People using P90X as a weight loss program often look to how to be efficient at losing body fat. Although I don’t think P90X was originally designed to be a weight loss program it has helped thousands do just that. I originally lost more than 35 pounds with P90X with the sole intension of losing weight not bulking or adding muscle. Here is ten simple tips that will help you get the most out of P90X as a weightloss program.

10 tips:

1.) Track Your Progress (Record Keeping)
You need to be tracking everything and writing everything down. I’m sure you have heard Tony repeatedly tell you to write it down. This is something to many people overlook. Take a minute and track or write down everything that goes into your mouth and even track your workouts.

2.) Resistance Training
Resistance training is one of the best ways to lose body fat. It will be very difficult to lose weight with cardio and diet by themselves. Like Chalene Johnson has as a tag line in Chalean Extreme “Muscle burns fat”. Resistance training can jump start your metabolism and break down those extra stores of fat.

3.) Prepare in advance
I believe it says in the P90X diet guide to go through your pantry and toss every bit of junk in there prior to starting P90X. This is something I did, I went through and got rid of all the fatty junk food we had accumlated. And I restocked with lean protein, green, fruits and healthy fatty foods. This way when I’m hungry I’m prepared to eat something healthy. The same goes when you go out to eat. Most resturants have an online menu where you can view the nutritional info before you go. You won’t believe how much calories, fat and sodium most resturant foods contain. So I try hard to stay away from most of them but it’s not completely practical to never visit one. So prepare before you go.

4.) Get Enough Water
Water is essential whether your dieting, working out or not. Water makes up more than 60% of your body weight and every system in your body pretty much depends on water. Water will flush out toxins and send nutrients to your cells. Not enough water can mean dehydration and being dehydrated can drain your energy and make you feel tired.

So, how much water do you need in a day? A simple rule of thumb is 8 – 8 oz. glasses of water per day. Basically an easy to remember rule of thumb.

5.) Get Enough Protein
For some reason a lot of people get way to many carbs and not enough protein and wonder why they are having a hard to losing weight. When trying to lose weight and body fat it’s said that it’s best to be on a diet of 50-30-20. Your body will actually burn calories digesting protein, AND it keeps you fuller longer. A good resource of protein can be from lean meat (fish, chicken) high protein snack foods (P90X Protein Bars) and even a high quality whey protein.

6.) No liquid calories (no soda)
The easiest way to make sure you meet this step is to only drink water. If your like me you won’t have a problem doing this as I love water. The only other drinks I consume other than water is my Shakeology and Protein shake which are not empty calories like soda. If your like my wife and can’t stand water try using zero calorie crystal light packs to flavor your water.

7.) Get Enough Sleep
Nowadays our lives seem to be filled with day to day activities, but it’s essential to get enough sleep. Especially when your trying to lose weight. Not getting enough sleep can imbalance your bodies hormone levels and make you feel hungry while awake. So try to go to bed early enough to get between 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

8.) Shopping
I read that most grocery stores keep their most healthy items along the four walls of the store. Think about it, fresh fruits, veggies, and meats are almost always on the outer walls. So just as a rule of thumb keep the the outer walls.

9.) Eat Breakfast
Why on earth do people skip breakfast. Aside from it being drilled into your head as a child that it’s the most important meal of the day. I actually like to eat breakfast, mainly because I’m hungry when I wake up. Just like resistance training, breakfast can kick start your metabolism. I now drink my Shakeology for breakfast and I can’t find anything better

10.) Quitting
First, you need to know that it’s OK to miss a meal or a workout. It’s not the end of the world. Don’t let that one missed meal or workout continue for the rest of the day or week. Get back on track as soon as you can. The longer your off your plan the harder it will be to get back on track.