Hello all, I want to 1st say thank you for this forum. I am extemely new to the diet/fitness world. I am 34 yrs old 5'9" 202 lbs I am not happy that i could win a dicky-do award so I need help lol. First off I dont know what would be a good diet program. Then a workout program. Will I need supplements? And if so which ones? My goal is to ,I dont know if its good, be around 8% body fat and 185-200 lbs with some bulk. So any advice would be greatly apprecitated.

Hello all, I want to 1st say thank you for this forum. I am extemely new to the diet/fitness world. I am 34 yrs old 5'9" 202 lbs I am not happy that i could win a dicky-do award so I need help lol. First off I dont know what would be a good diet program. Then a workout program. Will I need supplements? And if so which ones? My goal is to ,I dont know if its good, be around 8% body fat and 185-200 lbs with some bulk. So any advice would be greatly apprecitated.


Hey there, welcome to JSF :)

Read the stickies in each section, there's a ton of good info on diet programs, workouts, and supplement information. The search function is pretty useful at finding info as well. If you have any specific questions or need clarification, this community is pretty friendly and will be glad to help. Good luck!

Hello all, I want to 1st say thank you for this forum. I am extemely new to the diet/fitness world. I am 34 yrs old 5'9" 202 lbs I am not happy that i could win a dicky-do award so I need help lol. First off I dont know what would be a good diet program. Then a workout program. Will I need supplements? And if so which ones? My goal is to ,I dont know if its good, be around 8% body fat and 185-200 lbs with some bulk. So any advice would be greatly apprecitated.

I agree with the earlier post... I know that you want quick answers, but you really need to understand it for yourself or you won't stick with it.

My biggest suggestion would be to track all of your food intake then get your macro percentages correct. That is the step that really launched my fitness journey after dabbling in it for a while.

:gl:

Thank you for the replys. I have been on here almost all day reading. Man there is alot to read but I think I am overloaded with info. Like I said in 1st post I am extemely new to the diet/fitness world. So it all is mumble jumbo to me. I think i got my cal intake down. I was hoping to find a menu of sorts to go by. Should I lose weight then do bulking or other way around. I have a friend that is doing P90X is that worth it? lol I am so confused. Any help and/or direction would be great. Thank you so much and sorry for not being educated in the diet/fitness world but I am a fast learner. So just point me in the right way.

Should I lose weight then do bulking or other way around.


Depends... what is your current body composition? Maybe post some pictures of yourself. It is hard to tell someone what to do when you know nothing about him/her

Since you are brand new, you can probably cut and gain some muscle (at least I have).

Not being an expert at this either... I just decided that it was time to start doing something. As I have been telling everyone... you have to start somewhere.

Speaking only from my experience, I would suggest that you start lifting... check out all of the info here or look at something like StrongLifts 5x5 (http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/).

Start tracking everything you eat and focus on a macro split (I have been using 40% protein, 40% carb, and 20% fat) along with a calorie goal... probably around 2000... track your weight loss and measurements then adjust the calorie intake as you go.

When you get ambitious, throw some cardio in.

Oh, and by the way, do yourself a favor and take pictures and measurements now... you will want to look back at them so you can see your progress! (trust me on this one... just do it)

The great thing is, with this forum, you can learn from other people's experience rather than having to learn it all on your own. Here is everything I've learned in the last month... you can probably read all of this in less than 30 minutes...

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=47261
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=47319
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=47430

Thank you the reply. I think I am getting it lol The 1 thing I am confused on is tracking my calories, protein, carbs and fat. I used michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm (http://michaelandkendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm) to get my bulking calories intake. It has me at 3712 daily calories (seems high to me)gaining 1 lbs a week. Using 40/40/20 Then it breaks it down to
protein 1484.8 calories,
carbs 1484.8 calories,
fat 742.4, and
protein 371.2,
carbs 371.2,
fat 82.5 How to I track the calories from prorien,carbs and fat? or should I focus on the grams or am I making this harder than it should be? Please give me an example if possible.

OK... this is where you need to do some fishing... go to the Stickies...

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=45975

and read all of the posts in the middle section under the heading...

FAT LOSS, MUSCLE BUILDING AND NUTRITION

Then you should understand it well enough to go for it on your own. Don't believe what some website told you... read the information, understand it, and develop your own game plan.

As a quick suggestion without knowing anything about you, I would suggest that you go for 2000 calories... track everything you eat on www.fitday.com... it'll show you in percentages what you are taking in as far as macros. Then just adjust what you eat each day until you understand how it affects the breakdown. It took me about a week to get my diet to the 40/40/20 split. I just started tracking and adjusting.

Remember, you don't have to have a perfect plan to get started, but you have to get started to perfect your plan

Remember, you don't have to have a perfect plan to get started, but you have to get started to perfect your plan

That's awesome BJ (and I agree 100%)! :tu:

ok I think I got my calories under control now. Here is what I have please tell me what you think. I have never try to count calories so bare with me lol.

Meal 1. post work out 100% whey protein drink

Meal 2. 2 scrambled eggs, 1 whole wheat tortilla, .5 oz colby jack cheese

Meal 3. 1.5 c brown rice, 3.2 oz tuna, 2 tbsp miracle whip nonfat

Meal 4. 3 oz chicken breast, 1 c lowfat cottage cheese, .5 oz colby jack cheese

Meal 5. 1 c Plain lowfat yogurt, 10 blueberries

Meal 6. 1 c cottage cheese, 1 whole wheat bagel


1986 calories

Protein 187.2 grams 39%
Carbs 204.7 grams 41%
Fat 44.9 grams 20%

I am not sure if I am doing this right please advise on what should be fixed if anything. Thank you

ok I think I got my calories under control now. Here is what I have please tell me what you think. I have never try to count calories so bare with me lol.

Meal 1. post work out 100% whey protein drink

Meal 2. 2 scrambled eggs, 1 whole wheat tortilla, .5 oz colby jack cheese

Meal 3. 1.5 c brown rice, 3.2 oz tuna, 2 tbsp miracle whip nonfat

Meal 4. 3 oz chicken breast, 1 c lowfat cottage cheese, .5 oz colby jack cheese

Meal 5. 1 c Plain lowfat yogurt, 10 blueberries

Meal 6. 1 c cottage cheese, 1 whole wheat bagel


1986 calories

Protein 187.2 grams 39%
Carbs 204.7 grams 41%
Fat 44.9 grams 20%

I am not sure if I am doing this right please advise on what should be fixed if anything. Thank you


AWESOME! this is a great start :claplow:

You could probably work on timing of the carbs a little, but don't get too picky on yourself right off the bat.

Now, stick with this (or something like this) for a week or two and see what results you have. If you want results faster than what you get, drop your calories by 100 - 200 and do it again.

How do you feel?

Honestly I a pumped.... This is all I have been talking about... I think my ol' lady has heard enough about it lol no she has been great about all of it very supportive which is good. And I really thankful for the help from all of JSF. What a life saver.



Ok now when you say timing of carbs I take it there is a good time for them than others? Explain please :)

read foley's write up on macronutrient timing here (read the whole post, it's all very good info): http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=41991

Ok now when you say timing of carbs I take it there is a good time for them than others? Explain please :)

Read the post that Porter linked to for sure, but just a side note here: macronutrient timing is a great technique and can get you great results - but as a beginner it's not absolutely crucial. Nutrition can be sometimes be overwhelming for some beginners and what's really important is that you are making smarter food choices. If it all seems confusing, don't worry about it. Just focus on making changes - eat better, be more active, and be sure to get quality rest. :)

Read the post that Porter linked to for sure, but just a side note here: macronutrient timing is a great technique and can get you great results - but as a beginner it's not absolutely crucial. Nutrition can be sometimes be overwhelming for some beginners and what's really important is that you are making smarter food choices. If it all seems confusing, don't worry about it. Just focus on making changes - eat better, be more active, and be sure to get quality rest. :)

+ 1

I would add to this that there are many ways of doing things. Stuff I wrote in that guide thing I have changed my views on, some things minorly and some majorly. (Should rewrite some of it at some point)

I cant agree more. Perfect quote!

Stuff I wrote in that guide thing I have changed my views on, some things minorly and some majorly. (Should rewrite some of it at some point)


Let us know when/if you rewrite... I would be interested in checking out your changes!

Honestly I a pumped.... This is all I have been talking about... I think my ol' lady has heard enough about it lol

First of all congrats... feels good doesn't it? I am just glad that I could help a bit since so many here already did it for me.

And trust me, my wife thought I had gone crazy at first too... but now she is following close to the same plan with some pretty good results! ;)

Anyway, keep it up! (did you take pictures yet? you'll want them to look back at and compare)

Yes BJ thank you very much for the help and thank you to everyone else who has helped also. I just started my journal http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=47722
as soon as I figure out how to put it in my signature I will atleast thats where I think I can put it lol