Hi everyone,

I'm going back for my second year at college in a few weeks and I want to put myself on a healthy eating and exercise plan so that I lose weight instead of gain like typical college students do. I have full access to a gym at school, which will help me tremendously. Just to give you an idea of my size, I am 5'7", weigh 230 lbs. and am very broad-shouldered. I have large bone structure overall, so I was thinking to start with a goal of 200 lbs. this coming semester at a rate of about 2-3 lbs. per week.

I plan on doing some sort of calorie-reduced diet, eating three meals a day with a very small snack if I need it. I plan on building some lean muscle too, especially in my problem areas (gut & thighs) so my clothes overall feel more comfortable, so my exercise plan I was thinking about was 5 times a week of strength training and cardio in the gym. Anyone have any suggestions, success tips, etc. that they would be willing to provide?

Also, I notice a couple of students up at school use those protein or fat burning shakes you make by mixing a powder with water or milk. Has anyone used them to supplement their regular diet and exercise who would like to comment on them? Any particular brands that work reasonably well?

Finally, as a couple disclaimers, I loooooove my Diet Coke, and I usually have 2-3 cans a day. I know there aren't calories in it, but would drinking it impede my weight loss? Other than that, my meals will probably be very basic. I usually eat one of those South Beach Diet meal replacement bars in the morning since I don't have the time to cook breakfast or head to a dining hall, and they seem pretty healthy and go well with my reduced-calorie intake. However, I'm not show how to make the most out of the other two meals during the day.

just starting out I really wouldn't recommend workout 5 days a week. You'll burn yourself out. 3 or 4 times a week is plenty... let your muscles rest in between workouts.

Caffeine to my knowledge isn't the greatest thing to digest... I'd say cut down to 1 or 2 cans and slowly ween yourself to 1 and possibly cut it out completely.

Best of luck to you!

But what effect would the caffeine have on me metabolically? Does it affect how much I'm burning per day? I know it has the effect of making you want to drink more or feel hungry, but I know when I'm hungry it's due to the diet coke's effects.

depending on how much you consume (other factors come into play, tolerance levels, age, sex, weight, etc..) the caffeine could prove useful as it could allow you to burn more calories a few hours after consumed.

I'm not a real fan of caffeine in pop, just because pop in general is on my banned list... so obviously I'm a bit bias. Diet is an obvious improvement than regular... if you do choose to continue on with the diet cokes, do it in moderation.

Well I do have the caffeine-free Diet Coke around my house all the time, as it is the main kind I drink. Any harm in it if I drink 1-2 cans a day?