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I'm 5'4" and I want to lose some weight. How many calories should I eat to lose weight? I dont think I burn much cause I dont really exersise a lot but also dont really have time for it because of school. should I eat below 1000 calories?

Here is a calorie calculator where you can input your details and it will give you an estimate:

http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

It wants an age range from 15 and up, but that should be close enough.

A few notes however:

- Treat this as an estimate and monitor the effect. Then adjust your calories to match your desired results.

- Do not try to do this too quickly. Particularly when you are young (though also for older people) weight loss should be slow, gradual, and sustainable. Do not aim for more than a pound a week.

- Make small changes to your diet that you believe you can sustain. Learn good eating practices, such as eating small balanced meals, not eating empty calories, and avoiding excessive saturated fats.

- Lastly, do try to get some exercise. Not just for the weight but for your general health. I wont push this point, but I truly do believe that anyone has the time to do 4 x 30 minutes of cardio per week... and that will literally do miracles for your well-being.

Good luck :)

Did I ruin my diet eating baked hot cheetos?
I've been on my diet for a few days I was doing ok until today. I ate 3 servings of baked hot cheetos. But I didn't go over my calorie goal. I eat 1200-1500 calories a day. Did I ruin my diet? Are baked hot cheetos bad for you?

Cheetos are bad for you, but you did not ruin anything.

Do not get so caught up in the strictness of your diet. A diet should really be a long-term nutritional plan that you can sustain. This means that you need to allow yourself the occasional indulgence.

So, do not worry about the cheetos at all. Just get back on the horse so to speak and you won't even notice it.

Can one live on rice, vegetables and legumes alone?

Theoretically yes. But it would require a lot of variation in your vegetables and legumes to get a mix of plant protein sources. Plant proteins are incomplete, so to get the protein your body needs you would need to mix many different sources - also, plant protein sources tend to have less protein. The other issue is getting your healthy fats, which would be possible but you would need to approach it very scientifically.

All in all, possible but difficult to do in a healthy way. If you were to throw in things like nuts, healthy oils, and other grains it would be easier.

ive been feeling very week latly and my heads been hurting alot. Could eating junkfood cause that if so what should i start eating?

What you describe can be due to any number of things.

I agree with the answer below, please do see a doctor. A few simple tests or maybe just a talk will get to the bottom of this.

Regarding your diet, it is always a good idea to stop eating junk food. Eat unprocessed foods in balanced meals. Grains, rice, wholewheat pasta, lean meats & dairy, vegetables, fruit, nuts, etc.

Hello, I am an 18 year old female and an avid Nikki Phillippi watcher on youtube. That's important because on her vlog channel, she talks about how she and her husband had started juicing. She makes a big glass every night and drinks half and then has the other half in the morning. I believe her drinks are pretty much the same everyday, kale, lemons, apples, celery, carrots, that kinda thing. Now, my New Years resolution, partially thanks to Nikki, is to eat more fruit and veggies. I am a freshman in college, so I especially want to do it so that "freshman 15" doesn't happen. I juiced today and made carrots, apples and celery. I, particularly, wouldn't make it again but I did finish the glass because I knew that it would benefit me. Nikki has said that she doesn't really like the taste of hers that much either, she compares it to eating grass, but she still does it every day and every night because she knows the benefits.

Basically, the whole gist of this is: I know the benefits of juicing vegetables; better eyesight, a clearer head, a better complexion (which I would DIE to have), weight maintenance, etc.

I was wondering, though, since I wasn't a fan of my juice this morning, if juicing JUST fruits has the same effect as veggies. If I do go to just juicing fruits, I would still have veggies with dinner and to snack on like carrots with ranch, etc. So, again, if I were to just juice fruits in my juicer and continue to do so, would I be effected the same as if I were juicing veggies as well?

Thanks!

Hey there,

To be honest, juicing is not what some people crack it up to be. Generally, juicing is FAR inferior to eating the actual vegetable/fruit. The reason for this is that veggies & fruits are one of our primary sources of dietary fibre, which is lost when you juice. Some vitamins are lost also.

This is why replacing or adding one or two daily vegetable/fruit servings with fresh juice is OK, but it really should not exceed that. And frankly it is always better just to eat the fruit/vegetable.

This problem becomes more pronounced when juicing just fruits because the sugar concentration increases. One major study looking at diabetes in women found that eating fruit lowers the chance of diabetes, but drinking fruit juice actually raises it.

Here is part of their conclusion:

The positive association between fruit juice consumption and diabetes risk may relate to the relative lack of fiber and other phytochemicals, the liquid state, and the high sugar load. The rapid delivery of a large sugar load, without many other components that are a part of whole fruits, may be an important mechanism by which fruit juices could contribute to the development of diabetes. Fructose consumption has also been implicated in the development of many manifestations of the insulin resistance syndrome (25,26). Frequent consumption of fruit juices may contribute to a higher dietary glycemic load, which has been positively associated with diabetes in this cohort (27).

You can read about the study here: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/7/1311.full

So, the basic idea is you are better off eating the fruit or vegetable in most cases. Vegetable juice is fine in moderation but it should not be a major replacement for whole veggies. However, if you drink fruit juice, I would limit this to just a serving or so per day and drink it in conjunction with a healthy meal - this should lower the glycemic load (i.e. the sugar spike from the juice should be far less pronounced).

Hi, I am 23/male/207 lbs currently after loosing 35 lbs in 4 months. I have lost pretty much enough fat and now I want to build some lean mass. I have been working out for more then a year now. Now to gain some muscle I am suppose to have around 200 gms of proteins. But being a vegetarian I can get amost around 50 or so grams from my diet so I cannot compliment rest 150 with 6 protein shakes.
Thus I am confused that should a I becone a non vegetarian. Will it help me better, I have never had anything non veg my whole life and m not really looking forward to it. Is it uuterly necessary or can I stick to bwing vegetarian and become muscular , if yes then what should I eat the most in vegetarian food.i cant have soy too much cause it tend to increase estrogen .
Please help.

I assume that when you say vegetarian you don't mean vegan right? I.e. you can eat dairy, eggs, etc.?

If this is the case then no problem. If not then it is difficult (but possible). I will provide an answer first for one then for the other:

Vegetarian Diet
As a vegetarian you have access to some of the best protein sources there are: egg whites and whey. If you are a pesco vegetarian then there is also fish - in particular tuna (but I am guessing from your question that this is not the case). Other great sources of protein include low fat dairy products (in particular cottage cheese).

Getting 200 grams is easy. Supplement your meals with egg whites (each has about 5 grams), low fat cottage cheese (I eat the stuff almost by the tub), skim milk, yoghurt, and other dairy. I would not go beyond 2 shakes per day, its just not as good as real food. Also work in the vegan protein sources that I mention below.

Vegan Diet
Now, if you are a vegan then its much harder. Non animal protein sources are not as good. The food may have other health benefits but in terms of protein quality plant sources are incomplete. This means that they do not have all the essential amino acids, limiting absorption. This is why vegans have to constantly mix many different protein sources. Moreover, these sources tend not to have as much protein in them either.

Some of the best sources of vegan protein are: Soy, wheat gluten, beans, nuts, quinoa, oats, spinach, lentils.

I would also recommend creatine as a supplement. It is useful for anyone, but since one of the best natural sources is meat it is probably even more useful for the vegan/vegetarian lifter.

Also take a good vitamin supplement and make sure you are getting your omega 3 fatty acids (a supplement is usually a good idea for most people).

So, bottom line is you need to vary your protein sources and aim for 5-6 meals per day with 30 grams of protein in each meal. Add to this a protein shake and you have hit your target.

Oh, and do keep in mind that the protein requirements that you normally see quoted (which vary from about 1.5 grams to 2.5 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight) refer to LEAN body weight. So unless you are really slim at 207 pounds (94kg), you do not need 200 grams.

Personally, I have always opted for the lower end of that spectrum. My lean bodyweight is probably around 105kg and I eat maybe 175grams of protein per day (I do powerlifting btw).

Ok, sorry for the mess, I hope this is useful. Good luck :)

18/f 5'4" 150 lbs i'm trying to lose 20 lbs. my plan for the past 3 days and weeks to come was breakfast: bowl of special k cereal with skim milk, lunch: either a spinach salad with italian dressing or a turkey, lettuce, green pepper and rach on whole wheat wrap dinner: spaghetti squash or tomatoes w/ chicken and whole wheat rice or i'll have a chicken salad with chickpee beans or stuffed peppers (ground turkey & rice). and also i'll throw in an apple and orange for 2 snacks throughout the day. and my exercise is running 2 miles everyday. I've been doing really good with this goal and was just wondering if you think it'll work and how fast i'd be able to lose the 20 lbs. thanks!

Well, this is quite good. The speed of losing weight depends on the quantities you eat, but I am more concerned that you are eating enough rather than too much.

So lets flip this around. Aim for weight loss between 1 and 2 pounds a week. Modify your caloric intake or exercise intensity accordingly. This also answers your "how fast" question.

I do have a few suggestions to your plan:

1. You can do better than special K (nothing wrong with it as such, its just not that great). Oats are a far superior breakfast which will also keep you full longer. Just a thought.

2. You need some more essential fatty acids, and particularly omega 3 which you have very little of. You can use supplements if you dont want to get them from foods (e.g. oily fish, walnuts, flax, etc). Should not be a lot, but it should be regular since they are important.

Otherwise it looks very good.

Good luck.

Hello i want to start dieting and lose about 15 pounds overall. The only problem is when it comes to reading a nutritional label its like foreign to me. I'm not even sure how many calories i'm suppose to be eating how many grams of fat i should be eating, sodium, EVERYTHING! I'm 5'6 148 pounds and 19. Thanks for the input everyone!! GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Hi,

Well, there are many different takes on what the ideal proportions are.

Basically, we first need to figure out how many calories your burn. Unfortunately, this is a very hard thing to do accurately. A rough approximation can be obtained from one of these calculators:

http://www.shapefit.com/bmr.html

There are more detailed ones, but its just an approximation - the rest we do from trial and error.

So, get your approximate number. For your stats (if you are "lightly active") it guesses 1946. So, to lose weight, lower this number by 500 to get about 1500 cals a day and monitor your weight loss. Aim for about a pound a week and adjust your calories or activity level to match.

Now, onto the distribution of these calories. A very common split is 40-30-30. Where 40% of your calories come from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. So, for our example of 1500 calories, to calculate carbs you would:

Take 40% of 1500 which is 600 (calories from carbs). There are 4 calories to 1 gram of carb, so that means your daily target would be 150 grams of carbs.

For protein it would be 30% of 1500, so 450 calories divided by 4 (one gram of protein is also 4 calories) = 113 grams

For fats it would be again 450, divided by 9 (the calorie value of 1 gram of fat)= 50 grams

I should add, that of these 50 grams, no more than half should come from saturated fat sources. Most should come from mono and poly unsaturated fats.

Recommendations for sodium vary. The most common one seems to be to consume less than 2300 grams per day. Apparently we need about 500-1000grams... the rest is just extra.

Thats it. Good luck :)

Iam 21 years old and Iam about 5'2 and I weigh 186 pounds and I want to lose about 50 pounds and I want to weigh about 130 pounds which is how much I weighed when I was in highschool I just wnat to know would that be a health amount of weight to lose? How should I go about it?

Well, the answer below is very good. I just wanted to add a few things.

First off, in terms of how much to lose, its important not to be too focused on the numbers (height vs weight, BMI, etc). They are all good indicators, but they do not take build and muscle mass into account. E.g. my lean body weight (which I sadly am quite far from now) would classify an average person my height as overweight, because I am a weight lifter. So, use the numbers to help you track progress, but also rely on the mirror... it never lies.

Now, onto the process:

- Eat sensibly: You need a moderate calorie deficit, nothing too extreme - something that translates to 1 - 2 pounds per week. Eat balanced, healthy meals low on saturated fats and do not neglect protein (particularly if you do any form of resistance trainging). All this is particularly important for preserving muscle mass during weight loss. Poor diets dont do this and it negatively affects the metabolism.
- Eat for what you are about to do, not for what you have just done. Ask yourself what you will do in the next 3 or 4 hours and tweak your calories by controlling your carb intake accordingly. So, eat more of your daily carbs before periods of activity (and hence also more of your daily calories) and less/no carbs before periods of rest (and hence less calories). The other components, proteins and fats, should stay roughly the same. This way you fuel your workouts and perform better.

In terms of exercise, one can do it in many different ways. Whether losing weight or not, everyone should do at least 3 steady pace cardios per week, of at least 20 minutes (for their vast health benefits). This is what I would call the minimum.

The ideal routine would combine weights with cardio. A gym routine where one trains say 3 times a week with weights and does 3-5 weekly cardios is probably about as good as it gets. But again, its not mandatory.

Sports are also great, particulary those that resemble interval training (e.g. soccer is the most effective sport I know).

So, eat balanced, eat less than you need (but not a lot less), follow the advice in the answer below, and start exercising.

Take small steps, find the kind of exercise that suits you, and dont push yourself so hard that you burn out.

Good luck.

Does dieting stunt growth?

It can if it is done improperly or used for the wrong goals i.e. if one does not get the nutrients one needs; if one uses starvation diets; or if one generally goes too far (i.e. trying to reach some standard that goes beyond actually being overweight).

But, if a child is actually overweight its perfectly fine to use a moderate and sensible diet and exercise program.

I am trying to eat healthier and my mom made tacos today and I was thinking that maybe tacos are actually healthy for you to eat because they have stuff like cheese, meat (hamburger or chicken), lettuce, and tomatoes inside a thing tortilla thing. So, does that mean tacos are actually really good for you and you can eat them when you're on a diet?

Hey there.

Here is the way it breaks down:

Not all cheeses and meats are created equal.

Cheese is rarely healthy. You can get lower fat varieties which are better though.

Beef varies immensely. On the low fat end (about 5%) its a good, healthy source of protein. At the high end (usually 20+%) its terrible. People dont realise this when they eat out for example, since most places use the high fat meats.

So, if the tacos are made with low fat beef or with chicken (which is also fine), then its really just the cheese that may be an issue. If you limit that and use low fat varieties tacos can be a perfectly healthy meal.

What are some low carb snacks that I can buy at Walmart or Stop and Shop?
Thanks :)

Hey there.

I was just reading the other answer and I think there may be some confusion as to what low carb actually means. Many of the things on there are primarily carb sources. E.g. snack bars, bananas, bread, muffins, cereal, and crackers. Just having a bit is not making the content a "low carb" source, its just eating less.

Here are some ideas:

Jerkey
Nuts and seeds of all sorts (more healthy to get unsalted)
Celery (e.g. with peanut butter)
Cheese sticks
Jello (sugar free)
Pork rinds (horrible stuff... but very low carb)
Cottage cheese
Yoghurts

In the fruit department, berries and apples are very good choices, particularly mixed with something else (something very low on carbs)- e.g. that strawberry & cottage cheese example in the answer below.

If you are into cooking you could also google low carb desserts/recipes and make your own stuff.

i had 3 cups of coffe with half and half milk
celrey
sum meat
and very little fiber one with skim milk

is it ok if i eat more cerela?

will i gain weight?

i havnt been eating for this past week

As the answer below said, what you are doing to yourself is very dangerous.

Apart from everything mentioned below, starvation style diets digest your muscle mass first, which destroys your metabolism. The last thing you want to lose is your lean muscle.

Then there are the countless other health issues.

But enough about that. The important part of this question is what you should be doing.

You need to eat regular meals. Forget about gaining weight for now, this is far more important, we are talking about your future life here. If you find that you are unable to do this, talk to someone who can get you some help. I am not kidding here, this can really cause serious damage.

I can give you advice on what to eat, on how to get yourself back on track with meals & exercise, but for now its just important that you start eating regularly.

Its ok to eat more cereal, you should also supplement that with vegetables or fruit. You need a good fat source as well (I do mean "need"). There are better and worse fats, and those from fish, nuts, good quality oils (e.g. olive oil, canola), olives, etc are neccessary for our health. Make sure you eat some today in some context or another.

More protein is also ok and if you have vitamin pills in the house take one with your next meal.

This is enough to get you started. Again, if you find that you are unable to go back to a normal eating plan, please talk to someone.

Good luck.

hey there... a am male of 20 and have been goint to gym(not very regularly) for last 2 3 years but because of not being able to produce desired results dispite of disciplined training i was adviced to take cretail by someone quite close but now i am not able to contact him cose of wierd reasons and i ahve brought creatine but don't know ho to use take it properly.
and the place where i live adulteration is quite commont even in branded products. i have brought creatine of olompia brand which is quite famous here but is there any effective method to check if the creatine is original or not??
please help me if you can.. i will be very thankful ...

Ok... thats a lot of questions :)

Let me start with what I can't help you with. I have no idea how to check if the creatine is genuine.

Now, onto what I do know something about. There is some debate about how to take creatine. Some say you should go through a loading phase where you take several doses (usually of 5g) a few times a day. The idea here is that you elevate the levels in your body and then sustain them with a normal daily dose.

Really, I don't neccessarily think this is manditory and there have been studies showing that one gets good results without loading. You can easily just take one dose per day (again, 5g). Add it to your post workout shake.

Incidentally, you can also find more specific formulas regarding dosage vs your body weight (just google it), but this is another area where studies have been inconlusive. So I would just stick the to 5g if I were you.

What we do know is that studies have shown that creatine enhances "short- duration, high-intensity athletic activities". Basically you should be seeing small improvements in your performance within a few weeks of taking it.

Good luck.

EDIT: Thats another issue where no one agrees lol. Some recommend before, some recommend after (and each have their own "logic" for it). Whether or not one is more effective than the other is uncertain. What is certain is that it works both ways. So... without having to worry at all, you can do either.

Happy training.

Please read this! Ok my name is Farrah and i am a 13 year old girl who is pretty obese. I get embarrased all the time with my friends because they are all skinny. I am tired of being fat!!! Does anyone have anyone good diets easy to make and good. Maybe even some good exercises that are also affordable and easy. Any advice will help and some personal experience would be greatly appreciated! PLEASE HELP! -overweight Farrah

Hey there.

First off, sorry to hear about your situation, however I think its great that you want to do something about it. Being determined to change is the most important first step.

Diets:

What you really want to do here is to stay away from fad diets. In the long term (for sustainable results that dont make your weight yo- yo back and forth), the key is a lifestyle change. The difference between a diet and a lifestyle change is that "diets" by defition are temporary. They also often ask you to live in a way that is unrealistic in the long term (e.g. the no carb diets). That is one reason people put the weight back on.

So, here are some general nutritional tips (its ok to implement these gradually):

- Eat many small meals a day, about 4- 6 spaced out every 3- 4 hours.
- Create a calories deficit, i.e. eat about 500 calories a day less than you burn. Practically this should leave you feeling a bit hungry, not starving.
- Eliminate empty calories from junk foods, anything with sugar added to it, etc.
- Stick to wholesome non processed foods
- Eat carbs moderately in general. Also do not eat many/ any carbs before periods of inactivity- typically late in the day. The last meal closest to bedtime should largely consist of lean protein.
- Minimise saturated fats. These are found in animal products. Whenever possible stick to low/ no fat animal products and lean meats.
- Include daily sources of essential fatty acids, particularly omega 3. Good sources include oily fish, flax, canola, walnuts, etc (a quick search online will give you more detailed info). The amount needed is quite small (e.g. a serving of fish or a handful of walnuts usually covers your daily requirements). Supplements are also ok here.

Exercise:

This is tricky to answer without knowing what you have been doing so far. So again, I will give some general tips:

- Cardio is key. It burns calories and has countless health benefits. It should be done at a steady pace for over 20 minutes. If you are out of shape and overweight, often walking will elevate your heart to the right level. Otherwise biking, jogging, stair machines, etc are good options (particularly the latter if you have access to the equipment).

- Interval training. This is pretty intense stuff, but more and more is being written about its effectiveness for fitness and weight loss- particularly on its effects on metabolism. For now, I would just stick to the cardio, but as you get fitter and more used to exercising, keep this option in mind (lots of resources online on it).

- Resistance training. Great for preservation of muscle mass during weight loss- i.e. preserving your metabolism. Not a must, but really useful if you can do it.

- Sports: Great way to burn calories while having fun (hopefully anyway). Sports like soccer are particularly effective since they are almost identical to interval training.

To answer your question directly, cheap and easy exercises that are very effective basically would include cardio. Nothing cheaper than going for a jog/ walk. So, aim for about 4- 6 sessions a week of at least 20 minutes. Start off slowly though.

Beyond this, anything else you can add is great but not mandatory. You can of course also lower the cardios if you are say playing sports...

The key here is not to shock your system and/ or get injured. Implement things slowly and sensibly.

Hope this is helpful for you.

Good luck.

Alin 34/m

So I've been dieting for about two weeks now after my doctor told me to lose 10 kilos (about 20 pounds)

I'm 5'3 and weigh 154 pounds.
I want to lose 10 kilos, so I want to get down to about 132 poiunds.
On her orders, I walk for an hour every day. I haven't eaten any white bread, white pasta, potatoes, etc. I haven't had any junk food of any kind. I haven't had any lollies, or chocolate. I refuse to eat anything with over 6 grams of fat in it. The only meat I've eaten is chicken and fish, and I've only eaten that grilled.
I've been eating lotsa fruit, and veggies now and then. I have salad for lunch often. Sometimes I don't eat dinner at all. I don't eat anywhere near as much as I did before I went on the diet.

And yet I haven't lost a single kilo. Not one. I'm meant to go back and see her this week, but I am ashamed because I haven't lost any weight.
What am I doing wrong? Should I be seeing results by now? It's really demotivating me...

Look, if you are showing no results in two weeks the only explanation is that you are still intaking too many calories. Eating healthy foods is important, and its good for you, but it does not in itself guarantee weight loss. You still need to control your calorie balance.

So, lower your total daily calorie intake by about 500. Alternatively increase your daily exercise without eating more to compensate. The former is probably the easiest considering your current routine.

Also remember to weigh yourself at the same time of day, under similar conditions. I normally prefer to do it once weekly to avoid being confused by small daily fluctuations.

Good luck.

This is usually what I eat, but I don't know if it's a good diet or not. It's low in calories and fat, but according to TheDailyPlate.com it's high in carbs and sometimes sodium. Let me know what you think.
For breakfast, I usually have either a VitaMuffin (google them!) with fruit, or a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt. Sometimes instead I have the yogurt with fruit. For lunch, I have either a turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread with fruit, yogurt, or sugarfree jell-o, or a veggie dog. For dinner, I usually have a whole can of vegetable Campbell's Select Harvest Light soup with a piece of toast, a boca burger mixed with some bell peppers and egg whites, or low-calorie Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones meals, usually being a chicken or shrimp dish.

You get the general idea. Please give me as much advice as possible.

What are your stats, and what activities do you do?

No concrete advice of any kind can be given without that information. Any advice you do get will be a shot in the dark.

The diet seems rather low on calories. I for one would keel over with a diet like that. A tiny girl might not. As a paid user the only thing I can see is that you are "female".

So here is some general advice:

- You are missing your essential fatty acids, and particularly omega 3 (except perhaps on days when your evening meals include fish). These are crucial for your health, so do make an effort to include them. Good sources are: oily fish, unsalted nuts & seeds (particularly walnuts for omega 3), good quality oils (e.g. evo, canola) etc.

- Relative to your other meals, breakfast seems to have too few calories.

- A lot of your food appears to be processed. In general, the more unprocessed foods you eat the better.

That is about all I can say from the information above.

Good luck.

So usually during the week, I skip going to the gym for a day, maybe 2. I skipped going last Friday, then I've been going every day since Saturday, but I don't want to go today. I've eaten altogether about 500 calories in all my 3 meals, and I'm going to a spin class tomorrow morning, so is it okay to not go once out of a week?

Of course it is ok. Any gym routine should have at least one rest day every week. It is possible to train on all the other days, but one has to split the muscle groups so that one does not overtrain. So that really depends on your routine, but one rest day per week is advisable.

Just an observation, it sounds like you are eating too little. I don't know your stats, but even for a tiny person 500 calories in three meals sounds like almost nothing. An active young person normally needs more food than that. But again, I dont know your meal plans etc, so it was just a thought :)

Good luck.

14/f. I walk fast on the treadmill 5-6 times a week for 45 minutes. then I do some arm and leg weights, and then I do trunk twists to get rid of my love handles. My legs are nice and toned and I'm happy with them, but my stomach is a disaster! I've been working out like this for a few weeks now and I can't get it to shrink! I want a flat stomach, but when I sit down you can seriously take 5 or 6 handfuls of my stomach fat. I don't know what to do. I do crunches on a fitness ball as well, but NOTHINGS WORKING! Im going to Florida in 6 weeks and I really just want to be skinny! I'm done being chubby and not fitting into clothes. i want a flat stomach and overall great body. but this stomach won't budge. I eat special k every day for breakfast, some fruit and a special k snack bar for lunch, and for dinner i have pasta or chicken or something with a salad. HELP

The myth that will not die :)

You cannot under any circumstances target fat loss on an area of your body. Training abs will only build muscle and nothing else. Similarly, trunk twists do absolutely nothing for your love handles.

If you do not believe me, google "fat spot reduction myth".

Unfortunately the only thing that works is lowering your overall body fat. Genetics determines if one area is over or under emphasised, but as you lose weight it will eventually come off your stomach.

Weight loss implies a negative calorie balance. Cardio is very useful, and you are already doing that which is excellent. Resistance training is also useful for preserving muscle mass during periods of weight loss. However, the more muscles you train the better, so don’t just focus on specific areas. From this point on adjust your calorie balance down a bit.

In regards to the diet, keep it clean and balanced (as you have been doing). I would go for a proper meal at lunch and drop the snack bar. Make sure also you get a daily dose of essential fatty acids- these are crucial for your health and they also benefit weight loss. Sources include oily fish, nuts (particularly walnuts for omega 3), dark green leafy vegetables, good quality oils, etc.

Also try to get the bulk of your calories before periods of activity and less afterwards.

Good luck.

i am a male of 20. i have been going to gy for a while (3 years). after a lot of efforts i succeeded in gaining muscle mass as i ama eggetarian(no flesh) and it prooved harder then i thought. as a source of protein i have been having cheese in adequate amounts and some eggs to but not daily.but this winter i gaines weight around my belly and chest which i hate.the thing is if will try to cut my diet a bit then i may loose my hard earned muscles but i want to loose excess fat without loosing the muscle mass. shoul i continue having the cheese and eggs stuff while i am under the weight control period ar are they too fat increasing in nature that they may make t\my efforts to loose weight gain go in vain. please help me and even with additional tips if u can.

Ok here is the way it goes. First, you will probably lose some muscle during your cut. That is perfectly normal and everyone from casual trainers to high level bodybuilders go through it.

That being said, don't fret, its not a lot and lost strength is regained very quickly once you begin to bulk again.

Do not try to do both at once, you will fail. Set a cutting period and make sure you have a daily calorie deficit. Then, once you have reached your target body fat level, switch to a calorie surplus and start bulking again.

In terms of what to eat, cheese is rarely a good thing, whether you are bulking or cutting, unless we are talking about low fat cottage cheese. Eggs are fine in moderation, but cheese typically does not have very high quality protein (in terms of the ratio of essential to non essential amino acids) and way too high fat content.

I was a similar vegetarian for years (I knew it as lacto ovo vegetarianism, where you eat milk products and eggs), so I do have some experience with this. The thing is, your primary sources of protein cannot be products that have a high fat ratio, and certainly not those that have a high saturated fat ratio. Fatty animal products are high in saturated fats primarily.

So, here are some good sources of protein from animal products:

Cottage cheese (low fat), skim milk, egg whites (these you can eat as many as you want), low fat yoghurt, and (obviously) protein powders.

Vegetarian options such as soy, beans, etc are of course also good sources.

So, to sum up. If your cheese is fatty, cut it. Eggs you can eat in moderation, egg whites as often as you need. The cleaner your diet the better your results.

Keep working out, and be prepared psychologically for the possibility to see your weights drop a little. If they drop a lot you are cutting too hard. Remind yourself that this is temporary and easily regained. Once you start bulking again, eat a steady calorie surplus but keep the diet fairly clean except for the occasional indulgence. That way you will not gain very much fat.

Good luck.

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