I have been working out on and off for a couple of years now and plan to start a new cycle soon. Looking over these forums has given me a lot of ideas, and having noticed how nice and helpful people are i decided to just flat out ask for any suggestions.

With the introduction done, a little about me and my goals.
I am male 19 years old, about 6' and weigh in the low 140's (142 i think now). I am naturally skinny and pretty strong, eat like a horse and dont gain a pound. Bulking would probobly make sense for me, but i dont think its really practical. Being a college student i get about 2 meals in the cafeteria a day (max of my meal plan) and i cant concieve of the effort id have to put in to eat enough in order to gain mass; and besides, the idea of being 'big' doesnt really appeal to me, id rather be skinny and ripped. Also just feeling healthy and energetic are of paramount importance. I am plowing away at a tier 1 university, and when studying all day feeling slugish and icky is just too huge a detriment.

My current plan:
Diet: Not too much control here, the crap they serve is the crap they serve. I always try to make the best of it and eat clean. No desert, soda, fried food, etc.

Excersise:
3 day split probobly with cardio every day. I think cardio gives me the best boost in energy. Contrary opinions welcome. (Also would rock climbing be considered cardio)
I used "Men's health home work out bibile" early this summer and enjoyed the excersises suggested so i think ill base this cycle on it as well.

Life style stuff:
refrain smoking (i go weeks without smoking, but some days are pain, and so is peer presure, so it happens)
maintain scheduel as far as sleep patern, work, and work outs go
refrain from coffee

This is not a huge life chaning thing for me, its just me trying to be more organized about working out this time aoround to hopefully see more results.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rockclimbing is not considered to be cardio. I would class it as bodyweight exercise of a sort. I don't understand what it is you want to do. Your happy with being skinny and ripped, your ex plan is in place from earlier and you are not too intersted in messing with your diet which leaves.......???????

Rockclimbing is not considered to be cardio. I would class it as bodyweight exercise of a sort. I don't understand what it is you want to do. Your happy with being skinny and ripped, your ex plan is in place from earlier and you are not too intersted in messing with your diet which leaves.......???????
Thank you for a quick reply and pointing out the fact that my post was incredibly muddled. I kind of rushed through it. Perhaps i can clarify. For starters the problem is that currently i am skinny but not too ripped. I’m hoping to change that in the next couple of months. What i gave was the layout of where i stand. I am not overly confident in my ideas of what’s a correct work out for me, and I was looking either to cement my ideas or gather something new. If you have suggestions as to how i can mess around with my diet within the constraints of being a college students (caf food) i would be thrilled to have the advice. Perhaps you can offer advice on a good work out for my goals, i would love to try it. Maybe some general strategy for improving my life style/effectiveness of my efforts. For example, i saw people creating work out journals, something i haven’t really thought about before. I am novice looking to learn, and will at least consider any advice and more then likely give it a shot. Am i still being vague? Then i ask, what are the fundamentals that i must consider in order to reach my goal? If i am totally wasting people’s time please let me know, and I’ll delete this post.

You're not wasting anyone's time, so shut up. :D We're all here to help!

Give us an idea of what they serve in the lunch room please.

2 meals a day is going to work against you I think. Sure, you can get ripped on 2 meals a day but I think you could potentially lose some muscle too. But who knows, I've seen some guys do crazy things; a friend of mine eats McDonald's and gets drunk all the time and he's ripped (I hate genetics!!!).

How's the cash flow situation? Are you pretty strapped or can you pick up some cheap foods for additional meals (tuna, rice, oats, bulk chicken)? Can you afford a meal replacement powder? You could mix it on the way to class at the water fountain, shake and drink.

the selection is fairly broad but often poorly prepared. Daily there is a salad bar (traditional salad stuff, boiled eggs are a plus) peanut butter all the standard fair. There is always a pizza/pasta section. A grill section where there are veggie burgers, regular burgers, hot dogs. A vegetarian section which tends to be best tasting and most sensible prepared. Another section which varies broadly, usually some sort of meat and starch. Meat is usually so drenched in sauce that its hard to eat and i cant imagine it too healthy. If you have the time here are links to the menus.

http://www3.georgetown.edu/admin/auxiliarysrv/dining/menus/leosentry.html
http://www3.georgetown.edu/admin/auxiliarysrv/dining/menus/leoslower.html

As far as buying additional things its not much of a problem. As long as i can justify it to myself and more importantly to parents (so no weird sounding supplements) the sky is the limit money wise. There is also the fact that I’m 19 and in college so keeping it simple is key.

refrain smoking (i go weeks without smoking, but some days are pain, and so is peer presure, so it happens)

Oh man stop smoking. It's the healthiest thing anyone can do. Half the people who smoke die from smoking related causes. They've done a ton of work on it and it's really that bad.

If you do anything for your health, stop smoking.

Oh man stop smoking. It's the healthiest thing anyone can do. Half the people who smoke die from smoking related causes. They've done a ton of work on it and it's really that bad.

If you do anything for your health, stop smoking.


true, and im pretty good about it. And will hopefully be flawless. Social setting is the big hurdle, europeans are pretty pig headed about the subject. Thanks for the encouragement

true, and im pretty good about it. And will hopefully be flawless. Social setting is the big hurdle, europeans are pretty pig headed about the subject. Thanks for the encouragement

Personally, I think they're pigheaded in the opposite direction: I don't smoke, I think it's disgusting, but the way they've switched sides and started treating smokers like pariahs... They're being too strict and too uncompromising about it. I think they should offer more help with quitting and be a bit more lenient with current smokers... But hey, fascism is okay as long as you're reaping the benefits! Long live smoke free trains!

Giving in to peer pressure is just plain lame, tell them smoking is stupid and act like it's cool NOT to smoke. Worked for me in the past. Just say no! ;)