Feed Me

Since starting P90X, I've kept to a pretty consistent morning exercise routine: I wake up no later than 5:30 a.m., and eat a half-cup of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (60 cal) mixed with two tablespoons of ground flax seed (70 cal). I take my vitamins, and then I stagger into the garage to kick off my daily workout. At 7 a.m., I mix myself a protein drink and get the kids out of bed, change them, and get their breakfast ready. Then, I make myself an egg white omelet with 1/2 cup egg whites (60 cal), 0.5 ounces of goat cheese (35 cal), and about half of a tomato, diced (15 cal). If I've had an expecially intense workout, I'll also toast a slice of whole wheat bread (140 cal), spread a tablespoon of organic creamy peanut butter (100 cal) on it, and eat it with a banana (120 cal).

It all adds up to about 730 calories, which represents about a third of my daily calories under the P90X plan. And it's all consumed before 8 a.m.

My plan is to make breakfast my biggest meal of the day, and to eat a bunch of small meals/snacks every 2-3 hours throughout the remainder of the day, until 7:30 p.m. or so (3 hours before bedtime). So far, so good. Snacking at work has been doable -- I've stocked my work fridge with hard boiled eggs and string cheese, and I pack myself a handful of almonds every day. Most recently, I've been thinking of making myself a big ass shake (using the Precision Nutrition guidelines for Super Shakes) and pouring out a nice portion every few hours at work.

Dinner's the toughest. I enjoy having a family meal with M and the kids, and while my wife is doing her best to support my efforts to hew closely to the P90X nutrition plan, I recognize that my diet can't dictate everyone else's eating preferences. Still, it's not fun being the only person at the table who's munching on a plate of salad greens for dinner.