Tips on getting started

[BladeStorm]

Hello. I found it's time that I should start taking care of my body. I am thin and don't work-out. What are some exercises and diets that I should do? **I don't have any weights** Your help is greatly appreciated.

[Lee J B]

My first input before anything else has to be simply = Get some weights, or join a gym. You asked what exercises you should do, well without weights or gym membership you aint gonna get terribly far. However you can start right now by binning every bad food in your house, and going out to the shop buying plenty of eggs, meat etc and get yourself a good diet plan. The best way to do this is think of all the clean foods you like and list them, when you have this list post it here and we will arrange your foods in the list into a constructive diet.

Hope that helps

[BladeStorm]

Drinks: chocolate milk (I use Nestle, Nesquick chocolate mix), water, Pepsi, Coca-Cola (my favorite), and orange juice.

Foods: Eggs, Potatoes, Carrots, Strawberries, Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, corn, red capsicum (red pepper), Froot Loops, Chocolate Chip Museli Bar (Uncle Toby's choc chip, chewy, museli bars), chicken, savaloys, hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese burgers, bananas, yogurt, tomatoes, mushroom, ham, bacon, cheese, steak, rice, basically any vegetable, any kind of berries (rasberries, black berries, etc) pasta, tacos, ground beef. Thats probably not all, but thats to get started on construction a healthy diet.

[Steve]

Originally posted by BladeStorm
Drinks: chocolate milk (I use Nestle, Nesquick chocolate mix), water, Pepsi, Coca-Cola (my favorite), and orange juice.

Foods: Eggs, Potatoes, Carrots, Strawberries, Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, corn, red capsicum (red pepper), Froot Loops, Chocolate Chip Museli Bar (Uncle Toby's choc chip, chewy, museli bars), chicken, savaloys, hot dogs, hamburgers, cheese burgers, bananas, yogurt, tomatoes, mushroom, ham, bacon, cheese, steak, rice, basically any vegetable, any kind of berries (rasberries, black berries, etc) pasta, tacos, ground beef. Thats probably not all, but thats to get started on construction a healthy diet.

Throw out the following:

chocolate milk
Pepsi(although I indulge in a can or two a week)
Coke

Peanutbutter and jelly sanwiches
I don't know what is "Fruit loops"
chocolate chip anything
hotdogs
hamburgers
all burgers
ham
cheese
rice


This is good food:
chicken breast
lean beef
fish!
raw veggies
eggs are super
brown rice
cottage cheese
natural yogurt
cereals, like oats
water, water
skimmed milk
peanut butter now and then...not with jelly

get some sups, like a proteinshake. Albumin is good.

Your standard Vitamins everyday...Vit C, E, Zinc, B complex.

Ok, Lee...you sort the rest out, bro

Steve

[BladeStorm]

I'm not really a seafood person. I like shrimp, and then theirs the fish sticks, and fish (Fish n Chips, the fish is shark). My breakfast in the morning is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or Froot Loops. I like this one cereal with oats and raisins in it so i'll start having that. My dinners are fine, full of veggies and usually something healthy as a main course. For lunch, I have two chocolate chip museli bars, a fruit bar, and apple juice (my family and I weren't really lunch people) I can't stop having Coke, I will cut back on how much I have of it (A LOT!) to something more reasonable.

[StevenD]

I'm no great nutrition expert like some these guys here, but I would drop anything deep fried, like fish and chips. I must admit that I'm not perfect in this area, but deep fried stuff should definitely not make it onto a list of healthy or clean foods.

[Lee J B]

Thanks Steve for taking some of the unwanted out of that list lol.

Right Blade, you realised that to add muscle as the majority of the weight you gain and not fat your going to have to sacrifice quite a lot from what you eat now. For example at this moment your breakfast isn't really ideal. As you said in your first post, you are thin right? well that can be sorted one of two ways, your either going to gain fat, or muscle. To gain muscle your going to first want to find somewhere to workout (I am assuming you want to add muscle here?) after you've done that, concentrate on your diet. If your currently eat stuff like you listed and your thin, I'm going to assume you have a very fast metabolism ? But dont worry, as you can add muscle easily still, all you need to do is eat A LOT of clean foods. For Instance :

Breakfast: 4 egg whites, an apple, 2 Bacon rashes, milk and water, vitamin pill. (if you are on a bulk, you I guess you could get away with eating cereal )

Meal 2: Protein shake, natural yoghurt, ( or MRP Drink/ Protein Bar) Cottage Cheese

Lunch: 2 Chicken Breats, Veggies, and you could add a slice of brown bread or a helping of brown rice.

Pre Workout: Grape Juice + Creatine, plus water before and sips throughout your workout.

Post Workout : Ok these 3 hours are are critical, so start with a real good proteinshake here, you can add a little peanut butter, also add your post workout amount of creatine, which will either be 5g or 2.5g depending what phase you will be doing (1 of either loading or maintenence)

Post Workout Meal 1 : Fish/Lean Beef, lots of veggies, water.

Post Workout Meal 2 : 2 slices of Brown Bread, Steak/4 eggs.

Post Workout Meal 3 : Depending on what time of day it is here you can do different things, for example this meal for me is right before bed so I have, 16oz Skimmed Milk + Casien Protein ( to last me at least a bit of the night.) If not you could always have an MRP, and a little snack such as a protein bar.... or if you have the time you could make a full blown meal like the previous two.

[BladeStorm]

I'm going to have to gradually work my way to eating more and more foods. So that I can stretch out my stomach. My metabolism is REALLY fast! My sister complains that I can eat a horse and not gain an ounce. Sugar increases your metabolism and I basically eat nothing but sugar. My uncle owns a gym so I'll ask him if he can give some spare weights. I have two excersise balls also. Any exercises I can do in the mean time? Like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc.

[Lee J B]

You can do Crunches, Reverse Crunches and Cross Crunches all on the floor, twice a week and the right nutrition and them 3 alone will build your abs fairly good, especially if you add a plate to your chest whilst doing them Your right you can also do pull ups, and push ups. Check the intenet for uses of your ball, you can do some good ab workouts on them too. BTW - notice I didnt mention situps, ... they are pointless for you.

If you want help on how to do some of the above mentioned exercises try here

[Jakanden]

I see the term "On a bulk" quite a bit, what excatly is this?

[Lee J B]

There are usually two pahses to a bodybuilders life in a year, and bulk phase and a cut phase. A bulk phase is where you eat a lot of clean food sources in odrer to put on lean muscle, but you will also gain a little fat. After you have reached your goal on however much lean mass you wanted to put on, you then go on a cut cycle. A cut cycle is where you increase the amount of intense cardio activity, and stick to a strict type of diet, below maintenance calories. This causes you (if you do it right) to be left without the fat you gained but with the muscel you earnt, thereby making you look even bigger. Some guys will get through both phases 3 times a year, it depends on how much your aiming to put on.