Need to lose some

N

Nangun

New member
hi all,

im a 20 year old dude and i just started out with working out.
i am looking for some advice, since i've never done such a thing.
i weight 85 kilograms and my wish is to lose about 15 kilo's in total. the main goal is just to get rid of the fat ( turn it into muscle )

where should i start?

thanks in advance
 
Not everyone seems to agree on this forum, but in my opinion this makes the greatest difference when you get started:

Try to eat 5 or 6 meals spread over the day instead of just a few large meals.

Try to include a whole source of protein in each one of them, such as:

- Lean meats
- Fish
- Dairy if you tolerate it

Focus on whole sources of carbohydrates:

- Fruits, vegetables...
- You can do cereals and grains, but choose the 'whole' and 'brown' variants.
- Potatoes are fine too.

At any rate, always include a protein source in a meal too.

This is the first step, switching to a diet with healthy, whole foods. No processed stuff. Just try to stick to food that's as close to its natural state as possible.

Exercise is essential. I always suggest weight training first, and then cardio.

Do that for a while and see how it goes. As long as it works, keep going. If the effect seems to disappear, you need to make some changes.
 
Hi there, I'm a personal trainer from Melbourne, Australia, and this advice from hanknicholson is some of the best you'll ever get on diet. Oh and additionally, try to get fibre into everymeal. This makes is low gi, and not only will give you more sustained energy through the day, it'll help control your cravings. It's hard to stick by, but if you can be organised enough to stick to it, you'll see results. Make sure you are doing weight training, and eating within one hour, a meal with lots of protein and carbs. This will help very much so with the building of muscle and of the recovery. The higher your muscle to fat ratio, the faster your metabolism, and the easier it is to keep the weight off. Don't forget the cardio either, you'll need that increase your calorie expenditure. Plus cardio makes you feel super good and it's heaps of fun if you can do it with a group.
 
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My advice would be to start tracking your meals using diet software, like or an online journal like or . Eat a balanced diet, which the above will help you to do.

If the 5 or 6 meals a day fits your lifestyle, go ahead and do that, but there are plenty of studies that show it will not increase your metabolism as some will often claim.

Everybody would like to "turn fat into muscle" but that is hard to do. To build very much muscle needs a calorie surplus, but losing fat requires a calorie deficit. So, the idea is to lose weight with a calorie deficit, while exercising to maintain your existing muscle. Then you would have a muscle building phase during which you probably put on a little fat along with the muscle. This would be repeated until you achieve the desired body composition.
 
Harold14370 is right about muscle gaining.

However, if you really just got started with lifting weights and never did so before, then you might profit from the 'beginner gains' and actually build some muscle even while you're losing fat.

Besides, if you decrease your body fat percentage, it'll seem like you'll be gaining muscle simply because they become better visible.

And I agree, there may be studies that 5 or 6 meals don't make much of a difference compared to 3 meals or something. However, if anything, it can definitely help in getting used to controlling your portions.

And besides, many people always complain that they're hungry on their diet. By eating more regularly, you don't have to be hungry.

And if you really start doing hardcore strength training or even bodybuilding for some reason, then having these regular protein feedings throughout the day an help your body stay in positive nitrogen balance (decreasing the risk of losing muscle mass on a calorie deficit diet).

Those are just some other advantages of more meals in the day...

But yes, it should fit your lifestyle, so don't get too hung up on it if it's really impossible. Still, it might help to take some effort to get used to that.

Anyway, good luck!
 
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