ive been lifting for about a year and a half now but ive hit a plateu that i have been too lazy to overcome...my stats: im 16 1/2, 5' 10'', 190lbs...maxes: bench-220 squat- about 280...im trying to lose weight however because ive been overweight my whole life and while im not horribly overweight now i have little to now definition anywhere on my body and i want to define my muscle...
i wanna lose my fat but i cant lose my muscle cuz part on my confidence comes from knowing im pretty strong for my age (cept for the football players, which i dont play) so im wondering what sort of foods i should eat and how much of different nutrients...(calories, protein are the main ones i need to know) i am in high school so i dont have much time in the morning to eat and i have lunch in school about 4 hours after breakfast, then home 3 hours later, but i really cant get through a day without eating unhealthy crap cuz im so used to it at this point...
(sorry this post is kinda long i just dont want to miss a detail)
what im eating now (not purposly eating so little i just have few healthy options and only one or two meals that have good protein in them)
breakfast: protein + muscle milk shake (with creatine added in) - 350 cals 40g
lunch: turkey sandwhich - 250 calories, 10 g (keep in mind anything i bring for lunch i still gotta fit in my backpack)
afterschool snack: anything i feel like, i come home drained from school so it varies from muscle milk shake to 1/2 bag of cheetos
dinner: usually what my parents eat cuz they eat unhealthy and yet tasty foods, full of fat and calories but little protein
exercise: no real cardio cept bball twice a week is starting soon but that isnt much
weight training in school plus olympic bench at home...i do all the usual stuff bench press, db curls, close grip bench, arnold press...
my real issue is the eating cuz im so used to eating anything i want and a LOT of it, so maybe if anyone out there has advice on how to cut the addiction?
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You must be the quiet-riot in your diet.
“It takes nearly as much ability to know how to profit by good advice as to know how to act for one's self.”
Rochefoucauld
Your personal
"want-o-meter" is going to have to rise to a new level.
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Here is some info for you to read and absorb. Eating addiction is nearly 100 percent Psychological:
The truest apprehension of wisdom is learning to master yourself.(-Chillen)
http://training.fitness.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-intricate-27164.html
D
o not imprison your outward ability through mental weaknesses (-Chillen)
http://training.fitness.com/weight-loss/chillen-way-i-approached-my-diet-synopsis-27106.html
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Generally, the body likes things just the way they are. Your body does not want to gain or lose weight and there are certain biological mechanisms for maintaining this steady state. At any given point, your body will be in either of two states: an anabolic (breakdown) state or a catabolic (buildup) state.
When you gain weight, you will gain muscle and fat (this can be minimized): Anabolic
When you lose weight, you will lose muscle (this can be minimized) and fat: Catabolic
This coupling of fat and muscle tissue is inevitable and it is just how the body operates; accept it. This means that you can't build muscle and lose fat at the same time (perhaps with the exception of "newbie gains").
There is an endless pursuit of more muscle and less fat, but you can't do both at once! Think of this concept like friction, because it always works against you. Because of this, when you are building muscle (anabolic) you aim to minimize the fat gained. Complimentary to this, when you are losing fat (catabolic) you aim to minimize the muscle lost. These are opposites. Some try to manipulate these states though changing up the calories and dietary cycle (I do, and many others have), and this works, but up to a point and has its draw backs as compared to a full and careful bulk cycle.
I want to keep this simple for you to help as much as I can. With this said, I want to tell you that its virtually and nearly impossible to gain muscle and lose fat (or cut) at the same time. The is a basic reason for this, and its the laws of energy balance, and these two are apposing forces and are on the opposite sides of the law of energy balance equation.
In order to gain tissue you MUST have a calorie surplus above the your Maintenance level. In order to lose tissue (fat tissue) one HAS to be in a deficit of some sort below your Maintenance level. Do you see the complication here? The complication is that they are OPPOSITES. The DIET is the MOST responsible for definition and bringing fat percent down to a desired level. There are calorie manipulations one can do to bring about a surplus at times, and then revert back to a deficit that CAN cause growth if carefully done, but this is for another discussion.
When in a calorie deficit, the body will look for energy (carbs, and even convert protein for energy---if needed and necessary--research this). When it finds none (keeping this simple), it WILL look to muscle tissue as a source of fuel (muscles are nutrient dense, and ideal for the body to use in this environment), AND it will look to the fat stores for fuel. To combat this complication of the body looking to muscle tissue, weight training the body sends singles to the body----"saying HEY! we need these muscles", and provides a stimulant to keep what you have, but it will only minimize it.
Therefore, what I am saying is that you need to make a decision to bulk or cut to keep this simple.
If its leanness you desire, then arrange a careful diet deficit under your Maintenance Line, and continue your progressive weight training schedule, and of course eat clean (try about 5 to 6 meals spaced out during the day)
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Some Basic information that can lead you to fat tissue loss
Calorie calculation is an
approximation science, remember this.
Through your journey
WATCH, LOOK, and LISTEN, to your body..........it will TELL YOU if your doing the correct things or combination of things!
○ Change your eating habits (below are some suggestion examples)
○ Substitute an artificial sweetener of your choice in the replace of refined white sugar (Refrain from Refined Sugar like you would a disease)
○ Try eating 5 to 6 smaller meals during the day
○ Balance your meals out during the day so in one day you have a mix of protein, carbohydrate and good fats
○ Drink lots of water during the day and before, during and after exercise
○ Simple Carb Examples: Grapefruit, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Oranges, Apples, Pineapple, etc
○ Complex Carb Examples: Whole Wheat Pita Bread, Oatmeal, Long Grain Brown Rice, Brown Pasta, Malto-Meal (Plain, whole wheat),etc
○ Good Protein Examples: White or Dark Tuna, Chicken Breast, Lean Turkey, Lean Ham, Very lean Beef, Quality Whey Protein Powder,, etc
○ Good Fats Examples: Natural Peanut Butter, Various Nuts, Flax Seed, Fish Oils.
This is what you need to do:
This an approximation science, but you can narrow it down very close, if your meticulous in your vision when looking at the data.
Tweak your desire and passion by educating yourself on the basic requirements of losing fat tissue. With your age, sex, height, and weight, in mind, find your approximated base calorie needs (this is organ function, breathing, or bodily function needs). One can use the Benedict Formula.
Calculate your BMR:
The Harris Benedict equation determines calorie needs for men or woman as follows:
• It calculates your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calorie requirements, based on your height, weight, age and gender.
• It increases your BMR calorie needs by taking into account the number of calories you burn through activities such as exercise. This gives you your total calorie requirement or approximated Maintenance Line (I call it the MT Line).
Step One : Calculate your BMR with the following formula:•Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
•Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
Step Two : In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:
•If you are sedentary : BMR x 1.2
•If you are lightly active: BMR x 1.375
•If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 1.55
•If you are very active (You exercise daily.): BMR x 1.725
•If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 1.9
Create a Calorie Deficit:
In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit. It is easier and healthier to cut back your calorie intake a little bit at a time.
Every 3,500 calories is equivalent to approximated 1 pound.
If you cut back 500 calories a day, you will lose approximated 1 pound per week. (not necessarily all fat)
If you exercise to burn off 500 calories a day you will also lose approximately 1 pound per week.
Apply this knowledge by backing off the approximated MT Line (approximated Maintenance line), say for example, a -500c per day, for about 1 week. Before the week begins, weigh yourself in the AM when you FIRST get up (do not eat yet) (remember your clothing, preferably with just underwear and t-shirt or like clothes). Note the time, and the approximated wgt.
Each day spread your caloric content out throughout the day (keep the body fed, with calories in the 300 to 500c approximated calories each meal), or a like division which mirrors your end caloric deficit limit (meaning MT-500c).
This way you have your entire day and body encircled with nutrition (I assume you already know to eat clean), which if your eating right, will give an approximated good energy (not optimal because your in deficit) to fuel your training and exercising schedule.
At the end of the week, on the same day, the same time, with the same like clothes, weigh yourself again. Note whether you lost or gained tissue (or weight I mean). To further assist you, I want to tell you that for every approximated caloric deficit of (-3500c), one could lose 1lb of fat tissue. (though some may not all be fat tissue, this information is for another question, and isn't presently suited here).
Now, in this example you were calculating a -500c per day deficit. There needs to be -3500c to lose approximated 1lbs of fat. Now lets do some basic math. -500cX7=-3500c. With all things considered equal, and you were meticulous and faithful on the diet, you should have been CLOSE to losing at least one pound of tissue in the week.
If this didn't happen, this means you need to make finer adjustments, and the MT line is not accurate, and you need to adjust this on your own.
Based upon the
FEEDBACK your body is giving you, ask yourself how faithful you were on the diet, AND how faithful in training (whether you kept the training schedule (if you didn't, this would effect the caloric equation, no?!), AND how accurate you figured in your activities caloric wise.........but, you have the base information to begin making adjustments.
One can not spot reduce. Losing fat is like draining a pool. The shallow end seems to drain before the larger deeper end. One can't choose where to lose fat; it will be lost all over the body.
The Nutrients are an essential factor in the diet; however, the law of energy balance within the DIET, is the ultimate KING while the Nutrients can play in some decisions made within the body.
Do yourself a favor,
figure out your MT line, adjust off of this, eat well balanced spaced out meals (DONT EVER starve YOURSELF), AND listen to your body for the results.
While you are trying to figure out your body, IT WILL PAY YOU BACK, I promise.
You have to learn to MASTER yourself to become the master of weight loss for YOURSELF.
The general approximation is that it takes at least a -3500c to lose one pound of fat tissue (or the creation of -3500c deficit in the diet over a period of time); however, it is possible to lose muscle within this approximation. And, this is one of many reasons why, it is good to have a weight training program to assist in minimizing any muscle loss when deficit dieting.
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Cardio isnt required to lose fat weight. My point I am wanting to DRIVE HOME is this:
The
Diet is the
fat burner first and foremost and without question. If the diet is messed up--the rest can be messed up.
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.
Stephen A. Brennan
Stand up, Rise up, and GET OVER this food addiction. The same sense you have with this food addiction has to be FLIPPED to the other side of the equation: or develop a cognitive plan to carry this over to the opposite side piece by piece. Get a plan in order DUDE! GET AFTER IT!
I wish you the best in what you set out to do
Chillen
