as the fat isn't coming from processed seed oils (veg. oil, corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, etc.). I tend to not see fat being the issue, but everyone is different.

huntercopelandnutrition

i kind of chuckled inside when my mom said she doesn't eat rice but doesn't neglect carbs.. Reading things throughout this forum have caused me to rethink sources for possible carb refeeds if I'm feeling the need for them. At the same time, she'd also eat bagels...

[MichaelScott]

1) Tabata Medicine ball slams (you can get a soft 10 pound ball from DICK's ) A soft medicine ball is important because it dies as soon as it hits the ground. Forcing you to squat and pick it up, instead of it bouncing back up to your face. It also means you can slam it harder because you won't be afraid of it coming back to hit ya.
2) Tabata burpees
3) Tabata Deck rolls with burpees (or just deck rolls)

For your stomach/back/chest:
1) Ab rolls.
2) L-Sits
3) Ring Dips
4) Frog stands

[waharris007]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I feel like the mention of bagels took this thing in the wrong direction, though! Like I said, I'm pretty solid diet-wise six days a week. I have a bagel on Saturday morning 2-3 times a month. It ain't a daily thing. And grains are practically gone, but I'll have some light breading on baked chicken and not stress too much about it. My main frustration is that I seem to have fat stores on my torso that have been there for 25 years (I was an overweight kid). I honestly can't tell how much is fat and how much is skin.

I'm going to cut out the sloppy Saturdays and diet coke for a solid month, while at the same time replacing my workouts with the PBF plan (using the five movements one day and WOW the second). I've beaten my head against this gut for so long, I'm afraid I'm nearing hopelessness, even though I'm pretty lean otherwise. I actually look fairly built in a t-shirt, but I know what lies beneath. I'm sure part of it is just the fact that I don't see myself as well as others see me. My wife, for example, thinks I'm crazy to be bothered by this.