weight problem

[MizuRyu]

Up the food intake. A lot of people equate food with fat, and that isn't true at all. Eat 6 small/medium meals a day consisting of lean, healthy things. Apples, turkey sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, salads, PBJs, peas... things of the like. Do a lot of cardio, I personally recommend swimming, giving your metabolism that little leg up really cuts the fat off. Especially if you're working hard for it.

[Aodhan]

Up the food intake. A lot of people equate food with fat, and that isn't true at all. Eat 6 small/medium meals a day consisting of lean, healthy things. Apples, turkey sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, salads, PBJs, peas... things of the like. Do a lot of cardio, I personally recommend swimming, giving your metabolism that little leg up really cuts the fat off. Especially if you're working hard for it.

Excellent point.

When you only eat one or two meals a day, you tend to eat more than you should at a sitting, and your body gets used to "hoarding" calories to sustain through the deprivation period.

Eat more, smaller meals, with the majority of your calories coming around midday to early afternoon, and very few later at night when you have less chance of exercising, and then the calories just sit there. Make sure you have a decent breakfast to counter the 8-12 hr fast your body just went through (Sleeping).

Also, IIRC, your body can only process about 1000 calories at any one time (Sohan probably knows off the top of his head ), anything more than that tends to get converted to storage (which equals fat gain).

Aodhan

[patusai]

We've discussed this a few times, do a search and you'll find a lot of good ideas.

Basically, you need to figure out how many calories you need a day to just get up, breathe, and go back to bed in the evening.

Then you add in all the calorie requirements for your training, work, play, etc. This is your caloric intake needed to maintain weight.

If you want to lose weight, shooting for 2-3 lbs a month is your best bet now. You lost a lot initially, now it's going to come slower. But, 2-3 lbs a month is a safe, healthy, permanent weight loss rate. Once you have all the above figured out, then:

First: For every lb you want to lose, you need to cut out about 3500 calories per week. (Give or take, each individual is different). That's about 500 calories per day.

Second: Evaluate your diet, and cut out "empty" calories. (Soda, candy bars, ice cream, etc.) Leave some bits in, nobody can completely cut out everything. Get your calories from nutrionally solid foods.

Third: Add more cardio. Running is excellent, but is very high impact. Swimming is also excellent, and is more of an overall body workout.

Remember, muscle weighs more than fat, so you also need to look at just "how you look". If you weigh 180 but carry a lot of muscle, that may be a great weight for you.

Aodhan

Being at about your size when I started MA years ago Aodhan's reply is excellent. I like the swimming option. Depending on your health level running may not be right for you immediately and if it is not brisk walking and working up from there would be good but once you work up running would be great. I remember that running at my size caused some problems with my feet so I was told to walk briskly.

Good Luck