What should I do?

[KobeMambaBryant]

Hello everyone,

What should I do at this point in time? I'll link some pictures down below so you guys can get a accurate assessment.

Basic stats:
Height:6'1-6'2(Haven't measured this since high school.)
Age:21
Weight:196-200.
Body fat:No clue.

My main goal is to just get in shape. I don;t really need to be super bulky or anything, I just want to be in shape and have a reasonable amount of strength combined with cardio. I may not be able to cook my own food as my parents don;t really support counting calories. I however understand that in order to reach my goals, I'll have to do it. So, Would it be a big deal if I did count calories but also eat stuff out of a box sometimes?? I really want to make a change in my life and I want to stop the yo-yo dieting once and for all.

[xsquid99]

You need to lose fat and you need to start strength training.

Start by reading this post and the links contained in it: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=165843261

Its all going to come down to creating a caloric deficit and most people are not able to properly estimate their caloric intake without weighing and measuring their foods, especially if they lack general nutritional knowledge.

If you absolutely cannot count calories than you need to stop eating all highly processed foods - basically anything thats made in a factory that is packaged in a box, bag, can/bottle (except zero calorie drinks). Try to get 80-90% of your diet from single ingredient foods.

More info on that here: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=2845231

[KobeMambaBryant]

I can count calories. I downloaded myfitness pal for that exact reason. My only question is: Does it matter where those calories come from?

[willybrokeback]

I can count calories. I downloaded myfitness pal for that exact reason. My only question is: Does it matter where those calories come from?

Weight loss wise no- Health wise or trying to add muscle- yes. You can lose weight eating only doughnuts, but that is not very healthy, and to add muscle you need protein and some fats (just for basic health).

[KobeMambaBryant]

Yeah I understand where you're going with that. I just mean would it be fine sometimes to include junk? Overall I'll try to eat healthier on a daily basis with the calorie deficit.

[xsquid99]

Yeah I understand where you're going with that. I just mean would it be fine sometimes to include junk? Overall I'll try to eat healthier on a daily basis with the calorie deficit.

For myself, when I'm cutting weight I tend to cut out all junk food, I don't really feel like setting myself back by eating calories that don't fill me up.

But if you have the room in your weekly calories to make the occasional treats fit, then sure you can occasionally indulge. It doesn't mean you can polish off an entire bag of chips or a whole pizza or an entire box of cookies.

But honestly I will never understand people that come here obviously overweight and out of shape and immediately start asking if they can eat junk food, to me it doesn't make a lot of sense. Do you want to make a change or not?

[KobeMambaBryant]

Squid, I think you misunderstood what I meant by "eating junk food sometimes". I meant the only junk food item I'll include in my diet is a protein bar at best.(The Costco Kirkland ones). That being said, how much weight should I try to lose? I plan on losing a good amount of it(Or what you guys recommend) and then I'll start to gain weight at 0.5 pounds a week. As far as my lifting goes, I'm doing fierce 5 and I love it so far. I've been doing it for a few weeks and have generally liked it. I'll state my lifts below so you guys get a general idea of where I'm at in terms of what I lift.

Squats: 5x5 130 pounds
Deadlifts: 5x5 125 pounds
Bench press: 5x5 130 pounds
Overhead press: 5x5 70 pounds
Back rows(Or barbell rows. This is pendlays.): 5x5 85 pounds

Regarding my diet, I'll give you a rough estimate of what I eat so far according to myfitnesspal. So far myfitnesspal recommends that I eat at about 1,710 calories to lose 1.5 pounds a week. However, if you guys want to adjust that goal, feel free to. I've also been hitting all my macros and have been eating generally healthy while adhering to the calorie deficit.(I'll link some pictures below of myfitnesspal.)

[KobeMambaBryant]

Bump

[Marius0892]

Hi everyone,

My name is Marius and this is the first post in a forum.
I started a 3000 calories diet, I want to cut some kg after bulking to 92.1 kg from 82.
After the first week all was good, 1,2 kg down, to 80.9 kg.
Today surprise it was the same like last week not even 1 gram below or above.
Should I continue to eat 3000 and see in the 3 week, if there is any difference or should I cut some calories down ( today I made my plan to 2500 ).
I forget to say that I work out 5 days a week and I do after weight program cardio 4 days ( a training session for me is something abou 2 and half to 3 hours max ).
I hope that there is someoane who had the same problem in the past so he can give an proper advice.
Thanks a lot for your time!

Kind regards!

[SuffolkPunch]

Why 3000? That's a lot for most people.

Unless you know your maintenance level is higher based on previous calorie counting and measuring your body weight, it's probably too much.

[Marius0892]

Why 3000? That's a lot for most people.

Unless you know your maintenance level is higher based on previous calorie counting and measuring your body weight, it's probably too much.

I had a very hard time gaining weight, I ate around 5000 calories...and all that weight I put it on in 5 months. In this period I even had to cut cardio to 2 session a week.
Before i could lose weight with a 2500 calories but I was thiner, so now to manage to preserve my muscle mass better I had to increase the calories.

[SuffolkPunch]

I would compromise and try 2700 for another 2 weeks and see what results that gets.

[Marius0892]

I would compromise and try 2700 for another 2 weeks and see what results that gets.

That was what I'm thinking also, I will talk with some of my friends at the gym tonight, but I wanted to have more opinions so I can take a proper decision.
Thank you for your time!

[KobeMambaBryant]

Going to BUMp the post again.

[SuffolkPunch]

You should count calories otherwise you are leaving results up to chance.

It's possible to eat intuitively and lose weight - but this tends to work for people who have experience already with counting calories. They can determine which foods are the most filling for the least number of calories and focus on those.

I would aim to get to 180 and re-evaluate then. But to get there reliably, you need to count calories. Parents don't always know what's best as they only know all the same common myths and nonsense you hear about nutrition. Most people on this forum have done more than just a superficial amount of reading and research into the subject.

And you are 21....