Lazy to Lean -- Help please

[unknowncaller]

Hey, I'm pretty new to the site as u can tell and I don't have a whole lot of experiance with fitness, or getting into shape really. My days used to revolve around being on the computer all the time, and uhhhhh.. drinking sodas and **** like that while doing so.. and I don't mean like one or to.. lets just say this overly large gut I have comes from this problem. I have some friends that r used to working out, but there to busy to really give me a hand so I decided to learn about this stuff on my own.

I've been looking into different products to use and I'm not really sure still what would be good for me to use. I have friends that take stuff like NO-XPLODE, NO2 pills and some other products that I can't remember. But all they tell me about the product is that it gives u a better pump with better results which is saying a whole lot to me.

I'm 17, standing at 5'8" and I weigh 210lbs.. I'm looking to workout pretty much on everything. Any helpful hints or anything for me to start out on?

[lostboyrufio]

I'm not even gonna lie, 5'8" 210 lbs, you are way chunky. Don't listen to your fiends because they probably have no idea whats going on. Check the stickies and peoples' journals and formulate your own diet and workout plan. Don't even go near supplements until you get your diet in check. Good Luck.

[unknowncaller]

Wow, that helped a whole lot.. and thanks for pointing out a already known fact. I hadn't been weighed in, in awhile so I had it checked today.. I am now suprisingly at 193lbs. Btw, im a big framed guy so the majority of my body is going to be heavy set anyways XD

I've cut back on sodas and junk like that, I started drinking more water and I know I need to keep this stuff in check. But I want to start body building while im at it, might as well, I got nothing better to do. I'm just hoping I can keep this crap up, I have zero self modivation so hopefully ill still be doing this in the near future.

So besides the obvious, any other advice anyone?

[freshlytainted]

there is one fundamental truth you must know: it's not the products that give you results.

it's your diet and your workout regime.

forget about NOX, NO2 pills and what-not, at least for the moment. you HAVE to learn the basics - a good clean diet, and a solid workout regime. ESSENTIALLY, it's changing your lifestyle.

to answer your question: have a look around the forums - there's a sticky in the Bodybuilding Workout, Weight Training, & Lifting Chat that has HEAPS of workout regimes.

there are no shortcuts - so stop being lazy and start learning.

[vaberella]

Okay. I had a good laugh at lostboyrufio's completely insensitive reply.

I'm going to help you out. I'm currently back on my fitness binge. I'm female and 230 and 5'2"---so I'm way way chunkier than you. Although my lean mass is 160lbs. I weight train a lot and don't look my size although my plan now is to cut down 100lbs.

I think there are several things you need to look at. I do think checking out the board is one thing and I do think investing in a few books is another. I'm a woman who gained so much weight not because I wanted too but because I have a condition called PCOS. That aided a great deal in my weight gain not to mention an extremely sedentary lifestyle---much as your self. Late night eatings and basically 2 large meals a day. If any of these things, excluding the PCOS rings a bell then you're in my league and it takes a while to get your barings on what to do.

I have to say that I have been going crazy with workouts since watching Oprah's show there was a woman extremely obese and blue who was in last Friday's episode that horrified me, I called blueberry. I wasn't horrified by the fact that she was fat, it was the fact that anyone could let their bodies get so out of hand. It frightened me. And really most people don't realize that this is a problem for them until their hit with it. Or in your case you can't cinch your pants the way you used to. The gut is a problem and that will go away.


I do think that what was mentioned before by the other posters is true. You need to look at some journals and on different boards. A few of the body pages here and make some friends with these guys. I have a few. I do think also you need to do some readings and I'll give you about 3 books that might of be interest to you, especially on the evils of sugar---paticularly soda. Secondly, I'll tell you what I've taken up as fitness to get me back into the game. Because I hate cardio.

Well let's start off with nutrition:

I'm biased and I'm coming from the CKD. The CKD is a cyclical ketogenic diet (aka Keto diet), similar to Atkins except you elminiate carbs 5 days a week and then for 2 days you carb load. I think you should focus on that.

Link: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=61

You definitely need to change your diet and you need a solid protein product, although real food will suffice overall. You can either eat 3 meals a day that are balanced or 4 meals a day.

1. Optimum nutrition is the most well known protein supplement on the market.
It's cheap, well known, you get a lot for your buck. For other good and inexpensive proteins check out the frontpage of the site and look through the Protein reviews.
http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/pr...ein-review.htm

2. I use true protein products. But they are pricey however the best on the market, I love them.
True Protein | High Quality Nutrition and Protein Supplements

In regards to protein stay away from the mixed protein batches, they're mainly for meal supplement kind. I do recommend however taking a meal supplement if you don't think you'll have a balanced diet throughout the day. I would stay away from protein bars, but if you must you must. You want to drink lots of water. I drink half a gallon a day, working my way up to a gallon. Don't listen to the 8-10 glasses, that's not enough. Your cells are made up of 90% water, your body needs lots of water. There are great books on the importance of water, but Biology 101 in elementary school was enough to let you know how important water is.

As for books there are three that I will recommend. You might send them out to your mum and dad as well to read up on. Basically the whole family should be up to date on how important diet is.

1. Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance by Jack Challem
Amazon.com: Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance: Jack Challem, Burton Berkson, Melissa Diane Smith: Books
The above books talks about sugar and what it does to the body and basically the epidemic of diabetes and how millions upon millions of people are walking Type 2 diabetics or one their way because of their diet. This book helped me a great deal and as a PCOS sufferer helped me manage my condition.

2. Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats by Mary Enig, Sally Fallon
Amazon.com: Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats: Mary Enig, Sally Fallon: Books
Definitely healthy fats and how important fat is to the diet. Paticularly coconut oil, butter and whole milk. There are many sugars in low-fat milk.

3. Never Gymless by Ross Enamait
RossTraining - Bridging The Gap Between Ordinary and Extraordinary
I posted this site because everyone should get his book. This man is God. His workouts are for bodyweight exercises. If you can't afford a gym, if you can't make it to a gym, you still have no excuse not to workout. His book never gymless has circuits, all dyanimcs of bodyweight training and also using objects in the house or yard or thigns that don't cost more than $20 bucks to get success. He has a whole jump rope routine for working out.

You want to shed the pounds but don't have the funds? Buy his book and your sorted. You'll look better than your friends bro. You'll turn out like Conan after him. It was the best investment I made. This leads me into working out.

You'll have to do your cardio. I jump rope and love it. Keep in mind I was an "epic fail" when I started but I'm improving. Stationary bikes work, if you have cable do 'fittv' workout. Just for 30 minutes a day every day. I'm a strong believer in physical activity. I think 5 days out of the week the 30 minutes should be intense while 2 days they should be very light. Something like yoga, something like tennis (if you know how to play) a bike ride in the park, a walk---something of that nature. When you keep your body moving every day, especially if you're starting, you're not prone to slacking off. I find that when I do a regime and set up days off that I'm most likely to slack off. So I just get active every day to keep up the momentum.

You don't seem to need a lot to lose a lot of weight so the weight will come off right quick. I think you just need about 30lbs or so for your height. I suggest you dump "NO-XPLODE, NO2 pills and some other products that you can't remember", freshlytainted had the right idea. You need to get back into working out and once you've got your regime in order and you're doing it regularly then and only then do I recommend you to go into those products and even then their not necessary for success.

I hope the above information helps you to achieve your goals. Definitely start a journal somewhere to document your meals and workout. If you go to bodybuilding.com you get a 'bodyspace' page to track publicly and make some fitness friends.

HTH.

[SunnyInc.]

If you're not motivated you may as well give up right now because you'll probably lose a kilo or two, think you're top **** and lose interest. If you want to cut down the fat and slap on some muscle you have to be 100% committed. That means you have to eat clean, lift heavy and get lots of rest between workouts. Once you've got your diet and routine in check and have been lifting for a year or so you can start worrying about supplements. Until then you're going to have to trust me and everyone else on this board when we say you'll be wasting your money until then.

Ok, lets have a quick chat about your diet. You should be eating something every two to two and a half hours. For most people this will equate to five to seven meals in a day. The first couple of meals of the day should contain complex carboyhydrates, protein and as few fats as possible. You should reduce your intake of complex carbs and increase your protein intake with each meal as the day progress'. Every meal should be consistently low in fat. There is a food list stick in the diet and nutrition chat section of the forum that will give you an idea of what you should be eating. I strongly suggest you read all the stickies in the diet and nutrition section and post your question in this thread.

Now, let's have a quick chat about the lifting component of your weight loss regime. Considering you're trying to lose alot of fat you might find it interesting to know that muscle actually burns calories even when it's not being used. This means that the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will consume in a day and the more fat you'll lose. Need I say more as to why lifting is an important part of your weight loss strategy? The two biggest mistakes men seem to make when they're trying to change their body is they starve themselves or they do heaps of cardio. This is effective if you find the whole starving Etheopian look attractive but if not you must resolve to put on muscle and lose fat at the same time.

If you're looking to put on muscle you need to familiarize yourself with the whole concept of 'overload'. 'Overload' is essentially exposing your different muscle groups to high degree of resistance to break them down so they'll grow back stronger (how effectively they grow back depends on the quality of your diet and rest). I can't think of any respected member on this board who won't tell you that best way to achieve overload is to do low volume, high intensity training. This means you should be looking at twelve to sixteen total sets per session with four to seven repetitions per set.

Each session should kick off with one of the big three: bench press, deadlift or squat. These exercises will stimulate the most amount of growth hormones in the muscle groups they are peculiar too and allow you to stimulate large amounts of natural phormones and put your muscles under the largest amount of pressure. Once you've got your form down you'll start to see an increase in the amount your lifting and the muscle will START to come soon after. The rest of the exercises in your session should compliment the compound you began the session with. For example, if I started my session with deadlifts I'd be doing back and bicep exercises for the rest of the session. If I was doing bench press to start off my session I'd do chest, shoudler and tricep exercises for the session. Get the idea?

Look I've only given you a vague idea of what you need to be doing. Do your homework and read the stickies on this site and then come back to us with some question.

[lostboyrufio]

LOL, my reply was a bit insensative, but I figured that it would jumpstart the thread starter.

But the advice, however little or insensitive it was, was sufficient. There is plenty of information and journals on this site to learn from, and well as keep yourself motivated. People on this site keep great journals and have had great transformations.

The reason I didn't recommend any supplements is that they're not necessary right now. What's important is to get your diet in check. Find out what you need to eat and when to eat it. Once again, search function will provide this information. If you want to take supplements, think about a multi vitamin as well as some flax oil. Stay away from the protein shakes until you have a routine and your diet in check.

[SunnyInc.]

I'm guessing this kid has given up already.