Really need help.

N

NightFall951

New member
Hello,


I am a young lad who has struggled with the way I look for a long time now and I really wanted to get into shape but I need a little guidance and I was hoping by coming here you guys can give me some advice.


I might as well start with my age,


I am 15, going to be 16 in a few weeks and I currently weigh 138 lbs and am 5ft 10, you may be thinking I am a healthy weight and yes my BMI is under "healthy weight" yet this does not change the fact that I have flabby body parts which really bring me down. The main area is the chest as I have a lot of fat there creating "moobs".


When I was really young I was skinny but I soon started gaining weight and I was at my fattest when I was about 11, since I was about 14 I have slowly been slimming down as I take part in sports. As I am soon to be 16 I want to start building muscle and becoming a lot healthier and fitter by doing regular cardio and strength training.


I should also tell you I used to be a sugar-holic eating cakes, biscuits crips all the time but lately I have learnt to stop eating this junk and I can easily go months without eating junk food such as sugary sweets.


Now for the nitty gritty, I plan to lose weight by working out on my punch bag about 4-5 times a week and doing regular strength training, I believe this will be enough but I will also need to watch what I eat which is were you guys/gals come in, I need your help on how much I am meant to eat a day and just give me some tips,advice and guidance on how I can get rid of this last bit of flab and replace it with muscle.



Thanks in advance.


NightFall
 
Hey NightFall


You wrote that you were 5' 10 does that mean 5'10" or 5' 1" your answer makes all the difference. Anyway, let's assme that you are weighing more than you would like to. There is actually a lot of good news in your favor. 1) you are male and therefore you automatically have a higher metabolism then your female counter part and 2) the fact that you are so young, your metabolism is better than us old folks. So be encouraged!


The average fellow your age needs about 2800 calories per day. The best way I know to calculate your calories is with an on-line food diary. The one I like best is myfitness pal. It is free and it has a facebook component that is fun. There is another one called loseit! and it has a convenient iphone app, so it's mobile. You will be amazed at how fast calories add up! I am so happy that restaurants now have to list the calories on the menus. Bad for the restaurant, great for the dieter.


Be sure to get plenty of lean protein, fuirts veggies and whole grains as well as lots of water. Include exercise in your routine (cardio and strength) and watch the pounds fall off!


Best of luck to you! Coach Jeannie
 
2800 Calories seems like a crazy amount to me, I thought I should be eating around 2000 and 1600 if wanted to lose weight, also i am 5'10".

I don't think I eat any were near 2800 calories a day let alone 2000.


How many calories should I aim to eat if I want to lose the fat?
 
AAt your age and given you have a healthy weight, I wouldn't stress calorie control at all. You're still growing (and will still be developing until about 25 years old, so you've got a long way to go) and so your body needs all the fuel it can get to set up a solid basis for your adult body and brain. You don't want to starve it- you could end up with lasting complications later on.

It sounds to me that you should be working on fitness and strength training, rather than diet (although if you're eating unhealthily, try to get into better habits sooner rather than later- you're much more likely to be adaptable as a kid/ teenager. Lots and lots of fruit and veg, three serves of dairy, some lean meat, limit- but don't eliminate- fats, severely limit processed food, keep starches wholegrain/ wholemeal, drink lots of water). I would encourage you to get face-to-face advice on this, again because you're still developing and you're at higher risk of lasting damage if you mess around not knowing what you're doing. But as a general rule, don't over-focus on the things you want to make more toned/ muscular- that can also damage you from what I can gather, and (less importantly) may also leave you looking a bit silly if you have, say, a super muscular chest and skinny arms.
 
So is it possible to lose the fat without counting calories or restricting any? I mean I would be eating better than I normaly do, like eating more fruit and veggies and not eating sugary junk foods all the time like I used to and also doing regular cardio and strength training excercises.


I really do want to get rid of the flab for good this time as it is really getting me down so much I cannot even take my shirt off at the beach or even in my own house.
 
AI honestly don't think, given you have a healthy BMI (and especially given you're at a key growth period in your life) that you need to worry about such things. The fat will help your body cope with the stresses of the changes that you're going through- and if you want to be rid of it or make it less visible, work on muscle definition (for anyone of any size, working on weight loss alone won't lead to a toned figure- that depends on your ratio of muscle to fat, which means you have to work on not losing muscle, or gaining it). If you were overweight then I'd be saying very different things, and if you were an adult I'd be saying "well you really don't need to but this is what you need to do to lose weight..."

Eating better is a win/ win situation. Eating 20 calories of carrot isn't going to make much difference to your shape than eating 20 calories of chocolate, but it'll mean you're healthier, and you're less likely to eat a calorie surplus (and thus put on weight) by eating the carrot than the chocolate (because 20 calories of carrot is more stuff than 20 calories of chocolate, so it's more likely to fill you up).

But I think you've misunderstood, or I haven't made myself clear. Losing weight means you're either eating less calories, or burning more calories (and probably both). So if you wanted to lose weight you'd have to restrict calories (whether you count them or not is another matter. That being said, if you go from eating junk to a healthy diet, you're almost certainly going to be eating less calories, and may lose weight). But I don't think you need to lose weight (in fact I would advise against it)- I think what you should do is work on your body composition. So for you, while diet is an important foundation for what you want to do, the exercise you do becomes more important.

I would strongly urge you to speak to someone in person about this. Both your doctor to make sure that what you're doing isn't going to harm your health (I'm not by any stretch of the imagination an exercise, diet, or medical expert, I'm just synthesising things that have worked for me and information I've read online), and to someone (like a personal trainer or an instructor at a gym) who can give you guidance on how to go about strength training without injuring yourself. This is especially important given your continuing development (I hate to keep banging on about this, but I'd hate to think you might do something that you'll regret for decades to come because of something you want when you're 15. It may be incredibly important to you now- I remember being 15, it was awful- but if you do something that's still hurting you when you're 35, it won't be worth it).
 
I appreciate what you are saying but I don't believe I can induce long term injuries from doing what I want to do. I am simply talking about eating healthy, using the heavy bag 20 mins a day and as for strength training I would only be doing stuff like sit ups push ups squats, that kinda stuff, nothing that involves heavy weights or anything that could create damage. We have started to do these kind of exercises at school during PE classes so I believe I am at the right age to start this.


As for the calories I realize I shouldnt be restricting myself at such an important stage of growth.


What I am trying to find out is, is it possible to not lose weight as such but 'burn' the fat off from doing what I am planning to do?


It seems I am at that part of teenage hood were I want to start working out and begin to look out for my body and become lean and muscular, Haha :rotflmao:
 
The most important thing you can do is to educate yourself. It sounds like you are very level headed and have a good plan! I think from what you are saying (eating better, working out more) you will be able to get the results that you are looking for!! What country are you in? Most countries have a food guide of some sort - that is a good place to start for nutrition, some countries also have physical activity guides. You will want to make sure you are using proper form with you weight lifting exercise - you can do this in a couple ways. Some gyms offer free or cheap programs for youth (with a personal trainer) you can read the stickes in the forums here or on other reputable websites. It also is sometimes helpful if you have a workout partner. Good luck! I am confident that you will succeed!!
 
Please keep in mind that "moobs" are quite normal at your age, it's most likely not fat, but hormones. This is sooo common and a lot of young men get this and feel dreadfully self-concious about it. Because boys don't tend to talk about embarrassing things with their peers they tend to think that they're the only ones and try to exercise or diet them away. Teenage moobs subside over time once the hormone balance out a bit. You'd be better off trying to bulk up your muscle than lose weight. The more muscle you have the easier your body will burn calories. If you don't eat enough calories your body will burn muscle. Make sure you eat enough, especially lean protein.
 
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