Help for a beginner and his diet

[jodar]

I'm currently 6'2", about 188 lbs. I am skinny all over except for my belly, which is where most of my fat seems to be. If I didn't have the belly, I suspect I'd weigh around 160.

All through high school and college I was the poster child for Dr.Pepper and cokes. I drank them like they were going out of style. I don't drink beer, but I have a "coke" belly instead.

It has always been there, but not super noticable through clothes or anything. Just a frustration.

Well, I graduated school and am now part of the working force. I was still throwing back the cokes, and eating horribly, but now I was also sitting at a desk 8 hours a day and then at home in front of my computer or tv for the rest. No walking around campus or playing basketball with guys or anything.

Well, my belly has decided to grow quite large, much to my dismay.

One day I tried to go for a jog, and felt horrible early on. I stopped way earlier than I thought I would and really kind of broke down at that point and basically decided the old way wasn't going to cut it.

so for about the last month I've decided I needed to get into shape. In order to do so I'm currently working on a program that has me running 3 times a week for ~20 minutes (the goal is to get to 3 miles a day within about 2 months, or 4 more weeks since I'm half way there). I've also cut out all of my cokes but 1 per day. I am going to get off of it soon, but want to ease into it rather than do something that will cause me to "fall off the wagon" so to speak.

I'm trying to eat healthy, but am having a pretty difficult time. I think it is largely due to the fact that I don't plan out what I'm going to do ahead of time, and eating well isn't easy on the fly. For me, at least.

What I'd like to do is maybe throw out kinda where I am right now and maybe list some foods that I think I can handle (sorry, I'm trying to get used to cottage cheese, but right now it is too much) and see if anybody can critique my current diet and maybe help me with some meals, since I seem horrible at juding what a good meal would be.

I'd like to eat 5-6 meals a day.

For breakfasts:

Eggs (I have the egg beaters stuff, both regular and egg whites)
oats
whole grain toast
raisin bran (probably to sugary for a "good" diet)
organic granola
natural peanut butter
orange juice
milk

For non-breakfasts

steaks
chicken breast
canned chicken
tuna
turkey
ham
whole grain bread
veggies (corn, brocolli, green beans)
nuts
strawberries
bananas
pears
oranges
pasta
brown rice
yogurt



Anyways, I'm just looking for a push in the right direction. As soon as the holidays are over I will be hitting this stuff really hard and want to try and have as planned out a regimen as possible.

It's not that I'm just waiting til after the holidays, but the fact that alot of things that will help me make (and track) progress are on christmas lists for my family to get me so I don't want to buy them 3 days before (blender, scale, bf calipers, etc. )


Any help that you guys can give will be greatly appreciated. If I need to narrow down the scope of the post more, just let me know.

[scmattd]

Ditch the cokes. Have you tried carbonated water instead?

I was in the same boat as you recently. I had a summer internship and sat on my ass all day and ate.

When I got back, I sold my car, bought a road bike, and kissed my gut goodbye. I know this wont work for everyone, but you need cardio.

I also started going to the gym in order to bulk up. Here is a snap shot of my diet:

Breakfast

2-3 eggs, yogurt & granola, 2 slices of sprouted wheat toast, glass of milk.

Lunch

Sandwich, cottage cheese, peanut butter and apple

Dinner

meat (steak, chicken, fish, whatever), vegies,

Snacks / between meals

protein shakes
pb&j
bars
nuts
beef jerkey


Hope this helps...

[pris]

Do what works for you?

If you dont like rigid routines and set patterns---then dont follow it super strictly

Food:
The main thing is too use natural ingridients rather than processed ie. use veggies:carrots, heads of lettuce, potatoes,etc.

Stay away from quick foods: soda,cereals, stuff in boxes or rappers, canned soups, salad dressing, potatoe chips,

Tip: Make larger portions than what u need and then store them for small meals or snacks

ie. Make a large pot of spagetti or homemade stew and throw it in the fridge

tip: I roast my veggies in the oven and then use them all week; just peel some veggies; carrots, celery, yams, potatoes(quartered w skin on), rough cut em , put em on a large pan, spinkler salt and pepper on em, and drizzle some olive oil.. go do something else for 30 mins, when there golden brown take em out-- eat what u want and store the rest in a zip lock-

boil 20 eggs, make a very large salad, cut up ten carrots and eat them throughout the week

Also, learn when to eat specific foods--the morning is the best time to eat lots of food, before and after working out--but dont be super strict where you measured, weighed and planned your food for that day or the specific time to eat--

So the main thing is too change your shopping habits and then your eating habits will follow--

Working out:
As for working out do what you enjoy--if you dont like running then walk: vary it..wallk to the store, walk the dog, walk up hills at a fast pace is a good workout, take a walk during your lunch break

Play sports, bike,

--drink plenty of water while your sitting around-

Last, start right now--

[jodar]

thanks alot guys.

On cardio, since I'm trying to lose the gut, I suppose I'm in a sort of "cutting" phase.

Should I be doing around 20-30 minutes of cardio a day or more or less?

I'm thinking I might need to kick my running up from MWF to every day except maybe 1 of the weekend days.

Once I get the gut gone (or at least down alot) I'll probably start trying to bulk -- then the questins will really fly

[muirsy88]

I would ditch the granola and replace it with oats

[pu12en12g]

A few ideas and links that MIGHT help:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...43&postcount=5