Problems with toning.

internelligent

I'm 28 yrs old, 6' 2" and weigh about 87kg so I'm not obese or anything but the stomach muscles are well camourflaged. So as something which has been said here on countless occasions I'm sure is that I want to get more toned. It may be worth pointing out that I've a ferocious apetite and find it difficult to just eat a normal meal and leave it at that. I have the will power to sort myself out but I lack the knowledge on how to do it. So here's what I'd like to find out.

1) Have I to cut out all carbs and alcohol before I see results?

2) What food can I eat tonnes of without having to worry about gaining weight? (I'm not a fussy eater)

3) Are protein shakes something I should seriously consider, and if they are, any recommendations?

4) I know more muscle burns more fat which leads to toning so is cardio essential too in obtaining ripped abs?

Please excuse the ignorance!:o

AlphaMale 3OO

1) No
2) There is no food you should be eating tons of. There are foods you should be eating more of though.
3) Yes. Optimum Nutrition.
4) If you want it to be

And for Gods sake do more research!

nibble

As forbesii said you need to do some more research, it won't hurt I swear!

Anyway at 6'2 and 87kg I can't imagine you having a lot of fat do I'd say for a month or so at least just stick with a weights only plan.
Basically you just need to eat well, a balance of protein, fats and carbs are all necessary, eat plenty too if you're lifting hard you'll need it. You need to get a good weights routine to go along with that food, have a look around here and err.. google to find something. Something based around compound lifts is what you want.
Don't worry about a bit of alcohol or whatever, unless your downing a lot of beer it shouldn't make much of a difference...

Hanley

1) No. But you do have to control it alot more. You don't see good results from a half hearted effort.

2) Generally you could have your fill of chicken and veg and still be on the right track

3) Yes, if nothing more than to get your protein intake up and prevent muscle wasteage. I'd say NutritionX Big Whey's about the best out there, but I'm biased!!

4) No... But it also depends. If you're slacking with food chocies it can help. If you're not carrying a good amount of muscle it can be beneficial too (since guys with a larger amount of muscle will burn more calories at rest, so for those who don't have that luxury they need to make up for it somewhere, cardio like!)

Don't do TOO much reasearch tho... Sometimes the less you know, provided it's good info, can be good. You won't start to second guess yourself.

********The only diet info you ever need (assuming you don't lie at the extreme ends of a standard distribution curve)**********

-weigh and measure yourself, record the results
-find your maintenace calorie needs
-take away 15%
-split this up into 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat
-eat 5-6 meals a day, and spread your daily kcals out over them (for example if you're eating 2,400kcals per day, 400 per meal)
-Make sure you're doing this 90% of the time (6 meals, 7 days = 42 meals so you can only afford 4 or 5 slip ups)
-Keep doing this for 2 weeks, measure your weight at the end of that time
-Rinse and repeat for another 2 weeks, and again measure your weight

*******************************That's it. Too simple you say??? Simple. Not easy.*************************************

If you stick to the above, and are honest with yourself about it there's no way you can not see results doing it. It'll probably be quite hard at first, but once you start planning ahead it should be manageable.