presidentsheep wrote:
Since I'm entirely new to this, i'm after as much advice as I can get. Not entirely sure what I want as an end result so far, besides being healthier and looking/feeling better.
Think I've brought it up before but i'm vegetarian, never really felt this made any difference though.
5'11" and 120lbs. (always been skinny as hell and can vary on a day to day basis between 115 and 125)
My current day:
Breakfast:
Maybe. If I do it's maybe porridge with some honey on it.
Mid morning snack:
Snickers/mars bar
Lunch:
Used to be a sandwich with cheese, mayo and some veggie ham in it, currently eating a cheese salad most days with some olives and maybe peppers in it.
Afternoon snack:
Something horribly unhealthy from greggs, usually a cake or pasty or something
Dinner:
Varies, pretty normal though carbohydrate-y base with some sort of veggie mince or quorn thing.
evening snack:
toast/nuts if there is any.
I know it's asking a lot but I'm just after what exactly I should do to get in shape, tried reading shit loads of guides on the internet and asking people but I get a hell of a lot of varied advice interspersed with pseudo-science.
Can't really afford a gym membership but probably could afford a bit here and there to buy extra food/equipment if it's really necessary.
e: I know this is asking quite a lot with pretty much no specifics all I can offer is karmaz in exchange for help.
For starters, NEVER skip breakfast. Eating first thing when you wake kick starts your metabolism and gives your body fuel for the day.
Definitely lose the snickers/mars bar and replace with some fruit and nuts. Almonds and/or walnuts are particularly good.
If you're going to eat a sandwich, avoid white bread and stick with the wholemeal. White bread has a higher GI level and basically turns to sugar in your body, causing more fat storage.
Avoid the cake pastry, again arvo snack same as morning snack.
Try to avoid anything with carbs for dinner, your body simply does not need it. Carbs need to be burned and since it's the end of the day your body will instead store it as fat.
Lose the toast for the evening snack and go for either nuts or something like cottage cheese.
As far as setting goals, it's kinda important to have
some idea of what you want to achieve and where you want to go with this. Otherwise it'll likely to be a half hearted attempt that will fall by the wayside once the novelty wears off. If you have a goal then when you're lacking motivation or mess up on a day or two you'll have a reason to get back onto the diet and fitness and keep going .
Some quick ideas for you to think about:
If you want to lose fat and generally just feel fitter, doing cardio at least three times a week along with an improved diet will steer you towards that direction. After a while you could try some HIIT (high intensity interval training) to give you more athleticism. It's hard though, but more than halves the time it takes to exercise when compared to a typical steady cardio routine. (15-20 minutes compared to 45-60 minutes).
If you want to gain more muscle, you MUST lift weights, starting light at first but gradually increasing to heavy. And if this is goal you must eat a lot more protein than you currently are.
You said you're vegetarian. Does this exclude meat products only? Whey powder is a derivative of milk and is very high in protein, which is why anyone serious about gaining muscles takes whey religiously on a daily basis.
Last edited by Jaekus (2011-05-19 15:17:52)