Lifting / Running : and Diet Questions.

[brianiak]

Hello guys. Okay I am really new at this stuff but please bare with me. Okay So i'm 18 years old, i weight 183 pounds and I am 5"8 tall. For the past 5 months I've been working out, trying to lift weights and run as much as I can. Here are some of the lifting things i do: benching in 3 sets 10 reps (150 pounds), lat pull downs (100 pounds) 3 sets 10 reps, bicepts curls with dumbells (25) pounds, pushups oftenly, shoulder press (80 pounds), dips, lower back press (130 pounds), leg press 220 pounds repping in 3 sets 10 reps as well... okay thats the basic type of lifting that i do =\, but i have tried to put most of my workouts into running as much as i can.
i run about 2-3 miles each time at the gym about 3-4 times a week. and am running at about 6mph pace and incline at 2. ill also try and do some speed interval running ( i heard this burns fat better) so ill kick up the treadmill to 9mph for this.

here is my problem: i cant get rid of the fat on my body!

honestly, i have some muscle under all this fat, but its so hard to get this fat away.

ive even tried changing my diet, here it goes: please let me know what i should eat or change. here are the main things that i eat:

Chicken Breast (from the grocery store the frozen ones) - (i boil the chicken and take off the skin to eat it)
Yoplait No Fat Yogurt ( i heard theres stuff in here that burns fat well)
Water (no soda anymore)
Subway sandwiches (the turkey sandwich without mayo/oils/any sauce)
Bush's Best - Black Beans ( i heard its good in fiber / protein)
Home made Sandwiches - (composed of bread / a slice of cheese / lettuce / turkey or ham)
Eggs (without oil to cook it) - about 3 each time. (scrambled)

By the way, i heard i should buy "whole grain" or "whole wheat" bread ? its healthy i heard? is that true? are those the same?

okay so well, i usually eat the eggs in the morning, the sandwiches at lunch and chicken at dinner and ill have the yogurt in between the day. What should i do to my diet or fitness to burn the fat better? i have been working my ass off for so long almost a year!!! and i cant get the fat away from my abs. my arms are ok, shoulders are ok, but most of my fat/blubber is around my waist.

So anyway, i have never used whey protein before and as of right now i am considering it, what is a good whey protein that burns fat the best? i am not really looking forward to be big or super muscular, but id like to be lean and fatless with the same amount of muscle i have right now. i wouldnt mind being lean and buff so yeah...

sorry if anything i have asked has been so obvious to many of you experts out there...but i have done my search, and i have tried to do everything that people have been saying, but it doesnt cut it for me, there is definately something wrong!

[Built]

Not enough fat in your diet, probably not enough protein, certainly too many calories.

Whey is just food. There is no food that burns off fat, and you can NOT exercise off a significant portion of your fat. You diet off WEIGHT, and lift HEAVY to preserve LBM. Fat drops off as a result. Eventually. Cardio isn't necessary at all.

Track your diet on www.fitday.com for a week, post up your numbers. We'll start from there.

Oh, and you need to incorporate squats, deads, and chins into your routine, but I will commend you for working your legs. Most newbies don't, so you're off to a good start at least.

Welcome to the board.

[brianiak]

Also, I was wondering should I be doing as much weight as I can? For example, I can do about 150 pounds for benching 3 sets and 10 reps each even though I struggle on the 8th and 9th and 10th rep on the last set, I still finish the job. But I am kind of holding back from doing too much weight because I am afraid of getting too big for my short 5"8 height. So what do you guys think for particularly fat burning, should i do less weights for more reps or should i just stick with the game plan with more weight? Should i move up to 165 pounds? How does it really work? My main priority is to lose weight though~ thanks..

[brianiak]

Oh yeah and thanks a lot Built!

[Davidelmo]

(A)Also, I was wondering should I be doing as much weight as I can? For example, I can do about 150 pounds for benching 3 sets and 10 reps each even though I struggle on the 8th and 9th and 10th rep on the last set, I still finish the job.

(B)But I am kind of holding back from doing too much weight because I am afraid of getting too big for my short 5"8 height.

(C)So what do you guys think for particularly fat burning, should i do less weights for more reps or should i just stick with the game plan with more weight? Should i move up to 165 pounds?

(D)How does it really work? My main priority is to lose weight though~ thanks..

I added paragraphs to make it easier.

A = If you are struggling towards the end of the rep range that sounds fine, so long as you can finish it and it's not too easy.

B = It takes people years to get big... it won't happen overnight by you lifting heavier stuff. It's also influenced by diet more than what weight you're lifting. If you eat more, you'll gain weight. If you simply try to lift more, you'll get stronger up to a point where you'll need to get bigger to keep improving.

C = No such thing as "fat burning" exercises. There are many arguments about rep ranges by 6-8 is generally accepted for building muscle and 10-15 is usually to build strength and endurance. If you want to lose fat, eat less and still try to lift heavy... that helps you keep muscle and lose fat; otherwise you will lose muscle when you eat less.

Also jumping from 150lbs to 165 seems quite a lot in one go. The easiest way to progress is slow and steady... add a few lbs at a time.

D = Eat less, track diet on www.fitday.com, lift heavy, repeat!

For the record, that's called "going on a 'cut'"
Try searching for good cutting diets and exercises etc... there are tons around on the site.

[Built]

Yep.

Trust me, getting big is brutally hard. It's even harder on reduced calories (like, IMPOSSIBLE). Drop your reps as you have to, but keep the weight on the bar HEAVY.

[WBBIRL]

dont focus on strength or size gains while cutting, while its not impossible to gain either it will not only be damn hard but damn slow.

Focus on the weight loss first, just be carefull not to lose LBM and the strength should come back and then some once you can eat at maintance or slightly higher.

[trasmi21]

Yep.

Trust me, getting big is brutally hard. It's even harder on reduced calories (like, IMPOSSIBLE). Drop your reps as you have to, but keep the weight on the bar HEAVY.

Haha, I WISH it was that easy!


Make sure and seperate your meals. I don't think anyone has mentioned that yet, but seperate your meals so that you're not eating 3 large meals, but rather you're eating 5-6 smaller meals through the day. This will greatly improve your metabolism.

COUNT THOSE CALORIES! If your taking in less calories than you're expending, you will lose weight.

[Built]

Sadly, the metabolic boost theory of frequent small meals has been debunked. But it can be a much more comfortable way to diet.

[trasmi21]

Sadly, the metabolic boost theory of frequent small meals has been debunked. But it can be a much more comfortable way to diet.

lol, has it really? Do you have any articles?

[Minotaur]

lol, has it really? Do you have any articles?

I'm interested in that also. I've been thinking also that the small frequent meals concept is nonsense. Being in the first stages of Type 2 diabetes, I've learned to check my blood sugar a couple of times a day. Ideally, blood glucose should be < 140 two hours after eating. Less than 100 is what is normal.

So, eating every 2-3 hours keeps blood glucose elevated, imo. If I eat at 12:00 and my blood glucose is still 110 @ 3pm, and I eat again, my blood glucose will go up again. Theoretically it may never go below 100.

I'd like to see if anyone has another take on this.

[Maki Riddington]

In terms of keeping blodd glucose levels stable it is a good thing to eat frequently through out the day as opposed to 3 square meals a day.

[trasmi21]

So it has no effect on metabolism?

[fizzle21]

Are you kidding! this is the scariest thing I've heard in a while. Than again I know little to nothing about cutting. I still have such a hard time believing that 5-6 meals a day has no metobolic effect?