p90x Carb Serving Question

[theGoldenAvatar]

Hi, I'm new here, just registered after being directed via this article http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/2009/01/p90x-nutrition-plan-made-easy/#respond

I was looking at both the XLS and Word documents for the nutrition guide a became a bit confused as to servings for carbs and servings in general. For example, for Level I Phase I it says you should eat one serving of carbs a day, and when cross-referenced with the Word document it says 1 carb serving is equal to 200 calories. If the majority of those calories come from the actual carbohydrates in said "carb" we are nearing 50g of carbs per day. But then if you factor in one serving of fruit, say a medium apple, you are running near an additional 22g of carbohydrates from that alone.

So I'm assuming when it says 200 calories for your daily carb allotment it doesn't mean to actually ingest 200 calories FROM carbs. Is this correct? If so this is a bit overly complicated for me. Is there some sort of comparable chart that actually lists where each individual calorie should come from, be it fat (sat, mono, poly), protein, and carbs (dietary, sugar)? I just think it would be easier to calculate and keep track of my intake that way.

Thank you for your time.

[FitRunner]

Tim,

I had the same confusion. I think what they mean when they sort foods is the 'shape' or 'category' of food, not just strict calories by the numbers. They're trying to make it very simple and in the process some details are skipped. When they say 200 calories of carbs, they do not mean either 1) 200 calories worth of carbs from all food sources ingested in any form throughout the day or 2) 200 calories worth of pure carbohydrate and whatever weight of other types of molecules that may be attached to said carbohydrates. I think they mean 200 calories worth of rice, or 200 calories worth of bread, or any other food that is considered rich in carbs.

Hope that helps!

Teresa

[theGoldenAvatar]

That was my default assumption, just wanted to have it confirmed. Thank you for your help.

[JimNAZ]

Is there some sort of comparable chart that actually lists where each individual calorie should come from, be it fat (sat, mono, poly), protein, and carbs (dietary, sugar)? I just think it would be easier to calculate and keep track of my intake that way.
Thank you for your time.

Hi! A lot of us also use an online calorie tracker to manage our meals etc. (I use www.dailyburn.com) This makes it much easier for me to track everything and make sure my macronutrients are in the correct ratios. There are a lot of other tools that these programs offer and most of them are free to join (or have a free version).
If you have not already I suggest checking them out. Managing my meals by protions/servings would drive me nuts! (Or nuttier . . . )

Jim