sefskillz said:
im doin the exercise thing fine (mostly cardio, i jog ~20 minutes 2-3 times a week and do 30 minute sessions on a heavy bag 2-3 times a week) but I'm not seeing much in the way of results. I haven't changed my diet much so I'm pretty sure thats whats holding me back. I need dieting tips to the point of "buy this, this and this".
So here are just some general rules of thumb.
Fat, carbohydrate, and protein Calories only become fat tissue if you don't use them. So you don't have to eat less or change what you eat if you're willing to do more work.
Some ancedotes. There was a recent study of Amish farmers who ate these huge breakfasts with lots of fat, but they worked in the fields walking miles and miles, so they didn't get fat and they were in relatively good shape. Or, you look at the Mr. Olympia guys. They eat 8-10k in calories a day because muscles require lots of calories to stay big and get bigger.
So, it sounds like you don't want to work out more, so you're gonna have to cut down on calories. The reason people are down on fat and carbs is because they have more calories than protein and turn into more fat when you don't use them and it sounds like that's what you're consuming too much of. So you can either eat less of what you do now, or change to something else that has less calories.
It is also a good idea to try and maintain a 3-2-1 ratio of Carbs, Protein, and Fat. It doesn't have to be exact, but it should be close enough that you don't find yourself at other ratios like 2-2-2, 2-1-1, or something bad like 1-2-4. So if you're gonna change what you eat, look at the ratios the food has in calories and balance it out. Start by adding up what you eat now and then getting the ratios. If you're eating too much fat, take out the high fat foods (junk food) and replace it with more carbs (pasta, whole grain bread, vegetables, fruit) or protein(tuna, turkey, eggs, milk).
As far as how many calories to eat? It's different for everyone and depends on how much energy you need each day. You can go here to get your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html
For me it is 1704.2. But i'm trying to gain muscle, so I add ~500 a day for that and then more for the workouts I do. 1556 for 2 hrs of martial arts or 714 for weights. You can add what you need from what you do here:
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/activity/activity.html
So, for today I need 3760.2. Tomorrow I'll only need 2918.2.