A few general dieting questions

[CeeMonte]

I am a pretty physically in shape guy, but I have always carried weight in the middle of my body. I am 17 years old and I am very strong but I have always had a gut and to a smaller degree some man boobs. I am 185 pounds now, the only fat on my body is in my mid-section... my legs, arms, face all look like thye were taken from a different person. I am not very overweight, but I just hate having this gut and I am attempting to clean up my eating habbits and construct a propper work out for myself to get in good shape by June for the Summer.

I am not out of shape as I said, I started on the Varsity basketball team and I can keep my wind with the most athletic people on the team. I am not slow either as I run one of the fasted 40 yard dashes in the school's athletic department. I am a very strong kid just looking to lose fat, even if it's at the expense of some muscle initially... I will gain it back afterward.

- Do you think eating 3 or 4 oranges for lunch is a bad thing? I really want to go extreme cutting for a while and I understand that while this is relatively healthy in terms of fruit's nutrition I know that it contains sugars which lead to fat. I am not sure exactly if it's a bad idea or not but there are really good ones for lunch at my school so I was hoping these could be an option.

- Should I cut most meats out? I usually eat about a chicken breast a day for protein, which is why I am able to build alot of muscle. I understand I risk losing muscle by doing this, but I am willing to make that sacrifice to get this fat out of my mid-section.

- Obviously I have stopped drinking all sodas, aside from an occasional diet dr. pepper. Does it make a difference whether I drink seltzer or water though? Does the small amount of sodium in seltzer have an adverse effect at all? I shooting for a gallon of water a day but I personally have an addiction to carbonation and I like to sneak a seltzer in there once in a while. I just want to make sure nothing I am doing will cause any kind of fat gaining, I don't want any excuses - so while it may sound stupid to ask I just want to be sure.

- I am going with three xenadrine 30 minutes before a light breakfast... good / bad? I have heard good things about it, it does work to give me energy for a while and I understand you aren't supposed to exceed four daily.

- I HATE eggs so that is out as far as breakfast goes, although they sound like the best thing from what I have read on the forums. Anyone have a good suggestion for a healthy breakfast food that will still give me the energy to last the day... but I do not want to gain ANY fat what so ever.

- I am cutting out all cheeses, milk, dairy products. Good?

Sorry if I sound like I have a serious issue, but I really am a determined guy. I want to finally get my body fully into shape. I am tired of doing the same amount of cardio and working out as everyone else and having a gut... I don't want to be ashamed to take my shirt off anymore. Any suggestions you have for meals / meal replacement bars / etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance, I really enjoy reading the forums here.
Chris Monte

 

[coeus]

There are a million diet posts here in this forum but I'll just summarize the basics and what I am currently doing to cut (with great results)

1) Calories in vs. Calories out.
You're gonna need to figure out your BMR(basal metabolic rate) and your TDEE(total daily energy expenditure). Here's and easy formula for BMR : 66 + (13.7 X wt in KG) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years). For the conversions, you can use a calculator or look it up online. Take your BMR and use it to find your TDEE, use this chart, that I stole from another post:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2(little or no excercise,desk job)
Lightly Active = BMR X 1.375(light excercise/sports 1-3days wk)
Mod Active = BMR X 1.55(moderate excercise/sports 3-5 days wk)
Very Active = BMR X 1.725(hard excercise/sports 6-7 days wk)
Extr Active = BMR X 1.9(hard daily excercise/sports/marathon training,etc)

Now you've got your BMR and TDEE. So I guess you're pretty hardcore so shoot for a 25-30% caloric deficit. To do this take .75 or .70 times your TDEE. This will be the max calories for you to eat in a day.

2) Diet
Start to keep track of your caloric and macronutrient intakes. Between nutritiondata.com and calorieking.com you can find the nutritional information for just about any food on the planet. I use an excel spreadsheet that I made to keep track of things. Here are some basics to clean up your diet:

I. Ratios - These are the percentage of total calories that come from protein fat and carbs. Keep in mind that 1g of carbs or protein is 4 calories and 1g fat is 9cals. I usually keep mine at a P/F/C ratio of ~53/~25/~20. (Yes i realize that doesnt add to 100, because I dont stick to eating the same things every day, I just make sure they fall into a +/- range of 3-4 pts) I use this ratio because I am a little carb-sensitive, but you may do better with more carbs and less fat, feel free to tweak your ratio for your PERSONAL best results. Just try to make sure you are getting at least 1g protein for every lb of body weight. As for fats, make sure they are 'good' fats, those coming from nuts, olive oil, flax oil, fish, etc (plenty of posts about this). Carbs, make them complex carbs or products high in fiber.

II. Eating - Eat 5-6 small meals a day, have your breakfast about 20 of daily caloric intake and have the other ones pretty equal. Eat by the clock, roughly every 3 hours. I know this is tough when your in school, but you can make or buy protein bars to keep you on schedule. Just make sure the bars fit into your macros. AND BY ALL MEANS, KEEP THE MEAT!!! just make sure its lean. This will help to keep your muscle mass while you loose body fat.

III. What to eat - Get rid of simple carbs. Fruits are fine, as long as they're in moderation and eaten in the first 1-3 meals of the day. 3-4 oranges for lunch isn't doing you any good. By all means, dont loose the chicken breast. They're excelent at providing your body with a great clean source of protein. You dont like eggs, fine, eat oatmeal for breakfast. Stir in a scoop of protein and some Flax oil or ground flax seed. And if you love your oranges, you can eat one now . There are plenty of posts that will give you good ideas of what to eat, just try to find things you like, that way you'll stick with the diet. Cheeses and milk are *fine* just as long as they fit in your macros. You're young, so you can do good by reaping the healthy benefits of milk and cheese (vit. D, calcium, etc).

Like the age-old maxim, everything in moderation... just make sure your cals and ratios are working out.


3. Exercise - Looks like you are already active, so this should be easy for you. Again, I know that being in school all day can make this tough, but try to do your cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. If you have to wait until practice, try to make sure the last meal you ate was at least 2 hrs before. As for lifting weights, do this too. Try to make sure you have at least 4hrs between cardio and weightlifting. When you hit the weights, hit them hard. Heavy weights until failure. This will help to keep your muscle on your body and make sure your body is in a very anabolic state(also good for fat burning).

This is just a basic summary of a handful of posts and personal knowledge. I would recommend, if this is your first real dieting program, to follow something like I have listed above. You dont want to do anything drastic by not eating. This would push your body into 'starvation mode' which just means your body will not let go of that fat. And this will all take time, dont get discouraged because you dont have a 6-pack in a week or two. Give yourself a realistic timeline and shoot for 1-3pds per week weightloss.

Good luck, read up on other posts, and if you have anymore questions, feel free to post

 

[CeeMonte]

I shot you a little karma, this was extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. The education I have gotten from the post really has helped me out. I will be following ALL of your guidelines. Thank you so so much.