Fitz62:
p90mama:
Thank you so much for your info. I'm really in need of some further help. I am at one of the 2 points which you described. What changes can I make in order to find out what I'm doing wrong. Should I just increase my strength training intensity and see what happens after another week? If so, how do I know how much to increase it by? Also, do I need to increase my protein intake? I'm kind of confused.



Yes, intensify your strength training. How much is simple, go to failure. That is, go (with good form!), until you can't do more. Try to pick a weight where failure comes at 8-12. If you can do 12 or more, increase the weight.

Maintaining weight, you don't need a ton of protein, but research supports the notion that you do want more protein when trying to lose body fat. About 1.5 grams per kilogram of your body weight. The P90X portion and meal plans take care of this for you, but to figure out how much you need:

Convert your body weight to kilograms
Multiply by 1.5 for grams
Multiply grams by 4 to get calories

Pushing yourself hard and eating adaquate protein would be a good start. It will increase your caloric deficit and help minimize lean body mass loss. But, when eating higher protein, you have to drink enough water. Go for 4-5 clear urinations each day. If you've been eating mostly carbs, it might seem like you are going all the time at first, since your water balance will probably go down with more protein in your diet.

One other important thing to understand, the scale doesn't mean much. Muscle is denser than fat, so a smaller, muscular body weighs more than a larger flubby one. You really want to be measuring inches and, preferrably, measuring body fat (calipers are pretty inexpensive).

The scale is easily fooled, if you are sore, you are retaining water, if you've put on a little muscle faster than displacing it with lost fat, the scale can go up. Inches can be a little misleading too, but if you measure every week and do multiple measurements, it will give you a better idea of your progress.

Good Luck!


Thank you for the advice. According to the calculation I am eating enough protein. I drink lots and lots of water, ever since having to lose weight I have kept that good habit. Is there a point where you can drink too much water? Also, I have felt soreness at different points of the p90x, this doesn't always come from dehydration, does it? Starting Monday I will increase my weights to get to the "12 rep" failure point. When you did p90x did you notice any particular stages where your body seemed to lose tone. Do you think that this is part of the overall process?Thanks for the support. I am feeling more encouraged to continue.

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