Hello everyone,

I am a freshmen in college and now that I am at college I have all sorts of time on my hands as well as a free world class workout center on campus. So I am going to use my free time to finally do what I have always been talking about. GET IN SHAPE! The main reason I am doing this is for myself. I want to feel and look better. I want to know that people will ask me for help about working out and eating right. I want to wake up everyone and look in the mirror and feel proud about working hard and seeing results. I'm also doing this to prove a friend wrong. He is kind of a heavy set guy and is always trying to lose weight, but never goes about it in the right way and when I try to give him advice about food he doesn't listen. I guess the only way he will learn is if he looks at me and see's how big of a transformation I'm making.

I'm 5'10"-154lbs. Not sure about my BF %, but I know its not good and I defiantly want it to be lower. I pretty much am I weakling and have no muscle at all. Most of my fat is around my stomach, chest, and thighs. I plan on doing a cutting routine first so I can get rid of a lot of fat and then go to a bulking stage.

I plan on using most of the recipes in the sticky in the recipe forum. Since I plan on doing a major cut would only doing cardio be the best way to start off? I plan on reading up on all of the sticky's over and over again until I fully understand them so I can have the basics down for sure. Any advice or help for a beginner would be greatly appreciated.

Since I plan on doing a major cut would only doing cardio be the best way to start off?

There are a zillion ways to do cardio, but where bodybuilding is concerned, all of us here will advocate one of two forms: HIIT or LISS. Do a forum search on those two terms alone and you'll get more reading than you can handle in a week.

I plan on reading up on all of the sticky's over and over again until I fully understand them so I can have the basics down for sure. Any advice or help for a beginner would be greatly appreciated.

Your first post is great! You've got the right attitude, you're doing the research... you're learning! That's awesome. After you've formulated your plan, be sure to post it and we'll all take a look and give you opinions on tweaking and optimizing the plan.

A few things to note as you plan your diet and exercise...

-Macro ratio. Don't obsess over it; just pick one and try it. 40/40/20 is a good place to start, but not the only one - I've always done best with 50/35/15 or so.
-Cardio. Don't obsess over which form of cardio - HIIT, LISS, other forms... whatever - don't obsess over which is the most efficient. Pick a form of cardio you enjoy doing because that means you'll do it consistently. Cardio is a big key to fat loss, so you need to be sure you do it, enjoy it, and do it regularly. 3~5 times per week when cutting has been my "sweet spot".
-Lifting. Start light. Work slowly, learn good form. Great bodies are built in years, not months. You can make major strides in a short amount of time, but err on the side of caution. Use light weights until you've brought your muscles out of their current sedentary state. Form is critical, lift with good form to prevent injury.
-Lifting programs. Like cardio, there are a zillion ways to lift. Program after program. Pick on you like and implement it - again, don't obsess over which is best - pick which one you like, you're enthusiastic about, and get the ball rolling.

This is a lifestyle change; you're changing how you live forever to obtain the body you want to maintain. It will take time, effort, and most of all... consistency. If you're consistent, even the most mediocre of programs will work for you.

:gl:

-R

Dont just do cardio. Lift as well.

After reading the stickys etc, you will understand why.

Good luck.