30 Day Workout Challenge

Week 4 of P90X is a break from the normal routine you settled into for the first 3 weeks so has to be reviewed by its lonesome. And I have to admit that I had a tough time motivating myself to do this week and did not complete it in a week; it actually took almost 2 weeks. Whoops.

But as I said in my (link) P90X week 1-3 review, I really do not like YogaX. And yet yoga X is done two times in the fourth week along with the even more infinitely boring X Stretch. It was hard to rally myself and get myself motivated to exercise on these days. Yoga X is absolutely killing this program's appeal to me.

In the coming weeks, I'll be trying to find something that I feel is effective for replacing Yoga X. I believe that if I keep trying to do this particular yoga program my slacking and dread of working out on those days will only get worse. I'll discuss what I find for replacement in future articles.

Peripheral Equipment:

Yoga blocks (optional)

Yoga mat (optional, but I recommend it)

Weight loss/aerobics:

Since it's only been two weeks, I am not going to post a picture of my graph. I managed to drop 3 pounds total, the graph is still steadily tracking down but did reach a stall, most likely because I was 'resting' so much by making excuses to not do Yoga.

P90X is probably the most well-known exercise program on the market due to late night infomercials running for it for what felt like years. It was hard to turn on the TV at night without hearing Tony Horton talking about muscle confusion or a weight loss and muscle building testimonial.

According to the ACE science backs up P90X's effectiveness as a workout program. So after looking into the scientific efficacy of the program, I dove in and started it.

There is a set weekly schedule for P90X. The first 3 weeks are the same so it was easy to get enough in to do a review for each video.

Chest and Back, Plyometrics, Shoulder and Arms, Yoga X, Legs and Back, Kenpo X, Rest

Peripheral Equipment:

Pull-up bar or resistance bands

Resistance bands or free weights

Yoga blocks (optional)

Yoga mat (optional, but I recommend it)

Weight loss/aerobics:

“P90X is not a fast-track weight loss solution like other programs. It's an unprecedented fitness solution designed to give you a stronger, healthier body that will become leaner and perform better over time. It's not designed for weight loss per se. It's designed to increase human performance and improve overall body composition. Trust it.” From Steve Edwards, the Director of Results at Beachbody, in the P90X Extreme Home Fitness Nutritional Planning guide.

I didn't actually ever plan to do a close look at for an exercise program. Mostly because there's really no scientific studies done on specific programs – nor do they usually really need it. Getting up and moving is the goal and unless the program fails to elevate heart rate, as “Wii Fit” did, it's probably an okay exercise program.

But P90X was studied by the American Counsel on Exercise in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin. ACE selected some of the P90X program videos to determine the energy cost and exercise intensity they provided.

Power 90 is a bit old, I know, but after getting myself accustomed to exercising daily, I wanted to move on to something that was still fairly easy but could push me. And “Power 90” offered exactly what I needed to step up from “EA Sports Active.”

I spent 3 weeks doing phase 1-2 before moving on to phase 2-3. So I will be reviewing 4 programs.

Power 90 Sweat phase 1-2 is about 35 minutes long, not including the ab routine.

Power 90 Sculpt phase 1-2 is about 28 minutes long.

Power 90 Sweat phase 3-4 is about 41 minutes long, not including the ab routine.

Power 90 Sculpt phase 3-4 is about 38 minutes long.

Peripheral equipment:

Resistance bands – I am pretty sure when I got Power 90 many years ago it was part of a set that came with the resistance bands, but now I cannot find such a set. Hardly surprising since it's old (VHS was still a thing people were using when I got this!) and has now been updated to P90 and all the offshoots of that. I definitely recommend the Beach Body resistance bands if you don't already have a set though; I've had these for years and they still work great.

Weight loss/Aerobics:

I lost about 6.5 pounds over the 30 days I was doing Power 90. The sweat day aerobics is pretty intense for just starting out without being murderous. 35 minutes is a nice, long length of time to get adjusted to working out for and my heart rate was consistently reaching and staying in my target heart rate zone.

The vegan Tropical Strawberry Shakeology is supposed to replace one meal a day in order to help you lose weight, feel energized and improve digestion.

This is not based on the 'new and improved' formula. The new and improved formula has more calories (170 calories and 30 calories from fat) and new ingredients. But I drank this stuff and wrote this review many years ago so dangit, I want to share my experience!

Unlike the chocolate Shakeology and greenberry Shakeology reviews, I do not think this will be even close to accurate to the new formula, but maybe commentors can chime in if they feel it hasn't actually changed smell, flavor or texture too much. This is just for posterity.

Nutrition:

Serving size: 1.42 ounces of powder

Calories: 160

Calories from fat: 10

Total fat: 1 g

Sodium: 70 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 20 g

Dietary Fiber: 4 g

Sugars: 10 g

Protein: 15 g

Shakeology touts 70+ healthy ingredients, but what are the Shakeology ingredients exactly?

Ingredients: raw sprouted whole grain brown rice protein, sacha inchi, coconut flower nectar, sprouted chia, sprouted flax, pea fiber, quinoa, amaranth, maca root, astragalus root, ashwagandha root, maitake mushroom, cordyceps, reishi mushroom, holy basil, ginkgo, pomegranate, acerola cherry, bilberry, goji berry, camu-camu, acai, blueberry, citrus bioflavonoid, rose hips, green tea, strawberry, apple pectin, banana, pineapple, papaya, yacon root, lactobacillus sporogenes, spirulina, chlorella, spinach, barley grass, kamut grass, oat grass, wheat grass, protease, amylase, cellulase, MSM, lipase, papain, lactase, bromelain, tapioca, konjac gum, beet juice powder, citric acid, natural sweetener, cinnamon powder, Himalayan salt, Stevia and luo han guo fruit

How I mixed it: 1 cup soy milk, 3 ice cubes, 1 packet tropical strawberry Shakeology powder. Blended thoroughly in the blender.

Review: Upon opening the package you’re hit with the smell of chemicals rather than the 70+ healthy Shakeology ingredients the packaging touts. It’s hard to describe exactly what the smell it, but it’s close to a powdered cleaning product, acrid to the senses and not at all appetizing.

After mixing the Shakeology meal up, it smells like nothing but powdered cinnamon.

Despite being low on the Shakeology ingredients list, cinnamon powder is the most overwhelming flavor of this drink. The cinnamon is incredibly overpowering and leaves the throat feeling dry as parchment paper. And on top of the taste of cinnamon is a chemical-powder taste that would not be blotted out no matter how much soy milk I added to the mixture.

In fact, the cinnamon powder was so overwhelming I couldn’t taste any of the other ingredients at all. There was nothing tropical or strawberry about this drink.

The texture was grainy rather than thick like a meal replacement shake ought to be. It was like the powder just wouldn’t absorb into the milk and I tried up to 14 ounces (2 ounces over the recommended) just to see if that would fix the problem. It didn’t.

Personally, I don’t see this being palatable to anyone except the most die-hard that need additional vitamins and minerals in their diet but can’t drink the chocolate or greenberry flavors due to being vegan. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to drink, but it definitely isn’t something I’d take by choice.

As I stated in my greenberry Shakeology close look at, I only used this in the past, many years ago. That was when this review was originally written. Because the ingredients have not changed dramatically, I think this older taste reaction will hopefully still help people decide if they want to go all-in on the Shakeology program.

How I mixed it: 1 cup soy milk, 3 ice cubes, 1 packet greenberry Shakeology powder. Blended thoroughly in the blender.

Review: When you open the package you’ll notice a slight chemical-powder smell, but not much else. This is pretty low on scent compared to both the chocolate and tropical strawberry Shakeology drinks.

After mixing the drink all I could smell was cinnamon, just like with the tropical strawberry Shakeology, but, unlike the tropical strawberry flavor, the texture of the greenberry Shakeology was very creamy and thick.

If it wasn’t for the overwhelming tastes of cinnamon, this would be my favorite Shakeology drink. Though the drink is green, it has a light, fruity flavor. The cinnamon powder near the bottom of the Shakeology ingredients list nearly overpowers this though and many sips just tasted like a mouth full of cinnamon, just like the tropical strawberry Shakeology.

As I disclosed in the close look at article, I used chocolate Shakeology in the past, when this review was originally written, and I did not use Shakeology for a full 30 days. I actually only used each flavor twice in order to do a taste test. Back in the day, this stuff was way too expensive for me and now it's even more expensive so I am not likely to be able to update these reviews to the new Shakeology recipes anytime soon.

My hope is that, outdated or not, my experience in the past will help you decide if trying Shakeology is something you want to do.

How I mixed it: 1 cup soy milk, 3 ice cubes, 1 packet chocolate Shakeology powder. Blended thoroughly in the blender.

Review: With the package open, the product smells exactly like the chocolatey drink you would hope to get in a meal replacement shake that claims to be chocolate flavored. It doesn’t have a chemical scent to it at all like some other protein powders and meal replacement mixes.

After mixing the chocolate smell is replaced by the smell of cinnamon, though it’s not nearly as overpowering as it is in the tropical strawberry Shakeology.

It’s not as creamy as the packaging advertises, as the taste of cinnamon is too strong to compare it to chocolate milk even when made with soy milk, but it does taste like chocolate. The aftertaste is particularly pleasant with a cinnamon-sweet flavor that’s not overpowering to the senses.

The texture was thick and smooth like a meal replacement shake ought to be.

There was a problem with the mixture settling onto the bottom of the glass when it took over 10 minutes to drink it all. Going for 12 ounces of milk (rather than just 1 cup) lessened this problem significantly, but it was still present and made the last swallow or two a bit uncomfortable.

Greenberry Shakeology is meant to replace one meal a day in order to help you lose weight, feel energized and improve digestion.

As with the chocolate Shakeology ingredient article, I want to make it clear that this is an old article I wrote based on an old Shakeology formula. I did glance over the new ingredients and while they seemed clipped down, they did have most of these ingredients still listed though in abbreviated form sometimes.

While this is not completely accurate to greenberry Shakeology anymore, the facts surrounding these ingredients do not change; let this help you decide if you want to try the new Shakeology formulas or not.

Nutrition:

Serving size: 1.4 ounces of powder

Calories: 140

Calories from fat: 3

Total fat: <0.5g

Cholesterol: 10 mg

Sodium: 95 mg

Total carbohydrate: 19 g

Dietary fiber: 3 g

Sugars: 11 g

Protein: 16 g

Shakeology touts 70+ healthy ingredients, but what are the Shakeology ingredients exactly?

Ingredients: Chlorella, spirulina, Hydrilla, Blue green algae, spinach powder, barley grass, kamut grass, oat grass, wheat grass, acerola powder, camu-camu powder, pomegranate powder, bilberry powder, blueberry powder, goji berry powder, acai powder, maitake powder, citrus bioflavonoid, rose hips powder, maca powder, astragalus powder, ashwagandha powder, cordyceps, reishi powder, schisandra powder, suma powder, ginko powder, banana powder, carrot powder, orange powder, pineapple powder, raspberry powder, strawberry powder, yacon powder, bifodobacterium longum, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1, lactobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus, sacha inchi, flax seed, chia seed, apple fiber powder, MSM, pea fiber, quinoa, amylase, papain, cellulase, lactase, lipase, protease, bromelain, amaranth, grape seed extract, green tea extract, natural sweetener blend, xanthan gum, guar gum and cinnamon powder

Chocolate Shakeology is meant to replace one meal a day in order to help you lose weight, feel energized and improve digestion.

Full disclosure, this is an old review that I originally posted years ago on a site that is now defunct; back then it was nearly impossible to get the ingredient list of Shakeology without buying some of it – talk about shady. I didn't want all this information to go to waste despite it being outdated, and a quick look at the ingredient list on Amazon shows that the ingredient list has been chopped, but most of the interesting ingredients – the ones we aren't likely to recognize – are the same. And I am not really seeing anything new on the list that looks like it needs a close look.

Take this with a grain of 'it's really, really old', but the facts of these ingredients don't change; they can still help you decide if the newer Shakeology recipes are right for you.

Nutrition:

Serving size: 1.7 ounces of powder

Calories: 150

Calories from fat: 10

Total fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 15 mg

Sodium: 100 mg

Total carbohydrate: 17 g

Dietary fiber: 3 g

Sugars: 9 g

Protein: 18 g

Shakeology touts 70+ healthy ingredients, but what are the Shakeology ingredients exactly?

Ingredients: Chlorella, spirulina, Hydrilla, Blue green algae, spinach powder, barley grass, kamut grass, oat grass, wheat grass, acerola powder, camu-camu powder, pomegranate powder, bilberry powder, blueberry powder, goji berry powder, acai powder, maitake powder, citrus bioflavonoid, rose hips powder, maca powder, astragalus powder, ashwagandha powder, cordyceps, reishi powder, schisandra powder, suma powder, ginko powder, banana powder, carrot powder, orange powder, pineapple powder, raspberry powder, strawberry powder, yacon powder, bifidobacterium longum, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1, lactobacillus bulgaricus, lactobacillus casei, streptococcus thermophilus, sacha inchi, flax seed, chia seed, apple fiber powder, MSM, pea fiber, quinoa, amylase, papain, cellulase, lactase, lipase, protease, bromelain, amaranth, grape seed extract, green tea extract, natural sweetener blend, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, chocolate powder, guar gum and cinnamon powder