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How many times a day should I eat?

Q. I'm in the middle of getting fit and have lost 5 stone in 2 years, but now I want to get lean and cut, so I'm taking LA Muscle tablets with protein and running at least 15-20miles a week and also doing weights. What foods should I eat 2 achieve what I want and how many times of the day should I eat? 
                                                           
Firstly, congratulations for losing the weight over the past 2 years, and committing to getting fit.
 
Weight training is actually a better fat burning activity than cardio, as the greater lean muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism will be, and the more effective your body will be at burning fat and using the food you eat to fuel your muscle growth. That said, a combination of weight training and cardio training is the best combination to burning fat and building muscle, so I would recommend weights 3-4 times a week, and, ideally, fit the cardio in on days when you are not weight training. So a typical week might look something like this:
 
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Weights
Saturday: Cardio
Sunday: Rest Day (or possible cardio)
 
To ensure you are maximising your fat burning potential during your cardio, I would stick to interval training instead of running, as running keeps your body at a fairly constant heart rate, and over even a short space of time, the body is very good at adapting to stress, and you will lower your metabolism. Not good when you are trying to burn fat. Your body's metabolism will actually slow down the more you run. A better way to burn fat, and in half the time, is to commit to 15-20 minutes of short, but intense cardio bouts, where you warm up on a piece of cardio equipment that allows you to quickly adjust the speed (such as a rower, stationary cycle and cross trainer. You can even do sprints outside), so that you warm up for 5 minutes at a moderate pace, and then for 30 seconds you go all out, and by that I mean you row/pedal/stride as fast as you can, at a level that is resistant to your speed. I.e. You do not want to be pedaling hell for leather on a bike in a high gear (level 1-5) with your legs spinning around uncontrollably. You need to increase the resistance the faster you pedal. Then after 30 seconds, drop the level right back down as you enter your recovery stage, whereby you keep the machine moving, but at a far slower pace so that you can lower your heart rate and catch your breath back. Once your heart rate has returned to that of what it was during your warm up, or until you feel you have caught your breath enough to go at it again, crank up the resistance and push yourself as hard as you can again for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle up to 10 times. (Running sprints is actually the hardest to do, and will keep you heart rate higher and elevated for longer than doing it on the stationary cycle or rower.
 
This is also a great way to see your fitness levels increase, as you should see a significant decrease in time that it takes for your heart rate to return from the end of your 30-second sprint, down to 65% timing each interval after your sprint.
 
As for food, this really deserves a far more complex answer than I can give in a few paragraphs, and without knowing more about your body type, current statistics and fitness goals, but in general you should know that it is far better to eat small and often throughout the day. By spreading your food intake throughout the day, you are constantly keeping your metabolism working, which will keep your energy levels far more stable during the day, and keep from your body storing fat from eating too big meals in one sitting, or on the flip side of not eating during the day, your metabolism will slow, which will cause your body to hold on to it's fat reserves for fear of fasting. Its a survival mechanism that unfortunately too many people have self-activated and are having to live with a 'great surplus' of energy stored in the form of fat, from either overeating, or irregular eating patterns.
 
Little and often is the key.
 
As for what foods you should be eating, again, this is quite a complex subject, but to get you onto the right track, you should only eat foods in the natural form. That means cutting, or severely restricting processed foods, fast foods, and pretty much anything that has been 'modified' by man.
 
The type of foods you should be eating are, for example:  poultry, lean red meats, complex carbohydrates such as grains, oats and sweet potatoes, fibrous greens such as broccoli, green beans and caugettes, are all foods that will go a long way to helping you achieve your goal of losing body fat, and increasing your fitness.
 
Ideally, you should try and eat a combination of lean protein, complex carbohydrates and health fats (omega 3's and 6's) every 3-4 hours a day. As for portion sizes, an easy way to ensure you are getting enough, and not overeating, is to consume a palm-sized portion of each food group. If you find it impractical to eat every 3-4 hours then this is where sports supplements come in handy, as they allow you to get the necessary nutrients in a convenient, fast alternative to eating. Try eating at least 3 solid meals a day, and take a sports supplement meal replacement in between each of your solid meals.