How Food affects your body and your performance

Nutrition   Simplified

Until now, you've probably looked at numbers to understand   what to eat. You've used protein, fat, and carbohydrate   percentages, calorie calculators and maximum   and minimum   deficits.  These are all excellent tools when it comes to educating yourself on how food affects your body and your performance.   But they can only go so far. In truth, your metabolism   is relentlessly complex.  If you

really wanted  to learn your  exact daily  calorie  burn,  you'd  need to be hooked  up to a machine  2417

or you'd  need to come up with  a calculator  featuring   thousands   of factors  including  age, race, heritage,  upbringing,   altitude,  how much you've  slept, how many steps you're  going  to walk, your mood,  etc. Same with the food you put into your body.

A calorie  calculator  will tell you that  an apple  has 100 calories,  but the honest  truth  is that  it might be 87 calories,  or 112, depending  on volume,  how long it ripened,  and how much water  it absorbed.   P90X3 strips down the calculations   to their minimum   and replaces them with the tools used by intuitive eaters like Tony. His diet is designed to offer him maximum   performances   and it works on three tenets.

1.) Simplicity

Eating should be easy. If you love to cook, great, but if you're on the go, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to eat right  and take care of business.

2.)  Variety

This is the key tenet  of all the  P90X3 workouts,   and  it extends  to food  as well:  Having a wide range  of foods  in your  diet assures  that  you get all the  nutrients   you need. It also makes eating delicious.

3.)  Flexibility

There's no perfect diet for everyone-even your needs will shift as you change.  It's important   to change things up as needed.  The P90X3 Nutrition   Plan uses these three precepts to offer you a variety of food options, and maximum   flexibility   for your individual   needs. Think of them as your New Nutritional   Tools.

Whats   New in the  P90X3  Diet?

As if you have not already  figured  it out  Simplicity.  There are three  food  lists: carbohydrates, protein,  and fats. How do you make sure you're  getting  all the nutrition   you need? Again, it's simple.  There  is a hierarchy  within  each list. The higher  up the  lists you eat, the healthier  you eat.

Next, so a simple  calculation  to determine   your  meal plan. It may not  be as exact as the  Harris

Benedict  Equation,  but  it's still very accurate  and, more  importantly,   flexible.

Finally, you'll  notice  that  the plans lack macronutrient    percentage  information,    Instead they focus on  the quality  and the volume  of the fresh foods  you'll  be eating.  This includes a diet  packed with high-quality   fresh fruits  and veggies, raw nuts and seeds, whoa  grains,  and lean protein  sources. Those foods, combined with your approximate   calorie level, makes the magic happen.  However, if it eases your mind, these plans are roughly 40% (arbs, 30% proteins,   and 30% fat.

How the P90X3 Diet Plan Works

Tony doesn't use calculators.  He doesn't tick portions   off of a chart.  He doesn't ponder what his caloric needs are.

What's Tony's Nutrition Plan?

It's amazingly impel, and it's what you're going to be shown in detail on this website.  You get hungry.  You put food in your mouth.  You chew it up. You swallow it. You work out. You feel awesome.  Simple as that.

When you get to a certain  point  in fitness,  after years of eating  clean, healthy  foods  and

watching  your  body react to those  foods,  you become  an "intuitive   eater."  Sure, you might experiment   with  different   dietary  systems,  check in with  a nutritionist    occasionally,  or try new foods  that  you read about,  but your  primary   indicator,  the thing  that  tells you what  to eat when,

and how much,  is you You listen  to your  body and work  from  there.  It's as though  you literally  ate a

P90X3 Nutrition   Guide and your  digestive  system  absorbed  the  information.

So the goal with  the P90X3 Nutrition   Plan is to help you get to a place where  your  body just  knows what  you need and when  you need it. You're going  to learn to eat a clean, simple  diet that  will  help you achieve your  goals, whether   it's a fitness,  weight  management,   or general  wellness.

What  is Intuitive    Eating?

"Intuitive      Eating" is the ability  to listen  to your  body's cues so that  you make the right  decisions nutritionally.    Think of it as the  healthy,  fit  cousin  of "impulse  eating."  Cravings should  be good

things.  An intuitive  eater  uses them  to understand   what's  lacking in their  diet, whether  that's  carbs, protein,  fats, or even a micronutrient    like iron  or sodium.  On the other  hand, an impulse  eater misreads  these signals, eating  for comfort   rather  than  performance.

As an intuitive  eater,  you set those  cravings straight.  A lack of fat  in your  diet  might  trigger  a craving for  raw nuts or avocado.  A lack of carbs might  have you thinking  of fresh fruit  instead  of soda.

Achieving  this can take a little  time and determination,    but the ~~gI~IjLJ~!~itl()~ (JLJi~~should  make it  much  easier. Here's a little  three-step   cheat sheet to help you along the way.

Step 1

•  Eat whole,  healthy  foods

Step 2

•  Exercise often

Step 3

•  Listen to your  body unless  it tells you to eat something   unhealthy,  then  return  to Step 1!

Water

Despite studies  downplaying   the importance   of H20, we highly  recommend   it. Just because you can survive  on tea alone doesnt  mean it's a good idea. While those  studies  are fine  for John Q Publis, they don;t  account  for the massive  resources  an athlete  burns  through.  You're sweating.

your  maintaining   body temperature,   you're  building  new muscle. You need water.

What's  more,  most  people  overeat  because their  thirsty,  not hungry.  We walk around  in a state of constant  dehydration.   Water  promotes   satiety,  so if you drink  it before  a meal, you're  likely to eat less ( up to 90 calories  less, according  to one study). And when  you're  drinking  water,  you're  less likely to quench  your  thirst  with  other  sugary  drinks  like soda or juice,  which  tend  to make you want  to drink  more  water.

The following  water  consumption   guidelines   relate specifically  to your  P90X3 workout.

X3 Hydration  Schedule

"   8-12 oz of water  15 to 30 minutes  prior  to exercise

,   4-8 oz of water  every 15 minutes  during  exercise

Beyond  that, we recomment   you drink  your  body weight,  divided  by 2. in ounces.  So if you weight

172 pounds,  that  would  be 86 ounces  of water.  Every day. this may sound  like a lot, but you'd  be amazed  how quickly  a day of consistent  sipping  can add up.

The  BeachBody  Water   Bar

Mixers

•  FlatWater

•  Sparkling  Water  ( make sure it has no calories)

Mix Ins

Choose any combination   of min-ins  from  the  lists below  for a delicious  water  cocktail.

Fruits/ Veggies

•  Lemon  Wedge

•  Lime Wedge

•  Orange  Slice

•  Strawberry  Slices

•  Kiwi Slices

•  Cucumber  Slices

•  Frozen Grapes

•  Watermelon   Cubes

•  Splash of fruit  juice:  Cranberry,  Orange,  Grapefruit

Herbs

•  Mint  Leaves

•  Basil

•  Grated  Ginger

•  Rosemary

Extras

•  Crushed  Ice

•  Ice Cubes

•  Raspberry  Mint  Ice (fill  an ice cube tray with  water,  fresh  raspberries,   and mint  leaves)

In the sports  nutrition   world,  there's  been a lot of talk about  intermittent    fasting  and other deprivation=based    eating  strategies.  If you want  to experiment   with  this  type  of eating, go for  it. We can discuss your  results  over lunch!  Oh wait, you  don't  eat lunch!  Or is it dinner?

Instead of treating your  meal  plan  like a complex  military  strategy,  keep it simple.  have three square  meals  a day and augment  those  means with  two  healthy  snacks to help  make  up for the nutrients   you  might  miss. For example, if lunch was a little protein-heavy   you can have some fruit for your  afternoon  snack to balance  things  out. This strategy keep your blood sugar stable instead of peaking  and crashing which can lead to overeating   and a generally  poor  feeling.

Of course, it's a busy world,  so sometimes   those  midday  snacks might  not be doable.  If this  is the case, three  square  meals add will work,  but still try to get those  snacks  in there  to keep you from showing  up at meal feeling  famished.   That's partly what a snack is for- to SPOilyour  appetite!

Timing

Try to finish  eating  eating  approximately    three  hours  before  you  hit the sack. Digestion  interferes with  your  sleep cycles-and  a good  nights  sleep is crucial  to proper  fitness.  If you  do need to break this  rule, a small  protein-based   snack would  be the snack of choice  before  bed. A least it'll help recovery  during  sleep.

As for  nutrition   timing  around  your  workout,   provided  you're  eating  enough  you should  be able to blat  through   each 30 minute  X3 workout   without   issue. Generally  speaking,  the  human  body  has the glycogen  stores  and blood  sugar to get through   an hour  workout,   so you  shouldn't   need to "load"  preworkout.   And exercising  on an empty  stomach  isideal  anyway,  becuase  digestion competes  for your  body's  resources.  Blood  flow  is split  between  pumping   through   your  muscles and around  your  stomach,  so you  do neither  well.

Vices  to  Avoid

Caffeine  and Alcohol

Should you drink  them?  In excess, they'll  both  kill you. But in moderation,   studies  have shown drinking  one or two 4-ounces  of wine  a day has an assortment   of benefits,  from  heart  health  to stress reduction  to general  longevity,  and two or three  8 ounce  cups of coffee  a day can potentially increase your  metabolism.   boost  performance,   and  help with  mental  faculty.   And they both  taste so good!

Ultimately,  the choice  is yours.  While some alcoholic  beverages  have some long-term   merits, they're  still empty  calories  that  aren't  going  to help your  immediate   results.

Caffeine,  on the other  hand, might  help performance   marginally,  it's not the actual  coffee that's problematic,   it's the  sugars and weird  creamers  you  put in it. Drink  your  coffee  black or with  a splash  of low fat  milk.  But keep in mind  that  these next 90 days with  X3 are an opportunity    to really clean up your  act. So push yourself  out of your  comfort   zone. you don;t  really  need coffee to function,   do you?

Other Cheat Foods

In the  real world,  the  occasional  cheat meal helps keep you sane. Life is too short  not to eat a little pie sometimes.   The problem   is that  people  have lost sight of what"   a little"  means.  So to get back to clean, healthy  basics for  the next 90 days.

Toss The Junk

If you haven't  done this yet, do it now.  Place your  garbage  can in an open  space, open  up the cabinet  and start  throwing  out  the lawbreakers.   Snacks with  saturated   and trans fats, sodium,  and sugar should  be the first  to be thrown   out ( r.e. cookies,  pastries,  candy, processed  meats,  potato

chips, soda, high-sodium   frozen  foods,  caned soups,  etc) It's junk  fuel-  empty  calories-and  you won't  get anywhere  powered  by them.  Throw  them  away, and don't  let anyone  give you more.

Don't be nice, don't  take a bite. Say:"Thanks,  but  I am not eating  that  kind of stuff  anymore.  lead  by

example.

How do I Measure   My Food?

Intuitive   eaters  can "eyeball" their  servings.  They look at their  plate  and  know  if it's enough  or too much.  Of course,  it takes a little  practice  to get to the point.  so here are a couple  systems  of measurement    to get you  started.

On the Food Lists, you'll find  these two  systems  to the  right  of each food  item.  The first  involves  a number   and a traditional   unit  of measurement   (cup, ounce, etc). The second  involves  a part  of your  hand. They're  designed  to give you varying  degrees  of control.  You can use one or the  other or a combination   of both.  Here's how they work:

The P90X3 Micromanagement    System

This is the system  for you  if you  really, really want  to know  exactly  how  much  you're  eating.  If you travel  with  a kitchen  scale and use a calculator  watch  to give an exact 20% tip  in restaurants,   this  is the system  for you.  It's the  best system  for  hitting  (roughly)  exact caloric goals.

Also on this site, we've provided  a list of exact calories  as well as exact carbohydrate,   fat, and protein  grams  for each of the food  plans. You'll probably  want  to use that  too.

The Way of The Hand

If you can't be bothered with  all that  measuring,  this plan is a great  way to take the pressure  off with   more  of an educated  guesstimate   approach.   The Way of The Hand uses, you guessed  it, your hand to measure  foods.  Here's a great  chart that  provides  a quick system  of measurement.

You'll notice  a "+" after  some  of these  measurements   on the  Food Lists section.  As great  as this system  is, there  are a few items  that  didn't  quite  fit, so when  you see that  "+" just  add a little  bit more.

The chief criticism  of this method   is that  everyone  has different   sized hands. This may be true,  but bigger  people  also tend  to have hands  and generally  bigger  people  can get away with  slightly  more calories,  because, you know, they're  bigger.  But frankly,  hand size doesn't  mater  all that  much. Caloric differences   due to hand size are minor  and inconsequential    considering   the fact  that  the P90X3 Food Lists are packed with  healthy  foods,  which  are exactly the kinds  of foods  you want  to get your  hands  on.

P90X3 Nutrition-    What  Should  I Eat?

Ultimately, the answer to this is simple: healthy food. If that's ali you want to know, ship over to the food lists here. But if you want to learn a little more about what you're putting  in your mouth, read on.

Carbs, Fat and  Protein

Carbohydrates

Your body's primary fuel  source,  carbs are also important   to ushering  other  nutrients,   including some vitamins   and protein,  into your  system  efficiently.   Carbs also contain  fiber,  which  you  need to keep your  digestive  tract  working   and the flora  in your  intestines   strong.

A lot of people  mistakenly   avoid carbs when  what  they  need to avoid  are refined  carbs, including "white"  breads, and  rice as well as added  sugars.  Granted,  there  are times  when  an athlete  can use these things  as targeted  nutrition,   but  most  experts  agree that  their  over consumption    is the

primary   reason for the obesity  epidemic,   not to mention   type  2 diabetes  and heart  issues. If you limit  your  carb  intake to fresh  fruits  and veggies, whole  grains,  ans targeted   supplemental    nutrition such as Shakeology,  you'll  be good  as gold.

Fat

Contrary to what  many fad  diets have told  you, humans  need to eat fat to survive.   Among  other things,  it serbes as an energy  source.  It acts as a transport   for fat-soluble   nutrients   such as vitamin A, 0 and  K. It adds structure   to cell membranes   and acts as a regulator  for several  hormones. There's considerable   debate  over the  benefits  of saturated  fat,  but your  best bet is to eat saturated fat in moderation    and to look healthy,  whole  food  sources  such as coconut  oil and free  range, organiC meats.

Protein

You are made, mostly  of protein.  Protein can be broken down  into  amino  acids, which  are your body's  building   blocks.  eight of which  you  can't create  internally,   so you  need to get them  from food.  Animal  proteins  contain  these "essential  amino  acids," but you  can also get all those  amino acids from  a few  plants  sources  including  soy, quinoa,  and  hemp,  as well  as a combination   of legumes  and grains.  That's why beans and rice is a staple  meal  in so many  cultures!

There  are a lot of misconceptions    about  the  role of protein.  First thing  you  should  know  is that piling  on protein  isn't going to give you  big muscles.  Your body  an only  process  so much  protein into  "building   blocks"  at a time.  For most  people,  that's  about  .8 grams  a day per kilogram  of body weight.  That number   climbs  for  intense  exercisers,  so you're  going  to use 1 gram  to 1.5 grams  per kilogram  of body  weight.

Another   misconception    is that  we, "pass" the excess protein  we eat. This is not true.  It's converted to glucose(fuel)  which  can either  be used or it will  be stored  as fat.

How Foods Work With P90X3

The P90X3 Nutrition

Plan breaks these three macro-nutrients    down into three simple, hierarchical lists. Each list includes all the relevant foods in that category in order of how much you should eat. 

The (arb  List  for  example, starts  with  green,  leafy veggies like kale and spinach,  then  to other  veggies, fruits,  starchy veggies, whole  grains,  and finally  processed  whole-grain products   such as bread  and pasta. The Fat List starts with healthy, monounsaturated     fats shown to promote   heart health

and longevity,  and works  its way down  to cheese, which  is a questionable   food  in many  nutritional    circles, but  life's to short  not to eat cheese sometimes,   right? And The Protein   List  starts  with  lean sources  or sources  rich in essential  fatty  acids, working   down to foods  with  more  controversial   fats  in them.

Macronutrient     Mix  and  Match

More  astute  readers  may have noticed  that  the  Protein  food  list is based on the facts  in the foods. Confused?  Don't worry,  that's  not a bad thing.  As stated  implicitly   throughout    the guide, very little is black and white  when  it comes to nutrition.   While  the three  lists are named,  "Carbohydrates," "Fat," and "Protein,"  that  doesn't  mean  that  the foods  within  are made  100% of those macronutirents.    Most things  you eat are a mishmash   of all three,  so P90x3 grouped   them  by their primary   macronutrient.    For example,  avocados  are, technically,  a fruit,  but they're  also primarily made  out of fat, so we put them  in the  Fat List.

This is another   reason  why your  don't  have to get too  stressed  out about  hitting  numbers.   Quality is king with  the P90X3 plan. Just fill your  portions  with  these foods,  steering  towards  the top  of the top  of the  lists, and  let the  magic happen.

Don't  Forget  the  Variety!

Of course, that  doesn't  mean you  should  eat nothing  but  kale, avocados,  and anchovies.  Firstly, your  romantic  life would  vanish,  unless you want  to marry  a cat. Secondly, as Tony likes to say, "Variety  is the spice of life." Most  of what you  eat should  be from  the top  of the  lists, but everything on all the  lists is good  for you so mix it up a little.  Variety  assures that  you'll get a wife variety  of nutrients.   It also assures that  eating  is fun,  interesting,   and delicious-  and that'll  keep you

motivated   to stay on course.