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The PiYo diet, also called the PiYo GET LEAN EATING PLAN is what you could basically call a healthy diet. It is not really a weight loss diet, it is much better than that. In fact, following this well-rounded 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% healthy fat, whole foods diet is what will help get you jaw-dropping results or eh…not-so-great results. The decision is yours.
Your diet is what fuels your workouts – you must remember that when you’re considering skipping lunch to cut calories. Eating right is what will allow you to put more effort into your workouts, because you will have more energy to do so. Pushing your hardest is what is going to help you burn more fat, build more lean muscle, and above all, keeps you healthy and feeling great.
The PiYo diet is broken down into five food groups:
- Primary Vegetables
- Secondary Vegetables and Grains
- Fresh Fruit
- Lean Protein
- Healthy Fats
By matching your calorie level to the included PiYo food chart, you get the corresponding number of servings to create a truly balanced and healthy diet.
1.) Calculating Your PiYo Calorie Level
You can lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your body weight with the PiYo workout program – or really any at-home workout program for that matter.
Remember, your body weight is determined by calories in vs calories out. The image below is the mathematical formula you can use to determine how many calories you should be consuming to lose a healthy 1-2 pounds each week while following the PiYo workout program.
Example for Determining PiYo Calories for Weight Loss
My starting weight: 130.8 pounds
To lose weight, I would multiply my current body weight by 11, then add 400 calories, and then subtract 600 calories. Here’s what it looks like:
- 130 x 11 = 1430 calories
- 1430 + 400 = 1830 calories
- 1830 – 600 = 1230 calories
How to Determine Weight Maintanence or Weight Gain
To maintain your body weight with the PiYo workout, you would not perform step 3 in the above calculation – you would not subtract 600 calories from your maintenance calories.
To gain weight with the PiYo workout, simply add 600 calories to your maintenance calorie number instead of subtracting it.
Important Notes About Caloric Intake
- If you calculate your calories and your recommended calorie intake falls below 1,200 calories, you must round up to 1,200. Eating less than 1200 calories each day is not healthy and is definitely not sustainable!
- Don’t stress out if you do not hit your calorie numbers exactly. As long as you are in within a couple hundred calories, you are fine. This is part of the beauty of the PiYo diet – you’re not counting calories really, it’s more about getting the correct number of food groups in each day, which may vary slightly from day to day.
- Be sure you are eating healthy, whole foods. Stay away from processed foods. The closer your food is to its natural state, the better.
2.) Match Your Caloric Level with the Correct Food Plan
The PiYo diet includes four “plans”. You choose the “plan” that matches your calorie target.
- Plan A: 1,200-1,399 calories
- Plan B: 1,400-1,599 calories
- Plan C: 1,600-1,799 calories
- Plan D: 1,800+ calories*
Example for Selecting your Food Plan
My daily calorie intake number was 1,230 calories, which puts me in Plan A: 1,200-1,399 calories.
*While the PiYo diet eating plan states that if your calorie target is over 1,800 calories, you simply choose plan D, you may need to increase your food intake if you’re starving at 1800 calories. Using an online calorie tracker like myfitnesspal.com will help you ensure you’re maintaining the correct ratios of 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fat.
3.) Use the Allowed Food List to Choose Your Food
If you can grow it, pick it or kill it, you can probably eat it on the PiYo diet. Vitamins, minerals and nutrients are what this eating plan is all about.
Under each of the five food categories, there is a list of allowed food with the proper serving size. Each serving counts towards calorie target “plan”. You really can’t get much easier than this.
- Primary Vegetables: The nutrient dense foundation of this diet is leafy green vegetables and other veggies. 1 serving =45 calories
- Secondary Vegetables and Grains: This fiber-filled food group keeps you full and your energy levels high. On any plan, you are only allowed 2 servings. 1 serving = 95 calories
- Fruit: This is another food group rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. 1 serving = 70 calories
- Lean Protein: This category is not only the building block how you build and sustain muscle, it also provides other important nutrients for overall health. 1 serving = 140 calories
- Healthy Fats: This extremely important food category helps you stay full, provides a slow-digesting source of energy and helps maintain overall good health. 1 serving = 50 calories
PiYo has a sixth food category called “Free Foods” that you are allowed to eat or drink as much as you want. These include lemon and lime juice, vinegars, mustard, garlic, hot sauce, black unsweetened coffee, unsweetened tea, and few more.
I’ll be posting a complete guide to the foods in the PiYo diet shortly, so make sure to check back.
If you need help determining your calories for PiYo, please leave a comment below with your current weight.
Hi Bethany I am starting Piyo, according to the calculations I need 2605 calories per day. I weigh 255, that seem like slot of calories
Hi Linda, As you lose weight you will want to adjust your calories down when you stall on your weight loss. I know it might seem like a lot to start but try to do it by the book as it does work.
Bethany,
I’ve used Chalene Johnson’s products in the past and have had great results. Over a year ago, my son and I were in a severe car accident. Due to that accident I suffered a Compression Fracture of the T-12 that did not heal properly. I had to have Kyphoplasty surgery 7 months later and was diagnosed with kyphosis so core strength is vital for me. The physical therapy that I have been doing isn’t helping me lose weight and I’ve put 20 lbs on and I know this isn’t good for my back. Is this program good for someone with a back injury? I was told by the surgeon I can do anything I didn’t before the accident, even ride roller coasters (which I have) but I do need to “retrain” my back.
Kelly
Hi Kelly, I would consult with a physician before beginning. Have your eating habits changed recently or do you believe it is a lack of activity that has caused the weight gain. Bethany
recently I saw try piyo on the internet I would like to try it . I weigh 120 would like to weigh 110 I fall within the cal of 1200
how much serving of primary and secondary food must I eat
Hi Debra, Four and two servings of those, all of the servings are shown in the last image. Bethany
Hi Bethany!!
First off i love your site! I just purchased PIYO and I should receive it by Nov. 1 I am overweight and need to lose a total of 40 lbs. as I am 5″1 and weigh 190 lbs. I did the calculation and got my daily intake of calories as 1,890 cal. I believed this is way to much for me to be taking in if i want to lose weight. Can you give me some feedback. I would greatly appreciate!
Hi Mea, That is the right amount of calories to lose 1-2 pounds a week with. As you lose weight, you will drop down calories. This way you create a gradual weight loss that you should be able to keep of with proper diet and exercise. Bethany
Thanks Bethany! I know I really need to get myself out of that pattern of always feeling like I need to be on a diet and thinking ahead to when I can cheat to get me through. You look great, thanks for the inspiration!
You’re welcome! Thanks for visiting!
Hi Bethany,
I have recently seen so many PIYO infomercials that it has peaked my interest. I tried the 21 day fix and got bored with the eating plan and felt like I needed cheat days. I only have ten pounds to lose and this PIYO plan seems to be reasonable. My question is did you completely stick to the plan for your results or did you give yourself a cheat day each week? I can totally follow a plan but, after a week or two I just get a craving for a glass of wine or two and I have a three yea old so we have some snacks in the house and it’s hard to always keep on track. I feel like I need that cheat day to get me through but, now that the holidays are coming up those cheat days come more often and those en pounds turn into fifteen and then I get stuck in a plateau. I can follow the workouts with no problem and have always been fit all my life but, after having my little one three years ago I keep yo yoing with ten or fifteen pounds to lose. Any advice?
Thanks,
Cara
Hi Cara, I did not have cheat days on the program. But, I did have a cheat meal or two during the week. A glass or two of red wine a week is not that bad as long as you don’t overindulge. The problem I find with cheat days are that they tend to compound on one another. The yo yoing is something I also used to experience. What I believe helped me break out of this mindset was trying not to focus on dieting to lose weight, but rather eating healthy and exercising to be and feel fit.
Hi I love your blog very informative. I am in week 8 of Piyo. I was doing the 21 days fix diet with it. Fell off the wagon on week 7. However I did not see much of a weightloss at all! I am considering starting the program all over again but this with the PiYo meal plan. What do you think? Also can I use my 21 day fix colored containers to measure servings for the PiYo meal plan?
Hi Sara, The diets from the two programs are very similar. PiYo might be a little more plant based. The containers and serving sizes are probably the same from the two, but I have not taken a close look at this. I see no problems with what you are intending to do. Bethany
Hey!! Thank you so much for the information. It is very helpful! I noticed in one of your posts you commented that you would be posting a “Complete Piyo Meal Plan” soon. I was wondering if you’ve posted that yet? :)
Thanks!
Heather
HI Heather, I’ve done planning post, but am still working on a sample meal plan, within the month I should have it finished. Bethany
thank you for spelling this out! my PIYO is in the mail. I am a 6’4” active, large framed woman who weighs 340 lbs. I obviously fall under plan D, 1800+ calories. But my math puts me at 3540 calories/day which FAR EXCEEDS 1800, and that makes me nervous. thoughts? suggestions? i want to make sure my body is getting what it needs! how would i accommodate for this huge disparity?
Hi Rebec, Going to have to do some experimenting, but you probably would not need 3500 calories either. I would try for around 2900 calories to begin with. You could use myfitnesspal.com to track your calories and see what is working for you. As, long as you stick with the foods listed in the PiYo eating plan you will be fine. It is a whole food based diet so you really can’t go wrong. Bethany
ok, thank you! but if i shoot for 2900 calories how does that add up or what do i increase as far as my carbs, protein, fat, etc. i’m just not sure where i would add and how much of each thing. thank you for your guidance!
Hi Rebec, I would shoot for 8 vegetables, 5 fruit, 5 secondary carbs, 7 lean protein, and 6 servings of healthy fats. You could also use a tool like myfitnesspal.com to track your foods and realy zero in your diet. 40% carb, 30% protein, and 30% fat is what you should be aiming for in relation to the amount of calories you are eating. Bethany
perfect, that sounds like a great place to start. I had worked my # similar to that. but this dials it in.
so confused on one thing tho- I use fitness pall and 1 cup spinach is 7 cal but on piyo serving sheets (from web) it says 1 cup spinach is 1 serving (40cal). what do I follow to figure out my servings?! so confused on that part!
Hi Rebec, myfitnesspal is user submitted. And, you have to be careful when looking at the serving size from the drop down menu in my experience. A cup of fresh spinach leaves is closer to 40 calories than 7. Bethany
Hi Bethany.
I’ve been perusing the internet for PiYo information all night and your site is by far the most informative. :) I purchased PiYo a year ago when it first came out, and since then it’s been sitting on the shelf doing nothing, and I’m thinking maybe it’s time to give it a try. You were very firm in saying that the diet is important and you can’t get good results without following it. My concern is that I will have a difficult time following it when I work. I work 9 hour days with an hour lunch and *sometimes* I get a break. It’s not a desk job, so I can’t just pull out food when I’m hungry, and we’re not allowed water either.
According to the meal plan, I should be following Plan C – 1600-1799 calories. The servings of lean protein and vegetables are 6! Do you have any suggestions on how I could incorporate this into a 3-meal-a-day plan? possibly with a snack, some days. I just feel like it seems like so much veggies and protein at once, given when I am allowed to eat.
Hi Nicole, You could try breaking the meals apart equally or you could load up on one meal. There are studies showing the spreading of meals does not really help metabolism speed up, so don’t worry about that. I would try to look for foods that you like, that are more calories dense. It an be hard, but experiment and try to find what works best for you. Bethany
Hi, all the above comments are very interesting and a good read. I have being doing PIYO for six weeks and although I am much stronger and I can feel tighter muscles I do not feel any weight loss. I am still at 68kgs and have been for a year. Last year I did Turbo Jam but the weight still didn’t come off. I suspect you will say I need to look at my diet. Yes maybe I do as I do eat what I want when I want but I am the girl who doesn’t snack on crisps or chocolate, I eat plenty of fruit and try to stay away from carbs but i still feel tight clothes. I would say that I probably have an intake of around 1400 calories per day. Is this too much?
Can anyone suggest anything?
Hi Christine, Nothing wrong with fruit in moderation, but it is a simple carb, so to much could be a bad thing. Complex carbs aren’t bad if they are in moderation. Maybe try tracking your diet as is for 1-2 weeks with myfitnesspal.com and then compare it to what the PiYo diet would recommend. Bethany
PiYo has a great app available. It will help track workouts and your food. It also lists each food group, along with serving sizes. I compared it to the meal plan that came with the program and just about all of it is correct. I noticed a discrepancy with steel cut oat,eat serving size.
Hi Mercedes, Just be careful, there is not an official PiYo app from Beachbdoy directly. The 3rd party apps do look pretty good. To bad I have a Windows phone or I would give them a try. Bethany
You have servings and calories listed but I did not see grams or ounces. Do you have that information available?
That information is included in the guide that comes with the program. Sorry, I can”t help further.
Hi, Bethany,
Thank you so much for the info, I’m really interested in starting Piyo as I have 240 pounds of weight to lose and the doing the calculation i am on plan D however last time when i went to a dietitian and she weighted in one of those fancy machines it informs you of how much calories or metabolic rate you have and need it gave results of 1600. my concern is do i do the recommended by piyo or the ideation?
i dont have any health issues except my weight and i really want to get healthy and fit and want to start somthing that will work.
:)
Hi Hamda, The discrepency could be that you were not doing the PiYo workout when you saw the dietitian. I would suggest beginning by following what PiYo suggests and after a couple weeks so how things are going. You can always modify your diet depending oif you are gainig, losing, or maintaining. Bethany
I’ve been doing the t25 gamma for the last couple of months and is looking for a change. I was considering PiYo, but not sure i’ll burn enough calories per workout. I’m looking to tone and really lose my baby belleh and was wondering if this is a good program to take on or go with turbo fire or chalean extreme?? I’m not interested in long workouts either. I’m needing some direction as to which way to go….Thanks!
Hi Arlene, PiYo workouts will burn calories. They are totally different which is good if you are looking for a change. I have only sampled a turbo fire workout and I was not bery impressed. I think turbofire would be good for a beginner who is looking to jump start weight loss. Bethany
Hi Bethany. Glad I came across this site. I am about to start the Piyo program. I have a question. What happens when you complete the workout program which I believe is 8 weeks. Do you just start over again? I am asking because I have alot of weight to lose and don’t think that I will lose it with just 1 round. :)
Thanks in advance.
Hi Denise, It depends, you could start the schedule start over, move onto something else, or incorporate other exercise into the program. You will have a better feel for what you should do when you finish the 8 weeks. For instance, when I was halfway through, I thought I would repeat the calendar. But, when I finished I was happy with my results and moved on, I still do incorporate PiYo workout here and there as I enjoy them. Bethany
Hi Bethany!
Thanks for posting this! I was doing the PiYo workout before the holidays hit then I sort of hit the holiday slide… Anyway, I am back at it but never had the food down as I lost the diet plan about as soon as the discs arrived! I am so glad I found this site. Could you post some examples of the primary and secondary vegetables and grains please? I can probably figure the other things without too much thought. After all, I’ve been gaining and losing weight my entire life ;-) haha. Thanks so much for this site! I am taking my family to Disney at the end of February and really need to drop about 12 pounds and increase my stamina or I will be trampled by 7 year old twins!!
Hi Vanessa, If you go to the category drop down on the sidebar of this site and select PiYo, you will find a post that I did which details the foods in the plan diet plan. Have fun in Disney! Bethany
I’m really interested in the PiYo program, but I’ve got A LOT of weight to lose (like over 200lbs). Right now, I can’t even do a 10 minute workout without getting out of breath and having to sit down due to back pain. However, once I do reach a fitness level where I can do PiYo, I want to try it. Are there significant modifications available somewhere for people who are truly out of shape or have to work around larger bodies? Also, I know 1800 calories is nowhere near enough for me. For my weight, following the method you present here, I’m supposed to eat 4,100 calories a day. Other sites have suggested around 2,300-2,700 a day for weight loss of 1lb a week. Do you have any suggestions on how to alter this program to fit my dietary needs? Could I just double the 1200 calorie plan and use that?
Hi Lissa, As long as you, like everyone should be, have been cleared by a physician, I see no reason why you cannot start PiYo now. There is a modifier on screen for all of the moves, you will want to begin by following the modifier, but you will see an increase in edurance quickly and then can start to mix in the regular moves. And, if you can’t keep up with the modifier, simply pause the video and walk it out until you can continue. As for the diet I agree with the 2,300-2700. Doubling the 1,200 food blocks is about right. I would suggest one less fruit and one more primary vegetable. You can play with this to get it right over time. -Bethany
Hello!
I am new to PiYo (did align today and trying to figure out this meal plan) … my question and worry is that the calories seem SO HIGH! I am currently using MyFitnessPal and that has me at 1360. I weigh 245lbs and am trying to drop about 2lbs a week.
I want to stick with PiYo and give it my all but the calories will have me jumping way up from where I am now and that scares me to death.
Hi Jessica, I do not want to sound rude, but you need to get to the 1800 calories that the PiYo diet recommends. MyFitnessPal while great for tracking calories is not the best for calculating them, as it is not factoring in your PiYo workouts. If you do not get enough caloires your body might not be funtioning optimally, and can enter starvation mode, not a good thing because your body will try storing body fat instead of burning it. And, you have no reason to fear the jump in calories, you are going to be working out, burning more calories, your body even contiunes to burn more caloires long after your workout. But, you need the proper nutrition to make the most out of the workouts. -Bethany
Thank you so much for your reply, Bethany, I really appreciate it.
I got a really bad cold after I asked that question so I am back on PiYo as of Monday and really enjoying it. Still mastering the food and such but the workouts are just so much fun.
Again, thank you for the advice and I look forward to seeing my results from this ^_^
You’re welcome, Jessica! Good luck. -Bethany
Hi Bethany!
So far your website has been very informative; I’m so glad I came across this! My question is how to know what is a serving? Is one egg a serving for protein or would it be 2 eggs going by what you have listed calorie-wise: 1 serving = 170.
Also fats….I’m guessing 1/4 avocado would be one serving since it’s 50 cals, would a serving of coconut oil be 1/2 a Tablespoon?
I have used MFP for years but I feel I need something a little more simple. I know it’s a great site but I need a break, something different to motivate me. With MFP it’s too easy to eat whatever I wanted as long as it fit in my calorie goal. I know I will have my days, holidays, vacations, social functions etc but I feel this option puts it more in my face about keeping a better balance.
I am starting Piyo tomorrow (I want my rest day to be on Saturdays) and I hope combined with the meal plan I see results that keep me motivated!
Thank you for your help; I don’t really have a BB coach.
Jenny
HI Jenny, yes I believe you are right with calories. I don’t have the diet guide book with me, but I do remever fat was 50 calories, the others I will have to into and get back to you. -Bethany