Help! Questions about losing weight!

[mandersoncapa92]

Hi! I have a lot of questions. I'm 5'3 and 150 lbs 18 year old female. I'm pretty muscular because I've played soccer my whole life. I want to slim down and lose the extra fat. I've been trying to eat 1800 calories a day. I run 4 miles (jogging pace) almost everyday and have soccer practice twice a week. If I stick to this will I lose weight? Also if on days I increase my workouts to exercising twice a day should I increase my calories as well? I've had a hard time losing weight because I think I use to not eat enough. What foods should I be eating and what are some good healthy snacks? Also I get really hungry before I go to bed. Should I eat something or just go to bed without eating anything? Also what are the best exercises to burn fat and make my bulky muscles (legs, arms, and butt) lean? Thanks for the help!

 

[Monster2]

As far as making bulky muscles lean... that's pretty much toning. I'm not really an expert on this, but what you hear a lot is high rep low weights. Bulking up is exactly the opposite. Running is great exercise, and will help you get toned. As far as your arms go, either move them more when you exercise or run holding some light weights. I don't really feel that you would need to get any more exercise, especially if you add some extra motion for your arms.
As far as calories go, here's what I found:
Maintenance:
2343 Calories/day
Fat Loss:
1875 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss:
1406 Calories/day
Google "daily calorie intake" and you'll find lots of links to help you figure out your daily calories needed.

 

[david_reynolds]

You can safely lose 3 or more pounds a week at home with a healthy diet and lots of exercise. If you burn 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week, you should lose about 1-2 pounds.

If you want to lose weight faster, you'll need to eat less and exercise more. For instance, if you take in 1,050 to 1,200 calories a day, and exercise for one hour per day, you could lose 3-5 pounds in the first week, or more if you weigh more than 250 pounds. It's very important not to cut calories any further -- that's dangerous.

Eat a diet that minimizes starches, added sugars, and animal fat from meat and dairy foods. Focus on fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.

 

[San2]

Guys, can you please pay attention to the dates of the original post? This one is from May 2011, and the user who asked the question has not been active on this board since making this one post. There is no need to necro old threads. Thanks.