New to this

[ShivasDisciple]

Hey what's up guys, I'm Phil. Been lurking here for a couple weeks reading stickies and finally decided to register.

I'm fairy new to fitness in general. I'm an ectomorph. Years on a methadone clinic, eating junk food, and excessive alcohol use made me skinny fat but I recently got sober and started making some positive changes in life. With no knowledge of fitness at all, I started running and eating clean and managed to get down to 140 lbs. I'm currently at 141 lbs and between 7 and 8% body fat. As you can imagine that looks pretty sickly on a dude who didnt bulk for muscle mass before shedding the fat, but i figure I'm further ahead of the game then some and am now ready for a slow, clean bulk. I have been doing some body weight training, but had no excercise knowledge at all. Was doing 60+ push-ups a day, and 60+ crunches/ reverse crunches without taking any time for muscle recovery. And using some 12 lb free weights (all I had access to) to do some bicep work. While on a calorie deficit. After lurking for a while I have learned how ass-backwards that is, but I still managed to get fairly toned and see results. Might be what I see you calling "noob gains" on here. Any ways, thanks for reading and it's a pleasure to introduce myself.

[Z257Z]

Congrats on your sobriety and becoming healthier! 140 at 8% body fat is pretty tiny, what's your height? Pictures would be helpful in helping you too.

[hanzosbm]

Good on ya for getting clean. With the discipline that must've taken, I'm sure that a workout regimen will be no problem.

[ShivasDisciple]

Thanks dude, I put a current pic up in my dashboard

[ShivasDisciple]

Good on ya for getting clean. With the discipline that must've taken, I'm sure that a workout regimen will be no problem.

thanks, yeah it's made me realize I can do just about anything I put my mind to. Just need to set up a solid plan for success

[Z257Z]

Yea, like you said, you definitely have those newb gains. Looking pretty solid for 6'2", 140 pounds man!

As a guy who struggled to gain weight for years, I can tell you that when you're starting out, it's a lot easier to eat everything in sight rather than track it meticulously. Protein shakes and carb gainers can help if you can't get all the food down (I personally still struggle to get calories in and rely on these).

[ShivasDisciple]

Yea, like you said, you definitely have those newb gains. Looking pretty solid for 6'2", 140 pounds man!

As a guy who struggled to gain weight for years, I can tell you that when you're starting out, it's a lot easier to eat everything in sight rather than track it meticulously. Protein shakes and carb gainers can help if you can't get all the food down (I personally still struggle to get calories in and rely on these).

thanks. Yeah I make a lot of avocado black rice smoothies with almond milk and orgain vanilla protein powder..
So far I've been more than satisfied with the results of my wack-ass body weight training, but feel I'm gonna hit a wall soon if I don't start following a strict weight training schedule. Waiting for paycheck to enroll at local gym. So stoked for payday

[ShivasDisciple]

Yea, like you said, you definitely have those newb gains. Looking pretty solid for 6'2", 140 pounds man!

I can tell you that when you're starting out, it's a lot easier to eat everything in sight rather than track it meticulously

Are you recommending tracking macros or starting out with a more relaxed approach to nutrition?

[Z257Z]

Everyone's different. Personally. I used all the calculators, tracked calories and macros, etc. to find out how many calories I need a day, then ate 500 more than that at first. Progress was slow/non-existent because I was too focused on hitting exacts instead of simply EATING. I'm a hard-gainer, so I just had to learn by trial and error. Now, I eat about 6 meals a day (including shakes) and full of carbs and proteins, low fats. When I hit a plateau and stop gaining, I just add more. It's good to follow a routine at first, so you know how your body works, then adjust according to the results. I think when people start out, everyone THINKS they eat more calories than they actually do when trying to gain, and get frustrated with not gaining. So my advice to those people would be to just eat. Eat way more than you normally would, and you'll see results.

For example, my easiest solid meal, I have a chicken breast and a cup of carbs (pasta, rice, etc), along with veggies for nutrition. Eat that 3 times a day. Have a protein bar&some fruit for one meal (snack), have a carb&protein shake the other 2. I just put in variations of that first meal, and stick to that, adding more food when I'm no longer gaining.

Long story short, I think it's easier in the long run to learn how your body reacts than to track exacts and drive yourself crazy. Track if you need to at first, but personally, it drove me crazy and I had to learn by doing, so to speak.

Glad you're stoked on the gym, make sure you hit it hard!