Is this good advice for losing fat and not nessesarily wieght

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I would keep that routine for at least 4 weeks. Increasing cardio time and weight as you see fit. After 4 weeks I would almost guarantee you'd have lost 20+ lbs if you followed the diet/workout plan. You'll feel great and be more confident than ever.

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willfs wrote:

1. I would like to just tone up and lose the fat:
   
2. You want to eat as natural and unprocessed food as possible.
   
3. You're going to want to eat 5-7 small meals/snacks in a day.
   
4. The longer you go in between meals, the more likely your body is going to store what you eat as fat. This is because your body doesn't realize that there is food everywhere in the world we live in.
   
5. Aim for 200-300 calories at each meal/snack.
   
6. Also try to eat 20-30 grams of protein at each meal.
   
7. You're going to want to keep even healthy carbs to a minimum (less than 80 grams a day, 10-20 per meal).
   
8. Fruits (If you can, cut them out. If you can't, eat them in the morning).
   
9. Bodybuilders and fitness models basically eat this way. Not only is it low calorie, low carb, high in protein and natural...it controls your blood/sugar levels and how your body uses the food based on the glycemic index.
   
10. Have one cheat meal a week. Gorge yourself on a couple burgers, pizza, or french fries...it doesn't matter.
    
11. But remember, losing weight is 90% about what you eat, not how much you exercise.

1. That's a great goal, willfs! Best of luck to you in your efforts.
   
2. Excellent observation. Reducing or eliminating [overly] processed foods is a great way to improve one's health.
   
3. While this is generally a good idea, many beginners can improve their nutritional intake by simply eating three well-balanced meals a day -- that's because they haven't had ANY (or miminal) control of their eating patterns.
   
4. The body doesn't "realize" nor does it "think" ... and no, we are not cavemen. Success in tweaking our nutrition (as well as our exercise) will come from understanding how our bodies function (here and now) ... apart from simplistic "caveman" analogies. I know that this is an approach that's frequently taken in bodybuilding circles, but it's entirely unnecessary (and even a distraction from reality), in my opinion.
   
5. The amount of fuel that one smartly consumes in a single meal will naturally depend on the individual -- a) their lean body mass, b) their personal metabolism, c) their lifestyle, and d) their exercise schedule. The 200-300 calorie intake, for example, would hardly work for me (even with 7 meals). In a 7-meal plan, some of my meals are as much as 550 calories, depending on a number of factors. Obviously, my wife's meals will be quite different -- not necessarily because she is smaller, but because of her unique combination of responses to a) through d) above.
   
6. The amount of protein that any single individual needs for optimal growth & support will vary on much the same factors as was noted in item 5.
   
7. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for energizing your daily life, and in particular, for your workouts. Personally, I would die on just 80 carbohydrate grams a day. For my post workout meal, I'm currently consuming 77 grams o carbohydrate -- and that's in just one meal. A workout DAY for me allows me to eat 313 grams (and I'm NOT a massive guy at all).
   
8. Fruits are your body's friends -- they're loaded with Mother Natures necessary nutrients. Not only do they taste sweet, but they are relatively low in calories. What keeps the calorie content of fruit low is water, which makes up to 80-95% of most fruits and their refreshing juiciness. Dietary fiber is another important benefit that fruits provide.
   
9. Low calorie and low carb diets are hardly the way that bodybuilders eat (at least not real bodybuilders). To fuel the activity required (resistance training) to build new muscle and supportive lean tissue, a proper volume and balance of all macronutrients are required. Cutting short these requirement will only cost you in terms of success at reaching your fitness goals.
   
10. A gorging cheat meal. I can hardly agree with that. Quality nutrition is about 1) giving your body what it needs, when it needs it, and 2) developing a quality mental attitude towards food, including adopting responsible eating habits.
    
11. What you eat is certainly part of the picture, but not 90%. If all you care about is "scale weight", then cut your food intake in half and starve yourself --- you will lose weight. The problem is, you'll lose as much lean tissue (muscle, bone density, ligament strength, etc) as you'll lose fat (and sometimes more than fat). Resistance training is key to quality bodily control through your entire lifespan. The year you quit, is the year your health starts taking the downhill slide.