Women: Not Losing Weight on P90X?
After seeing all the discussion on our previous thread P90X: What Can a Woman Expect?, I thought it would be useful to pull some of the tips out into a separate thread.
The number one complaint seems to be that women aren’t losing significant amounts of weight on P90X.
Let’s be clear: P90X is not a weightloss program.
It is marketed as “Extreme Home Fitness,” not “Extreme Home Weightloss.” The people in the ads are going from “a little loose in the cage” to supremely ripped, not from “overweight” to “ripped” so step one is:
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF: Are you already in pretty good shape? Have you been working out a few times per week for a while? If you already have the program, were you able to pass the fitness test? Are you in this to put the final finishing tweaks on your physique and get fitter than you’ve ever been? Do you have fewer than 20 lbs to lose/convert/tighten up? Yes? Great! Skip below to my tips for maximizing burning through that weight while on the P90X program.
However, if you have MORE than 20 pounds of fat to lose, I suggest you work on getting the fat off BEFORE fine-tuning your physique with P90X. Beachbody makes some great programs that ARE intended for significant weightloss, including Slim in 6 and even P90X’s precursor, Power 90. Here’s the thing to remember: Your body has two “modes”- Build Mode (anabolic) and Burn Mode (catabolic). P90X workouts and the eating program are geared towards putting you in Build mode. If you have a few pounds of flab to burn, sure, you’ll hit a tipping point where you can burn through that as your metabolism gets revved by the additional muscle, but it is not going to be enough to burn through more than a little fat. Men have an easier time burning and building simultaneously, probably because they have enough testosterone to build enough muscle to make a significant impact on their metabolism.
Look at it this way, as well: Why kick your ass for 90 days building muscle when nobody will see it until you get the layer of fat off?
Let me take a step back here and tell you my story: I started my P90X journey in January/February of last year at 145 pounds. I was quite active, going to the gym several times a week for most of my adult life. I already ate really well- lots of healthy foods- so Rob and I decided to start the program and see how far we could get on workouts alone. Two months later, he was definitely starting to show some definition and was stoked on his results. Me? I was still 145 and lumpier than ever because whatever fat I had was just getting smooshed by new muscle.
After another month, I hit a point where I knew that I needed to get the fat off before I should even concern myself with muscle, so I started swapping out some P90X workouts with running and cut back to 1300 calories a day. I was able to lose 5 pounds on my own, but then simultaneously fell in love with running and decided that “more workouts will help me lose MORE weight!” so I started training for a marathon, my weightloss stalled, and I developed a stress injury from too much running and not getting proper nutrition. At that point, I went to a nutritionist who explained to me the concept of Build Mode and Burn Mode, and that I can’t BOTH be training for a marathon, pushing my body for improvements AND be denying it calories to try and burn fat.
Thankfully, I landed at the nutritionist at a time where I was restricted on my activities anyhow because of the stress fracture, so he put me on a twofold diet: I was to limit my calories to 1500/day, a sensible mix of carbs, protein and fat, AND I wasn’t to burn more than 400 calories per day through exercise. This “easy does it” approach let me go from 142 lbs in July of last year to 127lbs in December. Once I stopped pummeling my body with too-low calories and too-intense workouts, the weight really started to come off nice and easy.
Fast forward through the Holidays, more running, another stress fracture (ugh!) and I am starting another modified cycle of P90X at about 130 pounds with a goal of getting down to about 125 lbs. This time, we are following the eating plan, though I am following my own advice (which, I swear, I am getting to in a moment) and modifying Level one to about 1500 cals. (Of course, just to highlight that this really is a MUCH different process for men than women, we are a week and a half in and I can already see the difference in Rob and he has already dropped several pounds. Me? Bah, not so much.)
What’s the lesson I learned over the past year? If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you need to gently coerce it out of your body, not try to slam it out with a program like P90X or a super low-cal, high-calorie burn program. Look for a program like Slim in 6 that combines some resistance training with cardio, keep your calories balanced and around 1500 (for most people, check out some of the online Resting Metabolic Rate calculators to get a good sense for what your daily burn is.) In other words- if you need to get the fat off, do it gently, responsibly, consistently, and come back to P90X when you are ready to ice your cake.
If you DO fall in the category of “already in good shape, just want to use P90X to convert a few vanity pounds and get in the best shape of your life,” GREAT! Welcome, here are the rest of my tips:
Eating Plan Tips: 1800-2000 calories (level 1) is a fine level for maintaining weight and BUILDING muscle, but too high for BURNING fat (for most people- calculate your resting metabolic rate online if you aren’t sure.) I suggest 1500 calories as a pretty good generic calorie level for fat loss. Certainly don’t go below 1400 or you won’t be able to fuel your workouts and may do more harm than good. Don’t just track portions as the book suggests, but actually track your calories on a site like The Daily Plate.
Workouts: Buy a heartrate monitor and try to keep your heartrate in the 130s for weight workouts and above 150 for cardio workouts. If you’ve already done the workouts, you know that Tony talks A LOT. There is a lot of downtime in workouts and, if you use too high a weight, you might spend most of your workout resting between sets. Use a weight heavy enough to feel the burn, but light enough that you are moving for most of the workout. With Kenpo X and (shudder) Cardio X… Kenpo X, I found that you really NEED to force yourself to get your heartrate up there. It is all on you to make sure your heartrate is up. Cardio X? I suggest just throwing that one out and going for a run or some other cardio you enjoy. Plyo is a great interval workout, though!
I hope some people will find those tips useful, I’ll add to them if I come up with more during this cycle.
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
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.”
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
Hi Smurf
I’m so glad I found your blog.
My hubby and I started P90X Classic on 8/16, so we’re just about to begin our Phase 1 recovery week. I knew before we started that the number of calories recommended would be way too high for me and brought it down–I’m tracking everything on the daily plate and aiming for 1200-1400 net calories, and my protein intake varies between 115-140g per day. I have a polar HR monitor and am averaging 400-450 calories burned in a workout.
I’m 30, 5′ 5″ and weigh 165 (started P90X at 166.2) and really want to see the scale start to move–ideally I’d like to lose 40 lbs but I know that’s going to take more than one round of P90X. If I can drop 20 lbs by Thanksgiving, I’ll be thrilled. We’re doing classic, but I am contemplating starting the doubles program for the added cardio.
Can you tell me what I should be doing as far as calories for both classic and doubles? Daily plate has me at 1472 net calories to lose 1.5 lbs per week (or 1222 for a 2 lb loss which is what I need to aim for to drop 20 lbs by TG)–should I be focusing on the net calories, or staying between around 1200 regardless of how much I burn in a workout?
Thanks so much for your willingness to help us out!
Hi I am a 44 yr. old woman. I have been overweight for the last 25 years. I am now divorced and have started in the last year really taking my body seriously. Luckily I have not had any health issues.. I started hitting the gym 6 days a week and cutting all white foods out of my diet. Worked well I dropped 45 lbs. in a few months. Then I met my Fiance’ and moved to a different area and stopped going to the gym and working out. Luckily I did not gain any of the weight back…. I do however see my body getting flabby again. So I convinced my fiance (Who is only (180lbs) to try P90X. He is doing the classic cause he wants to firm up and I am doing the lean. I am reading everyones comments and am wondering if I will see any difference in my weight or not. I also have a problem with all the food they want you to eat…. I cannot even eat a half of what they want me to eat at level III. I have tried Slim in 6 awhile back and it was pretty good, but I want extreme changes…. Can someone please help me here and let me know if they also have a problem with the amount of food or if this is even going to work for me??? Thanks in advance for your help!!!!!
Hi Smurf thanks for all the good info. I started P90x and have been doing it for 2 weeks now. I have gained 2 lbs. I am 5″3″” and weigh 150. I am doing this for weight loss. Any suggestions for maximum fat loss? Also, should I be following another program to lose the weight or stick with P90X (which I must adimit I like)? Any info will be appreciated! I am quite frustrated. Thanks.
Shelly- Eat 1500 cals, track/measure/journal every bite, and do P90X along with the finance and you’ll have great results! It won’t happen without reigning in the eating, though. I went several years “eating clean” and not eating anything “white” and was still 20 lbs up from where I am now… it’s essential that you weight/measure/journal/track.
Cheers!
Smurf
Elaine- Are you tracking every bite you are eating? Where are your calories at? It’s possible that you put on some water weight from adding the weight training– it’s a pretty natural response. But, mosre imporant, is to know exactly what your cals-in-cals-out are.
Hello Smurf,
Thanks for your advice last time. Currently I am doing P90x lean. I do have a few quick questions. I’m 5’3 about 118, 22 years of age.
I am doing the Lean workout almost finished the first phase and am debating to change to Classic in second phase. What is your opinion of this?
The reason why is I read that you do burn more fat when doing more muscle exercises. Because more cals are used to convert fat to muscle. Is this true?
I also want to ask, is it okay to have one cheat day a week? Does it make a huge difference in weight loss/burning fat or is it just water weight the next day?
My last question is doing Core Synergistics/ab ripper x which is brutal because it seems like I have no abs at all. When doing Superman/banana I am constantly using my back to lift myself up (and my back becomes very sore). Is there any easier exercise that you would suggest while I try to build up to those muscles?
Thank you again Smurf, you are too wonderful for taking the time to help us all out.
Hi Smurf,
Thanks for all the great info….I’m a 47 year old women my first goal is to lose 25 pounds.
I’m on the 4th week of Phase 1 and lost 5 pounds the first 4 weeks but gained back 4
After reading your blog I have decided to continue P90X but add more cardio and cut my calories to 1500 a day.Please advise!!! Thanks so much Renee
HI-
I am into my 3rd month of P90X lean. I have lost no weight and have kept my calories between 1300-1500/day. I have been told by P90X and other research that I may be in starvation/hoarding mode and need to bump up my calories. I know I am gaining muscle, so that’s good. I am 43, 5’4″, and weigh 170 lbs. I have been at a plateau for about 2 years and bought P90X thinking I would break it. (and bring it) Team Beachbody suggests 2000 calories/day. I even did some other calculations and it figured to 2500 cal/day to maintain. So going to 2000/day would make it a pound a week. Every site I go to suggests a different caloric intake. Can someone help come up with a good calorie level to change to or is it a crap shoot at this point.
Thanks!
Kerri
“Starvation Mode” as it’s commonly touted is a bit of a fallacy– if you were really at a deficit, you’d HAVE to be losing body mass. You couldn’t not be. If you were really eating so little that you were affecting your metabolism, you would be eating so little that your weight would be dropping. (I’m talking being below 1200 calories for more than several weeks.)
Based on your stats, I would start you at 1450 calories per day– tracking, logging, EVERY BITE as it goes in your mouth. Make sure you are hitting a 500-calorie burn (without additional workouts, the standard P90X workouts will not get you to 500, so you need to get a heartrate monitor and know your actual burn.) If, after a month, there has been no change on the scale, remove a know-quantity 100 calories per day and give it two weeks to see if that gets the scale moving– It should.
The vast majority of cases I see of people concerned about “starvation mode” ends up being not tracking fastidiously enough and/or tracking several days of low calories, then eating back all those calories on the weekends or on “cheat days”– In a nutshell, if averaged over the course of a month, the person simply isn’t in a deficit over time.
Great-
I have a feeling the P90X people are overgeneralized everyone and reading advice from a book. Not a bad thing, but not a specific thing, either. Maybe more specific towards men bulking up??
My original plan, when starting P90X, was to gain more muscle then do cardio (Zumba at home) and toning to get rid of the fat, after completing a round of P90X. I really like the discipline of P90X and the fun of Zumba.
Thanks for your caloric advice. I had a feeling that 2000 was a high number to lose weight. Now I know it is a numbers game. Is two week the time it takes for one to know if a new calorie level is working?
Thanks for everything.
Kerri
Yep.. it’s really meant for people who want to bulk. Even the “fat blaster” isn’t one a body builder would follow to cut fat, say for a competition, unless they were monumentally huge. In fact, I’ve been quite vocal about thinking it was really an inexcusable oversight to let the P90X nutrition guide go out the door when it was so clearly inappropriate for such a large number of users (namely, women trying to lose weight.)
Two weeks is a nice amount of time to see if a new calorie level is working without wasting too much time if it’s not. Certainly don’t change your calories based on less than two weeks’ weight change.
And, note the nuances in my post re: those two weeks: They need to be absolutely compliant, journaled, and tracked so that you know exactly what your intake and output was to get those results. AND, if, at the end of the weeks you don’t see a change and have to drop 100 calories every two weeks until you see a change, don’t be too concerned about “eating too few calories” because the FAR larger possibility here is that something is sneaking into your diet or isn’t getting tracked right so your numbers aren’t what you think they are.
I’ve been trying to think of a good analogy to help people see that they shouldn’t get too stuck on the actual number, and the best I can think of is this: If every 100 calories tracked is a Smiley Face Sticker, and you consume 15 Smiley Face stickers and burn 5 Smiley Face Stickers every day and don’t lose weight, you know that you should try only consuming 14 Smiley Face Stickers to get the scale moving. (And, you realize at that point that the actual value of those Smiley Face Stickers consumed is probably somewhere closer to 120 calories… BUT, you don’t have to worry about that because whatever margin of error you’ve got in tracking will continue even as you scale those calories down.) That might be more confusing than just saying “take away 100 calories if the scale isn’t moving.” But, it’s meant to head off those folks who would say, “EGADS! But then I’m only eating 1400 calories!” My answer: No, I pretty much guarantee you are eating 10-20% more than that, and that’s fine. Even trained professionals make errors in tracking. It’s impossible to avoid. The only thing that shows for sure what’s happening is whether the scale’s moving. Your body can’t live off of puppies and sunshine, if it’s not getting enough calories from food, it MUST get them from body mass.
Hi,
I am 5’8″ and 145 lbs. I want to start the p90x program to tighten up and lose a few lbs esp abdominal fat. I need some advice on eating plan and what exercises i should be concentrating on.
Cheers,
Helen.
Helen- It’s all going to be about calories-in, calories-out for you. You can’t spot-tone or spot-lose fat, so you just need to get on an eating program that will put you at a deficit (1500 is a pretty good place to start for most women… track and journal it and, if not losing after 2-3 weeks, bring it down 100 calories per day until you see a week-over-week loss…)
Follow P90X as programmed in the book and you’ll hit every major muscle group and get a great blend of strength, cardio and flexibility.
I came across your blog while searching for an answer as to why I have gained 4 lbs since doing P90x. I thank you for your information. Although I am regular runner (average 15 to 20 miles per week), I was just maintaing my weight. I thought by adding weight training to my cardio it would help me lose the weight. Per the medical charts I need to lose at least 40 lbs to be normal/healthy range. I am going to take your advice and tweek my calories by reducing a little more. I’ve been averaging between 1500 to 1700 calories and I haven’t seen any reduction but gain since starting P90x more than 4 weeks ago. Thank you for the advice and I will definitely be checking your blog on a regular basis.
[...] it’s likely the nutrition guide that comes with the program will suggest far too many calories. Here are some suggestions for [...]
I lost a lb a week on the P90X diet. That is a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. IF you want to lose weight as a woman, you can do it on the P90X nutrition plan. I took Saturday as a free day and still lost weight.
Keep a food journal, that will help you “remember” what you eat and what you don’t.
Too little food doesn’t help either. P90X also tells you to modify to what your body needs. I highly recommend it.
My husband and I started P90X Classic in August. He lost about 15 pounds and a few inches. I lost 5 pounds and a lot of inches. Neither of us followed the nutrition plan because we wanted to get used to an exercise regimen. Neither of us had been exercising regularly, although in the past, we’ve both done weightlifting programs, running, walking, etc. We decided to do a round of P90X Lean after the Classic.
We started to follow the nutrition plan, but with the holidays and a heavy travel schedule, it has been too difficult to follow after the first couple of weeks. I did lose 3 pounds during those two weeks and have maintained that loss. My husband continues to lose no matter what. I think that the nutrition plan would work for me and will try again after the first of the year.
In using the P90X workout spreadsheets, I noticed that the nutrition plan is calculated automatically and changes each month you’re on the program. You eat a lot of protein the first month, then taper off the second month, and finish the third month with a more normal balance of protein and carbs. I did not understand that from the nutrition booklet that came with the program.
I also should mention that my husband’s doctor said that the slow weight loss was good because it is easier to maintain long-term. My husband’s blood pressure was near perfect. The doctor was pleased with his weight loss and progress.
Hey Smurf!
I’m a 38 year old woman, 5′ 1.5″ and weigh 155.4 pounds. 5 years ago I weighed 120. I’ve had my gallbladder removed and a cardiac catheter done. (I had a false possitive on a stress test) There’s nothing wrong with my heart. I want to get to 120 pounds. I’m very active at work. I work at a theme park and walk all the time. I’ve been doing cardio 6 days a week for over a year and have not lost any weight. I don’t eat fried or fatty foods. I almost never eat anything sweet. If I do it’s sugar subtitute. I’ve even cut myself down to 15 grams of fat in each major meal with usually a fat free snack. I cut myself down to less then 1000 calories a day at my doctors advice. (I changed doctors soon after because he’s a quack!) He also told me to burn more calories a day so I started P90X.
I started P90X at 157.8 pounds. I am in week 4 of P90X and I do an additional hour of cardio a day. That’s around 800 calories burned just on exercise by my heart monitor watch I think. On the rest day I still do cardio (about 350 calories). I found that I have a hard time keeping my heart rate at 150 during my cardio. It usually stays around 130 and I have to work very hard to get it to 140. I started out at the 2100 calorie diet suggestion but found that it was way too many calories to consume. I have a diet diary that I write ALL my calories down every meal. I find it tedious at best to get the proper protein/carb/fat balance that I need to find.
I’ve since then I’ve adjusted my diet to about 1000 to 1500 calories a day so that I have energy to work out. I am starting to think that my body has adapted to hard work and doesn’t burn any more calories EVER. I would like to know where I can find a diet that has the correct balance of protein/carb/fat balance. My tipical diet daily is:
Low calorie cereal bar for breakfast
a weight watchers string cheese for morning snack
a baked turkey sandwich / sometimes tuna w/ mustard in water on whole wheat for lunch
baby carrots / sometimes almonds for a afternoon snack
boiled or baked chicken breast on top of salad with non fat dressing
(boring foods but I thought that they were good for weight loss)
Please help me……I’m very frustrated.
Wondering what you don’t like about Cardio X?- not my favorite cardio routine, but if you work hard on it, like Kempo X, you can get your heart rate up. Not looking to argue, just to see your point of view.
thanks.
I am not speaking for Smurf, but Cardio X and Kenpo X leave me flat and they did from the beginning. (for a beginner, I bet they feel down right evil) I’ll admit, “I” have big issues when I see half assed martial arts being thrown into a cardio workout. For that I am a bit of a snob. BUT, if you look at the cardio workouts that Tony put out in P90X+ and his One on One’s, they pale in comparison. When I look for a good cardio workout, I look for somethign that is interesting and more importantly challenging. Cardio X and Kenpo X just don’t do it for me.
Do a round of Turbo Jam/Fire (Full of half assed martial arts moves, but more intense) or Insanity (HiiT), and see what you think of those routines after.
(Take this as you will from someone who has been doing martial arts for 25 years and still trains in Sambo/MMA)
-Rob
Donna, stop worrying about calories. Eat healthy and leave it at that. You can get your heart rate up to 130 but cant seem it get it higher. Why is this bad? It’s called getting into shape. Marathoners can run mile after mile after mile without any major elevation of heart rate. Finally, why do you want to get back down to 120? Why not 122? Why not 118. 120 is a number. It’s not magical, it’s not mysterious. Stop trying to make yourself into some idea of you you think you should be. I am 46 year old male. 15 months ago I was 6′ and 230 lbs. 4 months ago I got down to my lowest, 189. I am currently back to 194. Do I think I’ve gained weight? Nope. I gained lean muscle mass. It just weighs more than fat. Plus, at 46, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been before. I’ve found Crossfit and it is what works for me. I’ve stopped worrying about what I weight and concentrate and maximizing my work capacity. The looking good naked part is secondary to my getting into better physical shape so I don’t die of cardiac arrest by the time I’m 60. Stop letting numbers rule your life. Oh, and stop with the “cardio”. Waste of time. Do work. Whatever that means. For me that means lots of body weight and gymnastic move along with Olympic lifting. Oh, and do you want the worlds best fat burning exercises? Deadlifting and squating. Scientific evidence has shown that the human body continues to burn fat for 36 hours after finishing heavy lifting.
DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE VITAMINS THAT THEY HAVE FOR YOUR BODY TO LOOK LIKE THAT
Nope. Just eat right.
I am 29 years old and 5’6″ and weigh 197. I have a beautiful 2 year old girl and 1 year old boy but my body went to downhill during my pregnancies. When I first started the p90X program I weighed 224. I have done 1 complete cycle and am on my 2nd cycle (doing the Lean this time). I have lost over 25 inches in all. I feel overwhelmed with the diet tho and am not sure exactly where my caloric intake should be at. I really want to lose another 40lbs. I truly believe that this can be achieved by using nothing but the P90X program and healthy diet. Any advice is truly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi, Smurf,
I am a 36 year old 5’4 199 lb woman. I just started p90x monday..I will finish this round on my bday so I am very excited to follow through (problem in the past) and see results. I have a few questions and hope you can help. What is your take on weight watchers? I am trying to choose between that , clean eating or calorie counting. Also how many calories should I be taking in a day. I do p90x in the am I plan to get on my treadmil, walk or do a tape for additional cardio in the evening, is this ok as far as recovery is concerned? Also do i really need results and recovery and/ or shakeology I recieve both on auto delivery but am feeling like I may have gotten caught up in the hype.. Is it really all they say it is and worth it or not really necessary. I also am thinking about getting brazillian but lift to add in 4 weeks before my bday…. I also was toying with doing a hybrid with insanity or turbofire instead of kenpo,plyo and yoga x what is your take on that. ..I am so excited to have found this sight!!! I look forward to your feedback…Thank you
Hi Butterflymom,
I am SO sorry I missed this! I actually had a reply crafted, but unfortunately I think I just crafted it in my head on a run and forgot to actually put “pen to paper” here.
Anyhow– I love Weight Watchers! I did it myself after I put on a few pounds back in college, and it really is just a sound, balanced, easy-to-follow, not-much-guesswork calorie-counting program. Yes, it’s something one could arguably put together quite easily themselves, but having the support and expert guidance for many people works wonders. My only gripe with them is that sometimes they rely too much on their own packaged foods, and I am generally against packaged foods– if you MUST because otherwise you’d be left starving in a sea of donuts and danish, sure, grab a packaged bar or snack, but if you have a choice, bring a fruit or other whole food snack. But, in general, love Weight Watchers. (If you want to see if you can go it alone, though, I can give you some general calorie and nutrient guidelines that you can plug into a site like The Daily Plate or track against on something like MyFitnessPal– which is what I use since they have an Android app.)
Clean Eating- Again, LOVE IT! I especially love the magazine (now I am really having deja-vu and thinking I just replied to your post in the wrong place. D’oh!) I think anyone, whatever program they chose, be it Weight Watchers, a reduced-calorie version of the higher-protein P90X nutrition plan, just good ol’ calorie counting, or what have you, should be sticking to the Clean Eatining tenants. What I do *NOT* agree with is people who say, “so long as you are eating clean, you can eat as much or whatever you want.” That kept me 15 pounds above where I like to be for years. Sure, I was healthy as a horse, but I also somewhat resembled one in the midsection.
As for the Shakeology and Results and Recovery Formula. I might not be the best person to talk to about the Shakeology, as I don’t care for it. Yes, it has great stuff in it for you. Yes, it is chock full of all sorts of wonderful things for you, but I just can’t get past the taste/smell and it also makes me feel pretty unwell (and it’s not just “needing to get used to the fiber and probiotics” as they’ll tell you, because I get plenty of those in my normal diet.) So, is Shakeology necessary? Not at all. Just be sure you are eating a variety of foods and getting all your veggies in and all that good stuff. Now, some people think it tastes great and makes them feel wonderful and all that– in which case, knock yourself out! I do, personally, love the Results and Recovery Formula. I drink it only after really hard workouts, though, as many standard 400-500 calorie burn days, I’d be negating too much of my calorie deficit with the drink and I’d rather see those calories in the form of real foods. After a long run or tough weight workout, though, it is important to get those quick-acting carbs and a little bit of protein into the system as quickly as possible, and the Results and Recovery Formula is a tasty way to do it. Many runners and other fitness buffs swear by Chocolate Milk, as well (nonfat milk with Hershey’s chocolate syrup– not sugarfree chocolate syrup, you need the quick carbs.) I don’t care for chocolate and something milky after a hard workout sounds about as gross an undertaking as I can imagine. One thing on the Results and Recovery Formula– I drink a half dose. Again, since my calorie limits are lower than the “man eating 2500+ calories per day” that I think most of the P90X products were designed for, if I had a whole dose, I would have to skimp on my real-food eating elsewhere in the day to fit it in.
As for your programs, I’d love to see you do a whole round of P90X “clean” before you start adding in other programs or going hybrid. Once you’ve done one round of P90X, though, we love the P90X/Insanity hybrid. TurboFire is a really solid program, too, but I just can only stomach so much Chalene Johnson before I get a toothache.
I checked out Butt Lift once after we first got it, but just haven’t been drawn to go back to it. I need to “man up” and watch through some more of the videos again so that I can give it a proper review for you.
Hope that helped! Let me know if you have follow-up questions.
Hi,
First of all, I wanted to say thank you for writing a great article about the effects P90X has on women. My husband and I are in our 4th consecutive round of P90X and I still love it and find it very challenging. Like your article states, I was able to see results with my husband almost instantly. After the first month he stepped on the scale he lost 12lbs. Me? I lost 4. UGH! I almost threw a princess fit and quit right then and there (not that 4lbs in a month is bad, on my 5’5″ 140lb frame it was good) but seriously? after all the hard work…4 LBS? However, I just told myself the second and third month would be better, and while I could feel myself getting stronger I just wasn’t dropping the weight..however, as the article points out (which I had forgotten, and needed the reminder badly) this is not a weight loss program. As far as nutrition, I don’t eat meat (other than seafood) so my protein intake is probably not what it should be, but aside from that I eat pretty healthy. I tried to make it to the 1800 calories a day (which is actually really hard!) so after reading this article, I will keep better track of my calories and try and keep them around 1500.
A couple of suggestions for the people thinking about starting P90X, or even if you have already started the program:
- Make sure you take your 30-60-90 pictures! When I got frustrated with the numbers on the scale, I would go back and look at my pictures – they were not super drastic but it was the encouragement I needed to keep going at times. Plus, it’s amazing to see how far you’ve come even if the scale is being stubborn!
-Get a heart rate monitor. This really helped me a lot, I got mine late, and the workouts I thought I was burning more calories than I really was.
- stick with it! It’s hard, you might get frustrated and discouraged but like Tony says “keep pushing play”
Good luck to everyone! Thanks again for the great article…I am definitely bookmarking this website
I was wondering which heart rate monitor you recommend? I’d like to have one that I can wear all the time without the strap but not sure if those are good or not.
Thank you!
gina
Hi Gina,
The only strapless heartrate monitors you are going to find have two sensors on the watch face that you touch when you want to get a heartrate reading. (In other words, they don’t give you a heartrate reading unless and until you place two fingers of one hand on the watch face on the opposite wrist and wait a few seconds to get a reading.) I’ve not tested these, as it’s important for me to get a constant read on heartrate throughout the workout, and for that there just is no better solution than the traditional chest strap set-up. While I did get to the point after a few workouts where the chest strap wasn’t even noticeable anymore, I’ve now discovered that I can just remove the strap part and tuck the front part with the sensors under the elastic of my sports bra and it works just as well. I feel like finding a work-around to the annoyance is a necessary trade-off for the value of the information you get by seeing how your heartrate accelerates and decelerates organically during a workout, without having to stop to take a read.
For heartrate monitors, you really can’t beat anything in the Polar line. My Garmin has a built-in HRM that is probably the best I have ever used (but, of course, the HRM is just one part of a pretty expensive piece of GPS training equipment.) I’ve also used a monitor on the low end of the Timex line that had a few more features than the entry-level Polar for a lower price, but after about a year of heavy use, it just started giving really weird readings and, despite changing the batteries, it never really “came back,” so I’d say it’s not really got a great shelf life, at least in my experience.
Hi, I am trying to find out if I am doing something wrong. I have posted 3 times since mid december and I never get a response. People who post before and after me get responded to so I was thinking maybe I did something wrong or asked a wrong question. I hope it was not because I questioned Shakeology and results and recovery. When I came across your site I was totally excited. You all just seemed so real I felt like I could ask real questions. Dont get me wrong I love the products just not sure if its really as awesome as they say. I understand if its a conflict of interest though. If someone could respond to my other questions I would be totally happy . I appreciate you guys I think your pretty awesome for what you are doing… Thanks Butterflymom
ps I have a post w my questions like 3 0r 4 posts b4 this one
Hi Butterflmom-
My apologies! Check out my response inline above!
I started P90X 3 weeks ago and have not lost a pound. Female – 46 and need to lose about 10 -15 lbs. Was wondering if not getting enough calories and working out to this program (P90X) could have an affect like plateauing – or not losing weight. I am eating about 1100 maybe 1200 and doing the workouts. Getting pretty tired – during the day (several hours after the workouts) but if not really burning 500 – 600 calories a workout – maybe eating too much? 158 and 5′ 9″ tall. Any suggestions would help. Thanks
Your calories are too low, which could be impeding your progress in a number of ways. I’d have you come up to 1500 calories (no less than 1400)- remember, those are impeccably-tracked, weighed, measured and journaled calories. No guesswork or “maybes” allowed. Stay there for two weeks. If the scale hasn’t moved in two weeks, go over your diet again with a fine-toothed comb to be sure your counts are correct. If they are, come down another 100 calories per week. Stay there until the scale gets moving. If you are down in the 1200-1300 range six weeks or so from now and you KNOW your food counts are accurate because you are weighing, measuring and tracking everything, then I’d ask a doctor for a metabolic work-up or endocrine referral just to rule out anything else going on. But, at your height and weight, with the workouts thrown in, you should see plenty of scale movement in the 1400-1500 calorie range. Most often, it’s a matter of miscalculating calories, or being on a cycle of restriction/indulgence that balances out a calorie deficit that causes most folks to stall out.
Thank you for the feedback. I previously forgot to mention that I lost around 60 lbs in the last 2 years – slow and steady… But did plateau for around 4 months – up and down several pounds.
Now trying the P90X and still stalled – so previous calorie cut back – slowed the metabolism up.
I will try what you suggested – but so afraid of weight gain…. But will track everything…
Will follow up and let you know. Thanks again!
Hey, my boyfriend and me started p90x three days ago. I can definitely feel my muscles have been worked. The nutrition guide says I should be eating 2400 calories I think its to many. I’m 5’6 and 215. I have three children 5,2 and 5 months. And after my secound I went through depression and was on all kinds of medication and gained tons of weight. Is p90x right for me? I’m looking to tone and loss weight. Get back to my cheerleader shape. I was 150 and it was solid muscle. Hellllllllp!!!!!
Hi Andrea,
Yeah, 2400 is going to be way too much for you if you want to drop significant amounts of fat. I’d set you at a 1800 for starters. Before workouts, based on your measurements, you are probably going through about 2300 calories per day, so that will give you a 500 calorie deficit from food and then add on top about a 500 calorie deficit from the workouts and you’d be right there in that 2-pounds-per-week sweetspot without too much difficulty.
The main thing for you is going to be eating at the deficit to hit the fat loss. Since you have your boyfriend there to work through it with you and keep you motivated, I think that P90X is a fine way to go for you. Otherwise, if you have some other activity to burn calories that you love, you could do that to hit a 500-calorie-per-day burn and then hit a cycle of P90X once you get down to 180 lbs or so if you really want that “wow” moment. (You’ll want to re-assess your calorie intake at least every 20 lbs or so.)
As I’ve advised the other ladies, get a heartrate monitor if you can so that you know what your workout burn looks like, and be sure to fastidiously track and measure your food so that you can compare to your progress and know what’s working and what might need changed.
Best of luck on your journey!
Hello Smurf,
I’m not even complete with my first week of P90X and I’m up 3 lbs from 145 at 5’2.5″. Needless to say this is extremely discouraging and I’m already ready to quit. My only motivation to continue is my boyfriend; we decided to do it together and I don’t want to disappoint him, but I can’t afford to gain weight, much less weight I’ve already lost, from a program that’s not working for me. I hate to seem dramatic considering I’m only 5 days in, but I never gained this much weight in a week even when not working out at all.
I had lost about 10 lbs previous to starting P90X doing strictly cardio (running on the treadmill). I’m eating quite well, about 1500-1800 cal, following the guide, and tracking EVERYTHING, so I’m confused as to what’s going on. I’m definitely working out, sweating, and getting sore muscle in the process, yet the scale keeps going up by the end of the day. I want to lose 20-30 pounds, but at this rate I know that is not going to happen. What do you suggest I do so I can continue the program but start seeing positive results. I considered adding a 30-60 minute interval run on top of the workouts 3-4 times a week to burn more calories. Thanks!
Marla- If you were doing no weight training before, it’s not at all unusual to throw on some water when you first start lifting– in any case, any scale change that’s happened in less than a week (and certainly over the course of a day!) is not “real gain,” so let’s get to the bottom of what’s going on to make sure you are still heading in the right direction.
Are you still tracking everything and staying at the same calorie level as you were when you were losing the weight? 1800 calories feels quite high for your height, weight and loss goals. Depending on what your workouts looked like before, it is quite possible that you are burning slightly fewer calories with the P90X workouts. If you are eating at the same level as before, though, you might see the loss slow a little and have to tweak to accommodate that, but you shouldn’t see it stall altogether (in other words, you might have a difference of a hundred or so calories a day, but I wouldn’t expect the burn difference to be in the several-hundreds.)
I do encourage people who really enjoy/miss a specific type of cardio (I am a runner, myself), to explore swapping out Kenpo and Cardio X with whatever cardio you prefer– and an interval run would be a great option. I don’t, however, encourage people to pile extra high-intensity workouts on top of the P90X program, though, as you really do need to respect the recovery to keep hitting the workouts hard.
So, in a nutshell, my biggest curiosity would be– Have you changed your calorie intake from when you were experiencing steady loss? And, as an incidental, Have you added anything new to your diet– a new protein drink or workout drink especially– since you’ve started the program that might be exacerbating water issues? (This is top-of-mind for me, as I went from 125 two weeks ago to 129.9 this past week after adding the Muscle Milk brand Protein + product to my diet.)
Since starting the program I’ve started intaking more calories. I wasn’t tracking at all prior to P90X, but I know I’m eating more calories (but less carbs) now than before. I try to eat at least 1500 cals give or take a couple hundred, but before the program I ate far less (hit a plateau for about 2-3 weeks then realized I needed to up my cals and adjust my workout a little). When I was running, I burned 300-600+ calories according to the treadmill depending on the length of the cardio workout. I don’t think I’m burning that much on the P90X workouts.
I’m happy to hear that I can run again. I’ve missed my treadmill run and today is a Kenpo X day for me, so that works out perfectly.
Overall, my caloric intake has increased. I always drank a lot of water, maybe slightly more now. I have added a daily 110-200 cal whey protein drink and a 200 cal protein bar to my diet. I also have more variety to my diet now – meat, beans. Perhaps my body is adjusting to this change as well?
I feel much better about things given your words of wisdom and realizing the issue. I definitely wanted to get this sorted out before I hit weeks 3 and 4 and still saw no results, so I’m glad I found your board. I look forward to going into Week 2 now. Thanks, Smurf!
If you’ve added about 400 calories and also moved into a workout that is burning fewer calories overall, it does sound like you might have increased your calories a bit too much relative to your goals– BUT, I do I bet the bulk of what you’ve put on now is water from a combination of starting a weight program and adding the whey/protein products to your diet, so you’re in plenty of time to nip it in the bud.
With fat loss as your primary goal, calories will rule the day. You do want the protein to support the weight work, but if you are eating more calories than you are burning, wherever they are coming from, you won’t hit your loss goals. 1500 is a good starting-off point for most women within a range of “normal” (your height puts you nearer the low end of the range.) I’d suggest really tracking it for a while, though, so that you know specifically what your calorie intake is. This will help if you do need to make changes and will also give you some peace of mind– if you know you are taking in 1500 calories a day and you see the scale do wonky stuff, you’ll know it’s just water and can relax while you figure out what’s going on.
Hi Smurf,
I, like so many other women, am doing P90X to loose some weight. I began the program on Jan 3rd and now I am on week 2 of Phase 2. I originally started at 166 Ibs, I am 5’3″, and two weeks ago I was only at 164 (disappointed because I really want to loose more weight but I understand that it could be muscle weight).
OK now here is my issue. I got on the scale today and I gained a pound. The first week that I started, my caloric intake was approximately 1550-1600. At that time I lost about a pound. I thought I wasn’t eating enough so I increased my calories to the range of 1630-1700. I then saw that I was only loosing 1/2 pound a week. I figured I would decrease my calories to 1500-1550 Ibs for the past two weeks as I have been reading that women in my weight/height bracket should be taking in this amount of calories. Boom I gained. Might I also add that up until this week, I was doing the Classic. This week I started Doubles to shed some pounds as I felt like I was not getting in enough Cardio and all the Cardio programs, with the exception of Plyometrics, did not seem to make me sweat at all.
Below are my stats……
Age: 39
Weight: 165
Height: 5’3″
Waist: 31″
Neck: 13 1/2″
Hips: 44″
I’ll also add that I am totally solid. I don’t have any loose skin except for my lower abdominal area.
If you can please help me out, I would so greatly appreciate it. I do not want to loose my weight loss/fitness excitement.
Ellie,
Thanks for getting in touch!
First. to dispel a pretty common misunderstanding. A woman, even under the most ideal circumstances (eg: Eating at or above maintenance, supplementing, doing workouts intended for nothing but putting on muscle mass– which would look quite different from the way most “average exercisers” use P90X) would be considered the envy of of her bodybuilding/fitness model lifestyle pals if she were able to put on .8 of a pound of lean body mass (muscle) per month. That seems to be near the top end of what’s metabolically possible for a natural (not juicing) female bodybuilder.
So, for a female doing P90X with a goal of losing weight- eating at a deficit, not lifting nearly as heavy or in the way you’d need to for maximum muscle gain, etc- the muscle gained would be far less than that. In other words, you could maybe make a case for .1 of a pound not lost per week being attributable to the “muscle weight” phenomenon, but if you truly had your calories in/out balanced to lose 2 lbs per week, that just mean seeing only 1.9 lbs lost, not having the scale stay the same or go up.
So, in a nutshell, ladies– if the scale’s not moving, it’s not “because of muscle,” much as we’d like to tell ourselves it is.
Also, as far as the “I’m probably not eating enough calories” phenomenon that’s going around these days, too– I wouldn’t start to suspect that a person might have anything metabolically-wonky going on from eating too few calories unless they told me they’d been eating 1000-1100 calories per day for an extended period (6+ months.) 1200 is the generally-accepted level that you really don’t want to dip below– and you shouldn’t have to! You can rest assured that the 1500 range, taken in the form of QUALITY calories, is plenty to fuel your workouts, and right about where you want to be based on your stats.
Next up: Don’t stress over a one-pound gain week over week. Look at it on a monthly average. It is totally normal and to be expected for anyone, ESPECIALLY women, to lose in a non-linear fashion. I know I sometimes have weeks weeks where I am up 1.5 or so pounds over the previous week. It all averages out in the end. So long as you are tracking your intake diligently and know that surplus calories aren’t sneaking in, you can just kind of grit your teeth and deal with the “up” weeks, and then feel like a rockstar the next week or the week after that when you finally get that back.
Here’s the thing: It’s super fun and exciting to see that scale move in those early weeks. And then you hit a point where the scale doesn’t do what you want and you start re-thinking everything. This process is, as much as anything, about CONSISTENCY. In fact, if I could go back and rewrite my original post in the truth I’ve come to know now, I’d make it more clear that my lack of success originally wasn’t from “eating too few calories” it was from eating too few calories during the week, working out like a maniac, coming in to the weekend trashed, and then eating back most of progress to try to fuel up for a greater effort on Sunday. It was inconsistency more than anything.
Whenever I see that scale do something I don’t like, I tell myself “this is where the magic happens.” It really is- it’s just hunkering down and knowing that this is an up-and-down process and that there are going to be those tough weeks, but just stick to the plan. Far too many people jump ship or totally have a firedrill and throw everything for a loop instead of just hunkering down and “holding on for dear life,” as I like to say. It’s in the boring, non-glamorous, non-braggable, repetitive trenches that you pay the dues for your ultimate success.
So, what does this mean for you? I’d go back to that 1500-calorie range you were at in the beginning… and hold on for the ride!
If you’ve changed things up by moving to doubles, it’s possible the added work has put some extra water on, it’s possible it’s just a little up-and-down… Regardless, just hold on and I promise you will see the results.
If you don’t feel the cardio programs are getting you going enough, lots of people have success switching to a different kind of cardio that does work for them and that they enjoy- Especially if you are throwing in a few “doubles days,” there’s no reason those need to be something you don’t thoroughly enjoy– heck, dance around your house in your skivvies for a half hour if that gets you going more. The real structure of the program is more relative to the progression of the weight workouts and recovery days, so don’t think you need to strictly “follow the Doubles program” videos-wise if you just want to move more. Moving more is always a great idea.
So, hope that wasn’t too long-winded of a response, but I hope you found something in there that will keep your excitement going! It sounds like you really are on the right track, so keep up the great work!
That was not long winded at all. In fact, it was very refreshing and made a lot of sense. I have done other weight loss programs but nothing fitness related like P90X. I am still trying to figure it out. I will take your advice and go back to the 1500 calorie range where I experienced the weight loss.
Thank you very much for the encouraging words. As I mentioned, it was VERY refreshing.
I will continue to read your tips. I am learning a lot.
Hi Smurf,
I’m on week 2 of P90X, 5’5 122lbs, wanting to get down to about 115lbs. I’m trying to stay around 1500-1600 calories a day, do these numbers fit with what I am trying to accomplish? I can feel and see my body getting tighter but have only lost .5lbs (though I know I just started). I just want to make sure I’m on the right track.
Thanks,
Taryn
Also I am 24 years old.
You are on the right track, for sure!
As I’m sure you know, you are nearing the bottom of the healthy range for your height, so you really are going to have to fight for those pounds, which means 1) tracking every bite, weighting, measuring, being a calorie bulldog for these 90 days, 2) hitting those workouts extra hard and really struggling through those last reps to juice every last calorie out of the workouts as you can, and 3) Accepting that your loss might be slow and certainly won’t be linear (meaning there will be weeks that you might be up or down a pound or two, so you might need to look at the weeks on average and make sure you are trending downwards and not freak out on those weeks that you’re up a bit.)
If you wanted to (and it didn’t impact your ability to deliver on the workouts), you could set your calories with an upper limit of 1500 and stay between 1400 and 1500. It’s only 100 calories, sure, but it will help even out any errors in calorie tracking and get you closer to your goals within the 90 days.
Keep up the great work!
I am on my 4th week of p90x lean and have not lost any weight! My arms are still fat! i had done the old p90 before and was thin and toned by week 4. although not following the nutrional guide i am careful of keeping my calories to about 1000 to 1200 per day. my arms are getting muscular but are still fat. I am also adding occasional walking apart from my daily p90x routine. Should i add the cardio from the old p90 three times a week to lose weight? the p90x is hard for me and im upset that all this hard work is not paying off. i had much more success with just 30 mins a day with p90! what gives!!! im 32 yrs old. 5’1 1/2 and weigh 131 lbs. i want to lose 15-20 lbs. Thanks for your advice in advance.
Some tough truths: If you are only eating 1000-1200 calories per day and using 5 pound weights (as you indicate below) I guarantee you are not putting on any muscle at all (and are probably, in fact, losing lean body mass, which is the last thing you want to do to keep your metabolism high!) Don’t be concerned about lifting weights, you are not going to get bulky– I did a whole post about it here: http://www.fitlifesf.com/2010/02/women-concerned-about-getting-bulky-on-p90x/ But, the net-net is: Women are not hormonally primed to put on a lot of muscle. If you are eating at a deficit, it is nearly impossible to put on muscle anyhow (what you are actually striving to do through a lifting program like P90X is to condition and retain the muscle you already have during the fatloss process.) And, fat overtop and inside the muscle can give the illusion of “bulky muscles,” but I guarantee once you get that fat burned off, what you find underneath won’t be bulky at all.
Next up: You say your calories are “about” 1000-1200, which is usually a huge flag for me that every calorie isn’t getting tracked and a person’s calorie count isn’t what they think it is. Metabolically, it would be impossible under normal circumstances for you to eat consistently at that low a calorie intake for four weeks and not see any movement on the scale. And, before anyone starts thinking “starvation mode,” even if you had your calories so low that you were having a negative impact on your metabolism- which you might be at a risk under 1200 calories for an extended period- you would still be eating below what you are burning per day, so you would see the scale move. I would ask for more detail on how long you’ve been at that calorie range and what kind of movement you have seen, but, frankly, there is no reason for you to even be shooting that low, so let’s just start get you started on a more appropriate eating program…
I encourage you first and foremost to weight, measure and track everything you are eating so that you know FOR SURE what your calorie intake is, and I encourage you to shoot for 1400 calories per day. Don’t go below 1300.
Second, I encourage you to use at least 10 pound weights for most exercises for P90X and work in such a way that you are so fatigued by the end of the set that you would not be able to do an eleventh rep with good form. You are, quite literally, wasting your time doing these workouts with 5 pound weights across the board– there might be some exercises where you need a 5 pound weight, but I can think of very few, especially since it sounds like you did P90 first.
Third- If you were having great success with P90 and enjoyed those workouts, there is no reason that you must move on to P90X. Just increase your weight for every exercise across the board on P90 so that you are advancing within that program and do another round. Remember, you will not see continued improvements unless you are continually increasing the stimulus and asking your body to do more. For weight workouts, that means adding more weight. For cardio workouts, that means monitoring your heartrate and pushing hard to make sure you are still getting the same burn.
Best of luck!
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Forgot to mention on my previous post that i use 5 lb weights when doing the p90x. should i not use any weights?
Absolutely not! In fact, as mentioned in my response above, you should be using much heavier than 5 pound weights, especially if you are coming to P90X after having done a round of Power 90.
P90X is a *weight lifiting workout.” Without lifting heavy (for your goals, that’s ten reps to failure, meaning you COULD NOT do another rep with good form), you will not burn the calories and you will not see the results.
if you don’t want to lift the weights, consider a program like Insanity that has no weights at all to be concerned about.
thanks for the quick response! i guess i may have eaten a bit more and threw back a few on weekends! OOPS!
So is the p90 a better program to do if you want to lose fat or for weight loss?
Thanks again!
Either program will work for those goals– what’s going to matter is how hard you are hitting the workouts and how many calories you are burning vs consuming.
I am 3 weeks into p90x and I have only lost 2 lbs. I have lost inches but I want to lose more weight. I am currently 155lbs, 28 years old, 4’11 tall. I am also breastfeeding. I looked at the nutrition guide and it says that I am supposed to be eating 2400 cals a day. I used a RMR calculator and It said 1703, I added 500 for breastfeeding, and 500 for the p90x work outs. That totaled 2800 cals and I went down to the 2400 cal plan as instructed in the nutrition guide. I have been using the portion approach for my meal planning. I have been adding a little more fat because I felt like my milk supply was decreasing. Can you tell me if I am eating to many cals for the workouts and breastfeeding? Thanks
2 lbs in three weeks is great! But, I can see how you might want to move that closer to a solid one-to-two pound loss per week. First and foremost, I’d check with your OB or lactation consultant to be sure whatever you are doing isn’t impacting your milk supply. If they OK it, try trimming 200 calories per day, which should move you solidly into a 1+ pound per week loss.
(If you weren’t breastfeeding, I’d advise you to start at around 1400-1500 calories per day, which is a nice generic starting point for most women on P90X– with your RMR of 1700 you’d actually need to be a bit lower than that to realize a two-pound-per-week loss. With the breastfeeding, you have greater calorie needs, to the tune of about 500 per day. Which would put you right around 2000, but, again, check with your lactation consultant if you feel like that’s impacting your milk production.)
I am 5’7 and 190 ib. , I want to start the p90x program, but after reading this post am not sure. Am a med school student so I really don’t have any physical activity. And get really bored at the gym. Would the p90x program work for me?
It would absolutely work if you committed to it and did the workouts with full intensity while following an eating program that puts you at a deficit. If, however, you don’t like workouts like this (it’s a pretty traditional, harcore weights-and-cardio, old-school “gym” workout), then you probably wouldn’t get the results simply because you wouldn’t be putting into it what is needed to see those results. In addition to whatever reservations you might have about the style of workout, not having worked out before you might also find the workouts quite daunting. A beginner can absolutely do them with modifications, but they have to have the desire to commit to this particular program in the first place, which it sounds like might be missing in your case.
If your general goal is to lose weight and get fit (which is what “work for me” means for most people), then there are a myriad options that might be better suited to your lifestyle– getting outdoors and running or biking, doing something more dance-related like Zumba or Turbo Kick or any of the Rockin’ Body-type workouts. I do suggest you get at least two days per week of strength training so that you retain lean muscle mass while you lose fat, which is important for keeping your metabolism high and generally having a lean body composition once the weight comes off, but there is no reason P90X needs to be that workout if you don’t think you’ll like it.
Mathematically speaking, you need to take in fewer calories than you expend. Physiologically speaking, you want to do a blend of cardio and strength training to end up with the most ideal body composition, but perhaps most importantly– psychologically speaking, you need to find the path that feel the “most right” for your personality and lifestyle.
Whatever path you chose, best of luck on your journey!
I am in week 6 of p90x! My sister-in-law got the program and suggested it to me. We are going to the beach in Spring and want to look good!! I LOVE this program – it is awesome! I cannot wait to get home and workout…though I would prefer to work out in the am but have a hard time doing plyo at 5am. I have lost 17lbs and major inches and have not been ‘majorly’ cutting back or starving….I eat around 1200-1400 calories and just try to make good choices. I still allow myself a ‘snack’ if I want it. I don’t understand how others are not losing doing this workout! Even my 10 year old has started working out some with me b/c she says she cannot believe how much I have ‘changed’ in the last 6 months and she wants to look great for the beach too!
One question – if I am going for losing more, should I ‘up’ the weights or do more reps? I am currently doing more reps than they are in the videos…
Thanks
Hi DB,
Awesome results, congrats! I think the thing you have figured out that others who aren’t seeing success haven’t is the importance of that deficit from eating. 1200-1400 calories of healthy food, plus pushing yourself in the workouts is a totally do-able situation without feeling deprived and one that is going to bring great results, as you’ve proven.
As for your question– I’d up the weights across the board and set the goal of pushing to do the same number of reps in the same time as you are currently. The weight increase should make this a tough goal, and one that you probably need two weeks or so of working at to achieve. You want to finish the set feeling like you couldn’t do another rep with proper form. The added resistance should spike your heartrate more than currently and will also ensure your body is still working hard. (In other words, at 6 weeks you’ve most certainly mastered lifting the amount of weight you have been, you need to up the weights to keep the effort high.)
Here’s wishing you continued success! Keep us up to date on your progress…
I have enjoyed reading your article as well as your reponses to others. I started p90x about a year ago and never got past a month…(other things just kept getting in the way). I am about to start again today and would like some advice. For starters I am 5’5″ and 150 pounds. I had a baby about a year and a half ago and have been very seditary. I would love to lose at least 30 pounds. How many calories do you suggest I take in a day? and what percentage of cabs, proteins, and fats should I be taking in? Also do you think that p90x will not allow for me to lose at least 30 pounds? Should I be doing something else until I first lose these pounds and then use this to ‘tone up’? I would love to lose this weight to not only look great but to ‘make room’ for the next baby. I am worried that if I don’t lose it now I will only had more weight for the next little one and then be close to 200lbs with no hope of losing it. Did I mentioned that I want to look great
lol Any advice that you could give would be greatly appreciated.
I found this article after waking up this morning and weighing myself after a week of P90X mixed with some cardio at the gym and a 1200 calorie diet. I’m 22 years old, 5’7 and weight 150. I went up 7 lbs. in just this past week! I do recall when I had a personal trainer a few years ago I was seeing a weight gain when I was eating very well and working very hard at the gym. The trainers reasoning was that typically, by convenience, those who want to gain muscle weight quickly don’t and those who don’t want to gain muscle weight do. It’s not that I don’t want hot abs and tight thighs and arms! I’m wanting to drop 2 dress sizes for my wedding in a year and it makes me quite nervous when I see a 7 lbs. weight gain when I’ve worked so hard to lose 30 lbs. in the past few years. On the bright side, I FEEL tighter, super sore, and even can see those abs coming closer to the surface!
Should I not worry and ignore the number on the scale, try mixing more fat burning cardio with the P90X workout, or ditch P90X and focus on fat burn until I’m comfortable with the muscle gain? When I got discouraged with my past trainer, his plan was to ditch all the heavy lifting and circuit training and rather focus on high intensity interval training cardio. Thanks!
7 pounds is such an anomaly for those numbers that I would throw it out. It’s metabolically impossible for that to be anything but water or a scale error, and the trainers at your gym should have told you this. Hang on like gangbusters doing the same thing and wait it out until next week’s weigh in and I bet it will normalize. In the meantime:
- Go over your diet with a fine-toothed comb. Are you sure you were really at 1200? Every single day? Make sure you are weighing, measuring and tracking everything you are eating. 1200 is the bottom where I ever suggest people to go, so if you are 1200-with-a-cheat-day, you’re better off being at 1300 or 1400 across the board. (Yes, it is possible to eat back a week’s worth of deficit in one cheat day, trust me, I’ve done it.
)
- Make sure you are lifting sufficiently heavy– 10-12 reps to fatigue- so that you are really struggling at the end of each set and spiking your heartrate. It’s the only way to juice the maximum calories out during a P90X-style workout.
- Make sure you are weighing at the same time, under the same conditions and on the same scale each week. This is why I like to weigh first thing in the morning at home. Even using one of those balance scales at the gym is a bit of a crapshoot because you never know if someone has messed with the calibration over the week. (And, sidenote, the one at my gym is kept in the steamy shower which, as we all know, is an AWESOME place for precision equipment.)
I wouldn’t move you entirely to high-intensity interval cardio because then you wouldn’t be preserving lean muscle mass and that’s going to be crucial for your goals– both so that you have some pretty, toned muscle to show through once you burn through the fat AND so that you retain muscle mass for the sake of your metabolism. If you were closer to your wedding and in dire straights to see results in, say, 6 weeks, maybe, but you’ve got plenty of time and don’t need to duct-tape/jury-rig together a short-term body that will squeeze into a dress, you can spend the time making a body that will serve you well for the wedding and beyond.
Also, a true high-intensity interval training cardio workout (which Plyo in the P90X series should be if done correctly) shouldn’t be done more than a couple of times a week because it requires a good bit of recovery. That being said, if you remember the HIIT workouts your trainer had you doing, there is no reason not to replace the Kenpo workout with a HIIT workout to mix it up.
Best of luck, and keep us up to date on your success!