livestrong2005

Im a 16 year old female, i weigh 132 lbs and am 5'2". I am athletically built, i play a lot of sports and lately have been going to the gym everyday. Ive built up a lot of muscle but cant see the definition of it. I need to shed about 10-15lbs of fat i think. i am going to mexico in 3 weeks and want to try and shed as much of it as i can before then. what type of diet should i follow for best reults. I have no idea where to start? please help me!!!!!!!!!

Emma-Leigh

Welcome! Great to see you are interested in your health at your age!!

Three weeks is not a lot of time to drop lots of weight and it is certainly VERY unhealthy to try to drop 10-15 pounds in that time! That is 5 pounds a week and at that rate you would be making yourself VERY sick!!!

Also, at your age, the last thing you want to do is go on a 'diet' (it will set you up for disordered eating in your future and this is a VERY, VERY bad thing that can control and destroy a good number of years).

Can you give us an indication of what you currently eat and when? Also, when you workout and what you do when you workout.

If you can, write it out like this:

meal 1: x cups cereal, y slices of toast, 1 apple
meal 2: etc...


You might want to check out the thread above written by Jodi - it is called 'guide to cutting, bulking and maintaining'. It is packed with lots of info that will help you to pin-point things you are doing that might need changing.

Also, If you are training EVERY single day in the gym then you might be overdoing it - doing MORE is not always better for you. It is about doing things correctly!

If you do this, we can all give you some more help!

cmrapp11

you sound a lot like me, back in my HS days that is... ahhh memories. anyway, i can relate to the athletic but not lean enough problem. my biggest suggestion is to learn as much as you can about the right amount of calories that you need to be taking in daily. before i knew any better, i would bust my butt in the gym but also cut my cals way too low. then wonder why i never lost weight. in realizing the "food as fuel" concept, i realized, and saw the benefits of the right amount of calories. it was hard at times but it wasn't until i did this consistently that i saw the scale move. your body will know it's being fueled with "good stuff" so it won't have to cling to those fewer calories, then your muscles can burn the fat. not to mention your metabolism will speed up due this multi meal plan. i know this isn't the best scientific explanation for ya... but my point is that SO MANY PEOPLE cut cals way too much and get the reverse results of what they want. also, i will tell you not to get frustrated if (when) you don't drop all 15 lbs before mexico... BUT, if you can stick to it, and i'm sure you can , i guarantee you will be in better shape for your next sport, next dance, etc. try keeping a journal, that was huge for me and i still use one today. good luck and keep us posted... this link has some good calculators you might want to check out. (scroll down to nutrition)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calculators.htm

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