Happy Monday folks!
It's that time again already - a week has gone by and some really exciting stuff has happened. First, I want to welcome all the new folks to the team - for those of you who have been here for a while, I wanted to mention the redesign of the website. I'm trying to make it a bit more friendly for everyone to check in, bounce ideas around and in general stay motivated!
Last week was a dreaded recovery week for me and I can't even explain how happy I am that it's over! I like the yoga and easier cardio, but I LOVE to lift hard and get my extreme cardio sweat going more! I'm sitting here at my desk enjoying some Shakeology and 12 ounces of lean steak for my 4th meal of the day (I've given up on the terms breakfast, lunch and dinner, since I typically eat 5-8 meals a day now!) and thinking about what to talk about.
This week, I've gotten more questions about nutrition than I have in a really long time, so it's time to really dive into the nuts and bolts. As a bunch of you know, I've been eating in a Primal Blueprint lifestyle for the past 3 months, but as that's still fairly new to me, I'm going to really talk about the Beachbody P90X nutrition plan.
I've never been a huge fan of the nutrition book. I know many of my clients who totally love it, and it works for them. I think all the food in there is great, but the reality is of my life, I live alone and cook some really basic stuff. I don't mind an ingredient list that is often only 2 items long. A very typical day for me on the P90X plan would be something like this.... (I'm copying this from my account from a random day in MyFitnessPal.com)
9am: Egg White Omelet with 1 slice of cheese + fruit cup
11am: Protein Bar
2pm: McDonald's Grilled Chicken Patty (3)
5pm: 2 Grilled Chicken Breast, Broccoli and 2 Slices of Cheese (BBQ sauce)
8pm: Protein Shake
10pm: Apple (2), Chicken Soup
My total calories were 1954, 247g Protein / 144g Carbs / 32g Fat
Honestly, I eat so much better now - that was about a year ago, just for an example. I have all my clients use MyFitnessPal.com to log in every bite of food they put in their bodies. If not forever, at least for a while to get used to it. It is crucial to know what food “costs” before you eat it.
It seems the emphasis today is almost all on calories in vs. calories out. I've read a hundred times, that if the calories in are less than the calories out, you will lose weight. Well. Sort of. Losing weight just isn't enough for most of us. We want to fundamentally change our body composition. That is the key - and that's why P90X and Beachbody work, where every other DVD workout system fails. The nutritional support behind this comes from calories yes, but even more from the actual macro-nutrient break down of your food.
Let me explain. The macro-nutrients are Protein, Carbs, and Fat. These are the things that we hear about so often, but many people don't really know what is what. Here's a simple break down.
Protein:
Beef, Egg Whites, Chicken, Turkey, Whey Protein Shakes, Cheese
Carbs:
Veggies, Fruit, Bread, Pasta, Processed Crap
Fat:
Oils, Nuts, Sweets, Processed Crap
The P90X guide (which works for all the programs - but it's the one I use with my clients) calls for a 3 phase nutrition plan, to go along with the 3 phase workout calendar.
Phase One:
50% Protein / 30% Carbs / 20% Fat
Phase Two:
40% Protein / 40% Carbs / 20% Fat
Phase Three
20% Protein / 60% Carbs / 20% Fat
Personally, I did Phase 1 for a month, then was so happy with my results, I moved to phase two and just stayed there for about a year. The reality is, in western culture we don't eat enough protein. If you haven't tried it yet, getting 50% of your diet from protein is very difficult at first, it takes serious practice!
No one ever has issues getting enough carbs and fat, as they are so easy to add to any meal, but the protein.... well, here's a list of stuff I eat.
Pork Chops
Steak
Egg Whites (often with 1 or 2 whole eggs)
Turkey Breast
Chicken Breast (by the dozen. Seriously)
Lunch Meat (just watch sodium)
Whey Protein Shakes - this is key at first, while you learn real food to eat!
Fish
Turkey Sausage/Bacon - both lower in fat than beef
Cottage Cheese
Tofu
Tuna
Shakeology (even protein to carb ratio)
Should be enough to keep you busy for a while. In MyFitnessPal.com you can easily change the settings to your desired macro-nutrient levels. My Home → Goals → Change Goals → Custom → 40% Protein 40% Carbs 20% Fat for example.
For help on your desired number of calories, the easiest thing is to just email me with your stats:
Age/Sex/Height/Weight/Activity Level - not including exercise
I'll plug those numbers in to Team Beachbody and get right back to you. For Club Team Beachbody members, you can do this yourself in the Nutrition tab and it will give you meal selections for 5 meals a day (including 2 snacks) and recipes for all of them. Also, you can set up all your meals for the week, then simply click the new Grocery List tab and it will generate all the groceries you'll need for the week's meals.
Remember, the paid Team Beachbody Members get a 10% discount on all Beachbody products as well.
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