I'm pretty athletic but can't seem to get the last 20 pounds off to be truly ripped.

I think I can go from 210lb to 190lb.( I'm 5' 10")

Is it better to eat many small meals or three square meals?
Is the High protien low Carb diet good if your active?

Here is an example of what I'm thinking of trying:

8:00 Am 1 cup cereal 1 cup milk 1 cup orange juice
10:00 Am apple
12:00 noon Ham sandwich on white bread
2:30 Pm Banana
5:00 Pm 2 pieces chicken & salad
8:00 Pm 1 cup soup

Anybody know about dieting?

If you ever have zero body fat, you'll be close to being dead. Low body fat (like 5-6% on a marathon runner) and zero body fat are two completely different things. Your brain, for example, is made up mostly of fats, and fats are necessary to cushion your internal organs and absorb shock from everyday movement.

If you've hit a plateau and you can't seem to get those last twenty pounds off, that means your caloric intake and outtake are pretty much the same. My answer? Vary your workout so you can burn off those last several pounds. It should take a few weeks if you're doing it in a healthy way; it won't just melt off in two or three weeks, or if it does then you're liable to pack it back on again pretty soon after.

First of all, remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so unless you've had a thorough body fat assessment don't assume that those twenty pounds are all fat.

YOU NEED CARBS AS FUEL TO WORK OUT. If you're doing intense cardio (which will help burn off the fat), you can't just run on proteins. Carbohydrates provide the quick energy you need to get through a hard workout, but focus more on complex carbs like whole grains, oatmeal, lentils (which are also protein), and brans. You'll get a better energy payoff than if you were to eat simple carbs like white bread, white pasta, sugar (including fruit), etc. When I used to run competitive cross country, I would eat complex carbs about an hour before the race so I wouldn't fall over in the middle of the race because I ran out of fuel.

Protein will help you build and maintain muscle mass, yes, but YOU NEED CARBS AS WELL. Cutting them out will just make you have an unbalanced diet.

I think the most important thing to tell you, though, is that YOU ARE NOT EATING ENOUGH. By cutting calories too much, you're stunting your metabolism and making it harder for your body to burn off those pounds. You're making the situation worse, rather than better.

Just to compare, I'll give you a typical day of food for myself. I'm extremely small - 5'6" and 102 pounds (I'm female), with about 14-16% body fat. I also run about three or four miles at least five days a week, and I eat 5 small meals a day.

Meal 1:
1 cup oatmeal (slow-cooked, dry) + 1/2 cup skim millk
1 medium-sized nectarine/peach/banana/whatever fruit is lying around
water, green tea

Meal 2:
fruit
matzoh or rye crackers
water, green tea

Meal 3:
1 small potato or 1/4 cup soba noodles, cooked
3 tablespoons wakame (dry; reconstitutes to about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon dashi miso
1 egg, scrambled and added to soup
water in soup
1/2 cup or 1 cup rice, depending on the day
1 medium-sized nectarine/peach/banana/whatever fruit is lying around
water, green tea

Meal 4:
1/2 cup cabbage kimchi
1/2 cup or 1 cup rice, depending on the day
fruit
maybe a small salad if I'm still hungry, but usually I don't need it
water, green tea

Meal 5:
1/2 cup salmon or chicken, steamed
1 cups salad (field greens, never iceberg)
1/4 cup beans/lentils/other legumes on salad
water, green tea

I'm teeny-tiny compared to your height and weight, but my typical day's diet is ridiculously enormous compared to your proposed starvation plan. My caloric intake is a lot lower than the typical person because I'm so small, but I am never hungry throughout the day if I stick to eating every two or three hours despite my regular workout. For a male who is four inches taller and over 100 pounds heavier than me, it would be ridiculous for you to be consuming so little throughout the day, no matter how much you want to lose weight.

The average healthy male should have body fat around 15-18%, whereas the average healthy female should be around 25-30%. More athletic people will naturally have lower body fat; men can go as low as 5% and women as low as about 10%, but that's the exception to the norm and you really shouldn't be trying to go that low.

As an aside, get in the habit of eating your fruits rather than drinking them. Not only will you feel more satisfied eating an orange than drinking it, but you'll also get the added benefit of the fruit's fibre, vitamins, etc.

^ Thanks for your input. I appreciate the time it took to organize and write so much information.

You gave me many things to think about. The diet I outlined was just a first draft. I was guessing at what would make a 2000 Calorie a day diet. I must have under estimated

I'll try to com up with a eating plan that is more balanced with whole grain carbs and fruit centered on 5 to 6 meals a day.

Great info!

Diet and do more exercise than your doing now, drink lots of water and take multivitamins/supplements.
I lost 7 pounds of fat so since the beginning of this month. Some say its not healthy but believe me its not because i snack on nuts and fruit all day. I think it comes from all the black coffee i drink, the extra exercise and replacing breakfast or dinner with a smoothie thats high in protein and antioxidants. It consists of greek yogurt, bananas, almonds, blueberries or strawberries, honey, peanut butter and milk. I also started doing lots of pull ups i used to be able to do none lmao now i do 4 sets of five.

gabba brought up good points. 0% bf is death. Running backs and pro basketball players have an average of 8%bf.


Your diet aint that great. If your active to a point where your in sports (especially contact sports training), you need a decent amount of calories, moderate carbs, and high protein. Your doing good by eating clean but you need way more protein. If you eat too less of calories and work out, you will eat muscle and screw up your metabolism. Making you gain the weight back and look worse in the long run (skinny fat). Studies have shown that 5-8 small meals has no effect on metabolism, but is just a good way for people to stay full while eating less. I eat 5 meals a day. I am personally against low carb diets since I have seen them back fire most of the time. They only give temporary results. Except the ketogenic diet, which I also have seen back fire.

The best thing to do is to keep track of every calorie, gram of fat, protein and carb as possible. Make a log and have a 6 month plan. None of this crash diet, lose as much weight as possible in the short period of time. You will fuk yourself over, I promise you this. You aint a MMA fighter that has to cut weight before a fight. For your height and target weight you should be eating 2000-2500 calories, 200-250 grams of protein, 120-150 grams of carbs, and 50 grams of fat (healthy fats from fish and nuts.) You should also eat whatever you want 1 day out of the week but keep it in that calorie range i put up. You should be losing 2-3 lbs a week with this diet if you are working out 3-5 days a week. (Cardio, weights, anarobic). Any more than that is a very bad thing. But you should expect to lose more than that your first couple weeks since youl be losing allot of water weight.

Also stay away from alcohol as much as possible. If you keep up this plan i just wrote out. You should be at your target weight in 2-3 months. The other 3 months is to see if you can keep that weight.







7 lbs in 3 weeks is pushing it. You do not want to lose strength and muscle. You can supplement your diet with whey protein, that would prevent muscle loss. Just wondering are you a vegan or something? You can buy 10 lbs of frozen chicken breast and canned tuna by bulk. By throwing this in your diet you would get way better results.

The nuts and fruit are snacks bro, i still eat two regular meals a day.