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what diet works best if you want to shed 5 pounds or so and keep it off?

You build muscle, you lose fat. You build muscle, you gain strength, energy, resistance, enthusiam, creativity, ability, longevity, esteem - you hit the jack pot.

Most diets don't work for long term fat loss. They're concerned with reducing weight rather than burning excess bodyfat. They strip off vital muscle, the body's major fat burning component. When you remain at a particular bodyfat level for a long period of time, your body recognizes that as your fat setpoint. Substantial time (patience, discipline and fortitude) is required to lower your fat setpoint as you seek complete and permanent changes.

The body tissue you have today, good or bad, was built almost entirely from the foods you have eaten over the past 6 months. Make a commitment today to renew your body composition.

Watch calories, watch carbohydrates. Avoid excessive fats (high calories) and carbohydrates. The big bonus here is that after a few weeks, your tastes and habits will simply change. Fats, sugar and salt become less interesting. For an intense fat burning regime, try the following tricks.

• With pad and pencil, simply list everything eaten.

• Cut fat and salt intake radically.

• Consider training in the morning - this raises the metabolic rate throughout the day. This means more fat burning and more energy.

• Take 1-2 grams of L-Carnitine before workouts. You'll burn more fat.

• Drink 1-2 liters of H2O during the day.

• An excellent pre workout and post-workout meal is a Bomber Blend protein drink. And for ideal and aggressive efforts toward leanness, add the following supplements: 2 SuperSpectrim vitamin/minerals, 2 Amino Ammos, 1 Antioxidant & 1 gram Vitamin C.

• Don't scrutinize. Permanent changes take time. Test and record your bodyfat level every two months. If you use a scale, weigh only once a week. After an initial drop in weight, plan to lose 1/2 to 1 pound per week steadily - a REALISTIC goal.

• Have your larger meals early in the day, making dinner the lowest calorie meal..

• After reaching your goal, be prepared to continue your diet in order to establish a new fat setpoint.

• Remember, protein is king. To assure consistent intake for muscle adaption and weight control a protein powder should be on your shopping list along with the eggs and apples.

• Always and forever, plan a disciplined low calorie day following any unusually high calorie days. Enjoy an extended workout and the subsequent high blood sugar pump.

• Always and forever, plan a disciplined low calorie day following any unusually high calorie days. Enjoy an extended workout and the subsequent high blood sugar pump.

i eat way to much all the time. like im not overweight or anything but i know it will cetch up to me sooner or later so i jsut need ways to stop eating so much & thinking about food all the time.

Iam going to go ahead and take my advice in a different direction than what is being prescribed. My solution- eat more. Here's why:

From the sound of it you don't eat very often during the day at regular intervals, you instead wait for 2 or 3 times out of the day to just cram food into yourself. This is a common problem with people who have trouble controlling their appetites. Now if you eat more, in smaller meals at regular 3 to 4 hour intervals then you will learn discipline above all, also you will learn portion control and how to manage time to fit your food schedule. Don't go and sit on the computer or read a book if you're hungry...it's signal and it happens for a reason, if you're hungry then go eat since hunger in and of itself is a sign that your body is eating itself since you didn't give it enough food. Instead of eating the cookies, grab an apple or a some yogurt and granola and read your book while eating that. You can only ignore hunger for so long until you just give in so you might as well give in while the hunger isn't absolutely raging. It takes time to get everything in order, you will not be able to just resist cookies and chips overnight..instead you have to reduce them gradually and let your body go through it's sugar withdrawal, and then take advantage by eliminating garbage food. Don't get all bent out of shape if you fail your first few tries at this...as long as you put your heart and soul into it, and if you do that then you're going to go far.

18/m

hey i'm about 20lbs over weight and i need a quick way to lose at least 9lbs in the next two weeks be for i ship out for Basic training for the US army, i also need a great workout for builing upper body mucle mass really fast also in the next two weeks

Thanks!!!

Nothing you can do in two weeks will get you in shape for what is in store for you in the Army's basic training. They will get you in shape in nothing flat dude.

Wait till you see what they have in store for you...have fun puking.

I know that if you don't eat, it actually makes your body gain weight, or so everyone says. But honestly, if you ate nothing, or say 1 apple every day for 2 weeks..would you lose or gain weight? I've always been curious about this. Thank you.

You'd lose in the beginning....until you let the tiniest amount of sugar hit your tongue and then you splurge by binge eating and gain it all back pretty much instantly. Not a very effective method.

hey guys....
okay so i did the thing with my boyfriend on sunday...with no protection....we're both fine and everything and he pulled out before anything came out but ive been reading things on the "pre" stuff if you know what that is and it is possible that you could get pregnant that way...i read that nothing really happens till after the first 5 days and today, wednesday, the third day, i feel fine i dont think anything happened....do you think i should take a pregnancy test just incase?

Listen...you're 16 years old and even if you did or didn't know anything about precum, what should that matter? Why would you ever take the chance without a condom at 16? DON'T listen to anything he promises you because he's just as much of an idiot and just wants to get some sex and have it feel awesome regardless of the consequences. Give yourself a little while longer then take the pregnancy test a few days before you have your next period.

is doing about 700 crunches in one night within about 20/30 minutes unhealthy & bad for you ? & how affective would that be if i'm trying to burn fat on my stomache and tighten it up some ?

You're overloading your system wayyyy too much with that much direct ab work. Your abs are just a series of 6 little tiny muscles no way they can handle that much work in such a little amount of time. Your body handles short, intense bursts of exertion a lot better than it does slow, extreme exertion...which is why you should only exercise for about an hour.

For the last time- You're not burning fat on your stomach by doing crunches..that is all in the diet.

What are the best excersizes for your inner and outer thighs without equipment of any kind? I'd like to get in the best shape possible before Halloween. Thanks!

I don't even have to ask...I can tell you're definitely a girl ;-)

Yes, every girl is obsessed with her thighs and glutes and it is a pain to lose fat in the Abbductor and Adductor (Inner and Outer) thighs. This of course means that your body is already adapted to the workload you have put upon it with walking or running and you have hit what is called a "Plateau" and need something new in order to stimulate results, if this hasn't happened yet then it is going to. Humans are amazing and the body acclimates to workloads, we are made to walk a lot and move our legs a lot so running really doesn't help to lose or my most hated word "TONE" our legs as good as we think it does. Iam sorry but running and the such isn't going to cut it, you need equipment. You have to do weighted squats, and those machines that target the inner and outer thighs specifically, just to name a few exercises. Dream something up and find what your groove is and how you can make it happen. You're only going to see results if you really go through with it and exercise.

Are tacos good in a diet are they unhealthy or healthy

No, definitely not. You can reduce the damage by making sure the beef used in them is like 95% lean and you use a whole wheat tortilla but in my opinion they don't belong as a staple in any good diet.

what is a great smoothie recipe? i want a healthy lean slenderizing smoothie. if you have any great recipes, do tell. thanks

Forget the Soymilk...it's very overrated, just use regular cow milk:

Your favorite fruits, in my case I love strawberries and bananas so I'll give you what I make-

1 cut up banana
1 cup chopped strawberries
2 cups skim milk
1 cup no fat, low sugar strawberry-banana yogurt
2 tablespoons fat free Cool Whip
Ice

Blend and there you go.

wat are some foods that have protein that you eat for breakfest (like a banana)help

What everyone neglects to tell you is that sausage is full of preservatives and disgusting, festering fat.

Bananas don't have protein...eggs and oatmeal are your best bets. I don't mean the sugary flavored packets of oatmeal either....I mean straight up oatmeal with milk and some cinnamon.

im 14m and my doctor told me i need to increase my physical activitys because im at risk of having high blood pressure. swimming was working out but because it's aguast that's only gonna last me 2 or 3 more weeks. and i hate exercising because it's boring and i always get tired and feel bad about my self and when im in the pool i have fun and don't get tired or sweat and it isn't boring and i hear that in high school you get alot of homework so i don't know how im gonna find the time to please my teacher and my doctor at the same time
help!

Bro,

I started working out with weights at 12 years old, I went through the "overload" as some like to call it of high school work (though it's just expected and everyone is just lazy). The time is now- it's important to guys especially because when they're 12 and 14 they're going through lots of changes and growing.

You hate exercising because it's boring? Tough shit man...I despise jogging as I always have but it's a necessary evil so I do it and keep my whining to myself. Out of all the people a personal trainer gets to train...the little lazy teenagers are the worst because they think they're just so overloaded by schoolwork and their friends (and they think they know everything already anyway).

Enough...stop complaining and get out and exercise. It doesn't have to be swimming, do some push-ups and run and do some crunches..break a sweat, keep your whining to a minimum and smile during it. You'll thank yourself later on in life when everyone has heart disease who didn't exercise when the timing was right.

EDIT-

Sorry, but you needed it....at least now you know that you CAN find time to squeeze it in. That's real life man, and if you don't take care of yourself then no one else will. Get to it.

hey i am on a diet and have been doing fine but im very big on dessert. i cut down my normal ice cream at night and insteas of all those calories have something lighter. but now im ready to cut down dessert altogether. any tips? its very difficult as i am used to having something sweet before bed. help if you can thank youu.

You don't have to totally knock out sweet things, instead make healthy things that taste sweet for example protein pudding.

Cottage cheese
skim milk
favorite flavor protein powder
Jello sugar free, fat free instant pudding

Put everything in a blender and blend until its rich and creamy, there you have a high protein and either a low fat or fat free, depending on how you make it snack that is beneficial to eat before bed for its anti-catabolic slow protein burning properties. So you win two ways, it tastes good and actually helps with your goal.

If you're really hardcore you can swallow 2 teaspoons of straight up olive oil or flax seed oil and that usually kills cravings for something sweet. Not sure if that's quite for you though ;-)

is there some kind of household food item that could help me gain muscle?

Plenty of them...

but the best for gaining muscle size are red meat, eggs and milk. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.

i need you guys to tell me everything you know about baseball. rules, teams, about the innings and runs and strikes and balls and all of that! please and thank you!!

Let me give you my take on baseball, if you want the rules go to MLB.com and look them up, they have the official rulebook available for everyone to read.

All you have to remember is that the 1986 NY Mets played the greatest World Series Championship series EVER, and that the 1969 NY Mets are the greatest underdog team to win against a favorite in sports history.

O yea and that there is only one pitcher in this town (NYC) who deserves to wear no.41 on his jersey and it isn't Randy Johnson...it's Tom Seaver.

Some slang terms to use to make you look like you know what you're talking about-

Texas Leaguer- a small fly ball that drops between an infielder and and outfielder

Baltimore Chop- A ball that is hit and bounces off the ground leading it to go very high in the air and staying in the infield.

Cheddar- Fast pitch "He threw him some cheddar"

Ribeye steaks- Runs Batted In

Interstate- Refers to a batter whose average is in the .100's "He's hitting .145 so he's on the interstate."

Start yourself off with those.

Im a guy,17,and i'm only 5'6.So do you guys have any idea what age guys stop growing?And what do I take to help my growing? calcium? protien? what type of food should I eat and what exercises should I do?

Guys usually stop growing in height at around 20, but we don't fill out into our grown men physiques until we're about 25. As for supplementing your growth, not much you can do bud...a lot of it is genetic.

if i run for a half hour to fourty-five minutes everyday for a month how much do u think it is possible to lose? i am 5'6 and 126 lbs. the doctor said its normal, but i just want to tone up my thighs and drop a few pounds. thanks!

Basically I echo every single thing Al said except one thing- the walking and running part.

You really burn approximately the same amount of calories whether you walk or run. Generally this amount is about 100 calories for every mile, it's just that running causes more of a cardiovascular response and conditions you better, and of course burns the 100 calories faster but is not really by any means a drastically different calorie burner over walking.

im 13/female...im about to start eighth grade...and i really liked this guy (he was in my group of school friends) in the beggining of last year. and i ended up asking him out...and he turned me down. so from then on he was being an asshole and everything i would say at lunch, he would shoot down. and he was just being really mean. so all of last year, i was really depressed because all the time i got to spend with my friends was hell. im worried that the same thing will happen this school year. what should i do???

Iam sorry but I have to be honest here.

You're 13 years old and the only thing you should be depressed over is who got kicked off American Idol and not how some guy treats you. You're too young to feel real love and guys especially at 13 with their hormones really raging only want sex anyway. You're going to experience heartbreak a lot in your life and you're going to go through many boyfriends in your life before you finally settle down so you might as well not even worry about trying to get a boyfriend at this time and focus on having fun in your life. You have all the time in the world.

Well, I have been googling a lot lately about diet & excersize & have found that the "key" to good & faster weight loss is to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. Now, I have to work, of course & I have kids & they are in activities. So, my question is...since most people don't have the time to eat like that, what can I replace those meals with so that I am still getting the same affect? Can I replace the meals with protien shakes & stuff like that? Thanks.

Why wouldn't you have time to eat like that? Fact is that it's all about time management and being prepared ahead of time. Many a person has come to me with this same problem and after a while start to realize that if wanting a healthy lifestyle is truly a priority to them, then like anything else sacrifices have to be made and it just has to be squeezed in. When we go into something with the "Ok I'll try but Iam just way too busy" attitude then ultimately we find that we're going to fail and it becomes a burden over a necessity. Instead of watching that hour of TV, why not spend that time preparing the foods for your meals for the next few days? You'll be amazed at how healthy one can be on a tight budget and time schedule. Tupperware is a wonderful invention. How about going to sleep an hour earlier and waking up and exercising before you have to go about your day and its all out of the way. You're the most important person you have and if you don't take care of yourself then no one else will. That's what I have to say for that part.

Onto your question of meal replacement- yes protein drinks can be substituted for a meal when it truly needs to but don't become dependent on them.. they're called supplements for a reason. In fact protein powder can be used to make many things including ice creams, pudding, pancakes, shakes..it just takes experimentation. Why not make some pancakes out of oatflour, skim milk and protein powder with some sugar free syrup and eat them either as a meal or on the go when you need to bring the kids somewhere? plenty of fiber, protein and low Glycemic Index carbs to keep your insulin levels in check until you eat your next meal. So yes you DO have time to eat healthy and often, it's just a question of how you manage your schedule to fit the necessity in. Don't worry about getting enough information and making yourself an expert on nutrition and fitness, there's too much bad information out there as it is. Know the basics and that it only takes a little bit of knowledge and a whole lot of discipline. I have some meal ideas that I have come with if you are interested in them, feel free to leave me a message.

I asked this question to WiseAl and he answered it very well I thought but told me to ask you about it. :D

My big sister lives does high fashion runway modeling in New York. She was just down here visiting (Texas) and she was talking to me about her eating habits and how she stays thin because I've always wondered how she's a size zero in pants (she's 5'8). She said that all she eats during the day is a good breakfast and a sandwich or a salad during the day and thats it. I was wondering if this is healthy or not. I mean she isn't anorexic because she eats just not as much.

Al gives very informative, sensible answers in his responses- especially with the topic of fitness so Iam flattered to have been a reference lol.

No, this is not healthy and actually winds up being very counterproductive in the long run, and runway models are notorious for not dieting properly and setting a bad example. What you need to understand is that our body is really an amazing specimen and is incredibly adaptable. As Al pointed out to you When we don't eat enough, it actually causes us to retain more bodyfat since our body detects that the energy source is low so it is going to store more in order to survive.

I try and stress that dieting isn't so much about about eating less as it is managing more controllable portions with better nutritional combinations. So in fact dieting really means eating more. It's a common misconception that you don't need to eat a lot during a weightloss diet and this couldn't be any farther from the truth.

Yes it is true that genetics come into play, but when you really can't know your genetic potential if you're 20 and have only been dieting and training for 3 years, it takes a long long time to figure out your true genetic configurations and how you personally determine your strong and weak points.

Iam not a big fan of people eating sandwiches as part of a good diet program and a salad isnt anywhere near enough to be considered a meal. Basically in this whole rant Iam trying to say that it is not considered a good healthy diet, but in your sister's line of work they have to be almost anorexic and not have a lot of curves, just skin and bone. Yes it may work and she may be as skinny as a rail but your body always catches up to you and will get what it was deprived of eventually and it is going to cause a huge insulin spike and a hunger attack and help to store more lipids (fat cells). Eat at least 4 times a day, keep a good training program of 45 mins to an hour a day for 3 or 4 days a week and dont stress over it, can't forget that stress also leads to you holding fluid under your skin.

i run almost everyday, between 1-2 miles plus i walk 1-2 miles.

in my right outer thigh, it hurts like HELL. like where the muschle is. what can i do to make this feel better so i can run or what could it be?

and i stretch everytime i run.

I think your stretching is your problem. Don't stretch so much before you run because its just a general rule that you never stretch a cold muscle because it actually will make it weaker and more vulnerable to injury.

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