Hey guys. Just found this forum, lots of good information.

I'm a 21 year old guy...I'm 6'4 and weigh about 185. I'm basically super skinny except for the fact I have a pretty large pot belly, but I have girly arms and legs. I was using drugs for the past few years and never cared about myself and my body, but now that is all behind me. I'm really focused on getting in shape now.

Last week I bought a bike, and I've been riding it every day for cardio. I ride every day not really hard, for 30-45 minutes. I'm doing this as much for general health as I am for fat loss. Is this too much cardio, or to little?

As for weights...I'm a pretty weak guy. I went out and got some freeweights because I'm to embarrased to go to the gym. This is going to sound really bad, but I only curl 20lb dumbbells and bench about 70lbs (both in sets of 10)

What are some good excercises I can do without going to the gym? I have freeweights, and also a bench.

As for diet, well, I am focused on just eating clean for now, as I am reading up more about nutrition. I am planning on buying some protein shake powder soon....

Any and all tips would be extremly helpful!

Sounds like a great start. Remember, just take it day by day and take it slow. Don't try to transform yourself in 2 months. Make a plan that you can stick to, then stick to it. Once you master that plan, create a new plan based on what you learned on the earlier plan. That's how you learn and grow. Good luck! :tucool:

Hi and welcome!

I would like to congratulate you for deciding to start anew. Just remember, it's in your grasp to become healthy and fit, you just need to stick to doing the healthy things.

As for your questions I'd recommend checking out this site for exercises you can preform: http://www.exrx.net/
And read the stickies on top of this forum to get an idea of the right way to eat and exercise.

And don't be embarrased to ask! If you feel you might not be doing something right - ask! We're here to help each other!

Good luck!

Gila.

I've read all the stickys up top, along with tons of info from the forums.

I came up with I need to eat 2600 calories a week to lose 1lb a week.

760 Calories of protein (190g) 29%
520 calories of fat (58g) 20%
1326 calories of carbs (331.5g) 51%

Or 433 calories a meal 6 times a day.

I'm having trouble with a diet place. It seems that their are some basic staple foods for eating clean...trouble is I can't stomach tuna (or any seafood) or cottage cheese....which seem to be a major part of any diet plan I try to mimic.

So basically...I'd be stuck eaten chicken 2-3 times a day everyday. Now, I like chicken...but this seems a tad overkill, and not exactly healthy. The diet is what I really need to figure out first, anyone got any ideas?

I've read all the stickys up top, along with tons of info from the forums.

I came up with I need to eat 2600 calories a week to lose 1lb a week.

760 Calories of protein (190g) 29%
520 calories of fat (58g) 20%
1326 calories of carbs (331.5g) 51%

Or 433 calories a meal 6 times a day.

I'm having trouble with a diet place. It seems that their are some basic staple foods for eating clean...trouble is I can't stomach tuna (or any seafood) or cottage cheese....which seem to be a major part of any diet plan I try to mimic.

So basically...I'd be stuck eaten chicken 2-3 times a day everyday. Now, I like chicken...but this seems a tad overkill, and not exactly healthy. The diet is what I really need to figure out first, anyone got any ideas?




I too can't tolerate seafood or cottage cheese. I take fish oil capsules and eat cottage cheese twice a day but I put 2-3tbls of it in my protein shakes and blend them and can't taste the cottage cheese at all. As far as meat besides the many ways of preparing chicken breasts I make ground turkey chili with kidney beans, pork tenderloin, very lean pork chops with garlic, and turkey burgers. All of these are very clean.

I'm having trouble with a diet place. It seems that their are some basic staple foods for eating clean...trouble is I can't stomach tuna (or any seafood) or cottage cheese....which seem to be a major part of any diet plan I try to mimic.

I hated these (along with eggs) as well when I started. I sucked it up, and a year later, I can eat them without gagging!

So basically...I'd be stuck eaten chicken 2-3 times a day everyday. Now, I like chicken...but this seems a tad overkill, and not exactly healthy. The diet is what I really need to figure out first, anyone got any ideas?

I eat chicken 3 times a day, tuna once, and turkey once. I have no problems. I don't see what is unhealthy about this. I prepare the chicken in a different fashion every once in a while to change things up. Who cares? Everything tastes like chicken anyways right? Plus, I feel chicken is nearly the perfect food.

Sorry, one last thing. I find that using chicken so much cuts down my prep time. I gladly trade variety for less cooking time. I basically work from a single menu, same thing every day of the week. When I want to change my goals, or I get tired of the menu (every 6 months or so) I make a new menu, and THAT is what I eat every day from then on. The previous post provided some of the items that have been included in my menus in the past.

My plan is also too make one perfect menu and stick with it; maybe with very slight variation day to day (cooking the chicken differently)

Now its just time to find the right menu...

Once my protein shake mix stuff comes in, I'll try mixing some cottage cheese with it, thanks for the idea.

Once my protein shake mix stuff comes in, I'll try mixing some cottage cheese with it, thanks for the idea.

Can also try some blueberries or pinneapple in cottage cheese, that is what I did to get used to it. You can also make tuna salad to help choke down tuna.

What's wrong with Beef? Top Round is very lean, just avoid eating cuts like Ribeye with excessive marbling. as long as you aren't consuming too much saturated fats throughout the rest of the day beef is an excellent food choice. Try to avoid ground beef though as it contains a lot of contaminants.

Glad to see you dropped the drugs. :claplow: Sounds like you're off on the right foot! :tucool: Good luck.

hey im new as well just wanted to welcome you. I have a body type just like you skinny arms and leggs but a 40 in waist so i know how frustrating it can be but i can tell you the good thing about that is we only really have one place to lose fat so you will see that waist go down fairly quick if you stick to good eating and exercise.
on a side note i know my wife cant stand cottage cheese either so what we do is mix it 1:1 with no sugar cinnmon apple sause and it actually taste damn good dont taste the cottage cheese at all.

What's wrong with Beef? Top Round is very lean, just avoid eating cuts like Ribeye with excessive marbling. as long as you aren't consuming too much saturated fats throughout the rest of the day beef is an excellent food choice. Try to avoid ground beef though as it contains a lot of contaminants.

Nothing is wrong with beef. It is higher in fat that some meats, but lower than others. I buy organic 93% lean ground beef, great for taco salad, meatloaf... Beef roasts are a good choice, you can get pretty lean cuts, and of course steak... Mmmm steak!

H
As for weights...I'm a pretty weak guy. I went out and got some freeweights because I'm to embarrased to go to the gym. This is going to sound really bad, but I only curl 20lb dumbbells and bench about 70lbs (both in sets of 10)

What are some good excercises I can do without going to the gym? I have freeweights, and also a bench.


I remebmer those days. I think I started at about the same level.

There is a lot you can do at home, but I would definitely invest in a a bar as well as dumbells.

Also 20lb x10 for curls is not bad - IF you are executing what I would consider proper form. I'd actually go lower weight, make sure you use a full range-of-motion (don't lock your arms at the bottom though) and really squeeze the bicep at the top. Doing this I can get a serious pump with 20lb! Also lean forward slightly - it take some of the strain off the delts and keeps the strain on the biceps.

As for excersices, my standard ones (pre-shoulder injury) are:

Decline, flat, incline press
Millitary Press
Dips (with hands on the bench) - feet on the floor or on a chair. You an add weight in your lap with your fee on the chair.
Bent rows
Flys, reverse flys
Pull overs
close grip presses (with barbel)
Pull ups (use a beam, or rig something up)
Front and lateral raises

I don't do legs - so not sure about this

Links

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

http://strengthtraining.asimba.com/fitness_info/index.html

http://www.2-fit.com/video/index.html

Also, and before you laugh I will explain, I recently got some of those 'fitness rubber band things'. They come in different strengths and you can attach them to a door. Now I started using these for shoulder rehab, but I think I will continue to use some of the stiffer ones, even when my shoulder gets better. They are certainly not as good as a cable machine, but you can mimic some of the cable-based exercises with them and they will be good for strengthening the stabilizing muscles for any given exercise. These are going to be useless for the people who are big and very strong, but for us who bench less than 200lb, I think they could be valuable as part of a routine. I wouldn’t bother doing the exercises in the booklets that come with them – look for ‘proper’ cable exercises and use some improvisation.

You can do things like

Tricep extensions/pushdowns
Flys
Rows (you may need the strongest bands for this and even then they may not be stiff enough)

Also you can use then to train your shoulder rotator cuffs (very important to avoid injury which I had NOT been doing)

Good luck.

well, my arms look better then they've ever looked. my diet is still iffy, but I'm eating cleaner in general. i want to start hitting a punching bag, and I bought one. question is, what do you fill it with? dirt seems like it would make the bag to hard...need something with give, i think....

thanks!

old clothes are perfect, though you have to really pack them in. Factory filled ones I've seen are stuffed with a cotton wool like material, put really packed in hard.

Don't try dirt, I reckon you'll hurt yourself.

GO to the gym. You'll have access to everything you need to make you fit, and a lot more concentration and motivation compared to doing it at home. Do NOT be embarassed, nobody will make fun of you about how much you lift, because everybody has started out the same and there's also always someone who lifts more than you or them. Trust me, you'll find a lot of encouragement instead of ridicule you fear. That fear is stupid, just bite the bullet and do it, because that is the way you LOSE the reason to fear!