Sure that's

I agree on lower weight too you're not going to have the same strength and don't want to risk injury.

 

Weight Watchers works. My cousin gave me a calorie/point converter. He tells me how many points I can have per/day or week. To my surprise I'm losing weight. Don't knock it until you try it.

Sam

 

Lifting weights causes muscles to grow and fat to go. If you are eating healthy you can do both, though either one alone would be more efficient.

"To get the body you want, you bulk 10% over what you want to be, then cut, afterwhich, you will be exactly where you want to be. "
Or you eat a little over maintenance, cleanly (i.e. muscle promoting healthy foods) and lift weights HARD. You will build muscle and cut fat at the same time.

Regardless, you can do a better job to improve muscular health and reduce fat, if you combine high intensity interval training, which tends to burn fat without canabalizing muscle, and a hypertrophy-type lifting plan.

"NOT lifting weights while cutting actually preserves more muscle than if you worked out. "
Wrong.

 

Plain and simple:
6 lean meals a day.
Hit the large muscle groups hard (Back, chest, quads, etc.). These are the muscles that burn the most energy.
Cardio but at a moderate pace.
Eat at least 1 g protein for every lb. of body weight.

And if you get really desperate or feel the need: Clen (I'm sure I'll get flames for this).

 

Well I can't say I'm any kind of expert on the subject but I've been doing my own plan that has worked for me pretty well. Now in general it's hard for me to lose weight, but the method I'm on now is working pretty good. I started at 162.4 and I'm down to 155.2 in about 2 weeks (I'm 5'6" BTW) and I'm trying to get down to 145 ish. Heres what I did:

-I only drink water or if I go out I'll drink unsweetened iced tea. No soda, no coffee, no "juices."
-Go to the gym 4 times a week. I've been going 2-3 times a week for about a year, but I've upped it to 4 times.
- I cut out all heavy low rep lifting. I do a spinning class twice a week and a cardio lifting class twice a week. Plus I run for 20-30 minutes on the cardio lifting days.
- cut down on carbs and meals. I know i should eat a bunch of small meals, but with my job, a lot of times I can't. So I eat a decent breakfast with a good about of carbs (whole wheat or at least whole grain toast and jelly fo example). I decent sized lunch (chicken with vegetables) with little or no carbs. And after coming home from the gym and light dinner with little or no carbs to hold me over.

With those changes I've really seen some progress. Iknow I could do better if I could cut booze and bad foods out of my weekend diet, but that's not going to happen. Besides that just take it slow, don't expect to cut 6 pounds a week every week. Just be happy that your body is changing and that your feeling better.

 

While several great points have been made here, no one has put them all togther for the OP. Coming from a back ground in BJJ and MMA fighting I have cut weight and gained weight in a short periods of time. The key to loosing fat is watching everything you put into yout body. Here are soem basic Do's and Don't's.

Do count calories, because how in the hell do you know how many you are eating? Read lables, I know it sucks and you feel retarded, but atleast you willl know what your eating.

Do buy yourself a food scale, with the scale you are able to weigh your portions exactly instead of guessing.

Do split it into cycles, of cutting and gaining.

Do be consistant!! With out consistency you will loose track!

Do eat small portions!

Do eat frequently, anywhere between 5-7 meals a day, it keeps the
metabolism running at a higher rate.

Do eat natural foods, such as vegtables/friuts/lean meats.

Do stay away from processed sugars.

Do look for whole wheat/grain bread and pasta.

Do plan your meals out for the day/week. If you try and "wing it" around meal time, 9 out of 10 times you will fudge your diet.

Do drink lots of H20. Sometimes when your body feels hungry, it
means it needs water not food.

Do eat a breakfast every morning! If you think you can cut calories, by cutting breakfast your wrong. It will do more harm than good. your body is going to need some fuel when you get up and start moving.
Do set realistic goals. If they are unreasonable then you will fail.

Do have fun, to some degree because if your miserable everytime you go to the gym or eat then sooner or later you will get fed up with it and quit.

Don't always go out to eat with friends! No, I don't mean loose your friends, I mean if you are suppose to go out with them to a resturant, eat before you go. If you do this, you will not be hungry at the resturant, therefore saving $$$ and not eating crap.

Don't starve yourself! Hunger is a powerful think, and will always win!

Don't get frusterated! It will be hard in the beginning, especially the cutting cycle!

Don't underestimate your size. 6'3'' is relatively tall. 240 you are going to be pretty lean.

Don't loose faith in an exercise. If you don't see immediate results, it's ok at activity is good activity as long as you perform it correctly.

Don't drop carbs altogether, you will need the energy for day to day functions, and when you start gaining muscle.

Don't pick up fad diets, or stupid pills. If it were as easy as popping pills wouldn't you think there would be no fat bodies?

Don't copy cat other people, weither it be diets or exercise plans. You will need to taylor make a plane that feeds on your individual strengths and weaknesses.

Don't mistake water weight for fat weight, yes there is a difference. Water weight is the fluid wieght that at anytime can be expelled by dehydrating yourself through sauna's or running. This can be dangerous, and should not be counted as "results"

Don't beinge eat over the weekend or if you have an off day! One day of fast food or similar junk can screw of 3 days of diet/exercise!

Don't do all cardio or all weights. You will need a healthy mix, becuase they addess different issues.

Now, I will explain the cutting and gaining cycles. These are used to acheive the maximum in both areas. It's the same philosphy as break down and rebuild. I will take you as an example(even though it will be difficult because I don't know your body type ie. fat %). know don't take this the wrong way, before you went to the gym you were very sloppy looking....right? Now that you have been going you have gained some definition and lost weight....understanable. But now you have hit some kinda plateu and can't lose anymore, well here is why.

Your body is now at the point where it needs a certain number of calories to gain and mantain your muscle growth. Your not supplying it with the extra protien's and nutrients it needs to repair itself, there for not really gaining or losing. What will happen is you will either get an injury such as muscle tear or pull, then sit out and lose interest therefore defeating the purpose you intended.

The goal of cutting weight is to see how much of your body is fat and lean. You can do this by performing a body comp analysis. Most gym have a professional that can help you out with this. If you are at a gym that has a pool, maybe they will have a machine that can dip you into the water and can anyalize your body comp that way, other than that they will probably use calipers. This is not 100% acurate, but close enough for you. Another piece of the puzzle is your Basal Metabolica Rate(BMR). This is the rate your body burns calories at an "at rest state" such as sleeping reading, lying on the couch. When your in a cutting cycle you will want to cut for about 6-8 weeks and no more. I've tried and it just plain sucks. set a goal weight, which you already have. Cut down to that weight, and once your there if you have a lot more body fat then cut some more. It may take a cycle or two but cut till you have an acceptable fat percentage. This will ensure that you have lost or broken down most of the extra fat you have. You will feel better, and be able to work out better in the long run.


Now on to the gaining cycle. After you have completed the cutting cycle you get the fun part of gaining muscle. You will need to do this but loading up on proteins and some simple carbs. These will help repair the muscle you use when your hitting the weights hard. This cycle can last as long as you would like but typically 8-10 weeks.

I can't remember who said it, but they were right when they said you cant gain muscle and lose weight at the same time. Hope things work out for you and if I can help with any other questions please let me know.

 

All good points. Another:

And DO go visit the men's health forums (or another if you can find another good one). You get fewer jokers on there that don't know what they're talking about. You can get a TON of information about the big and little things it takes to improve your body.

 

IMO when you don't know how to tell right from wrong these sorts of places do nothing but cloud the already mirky water. You could read three different sites and get a myriad of "sure fire ways to do this" and without experience you won't know which of those will work for you.

Learn the basics stick to them and learn your body then look around for more advanced strategies.

Just my opinion based on experience.

 

Damn everyone has a different opinion on this...just to let you know...tenaniousFD..(Sry for the spelling) is extactly right on what you should do.
Pick a copy of the Abs Diet book by Men's Health. Follow it and it will help you alot. Nice cut 8 pack I have again since H.S.
Great book with great advice.

 

I can only speak of my personal experience.

Last year of college, I lifted three times a week (usually 1-1.5 hours each time). I ate normal amounts of food (ie, I did not increase my intake) but I had an already healthy diet so I didn't have to really change anything.

My weight went up about three pounds total (by the time I stopped working out) and I was more-or-less ripped.

In late 2005, I worked out five times a week (1-1.5 hours) but increased my intake at the same time (six meals a day), going heavy on protein and cutting down on sugars and some carbs. I gained about a pound a week, got semi-ripped but a LOT stronger and more muscular.

When I get cleared to work out again (auto accident) I will be mixing the two. I'll work out five times a week but keep my intake more or less the same (while boosting protein). Should allow me to build muscle and burn moderate amounts of fat at the same time.

For pure cutting (which you appear to want to do), I'd cut out most sugars, reduce carbs, and eat a fair bit of protein. Keep your portions fairly small and eat five to six meals a day (including a smaller meal just before bed). You should trim out pretty quick.