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2008/06/10, 12:27 AM
I am 20 years old, weigh 187 pounds, and am 6 ft tall. I have never really been a healthy eater, no fruits or vegetables (except potatoes), and I just a few months ago gave up caffeinated beverages. I recently completed my first year of college and gained around 15 pounds. I would really like to get rid of that and become a healthier person. My biggest problem is that my arms and legs are kind of on the skinny size; however, my upper torso is kind of bigger, and I have a stomach of mostly fat. What my big concern is how am I supposed to lose weight when the nutritional plan says that I need these numbers:
Protein- 187 g
Carbohydrates- 468 g
Fats- 36
Total Calories- 2906
The calorie intake seems to be pretty high, and don't you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight? I know that with 30 minutes on a treadmill I can lose around 300 calories, give or take. But that would still leave 2606 calories to burn and how am I supposed to get to that? I have a fitness plan set up for 3 days a week, but can that really help me burn all those calories? Also, because my arms and legs don't really have the size to match the rest of my body it makes just doing push ups very difficult. I'm really new at this whole healthy living thing so any information would be great.
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2008/06/10, 10:32 AM
Your body burns calories doing what it naturally does each day. That, plus your exercise is what you should be considering not just the exercise.
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2008/06/11, 01:49 PM
You don't want to burn more than you take in.
Your body needs calories to fuel itself and repair etc.
You want create a deficit of calries consumed.
You can this by:
1. Eating less than the recommended amount for your body and activity level - but within reason. (If you eat too little, your body will start to store the calories up as fat - exactly the opposite of what you want to do...)
2. Higher activity levels to burn some of those calories.
The total deficit shouldn't be more than 1000 calories per day. (if you get too aggressive, your body will go into survival mode as mentioned above)
any resistance training or weight lifting you do will not burn as many calories as the cardio - but it will build your lean muscle mass which requires more calories to maintain. (the weight lifting is the best long term way to lose the weight - but it takes time, you need to build the muscle up, and your metabolism will rev up over time)
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2008/06/12, 01:25 PM
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Quoting from pacer38:
I am 20 years old, weigh 187 pounds, and am 6 ft tall. I have never really been a healthy eater, no fruits or vegetables (except potatoes), and I just a few months ago gave up caffeinated beverages. I recently completed my first year of college and gained around 15 pounds. I would really like to get rid of that and become a healthier person. My biggest problem is that my arms and legs are kind of on the skinny size; however, my upper torso is kind of bigger, and I have a stomach of mostly fat. What my big concern is how am I supposed to lose weight when the nutritional plan says that I need these numbers:
Protein- 187 g
Carbohydrates- 468 g
Fats- 36
Total Calories- 2906
The calorie intake seems to be pretty high, and don't you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight? I know that with 30 minutes on a treadmill I can lose around 300 calories, give or take. But that would still leave 2606 calories to burn and how am I supposed to get to that? I have a fitness plan set up for 3 days a week, but can that really help me burn all those calories? Also, because my arms and legs don't really have the size to match the rest of my body it makes just doing push ups very difficult. I'm really new at this whole healthy living thing so any information would be great.
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Why aren't you eating fruits and veggies? Vegetables are great to fill up on because they aren't high in calories and are chalked full of what your body needs.
Okay, so I think that you want to lose weight, so here's my suggestion to you:
Try to eat around 2000 QUALITY calories a day(taking into account your size and body weight). Start a strength training program that fits your schedule. Maybe split your weight training into three days a week(a couple different muscle groups a day) and follow the strength training with some moderate cardio(maybe 20 minutes or so). In between weight days(2 days a week) do a more challenging set of cardio. This would result in a 5 day a week regimen, and give you your weekends to relax. And by relax I don't mean cut loose and party or anything, just take it easy and keep the activity at a leisurely pace.
OH, and just to let you know, if you are losing weight, it's gonna be next to impossible to increase your actual muscular mass. You will probably gain strength(this being new to your body and all) and even start looking more cut, but to gain appreciable muscle size you have to eat and lift like a horse.
Oh, and one last thing, make sure to ASK questions, we're here to help!
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2008/06/13, 09:37 PM
Pacer, honestly I felt the same way when I got my numbers too!! I just about had a heart attack with them! Then
I started playing online to see how many calories a day my body would naturaly burn and found a BMR calculator on a google search, it told me my body burns aprox 2000 a day all by itself(such a releif!!:big_smile: ) I'm 5'10", 26, 250lbs. and have been following my workouts and nutritional plan they gave me for just over a week and have already seen some results! ( not alot in lbs only 2, but in my clothes and generaly feel happier and less stressed out everyday) I'm new to living a healthier lifestyle (came straight from fast food to this!)and have found more helpful information on here than anywhere in my life! :)
Thank you FT!!
Kimmi
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