Diet plan for 19-year old male?

[zachiphus]

What's going on guys? Alright here's what im looking at. Im currently 5'10" and 180 lbs trying to get down to about 170-175. Actually that's not even my biggest concern,my biggest dilemma is trying to get rid of my excess belly fat and love handles. I am by no means out of shape, I am actually enlisted in the military and i run 1.5 mile in under 9 min. and do more than the average amount of situps and pushups. But this belly fat will just not go away.

 

My daily exercise routine is as follows:

 

Monday-30 minute run, go to gym and work arms and abs for about an hour.

Tuesday-1.5 mile run then legs and abs at gym

Wednesday- Run(interval, long distance, whatever i feel like...)

Thursday-Same as monday

Friday- Same as tuesday

sat-sun-rest or only walking for exercise

 

After workouts monday, tuesday, thursday, and friday i have a 16 ounce protein shake to help build up and recover muscle.

 

I think my biggest problem is the snack foods i eat may not be too healthy and when i have full meals i dont eat too healthy. I usually get pasta every chance i get, since they are low in cals.

 

I plan on drinking more green tea because I hear it boosts metabolism. What I need to know is something healthy I should try to eat more often for dinner, and snack foods that I should be eating more often that would be a healthy choice.

 

BTW, i am currently in southern MS and will be til July, so maybe I'll lose some weight from the heat and sweating so much, it'll be like a sauna down here with the heat and humidity. Just a thought....

 

Any help is appreciated.

[Stinkweed]

You shouldn't go too low on calories, cause it seems like you have a pretty high level of physical activity, and you'll need the energy to keep it up/improve. Just eat cleaner. Don't eat white flours, but rather get whole grains. Try to get steamed/boiled/grilled stuff rather than fried. Don't eat too much cheese, and eat as many veggies as possible whenever you're not quite full. I'm sure an actual dietitian would do a much better job at recommending specifics than I just did.. Hope that helped if only a little.

[jsx730]

It's pretty much as simple as watching your calories. Search the web, find a calculator that tells you how many calories you need to maintain your weight, and then subtract 500-800 from that number.

 

Other then that, drink los of water.

 

I've lost over 8lbs in 4 weeks by taking in 1200 calories a day, drinking a galon of water per day, and strength training 2-3 times a week for about 15min each workout. And I only weighed 163.

[zachiphus]

Alright, well I am building more muscle which in turn should be speeding up my metabolism and causing me to burn more fat. I do eat the pasta also for an energy boost because of the carbs, but you're right i do need to eat more fruits and veggies, thanks.

 

Any idea for healthy snack foods guys? The way my schedule works I am able to eat 2 full meals a day and 2 snacks usually, so I need to make the most of the snacks.

[agent1607307371]

I second stinkweed. Losing weight is so much about diet, not calories but what you totally put into your body. If you look at bodybuilders, they seem to put more emphasis on their diet than their work out plan (not by a lot, but it's there).

 

Cut out the junk and start eating veggies (cut them up for healthy snacks) and lean meats.

[Stinkweed]

Alright, well I am building more muscle which in turn should be speeding up my metabolism and causing me to burn more fat. I do eat the pasta also for an energy boost because of the carbs, but you're right i do need to eat more fruits and veggies, thanks.

 

Any idea for healthy snack foods guys? The way my schedule works I am able to eat 2 full meals a day and 2 snacks usually, so I need to make the most of the snacks.

 

Fruit is a good snack. You said you're trying to build muscle. It's really hard to both build muscle and loose fat at the same time. Building muscle takes lots of calories. Losing fat requires a caloric deficit (500-800 less calories than your maintenance level, as jsx said would be best. More than that is not such a good idea). I'd say build muscle first, then change your diet and maybe your routine a bit (if you lift, don't stop lifting. Try to lift just as hard as you did when bulking. That way you'll maintain your muscle mass. Maybe try running a bit longer, or running intervals like 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds light job for a total of 15-20 minutes). But after you add the muscle, you're right, losing fat should be a bit easier because muscle will make your metabolism faster.

[Aviatormy]

you are 2 weeks away from your goal!

 

When it comes to the "snack foods" you really need to cut out ALL sugars. The only "sugar" that you should be intaking is the sugar contents in your Whey Protein. You need to intak at least 1 gram of protein for each lbs of muscle. I would try to go with 1.5 grams per lbs based on your workout in the military (I was former ARMY).

 

I used to have a really bad habbit of "late night" snacking and I didn't care what I put into my body. This ended up in me maintaining my weight but I was never able to lose that excess belly fat.

 

I have a diet written out that I made for myself to get back on track whenever I feel that I am leaning the wrong way. I stick to this diet for about a month and then for the following 2 months, I find it near IMPOSSIBLE to eat anything unhealthy. It really works and you will be surprised at the muscle that lies beneath thoe "love handles" Let me know if you would like me to send this to you

[knightNshiningarmor]

id also advise some more long distance type running/cardio...carbs and stored energy gets used in your high stress work outs...sprinting running hard working out...fat takes an extended period of time to start being used....fat is the most efficient use of enegy but it requires a much higher oxygen level to begin breaking down so within the first 20-40 minutes depending on the person usually your stored energy/carbs..ect are used so i would recommend adding a good 2 hour jog in htere somewhere too if its possible may really help hitting that last little bit your trying to get off..or 1hours...something thats a good steady effort over a longer period of time...personally i try and do a good 7 mile/walk run once a week..also ad in 14+ mile hikes 1-2 times a month... * * * * like that is a great fat burner because of the time ..after a while at a steady pace your body will use a higher fat burn concentration for energy....only taken a few classes on this im sure some here have a little better understanding but ya...and keep with the lifting its important to have that muscle mass to keep you at desired weight.

[zachiphus]

alright I'll just stay more consistent on eating healthy, I'll prolly end up picking some good snacks up this weekend. I may just be expecting results too fast, but hey I'll change it up a little and hopefully see a change within the next month.