I've posted in a couple other threads, but I wanted to start this to answer a few of my questions (and maybe other newbies can come here and post questions too).

Anyway, I'm 19 years old, 5' 6'', and 160 pounds. My main goal is to lose weight and build muscle (not as drastic as John, but to become a healthy version of what I should be).

I get my bike this week, so I'll be starting my daily cardio. I'm just trying to get the final meal plans and the like out of the way (where my questions come in) before I start - so I know that I'll be doing it right.

First off, if I could create a really good meal that stuck to calorie levels and the 40/40/20 split, would it be okay to eat it mostly every day - just substituting like foods if my tastes started to falter (I'm the kind of guy who can eat the same thing all the time, but I wanted to know if this is a stupid idea).

Also, what kind of plan should a beginner start with? I figured I could ride everyday for about 30 - 45 minutes and then split up my weight training (I have some dumbbells, nothing fancy) to how I used to work out when I was in the gym.

Anybody who has the experience and a couple minutes to guide me in the right direction would be great. I plan to upload my spreadsheets and the like tonite, so you can check the address to see the meal I planned, but until then, any help would be great. Thanks!

Hi Nibrudt (I’m glad I don’t have to pronounce that! Lol)
Well I’ll give my opinion on your questions, I’m not saying take this as fact, you should always do as much research for yourself as possible, and take everything with a pinch of salt, ok here goes.

Well from personal experience I don’t have any problem eating the same foods every day for my fat-loss. I’m living in a catered Hall of residence at uni so my food choices are limited. In fact the only thing that changes from day to day in my plan is the filling of my baguette (and that’s only turkey or ham, lol). There is a lot of belief in ‘carb cycling’ i.e. varying your calorie sources from day to day. But I’m having great results keeping things nice and consistent. I also find that eating the same thing every day is good for maintaining a consistent state of mind.
In terms of your training, I don’t think there’ll be too much objection to me recommending a 3 day split for your weights workout, i.e:

Mon: Chest/Delts/Tri/Traps
Wed: Back/Bicep
Fri: Legs

This is a pretty typical starting point as related muscle groups are kept together (i.e. delts and tri’s are used during most chest exercises, and tri’s are used during most delt exercises etc).
I’d recommend keeping weights workouts to under 60 mins. Concentrate on compound exercises like Bench-press, Dead-lift, Squats etc. Spend a couple of weeks working up to heavy weights, 6-10 reps per set and approx 8 sets per bodypart.
Abs can be worked up to 3 times per week if ur careful but no more!
In terms of cardio, your bike will be great but don’t start off 7 times a week for 30 mins or more (take it from someone with an ice pack strapped to his leg treating an overuse injury!). Start with 15-20 mins, maybe three times a week at a moderate pace, and build up from there. I would first aim for 3 times a week for approx 45 mins, then I’d add a couple more 20 min workouts in between those. You can steadily increase those 20 min workouts to approx 35-40. When you feel your body is strong enough, have a go at some HIIT (loads of info on the net about this).

I guess those are the basics. I feel that the key to this whole ‘game’ is knowledge. You have to learn, learn and then learn some more, lol. Keep learning, keep progressing and keep working hard, don’t ever give up and you can achieve anything.

Greeno :)

I think eating the same thing all day long is fine as long as it fits your 40/40/20 and you stay at your daily calories you want to have. I am 20 yrs old and 5'6 (well, almost, actualy 5'5.5) and 170 pounds. I am at about 15-17% bodyfat, and I have a lot of fat to lose to have the six pack and what nots, but you should definitely build some muscle, cause we are just the right height to look swole... I am not huge or anything, but I think I have good size, plus with the fat soon to be gone, I will definitely be smashing... and I have the feeling that if you work hard, I bet you'll look and feel great. Just keep it up and work hard.

Brian :bb: :gl:

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking that the cardio might be a bit much from the start (after all, I am going from doing nothing and throwing myself into a huge workout at first wouldn't work).

I appreciate the breakdown on lifting, too. My main goal is to cut right now, but lift enough to keep the muscle loss during that phase down. Then, when I get to the weight/body fat % that I want, I can start to add a little to it (I've always like the fit look over being horribly ripped, but that would be nice, too).

Anyway, I have a plan for my everyday meals that gives me 12.97 % in fat, 39.57 % in carbs, and 51.10 % in protein with a grand total of 1405 calories. I know I may have to add onto that as far as cals go, but I thought this might be a good starting point (it's broken into five meals of reasonable size).

I guess that's all. If anyone knows a good place where I could find some other planned meals, that would be great. Or any other info. Once again, thanks for the help - I should have my page up soon so I can start tracking everything along with you guys. Good luck to everyone!