Need some advice

[DancingSteve]

I used to compete heavily as a young man. I am now getting back into it full swing. My years of training karate allows me to refine my technique very quickly and get 'tournament ready' in that aspect easily. But as far as fitness goes....when I was in my teens I didnt have that much fitness trouble.

I am 5'6...180 lbs. Fairly sturdy...but I'd love to be sitting at about 165-170. Need some advice on how to lean up and lose some of this extra baggage I've picked up over the years.

I have weights at home...I have a treadmill...I train 2 classes per week that give me a dripping sweat workout, and I do my katas every night before bed which takes me a good half hour or so and I get pretty sweated up.

My biggest obstacles are my two kids. I have to cook food for them obviously and it really isn't DIET food..We snack..but we always snack healthy..no chips or what not. Just looking for a fitness guru to give me a regimen I can pseudo-follow and drop a few pounds and maybe lean up a bit.

I honestly don't have a problem being 180...if it was all muscle that is.

[bushido_man96]

If you are that concerned about the food that you fix for your kids, check out some internet sites to find some lower fat/calorie foods that are similar to what they eat. My wife does this often, and the food is good, too.

Do you do cardio work every day? If you don't, starting that may help to increase your weight loss. It's all about managing your ins and outs.

[rayjag]

Hello,

My name is Ray, I am new to this site and this is my first post. I have obtained a black belt in Tae Kwon Doe and work as a certified personal trainer. My advise to you is if you feel your diet is on the somewhat healthy side and you are getting a cardiovascular workout 3-5 time per week for roughly 20 minutes or so through your training; you should add a weight training routine 3 times per week on noncosecutive days working all major muscle groups. Chest-flat/incline press, flyes; back-rows, pullovers, shoulders-presses, lateral raises; arms-bicep curls, tricep extentions; lower body-squats and lunges. This is assuming you have basic dumbbell that go heavy enough. Make sure you stretch after you lift and have enough lean protien in your diet. As you increase your lean body mass you will increase your metabolism as well since muscle takes more calories to sustain it than fat does. I hope this helps you, let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any other questions.

Ray J.

[DancingSteve]

Thanks Ray. I do have a barbell..goes up to 100 lbs. And one dumbell at 20 lbs

I also have a treadmill which I've been meaning to add in to the mix but havent yet.

I train at class on Tues and Thurs which is an hour and usually gets me sweating pretty hard. I also do kata and heavy bag work at home on the off nights.

I guess one question is..What should my basic diet be? What things should I absolutely avoid..and what things should I be consciously putting into my diet to round out my working out.

The trouble with me..is I figure if Im working out enough..I can eat pretty much whatever. So Im a bad..bad man when it comes to that.

Thanks for whatever you can think of. I've always wanted to have a personal trainer do a workover of me but never had the motivation to pay for it! HAH

[rayjag]

A good idea to start with is to lower your overall fat intake and balance your meals with protein and carbs at each meal. Food that are starchy are typically denser in calories. For example potatoes, breads and pastas tend to have alot more calories per serving than veggies(you can load up on most veggies). Replace some of your starches with veggies. Protein is a key if you are training, especially weight training. Examples of lean protein sources are turkey, chicken(not fried), eggs(whites are fat free), lean cuts of beef and reduced fat cheeses. Proteins digest slower then carbs especially starchy ones, and that is why you should balance your meals. A combination of protein and carbs rather than carbs alone will slow the insulin response and alow your body to utilize the calories from you meal better reducing the chances of those calories getting stored as fat. Let me know if this is confusing.

A couple things to remember:

-If you take in more calories than you expend per day you will gain weight.

-If you take in less calories than you expend per day you will lose weight.

-Watch for hidden calories in food such as cooking oils, dressings ect. Example for fast food:Order it grilled, not breaded and fried w/out the mayo. Substitute the fries for a side salad and fat free dressing(I know it's lame).

-Fat calories are 9 per gram, alcohol is 7 per gram, carbs and protein are 4 per gram(start looking at food labels)

-Avoid large amounts of carbs/excessive calories close to bed time(I am horrible at this) as your body is about to enter a resting state and it is likely these calories will not be utilized and stored as fat(unless you have just trained)

If you want to take it up a notch:

-Lean to read food labels

-Start writing down everything you eat per day for a week so you can figure out your present caloric intake

I hope this has been helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.

RJ