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Fat Burning Questions - Nutrition & Training To Lose 30 Pounds

Question:
I am 6 foot tall 240 and am looking to lose about 30 pounds. I am new to all of this and when I went to the doctor before I started a diet she told me to eat under 1400 calories a day but did not mention anything about fat content or sodium or any of the others. I find it hard to eat healthy because, to be quite honest, I don't know how. I'm not sure how much of what to eat or how much. I currently exercise about an hour everyday and run every night and am currently sprinting but I don't know what the best exercise plan for me would be. I just kind of do whatever until I'm either bored or sore.

I was hoping you could help me get some sort of exercising plan or food plan so I either wont be over-exercising and wearing myself out control knowing what to eat because most of the things dietitians suggest to eat are hard to make and I simply don't have to patience to make them. If you can help cool If not ill just keep going at the rate I'm going.

Answer:
I would not recommend losing more than 1 pound per week for healthily weight loss. The reason for this has do to with the issues which quick and drastic weight loss can have on your body's metabolism and muscle mass. When you lose a lot of weight quickly, you really need to strictly monitor where this weight is coming from. Is it water weight, body fat or muscle mass? The majority of the time, it unfortunately comes from lean muscle mass and this is exactly what will cause serious issues with your metabolism. Muscle is your body's most potent and active tissue for burning calories and body fat. Its basically your body's "furnace" which you want to always keep burning hot. When someone loses a lot of weight, which usually comes from crash dieting or some other unhealthy way of dropping the weight, the body's lean muscle mass is cannibalized and you lose some of your biggest "power" tissue for keeping a lean body.

The worst thing is when the person finally decides to get off the diet and start eating again. Their calories go back up, but since their BMR (basal metabolic rate) is lowered and they have lost muscle mass, the end result is they pack on the body fat very quickly! Ever heard of the term "yo-yo" dieting. This is the reason why tons of people have issues and hard times with their weight loss plans.

My advice is to focus on creating a max 500 calorie deficit per day which equates out to an overall 3,500 calories per week (1 pound of body fat). Create this overall 500 calorie deficit through a 250 calorie drop in your diet and another 250 burned with an exercise routine. This is the healthiest way to lose body fat while keeping your muscle mass and having your body run at an optimal level. It will also provide you with a much better plan to permanently keep the weight off forever!

For your diet, focus on getting enough protein throughout the day by choosing lean items like chicken breast, egg whites, turkey breast and fish. Also, make sure to eliminate all empty calories like soda, high sugar fruit juices, candy and fast food. Try and eat several small and nutritious meals throughout the day. By cleaning up your diet, you should see a vast improvement in your physique.

A quick daily menu could consist of:

8am:
1 chicken breast (8 ounce), 1 cup of steamed brown rice, 1 small salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing

11am:
turkey sandwich with whole wheat bread (8 ounces of lean turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, mustard) (NO cheese or mayo).

2pm:
8 ounces of top round steak, 2 boiled red potatoes, 1 cup of non-fat cottage cheese

5pm:
egg white omelet (8 egg whites, mushrooms), 2 pieces of whole wheat toast (NO butter)

8pm:
8 ounces of fish (salmon, catfish, trout, halibut, etc.), 2 cups of whole wheat pasta, 1 small salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Its also extremely important to keep a diet journal of your nutritional intake. This way you will be able to track where all your calories are coming from and really monitor your intake.

Another extremely important aspect of building a lean body and dropping fat is to strength train. Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 35 to 50 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days, without making any other changes. In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is 'metabolically active ' and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you're not moving.

Here is a very good "push-pull" routine I recommend using and make sure to switch the actual exercises every week:

Monday (chest/back):

Chest (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Dumbbell Bench Press
  
• Barbell Incline Bench Press

Back (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Bent Over Barbell Rows
  
• Close Grip Front Lat Pulldowns

Wednesday: (shoulders, biceps, triceps)

Shoulders (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Seated Dumbbell Presses

Biceps (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Barbell Curls

Triceps (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Triceps Pushdowns

Friday: (legs)

Legs (3 sets for each exercises, 8-12 reps per set)

• Barbell Full Squats
  
• Barbell Lunges

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