Hi, i'm 19 years old, 6"2, weight is 13 stone or 182 lbs.

I want to get rid of my belly fat, and start toning around that area aswell as arms and legs. I don't know the first thing about dieting, what calories do etc, thats why i want to ask on here for some help.

My waist size is about a 36 inch. I'm not entirely overweight or anything, it's just taking my self confidence away. I recently came out of hospital after a burst appendix happened, which i was in hospital for about 4 months, with little foods etc, then when i got out, my doc said not to train for a year. So i havent, and now i'm basically getting fat after that year with practically NO exercise, so i'm bit overweight and less fit.

Can someone help me by straightening the lines here and tell me what i should be eating, what i shouldn't, how long/hard should my workout be etc.

I'm currently unemployed so I have lots of time to go to the gym etc, just tell me what i should be doing, Thanks!

Read the sticky topics at the top of all the forums. Homers guide to Nutrition will tell you what you should be eating etc. Then come back with a plan in hand and the more experienced members will critic and assist you in tuning the plan some. Most of us here don't have the time to create this for you, you need to do a lot of legwork on your own first.


Hi, i'm 19 years old, 6"2, weight is 13 stone or 182 lbs.

I want to get rid of my belly fat, and start toning around that area aswell as arms and legs. I don't know the first thing about dieting, what calories do etc, thats why i want to ask on here for some help.

My waist size is about a 36 inch. I'm not entirely overweight or anything, it's just taking my self confidence away. I recently came out of hospital after a burst appendix happened, which i was in hospital for about 4 months, with little foods etc, then when i got out, my doc said not to train for a year. So i havent, and now i'm basically getting fat after that year with practically NO exercise, so i'm bit overweight and less fit.

Can someone help me by straightening the lines here and tell me what i should be eating, what i shouldn't, how long/hard should my workout be etc.

I'm currently unemployed so I have lots of time to go to the gym etc, just tell me what i should be doing, Thanks!

Okay, I had a little look at marcus's guide for weight loss / nutrition. Had to say a very nice guide.

This is what my stats came up as:

Height 187cm/6'2 ft,in
Weight 82kg/13st/180lbs
Age 19

BMR: 66+1123+935-19
Gym/Workout 1-2 hours per day for 5days a week

I got this result: 3262.

180g protein per day : no more/no less than 2762 calories per day.

So

720 Calories of Protein per day
552 Calories of Fat per day
1491 Calories of Carbohydrates per day

52 : 26 : 20
(carb/prot/fats)

Thats basically what i should be doing per day, but what i need help with is what to eat. This was yesterday's day for me:

10.30am - Frosties
12.00am - 3.5m Walk to Gym (Which I walk back also)
12.30am - Workout start Which included the following:
~10 min on Treadmill (1.5m approx)
~15 min on Bike (3/4 of bikes max level, on a hill program)
~30 mins with Weights (doing all legs/body/arms)
~8 mins on Rower machine (Hardest level)
~10-15 mins on Weights (doing all legs/body/arms again)
02.30pm - Chip Bun/Curry.
05.00pm - Chips/Beans/Sausages

End of Day.

Yeah the day seems very sloppy with foods, but i couldn't do 5-6 meals a day like Marcus stated i should, I like quite a range of foods, specially rice and bread, this may sound stupid but sometimes i'll have a slice of bread or two for a snack heh. If someone could just help me with what foods would accompany my body requirements at the top of this list and could i just increase the calories in meals and have less meals (5-6 meals seems a little too much).

I go to the gym monday-friday and have the weekend to relax myself. Sometimes i do an hour in the gym, sometimes 2, sometimes even more if im in the zone.

Please Help!

While it is possible to only eat 3 meals/day (+ say a PWO 'something') it is unlikely, even at your age, that you will get the look you desire eating that crap. Even if you put on muscle, the belly fat will likely remain.

If the weight in 'stone' wasn't a giveaway, your diet tells me you live in the UK!

Seriously, read the stickies, at least eat 3 decent meals/day and save the traditional 'food' for cheats.

BTW, rice, especially long grain is fine. Bread is not so great, but you diet has way more problems than a bit of bread and rice.

Do you cook for yourself, or was that all 'restautrant' food? Gotta start cooking if you want to eat decently, even if it's just to make your own tuna sandwich.

The diet you've proposed is really not very good in my opinion. What are Frosties? You should try to get in some more/better protein foods, chicken, tuna, beef, turkey...

Why can't you eat more than 3 meals per day? It's really not that hard. :)

Since you're walking 3.5 miles to the gym anyway, I'd pull the other cardio out of the routine. Walk there, lift weights, walk home. Just my opinion, but man that's a boat load of cardio you're wanting to do. I don't think it's necessary. Also, 2 hours of weightlifting is really a long time. More is not necessarily better, sometimes harder is better. :tucool:

What are Frosties? :tucool:

Sugar coated Corn Flakes - and probably the most healthy thing listed on that 'diet'. - and I am being serious, especially if he ate them with milk!

Actually the beans might not be too bad - but they will definitely be ones with a ton of added sugar and probably fat too.

Sugar coated Corn Flakes - and probably the most healthy thing listed on that 'diet'. - and I am being serious, especially if he ate them with milk!

Actually the beans might not be too bad - but they will definitely be ones with a ton of added sugar and probably fat too.
OH, like Frosted Flakes kinda?

Not my first choice of cereal, but darn it they do taste good!

Thanks alot for your replies, and yes i do live in the UK.

So taken that my dieting is absolute crap, I need a change. I looked on http://www.fatlosstips.com/ but the foods that he eats dont pick my fancy at all, I'm not too much into home-made meals, but as you say thats the best way to keep away from all this fast-food. So heres some stuff i'll definalty dig into, except how should i prepare them: Eggs - Scrambled, Hard Boiled etc?, Bread/Sandwich - but with what filling?, Chicken - how much? And what about Fruits, how many pieces of fruit per day and does type matter, and what sort of vegetables.

Another question would be, is my workout too intense or not, and if i stick to that workout 5 days a week, will it affect whether i should be taking more food for more energy and fat for muscle?

Hi Spliff, congrats on taking the first steps, and good luck on your journey!

I'm also in the UK, and my diet was seriously bad before.

Just purely so you can get started, here's one initial food for you try. Tescos chunky flamegrilled chicken. It's pre-cooked and comes chopped into pieces. I often eat it straight out of the packet - you don't even need a plate or cutlery. This will give you something healthy and convenient to eat while you read through the messages here :)

prep your food however you like them. i usually eat 3 whole eggs for breakfast with toast, but im starting to hate eating boiled eggs and just plain scrambled eggs so ive been starting to add him stuff, like in scrambled eggs i put in some sort of rosemary/peppers/thyme sort of herb mixture (ones from a shaker that you're suppose to put on marinating meats and vegs) and some cheese, it taste pretty nice.

sandwiches i usually eat tuna (whatever sauce you like, sweet chili, low fat mayo etc), tomato, lettuce. yum! if im bored of tuna ill eat shaved ham or ill grill some chicken breast, lettuce and mayo.

diunner i eat grilled steak/chicken or fish with veges or salad and maybe some rice.

my diet got a lot better after i bought one of those breville grillers (like the george foreman grills), so now when i do my eggs and meats i dont have to put any oil in.

I agree with 1FastGTX, lose the cardio at the gym. With all that walking do some serious weight training at the gym.
Since you're just getting started you could three sets of one lift for every muscle group every day for five days- and see some very fast results. Even if your diet isn't tops you'll see a major difference compared to laying around at the hospital then not exercising for a year. Your muscles will grow and the fat will melt off. I would be sure to design your lifting routine around the most important lifts: Bench, Squat, and Deaadlift. Try to do those at least once per week. Then after a couple months you'll be much harder and you should change your routine for variety.

Thanks for all the advice up to now, its helping me ALOT. Looks like Grilled Chicken and Steak seem to be the top contenders for mealing, Which I do love (and i also have a george foreman) so i'll be putting that to use.

For my workout routine, I use the machines alot and never the free weights, should i switch to free weights, if so why? At the minute i do:

Arms Machine
Legs Machine
Abs (Either press ups or the ab machine)

And then keep rotating between them 3 with all the machines and do that for around 30-40 minutes before i get bored, then my session would nearly be over because i will have done cardio for around 25 minutes. Could i still use the cardio as a warm up (i.e. 8-10 mins on the treadmill) because my routine seems lost without it.

Cheers again.