If Youre New, This May Help

[cilenamo]

I posted this in the male thread and realized that there was this female thread that it may help in also. It took me a minute to realize why I kept being referred to as a "bro" lol. Anyhow, hope this helps.

I thought it might be helpful to have as much information as possible in one thread for the new people like me so that they dont have to go poking around lots of threads and stickies to find basic information. I think I browsed these forums for a few weeks before
I got all of the information that I needed to get started. Besides being seriously committed and motivated, this should help you get started.

For those of you looking to lose fat, like myself, the first thing you need to do is calculate your BMR. Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is basically the number of calories you'd burn if you did absolutely nothing all day.
You can find one here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
The site itself is pretty helpful in gaining an understanding on calories you take in and out, in a simple equation and simple terms.

Once you know your BMR, you can calculate your daily caloric needs that you would need to stay at the weight you are at (your maintenance calories) by going here:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-ca...dict-equation/
You need to know this figure in order to know how many calories you need in a day in order to lose weight. Once you have your maintenance calories figured out, subtract at least 500 but no more than 1000 calories from it and this will be how many calories you should eat in a day to lose weight. You can adjust this number as the weeks go by to better suit your needs, just do it gradually.

Another bit of information that Ive learned is to eat clean. I eat smaller meals every two to three hours (5 to 6 small meals per day total) to keep blood sugar level and prevent hunger. I also combine lean proteins and complex carbs at every meal. I also like to supplement my protein with protein powder. ON 100% Whey seems to work for me and it tastes decent too. 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight is what I aim for every day and so far its worked. But everyone is different.

I try avoiding all over-processed and refined foods (especially sugar, white rice, and white flour). Whats also helpful is avoiding saturated and trans fat; eat healthy fats like Almonds, avocados, olive oil and peanut butter instead. Try to cut out soda and other sugary juices and drinks.

What Ive also learned is to drink a **** ton of water. I havent found a true formula on body weight to water intake so I just shoot for a gallon a day. Im not much of a water drinker, in fact I loathe having to drink water, so what I do is drink 22oz with each of my meals, total 5 meals a day. Drink about half before I eat, then eat some food, drink the rest after I eat. Drinking water like this, I have noticed I am full most of the day. Its also helps elevate my mood and I feel better.

Lastly, if you are lazy like me and need someone else to calculate your calories, carbs, protein, fats, etc, there is a site called www.fitday.com This is the most bad ass website for calorie counting and food tracking for your day/week that I have found. Livestrong.com has the same thing as well but I found fitday to be more user friendly and easier on the eyes. And its free (theyre both free actually). Others may have different opinions/options but everyone has their favorites. Im a lazy mofo and fitday makes it easy.

This is what I have found helpful in my journey to reach my fat loss goal. Im on week 2 of a 12 week transformation and fitday, these forums, and everyone that cruises and posts here have been the best and easiest tools that I could have available. Its like a free support system as well.

I apologize if this is long and boring, or not even helpful; I guess its just my way of giving back to all of those who have helped me...but I truly hope it is helpful to someone. Good luck to all along their journey and thanks to everyone who has helped make this site helpful to others.

[spartan09]

Nice, thanks for this

[Emma-Leigh]

Good of you to put something together & share your experiences.

I am, however, going to play devils advocate. Although it 'worked' for you.... There are a stack of myths & inaccuracies that can potentially be harmful to others / hinder others -> & these should be highlighted to the unaware reader.

1. the calculator you linked to is very inaccurate, especially for those who vary from 'standard normal' people (eg: very overweight, already lean and wanting to cut)

2. subtracting a standard 500 cals is dangerous for some, and not enough for others. For example, if a small female who maintains on 1600 cals was to cut out 500 cals, it would leave them 1100 cals - which is near starvation and not maintainable (especially if said female is doing typical levels of female cardio)

3. you don't need to eat clean - and believing / seeing foods as 'good' and 'bad' can lead to disordered relationships with food (and eating disorders)

4. you don't need to eat every few hours, and this can actually be a bad idea for small females as they never get full, and end up bingeing. Similarly - no need to combine 'lean proteins and complex carbs' in every meal.

5. No need to cut out saturated fats altogether. They have their place in a diet. Additionally - eating too many nuts / seeds (omega-6 fats), and not enough omega-3 fats, and saturated fats, can actually be HARMFUL to your health as it causes a shift from LDL to VLDL particles, and can increase inflammation and oxidative damage in blood vessels -> leading to an increased risk of damage.

6. Fitday is one of the most inaccurate food logging systems out - multiple errors in portion sizes to gram conversions, and errors in total carb / fibre counts. If you want to log - then there are many better choices including fitnesspal.com, fatsecrets.com, livestrong.com, nutritiondata.com, dailyburn.com, nutridiary.com etc etc....

[thedogdidit]

OP, good for you for doing research! But really, you could have simply gone to the stickies! It's all right there.


Calculating Calories and Macros: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703921
Clean Eating ? : http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=125916003
and Training Basics: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=127023861