24 year old looking for advice

M

mattsaunders

0
Hi there I am 24 years old and I am in fairly good shape. 7 months ago I wanted to give up smoking so I bought a book about smoking bya author called allan carr and i can happily say I have now stopped smoking for over 7 months :)

Another thing that i have wanted to stop is eating fast food. Recently I have been eating mc Donalds every day. I have now stopped going there for about a week now and have been eating at home for my breakfast and lunch which is great.

I have also started to go for a run after work and get into shape. I have started to feel much better physically and mentally since i stopped smoking and started to cut out the fast food.


For my job I am in my car pretty much all day.

What i am looking for is some advice on exercise and a structured eating plan to tone up.

I have attached a pic of myself so you can see me. You can see form my pic that I am not over weight. I just want to tone up. You cant me my whole body but you can still see me.



Many Thanks
 

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You can do a toning circuit with just calisthenics at home. If you have a gym you can do everything. What do you do now ? How far/long do you run at what intensity ? List everything you do. List everything you have available to you...weights, pool, bike etc...

What do you eat and when...etc...
 
Hi there thanks for the reply.

At the moment I do not do any exercise apart from the run I went for tonight. lol

I do not have access to a gym at home or a pool or bike. I basically drive my car everywhere.

The run that I have started to do last for about 30 mins. I run around my local area at a fairly steady pace.

Right the food that I eat is this on a average week


Monday Breakfast = Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner = Chicken with rice
Tuesday Breakfast = Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner = Chicken and Pasta
Wednesday Breakfast = Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner = Pizza and Chips
Thursday Breakfast = Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner = Sausage and mash potato
Friday Breakfast = Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner = Chicken, potatoes, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes


Snacks at night normally stuff like more packets of crisps and chocolate bars.


Weekend Junk food really like curries and kfc..
 
Wow...

Before I begin, let me congratulate you on turning your lifestyle around.

Now, your diet is horrible. You have a serious lack of a balanced diet. It really is a good thing that you are still young b/c that diet would do you in later in life. It's also a good thing you want to do something about it now.

Cereal Lunch = 4 x cheese sandwich with a package of Walkers Crisps Dinner
Click to expand...

I'm seeing a trend here. You have almost no protein and absolutely no veggies in your diet. Your basic daily intake looks like carbs and dairy fat. You really should cut out all the processed foods. Check the nutrition forum stickies for more on what you should eat.

You want to look for whole grain breads (never white), oats, nuts, berries, fruit, veggies, lean meats like skinless chicken - tuna - lean beef, etc...
Your ratio should be about 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat (good fat). That is a very basic ratio, but it is much much better than what you have going on now. Look at the other posts on this forum to see what people are eating. There is also a recipe thread. Once you fix your diet, you will feel way better. Try and get in 5-6 small meals a day which include protein, carbs and fat each. Try and eat things that have been here on the planet for a long time not Nabisco. Get what I'm saying? The more natural you eat the better.

For your workout, almost anything you do will help. Keep it slow in the beginning. Get into doing a circuit of calisthenics at least 3 times a week. You can do this 5 times a wkk later if you want. Do your run on alternate days, or after the cals. Don't work out sore, take a day off if you are.

I would try this basic set up for a month. Then consider buying a set of freeweights for your home and go from there. First things first >> get that diet in check.
 
Hi mate many thanks on your words of encouragement.

I will start looking into my diet. I have started eating fruit for the first time in years. Like I said the main thing that i have had to stop is MC donalds.

In my diet at the moment you can see that i eat a lot of chicken. My girlfriend cooks my meals and she cooks chicken breast. Is this healthy to eat?

You say this 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat (good fat)

I do not have a clue about food really apart from how to eat it lol

this is gonna sound really stupid but what are carbs? :confused:

What foods have protein?


Many Thanks
 
Hi Matt,

Grilled chicken breast is very good for you as it contains a lot of protein. Other foods high in protein include fresh fish, tinned tuna and eggs. You can also supplement your protein intake with protein shakes if you feel it is necessary.

Carbs are carbohydrates. These are mostly found in starchy foods such as pasta, potatoes, breads etc. It is important to still eat carbs but try to in moderation. Also, it is always best to go for the "brown" variteis, i.e. wholemeal pasta, brown bread etc...

Have a read of the nutrition stickies in the appropriate section....lots of excellent information there.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the reply mate

I also have this question

Code: 
You can do a toning circuit with just calisthenics at home.



What does this involve?
 
mattsaunders said:
Thanks for the reply mate

I also have this question

Code: 
You can do a toning circuit with just calisthenics at home.



What does this involve?
Click to expand...

My guess is you'd be doing a sort of boot camp routine, with pushups, jumping jacks, lunges etc. If you want to augment the body weight stuff, look into getting a jump rope and/or a stability ball.
 
Great job Matt! Now get that diet in order (more protein, more veggies), cut out soda if you haven't already, and you'll be on your way!
 
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