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Alright, this will get pretty long, but I have many questions that I would like to hear about from people who know what they are talking about, because I hear different things everyday and it is so confusing. It is to the point of me almost giving up; however, I am very ambitious and determined to reach my goals. You will see the extent of my determination in this post. I would like to say that I have read up on many different subjects and every article says completely different things.

First of all, I work out consistently, 5 times a week, Monday-Friday. I have consistently worked out for two and a half months straight and have not missed one day. If I feel tired or out of it one day, I just go there, do a quick jog, and leave. I try not to overexert myself. I go at 9 pm because it fits best into my schedule, but I am thinking of going at 6 pm from now on, because I heard that it is best then, your body is at its pique.

I don't have a father, or any male figure for that matter to take guidance from in such routines because they either are all overweight and have no ambition/drive to get into shape, or know nothing of the topic. So, I'm on my own, hence why I am here. I do not have the money to afford a personal trainer or any type of dietician/coach, so that is out of the question.

As for me, I am 18, weigh 170 lbs, 6'2" and have a medium frame, and I am a vegetarian. No meat whatsoever. I am not fat, but I have small amounts of excess fat in certain areas that I would like to sculpt. They lie on my lower stomach, pectoral muscle outer sides, my obliques, and my gluteal region. I've estimated my body fat % test, and it indicates that my body fat is between 12% - and 16 %. Does this sound accurate?



So now for the questions. Feel free to pick and choose I guess, and thanks in advance :) :

1. I don't want to get big of buff by any means, I just want to get lean and healthy. Should I be doing many reps at low weigh/intensity, or should I be doing smaller sets of reps at higher weight/intensity? If so for either, what is a good number? Right now I am doing my strength training at 4 sets of 25 reps with low, but challenging weight (as in, on the 4th set, it starts to burn real bad, but I am not sore the next day).

2. I alternate between arms one day, legs the next, then back, and I do stomach everyday I go to the gym. I always alternate. I go to the gym monday-friday at 9 p.m. each night, sometimes later. Is going to the gym this late bad? I can't fit it in anywhere else, and I usually spend about an hour and a half there. Also, during my gym sessions, I've just been doing 5 different exercises for each muscle group that I am training on that day. I do low weights as not to hurt myself, and many reps. Afterwards, I run on the treadmill at 6 miles per hour for 20 minutes, then cool down for 5 at a slow, steady walking pace. Also to note I sweat after the first 5 minutes, and sweat a lot. Should I switch my gym time to 6 pm?

3. I drink about 7-9 bottle of water a day (we buy economy packs for cheap). I find myself often feeling urges to eat even when I am satisfied. At these points, I just guzzle down water to make myself feel full because I know I am NOT hungry. Is this ok? Am I drinking enough water? (They are .5L bottles).

4. Does anyone have ANY recommendations for me? I can post pictures if need be. I have excess fat on my stomach (not a lot, but not a little either. I can barely see my top two sets of abs.) I have a bit of chest fat from when I used to be heavy which I would very much like gone. I also have some butt fat that seems to be going down steadily as I run more often. Any tips for losing this?

5. I am vegetarian as previously stated. What should I be making sure to eat enough of? I make up for proteins by eating things like a handful of natural, unsalted nuts each day, avocados, etc. I often bypass sweets and others things for fruit, my favorite being fresh fiji apples and unripened (green) bananas. Should I do anything more? I eat a lot of fiber too. I just am totally lost on where to go with the dieting aspect, as I don't know what eating healthy entails for a person my age. I have no guidance whatsoever. Everyone says different things.

6. I know I should eat immediately after every workout session. What is a good after workout meal. I just ran three miles in 30 minutes, came back home, and made a shake with a cup non-fat, plain yogurt, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, a handful of fresh fruit (pineapple, mango, and strawberry), a cup of skim milk, and 6 ice cubes for water/volume. I also had a serving of non-fat cottage cheese and a slice of whole wheat bread. Is this sensible at 7 pm? I chew my food slowly and make sure to leave plenty of time in between bites.

7. I have also heard it is good to eat 6 small meals throughout the day, with a serving of protein and a serving of good carbs. What does this mean? What are some examples that people can give me being a vegetarian? Thanks again.

8. As I mentioned, I am 6'2", 170 lbs, medium frame, vegetarian. Gym everyday for about 1 1/2 hours. Strength training for about an hour, run for thirty minutes, 3 miles, it says I burn 430 calories, so I estimate I burn about 500 in a gym session? What should be my daily caloric intake taking into consideration that I work out everyday except saturday and sunday and I walk a lot around school (big campus)? A rough estimate? Right now I am doing about 1,500. I feel this is dangerous. :\

Well anyway, if you read this far, thank you so much. If you reply, thanks even more.

Goodnight.
 
I'll answer what I can before I have to run...

1. 25 reps is to high. 15 is the highest you need to go. And then again, I'd keep within the 6-12 rep range.

2. I would really change to a fullbody setup and do a circuit. I'd also change your cardio...on the days that you're not working out, run your ass off for 30 seconds, jog for 30 seconds, run your ass for 30 seconds and continue this for 20 minutes. On the days you do workout, what you're doing is fine.

3. Drink a gallon of water a day.

5. Nuts and seeds in moderation because they are calorically dense. Pumpkin seeds are excellent because 2 ounces has ~11 grams protein, 11 grams of fat, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams carbs, and 170 calories. Eggs are really good to eat, if you're watching fat intake, you'll want to a limited amount of yolks (3 or 4 tops). Cottage cheese, yogurt, all your vegetables, and berries are excellent choices.

www.johnberardi.com has some good nutritional articles. www.bodyrecomposition.com is an excellent nutrition, etc forum.

6. What you ate PWO was fine. Moderate your fructose intake. I believe anything over 60 grams of fructose a day stores as fat...this is a rough number. An apple has 12 grams of fructose.

I must be off now.
 
4. You cannot spot reduce without surgery (liposuction). All you can do is reduce total body fat, and in men, that settles around the abs and is the hardest to get rid of. You probably have some glute muscle that's soft from not being worked hard enough. consider this a blessing...women love a guy with a good muscular butt.

6. PWO, I like a whey shake. an hour later, I eat whole foods.

7. Eat 5-7 meals per day. If your daily caloric intake should be 3,000 cals, have six 500calorie meals a day. you need around 180g of protein a day, so 30grams per meal. That'll be the hardest for you since you don't eat meat. lots of cottage cheese, protein shakes, egg whites.

90 mins in the gym is too damn long. if weights take an hour, stop then. run on a different day. Frankly I don't think you should need more than 45 mins of weights if you're not dicking around and chatting with people...but just lift, rest, lift, rest...

1,500 cals a day is way too low. I'm 5'8" and trying to cut fat again, and 1,500 is too low even for me!

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=811783 - about 1/3 way down the page is a ton of calclulations for determining your basal metabolic rate, plus what you need for lifestyle. this is your Maintenance calorie estimate. Knock about 500 cals off that to cut, most of those calories coming from carbs...and some from fats...mostly starchy carbs tho.
 
Thank you for your insight, both of you.

I am currently trying to adapt my diet. I've been looking around to create three or four different daily menu plans. I'll post them soon to see if they are on par with what I should be doing.

And I did the Basal metabolic rate calculation thing.

I got approximately 2400 calories a day (500 less than it said what I needed to maintain) in order to get lean and cut. Does this sound about right?

Thanks again!
 
So yesterday I ate the following + here's what I did...

6 am -Slice of Whole Wheat Bread, Glass of Milk, Cup of Cottage Cheese

8 am - Slice of Whole Wheat Bread, 16 Almonds

12 pm - Wrap with artichoke and spinach

3 pm - Cup of Cottage Cheese

6 pm - GYM
Upper Body Workout
Tricepts
Bicepts
Back
Chest
Lower Back
Pectorals, etc.
Tredmill 30 min

7 pm -Protein Shake with Wheat Grass, i Scoop Whey Proteins, 3 cubes Ice, 1 Glass Milk, I handful Fruit (Strawberry, Mango, Pineapple), I cup of Yogurt

8 pm - Salad with Nothing on it (Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, cucumber), Black Bean Soup with Onions and Jalapenos

I also drank 11 glasses of water throughout the day and 3 glasses of green tea.


Did I eat too much, not enough, or ok? I feel like I ate too much, because I never eat this much in a day, but this is what my calorie thing said. I tried to get lots of proteins...
 
At a glance, it doesn't look like you ate enough to me. How many calories is all that and, which 'calorie thing' are you referring to?
 
I used the counter at T-nation.com that malkore posted about three posts up to get a daily calorie intake of 2400 calories (it said my maintenance was about 3000+ and that sounds absolutely CRAZY to me).

And for that meal plan I posted above it was approximately 2200 calories I believe.

If I am trying to cut and get lean, should I lower my calories even further? I woke up today after eating that many calories and felt totally fat. :[ (mind you for two months before I was eating roughly 1500 a day..)

I just REALLY don't want to gain fat weight. I've worked so hard for two months+ to lose a lot of body fat and I wouldn't be where I am at now without that hard work. I am just afraid of losing my progress... I'm 6'2", 18, 170 lbs, medium frame and build. Does 2400 sound ok for cutting or do I go lower?

Also, I know I need to cut carbs mostly, and definitely out of the last two meals before bed. What, based on my stats, should be my daily carb intake?

And I've started doing interval training like someone suggested (run really quickly at a sprint for 30 seconds, then jog for 30, rinse repeat for 25 minutes..) I totally sweat like a hog. I feel great afterwards. Is this vital to fat loss during cutting?

And one last question. Should I start doing cardio before I go to school, as in go and run before eating anything so my body eats fat and not the carbs I would've eaten before my quick cardio session (of course it'd be intense cardio - hit the showers - school..)

And how should I incorporate weight lifting into my plan? Should I do like two sessions of upper body a week, two sessions of lower body a week, and 4-6 sessions of 30 minute cardio?

Sorry for so many questions, it's just that once I get the right info, I want to formulate an action plan, and I most definitely will stay dedicated. I am just at a loss for knowing where to even begin from where I am at now.

I'll post picture tomorrow too.

THANKS!
 
I'm just a chick, so the guys can probably help you out more in some ways, but I do know alot about loosing weight I've lost alot and am not a dicsiplined person, also I know what works for running which has been the only thing that has worked for fat burn for me, weights I know nothing about. So my advice is don't eat for one hour after you run, and like someone else had said, do your runs on a seperate day so you can kick it up a notch, I suggest adding some "fatlek"training to the run, or starting a HIIT program for maximum fat burn, I like to loose myself running so HIIT doesn't work too good for me, just add in sprints whenever you feel your heart rate can handle a good burst, and focus on kicking the cardio up a notch, and yes, limit the seeds and nuts a bit, also I did veggie diet (well vegan) and drank lots of lowfat soy milk for vitamins and protein also lots of different beans and lentils. (humous is yummy)
 
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