Want to change? Here's some advice.

Hello blades,

I just typed up this long ass thing in response to someone's request for advice, and felt that it might be more useful/visible if I threw it into its own thread, so here it is.

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Disclaimer: This is what worked for me. I make no guarantees as to its anatomical, factual, or educational value - it's simply my knowledge on the subject and some things I learned and took into consideration when I was in your situation.

With that in mind, I managed to drop 30 pounds in 3 months at age 16 by doing most what you're about to read. This is obviously a lot of weight in not a lot of time, but as a 16 year old (should be none here) I had a high metabolism, and young bodies change more readily than older ones. It can be damaging and unhealthy to lose weight this fast, especially if you're older and not in great health to begin with. I've maintained a healthy lifestyle since doing this, and it was far and away the most worthwhile thing I've ever done.

As far as diet goes:
First and most importantly, drink lots of water. I drank atleast two liters a day when I was seriously trying to get in shape. This helps keep your body clean, improves blood flow, and generally helps you feel better. Your body needs water to function, and if you convince it you have enough, you can drop water weight that your body stores.

Second, pick some healthy foods that you like and base your meals around them. Hopefully you enjoy chicken and or fish, as these are two of the cleanest sources of protein for your body. Obviously go for the baked or broiled varieties rather than fried. Keep your carbs clean - don't eat anything that's not whole grain. Fruits and veggies with each meal if possible. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains all contain a lot of fiber, which is good for your digestion and general health. You'll find that you stay full longer when you eat healthy foods. Beans (cannelini, kidney, etc) are a good source of fiber as well.

Eat several smaller meals throughout the day instead of 3 big meals. The two smaller meals should be based about 3 hours from when you eat breakfast and lunch, and should contain complex carbohydrates (whole grains) and proteins.

Eat your bigger meals in the morning when you'll be burning the most calories, and trim them down as the day goes on. You don't need to eat a big dinner, especially since most people don't do a whole lot of physical activity at night time (sex aside).

Cut out the sugars - don't drink soda, if you HAVE to drink coffee, use fake sugars. No ice cream, candy, that sort of thing.

ONCE A WEEK: Have a meal you love, whether it be pizza, meatloaf, or whatever. It'll help keep you motivated, and you can use it as a reward. Eating big one or two meals a week will also help keep your metabolism from dropping, which can kill your appetite, thus preventing muscle growth. Alternatively, eat a candy bar or something when you feel you've earned it. DO NOT DO THIS MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK. You might want to make this the day you go a little wild with your munchies

Things to watch out for: 'Hidden calories'. These come in the form of things most people eat or drink without thinking about - condiments, salad dressings, cheese, that sort of thing. If you only drink water most of the time, you'll cut out a lot of calories. Switch to skim milk, keep the cheese off your sandwiches and salads. Eat wheat crackers or pretzels instead of chips if you have to have a crunchy snack. If they make it in fat free, get it in fat free - milk, yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, etc.

It pays to read the food labels - if you're not positive it's good for you and 'clean', take a look. Go through what you have in your house - get rid of the unhealthy junk and replace it with clean foods.

If you decide to buy protein powder, don't waste your money on the GNC/superfitness whatever brands. Go to walmart - they sell the exact same stuff for half the price. Get whey protein, look for low fat and low sugar content. Stay away from muscle milk - it's basically whole milk with a bit of extra protein. Protein IS necessary for building muscle, and adding extra to your diet will help you. Just don't overdo it - what's listed here has been sufficient for me.

Sample Diet:
Breakfast (6:45 am) - 2 egg whites, 2 slices wheat toast, banana, fat free yogurt, protein shake (10-25 grams depending on hunger)
Mid-morning snack (9:30-10 am) - Clif bar (these are great sources of protein, fiber, and complex carbs. They are sugary, which will give you energy if you start to lose it).
Lunch (12-1 pm) - Turkey sandwich on wheat bread with mustard, lettuce, tomatoes. 1 serving triscuit crackers (good fiber, fucking delicious). Apple. Small salad with fat free dressing.
Afternoon snack/postworkout (4-5 pm) - protein shake (50 grams protein, 8 ounces water).
Dinner (any time before 8 pm) - Salad, lean chicken breast, broccoli, black beans. Try to avoid carbs at dinner.

Give your body good, and your body will give you good in return.


Exercise:

Most importantly, stretch. This, combined with all the water you're drinking will allow you to perform better at everything. Stretch your entire body, holding each for atleast 20 seconds. If you can do this three times a day, its best, but before and after exercise is a minimum.

Find a cardio exercise you like/are good at. I personally enjoy nothing more than running through some pleasant scenery, whether it's a nice neighborhood or a local park. Another nice thing about running is that you don't need anything other than shoes - no need to join a gym if you can just run around outdoors. I realize not everyone lives where this is feasible, so if you can find a treadmill, make SURE you have music. Treadmills are hell without it. Other good alternatives are elliptical machines (might be good depending on how strong your joints are, running takes its toll on your knees and ankles, as well as your shins). Bicycling is good too, but won't work your core in the way that running and to a lesser degree the elliptical will. Swimming is an entire body workout, and is best not to be combined with lifting on the same day, you'll ruin yourself for the next week.

I would run a mile every day, then lift if it were a lifting day, then run another mile. On days I didn't lift, I would run, then walk for 10 minutes, stretch, then run another mile. Obviously if you're not up to this, take it slow, build up your endurance by running longer distances at slower paces. Then once you feel your legs are up to the task, start running faster until you are working on improving your cardio and lung performance. Music helps a lot. I took Sundays off for rest.

Basics: Pushups and situps are a great place to start. Building a strong core is important in any fitness routine, so throw in some leg lifts as well. You'll be surprised how fast your ab lines will emerge if you've built up a core at all once your belly starts to melt away. Its a fantastic motivator - who doesn't want a six pack? If you can, start trying to do pullups - they might be impossible or extremely difficult at first. You can do pushups, situps and pullups every day, provided you do an amount that isn't extremely strenuous.

Lifting routines: Theres tons of ways to approach this - some people do every day routines by working a different group of muscles each day. I didn't and still don't have that kind of time, so I preferred a 3 day routine, working every muscle every day. I only worked my upper body and core, and left the leg strength to be built by running. My calves are scrawny, but I'm ok with that - they do what they need to do.

I think that the best way to achieve strength and size gains is to do a program that alternates between two styles of lifting. The first style involves doing lots of reps, fewer sets, and medium weight (3 sets of 10 reps). This helps build endurance. Alternate this with the other style, fewer reps, lots of sets, and heavy weight (4 sets of 5 reps).

After my first three months or so of lifting, I started switching back and forth between these two styles doing the same exercises and saw tremendous gains in 15 weeks or so. I did the 3 sets of 10 reps routine for 9 weeks or so when I first started, as I was just beginning to build strength. You may wish to do the same, or if you feel you already have a base strength such that you can do the more demanding heavy sets after 3 weeks of the endurance style, you may do so. Most programs call for 3 weeks endurance, 3 weeks heavy, etc. The idea behind this is that it 'confuses' your body into building strength and size.

Muscle groups - it's very important to be careful with lifting weights to make sure you don't strain your muscles, hurt your posture, or end up with back/balance issues. A good piece of advice that I heard is to do one 'pulling' lift for every 'pushing' lift you do. Working with freeweights will help you build stability rather than isolating your muscles, which is healthier in the long run from what I understand. Work all your muscle groups evenly. You need to give your muscle groups atleast one day of rest after working them, so no matter how you divide up your workout, make sure you're not working the same groups two days in a row or you'll do more harm than good.

Sample upper body routine:
Bench press - chest, triceps
Bicep Curls - biceps, chest, core
Forward shoulder raise - hold two dumbbells in front of your body, then slowly raise them over your head and back down. This builds your shoulders and core.
Military press - shoulders, back
Bent over row - back
Seated row - back
Barbell pull over - I rarely see people doing this one, but I like it. Look it up. Chest, triceps and torso.
Cross body cable pull - obliques, shoulders, arms
Hammer curls - biceps, forearms
Lat pulldowns or seated lat raises - lats, obviously
Shoulder shrugs- trapezius

I've been doing a routine similar to this, plus or minus a few exercises, for quite some time. Switch it up now and then, throw in incline bench presses, decline bench presses, reverse your grips to hit different areas. There's tons of information on lifting and routines on the web - I'm sure if you found the city, you can find something you'll like.

As I said, I don't do leg exercises because I run. It would probably be a good idea to do squats too if you can, because they work your core and legs very thoroughly.

Another thing to keep in mind: SLEEP. Your body recovers during sleep - you can't build strength or endurance if you're not letting your body recover. 8 hours of sleep is absolute MINIMUM. Trust me, you'll want to sleep once you get into pushing your body harder each day. It'll also help with just generally making you feel better.

Hope this helps you out! Find what motivates you and focus on it - it'll keep you from slacking. There's going to be days where you don't want to do it, but if you can force yourself to stay on track I promise you'll feel better for it.

GOOD LUCK!

 

I usually only smoke on weekends, during the summer its more frequent. I just try to keep weed on the side as something I use to motivate myself, or bring me up when I'm not feeling so great. Getting started is definitely the hardest part, but once you put some time into it, it's way easier to stay on track.

Sounds like you've got the right ideas, man! Keep it up!

Broccoli and cauliflower are reasonably cheap and very easy to make and throw in with just about any meal, so there's a pointer as far as veggies go. Put lettuce and tomatoes on your sandwiches, too. Onions and peppers are great grilled and mixed in with steak, chicken, or whathaveyou.