I just finished my first week and have been trying hard to follow the nutrition plan. I feel fine, but with all the discussion about excess protein I'm a little concerned. At 223lbs I need about 3000 calories a day, according to the nutrition guide, and all the research I've done. I trained for, and ran a marathon last year and I am very aware of the importance of sufficient calories with an intense exercise program. For the fat burner plan I would need 1500 calories from protein. At 4 calories/gram of protein that's 375g. (please correct me if I calculated that incorrectly.)

I'm interested in issues that involve kidney function because I've only got one, as a donor, not because I'm sick. Even with two functioning kidneys though 375g of protein a day seems excessive. The problem is, even if I went to 200g of protein, that's 27% calories from protein. Sticking with 20% from fat, that would leave 53% from carbs. Assuming I'm sticking with healthy foods, would I get muscle building/weight loss results from p90x using a 27/53/20 nutrition plan?

I have no idea what I'm going to do about the nutrition plan. My first choice is to follow the opinions of the p90x nutritionists and the success of all those that have used it. Or, I could take the advice of all the information I've found online about limiting protein intake and come up with a different nutrition plan. Having only one kidney, I'm leery of doing anything that will risk it, but I want to be healthier and am committed to the p90x exercise portion.

I know I have to make my own decisions here, but If I were to decide to use a different nutrition guide, does anyone have a suggestion that would work with the exercise program? And can I lose weight and gain muscle using p90x with a high carb nutrition plan?

Stick to the 1g per lean body weight. And as far as the gain msucle with high carbs, sure u can just the fat burning part is going to go slower imo

1g/lean body weight would be roughly 158g. (223lbs at 29%bf) So 158g of protein would be 632 protein calories, about 21%. So I would be looking at a 21%/59%/20% plan. This looks a lot like the phase 3 nutrition plan. If I were to jump to the phase 3 plan with the phase one workouts, am I still going to lose body fat and gain muscle? I would still be eating the healthy foods recommended.

Do this:

Protein: 225g per day
Carbs: 150g per day
Fat: 50g per day

Your caloric intake will be in the lower 2000's but you'll still get the energy you need from the food, and still burn fat and lose weight like crazy! Good weight too, fat, not muscle!

225g per day? That seems very high.

25-30g is the RDA, to run the body. 50-60g for working out, +12g if lifting weights.

It seems the excess is a waste. If not utilized it goes to fat.

Protein does not build muscle. It assist with building muscle. Concentrated contractions is what builds muscle.


Am I wrong here? Please advise.

Gunnski wrote:

QUOTE:
225g per day? That seems very high.

25-30g is the RDA, to run the body. 50-60g for working out, +12g if lifting weights.

It seems the excess is a waste. If not utilized it goes to fat.

Protein does not build muscle. It assist with building muscle. Concentrated contractions is what builds muscle.


Am I wrong here? Please advise.

My understanding is that muscles are broken down during weight lifting exercises and then rebuilt afterward using protein (mediated by hormones). If you take in just enough protein to make the repairs on your muscles, they will be able to recover but you will see no growth. If you take in more than this, you will actually get muscle growth during the rebuilding process. Obviously this comes down to more than just the amount of protein you eat, but without enough building blocks you aren't getting anywhere.

I feel that the RDA greatly underestimates the needs of people doing intense resistance workouts, but also that the 50% recommended for the P90X diet can be a bit high (250g for a 2000 cal diet, or more if you are a bigger person or in a later phase). If you browse the forums there are a lot of threads debating the correct amoung of protein intake, and there is usually a huge divide between medical studies and the advice of body builders and personal trainers.

That divide between the medical folks and the exercise folks is whats frustrating for me. Makes me wonder who to believe. In my case, having only one functioning kidney, I think I'm going to err on the side of caution and limit myself to around 150g a day and see how that goes. I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

Well, the medical folks in the forum are also exercise folks. So hopefully that will help ease your fears.

Please remember, none of the physicians/nurses posting here can be your physician/nurse. Please check with your personal physician if you have questions or concerns.

Sparta-bound!

Kevin

dmacl wrote:

QUOTE:
That divide between the medical folks and the exercise folks is whats frustrating for me. Makes me wonder who to believe. In my case, having only one functioning kidney, I think I'm going to err on the side of caution and limit myself to around 150g a day and see how that goes. I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

I would definitely be careful in your case. The only reason I haven't fully come around to the medical side was because there weren't conclusive studies done about the effects on people with normal kidney function, plus the fact that you don't see a huge epidemic of kidney problems in healthy body builders as far as I know. But no need to strain the one kidney you have left. I'm sure a lot of people will say even 150g is too much.

There's an old expression in medicine: "The data is the data."

The recommendation for protein intake comes from prospective clinical trials. Zach is correct in pointing out that studies haven't been conducted in body builders. So the question is, "are you a body builder?" If you are, then you should consider your protein intake accordingly. P90X is not designed as a bodybuilding program. It's a fitness program. I'm not a bodybuilder. I want to maintain an outstanding level of fitness for the rest of my life, and I plan to live a long time. I'm not willing to risk my health for more muscle, and I'm not willing to recommend it to another where the data indicates otherwise.

That's why I feel as I do. But when it comes to your health, it's your call!