~~16 Yr Old New To Weight Training~~

[mjm07]

This is what I have been eating for the last week and I wanted to know if this diet is good enought to be able to loose my belly fat so that I can see my abs. On another forum, I asked the same question and they said that you have to eat a specific diet to be able to loose the belly fat and it kind of confused me so I wanted to know if this would be alright.

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 1 hamburger patty, 1 piece of MultiGrain Toast, 1 glass of smoothie(made from bannanas, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and orange juice)

Lunch: Salmon Sandwich on healthy bread

Dinner: Salad with carrots, tomatoes, and a little bleu cheese.

Dont forget, I also do 30-60 minutes of cardio before school, so I wanted to make sure I'm not undereating or anything.

Well anyways, tell me what you guys think...Would appreciate any replies, thanks.

**By the way, my goal is to get really toned and defined with a really low percentage body fat, and I want to be able to see my abs.

[gcs118]

My view: You said in your first post you are about 145 lbs. If you cut down fat to get toned, what will be left? It doesn't seem like you have a solid muscle base to get down to. Are you lifting too or solely focusing on losing weight/cardio? You will probably look better with more muscle, which you can gain as you lose fat.

Also, your meals kind of die off. Breakfast has good protein and carbs. Lunch is alright but is lacking, one sandwich won't cut it. Dinner has almost no caloric value, no protein and no carbs whatsoever. Protein builds muscle, even if all you do is cardio, and it also keeps your body healing quickly. Carbs give you energy to do workouts and make it through the day. I'd recommend small snacks throughout the day too, like a handful of peanuts between lunch and dinner, and cottage cheese or peanut butter after dinner for example.

[.V.]

Add a protein source to your evening meal. I think 6 meals a day is ideal, but being 16 and probably stuck with school food or mom food, that may be difficult.

Simply add more protein, some fish, chicken, pork, or beef to the evening meal. Greg's suggestion for the peanut butter sandwich is a good one too.

Since you are getting up early for cardio, here's an idea. Don't make it complicated for now. Walk fast for 30 minutes before breakfast. That's it, just walk fast for 30 minutes, upping the intensity as you are able. If you can run for 30...better still. No special diet, no special routines, just 3 squares a day and cardio every am before eating while your glycogen stores are low.

Oh yeah, and keep doing your weight training at least 3x a week. I also reccomend getting acclimated to it and doing HST. It's a terriffic muscle builder and can be a fat burner when combined with good nutrition and cardio.

[LiftGirl]

Originally Posted by mjm07

This is what I have been eating for the last week and I wanted to know if this diet is good enought to be able to loose my belly fat so that I can see my abs. On another forum, I asked the same question and they said that you have to eat a specific diet to be able to loose the belly fat and it kind of confused me so I wanted to know if this would be alright.

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 1 hamburger patty, 1 piece of MultiGrain Toast, 1 glass of smoothie(made from bannanas, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and orange juice)

Lunch: Salmon Sandwich on healthy bread

Dinner: Salad with carrots, tomatoes, and a little bleu cheese.

Dont forget, I also do 30-60 minutes of cardio before school, so I wanted to make sure I'm not undereating or anything.

Well anyways, tell me what you guys think...Would appreciate any replies, thanks.

**By the way, my goal is to get really toned and defined with a really low percentage body fat, and I want to be able to see my abs.

It's hard to tell without a calorie count, but it looks like too little food to me. I eat more than that, and I'm a 125-lb girl. Why don't you start a fitday log (fitday.com) and see how many calories you're eating. Your food choices are good, I just think you need more food.

[mjm07]

Well if im not eating enought then I guess that should explain why I am always really hungary when I get home from school. Today I slipped and had 4 pieces of my favorite pizza for dinner and now im really mad. I hate it when that happens. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to improve my meals...like what else I should add to them so that I'm taking in enough food?

How about this:

Breakfast: same as before

Lunch: Salmon sandwich, some sort of nuts, an apple, and a orange

Dinner: Salad w/tuna, and a hamburger(just the meat)

[.V.]

That looks a little better. Just try to keep balance. Eat healthy fats. with most meals, protein with fat OR protein with carbs. Don't have too many carbs with the so called "bad" fats at the same time. The hamburger without the bun fits right into this and should help keep you from being hungry all night.

Are you having tomato on those salads? If not, think about adding them. The health benefits of tomato (like the yolk in eggs) far outweigh any possible pro-glycemic "fatteningness" from them.

At your age, with a good healthy diet and plenty of exercise you should be able to shape up pretty well without a strict "cutting" diet. Just concentrate on growing into your weight instead of losing weight and it will happen for you.

If you find you are actually hungry before bed, consider a light protein/fat snack before bed. A boiled egg or two, some leftover tuna salad with some mayo, even a small hamburger patty is OK. Just remember, this is only enough to make hunger go away, not a big meal.

[LiftGirl]

It is easier to slip and eat things you know you shouldn't when you are always hungry. Eating more healthy food will help keep the bad food away from your mouth.

Your new proposed diet is an improvement. I'm not sure if it's enough yet, but go ahead and give it a try and see how you feel. If you're still hungry all the time, keep adding healthy foods.

[mjm07]

Thanks for the replies people. I keep reading on other sites that in order to burn that last bit of belly fat to be able to see the abs, you have to follow like a special diet or something. I keep reading that just eating regular health foods isnt going do it...they said that there is a specific diet that you have to follow to loose it, but everyone wants like 40 bucks for some stupid membership so that they can tell you the answer. I have been on sites such as FreeTrainers, HealthBoards, SixPackNow, etc and they all seem to say the same thing. Can someone help me out here. Should I just eat like only 40 grams of carbs a day...kind of like a light atkins diet?:confused:

[.V.]

You can do it with a healthy diet that is about 500 calories short of your daily expendature. This allows you to lose approximately a pound a week. Over time with good exercise habits, you will reach your goal.

Yeah, the special diets that have timed carbs or very low carbs do help. But you are young and good health and proper growth is more important right now. None of them are worth buying because you can get it all FREE. I'm a big believer in very low carbs and timed carbs as part of a balanced lifelong plan...not as THE lifelong plan though. However, they are for bodies that are already finished maturing unless one is very obese. From your description, you are not.

[Jake_man]

ok...(soory to steal ya post lol)...but am also 16 male and i wanna get into shape i mean i am but not wat a wanna be...i was thinking of starting to wake up around 6:30 to go for a jog then return and do sit ups push ups and squats...but after seein this i dont no if this will be enuff i eat healthily anyway (normally over the 5 a day and tht sorta stuff) i bus to college but couldnt walk cuz its too far away...i cant reli afford any weights either...and breath...so do u think this would be enuff so long as i increased how many of the above i do and rest on the weekend, but still active?

[LiftGirl]

Originally Posted by Jake_man

ok...(soory to steal ya post lol)...but am also 16 male and i wanna get into shape i mean i am but not wat a wanna be...i was thinking of starting to wake up around 6:30 to go for a jog then return and do sit ups push ups and squats...but after seein this i dont no if this will be enuff i eat healthily anyway (normally over the 5 a day and tht sorta stuff) i bus to college but couldnt walk cuz its too far away...i cant reli afford any weights either...and breath...so do u think this would be enuff so long as i increased how many of the above i do and rest on the weekend, but still active?

Well, even bodyweight only work can be very challenging, but whether it is "enough" really depends on your goals. For general conditioning it would be great. You should check out some of pierini's past journals for some good bodyweight workouts.

[.V.]

As liftgirl implied. You CAN get a great workout with bodyweight exercises.

Walking lunges, pushups, pullups, situps or crunches. For even more ideas go to Your Top Source For Free Boxing Training Advice and look around. Great links to great workouts there. If you can afford the book, "never gymless" is a good investment.

True bodyweight only training isn't my thing, but I'll not knock it's effectiveness.

[Merrida]

Whoa, wait a sec,....I just remembered something. I just looked through the archives and I can't find a link to it because I don't remember what it's called, but a while back someone posted a link to bodyweight exercises, and these kids were phenomenally strong. All they used were things in a playground, out doors, in the back yard,....they absolutely lifted no weights.

There was a lot of plyometrics (I'm so jealous!)....

Does anyone remember any of this? I know it was on this DF forum (since you guys are the bomb and I wouldn't trust stuff from another site) but I know I picked up the link here. I'll keep looking but there's a whole group of bodyweight only workers out there with gorgeous bodies!

[.V.]

I remember it but can't find it.

P, Tim... FIND IT. I'm pretty sure one of them brought the video in the first place.

[Merrida]

So you DO know which one I'm talking about then, right? I was amazed by it, and it just goes to show: No excuses.