P90X Nutrition Guide Alternatives

I’m assuming if you’re reading this article you’re looking for some alternatives to the P90X nutrition guide. Either there’s something about the P90X nutrition guide that you don’t like, or you borrowed P90X from your sister’s boyfriend’s co-worker’s cousin and they can’t find it, or your toddler flushed it down the toilet, etc.

So, before we look into the different options let’s first examine the different reasons why you are seeking an alternative in the first place.

1. You think you can get good enough results just by doing the workouts.

Well, if you want to give that a shot go right ahead! 🙂 BUT if you plan on dedicating 90 days of your life to a workout program and skimp on the nutrition then that’s your choice. But I’m not thinking you’re going to make the best use of your time. 80% of your body composition is determined by what you eat. So, you can do P90X until the cows come home, but if you continue to make poor nutrition choices you’re only sabatoging your efforts. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to go through ALL that work I want to make sure that I give it my best effort otherwise I feel like I’m just wasting my time. Make sense?

There’s also a lot of people who think they can’t afford to eat healthy. But if you follow a very simplistic nutrition plan like I do it’s not that expensive. Egg whites, oatmeal, fruit, chicken, etc. is fairly reasonable in comparison to a lot of packaged and processed foods. If you REALLY want to make it work, you’ll find a way to make it happen. Otherwise, you’ll just keep coming up with more excuses.

2. You find the P90X nutrition guide too confusing and/or complicated.

I tend to agree that the information can be a bit overwhelming. The portion approach is the most confusing of all I think. For example, if you eat Greek yogurt is that considered a protein, carb, dairy, or snack? Ummm, yeah. I also don’t find a lot of the recipes appealing and often they are just too time-consuming with my schedule. So, the meal plan approach didn’t really jive with me either. However, I do think the nutrition guide is very useful in terms of listing what foods you want to include in your diet. Basically, if there’s something you’d to like to eat and it’s not listed as one of the choices in the guide, then it’s probably not a good idea.

I do recommend though that the majority of people follow the “Fat Shredder” recommendations since many doing P90X for the first time want to lose weight in the form of body fat. If that’s you, I recommend a book called Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto which will teach you how to create your own meals using the Fat Shredder macronutrient percentages of 50% protein 30% carbs and 20% fat. You can continue on the Fat Shredder phase as long as you feel like you have enough energy to get through your workouts. If not, you will probably need to add more carbs to your diet. Then once you get closer to your goals (or you hit a plateau) you’ll probably want to change things up a bit. That will most likely include increasing your daily calories and/or incorporating some type of zig-zag approach to your nutrition plan.

However, if you feel like you just need to lose those last 10 pounds and just want to fine-tune your physique, I recommend a book that’s a little bit more advanced. Unfortunately, it’s only available electronically (I normally prefer book-books over e-books) but it’s still an EXCELLENT read. It’s also written by Tom Venuto and is called Burn the Fat–Feed the Muscle.

3. You physically don’t have the P90X Nutrition Guide.

If you or your sister’s boyfriend’s co-worker’s cousin purchased P90X from Beachbody all you have to do is call or email Beachbody customer service (800-470-7870 customerservice@teambeachbody.com) and they will be happy to send you a replacement copy. Otherwise, you’re pretty much outta luck.

However, another alternative is to sign-up for a Club memberhip on the Team Beachbody website. As a club member you’ll be able to create customized meal plans based on your goals. There’s a Low-Carb Express Plan option which is ideal for those in the Fat Shredder phase of P90X. The club membership costs $38.87 every 3 months which also includes some additional perks including a 10% discount on all Beachbody products and the chance to win $500 and other prizes every time you log your P90X workout on the website’s virtual gym (WOWY).

Again, you can also purchase either one of Tom Venuto’s books and use that as an alternative. However, keep in mind that the P90X nutrition guide was developed specifically for those doing P90X, so the meal plans you’ll find on the Team Beachbody website will follow more closely to the advice given with the P90X nutrition plan. I’ve also found that the recipes on the Team Beachbody website are lot more pratical than those in the nutrition guide.

I hope that helps! Please Tweet or share on Facebook if you found this information useful.