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The Beachbody Mailbag for April 2, 2011

Welcome to spring! It’s an unseasonable warm spring day in SoCal. The winds are still. The waves are waist high. I’d be out there surfing, but I’m temporarily beached with a severe case of lateral epicondylitis - or tennis elbow, as the plebes call it.

My loss is your gain, I guess, cuz now I have time to abuse y’all with another edition of the ‘Bag. Our first question comes in response to Whitney Provost’s The Best Fats to Get Lean article from the Beachbody Newsletter.

http://www.beachbody.com/product/newsletters/nl_452.do#

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I have just begun P90X and am feeling great! I just had a quick question regarding the P90X nutrition plan. I'm confused because the nutrition plan states that in all phases, the percentage of calories from fat should be at about 20%. However, this article says that generally they should be at 35%. So, I just wanted to get some clarification on the difference. – Hardeep
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Good question, Hardeep. I knew this would come up. We should have clarified things a bit more in the article. There are a number of variables at play here.

First off, keep in mind that the studies suggests the moderate fat method works due to satiety, so lower fat diets still work, as long as you have the willpower to maintain them. So the 20% fat diets we feature (our diets range from 20% fat to 30% fat) are still effective.

Also note that our eating plans are intended for the short term. They’re meant to work with our programs. Once the programs are done, we encourage you to alter your eating to something that works for you. That’s where this article is useful.

Finally, in regards to P90x specifically, it’s not a weight loss diet. It’s a fitness nutrition plan, so if you opt for a calorie deficit, it’s deliberately small. With this in mind, if you follow it as we recommend, you’ll be eating quite a bit of food. Satiety shouldn’t be an issue. Anyone who’s ever lived through the legendary Phase I, Level III, 10-egg-white Cheese Scramble will attest to this.

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I have completed p90x 2 times and being a female I would like more butt and legs. How would you incorporate p90x, which I love - bring it - and Brazilian Butt Lift (which I am thinking about ordering)? - Chris
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That’s ironic, Chris. As a male, I’d also like more butt and legs. Of course, I’m not referring to my butt and legs!

Ba-DUM-bah!

Anyway… part of the beauty of Beachbody is that we have, at last count, one billion, million, hundred, trillion and three different programs, making it easy mix and match and create your own great hybrids.

Sometimes, we put our own hybrids in the newsletters, but there are also tons of member-generated hybrids on the Team Beachbody Message Boards. In fact, here’s a great P90x/BBL rotation from one of the boards’ more active (and intimidatingly knowledgeable) members, Cardiomama:

http://teambeachbody.com/connect/message-boards/-/message_boards/message/80456320

Our next question comes from a member who either 1) shares my love of a certain masked crimefighter or 2) is actively stalking me, has learned of my love of a certain masked crimefighter, and is using that information to get this question into the mailbag.

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Riddle me this Batman. Why is it that we see so many people “following the rules” in terms of diet and exercise (including eating sufficient calories to stay out of starvation syndrome) who fail to achieve any real results, despite busting their butts. I’m not talking about the 80% of the population that can and does see results when following directions, I’m talking about those stubborn 20%-ers. Thoughts? – JPH
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You answered your own question, JPH. I don’t know if “so many” people are having problems. Frankly, by your math, 80% is an awesome success rate – that’s higher than many surgical procedures and waaaaay better than my success rate finding dates at yoga class.

If you look at the message boards, yes, it seems like a lot of people are having problems getting results, but that’s just because people who succeed generally don’t feel compelled to write in.

Also, remember that not every program will work for everyone all the time. Occasionally, Beachbody products might not be a good match for an individual, but most of the time, it’s just a question of tweaking things to make them work for specific needs. We’ve worked hard to help customers do this by extending our programs past the box and into the message boards, support staff, coaches, and so on.

The key is patience. Take my tennis elbow. I’ve been dealing with it for a couple months now. The conventional rest and icing protocol doesn’t seem to be working, making me one of that dreaded 20% you mentioned. I’m trying other things now. I know it’ll heal. Who has tennis elbow for life? It’s just a matter of finding what works and giving it the time to work.

Our final question relates to Michi’s Ladder, our handy-dandy list of good, bad, and ugly foods.

http://teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder

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Hello, this note from Michi's Ladder - Note on frying: Foods should be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, poached, baked, or broiled. Frying automatically drops even the best foods into tier 5. What happens if you fry it with no butter, or oil? What if you use a zero calorie spray or Pam to fry the food, wouldn't that keep it in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 instead of dropping it down to Tier 5? Tony
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Well, Tony, technically, Pam is still oil. It’s just that it comes out of that aerosol can sparingly, so when you spray it for the 1/3 of a second they suggest, the calories don’t register. When you spray it for the 2-3 seconds that a pesky thing called “reality” requires in order to coat a couple chicken breasts, it has calories, believe me.

That said, I think you’re okay. When we slam frying, we’re referring to deep-frying, which destroys healthy fatty acids and creates carcinogens. Generally, the less fat you use, the less these bad things happen, so you’re slightly better off sautéing, but I’d still avoid it. Once you get to stir frying, where you use a tiny bit of oil, you’re in healthy ranges. And when you do what you’re proposing, which sounds a lot like a variation on grilling, I think you’re fine.

That’s all I got for this week. My elbow may be keeping me out of the water, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the sunshine. I think it’s time for a little seaside skateboard ride. When you’re done being jealous of my awesome, ocean-based, Peter Pan-like existence, drop us a line at mailbag@beachbody.com.

L8r sk8rs,

Denis