Thread: Need of some help

Forgot to tell you, post what you usually eat in a day.

Just whatever. I never really drink soda, or eat candy, or eat all the time.

I have three main meals a day, and snack in between. Maybe I've just started eating more, and that's what caused me to start becoming more fattish.

The thing is though that it's been happening over time. I haven't just lost it suddenly, it was slow, and I finally realized it about now.

Should I diet while running? Or run and not diet? Or what am I supposed to eat so I can loose fat the fastest?

Come on guys, this has to be basic. What should I eat to lose fat?

Garodn

It's really not that easy. But, start with 6 meals a day and have your daily calories add up to around 12 times your body weight (In pounds). Eat healthy foods. Our mods will help you a lot more than I can.

Why 6 meals a day? (and I understand I can be helped more, but the more the explanation the better)

Keeps your metabolism running all the time.

Haha, and I just realized how much I eat....

I'm about 140 pounds, and I can guess maybe 3000-3500 calories a day (guessing)

I just realized that my gallon of orange juice a day (110 calories per serving, 8 servings), my 3-4 bowls of cereal, and the (1/4) box of saltines (500 calories) I just ate in the past 5 minutes really add up.

With that said, how do I eat stuff that fills me up but has less calories? I've always had a very high metabolism, but is there any way I can still eat the way I do and lose fat?

I'll stop eating this much if necessary (which probably will result form the 6 meals a day), but I still need guidance on what to do

Give this post 24 hours, emma and jodi will help you, they arn't on right now.

Ok thank you

Gardon

Originally Posted by Gardon

Haha, and I just realized how much I eat....

I'm about 140 pounds, and I can guess maybe 3000-3500 calories a day (guessing)

I just realized that my gallon of orange juice a day (110 calories per serving, 8 servings), my 3-4 bowls of cereal, and the (1/4) box of saltines (500 calories) I just ate in the past 5 minutes really add up.

With that said, how do I eat stuff that fills me up but has less calories? I've always had a very high metabolism, but is there any way I can still eat the way I do and lose fat?

I'll stop eating this much if necessary (which probably will result form the 6 meals a day), but I still need guidance on what to do

Veggies and lots of them.....though....

What's your height? at 140 lbs....are you sure you have that much fat to lose?

8 servings of OJ that's a little excessive....eat an orange.....it will go further, you'll be better off and you get all the fibre (hence filling you up).

one quick pointer: it would also help if you ate more whole wheat products, rather than, say, a box of saltines

I don't have that much fat to lose, but I want to get my 6 pack back.

Is there any other way to do it?

I'm 5 feet 7 inches, 140 pounds, so I do have muscle, it' sjust that my stomach doesn't show anymore (it's getting a little big)

How can I get it back? I hear sit-ups don't do anything. What other ways can I get my stomach back?

Thanks,

Gardon

And how do I want to eat each meal? Do I want to leave hungry, ok, full? If I eat 6 times a day, averaging every 3 hours, what should I be eating at every meal? Are we talking like a bowl of cereal, or like 4-5 saltine crackers?

Normally when I eat I don't stuff myself. I hate stuffing myself. I always leave when I'm satisfied, never under and never over. So, with that said, should I cut what I"m eating more, or just want to watch the fats?


And how do I lose body fat without losing muscle?

Gardon

Firstly - at 5'7 and 140 pounds AND at only 17 yrs of age you should not waste your time with 'dieting'.... You need to be taking advantage of this time in your life!!

Never again will you have the anabolic potential that you have now! Your metabolism is going to be sky high and your potential for growth is HUGE!!

Use it!
Be sensible.
Eat well.
Train hard.

You will get results!

Originally Posted by Gardon

And how do I want to eat each meal? Do I want to leave hungry, ok, full?

You eat what you need to eat.

Very few people have the capability of this type of 'intuitive eating' (that is, eating only until they are 'satisfied')... I know I don't! If I ate until I was 'full' at every meal then I would not stop eating.

So you work out a daily 'plan'. Something that is flexible, but that gives you a rough guide as to what/how much you should be eating in each meal.

If I eat 6 times a day, averaging every 3 hours, what should I be eating at every meal? Are we talking like a bowl of cereal, or like 4-5 saltine crackers?

Neither.

Read this: Guide to Cutting, Bulking & Maintenance
And this: Need some advice....

for guidelines.

Normally when I eat I don't stuff myself. I hate stuffing myself. I always leave when I'm satisfied, never under and never over. So, with that said, should I cut what I"m eating more, or just want to watch the fats?

You don't need to stuff yourself... You also need fats (the right type anyway) - so don't just 'cut this out'.

But you are going to need to change how you are eating if you want to get results.... cereal and crackers are not going to cut it!!

And how do I lose body fat without losing muscle?

Slowly...


But as I said - I would not 'diet'.... Just start to clean up your diet and train hard and you will get results.

Ok, so my question for your thus far is:

"What if I don't want to grow"

You were talking about growth potential. However, I'm in the martial arts and do not wish to get bigger. (hey, I'm not a bodybuilder but I still can fight... get what I'm saying?) I'm not small, but I'm not large either. I have a nice frame, and muscle, but I do not wish to get bigger (when I say bigger I don't mean huge.... even though a little more muscle would be nice).


And I do not like going to the gym. I'm a very impatient person, so I honestly don't know if I could go to the gym every day when I could be practicing my techniques.

What about running and home-achievable workouts, like puchups and even my home-gym weight set downstairs?

I want to stay muscular, lose fat, but not decrease in muscle size. Is there any specific way to lift and maintain/slightly increase my size while cutting fat and toning my overall body?


I did read those two articles you gave me, but I don't wish to do things like squats and bench (I can't balance free-weights for some reason, plus, I wouldn't have a spotter at home). Is there a way around it?


If you don't understand what I'm asking, please let me know

Gardon

And I hopefully don't want to change my diet completely, especially when I can just run or whatever.

First of all, you aren't gaining weight because you started eating more. You are 17... have you by chance started driving in the last year or so? You are liking gaining weight because your diet has been crap all these years and now that you are getting older and probably getting less exercise, you will start to gain weight. That is just what happens to people as they get older and don't exercise and eat the right type of foods.

Then you say you don't want to change you your diet and you don't want to work out or get muscle mass... well welcome to the harsh reality of getting older and turning into an adult. Unless you do these things, chances are you will end up like 90% of the American public in 10 years, weak with a big belly and can barely climb a flight of stairs.

About Martial Arts. Size doesn't hurt you. It doesn't make you slower. Bruce Lee had an awesome body... and he did lots of weight training.

It sounds like you aren't willing to do what you need to do to loose the fat. Cut out juices of any kind. Eat healthy foods, lots of fruit, vegetables, and protein. Log everything you eat into www.fitday.com or similar software. Take measurements weigh yourself. Record a history of these things. Once you know exactly how much you eat and what effect it has on your body, you will be in control of your body weight, your fat and muscle content, your strength, your speed... everything.

You will know exactly what number of calories you need to eat to maintain, or to lose or gain weight.

Having a strict control over your diet is critical.

Working out with weights is critical. You say you don't have control over free weights... lift, you will develop that control as you develop stabilizer muscles. This will also spill over into your martial arts giving you more strength and control over your body and the more difficult moves you have to do. I think anyone that is serious about martial arts or any fighting discipline (or any physical discipline at all) needs to do weight training too. If you don't have a spotter do dumbbell bench presses instead of barbell bench presses. Squats will do wonders for your core strength, your kicks, your stability.

You shouldn't work out everyday. 1 hour 3-4 times a week is all it is going to take. Plus you will have time between your sets that you can practice some martial arts moves. You might not be able to do that at a gym unless you like people watching you but if you work out at home you can. For $350 you can get a nice setup with a bench, squat rack and free weight. This is all you really need and it sounds like you might already have some of it.

It's up to you though, you can start taking diet and weight lifting seriously and turn yourself into a machine or you can just get fat along with everyone else.

What's cool about my art is that it's unlike any other martial art out there. When you think of martial arts you think of kicking, punching, and rolling drills. Not the case here.

We emphasize the nature of survival, in which you do anything to win (break bones, tear ligaments, pinch and destroy nerves). Heh, that's what's cool about it. It's not the most honorable art, but we do grappling and close fighting, so that it simulates a street-like, no rules environment. It doesn't take much strength to break a bone, especially when the other guy has no idea what the hell happened to him.

With that said, strength is not an issue, however, I would like to get stronger just for the hell of it.


So, my point, is that I don't like weightlifting. Everyone thinks because they're humongous they can crush anyone smaller than them. Wrong. I've taken out plenty of jocks, easily. I feel that weight-lifting is a waste of time as far as fighting goes. You win fights because of experience, not muscles.

That's why I'm more apted to run and do push-ups than anything else. I'm very in toned with my body. That (to me) means that I can use my body to push my own limits. I don't need a weight to tell me that. If you can't do things in relation to your body, forget it. If you're hanging from a cliff, and you weight 300 pounds and can bench 350, what good is it if you can't pull yourself up?

It's just crap like that. I'm perfectly happy with not being able to bench 300 pounds, because I know that I can handle myself perfectly because I'm accustomed to my weight.


However, I think this post has gotten to the point of exercising to become more toned. I might have even supported that at one point, but let's get back to the main topic of this post.

How can I get my 6-pack back? I don't need to grow as an overall body size, I don't need to really finely tone my muscles, I just want to get my stomach back.

Do I really need to diet and work out that much? If I ran 2 miles a day, wouldn't that be enough, as long as I keep eating the way I do ? I never really eat fatty foods, and I never eat till I'm bloated. I've done sports all my life (excluding high school because I got a job), and have always been in great shape. I still am, but don't have quite the same figure (although I still can run and do stuff that most people my age can't that train daily, even though I hardly have any physical activity).

Is running the answer?

Gardon

What's so great about a six-pack when you have the body of a girl?

If you'd have read any of my above posts, you'd note that I'm muscular. I'm not a bodybuilder, but I have them.

And is that what matters in life? How well people look? Personally, I can't understand why anyone would want to bodybuild. The upkeep is horrible, and what do you get from it? Girls? Psh, please. If you have to weightlift to get women then there's something wrong with you. I have better things to do than to kid myself that I'll boost my self-esteem by lifting weights rigorously.

Originally Posted by Gardon

If you'd have read any of my above posts, you'd note that I'm muscular. I'm not a bodybuilder, but I have them.

And is that what matters in life? How well people look? Personally, I can't understand why anyone would want to bodybuild. The upkeep is horrible, and what do you get from it? Girls? Psh, please. If you have to weightlift to get women then there's something wrong with you. I have better things to do than to kid myself that I'll boost my self-esteem by lifting weights rigorously.

Your views of bodybuilding are off.
Not everyone is striving to look like a pro, such as Ron Coleman.

If you were to go through some of the galleries here, than you would see some good examples of "bodybuilders" are doing it for their health and to look good.

Not just trying to get huge.
You are stereotyping.

As you were with me when you thought I looked like a girl.

It sounds like you already have your mind made up and you are just waiting for someone to tell you that running 2 miles a day will do it.

Eventually someone will say that yeah burning more calories from running will do it... so there you go. Do what you want, burning more calories will burn fat (and muscle)

Without a proper diet and weight training you will metabolize muscle too though. It is hard to lose fat without losing muscle. Diet and weight lifting can minimize the muscle lose on a cut though.

Although strength alone may not win a fight... it sure isn't going to hurt. You aren't going to end up looking like a pro weight lifter after 6 months of lifting.

One of the best ways to lose fat is to gain muscle which in turn raises the number of calories you burn.

If you aren't concerned about looks, why do you care if you have 6 pack abs? Having low enough body fat to see your abs isn't all that functional.

And what do you mean the upkeep is horrible?

Originally Posted by Gardon

As you were with me when you thought I looked like a girl.

You might be surprised if you lose enough weight to get those abs back without maintaining the muscle through weight lifting.

how can I lift without doing freeweights? Can I just use my home gym downstairs?

And I think I feel that because I'm not so skinny, or not so big, that I really don't want to weightlift. I have a dedication/patience problem, and topped off with the fact that I don't look like shit causes me to not really care about weightlifting.

How do you motivate yourself to weight lift?

and is the 4-8 rep thing true about gaining mass? Which one do I do, 4 or 8?

Originally Posted by Gardon

how can I lift without doing freeweights? Can I just use my home gym downstairs?

What kind of home gym do you have? Free weights are really the best way to get a good workout. They are a lot more natural than with a machine.