How to lose fat without messing up energy for training?

Thanks for the details. Here's my 2 cents (and I do have a degree in this, so I am not just making stuff up. But you will find different views for sure).

All in all your diet looks pretty good, especially for someone your age. Maybe add a few veggies. It sounds like you cut down on the juice a bit. It is possible you were downing a little too much before. however, as I stated earlier, I would tend to cut a little fat before carbs out of your diet. So maybe find a happy medium between your previous major juice chugging, and what you are doing now and and do: 8 oz glass in morning. Another before workout. One after workout. Milk is good to, but it sounds like you are getting some in your tea (I might add an extra glass of milk though, it is as good a recovery drink as you can find. Tea is great for you, but I hope you don't get too jacked up on caffeine. Occasionally going green tea will reduce caffeine).

So compared to what you were previously eating (the list you put up), simply cut the juice *slightly* (not too much), and then I would do the following:

Cut the bacon and eggs out most of the time.NOT ALL the time, but oatmeal or another whole grain cereal with milk would do you better I feel (for energy and for cutting body fat).

Occasionally sub out the stuffed pasta (not sure of that sat fat content in there) for whole grain pasta with tomato sauce and olive oil. (maybe some lean ground beef on top)

All in all you are doing pretty well. Just some minor tweaks and see how you feel. If you have talent and work hard, such minor changes probably won't make a big difference.

Before a workout you can do some lower GI (absorb more slowly, maybe more fiber) carbs about an hour before (cereal, bread, etc), and maybe some high GI carbs like fruit juice closer to the workout. If you are drinking juice pretty close to a workout, or even during (during interval workout), dilute it to about 50/50 or you could face stomach issues. I would tend go with 1/2 grape juice/ 1/2 water if you are close to the workout or during since OJ is a bit acidic and could cause more stomach distress.

I follow a ketogenic diet and have under 10% body fat. A ketogenic diet is high fat, medium protein, and very low (almost zero) carbs. In my opinion this is the best diet to lose weight/body fat, but I can't imagine training seriously for a mile or 5k while on it. The body needs to use glycolysis to have any anaerobic efficiency, and with no glycogen it's just not possible. I can, however, do a 12 miler at 7:00 pace after not having eaten for 12 hours fueled totally on my body fat reserves without a problem. I also have great mental clarity and less fatigue because the brain prefers to use ketones as fuel and doesn't have to deal with glycemic/insulin shifts.

To lose weight you need to lower insulin/increase insulin sensitivity. This is most easily done by eliminating extraneous sugar. Juice is not good for you. Ever. It's like drinking a can of coke with a multivitamin dissolved in it. Eating fruit is marginally better because of the fiber, but even then it isn't really necessary. If I were you I'd limit carb intake to 250g a day of whole grains, half at breakfast half post run.

[quote]Tyrannosaurus Rexing wrote:

Thanks for the details. Here's my 2 cents (and I do have a degree in this, so I am not just making stuff up. But you will find different views for sure).

]

Tyrannosaurus Rexing you are brainwashed. If this kid eats this way he is going to feel miserable.

Senior, just train hard, eat real foods, and lay off the excessive juice.

usjse wrote:

It's pretty straightforward - decrease your fat intake and you will lose fat. Don't decrease or increase your carb or protein intake though. The easiest way to do this is to use fat free substitutes. Like skim milk instead of whole.

This is bad advice. Low fat diets are just plain bad nutrition.

Hitmonlee wrote:

You could keep eating like you do but substitute water for the juice and probably lose some weight.

Fruit juice is full of sugar. Not good.

Gonna add one more vote for: Lay off the juice.

It is the easiest way to lose weight. Keep the fat - balance is what makes you feel full, but juice does nothing for you.

Or at the very least, try diluting your orange juice with water. Or, try adding lemon or lime to your water instead.

FWIW, I was on a low-fat diet for years, and can tell you it is not the best for running or losing weight. Keep the balance in your diet. People can cite all the studies they want, but you can ask almost anyone and they will tell you they did not lose weight by switching to skim milk or switching to low-fat foods. People lose weight by cutting excess sugar and adding more fiber, protein, and fat that will make them feel full so that they don't overeat.

How about going through a 4D Laser Fat Loss System? Did anyone try this? Your thoughts please.

I'll emphasize the best post here so far, high fat medium protein and low carb. Switch your metabolism to fat burning and fuel anaerobic efforts with glucose. First of all, you'll lose five pounds of water in the first week, in a good way, due to burning of the glycogen stores you no longer need. Glycogen is bound to water molecules and you lose a lot of it up front in low carb. After that, it is very difficult to over-eat with meat and veg - lay off the fruit especially juices. You can run for hours using the fat in your bloodstream from a high fat dinner and breakfast that morning - at aerobic effort of course. And like I said, use high glucose foods to fuel anaerobic workouts. The health benefits beyond running are immense as well.

No juice or soda. Better water.

Eat meat, fat, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice potatoes, just not too much of anything.

Most of these diets are ill informed, magical thinking, pseudo scientific bs.

There are nutritional issues — consuming fructos and glucose isn't the same — worrying about effects on the insulin system is probably well grounded, but most doing so don.t know what they are taliking about.

Just eat good food, drink less juice. Fat is good for you.

i am reluctant to even join the conversation just because there's no way one opinion is going to get heard in all this chatter.

But one think i've found that doesn't seem to have gotten mentioned a whole lot is timing.

If you are running a slight caloric deficit, you can and should make up for this in order to fuel target workouts. Please note that a recovery run is not a target workout - this would just be those workouts you need to do well on in order to improve. You really do no want to undermine key workouts by starving yourself. And for those workouts, make sure to eat a little more carbs than usual before the workout, and after as well (for recovery and to replenish the glucose stores). How far before? Just an hour or two, and within the post workout recovery window as well. Then, the rest of your cycle, you could maintain a caloric deficit in order to lose or maintain your weight.

One more thing: when it comes to discussions of beneficial supplements, i see that BCAA branch amino acids are often quickly dismissed. But they are really useful in this case, just like timing the carbs. As fast acting proteins, they fuel the workouts protein needs in those instances when you may not have a lot of it available due to your caloric deficit. BCAAs are known for being readily available for metabolism just about as soon as you consume them.

Hope this helps.

Seattle prattle, which BCAA brand(s) do you recommend? Thanks.