Whether you are a health nut or a rookie on nutrition, I highly recommend counting your calories for the first two weeks or so (longer if possible) of P90X. In most cases, people consume a lot more calories than they think and counting every single calorie that enters your mouth helps you realize that. The days of counting calories manually are over, you no longer have to write down the nutrition facts from the nutrition label and then add them up at the end of the day. There are many FREE calorie counter programs out there and the one I use is “My Plate” at http://www.livestrong.com/. This is a free program that pretty much has every food in its database…even the Beachbody nutrition supplements. Not only does it give you your total calorie count, it breaks it down by carbohydrates, protein, and fat…as well as gives you the protein/carbs/fat ratio in a graphical display.

Seeing that my focus is on building muscle mass in round 2 of P90X, I am going to try to at least consume my body weight in protein. I currently weigh 193 pounds so I am going to shoot for at least 200 grams a day. I also want to maintain my body fat percentage so even though I am going to consume more calories (when compared to round 1 of P90X), I am not going to overdo it. There is a fine line between eating enough to build muscle and eating too much to not only build muscle but to add fat as well. Unfortunately, this “fine line” is different for everyone and is hard to determine.

Speaking from experience (round 1), it’s a lot easier to maintain a healthy eating regimen when you plan your meals ahead of time. Below is pretty much what I will be eating during my second round of P90X. I will be eating something different for dinner every night but for the most part, the food I eat during the day will remain the same.

The times are not exact but I do try to eat every couple of hours or so.

5:00am                 -Whey protein mixed with skim milk
5:30am                 -P90X Workout
6:45am                 -P90X Recovery Drink
8:00am                 -FiberOne Bar
                                    -Casein protein mixed with skim milk
10:00am               -Banana or Apple
12:00am               -Seasoned grilled chicken breast (6-8oz) over lettuce (about 2 cups) with lite Italian dressing
                                    -Chobani Nonfat Plain Yogurt           
3:00pm                 -Low Fat Mozzarella String Cheese
5:30pm                 -Mainly Turkey Products (ground turkey, turkey sausage, turkey burger, turkey meatballs etc…).
                                    If not turkey, it would be pasta, fish, or chicken.
                                    -2-3 servings of fresh vegetables (spinach, asparagus, broccoli, green beans)
                                    -Sweet potato / white potato on occasion
6:00pm                 -I eat salad if I am still hungry
8:00pm                 -Low Calorie Snack (mini rice cakes, fat free popcorn, etc…)
10:00pm              -Casein protein mixed with water
                                   -Sleep

Total Calories – 1,956        
Total Carbs – 184g              
Total Protein – 219g          
Total Fat – 34g

The calorie total is based on having a turkey burger on a 100 calorie english muffin with spinach and asparagus for dinner and mini rice cakes for a small snack in the evening. Now, in order to build muscle I will need to consume a lot more calories than this so I am going to allow myself a cheat meal once a week. This cheat meal will fall on either a Friday or Saturday night. This will allow me to enjoy my weekends a bit more as well as increase my weekly calorie intake.

*Casein protein is a slow digestive protein that helps balance your protein intake throughout the day/night. Unlike whey protein which enters your bloodstream in 15 minutes and peaks within an hour, casein peaks between 3 to 4 hours and can stay in your bloodstream for up to 7 hours. The best time to take casein protein is right before bedtime. Sleep is primetime when it comes to the muscle building process so you can enhance this process by letting your muscles feed off casein protein all night long. Don’t be confused, whey protein is the protein of choice to take right before and/or after an intense workout.

Click on the following supplement for more information…

Whey Protein

P90X Recover Drink

Casein Protein