Clueless in Chicago

[JackB]

As the thread title states, I’m pretty clueless... even with browsing and searching this forum for a week, I feel I could use some help and guidance.

First my current stats: Male, 29 yrs old, 6’1 tall, 190lbs, ~24% BF on an Health-o-Meter scale (yes I know it’s not accurate, but it’s all I have), not active at all but willing to begin cardio and light lifting.

A little background: I reached my height of 6’1 at age 16, at that time I was 155lbs and extremely thin, at 19 I reached 170lbs and was at what I would call my ideal weight and physique, not too thin, and decently defined. Then the college 15 happened and it didn’t stop, by the age of 21 I was at 200lbs, by 23 I was 215lbs. At 26 yrs old I hit my peak of 245lbs. I dropped a bit of weight down to 225 by age 27, and maintained that weight until June of ’05 when I got sick of being fat.

Admittedly, I went about the weight loss in the wrong manner, but there were some good points to my diet. I cut out all soda and replaced it with water, drinking nearly a gallon a day. I also cut down as much sugar/carbs as I could, and made a conscious effort to avoid them. The bad part of my diet was that I was starving myself, eating once or twice a day albeit consuming around 1500-1800 calories.

In any event the weight came off rapidly, dropping 10lbs in the first month, then about 5 lbs a month until I hit a wall at 190lbs about a month and a half ago.


Reading through various threads, I realize I was starving myself and my metabolism finally caught up with my diet. So far I’ve been maintaining my weight for a little over a month, and it’s time for me to continue my weight loss and tone up. My ideal weight in my mind would be 175lbs with 15% BF.

I need help formulating a diet and exercise plan.
Part of the issue with my diet is that I am very picky with food, I hate green vegetables and seafood, so that creates and issue. I love chicken and read meat.
As for exercise I have a fairly new treadmill and a Bowflex, I don’t know how effective it would be using those, I’d rather not join a gym right off the bat until I can prove to myself that I am committed to exercising .


Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

 

[david_diesel]

Hi Jack
Welcome to EF. This is a great place to learn tons of stuff about fitness and dieting.

Stick to the basics when it comes to dieting. Here's a few guidelines you may want to follow

* Spread your meals throughout the day, try to eat 5-6 times making sure that you get a serving of protein at every meal.

* Make sure you are getting enough calories. In your case a good number to shoot for would be in the ballpark of 2300. A good rule of thumb to follow is to multiply your bodyweight by 12 (to drop fat) and the number you get will be the number of calories to consume

* Make sure you're getting calories from the right places. A good starting ratio would be 40% of cals from protein, 30% from carbs and 30% from fats. In your case this equates to 230g protein, 170g carbs 76g fat. Make sure the protein is from lean sources. You say you like chicken? Well get used to it cause it's a great source for your goal. Red meat is OK as long as it's lean. I buy ground sirloin. Yes it's pricey but 8 oz only has 10g of fat and thats awesome. (50 grams of protein too BTW). Get your self a good protein powder. Depending on what you like, there's stuff that tastes more like juice than the usual vanilla/chocolate/strawberry. I recommend Syntrax Nectar Lemonade flavor. If you like Chocolate, Optimum Nutrition makes some good stuff thats pretty cost effective. Keep the carbs from whole grains, oats, sweet potatoes. Avoid processed carbs like white breads, sugar, pastas. Don't forget the fats. You need fat to burn fat. They say that alot around here. I recommend Flax Oil, natural peanut butter, almonds (or any nut for that matter)

*Train using weights AND cardio. So many folks get into the mindset that cardio is the way to drop the bf. To an extent this is true, however, muscle aids in burning fat and the only way to build muscle is through weight training. You'll be happier with the finished product anyhow. You'll lean out and if your diet is on, you'll get yourself a nice lil pump in those muscles.

* Set yourself a reasonable goal and don't compare yourself to others. I have found comparing my physique to those in magazines and even some of the guys on here to be detrimental to my ego. Knowing what to expect from the amount of time you have vested in the lifestyle is very important. Lots of folks think that all they need to do is diet for 8 weeks and they'll be in cover model shape. (This doesn't apply to you Makavelli...you bastard) Bowflex loves to tout their 20 minutes a day 3x's a week motto while showing you a commercial with a guy who's 5% bodyfat and a girl who's ass you can bounce a quarter off. Those bodies weren't created in 20 minutes a day/3x's a week.

Otherwise, stick around here, read, ask questions, and learn. I suggest checking out the training forum for some guidance on what routines to use. In the whole scope of things, 15 lbs isn't that hard to lose if you're armed with the will and the right info. Best of luck to you........