Hi,

From reading some of the postings on this forum, it appears to me that people (especially women) seem to be afraid to consume carbs. You need carbs in order for your brain to function and to have the energy to complete the workouts. If you are feeling tired, dizzy, or are not advancing in your workouts than you are not eating enough carbs.

Good carbs are not harmful! Things like bran, oats, rye flakes, quinoa, and brown rice are VERY good for you while doing p90x. The recovery drink and bar recommended by the nutrition guide have quite a bit of carbs in them so if you do not use the beachbody products than it is good to get a few extra carbs in something else.

If you do not get enough good carbs, than you will not get enough fiber, and we all know what happens when you don't get enough fiber...

Good point Cheergirl.

I think the goals people want to attain have something to do with it.
some folks are wanting to see their weight drop and they think by minimizing their carbs consumption it will give them better result.

Low carb diets do work to drop weight. When I was 11 I was overweight and lost 47 lbs on an diet similar to Atkins, but if you take the diet too far or too long, it can be at the expense of your health and progress. There is a reason Tony suggests to only do it for the first month. Here are a couple of articles about the repercussions of a low carb diet:
http://www.sideroad.com/Weight_Loss/low-carb-diet-danger.html http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=590

I also found an article in favor of Ketosis (low carb), but be sure to read the last paragraph (more for men):
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/anssi3.htm

Sometimes I wonder though - I mean, I realize that excess carbs store as fat, but so does anything in excess amounts right?

So somtimes I wonder if it is all just coincidence: for example, I used to eat a lot of carbs like pasta at dinner, sandwich for lunch, cereal for breakfast type deal. Carbs have loads of calories - I used to struggle to keep my cals in the 1500-1800 range when eating them all the time. Now that I have cut back and am having more salads and grilled chicken and veggies for dinner, these are all such low cal meals it is quite simple to keep within that range and not feel starving!

So sometimes I think it is because low-carb really means low cal and that is why it is easy to lose.

No that is wrong, lo-carb does not mean easy to loose weight. That means your going to make your body groggy. Your going to feel shakey in your workouts and sometimes pass out if you push it.

Carbs are great, but they can be bad. You must make sure you balance your carbs and your proteins! If you do not have the right ratio, then one is going to turn into fat! But if you have the right one then you will get results!

So just out of curiousity, why is it that the fat burner stage is so low carb then if that doesn't help you to lose weight? I get confused easily I think....lol

losing weight and losing fat are two different things. Weight can be from water whereas fat is excess energy in your body that has been burned through higher activity/ lower calories. I think the higher protein is to help people lose fat while building muscle and lean out first but its not recommended for a long period of time because you will not have enough energy to continue.

Once you have more muscle, you will burn slightly more calories per lb of muscle per hour causing your metabolism to increase and burn calories more efficiently.

my advice: eat a good amount carbs for breakfast and take a super vitamin B complex. B vitamins help convert food to energy and carbs are the best source of energy you can get. Thus, you get carbs for your brain, energy for your workouts, and no stored fat.