The P90X nutrition guide is not necessarily a diet
, but rather a nutrition program designed around the P90X workouts. A diet is something you attempt that usually restricts your calories in order for you to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time. The P90X nutrition guide is specifically designed to get you through your workouts and provide you with enough energy to complete the program and achieve the results. Tony Horton provides not only menus but also grocery lists and recipes as well. There are 2 ways to follow the program. One is the portion plan where the amount or serving size of each meal is important. The other is the meal plan which uses menus to help you prepare you meals. Its set up in 3 stages that correspond with the stages of the P90X workout program so that while your body is transforming so is your metabolism.
1st Stage: Fat shredder stage
This takes up the first 4 weeks and is mostly focused on higher protein and less carbohydrates. This is so that you muscles have enough protein to repair and rebuild through your initial first workouts. The energy youre using comes from stored fat in your body instead of high carbohydrates consumption. Great protein examples are salmon steaks, tuna, Lean meat, tofu and low-sugar vegetables usually green.
2nd Stage: Energy Booster
This is where they reintroduce carbohydrates into the diet with a blend of protein. In the workout routine phase 2 starts to get quite rigorous therefore you need to use carbohydrates to assist in providing energy as well as stored fat. In fact fats are reduced quite a bit more. Some examples are wheat bread, pasta, grains, legumes and potatoes.
3rd Stage: Endurance Maximizer
When the intensity of the cardiovascular component increases there is a greater need for more complex carbohydrates. Therefore the carbs are increased even more. By this time your body should have adapted to the intensity of the workouts and you are now using the excess carbohydrates as a source of energy and nothing gets put into reserve. One should not be consuming this many carbs if they are not performing at the level of intensity as the 3rd stage of the P90X workout.