Tracking Calories, Alterntive to P90X Nutrition Guide
Even though P90X comes with comprehensive Nutrition Guide I managed to come up with excuses to why it did not work for me. However, it was an inspiration and engraved this notion that nutrition and healthy eating can be achieved with some common sense. I also wanted to make sure as much as possible that I was on the right track.Having looked at a few options to track my calories I decided to use MyFitnessPal.com simply due to fact that it is free and it comes with an app for an Android based smart phone. Worked like a charm, point your phone towards a bar-code on an item and nutritional info is entered into your log. You can also check out FitDay.com and LooseIt.com as an alternative.
As already discussed, P90X has 3 Phases and each calls for different Level of nutrition. Before beginning the program I needed to figure out where I stand and unfortunately do some math :). You can skip the below and just use the excel file I made and shared here.
| Weight (LBS) | RMR | ||
| Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) in calories = | 198 | x 10 | 1980 |
| RMR | DAB | ||
| Daily Activity Burn (DAB) calories burned = | 1980 | x 20% | 396 |
| RMR + DAB + *600 | |||
| Daily Energy Amount (DEA) = | 2976 | ||
| * P90X burnes avg. 600 cals per workouts | |||
| DEA | Calories per Day | LEVEL | |
| 1800 – 2399 | 1800 | I | |
| 2400 – 2999 | 2400 | II | |
| 3000 + | 3000 | III | |
Referencing the 3 Phases of P90X:
I set my Goals on MyFitnessPal.com to match my Level II powered by 2400 cal a day.
| Phase 1 | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
| 50% | 30% | 20% | ||
| 2400 | 300g | 180g | 53g | |
| Phase 2 | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
| 40% | 40% | 20% | ||
| 2400 | 180g | 240g | 53g | |
| Phase 3 | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
| 20% | 60% | 20% | ||
| 2400 | 120g | 360g | 53g | |
And that is all I needed…now I can eat food of my choice as long as I stay in this range and account for it.
Skeptic as I am about my own skills (and some website) to calculate things right I went over to confirm with someone who had success with P90X. Here is a quick comparison based on his calculations and interpretation of nutrition guide.
2,000 cals x 50% protein = 1,000 cals protein. Protein is 4cal per g, so 1,000 cals is 250 g protein
2,000 cals x 30% carbs = 600 cals carbs. Carbs are 4cal per g, so 600 cals is 150 g carbs
2,000 cals x 20% fat = 400 cals fat. Fats are 9cals per g, so 400 cals is 45 g fat
I would highly recommend reading the entire article not just the formula, thanks Wayne!
Also, MyFitnessPal.com was right on the money while BeachBody’s Caloric Need Calculator was adding a 200-300 calories to my calculation. This was GREAT INFO so I was reassured that I will be fueling myself right since all I wanted is to lean out, condition and build some muscle. Yeah yeah all is great but WHAT DID I eat? No secret, you see what my nutrition looked like during workouts.
Ho much protein is enough?
Always nice to reconfirm your thinking or finding.
In Phase 1 of P90X protein is a bit higher but we are talking only for about 29 days or so.