not gonna lie, i need some help. im 5"6 165lb 23 year old male, currently finishing up college. naturally muscular build, naturally store higher levels of fat, or maybe its just that my mom cooked us high protein, high fat meals for years. either way, muscularly i couldn't ask for more. on the other hand, i could sure use some help dropping weight. i have about 15-20lbs i could lose and stay within a healthy weight. i store all of my fat in my butt and thighs, like a chick. no amount of cardio, lifting, supplements, or determination has ever helped me with this. more background... i have a crazy schedule, i get up at 8am and don't get home till 10pm. im lucky to get three or four quick meals in there. i really only eat, chicken sandwiches or salads, protein bars, steak, and occasionally i splurge and get Chinese food. i always have some fruit to supplement the choice of chips and i never really eat past ten at night, when i get home (i normally past out from exhaustion).

my workout schedule:
run for at least 20minutes 3 times a week
gym four times a week for 40 minutes. all high rep low weight like 20-15-10 for sets.
currently not supplements, no protein drinks, just the occasional protein bar when i dont have time for a meal.
any suggestions on what to do here? im not sure how else i can tailor my schedule, eating habits, or exercise habits to better accomplish my goal...

Welcome.

Let's get right to the meat of things. This:
is hogwash.

The bottom line here is calories in vs. calories out. Even if what you eat is healthy, if you're eating too much, you're not going to lose weight. Exercise is only a small fraction of calories burned per day.

Supplementing chips with fruit doesn't make your diet any more "weight loss friendly" - it just means you're adding more calories to already junky calories.

The first thing I'd suggest is registering at a free site like fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and logging what you eat. You'll very quickly get a clear idea of how much you're eating - how many calories you're getting and how your nutrients are balancing out.

At 165 lbs, you should be eating around 2500 calories per day to maintain your weight and around 1700 calories per day to lose at a healthy and sustainable rate.

I suspect, if you're eating protein bars, chips, lots of fruit, sandwiches, and steak, you're getting a lot more than 2500 calories per day. Not to mention Chinese food (as it's prepared in America) is one of the most diet unfriendly foods out there. It's not unusual for a single Chinese food meal to approach 5000 calories.

I think for you it's all about what you're eating. If you get control of that, you'll see the weight come off - especially since you already have a good exercise plan going.

thanks kara for the prompt response. ill check that out. guess i have to do some extensive research on nutrition. i guess i figured since im so active that i burn a lot of calories per day. i'll check out that site you recommended and get back to you. thanks again

Usual Suspects .... at 5'6" and 165 and muscular ... not sure why you're concerned. Unless you've got a lanky build (and most 5'6"ers don't ... just a fact of life), then you are probably right close to where you need to be. The only caution I'd have is to keep your eating habits good. That's equally as important as the exercise regimin you mention ... because at 23, age covers a multitude of sins. At 44, the scales tip (so to speak) away from your favor, and your bad eating habits in your 20's will kill you in your 40's since (a) your metabolism slows, and (b) you will likely not be as active, plain and simple, as you were in your 20's ... I know all obvious stuff :