Ok, so a little over a year ago I did the full 90 days of P90X and my results were huge. Then I moved and got married, and my diet/exercise plans went down the tubes.

My wife and I had started and stopped P90X again 3-4 times but never stuck it.

So for a change of scenery, my wife and I got P90 and have been doing that program. Yes, Tony is just as much of a nut there, as he is in P90X. Anyways, the diet is a little bit different.

My main question is about eating when you are hungry versus eating because the diet says so. Currently, I am ~200 lbs and maybe 18-20% bodyfat. So I am fairly muscular from P90X and the muscle work of the P90 stuff so far. Just have a little extra gut to get rid of!

There is part of the diet in P90 called Fat Burning Express. It is pretty similar to the fat shredder diet of P90X. Anyways, it has 6 days of meals laid out for you perfectly. I think it is only maybe 1700 calories. I do not have a problem with the meals, they all taste great. My problem is that it feels like way too much food. However if I don't eat all the meals they have setup for me, I would be a 200lbs guy eating less than 1700 calories. Almost everywhere I read, that is a bad thing as it would cause potential starvation mode.

Normally I never eat unless I am hungry (except 3hrs before bed), and I always stop eating when I am not hungry. I don't eat until I am "full" as that is usually beyond when you are actually full.

So if I can keep my energy up during the work outs, I eat when I am hungry, and I stop when I don't want any more, is there any reason I should force myself to eat the suggested calories?

Oh, and this is all in the very healthy food sections. Tier 1 of ladder Tony talks about. Never more than 4oz of meat in a day, the rest is vegetables, fruits, etc. Drink lots of tea and water.

I just really dislike forcing myself to eat when I am not hungry. It feels counter productive to weight loss. I could understand if I was crashing during work outs, but I have more energy than ever, and think eating more than necessary is slowing down results.

I've always believed that you shouldn't wait for your body to tell you that it's hungry or thirsty to eat or drink - you need to consume nutrients and water regularly to keep your metabolism active and to stay energetic. Eating frequently is much more useful for weight loss than only eating when hungry, which could potentially lead to starvation mode.

1700 calories for a 200lb man sounds too low in my opinion but if it's working for you then stick with it. I'm 5'10 and 175lbs and I'm 2000+ daily, which I get from eating 6 small "meals" a day up until 2 hours before bed.

try eating 5 times a day, not 3 meals and 2 snacks but 5 full balanced meals. After about a week of doing this your body adjusts to this schedule and you will become hungry every 2-3 hours. Combined with steady exercise your metabolism will be on fire after doing this. It is a pain to make 5 meals a day, cooking in bulk is a must and having something you can throw together with left overs helps a lot.

None of that answered my question. I do the 3 meals and 2 snacks, but that is besides the point.

I am eating those meals, most times, because I am supposed to, not because my body is telling me I should.

I like to cook, so doing that isn't the problem. I just don't like to binge eat just because some diet book is telling me to. Binge eating seems bad to me, even if the food you are consuming is healthy.

Like one meal was...

4oz flaked tuna
2 cups romaine
1 cup carrots
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup cucumbers
1tbsp red wine vinegarette

If I remember correctly. Now it doesn't sound like much, but that is an enormous plate of food. If you actually count the calories of it, it is pretty low, but it fills you up fast. I think I made it through all of it except for maybe 1/2 cup of the broccoli. I was having to force myself to eat it, and I almost had to vomit.

So what do I do in that situation? The diet claims I should be eating it. The amount of calories for a person my size says I should be eating it. However, my body says "no more!" Shouldn't I listen to my body on this one instead of filling it past its quota?

>> I do the 3 meals and 2 snacks, but that is besides the point.


and my suggestion was to NOT do this. The 2 snacks could be effecting your appetite for your next meal. If you get into a habbit of eating 5 complete meals your metabolism will rise, you will feel the need to eat more, and eating a cup of brocoli will not feel like binge eating. So instead of breaking your 1700 calories into 3 meals and 2 snacks, break 1800 calories into 5 meals so each meal is only about 360 calories and you won't feel so full. Also the diet is just a suggestion, you can change it to suit your own needs. Just follow the right macro ratios and calorie total and you will be fine. You should not be vomiting to get in 1700 calories for a 200 lb man doing a very strenous exercise program. I haven't seen the P90 diet guide, just the p90x one. But if it's laying out only 1700 calories a day and you are vomiting to get this down I would suggest dumping that guide and move to the p90x nutrition guide, or customize your own nutrition plan using something like dailyplate or fitday.

i believe Tony has said before:

"if you can't eat it all, dont eat it."

i wish i had a reference for you, but i read it in an interview he did.