Weight Issues...

Dear Jonathan Williams,

I am going to be a senior in college and am wrestling for a top ranked D3 college. Currently, I weigh 260 pounds and eating a low carb diet. I am hoping to come into the season at 235-240 pounds. During the week I get up at 5:30am to run two miles and work for a construction crew from 7am-3pm. After work I either lift or wrestle around 6pm (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I lift; Tuesday and Thursday I wrestle). On weekends is normally my relaxation period, however I do occasionally cycle. My problem is that I have been doing this for a little over a month now, and I am not losing a single pound! I want to be a national champ, but if I come in looking like a butterball, I will not stand a chance.

My diet is as follows:

6:00am

2 whole eggs
2 slices whole wheat bread

9:30am

½ cup cottage cheese
1 can of tuna
6-8 celery sticks (3 inches long)

12:00pm

10 oz mixed lettuce
½ chicken breast
Low-fat Italian dressing
2 light baby bell cheeses

4:00pm

Some meat (chicken, fish, or beef)
Some vegetables

Post-Workout

1 ½ scoop protein

8:00pm

½ cup cottage cheese

One simple solution to look at for your dietary needs is to replace you cottage cheese with mixed baby greens or spinach. Cottage cheese is healthy and can be good for you, but for your needs, cottage cheese is not going to be effective. You need more veggies! Especially if you want to lose weight. And don’t worry, the consumption of spinach and mixed baby greens will increase the bioavailability of the other nutrients that you are ingesting. Bump up you protein intake a little bit as well. You may even consider replacing your protein shake with a solid meal consisting of a protein (chicken, fish, meat), some greens, and brown rice or even a sweet potato/yam. There is a possibility that you are lactose intolerant so all of the milk products such as cottage cheese and even the whey protein (which is processed from milk) may be adversely affecting your weight loss. Make these changes in your diet and be sure to let me know how it goes. You can actually email me at: newchapterfitness@gmail.com