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There are two things that are essential when it comes to 'sticking' to a exercise and nutrition program.

1. Learn more about what you can eat, so you have a variety of FLAVORFUL foods to enjoy rather then foods you HAVE to eat to get results.


2. Don't go too hard on yourself


Instead of typing a book out since this post will already be pretty long, I'll simply give you a link to a great You Tube channel that has ALL KINDS of great, flavorful, healthy recipes. Both for meals AND snacks. Check it out here -> http://www.youtube.com/user/leanbodylifestyle


This mentality you have for quitting because you can't train during fasting is not good. For that matter, that's just like saying....lets eat all we want and get fat and un healthy, because were all going to die anyway. This is the mentality of a giver-uper.

Doing the right thing is NEVER easy at first. Most the time you can tell if your doing the right thing because if it's TOO easy....chances are your taking the lesser route and not doing what you SHOULD be doing.

You have to realize that only YOU can make or break your success in life. Also realize that you don't need to set a dead line. There are NO dead lines when it comes to success. The only thing essential is striving every day to move toward it. When it happens it will happen. Going all out or nothing will leave you exhausted, over whelmed, and plain sick and tired of putting forth effort. Understand you are trying to un-do life instilled habits you've been stuck in for years and years. It isn't as easy as we all would like. Avoid the get together's, but keep in mind you need a cheat day to not feel restricted.

For every 3 pounds you loose, have a cheat day. At the most you'll gain a half of pound of fat back. The rest will be water weight that will subside after 3 days. That leaves you progressing at 2 1/2 pounds. If your over 200 pounds then you shouldn't have a problem loosing weight rather quickly. If that's your circumstance, have a cheat day for every 5 pounds you loose. 4 cheat days a month is NOT going to ruin your results. The only thing that will get in the way of your progress is not staying on track. Consistency is key.

You'll notice as you try to become a more stronger individual, just how many things in your life are making you weaker. Anything that is making it harder for you to better yourself, are the things in your life that are making you weaker. These are things you have to cut out. For me it was alcohol and weed. Both of these had me too lazy to workout and too hungry to stick to a calorie deficit.

Be honest with yourself, and learn to love yourself so that you can take care of YOU. Don't hold yourself back from your true potential. Don't be the victim of a circumstance, when you can out shine your flaws and faults, and live a greater life. I guarantee you that once your there, you will truly enjoy your new self more then you've ever enjoyed the things that are hard to say no too.

Were human. We fall off track. We fail. It's fact. But its not important that we failed. What's important is we get back up and go at it again. Don't accept anything less then what is best for you and your happiness. Happiness isn't taking the easy way because its less hellish...happiness is being at peace because you know you were strong enough to get through hell.



If you have any questions or ever need any help/advice/tips, feel free to message me and I'll get back to you. ;)




Keep moving,

Alex

Don't go with portions...go with grams. In the P90X nutrition plan, the fat shredder plan is 50 percent protein, 30 percent carbohydrates and 20 percent fat.


So to keep track of the grams of carbs, protein, and fats you consume....this is how you do it.



First, you have to know how many calories are in a gram of fat, in a gram of protein, and in a gram of carbs, so you stick to the right ratios of the fat shredder phase.


Each gram of protein is 4 calories.

Each gram of carbs is 4 calories.

Each gram of fats is 9 calories.



Now that you know how many calories are in a gram of each macro nutrient....this is how you figure out how much grams you need of each.


1.) Go to the P90X nutrition guide. Use the formula to see how many calories you should consume each day. For example, lets say you fall into Level 2. This means your daily calorie goal is 2,400 calories.

Lets do carbs and protein first.


For protein it's 50 percent.

Step 1.) So you first take your total daily calorie of 2,400 and multiply it by .50 for 50% protein.So 2,400 X .50 = 1,200 calories in protein.

Step 2.) To figure out how many grams 1,200 calories are, you take the calories you have for your protein needs, and divide it by the amount of calories in a gram of protein.
So 1,200 divided by 4 = 300 grams of protein to consume each day.


For carbs, it's 30 percent.

Step 1.) So you first take your total daily calorie goal of 2,400 and multiply it by .30 for 30% carbs. Just like we did for our protein needs. So 2,400 X .30 = 720 calories in carbohydrates.

Step 2.) To figure out how many grams 720 calories are, you take the calories you have for your carbohydrate needs, and divide it by the amount of calories in a carbohydrate.
So 720 divided by 4 = 180 grams of carbs to consume each day.


For fats, it's 20 percent.

Step 1.) So you first take your total daily calorie goal of 2,400 and multiply it by .20 for 20% fats. Just like we did to proteins and carbs. So 2,400 X .20 = 480 calories in fats.

Step 2.) To figure out how many grams 480 calories are, you take the calories you have for your fats, and divide it by the amount of calories in a fat. So 480 divided by 9 = 53 grams of fats to consume each day.

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This is what you call your macro nutrient needs. Which are the specific amount of carbs, fats, and protein you will need to consume in the fat shredder phase to loose fat.

Using a tool like my-fitness-pal makes this VERY easy. You simply plug in the food your eating through out the day, and it will tell you your total grams of carbs, fat, protein, and even sodium you are consuming. It does the math for you, and all you have to do is plug in everything you eat. Keeping track of what you eat is vital to your progress. So don't be lazy with it. Go through the head ache of keeping track, instead of going through the head ache of putting effort and time in, and not seeing all the results you want.

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If it's too much of a head ache for you, then you can at least start by making sure not to go over your required grams of carbs; and simply sticking to your daily calorie target.

That will still warrant good results, just not the optimal results you can experience. What can I say....like most things in life....you get what you put in.






If you have any questions, feel free to message me and I'll get back to you. ;)




Keep moving,

Alex

ha ha I just answered that my man.


I know....bunch of numbers and math. It's a little frustrating trying to crunch everything. Like I said....better to sit down for ONE time and crunch the numbers.....then to workout several times and only get 'little' results. It's a head ache...but it's only a head ache you have to go through ONCE. Once you do the math to figure out how many grams of each macro nutrient you need....you don't have to do it again for some great deal of time.


To recap, lets just throw out some numbers for an example. Don't take none of these numbers seriously....it's only for example purposes and I'm using small numbers to make it less of a head ache.

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Lets say after doing all the steps in my previous post, your stats for your daily consumption are set at:


200 calories a day, 5 grams of carbs a day, 4 grams of protein a day and 3 grams of fats a day.


You then go to my fitness pal and make your next day's meal plan in advance so you know what to eat tomorrow. This way you know your meeting your macronutrient requirements, as well as not going over your calories.


So you log in, then you punch your meals in.

Lets say it looks something similar to:


-Breakfast-
1/2 cup oats

-Mid meal snack-
Protein bar

-Lunch-
4oz chicken breast

-Mid meal snack-
2 oz Almonds

-Dinner-
4oz fish




After putting in your plan for your day's meals you will eat, my-fitness-pal will tell you the total amount of grams you consumed for the day in carbs, fats, and protein.


Lets assume everything is correct, it will show 5 grams of carbs,4 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fats. You now know because it meets your needs, it is a perfect plan for a days worth of meals.


Lets assume it's under or over. If this is the case, you continue to modify the servings of one or more of your meals, so you meet your macro-nutrient needs.
It takes time....this is why it may be easy to eat the same things every day for a while. Just to get the hang of it. Then once you got the hang of things, you can start adding some variety to keep things more interesting. Same go's for calories. If you meet your macronutrient needs but are over or under for your daily calorie goal, don't have a pain over it. Simply adjust ANOTHER day in the week to compensate.

If its over or under by like 5 or 10 calories...even 15...it's no reason to have to compensate for it with another day in the week. The main thing will be to strive your very best to meet your macro nutrient needs within your daily calorie allowance.



Hope that helps. If you are level 1 or 3 in the P90X nutrition guide, just post that you are, and I'll do the math for you so you know how much grams of each macro-nutrient you need to consume each day. This way all you have to do is use my-fitness-pal to keep track of your meals and make sure your hitting all your targets.





Keep moving,

Alex

Also I was wondering if I go a few grams over in either carbs , fat or protein is that bad even though I'm under in calories?