Please help overwealmed / confused newbie

[outofshape111]

Hi,

I am 22 / 170 lbs (actually now i am 165) / 5'7. I have been in bad shape / overweight for the past 10 years of my life.

Anyway, I recently got sick of it and wanted to change my lifestyle to a healthy one... I want to lose weight and put on some muscle.

So I started lifting everyday about 2 weeks ago.... My diet didn't change much - I just watched what I ate and made sure not to stuff my face on cookies too much - I wasn't counting calories or anything, or even eating "clean".

After 2 weeks of this I got frustrated I didn't lose any weight... so on wednesday I started eating clean. I eat about 2000 cals, and try to get the 40/40/20 split as good as possible. Since wednesday I have lost about 3 lbs already! I don't know if it's because of water weight or whatever, but......

Anyway... here's my question... how many calories should I eat??? Should I stick to eating 2000 cals and lifting every day? I'm not doing any cardio because it's too cold out. I am confused because I cannot get a straight answer on how much calories I should consume!!! I have been eating 2000 cals because my maintenence is about 2500 (17*170), and 500 less then maintenence is about 2000. This is what I have read on here...

However, I have also read some other threads which say this is BAD - that I shouldn't "jump" to a clean / low calorie diet, because I will lose muscle...... is this true? How many calories should I be eating then? Should I eat extra on days that I workout / do cardio? This is where I am so confused....

I'd also like to add, that 2 weeks ago, I had literally NO muscle on my body. I'm short and flabby, very weak and very little muscle......I lifted every day for the past 2 weeks and was amazed at the amount of muscle that shot up on my arms - everywhere else is not noticable, but my arms have DEFINITLY increased in muscle mass. Like I said though - I didn't lose any weight at all because I was still eating "dirty" (albeit probably less calories then usual). Should I be worried about "losing muscle" like normal people? Because up untill 2 weeks ago, I had no muscle at all!! And right now, I still have very little muscle, but at least now there's some noticable "jump" in my arms when I flex...

Thanks a lot for any help!!!

[outofshape111]

on second page, so shamless bump. i basically just need to know how much calories i should eat.

thanks again.

[RipStone]

your answer in posts 3 and 4...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=686454

[rsarno]

ok for 3 weeks eat anything you want, whatever you normally would eat. Record everything that goes into your mouth!! Plug those numbers into fitday.com (free acct) and see what you have BEEN eating. Lets assume it comes to 2600cal and from now on we will call this your maintanance level, which we will refer to as your "ML" (because i hate typing lol)

So we have a ML of 2600cal

to lose weight, deduct 200cal from this. to proceed with a cutting program, you need to build a diet based on 2400cal

to gain weight, add 200cal to this. So begin a lifting program and base your diet off of 2800cal

ok now on to breaking down WHAT you eat.

You will eventually tweak this, but for now split your meals up 40% protien, 40% carbs, 20% fat

KEEP IN MIND: 9 calories in every gram of fat, 4cal per gram of protien, and 4cal per gram of carbs

Now you want to have at least 6 meals per day, and assuming you want to be cutting, this is how it would look:

meal 1: 400cal
meal 2: 400cal
meal 3: 400cal
meal 4: 400cal
meal 5: 400cal
meal 6: 400cal

**of course this is generic, some meals are larger and some meals are smaller. BUT collectively they should not pass your mark of 2600 calories.


TO BE CONTINUED ...

[rsarno]

this is a great shopping list of clean/healthy foods, courtosy of saw14 ...

Originally Posted by saw14
here's a list that is pretty large that will allow you to pick and choose:

Proteins
-Skim Milk
-Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
-Tuna (water packed)
-Fish (salmon, sea bass, halibut)
-Shrimp
-Extra Lean Ground Beef or Ground Round (92-96%)
-Protein Powder
-Egg Whites or Eggs
-Rib eye Steaks or Roast
-Top Round Steaks or Roast (aka Stew Meat, London Broil, Stir Fry)
-Top Sirloin (aka Sirloin Top Butt)
-Beef Tenderloin (aka Filet, Filet Mignon)
-Top Loin (NY Strip Steak)
-Flank Steak (Sir Fry, Fajita)
-Eye of Round (Cube Meat, Stew Meat, Bottom Round , 96% Lean Ground Round)
-Ground turkey, Turkey Breast Slices or cutlets (fresh meat, not deli cuts)
-Pork Tenderloin (aka Center Cut Pork Chops)
-Low Fat/Fat Free Cottage Cheese
-Non Fat Plain Yogurt
-Tofu

Complex Carbs
-Oatmeal (Old Fashioned or Quick Oats…not packets of Instant Oats)
-Sweet Potatoes (Yams)
-Beans (pinto, black, kidney, etc)
-Oat Bran Cereal
-High Fiber-Low Sugar Cereal (Fiber One, Uncle Sam’s, Kashi, Wheet-a-bix, etc.)
-Farina (Cream of Wheat)
-Multigrain Hot Cereal or Barley
-Pasta (Whole Wheat or Whole Grain)
-Rice (brown, jasmine, basmati, Arborio, wild)
-Potatoes (red, baking, new)
-Barley
-100% Whole Wheat/Grain Bread

Fats
-Natural Style Peanut Butter
-Olive Oil or Safflower Oil
-Nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts)
-Flaxseed Oil
-Fish Oil

Produce & Fruits
-Cucumber
-Green or Red Pepper
-Onions
-Tomatoes
-Zucchini
-Fruit
-Green Leafy Lettuce (Green Leaf, Red, Leaf, Romaine)
-Broccoli
-Asparagus
-String Beans
-Spinach
-Brussels Sprouts
-Cauliflower

Spices, Seasonings, and Condiments
-Garlic Powder
-Crushed Red Pepper
-Paprika
-Mrs. Dash
-Chives
-Oregano
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
-Splenda, Equal, Stevia, etc.
-Walden Farms Products
-Sugar Free Flavored Syrups (Davinci, Toranni, Atkins)
-Mustard
-Vinegar
-Salsa
-Ketchup (Organic or Low Carb because regular Ketchup has HFCS)

[rsarno]

a sample diet, posted by nithos ...

Originally Posted by nithos
Here is an example of a diet I used for cutting:
5:30 - 1/2 a banana
5:35 - 30-45 minutes brisk walk
6:15 - 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup ff cottage cheese, 1 oz almonds
9:00 - Homemade protein bar, 1.5 cups fresh broccoli
12:00 - 4 oz chicken breast, 3 cups salad, 1 oz walnuts
3:00 - 6oz fajita beef with 1 cup peppers
5:00 - Lifting
5:45 - PWO Shake (40g carbs, 20g protein)
7:00 - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 1.5 cups green beens
9:00 - 1 cup ff cottage cheese, 1 oz walnuts

[rsarno]

now some of my own threads

HOW I LOST 40lbs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=668559

MISC NOTES: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=638062

MY PERSONAL DIET: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=669285

[rsarno]

I hope my posts helped you, took a lot of time to put it all down.

if you need anything else, feel free to ask.

and BTW the reason for slow response might be because people are always asking this same question ... many of the answers can be found easily by using the search function, and/or looking at the top threads of the board (stickies)

good luck, reply if you need more help.
and dont go crazy with lifting for a while, concentrate on diet!

[jked4life]

I truly like all the advice that has been given on this thread so far, but I would suggest an even more simplified approach to start. Since you say you are completely out of shape and are really starting from scratch, it might be easier than crunching calories and all that (not that this doesn't have its place). My suggestions

1) Find out how often you can lift and set up a lifting program based on this. I would suggest 3-5 days a week. Research a good split/routine on here and get started. Make sure you are performing excercises properly. Remember the compounds

2) Set up a general cardio routine. Since your goals are to get in shape, loose weight and improve general health I would suggest 4-6 days a week for around 30 minutes.

3) Eat clean. At first, I wouldn't even worry about how many calories you are eating. If you clean up your diet, you will probably be consuming less or higher quality calories. I like John Bernardi's outlook on diet.

http://johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/index.htm


I would start here. Keep it simple at first. Get a general plan of fitness in place, clean up the diet. Once you have this down, then worry about calories or more advanced training.

[outofshape111]

hey,

Thanks a lot for your replies, I appreciate it much.....

Do you really think I should only do 200 cals minus my maintenence? Also, I really don't want to spend 3 weeks eating "dirty"... I want to lose weight / get muscle as fast as possible, and I am focused and ready. Is it really neccesary to do that to find my true maintenence? Is there something better considering I am already in the swing of things w/ working out and dieting?

About workout / diet plans, I have been lifting every day for about 2 weeks, and have been on my diet since this wednesday. I have been tracking / logging everything I eat and have been keeping at about 2000 cals.

For working out, I have some dumbells, 2 barbells and a weight bench. I do a full body workout every day (I try not to have any off days) for 20 - 30 mins. MY entire workout is made out of the following:

bench press
bb curls

deadlift
stiff leg deadlift
leg curls

db lateral raise
db tricep kickbacks
db tricep extension
db curls

crunches

Is this workout too limited? The one thing I'm a little worried about is my back... I think only deadlifts are helping me here..... what else can I do? I don't have that much room in my workout area and I usually workout alone, so I haven't done any squats yet...

Thanks again for any help.... I am going to read through all the links you guys posted.

[Stonecoldtruth]

I'm going to give you some basics to consider, and you can go from there with it. I'm not going to give you all of the answers, because a HUGE part of a fitness journey is making mistakes and then not making them again.

5-6 meals a day
eat every 2-3 hours
eat the same amount of protein, carbs, fats in every meal
7+ hours of sleep
Tons of water!

Protein : Poultry, fish, red meat, cottage cheese, Whey, eggs
Carbs : Whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread (100%). brown rice, rolled or steel oats, fruit
Fats: Olive oil, fish oil, flax oil, nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts), almond and peanut butter (all natural)

Dairy: Fat free yogurt, skim milk, fat free cottage cheese, or soy milk

EAT YOUR VEGGIES!

Now, as far as calories go, I'd check out a BMR calculator to find out what your current calorie situation is.

Here is a good one:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

One you get the base BMR result MAKE SURE you apply the activity modifier:
You do that by clicking the link on the BMR Calculator page called 'daily caloric needs', I'll link to that as well for ease of use
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-ca...dict-equation/

Now, once you have applied the modified you can THEN subtract 500 from the number provided.

From there you can choose a diet method, one of the most popular being the 40/40/20 as you know.

-------------------------------------------------

Regarding your weightlifting and cardio routine...

You will want to make sure you are doing both cardio AND weightlifting.
If you are doing a full body workout you can get away with 3 days per week lifting, or you can split the workouts out into major muscle groups and work out up to 5 days per week. There are a MULTITUDE of lifting programs available here on BB.com, once you get used to the proper form and technique behind the lifts you can look into a program such as Max-OT or HST. Right now your goals are to lose fat? or to gain muscle? While at first you may be able to do both at the same time, eventually you will need to choose a primary goal and focus on that.

Cardio may seem like something you do not want to do, but I'd recommend looking into some HIIT cardio (high intensity interval training) You can read more about that here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/maia9.htm


At first your diet and training won't be perfect, but as you progress with your knowledge things will begin to fall into place. Nobody is going to make you do this though, you need to want it. If you have any more questions just ask, but make sure you actually study the things people are giving you before asking the same questions that they might have just answered.

For example, if you follow the BMR links I provided you can easily find out the calories you should be eating.

Cheers and good luck,
Josh

[RipStone]

You can use one of those online maintence calorie calculators to give you a rought guideline of what your maintence intake is. Start with that and see how it works. This is all explained in the link I gave you before.

As far as your workout, you need off days belive it or not. If you like working out more frequently, then try a 4 day upper/lower body split and do cardio on 2 non-lifting days. Still, I would have one day a week where you take completley off.....no lifting, no cardio.

The problem I see with your workout is exercise selection. That is, too many isolation exercises and not enough compound exercises. Isolation exercises only work one muscle group while compounds work mutiple muscle groups with just one movement and allow you to use more weight and burn more calories. You have plenty of equipment to do more compound lifts such as bent over BB rows, overhead press, cleans, split squats, etc

If you want more help as far as putting together a workout let me know. Try taking a stab at it yourself if you want....I dunno.

[outofshape111]

Thanks again for the help everyone. BTW RipStone, I did read that link you posted, but it seemed to be aimed for people bulking.... do the concepts stay the same though?

I used the BMR and modifier stonecoldtruth posted, which gives me about 2200 as the value...... I'm assuming I want to fill out the forms / use the modifier based on BEFORE I started working out, right?

In that case, I should only be eating 1700 calories! I have been doing 2000 since I got on this diet, which was recommended by the bodyweight*17-500 thing... maybe I should go with somewhere in between? Or is this BMR calculation more accurate then the others?.... I guess I should cut down to 1700 then...

RipStone, I'll look into those lifts you mentioned, I can probably google "compound movements" to find more exercises...

Thanks again for all your help.

PS - there's one thing I'm still confused about...... Do I have to add / subtract calories on days that I lift or do cardio (which is basically like every day). E.G., do I eat extra cals on those days so that I have a total of 500 calorie deficit at the end of the day? Or is this 1700 just based on strictly food input?

Thanks again!!

[rsarno]

RipStone, I'll look into those lifts you mentioned, I can probably google "compound movements" to find more exercises...

Thanks again for all your help.

have no fear my little one!

Full Compound Workout - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=703327

All Excersises - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=586683

[RipStone]

out of shape- maybe reread this...

Basiclly I would recommend you do the same thing, but maybe instead of 1 week of data, get 2-3 weeks of data in order to have a better idea. Anyway, I posted this info in the past...

"Here is what you need to do. Keep track of everything you eat for a few days and total up the calories, carbs, protein, and fats for each day(you can use fitday.com for help with this). If this is how you typically eat(which I dont see why it wouldnt be) then you should get a great idea of how many calories you are consuming per day currently.

Then ask yourself have you been gaining/losing/maintaining weight eating like this? Depending on the answer and your goals(lose/gain weight) you can make changes to your current diet.

For example, lets say you find out you are eating 2500 cals a day right now. And eating this amount you are maintaing your weight. .However, you want to lose weight. So you would start eating 250-500 cals les per day in order to lose about 1/2-1lb a week"