I'm a college soccer player and have been playing for several years. With in the last year I starting Judo. I have my first tournament coming up and I need to cut about 5-6lbs. I am at 186lbs and need to get to 180lbs how do i cut the weight and not put my body in any danger.

Some good, basic information would be to reduce your caloric intake by about 500 calories per day. Since you are an athlete you probably can't really train a whole lot harder than you are doing right now. So, your caloric deficiency will have to come from your food. Now, here is a little more specific information. You will have to do some of the simple calculations yourself however. To start with, take in at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. This would be 215 grams of protein in your case. Then, to find the number of carbohydrate grams you should take in, just multiply your bodyweight by 2. This would be 430 grams of carbohydrates in your case. Finally, you should take in 70 grams of quality fatty acids like Flax seed oil, Olive oil, or Udo's oil. Check out the recommended readings in the fitness info section of our web page to find out about Udo's oil! I have done some calculations for you but I also want to explain what is going on here. Here goes. 1 gram of protein has 4 calories. 1 gram of carbohydrate also has 4 calories. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories. For you this means. First Week of Program: Protein (215 grams x 4 = 900 calories) Carbohydrates (430 grams x 4 = 1720 calories) Fat (70 grams x 9 = 630 calories) First Week Total - 3250 calories. When you start your program you should start with the 3,250 calories with the appropriate balance of protein, carbs and fat that I have outlined above. But, here's the kicker! Each week you should add 10 grams of protein and subtract 15 grams of carbohydrates to your diet. Keep the fat intake the same. So, you should end up on the last week of your 12 week program with these totals: Protein (325 grams total) Carbohydrates (250 grams total) Fat (same at 70 grams total) This would give you a new caloric range of: Protein (325 x 4 = 1300 calories) Carbohydrates (250 x 4 = 1000 calories) Fat (70 x 9 = 630 calories) Total on week 12 of your program - 2030 calories Make sure you spread out your eating to 6 times per day so you are always bringing in some nutrients into your body for growth and recovery without eating so much that you store any extra calories from fat. You will also need to kick in some cardio training to really get lean. But, not too much so that you start to lose your mass. On weeks 1-4 you should do 25 minutes of cardio, 3 times per week. On weeks 5-9 you should do 30 minutes of cardio 4 times per week. On weeks 10-12 you should do 30 minutes of cardio 5 days per week. Keep your heart rate between 130 - 140 beats per minute. Finally, you will see a drop in bodyweight with this type of diet plan. However, If you eat the way I have told you to, and if you are mentally strong enough to push yourself with your training you will keep the mass that you have built! Since everyone is different you may have to adjust your carbs and fat intake down slightly but don't reduce the protein level. However, I followed this very same plan (with adjustments for my specific body size) and I lost 36 pounds of fat in the first 8 weeks of the plan! Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.