I am going to start over. I was exercising last year but stopped keeping track and not eating that well, so i decided that this would be a good time to start. My starting point is 162 lbs and my goal is to be 150 lbs by sometime in march. I think that is a realistic goal please tell me what you think. To track my food intake and exercise I'm using Calorie Counter at about.com. It suggested that i eat about 1979 cal a day. I'm not exactly sure on how much protein and carbs i should eat but I'm going to research that. If anyone has anyone knows of good resources to look at please let me know.

Here are my starting pictures:

Hi Felix!
You didn't say much about your workout and diet plan, but it seems to me that about 2000 calories is too little. Did you read the stickies in the beginners' forum? Try to calculate daily calorie intake on your own first.
Good luck!:tu:

Hi!

IMO you need to add muscle, not lose fat :). How tall are you? What's your nutrition and exercise plan look like? Read the stickies at the top of the beginner's forum to get the information you need to start.

For exercise I'm currently going snowboarding 3 days a week for about 5hrs on Saturdays and Sundays and ~2hrs on Mondays or Fridays. I have been going to a karate school for about 1.5yrs. For karate I have classes on Monday (1hr), Wednesday (3hrs), and Friday (1hr) every week. Then I'll start adding in weightlifting once i figure out what I need to do.

For food I have been having trouble reaching the calorie goal that I currently have. On Tuesday I had 1,715 and on Wednesday I had 1,428. I had to find things to eat that were healthy to add to what had ate to get there. Over all the food I have been eating tend to be high in carbs and protein but low in calories. Tuesday I had 195g carbs and 133g protein. Wednesday i had 200g carbs and 85g protein.

Reading one of the threads in the beginners section I calculated my desired intake using the BMR formula. The results were 2473 cal to loose ~1lb a week and 1973 to loose ~2lbs a week.

Looks like there is alot more reading for me to do. Any suggestions of foods that would help reach my goals.

Here is what I ate on Tuesday:

-Breakfast-
3/4 cup of Pumpkin FlaxPlus Granola
1 cup Kirkland Signature Original Vanilla Soymilk

-Lunch-
1 bag Earthbound Farms Organic Apple Slices
2 Multi-Grain Crackers
1 Minh Pork & Vegetable Egg Roll
1 Breaded Chicken Breast Pattie
16oz Gatorade

-Dinner-
4oz Foster Farms Brest Tenders
2 small Hunt's Whole tomatoes
1 can Chicken of the Sea Tuna
1/2 cup Kirkland Signature Original Vanilla Soymilk

-Snacks-
8oz Myoplex Lite Chocolate w/milk
1 Quaker Rice Cake White Cheddar

Hi!

IMO you need to add muscle, not lose fat :). How tall are you? What's your nutrition and exercise plan look like? Read the stickies at the top of the beginner's forum to get the information you need to start.

I wasn't sure if I should loose some weight then start adding muscle or add muscle then cut.

I'm 6' 2"

I wasn't sure if I should loose some weight then start adding muscle or add muscle then cut.

I'm 6' 2"
i think you can do both at the same time, but it will take a very precise diet plan, including supplements. but i agree with J_W that you don't need to cut. just clean up your diet and build build build :-)

I wasn't sure if I should loose some weight then start adding muscle or add muscle then cut.

I'm 6' 2"

At 6'2 and 162 lbs you definitely do not want to lose weight. You'll be sacrificing what little muscle you have. Like Buttersweet said, as a beginner you can lose fat and add muscle at the same time, but you're going to have to set up a solid plan and lift some heavy weights. Once you've come up with a nutrition plan and a lifting plan, post both in the beginner's forum for some feedback.

~2000 kcal and less is definitely not enough food. You seem to be lacking healthy fats in your diet. Nuts and nut butters (natural), olive oil, canola oil, flax oil, fish oil etc. will add calories and some essential fatty acids that your body needs. Also, drop the soymilk and gatorade.

It looks like you're eating a lot of processed stuff, like granola and crackers. You want to eat as much non-processed food as possible. So instead of granola, for example, have some old-fashioned rolled oats and eggs for breakfast.

Like I said, post your nutrition and lifting plan in the beginner's section and you'll get some helpful feedback.

in addition, have at least 5 meals per day. you lack protein, and i don't see steamed veggies in your diet. drink a lot of water.
include low fat cottage cheese, oats, have whole grain bagels/bread instead of crackers, almonds and peanuts as snacks (not salted), broccoli with tomatoes, etc.
and when you add lifting to your plan, always do it before cardio.
EDIT: compound exercises!