Trying to Get Ripped

Alright, so im 5’5 and about 183 lbs. I got a good bit of fat, but im not a fat guy (if that makes any sense). I dont seem to be too out of shape either, so far as exersising and all I can keep up pretty well. Anyway, what do I need to do to kill this fat and get ripped? I mean, I know it will take time, but whatever will help me see results sooner will be a really big boost, im pretty motivated i need a push in the right direction. I already have a diet worked out, goign to do full body workouts 3-4 times a week and cardio every other day.

I also take a protien shake.

I also take a suppliement to make sure I get all the amino acids. So, what else do I need? Will any other suppliments help, or do I need something totally diffrent?

I cant wait to get to the gym and start working some more, Im ready to be pumped.

First, start reading around the site. You say you have your diet and program worked out, which is good. Although, you say your a beginner and I’m relatively sure they’re not going to be optimal. (I could be wrong though)

If I’m right, look into the t-dawg 2.0 diet. Its worked for many people, and will most likely work for you too.

As for suppliments, a protein shake (Metabolic Drive) will help as a low carb meal replacement. Also, you might want to check out HOT-ROX.

Other than that, good luck.

what cardio are you gonna be doing? and a little bit mroe detail about your diet also?

[quote]cleanandjerk wrote:
what cardio are you gonna be doing? and a little bit mroe detail about your diet also?[/quote]

the carido i will be doing is riding a exersise bike. i have one at home but there are nicer ones at the gym, its a 7-day a week thing. i dont want to run as I have injured both of my knees in the past year. this is my diet (taken from my other thread):

Alright, I’m a beginner and i’ve read all of the beginner articles. I’m about 5’5 and 183lbs, medium frame. I want to kill all this fat and build a nice looking mucle… not a huge lump of destruction, but a nice build a definition. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Anyway, I looked at the calorie calculator and i need probably around 1500 calories a day to loose weight. So, I devised this daily meal plan I need to know what you experts think and what I should change. I plan on doing full body workouts atleast 3 times a week if not 4 and cardio every single day.

*Keep in mind all I drink is water or juice, no matter what. Mostly water and probably about 2 liters a day.

Breakfast: Bowl of total w/1% milk, Glass of orange juice (Minute maid, no additives) Bananna sliced up in the total

Snack: Turkey sandwich on whole wheat w/ 2 slices of turkey

Lunch: Grilled chicken breast on whole wheat w/ lettuce and tomato. Along with an apple or something.

Snack: Turkey sandwich on whole wheat w/ 2 slices of turkey.

Dinner: A regular meal, whatever I can find really (any suggestions would be nice)

I also noticed some people do 6 meals a day, I have some rice cakes (50 cal) in case I need anything after dinner.

On days I work out (every other day) I was thinking of substuting my dinner for the protien shake (600 cal) and then working out. Should I drink another shake after Im done working out even though it puts me well over the calories I want to intake (to loose more weight) How does this sound, do I need to change anything?

btw, if it helps the shake im taking is cyto-gainer. the guy at gnc recommended it to me and they have it at golds as well. it has like 56g of protien, 2g creatine, glutamine all that… lmk if you need more info.

thats about it, I also try to eat some beef jerky for protien.

[quote]dpguitar wrote:
cleanandjerk wrote:
I want to kill all this fat and build a nice looking mucle… not a huge lump of destruction, but a nice build a definition. [/quote]

Ok first of all, how is it that you are going to become a lump of destruction? Do you think you will wake up one morning and look like ronnie? When I hear that “I don’t want to get too big” stuff, I wonder if you really are willing to train hard and make the necessary sacrifices… But I will give you the benefit of the doubt and tell you that you don’t have to worry about getting too big. Its a slow process, and you have total control over your results.

[quote]

Anyway, I looked at the calorie calculator and i need probably around 1500 calories a day to loose weight. So, I devised this daily meal plan I need to know what you experts think and what I should change. I plan on doing full body workouts atleast 3 times a week if not 4 and cardio every single day.

*Keep in mind all I drink is water or juice, no matter what. Mostly water and probably about 2 liters a day.

Breakfast: Bowl of total w/1% milk, Glass of orange juice (Minute maid, no additives) Bananna sliced up in the total

Snack: Turkey sandwich on whole wheat w/ 2 slices of turkey

Lunch: Grilled chicken breast on whole wheat w/ lettuce and tomato. Along with an apple or something.

Snack: Turkey sandwich on whole wheat w/ 2 slices of turkey.

Dinner: A regular meal, whatever I can find really (any suggestions would be nice)

I also noticed some people do 6 meals a day, I have some rice cakes (50 cal) in case I need anything after dinner.

On days I work out (every other day) I was thinking of substuting my dinner for the protien shake (600 cal) and then working out. Should I drink another shake after Im done working out even though it puts me well over the calories I want to intake (to loose more weight) How does this sound, do I need to change anything?

btw, if it helps the shake im taking is cyto-gainer. the guy at gnc recommended it to me and they have it at golds as well. it has like 56g of protien, 2g creatine, glutamine all that… lmk if you need more info.

thats about it, I also try to eat some beef jerky for protien.[/quote]

This is a great diet for a 12 year old girl. Seriously. I’m not trying to be an asshole, I’m just trying to tell you that you have to EAT MORE! I know you are trying to lose fat, but if you are doing 3 full-body workouts per week and cardio every other day, then your body needs way more than 1500 calories (try 2500 and then adjust accordingly). Please do yourself a favor and read nutrition articles by Berardi.

Look, you have to realize that building muscle requires a calorie surplus, and that the more muscle you carry around, the more fat your body will burn throughout the day. So do your big lifts, and get some more muscle on your frame. The cardio will help burn some fat (read the 100 Steps to Ripped City article).

Bottom line is you have to eat, and eat clean (and frequently). Don’t be afraid of eating big, because its the only way to get where you want to be.

Good luck.

  1. 1500 calories sounds really low . . . my T-Dawg Diet intake is around 2500 (2250 were recommended), and I’ve been dropping 1-2 pounds a week since I started, despite being inconsistent in my lifting and cheating a little more often than I should. I started out at 5’7" 185 . . .I think 1500 puts you in a serious calorie deficit, so your body might be clinging to its fat for dear life, especially since the cardio that you’re doing is just increasing your caloric deficit.

  2. Don’t bother with rice cakes as your snacks. I found that string cheese is a nice little snack, with 8g P, 1g C, 6g F and 80 calories. Or you could eat some eggs a bit after dinner. Those carby little rice cakes are pretty useless.

  3. A PWO shake is definately a good idea. Naturally, I’d recommend Surge, and then after that, eat again an hour or two later. I always throw a scoop of creatine in it, since my MMA workouts make me sore as hell and I want everything I can get to help my muscles recover.

  4. It looks like your protein intake is really low . . . I’d estimate you’re getting about 70-80 g of protein a day from your solid food, depending on how much turkey is on those sandwiches you’re eating. If you take that shake every day, you’re up to 130-140, which is about half as much as is recommended for keeping mass (1.5x body weight). The extra 140 g of protein would give you an additional 640 calories, which gets you just about up to what TDawg 2.0 would you have you do.

  5. I doesn’t seem like you’re getting very much dietary fat in; turkey and chicken are the only things you’re eating with any fat in them. Cold cut turkey is very lean, and chicken doesn’t have a whole lot of fat in it either. I’d recommend some red meat, nuts, and/or various oils (fish oil, olive oil, flax oil). Natural peanut butter is a nice souce of fat and protein also, and can be nicely mixed into a chocolate Grow! shake.

  6. Keep a food log, at least for a bit, and see exactly where you stand. To reference T-Dawg, you’d be going for 2220 calories a day, with 278 grams of protein, 70 g carbs (non WO days) or 100 g carbs (WO days), and 100 g fat (WO days) or 85 g fat (non WO days).

That’s about all. Good luck

this is what im basing my calories off of: Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs

as far as eating more, I just cant comprehend it lol. im trying to eat more, but i dont really know how much is enough. i really dont even know what “whole protien” is. I know that the diet is the most important thing when working out. I just cant seem to find the right balance AT ALL. its becoming really frustrating.

I have no problem with dedication or sticking to a program, the problem so far is finding the right one. I know what foods are good, and I know to eat 5+ times a day. The problem is, is what should I eat?

What would you reccomend for breakfast?

I suppose a good protien shake would be a good snack.

What for lunch? Is the chicken sandwich fine?

Afternoon… I have no idea?

Dinner… hit me with something.

I work at a desk job, so I dont really get active until later in the day. Im 5’5, 183, and im 19 years old. I can read every article ever, but I keep failing. The thing that gets me, is to loose weight I have to burn more calories than I eat, if I only burn 2100 calories a day, then whats a good range? I just started consistantly working out last week.

OK, i get it. Dude, it takes time. You are expected to make errors. Look at the articles, you are allowed 4 misses a week. That’s pretty good. The cliche’ ‘‘eat, sleep, train, repeat.’’

thanks for all you guys help, espically chewie. i think im on the right path now, so lets see how it goes. any advice is still appreciated

[quote]dpguitar wrote:
I can read every article ever, but I keep failing.

I just started consistantly working out last week.[/quote]

Patients - how can you keep failing when you’ve only just started…?

How many of the suggested articles have you gone and read? You are coming back with the same questions/justifications which implies you’ve done little to nothing to educate yourself. No one here has asked you to read every article ever written. Go randomly pick three Berardi articles, put together a plan, come back and post/justify your plan and ask for feedback.

In my gym, the people not making progress over time are the ones who have no idea what they are doing and take zero time to educate themselves, yet they show up religiously at the gym. Similar with diet - if you don’t know why, where, when, what and how you’ll almost certainly fail. And will never come close to ‘getting ripped.’ Its not rocket science, just a bit of common sense.

[quote]dpguitar wrote:
as far as eating more, I just cant comprehend it lol. im trying to eat more, but i dont really know how much is enough. i really dont even know what “whole protien” is. I know that the diet is the most important thing when working out. I just cant seem to find the right balance AT ALL. its becoming really frustrating.

I have no problem with dedication or sticking to a program, the problem so far is finding the right one. I know what foods are good, and I know to eat 5+ times a day. The problem is, is what should I eat?

What would you reccomend for breakfast?

I suppose a good protien shake would be a good snack.

What for lunch? Is the chicken sandwich fine?

Afternoon… I have no idea?

Dinner… hit me with something.
I can read every article ever, but I keep failing. The thing that gets me, is to loose weight I have to burn more calories than I eat, if I only burn 2100 calories a day, then whats a good range? I just started consistantly working out last week.[/quote]

Did you actually read the posts above? Have you actually read Berardi’s nutrition articles? he provides meal recommendations, and if that isn’t enough, man up and buy Precision Nutrition.

If you’ve done your reading, you won’t “suppose” that a protein shake is a good snack. You’d know that certain kinds of shakes in combination with certain foods ARE good snacks, but what exactly they look like (low-carb, higher carb) depends on when you’re drinking them and what plan you’re on.

You say you “keep failing”. How long have you tried using a really solid workout plan (pick one from this site and DON’T DEVIATE from it…you are not in any position to be making up your own stuff) and sticking to a good, solid eating plan? My guess is…never.

It’s not that you keep failing, it’s that you haven’t actually started yet.

[quote]dpguitar wrote:
thanks for all you guys help, espically chewie. i think im on the right path now, so lets see how it goes. any advice is still appreciated[/quote]

According to the BMI calculator on this site, you are considered obese (!) at your current height and weight, unless you have significant quantities of muscle: Redirect Page

I imagine you are probably doing longer low intensity biking? If so, drop that for biking intervals. That is, pedal as hard as you can for 30 seconds then slow for a minute and repeat this for eight or so rounds.

The tabata protocol can also be used, which is 20 seconds of intensity followed by 10 seconds rest for eight or more rounds. This protocol is more suited for exercises like bodyweight squats, pushups, etc. rather than the bike.

Either way both interval and tabatas have been shown to burn fat and burn it well.

when i say i keep failing i mean that ive tried like diffrent diet plans and then they always end up being something other than what i thought they were, stupid noo bi guess you can say.

i read the T-Dawg 2.0 and decided to go with that, i read Dr. Berardi’s articles but there are some things i didnt understand about it (i dont know a whole lot about nutrition) but like I said, i think i have it straight now.

the reason its confusing for me is because I actually havent spoken to many people who work out or looked on forums for that until recently. until now ive always been told that low calories is the best, not eating when its late, etc etc pretty much everything ive ever thought has been crushed by truth and facts lol. its just kind of hard to wrap my head around it, sorry if you guys got pissed off because i seem like an idiot, im not lol… just a beginner. its cool though, because i’ll be able to post a cool muscle pic in the forums here sometime in the next 5 years lol

Dpguitar,
You can lose fat eating 1500 cals a day if you don’t have a lot of muscle,but cut out the cardio for daily walks(read 100 workouts from ripped city)and take Surge after you weight-lifting so you don’t overtrain.You can lose a lot of fat doing that,but don’t expect to gain mucsle.You seem to want to lose fat as your main priorty anyways,so worry about the mucsle when you get to your ideal BF%.

would you recommend HOT-ROX? if i cant get that, what other thing can i try?

I’m kind of partial to being a huge lump of destruction myself, but to each his own. Good luck in getting skinny!

HOT-ROX are great, but you have to get your diet in order…

my female friend eats 1500 cals a day and can lose weight…

eat atleast 2000 cals a day…probably more like 23-2500…

“foods that make you look good nekid”

then post a diet on here and im sure someone will help…

and don’t be scared to eat late at night…i eat about 45min before bed