Hello all!

Recently I've been really trying to educate myself on how to :
1) Lose weight
2) Get fit
3) Gain muscle
Pretty much in that order.

The thing is that there is so much mis-information out there that I really don't know what to believe anymore. Some say that the only way to lose weight is to cut calories down to under 1,000 a day. Others say you have to do atleast 30 mins cardio 5 times a week.

So far I've been doing pretty much cardio at about 80% MHR, five days a week. I'm also reading the Atkins diet book and have been trying to implement this diet as it seems like a good way to lose weight quickly.

It's only been about a week so far and I've lost about 2lbs, but after reading some post here, I've some concerns about whether I'm excercising and dieting properly. My biggest concern is if I should be working out so intensly while on atkins.

I'm 185 and 5'9 and I want to drop down to around 165'ish or so. I really don't mind the excercising bit, or even the dieting bit, but I want the most effective way to reduce body fat as soon as is safely possible.

Some of the posts here say I should be eating 10 x my weight in calories a day, but wouldn't that make me gain weight or atleast halt my weight loss?

Anyhow I'd appreciate any advice you guys have on this. Also if anyone knows of a good place to find comprehensive calorie listing of foods that'd be great.

I'm no expert by ANY means, so please take what I have to say as ADVICE only. I'm in the same boat you are. I've found so much confusing information on the web it's not funny!

10x your body weight is a STARTING point. It worked for John, and so far has worked for me. IF your running 5 days a week, and taking in 10 x body weight (10 x 185 = 1850) you should be losing weight. Running alone will burn anywhere from 200 to 300 calories for a 25-30 minute run. (This is a BALLPARK figure. weight, how hard you work, hills, etc play into it)

Bottom line: You need to burn more calories then you take in if you want to lose weight. Just make sure your not cutting out to many calories, or your body will actually work against you and slow your metabolism down!!

I'm 165.5 pounds, and try and take in 1300 to 1400 calories a day. I started working out ALMOST a month ago, and have lost 8 pounds. I'm working on getting down to about 158, then I will start a lean muscle program to try and bulk up to about 165 ALL lean/cut muscle.

I was thinking of eating around 1000-1200 cal's a day but spred it between 5-6 meals, while on an Atkins diet. Would this do me more harm then good?

For about 5'9 I need to cut about 15-20lbs off to maintain a healthy weight. I don't want to lose too much lean muscle mass, but I definetly want the fat gone. I figure if I eat less cals, I can burn fat faster no?

I was thinking of eating around 1000-1200 cal's a day but spred it between 5-6 meals, while on an Atkins diet. Would this do me more harm then good?

For about 5'9 I need to cut about 15-20lbs off to maintain a healthy weight. I don't want to lose too much lean muscle mass, but I definetly want the fat gone. I figure if I eat less cals, I can burn fat faster no? YES IT WOULD DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD!

The thing to keep in mind is that your body isn't stupid. You may not agree, but it knows how to keep you alive pret-ty darn well. It's done it this long, with all the junk you (and I!) have been feeding it, right?

If you were to eat that little (1000 - 1200 calories/day) for a prolonged period of time your body would notice and say to itself "Crimany! There's no food! I better take everything I get and put it away for long-term storage, incase I need it later. I have to do this because it doesn't look like any will be available when I need it!" That "long-term storage" is fat. Fat is the best way for our bodies to store energy! The problem is that if you have enough money to own a computer and pay for internet access, you can provide enough energy (food) that your body should be want for nothing :)

Getting out of starvation mode (as described above) requires convincing your body that it'll have energy when it needs it. You do this by throwing energy at it (eating) at regular times (say every 2-3 hrs). You'll want to give it good things to eat, like veggies and protein, and fat so it can do what it needs to. The suggested amount of energy to throw at your body (eat) is 10x your CURRENT body weight. That's the minimum. If you want to lose weight you can create a MILD daily caloric deficit by subtracting say 50 calories from that amount.

Take a look at fatlosstips.com (http://www.fatlosstips.com). Mr. Ellis has some excellent examples of what to do. You should keep in mind that while you're doing this you must continue to exercise so you don't lose any more muscle than you have.

Also, try doing a search (in the upper right hand corner) for Atkins. You'll see tons of testimony to Atkins making you feel like poop, and losing lots of muscle. It's not a sustainable lifestyle and was not intended to be. If you're not ready for a lifestyle change, you should keep up with what you're doing. I'm like quite a few people on this site: completely fed up with myself. I need a lifestyle change and am willing to make those changes permanent.

Thanks daveo, you've given me quite a bit to think about. I think I will try to attain a 40/40/20 diet now that I have some more informed advice.

Now that that's out of the way, is doing cardio everyday healthy? People have told me in the past that I shouldn't work out more then 4, max 5 times a week as the body needs some "time off".

I've been doing almost exclusively cardio for the last 5 days, and only working out abs ever other day. I've been thinking about trying something similiar to John's initial fat loss phase training plan but I've never heard of or saw one as intense as his. Has anyone else tried something similiar?

i would suggest getting into HIIT, its quicker, more instence, and it pays off! you only have to do it 3times a week too

also get into some weights, muscle burns fat!
thats why if you are in "starvation mode" your body will store fat, and burn muscle, because it wants to get rid of the stuff burning its energy supply!, this is why low-cal; diets are especially bad for men

same with low carb diets, carbs are used for energy, if no carbs are available, the body dips into muscle for glycogen (energy basically), sure it will burn some fat, but you wanna keep your muscle!!