Q & A - How to Start Your Diet Program

QUESTION: 


I took the initiative to start losing weight at the end of my senior year going into college and I have lost 40 lbs. since I've started. Now, it's been almost 2 years since I made the commitment to start, but I'm still going. For exercise, I'm a martial artist. I currently take muay thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu as well as some MMA conditioning classes and light body building. I'm currently in that weird "hump" stage where you still have a decent amount of body fat on you, but you're developing muscles mostly in the upper body and in the legs, so it's sort of awkward for me lol. I'm currently 20 years old and 205 lbs., and it feels like I'm not getting anywhere (even though I KNOW I'm getting results, it's just discouraging sometimes to do so much work and still feel so far away). I also have a pretty good diet and watch what I buy/eat on a daily basis. I was wondering if there's something you could tell me to kind of help me push forward more and maybe some advice on working out outside of the gym, and maybe some dietary advice.

Answer:

Hey, first off great story! I love hearing about other people who have had great success with weight loss.

As far as diet goes stay away from alcohol, fried foods, junk foods of all sorts, sweets, fast food, and anything else that you know is unhealthy, as much as possible.  By eliminating these substances from your diet almost entirely it should help you see results.  


Now, you should only be eating complex carbs and limiting your carbs later at night unless you are training vigorously later in the day.  I have found that limiting carb intake helps your body reduce fat.  Second, eat lean protein such as fish, chicken, turkey, and egg whites because these are filling and will help with muscle recovery from workouts.  

Third, limit your fat intake to only healthy fats such as nuts, peanut butter, fatty fish, and egg yolks.  Your body needs fat to burn fat and will help with hormone production.  Watch your intake of these foods however because they are highly caloric.  Try checking how many calories you burn a day by using an online calculator and you should aim to eat 500-700 less every day ( ball park or eye ball) eating too few calories will stunt weight loss and cause a reduction in metabolic activity.  


Be sure to include a rest day every week where you do not exercise in order to allow your body to recover.  If after 2 weeks you are not seeing any weight loss you will have to drop your calories further until you are steadily losing 1-2lbs a week (any more than that is most likely muscle which is something you must avoid.)

I suggest using high intensity cardio or interval training to further increase weight loss.  You can do sprints outside for 30 seconds- 1 minute and then walk for 1-2 minutes and repeat.  This type of cardio is very good for burning fat and sparing muscle.

 

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.