Round-1 Nutrition

I have been doing P90X for over a year now and I have even tossed in some Insanity: The Asylum for some added fun. My nutrition has changed many times depending on my goals and as of late I have been focused on My Mass Gain Diet.  So I wanted to take a step back and go over what I did in round 1 and 2 to get such amazing results. There are a lot of people who start a fitness program like P90X without the slightest clue on what it takes to get the MAXIMUM results. It was definitely a process of dialing in exactly what my body needed, without any excess, while still having enough to give my all in the workouts without bonking. Thats how I dropped 50lbs and got down to 7% body fat. So what I am going to do today is revisit the 90 day fat shredding diet philosophy that I developed during round 1 and into round 2 that you might want to follow if you need to shed a lot of body fat like I did.

Here are the core principals that I followed:

1) I followed the FAT SHREDDER plan from the P90X nutrition guide for my first two round of P90X (50% proteins, 30% carbs, 20% fats). Once I reached a level of athleticism, my body actually require more calories than I was originally taking in. I will explain this in my next point. I get asked all the time how long you should stay in the fat shredder phase of your nutrition plan, and the answer is, as long as you need to. I spent a full two rounds, 180 days in the fat shredder phase because I had a lot of fat to lose. You dont have a lot of excess energy, but you have just enough to BRING IT in your workouts, and it is bar far the fastest way to shed the fat. Its also the best way to maintain your muscle mass while this fat loss process is occurring. You will want to wait until your body fat percentage gets down to about where you want it before switching to phase-2 of the nutrition plan which is a 40/40/20 ratio. This will really fuel your body to get you that ripped look which is what I did. I spent 2 rounds shedding the fat and 30 days fueling my muscles for RIPPED RESULTS!

2) I ran at a calorie DEFICIT the entire time!  When I tipped the scales at 228lbs, the nutrition guide said that I need 3300 calories per day and that was all well and good if I wanted to maintain my wight, but I wanted to lose weight. So what it comes down to is simple math – less calories in that whats going out. Since my goal was to lose body fat, I targeted 1900 calories per day rather than 3300. And a lot of people ask me how I cam up with 1900. Like I said in point #1, this was the amounts of calories that worked just right for me so that I still had the energy to push hard in my workouts without feeling depleted or bonking during the workout. This number might be the same for you or it might be different depending on your goals, your current body weight, and how much of a deficit you can run without and energy crisis on your hands. It might be 1700 for you or it might be 2100. Play around with that number and pay attention to what your body tells you.

Now as your athleticism increases and you begin to build muscle, your metabolism will start to speed up. For me 1900 calories was not enough by the end of round 2. Some people think that they need more carbs for the energy, which is true. But what you want to do first, like I did, is stay in your fat shredder phase at 50/30/20 if you still have fat to lose, and increase your calorie intake rather than move to phase-2. I went from 1900 to 2300 and I once again wasnt starving all the time and my energy levels went back up. Mind you that 2300 was still a calorie deficit for me! You want to stay in that deficit until you are ready to maintain your weight rather than wanting to lose weight.

3) I NEVER CHEATED during round-2! Round-1 for me was successful, but I wasnt where I wanted to be. For round-2 I committed 100% and found the key to developing RIPPED habits. A single cheat meal can set you back 2-3 days and I had worked way to hard to take any steps backward. I didnt even have a bite of the kids deserts, no treats, nothin! You just have to determine if its worth it to you! You can read up on cheating in an article I wrote called Are Cheat Meals Okay.

4) I kept track of everything I ate (via an Android app called MyFitnessPal).  They say that people who just “try to eat healthy” will actually consume 50% more calories than people who track their calories. Everything that went into my mouth went into that phone app…EVERYTHING! I still to this day track everything I eat. Yes it will be a hassle at first, but if you want better results than normal, then you need to do more than what normal people are willing to do for those results. Getting RIPPED is about precision! Thats why I dont recommend the portion plan; there is too much room for error. By being forced to enter every item and serving size, you develop and acute awareness for what you are eating and it will soon become second nature so that when you see a peice of chicken, you will know that its 6oz, or you know what a tablespoon of peanut butter looks like. Develop the habits now, do the difficult part now so that later it becomes second nature!

5) I didnt have time to create meals. I needed food items that were fast and could be transported easily. Thats why Shakeology was so convenient for me. Thats why my protein bars are so convenient. Thats why you will see thing like greek yogurt, cheese sticks, jerkey, apples, bananas, carrots, grilled chicken, fish. These are all items that were very convenient for me. That is something you need to discover on your own is what foods work with your schedule and lifestyle. To see an example of my round 1 and 2 fat shredder diet, check out My 1900 Calorie Diet.

6) I made sure that my body stayed fueled constantly! I ate every 2.5-3 hours to ensure that my metabolism stayed fired up and burning that fat away! If you go more than 4 hours without some sort of nutrition, your body will actually go into a starvation mode and it will stop burning fat in order to conserve it for energy. When you fuel your body constantly, then your body is comfortable attacking the fat and burning it up.

7) I still had a sweet tooth in round 1 and 2 and yes I did satisfy that sweet tooth, just not in the way most people would. I took care of my cravings with Shakeology in the mornings for breakfast and that took care of most of the day, but for some reason, after dinner I always got that sweet tooth. For me, sugar free jello cups and grapes were an awesome substitute for the ice cream, pudding, cookies, or pie that was normally my go to for a solution. Its all about choices and whether or not you are willing to make the right choices that will propel you toward your goal.

DO YOU REALLY WANT IT BAD ENOUGH??? YOUR ACTIONS WILL TELL!