breakfast and 5 meals per day

[echkeh]

greetings,

iam currently trying to lose fat and be fit and i know that the key to fitness is exercise, diet and sleep. i think iam doing fine in two of these aspects (sleep and exercise). my only problem is the diet part. i have read and tried a lot of diets and none of them work. and now i am trying on the 5 small meals per day thing. but iam really confused because i know that you should eat a good or heavy breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism. but when you eat a heavy breakfast, wouldn't it contradict the 5 "small" meals per day? i know that this question may seem stupid to some, but iam just really confused and i need help to jumpstart my diet that will make me get fitter. thanks.

[Maxx]

If there is one thing that every single diet out there has in common, it's moderate calorie restriction. Whether it's 3 meals, 5 meals or 10 meals, you have to find out how many calories a day you need to maintain your current weight.

Start by calculating your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is the number of calories you need in a 24 hour period to survive if you are lying in bed all day... awake, not sleeping. Once you have that, you have to modify the calorie amount upwards based on an activity level estimate. Here's a link to a calculator that will give you your BMR by plugging in some basic data:

http://www.hydroxycut.com/MEN/CALCULATORS/BMR/index.shtml

After that you have to find your maintenance calories by multimplying it by a certain number based on your daily activity level:

Sendentary: BMR * 1.2 = Maintenance Calories

Lightly Active: BMR * 1.5 = Maintenance Calories

Moderately Active: BMR * 1.8 = Maintenance Calories

Very Active: BMR * 2.0 = Maintenance Calories

Extremely Active: BMR * 2.2 = Maintenance Calories

Here's a link to the page that will give you a little bit more info about what each activity level involves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_activity_level

Spreading your meals out throughout the day, (1 every 3 hours or so) will help to keep your metabolism elevated but will also prevent you from burning muscle as opposed to fat. Make sure that you are continuing to lift weights in the 10-12 rep range and avoid high fat foods and processed carbs such as white bread or white flour products, candy, sugar, soft drinks, etc.

A proper balance for an recreational athlete is about 25% protein, 15% fat (calories not grams) and 60% carbs.