What should I eat??

[Firefly]

I am a corrections officer of a year and a half. I am in pretty decent shape and can hold my own, but I want to add more muscle and shrink my stomach. I am 5'11" 250. I have really muscular legs and arms, and a bit of a gut. I'm kind of built like a RB in football. I know I sound really heavy for my height, but I am proportioned well, and just have a bit of a belly. I have alot of muscle mass, but there is that fat in some areas I dont want... sides, stomach. I like being big. I just want more tone while keeping mass.

My question is ... what exercises can I do to target these areas and still maintain my muscle mass? I have started a low carb diet eating mostly nothing but vegetables, eggs, cheese, yogurt, chicken, fish, and nuts, while drinking water, milk, and sometimes diet cola. I am playing basketball 3 times a week for cardio, and doing weights and situps 3-4 times. Is this a good routine for me to stay with and succeed on the body I want? Any suggestions are welcome.

[PTI]

You can't spot reduce body fat no matter what the infomercials say! I don't know if I would do a low carb diet. I would recommend a balanced diet, low in fat. Sounds like you're on the right track with your exercise. Remember to burn fat you need to keep your heart rate elevated. 75-85% of your max heart rate.

[gotthblues]

sit ups alone wont do much for you, believe it or not, there are FOUR muscle heads that you have to hit,, upper, lower, sides, and BACK,
if you go low carb you are going to sacrafice alot on energy and muscle building,

i highly recommend buying "The Abs Diet", its an orange book written by some guys from mens health,, they not only get into working out, but they dive really deep into eating, and its easy to understand, i shed almost 30lbs and 3 inches on the waist in bout 6 months.. and had fun doing it.

[Batman21]

My suggestion is bulk up and then trim down.

While you are trying to get bigger(muscle) you have to eat for more calories than normal. Well the problem with that is you will also get some of the fat that you dont want.

When you get to the size that you want, cut your workout and food intake down to "Maintenance" level. From there you just incorporate a lot more cardio and presto change-o you are now mister muscle.

Realize that if you want to change (and really for good) do it slowly. Things take time.