Getting Serious

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

I’ve been looking over this forum for a while now and figured it’s time to joing up. I see some good advice out there and I’m hoping you guys can help me out a bit too.

Back in '05 I came to a realization, “Hey, I’m fat!” Funny how it can sneak up on you when you really don’t care. My meals consisted of mainly McDonalds, Burger King, and even Carl’s Jr. That was many times breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I rocketed up to 280 pounds.

I finally did something about it, I studied a lot, started some light weight trainging and a lot of cardio. Within a year or so I dropped down to 180 but was still at about 19% body fat. I was very happy at this point with how I looked and felt so I maintained that.

Recently I’ve had an itch to go WAY beyond what I’ve been comfortable at since I still have a small gut. I can kind of see my upper abs slightly, my lowers show nicely, but my mids are completly covered and it’s driving me nuts.

I have been working out at the gym for two months now, pretty intense, weights only (I hate cardio now for some reason). So the thing is, I know how to eat good enough to loose weight, but I don’t know shit about eating good enough to look good as well; that’s where I’m hoping you guys can help. Anyone can lose weight by switching to a healthy chicken breast instead of the 2000 cal Awsome Blossom two or three times a week with a Big Mac.

So, I’ll start off with some stats and then post my meal plan and see if you guys can help me streamline it.

Height: 6’1
Sex: Male
Weight: 215
BF: 19% (Goal 10-12%)

I train fairly heavy for 8-10 reps. Many compound workouts on a 5-day split.

Monday: Chest, Biceps
Tuesday: Back, Triceps
Wednesday: Shoulders, Legs
Thurdsday: Mix
Friday: Biceps, Triceps, Traps

Now, as you know where I want to be, please get your laughs out of your system before you read this cause I’m going to the a lot of “WTF? This is the worst meal plan I’ve ever seen!” lol

I eat pretty much the same thing every day with very slight variations, but this is pretty much standard.

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)
? 2 Whole Eggs
? 3 Egg Whites
? 8 Oz Skim Milk
? 1/4 Cup Oatmeal

Snack (10:30 a.m.)
? 1 Pouch Starkist Tuna
or
? 1 Cup Brown Rice
or
? 1 Protein Shake (Nitrean or GNC)

Lunch (Pre-Workout 12:30 p.m.)
? Half Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat

(Workout 1:00 p.m.)

Lunch (Post-Workout 2:00 p.m.)
? 1 Whole Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat
? 1 Protein Shake

Snack (4:30 p.m.)
? 1 Half (AN) Peanut Butter and Jelly on Whole Wheat
or
? 1 Pouch of Tuna with Whole Grain Rice

Dinner (7:00 p.m.)
? 1 Chicken Breast
? 1.5 Cups Brocolli or Potatoe.

Snack (9:00 p.m.)
? Protein Shake (Nitrean or GNC)

So, have your laughs, but if anyone can critique this meal plan it would be great. I recently started keeping a food journal with a free trial from CalorieKing, I might jump to FitDay soon, but either way, I found I’m only eating 1,500 calories or so a day if I tracked everything right, the software seems quirky.

Once again, my goals are to put on considerable amounts of muscle along with getting down to the low percentages of body fat if even possible. I put on muscle fairly easily and lose weight fairly easily I have found. It just seem I don’t know how to go any lower. But in these two months at the gym I’ve put about an inch on my arms and on my chest. Probably just newbie gains, but I’m happy with it.

Thanks for any advice,
-Mimic

2

If you want to add muscle eat more protein. Get stronger! Eat more! Feel Good! Try differnt taining programs every month or so switching off from trying to get stronger low reps and higher reps for endurance.

3

im no expert but id say a little less bread and more veggies. maybe swap the bread on your sandwich for cabbage or some romain lettuce. oh and eat the whole sandwich. also make sure that chic and turkey is not processed meats…

maybe get some fish oil as i hear its good for belly fat. but other wise it looks ok to me. it all comes together in time…im sure if your lifting heavy compound movements one day soon youl look in the mirror and be very happy with what you have accomplished

4

Good that you are getting serious and good that you have a plan. But realize that consistency is the most important part of getting where you need to get. I would say that the majority of people who are in great shape do not have a strict plan where everything is planned out weeks in advance. They just have a firm grasp of what they need to do and consistently keep good habits with training and diet.

It is great that you have this fired up enthusiasm, just make sure that you don’t “crash and burn”, ie start out super strong and then fall off the wagon when life messes up your plan for a couple of days.

5

Thanks for the quick replies. I don’t feel that I’m going to stop, I really enjoy the lifestyle I have picked up, plus, I like challenges. I think that is why I was able to achieve the results I have so far. I’m in no means “fat” anymore, but I’m not “lean” yet either, I’m just “average” now. …I hate average!

Therefore, I am looking at putting on muscle, I can bulk up pretty easy, It’s just a whole new ball-game for me now. For instance, I know what foods are good and bad, and I know how to use them to be “average.” However, I want to be a head-turner. I want to be the kind that the “average” people wonder how they got there.

Since I have been doing it for two years already, I feel very strong about my dedication, the thing I really need help with is now what food is “good” or what food is “bad,” what I’m looking for some guidence on is what food is “better” for what I’m looking at achieving.

For the most part, I’m wondering about quantity. I understand all body types are different, but sometimes I feel I don’t eat enough, other days I feel like I eat way too much.

I’m not really scared of eating a lot because I know I’ll never get as big as I was since I’ve cut out McDonalds and given up my 12 Pepsi’s a day. What I do wonder about is how my diet compares to these very fit, very strong people I see in the gym every day.

I’ll stop and talk to them but none of them want to stop to talk which I totally understand, that’s why when they say “Eat clean” I don’t push them when they want to go back to working out.

Thanks,
Mimic

6

[quote]Mimic wrote:
Thanks for the quick replies. I don’t feel that I’m going to stop, I really enjoy the lifestyle I have picked up, plus, I like challenges. I think that is why I was able to achieve the results I have so far. I’m in no means “fat” anymore, but I’m not “lean” yet either, I’m just “average” now. …I hate average!

Therefore, I am looking at putting on muscle, I can bulk up pretty easy, It’s just a whole new ball-game for me now. For instance, I know what foods are good and bad, and I know how to use them to be “average.” However, I want to be a head-turner. I want to be the kind that the “average” people wonder how they got there.

Since I have been doing it for two years already, I feel very strong about my dedication, the thing I really need help with is now what food is “good” or what food is “bad,” what I’m looking for some guidence on is what food is “better” for what I’m looking at achieving.

For the most part, I’m wondering about quantity. I understand all body types are different, but sometimes I feel I don’t eat enough, other days I feel like I eat way too much.

I’m not really scared of eating a lot because I know I’ll never get as big as I was since I’ve cut out McDonalds and given up my 12 Pepsi’s a day. What I do wonder about is how my diet compares to these very fit, very strong people I see in the gym every day.

I’ll stop and talk to them but none of them want to stop to talk which I totally understand, that’s why when they say “Eat clean” I don’t push them when they want to go back to working out.

Thanks,
Mimic[/quote]

you might read/search the diet articles here again or even purchase precision nutrition by Dr. Berardi.

good luck in all u do

7

Add 1-2 days a week of
a. interval sprints
b. hill spints
c. sled dragging
d. KB complex
e. sandbags
f. car pushing

If any of the above workouts last longer than 30 minutes, you ain’t doing it hard enough.

Switch the potato for sweet potato (yam) and add more fruits and veggies, cut back on the grains.

Good luck.

TNT

8

So am I to understand from the post that for the most part, this is a fairly decent meal plan?

Since I do have some body fat to loose, I am looking at trimming down the fat while still trying to put on some muscle.

Is 1500 to 2000 calories enough for goals like this? I’m just not sure if my body will take the fat over the muscle. I’d rather here from experienced trainers than trial and error, no need to reinvent the wheel and definably no reason to waist that much time in the gym.

I’ll throw some cardio back into the mix from what I have read in this post, maybe some good intense (outdoor) bike riding or going for a jog, I just fear going into a catabolic state and losing what I have gained.

-Mimic

9

[quote]Mimic wrote:
So am I to understand from the post that for the most part, this is a fairly decent meal plan?

Since I do have some body fat to loose, I am looking at trimming down the fat while still trying to put on some muscle.

Is 1500 to 2000 calories enough for goals like this? I’m just not sure if my body will take the fat over the muscle. I’d rather here from experienced trainers than trial and error, no need to reinvent the wheel and definably no reason to waist that much time in the gym.

I’ll throw some cardio back into the mix from what I have read in this post, maybe some good intense (outdoor) bike riding or going for a jog, I just fear going into a catabolic state and losing what I have gained.

-Mimic[/quote]

Just remember to lift as heavy as you can to maintain that muscle mass.

I would say that the thing that may help the most is just doing non exercise physical activity (NEPA). Find some you can go out and toss a frisbee around with or something like that. Or maybe play raquetball with, etc. Great way to spend time with friends and burn some extra calories.

10

Hell no 1500-200 aint enough bro thats not enough for a child to sustain life let alone a 6 foot tall adult to try and hold mass and lose fat.

Only drop cals as much as needed to progress to goals. Id look at some of the nutrition articles, nail something solid caloric and food wise and make small adjustments.

Look at T-Dawg 2.0 nit will give a great base diet for your goals. Couple with with a solid training Plan and being consistent youll be ion your road. Be smart and patient

Phill

[quote]Mimic wrote:
So am I to understand from the post that for the most part, this is a fairly decent meal plan?

Since I do have some body fat to loose, I am looking at trimming down the fat while still trying to put on some muscle.

Is 1500 to 2000 calories enough for goals like this? I’m just not sure if my body will take the fat over the muscle. I’d rather here from experienced trainers than trial and error, no need to reinvent the wheel and definably no reason to waist that much time in the gym.

I’ll throw some cardio back into the mix from what I have read in this post, maybe some good intense (outdoor) bike riding or going for a jog, I just fear going into a catabolic state and losing what I have gained.

-Mimic[/quote]

11

Ditto to Phil’s comment. The girls on Muscle Sorority talk about 1500-2000 calories a day. Your stats state you are 215 lb. I can’t see how you can train heavy on 1500-2000 cal. @ 215 lb.
Your tank will be empty in no time.

TNT