Effective Nutrition is a Lifelong process of adding in new foods & figuring our what works for each of us in regards to total calories, grams of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

I have taken many different nutritional approaches over the years. 2 days after Christmas in 2009, Tami and I eliminated refined carbohydrates from our nutrition plan. We had a specific goal in mind: Achieving awesome conditioning for our Trip to Hawaii with Beachbody the 1st week of March 2010. Eliminating the refined carbs would allow us to burn Bodyfat at an accelerated rate.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy as I am a confessed and well documented “carbaholic” Thank goodness Tami is such an unbelievable cook. She made the transition easy. I actually enjoyed the process of eliminating the refined carbs. That meant no bread, white potatos, rice, or pasta. I have never eaten so many veggies in all my life! LOL! Not a bad thing at all.

We stayed true to our “No Refined Carb” nutritional plan for almost 8 weeks. In that time we both saw dramatic changes to our physical conditioning. It was almost too easy.

Now keep in mind that Tami and I were doing our Hybrid of Insanity/ChaLEAN Extreme. I have some advice for anyone that is planning on following a “Primal” type nutrition plan while doing Insanity. Prepare to “Suffer”. That is why in the Insanity Elite Nutrition Guide there is a nice blend of carbohydrates built into the Nutritional Program. You need the fuel to survive Insanity. The “Primal” nutritional approach goes along with the “Primal” exercise recommendations. Either VERY short intense workouts, or longer very moderate workouts. Nothing like Insanity and the demands that Insanity places on your body’s Systems.

Doing Insanity without complex carbs is not a pain free process. You basically “Bonk” during your workouts because you burn through your body’s glycogen quickly. You need to be mentally strong to finish the workouts. You burn bodyfat like crazy though! We were getting visibly leaner on a daily basis.

About a week ago, the lack of complex carbs started really affecting our Insanity workout performance and our Recovery. With 2 weeks left until our Hawaii Trip, Tami and I decided to add in some complex carbs into our daily Nutrition. Nothing overly dramatic but things like a couple of slices of whole wheat bread topped with natural peanut butter at Breakfast. We had Chicken Scampi with multi grain pasta for Dinner for the 1st time in 2 months. HEAVEN! :-)

My point for this article is that we all have “Transitions” in our nutrition that occur over time depending on our Fitness goals at that time. The cool thing is that you can have control over your physical conditioning and appearance.

The nearly 2 months of “Primal” like nutrition was a “cleanse” of sorts for me. It proved that I can go without bread, pasta, rice, oatmeal, ect for an extended period of time. I have finally “broken” my carb addiction. I have all the nutritional discipline in the world. That is powerful stuff folks!

Don’t get stuck in the same approach when it comes to your nutrition. Experiment and see what happens. The last time Tami and I did anything “Primal” like with our nutrition was during our 1st Round of P90X in March 2007. We made it 11 days in the Fat Shredder phase. We stayed true to our “No refined carb” approach this time for almost 2 months.

So now, having added in some complex carbs back into our nutrition, we are feeling very lean, strong, rested, and recovered rolling into our Hawaii trip in 9 days! Exactly how we planned it! ;-)

Yours in Health & Fitness,

Mike