Training & Nutrition - Can I eat like crap and lose weight?

First off im skinny, 6' 138.

Also I'm a 19 year old college student with two jobs, I eat horribly, probably 15 tacos a week, 3 double cheese burgers at least, diabetes size cokes, and fillling in the rest of the meals with frozen corndogs and frozen pizzas, and chips.

I am riding ~150 miles a week + the gym 2 times a week. y only problem is I have noticed my stomach is a little flabby, Ive got a little bit extra that I have never had there before.

Question is how do i get my lean look back to my stomach, are crunchs going to help, should I ride more? should I cross train with running or the elliptical machine. OR should I suck it up and start cooking for myself?

Any suggestions? I would love to lose 5lbs of fat and put on 5lbs of muscle.

Eat less, ride more.

In your case, however, if you cut back on the junk food, I bet you would see some changes without necessarily restricting calories. At your height and weight, I wouldn't want to lose any weight at all. Rather, like you said, you need to add some muscle and lose some fat. I'd suggest doing some gym work for the upper body. Extra tone will probably help some.

Ultimately, though, losing fat means eating less calories than you burn off. But cut the junk food, if you can, and see what happens. I'm only a year removed from being an undergrad, so I know it can be a challenge.

Been there, done that.....but I didn't gain weight until I got a job sitting at a desk at 23 years old.

Cut out the garbage food (which looks to be pretty much your entire current diet), and you will notice a real improvement in performance on the bike.

you may be skinny, but your putting your health at risk with all the junkfood. You are fine now because you are young but it will catch up with you. Try substituting the junk with more "real" food.

Hey, you're young. Eat junk food now. When you get older you'll find out how easy it is to really get flabby.

First off im skinny, 6' 138.

Also I'm a 19 year old college student with two jobs, I eat horribly, probably 15 tacos a week, 3 double cheese burgers at least, diabetes size cokes, and fillling in the rest of the meals with frozen corndogs and frozen pizzas, and chips.

I am riding ~150 miles a week + the gym 2 times a week. y only problem is I have noticed my stomach is a little flabby, Ive got a little bit extra that I have never had there before.

Question is how do i get my lean look back to my stomach, are crunchs going to help, should I ride more? should I cross train with running or the elliptical machine. OR should I suck it up and start cooking for myself?

Any suggestions? I would love to lose 5lbs of fat and put on 5lbs of muscle.

Well, here's what you have in store in the next 10 years:

* 30 or 40 pounds of extra weight
* digestive problems
* high cholesterol
* etc.

You know the answer. You need to suck it up and start eating better.

I realize that it may be hard for you to cook for yourself, but you don't have to do much and you can make a big difference. Cut out the tacos and double cheese burgers. Replace them with stuff like subway (trying not to sound like a commercial) but don't get the all meat and more meat ones, get the sensible ones that are lower in fat but still taste good (you don't have to go with the vegie) and don't load it up with mayo. When you get pizza I am not sure what you get on it but most younger guys I know love to get it loaded with the tripple meat type of options. Just go with standard pepperroni or veggie pizza, and that will cut it down as well. Also pick up chinese such as low(chow) mein with chicken or shrip in it. It can be a good value for a college kid tastes good and is lower in fat than those tacos and burgers. At home you could also make spaghetti, just ad some garlic and chicken (or a small amount of ground beef) to it and you will get a great sauce it will be cheap and healthy.

There is nothing good about soda, except that you can get it anywhere. If you can go with real juices as they are much beter for you. This will probably not be quite as feasable for you. However if while you are eating out, don't get the meal deal, just get a cup of water. It is better for you and it is free so you can spend you money on something else.

It is not so much that you have to right away make a huge difference in your habbits, just move them to the side a little and it will make a huge difference. The key thing to do is to get out of the meat meat and meat mentallity that most of the culture seems to be in. I am guesiing that you are that way otherwise you wouldn't be doing the tacos and double cheesburgers. I am not saying to cut out meat alltogether, however cutting it back can make a big difference.

You can have fast food / quick food, just stop picking the worst of the worst (double meat anything) and it will be a start.

Oh my! If I ate like that I would feel like crap. I imagine you feel like crap too, but don't even realize it. Go ahead and have a fast food meal once a week. But you really need to eat better.

Been there, done that.....but I didn't gain weight until I got a job sitting at a desk at 23 years old.

he's right...it's a total cliche. Super skinny in HS/college and eating like a complete pig until you graduate and put on 25 lbs. Happens to almost everybody. In college I was 6'6" and about 180 until my sophomore year. A few years after I graduated I was about 210. I eat a lot better now and I've got my weight down to a steady 200.

I realize that it may be hard for you to cook for yourself, but you don't have to do much and you can make a big difference. Cut out the tacos and double cheese burgers. Replace them with stuff like subway (trying not to sound like a commercial) but don't get the all meat and more meat ones, get the sensible ones that are lower in fat but still taste good (you don't have to go with the vegie) and don't load it up with mayo. When you get pizza I am not sure what you get on it but most younger guys I know love to get it loaded with the tripple meat type of options. Just go with standard pepperroni or veggie pizza, and that will cut it down as well. Also pick up chinese such as low(chow) mein with chicken or shrip in it. It can be a good value for a college kid tastes good and is lower in fat than those tacos and burgers. At home you could also make spaghetti, just ad some garlic and chicken (or a small amount of ground beef) to it and you will get a great sauce it will be cheap and healthy.

There is nothing good about soda, except that you can get it anywhere. If you can go with real juices as they are much beter for you. This will probably not be quite as feasable for you. However if while you are eating out, don't get the meal deal, just get a cup of water. It is better for you and it is free so you can spend you money on something else.

It is not so much that you have to right away make a huge difference in your habbits, just move them to the side a little and it will make a huge difference. The key thing to do is to get out of the meat meat and meat mentallity that most of the culture seems to be in. I am guesiing that you are that way otherwise you wouldn't be doing the tacos and double cheesburgers. I am not saying to cut out meat alltogether, however cutting it back can make a big difference.

You can have fast food / quick food, just stop picking the worst of the worst (double meat anything) and it will be a start.

Thanks for the advice, the suggestions are good and easily doable.

Problem is im a really picky eater and dont like salads or most veggies.

I guess I do really need to substitute most meals for stuff thats better for me.

Anybody with any other suggestions please feel free to chime in I would love to hear them.

Here is one of my high protein quickie's: Put a can of solid white tuna in a bowl and top off with a can of green peas and a slice of yellow cheese then microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes or you can substitute the tuna and peas for a can of tomatoes with seasoning and some canned black or white beans and top off with a slice of cheese and microwave for a few minutes. I put the peas or beans in a strainer to rinse them off before using them to get the excess salt out. I also like sliced garlic in my tomato recipes but I am 60 and you might want to skip that.;)

Problem is im a really picky eater and dont like salads or most veggies.

I just don't get this, when people say they don't like veggies. There must be 100 possible veggies in the world and thousands of ways to prepare them. Broccoli prepared by my inlaws is a disgusting mushy mess. But having it steamed till al dente, with lightly sauteed garlic, a pinch of red pepper, and carmelized onions is wonderful.

Excellent point - slowandsteady. Usually people don't like vegetables because they don't know how to prepare correctly. For example, califlower cooked, mashed with some potatoes is a great substitute (heck, I think it is better!) for mashed potatoes. Add some garlic and a little butter and you will love it.

Learn to cook a little. Vegetables are a joy when prepared correctly.

Bah, raw veggies (i.e. carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower, "dipping veggies") with a tad of ranch dip is the best. :)

I'm kinda lucky i suppose because i have only gained maybe 5 lbs within the 2 years after college (it's been 5 years now at the same desk/lab job and my weight fluctuates from 130-135 lbs, i'm 5'8"). However while i college i did eat fast food probably waaay too much but i was more active. Nowdays i eat less calories and probably healthier in general (though i still get plenty of instant noodles) but i didn't start to get active until last yer with triathlons so it probably balanced out. :lol:

I still treat myself to In-n-out and krispy kreme once every week or two.

As long as you can boil water and make toast, you can cook almost anything (i believe nearly all cooking revolves around those two skills). :) Get a cookbook of your choice and have fun with it if you need a little variety in your diet.

try asian food... instead of macdonalds eat chinese! just not the deep fried stuff.

You're not a picky eater,you're a bad eater- if you were a picky eater you'd avoid that junk food like the plague. You just have typical american bad eating habits. You don't have to eat rabbit food but if you're not eating veggies and subsisting on junk, then you're turning yourself into a future diabetic! You're young enough now that you can change your habits.

I used to like junk food too, on occasion, but as i've gotten older i've totally lost the taste for it.

You may be at the only point in your life when you're able to put on muscle and lose weight at the same time. Most of the rest of us no longer have the hormones.

In order to lose the flab, I don't say avoid the junk food. I had the same problem and corrected it.

* Avoid SOME junk food -- and this is just an opinion: avoid transfat and/or mcdonald's/burger king, etc.. That stuff tends to make a lump in my gut and I really think it sticks around longer than it should.
* Avoid very large meals. Don't train your body to store fat en masse. Don't overeat. It's very bad for this.
* Don't starve. Eat little snacks even if it's a small chunk of jerky or a couple of crackers. This helps eliminate eating while feeling starved.
* Work out hard. If you want to build muscle, pay attention to "the burn". Work out with moderately heavy weights and do 10-12 repetitions each of lunges or squats and military press and whatever else you can work in. Buy a weight a weight set -- even kids can get them cheap from thrift stores. Trust me, working major muscles groups hard as a 19 year old will yield impressive results in as little as two weeks.

Well, I am not what you would call young (47) but I lose weight and add muscle at the same time. You can add muscle up to the point you die pretty much. However, as you get older, you have to quit thinking your body will compensate for abuse in the form of bad food.

Learn nutrition and use it to your advantage. There is no magic here - you are what you eat.

If you want to get some interest in cooking try watching a Food Network show called Good Eats. It is with Alton Brown and is actually entertaining. It is more geared towrds guys. It is on every night M-F during prime time

Eat more vegies!!!

Carrots and celery!

You must be aware of body type analysis. We are all people, but the differences in physiology and ANATOMY are considerable. It is ok to be thin, but not for a Neanderthal. It may be ok to be fat, but DEFINITELY not for "Lucy" the Australopithecus afarensis who had to roam the plains for a living over a million years ago in the grassy savanna of Africa.

Jacob Vickery

You cannot be fat at that weight; you just need to find an abdominal workout and do it 3-4 X weekly.

First off im skinny, 6' 138.

Also I'm a 19 year old college student with two jobs, I eat horribly, probably 15 tacos a week, 3 double cheese burgers at least, diabetes size cokes, and fillling in the rest of the meals with frozen corndogs and frozen pizzas, and chips.

I am riding ~150 miles a week + the gym 2 times a week. y only problem is I have noticed my stomach is a little flabby, Ive got a little bit extra that I have never had there before.

Question is how do i get my lean look back to my stomach, are crunchs going to help, should I ride more? should I cross train with running or the elliptical machine. OR should I suck it up and start cooking for myself?

Any suggestions? I would love to lose 5lbs of fat and put on 5lbs of muscle.

The horror :eek: !!!

Yes, you do indeed have a wretched diet. I suppose you could make it even worse if you snuck in a half dozen milk shakes and hot fudge sundaes.

I have been on strenous bike tours which involved high mileages (70+ miles) with significant climbing and people still managed to contrive to gain weight. They did so by eating an extra meal per day that consisted of a huge order of fries, a giant cheese burger and a big old sundae. The thing is that almost any amount of exercise can be undone by eating bunches of calories and the wrong types of foods.

Do you know any body builders? These guys are in the business of being "buff". They will tell you that having a lean stomach (a clearly well defined and visible 6 pack) is really tough and most just do not sustain it for any length of time. The other thing is they are very careful about the amount of food they eat and the kind of food they eat.

Now metabolisms vary considerable from individual to individual. I guess there might be a few people out there who can eat junk food in impressive quantities and still look good. But I would wager the percentage of the population that can do so is vanishingly small.

I guess we all did that when we were younger. I ate like that until I was about 30, then put on 20 lbs, seemed like overnight. My metabolism just shut down. It's taken me about 10 years to get my eating straightened out. If you develop good eating habits in your 20's, you won't have to change them in your 30's. My parents let me eat whatever I wanted. They did me a great diservice. We're trying to have our 8 year old son at least "try" new foods. He actually likes kidney beans at the salad bar, go figure. Just make small changes, even over a years time, eg. phase out milk chocolate and substitute with dark chocolate (>80% cocoa content). Get a salad at McDonalds instead of the burgers once in awhile. Etc.