Hey all, I'm 20 years old, male and currently starting out from scratch after months of no workout and not doing proper cardio exercise for many years now. I'm what you can call a perfectionist. So whatever I do, I want to do every detail of it perfectly, or I lost interest in the subject, and just get bored. I used to workout 4-6 times a week, nothing overly intense, just the usual pressups, chinups, arm exercises, but after a while I just felt like what I was doing wasnt right, mainly because my diet was rather, well, non existant, and I got cravings for fatty/sugary foods.

I would like to lose some weight around my mid area, the so called beer gut has started to form. And my ass has seem to got rather fat, for my liking anyway. And then build muscle. Firstly I would like to ask, shall I go for a low calorie diet to begin with, lose the unwanted weight, and then start on muscle gain and toning. Or what other available options are there?

Thats it for the moment, getting abit tired so my mind is rather slow ^^. Thanks for the reading, and any positive information is welcome!

Cheers

xXx

supRe

Here is a site I found useful, he puts videos up to show proper form and his site is totally free, and he does give some advice on nutrition as well.

http://fitness.scoobysworkshop.com/index.htm

Do them both!Well not literally....clean your diet up....Post your meals, what you have and the times. Boss and swanso are both great at helping to clean that up...offering both suggestions and explanations as to why or why not to eat certain things and the best times...By all means though....start working on toning and building....muscle building with proper diet=fat loss.

Best of luck to you!

Most of the vids on that site on on the You Tube section anyway, as Scooby put them there.

So Sup will be granted access if he posts a couple more times anyway, to those and all the rest of the You Tube and Research things.

Scooby okayed my use of the vids on You Tube, for embedding here, as I contacted him months ago, when another member added them.

Cheers guys, I'll post my "diet" that im currently on. Currently at my mates house atm though, so I'll post later on, or tommowow!

Ok, well here it goes, bare in mind im currently not really on any form of diet, I just eat if and when im hungry, but my usual meals are as follows:

Breakfast - Time not specific
Bowl of cereal : Bran Flakes / Rice Krispies

Lunch - Time not specific
Ham Sandwich, Strawberry Activia Yoghurt, Some form of fruit, usually banana, apple, and 2 oranges if we have some.

Dinner - Usually between 17:30 and 18:30
This ranges from many things depending on what my mum cooks ^^
Pasta and stir fry - Peppers, mushrooms, some other stuff I can't remember the names of. (A)
Roast Chicken wih roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots.
Spagetti Bolognese

As you can see, nothing very special, currently only eating three meals a day. I get rather hungry alot during the day. I've tried taking my diet more healthy in the past, cutting out any bad foods, but I've always had the urge to eat them again due to not being able to find an alternative for them. I used to eat raisins as they helped with the major sweet tooth I have, but I ended up eating too many and my stomach started to regect them.

Any information that you guys/girls can give to guide me and help me sort out my diet would be greatly appreciated!

Once I sort out my diet, I hope it would be possible for you guys to help me out in the workout section of my routine, thanks for everything : >

As far as the workout goes...search the waterbury method, it was suggested to me and many other people that I've seen and it is a great program.

And the food....it looks a lot like my "diet" did ....and I can tell you this...my BF did not start going down until I started eating 5 times a day. Used to be huge on fruit, which is huge in sugar....especially the combo that you are having at lunch

From my understanding you want to have protein in every meal, and the fruits in the first meal. An apple wouldnt be too bad at lunch time I think ....but I guess that really all depends on when you workout. (berries are lower in GI....try to stick with those)

Your diet looks like it may be low in calories.....while you may be trying to loose a little fat...you want to be careful not to start loosing muscle as well.

Thankyou for the reply sassygirl =D. I will do some research on the Waterbury method today. I also believe my diet seems to be lacking in calories, I guess that could be one of the reasons why I get hungry during meals and late at night. I shall wait to see if Boss and swanso can give me any advise on my current situation : > Best to be well prepared and get many peoples views I think

Thanks so far!

Yes. Lacking in Calories.

I'd insert a meal between Breakfast and Lunch, and one between Lunch and Dinner. You can't expect to have a healthy Metabolism, when you are having small time periods between meals, where you eat muscle, (Catabolise it).

So in order to give your Metabolism good regulated nutrient intake, you should eat every 2-3 hours.

Okai thanks mate. These meals that I insert between the main meals of the day, are they more of a snack type thing, or full meals. I read on another website that breakfast should be one of your biggest meals, and as the day goes on reduce in size due to your body slowing down at night. Do you guys agree with this statement? Or does it all depend on your routine, if you workout at certain times do you need to have more calories in a meal before/after etc.

Sorry if im sounding very newbie to this whole situation ^^ I will be doing as much research as I possibly can by myself, but I find discussing certain things to be more helpful then just reading certain information =)

hmmm...not to sure about that.....and hopefully some other may chime in here...but I would think you would find out what your daily caloric intake would be...and just divide that by 5 or 6...however many meals you are planning. And the meals dont have to be enormous...just pick the right foods. Protein and carbs first few meals...protein and fat (good fat) last few meals...again depending on when you workout i think. The carbs are instant energy source...if you have them at night and dont do anything....well it will store as fat..i think..(please correct me if Im wrong)

I do know that the only..only..only...time your body heals and recoups is when you sleep...so I would think that you would want to have a nice protein rich meal at night....with some fresh veggies....not a bare minimum meal that will not supply the needed nutrients for proper recovery.

Yes, I've heard that, but I think as long as you regulate calories, so you're getting more or less the same each meal, and in the right Macro quantities, you should be fine.

We've got Tools here, if you need help with that.

Yes, try to eat properly between meals, not snacks as such.

Thanks alot =) I don't quite understand everything at the moment, such as the Macro thing but I will remember the information you gave me. It will come in handy ! I'm finally getting excited about the whole thing, which I never thought I would ^^ Something hit me today when I was reading on things on the internet and generally thinking. Hope you guys won't mind me talking random stuff for a bit =P.

Well, one of my hobbies is playing games (sadly not sports/exercise games) but computer/console games. And when I play them, I become very competitive, and do my best to learn every little detail about the game, so that I can feel satisfied with it! For example, I'm sure some of you may have heard of the Massively Multiplayer Online Game : World of Warcraft. If not it doesn't really make much difference. I would spend hours playing this game, learning the game inside and out, to be the best I can, and to help others! The thing that hit me was, because I'm so competitve at those types of things, what is stopping me from doing the same with my body. Learning it inside and out, every little detail that I can, from nutrition to exercise! And the fun of it is, this game will last a life time : > (if you get what I mean ^^) Wow, I feel really excited now! Hehe.

Thanks so much for all the information you guys/girls have provided with me so far. I hope I can help you like you have helped me in the near future : > But for now, I shall learn as much as I can from the internet and from all of you, hopefully .

(Hope that didn't sound too over the top lol as I know I've only just joined this place ^^)

not at all...a great way to look at it...good for you...keep the passion for your health and well being burning!

I will sassygirl, and I hope you do too!

I'll keep up to date with my progress, and hopefully once I begin my workout plan, I will make a journal to go along with it to show my progress and my experience and knowledge I have gained