I work from home and lead a sedentary lifestyle. My diet is pathetic and consists of fast food, soda and other garbage junk food. I also consume too much beer and have developed a large gut.
I’m just starting to get back into the gym with a routine consisting of mainly compound lifts. I do dips, pull ups, military press, squats, dead lift, back rows and I throw in some benching.
Basically, I am really weak and out of shape and I’d like to change that.
To get to the meat of the issue, terrible pun intended, my main concern is dieting as I know very little about nutrition and healthy eating. How my diet interacts and shapes my current physique is something I am completely clueless about.
As I understand it, lean and tiny people must eat lots to gain mass and begin building muscle in the gym. Overweight people need to eat less, work on cardio and hit the gym in order to chisel away at their fat.
What do I do when I’m small with a beer gut, but want to get a bit bigger? Eat more in general, but only clean foods, while busting my ass in the gym and it’ll eventually even out?
I’d greatly appreciate general advice on dieting and lifting and how it directly correlates to my specific body type and physical goals. I also politely request many proper food ideas (this is very important).
In the meantime I will be reading as many articles I can find. Thanks a LOT!
lol, I’m sorry guys, I typed in my height wrong. I’m 5’6".
Also, here are some foods I enjoy that I’d like your opinions on.
-Pad Thai: This is my favorite food and I’ll be heartbroken if I’m not allowed to eat it anymore. My order comes with bean sprouts, shrimp, bits of egg, shredded carrot and a slice of lime. I also order their spicyest version, which I’ve been told helps with something or another due to it speeding up your heart rate.
-Pasta With Chicken Breast & Marinara: The Marinara I use is 180c per 3/4 cup and the whole wheat pasta I use is 70c per 1/2 cup. I don’t have any chicken on hand to get the info, but it’s prepackaged chicken breast from Safeway and doesn’t require cooking.
-Teriyaki Chicken: There’s a place up the street that has excellent spicy chicken served with white rice. I’m not sure how else I can describe it, but any idea as to whether or not this is bad for me? I usually get their lunch special which is a smaller portion. I can also get brown rice with the meal as well.