FitLifeSF

118 responses so far ↓

• 1 Em // Jun 29, 2009 at 12:50 am

  Wow, your situation is so much like mine! I exercise all the time (I run or bike 6 days per week for 1 hour, and I do weights about 3 days per week). I eat about 1200-1500 cals per day. I’ve been so stuck at 140, want to be 127, but nothing will get me there! Thanks for sharing your nutritionist’s tip. I’m going to try to eat 1300 cals and not burn more than 400 cals.

  I am on day 3 of P90x. Do you think it will be enough for me to just do P90x to get down 13 pounds? I’ll stick to 1300 cals.

• 2 Em // Jun 29, 2009 at 12:52 am

  oops, I mean 1500 cals. That seems illogical. . . you always hear the only weigh to lose wt is to burn more than you consume. I really do not want to gain any more weight. I think my metabolism changed turning 30 this year.

• 3 Ileana // Jul 9, 2009 at 2:34 pm

  I want to share my situation with you guys to see what you can recomend. I started P90X in April, my weight was 130 and my height is 5′ 6″. During my first round of P90X I didn’t lose a pound. I did get bigger though, my legs and arms are bigger but I lost 5 centimeters in my bubbs, waist, and hips. I tried to follow the nutrition guide, but I have to confess that I didn’t do strictly. Last week I started my second round, because for me it is hard to believe that P90X won’t work for me. It is such a great program that I don’t want to stop doing. This time though I am trying harder with the food, but it is so hard for me to know how many calories I eat in a day. How do you guys know that you are eating X amount of calories??? Well, thank you very much for the tips, and if you can suggest anything else, I would really appreciated.
  Thanks again

• 4 Rebecca // Jul 20, 2009 at 9:54 am

  I have been hearing so many great things about P90X, that it just makes me want to try it. After doing some research and watching some transformation videos (testimonials) they were all men and wondered to myself ‘well, what about the women? What do their success stories look like?’ Then I found myself here and was truly curious about how I would get results or if I would indeed get any.
  Hopefully someone here can help me out?

  I’m 23 5’9″ and almost 160. This is the absolute worst shape i have been in my entire life. I played very competitive soccer and volleyball for 15 years of my life but was forced to stray away due to 2 serious knee injuries that to this day I still have some trouble with(tendonitis). I was in absolute EXQUISITE shape ( 5’9″ and about 128-132 lbs) up until the last 2 years when the weight really started to pile on. I desperately would love to get back in shape but was wondering, would any of the “P90′s” or “Slim in 6″ be as competitive as the workout I once had with soccer and/or volleyball and will provide me with the results that I want to get me back to that weight again? Is it a safe process that can help strengthen my knee or would it cause some more damage? I would love to to lose weight, have some diet changes, and tone my body back to the way I was known for it. Will these programs help? which ones? any advice to my questions would be greatly appreciated as I have become a little bit lost without having a coach run me through drills after so long.

  Thank you!

• 5 Rob T // Jul 22, 2009 at 12:30 pm

  P90X is a great routine, and you will see results if you stick to the program. What has me concerned is the state of your knee. This is not a low impact workout program, and you CAN modify the moves to be less stressful on your injured knee, that being said, it might not be the program to jump into right away.

  There are a number of other programs to look at that will allow you to improve your fitness level, and let you test the strength of your knee.

  What I would recommend doing is the following:

  1.) Start documenting your daily food intake on Daily Plate. Track everything! You will see how you need to make adjustments pretty quick.
  2.) Get in a pool 3 times a week, whether you are walking laps or swimming them, it is low impact and will let you get your knee moving and used to exercise.
  3.) Whatever program you do, use resistance bands the first cycle through. Weights are great, but for rehabbing your body, the bands are a good place to start.
  4.) Especially if you decide to use P90X, make sure your doctor says you are ready for intense activity. I want to see you get fit, not hurt.

  And finally, when you are ready, ask questions! We are more than happy to help answer them. No matter what the program, you need to do exercises and movements that work for your body, injuries and all. Until you are 100% modification is the key!

  -Rob

• 6 Posts about Weightloss and Fitness as of July 28, 2009 | Weight Loss and Fitness // Jul 28, 2009 at 8:48 am

  [...] get you on the right track to live long, healthy, and a quality life. But you already knew that. Women: Not Losing Weight on P90X? – fitlifesf.com 06/09/2009 After seeing all the discussion on our previous thread P90X: What [...]

• 7 Kaylee // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:53 pm

  I am hoping someone can give me some advice. I started doing p90x almost three weeks ago, doing the workouts and the diet very strictly and I lost about 8 pds, and a few inches. I have quite a physical job training horses I do a lot of walking and riding, all day long so I am fit in that aspect but other wise I am not at all. I am 5’7 and 177 pounds, quite over weight and I just found this forum wondering if I should get off p90x completly and try a new program or just replace some of the strength training with more cardio and lower my calories, but how low? Really liking p90x and can feel my self getting tighter and fitter but I would like to lose abiout 40 pounds..

  Thanks for any tips!!

• 8 Smurf // Nov 24, 2009 at 9:48 pm

  Kaylee- 8 lbs in three weeks is exactly where you want to be weightloss-wise. In fact, it’s a little quick- you want to shoot for 1-2 pounds per week. So, I would say keep on doing what you are doing… CONGRATS, it sounds like it’s working perfectly for you.

• 9 Tara // May 10, 2010 at 5:12 pm

  HELP!

  I just started my 8th wk. I started at 157 lbs, 25 years old and I’m 5’3″. I was doing elliptical/treadmill intervals 3 times a wk and had plateaued when I started. I’m tracking my calorie intake on daily plate and taking in 1300-1400 calories daily high protein and low carb. I’m stuck at 150lbs. Weight always came off so easily I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I haven’t missed a day. What can I do?

• 10 Smurf // May 10, 2010 at 5:28 pm

  Tara- If you are in your 8th week and have dropped 7 pounds, that’s right in line with what is to be expected for healthy weightloss. If your past week is showing a wonky number that has you thinking “plateau,” just wait it out and stick to the program. You shouldn’t be thinking “plateau” or looking to change things from what has been working until you’ve been at a dead standstill for 3+ weeks (and, 7 pounds in 8 weeks is not just “working,” it’s “working quite well!”) Myself, for example– I’m in a phase now where every other week, my weight is UP, so I gain 2 pounds one week and loose 3 the next. For a net loss of .5 a pounds a week, which is what my goal is, but it doesn’t make those every-other-week spikes any more pleasant to see! Look at things month-by-month vs week-by-week… this process is a marathon, not a sprint.

  Cheers,
  Smurf

• 11 Tara // May 12, 2010 at 8:39 am

  I’m trying to think positively, except the 7 lbs that I’ve lost were all in the 1st 3 wks. So now I’m 5 wks stagnant. Time to make changes?

• 12 Andrea // May 14, 2010 at 11:55 am

  I have a question for all the ladies using p90x…
  what amount of weights do you guys use?
  What free weights range should you have?
  Right now I have 3′s(which i dont use cuz way to easy) 5′s and 8′s.
  I am thinking i need to get 10′s and 12′s
  and i also have the resistance bands.

• 13 Smurf // May 14, 2010 at 2:22 pm

  I started with 10′s and 15′s and now use 15′s, 20′s and 25′s (for things like lawnmowers.)

• 14 Andrea // May 14, 2010 at 2:34 pm

  ok thank you I am gonna go get some this weekend. Next week is my rest week so I will be ready for my second block.

• 15 Andrea // May 14, 2010 at 2:36 pm

  BTW Thanks smurf for all the info and tips….It helped me change my view point on things and I am more motivated now!
  

• 16 MIchelle // May 17, 2010 at 10:25 am

  I am a 37 year old mother of 2. I am 6’0 tall and weighed 189 when I started P90x Classic Version on 4/17/10. I wanted to get back down to about 155 or 160 (about 30 ibs). I just completed Phase I (my first 30 days) and I have lost a total of 9.2 ibs and 10.5 inches. I eat about 1600 to 1900 calories a day mostly following the nutrition plan but added more carbs since I workout really hard and burn around 600 to 850 calories a workout. I have tried the other beachbody programs and they work good too, however, I have never had as good results as I have with P90x. My body has already dramatically changed in 30 days and I cant want to see what the next 60 will do. People who havent seen my in a couple weeks are commenting on how thin I look and how flat my stomach is getting. I never got these kind of results on the other programs. Stick with P90x and as my husband says, “P90X gets rid of the jigglies”.

• 17 Andrea // May 18, 2010 at 7:49 am

  wow Michelle! THats awesome! its true it does get rid of the jigglies!

• 18 Mimmi // May 21, 2010 at 8:49 pm

  I am very active. I am deligently doing the P90x every day. So far this is my 12day,and I have not dropped 1pound. I cycle and run, play vollyball, and soccer. I am very active. I am 5.7 and weight 160lbs., I would love to lose 15-20lbs. I found that the begining phase Fat Shrudder is too much protein, and LOTS of calories. Itsn’t it too much for a women? I do burn abou 600 cals doing cardio, sometimes up to 800-1000. So, am I doing too much cardio? I am so confussed, and fear of gaining more weight. Can someone please shed some light on what I should be doing. Do I need to eat more calories, or less? I used to eat about 1500-1800 cals. Sometimes more. I am ALWAYS hungry, every 2-3hours, I need to eat something. But I have to be doing something wrong? Can you please give me some tips?

• 19 Smurf // May 22, 2010 at 11:31 am

  Hey Mimmi-
  I feel your frustration! Let’s see if I can help…
  1) When moving from a largely-cardio regime into more weight training, it is not at all unusual to have waterweight obscure weight loss for a few weeks. The reason is that water moves into the muscles to repair the microdamage of working out. At 12 days in, this could be what’s going on. But…
  2) I absolutely do think the P90X eating program is way too many calories for most women looking to drop some LBs. May I ask how old you are? I can plug your numbers into a Harris-Benedict equation and give you some calorie numbers based on your likely RMR. I would suspect, though, that those numbers are going to be somewhere right around 1500ish, which is a great “generic” calorie intake for weightloss– not too little, not too much. Ifyou have days where you run or cycle a little longer, go up to that 1800 if you need to.
  3) It’s great that you are eating every 2-3 hours. Keep that up! If you are feeling hungry all the time, there are a couple things you can do. One is to mess with the volume of food you are consuming by bulking your meals up with high-volume, low calorie foods– loading extra veggies onto your sandwiches, eating a big bucket of mixed veggies with very-low-calorie dressing with your lunch (I like to mix balsamic and dijon mustard as a dressing- it is nearly non-caloric), make a pot of super-brothy veggie soup to have with dinner. Also, while I know the the P90X plan is A LOT of protein (too much for me, personally), protein is very hunger-abating. If you increase your protein and get it all from “real food sources” (ie. not a shake or a bar), I bet you’ll find your hunger lessening. Also, what is your fat intake like? Lots of folks looking to lose weight eat far too little healthy fats (I know I am guilty of this)- you want to make sure each snack has a blend of carbs, protein and FAT- the fat has been shown to keep the food in the stomach a little longer and keep you feeling fuller.

  At 12 days in, I wouldn’t change too much up (other than bringing the calories into that 1500-1800 range.) A lot of getting onto reduced calories is getting your body used to it.

  Someone wise once said “Hunger is not an emergency.” This is especially true if you just ate an hour and a half ago and know you have a snack coming in another hour and a half. You just need to find ways to cope for a while- drink water or hot tea, chew gum, do something active to get your mind off it- eventually, you adapt.

  Hope that helps!

• 20 Kiley // May 27, 2010 at 7:14 pm

  I have been doing P90X for 5 weeks and feel even bigger than when I started. I am 5’6 and weigh 154 pounds. I have been eating a lot of fruit and veggies and still not losing any weight. I have been sticking around 1800 cals a day. should I decrease my cal intake? should I incorporate more jogging into my workout?

• 21 FitLifeSFRob // May 27, 2010 at 7:25 pm

  Kiley: Yes. Drop to 1500 calories a day. And make sure you are at 40-30-20 (Carb-Protein-Fat) ratio.

  Your calories in must be less than your daily burn for you to lose weight.

  Simple equation.

  Good luck and keep pushing play!

• 22 Momx2 // Jun 3, 2010 at 8:40 pm

  I just started p90x a few days ago and was very motivated and excited and now after reading this blog i am not so sure. I am almost 40 5.2 and 175lbs i am now worried i am going to be wasting my time. Do i need to lose weight before i start p90X. I have tried many weight loss things and nothing has seemed to work and i am hoping this is the “thing” to get me in shape and healthier. Any words of encouragement would be helpful.

• 23 Smurf // Jun 3, 2010 at 9:31 pm

  Hey Momx2!

  I don’t think you are wasting your time at all… In order to get that weight off, you are going to have to do similar things to what is in the P90X program anyhow to get it off, so there’s no reason you can’t start in on the program now. I would suggest you do Lean. I’d also suggest you do as much “lifestyle activity” as possible… walking, gardening, cleaning out the garage… all that fun stuff. I know I say this about nearly everyone, but I cannot emphasize enough how much for you this is going to be about what goes in your mouth. Frankly, with fat to lose, you could do any workout that is a blend of cardio and resistance training… it’s 99.9999% the calories-in part that is going to have the impact for you.

  For your height, weight and age, 1492 calories is right in the “sweet spot” that, with the addition of P90X-type workouts, should have you seeing a nice pound/pound and a half of loss per week. I wouldn’t want to see you go below that intake, so that’s where that “lifestyle burn” comes in.

  Here’s the thing… this “thing” isn’t going to get you in shape. YOU are going to get you in shape, using this as just one tool. At the end of the day, the DVD can’t cook you dinner and pack your lunch, and that is the real “secret” to having success here. The fact that you bought the program shows that you already have the commitment to take that first step!

  Now, if you do find that the DVDs are a little too hardcore for you right now, you COULD opt to select some other kind of aerobic activity, do 45 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week of intervals on that, throw in one upper body P90X DVD and one lower body DVD and two Ab Ripper X sessions every week and wait until you get some pounds off to start the real “program.” If you are balancing your calories correctly, though, that option shouldn’t be taking weight off any faster than going the P90X and lifestyle activity route. It’s just a matter of where your head is at.

  If you want to take on this 90 days and absolutely crush it, I bet you’ll be really proud of yourself and see some awesome results. If you want to have an informercial-esque set of photos where you go from looking average to looking SLAMMIN’, you might want to get some lbs off before you start the 90 days.

  Make sense?

• 24 twinmama // Jun 5, 2010 at 9:35 pm

  I am ready to start on the p90x program, i am 35 yrs old, 5’2 and 125 lbs (of tubby jiggly stuff) i want to have a strong lean body, how can i make sure that p90x is really going to work for me! and how can i gage how much i should be eating etc…

• 25 kj // Jun 7, 2010 at 7:50 am

  Hello everyone. My boyfriend and I are starting p90x today. We are so excited. Any pointners?

• 26 Smurf // Jun 7, 2010 at 9:00 am

  Congrats on taking the plunge, KJ and TwinMamma. My two biggest pointers for folks looking to lose weight (not sure if you are) and women in particular: 1) The biggest chunk of your success is going to come down to how well you master the nutrition side of things– The P90X nutrition guide advocates more calories than most women looking to lose weight should be taking in. For most women, this magically nets out at about 1500 calories, but you can send your height, weight and age and I am happy to calculate it for you. 2) LIFT HEAVY! Don’t use rinky-dink 3-pound pink dumbells, you need to be to the point at about your tenth rep where you really need to mentally and physically push through the last reps.

  Best of luck!

• 27 joleen // Jun 7, 2010 at 2:40 pm

  been doing p90x for almost 35 days. in the first 30 days, i lost 15″ off my thighs, arms, hips, and waist. i was 5’4″ and 194 lbs. (very fat). I lost all those inches, but my weight is still the same at 35 days because the fat is turning into muscle. Muscle weighs alot more than fat, so ladies, don’t worry about the number on the scale…even though i weigh the same…I lost 15 inches!!! take before pictures, 30 day pics, 60 day pics, etc. that will motivate you to keep going. bring it!

• 28 joleen // Jun 7, 2010 at 2:46 pm

  oh…and for comparison…a chunk of muscle the size of a baseball weighs the same of 3 chunks of baseball sized fat!

• 29 Smurf // Jun 7, 2010 at 3:00 pm

  That is awesome! Keep up the great work!

  Just to keep from furthering commonly-held ideas that are scientifically unfounded– Physiologically speaking, the max quantity of muscle a non-doping female would be able to put in on a month if “living the bodybuilder lifestyle” (lifting SUPER heavy, supplementing, eating at a surplus, etc.) is about .8 of a pound. And that would have her the envy of all her deeply-tanned, muscly, massive bodybuilder female friends. If your average fit woman is dropping fat it is unlikely (in fact, metabolically impossible) that her scale weight is not moving as well.

  There is a lot that can happen in that first month morphologically that can give some great results of things tightening up (not the least of which is the boost of endorphins that causes you to look at yourself through “rose colored glasses”, stand a little taller with your stomach held in, etc.) There is also a lot that can happen physiologically (waterweight gain, mostly) that can mask scale changes.

  But, at the end of the day– if a woman has fat to lose and isn’t seeing movement on the scale by the end of that first month or so, it is not the oft-touted “muscle weighs more than fat” theory. If you have 20 pounds of fat to lose, at .8 of a pound MAX of muscle gain per month, it would take nearly two years to build enough muscle to negate/obscure scale change from the fat.

  I feel that it’s worth correcting this common misunderstanding since this isn’t just about looking and feeling great– the presence of fat is the health risk, so it’s important to know if you are actually making a change there. And the scale is, frankly, the best way to tell. (Seconded by calipers, bio-electrical impedance or hydrostatic bodyfat testing.)

  Also, further clarity, muscle doesn’t “weigh more” it is denser– a pound of muscle still weighs a pound, it is just more dense so it takes up less space.

• 30 BZ // Jun 8, 2010 at 5:46 am

  Hey Smurf, you seem to be able to answer a lot of questions on here, so I was wondering if you could tell me how many calories I should be eating as well haha. I’ve already lost 40 pounds on my own by severely restricting my diet, and I’ve now decided to start P90X. Before coming to college, I was pretty fit but definitely let myself slip in the 5 years I’ve been here. I’m 23 years olds, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weigh about 165. I’m looking to get down to 125-130 and I’ve decided to start on the P90X Lean. I’d appreciate your help! Thanks!

• 31 Smurf // Jun 8, 2010 at 9:54 am

  For your height and weight, 1300 on the low end and 1550 on the high end should have you seeing in the range of 1.5 pounds loss per week. You’ll want to re-calc the numbers once you take 20 pounds off.

• 32 Jessica // Jun 10, 2010 at 2:48 am

  Something I’ve always been confused on is determining how many calories I need based on the amount I burn. If you’re suppose to get around 1500 calories a day and hypothetically you burn 500 cals then your net cals is 1000. Is that correct? Or are you suppose to replenish those 500 cals so you’re taking in a total of 1500? Also I was wondering if you could discuss the difference in the P90X Classic vs P90X Lean and how you know which would give the best results?
  P.S. Great website! Very informative

• 33 FutureBride // Jun 10, 2010 at 12:18 pm

  Hi Smurf,

  I have the same confusion that Jessica has. Should I be eating a total of 1500 cal/daily to lose weight regardless of calories burned during a workout?
  Also, I’m getting married in 8 months and am considering p90x because my fiance and I could do it together, but I am hoping you could calculate how many calories I should eat to be successful. I’m 24 years old, 5 foot 3 inches, and around 130 lbs. I’d like to get back to my college weight of about 120.

  Thanks!!

• 34 Smurf // Jun 10, 2010 at 3:25 pm

  Hi Ladies- The 1500 is irrespective of exercise. The general math, unless you are a real metabolic anomaly (super tall or short, super tall or skinny, etc.) is that 1500 will be a good generic point where you are subtracting 500 calories from “calories in” (in other words, assuming your resting metabolic rate is around 2000-ish, you are consuming 500 calories less than that) and burning an additional 500 calories through the workouts, putting you at 1000 calories per day deficit to see a two pound loss.

  Now, studies have shown time and again that people vastly overestimate calories burned and vastly underestimate calories in, so the best way to correct for this error is to weigh, measure and track every bite that goes in your mouth and wear a heartrate monitor during workouts to be sure you are getting to a 500 cal burn. Correcting for errors, a 1000 calorie-per-day deficit is more likely to be a “real” deficit of only 500-750 calories, resulting in a nice pound, pound and a half of weight loss.

  FutureBride- Since you are shorter and lighter, I’d bring you down to the 1400 range.

  Jessica- P90X Classic and P90X Lean are both comprised of the same workouts, just done a different number of times and in a different order. P90X Classic has a stronger emphasis on the real “classic” weight training and plyometric workouts, while P90X Lean incorporates a workout called Cardio x, which I don’t care for. If you have some other aerobic exercise that you really enjoy– running, spinning, kickboxing…– P90X Lean is great because you can replace the cardio workouts with an hour of the cardio workout of your choice. So, you are doing slightly less weight work and slightly more aerobic work. If you have more than 20 lbs of fat to lose, I’d suggest doing a cycle of Lean and getting in as much “lifestyle burn” as possible- walking places, riding bikes, etc., then doing a cycle of Classic to fine-tune your physique.

• 35 Mom of 2 // Jun 12, 2010 at 8:56 pm

  Hi Smurf,
  My husband and I are planning to begin the P90X Classic program tomorrow. I was somewhat discouraged when I first came upon this site, but after reading through it, I’m feeling a little better. I, too, am worried about the nutrition since my husband and I fall into the same level. He’s a foot taller than me and 20 pounds heavier. I’m also worried about some of the weight loss suggestions pre-P90X. What do you recommend for me? I’m 34 years old, 4’11”, and 158 pounds. I am fairly fit (kicked butt on the Fit Test) but have put on weight in the past 5 years. Thank you.

• 36 Smurf // Jun 12, 2010 at 9:04 pm

  I think you and your husband are the perfect example of how “off” the calculations for the P90X eating plan are, and women end up on the short end of the stick!

  Eating at 1418 calories per day will put you at a deficit of 500 calories from food, which should (correcting for margins of error, of course), when combined with the workouts, have you at a nice pound-and-a-half of loss per week.

• 37 Mom of 2 // Jun 13, 2010 at 6:11 pm

  Thank you for the validation and suggestions. Here we go!!

• 38 TMJ // Jun 14, 2010 at 1:28 am

  Smurf,

  I just started P90X. I’m a male (5’8″, 175-180lbs) and considered “Level II” according to the P90X nutrition guide. It says I need to shoot for 2,400 calories a day in order to have enough fuel for my workouts. I’m pretty out of shape and this first day whipped me pretty good…had to cheat on some workouts and take longer breaks (but I did try until I couldn’t do any more reps). Basically what I’m looking to get out of this program is a little bit of muscle build, but I want to get more cut than big. I would like to also lose 20-25lbs by the end of it. I noticed today (after following their nutrition guide via their “portion plan”) that I feel fairly full almost all day and I have to almost make myself eat as much as they say to eat. My body fat percentage is pretty poor and I would like to lower it considerably.
  1) Can I lose enough weight to get close to my goal (if I take in about 2,400 cal/day)?
  2) Can I lower my body fat percentage considerably (if I take in about 2,400 cal/day?
  3) Do I need to lower my cal intake to reach my goals?….and if so, how low can I go with calories and still have enough “fuel” to get through my workouts properly?

  If you could just give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it!

• 39 Smurf // Jun 14, 2010 at 8:04 pm

  Hey TMJ,

  Welcome! And thank you so much for helping to prove the point that I’ve been trying to make about the Nutrition Guide being totally skewed to men.

  So, your BMR (meaning pre-workout burn) based on your height and weight (I calculated based on an age of 30, if you are significantly older or younger, let me know and I can re-calc it for you) is… BINGO! 2394. This means that, eating at 2400 cals, all the workouts you are doing will go towards a deficit and you should see about 3/4 pound of loss per week, depending how hard you hit those workouts.

  If you are relatively out of shape (or quite out of shape– I’ll let you be the judge of that ), you are not going to be working out hard enough to really see significant burn for a while. And, regardless, you can always lose more fat through tweaking the “calories in” side of the equation than only busting your hump on the “calories out” side. If you goal is to lose fat- and it sounds like it is- I wouldn’t have you eating at your BMR. I would suggest cutting back to the 2000 calorie range, which should, when partnered with the workouts, have you seeing 1.5-1.75 pounds of loss per week.

  The best way to test this equation is to have you eat fastidiously at that level- this means weighing and measuring everything- for about 3-4 weeks and seeing where you are at scale-wise. Note that the first few weeks, especially if you are not used to this, you might throw on some water in the muscles that will obscure scale movement, but it should normalize by week 3 or 4.

  2000 should be plenty to fuel your workouts– especially as you are just building up to being able to do the workouts full-out regardless. The biggest improvement to your performance is going to come in getting some of the fat off. I wouldn’t suggest going below 1900 calories… you just don’t need to and it’s likely to lead to burn-out.

  After 60 days of ramping up the workouts and eating at 2000 calories, there is a chance you’ll be quite near the 20 pounds lost range, at which point I’d move you back up to 2400 to encourage added muscle development/fat conversion in that last month– you still won’t be bulking because you won’t be at a surplus, but you’ll have the skill and conditioning to be able to use those extra calories to really hit those workouts massively hard and get every last bit of muscle/fat conversion you can. “Tuning” is a phrase fitness folks use a lot for this phase.

  Hope that helps! Keep me appraised of your progress… Oh, and congrats on giving the workouts your all! Progress will come quickly in the beginning… track and savor it.

• 40 TMJ // Jun 15, 2010 at 12:12 am

  Smurf,

  Thank you for the thorough eval! I’m 23, so according to your BMR calculations mine may be different than someone that is 30. Also, I consider myself pretty out of shape but not so much that I can’t push myself. I am a former athlete but it’s been a 5 years (high school) since I’ve been “in shape.” I feel like even though I have to cheat and take longer breaks that I’m capable of getting a good bit out of my workouts via determination and drive. Anyways, one thing I am confused about is that if I only take in 2,000 calories, where should I subtract calories from. As in, what “portions” should I take away from? Less dairy, protein, carbs? Seems that veggies don’t have many calories so I can’t do much there. Fruits seem to be the same and I only have one serving of those a day. I don’t ingest much fat either, and I think I need at least some fat from a health standpoint. I honestly just don’t know enough about nutrition to know these things. I wish I did but as of now I am basically just a beginner when it comes to learning how to be more healthy. By the way, is your profession something to do with nutrition/fitness or what? Just curious as to how you know so much…

• 41 TMJ // Jun 15, 2010 at 1:41 am

  Oh, I also have another question. It takes me significantly longer to finish these workouts due to me not being able to keep up. For instance, the chest and back exercise/ab ripper took me 2 and a half hours or so when it should have taken an hr and 15 minutes or so. This is bc my muscles needed a lot more rest just to be able to do a few reps (once I was into the workout and fatigued). Due to this, I was thinking of starting to take some creatine just to help me do these workouts more efficiently until I’m in shape enough to get by without it. I’ve heard a lot about creatine and health concerns, but I don’t know what to think. I wouldn’t be taking it for too long…I just would like to find a way to get a lot out of these workouts while also finishing them in a more timely manner. I’ve also thought about taking something similar to NO Xplode bc it is supposed to give you more energy/endurance (sort of like creatine from my understanding), but it seems like the more unhealthy option. Would you advise me taking one of these two things?…or just suggest going about it without them and just do the best I can until I get my muscles into shape…? Thanks in advance!

• 42 Smurf // Jun 15, 2010 at 11:26 am

  TMJ- Being 23 vs 30 gives you an extra 17 calories to play around with– don’t spend ‘em all in one place!

  To get down to 2000, if you are following the P90X eating plan, I’d keep the ratio of calories the same, so take 200 cals from carbs and 200 cals from protein. (As you said, it is already so low-fat, and the fat is important to keeping you feeling full.) I always suggest that people cut from “fake food” first, so cutting out a meal replacement bar if you are doing one is good, if you are doing a shake outside of the recovery drink, cutting that is good. Real food will keep you feeling fuller longer and is just (in my opinion) an all-around better idea.

  I am having a hard time understanding how it is is taking two and a half hours to get through the workouts in any case, though, as you do one exercise until fatigue or “muscle failure” (which it sounds like you reach quite quickly), take a brief rest, and then move onto the next exercise
  (which is always a slightly different muscle group.) Can you explain to me how you are approaching the workouts? Are your weights low enough? Are you using a chair to modify pull-ups? Even if you can only do one rep and you’re at failure, you do that one rep and then you move onto the next exercise.

  In any case, my suggestion for you in getting the most out of the workouts, vs. doing them spread out over two and a half hours, is to split them in half for now– do half in the AM and half in the PM and fuel for each workout by having a carb-containing snack about an hour before. Split your recovery drink between the two workouts. You simply can’t have your head in the game after going at something for two and a half hours, and your body is just going to break down that way– if your mental focus doesn’t totally crap out first.

  As for supplements– my opinion is not to mess with them at your level. P90X makes a pretty good pre-workout pill that Rob and I both take- it’s ginseng, carnitine, green tea… it gives you a nice little boost. NOXplode is not anything you need for energy over an extended work bout, and creatine is just going to make you retain water.

  Besides which– and this is crucial– you should NEVER be taking a chemical to get your body to do a workout it is not ready to handle! You are talking torn ligaments and muscles, stress fractures of bone, etc. Bad, bad, bad idea.

  You start where you start- Pick a weight that allows you to do a suitable number of reps, do what you can to failure, move on to the next exercise. You’ll find in a week, you can do two more reps. Eventually, you’ll be doing 10-12 reps and know it’s time to increase the weight a little bit… You don’t go into this thing with 50 pounders, insisting on doing 10 reps, or you are going to get seriously injured, and you ABSOLUTELY don’t take any kind of drug or substance to override your body’s built-in protections.

  As for me/my interest: I am a certified personal trainer and certified nutrition coach, but my money-job is more on the marketing/PR side of things.

• 43 TMJ // Jun 15, 2010 at 3:43 pm

  Smurf,

  Is taking out a protein shake and a protein bar gonna leave me with enough protein to build a little muscle? Also, I only eat one carb a day right now so I don’t really know how to take calories from there. Even taking out a protein shake would take out 130 calories…and taking out half a bar (so I could still get a little protein) will take out another 135 calories. So I could do that and take out 265 calories which would put me close to 2,000 a day. If I cut out the entire protein bar + shake I could cut 400 calories…but would I get enough protein?

  As far as the workouts are concerned…the first workout I did (chest and back) I took long enough breaks to get some more reps done…so for instance, if I tried to do some reps on an exercise and couldn’t hardly do any, I would take a break until my muscles could rest enough to do some reps (which took forever). I did the same thing with the ab ripper workout that followed. Therefore, the workout just took forever. I won’t do that again…I just wanted to get a lot out of the workout. I did Plyometrics yesterday and it only took me 15 minutes longer than the video says…due to me needing longer breaks now and then.

  Thanks for the comment on the supplements. What is the pill you guys take called? If I take anything it would be that. I’m not gonna fool with anything else at this time.

• 44 Smurf // Jun 15, 2010 at 4:21 pm

  If I give you advice on diet, I have to warn you that it’s going to not be totally in line with the P90X plan, so if you try to look back at forth between what I’m telling you and what P90X nutrition guide is telling you, you might get a little confused, but here goes…

  The simplest way to structure a “bodybuilder-esque” diet is to give yourself a gram per pound of protein and work back from there- this is known as the “bodybuilder gold standard,” so will give you plenty of protein to build lean muscle– For you, this means 175 grams of protein, or about 60% of your calories from protein. Then, give yourself about 20% of calories from healthy fats (about 44g of Fat.) And fill the rest in with whole-grain carbs, fruits, etc– 20% of your diet… 57g of carbs for a 2000-cal-per-day diet. Just use a program like The Daily Plate to track all the food you are eating and make sure, first and foremost, that you are hitting that 175 g of protein and then fill in with carbs and fat. And, yes, you are welcomed to work with that 20% fat, 20% carbs so that you are eating maybe 15% fat and 25% carbs… whatever is going to give you appropriate energy, but I don’t suggest going much below 15% fat or your diet is going to suck and you are going to be hungry all the time.

  That being said- This is all somewhat less important for you since you are not eating at a surplus. You are eating at a deficit to burn through some of that fat. So you are not going to be “putting on” more than a little bit of muscle in the first two months anyhow– you will be building strength and doing all kinds of other great stuff, and will look like you are getting more ripped as the fat comes off the top of the muscle– but to truly “put on muscle” (be in an “anabolic” or “building” state) you would need to be eating at a surplus. So it is less important for you to be on a “bodybuilder-esque” eating program at this phase. The most important part of the eating program is just that you be at a deficit. So if you find the eating program outlined above totally un-doable, adding more carbs isn’t going to impact your results at all– I just outlined it for you because you sounded interested in doing a “bodybuilder-type” eating program, and it sounds like being on one will really add to your mental commitment to the program.

  Now– as for shakes, bars and whatnot. There is really very little reason for anyone– even someone on the high-protein plan outlined above- to be using one, except for convenience. If you get to the end of the day and haven’t hit your protein and – by extension- are under your calories for the day, sure, have a shake or bar. But if you are feeling hungry/snackish at all, realize that a shake or bar is the least-filling way to get those cals and protein. Egg whites, chicken breast, fat free cottage cheese– Costco sells a whole roasted turkey breast that is pretty good… Any source of lean protein and, of course, loads of leafy greens and other good veggies, will be the backbone of the program.

  So, yeah, your Plyo workout sounds like it went exactly as it should– just press pause and take a breather for a bit if you need to. My suspicion is that you are using too heavy of weights for the other workouts. It is extremely important that you not overload the exercises here in the beginning because you need to learn proper form. In fact, I’d rather see people lift 5 pounds too light the first week (so that they hit 12 reps and aren’t at full muscle fatigue) than lift 5 pounds too heavy, as not having proper form will impact your results and increase your potential for injury.

  Hope that helps!

• 45 Smurf // Jun 15, 2010 at 4:24 pm

  Oh, and the supplement we take is called “Performance Formula.” It is available here:
  https://extranet.securefreedom.com/MillionDollarBody/csShopping/ShoppingCart.asp?ProductID=&Cat=

  Search “Performance Formula” in that box in the upper left corner.

  Take with a full glass of water about 45 mins before your workout.

• 46 TMJ // Jun 15, 2010 at 8:08 pm

  Thank you so much for this advice! I can’t tell you how much this helps. I just want to get enough protein and carbs for my workouts and try and take in a little bit less calories than their guide tells me in order to shred for fat (and body fat percentage). I think I can devise a good plan with the diet advice you just gave me.

  Yeah, I’ve already noticed that sometimes I’m trying to heavy of a weight. I’m gonna lighten things up and make sure my form is correct and then build up from there.

• 47 TLC // Jun 18, 2010 at 10:14 am

  Smurf, your knowledge and willingness to help is amazing. Wondering if you would mind helping me calculate how many calories a day I need for”intake” and what my exercise calories “burn” per day should be so I can lose 30 pounds?

  I am 46, 5’3″ and weigh 147. For years I’ve done workouts trying to lose weight including slim in 6 exercises (I never owned the menu plan). I very much enjoyed the exercises, great routine and felt good. But I didn’t lose one pound and gained a few inches. I didn’t share this with others before because slim in 6, imho, is a wonderful fitness program.

  About 3 months ago, I heard that a person should never go below 1200 calories a day. I logged onto sparkpeople.com and discovered I was taking in between 600 and 900 calories a day. I’m using my forerunner to determine how many calories a day I burn. Its only an estimate though. Prior to P90X I was burning around 400 calories a day with walk/run/bike/cardio and yoga mix.

  Due to a medical condition I have to follow a Low Oxalate, Gluten Free menu. Its been difficult but I am finally getting up to around 1200 calories a day. I’m working hard to get my protein up to 60 g a day.

  I am measuring my food. As you suggested, I will begin to use the heart monitor with exercises to find out more accurately how many calories I am burning a day.

  Am I correct in shooting for 1200-1500 cal a day? How many calories a day should I shoot for burning?

  I’ve kept a walk/run/biking schedule for years. I just started the P90X last week. I am definitely challenged in these workouts, which I enjoy.

  When I found this site, my first thought was to stop doing the P90X because I don’t want to invest again into something like this and not get the results I want. I’m wondering if all this time I wasn’t getting results because I wasn’t taking in enough calories. Can I lose weight with the P90X. Thinking maybe I should focus on lean instead of classic though?

  Also, can I do two days of the exercises into one day (for 3 days a week instead of 6) and get the same results?

  I’d like to pay you for your help. How can I do that?

  Your advice on this site has been informative and helpful. Thank you!

• 48 Smurf // Jun 21, 2010 at 2:05 pm

  Hey TLC-
  Sorry it took me a while to get back to you… we had a fundraiser this weekend for the charity I am running SF Marathon on behalf of and the whole weekend went by like… ZIP! Let’s see what I can do to help you out here…

  First, I’ll address your concerns about the calories you were taking in. If you were legitimately taking in only 600-900 calories per day for a period of several weeks and did not drop any weight, then I would say that’s something to take up with your doctor because it falls totally outside the spectrum of metabolically normal.

  “Starvation Mode” is a totally overblown and somewhat mythological phenomena that gets thrown around way too much for my liking. Here’s the thing– IF researchers can show any kind of metabolic impact from eating too little, it is low and somewhat unpredictable/unrepeatable. Something on order of a 2-3% drop in your metabolism. Which, for someone with an RMR of 2000 calories or so, means maybe 50 calories or something a day. You only need to look at any overly-skinny Hollywood Starlet, anorexic or cancer patient to know that your metabolism does NOT shut down and keep you from losing weight if you are not eating enough. It would need to slow down 50% or more to keep you from losing weight at 600-900 calories per day. And that just doesn’t happen.

  Now, I am not in ANY WAY saying that eating 600-900 calories per day is a good thing to do… you do need to keep fuel coming into the body to fire your workouts and for general good health. And I find that being on a really low calorie diet makes people lose more in fits and starts and have huge issues with cravings, fatigue, crabbyness… Yes, people say you should “eat every few hours to keep your metabolism running high… ” and such, but none of that has been really consistently recorded/proven in a peer-reviewed research setting. But, it’s a good idea if for no other reason than that it keeps you from getting hungry and gives you the energy you need to be active. I will tell you that most people I’ve worked with who have 600-900 calorie days ALSO have a handful of much higher-calorie days thrown in that bring them to a net-wash calorie situation over time.

  So, about your numbers– Your resting metabolic rate is about 1804. What I like to see people do is realize a 500 calorie deficit from food, and then the P90X workouts should burn about another 350 or so, at minimum, bringing you to a loss of about a pound and a half per week– if you increase your “lifestyle burn” by walking and such, you can move that “calories out” burn up to 500 calories to get closer to two pounds loss per week. For you, this would mean eating 1300 calories per day and burning 500. And, those 1300 need to me meticulously tracked, weighed, measured, journaled– it is SO easy to underestimate the calories you are taking in that the only way to know for sure is to weight and measure. If I ever have someone tell me they are “probably taking in about 1500 calories per day” I pretty much know that is 50% off and they are likely taking in more like 2200… even trained nutrition professionals in studies are off by an average of 20% when they have to “eyeball it.” So I can’t stress the importance of this enough.

  Also (and check with your doctor on this), I’d like to see you get up to the recommended .7 grams of protein per pound for people undergoing a strength training program. This would have you at 102g of protein.

  The Forerunner is accurate for calories burned when you are in motion- it uses a mix of heartrate and distance traveled/pace to get the number. There is a pretty accurate calculator here: http://www.gersic.com/calories/ That you can use to take your average heartrate from the Garmin for a non-GPS workout and get calories burned.

  I would not suggest doing two workouts in one day, three days a week. You basically cut out 50% of your recovery when you do that, and recovery is essential to making progress, especially with a weight-intensive regime. Also, you need to really hit each of these workouts hard, so the mental recovery is just as important as the physical rest.

  I am not a huge fan of some of the cardio workouts in the Lean rotation– I often recommend people do Lean if they are also a runner, or total spinning addict, or have some other cardio obsession that they would like to continue– it’s super easy to do the lean setup and just replace out some of the cardio workouts with your other activities. It sounds for you like you could do lean and replace with a run or hard/interval bike workout. At the end of the day, it’s all about calories burned– some of the P90X “Lean” cardio workouts are super easy to cheat on, and this is all about calories-in, calories-out. You wouldn’t necessarily lose any more fat doing Lean than doing Classic, especially if the cardio workouts in Lean aren’t actually getting your calorie burn up there. (My calorie burn for Kenpo x, for example, is absolutely laughable unless I add a whole bunch of jumping jacks and running in place and basically change the workout so much that it in no way resembles what’s on the disk. At that point, I would burn more lifting weights or going for a run… this is why wearing the HRM is crucial.) If a person isn’t really invested in an outside cardio activity, though, I’d generally recommend that they just do Classic and up their lifestyle burn through walking more places and such.

  In a nutshell- You *CAN* absolutely lose weight doing P90x, you just need to be eating fewer calories than you are burning in a day.

  And, for now the way we get reimbursed for what we are doing on the blog is by people buying their Beachbody products through our link, but I am looking at starting to do email coaching where I work with people privately, via email vs. publicly here in the comments. Folks would get guaranteed 24-hour turn-around on their questions, I’d also keep track of their food journaling through Daily Plate, etc., track progress, and generally work with folks involved in a number of activities– not just limited to P90X, which most of these comment threads center around. I am building out that program now… Look for it in the next month or so!

  Best of luck on your journey, and keep us up to date!

• 49 TLC // Jun 25, 2010 at 1:43 pm

  Hey Smurf
  I looked for your response daily and was thrilled to receive such a quick and informative response.

  You are right about the metabolism issue. I have diabetes insipidus, which proved in the past to affect my inability to lose weight even with exercise and low calories. This could be the issue now.

  You are the first I’ve heard to address “starvation mode” as blown out of proportion. I wondered if the starvation mode theory was true why some ate nothing and did not gain weight like some models and those dealing with anorexia etc. Still, I wasn’t losing weight the other way so increased my calories, which was a happy thing for the energy boost. Just a concern “can I really increase and lose weight when I couldn’t lose weight before”

  I continue to weigh my food and track what I am eating on sparkpeople.com. I am even more meticulous after your comments.

  I was able to get up to 90 grams of protein yesterday but I had to eat a lot of scallops to do it. I have a difficult time getting to even 60 grams a day. The Low Oxalate Diet restricts nuts and beans. Basically the LOD is fish, meats, dairy, limited fruits . I do not expect you to check this out. Just if you or anyone had an interest. http://www.lowoxalate.info/

  Your response has encouraged me and I will keep working to get the protein up as you mentioned.

  I’m sticking with P90x classic and my daily walks. I’m new to anything to do with weights, pull-ups etc and liking the challenge. Just hard to put aside all that cardio I’ve been doing. Hard to believe pull-ups can burn what cardio burns. I’m believing what I’m reading though and encouraged.

  I am learning to use the heart rate monitor with P90X.

  I will make sure my future orders for Beach Body go through your site. If you do start the email coaching I would like to pay for what you’ve already given me so please let me know if that happens.

  Thank you again! You’ve made a positive difference in my weight loss goals!

• 50 Smurf // Jun 25, 2010 at 1:58 pm

  Thanks for the link on the LOD, I will read up on it. Nutrition is really a passion of mine, so the more I can learn about various special needs, the better!

  Some of what people see when they up calories and weight comes off (making it look like it’s the increase in calories that is causing the loss) is just a matter of “getting the scale unstuck” where, over time, those calories would have netted out anyhow. People talk about a “plateau” when they stall for a week– a true “plateau” would only be in play if a person had been at that lower cal count for 4 weeks, meticulously, and not had a budge. I find my weight goes up 2 pounds one week, down 3 the next, up two the next, down three the next… Spikes up about 5lb around the first of every month (must be something in my hormonal cycle- ovulation or something?), and then follows that “two steps forward, one step back” path for the rest of the month… It all nets out almost perfectly mathematically if I look at it on 6-week cycles, but from week to week, that’s a lot of stuff that could be attributed to ‘starvation mode’ or ‘plateau’ or any number of theories people like to bandy about, when really it’s just the way the body works. Mysterious thing, these bodies we have.

  Another thing people might be seeing and attributing to “starvation mode” is that if they truly are eating at too low a level, their workouts might be suffering and they might be lethargic so they aren’t getting the “lifestyle burn” so they might not be getting the total burn in that they would otherwise. But, really, eating at “too low a level”– so long as that’s not throwing them into a binge situation where they are negating that caloric deficit– it would be impossible to out-pace that much of a deficit with lackluster workouts or any minimal metabolic impact from eating less. If you stayed there long enough, you’d see plenty of loss. You might feel like crap if you were way too low, but you’d still see a loss.

  “Starvation mode” is a pet peeve of mine, as you can tell. Eat well, eat healthy, eat whole and eat often– but, at the end of the day, you have to eat less than you are burning to see a loss.

• 51 Anna // Jun 28, 2010 at 2:02 pm

  Hi – I am so happy I found this forum. I am (almost) at the point of giving up on P90X!!!! I’m 31, 5’7″ and am normally at 140-145lbs (trying to get down to 130lbs). I’ve been doing P90X for 7 weeks now and haven’t seen any changes in my body. I went to the doctor the other day, and I weighed in at 150lbs!!!! While my diet isn’t terrible, it’s probably not perfect either. I try and eat between 1300 and 1500 cals per day, but on weekends I probably get closer to 1800-2000. However I eat a LOT of vegetables, lean proteins and fruit. Average day is 5 meals (egg white omelette with whole grain english muffin, protein shake or bar, healthy salad with lean protein, cheese & crackers for afternoon snack, veggies and protein or sweet potato for dinner). I’ve been doing the workouts religiously with no luck. Prior to this program I did 3-4 days a week of cardio and maybe one day of strength per week, so did work out quite regularly. Do you suggest cutting back on the strength and increasing the cardio maybe? This is actually my “rest” week and I’m planning to do 3-4 days of heavy cardio and see what happens. I absolutely love the workouts, but somethings gotta give!!! Help?

• 52 Smurf // Jun 28, 2010 at 2:12 pm

  I don’t suggest changing the workout until you know, absolutely without question, what your calorie intake is every day. That is where the change is going to come from.

  Get signed up on something like The Daily Plate or Fit Day and track every bite.

  For your height and weight, shoot for 1400 calories a day– but the most important part is writing everything down and tracking your food, otherwise you *will* go over, it’s just the nature of the beast.

  Eat at 1400 (including on the weekends), continue the workouts as planned, and I guarantee you will see the changes you are after.

• 53 MK // Jun 30, 2010 at 7:25 am

  I am 34 and am trying to lose weight/tone up. I am currently running/walking 3 times per week using the Couch25K program. I have been doing some strength training on my own on my off days, but I am wondering if using a program like P90X may be more beneficial to me. Would it be possible to use this program only 3-4 days a week? Any suggestions?

  Also, I weigh 165 and am 5’6″. Can you suggest how many calories I should eat in order to lose weight?

  Thanks!

• 54 FitLifeSFRob // Jun 30, 2010 at 10:25 am

  Melanie,

  P90X is a great program, but you need to decide if it is the program for you. If you are just looking for occasional strength training workouts, and not a full program, you may prefer Tony Horton’s one on ones. There is no “Set” program, and you can mix and match the workouts as you need. (You can do the same thing with ANY of the other programs, as well.) Take a look at all the beach body programs, there is quite a variety of fun cardio to intense weight training.

  If you want to lose weight, and you want to not get frustrated with yourself or what you are doing, you need to make sure you are tracking everything you eat. Smurf and I use thedailyplate.com. It is free (and has a iPhone app for 2.99) and the food database it pretty large. Once you dedicate yourself to food tracking, and figure out what you are really eating every day, it is possible to get control of your diet.

  Smurf is the nutrition nut over here, but I suspect you should be somewhere around 1500 calories a day. (Most likely somewhere between 1400-1500) If you stick to that, you should be able to drop .5 to 2 lbs a week depending on your daily calorie burn. This is the most important part to “drop” as you have to be in a calorie deficit to lose. (This is true 100% of the time unless you have a medical condition)

  Last thing, as I have to run for a bit, if you are a workout novice, start with a basic program, else you burn yourself out.

  Great places to start – Power 90, Hip Hop Abs, TurboJam
  Intermediate programs – Rocken Body, Chalene Extreme, Brazil Butt Lift
  Extreme Home Fitness – P90X, P90X+, Insanity, TurboFire

  ***If you want to buy any of these, you can get them from my online store at http://www.beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/FitLifeSFRob

  You should also check out the thread: http://www.fitlifesf.com/2008/05/women-and-p90xp-what-can-a-woman-expect

  There is a LOT of great info there.

  -Rob

• 55 kmon // Jul 8, 2010 at 5:52 am

  Hi! I’ve been doing P90x for about 4 weeks now. Im 5’2″ and when I started I was 220 and now I’m 213. I’ve lost about 3 inches from my waist. Although I wish I was losing weight faster, I’m happy because I wasn’t losing weight at all with other things I’d tried (like Weight Watchers, etc). I try to keep my calories at around 1500-1600/ day. I modify the workouts because I’m not interested in hurting myself. I also started to do some fast walking 3x a week. I don’t really like the plyo workout so I substitute with the original Tae bo advanced workout (VHS!)

  Mostly, I’m doing it to prove that I can stick it out. I feel myself getting stronger and I think it’s helping with my other workouts.

• 56 TMJ // Jul 9, 2010 at 12:24 am

  Smurf,

  It’s been roughly a month since I started P90X so I figured I’d give you and update and see what you think. As I told you previously, my goal during this program was to lose 20-25 lbs. total. So far, I literally haven’t seen like any weight loss. I started at roughly 175 and every time I get on the scale (which is like once a week) it still says right at 175. I’ll admit, I don’t check my calories everyday on dailyplate…however, I have 4 menus that I use and I don’t stray away from these hardly and I don’t eat extra food (so I know my caloric intake is about what I’m shooting for anyway). My average caloric intake for the month is probably 1900 (I wanted a good safe level that allows me to lose weight, but also keeps my metabolism high and have enough fuel for my workouts). I thought this was a good level to accomplish my goals. My highest intake is a little under 2,400. I rarely ever (if ever) meet my fat grams per day amount (for a normal 2,000 calorie diet). Honestly, I’m closer to eating about half or a little more than half of my suggested fat grams for the day. My protein average is about 155g. Using this diet (the portion plan-P90X), my sodium levels are always high, as well as my sugars. I haven’t really tried to change this (bc it seems very difficult to do), but I figured since this is a temporary diet it doesn’t have to be perfect. I’ve also been drinking a good bit of water. I’ve only taken one rest day so far (however, P90X has days like X Stretch which are pretty lax anyway so my body does get a rest), and I’ve been pushing myself hard to be honest. My workouts still take longer than the videos for sure, but I’ve improved in that area. I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten stronger and more “in shape” to a point…I’ve also noticed a little more definition. However, my core area (which I’ve really tried to work hard) hasn’t seemed to change much other than my abs getting stronger. I haven’t noticed any of the fat being trimmed and the scale seems to back that up. I just don’t understand how I haven’t lost hardly any weight (especially no “water weight” at least). It’s really frustrating to work this hard and not see fat loss at this point. The only thing I might think I should do differently is to try and work out at a faster pace (like they do), even if that means I do fewer reps than they do…? I don’t really know. Maybe I need more cardio? I could really use some advice to be honest. I was expecting to lose about 7-8 lbs. this month (since the first month should show the most progress). I just don’t get how I’m not losing weight considering my caloric intake and taking into account that I’m burning at least 500 calories during my workouts (if not more). I’m definitely eating at a pretty good deficit…

• 57 Smurf // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:47 am

  If you haven’t lost any weight, you are not at a deficit… plain and simple. I cannot say this emphatically enough- you MUST weigh, measure and track your food. It is not an option if you want to get results here. You use the words “about,” “rarely if ever,” “average,” and “probably never more than”– and those are huge red flags that you are probably eating at least 20% more than you think you are. If you are not weighing and measuring every bite you put in your mouth, it is all a monumental guessing game. And, let me be clear, it’s not any kind of moral judgment that I am saying that you are eating more than you think you are– it’s been proven time and again in scientific research that, without an objective measure, everyone does. (Case in point, I sometimes put put raisins on my cereal. This morning, I was getting the raisins out and going to add what I thought was a half-serving of raisins. I decided to weigh them, just to be sure, even though I’ve done this a million times– sure enough, poured out what I thought was about a half serving of raisins– it was a little over a whole serving! I would have been 70 calories off on that– Might not sound too bad, but if I do that every day 70 calories over is 7 pounds either not lost or gained over the course of a year.)

  The great news is, having not lost anything in a month, we know one thing for absolute certain– whatever you are eating now is your maintenance level. We have found your balance point. If you were to select something pre-measured, like a bar or something packaged, that you KNOW is about 300 calories, and stop eating that, plus throw in about 30 additional minutes of easy cardio like walking or easy elliptical- something that won’t impact your other workouts- you would be creating a 500 calorie deficit off of what we now know is your “maintenance” level- BUT, the fact of the matter is, if you aren’t measuring the other foods you are taking in, you are likely to subconsciously make up that deficit elsewhere. You won’t even notice it, but if you’re not measuring and you pour the cereal a little longer than usual, or make that serving of pasta a little bigger, or grab a bigger apple, or put more dressing on your salad you can easily eat up that deficit quickly. This is why “just adding more cardio” doesn’t work in the absence of counting. Weighing and measuring and counting calories (actually counting, not estimating) ALWAYS works. (And, it would be unprofessional for me to tell you to more than double your workout load to get you to a deficit– if you are not losing, there is plenty of room to take those calories from food. It’s easier, quicker, less likely to result in injury, less likely to have you burning out and giving up, etc.)

  I know it sucks, nobody likes to count calories. More than that, nobody likes to “be a calorie counter” because calorie counters are just lame, right? But, it is a necessary evil here.

• 58 Smurf // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:53 am

  Also, (and this is totally separate from the not losing weight issue– which is purely a cals-in-cals-out proposition), but it sounds like you might still be using too heavy of weights. How many reps are you doing? Your goal should be to use a weight where you can do 8-10 reps, with the second to last one being very hard and the last one being near-failure- in the time allotted. If you are moving so slow against the resistance that you are doing far fewer than that, then you should bring your weights down for a while. Also, are you wearing a heartrate monitor so you know for sure how many cals you are burning in the workouts?

• 59 FitLifeSFRob // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:39 pm

  Hey TMJ,

  Not trying to double team you here but, you really need to get exact measurements and track your food. All of it. If you don’t there is no real data for anyone to go on. I am also confused why your workouts are taking so long. If you can’t get to 8-10 reps, that is fine. You work out and do the best you can for that set, and then move on to the next. This keeps your heart rate up, and adds the cadio burn to your weight workouts. Transitioning from workout to workout is important, and doing the workouts the best you can is important. Taking too much time will hinder your weight loss, as you are not training as a powerlifter. You are training for strength conditioning and fat burn. You will see improvements, and they will come faster if you push youself the best you can in the alloted time, and move on. Your reps will go up, then your weights can be increased, and so on and so forth.

  We’ll have video’s up soon showing examples of transitions and much more! (next few weeks)

  -Rob

• 60 TMJ // Jul 12, 2010 at 1:08 am

  Smurf,

  Thanks for the helpful information once again! I realize how I sounded and you are probably right to a certain extent. However, the reason I don’t track my calories everyday is bc I already know how much calories my 4 menus are…I DO measure out and weight my food as well. I always measure out my cereal, how much milk I put in it, how many oz of tuna and chicken I eat, etc, etc, etc. Honestly, I may be off a touch here and there, but I don’t approximate hardly ever. I’m being honest here…my target caloric intake according to P90X should be around 2,400 calories. You said that if I did that and worked hard in my workouts that I should lose around 3/4 pound a wk. There is NO WAY I’m eating at even 2,400 calories a day…I know for a fact (unless the labels I’m reading are wrong) that I’m not taking that much in. Even if I’m slightly off some days, it’s not by much bc I measure most everything. I’m not trying to argue with you or anything…but I’m not one of these ppl is doing the guessing game a lot. I simply know that I’m not off with my calculations by 500-600 calories every day…and even if I thought I was eating 1800 cals one day and I really was eating 2400 cals, I should STILL be losing 3/4 pound every wk with that pace.

  Here is one of my menus:

  Breakfast – one cup of multi grain flakes (great value brand), one cup of skim milk (great value), one cup of orange juice (great value), 4 slices of low sodium/low fat turkey bacon (butterball brand)

  Morning Snack – half of a Clif Builder bar, P90X Recovery Drink (one serving)

  Lunch – 5 oz of chunk light tuna (starkist), V8 Low Sodium (one can), 1 cup of 1% cottage cheese (great value brand)

  Afternoon Snack – 1 oz of natural, unsalted almonds (Fisher brand)

  Dinner – 6 0z of boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked in one tbsp of olive oil, V8 low sodium (one can)

  That is a typical day of food…my menus are different slightly but all of them (from my calculations) are no more than 1950 calories, and on average 1800. Maybe I’m just not working fast enough during my workouts so I’m not burning as many calories as I think I am…I know I’m working hard though. I do 8-10 reps. I do wear a heart-rate monitor but it doesn’t count calories accurately…it always says I’m burning like 1200 or more calories which is not possible.

  Rob,

  I take awhile on my workouts bc I want to get in more reps…I don’t sit and wait 5 min between each workout. However, I will press pause now and then and wait for an extra min or so. Chest and Back, Shoulders and Arms, and Legs and Back (all with the Ab Ripper X) take me about 2 hrs. Plyo takes me about the time limit. Yoga takes me awhile…like 2 hrs and 15 min. My muscles just aren’t handling the endurance aspect of that workout well…and if I just “moved on” the whole time, I wouldn’t be working all of the muscles like I need to. Kenpo X takes about the time limit, as well as X Stretch.

  Here’s how I feel…the exercise with weights (and Yoga) I take more breaks to give my muscles a chance to rest in order for me to do more reps and work them harder during my workouts. It just seems like if I try and keep up with them, that I will not get a good workout when it comes to “getting stronger.” For instance, If I try to keep up with them on Chest and Back, I would hardly get a rep on some of those push-up exercises during Round 2 after all of those push-ups I’ve already done. Wouldn’t it be better to take a little longer break on each exercise and get in some useful reps in Round 2? That scenario happens in Shoulders and Arms as well…and Legs and Back some too. I guess I’ll lose more calories just going their pace, but I didn’t think it would be that much of a difference considering I’m doing way many more reps the way I’m doing the workouts now.

• 61 Smurf // Jul 12, 2010 at 10:39 am

  TMJ- Well, you are correct that that menu should have you at a deficit. But, the medical fact is– if you are not losing, something is going on that means you aren’t burning more than you are consuming. This could be any number of things– hidden calories (as discussed); the workouts not burning what you think they are (are you wearing a heartrate monitor?); or a medical condition that has you metabolically off-the-charts abnormal. The first two are easy to adjust for– eat less and exercise more to create a deficit, given that the “results” side of the equation is showing that you are not currently at one. The limitations of coaching people over a blog, of course, mean that it’s very tough for me to say, “Hey, you know that menu you posted where you are barely consuming enough to get by? Eat less than that. While also working out more than you already are (which you’ve stated you are having trouble getting through in the first place.)” But, I assure you that more than likely something is going on that means you are either consuming more or burning less than you think. It’s really tough to find the the culprit without actually watching what you are doing.

  The other possibility– that you are metabolically off-the-charts abnormal– is something that only a doctor can help you with, and, if you adjust the equation by 500 calories by cutting a food item and adding some low-impact cardio as discussed in the previous post, and still don’t lose after a month, then you would want to have that checked out. In my experience, though, for 99.9% of people, it’s something they weren’t accounting for adding to calories in, or vastly overestimating what they were burning in workouts. In fact, I’ve yet to come across anyone who is legitimately dealing with undiagnosed abnormal metabolism- it’s accompanied by so many other symptoms that you’d already know.

• 62 TMJ // Jul 12, 2010 at 10:51 pm

  Smurf,

  Thanks again for the response. I’m just going to dial down my diet just a little bit more, try to be even more meticulous with measuring stuff, and try to workout at a faster pace I guess. I just don’t like the idea of keeping up with Tony and the group and hardly getting any reps in due to either being out of breath or my muscles simply being worn out momentarily. Given your expertise, I highly doubt I have an abnormal metabolism. Everything you say makes perfect sense. I guess I’m just not at a big deficit like I thought…I simply just don’t know how. One possibility I thought of…what if I’m not losing much weight bc my fat is gradually being replaced by muscle so I’m becoming more defined and toned, but not losing weight..? Is that possible? At any rate, I’m going to continue working hard bc I know I’m getting in better shape, eating healthier, and becoming more defined. I want to try to work more cardio in bc I know that will burn fat…it’s just hard to find time to prepare all of your meals, do the P90X, and have the time and energy left to do more cardio…and then go to work, haha.

• 63 Smurf // Jul 13, 2010 at 12:09 pm

  For the fat/muscle conversion idea… You are metabolically able to lose fat much faster than you can gain muscle, so if you were at anywhere near the deficit you thought you were it would vastly out-pace the metabolically-possible muscle gain. The max muscle gains a male who is eating at a surplus, supplementing (not juicing, though), lifting REALLY heavy and living “the bodybuilder lifestyle” could hope to see is a little less than 2 pounds per month. And I can guarantee you are not there- both because you are not eating at a surplus and because the P90X program isn’t the kind of workout that is done to get that top level of serious musclehead muscle growth (and, regardless, you’re not yet able to do the program at a level where you are even maxing out the muscle gain potential of the program yet.) So, is it possible maybe you’ve lost a little fat and put on a half pound or so of muscle? Sure… but it still means you aren’t nearly at the deficit you thought you were.

  If you had been less than a full month into the program, I’d say it COULD be the muscles storing water to repair microdamage caused by the workouts, but that should have evened out by now to where you’d see the scale start moving downwards if you were at any kind of a notable deficit.

  What weight are you using for your workouts? You are modifying your pushups and pull-ups? I’m still really trying to figure out what’s going on here that, a month in, the workouts are taking as long as they are. It’s something I have never, ever come across, as the program is pretty straightforward– do the movements with an appropriate weight to fatigue, then move onto the next exercise. We need to figure out what is going on because you WILL burn yourself out if you keep going the way you are going. (And, remember, when I mentioned easy cardio in my first reply, I am talking literally going for a walk or reading a book on the elliptical AT MOST, or you impact your recovery.)

• 64 Holly E // Jul 15, 2010 at 7:38 pm

  Hi Smurf! You seem to answer all the questions. I am 25. I have 2 kids and been married for close to 6 years. Hence why my body is way out of wack. I am sooo shocked that the scale says 165!!! I am 5’6″! What would you recommend as far as weight loss. We have a wedding to attend in 98 days!! I want my pre baby body back! We have P90x but I want to make sure that it is what I am suppose to do! My goal weight is 130 but honestly I would be happy at 140!
  Is this possible to do in that short of time?

• 65 TMJ // Jul 16, 2010 at 12:35 am

  Smurf,

  It appears I am finally seeing some weight loss. I got on the scale a couple of days ago and it read 167-168 lbs. I was really happy to see this. I hadn’t weighed in over a week, and I weighed right when I woke up (which I hadn’t been doing). I’m still going to try and be more meticulous with my measurements and things, but this makes me more confident that my diet is working.

  Now let’s talk about my workouts…

  Ever since I started, I’ve tried to improve my form on everything (which makes each workout harder). I modify things when I have to, but I try my hardest not to do so…I definitely modify for pull-ups though (I have to). I choose weight that I can do 8-10 times. I feel like the weight I’m choosing is good…I’m trying to up my weight gradually, but if I find that my form suffers when doing so I go back to the lower weight I had been using the week before.

  For the chest and back workout, I take longer breaks to give my muscles more of a break in order to get more reps in. The problem may be that I do too many reps during the first round, which makes round 2 very difficult to finish. I try to get relatively close to as many reps in round 2 as round 1. For that workout, maybe I need to do less reps for round 1 so I don’t get so wasted later on in the workout…however, Tony says to do close to maximum reps so it’s hard to know when to stop during round 1. Overall, this workout takes me nearly 1 and a half hrs.

  For Yoga, I trimmed my time down to about 1 hr and 45 min…which is only 10-15 min past the time they do the workout in. I think I made strides here, and I’ll continue to try and go at this pace or faster in the future.

  For Legs and Back, I get pretty wasted like in Chest and Back. However, a lot of these workouts have a fixed number of reps that Tony and co. do…therefore, I do whatever # of reps they do, even if that wastes me. However, I have been using some weight on some of the exercises that he recommend some weight for. I just get pretty whipped at times during this workout, so I take longer breaks in order to be able to bring it on the next exercise. I do that workout tomorrow, so I’m going to try and shave off some time from that workout as well.

  For Shoulders and Arms, I have adjustable dumbbells…these take awhile to change with so many workouts going on. I tried to go at a faster pace this week, and it still took me about 1 hr and 20 min to do.

  For Ab Ripper X, my core cannot handle their pace yet (if I want to finish all of the reps they do). Right now, about the best I can do is finishing in 30 min.

  For Kenpo X, I finish in about 5 min longer than the video.

  For Plyo, I have finished in 1 hr before…but usually it’s about 1 hr and 10 min.

  Overall, while there is still room for improvement, I feel good about Plyo, Kenpo X, Yoga X (now), and Ab Ripper X…I also feel like I’m doing about as good as I can (right now) on Shoulders and Arms, due to all of the weight changes I have to do during that one. I would like to make some improvements to Chest and Back and Legs and Back though.

• 66 Smurf // Jul 16, 2010 at 10:21 am

  Holly-

  Sure, you have a shot at getting to 140 in that amount of time– it’s a challenging goal, but nothing wrong with a challenge! You’d need to drop 1.7 pounds per week, which, for you, would mean, doing the P90X workouts and eating no more than 1450 (meticulously tracked!) calories per day.

  If your primary goal is weight/fat reduction at this stage, I would suggest you look into the program TurboFire and think about moving to P90X after you’ve used TurboFire to get the bulk of the weight off. The burn is higher/more consistent, and would have a better chance of covering over any errors in your food tracking to be SURE you get to the 500-calorie burn you need to reach your goal. (P90X workouts can vary widely depending on many factors, which is why I like everyone to wear a heartrate monitor to get a real idea of your true burn.)

  (Since time is of the essence for you, I’d advise bringing your calories down to 1450 NOW using a free app like The Daily Plate, and start finding a way to get in about a 500-calorie burn. If you have access, 50 minutes to an hour on an elliptical, stationary bike or stairclimber should do it. Or an hour walking briskly… you are going to need to have made room in your schedule for that hour as soon as the program arrives anyhow, so best to get a start on it now!

  If you want to look into TurboFire, or want to get P90X and have us as your coaches, we’d much appreciate is you use this link:

  http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping?referringRepId=7295

  You can search TurboFire to get more details on that program.

• 67 Renae // Jul 18, 2010 at 11:59 am

  I am 53, 5’5 and ~155*# (don’t weigh due to old eating disorder days, use my clothes as a guage). I just finished week 12 of the classic p90x and am quite disappointed as far as weight loss goes, I haven’t lost any, definitely much stronger. Shirts are getting tighter, don’t like this. I was a hard core cardio queen before starting the program and needed a change. I use fitday.com to track my food and usually consume around 1400-1600 calories a day, ~45-35-20 (carb-protein-fat) I cycle in a group 2x or so per week and usually burn around 1300 cal in addition to my daily workouts. HELP, my son is getting married in OCT (hence starting the p90x 3 months ago) and I want these old lady arms to go away and lose about 15 pounds.
  Thanks…

• 68 Kristine // Jul 23, 2010 at 3:07 pm

  Hi Smurf!

  I’m really glad to have stumbled on your blog. It seems really informative about why I have trouble losing weight. I’m about 5’2″, 138 pounds with about 23% body fat… according to those body fat analyzer things. I’m about to finish up the Insanity 60 day program, I’m on day 50 and I’ve been following their nutrition plan about 85% of the time of about 1500 calories a day spaced out with 5 meals of 300 cals each. I have lapsed and given in to the occasional chocolates, cakes and other bad foods every now and then but never missed a workout.

  However, I’ve only lost about 3 pounds and these workouts are intense. I’ve definitely toned up a little more but considering the intensity of the workouts for this program, I should have lost more weight. I’m wondering whether the nutrition plan that P90X has would work. Do you have any recommendations as to what I should do? I’m pretty athletic and fit (I used to run track & field, played volleyball, swam), but there’s just this extra flab and fat everywhere, and my weight is pretty high for my height, but I have the hardest time losing weight. I’m pretty sure it has to do with my nutrition and not my lifestyle because I am very active everyday. Would P90x change this or should I consider a low impact aerobic exercise everyday and change of diet? Any advice would be really helpful. Thanks!!!

• 69 FitLifeSFRob // Jul 23, 2010 at 3:42 pm

  Kristine,

  Unless you have a some medical condition, your diet is to blame. You need to track everything you are eating to make sure you are at a calorie deficit. Create a free account on TheDailyPlate.com and start tracking. You want to make sure you are at 400-600 calories less a day than your metabolic + activity burn. If you are even or more, you will not see a change. (or, if it is more you will see a change you don’t want) Being on diet 85% of the time won’t get you where you want to be, if your goal is to lose weight and look ripped. Though your conditioning and strength will improve, you won’t be happy with your weight loss.

  P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, or ANY OTHER workout won’t help you lose wieght if you are not eating right. It is a process, and until it becomes a habit it is a pain. And even when it becomes a habit, you have to be aware of what and how much of what you are eating. If you are eating more, you know you have to either kick it up a knotch and add some activity, OR, you have to live with the result.

  The hard part is getting to your desired weight. The nice thing, is that once you are there, it is a LOT easier to maintain and continue improving. Once you hit maintenance, it gets a LOT easier.

  -Rob

• 70 Holly E // Jul 26, 2010 at 9:28 am

  Smurf,

  Thanks for the info! I really appreciated it. I have a few other questions for you.
  1. is there a heart rate monitor you would reccomend?

  The other questions are for my husband. He is lean. He is 6’1″ and 155 lbs. HE is wanting to put on some bulk. He is doing the p90x but wanting to get some bulk and weight. He looks like a reed. He is sooo skinny. Any help there?

  I will for sure be buying the turbo fire and counting my calories. Again thanks for your help!

  -Holly

• 71 FitLifeSFRob // Jul 26, 2010 at 9:51 am

  Holly,

  He needs to EAT! And he needs to eat the proper Balance of Protein, Carbs and Fat. Putting on weight can be hard for a Ectomorph (Which he sounds like he is) When weight training, he should really concentrate on correct form and higher weight low rep work. During the cardio, just go after it. But to put on mass, you need to make sure you are not eating in a deficit, but also not eating so much that you are adding flab. (And Stretch well!) Following the P90X diet here makes sense for him. (The upper limit of his diet needs)

  You guys should have access to this on Team Beach Body, or of course in the Nutrition Guide.

  Nutrition Guide Link

• 72 Kristine // Jul 26, 2010 at 10:24 am

  Thanks for the advice Rob!

  Just wanted to know if there was a particular ratio of protein-carbs-fat that I should follow and whether 1400 calories would be a good number if I’m doing P90X lean. I try to eat every 3 hours or so.

  But my question is, whether I should follow the P90X diet that they include or whether I should just stick with ~1400 calories in order to lose weight. They recommend close to 2000 calories even for level 1 which I think might be a little too much but is 1400 too little to sustain the workouts for P90X?

  Sorry if I sound redundant but it really is confusing because of how you must burn more than you eat to lose weight but also eat enough so that your body is not in starvation mode. So I’d just like a ballpark estimate of how many calories, and whether there’s a particular ratio and types of food I should be eating doing P90X in order to lose weight. Thanks!

• 73 FitLifeSFRob // Jul 26, 2010 at 12:06 pm

  We’ll get Smurf to run your numbers.

  She’ll ping you soon.

• 74 CM // Jul 28, 2010 at 6:31 am

  I did p90x and I am 35, 5’6″ 137 – when I ended 90 days later I was up to 148 (after each phase I gained about 3 lbs). I was fairly in shape running 5 days a week and light weights. I began the program looking to lose 5-10lbs and tone up a bit. I am extremely frustrated. Went back to running and laid off the weights for a few weeks. Now I am back to incorporating the videos with running and have seen no change whatsoever. Any suggestions.

• 75 healthykids2 // Jul 31, 2010 at 10:49 am

  I recently purchased 2 workout programs. Kettleworx and p90x. I enjoy the kettle bell workouts to strength and tone my entire body, but also do the plyo and kempo x workouts from p90x. I am aiming for 1 to 1 &1/2 hours of workout daily for the next 30 days. My biggest challenge w/ working out is that I restrict my calories too low. How can I determine how many calories I am burning on my workouts so that I ensure that I am eating enough calories. I am 37 yrs old, 5’3″ and 137 lbs. My goal weight is a toned 125 lbs. Any ideas?

• 76 Holly // Aug 2, 2010 at 5:39 pm

  Thanks again for all the advice guys! One last question what heart rate monitor would you advise? I am overwhelmed by all the choices out there. Is there any special feature I need or should use?

  Thanks
  Holly

• 77 Smurf // Aug 2, 2010 at 7:57 pm

  Holly- Polar makes a really solid product. Otherwise, just pick one where you can input your gender, weight and age so that it will give you a custom calorie burn.

• 78 Liz // Aug 9, 2010 at 11:25 am

  Hi Smurf,

  I am currently on my second week of P90x with my boyfriend. For the past year and a half, I have been tracking calories at about 1300, as well as running every day and eating about 500 calories extra calories for that. I feel like I am not burning as many calories during P90x compared to when I run. Do I need to decrease my calorie intake? I feel like I am in pretty good shape – I am only trying to lose about 3-5 pounds, if even that, but I have not lost any weight or seen any kind of results since starting p90x. I am 5’4 and about 126 pounds and I’m 20 years old.

  Thanks for your help, all of this information is really interesting!

  Liz

• 79 Liz // Aug 9, 2010 at 11:27 am

  Or should I continue to run in addition to the p90x program?

• 80 Smurf // Aug 9, 2010 at 12:09 pm

  What is your primary goal? Losing weight? Becoming a better runner? Seeing muscle development? Climbing Mt Everest? (Joking, but you never know what a persons TRUE #1 goal is, and that is crucial information when helping a person set up their fitness and nutrition plan. And, “get fit and tone up” isn’t really a helpful goal, as it’s a little too vague– the more specific you can be, the more I can help.)

  Speaking in generalities, though: There are people who run in addition to P90X, but they change the program. One way many people do it with success is to replace Kenpo and Plyo with running. You do burn fewer calories in a 40 minute P90X workout than you would with 40 minutes of running… it’s working a different system, so that’s not to say the benefits are fewer, just that the calorie burn is going to be lower. 40 minutes of weights will always burn fewer calories than 40 minutes of cardio, but this game is not just about burning calories (again, depending on your goals.)

  If I’m reading your post correctly, it sounds like you are currently at 1800 calories per day? 1300 + 500? And, just because I point it out to everyone– you say “about” twice in relation to your calories, which means you are probably eating more than you think unless you are weighing/measuring and tracking your food. If you did P90X exclusively and kept to 1500 meticulously-tracked calories per day, I bet you’d see stellar physique results, but, again… I’d be interested to know what your PRIMARY goal is to be sure that advice furthers those goals.

• 81 laurenda // Aug 9, 2010 at 12:26 pm

  I’m on week 3 of P90X and have been using myfitnesspal.com to track my food and exercise. I’m at 213 and 5’9″ and 40 years old. I’ve been working out at a gym for about a year and have lost 13.5 pounds from where I started , so I know it’s my caloric intake (which I hadn’t been tracking before P90X). Although I am heavier than the normal P90X user, I can do 60 min on the Precor ATM and feel great afterwards, and I’ve been able to do the program’s routines. As others have noted, though, I haven’t really seen the scale move since started P90X.

  Here’s what I don’t understand. I know I need to drop my calories (vs what the nutrition guide says), but when I start at say, 1900 cals on MyFitnessPal.com and then add in my exercise, it adds 600 or so calories back to my alloted calories for the day. I’ve been doing level 2 on the nutrition program (2400 cals, though I’m often below that). Do I stick stringently to the 1900 cals (or even less?) or add some more because of the exercise??? I’d like to lose about a pound a week. Thanks for clearing this up.

• 82 Smurf // Aug 9, 2010 at 12:40 pm

  A lot of people get confused with “net calories” and “calories remaining” on programs like My Fitness Pal and The Daily Plate– I am not a fan of “chasing” calories the way some of these programs encourage you to because there is just too great a margin of error on both sides of the equation. I counsel people to pick a caloric level based on a calculation of their BMR and taking into account their workout load and just stay there, and ignore that “net” or “calories remaining” reading that adds back calories for activities.

  I crunched your numbers, and I would actually suggest a calorie level closer to 1800 to correct for errors in calculating one side of the equation or the other. If you don’t feel like you are powering hard through your workouts, 1900 should give you a nice loss as well. 1800-1900 without “eating back” calories would be my suggestion.

• 83 laurenda // Aug 9, 2010 at 12:42 pm

  Thank you!!! That helps tremendously.

• 84 Missy // Aug 11, 2010 at 4:00 pm

  Hi,
  I am currently ending my second week of P90X and haven’t been noticing many results at all. I can already tell my husband has been losing some weight in his neck/shoulder region, but I look exactly the same, and the scale tells me that too. I am 5’0″ and weigh 120 pounds right now. Two years ago I was at 110 and felt that was a great weight. I became a lot less active and “comfortable” and put on weight.

  My husband however, is about 5’10″ and currently weighs 232, and he started out at 235. How come he is losing weight and I’m not? We got rid of ALL junk food, and eat 5 times a day, small meals. I don’t eat a lot of bread anyway (feel that its too much of a filler lol) and LOVE salads, esp Greek salads. I only drink water. Am I doing something wrong?

  I know it’s only the 2nd week and I’m already worrying, and people will probably be annoyed that I’m concerned. But, I’m not very muscular, I have zero muscle definition and bad self confidence.

  Could it be that I’m gaining muscle, for the reason that the scale says the same thing every few days? Actually I got on it 20 mins ago and it says 123…ahh!

  Thanks for this site, it helps! I read through a lot of the comments and applaud the ladies that are doing this. Great job everyone!

  Tonight’s workout is shoulders & arms…nnnuuugghh.

  So anyway, I just want to know if the excess “loose in the cage” will burn off or if I’m doomed to live a slow metabolism forever?

  Thanks so much for considering to reply!

• 85 FitLifeSFRob // Aug 12, 2010 at 11:50 am

  Hey Missy,

  I don’t have a simple answer for you. BUT, if you are following the P90X meal plan, you are probably eating more calories than you need right now. You really need to be tracking them so we have an idea of what your daily consumption is. Eating healthy and good food is great. Eating too many calories no matter what the food is, will cause you to not see the weight loss you want. (we use thedailyplate.com)

  Have you seen improvement in your mastery of the excercises? Are you trying to tone up or lose weight? Both?

  Right now, my advice is, give it time. Stick with the program, and start calorie tracking. When you get a week tracked, contact us and we’ll talk about what you are eating, and how much you should be.

  -Rob

• 86 Missy // Aug 12, 2010 at 3:19 pm

  Hi Rob,

  Thanks for the reply so quickly. I have been tracking my calorie intake, but I just signed up on thedailyplate.com so I could have some more accountability.

  I’ve been keeping a journal I guess, but most of it is a rough estimate since I never know how many calories are in what, especially when I’m eating during work. According to my list, i eat roughly about 950 calories a day right now, but I feel like I’m eating too much.

  So far on thedailyplate, it says I’ve only eaten 640 calories so far, and I haven’t eaten dinner yet. I’ve felt stuffed all day.

  I’m the receptionist for my company but I also do a lot of customer-related tasks so I’m always moving around re-stocking areas and doing mounds of paperwork. Maybe I’m not eating enough lol. Including P90x, its probably even more calories burned.

  Thanks for your reply!

• 87 Smurf // Aug 12, 2010 at 3:30 pm

  Hi Missy-
  A couple of tips:
  - Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week. You’ll just drive yourself batty and it’s not any kind of a useful metric taken that often. And, know that in the first few weeks of a new training program- especially a weight training program- you can throw on some water weight as your body is moving fluids in to repair the microdamage in the muscles (a necessary part of the response/adaptation cycle that builds muscle.)
  - If you are only eating 950 calories, you are not eating nearly enough BUT, if you are only tracking 950 calories and not losing weight, I can practically guarantee that there are a large number of calories sneaking into your diet that are not getting tracked for one reason or another. It is very common. I suggest that you bring your calories up at least into the 1400 range. Track METICULOUSLY, every bite, weighed and measured. Eat at 1400 for three weeks and let us know what your weight does.

  You really need to give it a month to settle in before freaking out and making changes. Men are just lame in that they drop like crazy at the slightest change in the beginning. You’ll catch up. Just make sure you are eating appropriately (about 1400ish/day), often, and hitting your workouts hard.

  Best of luck!

• 88 Catherine // Aug 13, 2010 at 10:38 am

  Hi Rob and Smurf.

  I am on week 5 of P90X. I love it, but have not lost any weight. I am 32, 5 feet tall and 105 pounds. I’d like to get down to 100 pounds. I have noticed my arms are getting stronger with P90x, but overall, I still feel pretty fat and flabby. How many calories do you recommend I eat to lost .5 to 1 lb a week?

• 89 Beth // Aug 13, 2010 at 7:35 pm

  Hi,
  Wish I had found this site 89 days ago! Tomorrow will be day 90 of my 1st round of p90x. I really love the dvd’s and the variety of the workouts, and I’ve definitely become stronger and more toned, but I haven’t lost ANY weight! People ask if I’m still following it, but I sure wish they’d see that I am. At first I followed the eating plan, but it seemed like too much food. Then I tried doing my own thing and a little bit of weight watchers, but that didn’t work either. I’m 5’6″, 160, 40 yrs. but want to be 145 (or lower, obviously). What cal count do you recommend for me? I’ll do the lean again and sub the kenpo and cardiox w/ other cardio, I guess, even though I like them (although I always am surprised that TH says he’s at his target hr at one point and I’m not even close…. How do you feel about the yoga? That’s the one I’d really like to give up. It’s so darn long! Thanks for any feedback you can give!

• 90 Em // Aug 16, 2010 at 9:58 pm

  Hi everyone,

  I just wanted to say, it’s wonderful reading all the comments and answers. Thanks for taking the time respond.

  Tomorrow, I be starting the p90x Lean. And I just wanted to make sure I get started right. I’m 5’3, 22yrs and 125 pounds. I don’t work out at all but have maintained that weight a very long time. I carry quite bit of belly fat and not very toned whatso ever.

  It seems even if I eat healthy or eat fastfood I just stay the same weight. (very annoying)
  I would love to get rid of that extra fat (especially in stomach area) and be healthier.

  Is Lean the right choice to lose some of that extra fat? And how many calories should I be eating for my age/weight to burn it? Any tips on how to lose that tummy fat?

  Thanks so much, I really appreciate it

• 91 Smurf // Aug 17, 2010 at 9:34 am

  Hi Beth- 1435 is a good number for you to shoot for calorie-wise. Remember, you MUST track, weight measure everything– guestimating or eyeballing is not good enough in this endeavor. If you like the Kenpo and Cardio X, I’d suggest just getting a heartrate monitor and making sure you get into target HR range. For me, this usually means doing jumping jacks, burpees, “suicide drills” or other high-intensity activity between exercises to spike my heartrate.

  I dislike the yoga– not for the length (90 minutes is pretty standard for a yoga workout), but simply because it doesn’t have the elements of “flow” that is so integral to a yoga experience. If I think of it as a pretty slow-moving leg workout I can stomach it a bit more. I have advised others to swap it out for another 90-minute yoga DVD. I hear Baron Baptiste has some good ones.

  Em- You could do either lean or classic, so long as you track your calories in and calories out you will see similar results. (In other words, one could do Lean and not burn very many calories just as easily as one could do Classic and burn loads– it depends entirely on how they are doing the workouts, which is why I advise folks to use a heartrate monitor so they know for sure.)

  Losing belly fat is going to be entirely a product of losing overall bodyfat. There is nothing that can be done to get that bellyfat off any faster– and, I know for me, it is the LAST place I lose weight. I’m still not happy with my midsection– it’s a matter of total dedication, laser-focus on cals-in-cals-out and TIME.

  If you are eating an equal number of calories delivered as healthy food or junk food, you are right– there is no difference in the affect on your weight. That is all about calories. As you bring your calories down so that you are in a deficit, though, the value and quality of your food will matter greatly in how you feel and your overall energy levels. In other words, if you are eating 2000 and some of them are junk, you are still getting more overall nutrients- to get those same number of nutrients in a 1500 calories diet, you need to cut out the empty stuff.

  Since you are shorter and starting out lighter, and don’t have a whole whole lot of weight to lose, I’d put you at a 1480-1580 calories per day (again, meticulously-tracked) in order to realize a 250-350 calorie-per-day deficit from food. With an additional goal of burning 500 calories per day in workouts, this should technically put you at about a 1.5 pound per week loss, but, correcting for errors, I bet you’d see about about a pound a week loss on a program like that. That would have you near the bottom of normal for your height, by BMI, by the end of the program.

  I can’t emphasize enough, though, how much getting to the bottom of you BMI range requires absolute laser-focus precision on making sure those cals-in-cals-out numbers are correct, which means weighing, measuring and tracking food and getting a heartrate monitor to know for sure what you are burning in workouts.

  Best of luck!

• 92 Em // Aug 17, 2010 at 12:17 pm

  wow thank you so much Smurf!

  Thanks for responding so quickly and taking the time to answering my questions. I was quite confused on what exactly I had to do but know I feel a lot more confident with your insights.

  Defiantly sounds tough but I’m going to try. I guess its time to go out and buy a monitor and a food measuring scale. I’ll tell you how it goes

• 93 Mr. T // Aug 20, 2010 at 10:21 am

  Hey Smurf,

  You’re one of the few people that I’ve read online that can clearly explain the whole fat-to-muscle conversion fallacy, and the misguided notion that extreme calorie reduction will make your metabolism come to a complete standstill.

  Anyway, my question is this: I’m a 47 year old male, 168 pounds, 5′ 11″, 16% BF, and a competitive cyclist. I ride about 200 miles a week during the off-season (now), and I just started P90X this week. I’m finding it too hard to do both my riding and the full P90X program. What would be the best P90X workouts to skip and substitute with my riding? My goal is really to gain a little size and definition in my upper body and to sculpt my midsection so I don’t want to miss out on any of the really important workouts. I think my legs get enough workout on the bike as it is. Any suggestions on a modified routine for a competitive cyclist?

  Thanks for any help.

• 94 Smurf // Aug 20, 2010 at 11:44 am

  Hey, Mr T, thanks for the kind words! I’m not sure if this got highlighted in this thread, but I am a distance runner putting in 35+ miles per week, so I feel like we are in similar situations.

  What I do: I completely take out the cardio workouts- Kenpo and Plyo. For me, since I am also doing some activity-specific strengthening exercises and doing hills and speedwork, I also take out the leg work, which means I never do the “Legs” part of “Legs and Back”– I also consider Yoga X to be largely a leg workout and, again, I do activity-specific range of motion and flexibility work to help my running, so it would be somewhat redundant. So, that leaves me with the upper body workouts, which I love. Ab Ripper X, which I do several times a week, and Core Synergistics which I do when I am not in really heavy mileage increase or speedwork/hill mode. Core Syn works the area I like to call the “sausage tube.” Basically from your armpits down to your inner thighs. If I haven’t done it in a while, it CAN impact my running workouts– It takes me doing it regularly for a few weeks before it stops having me wobble around for two days like I just rode an iron horse down a rocky mountain.

  I rotate the workouts so I generally run 4-5 days, Ab Ripper 3 days, Upper Body 2 days (usually on the two days that I don’t run) and I take one day entirely off (the day before my longest run of the week) as I have a history of injury so I feel like that’s important for me. I rotate the Upper Body workouts, so I’ll do Shoulders and Arms/Back and Biceps one week and Chest/Shoulders/Tris and the Back work from Back and Legs the next week- on this week, I’ll generally do the Back part of Legs and Back after a shorter run and skip Ab Ripper X on that day, and then do Core Synergistics on the day I’d normally do a full weight workout, so that I am hitting that workout every other week. It would depend on your priorities how often you want to get that one in.

  Now, if you didn’t already have P90X, I’d suggest that you look into the Tony Horton 1-on-1 videos, as there you can pick and choose and just get the disks that are upper body and core. Lately, I have been doing these workouts more than the P90X workouts– not that the P90X workouts aren’t sound, just that I’ve been working with them for 2+ years now, so they’ve gotten old for me. There are also some INSANE workouts in here, like Coreball Sandwich, Upper Body Balance and 10-Minute Core Blaster that I really love. But, again, I love them mostly because I’ve been with the P90X disks for so long now.

  Hope that helps! I think you’ll really like what P90X does for you cosmetically (it sounds like that is your biggest goal for adding this to your riding)– People sometimes give the program crap for focusing too much on the “glamor muscles,” but, dang, I’m putting in the miles, so get off my butt about wanting to look as good as I race.

• 95 Elizabeth // Aug 20, 2010 at 11:54 am

  Hello! This thread is really great. I’m just a little confused about the ratio of carb/protein/fat I should be consuming. I started P90X 5 days ago, am 26 years old, 5’7 and 145lbs. I’ve been following the P90X nutrition guide very closely but will be cutting back to 1450 calories starting today. What’s the ratio for these? And will it change at different phases of the program?

  Thank you!

• 96 Smurf // Aug 20, 2010 at 12:18 pm

  What I advise people to do in building a diet is to set your protein intake first at between .7 and .9 grams per pound and then fill in around that with complex carbs and healthy fats. If you do best tracking by ratios, for you…

  Taking the top-end recommendation, that would be 130 grams of protein per day. That’s 520 calories coming from protein, or 35% of your calories from protein.

  I like to see people get 15-20% of their calories from healthy fats.

  So (again taking the top-end percentage of the fat range), that would leave you with 45% of calories from healthy carbs.

  I should point out that this is my recommendation, based on sound nutritional research, for an “everyday diet”. The “P90X eating plan” moves you through phases where you start with a very high protein intake- It maths out to about 60% protein, 20% carbs and 20% healthy fats, if I’m not mistaken, and then moves you into something more like outlined above, 35% protein, 45% carbs, 20% healthy fats. You can find research to support this higher-level protein intake as well, so if you want to stick to the P90X plan as written, it would have you on that higher protein plan for the first month or so, then move you into the second plan. I suggest giving it a shot to see how it works out for you… For me, personally, my body doesn’t operate efficiently on that much protein so it didn’t benefit me to stick to it.

  I tend to side with the research that shows that, so long as you are getting sufficient protein (.7-.9g per pound, properly timed around your workouts), there is little to no benefit in getting more. Now, that’s not to say that a diet where you are forced to consume massive quantities of protein isn’t a great way to lose weight- but that’s a result of lean protein itself being so incredibly filling and difficult to overeat on that you end up cutting calories by default because you just can’t stuff many calories in on top of all that protein.

  Long-winded answer, but I hope that helps!

• 97 Mr. T // Aug 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm

  Hey Smurf,

  Truth be told, my “real” goal is just to look good naked. Is that too much to ask?

  So it sounds like I’m kind of on the right track. My thought was to not do the plyo, kenpo, and yoga on the days that I ride. Typically during the week, I ride my bike to work 3-4 days, so I get almost an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening of pretty intense workout. Weekends I do about 50 miles each day and I don’t mind doubling up with a P90X workout on my days off.
  So I guess it would look like:
  Monday: Chest/Back and Ab Ripper
  Tuesday: Bike commute to work
  Wednesday: Bike commute to work and Shoulders/Arms and Ab Ripper
  Thursday: Bike commute to work
  Friday: Back portion of Legs/Back and Ab Ripper
  Saturday: 50 mile bike ride and Core Synergistics
  Sunday: 50 mile bike ride only

  Does that seem to cover all the essential workouts? I don’t want to weenie out on any of the intensity of the program. Do you see any gaps that might stop me from looking like all those animals on the infommercial? I certainly don’t mind putting in the time or the intensity.

  Thanks again for all your help and knowledge.

• 98 Smurf // Aug 20, 2010 at 1:15 pm

  Well, if you want to look like those animals in the commercials, (this is the part that sucks) you are going to have to get your bodyfat down closer to the 10% range…. but, you do need to build musculature under there to show through, so both diet and getting the workouts in are going to be vitally important.

  Depending on how your body takes to Core Syn, I might move that to Wednesday. Like I said, it does take some recovery for me after that one, so I’d be concerned about putting it in between two 50-mile rides. (It has more legs that you might think.) That being said, I know that riding takes more upper body endurance than running does, so Core Syn might be better for you to throw in between those 50′s than a hard upper body workout… You’ll know after a week or so if your rotation is working for you.

  I don’t think you are leaving anything out. Just make sure you are fueling up for the added exertion– you won’t burn a whole lot of calories throwing the weights around, as compared to all the riding you are doing, so I’d say if you just add a recovery drink after the weight workouts you’ll be just fine there.

  And, looking good naked is the noblest of goals!

• 99 Mr. T // Aug 20, 2010 at 1:55 pm

  Oh I know all about the body fat. I should explain… Normally during the bike racing season I weigh about 148 with about 6-7% bf. In early ’09 I was at my leanest at 138 pounds and less than 6% bf. Remember, I’m 5′ 11″ so I was LEAN. Unfortunately, whenever I get a new girlfriend I stop riding and start eating. Now that I’m single again I’m back on the training schedule. I normally lose 8-10 pounds a month with careful calorie intake and lots of excercise. But this time I don’t want to look like a 98 pound weakling, and would prefer to grow some upper body mass. But trust me, the body fat will be under ten within 4-6 weeks.

  I just have to stop the off-season/on-season yo-yo effect. And of course ditch the girls…nothing but trouble.

• 100 Elizabeth // Aug 20, 2010 at 2:56 pm

  Thanks so much, Smurf! One last question – how do I calculate the number of grams of fat into calories? Is it multiplied by 4 the same as protein and carbs?

  You’re awesome

• 101 Mr. T // Aug 20, 2010 at 3:00 pm

  It’s 9 calories per gram of fat. That’s why it sucks!!

• 102 Smurf // Aug 20, 2010 at 4:06 pm

  Yup, carbs and protein are 4, fat’s 9 and alcohol’s 7 (Alcohol also “jumps line” for fat metabolism by the liver, so it has some effects that go beyond just the caloric impact, but that’s a subject for another day.

• 103 Janel // Aug 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm

  I am a 48 year old female and am starting my second week of P90X. I am 5’2″ and weight 121 lbs. I am carrying a lot of fat around my midsection and upper thighs and rear end. I am very excited to be starting this program but am concerned that I feel overly full almost all the time. The program says I should be eating about 2000 calories a day and I can’t get anywhere near that amount. I am often in the 1200 calorie range and one day I managed to eat a little over 1400 calories. I have been doing the workouts every morning and since my weights I have at home are only 8 pounds I have been working out after work for about an hour in the weight room there, supplementing with the heavier weights they have.
  Am I feeling so uncomfortably full because of the high amount of protein I am eating? Will this pass eventually?I am following the nutrition plan faithfully and eating very healthy with the recommended amount of protein. I can’t even fathom taking in 2000 calories a day. I have no problems keeping up on the workout and never feel like I am going to bonk. The only issue is I am very tired by 8:00 pm….but that may be because I get up at 4:00 am.

• 104 Krissy // Aug 23, 2010 at 10:21 am

  Hi Smurf and Rob!

  I’ve been reading the responses but I wanted to get a more personalized idea of what I should be doing. I’m about 5’2″, 22 years and weigh about 138. I’m very fit in terms of endurance but I’ve gained some weight over the past 2 years. I’ve completed Insanity before but didn’t follow any diet so that’s probably why I did not see any weight loss. I also used to do track and volleyball, so activity is not a problem for me.

  I’m pretty sure it’s all nutrition for me, because I tend to crave/eat lots of sugary and salty snacks which negates my workouts. I just wanted to how many calories I should consume a day, if you could also provide a particular ratio of proteins-carbs-fat. I’m also torn between doing P90X Lean or Classic or Turbo Jam, since my primary goal is to lose weight first. I plan on sticking to a custom diet because I don’t like following particular recipes due to preference and allergies. So I would just like an idea of a calorie range with a ratio of the carbs-protein-fat if possible =) Thanks!!!

• 105 MCW // Aug 23, 2010 at 11:05 am

  Hi, Smurf.

  I have a couple of questions. I just started round two of P90X this week. During the first 90 days, I gained about five pounds but my muscle mass did not increase and my measurements did not change (at least not for the better). I do have to admit my arms are more defined but that’s the best change I can see so far.

  I need your advice to help me lose those five pounds and keep getting better! I am 35 years old, 5’5″ and 129 lbs. My goal is to stay around 125 lbs and tone up.

  Since I am a major cardio girl, I actually do more than just P90X. I run about 3-5 miles each week day in addition to the P90X workouts (3 miles on ab days, 5 on the others). Also, I substitute running for yoga because it’s just not my thing. I monitor my calories very closely and stay around 1400.

  Am I doing too much and/or eating too little? I have to admit I’m nervous about doing either for fear of gaining more.

  Also, my abs don’t seem to be getting any more defined. Should I be doing something different on that front too?

  I greatly appreciate any help and advice!!

• 106 Smurf // Aug 23, 2010 at 11:25 am

  Janel- You are another perfect case of the P90X eating plan being FAR too many calories! At 5″ 1′ and 48 y/o female, you would blow up like a house on 2000 calories. Before factoring in your workouts, you are only burning about 1645 calories in your daily life. The workouts probably bring you into the 1900-2000 calories burned range, so you can see that with even the slightest underestimation of how many calories you are taking in, you would gain. 1400 calories per day is a fine place for you to be at, and seems to be where your body feels most comfortable. That being said, if you are feeling stuffed even at 1400 calories and having issues with getting fatigued, I’d advise you to add some healthy carbs and cut some of that protein, so long as you are still getting about .9 gram per pound (for you, about 109g/day) of protein.

  The larger issue for you is this situation with not having the appropriate weights to do the program. It is not an efficient use of time, nor are you getting any of the benefits of the program. Worse, you are not giving your body the opportunity to recover appropriately. We got all our weights at Sports Authority– it is less than $10 a pair to get yourself some #15 and #20 dumbells. You made the investment in buying the DVDs, the extra twenty bucks or so to get appropriate weights will mean not only do you get to actually see the benefits of the program, but you get that hour of your life back and recover appropriately.

  Best of luck!

• 107 FitLifeSFRob // Aug 25, 2010 at 6:27 pm

  Krissy,

  It is all about the food for you. You NEED to fight the sweets, that is, if you want to lose the weight. Also, you need to keep a record of everythign you eat. I feel like a broken record lately, but, unless you control what you eat, then you won’t lose the weight. (Unless you are working out 8 hours a day burning 2500+ calories on top of your metabolic burn. probably not going to happen) SO. You need to understand what you are eating and when you are eating it. If you are hungry, then you may need to spread out your meals and add some snacks in between. But to do this, you need to know what your intake range should be (for you probably between 1400 and 1500 calories), and then you need to know how you want to spread it out. (When are you normally hungry) If you can control the times you are hungry, then you can control the cravings you have for sweets and such.

  As for your workout, both P90X lean and Turbo Jam will do it for you. Especially if you are attacking the workouts.

  Working out will help you lose weight, and you will get more fit. But you can easily build muscle under fat. If the result you want is weightloss, then you NEED fuel your body with good food, mantian your calorie count, and throw in a good workout program. When you are at weight it becomes a lot easier. You can eat more (because you are not trying to lose weight) and you can focus on the tough spots. We all have them.

  -Rob

• 108 Victoria Ashley // Aug 26, 2010 at 8:15 am

  Hi Smurf,

  I really appreciate your blog. I have a couple questions regarding the P90x series and calorie intake. I obviously know how important counting calories is. I am a female, 24, almost 5’2 (actually 5’1 3/4) . For the last year I have maintained my weight between 114-116 lbs. It does not fluctuate more than 2 pounds on good/bad days. I tried Weight Watchers about a year and a half ago and went from 120 to 110, but I stopped counting calories and just continues to eat healthy for the most part, and that’s why I’ve been at the 114-116 for the last year or so. I know this is a generally healthy weight, but I am getting married in November! There is just about 3 months left, (3 months tomorrow!) and I would like to lose that last little bit and tone up my overall body. I would really only like to lose between 5-10 lbs. I would love to be at 105. With all this being said, how many calories do you recommend in order to obtain this goal? I have done a little research and 1200 was recommended. I want to start the P90x series (tomorrow, hopefully!), I was thinking about starting the Lean Program? I am very active and try and go to the gym about 2-3 times a week. I’m big on cardio and kickboxing! Would you recommend the Lean Program or the Classic? I do not have much to lose, but I would like to lose those last 5-10 lbs and completely tone up for our honeymoon! Biggest problem area is probably my arms. However, I know you cannot fully target one area (it’s the overall body fat that needs to decrease).

  Please let me know any advice, I am very determined, especially for my wedding, and I would like to whip myself into the last little bit I need to reach my goal weight!

  Thanks! =)

• 109 Rachel // Aug 27, 2010 at 8:03 am

  Hi Smurf and Rob!

  I really appreciate your responses and help that you are providing everyone. I am hoping that you can help me.

  I am 25 years old, 5’5″, 145 lbs. I am looking to get to a toned 133 lbs. (127 would be ideal). I just purchased everything for P90X due to all of the great success stories that I have heard.

  Before I start the program, what number of calories do you recommend taking in? Also.. do you think P90X is even the place for me to start? I have done Weight Watchers in the past, and I am a pretty active person. I bought P90X because I wanted to push myself and I never knew what types of workouts to do in the gym. (I love to run, hate to lift- another reason why I wanted to start P90X). I’m wondering if I should even waste my time starting P90X.. or if I should start after I’ve shed some more weight?

  Thanks so much for your advice!
  Rachel

• 110 Renee // Aug 29, 2010 at 10:29 am

  Hi Smurf and Rob – This is all tremendously helpful. I am hoping that you can help me figure out how many calories I should be taking in.

  I am starting Phase II of P90X lean today. The first week of Phase I, I followed the calorie guidelines in the nutrition plan, but felt like I was eating WAY too many calories (I’m 5’3″, 33 years old, and currently weigh 167.6 lbs). So for the next three weeks, I took it down to 1500 calories per day.

  According to my heart rate monitor I burn, on average, about 500 calories per workout (I also hate the Cardio X routine and am thinking of replacing it with something else that burns the same amount).

  When I started the program, I weighed 165.6 lbs. Gaining two pounds in the first month was not what I was anticipating and so I’m a little disappointed. I have lost a few inches in my chest and thighs and I can see some muscle definition in my arms, so I don’t feel all is lost.

  I’m also a vegetarian and have been having difficulty getting a lot of protein, but have tried supplementing with bars. I write down everything I eat and try to eat 5 times a day (3 small meals and 2 snacks). I’m not sure if the problem is that my calorie intake is off or if the types of calories I’m eating is unbalanced.

  Thanks for your help!
  Renee

• 111 Smurf // Aug 29, 2010 at 10:41 am

  Renee- If you are not losing weight, it’s all about cals-in-cals-out. Balance of cals (carbs, protein, etc.) has a lot to do with how full you might feel and how much energy you have for workouts, but any body mass (therefore, weight) gain/loss is entirely a function of calorie count.

  That being said, yes- you were most certainly eating too many calories to start if you were following the nutrition plan. For you (as for most women) 1500 is a great place to be. If you aren’t losing at 1500 cals, it’s entirely likely that you are making an error in counting (even trained professionals underestimate calorie count.) If you aren’t losing at 1500, first take a hard look at your diet- make sure you are counting every bite, weighing everything, not taking bites or nibbles that might add up. If that doesn’t get the scale moving, cut another 100 cals per day for a week. Repeat until you get movement on the scale, then you’ve found your “sweet spot.” Don’t cut more than 100 calories at a time, though, and don’t weigh more than once a week, or you’ll miss hitting that “sweet spot.”

• 112 Victoria Ashley // Aug 31, 2010 at 10:43 am

  HI Smurf and Rob,

  I wrote a message last week and never got a response. I am just following up. I was wondering if you could help me with the amount of calories I can consume. Within the research that I have done, it was recommended to consume 1200 calories per day. (I’m 5’2, 115 pounds, looking to lose about 5-10 pounds and tone up!).

  Question: I was told 1200 calories would be good to look for to “lose weight” … but should I add on some more if I am planning on doing the p90x program? I started the lean program on Sunday. I just want to make sure that I am consuming enough calories to have the energy to work out, but also enough calories to still lose that last little bit of weight! What would you recommend.

  The p90x nutrition guideline recommends
  RMR: (115lbs*10) = 1150
  RMR*(20% ) = 1380
  +600 for the program = 1980

  I know this is WAY too high … but is 1200 too low?

  Also, do you have any recommendations about protein consumption? I am taking a pure protein shake after my workouts and following a healthy diet and consuming at this point 1200 calories a day. Having a high protein diet is not going to cause me to gain weight, will it? Like I said, I want to lose a little bit it and then overall tone by November 27th (my wedding day).

  Any insight would be extremely helpful.

  Thanks.

• 113 Smurf // Aug 31, 2010 at 11:28 am

  Hi Victoria,

  Sorry your post got skipped! I just started some classes and have been crazy with clients– Rob and I run this blog entirely as a hobby, so sometimes it gets away from us.

  Anyhow, YES, 1900 calories is laughably too many calories for you and, as I’ve mentioned a few times, pretty inexcusable that Beachbody let the Nutrition Guide go out knowing it would make that kind of recommendation to someone of your size.

  So, here’s the math– Before working out, you are going through about 1700 calories per day (I don’t see where you provided your age, so I plugged in 30. If you are within 5 years on either side of that, it shouldn’t be enough of a difference to matter.) Since everyone burns a different number of calories while working out, rather than say “I assume you are burning about 500 per workout,” I advise people to get a heartrate monitor and tell them “Your goal is to burn 500 calories per workout… make sure you get there.” (Another place where Beachbody is totally full of poop is in saying each workout burns 600 calories in all people as presented. I have never burned that many cals in a P90X workout, even when adding other elements like Jumping Jacks and cardio drills… Whereas a person who weights 350 pounds might burn that without even having to try just because their burn is so much higher regardless.)

  So, I’ll give you the same advice– Get a heartrate monitor and make sure to burn 500 calories per day on top of your activities of daily life– it’s likely this will mean adding some easy walking, biking, dancing- running around getting ready for the wedding.

  As for food. For people who want to lose about 1.5 pounds per week, I have them make sure to burn 500 cals per day, and then take 500 cals from food. As you can see… this does put you at 1200ish calories. Now, you don’t need to lose 1.5 pounds per week to get to your goal before your wedding, so you might unnecessarily stress yourself shooting for 1200. I think you can probably start a little higher– 1300/1400– and still hit your goal nicely. Here are a few caveats:

  - You must weight, measure and journal every bite. Especially if you want to eat at the upper end to reap the energy benefits, your margin for error decreases.
  - I suggest weighing yourself only once per week- the same day, under the same conditions (usually first thing in the morning.) Wait a few weeks before moving calories too much in response to what you are seeing.
  - If you are feeling lethargic, hungry, etc., realize that there is a LOT that can be done with timing of foods and macronutrients that affect your energy and satiety levels – Some people say “I’m lethargic, I must not be eating enough!” but they are eating all protein. Or say they are hungry all the time, but their snacks don’t have a blend of carbs, proteins, fats, etc. to help keep them full. So much can be done with moving calories around to get to what works for you- a 1300 cal per day diet for me might look VASTLY different than it does for you. Make sense?
  - When bringing your calories down nearer that 1300-calories level, the quality of your food will also greatly affect your energy levels- there is less room for empty calories like booze or sweet treats. Every calorie needs to count.

  As for your question about protein– If you want to follow a version of the P90X nutrition guide as written, know that they recommend a VERY high protein diet. Probably in range of 60% of cals from protein in the beginning. A lot of people (myself included) don’t do well on a high protein diet like that. A lot of people do. Really, the “smoke and mirrors” of such a high protein diet is that protein is INCREDIBLY filling. If you are trying to jam that much lean protein down your maw, it leaves little room for much else. So, by default, you bring your calories down because you are stuffed to the eyeballs in protein. I counsel people to build a more moderate diet in the following way:

  - First, set your protein intake at RDA guideline for athletic people- .7-.9 grams per pound. For you, that means you’ll be shooting to get 80-100g of protein per day. At 4 calories per gram of protein, on the upper end in a 1300 cal/day diet, that means you’d be getting at least 30% of your calories from lean protein. If you dip down to 1200, you would be getting a higher percent from protein– In other words, make sure you get the total grams in- 80-100g- regardless of percentages or what your calorie intake is that day.
  - I like to see people shoot for about 20% of calories from healthy fats, like avocado, nuts, olive oil, etc.
  - Fill in the rest of your calories with healthy, whole grain carbs. Fruit. The occasional splurge/glass of wine/etc would go in here.

  This skeleton is also really nicely tweakable– If you find yourself getting hungry, you can add in some more protein and take those cals from either fat or carbs. If you find yourself getting really tired, you can throw in some carbier foods around your workouts and take those cals from your fats… It gives you a lot of wiggle room to tweak your diet to what works for YOU, which is at the end of the day going to be the most successful program.

  Hope that helps! And have a great Wedding! Try to check back about mid-way and let me know how you are doing… I am happy to suggest some tweaks, if need be.

• 114 Victoria Ashley // Aug 31, 2010 at 1:47 pm

  Thank You very much for your advice and comments. By the way, I’m 24 … not too far off, 6 years, I assume it’s relatively close enough, that the calculation doesn’t alter too much…

  I will be sure to post some back in a month or two and let you know how it’s going. I appreciate your feedback and comments.

  Thanks again!

• 115 JS18 // Aug 31, 2010 at 2:45 pm

  I started P90x over 3 weeks ago. I’m 5’6 and between 135-140 lbs (and 30 years of age). I haven’t lost any weight yet but haven’t been tracking calories and it sounds like that is key to weight loss. Can you let me know how many calories I should be taking in daily? I have a heart rate monitor that I’ve been using during workouts and on average I’m burning around 500-600 calories. Thanks!

• 116 JS18 // Aug 31, 2010 at 2:50 pm

  By the way, I’m so happy I found this site. I’ve been feeling so frustrated and the advice on this site is exactly what I was looking for!

• 117 MCW // Sep 1, 2010 at 11:51 am

  Hi, guys! I hate to bug you again, but I’m hoping you might could take a look at my post from 8/23. If you don’t have time, I totally understand. You have just given such GREAT advice here that I would love your input! Have a great day!

• 118 Smurf // Sep 2, 2010 at 11:05 am

  MCW- If your weight went up over that 90 days (and it wasn’t a situation where you weighed the same on day 89 and had some random spike on day 90 that brought you up to 5 lbs over where you were- in which case it would just be a random waterweight abnormality), then you were taking in more calories than you were burning off. Most likely overcompensating in small, unconscious ways to the increase in activity.

  The ONLY way to keep a handle on these things is track exactly what goes into your mouth– especially when adding activity. This is why it almost never works for people to say “I’m going to keep eating the same, but add in an hour of walking three times a week and the weight will drop off!” Well, an hour of walking FEELS like way more activity that it actually is, and most people subconsciously make up for that by having a little extra cereal, a smidge more cheese on their dinner, a tiny tipple more of wine. Unless they are tracking EXACTLY every bite they were eating before and continue tracking through the increased activity, I’d say that nearly everyone will end up overcompensating for the activity. And that counts for P90X, too. It really does feel like it should burn more than the actual calorie burn might be.

  The only way to know for sure how to balance your cals-in-cals-out equation is for you to track every bite that you are eating. For you to get the couple pounds off, I’d bring your calories down to 1500 for a month or so until you are where you want to be, then bring it up to 1600 and see if the weightloss stops- add 50 cals per day for a week, weigh, add another 50 if you need to, etc. You also need to have a pretty good read on how many calories you are actually burning. One of the wisest investments anyone can make (and it is a small one!) is in a heartrate monitor that will give you a custom read on your calorie burn. Your general daily burn before any activity is about 1762. If you add in what your heartrate monitor tells you for the P90X and cardio workouts, you’ll know about where your total daily burn is. I find that for me to overcome the inevitable error in reporting on either side, I need to create a 700-ish calorie deficit per day to get the scale to move about a pound a week. If you don’t have that data coming in on BOTH sides, you are just taking a stab in the dark, and research shows again and again that people who guestimate these things almost ALWAYS make errors on the side of overestimating activity and underestimating food.

  Besides, the indisputable law of thermodynamics states that you cannot create bodymass- whether it be fat or muscle (both forms of stored energy) without excess energy (in this case calories) to store.

  So, net-net. Get the calories in check and you’ll be back where you want to be.

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