Newbie needs help on diet and training

[yingxuebailang]

Hi Everyone,

Here is my stats: 25 years old, 5'6, 150lbs. According to my digital scale. my BF percentage is 38%. After college, I got married and is currently working at a desk job. So I have gained 30 lbs due to lack of exercise and pigging out. I have never worked out before, so it would not be surprising if I have practically no muscle. I would like to change my lifestyle but I am going to need some help.

I did a lot of reading and research in this forum for the past week, but I am still kind of confused regarding fat loss and gaining muscle. Since my BF% is ridiculously high, I think I need to start with a really clean diet and restrict my calories in order to cut the fat, since diet makes 90% of the difference. Should I focus more on Cardio first to lose body fat? I am not sure how I will be able to gain muscle while on a low calorie diet since some ppl say it is not really possible to gain muscle while cutting.

I am currently on the Nutrisystem diet, I know its not healthy and processed food, but I bought it before I found this website. I want to finish this month and learn better portion control.

My Diet is consisted of
Breakfast:
1) Lowfat Yogurt, 2) Nutri-system breakfast (bar, muffin, scone), 3) fruit, 4) coffee.
LUNCH: 1) Nutri-system lunch (red bean rice), 2) Edamame soy bean, 3) Grape tomatoes.
SNACK 1) COFFEE, Fruit, Nutri system dessert (<200 calories)
DINNER 1) Nutri-system Dinner (<300 calories), 2) Vegetable - spinach, green beans, zucchini, etc.

Usually I eat around 1200-1300 calories per day. I know the recommended amount is 10x of your current weight, but it is really hard to each that much calories especially if the majority should be consisted of vegetable and fruits instead of carbs. I am also currently on the ECA stack and it seems to be working pretty well. I will also join a GYM soon and get some lessons on how to do weight training. I am planning on doing 3 sessions of weight training after work per week and taking the cycling class at 5:30am at my local gym 3 times a week on different days.

Please share your thoughts and any advice is appreciated.

 

[RottenWillow]

Hi Everyone,

Here is my stats: 25 years old, 5'6, 150lbs. According to my digital scale. my BF percentage is 38%. After college, I got married and is currently working at a desk job. So I have gained 30 lbs due to lack of exercise and pigging out. I have never worked out before, so it would not be surprising if I have practically no muscle. I would like to change my lifestyle but I am going to need some help.

I did a lot of reading and research in this forum for the past week, but I am still kind of confused regarding fat loss and gaining muscle. Since my BF% is ridiculously high, I think I need to start with a really clean diet and restrict my calories in order to cut the fat, since diet makes 90% of the difference. Should I focus more on Cardio first to lose body fat? I am not sure how I will be able to gain muscle while on a low calorie diet since some ppl say it is not really possible to gain muscle while cutting.

I am currently on the Nutrisystem diet, I know its not healthy and processed food, but I bought it before I found this website. I want to finish this month and learn better portion control.

My Diet is consisted of
Breakfast:
1) Lowfat Yogurt, 2) Nutri-system breakfast (bar, muffin, scone), 3) fruit, 4) coffee.
LUNCH: 1) Nutri-system lunch (red bean rice), 2) Edamame soy bean, 3) Grape tomatoes.
SNACK 1) COFFEE, Fruit, Nutri system dessert (<200 calories)
DINNER 1) Nutri-system Dinner (<300 calories), 2) Vegetable - spinach, green beans, zucchini, etc.

Usually I eat around 1200-1300 calories per day. I know the recommended amount is 10x of your current weight, but it is really hard to each that much calories especially if the majority should be consisted of vegetable and fruits instead of carbs. I am also currently on the ECA stack and it seems to be working pretty well. I will also join a GYM soon and get some lessons on how to do weight training. I am planning on doing 3 sessions of weight training after work per week and taking the cycling class at 5:30am at my local gym 3 times a week on different days.

Please share your thoughts and any advice is appreciated.

Welcome. It's a pleasure to have you here.

Firstly, please don't take that bodyfat number too seriously. Those digital bf scales are not accurate. They use electrical impedance to attempt to estimate bf and way too many things interfere with that. When you join your gym, first thing to do is find staff there who is trained to use a professional grade skin caliper to do a skinfold test on you.

When you do begin your weight training program you will definitely need to increase your calories and protein from what you are consuming now. You will lose bodyfat on your current diet, but not for long. Very soon, if it hasn't already happened, you'll begin to lose as much muscle as fat and your body will stay soft.

Let me make a suggestion regarding the spin classes...hold off on that for a while. You need a proper diet and weight training to get a leaner, harder body. Pursue that for 8 weeks, then have your bodyfat rechecked to measure your progress and then you can add some cardio.

Please check the link below for many threads on proper diets. I'm not at all wild about the one you're on now.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...e-fitness-womens-forum-start-here-678961.html

 

[slat1]

Whole foods will soon be a staple in your life.
Congrats on joining the gym. Its a lifestyle change. Its addictive... one of the few things in life that is addictive and good for you!

 

[superqt4u2nv]

As RW said you are for sure not eating enough trust me I have seen so many people make this mistake then wonder why there not losing weight that is always why your body starts to canablise muscle when you are not eating enough.

This is a simle general diet plan I suggest eating 5-6 small meals a day

Diet wise start with a ratio of
40% Protein
30% carbs
30% fats (good fats)

Stop eating carbs after 6 p.m.

You should be getting a gallon of water in a day you can also drink green tea decaf and other decaf herbal teas as much as you like.

Once a week you should have a cheat meal this keeps your body guessing and leaves you with a treat to look forward to.

These are approved foods (if it is not on the list you shouldn’t be eating it)

• Turkey skinless breast
• Chicken skinless breast
• Fish
• Lean beef
• Buffalo
• Egg whites
• Omega eggs
• Skim milk
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Wild-game meat
• ezekiel bread
• Sweet potato
• Steamed brown rice
• Oatmeal
• Barley
• Beans
• Kidney beans
• blueberries
• Strawberries
• Greek yogurt
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Lettuce
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• peppers
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Onion
• Avocado
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Natural Peanut Butter
• dry roasted peanuts unsalted
• raw almonds and almond oil
• walnuts and walnut oil
• macadamia nuts and oil
• sesame oil
• Olives and olive oil
• Flax seed and flax seed oil

 

[yingxuebailang]

As RW said you are for sure not eating enough trust me I have seen so many people make this mistake then wonder why there not losing weight that is always why your body starts to canablise muscle when you are not eating enough.

This is a simle general diet plan I suggest eating 5-6 small meals a day

Diet wise start with a ratio of
40% Protein
30% carbs
30% fats (good fats)

Stop eating carbs after 6 p.m.

You should be getting a gallon of water in a day you can also drink green tea decaf and other decaf herbal teas as much as you like.

Once a week you should have a cheat meal this keeps your body guessing and leaves you with a treat to look forward to.

These are approved foods (if it is not on the list you shouldn’t be eating it)

• Turkey skinless breast
• Chicken skinless breast
• Fish
• Lean beef
• Buffalo
• Egg whites
• Omega eggs
• Skim milk
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Wild-game meat
• ezekiel bread
• Sweet potato
• Steamed brown rice
• Oatmeal
• Barley
• Beans
• Kidney beans
• blueberries
• Strawberries
• Greek yogurt
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Lettuce
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• peppers
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Onion
• Avocado
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Natural Peanut Butter
• dry roasted peanuts unsalted
• raw almonds and almond oil
• walnuts and walnut oil
• macadamia nuts and oil
• sesame oil
• Olives and olive oil
• Flax seed and flax seed oil

Thank you so much for the approved food list!! I am very happy to see that there are actually a lot of food in the list that I enjoy. I always thought eating healthy would be very difficult for me because I hate raw veggies. However, I started cooking on Sunday and I made sauteed zucchini and mushroom with olive oil, garlic powder, red pepper spice and I am surprised at how good it tasted.

I read your post regarding skinny fat and it was very enlightening. I am Asian and skinny fat is very prevalent in my culture. I would probably be satisfied being skinny fat before reading your post. But now I am really motivated to work towards having abs like yours!!

I will take your advice and up my daily calorie in take to around 1500. Since the majority of the calories really should be from fruits and veggies which are extremely low in calories. How do you guys make yourself eat that much food throughout the day especially being on supplements that suppress your appetite?

 

[Rachel...lol]

my first reactions were also that you are not taking in enough good calories, and that the bf reading is not to be trusted. Welcome to the Board! Try and tackle one thing at a time, overhauling a diet and fitness routine is a lot of work, nobody can be expected to do it all at once. SuperQT knows her stuff - treat her posts like the gospel!

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Thank you so much for the approved food list!! I am very happy to see that there are actually a lot of food in the list that I enjoy. I always thought eating healthy would be very difficult for me because I hate raw veggies. However, I started cooking on Sunday and I made sauteed zucchini and mushroom with olive oil, garlic powder, red pepper spice and I am surprised at how good it tasted.

I read your post regarding skinny fat and it was very enlightening. I am Asian and skinny fat is very prevalent in my culture. I would probably be satisfied being skinny fat before reading your post. But now I am really motivated to work towards having abs like yours!!

I will take your advice and up my daily calorie in take to around 1500. Since the majority of the calories really should be from fruits and veggies which are extremely low in calories. How do you guys make yourself eat that much food throughout the day especially being on supplements that suppress your appetite?

Look at the break down 40% of the diet should be protein, veggies and fruit which are carbs are only 30% of the diet and 30% fat is easy to get in if you have a snack with 1 or 2 oz of almonds or healty fat fish like salmon in 1 or 2 meals.

 

[yingxuebailang]

my first reactions were also that you are not taking in enough good calories, and that the bf reading is not to be trusted. Welcome to the Board! Try and tackle one thing at a time, overhauling a diet and fitness routine is a lot of work, nobody can be expected to do it all at once. SuperQT knows her stuff - treat her posts like the gospel!

Thanks for your input Rachel. I was just checking out your gallery pics last week. You have a really amazing body.

 

[yingxuebailang]

Look at the break down 40% of the diet should be protein, veggies and fruit which are carbs are only 30% of the diet and 30% fat is easy to get in if you have a snack with 1 or 2 oz of almonds or healty fat fish like salmon in 1 or 2 meals.

Does protein have to be from animal? I was wondering whether protein from soy bean such as Edamame would be good also for building muscle.

 

[Rachel...lol]

Thanks for your input Rachel. I was just checking out your gallery pics last week. You have a really amazing body.

I appreciate that - but I have to tell you it's a lot of support and knowledge from others around here that have made the difference.

The final key is truly getting your diet in check, without that - i can workout for hours and it doesn't make a difference.