Nutrition and Excercise Advice

[Matty1]

Hi,

I am 28yrs old, 6 foot tall and weigh 176lbs.

I need to lose about 7-8lbs to get to what I believe is ideal weight.

I have been weight training and running / playing football for a few months now and have made progress in terms of muscle definition, shape and weight, dropping from about 185 to 175 but can't seem to shed the last bit.

I have also noticed that weight can fluctuate daily, for example I weighed myself on Monday and was 174lbs and then on Tuesday I was back up to 176lbs.

I think diet has not been providing sufficient nutrition for the increased level of activity and maybe body has been storing the last bit of fat I want to burn. Or maybe overtraining slightly.

I do cardio 20-30mins (either running or Rowing) and weights 5 out of 7 days. I make sure I don't work the same muscles consequtive days.

I've put together a good diet planner to track cals, carbs etc but am unsure what daily nutrition targets should be.

What level of Calories, Carbs, Protein and Fat should I be getting per day to fuel myself properly and to burn those 7-8lbs.

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks.

[swanso5]

5 sessions is a week is easily doable but nutrition needs to pretty solid to get the full benefits...if wt is fluctuation than it's more than likely from not enough cal's...be sure to take advantage o your post workout meal...actually spread 2 - 3 small meals out over 90mins here for full recovery and replenishment...like a shake as soon as you finish than cerial, sandwitch or something light for secondary carb replensiment than a solid meal of protein, carbs from pasta, bread or rice and veggies...

as for totals aim for something like 3 - 4 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight per day, 1 - 1.5g for protein and .5 - .75g of fat

if this fails than cut cardio down a little but keep all wts in

[Matty1]

Cheers.

What level of calories do you think I should aim for?

Thanks again.

[swanso5]

start at 2200 or thereabouts and increase / decrease where needed

[Matty1]

Thanks.

Seem to be going backwards. Since Monday when I was 174lbs have weighed in today at 178lbs.

I'd been doing about 1800 cals a day for last couple of weeks. Last few days I have increased this as per previous posts.

This is what I've done Tuesday and Wednesday;

Cal Protein Carbs Fat
2432.94 166.17 271.17 81.01
2034.4 184.64 225.51 59.35

Any advice on why I've actually gained weight - 4lbs since Monday.

I've been doing the same weights and cardio as before - just increased Calories and Protein levels. Have tried to keep the percentage as advised where possible (i.e. Protein, Carb Fat ratio).

Bit confused??

[DianaB]

Your weight will fluctuate throughout the day due to food intake, water, salts etc. Weigh yourself one a week only, in the morning when you get up. If you are concerned, take out the tape measure and record the measurement over your button, again, in the morning right after you get up. If you are gaining fat, that's where it will show.
cheers
diana

[swanso5]

well if everything is the same but cal's than you've built muscle or fat or both...extra cal's are giving you more building blocks to gain wt with...do you think it's muscle or fat??

[SarahPT]

Diana is correct that it's natural for your weight to fluctuate. It can actually fluctuate up to 7 pounds per day. However, increasing calories that fast can cause weight gain. Better to increase them slower if you want to avoid that. Increasing is a good diea though because you were probably undereating.

[Matty1]

Cheers.

Not sure about whether it's muscle or fat.

Probably could do with starting to monitor body fat percentage, see if I'm burning the fat. What's the best way to do this? I've seen / heard quite a few different methods.

lower abdomen is definitely firmer - I think that's from progress I've made from varying the abs and obliques excercises I've been doing rather than fat loss though.

[swanso5]

if you don't have scales then go by mirror or a waist measurement

[Christopheel]

Mirror