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[ZombieFred]

Here we go guys, how does this sound for my food for the next 90 days;

Morning Breakfast - Baked beans with two slices of white bread (no butter) and a glass of semi skinned milk with protein powder

Snack - Soy nuts

Lunch - Small orange and banana

Snack - Protein bar

Dinner - Spaghetti bolognese (Lean lamb mince beed with low fat tomato sauce and pasta, with mushrooms onions and some spring onion into it, with a little bit of orego and bassil spice. Tea spoon of olive oil was in the pan and I will make 3 dinners worth each time so I can put in a lunch box after for the next two days).

Recovery drink - Semi Skinned milk (or chocolate semi skinned, please give advice here).

I will drink 3-4 litres of water in the day with this as well, aiming around the 1700-1900 mark.

Sounds good? Would you say doing the work out before dinner is best or after?

 

[Psychotext]

You eat the same thing every day and you'll want to kill yourself before 30 days is out. That, or you'll have failed utterly and will be living on junk food. It takes a special kind of nutter to just eat the same thing every single day for 90 days.

Go and buy a high protein cookbook and learn some different recipes... that, or at least work out three options for everything so you can rotate.

...Oh, and ~1% to 2% fat chocolate milk is fine for a recovery drink. I personally have Frijj (UK).

 

[ZombieFred]

You eat the same thing every day and you'll want to kill yourself before 30 days is out. That, or you'll have failed utterly and will be living on junk food. It takes a special kind of nutter to just eat the same thing every single day for 90 days.

Go and buy a high protein cookbook and learn some different recipes... that, or at least work out three options for everything so you can rotate.

...Oh, and ~1% to 2% fat chocolate milk is fine for a recovery drink. I personally have Frijj (UK).

I'm from the UK too so I'll go for the Frijj option too. Hmmm, what I do is do 3 different meals to last through out the week, that fit the same amount, and change it up every 2 weeks (so the same 3 meals every 2 weeks).

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Kill the white bread with fire and replace it with whole wheat. And depending on your goals you need more protein. Waaaaaaay more protein.

 

[ZombieFred]

Kill the white bread with fire and replace it with whole wheat. And depending on your goals you need more protein. Waaaaaaay more protein.

Noted

I'll go back to the drawing board and upp on my Protein and meals that best fit that. I only want to get nicely toned and very shaped with a 6 pack present and not bulky or anything at all.

 

[vatstep]

I don't know if/how pasta is different in the UK, but in the US, most of it is enriched (like white bread) and definitely not something you'd want to eat every day. Whole grain pasta would be better, but still maybe a bit much to eat seven days a week.

 

[Hawkian]

Whole grain pasta and wheat bread are definitely easy subs for better fiber/carbs/value, but the most important thing noted here is that any dish, be it pasta or whatever else, will become totally disgusting to you after eating it every night for a couple weeks, let alone 90 days.

Do you have the P90X nutrition guide? There are some pretty simple, quick options in there for meals that might inspire you.

Kill the white bread with fire and replace it with whole wheat. And depending on your goals you need more protein. Waaaaaaay more protein.

Indeed, myfitnesspal thinks I'm getting way too much protein on a daily basis, which I imagine is par for the course when you're on P90X

 

[BeautifulMemory]

Agreed with everyone. If you are following the diet plan it's not even close. Too little protein, and too high carbs. Whole grain pasta and whole wheat bread indeed.

For fat shredder you are supposed to only have 200 calories of carbs per day, which will be covered by your bread.

 

[obijkenobi]

For those of you using my fitnesspal, do you just use it for recipes, or do you add in your p90x workouts as well? It looks like it would be pretty tedious to add in each exercise for each workout.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

I'd also suggest eating excellent carbs that are also great sources of protein like beans. Lentils are delicious too, and they are super foods.

 

[ZombieFred]

Whole grain pasta and wheat bread are definitely easy subs for better fiber/carbs/value, but the most important thing noted here is that any dish, be it pasta or whatever else, will become totally disgusting to you after eating it every night for a couple weeks, let alone 90 days.

Do you have the P90X nutrition guide? There are some pretty simple, quick options in there for meals that might inspire you.


Indeed, myfitnesspal thinks I'm getting way too much protein on a daily basis, which I imagine is par for the course when you're on P90X

I do have the P90X Nutrition guide yes, but looking at some of those meals to cook and try seems daunting at glance because I've only just learnt to cook some Italian (and Indian) dishes in my life, I never cooked fresh before, since moving into a place for myself, so I am trying to find the easiest and cheapest way of getting a lot of protein and the right amounts to have each day but I currently suck on trying to figure out the best way to do it

 

[BeautifulMemory]

I do have the P90X Nutrition guide yes, but looking at some of those meals to cook and try seems daunting at glance because I've only just learnt to cook some Italian (and Indian) dishes in my life, I never cooked fresh before, since moving into a place for myself, so I am trying to find the easiest and cheapest way of getting a lot of protein and the right amounts to have each day but I currently suck on trying to figure out the best way to do it

You can't go wrong with chicken or Tuna. f you really don't know how to cook (I don't either). Buy an electrical grill and frozen chicken breast. Voila

 

[Hawkian]

For those of you using my fitnesspal, do you just use it for recipes, or do you add in your p90x workouts as well? It looks like it would be pretty tedious to add in each exercise for each workout.

I use it for everything now, but I'm not adding each individual exercise; as you said it would be ludicrously tedious.

I add the workout as one "exercise", i.e.: "P90X Plyometrics." Once you add it once it's there for good and you can just select it next time. For the Strength Training ones, you have to add it to the Cardiovascular section because MFP doesn't credit you any calories for resistance training (I understand why, but giving you 0 is heartless!). You can then also add specific exercises from the resistance workout to the strength training section for your own tracking purposes if you want (no impact on your calorie count/totals).

The best way to factor in how many calories you burned is going to be with a Heart Rate Monitor, but I'm using rough estimation. In the fitness guide (or maybe the nutrition guide, but one of them), the P90X gurus estimate a broad average of 600 calories burned for every complete workout, whether resistance or cardio (excepting X Stretch and Ab Ripper X). This strikes me as a pretty high average as there are so, so many variables to consider (height, weight, sex, sets, resistance/weight used, metabolism, heart rate, etc. etc. etc.), but given the variety of workouts they're trying to average it is probably pretty accurate. If you're just going through the motions in Kenpo I doubt you burn anywhere close to that (although man did it get intense with the weights on Sunday). If you really bring it and totally push yourself start to finish in plyo, I bet it's more than that.

The key for me is to way, way lowball everything. I never give myself more than 400 calories for a P90X workout (max 450 for a resistance + ab ripper x day), and if I feel like I was doggin' it or had a particularly light workout, I'll lessen the duration input into MFP so it credits me fewer calories. In this way I know the numbers are not accurate, of course, but they're inaccurate in a way that helps me do better.

If you need any help with using the site I've become pretty well-versed with it

 

[Harry Potter]

You can't go wrong with chicken or Tuna. f you really don't know how to cook (I don't either). Buy an electrical grill and frozen chicken breast. Voila

You can also skip the griddle and cook off a bunch of chicken breasts in the oven on a Sunday and have them in the fridge for the rest of the week if you are pressed for time.

 

[obijkenobi]

I use it for everything now, but I'm not adding each individual exercise; as you said it would be ludicrously tedious.

I add the workout as one "exercise", i.e.: "P90X Plyometrics." Once you add it once it's there for good and you can just select it next time. For the Strength Training ones, you have to add it to the Cardiovascular section because MFP doesn't credit you any calories for resistance training (I understand why, but giving you 0 is heartless!). You can then also add specific exercises from the resistance workout to the strength training section for your own tracking purposes if you want (no impact on your calorie count/totals).

The best way to factor in how many calories you burned is going to be with a Heart Rate Monitor, but I'm using rough estimation. In the fitness guide (or maybe the nutrition guide, but one of them), the P90X gurus estimate a broad average of 600 calories burned for every complete workout, whether resistance or cardio (excepting X Stretch and Ab Ripper X). This strikes me as a pretty high average as there are so, so many variables to consider (height, weight, sex, sets, resistance/weight used, metabolism, heart rate, etc. etc. etc.), but given the variety of workouts they're trying to average it is probably pretty accurate. If you're just going through the motions in Kenpo I doubt you burn anywhere close to that (although man did it get intense with the weights on Sunday). If you really bring it and totally push yourself start to finish in plyo, I bet it's more than that.

The key for me is to way, way lowball everything. I never give myself more than 400 calories for a P90X workout (max 450 for a resistance + ab ribber x day), and if I feel like I was doggin' it or had a particularly light workout, I'll lessen the duration input into MFP so it credits me fewer calories. In this way I know the numbers are not accurate, of course, but they're inaccurate in a way that helps me do better.

If you need any help with using the site I've become pretty well-versed with it

I might hit you up later then. I think the diet is the last thing holding me back from great results, although I will say I'm killing it pushup/plull up wise compared to where I used to be when I first started.

Which heart rate monitor are you using?

 

[ZombieFred]

You can't go wrong with chicken or Tuna. f you really don't know how to cook (I don't either). Buy an electrical grill and frozen chicken breast. Voila

I can cook chicken breast in a frying pan (wait water, I have used it for making chicken curry in the past) so I imagine I can just do that method, or others, so I do different kinds of chicken meals that fit some of the protein section?

 

[BeautifulMemory]

I can cook chicken breast in a frying pan (wait water, I have used it for making chicken curry in the past) so I imagine I can just do that method, or others, so I do different kinds of chicken meals that fit some of the protein section?

Yea it you are up for it. I did chicken + tuna for my protein portion. If you want you can mix it up with egg whites, tofu, fish, and others. But chicken gives you the best protein : calorie ratio. Fish is very good too. I haven't touched chicken since phase 1 (month 1) lol

This is all assuming if you want to
Follow the plan though. If you do then you want to hit 700 calories from the list of protein food listed in the guide. So I did 400 chicken 300 tuna everyday ugh


And what Harry Potter said too. You can do different style. I was lazy so I just grilled it. I did breast tenderloins because they were softer

 

[Hawkian]

I might hit you up later then. I think the diet is the last thing holding me back from great results, although I will say I'm killing it pushup/plull up wise compared to where I used to be when I first started.

Which heart rate monitor are you using?

Diet is definitely the biggest barrier for me as well, and this site has been the greatest resource I've found to help out with it. It makes the process a lot more like a game, there's tangible incentive not to eat too much and to work out that much harder.

Also, ditto, while push-ups are still my weak point, my progress with pull-ups is the best aspect of the results I've gotten so far. I'm really looking forward to comparing my final fit test number to the .5 pull-ups I was able to do before starting.

I'm not using a heart rate monitor yet, but I'm very interested in one. I was actually asking around in here for suggestions if anyone has any. The fitbit seems truly awesome, but I don't want to shell out 100 bucks.

 

[ZombieFred]

Ok I think I should be fine for the stuff that's got to be done but the only thing left I need to know about when doing the fitness program before or after dinner (and does it matter either way?)

 

[Angry Grimace]

Ok I think I should be fine for the stuff that's got to be done but the only thing left I need to know about when doing the fitness program before or after dinner (and does it matter either way?)

Before. You need protein after a workout.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

Ok I think I should be fine for the stuff that's got to be done but the only thing left I need to know about when doing the fitness program before or after dinner (and does it matter either way?)

Generally before dinner. Nothing wrong with after too. It's more about going into the workout with energy and fully digested to avoid cramps or vomit. So it's more about scheduling your small meals, tweaking your diet (you might need more calories, or less) and getting used to a low-carb diet (= low energy for a lot of people)

 

[SteeloDMZ]

You mean working out? I'd do it before dinner, so you can get all the nutrients from the dinner meal. Also remember that it's always a terrible idea to work out at least 2:30 hours after a meal.

 

[ZombieFred]

Excellent, thank guys, this week for me is finalising my nutrient and workout plan and start doing it next week commencing Monday. I can't wait to get this train rolling! The only thing that I can see that might get in the way is going out some Fridays drinking. 2-3 Alcohol beverages is not going to hurt right?

 

[obijkenobi]

You mean working out? I'd do it before dinner, so you can get all the nutrients from the dinner meal. Also remember that it's always a terrible idea to work out at least 2:30 hours after a meal.

??? Why specifically 2:30 hours? Doesn't Tony say wait at least an hour to work out after eating?

 

[Harry Potter]

Excellent, thank guys, this week for me is finalising my nutrient and workout plan and start doing it next week commencing Monday. I can't wait to get this train rolling! The only thing that I can see that might get in the way is going out some Fridays drinking. 2-3 Alcohol beverages is not going to hurt right?

I still have drinks on the weekends. I stick to the lower cal stuff like vodka.

 

[ZombieFred]

I still have drinks on the weekends. I stick to the lower cal stuff like vodka.

Yeah, that's the type of drink I will be doing. Would you say drinking one day a week with 3-5 bottles of vodka will have any big effects on the diet?

 

[Harry Potter]

Yeah, that's the type of drink I will be doing. Would you say drinking one day a week with 3-5 bottles of vodka will have any big effects on the diet?

I hope you meant 3-5 drinks I don't see it being a major problem. Some might disagree with me. Just watch what you are mixing it with and be aware of what you are eating once you feel tipsy. It's easy to go on food rampages when drunk.

 

[ZombieFred]

I hope you meant 3-5 drinks I don't see it being a major problem. Some might disagree with me. Just watch what you are mixing it with and be aware of what you are eating once you feel tipsy. It's easy to go on food rampages when drunk.

I plan to avoid going for any food when doing and I'll probably combine it with diet pop or something Thanks Harry!

 

[Hawkian]

Yea it you are up for it. I did chicken + tuna for my protein portion. If you want you can mix it up with egg whites, tofu, fish, and others. But chicken gives you the best protein : calorie ratio. Fish is very good too. I haven't touched chicken since phase 1 (month 1) lol

And what Harry Potter said too. You can do different style. I was lazy so I just grilled it. I did breast tenderloins because they were softer

Why haven't you touched chicken since phase 1?

Chicken's probably my favorite source of healthy protein, and of course you're right about fish as well, but egg whites are a truly awesome source of protein too and contain a lot of ludicrously bioavailable nutrients. I basically keep one of these in the fridge at all times and replace it as soon as it's empty:

Toss 1/2 or 3/4 of a cup of that into a skillet with some spinach, mushrooms, red peppers, mmmm.

??? Why specifically 2:30 hours? Doesn't Tony say wait at least an hour to work out after eating?

I'm thinking he meant until at least.. etc.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

I still have drinks on the weekends. I stick to the lower cal stuff like vodka.

HP, when and if I ever get P90X2, cam I just do regular pull ups as modification? I don't want to break my door

And is there any more jumping than plyo in terms of noise?

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Egg whites? Come on now, just use whole eggs!

My protein comes from muscle milk, eggs, tuna, and chicken. All of this weekly typically. Chicken 3 nights, eggs + tuna 2 nights.

 

[Harry Potter]

HP, when and if I ever get P90X2, cam I just do regular pull ups as modification? I don't want to break my door

And is there any more jumping than plyo in terms of noise?

Ya, you can modify that one pull up that we were talking about before. I think Tony and company were just trying to add a bit of variety. Just try switching your grip up.

I would say plyocide is a a little louder than its predecessor. Just because there is a move where you jump off a chair. Also in the workout Back & Base there are quite a few jumping moves. Got downstairs neighbors?

 

[ZombieFred]

Egg whites? Come on now, just use whole eggs!

My protein comes from muscle milk, eggs, tuna, and chicken. All of this weekly typically. Chicken 3 nights, eggs + tuna 2 nights.

How many Eggs do you have with the tuna, or the best amount to have?

 

[Hawkian]

Egg whites? Come on now, just use whole eggs!

My protein comes from muscle milk, eggs, tuna, and chicken. All of this weekly typically. Chicken 3 nights, eggs + tuna 2 nights.

Egg yolks are high in fat; you get a better protein/calorie ratio from whites. The P90X diet guide plugs them hard. But indeed, eggs are a great source of protein no matter how you take 'em. Highly recommended as a part of any diet.

Spoiler

I find the carton way more convenient to cook with than whole eggs especially when I am barely awake

 

[BeautifulMemory]

Ya, you can modify that one pull up that we were talking about before. I think Tony and company were just trying to add a bit of variety. Just try switching your grip up.

I would say plyocide is a a little louder than its predecessor. Just because there is a move where you jump off a chair. Also in the workout Back & Base there are quite a few jumping moves. Got downstairs neighbors?

Yea never complained about me as I know. But plyo only had like 3 or 4 jump heavy moves. How many medicine ball would i need? 4? I want to get the ultimate version for X2 and I think two comes with it


Oh and regarding pull ups: they seem much harder in X2, and I'm still just using the chair for all pull ups in p90x. Can I do that in X2? I really don't mind continue the p90x pull ups

 

[Harry Potter]

Egg whites? Come on now, just use whole eggs!

My protein comes from muscle milk, eggs, tuna, and chicken. All of this weekly typically. Chicken 3 nights, eggs + tuna 2 nights.

I'm with you. Use the whole egg. It gets a bad wrap.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

Whole eggs are fine! Just watch the cholesterol level. I get egg white because it comes in a nice container and I can get it organic or so it is advertised...

 

[Hawkian]

I have nothing against whole eggs! I ate them all the time before P90X and I'll still eat 'em if I can't get whites now. But since starting I've shifted primarily to whites. From what I hear, the ideal for nutrient absorption is actually a mix of the two, bizarrely enough. Interesting chart:

Note the fat from the egg whites is 0.2g, not 2g

Still, for the moment I'm primarily focused on cutting calories where possible and this is an easy way.

And yeah just pouring from the egg white container beats cracking eggs at 7:00AM for me

 

[Harry Potter]

Yea never complained about me as I know. But plyo only had like 3 or 4 jump heavy moves. How many medicine ball would i need? 4? I want to get the ultimate version for X2 and I think two comes with it


Oh and regarding pull ups: they seem much harder in X2, and I'm still just using the chair for all pull ups in p90x. Can I do that in X2? I really don't mind continue the p90x pull ups

You can get away with just having 2. There are a few moves that use 4 but you can use a couple dumbbells in their place. There aren't enough moves that justifiy spending the extra money on 2 more.

A chair will still be useful. That one move is probably the most extreme out of the new stuff. The other ones are variations of regular pull ups but you pull yourself to one side then the other (x pull up), etc. So a chair would still be helpful.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

How many Eggs do you have with the tuna, or the best amount to have?

I do 3 eggs, a can of tuna, and some veggies (onion, mushrooms). Just cook it all up together, add Sirracha or hot sauce. Done.

I have nothing against whole eggs! I ate them all the time before P90X and I'll still eat 'em if I can't get whites now. But since starting I've shifted primarily to whites. From what I hear, the ideal for nutrient absorption is actually a mix of the two, bizarrely enough. Interesting chart:

Note the fat from the egg whites is 0.2g, not 2g

Still, for the moment I'm primarily focused on cutting calories where possible and this is an easy way.

And yeah just pouring from the egg white container beats cracking eggs at 7:00AM for me

I get the healthier alternative with egg whites, I just don't see whole eggs as unhealthy enough to warrant switching.

To me eating 3 eggs is a solid meal, whereas looking at your chart I'd have to eat half a bottle of egg whites to get a decent calorie count out of that. Good for breakfast though possibly with other items.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

You can get away with just having 2. There are a few moves that use 4 but you can use a couple dumbbells in their place. There aren't enough moves that justifiy spending the extra money on 2 more.

A chair will still be useful. That one move is probably the most extreme out of the new stuff. The other ones are variations of regular pull ups but you pull yourself to one side then the other (x pull up), etc. So a chair would still be helpful.

Thanks. Overall do you recommend it? I'm almost done with P90X and I'm kind of torn whether or not to do another round

 

[Hawkian]

I get the healthier alternative with egg whites, I just don't see whole eggs as unhealthy enough to warrant switching.

To me eating 3 eggs is a solid meal, whereas looking at your chart I'd have to eat half a bottle of egg whites to get a decent calorie count out of that. Good for breakfast though possibly with other items.

Totally reasonable. Eggs are so much healthier than many food choices to begin with that it's really hard to argue against.

I get a really nice satisfying omelette for breakfast with 6 egg whites as in the P90X diet guide's mushroom omelette (191 calories, though it's up to 10 whites and 395 calories in diet phase III :-O), or a good little one with 3 if I'm eating something else in the morning as well.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

??? Why specifically 2:30 hours? Doesn't Tony say wait at least an hour to work out after eating?

Tony says one hour, but I'm sure he was talking about a snack or something like that. I've worked out 2 hours after a big meal, and I felt nauseous throughout the whole thing.

I think it also depends of what kind of workout you are doing. I don't have much trouble eating before I do Yoga, but it would be a bad idea to do it before plyo or chest and back.

 

[Hawkian]

So didn't you mean "until?"

 

[Harry Potter]

Thanks. Overall do you recommend it? I'm almost done with P90X and I'm kind of torn whether or not to do another round

Ya for sure. I had my gripes with it but it's still a great program. If you decide to start it up let me know and I'll give you my input on how to break down the phases.

BTW, for those of you looking for easy snacks with a good amount of protein meet your new friend Greek yogurt.

I especially like this brand. I go for the 0%. Here's the nutrition facts:

Calories - 120
Total fat - 0
Cholesterol - 0
Sodium - 45mg
Carb - 18g
Protein - 13g
Sugars - 16g (this would be a lot less if I had the one without fruit but my fiancé ate my last one!)

 

[ReadingRambo]

Those are really really good. The honey in the honey version tastes bad.

 

[Harry Potter]

Those are really really good. The honey in the honey version tastes bad.

Yes it does. And it's too hard from being in the fridge. I usually get the plain. I keep a thing of honey at my desk when I want to add a little. It's not for everyone, but give it a shot people.

 

[OG Kush]

I've done workouts 30 mins after eating, been fine. Everyone's body is different though.

 

[Hawkian]

Greek yogurt

Greek Yogurt is outstanding! Love it, should remember to buy it more but I usually only go for it on sale.

Once a month my company brings around an ice cream truck where we can get whatever we want for free. It owns, but when I started P90X I thought I'd basically have to abstain from that occasion. But the dude started carrying these:

Crazy good at 70 cals per bar.

 

[Psychotext]

I've done workouts 30 mins after eating, been fine. Everyone's body is different though.

I'm another two hour plus sort of person. Wouldn't even consider 30 minutes. Would get serious acid.