Q: I have a fitness question for you. I am totally frustrated with current situation and need help for permanent change.

1.) I am vegetarian, weigh clost to 150, and 5'8. Even with this much mass, I am very skinny. I got a fat gut and small 'man boobs.'

2.) I'm interested in having a lean runner's body for triathlons and surfing. Can you help me set up somekind of plan. I tried eating like on website for 2 days. I felt really bloated.

3.) How do I overcome urges of eating unhealthy food. I will go 4-5 days eating healthy then I will have huge urge for nachos, french fries, and onion rings. Another thing I have noticed that, I even overindulge on good food.

4.) You mentioned lentils being good source of protein. But those nutritional label is when they are dried. In able to eat, I least have boil them 5 minutes. Seems like the its nutrition changes.
Very Confusing !!

Seems like every month, I 'restart' my diet plan. I dont know what to do anymore

A: First of all don't stress out :) It will take time and it's OK. After all, you've been shaping your body your whole life -- serious changes will also take awhile...

1) You are not overweight but you do have a high-ish body fat and low-ish muscle mass. Our goal will be to switch that around. This requires two things: losing fat and building muscle. Although you can try to do both of those things at once, it's better to focus on one thing at a time. So the question is what order do you want to proceed in? Build muscle first, then lose the fat or lose the fat first, then build the muscle? The two approaches will only differ in the amount of food you'll eat in one meal. You'll still eat often and work out as you normally would.

I recommed the first option -- spend some time revving up your metabolism, packing on 10-15 pounds of muscle (and inevitably some fat too, but we'll lose that later). Then go hardcore and lose the extra fat. If you absolutely can't stand having more fat, then we'll go the other way: lose fat first, then build muscle -- but I don't recommend that approach since a lot of muscle will be your biggest ally in losing fat.

2) It's true that your body will take a couple weeks to adjust to eating more often (and probably more quantity compared to unhealthy junk food). It's normal and may feel uncomfortable for a bit, but you will get used to it within a week or two. Starting is always the hardest. If you start out losing fat, dieting will be a little easier since you won't be eating a lot (though you'll still eat often).

3) This you'll have to figure out for yourself. Ask yourself how much happier eating junk makes you compared to achieving your fitness goals. Overindulging on healthy foods (And overindulging in general) is an indication that you probably go without food for a long time and then gourge yourself. By going on a many-small-meals nutrition plan, you will overcome that problem. Just need to stick to the plan.

4) Cooking food in water does not change food's nutritional value in any way. Water contains no calories, fats, carbs, protein, minerals, or vitamins. The food absorbs water and becomes bigger in volume, but the nutrition value does not change. Some forms of cooking may change nutritional values. For example, frying in oil obviously adds a lot of fat (mostly bad fat, and should really be avoided at all costs), grilling reduces fat a little bit since it drips out. But boiling or steaming in plain water does not change food's nutritional value (at most some of the vitamins will be lost, but not so much that you should worry about it).

So to summarize, decide whether you are willing to bulk up first before slimming down (which is what I recommend) or you cannot stand the thought of being fat and want to lose the fat before building muscle. Based on that decision go with a muscle-building or fat-loss nutrition plan as outlined in the article. And be patient and consistent. It'll take a month or two to see first results and a year or two to reach your goals.