Food for Thought

Are you having trouble with the nutrition plan?  Here are some tips that helped me during the first program that I’ve also applied to the new program.

1. Write everything you eat down.  Use the nutrition journals I’ve created or one of your own.  It’s the only way to keep track of your diet and make sure you are getting enough portions of each food group.
2. Schedule a set time to eat throughout the day.  I set my watch alarm to go off every two hours, which is perfect for me.  I’ll eat breakfast, and then two hours later have a snack, two hours later lunch, then snack, then dinner.  It’s a perfect schedule for me.  I never feel starved or full.
3. Try to fit as many portions from each food group into your meals so you don’t feel overwhelmed with eating enough.  When I first started P90X I had a tough time eating all the portions.  I just couldn’t do it.  I’m a toast and yogurt kind of girl, so eating anything more for breakfast was difficult. I especially had a difficult time in phase I eating 5 protein servings a day.  But once I got creative with my menu I leaned that it wasn’t that difficult after all. 
• Here’s an example; instead of having eggs and turkey bacon (2 proteins), try making it a scramble by adding 1 c. veggies and 1.5 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese.  Now, you’ve turned a 2 protein breakfast into a 2 protein, 1 veggie and 1 dairy portion breakfast.   For lunch, I eat a lot of salads during the first phase.  It helps me reach my veggies portions and also fills me up pretty well.  So, I’ll make it with 3oz lunch meat, chicken breast or tuna and then add 2 slices of turkey bacon.  Now, I’ve reached my 2 portions of protein for lunch and a serving of veggies.  Dinner is easy because it leaves me with only 1 protein left, which is usually a chicken breast.
• For more examples and menu ideas please see the recipes page.

I hope these tips help you.  The first phase is always the hardest for me because it takes a lot of advanced planning to know which meal will be fulfilling each daily portion, but once you get a system down it gets easier.