Newbie here, really need some advice!

[mark833]

Hi everyone,

I am totally new on this forum and I am hoping to get some help from you guys. I have been reading up a bit so far on this forum and I would like to lose some weight, eventually have a six pack, and maybe some muscle

I know you have probably heard this millions of times, but I really need some help. I have never really done this before. If possible, please explain workout terms/exercises in plain english

I have a treadmill at home but not much else. I could buy some dumbells if needed. To be practical, a gym is not that available for me as I am a really busy high school student.

Here is information you might need:

18 years old
174.8 lbs (just measured)
5 feet 10 inches

BMI seems to be okay, but I honestly have a , a fairly large one at that. I am in no means slim, but not obese either. I have little to no muscle right now and the only muscle I have might be on arms from lifting milk at work.

daily routine (Mon - Fri high school):

1.) I don't eat breakfast. I know this needs to be changed. Why exactly is it so good to eat breakfast?

2.) I have an early lunch at school (10:50am) so this is usually first amount of food. I try to eat healthy but not always. I never drink pop, always diet or milk.

3.) Usually have a snack when I get home (1:30pm).

4.) Dinner (can't really control as mom makes it) @ 6:00pm.

5.) Snack usually while watching TV (9pm) yogurt, etc.

I really, really want to lose this weight and start to put on a bit of muscle. I have never had a six pack in whole life and I would really love one. I know whoever responds to this has probably heard and said the same thing over and over again, but please tell me what to do.

If possible, tell me exactly what to eat, when, how, and what exercises. I am desperate here.

I have been considering a low-carb diet to lose fat as fast as possible. Good idea?

GOAL is to lose 25 pounds in two months. Well, honestly I don't really care how much weight I lose, I just want to be slim and have a six pack, so if that means losing fat but gaining muscle, I will do it. Please tell me if this is unrealistic.

Please tell me everything in simple terms as I am a newbie at this.

Thank you all so much,

Mark

P.S. Sorry for the long post!

[swanso5]

- well if you don't ahve any equpment than search '"your body is a barbell" by alwyn cosgrove and follow the progressions
- for food go to diet scetion and search for the post "read befroe posting...' for some ideas
- diet is just as bad a pop, water, water, water
- low carb is not cool..be patient and dicsplined
- you'll struggle to get 25 in 2 months...try for 10pds...you don't want to lose what ever muscle you have or you're in big trouble

[cassiegose]

Hi there!

Congrats on trying to become more healthy and fit! I'm not an expert on this stuff but I do have a few little pieces of advice...

First of all... You must must must eat breakfast!
For all of you meals I recommend a balance between a healthy carb and a lean protein. Healthy carb options that I usually choose are whole wheat toast, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, and fruit and veggies. For healthy proteins I usually stick to chicken breasts, tuna fish, egg whites, and cottage cheese. I recommend cutting out all soda (both diet and regular). That stuff if toxic! Bad bad bad stuff!

According to your weight/height/age/gender if you are slightly active your BMR is 2500. This is the number of calories your body burns on day to day functions. If you want to lose one pound of weight you will have to burn 3500 more calories than you consume. This means if you want to lose 25 lbs in 2 months you will have to burn a total of 87,500 more calories then you are consuming; this breaks down to about 1458 calories a day. In opinion this is a very unrealistic goal. If I were you I would plan on attempting to lose this weight over the course of 6 months. To lose 25 pounds in 6 months you would only have to cut about 500 calories a day. This should be done through a combination of exercise and diet. Remember the slower you take the weight off the more likely you will be to keep it off. It needs to be a lifestyle change to become more healthy not a crash diet to lose the weight as quickly as possible.

For your diet I would recommend consuming six 300-400 calorie meals throughout the day eating ever 3 hours or so. Each meal should be a balance of a healthy carb and lean protein. This will equal betweeen 2000-2400 calories and it will keep your metabolism going all day. Remember you must start your day with a healthy breakfast!

Next if you want to have that six pack you have build the muscles underneath the fat while burning the fat. This will be done with a combination of cardio and weights. Cardio will burn the calories that will help you cut the fat while weights will build muscle to help you body naturally burn more calories throughout the day.

If you are just starting on a cardio/weight routine you should start easy and work your way up. I would recommend 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 days a week while lifting weights 3-4 days a week (depending on how serious you are). You could do this by starting your day with an early morning run then hitting the weight room after school (or vice versa). Other great forms of cardio include biking, brisk walking, and the cardio machines at the local gym.

For weights there are many different workouts to do. One that I really like is legs/abs one day, abs/back/biceps another day and abs/chest/shoulders/triceps another day. These workouts would take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours in the gym depending on how many different exercises you are doing. If you don't have any experience with weight training you should seek help from the local gym (maybe consider hiring a personal trainer for a week or two to get you started) or talk to your gym teacher if your still in school. If your in college you could also enroll in a weight lifting class to get you started.

I hope this helps. You asked a lot of questions and I provided a lot of information. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Take care and GOOD LUCK!