Hello, fellow healthy lifestyle lovers!

I am a 16 year old male and I currently weigh 75,5kg and am 1,75m tall. I am not trying to get to my recommended weight because I have a different body mass and I am, sort of, pleased with how I look.

The problem is that I was once "less fat" and had more muscle but months of not doing anything (sadly, the sport I prefer to practice I only do it in the Summer, and in this one I couldn't because of personal reasons) and doing some cardio with no muscle training got me thinner but, shortly after, I was back to my old weight and with what seems to be less muscle, with a "limpier" look.

I, now, wish to go lose fat and gain muscle (not both at the same time if that isn't possible) and to do so I am currently planning a workout schedule but I have no clue where to start. I was hoping someone here will be able to show me a good schedule. Here are some key elements I can/want to follow/accomplish:

- I mostly would like to lose the extra fat on my thighs, buttocks and stomach (I read somewhere that the first place you lose fat is the abdominal region, is that true?);

- My "diet" is: A bow of cereal in the morning, school lunch (which is most of the times spaghetti), in the afternoon, if I get hungry, I eat some kind of sandwich and, if no healthy food is cooked in my house, I usually have some king soup for dinner (Someone told me it is good to eat soup if you don't have anything "lighter"). Any way to make it more healthier, keeping in mind that I cannot change what I eat for lunch?;

- I want to gain more muscle, the problem is that I have no dumbbells or anything of sort in my house and can't really go to a gym so I don't know what workouts to do to gain muscle or just keep it, can anyone pinpoint me a few workout plans for someone that wants to lose weight and gain muscle?

- I have a workout bicycle a at home, anyway to do some kind of HIIT on it or any good cardio workouts?

In short:

I want to lose excess fat without losing, and possibly gain, muscle and I need your help to come up with a workout plan for someone who has no possibilities of going to a gym and only has a bicycle at home. Any tip is welcome and if someone knows any testimonials, things to motivate me that they can post here I would be very grateful.

Thanks you for reading,
Nando

There's a sticky thread in the exercise area - it's by Steve and it's called "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting". It'll give you all the information you need.

Actually, no. First of all, you can't spot lose - you have to lose where your body decides to lose and you just can't control that. Most people tend to lose fat around the middle last - that belly fat is often the last to go.

At the risk of being blunt, that's a really crappy meal plan. If you want to retain/build muscle, you're not eating nearly enough protein and you're just not eating nearly enough. Cereal is mostly crap - full of sugar and artificial ingredients. Yogurt, eggs, fruit, cottage cheese, and so forth are all much better breakfast choices. Spaghetti for lunch is also not good. Why can't you change your lunch? It would be much better for you if you could pack your own lunch and bring something healthier - lower in carbs and higher in protein.

Again, read the sticky posts and you'll get lots of good information. Anything by Steve is going to be worth reading and will give you information you need.

Hi Nandio
KaraCooks is right - you need to address your diet if you want to build muscle. First, you need to concentrate on eating as much fresh and unprocessed foods as you can, replacing the refined, fiberless stuff that you are currently eating. Soup is great - if it's not thickened but it has very little nutritional value for an evening meal. Can you take a thermos of soup for lunch and do yourself a big salad with some protein such as fish or lean meat for your evening meal? Lean protein and veg is good too and you need to work in lots of fruit as well.

If you exercise, you'll be toning and building your muscles anyway and healthy muscle (a) weighs more than fat, so don't stress about what the scales say and (b) burns more energy than fat so you'll need to keep a close eye on making sure your diet is providiing enough of what your body needs.

At the moment, it seems like your diet will be compromising your metabolic speed and is probably working inefficiently, making it tougher for your body to fuction at its peak. Work hard to try and improve your diet and building healthy muscle will be a whole lot easier

I have to agree with this. While some cereals can be a great source of nutrition in the morning, most are not and most young people don't go for the ones that are.

Nutritionally speaking, here is what I would suggest. Start your day with raw fruit that is high in fiber and low in sugar. Some cereals, such as Kashi products, Special K etc. can be good choices as well because they are low in carbs and sugar while providing the vitamins & minerals you need. Remember to eat breakfast every morning. People aren't lying when they say it's the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast can jump start your metabolism and help you burn calories more easily throughout the day.

I would recommend taking your lunch to school rather than depending on what the school serves. Yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, nuts & beans and again fruit can provide you with a boost of energy mid-day and the protein muscles need to develop.

Dinner should not be a heavy affair. Salads with lean, grilled chicken and low-fat or fat-free dressing, fish & beans all make great choices. Go easy on the red meat, and avoid starches like potatoes & white rice when you can. If you have to eat breads or pastas, try whole grain options that provide more fiber.

Then get plenty of sleep. That's one thing that young people tend to lack. They wake up early, push their bodies throughout the day without the proper energy sources and then go to bed late. Your body replenishes itself during the night, including rebuilding of muscle at the cellular level. So get lots of sleep in a quiet, dark place to allow your body to perform its regenerative functions properly.

A few other tidbits: be sure to take a multi-vitamin that is appropriate for your age and gender. This can help make up for things that might be missing from your diet. If you do plan to exercise, be sure to do a combination of cardio with strength training to achieve your goal. Stay away from sodas, sugary juices and sugary snacks. That should help!

- DH

Thank you all for the quick and very informative answers.

I realise my diet is not so good. The cereal I have in the morning is Special K. Lunch I have to eat at school, the trip is too long and my backpack is already full. At night it depends on my parents mood, don't get me wrong, but they work a lot of time and then they come home and cooking is tiresome, but I'll try to eat healthier at night.

I am currently reading Steve's topics, they are very informative. I'll post something when I finish reading all of them.

I was really off on some things, but I was pretty sure about the belly fat being the first to go thing. I guess I was wrong

Sleep is kind of hard to get the right hours now, seeing as I am currently sharing a room and, while I prefer the tv off, my room mate like it on and loud! I'll be back to my old room in two weeks time I think.

your diet definately needs work, especially if you want to preserve muscle mass and lose weight, and sleep will definately be important in all your efforts. in terms of training if your weigth training program is intense then you will gain muscle and lose fat with minimal cardio based training. maybe look at some stuff on t-nation.com a great source of weight training advice as its based around strength and body building knowledge. let me know if i can be of more help. ben

Hi Nando

Life certainly seems tough for you at home and it's very difficult to have some control when you are still at school and living with your parents! At 16 you feel that you want to start becoming independent but the reality is often so very different - I know, as I'm the mom of a 15 year of girl who is starting to watch what she eats very carefully........ But Nando - you mustn't start making excuses why you can't do something. You say you have a long journey to school and your backpack is already full so you can't take a healthy lunch with you but the harsh fact is that if you really wanted to change your diet, this wouldn't matter. Maybe you are afraid that you might get some stick from your friends at school...... well, maybe you will but if you are truly determined, you will endure this. Just ask yourself what the consequences of (a) a long journey to school or (b) some micky taking at school really are. Then compare the consequences of not doing what it takes to achieve your health/weight goal.

Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth, accept that you need to do what is necessary and just get on with it. Trust me - life can be a lot more tougher than taking a packed lunch to school!

I'm rooting for you all the way

I have to agree with Janet that this is just an excuse. There's no reason you can't put a sandwich and a bag of carrots and an apple in your backpack and take it with you.