Ultimate Reset Week 1 Favorite Dinner Recipe – Baked Salmon

May 22, 2012 By

Baked Salmon, Asparagus and Baby Potatoes
Print
Recipe Type: Dinner
Author: David
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 22 mins
Total time: 1 hour 22 mins
Serves: 1
This is one of our favorite dinner recipes from week 1 of the Ultimate Reset. We bought wild salmon from our local grocery store, along with baby potatoes and asparagus. Our 12 year old son normally doesn’t like fish or the salmon patties we get from Costco but he tried this and loved it. Score! Our 2 youngest (ages 6 and 8) already liked salmon patties so they liked this as well. Take notice: This one requires 1 hour to marinade the salmon prior to baking!
Ingredients
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt
  • 1/2 tsp. herbal seasoning
  • 1. Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 6-oz. salmon fillet
Instructions
  1. Preparing Salmon:
  2. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, oil, basil, salt, seasoning, lemon juice, and parsley. Place salmon in a medium glass baking dish and cover with marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place fillet in aluminum foil, cover with marinade and seal. Return sealed salmon to dish and bake 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.
  4. Preparing potatoes:
  5. Wash and chop potatoes in-half twice to create pieces about 1” thick. In a pot, cover them with water and boil on med-high heat for 15 mins (or until soft).
  6. Preparing asparagus:
  7. Wash and chop off the end of stalk. Use steam-pot to steam them for 5-7 minutes. Finish by sprinkling himalayan salt
  8. Or, bake them along with the salmon by placing them on cooking pan (on top of aluminum foil). Sprinkle half-teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil on Asparagus. When Salmon are done cooking in 20 minutes, remove fish but continue baking Asparagus by raising temperature to Broil/550 degrees for 2 minutes.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Tropical Strawberry Shakeology NOW available!

January 21, 2012 By

Want to improve the way you LOOK and FEEL? 

Shakeology Tropical Strawberry has me really excited because it opens up new options for people who are more selective with their nutrition! First, it’s fully Vegan, which means that it doesn’t have any ingredients from animals.  Second, it’s a fruity flavor so it’s great for those who don’t like chocolate. It now contains 4 more super foods than the original Shakeology as well!

Trying to get control of your appetite and avoid bad foods?

Remember, Shakeology is what helped Kate breakthrough a 9 month weight-loss plateau and reach her lightest weight since Highschool. It also helped me drop my bodyfat below 10% (down to 7%) and get a six-pack for the first time in my life! Both of us have plenty of energy to raise 3 kids, work full time, stay active in church without any coffee or stimulants!

Finally we could get control of our appetites and get rid of the cravings for sweets and junk food.

The original Chocolate and Greenberry formulations took 2 years to create and it took atleast another year to get Shakeology Tropical Strawberry just right.

The biggest change is that they replaced the grade 7 whey protein isolates with the most advanced (and highest bio-availability) plant-based protein available in the world. Shakeology Tropical now uses fermented sprouted brown rice protein.

shakeology tropical strawberryDAIRY FREE — SOY FREE — WHEAT/GLUTEN FREE — CAFFEINE FREE — NO ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS — ALL WHOLE FOODS!

Just in case you’re new to Shakeology

Here are the benefits WE’VE EXPERIENCED and you can expect if you drink it every day:

  • Reduced cravings for junk food (especially sugar/sweets)
  • Natural energy (not from stimulants!)
  • Regulated blood-sugar levels (great for diabetics!)
  • Reduced bodyfat
  • Reduced cholesterol
  • Reduced bloating and inflammation
  • Improved digestion

 What’s included in Shakeology Tropical? 

  • 15 grams of super healthy protein
  • 20 grams of low-glycemic carbohydrates
  • Your daily vitamins and minerals
  • Digestive enzymes,
  • Prebiotics & Probiotics
  • Antioxidants
  • Dozens of super foods

Where do the Shakeology Ingredients come from?

 

A few other exciting changes in Shakeology Tropical Vegan

  1. Shakeology Tropical is sweetened with tropical fruits like papaya, camu-camu, pineapple, coconut and strawberry
  2. Uses sprouted brown rice protein. This unique blend brown rice protein is only available in Shakeology. There are others, but this unique blend belongs to Beachbody
  3. It’s now completely lactase/dairy free
  4. Doesn’t contain micro allergens, so it’s also good for people with very sensitive digestive systems
  5. All vitamins and minerals come from whole foods, naturally occurring in the ingredients
  6. New Superfoods:
    • Coconut Flower Nectar – naturally sweet, nutrient-rich nectar that comes from coconut blossoms
    • Luo Han Guo – low calorie, low glycemic fruit that lends complex sweetness to foods, helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels and aids in weight loss, used in traditional Asian medicine
    • Himalayan Salt – completely natural, free from toxins, relatively untouched. Contains 70 trace minerals. Helps contribute to sweetness of product.
    • Konjac Root – a soluble dietary fiber, absorbs 200 times its weight in water, slows down how quickly the stomach empties after a meal so you feel fuller longer, promotes satiety for reduced cravings
  7. You’ll notice the new “Beachbody Ultimate” branding on this product. This means that the ingredients have THE HIGHEST bio-availability of any ingredients in the world! When you want THE BEST and don’t want to compromise, look for Beachbody Ultimate!
Shakeology Tropical Nutrition facts

 

So what about the taste of Tropical Shakeology?

I have tried it and it is delicious! It’s a great alternative to chocolate and greenberry – I think I will keep all 3 on hand to have variety. It also opens up all kinds of new possibilities on recipes!

 

How much does Shakeology Tropical cost?

Because of the super premium brown-rice protein, the cost of Shakeology tropical is $129 per month (which is just over $4.30/day) for 30 meals. This is compared to $120 for Chocolate/Greenberry Shakeology. Some people may think that’s expensive for a supplement but it depends on how you look at it. This is not just a supplement! It’s NUTRITION (with 17 grams of protein and 16 grams of carb) so consider if you can cut back on groceries, eating out, coffee, energy drinks, etc to come up with $4 a day. I was skeptical about price originally so I took advantage of the 30 day money back guarantee and tried it for 30 days. After the way I felt and saw my body slimming down, I found a way to fit it into my budget.

 

Does Tropical Strawberry Shakeology still have the 30 day money back guarantee?

Yes – all products from Beachbody are backed up by a 30 day money back guarantee. You can literally try it for 30 days and if you’re not happy with it, send the empty bag back for a full refund!

Choose how to purchase Shakeology

  • The Shakeology Convenience Pack contains 24 single-serving packets you can take anywhere.
  • Choose the 30-day supply in a bag to keep in your kitchen.

FREE Shipping when you sign-up for Home Direct, the monthly autoship program

Price: $129.95 for 30 meals
This comes out to $4.30/day

Buy with David as your Coach:

 

Buy with Kate as your Coach:

30-Day Money Back Guarantee
If you don’t start to see and feel the benefits of Shakeology within the first month of using it, or if you’re not 100% satisfied for any reason, just return it within 30 days for a full refund of the purchase price, less s&h—guaranteed. That’s our promise to you.

Order Shakeology with a workout program and save up to $54!

(First enter the Beachbody Challenge by clicking below, then pick a challenge pack) 

team-beachbody-challenge-packs-shakeology-fitness-programs-2

Filed Under: Featured, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , ,

Healthy Snacks while traveling or on the go

November 21, 2011 By

I’m often asked for healthy snack ideas from people who are traveling or on the go. I travel a lot for work and I’ve mastered how to be healthy while traveling. Some people don’t have access to a refrigerator so most of these items are non-perishable.

The most important thing to do before traveling is to plan ahead! How many days will you be traveling and how many meals will you be covering with snacks? Will you have access to good restaurants? I typically pack almonds, protein bars, jerky and some fruit in my carry-on luggage. I’ll then pack whey protein & Shakeology with a shaker cup in my checked-luggage.  I’ll also carry healthy snacks in my bag to school. You never know when you’re going to need a good healthy snack while on the go.

I’ve organized the foods by type (Protein, Carb, Healthy Fat) below:

ProteinHealthy Snacks

Beef/Turkey Jerky
Protein bars (Pure Protein brand)
Shakeology (with Shaker-cup)
Tuna (in easy-tear pouch)
Greek Yogurt (stays fine almost all day with fridge)
Whey protein drinks (with Shaker-cup)

 

Carbs

Pita ChipsHealthy Snacks - blueberries and almonds
Instant Oatmeal (if you can make water hot, you can poor it into the pouch)
“Cliff” bars (they are organic) (careful about carbs)
Whole wheat crackers
Oranges
Bananas
Apples
Cherries
Blueberries
Raisins (careful about eating too much – they are high in fructose)
Rice Cakes
Granola* (careful about eating too much – it can be high in calories)
*NOT Granola bars, just granola cereal, low in sugar

Healthy Fats

Almonds
Peanuts
Cashews

 

Like this article? Share it on Facebook and Twitter to help us spread the word!

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , ,

David’s P90X Nutrition Plan Simplified for best results

October 1, 2011 By

I made several modifications to the P90X Nutrition Plan that simplified it and gave me great results. These are the 4 steps I followed and the foods I ate to lose 36 lbs of fat and gain 8 lbs of muscle in 6 months!  

I also provide daily meal plans and a big list of P90X approved foods which you can use to create your own daily diet plan.

 

 P90X Diet and P90X Nutrition

Update: I’ve made a new video that simplifies how to lose body fat with P90X. Start with this video before reading below.

P90X Nutrition

 

The P90X Nutritional Plan is based on 3 phases outlined below. You’re supposed to start phase 1 with pretty restricted calories/carbs and then INCREASE both as you go through it. It is designed to prevent your body metabolism from slowing down and plateauing. Even though I added calories, I did not increase my ratio of carbs to protein as it suggests. I stayed at 40/40/20 (protein/carb/fat) the whole way through.

P90X is not a starvation diet or a big calorie restriction diet like many other popular diets. You lose the fat mostly through exercise!

The 4 critical parts of the P90X nutrition plan are:

1) Remove the junk from your diet:  simple carbs and sugars, processed foods, toxins and saturated fats
2) Replace with quality complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats
3) Eat enough to fuel your workouts and metabolism (with the right calorie goal!)
4) Target the right ratio of protein, carb, fat (by tracking what you eat!)

What foods should I eat with my daily P90X Diet?

Below are 4 different daily food plans based on my calorie goals as I went through the program:

David’s 1900 Calorie P90X Diet
David’s 2100 Calorie P90X Diet
David’s 2400 Calorie P90X Diet
David’s 2300 Calorie P90X Diet with NO DAIRY*

Read through our P90X approved foods list with a lot of different foods to choose from.

Know which carbs to avoid and which carbs to eat – check out my list of simple and complex carbs.

We’ve also recorded a youtube video that shows healthy foods to buy from CostCo that are “P90X approved”.  Watch Kate’s P90X Foods from CostCo video.

What “Must Have” supplement should I use with P90X to lose fat in a healthy way?

Shakeology - The best way to transform your body is with Shakeology. This is the foundation of my nutrition plan and has really improved my overall health. I was skeptical of the price at first so I decided to try it out using the 30 day-money back guarantee. I’ve been on it every day since.  In fact, it’s now one of only 2 Beachbody supplements that I recommend. To me, it’s WORTH IT but you’ll have to decide that for yourself.

It’s basically a high quality meal replacement unlike anything else. It will help you lose that body fat and give you energy. Why? Because it contains 17g quality carbs, 18g quality protein and 70 of the healthiest nutrients in the world. It improves your digestive system, removes toxins, lowers cholesterol, helps you to lose fat and improve energy levels, hair, nails and skin. I have this every day for breakfast.

It comes out to $4/day but if you order Shakeology from this site, I’ll coach you for free.

 

What should my daily calorie target be?

Here’s the P90X Calorie formula. As an example, I’m using 216 lbs as a starting weight.

1) Determine your resting metabolic rate. Take your body weight (216lbs) x 10 = 2,160
2) Add calories for Daily activity (NOT including P90X) = +20% (of above #) = 432
3) Add calories for what is burned during P90X = 600
4) Add them up, we receive: 3,192
5) Now determine the calorie deficit you desire (3500 calories is 1 lb). I recommend 600-1000 per day. In this example, let’s aim for 1000. This means you take 3,192 – 1000 = 2192 calories per day.

My starting weight was 205 lbs so I ate 1900 calories for 3 months and dropped to 186 lbs while working out at the gym.

I then started P90X and followed the following calorie goals:

Phase 1: Fat Shredder (I ate 2100 calories during this phase)
50/30/20 (Protein/carb/fat)

This phase is the lowest in calories to help kick start weight loss and is followed for the first four weeks. Carbohydrates are reduced while protein intake is kept high to help with building muscle and burning fat.

Phase 2: Energy Booster (I ate 2300 calories during this phase)
40/40/20 (Protein/carb/fat)

In phase two, complex carbohydrates are added back into the plan to allow you to train harder and keep up with the intense workouts during this phase.

You are permitted to eat three servings of complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread, pasta or oatmeal as well as one piece of low glycemic index fruit daily. Protein intake also remains high so as to aid in muscle recovery.

You can stick with this phase as long as it is working for you and only need to progress to phase 3 if you want to increase muscular endurance and gain more muscle.

Phase 3: Endurance Maximizer (I did NOT move to Phase 3, I stayed with Phase 2 and ate 2400 calories for the last 30 days) 20/60/20 (Protein/carb/fat)

Carbohydrates are increased further to give you the stamina necessary to get through the high intensity workouts of this phase.

In all of the phases eating frequent small meals and drinking lots of water are emphasized.

What Protein/Carb/Fat ratios should I follow?

During Phase 1 (Fat Shredder), it’s recommended that you follow a ratio of 50% protein, 30% carb, 20% fat. I did this for the first 30 days. This means that 50% of your daily calories came from protein, 30% came from carbohydrates and 20% from fat.
During Phase 2 (Energy booster), it’s recommended that you follow a ratio of 40% / 40% / 20%. I stayed with this for the last 60 days. I DID NOT move to phase 3 and I don’t know of many people who have done so and had great results.

It’s hard to eat 40-50% protein with just regular food, so I HIGHLY recommend WHEY protein as a supplement. I have it twice a day. Click here for my favorite supplements that I use.

How can I easily calculate and track my ratios on a daily basis?

I use loseit.com (free) and the iphone app (free). There are many other alternatives but this one is very simple and easy to use. It’s also the easiest for seeing the % of protein, carbs and fat you’ve eaten that day.

If you’re wondering if you have to track what you eat forever, the answer is NO… just for a period of time to build new habits.

In order to create a lifestyle that you can live with long term, it really helps to educate yourself about how the nutritional value of food. I’ve found the best way to do this is by tracking what you eat for a few weeks. You’ll be surprised and amazed at what you find. The easiest way I’ve found is by using http://loseit.com (free) or the iphone app LoseIt. It has a pretty good database of foods already and you can just add other foods by reading the label on the food and plugging in the calories, protein, fat, carbs. It will then total it up for you each day and let you know how you did.

 

Still have questions or just want help with your nutrition plan?

Make sure to sign up for a FREE Team Beachbody Account to get support with your nutrition plan. I’ll send you an email after you sign-up to get started!

 

Already have a Team Beachbody Account?

You can initiate a coach switch by sending an email to coachrelations@teambeachbody.com and asking them to switch you to David Ingram, Coach ID 153372. Make sure to CC: me on the email so I am aware of the switch. You can CC: me at david@symbioticfitness.com

This is the natural Whey Protein I use:
This is vital for reaching the daily goal of 40%-50% protein. There are many other great alternatives. This is one of the brands I use the most. CostCo also has Cytosport in a 6lb bag.

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard Natural Whey, Vanilla, 5 Pound

Price: $53.99

4.4 out of 5 stars (636 customer reviews)

27 used & new available from $48.00

If you are picky about taste and want something sweeter, try this one:

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard, Double Rich Chocolate, 5 Pound

Price: $53.99

4.5 out of 5 stars (1 customer reviews)

67 used & new available from $44.98

Need some protein on the go? These are the Protein bars I eat:

Pure Protein High Protein Bar, Chocolate Peanut Butter, 2.75-Ounce Bars (Pack of 12)

Price: $32.88

3.9 out of 5 stars (142 customer reviews)

11 used & new available from $18.00

I use Shaker cups quite a bit to mix-up my protein drinks and Shakeology.

BlenderBottle® Classic 28-ounce Blue

Price: $6.80

4.6 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

51 used & new available from

This is the food scale we use to measure our meats to more accurately track our protein and calorie intake.

EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver

Price: $34.95

4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

20 used & new available from $12.50

Filed Under: Featured, Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Boost your metabolism by eating like an athlete

September 26, 2011 By

Change WHEN you eat and burn an extra 2.4 lbs of bodyfat per month!

That’s right… this is what athletes do and it’s something we’ve been doing for the past year!

Kate and I had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Bill Wheeler (Chief Science officer at Beachbody) this past Thursday. Who is Dr. Bill Wheeler? He was staff nutritionist for 2 past presidents and he has also served as nutritionist/trainer for elite athletes such as Brett Favre, Michael Jordan, etc. and many others.

He shared a lot of insights with us and one of them that caught my attention was his discussion about why athletes spread out their meals into 5-6 smaller meals a day.

There are several benefits of eating 5-6 meals per day:

  1. Regulates blood sugar (less chance of spiking and dropping low later)
  2. Boosts energy  (more of a consistent source of energy)
  3. Regulates digestion (ever feel bloated after a giant meal?)
  4. Boosts your metabolism! (To the tune of 293 more calories per day!)

That’s right… your metabolism stays more active when you eat more often and burns MORE calories.

Let’s do the math:

293 extra calories burned per day x 30 days a month = 8790 calories.

Every pound of fat is 3600 calories.  Take 8790 / 3600 = 2.44 lbs of fat!

Coincidentally, this is something that I’ve been doing for the past year and something that has worked really well. I can confirm the 4 benefits above!

The easiest way to do it (for me) is to eat every 3 hours. In the beginning, this may mean that you’ll eat when you’re not hungry. Within a few weeks, your body will adjust to it start to expect it.

 

Without changing WHAT you eat… just WHEN you eat can have a big difference on how you look and feel!

Filed Under: Featured, Nutrition Tagged With: , ,

Tastes like a dessert, but healthy for you?

July 6, 2011 By

Chocolate Peanut Butter & Vanilla Berry Smoothies, Oh my!

Looking for a way to add variety to your Shakeology or Whey Protein shakes? Check out 2 of our favorite recipes.

Why do we both have Shakeology every day? Because it’s the healthiest source of food and nutrition available! For more details about Shakeology, check it out here.

Kate shows us how to make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakeology:

David shows us how to make a Vanilla Berry Protein Smoothie:

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , ,

Healthy Foods to lose body fat!

June 14, 2011 By

We often get the question “What should I eat?!” or people tell us “Just give me an example of what you eat on a daily basis, and I’ll follow that”. While we’ve posted examples of what we eat for each workout program (P90X, TurboFire, Insanity Asylum) throughout the website, we didn’t have one place to go to find all the daily diets, UNTIL NOW.

These are the foods David ate to lose 37 lbs of bodyfat and gain 7 lbs of muscle. These are the foods Kate ate to drop to break through plateau and reach her lowest weight since high school!

DAILY EXAMPLES, by CALORIE GOAL:

Kate’s 1600 Calorie TurboFire Diet #1

Kate’s 1600 Calorie TurboFire Diet #2

David’s 1900 Calorie P90X Diet #1

David’s 1900 Calorie P90X Diet #2

David’s 2100 Calorie P90X Diet

David’s 2300 Calorie NO DAIRY P90X Diet

David’s 2400 Calorie P90X Diet

David’s 2400 Calorie Asylum Diet

 

HEALTHY COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES:

Simple and Complex Carbs

MASTER LIST OF APPROVED FOODS:

Approved Foods

HEALTHY FOODS FROM COSTCO:

Kate’s Costco Foods video

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , ,

Asylum Nutrition Plan

June 2, 2011 By

Insanity Asylum Nutrition and Diet

My 30 day Insanity Asylum Results:

Insanity Asylum Results - David Ingram

Click for larger view

This is my version of the Insanity Asylum Nutrition Plan

Read below for the guidelines I did follow as well as the modifications I made to reduce my body fat from 10.3% to 7.5% in 30 days while actually gaining some muscle!

The foundation of my nutrition plan is based on the P90X nutrition and Master Your Metabolism but there were a few things that I learned from the Insanity Asylum nutrition guide that I’ve incorporated into my diet.

10 Steps in the Insanity Asylum “Get Shredded” Guide

  1. Eat Frequently – I eat 6 meals a day (one being my post workout recovery drink & protein), basically every 3 hours
  2. Go Light at Night – this was one of the changes I incorporated into my diet, basically I made my dinners smaller and shifted more calories to the first half of the day. I also removed carbs (except veggies) from my last 2 meals of the day.
  3. Limit your portions – With eating 6 meals a day, this goes hand-in-hand but on average I ate about 400 calories per meal, 6x a day
  4. Eat Lean - this includes lean meats, fruits, veggies, healthy fats. I was already doing this pretty well but I added more healthy fats through out the day to more meals. Things such as almonds, avocados, peanut butter, etc.
  5. Carbs are cool – Chose whole gain carbs instead of white carbs – this is something I follow very strictly and but as I mentioned above, I removed carbs from my last 2 meals (with the exception of veggies and recovery drink).
  6. Avoid Dairy – The plan says to avoid dairy and I was very strict about reducing my dairy to 1 serving a day (which was a Greek Yogurt).
  7. Hydrate – The plan recommends a minimum of 8 cups of 8 ounces of water and avoiding all juices and sodas! I drink about 14 cups of water and avoid all juices/sodas.
  8. No Alcohol – no problem!
  9. Don’t fear Fat - it says to avoid butter and cheese (which I did) but it says to eat more healthy fats. I was already eating about 2 servings of healthy fats so I increased this to about 4, while staying within the ratio of 40/40/20. I eat almonds, peanut butter, whole eggs and avocados daily.
  10. Supplements – it recommends recovery drink for post workout recovery and Shakeology, which  I take religiously.

So of the 10 steps, I followed them pretty closely and was doing so previous to Asylum, which set up my body to start shredding fat. The big changes I incorporated Asylum were #2 and #9.

How many calories should I eat during Insanity Asylum?

This is where I really disagreed with the Asylum nutrition guide for my body and goals: How many calories to eat. First, I like how the Asylum nutrition guide makes it very simple to calculate calories:

  • 150 pounds or less – for those trying to lose weight, eat 1,500 calories a day
  • 150-200 pounds – for those trying to lose weight, eat 1800 calories a day
  • 200 pounds or more – for those trying to lose weight, eat ~2100 calories a day

If someone wanted a simple way and was planning to stick with this nutrition plan for only 30 days then they could use these recommendations.

How I modified the Asylum Nutrition plan

I ate 2400 calories on days with a workout and about 1800 on the rest day, which is well above what the Insanity nutrition guide recommends. Why? Because at 182 lbs, I knew that 1800 calories would create too large of a deficit to eat every day. My #1 goal was to lose body fat while maintaining muscle. At 1800 calories, my concern was that I would enter a catabolic state and start burning muscle. It also wouldn’t give me enough energy for intense workouts.

Based on my weight and using the Insanity diet calorie formula, I determined that I would need to eat 2,400 calories while doing Asylum to lose roughly 1 lb of body fat per week. Sure enough, at the end of 30 days, I lost 5 lbs of body fat and based on my body fat calculations, I maintained all the muscle:

182.5 lbs x 10.3% = 18.8 lbs of fat

177.5 lbs x 7.5% = 13.3 lbs of fat

A total loss of 5.5 lbs of fat. I actually gained +.5 lbs of muscle while losing 5.5 lbs of body fat while my overall weight dropped 5 lbs.

 

What ratio of protein / carbs / fat should I eat for my Insanity Asylum Diet?

The “Get Shredded” nutrition guide does NOT recommend a ratio of p/c/f.  So I targeted a goal of 45/35/20 but came in around 40/40/20 on some days. I picked this up during my P90X days and found it to be the best.

How can I easily track my calories and calculate my ratios on a daily basis?

I use loseit.com (free) and the iphone app (free). There are many other alternatives but this one is very simple and easy to use. It’s also the easiest for seeing the % of protein, carbs and fat you’ve eaten that day.

It has a pretty good database of foods already and you can just add other foods by reading the label on the food and plugging in the calories, protein, fat, carbs. It will then total it up for you each day and let you know how you did.  Make sure when you first start using Loseit and that you go into the Options and set it up to track Protein, carbs and fat!!

 

Example of the foods I ate during Insanity Asylum

Check out my Insanity Asylum 2400 Calorie low dairy diet

 

Also check out our approved foods list with a lot of different foods to choose from.

We’ve also recorded a youtube video that shows healthy foods to buy from CostCo that are both Insanity Asylum and P90X approved.

Watch Kate’s Insanity Asylum Nutrition from CostCo video.

 

Supplements I took during Insanity Asylum to lose the body fat

Shakeology - The fastest and healthiest way to transform your body is with Shakeology. This is the foundation of my nutrition plan and has really improved my overall health. I was skeptical of the price at first so I decided to try it out using the 30 day-money back guarantee. I’ve been on it every day since.  In fact, it’s now one of only 2 Beachbody supplements that I recommend. To me, it’s WORTH IT but you’ll have to decide that for you. It’s basically a high quality meal replacement unlike anything else. It will help you lose that body fat and give you energy. Why? Because it contains 70 of the healthiest nutrients in the world. It improves your digestive system, removes toxins, lowers cholesterol, helps you to lose fat and improve energy levels, hair, nails and skin. I have this every day for breakfast. It comes out to $4/day but if you order Shakeology from this site, I’ll coach you for free.

Shakeology

Morning:

  • Shakeology meal replacement
  • Krill Oil from Mercola
  • Calcium
  • OxyElite Pro

Lunch:

  • Oxy Elite Pro

Pre-workout:

  • MHP No Bomb
  • Cellucor C4

Post Workout:

  • P90X Recovery Drink
  • Optimum Nutrition creatine
  • Whey Protein

 

Still have questions or just want help with your nutrition plan?

Thanks for visiting! Make sure to sign up for a FREE Team Beachbody Account to get support with your nutrition plan. I’ll send you an email after you sign-up.

 

Already have a Team Beachbody Account?

You can initiate a coach switch by sending an email to coachrelations@teambeachbody.com and asking them to switch you to David Ingram, Coach ID 153372. Make sure to CC: me on the email so I am aware of the switch. You can CC: me at david@symbioticfitness.com
 
This is the Whey Protein I use:

This is vital for reaching the daily goal of 40%-50% protein. There are many other great alternatives. This is one of the brands I use the most. CostCo also has Cytosport in a 6lb bag.

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard, Double Rich Chocolate, 5 Pound

Price: $53.99

4.5 out of 5 stars (1 customer reviews)

67 used & new available from $44.98

Need some protein on the go? These are the Protein bars I eat:

Pure Protein High Protein Bar, Chocolate Peanut Butter, 2.75-Ounce Bars (Pack of 12)

Price: $32.88

3.9 out of 5 stars (142 customer reviews)

11 used & new available from $18.00

I use Shaker cups quite a bit to mix-up my protein drinks and Shakeology.

BlenderBottle® Classic 28-ounce Blue

Price: $6.80

4.6 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

51 used & new available from

This is the food scale we use to measure our meats to more accurately track our protein and calorie intake.

EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver

Price: $34.95

4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

20 used & new available from $12.50

Filed Under: Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

UPDATED: Avoid starvation mode to lose weight

April 9, 2011 By

Most diets recommend calorie or carb restriction

In fact, prevailing wisdom is “eat-less to lose weight”.

I’m going to turn this on its head and tell you that in many cases, you may have to EAT more to lose more weight. Huh? What? Yes, stick with me and I’ll explain.

Both Kate and I have used these principles to shatter old weight-loss plateaus and reach our lightest weight in over 10 years!

When we eat too-few of calories, our bodies enter starvation mode, the thyroid hormones needed to fuel your metabolism can’t be produced and our metabolism starts slowing down.  Our bodies start clinging to fat stores as a source of energy and we become sluggish.

I started P90X at around 1900 calories a day and kept increasing them throughout the 90 day program to avoid plateauing. I ended up around 2500 a day and was still losing weight. I burned 800-1000 calories in each workout, which helped create a calorie deficit.

Why do so many diets recommend low calories?

Most diets are based on the calorie deficit concept but they take it to the extreme.

When starting a new diet, we are often rewarded with some quick weight loss (which reinforces our idea that this diet is working) but then our metabolism slows and we reach a plateau and our body stops dropping weight. We become discouraged and eventually stop following the diet or become complacent with little to no results.

You’ve probably noticed this at the start of Adkins or Southbeach diets. These diets cause a lot of stress on our bodies and can be difficult to maintain long-term, which is why most people gain the weight back they initially lost.

 

Why does our Metabolism slow down when we don’t eat enough?

It has to do with your thyroid hormones. The thyroid hormones control the rate at which your body burns calories, digestion, body temperature and many others. Your pituitary gland creates TSH to kick-start your thyroid. Your thyroid then takes iodine from your blood and starts producing T4. The metabolic magic occurs when T4 is converted into T3. Stress, medication and environmental toxins can mess up this process.  But guess what else can mess up this process? Poor Diet! When you’re not taking in enough calories, your body stops producing enough TSH, and then the thyroid can’t produce enough T4. Less T4 means less T3, resulting in slower metabolism, or hypothyroidism!

 

How to lose weight


It is true that running a negative calorie balance is necessary to lose weight. To do it most efficiently and in a healthy way, proper nutrition and intense exercise is necessary. The key is to eat enough to keep your body out of starvation mode + enough to fuel your workouts. When your body receives enough nutrition to fuel all the normal daily metabolic processes and to support the production of TSH and T4,  it will more freely give up fat to burn as energy during your workouts.

However, if you’re not eating enough to sustain your normal metabolic processes then you may run out of energy during your workouts and become sluggish, thus not maximizing your efforts to burn
calories.

You may be wondering how much YOU should be eating. A healthy target is a calorie deficit of about 500 – 1000 calories a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week. The challenge is achieving this much of a deficit while still eating enough to fuel your normal daily needs and supporting your body’s ability to produce TSH & T4. This is why intense exercise is needed – to create the deficit!

Beachbody’s fitness programs (p90x, TurboFire, etc.) have nutrition programs that explain and emphasize eating enough calories to fuel our bodies for the workouts.

These workouts are INTENSE and your body needs good, clean fuel to burn while you’re working out.

Kate was stuck at a weight-loss plateau for 18 months, eating around 1000-1200 calories a day. She started TurboFire, which recommended 1600/day for her. Kate increased her calories and within 4 weeks, she shattered her old plateau and now is at her lowest weight in 10 years!

How much should I eat?

It depends on where you’re starting from and what your goals are.

Are you trying to:

  • lose weight
  • build muscle
  • tone up
  • build a six pack
  • or all of the above

Let us know what your goals are and we can help recommend a fitness program and nutrition plan for you.

Send us an email and Tell us about yourself!

These programs are NOT DIETS, they are about a LIFESTYLE that you can maintain for years to come. It’s a complete health and fitness plan that really works.

Filed Under: Nutrition, Sticky Tagged With: , , , , ,

Simple & Complex Carbs!

April 3, 2011 By

One of best improvements Kate and I made to our diet was to eliminate simple carbs and only eat complex carbs. This is how I was able to reduce my body fat from 25% to 8% in 6 months with P90X!

A lot of people think they have to eliminate almost all carbs from their diet to lose fat. It couldn’t be further from the truth!  It’s all about whether they are Simple or Complex carbs!

Eat simple carbs = body stores it as fat
Eat complex carbs = your body burns fat

Why?

Simple carbs spike your blood sugar, which releases insulin, which removes all the sugar from your blood and stores it as fat!
Complex carbs DON”T spike your blood sugar and they actually improve digestion!

In our Top 25 Nutrition tips, we refer to simple carbs and complex carbs. We get a lot of questions asking for examples of both. Ask and ye shall receive!!! See below!

Complex carbohydrates are high-fiber foods, which aid your digestive process. They help stabilize the blood sugar, keep your energy at an even level, and help you feel satisfied longer after your meal. When blood sugar is stable, your body will burn fat as energy.

In contrast, sugar and other simple carbohydrates can alter your mood, lead to cravings and compulsive eating, cause wide swings in your blood-sugar levels, and cause weight gain in most people. In addition, a high consumption of sugar can lead to uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms when you finally decide to improve your diet and forgo the sweets.

Healthy foods containing complex carbohydrates: (EAT THESE)

Spinach Whole Barley Grapefruit
Turnip Greens Buckwheat Apples
Lettuce Buckwheat bread Prunes
Water Cress Oat bran bread Apricots, Dried
Zucchini Oatmeal Pears
Asparagus Oat bran cereal Plums
Artichokes Museli Strawberries
Okra Wild rice Oranges
Cabbage Brown rice Yams
Celery Multi-grain bread Carrots
Cucumbers Pinto beans Potatoes
Dill Pickles Yogurt, low fat Soybeans
Radishes Skim milk Lentils
Broccoli Navy beans Garbanzo beans
Brussels Sprouts Cauliflower Kidney beans
Eggplant Soy milk Lentils
Onions Whole meal spelt bread Split peas

Foods containing simple carbohydrates: (DON’T EAT THESE)

Simple carbohydrates are more refined, are usually found in foods with fewer nutrients, and tend to be less satisfying and more fattening.

  • Table sugar
  • Corn syrup
  • Fruit juice
  • Candy
  • Cake
  • Bread made with white flour
  • Pasta made with white flour
  • Soda pop, such as Coke®, Pepsi®, Mountain Dew®, etc.
  • Candy (yeah it’s listed twice)
  • All baked goods made with white flour
  • Most packaged cereals

If you are trying to eliminate simple sugars and carbohydrates from your diet, but you don’t want to refer to a list all the time, here are some suggestions:

Read the labels. If the label lists sugar, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, white or “wheat” flour, they contain simple carbohydrates. If these ingredients are at the top of the list, they may contain mostly simple carbohydrates, and little else. They should be avoided.

Look for foods that have not been highly processed or refined. Choose a piece of fruit instead of fruit juice, which is very high in naturally occurring simple sugars. Choose whole grain breads instead of white bread. Choose whole grain oatmeal instead of packaged cold cereals.

The closer you get to nature, the closer you get to health.

Simple carbohydrates, like sugar and corn syrup, are created in a factory – while complex carbohydrates in vegetables and whole grains are designed by nature, and help you maintain your health.

 

Credit to http://howtothinkthin.com for this list!

 

Filed Under: Nutrition
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