I have a feeling I’m going to get bashed, but here I go. Three years ago, I basically starved myself “skinny.” I lost all muscle but not much fat. Last year I started lifting heavy but also ate incredibly shitty food. I ended up gaining fifty pounds, some being muscle but some being fat. Now I’m around a 25% body fat and want to get down to 8-10. I don’t really no where to begin as I read the beginners thread and this was of not much help for my case.
The amount of muscle I have is not very high, but I don’t feel comfortable bulking at my level of body fat. I also can’t afford much, I am a teenager and live with my family, obviously. What articles should I be reading regarding healthy food choices and diet plans.
I know your boat exactly, actually i read it and thought i was reading my own post. I can’t really help you on the bulking up except to say try a full body program but I can help you with the fat loss.
You’ve probably heard by now to eat six meals per day because it boosts your metabolism. I agree strongly with that statement. Being a teenager you should probably be eating about 2000 cals to mantain a skinny body weight. I think if you aim to eat 1800 cals a day you should be off to a good start. Also make sure to eat a lot of protein. Lean turkey slices, canadian bacon, and frozen chicken breasts are excellent for this. Whatever you do, though, don’t starve yourself. Your exactly right, you will lose all muscle but no fat. Your body will burn off all the muslce and then when it has used the source, go into a shutdown state in which you are very mellow and tired to save energy to store as fat. Technically, it can’t tell the difference between voluntary starving or if your in another holocaust.
Along with the food you will need to exersize. I recommend two full body lifting routines per week. It really doesn’t matter which but keep moving, don’t rest for 10 minutes between exersizes. Rest 1-2 at the most. Also, 2-3 times a week, find some type of arobic exersize to do. Go running, biking, or join a martial art class. I’m sure you can think of something.
Good luck. Send me a private message if you have any food calorie content or nutrition questions. I’m good at those.
Try calorieking.com for nutritional info. And so you don’t get to confused about meat, 3 oucnes of meat is the size of a deck of cards.