Hi it is almost summer its only 3 months away and i was just wondering if anyone had an effective weight loss plan. Im not fat just a little bit of flab covering my abs which im sure with a good eating and cardio plan will get rid of easy. Also i get stuck with what to eat after dinner at night? Thanks in advance.

3 months is plenty of time to lose the extra weight. I really can't outline a day by day plan, but I can certainly help you figure out how to create your own. The main things to consider are calories and cardio, but content of your diet will also be important.

First, check the calories. About 500 below maintenance is enough. Much more than that and you're risking lean muscle mass which will only drop your metabolism.
Second, add some cardio into the regimen. Start with 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. If you're not losing too much weight, you can tack some more time on there or add another day if you want. Keep your resistance training (I'm making a big assumption that you already do resistamnce training...?) to help maintain the muscle you have. If you don't already have some resistance training in the works, you really ought to start.
Now as far as what to eat, drop the junk. Simple sugars and high GI carbs (white rice, white breads, pasta, most cereals etc) are conducive to fat storage. Low GI complex carbs burn more slowly and keep blood sugar on a more even keel. Also, eat at least 5 times a day in smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Provide your body with protein and nutrition every few hours, as this also helps keep blood sugar more even and reduces the likelihood of fat storage as you are on more of a "burn as you go" regimen. If you plan higher caloric meals before periods of activity and lower caloric meals when you're just sitting around, you will decrease chances of fat storage even further (and since you are on an overall calorie deficit, create constant fat burning).
Drink a lot of water (2-3 liters a day) and make sure you get about 1g lean protein per pound of bodyweight and DO NOT remove fats from your diet. Limit saturated fats, but making 15-30% of your calories unsaturated fats will actually help you lose fat. Keep olives, avacadoes, fatty fish, nuts and oils in your diet. A Tbsp or two of natural peanutbutter makes a great dessert. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hope that's some help.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

Naxis. Your a god thank you so much i really appreciate your help. Thanks again. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

oh sorry naxis but I have just made some calculations. I am currently eating 1117cal but thats not counting dinner. My dinner usually consits of: Large steak and salad OR Chicken Breast salad OR Beef or chicken stir fry OR Roast Lamb and salad. Its just i can't calculate the nutritional value of the meat because it doesnt have it on the pack. So im hoping that the meal that will add a few more calories. And also are a handful of nuts ok for a night time snack say about 9 30pm with my dinner being at about 6 00? Thanks alot. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

1117 calories? How much do you weigh?? That sounds _really_ low, unless you are very light already or have dinners upward of 400 calories... Gimme your stats - height, weight, gender, bf% if you know it (please) http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

And for calculating calories for *lean* meat, 1/2 c is about 150 calories. If you have beef or lamb that has more fat, the calories are going to go up significantly. Google for USDA nutrition and there is a fantastic .gov search engine run by the USDA that lists the nutritional value of just about everything.

Oh man... I'm sorry, I totally skipped the "night time snacks" question. Try to keep anything you eat within 4 hours of bed time to proteins and maybe a little fat. Nuts are ok, but a "handful" might have around 300 calories and most of that is fat, so be careful. A few should be okay though. Cottage cheese or hard boiled eggs or lean meats might be a better choice, just based on calories.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

[This message has been edited by Naxis (edited 09-11-2003).]

Hi, naxis. Armmmm im 5.9ft weight 147lbs and 16 years old. Im not very big. And sorry for not answering your question before also lol, yes i do alot of resistance training. Im not really fat I just need to shed a bit of fat so i can see my abs properly. If you have an email i can send a pic of how my body looks? Anywayz thanks alot.

oh and also about the calories i eat alot of apples and strawberrys and i pressumed they had no calories in them. Thanks

Everything has calories (except water) http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif. Check out that USDA website.

You should be getting around 1600 calories a day. Recheck your intake using the USDA site. You're probably closer to your ideal calories than I thought.

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to provide personal contact info (they'll ban me), but I know what you mean. If you stay dedicated to a clean program for a few months, you will definitely see a change. Good luck man.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

[This message has been edited by Naxis (edited 09-12-2003).]

ok cool. Thanks alot naxis for all your help, it is greatly appreciated. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif