I get so many questions regarding the P90X and Insanity Meal Plans that I thought I would just create a post about it and try to answer all of your questions here.

First,  I assume that you read the entire food guide book that you received with your program.  Here are the main points from the food guide that you need to understand:

1. The percentage of calories that should come from the three food categories for the different phases of the program.

2. How many calories you should consume on a daily basis (for your body size).

3. The foods you should consume during your diet, (all listed by category in the guides).

4. How many grams of fat, carbs and protein you should take in each day.

Here is an example of what I did during the Fat Shredder Phase of P90X

1,400 calories x 50% = 700 cals protein. Protein is 4 calories per gram, (divide 700/4)

= 175 grams of protein/day.

1,400 calories x 30% carbs = 420 cals of carbs. Carbs are 4 calories per gram (divide 420/4)

= 105 grams of carbs/day.

1,400 calories x 20% fat = 280 cals of fat. Fat is 9 cals per gram (divide 280/9)

= 31 grams of fat/day.

Here are my tips to maximize the nutrition plan:

First, understand that once you figure out what the nutrition guide suggests for your daily calorie total, you need to ADJUST that depending on your goals.  If you want to remain about the same weight, and slowly convert body fat to muscle, the suggested calorie total from the guide is what you’ll want.  However, if you want to lose body fat quickly, you MUST run a calorie deficit.

For more information on how to lose weight read my article, A Simple Approach to Weight Loss

Second, stay in “fat shredder” mode until you have reached your ideal weight. THen transition into Phase 2 for long-term maintenance.

Third, you don’t have to follow the meal plan in the nutrition guide.  I didn’t because most of the meals required a lot of preparation and I didn’t want to spend too much time preparing my meals and a separate meal for my family.  You will need to break down each meal in to fat, protein and carbs in order to accurately track everything. You will need to track every calorie.  Every gram of protein.  Every gram of carb.  And every gram of fat.

Fit Tip: I really like the free fitness and nutrition tools on Team Beach Body.  (check out the meal plans, workout sheets and accountability tools)

Fourth, eat often!  The goal is to keep the metabolism humming, and if you let yourself run empty on fuel, your metabolism will slow down.  You don’t have to eat tons of calories to keep the metabolism high.  You are actually better off eating multiple small meals / snacks (about every 2.5 – 3 hours) all day long.  Keep the fuel source coming in the form of foods that provide sustained energy (proteins, low-glycemic index carbs like whole wheat, veggies, fruit).  And avoid foods that spike your blood sugar quickly and leave you crashed (sugars, white flour, high glycemic index foods). (for common protein counts read, Protein the Magic Ingredient – I’ll post it tomorrow!)

Fifth, have a plan!  Don’t leave the house for the day without taking healthy snacks or planning your meals.  You’ll end up getting hungry, grabbing fast food, and ruining your nutrition for the day.  I always take healthy snacks with me everywhere I go.  Check out my healthy snacks post (coming next week)

Sixth, don’t cheat for more than one meal. It just slows down your progress, and we want fast results, right?

Seventh, stick to it 100%!  The nutrition is every bit as important (in my opinion, MORE important) as the workouts.  Why bust your tail working out if you are going to just cut out the obvious junk food and hope for the best.  The nutrition takes more effort than that.  It takes some studying at first to get a handle on how to measure serving sizes, how to use measuring cups, how to read nutritional labels, and how to plan your diet for the day.  But it’s SO WORTH IT when it pays off!

Ok,  I hope that helps clear up any misinformation you have read in the past about a weight loss plan that delivers results.  You are going to have days when you will eat too many calories,  get back on track asap and you will feel amazing!

This is how I keep things simple when it comes to weight loss.

Always Remember the Golden Rule: 

Weight loss happens only when the body is in a negative energy balance (aka: caloric deficit) 

Now that you understand the TRUTH, here’s the skinny …

1) If you aren’t losing…

You’re not in a negative energy balance

It does go a bit deeper, but don’t get caught up in the complexity of weight loss.

How to Create a Caloric Deficit

1) Eat less

2) Exercise more

3) Eat less and exercise more

Pretty simple, right?  If you are stuck at a plateau or not seeing any weight loss, I recommend the following strategies:

Step 1:  Increase exercise frequency to 7 hours per week

Step 2:  If you are not seeing results, decrease calories

Step 3:  If you are not seeing results, increase exercise to 9 hours per week

Step 4:  If you are not seeing results (again), decrease calories

You should cap your exercise hours per week to 10 – 12 and then decrease calories as needed.

I really like the free fitness and weight loss tools on Team Beach Body.  The site has tons of ways to track your calories, calculate your caloric requirements and track progress.  Check it out HERE

“I’m too busy to workout” is not and excuse for spending time improving your health.  If you don’t have your health, you have nothing.  Period.  Excuses only make you feel like crap.  Self imposed guilt is the catalyst to low self worth.  You don’t have to spend 2 hours at the gym everyday, you don’t even need to go to the gym.  Get some fresh air and do a 30 minute power walk or run.  Try an in-home training program (my favorites are TRX and Insanity) or meet your friends for a healthy happy hour at a local park and PLAY.

I’m not going to apologize for being direct,  sometimes we all need someone to yell “snap out of it!”

So, what are you going to do TODAY to take care of yourself and feel amazing?

Fitness professionals are a unique group of people. We really do love to see you sweat. Weird, I know. To us sweat means more than wet stuff that makes you stinky. Fitness professionals believe that a good honest sweat (everyday) is the key to success in reaching your fitness goals. If you reach your fitness goals, you will be proud of yourself and excited about achieving something amazing. Yup, it’s that easy … sweat everyday and you will be a happier and healthier YOU.

This is a picture of my most recent TRX/STC Course in Denver, CO. Twenty amazing life changers joined me to learn how to help YOU improve your health and fitness. Nothing makes us happier than seeing you beam with confidence because you set a goal and are working hard to achieve it.

Sweat = Happiness.

Life is short, be fit for it!

I ask at least 10 people each week why they want to get healthy and fit. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have asked at least an average of 10 people this question each week for the past 15 years. I’ve been a personal trainer for over 15 years and this is the very first question I ask every person who has ever trained with me in a personal training session or a group training class. So, I think I have heard (roughly) over 8,000 answers to this question.

The most common answer is, “I want to lose weight and tone up”. I appreciate the honesty, but when I hear this answer I can’t help but think that there must be more.  I personally know that it goes deeper,  because I experienced it when I gained 60 pounds during pregnancy. It was easy for me to tell people I wanted to lose weight  to get healthy, but the truth was my self-esteem was in the toilet because I had too much body fat and I was having back pain because my core was weak.  I realized my WHY was that I wanted to feel like myself again … confident, happy and strong and that when those little eyes looked up at me, I knew I was going to set a good example for my daughter.

When I finally figured out my WHY, the deep down reason and my ultimate motivation to get healthy and fit, I was empowered. After much soul searching, I came to understand that everything I wanted to accomplish was in my power. I was the only one who could change my habits and create the body I wanted and desired. On the days when I want to skip my workout, I remind myself of my WHY and my motivation returns. We all experience ups and down with our healthy living strategy, but truly understanding WHY you are doing this and writing it down will inspire you to continue to work toward your fitness goals.

Dust off the journal, open it up and start writing … when you have figured out your WHY, type it and print it.  Then put it in a place where you will be constantly reminded WHY you will eat clean and healthy food and WHY you will commit to working out regularly.

Do it for yourself … you deserve it!

Pumpkin Spice Mochachino

1/4 canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup cold coffee
1/2 cup almond milk
Ice to taste

A surefire way to get anyone to eat any vegetable, these crisp babies are delicious as a side dish, alone as an appetizer, or served on a bed of greens as lunch. Root vegetables are most common, but you can use whatever looks good to you, alone or in combination: zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, corn, or chopped scallions; even spinach or chard is good (just cook it, squeeze it dry, and chop it first). And consider tossing in a tablespoon of fresh herbs or spices. Sweet potato and corn benefit from a bit of cilantro, zucchini comes to life with dill, and ginger or cardamom will warm up winter squash beautifully.

Vegetable Pancakes with Greek Yogurt Dip

Makes: 4 servings
Time: At least 30 minutes

About 1 1/2 pounds grated vegetables, peeled first if necessary (3 cups packed), and squeezed dry
1/2 small onion, grated; or 4 scallions
1 egg or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup white or whole wheat flour, more or less
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive or vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan

Heat the oven to 275°F. Grate the vegetable or vegetables by hand or with the grating disk of a food processor. Mix together the vegetables, onion, egg, and 1/4 cup of the flour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a little more flour if the mixture isn’t holding together.

Put a little butter or oil in a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, drop in spoonfuls of the batter, using a fork to spread the vegetables into an even layer, press down a bit. Work in batches to prevent overcrowding. (Transfer finished pancakes to the oven until all are finished.) Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

*spice up your Greek Yogurt with an all natural french onion soup mix or stir in your own”homemade” herb mix.